Authors: Dakota Dawn
Reed stormed to the table Chase sat at. He looked at their cups of froosh and then pulled Chase to his feet. Teal eyes took in Chase’s cut brow, and his eyes glowed. High emotion must cause his eyes to glow, Chase thought to himself. “Reed, what’s the—”
In a low and somewhat scary voice, Reed ground out, “Go to our rooms now.” Reed turned to Byron. “Go with him. Make sure he gets there safely.”
Not wanting to embarrass Reed, Chase quietly left the room. In their rooms he paced until Reed came in. “Don’t ever do that to me again. I’m not some naughty child you need to scold. I’ll have a drink of froosh with anyone I see fit.”
Reed’s brows shot up. “You think I’m upset because you were drinking froosh with Rhett? What happened to your eye?” Reed tapped his foot and dug his phone from his pocket. “Where’s your phone?”
Chase pulled his out of his pocket. “Right here, why?”
“Why didn’t you answer it when I called to tell you to go to our rooms?” Reed tapped his foot some more.
Chase looked at his phone. It was dead. He looked up at the still-angry Reed. “I forgot to charge it. Look, I’m sorry. Shouldn’t you guys have better technology than humans?”
“I’m going to ignore that last comment.” Reed stared hard at Chase. “Were you even going to tell me you were in a fight? I only know about it because security called me after Byron called them.” Reed stepped right in front of Chase and caught him in his gaze. “From now on you don’t leave these rooms without me. You could have been killed today. Trust me, those men will be sorry they touched you.”
Chase rolled his eyes. “Duh, I think they already are. We taught them a lesson. Have you seen Rhett and Byron get down? Byron was to the side of me, circled by three men. He was punching, blocking, and kicking. Hell, I think his eyebrows may have even slapped one of them. You should have seen it. I was kicking ass, then Rhett jumped in and, back-to-back, we started taking those idiots out. That was as good as any bar fight I’ve ever been in on Earth.”
Reed grabbed Chase’s shoulders and shook him lightly before crushing him to his chest. “Don’t you understand? You are my mystic mate. You can’t take chances. When those fools surrounded you, a scream should have come from your mouth. Everyone a mile away should have heard you.” Reed leaned back and looked into Chase’s eyes. “You are the future of my people. You can’t die.”
All of Chase’s recent adrenaline rush quickly dissipated. Reed was worried about him and the future of his people. Chase was swiftly struck by the importance of his role on this planet. “I think I understand now. I won’t take any more chances. I won’t fight again unless my life or the life of my mate or children is on the line. But I’m not sorry I whooped ass today. It was important for the fairies to see that humans are not weak people.”
Reed groaned and hugged Chase tightly. “I have to ride a section of the borders tomorrow, and I’m taking you with me.”
Chase rubbed his body into Reed’s.
Damn, I love this man
. “As you wish, my king.”
A low growl came from Reed’s chest. “After I clean your wound, I expect you to fulfill more of my wishes.”
A squeak came from Chase when Reed scooped him up and headed for the bathroom. Chase rested his head on Reed’s chiseled chest, and he melted into him. “I look forward to fulfilling your every wish, my king.”
Chapter Eleven
Was he kidding?
They were checking the borders on those things?
To Chase’s shock, Reed had led him up to two horse-looking things that had six legs. One was midnight black with brown lower legs, and the other was tan with white lower legs. The black one stepped closer to Reed. Chase looked between the animal and Reed. “You’re kidding me, right?”
Reed slid his hand up the creature’s neck then rubbed its ears. The animal whinnied and rubbed into Reed. “Not at all. These animals are odas. We use odas a lot.” Reed ran his hand down the back of the animal. “They are fast and strong.”
Chase wanted to go back inside and have Reed run his hands all over his body. The tan oda next to Chase whinnied, drawing Chase away from his fantasy. “I don’t know about this. Shouldn’t we take one of those cool hover vehicles?” Reed shook his head. “Okay. How about one of those old-ass vans?”
