Secret Worlds (114 page)

“They take all kind of forms,” he continued. “There’s the small elemental sprites, pixies, like you saw with the hagstone. They can have great beauty or be hideously ugly, be large or small, or appear in any color.” He leaned forward, his face inches from hers. “They can even take human form for long periods of time.”

Skye stared at his sensual lips, the urge to kiss him nearly irresistible. Tanner was the only one who had ever tempted her like this before. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He was telling her the most incredible things and all she could think of was how it would feel to be in his arms. She opened her eyes. “Please Kheelan, don’t say you’re not real, that you’re one of them.”

He jerked back in revulsion. “No way, I’ll never truly be a part of their world.” He paused. “Skye, I’m a changeling.”

Her mind scrambled, remembering childhood tales. “You were somehow switched at birth?”

“Right. I’m as human as you.” He stopped abruptly and his eyes darted to her hair before jerking away. “The Fae substituted one of their own in my place, and took me to live in their world.”

The words left her speechless, but she didn’t doubt his story. She’d grown up in a coven after all. And the man didn’t even blink when she confessed she was a witch, he deserved the same courtesy. Switched at birth, a fairy baby left in his place –

“Kyle.” Skye jumped up from the table. “Kyle was exchanged for you. That’s why the two of you could pass for twins.”

“I’ve checked the Fae records against the human records, and I’m positive. The fae glamorized Kyle so that he physically appears like me.”

“That’s so –” She faltered. “—so mean. Why did they do such a cruel thing?”

Kheelan came around the table, took her arm and pulled her down to sit in the chair beside him. He held out his tattooed hand. “For this. To make me an obedient servant to their capricious whims, to help them in their battle with the Unseelie.”

The despair in Kheelan’s voice made her throat constrict with sympathetic tears. She placed her hand over the branded symbols. “It’s not right.
They
have no right.” And she thought she had it tough growing up.

He put a finger underneath her chin and raised her face to meet his. Her heart tripped a beat at the contact.

“Be that as it may, at least I serve the good side. And they are in danger, Skye. The Unseelie draw closer daily, grow stronger. Say you’ll help us.”

“I don’t see how I could possibly help.” It was hard to concentrate when he was so close she could smell his lime and musk scent, feel the heat of his skin. Maybe he was putting out some kind of fairy pheromones that could spellbind.

If so, it worked.

“Yes,” she heard herself agree. “I’ll help you.”

He drew closer, his lips hovered an inch from hers. Their breaths combined before she felt the pressure of his lips. She wrapped her hands around his neck and pressed him closer.

“Skye.” His voice sounded strangled. She didn’t try to speak, knew she couldn’t. He groaned as his hands explored her back.

He was too far away, she needed him closer. She broke her hold and stood. He looked at her questioningly and then smiled when she settled on his lap. Hungrily, their lips reconnected. He explored her mouth with his tongue and her body flamed. She’d had a couple of serious make out sessions before, but none so intense, this need like a physical hurt. It was a far shot from Tanner’s miserly pity kiss.

Tanner. Skye couldn’t even picture his face. And she had promised herself not to hold back the next time she fell for a guy. So . . . . she let Kheelan’s kisses consume her mind and body; there was room for nothing else.

“So damn hot,” he breathed as he whispered in her ear. His mouth lowered to her neck and kissed the hollow of her throat. Breathing was difficult, forget thinking clearly. All she wanted, needed, was his mouth to go lower still. She arched her back, thrusting her breasts toward him.

Ever-so-slowly his lips trailed kisses down several more inches and his hand brushed the side of one of her breasts. Her nipples strained beneath her thin cotton shirt. She’d die if he didn’t touch her there.
Please
.

A hand crept up the back of her shirt and he expertly unhooked her bra in one confident move. As if he had done this same thing a million times.

Wait.
What am I doing?
If she didn’t stop this soon, Kheelan would expect more. Much more. He wasn’t some high school boy from Piedmont.

But then he palmed her breasts and the blood pounded in her ears. She was falling, and so was he. His weight was delicious and heavy on top of her own as they sank into the sofa cushions. His mouth, at last, suckled one of her nipples. Her core tightened, dampening her panties. Skye pressed her hips into his, felt his rigid manhood.

