CHAPTER ELEVEN
This was a disaster.
Isaac was entranced, Roxie wasn’t, and the fairies were all watching him with hungry eyes. There were about five of them surrounding them when she woke up, and she knew immediately what their purpose was when they started approaching: to get to Isaac and seduce him into falling for their charms.
They’d been quiet as they slept, but maybe the fairies had seen them already and had been biding their time—something Roxie hadn’t anticipated in her already tired mind.
Her body had been so tired despite the flowers healing her wounds, and it was only now that she figured out why: those same flowers that healed her also took her strength bit by bit until all she was feeling was the drowsiness. It was no wonder she wanted to rest up instead of finding that ripe spot, when her usual self would have gone on traveling well into the night without giving up.
And Isaac? He’d been agreeable—sort of—because the flowers had sapped his strength, too.
This made them susceptible to the air around them, particularly the magic of the fairies. Roxie felt it wash over her now like an addictive drug, but she held on and used her own magic to fight it back as she fended them off with some choice words. They weren’t listening, laughing as they watched Isaac in fascination.
Then he was stepping forward.
Her mind ordered her to scream and fight, but she knew she couldn’t get him to her side, anyway, with their magic stronger here. So she swallowed it back as they flocked around him, hands caressing his bare chest like they owned it.
A surge of irritation came over her, and she swallowed that back, too. One of the fairies finally turned to her and shot her a come-hither look. Pretending to be fascinated, she stepped closer.
“Can we keep your friend?” she cooed, fingers touching Roxie’s cheek. Magic seeped into her skin, and it was intoxicating. Heat shot up Roxie’s spine and spread slowly, and she could only imagine the effect it had on Isaac.
She forced the happy thoughts back as she watched Isaac’s light blue eyes glaze over, his will completely leaving him as the fairies tugged at him. She smiled at the fairy standing in front of her.
“You can keep my friend if you show me something in exchange. Is there any chance you know where the ripe spot is?”
*****
The fairies were obliging to her, testing her with their continuous flow of magic. She obliged them back and watched out of the corner of her eye as they took turns whispering kisses over Isaac’s body, commenting about how delicious he was. Roxie fisted her hands and thought up a plan, even while she outwardly remained cheerful.
The ripe spot the fairies knew was in a field half an hour away from where they’d been sleeping, and Roxie heaved an inward sigh of relief when she realized they hadn’t been deceiving her on this end. She could feel it’s ripeness and immediately held onto it. She tapped inside herself and found the magic back, and deduced the Spring Court encouraged magic reserves far more than the Winter Court.
Roxie was definitely going to use it to her advantage.
When she turned back to thank them, she found their hands were already trying to remove his only piece of clothing—the cloak wrapped around his waist. She swallowed the reprimand and sauntered over to them, smiling wider.
“My dear fairies, would you mind terribly if I said goodbye to my friend? I don’t think I’ll be seeing him again since he’s my gift to you.”
They giggled, obviously excited. Then they gave her the space she needed, backing off but staying in sight and watching her curiously. Putting on a show, Roxie closed her eyes and stepped up to hug him, molding her body against his as she called the portal to open.
Her cheeks turned hot when she felt his hard bulge against her stomach, but she ruthlessly held down her reaction and kept the magic up. Her body racked at the force and speed in which she opened the portal, but she couldn’t take it slowly this time, not when she could hear the murmurs of the fairies around them growing louder.
A shriek came. Roxie opened her eyes and watched their curiosity turn to rage as they realized what was going to happen. They sprinted forward.
Using all her strength, Roxie pulled Isaac with her and leaped inside the portal.
*****
They landed on the other end with a thud, and Roxie grunted as Isaac collided against her. They rolled over the sand and slowed down a few seconds later, with Isaac on top of her. She pushed him off and immediately sat up, breath heaving as she stared at her surroundings.
The smell of the beach washed over her, and she could have cried at how successfully that dupe had been pulled off—and how close it was. She turned to Isaac, intending to apologize all over again and rejoice with him that they were finally in Summer Court, which was far more tolerable than the last two courts they’d been in.
He spoke first.
“How the hell do I get rid of this damn spring magic?”
Oh. The spring fairies’ spell was still on him. She shook her head in amusement. “Well, the first step would be to slake the lust—”
The words turned into a yelp as Isaac yanked her towards him, settling her on top of his lap. Her legs straddled him and her hands went to his chest, where she felt warmth and energy radiating off him in waves.
There was a hardness settling in between her legs, too close for comfort. Tingles spread down her spine again, and she tried to push him off.
But every action was stopped as he abruptly pulled her head down and took her mouth in his.
It wasn’t a soft kiss, and it wasn’t an experiment. It was hard, and all kinds of sensory overload, and Roxie felt her body freeze as he took it deeper than she’d ever kissed anyone.
His tongue slid in and tasted, and his hands cruised down her skin. Her mind went blank, and her body responded as the hardness turned cajoling, and a moan strangled in her throat as his tongue finally tangled with hers.
It was hot. It was so, so hot, and she felt herself melting against his assault. Fire set her body and shook it, and she clung onto his shoulders as a wave of desire hit her stomach so intensely and threatened to make her come undone. A groan came from him, low and almost like a panther’s purr, washing over her like a balm.
The fairies were right.
He was delicious.
No longer able to think properly, she kissed him back and expelled all the remaining spring magic from her system, feeling it spread over them. Intoxicated, she slid her hands down his stomach, feeling it heave and grow rigid as she caressed her fingers further down. A thumb brushed against her breast, and she felt her clothed nipple stiffen in response, her body arching against him as desire hit her again—
And then it was gone.
Or rather, he was gone.
Roxie stared up in shock as Isaac stood and stared down at her with a hunger that had her growing wet. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, his gaze was unreadable as he studied her.
“Did that work?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“Did it expel the spell from you?” His voice was impatient now, snapping her out of her muddled thoughts.
“Yes,” she lied.
“Good.” He held out his hand. “Come on. We need to find the ripe spot again.”
He was so casual about everything, and her mind began to catch up that he’d just been using the kiss to slake the hunger and remove the spell. Ignoring the hard pounding of her heart, she took his offered hand and let him pull her up. Then she snatched her hand back.
“Give me time to rest,” she said. “My magic is almost gone.”
He nodded, then walked ahead. Roxie stared at his back, remembering the heat of his body and feeling her senses tunnel. Irritated at her own feelings, she held it down and tried to erase it from her mind.
Then she followed him.