My Savior (21 page)

Amelia looked at the group of very large fae warriors dressed in identical uniforms bearing down on them.

"Oron!" she whispered urgently.

Oron set a still hissing and spitting Darian down on the cobblestones and rose to his full height.

"Seize them!" The guards surrounded them. A set of hands grabbed her and pulled her away from Oron. She watched in horror as a guard lifted a radiant, silver sword over Darian's neck.

"Oron!" she screamed.

Oron grabbed the warrior by the throat and lifted him off his feet. "I know you weren't about to hurt my baby brother, were you?" He swung his eyes over to where she was being restrained by a guard. "And get your hands off my sister!" he ordered.

"You have no authority here. How dare you bring this feral filth into the Queen's gardens!" A guard said removing his helmet.

"Malcolm, you're Captain of the Guard? Mother must have been desperate after I left." Oron said, his tone insulting.

The captain stopped in his tracks. "Prince Oron?"

Prince?

Around them, the guards froze instantly. The hands holding her let go in shock. She immediately returned to Darian's side.

"What is going on here?" A soft feminine voice demanded.

"Your Majesty, Prince Oron has returned, bringing a feral and a witch with him," the captain reported.

"Oron? Feral?" A tall, willowy figure stepped into the light. Amelia had never seen a more beautiful woman in her life. She embodied every human fantasy of what the fae looked like. This woman was the Queen of the Fae and the heart of their race.

The queen looked down at Oron's feet and gave a low wail. "Darian! My son!" She hurried over and dropped to her knees.

"Prince Darian?" the men around them whispered.

Oron knelt beside the queen. "Can you help him, Mother? This is his mate, Amelia. She is the reason we were able to get him through the portal."

The queen didn't answer. She waved a hand over Darian, and he quieted instantly. Seconds later, the roots were gone and she was pulling him into her arms. She rested his head against her breast and rocked back and forth, keening softly. "This is all my fault! I never should have said what I did. Please Goddess, do not punish my son for my foolishness. Take my light, let it pass to him." A warm light enveloped them.

Oron stood and walked over to Amelia who watched in shock. He wrapped an arm around her and held her close. "If anyone can save my brother, it's her."

Wiping her tears, she also prayed to the Goddess.
 

Please. Please don't take him from me. We have only just found each other, I need more time.

After a few minutes, the queen looked up confused. "I don't understand. This should be helping." She looked back at them. "Has he claimed you?"

Amelia shook her head. "He didn't dare. He knew how close he was."

The queen shook her head. "It's as if a piece of his light is missing altogether."

Amelia's heart stuttered. "What did you say?"

The queen blinked. "He has a hole in his aura, the core of his light is gone, not dim, gone. Normally, that wouldn't be so critical as fae return regularly to Éire Danu to recharge their magic, but he hasn't been home." Her voice broke.

Amelia stepped forward. "I have it! He gave it to me when I was a child, so he could find me." She clutched at her chest.

"Come here!" The queen ordered.

Amelia knelt down beside Darian.

The queen hesitated. "This may hurt."

"I don't care, help him!"
 

The queen nodded and lifted a pale, slender hand. Amelia looked down as a small sphere of golden light was lifted from her chest. She felt its loss, but knew she could live without it, Darian couldn't.

Amelia watched as the queen gently pushed the sphere into Darian's chest. His body jerked once and slammed back down. He gave a shuddering sigh of relief, and his face became peaceful.

"Thank the Goddess! It's working!" The queen continued to bathe Darian in light. Amelia felt a wave of dizziness. Oron was at her side immediately helping her to lie flat.

"Amelia, Amelia can you hear me?" A soft voice called.

Amelia nodded with great effort.
 

"You need to stop fighting and let your body rest. It has to adjust to the absence of Darian's light. Sleep daughter of mine, and when you wake, your mate will be waiting for you."

"Promise?" Amelia asked.

"I promise, dear one, now sleep."