He wanted her.
Her
.

The knowledge filled Skye with humility and awe.

He lifted his head and his eyes were dark with passion, gleaming with intensity. “You’re beautiful, Skye. Incredible.”

This man, this completely sexy man, thought
she
was incredible. “Thank you,” she whispered, suddenly shy.

He gave a lopsided grin. “You’re welcome,” he said formally, teasingly.

“You, um, look really good too.” Sweet goddesses, she sounded like an idiot. An inexperienced, bumbling idiot. Heat blossomed on her cheeks and neck.

He arched a brow as he took in her discomfort.

“I . . . I’m not sure about this Kheelan. It’s happening so fast.” She blushed under his look of desire. “I mean, I want to but I’ve never, well, you know.”

He sighed and briefly touched his forehead to hers. “I get it. It’s okay.”

“Don’t be mad.” Skye hated the quiver in her voice.

He ran a hand down her long hair. “Stop talking in apologies,” he said, his voice still husky with need. “I didn’t plan on making love to you anyway. It’s too soon.”

Skye brightened. “Then don’t stop kissing me.” She leaned in and pressed her lips to his cheek.

With both hands, he firmly grabbed her arms and set her away. “Not a good idea.” His grin was rueful. “I seem to lose control around you.”

She couldn’t help grinning. It wasn’t everyday an awesome hunk said that, at least not in her world. “If you’re sure –” She got off his lap.

“Very.” Kheelan ran a hand through his hair and paced, putting some distance between them.

***

Losing control, that was the last thing he needed right now. Only a week until Samhain and the pressure was on to find out what was happening with the pixies and bargain with the Fae for his freedom. Annwynn had warned him the situation was dire. Every day that passed meant the Unseelie were probably gathering more information from the pixie spies about battle plans and strategies.

Somehow, the pixies were somehow lured and trapped. It was no secret in the Fae kingdom that the small pixies were used as messengers and spies for the Seelie. They were quick and extremely physically appealing to the occasional humans able to lift the veil between their worlds. And that veil was now at its thinnest. The entire spirit world gained energy and power around Samhain. Energy the Unseelie fed on, making them extremely dangerous to humans as well as the Seelie fae.

None of that was as important at this moment as his alarming attraction to Skye. No doubt she saw him as more experienced. But that experience was limited to the occasional fairy lovers whose teasing caresses were as cold as the Pacific Ocean in winter. None had her warmth, her innocence. Everything about Skye steamed with soft intensity.

He was actually inside her apartment. Kheelan placed his hand over the tangerine glow of her lamp, watched his skin appear red, and remembered the first night he stood outside her building, drawn to this lighted warmth. To Skye. He’d hoped to establish some kind of connection and get her help.

The reality was more than he bargained for. Kissing Skye was no longer a mere way to gain information; this was an unfamiliar descent into a mind-blowing, splintering delight. It was dangerous. If he wasn’t cautious, he could lose himself in her easy sympathy and human pleasures. He took a deep, bracing breath.
No big deal. You temporarily lost your head because she’s human and you’ve never been intimate with your own kind.

A golden glint from a stone on the coffee table caught his attention. Curious, Kheelan picked it up.

“That’s goldstone.” Skye walked up behind him. “First invented by alchemists trying to make gold.”

Kheelan held it up to a lamp and its sparkle grew. “What exactly is it?”

“Copper specks suspended inside silica glass. Isn’t it awesome?”

Her face was animated. The girl really dug her crystals. Kheelan lifted the stone and held it against her orange hair. “Almost a perfect match for your hair color.” He moved to return the goldstone to the table.

Skye’s warm hands touched his own as she curved his fingers around the stone’s glittering surface. “You keep it. If someone is attracted to a crystal, it means they need the stone’s energy.”

An unexpected, unfamiliar pang of warmth shot through his chest. No one had ever given him a gift. Sure it was only a rock, but still . . . “What energy does the stone carry?”

“It’s said to remind you of your life’s dreams and gives you determination to reach your goals.”

