Naughty Temptations

Chapter Three-1

Chapter Three

He stopped and took a deep breath. “To explain, I have to go back a dozen years or so. I had just gotten my law degree. After a few celebrations with friends, I took a much needed vacation on my own. I was hiking in the mountains, not too far from here, when I fell and twisted my ankle. A storm was coming so I looked for shelter and found it under a large rock that bordered on a stream. I touched a place on the rock, and the next thing I knew I was in a swirling fog that completely surrounded me. I limped on for a bit until it cleared.”

He took another sip of wine. “I had a hard time processing what I saw then. I was in a meadow with only a few distant mountains on the horizon, with woods on my right, and a...castle is the only accurate word for it, on my left. I headed that way because my ankle was sort of throbbing, but well before I got there, a troop of men came out on horseback and met me. The way they were dressed was kind of medieval—tunics, pants, and cloaks. A couple of them had bows and a couple had swords, but they all had knives at their belts. They stopped near me as though I’d been their object all along, and the man in front, their captain, got down from his horse and bowed to me.”

A server approached with their appetizers, so he paused for a moment. Over bites of bread topped with spinach and artichoke dip he continued. “I won’t lie. I was pretty terrified at that point, hoping it was a dream and I’d wake up soon. But the captain bowed to me and said that the Queen sent her compliments and would I accompany them so that my injuries could be treated?” He laughed harshly. “I was in no position to object. They got me up on a horse with one of the others and took me back to the castle.”

He leaned back in the chair and stared at her. “Have you decided I’m crazy or delusional yet?”

“Reserving judgement.” Lauren refused to let any doubt sound in the words.

“Thank you for that. I know how it sounds. And it gets even wilder. They told me the Queen wanted to see me, but I had to be prepared. They took me to a quite nice bedchamber, spacious and rather lavishly decorated, and brought a bath. I was cleaned up, perfumed, and dressed in the strangest garments I’d ever worn. Very elaborate and rich, but I felt like I’d walked into some kind of costume party. Oh, and this old man came in and put something on my ankle and put his hands around it, and just like that, I could walk on it again without pain. They they took me to the Queen.”

His hand shook as he picked up his water, making the ice in the glass rattle, before he continued. “I don’t even quite know how to describe her. Beautiful isn’t adequate and frightening isn’t quite right, but close. Intimidating. But she gave me an irresistible smile and I was putty in her hands. Turned out she wanted me for s*x. At least that’s what I thought then. She’d actually seen me stumbling around in the mountains and decided she wanted me. That’s why the portal opened for me to her world. She managed to seduce me quite thoroughly, and I… Well, I was young and horny, and very flattered that a gorgeous, powerful woman like her wanted me. The reality was a bit more complicated. What she really wanted was to get pregnant by me.”

A lopsided, rueful grin twisted his lips. “I didn’t learn all of this right away, of course. A lot of it I’ve just figured out and pieced together over the years. It hasn’t done my ego much good, but maybe that’s a good thing, too. Anyway, Eselen, the Queen, needed heirs and for reasons I don’t understand, the odds of her conceiving were better with human males than with fae. I wasn’t the first or the last man she’d brought to her, but it turned out I was one of the few who actually fathered a child on her, and one of only three whose offspring were female. That meant she had to keep me coming back. I gathered it was one and done with most of the men she summoned to her. With me so far?”

“I’m struggling a bit but still reserving judgement,” Lauren answered.

“It gets even more complicated. Because of the dangers to any potential heirs, the queen doesn’t want her children raised in their lands, so she hands them over to the fathers once they’re born. If the fathers don’t want them… I’m not sure but I think they get booted out somehow anyway. But she keeps track of all of them because one of them will someday be her replacement.”

“Does Cindy get any choice in the matter? How is the heir selected?”

“I was concerned about that too.” He sounded indignant. “I don’t understand all of what’s involved. As far as I can tell, when she reaches puberty, the stronger part of her nature will assert itself. If it turns out the fae part is dominant, she’ll likely want to be queen. If she’s more human than fae, they won’t want her. But of course, the queen wants to keep an eye on all her offspring, and make sure they’re being trained in the fae parts of their nature. Even if they turn out to be more human, there will always be a part of them that is fae and they have to know how to deal with it.”

Lauren struggled to deal with his claims. The story was wild and crazy, but he seemed like such a reasonable, down-to-earth person in every other way. Not the sort to make up fairy tales. Still, the rational side of her brain wrestled with giving him the benefit of the doubt. The server showed up with their dinners, which gave her a couple of minutes to try to process his story.

When the waiter had departed he asked, “Have you decided I’m insane yet?”

“Nope. Not yet. But it is a rather…incredible story.”

He nodded agreement. “It is.”

“But what about you? Why are you so bound up in this?”

“Well, I am Cindy’s father. And the Queen is rather possessive about the men who’ve fathered her children. She tends to find a use for them in her kingdom.”

Lauren picked up her fork but stopped before she dug into the veal scallopini on her plate. “What do you do for her?”