Amelia learned that when the Queen of all the Fae tells you to sleep, you sleep.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Amelia woke slowly and instinctively turned toward the beautiful masculine voice. The words were familiar; she had heard them before. Soft words sang of a candle's flame and a love that would endure wind and rain. Stepping from his dreams and into his life. When she opened her eyes, the singing stopped.

"How do you feel?" Darian asked, his voice soft and gentle.

She looked into his enchanting lavender eyes and began to cry. He was the prince from so long ago. She must be dreaming.

"Oh, my love, don't cry. I can withstand anything except the sight of your tears. Why are you so distraught?" He pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back.

"You're my dream prince, which means I must be dreaming." She sniffed. "You're probably really dead, and I've snapped, and this is a hallucination!"

"You really are related to Meryn, aren't you?" he asked before tilting her head back. Slowly and deliberately he began to kiss her face--her forehead, between her brows, each eyelid, her nose, and finally, her lips.

She blinked up at him. "This is real?"

He propped himself up, resting on his hand, and grinned. "You and my brother managed to achieve the impossible by bringing me home. Mother returned the light I gave you, and by being in Éire Danu, I was able to restore my inner light." He smiled. "I remember now, that dream from so long ago. After I gave you my light, I woke up, and the memory of you and the dream were gone. I thought I was turning feral, but in reality, I was adjusting to the loss of my light."

Amelia gasped and sat up in bed. "Oh my Goddess, this is all my fault! If I hadn't..."

Darian quieted her by placing a finger over her lips. "I remember feeling completely panicked as you stared up at me, so tiny and innocent. When I saw the fear in your eyes at the idea of being forgotten, I didn't even stop to think, I gave you my light. If we're placing blame, it should be placed solely at my feet. But in my defense, I had no idea that losing my light for such a short amount of time while I was unable to visit Éire Danu would almost turn me feral. "

Amelia couldn't believe the difference in him. He was smiling and joking; he seemed to exude congeniality. She didn't like it. She had dreamed of her prince and thought he was the one she longed for, but she had fallen in love with her dark and surly warrior.

"You're frowning." He sat up and the sheet pooled at his waist.

Blushing, she realized that she had been stripped, too. She turned away, embarrassed.

"Hey, what's this? Why are you turning from me?"

She couldn't meet his eyes. It felt like she was in bed with a stranger.
 

"Amelia?" Darian's voice was no longer so affable. It held an edge of concern.

When she looked up, his brows were knitted together, and he was frowning. She threw her arms around his neck. "You're you!" she cried out.

"Of course I am." His arms went around her, and he pulled her into his lap to sit between his legs. "What's going on?"

"I feel like I don't know you when you're smiling. I like your frowny face better." She sniffed and used the sheet to wipe her nose.

"My frowny face? Gods above, what a mangled mating I have given you where you don't recognize me unless I'm a sullen bastard." Darian cradled her head to his chest.

"I like you grumpy," she mumbled.

He pulled back and glared at her. "How's this?"

She giggled. "Much better."

His features softened. "I'll have to introduce you to my smiling face so you recognize both."

Amelia shrugged. "You seem shifty when you're smiling."

His eyebrows shot up. "Shifty? Shifty! I'll give you shifty!" He started tickling her mercilessly.

"I give! I give!" she shouted.

"I even serenaded you," he grumbled, pulling her down to lie beside him.

"It was Michael Bolton."

"I won't begrudge a fellow bard who happened to have written the words to describe my feelings perfectly." He turned on his side and slowly began to trace his finger down her body. "How are you doing, really?"

Her breath caught in her throat, and all of her attention was on the tip of his finger making lazy circles around her breast. "Fine," she managed to squeak out. She felt moisture begin to pool between her legs. He was barely touching her and she could barely think.

"Amelia, I'd like to claim you, if you're willing," he said, laying his hand flat over her heart.

"There's nothing I'd like more!" She had been dreaming of this moment all her life. She was finally going to be claimed.

His fingers trailed down her body until they brushed her opening. He teased her while his mouth suckled and nipped at her breast.

When he moved over her, she smiled up at him. He reached down and eased himself forward. She gasped and threw her head back. There was no pain, just the pleasurable sensation of being full and complete.

