The Fae Court was like, well, something out of a fairy tale. Feral found himself wide-eyed at the splendor as the little group was herded along the corridor, toward the hall of the lady their rescuing knights served.

He stared around, silently astounded at the beauty of the place and doing his best to hide it. Anyone would think he was some kind of country bumpkin the way he was carrying on, not a veteran kyn warrior who’d attended more court functions and balls than most humans had had hot dinners.

“It’s mainly all glamour,” Tessa whispered as they were ushered into a hall to wait. “The court itself is a sort of fae. A proto-fae I think—what we were before we came to be, so to speak,” she murmured, speaking of herself as fae for the first time to him. “It’s alive and changes its look as it pleases, which can be a little disconcerting.”

“You ain’t kidding,” he murmured, his hand dropping to the small of her back in a protective gesture as they walked through the door. She’d been so brave against the ogre, even if he did want to berate her soundly for putting herself in danger. His heart had almost stopped when she’d darted in front of him with that stick, attacking the creature like some sort of pixie amazon.

The knights retreated, a silent bunch if ever Feral had seen one, leaving just the two stationed on either side of the huge doors. Feral eyed them with sympathy. He’d stood guard often enough to know it was as boring as hell. Their set position and expression told him that this wasn’t their first time standing by that door, and undoubtedly, it wouldn’t be their last.

“You shouldn’t have attacked that ogre.” He turned his attention back to Tessa. Settled on one of the low couches that lined the long walls, she held the baby up underneath his armpits so he could stand in her lap. Which he seemed to be loving, bouncing enthusiastically and grinning at everything. Feral grinned back, unable to resist such wholehearted enthusiasm, and held out his finger for the baby to grasp.

Tessa shrugged, busying herself with amusing the little boy and avoiding his gaze. He hooked his finger under her chin and turned her face so he could look into her eyes.

“You could have been hurt, Tessa, even killed.” His badass attitude slipped a little under his concern. “I was terrified I’d lose you...”

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting,” a male voice announced, and Feral looked up to see the captain of the group that had rescued them striding over, his hand holding the sword at his side still.

Feral rose and turned in an economy and speed of movement that made the fae blink in surprise, and he bit back his grin. Sure, fae were good fighters, but he was kyn. More than that… Even for a vampire he was built big, like a tank, and, according to his patrol buddies, twice as mean.

The captain hid his expression with a polite smile and swept his arm wide in a courtly gesture toward the door. “If you’ll just follow me, we have a suite prepared for you,” he invited. “My lady is not at court at the moment, but rest assured she has been informed of your arrival. In the meantime, perhaps you would like to take the time to rest…” His gaze dropped to their ogre-blood covered clothing. “And perhaps freshen up a little?”

Feral held his hand out to Tessa and helped her to her feet.

“Thank you. That’s very kind of you,” he said as he studied the tall fae knight directly.

Feral rarely did circumspect. It just wasn’t in his nature. He’d found a direct look was far easier and it tended to rattle people. Which wasn’t too much of a surprise. Most people got a little edgy when glared at by over two hundred pounds of mean attitude, like the kyn equivalent of a pit bull.

He was probably imagining it, but just for a moment there, he thought he’d seen a flicker of something in the fae knight’s eyes. Something that looked an awful lot like regret, and perhaps sorrow. Maybe even disgust. But why? What did a fae knight have to be disgusted about?

His face was set as they followed the fae out of the room, anger coiled low in his chest. It was because he was a vampire. Had to be. Bloody fae and their prejudices, like they were so great anyway. No doubt they didn’t like a filthy kyn hanging around the place and lowering the tone.

His temper continued to simmer as they followed the fae down the corridor. In fact, he was surprised the guy’s armor didn’t superheat under his glare.

“Hey, the wind’ll change and you’ll get stuck like that,” Tessa said, indicating his stormy expression. “You should be pleased. We did it. We got here. It’s all going to be okay,” she offered a smile that told him she was tired, curving her lips.

“Yeah.” He smoothed a hand down her back absently, as much to reassure himself as her. Perhaps more to reassure himself even if he wouldn’t admit it. Or perhaps because he just liked touching her.

They had done it, evaded those damn pixies, made it through the Night Plains and avoided getting killed, getting their souls sucked out, or a multitude of other nasty fates. It had been a close call there with the ogre. Closer than Feral wanted to admit, and the near defeat didn’t sit well with his warrior pride.

One thing was for sure, he was going to be hitting the gym and ramping up the training when he got back to the compound. And he was going to start packing heat too, something big enough to take down even larger nasties like fae monsters.

He sighed as her words sank in, one of relief. She was right. He could relax now. They just needed to get the kid back to his parents, or this noble lady they were supposed to see next, and then they could get gone. Perhaps he could persuade Tessa to come back to his place, and they could finish what they’d started in that bathroom and at the hotel. He looped his arm over her shoulders protectively and slid her a slight smile.