Ah yes, his goals. Kheelan pocketed the goldstone. Time to get back to business. He opened the glass vial he kept on him at all times, put a drop on his index finger, then touched both eyes. After the initial tingle on his eyelids, Kheelan walked to the window and looked into the night. They were out there. Of course, they were. Once his sight adjusted to the darkness, Kheelan spotted a spriggan staring back at him.

No, not one. Hundreds of spriggans glared toward the window, their pukey, yellow-green eyes glowing like pinpoints of toxic waste. Small, grotesque creatures they usually traveled in bands, robbing and stealing . . . or worse. Their number, like the rest of the Unseelie creatures, increased near Samhain. But this year was different, more sinister. They were more aggressive, more vigilant, and he appeared their target. His breath caught, and he turned to Skye as she came toward him with her kind eyes and flaming red hair.

That. Red. Hair. He almost slapped his forehead in disgust. Took him long enough to figure it out. The Unseelies weren’t interested in him, a mere changeling. Skye was their target.

Dread consumed him.
They can’t know she’s The One. If they thought she was, she’d already be dead.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Skye tilted her head to one side, a teasing upturn in her lips. She touched his arm.

Kheelan scowled and turned away, jerking the curtain closed. “You need to keep these closed at all times.”

“Don’t lecture me.” Her voice cut sharp as scissors. “I know to be careful living alone. I’m not stupid.”

“They’re out there, Skye,” he whispered hoarsely.

“Who’s out there?” She reached past him to reopen the curtain and he grabbed her hand, but not before she’d taken a peek. “I don’t see anything,” she said.

He sighed, knowing what he must do. So far she’d only seen the cute pixies, the fairies of all the beloved children’s fairy tales. If she was going to help him, she needed to see the fae in all their myriad shapes and forms. It meant destroying her illusions.

Kheelan held up the vial. “You’ll need a drop of this on your eyelids to see them. The effect last several hours.”

Skye lifted her chin. “Let me see.”

The warm ointment prickled the thin skin of her eyelids. She opened her eyes and met Kheelan’s. He looked same as ever. She cast a quick gaze over the room. Everything appeared normal.

Skye wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed. She always felt like such a failure in all things metaphysical. What came so easily to her family and best friend, Callie, eluded her.

Kheelan flipped off the light then nodded toward the drapes. “Ready?”

So she hadn’t failed . . . yet. She nodded. His hand slowly pulled back the veil to the night and she moved alongside him, face close enough to the window to feel the chill and form breath rings of fog on the panes.

Hundreds of huge creatures crowded the poplar tree across the street. They were larger and uglier than buzzards with lime-green claws as large as a human arm. Their eyes were the same putrid color. But the scariest thing about them was the large beaks and tongues with distended fangs that glowed like fiery daggers.

“What —?” She lifted a finger to the apparitions.

“Sluaghs. They devour the spirits of dead humans and only travel at night in packs.”

Skye hugged her arms and muttered. “I wish they could all be like the pixies.”

“You wanted unicorns and rainbows.” Kheelan’s words were tart as cherries. “Instead, I’ve shown you goblins and shadows.”

Skye studied his tight face, read the self-loathing in the drawn lips and hooded eyes.
This is what he has dealt with all his life.
And in spite of his smoldering resentment, he didn’t begrudge Skye her human innocence, didn’t enjoy shattering her safe world.

Kheelan jerked the curtains shut. “A mere taste of what we’re up against.” The topaz gleam in his eyes sharpened and crystallized. “I won’t lie. I need you, more than I’ve ever needed anybody. But I won’t push it. You can back out now if you want.”

He was an eddy of dark undercurrents.

The concern touched Skye to the core. He wanted her, needed her, just as she was at this very moment. If Mom were here, she would order Skye to do the right thing. Dad would bail and run. Callie would proceed with confidence. Michael and Tanner, in their continued avoidance of their witchy ancestry, would pass on the challenge. It wasn’t in their college-loving, football-playing, magic-avoiding agenda.

She must be crazy.

“Are you in?” he asked, his body still and intense, a crouching panther.

“All the way.”

Kheelan’s muscles relaxed, the brow smoothed out. “I’m not sure the Seelie Court fairies deserve you. Actually, I’m sure of it.”

“I’m not doing it for them. I’m doing it for you.”