Americana Fairy Tale (38 page)

Taylor blinked with the solution Atticus put right in front of him and Taylor had failed to see the entire time. But would it work? Taylor’s Princesshood enchantment repelled Corentin. Taylor knew how awful it was that he loved Corentin, but Corentin wasn’t the one for him. But if Idi could break the bond and get to Atticus, Taylor had to try.

He
had
to try.

A hard blow to the back of Taylor’s head and his vision blew into whiteness. He stumbled forward as his head throbbed. Somewhere along the way, the machete dropped from his hand.

“Where are you going?” Corentin’s voice carried into the darkness in a horrific growl.

Taylor recovered, blinking away the spots. He spun in a quick circle as he hunted for Atticus, but Atticus had vanished.

Only Corentin remained.

And he was ready to take Taylor apart.

Corentin’s eyes burned like the red-orange coals of his ancestor’s enchanted oven. He flexed his fingers into menacing fists and gave Taylor a grin, and Taylor knew Corentin would eat him alive here on the forest floor.

With the machete gone, Taylor stood his ground, like a proud princess who would sooner die than relinquish the title. “Did you kill Ringo?” Taylor asked, amazed at how calm he sounded.

“He’s next,” Corentin hissed in an inhuman slither of words.

Corentin lunged forward, and Taylor darted left between two tightly packed trees. Corentin corrected his path and followed Taylor through the trees, the threads of his fine suit catching on the rough bark. Taylor ran to where there was no path. He slipped around trees and skidded through leaves. His panicked breathing was the only sound, and it was too deep inside his head. He scanned behind him to find Corentin in the darkness. As Taylor looked back, he collided hard into Corentin, who stood right in front of him. Corentin grappled Taylor before he could pull away.

Taylor squealed and wiggled one of his arms free. “I’m sorry,” he said and dragged his clawed fingers across Corentin’s face.

He roared, releasing Taylor in a shove. Taylor danced back and waited for Corentin’s next move. This was the moment he needed to save Corentin, or it would be all for naught. Taylor just hadn’t expected his first kiss with any man to be under the circumstances that his life depended on it.

Perhaps a princess’s love was the greatest weapon of all.

Launching himself at Taylor, Corentin ducked low to move in for an uppercut. Taylor tripped, and the blow hit him in the stomach. He gasped with the wind violently exiting his lungs and collapsed forward onto his hands and knees, coughing for air. Corentin shifted behind him. Taylor struggled to get to his feet. He quickly crawled away, only for Corentin to latch on to one ankle and yank it out from under him. Taylor fell flat to the forest floor. He spat dirt and leaves as Corentin forced him to roll over to his back.

Taylor shivered with equal amounts of rage and terror flowing through him. Corentin stood over him. Taylor watched Corentin consider the atrocities he’d inflict upon him.

“Get up,” Corentin said in a feral growl.

Taylor didn’t question it and slowly got to his feet among the layer of dried leaves. He braced himself and readied for another attack. Taylor put up his hands in some pathetic imitation of an action hero. He didn’t know what it could do, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

Corentin moved in, and Taylor saw it coming at him in slow motion. Corentin moved like a swimmer through the depths of the ocean. The curious force in Taylor bloomed to the forefront. And Taylor was ready for him. Instead of surprise, the calm and serenity whispered into his mind, offering him peace.

Corentin’s fist aimed for Taylor’s jaw, but Taylor bent back and then took Corentin’s arm within his hands. Taylor twisted at the waist and sent Corentin slamming into a tree. He grunted but shook it off quickly. Taylor slipped back as the cooling fire deep within him groaned and churned to get free. The rage he had long held within, waiting to strike at the right moment. Waiting to be unleashed on the world.

Hopping forward, Corentin closed the distance between them. He faked Taylor with a punch to the left and connected with a right to his kidneys. Corentin’s fist was like a hammer blow to his body, but the fire within Taylor became an inferno with the exhilarating sensation.

He returned the maneuver with one of his own. Taylor spun around Corentin’s body and then used the motion to crouch. Following his momentum, he kicked Corentin’s legs out from under him. Corentin collided with the forest floor but didn’t stay down for long. He curled back, then snapped his body forward in a kip-up, and finally landed on his feet.