* * *

His expression stopped Tessa in her tracks, his eyes full of warmth and a sensual promise that took her breath away. Her exhaustion disappeared, body coming alive as his thumb stroked over the front of her shoulder. Even fully clothed, her skin tingled, a trail of fire in the wake of his thumb.

She managed to smile back, not quite sure what he could see in her at the moment. Her clothes were rumpled and torn and she was splattered with ogre blood. But something about the smile in his eyes, the way he touched her, made her feel like the sexiest woman alive. Like the only woman alive for him.

A shiver ran up her spine as they approached yet another doorway, absently noting they’d moved farther into the court into the private wings. The captain’s mistress must be someone important to have a suite here. Which was good. The higher up the tree this lady was, the more chance they had of getting this sorted quickly.

“Nearly home, little man. You’ll see your mommy soon,” she murmured in a reassuring voice, jiggling the little boy in her arms, much to his delight. He giggled as he patted her face with gentle hands. Tessa smiled, but it was a smile with a sad edge now. He was a delightful little boy and she’d miss him, a pang of loss already forming deep in her chest. Perhaps she could ask his parents, whoever they were, if she could visit when this was all over.

They’d done it, made a difference. It was like something out of a movie. Beat the bad guys, save the world—or the baby in this case—and the good guy always got the girl.

She slid a covert glance sideways at Feral under her lashes. Or the girl got the guy, which she very much intended to do, once they’d both showered and washed the ogre blood off. It reeked, the stench rising from the black stains on her clothes and making her wrinkle her nose. She needed a shower. But she might not wait until he was finished in there…she might just join him in the shower and jump his bones, then and there.

“This is one of the best suites in the court,” their guide, the captain who had rescued them from the plains, commented as he pushed the doors open in front of them.

Tessa couldn’t help the small moan that escaped her lips at the sight of the huge bed with its comfortable looking linen. Her back still hadn’t forgiven her for sleeping on the ground last night.

“Oh wow, this is…”

The captain smiled, his ethereally handsome face alive for a moment before the shutters came back down into place again. “Enjoy your rest. Someone will be sent for you when my lady is ready to see you.”

He backed up through the doors, closing them behind him. Tessa turned, spotting a small door off the main bedroom, the corner of a cot just visible through the open doorway. A nursery. It was small but filled with everything she needed.

Muttering a quick thanks to the court for its thoughtfulness, it took her only a few minutes to get the sleepy little boy cleaned up and settled down ready for bed. The sound of a shower emanating from somewhere beyond the main room told her Feral had already decided to attend to business.

She couldn’t blame him. He’d taken by far the worst of it during their flight from the apartment, then her aunt’s hotel, not to mention what he’d been through to get them through the Night Plains. She wasn’t entirely sure he’d slept… at all. Tucking the baby in, she smiled a little at his gentle snores and frowned. Did vampires need to sleep?

Trudging through the main room she almost sat down on the pristine white bed, but then she glanced down at her blood-stained clothes and thought better of it. The last thing she wanted to do was get the horrible stuff all over the clean bedding, not if they had to sleep in it.

The water didn’t snap off, but the door to the bathroom opened in front of her to reveal Feral. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out, her brain fried by the sight in front of her.

She’d seen him without a shirt, yes, and his big, heavily muscled body was a thing of beauty she’d fantasize about for many years to come. But there was seeing him with just his jeans on, and seeing him just out of a shower, with a tiny towel wrapped around those lean hips and water tracking down his skin.

Her mouth went dry as the urge to follow those water droplets with her tongue almost overwhelmed her. Only supreme effort of will kept her where she was as he walked out of the bathroom, winking at her as though he knew the effect he had on her.

“I was as quick as I could be. All yours.”

“Okay. Thanks,” she murmured, beating a hasty retreat into the bathroom before she did something she’d regret. Like kiss him and try to unwrap that towel.

Once the door was shut behind her, she didn’t waste any time and stripped. Her dirty clothes hit the floor, kicked into the corner with a grimace as she stepped under the water. The needle pressure of the water hitting her skin made her groan as she stood, head down under the spray, for long moments. The water around her feet ran dark with dirt and other, nastier things, the thought of which made her shiver and wrinkle her nose until the water ran clear.

Reaching out, she dumped shower gel in her hands, the haunting fragrance of rose and vetiver surrounding her as she smoothed the lather over her skin. She drew in a deep breath, the scent relaxing her. How the court had known her favorite flowers, she didn’t know but it seemed to be doing it’s damnedest to make her feel welcome. Her. A pixie. It was a kindness she hadn’t expected.

