Warrior's Rise

by Brieanna Robertson

  She laughed and it eased the tension out of her body so that she went pliant against him. “I suppose I can do away with the buzzards.” She fixed him with a pointed expression. “For now.”

  He smiled, then sighed and sobered. “I guess I’ll go make an appearance at this thing also,” he surrendered. “I can’t really sit in the forest all night long.”

  She smiled and nudged him playfully as they started back towards the village. “Come on, Logan,” she teased. “You love to be the center of attention.”

  He opened his mouth to protest, but found that he couldn’t. It was the truth. No sense in arguing about it.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Logan tried to keep his mind quiet during the feast that Willow’s people had prepared for him and Darien. He tried to just take everything in stride. It was difficult at first, especially when everyone kept staring at him like he’d just descended from heaven. He was usually all for people treating him like he was a god, but with a bunch of fairies looking at him like he was some sort of chosen one, he found it generally unnerving.

  He and Darien were stuck at the head and foot of an enormous banquet table that had been put up in the courtyard of the Royal House. There were several other tables set up also, all decorated in elaborate flower arrangements. Logan had no idea who cooked the food, but he ate until he was stuffed and drank enough wine to finally loosen up and relax.

  After dinner, a few men struck up some lively music and everyone started to dance and join in general merrymaking, all of which made Logan feel like he had managed to wander his way into some kind of bizarre Shakespearean play. Darien happily joined a few of the ladies that made up his growing fan group and danced with all of them repeatedly, but Logan was no dancer and was even less in the mood.

  He grabbed another goblet of wine and meandered through the courtyard, finally taking a seat on a tree stump and trying to hide as best he could. It was so unlike him. He was somebody always in the spotlight, always trying to get attention. He had no desire to be the focal point tonight. His faux layer of confidence had been shattered by a bunch of teenagers and an evil fairy with a three generation grudge. Now all he really wanted to do was be left alone until he could figure out what in the heck he was feeling… Aside from everything at once.

  “Are you really an Alveda d’Kai?” a small, awestruck voice came.

  Logan looked over to see a group of kids standing next to him. A little boy and girl who looked around ten, a small girl of maybe five and two other boys, one around twelve and the other around eight. He sighed. What was it with him and kids all of a sudden? “That’s what they tell me,” he grumbled.

  “Are you really part human?” the little girl questioned with wide, blue eyes.

  Logan frowned, wondering why that would even be intriguing, but he guessed that, to a fairy, humans might be interesting. He nodded. “I definitely am.”

  The children all gave a collective gasp.

  “My mommy says that humans are dangerous,” the little girl murmured. “Are they really?”

  Logan couldn’t help but smile. He set his goblet of wine down and leaned forward on his knees so that he could look the little girl directly in the eye. “Sometimes,” he whispered.

  She drew in a startled breath and backed away.

  Logan chuckled and held his arm out. “I’m not, though,” he assured with a warm smile. He motioned her to come closer and he found his own behavior odd. He had never been good with kids. He’d never liked kids. He’d always thought they were more of a nuisance than anything else. He had no idea why he was suddenly being friendly, but he tried not to dwell on it. Willow told him to embrace the man he was inside, not the man he had been. In order to do that, he needed to trust his instincts. They were strong and hadn’t lied to him yet. They’d warned him that danger was near Willow the night Cyrcinus had attacked him in his sleep, and they’d warned him when he’d seen “Circe” outside of Willow’s cabin. He just hadn’t listened… And he’d gotten poisoned. He figured his instincts must know what they were talking about, so he tried his best just to go in the direction they nudged.

  The little girl looked at him with skepticism and stayed back, but he smiled and looked up at all the others.

  “What’s your name?” the oldest boy asked. “Why have you taken so long to return to us?”

  “I didn’t know what I was,” he answered truthfully. “Your queen just informed me today. Darien didn’t know either.”

  “Are you really brothers?” one of the younger boys asked.

  That was a good question. One that Logan was still having a little trouble comprehending. He gave a solemn nod.

  “Name,” the oldest boy persisted.

  Logan smiled when he looked at him. He was obviously the leader of the pack, a no-nonsense sort of person not unlike Darien and himself. “Logan Savage,” he replied.

  The boy folded his arms. “My father says that your father ran out on us, that he was a coward.”

  Logan nodded. “He was a coward, and hardly fit to be called a man.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Are you going to run out on us also?”

  Logan met the boy’s somber, brown eyes and something in his heart that had been dormant up until now, softened. “No, I’m not,” he found himself saying.

  The boy averted his eyes to the ground.

  “Can you tell us what the human world is like?” the little girl asked, inching closer to him.

  Logan gave her a soft smile and nodded. He looked up at the others. “Would you like to hear too?” They didn’t say anything, but crowded closer. Logan noticed the little girl shiver and he reached out to her. “Are you cold, sweetheart?” He motioned her forward. “Come here.” This time, she obeyed and he scooped her up onto his lap. She almost immediately snuggled close to his chest. As the others took seats around his feet, Logan began to tell them about the things of his world. The world that now seemed very far away.