Taylor smiled in admiration of Corentin’s acrobatics. For the first time, Taylor recognized the pleasure of the fight.

Corentin stepped in again, and Taylor returned to the dance. They were no longer predator and prey, huntsman and princess. Taylor could smell the passion from Corentin’s skin, and his belly quaked with hunger. Corentin gripped Taylor over the back of his head, intent on bringing his knee into Taylor’s stomach. Taylor tipped farther forward, rolling out of the grip. He propelled himself forward and tackled Corentin’s knees. Corentin fell back, and the leaves exploded around him.

Laughing in a joyously deranged sound, Taylor went in for the pin. Corentin rolled aside and scrambled to standing. Taylor kicked to his feet, eager and excited for what Corentin would throw at him next.

They ran at each other. Taylor kept his attention on Corentin’s eyes. There seemed to be recognition in them that this had become a game to Taylor. A most enjoyable game of passionate thrills. Taylor had become addicted to the fire within him. He encouraged it to burn brighter, brilliant, blazing.

As they moved in, Taylor leaped at Corentin and wrapped his legs around Corentin’s waist. Corentin spun with Taylor and pinned him to a nearby tree. Taylor jolted with a spark of pleasure when Corentin’s desire made itself known against Taylor’s own hardness. Taylor arched his back against the tree and laced his fingers loosely around Corentin’s neck.

“Yesss…,” Taylor groaned as Corentin ground his arousal against their clothes.

“I…,” Corentin said in a breathy growl. “I don’t want to hurt you….” His hips drove into Taylor’s, and Taylor shivered with the intense pleasure he had long sought.

He tipped forward into Corentin as they dry-frotted together. Taylor took Corentin’s cheeks between his hands and made Corentin give him his full attention. “You will never hurt me,” Taylor whispered.

Taylor then seized fistfuls of Corentin’s hair, and Taylor claimed Corentin’s mouth with his own.

With the force of a princess’s love, the dried leaves were torn away from them by the shockwave of magic. They collected into a turbulent funnel, twisting and rippling around the pair as they expressed their pent-up need for each other. The trees bent and creaked with the raw enchantment of desire and threatened to shatter into splinters.

They shared their secret love that had always been there but which they had refused to express. The wind raged, and their mouths made love to one another like it was a dying wish.

Taylor’s hair twisted in the torrent, whipping about his face. Sparks of light and motes of magic ignited from his caress. Primroses blossomed under their feet and sprawled outward like a glimmering pink carpet. They shimmered with droplets of healing dew. Taylor kissed Corentin with all the wishes, hopes, and dreams he had long denied himself.

In return, Taylor finally understood the peace that came with true love.

Taylor broke the kiss, and the magic evaporated. They panted for air. Taylor watched Corentin with a hard stare. He waited to see if there was comprehension of what had happened to them and what had been happening between them all along.

Corentin smiled and then chuckled breathlessly.

“I need you, Corentin,” Taylor whispered. “I need you
now
.”

A
S
I
T
F
ADES

The Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, Michigan

June 12

T
AYLOR
’
S
STOMACH
quivered as he stared though the peephole of his hotel room. “C’mon…. C’mon…,” Taylor whispered as he bounced on his toes. He caught sight of Corentin looking somewhat paranoid with his messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

Taylor barely opened the door as Corentin shoved his way in. Taylor checked the lock and slammed the deadbolt in place. He turned as Corentin rummaged through his bag only to snort and upend it across the desk. His monstrous journal hit the floor like a block of concrete. Taylor scooted away from it. The memory of the last time he touched it made his heart thump.

The travel bottle with the seafoam green label rolled across the desk and into Corentin’s hand. He held it up with a jackass grin.

Taylor smirked. “You know, I almost believed you this was actually hand sanitizer.” He too rummaged through the scattered pens, not paying much attention to the zip ties and roll of duct tape.

Corentin sucked in a sigh and pulled Taylor close. He boldly gave his rear a squeeze and Taylor yelped. “You bought it,” Corentin whispered with a wolfish grin.

From among the mess, Taylor snatched the candy-colored condom packet. He held it out to Corentin and gave a haughty purr. “This better not be flavored. Because you will never live it down.”

“Glow in the dark.” Corentin gave a sly grin.

“Oh, hell no,” Taylor squealed.

