by Eden Ashe
This time, when the fury broke and she fell apart, she came screaming his name. The sound of it, the wildness of his fairy screaming for him, sent him over the edge and into oblivion.
* * * *
“Nathan.”
One corner of his mouth tilted up. With his body too exhausted to manage prying his eyes open, the senses he was left with was hearing and scent. And taste. He could still taste her sweet skin on his tongue, and if he’d had the energy, he’d dive into that most heated part of her and devour. Again.
But it was her voice. Soft, lilting, with a hint of an accent. It occurred to him that he’d been so focused on everything else about her, he hadn’t paid attention to the little things. Like how sweetly she said his name, or how damn good she smelled.
Aware he was still half sprawled on top of her, having only managed enough common sense to leverage the majority of his massive frame to the bed, he hooked his arm around her waist in case she got an idea in her head to leave.
A finger poked him in his side. “Nathan.”
“What do you want, woman?” he growled, finally managing to open one eye. “You wore me out.”
She laughed, and he swore it was the most enchanting sound he’d ever heard. She leaned forward and pressed her lips softly to his, then raised her gaze to meet his eyes. “I like you, Nathan.”
He nodded. Wrapping his arm tighter around her waist, he pulled her a little farther underneath him, then threw one of his legs over to hold her where he wanted her. “Good. Because I like you, too, Katenia.”
“Katen,” she said softly. “I like when you call me Katen.”
He didn’t know why such a simple request had him softening, but he didn’t bother fighting it. Not yet, anyway.
“Sleep, Katen,” he whispered, shifting just enough to pull the comforter over them. He knew daylight would bring all the problems roaring back, but he was going to take this time while he had it.
* * * *
She dreamed about home.
She was a fairy again, and delighted to have her wings again. She shot into the air, twisting and twirling around and around, her head tossed back in pure abandon. She missed this, the sensation of wind in her hair, being carried along on the soft breeze with the scent of wild lilies enveloping her.
This was her home. This was where she belonged. And for a moment, as her laugh bubbled out of her, she couldn’t remember why she missed it.
“Katenia.”
She spun around as hope spread through her chest on a painful ache, but it was him. Shooting forward, she slammed into her brother so hard they both tumbled through the air. “Linx, it’s you.” She wrapped her arms around him in mid-somersault, and held on until the spinning stopped.
He grabbed her hand and led her to the very edge of their valley and under the canopy of a weeping willow tree. The old tree had always been her hiding spot. She couldn’t remember how many times her oldest brother had found her hiding among the branches, avoiding one punishment or another.
Once they were deep inside where no one could see them, he let go of her hand and crouched, his gaze focused somewhere far away. It was a long time before he turned his head toward her. “What have you done, Katenia?”
Shock barely registered through the pain from the leashed fury in his voice. Linx had always been her voice of reason and her champion, even when she’d least deserved to have someone in her corner.
She shook her head slowly, refusing to let the betrayal show in her eyes. He’d been gone for ten years, and he was angry at her? “I was kidnapped, Linx.”
He shot to his feet then, towering over her. “You had sex with a human!” he roared. “Do you know what the Council will do to you? Do you have any idea what you have done?”
Instinct had her fluttering backward as unease rippled along her skin. This wasn’t Linx. It couldn’t be. Her brother would never intimidate her this way. “He’s not cruel, Linx. He’s not like the others. He’s kind and gentle and—”
His harsh laugh interrupted her. He shot forward, gripping her arms and yanking her toward him. “He’s human.” He spat the word like he’d swallowed something nasty. “You have gone against everything you’ve been taught, everything we believe because you think he’s kind?” He shook her once, then shoved her away from him as if she was tainted. “What were you thinking, little sister? I’m not here to protect you this time, and there will be no amount of pleading and begging that will get you out of whatever punishment they decide to enforce on you.”
Hot, angry tears welled in her eyes, and before she could stop herself, she fluttered closer to him and shot her fist into his face. Shock rippled through his eyes, but she didn’t care. “You-you-you bastard!” she yelled. “You knew what Finn would do to you if you took another of his women, but you did it anyway. You were banished and disappeared, and you are yelling at me for screwing up?”
“You don’t get it.” He moved away and turned his back on her. His white-blonde hair was longer, falling to mid-waist, but everything else about him was the same. He’d pulled the sides away from his face and braided it, and it was all so familiar, from his warrior stance to the sword strapped diagonally across his back, the markings of their people etched into his biceps. It had her grief and rage and pain bubbling to the surface. But the fury in his grass-green eyes when he turned to her was staggering, and his next words broke her heart. “They’ve already made their decision. They will make you choose between Aeron, a cruel, evil little male, and banishment. Either way, you are dead. Do you understand? As soon as you pass on the bloodline to the Council’s satisfaction, they will ostracize you, and leave you in the cold.”
She closed her eyes, the tears she’d tried to hold in check escaping her defenses and slipping down her cheek. He was right. Everything she loved, from her wings to her home to her family, everything was lost to her now.
She was still crying as the dream faded and reality came crashing down around her. Nathan was still curled around her, and while all she wanted at the moment was to ask him to share this burden, she hurried to wipe her tears, not wanting him to wake up and notice.
