“I never witnessed magick like this until I arrived here. The Malefic Folk are… different. Their magick is unruly and destructive. Meant to harm. Yours… is beautiful. Full of life. Something to be treasured. You are too, Ada. That is how I see you.” His voice is unusually coarse.
My stuttering pulse beats loud in my ears. After so long, building it up in my head, I can hardly believe this is happening. The thrill of the moment almost blanks my mind. “I… I felt connected to you since that first night, and it’s only grown deeper,” I stammer.
He takes my hand from the table, our first physical contact, and brings it to his lips, brushing kisses along my palm and wrist with surprisingly soft lips. I must be head over heels because I’ve never been so aroused as I am now with this chaste touch. Warmth pools low in my belly. I exhale, slow and shivery.
Norrell smirks at my reaction, though affection brims in his eyes. He lifts my hand to place it on his shoulder and then takes my other one and does the same, gently twisting me so I’m also facing him in my seat, embracing him as he leans in closer. I don’t waste the opportunity to stroke my hands along his arms and up to his shoulders again, running my fingers through the pelt that covers both. A growl burns in his throat as I grab onto his shoulders, drawing him into me.
His large hands gently hold my face, the pads of his fingers a rougher texture than the rest. My skin tingles beneath as he brushes my hair aside with his claws, runs his thumb along my lips, traces the contours of my face. A low moan of anticipation escapes me as his palms then settle on my jawline, tilting my head up toward him.
“These nights have come to mean a great deal to me. I have never felt more at peace than I do with you. And you remain in my heart when we are separated, an ember always burning bright. I need more of you, Ada. I need all of you. Open yourself to me,” he purrs as he closes the distance between us.
His lips crush mine, firm and in control. He nips at my bottom lip with a ticklish scrape of sharp teeth, sending a fresh zing of arousal through me. As my pleasure hums, his tongue sweeps through to caress mine in alternating shallow and deep strokes, like a hypnotizing dance between us. His short tusks frame our lips, and he lets out a hungry groan as I glide my tongue along his bottom lip and lick up one of them, making sure to avoid the pointed edge.
It’s like he instinctively knows when my need for him becomes nearly too intense. He breaks the kiss for only an instant as he drags both of our chairs away from the table. Lifting me out of my seat, he lays me across his lap with my legs dangling off one arm of the chair. I wind my arms around his neck to better touch and explore. His burly body heats me uplike a furnace. The long outline of his arousal, hard and ready, bulges beneath me. Stars above, he’s big. But he doesn’t pay it any mind. Instead, he rubs and kneads along my hips, butt, and thighs over my clothes, learning me as he molds me to him tightly.
No part of him I can reach goes untouched or unkissed by me. His stubbled cheeks, pointed ears, strong jaw. His chest rumbles as I discover the spots that arouse him most, so I return to them frequently, purposely drawing out those fervid growls that vibrate through me deliciously, heightening my own pleasure.
He’s intrigued by the sensitive skin of my neck behind my ears, where he licks and softly drags his tusks, driving me to gasps and moans. Our hungry urgency never wanes during our first night as lovers. Long hours of kissing and caressing, savoring each other, but only that. He doesn’t take it further, and the way he keeps me on his lap prevents me from doing so either. Clearly, he is a male who takes his time witheverythinghe does. It’s still undoubtedly the most erotic night of my life.
Jolting awake, the real world comes rushing back while I still hear Norrell’s deep, sexy rumbling in my ears. I can’t escape him now, not in my house, not even in my dreams. It’s an unwanted reminder that being with him almost felt like a dream. Until it didn’t.
Unable to fall back asleep, I lay in bed until the sky lightens, mulling over how differently my life turned out than I thought it would. After such a restless night, there isn’t a snowball’s chance in summer I’ll remain composed today as I talk about the fae and my faded magick. The big group of strangers will expect me torelive every sordid second of that night. It’s their job, since any tiny detail could be important. I’ve made peace that rehashing it will be a death by a thousand cuts. I’ll be bled dry by the time they’re done.
Finally, I peel myself out of bed. While I shower and get ready for the long day ahead, my spirit feels smaller, like a piece of me was left behind yesterday. My reflection in the bathroom mirror doesn’t show me any clue of what could be wrong. It’s troubling, but there’s not enough time to dwell on it this morning.
I may as well be dolled up while I have a come-apart in front of the safety council. I dry my hair, smoothing a cream-based potion through it that adds gentle waves, and then apply makeup, including a spelled mascara that tears won’t run. I slip on a simple, dark green A-line dress with a fitted bodice that flares at the waist. I pair it with a cream-colored cardigan, pinning one of my mom’s brooches to it. I want to keep a piece of her with me today.