Corentin claimed Taylor’s mouth. Taylor’s face burned with a blush as he pulled away. Corentin’s brows came together in concern. “No good?”

Shaking his head quickly, Taylor’s retorts to Corentin’s sarcasm evaporated. “No, no, good. Really good. Just… um… surprising.” He ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “Can we do that again? I need to learn how to be good at it.”

Corentin captured Taylor’s chin between two fingers. “You want me to teach you, huh?”

“Asshole.” Taylor punched Corentin in the arm.

They kissed, and Taylor’s lashes fluttered as Corentin’s tongue danced over his own. Taylor blindly felt over Corentin’s chest and ripped away his tie. Corentin pulled away just far enough to whisper against his lips, “Are you sure about this? It’s going to be your first time.”

He took the condom between two fingers and held it up between them, seeming to make sure Taylor understood what they were doing.

The concern was endearing. Taylor nodded, drunk on desire. He tugged at his own belt and then shoved his slacks away. Taylor threw himself at Corentin, and Corentin carried him backward across the carpet. “I’m assuming there’s some kind of princess thing that won’t make it awkward and horrifying,” Taylor said and kissed Corentin again.

Corentin chuckled. “You and your princess things.”

“Princesses have a lot of things,” Taylor said with a smile. It dawned on him twenty seconds later. “Where’s Ringo?”

“Hopefully, back in my room,” Corentin said. “I sent him on the hunt for more food from the gala.”

Taylor furrowed his brows. “Ringo’s been scavenging, and we nearly killed each other….”

There was only a smile as Corentin threaded his fingers through Taylor’s hair at the nape of his neck. Taylor shivered with the delicate touch. “You were never in danger,” Corentin said with a smile. “You had it within you to survive.”

Taylor smiled and hurried to undo the buttons on Corentin’s shirt. “I still have no idea how I did any of that,” Taylor said, watching Corentin’s tattoo emerge from under the black fabric. “It was like dancing. I felt the beat and flow all through my body.”

Taking one of Taylor’s hands from his diligent work, Corentin then kissed Taylor’s knuckles. “I think you might not be
Curseless
after all.”

Taylor laughed and pressed his hands to Corentin’s bare chest, savoring the warmth of skin on skin. “I guess we’ll find out someday. If not, well, let’s just say I’m not disappointed in whom my prince is….” He bit his bottom lip to hold in an excited grin.

Corentin bent forward, and their mouths met once again. “I am the furthest thing from a prince. But it’s probably been on my bucket list to earn the heart of a princess without having to cut it out.” He turned solemn and slowly undid the buttons on Taylor’s shirt.

They stood in a long moment of reverence of the final unveiling of Taylor’s pale flesh. Taylor kept his attention on Corentin and studied his expression.

“There’s a saying that huntsmen who have a change of heart are just a myth,” Corentin said quietly. “It’s impossible for huntsmen to change.”

Taylor cupped Corentin’s cheek as the final button came undone. “What do you think?”

Corentin gave a soft smile, and the honey flecks in his dark eyes became evident. “I think anything can happen if you believe.”

With a touch of ceremony, Corentin slipped Taylor’s shirt from his shoulders and heaved a long, shuddering sigh. Clad in only his boxer shorts, Taylor stood bare in front of Corentin. Taylor looked down at himself, as if he had never seen his own body before. His skin wasn’t a rich, dark tan like Corentin’s but instead as pale as a fish’s belly. Corentin raised his trembling hand. He’d seemed so confident touching Taylor before, but that was on nonintimate zones.

Taylor ensnared Corentin’s hand and placed his callused palm over his heart. “I’m okay with this,” Taylor said in a soft tone. He smiled slowly, his pink eyes narrowing into merry crescents. “You’re mine.”

Nodding, Corentin shrugged out of his shirt. His tattoo, the spirit of the child-eater’s tree, stood mostly barren, with the last cluster of leaves on one bough. Taylor pressed his lips together and tried to withhold his heartbreak for what waited at dawn. He would lose Corentin, and he would lose this. Corentin seemed to notice Taylor’s anguish and pulled him close, crushing their bodies together. “I’m sorry,” Corentin said in a whisper. That was all he had to say on the matter before Taylor felt the emotions surge into him. “We shouldn’t—”