“Too late.” She winced at his rough voice, and when she turned her head toward him, his dark blue eyes were wide open and staring right at her. “Where the hell did you go, woman?”
“Nathan, I…” Her voice trailed off as her face crumpled. “Just a nightmare.”
“Okay,” he said it softly, and the next thing she knew, she was hauled underneath him, his face directly above hers, eyes storming and determined. “Let’s try this again without the lies. Where did you go?”
“Home,” she said softly. “I went home.”
Chapter 11
Nathan could feel the tension building at the base of his skull as he stared down into her terrified face. With a violent snarl, he levered himself off her and got to his feet. Every muscle in his body had tightened, as if gearing for war. “Going home doesn’t scare the ever living hell out of most people.”
She scooted into a sitting position, and glared at him through tear-filled eyes. “It’s not your fight, Nathan. Let it go.”
“What fight?” He snarled. “What goddamn battle are you facing when you go home?”
She pushed her hair out of her face with both hands, tucking it behind her ears. She shifted onto her knees and pointed up at him. “You don’t need to know!” she yelled. “It’s not your job to fix me!”
He stared at her for a long moment, before he snorted and stalked over to his dresser. He yanked open the top drawer, tossed her a white T-shirt and pulled out a pair of drawstring pants. Once he had them on, he shoved the drawer shut, and rounded on her again. “Look, Katen.” Now was not the time to think about her hot body or those killer curves. He gritted his teeth and helped her into the shirt. “It’s my family’s fault you’re in this mess. I told you I would help, and I can’t if you don’t open your mouth and tell me what the hell is going on.”
For a moment, Nathan was sure the a
ir between them started to sizzle, but then she let out a frustrated sound, dropped down on the bed, and pulled her knees up to her chest. “Is it hard being a human?”
He shook his head at the bizarre question, having no idea how to answer it. “Okay.” He crouched on the floor in front of the bed, bringing them closer to eye level. “Why are you asking?”
Another tear leaked out when she closed her eyes. “I might not be able to go home.”
“What?” He snapped. “Why wouldn’t you be able to go home?”
She shook her head. “That’s not important—” Her voice cut off when she glanced at his face. She dropped her gaze down to her bare toes. “In the Elder Council’s eyes, I’m now tainted.”
His tension headache went from dull to roaring. “How will they know? It’s not like I marked you or branded you, damn it.”
Her pert nose wrinkled as she sniffled and wiped at her cheeks. “Linx said they knew, and had already decided my fate. One of the Elders is a Seer.”
Nathan was positive she was trying to drive him mental on purpose. Hadn’t she told him hours ago Linx had been missing for a decade? He scratched at his chest and sat on the bed next to her. “Let’s start over before I get any more confused. What happened in your dream?”
Her teeth worried at her bottom lip as she peeked up at him. She sighed and shifted in closer to his side. Leaning into him, she relayed her dream. By the time she was done explaining everything, he’d lifted her into his lap and had wrapped both his arms around her as she sobbed quietly against his chest. Fury like nothing he’d ever known pulsed through him, and while he knew it wasn’t safe for her to be this close until he got his temper under control, he couldn’t let her go. It scared the shit out of him, but somewhere through the haze of rage was the crystal clear thought that she needed him.
He wasn’t going to let her down.
“Say something,” she finally demanded, tilting her face up to look at him.
He gave in to the need and smoothed his hand down her hair, kissing her temple and gently setting her on the bed. “Trust me,” he said, his voice tight, “you don’t want to hear what I have to say.”
“I’m not asking you for anything, and I told you, this isn’t your fight. I can handle myself.”
He stopped halfway to the bathroom and spun around to snarl at her. “Really?” he asked. “How the hell are you going to take care of this? You have no idea how to be fucking human, and there is no way in the goddamn world will I let you go home to be used as a broodmare for some scummy asshole.”
“I can learn how to be a human,” she said softly. She unfolded herself from the bed and carefully got to her feet. “It can’t be hard, right?”
He snorted, because he had no other answer for her. “I’m in my thirties, Katen, and I’m still trying to figure out what it means to be human.”
Her brow screwed up in her adorable way that told him she had no idea what the hell he was talking about.
“No,” he muttered as he pointed at her. “Stop it, right now. It’s not happening.”
Confusion flickered over her face. “What? What isn’t happening?”
“I don’t know, I just…goddamn it, I need a drink.”
Without another word, he turned and walked out of the bedroom, aware that if he didn’t, he’d find a way to convince her to stay with him forever.
* * * *
She was still in the bedroom an hour later, and though he knew she was safe, Nathan was beginning to worry. He knew his mood swings, along with everything she’d been through in the last day, had to be overwhelming her, and while he felt like the biggest ass on the planet, for the life of him, he didn’t know how to fix any of it.
