Lina: Twisted Fairy Tales Book Two

4: A Different Side

Locks are not that easy to pick. Or maybe it’s just magical Fae Locks that are not that easy to pick.

I smacked my hand against the door in frustration as the hairpin I was using broke with still no sign of the door coming free.

“Entertaining, but useless.” The Fae King’s voice drawled from behind me. I scrambled around on hands and knees, putting my back to the corner. He grinned. “The view is.. Enjoyable as well..” He remarked from his place on my bed as he flicked a hand in my direction, indicating my rucked up skirts. 

“What do you want?” I sniped, not willing to encourage his poor behavior with a response. He shrugged a shoulder, tucking his hand back behind his head. He was reclined there on my bed like he owned it, one leg propped up, the other crossed over it, swinging. He looked up at my ceiling before meeting my eyes again with another cocky smile.

“Just the company of my beautiful wife.” He answered, and I shoved myself to my feet, dusting my hands off.

“Alright, listen. I’m not your wife. We’ve never said any vows or consummated any marriage or anything..so you can just..” I battled back an angry blush as I swung a hand through the air in a cutting motion, and changed the topic swiftly. For some reason, I was suddenly having a hard time concentrating on anything but imagining what he might look like nude. “Frankly, I don’t like you. Like at all. As far as I can tell, you’re rude, duplicitous, manipulative, overbearing, RUDE, a.. A kidnapper..” Seriously, what would he look like underneath that almost pirate-like outfit of his? He had wings, did that mean he had muscles to support them? Or was he built lithe so that he could fly? Did Fae grow hair on their bodies? So many questions! The Fae King looked bemused.

“I believe you mentioned ‘rude’ twice.” He pointed out casually.

“Maybe because you’re really, really rude.” I retorted, crossing my arms. Also, how were those wings even attached? Could he feel them? He rose to his own feet and sauntered towards me. The movement of his hips was a distraction I didn’t need at the moment, it sent my mind even further into the gutter, imagining what that particular area might look like.

“Would you like me to prove to you that I can be kind?” He purred. I gaped. Like a fish out of water, mouth opening and closing uselessly. I’m certain my brain had simply left my skull. He circled me slowly, the scent of him completely swamping my senses again. Combined with my already distracted mind, I was losing myself again. I sneezed, trying to rid myself of the delectable odor.

“I would like for you to take me home.” I finally stammered. I would also like for him to remove his clothes, but that was a different story and I beat that part of my brain back with an iron fireplace poker.

“Hmm. I don’t think so.” He breathed, suddenly close to my ear. I flinched, and his fingers traced along my collar before tapping my nose. I suddenly had a horrible thought. As a Shifter, my sense of smell was very strong. Was it possible he could also scent me? “I think what you want is out of this room unobserved for a bit.” He remarked. I was speechless again, completely confused.

“Wha-?”

“Come with me.” He unexpectedly gripped my hand and tugged me towards the window.

“You can’t go out that way, it’s lock-” I slammed my mouth shut as the Fae King reached the window and simply shoved it open. I knew for a fact that wouldn’t have worked for me. He tossed a sly look over his shoulder at me, then extended his hand.

“Shall we?” He asked teasingly, and for a moment, I considered pouting, but then it occurred to me that if I wanted to escape, I needed to familiarize myself with the grounds. And who knew, I might actually find an opportunity to run while we were outside. Slowly, I reached for his hand, and when my fingertips brushed his, he gripped my hand, pulling me across the room and to him, right up against his chest. I let out a little huff, but I couldn’t deny how shocked I was that our bodies fit so well against each other. Every bit of me tucked easily into him. His bent leg cradled me, as his thumb rubbed along the back of my hand that had landed on his chest.

“Hold on tight.” He breathed. And with that, he simply stepped out the window, carrying me with him.

Having flown myself, I was familiar with the peculiar plummeting sensation in my stomach as we dropped from the sill and waited for his wings to catch the wind. I was not prepared for the little adrenaline rush it gave me to have all of it out of my control. Nor the little thrill it gave me to have the Fae King grip my thighs and wrap them about his hips, rubbing most suggestively against me with every quick flutter of his wings. Combined with the adrenaline rush, I couldn’t deny the spike of arousal it caused. My core clenched. The move was calculated, I was sure, but no one said lust was necessarily ruled by common sense.