  * * * *

  It was late into the night when the revelry finally stopped. Willow made her way across the courtyard and over to Logan, who was handing a sleeping little girl over to an older boy, who took her, waved good bye and headed for home.

  Logan stretched his back and smiled at Willow as she approached. She grinned. “The children seem very taken with you,” she remarked.

  He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I have no idea why… I was telling them stories about humans.”

  She smiled. “They like to listen to stories, especially about humans. To them, humans seem as much of a story as fairies seem to you.”

  Logan looked down at her with a soft kind of light in his eyes that made her curious. She frowned in thought. “Are you okay?”

  He sighed and gave a slow nod. “I am okay,” he said, as if surprised at the realization. “How’s Darien?”

  She giggled. “He fell asleep in the barn.”

  Logan cocked an eyebrow.

  “Too much wine. The Avari don’t have underage drinking laws.”

  He grinned and turned his attention up to the sky. “The forest you live in is beautiful,” he stated.

  She gave a soft smile and reached down to take his hand. She’d only meant to get his attention so that she could guide him to where his room would be, but his fingers tightened over hers and he turned his gaze on her, making her heart turn over several times in her chest. His ever arrogant and mocking green-gray eyes were soft, kind and held a hint of burning fire that she remembered from the night Cyrcinus had manipulated his dream.

  She swallowed and looked away, but couldn’t bring herself to let go of his hand. Her mind kept returning to the man she had seen earlier, crying in the forest, dejected and hopeless, lost. That had been Logan at his barest and most vulnerable. It was the truest she had ever seen him and that image tugged at her heart in the most profound way.

  “Willow,” he murmured, taking a step closer to her. “I want to thank you.”

  She looked up at him. “For what
?”

  He took her other hand and placed her palm over his heart. “For whatever you do to make the horrid, overwhelming panic stop. I don’t know how you do it, but you’ve kept me sane and I thank you for that.”

  She felt her cheeks turn pink and she looked down. “Oh… I don’t know what it is exactly. I remember when I was younger and the Alveda d’Kai were still alive. Some of them were very aggressive and animalistic. They tended to have awful tempers that they couldn’t always control. I remember seeing some of their women, or even some of our women, tell them to be still. It didn’t work with everyone. I didn’t even know if it would work with you, but I guess it did.”

  He nodded and moved closer. “It did. Whatever is inside of me, these dragon warrior instincts or whatever that makes me so turbulent, I can’t control them. Not until I understand them, I imagine. Something about you…” He shook his head. “You can speak to that part of me. You calm the storm.” He lifted her chin with his finger so that he could gaze down into her eyes. “For a woman who loathed my very existence the moment she set eyes on me, you have done a lot for me in the past few days.”

  Willow’s heart was fluttering like a caged bird and she hated it, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She was forced to look into his beautiful eyes and his tormented, handsome face. As if it had a mind of its own, her hand moved from his chest up to cup his jaw. His eyes closed and he leaned into her touch. She sighed. “No man, human or otherwise, should have to go through what you’ve been put through over the past three days. I don’t care who you are.”

  He smiled and opened his eyes to look at her. “Do you still think I’m a jerk?”

  Even though he sounded playful when he asked it, his face was serious. She shook her head and feathered her thumb back and forth across his cheek, studying the texture of the stubble that decorated his face. “No,” she whispered. “Darien and the other kids like you. Lucy adores you. For some reason, my brother thinks you rock.” His chuckle was deep, velvety and warm. It sent chills all along her spine. “And you protected me when Cyrcinus tried to attack me. Even if you didn’t know what you were doing. Even if you didn’t know what was going on. You still protected me. That is not something a selfish jerk would do.”

  The smallest of smiles touched his lips and he placed his hand over hers, then drew it to his mouth and kissed her fingers. It was a gentle, feather light touch, and it set her on fire in the worst possible way. His gaze met hers again and confusion flashed in his eyes. It was enough to let her know that her face was sparkling again.

  She sighed and brought her hands to her cheeks. “Oh…” she muttered.

  “You mean… That wasn’t a hallucination?” he questioned.

  She looked up at him dismally. “Unfortunately, no.”

  He frowned. “What does it mean?”

  She stepped away. “Nothing. Come on, I’ll show you where you’re supposed to sleep.” She turned on her heel and walked towards the entrance to the main hall of her house. She really had a bone to pick with her body. It kept betraying her and she didn’t like it. Not at all.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Logan!”

  Logan awoke with a start, his fingers instantly coming up to close around the wrist connected to the hand he felt on his chest. He was ready to do serious bodily harm, but his adrenaline subsided when his eyes fell on Willow’s pale face. He frowned and loosened his hold on her wrist. “Willow?” He propped himself up on his elbow. “What’s wrong?”

  She looked sheepish and uncertain. She glanced down and shrugged. “I just—” She sighed. “I had a bad dream that you’d been stabbed. It was awful. Really vivid. I actually woke up screaming.” She stole a glance up at him. “I just had to see if you were all right. I’m sorry.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t be sorry.” He smiled. “I’m okay.”