When I walk into the kitchen, my jaw drops as I see the sink, now empty of dirty dishes. Checking the cabinets, it seems that someone already washed, dried, and put them away. The dishwasher is emptied as well. Huh. Someone must have woken up terribly early to do this. It was incredibly thoughtful. I find myself smiling a little as I start brewing the first batch of coffee for my houseful of guests.
Chapter 5
Norrell
Relief courses through me as I rip the accursed glamor off my neck. The pressure surrounding my body, like being a sausage stuffed too tight in a casing, suddenly gone. It was necessary during my long journey to Monstera Bluff through overcrowded, abysmal human airports. If I could not hide how pissy and uncomfortable I was, most humans would not give it a second thought. They looked about the same. Soon after my final flight landed, a witch from the coven picked up several of us from the airport in a van, driving us straight to the gas station just outside the town’s ward, the first safe place to show my true form.
Glamors and magickal identification are among the select few enchanted items my people will abide by when it suits them. The clan will purchase them from witches and warlocks in the region but hold their noses while doing so. Then they go on believing all magick wielders are untrustworthy and threatening while still using their enchantments.
As bothersome as glamors are, the discomfort is a small price to pay to finally have the chance to atone for all I put Ada through. We only had three years together and I still do not know how I walked away from my mate, my fiery ember in thefrost. Why I let others dictate my time and attention for so long. Has it really taken forty-seven years to get my priorities straight? Life rarely grants us such gifts. And I squandered mine the first time. That will never happen again. I am not naïve enough to believe that it will be easy between us after so much time has passed. But come what may, I will prove to her how deeply sorry I am.
We wait an endless time for our escort through the wards, though it is an extra security measure I approve of. But I am anxious to keep moving. The rest of the group chatter endlessly. I listen in case there is any information useful to me but do not join in. Instead, I take in my surroundings. Little has changed since the last time I was here. Eyeing the now-dark travel portal, I cannot help but think how differently life could have turned out for me and Ada if one of those connected reasonably close to my home. But there is no sense dwelling on it overmuch. There was no alternative but to leave her behind. For her sake.
As the minutes tick by, my nerves ratchet up. I will lay eyes upon my beautiful, perfect mate for the first time in fifteen years. She will hate me, mayhap curse at me in her delicate lyrical voice, and I will deserve it. But I will see her healed before I leave, and I will make sure to leverage this opportunity to drag my clan kicking and screaming into this world. If I do not, it means that I fucked up my life, and more importantly Ada’s life, for absolutely nothing. I have not felt like myself since I returned to my people. This is not who I wanted to become. Cold, solitary, and bitter. I was more myself when I was with her than I ever was without. I should have held on tighter and never let go.
Seventeen Years Ago
Ada’s reflection winks at me in the mirror as she brushes her teeth in my bathroom. Her mouth foams with the magickal toothpaste that she has me using. It not only cleans but also repairs cavities. I admit it is much better than regular toothpaste or the baking soda I sometimes used when my clan’s supplies bought from the nearest human settlement ran low. It is one of several magickal upgrades she suggested I try. When our relationship turned intimate, she procured me a birth control potion effective until I take the antidote. I knew some of this existed prior to arriving here, but the everyday usefulness of magick, available to any Whispered Folk, not just those who wield it, has turned much of my perception on its head.
As she wipes her mouth and rinses off the brush, I close the distance between us, squeezing her hips and nibbling down the long slender curve of her neck as she raises her head from the sink.
“How did you sneak out of the dorm tonight, my ember?” I whisper low into her ear before nipping at it with my teeth. She shivers and pushes her panty-covered bottom into my already tenting groin, rubbing it enticingly.
“Wouldn’t you like to know? Well, tonight everyone went into town again, but I said that all my late-night study sessions caught up with me. I needed to turn in early. They may have doubts, but they didn’t give me too hard a time. Ididhang out with them twice already this week, one night of which they deeply regret as I am known in my hometown as a bit of a pool shark. It’s not my fault they didn’t ask if I grew up with orcs and shifters who like to play.Oops. I forgot to tell them until I took all their money,” she mewls as she bats her eyes innocently.
“My naughty little ember, that will teach them to underestimate you.”
She breaks into a fit of giggles as I tickle her sides for being so wicked. Smacking at my hands playfully, she begs me to stop.
When she catches her breath, she remarks, “One of these days they’ll see through my excuses and figure out I’m sneaking off somewhere. Dollars to donuts they’re taking bets on it being a member of the faculty.No thank you.”
