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Yet, he could not deny this overwhelming urge to keep her safe and protected. Well, from everything but himself, because he very much wanted to see how beautiful she would look as he chased her through the woods. He wanted to taste her fear, but more than anything, he wished to taste her.
Still, a human mate? There was no way. He was sure after his conversation with Kes this was the work of the Many Faced Goddess. He pondered the prophecy she had given him.
“A human will come, one of balance. They will help you unlock the curse. Then you will sit upon your throne, and your true wealth of power will be yours.”
That was it. That was all the goddess had given him. He could never figure out what the hell a human would be balancing. How would they be a key or find a key to unlock everything Ciaran had ever wanted? It was infuriating, and with the arrival of his little human the questions were ever growing.
He knew the exact moment she had woken, because her whole body had gone still. He was impressed with her ability to stay calm and take in her surroundings. If he had not been watching her, he wasn’t sure he would have known she had awakened. He moved himself into one of the deeper pockets of shadows across from the bed and then removed his glamour that had been hiding him from her sight. The second her eyes connected with his, it was as if time came to a complete halt.
Her rich brown eyes were flecked with gold, appearing to sparkle in the moonlight, and widened as he strode towards her. The scent of her fear began to permeate the room. He had never smelled a scent so alluring, it made him wonder what she would smell like if she had other strong emotions.
It took everything in him not to laugh hysterically at her chaotic exit from his bed, he liked that she looked more unsettled than he did. He could tell she knew what he was, which made him even more curious about who she was in the Human Realm. The humans that had been in his court over the last several decades seemed to not remember the fae. He expected her to scream at his touch as he helped to disentangle her, feeling a mild buzzing under his skin each time they made contact. He was surprised and only mildly disappointed as she stood there and looked way up into his face. He must be two or even three full heads taller than her, and his hands nearly wrapped the full width of her shoulders as he steadied her. There were only a couple inches between his thumbs along her clavicle.
Such a small human, yet she was obviously quite brave. Tiny, yet fierce, and Ciaran could feel a well of power growing within her that made him all the more curious. Even with that well of power, there was something about her small stature that made him feel protective. Yet, he could tell she had never needed someone else to fight her battles until that moment in the woods. She looked shocked the man had laid his hands on her, as if it had never crossed her mind that he would do such a thing.
He could feel her trembling under his touch and knew she must be feeling confused and overwhelmed. That’s why he gave her instructions and swiftly left the room by porting to his study to message Kes. He wanted her to regain her balance and courage, though he mostly wanted the fire burning within her to make an appearance.
Again he found himself making concessions for this human and her well being. This was the worst form of torture he had ever known; he didn’t even recognize himself. Pulling out his spelled parchment, he wrote a message to Kes.
My study. One hour. Meet my human.Bring your wood nymph.
He ordered a small feast to be sent to his study in an hour’s time, knowing his tiny human would be hungry by now. Having a little less than an hour until he went to retrieve his pet, he began pulling all the books he had on mates.
After several minutes he had only two books to show for it. Most of his books were about war histories and strategies, torture techniques, spells, and the more modern histories of the two courts. He was skimming through the first book looking for anything that explained how one was to know if another was their mate, or if it was possible to use magic to create this unrelenting need to protect another, when Kes appeared.
“So, I get to meet your human?” Kes said with a grin full of mischief and open mockery.
Ciaran glowered at his cousin. “Yes, but if you try to harm her in any way, I will not be held responsible for my actions.”
Kes rolled his red eyes. “You wound me cousin!” he said with his typical theatrical flair. “I would not dream of harming your precious… mate.” Kes snickered, making Ciaran even more agitated. His cousin knew all the ways to poke him to get him riled up.
“I do not understand, though, why you wish to bring the nymph to this so-called ‘meeting’.” Kes used air quotes when he said the word meeting, as if it were not in their best interest to figure out both of these females.
Ciaran checked his hourglass before responding to his cousin. “I am not convinced she is my mate. Perhaps she is just an infatuation that I will grow bored of soon enough. Or perhaps this pull to her really is as simple as fate bringing me the human that would break the curse. As for the nymph, I need to be around her to see if I find her trustworthy enough to have her tied to our court in any way.”
He paused and noticed the way Kes stilled, and his hands clenched as if he were either ready to be rid of the nymph, or he was willing to fight to keep her. It would be interesting to find out which.
“Plus, I like the idea of bringing both females together to see what happens. Perhaps they will each give up information they would not have so readily. You know how much females enjoy gossiping. It might endear them to each other in a way we can use to gain information from both of them. If anything, it will be fun to watch.”
Kes’s body released its tension as he laughed and gave his cousin an approving grin. He vigorously batted his eyelashes at Ciaran in the way females do when they wish to garner attention. Ciaran found it horribly annoying.
Kes knew this and often used it against Ciaran when he was in one of his particularly dramatic moods. “As you say…my dear glorious Prince of Darkness.”
Ciaran was used to this behavior from his cousin, and more times than not, he found it rather humorous, but he would never let Kes know it. Before Ciaran could throw something at his cousin, Kes ported away.
Seven
Kesreturnedtohisown quarters where he had left the nymph still sleeping in her cage. When he looked over to her, she was openly glaring at him with complete contempt. Kes couldn’t help the maniacal smile that spread across his face.
“Hello, my darling nymph. Did you miss me?” He asked the beautiful creature raging from the cage in front of him and, then blew her a kiss.
“Let me out of this cage you overgrown turkey!” She spat at him with that wicked mouth of hers. She had a wildness to her eyes, there was definitely anger, but it was mostly fear he realized.
Fear of having no control over her situation. He wondered what it would be like for her to freely give her control completely to him. His breathing became faster as he thought about all the possibilities, though he needed to stop that line of thought before he required adjusting himself right in front of her. He could see her rage begin to over take her fear when he gave no response, too busy thinking about things he had no business thinking about.
“Look here, you feather duster. Let me out of this cage right this minute or I’ll…. I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” he asked her with mock worry.
