Page 19 of Of Pixies and Promises
“I’ve only got enough for one of us. I’ll stay soaking in the water. It won’t be long until I’ve refilled enough again.”
“Then I’ll wait.”
“Why?” She blinked rapidly as if to stop tears. “The bargain will be over. You won’t need to protect me.”
She didn’t wait for his response. It was as though a bolt of lightning hit him, everything sizzled and zinged, and then he stood at full, human height. Nyra remained dragonfly-sized on the ground.
So tiny.
So fragile.
So vulnerable.
He couldn’t leave her like this. Without thinking, he stepped to the side to ensure enough space was between them and then sat. He braced his hands on his knees and stared at the lake.
Nyra’s buzzing wings activated, and she flew at him like she had the first time they’d met. His lips curved, but he ignored her squeaky voice until she stopped attacking and flew back to sit in the water sullenly.
The unnatural whispers from the lake were stronger at this size, inviting him into the deep. For hours it seemed he stared, contemplating his options. But it must have been less, for the moon had barely crossed in the sky. By the time Nyra appearedat his side, sitting in human size, he still hadn’t come up with a good plan to stay in Elphyne.
Melody, another human he knew from Crystal City, had recently mated one of the Guardians in the Cadre of Twelve. If Silver wouldn’t help Sid, maybe Melody could help him assimilate here. Or… he could try his luck in Cornucopia—the lawless city that was neither Seelie nor Unseelie but a place where all fae were welcome. It would be easy to get lost in there. But it all left him with the empty feeling he’d had while living in Crystal City. None of it warmed his chest like the pixie sitting next to him.
“You stayed,” she said, digging at the sand beside her.
His scarred hand was inches from hers. His little finger twitched, wanting to reach out and cross the tiny expanse to her. She stopped digging. Their breaths slowed. When her little finger extended, he linked it to his.
“What if we make a new bargain?” he said, meeting her eyes.
“No more bargains,” she whispered and shuffled closer.
The heat of her body set his skin on fire. He shivered though he was not cold.
“What do you want, Sid?” she asked, her voice a husky rasp. “If there were no boundaries, no rules, no regrets.”
“You,” he exhaled. “I’ve never wanted anything more.”
The rightness of his words left him feeling powerful. Invincible. Like owning his desire was all the strength he needed.
“Then claim me,” she challenged. “Let me dust you, and the rest will be history.”
Could it be as simple as that? Charged energy bounced between them. His heart stuttered, and then he captured her face between his hands and kissed her reverently. Only a second of savoring passed, and then hunger roared through him. Hepushed her down on the sand, covered her with his body, and deepened the kiss.
Nyra sighed into his mouth, gasped when he inhaled, and whimpered when he demanded more. Their tongues dueled, and his lips clashed with her fangs, but it only heightened his need to something primal.
“You’re mine, Fangs,” he growled and then, with a snarl of dominance, folded her wings and pinned them beneath her. He wanted all of her within reaching distance, all contained in his space.
She arched into him with a whimper. So beautiful, his fierce fae princess. So yielding and responsive under his touch. Water sprinkled her body like dew. Full breasts pushed out at him. The gauze was all but gone now. The blush of her erect nipples begged for his mouth. He ran his palm down her neck, traced down the center of her body, and flattened his palm over her stomach.
She writhed and mewled beneath him, but he had her pinned with his strength. That invincible feeling he’d had when admitting his desire compounded and grew. His cock hardened exponentially. She was his, and she wanted him too. He tugged the last of her gown from her body, and then his mouth was on her breast, sucking that hard bud into his mouth, treating it like his favorite dessert.
Her skin was hot and feverish. Buzzing came from her pinned wings.
“Sid,” she pleaded, threading her fingers into his hair and holding him to her breast. “I’m about to…”
Chapter
Nine
“Nyra?” Sid’s voice was a distant chime in her mind. She was too overcome with fever to latch onto it. “Are you okay?”