“We only use hovercrafts when needed. And that old-ass van that you were thrown into was considered a classic.” Reed once again ran his hand along the oda’s back. “These are our main mode of transportation.” At Chase’s horrified look, Reed laughed. “Yes. We have sophisticated technology, but for the most part, we like to keep things simple.”
Knowing he wasn’t going to win this time, Chase gently ran his hand down the back of his new ride. The tan, shiny skin was surprisingly soft for such a tough-looking animal. It was a little taller than any horse on Earth, and the mane that ran down its neck was long and bushy. As Chase smoothed his hand up the animal’s silky back, he noticed how wide it was. Excellent for riding. The oda’s head turned and it looked Chase straight in the eyes. Surprise held him in place. He was staring into the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen in an animal. They were dark purple with threads of white shooting through them. It felt like the animal was looking into his soul.
“That’s it, get to know her,” Reed encouraged as he continued to stroke his animal.
When his purple-eyed oda looked over at Reed’s oda, Chase whispered, “You’re a pretty thing, aren’t you.” Chase guided his hand up the oda’s body and up its neck. He rubbed its ears, and to his shock, he felt the animal’s pleasure.
“I see she’s chosen you. They only share their feelings with one person. That person will forever be connected to them.” Reed’s voice was full of pride.
“Does that mean they only allow the person they connect with to ride them?” Chase asked as he rubbed her ears.
“No. An oda will let different people ride them. The sharing of their emotions just means that they like their chosen one best of all. Here at the castle, when an oda chooses a person, we put that person’s name on the stall the oda sleeps in at night. Your name will be put on Callie’s stall.”
“Callie. I like her name.” A happy humming sensation whipped up Chase’s hand and warmed his heart. Chase cut his eyes to Reed. “Did you feel that?”
Laughter rumbled up from Reed’s chest. “No. She’ll only share her feeling with you. Oh, and you have to be touching her for it to happen.”
“That’s so cool. Is that one connected to you?” Chase pointed to the oda Reed was petting.
“Yes. Her name is Tangee. They are both beautiful animals.” Reed walked over to Chase and took a handful of Callie’s mane. “The way you get on her is by grabbing this thick part of her mane that is close to her body.” Reed moved his hand down to a thick-muscled hump at the top of the oda’s front leg. “This is a bundle of solid muscles. When mounting from the left side of the oda, you put your right foot on this muscled hump and throw you left leg over her back. Don’t forget to pull yourself up, using her mane, at the same time. Odas can be mounted from either side. Are you ready to try?”
“Are you sure my foot’s not going to hurt her?” Chase wasn’t so sure about this. He was a city boy. City boys didn’t ride horses all over the place.
“No. You won’t hurt her. An oda’s hide is soft to the touch, but very thick and tough. Go ahead. Mount her.”
At the word mount, Chase’s balls tingled. “I’d rather mount you.”
Reed’s teal eyes glowed for a minute. “I’d like that myself, but we have work to do. Several of my men are coming with us. Let’s not keep them waiting.”
Tenderness surrounded Chase’s heart. Reed’s thoughtfulness toward his men confirmed to Chase that Reed was the right man to rule the fairy people. Chase ran his fingers through Callie’s mane, and he was rewarded with her feelings of contentment. “Okay, Callie, let’s see if I can do this.” Chase grabbed hold of her mane, placed his foot properly on her body, then swung himself up and onto her back. Exhilaration had him smiling from ear to ear. “I did it! Did you see me, Reed?”
Pride shone in Reed’s beautiful eyes. “Yes, I did, little one. You mounted her like a pro. Are you ready to see more of your new home?”
“Yes.” Chase petted Callie’s neck. “How do I get her to go where I need her to go?”
“That’s simple. Just tug on her lower mane, the part you pulled yourself up with, in the direction you wish to go. These animals are quite smart.” Reed stroked Tangee then tugged her mane to the right, and she turned until he stopped tugging and then started walking the way Reed wanted her to go.
Chase gently tugged on Callie’s mane, and she turned and followed Tangee. Chase heard others following him and turned to see three men behind him. One of them was Tate. Chase blushed when their eyes met, and he quickly turned back around. His brown eyes clashed with Reed’s glowing teal eyes.