“Why are you so quiet, little Laoina?” The Fae King murmured above my head. I looked up to see him smiling slightly as he made his next comment. “You almost always have something to say.” The smirk on his face was undeniable, and I wanted to smack it off of him almost as much as I wondered if his lips held any of the softness his voice promised. I jerked my gaze away, looking out over the sparkling forest surrounding me. I’d never seen anything like it. It was almost as if fireflies lived in the very leaves and stems themselves. The trees pulsed with life that was both foreign and familiar to me. The magic somehow drew me in, stealing my breath all while filling me with a wild, restless energy. I wanted to run.

No, I wanted to Shift and run. No, it was more than that.. If I was being truthful, I wanted to be chased.

“Wow..” I breathed, my core clenching again. The Fae King placed his mouth next to my ear.

“The magic in the Realm runs through everything.” He whispered as if afraid to break the spell as we flew by. “At one time, the very air would have shimmered, but no longer.” At that, his expression became something more sad and longing, and I admit I had a moment of weakness where my heart actually hurt for him as he pulled away.

Then, just as suddenly, we were landing, and ahead of us were fields of some kind of fruit. I could only tell because of my Shifter senses. Hundreds of Fae were in the fields, wings glowing, as they moved through the rows. There was some kind of noise, music maybe, coming from them. I let go of my human senses, instead letting my body relax into the senses of the fox form I was so comfortable with to hear better, and the sound of the Fae singing rose around me. It was achingly beautiful. Like the very stars themselves were serenading us.

“It’s a Harvest.” The Fae King explained quietly, stepping up behind me to hover at my shoulder. “They sing to the plants to encourage them to keep growing, to keep producing. And thank them for what they provide. There is Folk Magic in the song.” Even as he spoke, I noticed how the Fae’s wings would fan and close together, like the beating of some giant heart. The glow pulsed through them and seemed to push through the plants and Fae into the very soil.

“Come.” The King tugged my hand, drawing me out into the field. The instant my bare feet touched the soil, I felt the magic race through me. My head fell back and my senses were swamped with the song. The smell of the earth, the vibrations of magic pressing against my skin in the air, the soil, the very sense of renewal, it all went straight to my head. For a moment, I felt intoxicated. My form shivered, my body wanting to let loose, become a fox or some other animal, to chase my own tail, yipping happily. I breathed deeply,and when I finally opened my eyes again, everything was slightly strange, almost like it wasn’t real. Like it was a dream. I looked around for the Fae King, who’d left my side, and found him gathering fruit from a vine amongst his people. His voice joined the song, a golden vibration I felt more than heard, and he smiled at me when I approached. Plucking what looked like a large strawberry from a vine, he straightened from his crouch, the golden notes never ceasing. He offered the fruit to me, placing it against my lips.

A thousand thoughts raced through my mind. I couldn’t suppress the slight feeling of being impressed that he was out here with his people, gathering fruit like a commoner. It was something my parents would have done, and that always set them apart in my book. And from the way everyone around him reacted, or rather didn’t react, it wasn’t uncommon, which further impressed me. Though I tried to squelch it. 

Despite it all, I couldn’t get over the fact that he was my abductor, forcing me to hold to a Bargain I didn’t make. And yet again the stories Spice had told me.. My mind tumbled through it all even as my lips parted slightly to allow the fruit in, without thought. It was probably a mistake.

The flavor was a sweet seduction all its own, and I hummed in the back of my throat as my eyes fell closed again. I was forced to wipe juice from my chin with my fingers, and when I opened my eyes the Fae King had one eyebrow raised with a slight smirk on his lips even as kept singing. Even still, the heat in his gaze was undeniable, and I looked away swiftly as he dropped back down with his basket to continue collecting fruit.

The fruit almost seemed to leap into the King’s hands. Like it wanted to be with him and off the vine. And even as I watched, new flowers slowly opened and new growth shot out along the plants. When I squatted next to the Fae King to help with the Harvest, he offered me a smile so brilliant I thought my heart might stop. Gently, he guided my hands through the first few pickings, and to my surprise, I was right. The fruit simply fell off into my hands once my fingers neared them. The surprise must have been evident on my face, because the Fae King broke from his song to laugh, and the sound rolled out from us in a brilliant splash of light, making everything shimmer. If I wasn’t wrong, the plants nearest us put out extra growth and the smell of flowers spilled into the air.