The heat and the sensual scent of the oils in the shower gel combined to relax her and unbidden, an image of the man in the next room filled her mind. Would he have dried himself off and dressed, or would he have just lain across the bed, all that wet skin on display as he waited for her?

It was probably the first. Sure, they’d shared a hot as hell couple of kisses… but once she’d seen the beautiful fae women in the party that had rescued them from the plains, she’d known she could never hope to keep a man like Feral.

Not that it could go anywhere. She was half pixie, yes, but she was still mortal, whereas Feral was a vampire, immortal Lord of the Night, and all that. Any relationship between them was a non-starter. Even if he was okay with her wanting the left side of the bed and lights off during sex, she was going to age and he wasn’t.

Oh god, here I am... thinking about sex again.

But… for now, she could dream… in here, where it was private.

Her hands slowed, sliding over her skin to cup her breasts, feeling their feminine weight. She slicked her thumbs over her nipples, already pebbling under the sensual onslaught. One hand slid down her ribcage, heading south, over her smooth stomach.

Aided by the soap over her skin, her fingers sank between her thighs, parting the folds of her sex in search of the sensitive nub of her clit. She drew in a ragged breath over her teeth as her fingers found their goal. A thrill of arousal shot through her as her sex-starved body responded like a flower opening in the sunlight. How long has it been since I’ve had sex? Nearly a year?

Tessa bit her lip to contain her moans, eyes closed as her finger slid against her clit, working her body toward the shattering climax which hovered just out of reach...

* * *

“Tessa? They brought us fancy clothes to meet this lady…” Feral called out as he opened the bathroom door a fraction. The sound of running water warned him that Tess was still in the shower so he paused, one hand on the smooth metal of the handle, clean clothes for her in the other.

The siren’s call of female musk, the scent of a woman’s arousal...Tessa’s arousal...hit his nostrils and locked every muscle in his body into place. He should walk away and wait until she was finished. He knew he should. It was the gentlemanly thing to do. But, as soon as her scent had hit him, his cock leapt to attention, reminding him of their scorching hot, and interrupted, session on the bed in the hotel.

Feeling guilty but unable to stop himself, Feral reached out and pushed the door, already slightly ajar, open a little further. And stopped dead, his eyes widening at the erotic scene in front of him. Tessa stood in the shower, hand between her legs and her head thrown back with a look of utter bliss on her face.

Feral stood frozen in place, unable to move from his position at the door. His eyes were locked on the shower. Water cascaded down her glorious body, tempting his gaze to follow. She was a real woman, not a stick insect. She had curves to make a man’s mouth water, an hourglass figure with a tiny waist he just ached to slide his hands around. A woman with the sort of curves he wanted to run his hands all over and although delicate, she wasn’t fragile. He wouldn’t have to worry about breaking her if he so much as breathed in her direction without warning.

But then, paying attention to her killer body took a backseat as his greedy gaze latched onto her hands. One cupped a full breast, tweaking and pulling on the engorged nipple, and a soft moan slipped from her throat while the other was buried between her thighs, fingers moving at a fast pace. He bit back a groan, imagining the plump, slick flesh she stroked as her feminine scent hung on the air like expensive perfume.

Like a starving man gazing through a baker’s window, Feral watched hungrily. Her fingers picked up the pace as her other hand abandoned her breast, bracing against the glass shower door. She lifted her foot, propping it against the tiles as she opened her thighs further, baring more to his intense gaze.

Feral bit his lip, trying to stay as silent as possible as he shifted his position to ease the raging hard-on in his pants. But the increasing moans he heard made it impossible. They weren’t loud; if the door had been closed, he wouldn’t have heard them over the shower. But the door was open, and he could hear her. And the sound of her pleasuring herself drove him to the brink of insanity.

Then, as though she sensed him watching her, she opened her eyes and he tensed, expecting her to jump and cover herself up before ordering him from the room. But almost immediately, the surprise faded from her eyes and the sultry look returned, her fingers beginning to move again. Emboldened, he pushed the door wider, leaning in the doorway to watch.

His breath caught in his throat at the look in her eyes. Dark and mysterious, they held a sensual promise, which stilled the heart in his chest and then set it hammering again. The scent of honeysuckle hit him... a scent he would forever identify as being uniquely her. He breathed in, drawing it over his tongue, tasting and savoring it. Like a tracker dog, he’d be able to find her anywhere now. An ability granted by his race—further enhanced if he took her blood.

A shiver ran through his heavyset body at the thought, his fangs leaping forth in his mouth. He wanted to taste her blood, and not to feed either. He wanted…no, he ached… to get her under him, her sweet pussy impaled by the thick length of his cock as he slid his fangs into her neck. Fucking her and drinking from her at the same time.

The thought made him push off from the door, intent on closing the distance between them, but she shook her head, her dark eyes flashing a warning and he stopped in his tracks. The message was clear. She was in charge here.