He took a bite and chewed before he answered, “I’m an enforcer. Before you ask, the fae are reluctant to harm or hurt others, but they have some criminals in their midst who need to be punished.”

Her breath caught and she almost choked on a bite of veal. “You’re an executioner for her?” Lauren reached for her water.

“No! I’ve never killed anyone, human or fae. I have delivered a whipping a time or two but even that’s rare. Mostly I escort prisoners to confinement or to the Queen’s chambers. But…” He broke off a bit of roll before continuing. “I’ve asked Eselan to release me from service and to accept that I want to pursue a relationship with a human.”

“You have to ask her for that?”

“As I said, she’s a bit possessive about the men who father her children. But she is willing to consider it under certain conditions.”

Lauren wondered if she really wanted to know the answer, but she had to ask, “A relationship with me? And what are the conditions?”

“The main one is she wants to meet you,” he answered. “She wants you to come with me in two weeks when I take Cindy to see her.”

That stunned her into a prolonged silence. Bad enough that she didn’t know whether to believe his somewhat far-fetched tale. He wanted her to take part in it. But going did offer an opportunity to determine the truth of it. It also held some serious risk.

“I told her I’d ask you, but I couldn’t tell her yes or no.” He went silent, waiting for her.

“What did you tell her about how serious this relationship is?” Lauren asked.

“I told her I couldn’t answer for you, but for my part, I already knew I wanted to marry you.”

Her heartbeat stuttered and breath caught in her throat. “We’ve only known each other a few weeks.”

He nodded. “Despite the queen’s possessiveness, I have dated other women over the years. I’ve never connected with anyone else on the same level I’ve been with you.”

Her mind was in a complete whirl, dizzy with the knowledge that he felt as strongly for her as she did for him, the strangeness of his story, the perils of what he asked, and speculation on what the future might hold.

Finally she sighed and said, “I’ll go.”

Two weeks later she was questioning her own sanity as she prepared to take a trip to the mountains with him, not for a hike as they had on the previous excursion, but to pass through a portal into an entirely different world. This was crazy on a level she’d never even guessed existed. But she’d never been so in love with a man as she was with Ryan. She’d thought she’d loved Dan, but with the contrast, she knew now their relationship had started with infatuation, grown with a s****l connection, but never reached the depths of understanding she had with Ryan.

If she wanted him, she had to take this risk. And heaven knew, she wanted him. Cindy was thrilled to discover she was going with them and chattered the entire trip about the fae world, her mother, her mother’s court, her lessons with some of the instructors, and a range of other topics that Lauren couldn’t keep track of.

It was a short walk from the trailhead parking area to the rock that hid the portal entrance. Dread roiled her stomach as they approached the place. She couldn’t decide if she feared more that there really was another world or that there wasn’t. They had to climb up the side of a hill, to reach the location but it wasn’t a steep or difficult approach. Ryan led the way behind the rock and put his hand on a sharp outcropping.

Almost immediately they were engulfed in fog that appeared from out of nowhere she could see. Ryan took her hand and led her forward through it. Just minutes later, the mist vanished as quickly as it had come. And she really was in a different place.

She had no doubt at all she was in a different world. The green meadow surrounding them was nothing at all like the steep, hilly terrain they’d left and the quality of the light was subtly off. And, yes, there was a castle to their left. It wasn’t exactly of the usual fantasy variety, more of a fortress, but it was a huge stone building with tall walls broken by arrow slits and crenellations along the top. Several square towers sat within the walls along with at least two round towers looming above them, topped with conical roofs.

Her brain struggled to process what she was seeing. “Oh my God. This is real!”

He leaned over and put a hand around her shoulder as they walked toward the castle.

A heavy, barred gate rose for their entrance without a word being spoken. Ryan led her through the bailey, up a long staircase, and through the wide, heavy doors into the largest of the square towers. The hall they went into was magnificent with marble columns and huge, brilliant tapestries draping the walls. Gilt lamp fixtures hung between the drapes and from an enormous chandelier overhead. All shone with brilliant flames.

A man came to greet them, dressed in robes not unlike pictures she’d seen in history books depicting courtiers to monarchs and aristocracy. “Her Majesty is aware of your arrival and begs you await her in the royal audience chamber,” the man announced. He turned to the child. “Lady Cindra, you will please proceed to your quarters.”

The child looked mutinous. “I’d rather stay with Dad and Lauren for now.”

Neither expression nor tone changed when the courtier responded. “The queen, your mother, has expressed her wishes. You do not wish to disobey.”

Ryan turned the girl to meet his gaze. “It will be okay, sweetheart. We’ll be sure you aren’t left out of anything important”

She accepted that and went off down one of the long side halls. At the courtier’s nod, Ryan led Lauren in the other direction. A pair of guards stood beside the audience chamber doors, but they opened them at once.

The gigantic, cavernous room beyond was even more richly ornamented than the entrance hall, far larger, and entirely empty except for a dais at the far end bearing one chair. Lauren’s breath started to come in gulping pants as a wave of pure terror crashed over her. This was so far outside her comfort zone and the reality of her life that she had no way to process it. Ryan turned to her and held both hands, apparently trying to reassure her without words.