Part of him was aware it wouldn’t take much for him to fall the rest of the way in love with her, but his family’s history of relationship instabilities and violence didn’t make him anxious to tie anyone to him. His father had claimed until his dying breath his wife was the love of his life, and that he would love her beyond forever, and she’d loved him back with a pathetic desperation. Mira Whitney had walked away from one of the wealthiest families in the country to be with Dade Alexander, convinced as long as they had each other and their two children, Nathan and Hope, they would always be happy. Instead, Dade had turned out to be a raging, abusive alcoholic, and Mira had worked herself into an early grave trying to keep food on the table while enabling her husband’s alcohol and gambling addictions.
And Nathan, he had learned that love was a bullshit word. It meant nothing. He could tell Katen he was falling in love with her, and he could tell her she could stay with him forever.
With a disgusted snort, he shoved off the couch and headed toward the bedroom, only to come up short when he saw her curled up on his bed, sleeping. The T-shirt she wore was still damp with tears, and her flower was cradled in one arm.
Not sure what else to do, he turned off all the lights and gently pulled the plant away from her. He set it on the bedside table and stretched out on his back next to her. He normally slept naked, but it wasn’t the wisest idea with her so close to him at the moment. Stretching one arm out, he gently hooked it underneath her waist and pulled her into him. His little fairy kept going, however, turning all the way until one of her legs was tangled in his, her head resting on his shoulder and her hand lay gently on his chest.
It wasn’t until he hit the twilight area before exhaustion took over, that he realized her hand was lying over his heart, as if protecting it.
And damn if he didn’t fall a little bit more in love with her.
Chapter 12
His pillow smelled like a girl. His cock, already standing at attention, tightened at the familiar scent, and even as he rolled over, searching for the source, reality struck and he was on his feet.
She was gone. The clothes she’d borrowed from Hope were on the dresser where he’d tossed them the night before, but the T-shirt he’d given her was gone, too. Because he refused to believe she’d leave half naked, he shoved a hand through his hair and stalked through his large-ass apartment.
She wasn’t there. He searched every corner and under every piece of furniture, not sure she wouldn’t decide the oddest place for a human to sleep would make a comfortable bed for her. He didn’t start to panic until he found himself at the opposite end of the penthouse, with no fairy in sight.
His jaw set as his eye began to twitch. He was going to find her, then he was going to strangle her, and then he was going to lock her up somewhere she’d be safe and unable to disappear on him again, or get herself hurt. He didn’t care if he sounded like an over-protective asshole. She had no business being out in the world without him. What the hell was she thinking?
Telling himself it was anger that made his shoulders tremble, he went back to his bedroom. He yanked on a shirt and his shoes, then grabbed his wallet and keys off the nightstand. He was turning to head for the door when something outside his peripheral vision caught his attention. Furious at the relief rushing through him, he pushed open the patio door. “What the hell are you doing?” He snapped.
She jumped. “Go away, Nathan. I’m working.” She stared down at the plant lying at her feet, chanting under her breath as tears slipped down her cheeks.
Willing back his temper, he moved in front of her, and gently crooked his fingers under her chin. She fought against looking at him, as if she was afraid to take her eyes off the lily, but he was more stubborn than she could ever possibly know.
“Hey.” Afraid of spooking her, Nathan kept his voice soothing as he took a step closer to her, forcing her attention on him instead of the plant. “What’s going on?”
Her nose wiggled before she sniffed and wiped her hand over her cheeks. “I’m trying to will myself into a fairy again.”
His gut clenched. He didn’t want to yell at her, but how the hell could she want to go back to that world? “Katen—”
She cut him off with a quick shake of her head. Without a word, she stepped around her plant a
nd moved into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She dropped her head against his chest and sniffled again. “Don’t argue with me, Nathan. You’ve done enough to help me already.”
Logically, he knew she was right. She wasn’t his problem. His life sure as hell wasn’t set up for a helpless female, no matter how hot she was or how amazing the sex was. He wrapped his arms around her anyway, and pulled her in closer as he dropped his chin on the top of her head. “Maybe,” he agreed, “but you’re still here, and I’m all you’ve got. No one else is going to believe you’re a fairy.”
She glared up at him. “That doesn’t make me feel any better.” She blew out a breath and turned her head to rest her cheek against his chest. “I thought maybe if I wished hard enough, I could become a fairy again. Even if I couldn’t go back to the valley, at least I would have my home.”
He rested his cheek against the top of her head. The city was just starting to come alive. Finally, he nodded and scooped her up. He ignored her questioning look as he opened the door to the bedroom, and didn’t set her on her feet until they were in front of the bed. He pointed at the mattress behind him. “Sit.”
She blinked at his command, even as she carefully lowered herself onto the edge of the bed. Her beautiful face was dark, and there was indignant temper in her bright green eyes. “I don’t handle being told what to do well.”
“Tough.” He winked at her before she could get worked up. Because she looked more than capable of kicking him or turning him into a cockroach if she got more pissed off, he was careful to keep some distance between them as he crouched in front of her, his forearms braced against his thighs. “Look. Right now, I’m all you have. You may hate it, but it is what it is. I’m not sending you out into the world this vulnerable. You wouldn’t last a day.” He cocked a brow, warning her that he wasn’t finished. “I’m sure you could handle yourself, but you don’t know this world. You have no money for food, or clothes or shelter.”