"For every tear I made you shed, I promise you a million smiles," he whispered, thrusting deep.

"For every moment of doubt and pain, I will give you hours of pleasure." He kept eye contact as their bodies merged.

"I cannot change the past, but I give you my future." Slowly, he sunk himself to her very core. He was stringing out each moment until it collided with the next, each wave of pleasure unending.

"I promise to be your best friend, your lover, and the father of your children, placing your needs and their needs above my own." He stopped, now completely inside of her, and leaned down to kiss her gently.

Just when she thought she couldn't take the slow pace anymore, he began to glow. He threw his head back, the muscles in his neck pulled tight. When the sphere of light widened to include her, her body detonated. Small explosions of pleasure ran down her spine causing her to scream her satisfaction.

She felt her soul lift up and merge with his. Where they had been two incomplete pieces, they were now whole. When they separated, the light that was the piece of their combined souls drifted back into her chest, carrying a piece of him with it.

Breathing heavily, Darian withdrew from her body and collapsed to one side. "Thank you, my love."

Amelia couldn't quite catch her breath. She lay on her back staring up at the plant-covered ceiling. "Anytime."

He chuckled once then groaned as he sat up in bed. On unsteady legs, he wobbled to what she assumed was the bathroom. She was sure when he came back a few minutes later with a cream-colored linen cloth.

He stood at the foot of the bed, a smug expression on his face as he stared down at her body. "Gods, you are beautiful."

"So are you." She smiled at him.

He gently cleaned her up and returned to the bathroom with the cloth. He sat on the edge of the bed and stroked her hair away from her face.

Amelia looked around the room. It reminded her of his room back in the Alpha estate only fancier. All the furniture here was white with accents in silver and gold.

"Where are we?"

"My quarters in the palace."

"Didn't you leave almost six hundred years ago?"

He nodded, a sad look on his face. "My mother must have kept this room up all this time."

"She was very distraught earlier when she thought you were dying."

He nodded. "I can't wait to meet with her. We've been invited to an early dinner."
 

"Dinner? What time is it?" She blinked and looked around for a clock.

He grimaced. "I think you mean, what day?"

"Get the fuck outta here."

Darian laughed. "It's the day after you brought me here. I woke up a couple of hours ago. Someone was kind enough to leave a tray of food by the door so I ate while I sat with you. If you didn't wake up in time for dinner, I was going to send for a healer."

"How soon before we have to go meet your mother?" she asked, sitting up.

He looked out the window for the sun's fading position. "In about thirty minutes."

"What!" she shrieked and flew out of bed. "Where's the shower? Where's my clothes? I need my makeup!"

He stood and placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her frantic circling. "Calm down. There's a dressing robe for you hanging up in the bathroom. On the counter, there is a basket; all you have to do is say what you need, and it will appear."

"Even makeup?"

He nodded, and she could tell he was trying not to smile. "Even makeup."

She twisted away from him and ran to the bathroom.

"Amelia?" He sounded concerned.

"Twenty-eight minutes until I have dinner with you mother who happens to be the queen of all the fae, and I have some of your cum dripping down my leg! Why am I even explaining this?" she slammed the bathroom door.

Men!

She could hear his unrestrained laughter from behind the closed door. She took a second to appreciate that he could laugh before she jumped in the shower.
 

She got out and quickly dried off. She was sorry she didn't have more time. The towel felt like a cloud from heaven. She wrapped herself up in its softness and padded over to the counter. She looked at the plain, white basket. She picked it up and turned it over. On the underside, written in fae, was a spell. Grinning, she set it back down. She took a deep breath and began reciting all the things that she would normally use to get ready. One by one the items started to appear.
 

She was just finishing her makeup routine when she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in."

Darian opened the door and she temporarily forgot what she was doing. He was dressed in a cream silk dressing robe, and his hair had been pulled back in a half-pony and braided. He wore a crown of gold and silver leaves, which accented the gold and silver threads in his robe perfectly.