Reed waved Chase up next to him. “Never be ashamed of what you did during the mating ceremony. You didn’t do anything to be embarrassed about.”
Heat suffused Chase’s cheeks. “It’s just that I don’t normally do that with people I don’t know. I feel like a man-ho.”
Anger flared in Reed’s eyes. “You are not a man-ho. To our people you are the king’s mystic mate. You hold a high position in the fay world. Always be proud of whom you are and the position you hold. As other humans are brought here, they will look to you. One of your jobs will be to ease their minds. The next human brought here will be our female mate.” Reed grinned mischievously. “You can practice on her. When you have her calmed down, I’ll come in and mate her.”
“Funny. You are not leaving my side until it’s done.” Chase’s stomach knotted. “Do we have to do this? I don’t know if I can help you take and mate a fellow human.”
“We don’t have a choice. I don’t like it either, but this has to be done. You’ve proven it’s possible for a human to come here and fit in. Another thing you’ve done is show fairies that some humans are incredibly strong and smart. It has been reported to me that the fairies respect you.” Reed slowed his oda, and Chase’s slowed as well. Reed rested his hand on Chase’s leg. “I know this is hard for you. Just think about it. On Earth you were just another human. Here you are needed. Without you and a select group of humans, the fairies will die off. On Ardinio you are the difference between life and death.”
Chase groaned, and his stomach tightened.
No stress here!
Sweat beaded his brow as he analyzed the situation. On Earth
he was just one of billions. Here on Ardinio he was needed. Reed had said
our people
a minute ago. Bone-deep, Chase knew he was home. If the Enlightened Ones chose all the humans carefully, this might work. “The Enlightened Ones, do they somehow know which humans will fit in best here? They wouldn’t take a human who had a spouse and children counting on them, would they?”
“Never.”
Reed’s quick and confident answered relieved Chase. “I’m in, then. You can count on me.”
“Remind me later to thank you for saving our people.” A wicked gleam shone in Reed’s eyes.
The knot in Chase’s stomach was replaced by anticipation. “Oh, I will.”
“It’s a pleasure I look forward to.” Reed cut his eyes to the path ahead. “Let’s get this border check over with.”
As they traveled Reed pointed out different plants and told what they were used for. A few miles down the path, a pink river came into view. The pink waves seemed to wink at Chase. Excitedly, Chase turned to Reed. “Can we swim in it? I’ve never swam in pink water before.”
The three men riding with them and Reed said, “No,” at the same time.
Chase’s excitement dimmed. “Why not?”
Reed looked at Tate. “Show him.” Moving Tangee, Reed guided the animal over to Chase.
“Yes, my king.”
Chase watched as Tate moved to within fifty feet of the lovely pink water. He dismounted and picked up a rock, then hurled it toward the flowing water. Before the rock cleared the edge of the river, a huge snake-looking creature with massive fangs and a scary beard lunged from the water and swallowed the rock.
Chase’s hands clutched at his chest. “Holy fuck! Why aren’t there any signs around here warning people about that big fucker?”
Tate rode back toward them as Reed answered, “Everyone on Ardinio knows to avoid all pink water.”
“We have to get rid of those things. They are too dangerous.” Chase’s whole body was shaking. “I can handle battling men, but wild creatures that can swallow men whole are totally beyond my training.”
Leaning over and pressing his lips to Chase’s, Reed kissed him until he was relaxed. “I’m afraid there is no way to get rid of all the bearded snatchers. They are like the crocodiles on Earth. There are many of them, and they do help keep the ecosystem in order. I’ll see if I can get their numbers cut down.” At Chase’s skeptical look, Reed continued, “We have several hunters who can kill them.”
With a shaky voice, Chase stated, “Well, all the humans brought here will have to be informed. How do your children not get eaten by that Loch Ness look-alike?”
Reed’s face saddened. “We haven’t had any children in a long time. When we do have children, they are trained young to stay away from all pink rivers. The blue and purple rivers are the only ones we swim in.”
Sorrow sliced through Chase’s chest. “When was the last baby born?”