Authors: Anna Keraleigh
“You will not.” He
landed beside her. “Look at me, Morrigan.”
She fought the order and
started to approach the forest by foot.
“Morrigan,” he called
out but she kept walking. “Damn it, woman.” He spun her around with a hand on
her shoulder and embraced her body in his like a warm, safe cocoon. “I did not
mean to scare you,” he admitted and actually sounded sincere. “My lust overcame
me. You looked unbelievably beautiful standing there. The fire in your eyes,
the knife in your hand...”
Morrigan looked at him.
His dark eyes locked with hers. She swallowed hard.
“You’re not going to
threaten my...nuts as you called them?” He almost sounded sad. “If I’ve harmed
you...”
“You didn’t.” Morrigan
finally spoke. “I’m just confused and pent-up with emotion. Probably a girl
thing.” She frowned. Freaking hormones.
“No, my emotions are
running rabid as well.” He grinned. “I cannot stop thinking about you. Not
since we met those long months ago. After that kiss, I could not hold back
long. You are a woman that I wish to tame. A woman I wish to control, to
please, to make smile, to fuck until we’re both too exhausted to stand.”
That last part sounded
pretty damn good. “And what if I want to be the one in control?” she asked, her
strength coming back in small spurts.
Whisper leaned closer.
“I will change your mind.” This smile was wicked and he showed his white fangs.
“And why the hell do you
have those?” Morrigan put her arms around him, and they lifted off the ground.
“That is a long,
complicated tale from my childhood,” he answered vaguely.
“Ah, well that explains
it.” Morrigan rolled her eyes. She kept her lower body away from his and held
the shirt together as the wind threatened to rip it open and reveal her hard
nipples. They still tingled, longing for his touch, the pressure from his
suckling, and the sting from his teeth. They came to the kingdom and in moments
landed on the balcony to her designated room. She let go of him quickly.
Morrigan opened the doors, leaving them open as she rushed into the room and
grabbed a shirt. She changed into it with her back toward him. When her breasts
were covered, she headed toward the door in search of Brook and some time away
from the dark fairy.
Whisper flew off into
the fading light and Morrigan was blissfully alone as she trudged down the
stairs. She only made it halfway when Thame, the golden fairy, came around the
corner with his sword pointed in her direction.
He took one look at her
face and lowered the weapon. “Sorry. You smell like a troll.”
Morrigan sniffed and
winced. She did smell like a troll, a combination of dirt and rotten fruit. She
walked past the fairy and found Brook in the den with her feet propped up on
the small wooden table. There was a wound on her cousin’s arm that Brielle was
currently healing. The female fairy had gorgeous white wings that Morrigan was
pretty sure everyone alive would envy. In Brook’s other arm was little Adara
who was getting bigger. The babe looked like she would be walking any day now.
“So you had some action
too?” Brook said with a one eye open. The other was swollen shut.
“Banshee talks didn’t go
so well.”
“Let me tell you,
banshees are some crazy motherfucking bitches.” She winced as Brielle placed
her hands over Brook’s injured eye.
“Put a check next to
those stories as true.”
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
Brook hissed out a breath and then Brielle stood. The beautiful fairy smiled at
her before leaving the room. Brook was once again herself, two eyes glaring at
Morrigan. “You smell...interesting.”
Morrigan snorted.
“Trolls and...musky
like... Holy shit, you smell like Whisper!” Brook sat up, jostling Adara who
whined for only a moment before falling back to sleep in her mother’s arms.
“Because he flew me
here,” Brook lied but she didn’t know why. They had always shared everything,
but the lie came out as smooth as a baby’s ass. “We found the trolls. Killed a
group of them and collapsed the last of the caves.”
Brook lifted a brow.
“You sure that was all you did?”
“Of course.” Morrigan
rolled her eyes.
“You twitched!” Brook
pointed an accusing finger and Adara started to whine. “Oh, sorry, sorry.” She
rocked the child in her arms. “Your eye twitched. That’s your signal.”
“I don’t have a signal,”
Morrigan said.
“How do you think I
always beat you at poker or knew when you were sneaking out to party?”