  She gave him a meager smile and nodded, but didn’t really look like she felt much better. “All right.” She swallowed. “I’ll go back to bed.”

  She started to leave and Logan had no idea what kind of demon possessed him, but before a rational thought could enter his mind, he snatched Willow by the wrist and hauled her into his arms, pressing his lips to hers in a demanding, hot kiss. She squeaked when he pulled her down and her body stiffened when he kissed her, but she didn’t resist.

  Sense returned to him almost immediately and he pulled away, his chest laboring with the force of his breath. What the—? He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers as he tried to get control over himself. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to be forceful.” It had been her concern, her concern for his safety. He was the last person to deserve her care and compassion, yet she gave it to him anyway. Even though he’d been a jerk. Even though he’d viewed her as no more than a piece of meat when he’d first met her. He’d insulted everything she loved. He’d been rude, arrogant, callous and careless, but she’d watched over him when he’d been sick. She’d stayed with him when he’d begged like a child. She calmed the foreign beast that lived within him. It was more than he could have ever asked from another person, and it was definitely more than he ever would have asked from her.

  Willow drew a shaky hand up to her mouth and moved away enough so that she could look up at him in bewilderment.

  Logan shook his head. Way to blow it, idiot. “Please, Willow, don’t be upset. I know you think I’m just a womanizer, but I promise I wasn’t trying to pull a fast one on you. You—” He sighed and kept his eyes downcast. He didn’t want to see the disgust she no doubt was looking at him with. “You’re not a conquest to me,” he admitted quietly. “I wasn’t trying to conquer you. I was just…” He searched for words. “I was just trying to—” Her slender fingers against his lips stopped him from speaking anything else.

  “Logan,” she murmured, “I’m not upset.” She gave a small, nervous giggle. “Actually, I think if I remember correctly, I owe you one anyway, right?”

  He braved a look up at her and smiled when he only saw mirth and a small hint of desire in her eyes. Desire… Could that really be what it was, or was it only his mind wishing so hard that he imagined it? It didn’t really matter. She’d basically just given him permission to kiss her again and he was going to take advantage of it.

  He reached out to pull her back in his arms and situated her so that he was cradling her. She looked apprehensive and unsure, but he reached up to brush back her hair and caress his fingers down the line of her jaw. Her eyelids fluttered closed and he gently lowered his lips, brushing over hers with a teasing stroke, then kissing each corner of her mouth. He pressed a light, chaste kiss to her top lip, then her bottom lip before he drew it into his mouth and sucked. She exhaled a shaky breath and he smiled, then fully covered her mouth with his.

  He held her face with care and he made his kisses slow, deliberate and sensual. He took his time and was delighted when she reached up, tangled her fingers in his hair and thrust her tongue into his mouth, taking control of the kiss in a way he hadn’t expected. His arms tightened around her and his world exploded at the perfection and sweetness her mouth offered. It was better than any kiss he’d ever received. She tasted better than any other woman. Maybe because, for the first time, he wasn’t just kissing a random woman. He was kissing Willow. He knew her. He cared for her. He wasn’t just attracted to her body and her face. He was attracted to her fire, her compassion, her selflessness. He was attracted to her initial blatant disregard of him because it made her different. It made her special.

  There was emotion in his kiss for the first time.

  When Willow pulled away, both of them were fighting for air and her face was flushed and sparkling worse than ever. He gave a thoughtful frown and touched her cheek. “What is this?”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face against his shoulder. “It’s embarrassing, that’s what it is.”

  He chuckled and held her close. “Tell me.”

  She huffed and gave him a pointed look. “
Well, it’s like a female fairy’s version of a man’s…well…” She glanced down at his lap. “You know.”

  His eyes widened. “Oh…” He frowned, then wrinkled his nose playfully. “So, you’re aroused?”

  Her face turned a deep shade of red and she buried it against his shoulder again. “Leave me alone, Logan,” she muttered.

  He laughed and held her close, not wanting to let her go, ever. That was strange for him, just as foreign as everything else he was feeling. He never got attached. But she felt good in his arms. Her warmth against him felt right. He didn’t want to let it go. Feeling devilish and aching to taste her lips one more time, he nudged her with his shoulder and put his mouth close to her ear. “Willow,” he whispered, “look at me.”

  She did and he moved in to cover her lips again, keeping it soft and simple and enough to tide him over, even though he wanted much, much more than that at the moment. He sighed when he pulled away and nuzzled her nose with his, making both of them smile.

  “Logan,” she whispered.

  He raised his head and looked at her.

  She bit her bottom lip. “Your kiss… It was different than I expected.”

  He frowned. “How did you expect it to be?”

  She blushed. “Well, you’re so aggressive. I expected you to be…well, kind of—”

  “Harsh? Demanding?”

  She met his eyes and nodded.

  He smirked. “Were you disappointed?”

  She shook her head. “Oh, no.” She blushed an even deeper shade of red. “Not that I was, like, daydreaming about kissing you or anything like that. I mean, I was just fulfilling my end of a bargain.”