Morrigan plopped down on
the chair beside Brook and took a deep breath. “You could have told me that
sooner.” She sighed. “Did you know he has fangs?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean actual pointy
fangs like a freaking vampire.”
Brook stiffened. “Like a
troll...”
Morrigan was about to
deny it, but they were short like a troll’s teeth. Whisper had been able to
hide them in his mouth all this time. “I guess... Why?”
Brook sat back and bit
her bottom lip. “I’ve been waiting to tell you this but...I wanted to be sure,
and then I felt horrible accusing someone.”
“Just tell me.” The
mirth from their conversation was gone.
“Carrick.” Her voice
hitched as she said her former mate’s name. “He wasn’t killed by trolls.”
Morrigan was silent.
Stunned.
“I went back after...
There were no troll prints, no troll blood. He was too good a fighter to not
even scratch a troll.” Brook held Adara closer. “There were footprints. Feet
prints...a man.”
“But that’s
impossible...” Morrigan began but quickly stopped. “You think… you think it’s a
fairy? A fairy helping the trolls!” Then she thought about Whisper’s fangs, his
troll fangs. “It can’t be him.”
“Wick was the only one I
saw. He’s the only one I trust. Well, fuck, I trust them all, but he’s the only
one who I know one hundred percent did not...murder my mate.” A tear slid down
Brook’s cheek.
“It can’t be Whisper,”
Morrigan said in a rush. “He’s scary and a freak, and he may have troll fangs,
but I truly believe it’s not him.” She did. Her heart told her he was not the
traitor, but her head quickly put doubt in her words.
Brook wiped away the
lone tear. “We have a lot of suspects. All of whom I’ve come to love and
cherish.” She stood, cradling Adara close. “It has to be a man. The print was
big, and it has to be a human.” A loud crash of thunder overhead made Brook
jerk. “Just watch your back, as I am mine and hers.” Brook kissed the child’s
forehead and walked off.
Morrigan sat there for a
while, staring at the wall as more thunder sounded overhead. She couldn’t fight
that feeling, the nagging doubt. Morrigan was trained to look for evidence and
having troll fangs on a fairy sure as hell brought up some serious questions.
Could Whisper be part troll? If he was, what side did he remain loyal to?
Morrigan stood. Could she have had amazing sex with a traitor? She paced the
room before heading toward the main door and opening it wide. It was raining, a
light drizzle to cool off the warm summer sunset. Morrigan stepped out into the
rain trying to fight the heavy ache that began in her chest.
She couldn’t deal with
that right now or with him.
Whisper
. Just
thinking his name sent shivers down her spine. No, she didn’t want to be
anywhere near that particular man right now. So, she stood in the rain. Her
clothes were soaked through and her flesh cool. It was a summer rain. If she
looked to the south, the clouds were gone and moonlight was heading their way.
If Morrigan just waited the storm out, she could sort through the events since
her arrival in the fairy kingdom. Could Whisper, the man she had wild sex with
on the battlefield and the fairy that was taking her heart, be a traitor?
A twig snapped. She spun around with her hand
on her sleek black gun. The rain pattered on various objects as she tried to
listen. Friend? Foe? Morrigan’s plump lips opened, water splashed on her face
harder as a beautiful creature stepped from the forest. The horse was black as
midnight with a silky mane dripping water. It wasn’t overly large, maybe a
small female or juvenile. She knew very little about horses. Morrigan took her
hand off her gun, amazed as the horse took a few tentative steps toward her.
His eyes were wide, a gray color that seemed all too human in their quick darts
of the surroundings.
“Hello,” Morrigan said
quietly. She stepped toward him, not wanting to frighten. Her movements were
slow, but the horse seemed to be unafraid of her. He whinnied and lowered his
head as Morrigan approached. She smiled, fingers spreading, arm reaching out to
touch that beautiful mane. The moment her skin touched his, a shiver ran
through her body. It was raining heavier. His black locks were silky to the
touch. She moved her hand over his side, smooth with crisp hairs.
He shifted, lowered
slightly, and she had this sudden longing to ride him. Yeah, right. Morrigan
pulled her hand back. Ride a horse? She wasn’t a damn cowgirl. The horse whinnied,
and Morrigan went back to stroking his mane. The animal really was beautiful.
She looked back to his face, and his lips peeled back. Was that a smile? Her
instinct took over. Something was very odd with this creature. She pulled her
hand back.
Too late.
The mane came alive.
Black locks wrapped around her wrist. They moved like limbs or tentacles as they
strapped to her arms and tugged her forward. She screamed loudly in case
someone could hear. They locked around her ankles. She kicked and squirmed as
she was lifted into the air.
“What the fuck?”
Morrigan was on the horse’s back.
Being down shit creek,
she called the man who had forced her out into the rain. “Whisper!” She
shivered, and rain began to beat her back harshly.
There was an inhumane
roar.
The horse took off.
Morrigan was terrified as she bounced around on the beast’s back. “Whisper!” she
called out again, the ground moving quickly beneath her. The hard dirt was
replaced by sand. Morrigan struggled against the strange binding but was unable
to budge an inch. She couldn’t get to her gun as the creature began to run
toward the water. This was no horse. What the hell was going on? Morrigan cried
out again, working twice as hard to free herself. The water was approaching.
Waves were crashing on shore wildly as the rain began to ease. She cursed
creatively as the horse thing plunged into the water. Waves lapped at his hide and
began to cover her dangling feet. Morrigan took a giant breath, glancing back
at the beach. She saw a lone figure whose giant wings matched the night sky. He
was there, right there, flying toward her. Morrigan’s head went under the water
as the storm raged on above her head.
****
Whisper took a deep
breath of the warm fresh scent of rain. It pelted the leaves of the tree he hid
beneath but kept his wings dry. He waited beneath the willow tree. He was
unable to sleep. Dreams plagued him, visions of Morrigan’s naked body. She had
been willing. The submissive side of her had exploded the moment he entered her
wet, tight channel. It had been amazing—covered in blood, the battle around
them and his cock inside her. Whisper shuddered. She was truly his mate. The
fight with the trolls had his blood boiling and seeing her in the middle of the
fray and kicking ass, she looked irresistible. It was finally his turn to be
blessed by the Goddess. Whisper wasn’t even sure what happiness was, but he’d
felt a spark of contentment when he was with Morrigan. His life had been a
series of battles and victories.
A warm breeze blew
particularly hard. It shifted the rain toward an angle and the water sprayed
across his chest. The armor would keep his skin dry. It also hid the results of
his childhood with the trolls. Whisper would have to tell her and he dreaded
that conversation. Perhaps they could stick with hard sex and battles instead.
He inhaled deeply, not wanting to think about the past, but a familiar scent came
with the next breeze.
Morrigan.
He knew her smell. It
was crisp like a rain shower during a cold winter day. It made his nose tingle
and his fingers curl. She wasn’t moving toward him, though, but the opposite
direction. Where was she heading so late? The moon was up, though the gray
clouds above prevented the sight. Whisper flexed his wings, ignoring the
uncomfortable feel of rain on them. He flew toward the south. The only thing in
this direction was woods and the shore. He landed just before a large grassy
field, using his extremely sensitive eyes to find her. There, in the shadows,
she was running. From what? Her hair was lifted from her shoulders by the
winds, her arms pumping, her heels pushing off the ground. She stopped when she
burst from the trees. The rain pelted her harder. Whisper shivered, quickly
moving beneath a big tree. Any wetter and his wings would be useless.
Morrigan was standing
there, looking toward the woods. What exactly was she staring at? He sniffed
the air but couldn’t catch any scent but hers. His cock responded. It went from
soft to semi-hard in a matter of seconds. Whisper rubbed his crotch and nearly
groaned at the pleasure that slithered up his spine. He wanted her again. Now.
Pressed against the tree, her hands tied to the limb above, her legs spread to
reveal her hot core, the rain blending with her cream. Whisper blew out a
breath, his fangs scrapping at his bottom lip. He stepped closer and his smile
turned to a frown.