Dream Trysts: A Sleeping Beauty Story (Passion-Filled FairyTales Book 4) (6 page)

It was so much stronger than any sensations she had felt in her dreamscape. Real. Yes, he was real, and this was real. Real was hot, fervent, tingles upon every part of her flesh that touched his. Real was a yearning that could only be quenched by him.

She peppered her own kisses along his neck and her fingers found the hem of his shirt. She slid her hands beneath the loose thin fabric, finding purchase on his back. She fingered the smooth, thick muscles there, pulling him closer, his hard body pressing deeply into hers. His mouth took hers, and everything else seemed to fade away. All that mattered was being with him, his touch, his taste, his musky scent driving her wild.

He guided her down to the soft grass, her back and then head gently falling to the earth. He was on top of her, looking down, and it was like she was getting to stare at an angel. A smirk crossed his lips as his eyes took in her face. “You’re real,” he said, his voice firm, though with a hint of playfulness.

“So are you,” she whispered.

“I love you,” he said, the words carrying with them both serenity and fire. Her heart thumped in her chest as he reached a hand out and slowly began to disrobe her. He started gathering her skirt of her dress, drawing it up the length of her body. She felt the grass nuzzle her legs, the fabric shield now gone. His eyes never left hers as he fiddled with her clothes. His eyes saying he wanted to see her, to know how she looked as he took her.

She eased herself up, to help him pull the dress over her head, leaving only a thin camisole beneath. His shirt rippled in the breeze and she realized how overdressed he was. She gripped the edges of the shirt, and pulled it over his head to reveal his bare chest, a sculpted glory. His smooth, sun-kissed skin glistened just slightly, and the gentle breeze brought his thick, musky scent to her nose. She closed her eyes to revel in it, and she heard the sound of rustling fabric.

As she opened her eyes with a smile, she saw that he had fully disrobed in just that instant and she smiled at the sight of him. She hadn’t ever seen a man in full undress before, but there was something magnificent about it. Or perhaps, just about him — the swath of dark curly hair nestled on his chest that narrowed as it crossed his stomach and then spread out to full bloom below his waist. His long, heavy cock was at full attention, and there was something mouth-wateringly appealing about it.

It was only fair that they both be in the same state of undress. She pulled off her camisole and watched the smile on his face broaden as he took her in. He let out a slow breath as he placed a hand on her breast, his thumb circling her nipple. Her breath hitched and she tipped her head back as the sensation traveled through her body, alighting every part of it. She leaned back, and he took her breast in his mouth. She gasped.

A hand slid down her thigh as he slowly traced a line from her breast to her collarbone. Her entire body shivered, and she didn’t know if it was because the gentle breeze or because this is how it always felt when the man you love touched you with such affection.

His mouth grazed her ear, and his whisper, warm and tender, said, “I love you, Rose, more than anything.” And she knew it was true. She’d only read of love in books, but this, she knew had to be it. This was everything it meant to love physically.

“I love you, too,” she whispered back, and he kissed her lips, a forceful kiss meant to confirm what he’d just said, or perhaps to seal them together, entwine them. Only, their bodies were already entangled, his gently pressing on hers, his arms nestled around her. She felt his hand slip between her legs and instinctively, she spread them apart, anticipating his touch.

His fingers danced along her thigh and up into the warm tuft of hair that shielded her womanhood. His fingers swirled in her bush, then delicately dipped into the folds of her lips. Rose gasped at the new feeling, and felt her heart beat rising in her chest.

She closed her eyes so she could revel in the sensation he was creating within her. His fingers skittered along her insides, first rubbing gently, as her walls slickened around him, then darting into her in a rhythm that she knew was natural and teasing.

Her moistness increased, and she felt him suckle her nipple, which was now a hard dot upon her chest. The two sensations together, what he did to her bosom as he stroked her insides, created such a maelstrom of pleasure that she couldn’t breathe regularly. Her air came in shorts gasps and huffs as he toyed with her, and she wondered, how she had ever lived without knowing such pleasure.

He left her bosom, and she felt a hand stroke her cheek. She opened her eyes to find him staring down at her, his eyes wholly focused on her. “Are you ready?” he asked. “Am I real enough for you?”

She smiled and settled her hands onto his back, “I think I’ve been ready for you my entire life,” she said, as she lifted her mouth to meet his.

As their lips met and he plunged his tongue into her mouth, he thrust his firm cock into her. The fullness of it shocked her, and she pulled away and choked out some primitive sound of pleasure.

“You alright?” he asked, concern on his brow.

She was more than alright. “I’ve never been better,” she admitted.

A smile found his lips and he pushed deeper in as his eyes held hers. He began a slow and steady thrust that made her feel wave after wave of pleasure. Her fingers pressed deep into his back as he moved inside her. She wanted to feel him, to touch him, her hands gliding along his arched back, and her legs wrapping around him as his body connected with hers. The moved as one, small grunts escaping them.

His lips found her collarbone as he thrust deep inside her, and she tipped her head back to feel him fully, all over her. He was grace in motion as he seemed to be able to touch her everywhere at once, pleasing her every need, ones she didn’t even know she had.

His pace quickened inside her, and she felt her desire for him thicken. As he moved faster, her legs tightened, pulling him tighter to her, and her hands slid up his back, folding into his hair. He kissed her hard, long and dominantly. He pulled free, his hands finding purchase next to her shoulders, and he pumped hard and fast and she breathed in time with him and soon she felt a crescendo of pleasure as she came beneath him. He collapsed on top of her, hugging him to her.

“Rose, you don’t know how happy you’ve made me,” he whispered as he rolled off to lie next to her.

She folded herself in his arms, them both breathing heavily in time together. “As happy as you’ve made me, I hope.” She closed her eyes and lay there with him.  This was the best birthday she’d ever had.

Maurelle, seated on her throne of ivory, smiled as she stared at the man in front of her. Her seer, Eldred, stood before her with the most intriguing news.

“You say she has used fairy stones today, that you know where she traveled to and whence she traveled from?”

Eldred, his inky black hair falling in front of his gray eyes, nodded. His face, which used to be so handsome with his high cheekbones and friendly smile, was now marred with worry lines.

“Eldred,” Maurelle said softly. “You should be happy. You’ve brought me good tidings. I’m very pleased.”

Eldred shook his head. “Queen,” he said, biting his lower lip. She adored it when he bit his lip like that. She had to force such thoughts from her head, though. He looked up at her, and spoke tentatively. “Maurelle, you can just let this go. You don’t have to do this to the girl. She’s Blissa’s daughter.”

Eldred took a step toward her. The throne room was empty now, except for the two of them. Maurelle rarely held court these days. This room was rarely filled with the business of the kingdom, for so few came to Maurelle seeking advice.

She still had some loyal, continuous servants. Eldred was one of them. He was one of her oldest friends. They’d grown up together. They’d been friends, companions. They could have been more. He stepped near her and put a hand on her shoulder, heat radiating from the spot where he touched her. They could be more. 

Only, she couldn’t do that. Blissa had left her in a horrible position. She would look like a hypocrite if she were to be with Eldred. He was a Halfling, and though his powers were great, he still had the blood of men running through him.

“I remember,” Eldred said. “When you and Blissa were little, when the two of you were inseparable, never one without the other.”

Her feelings of warmth for him drained away with that statement. Blissa had even taken Eldred from her. She was the only thing Eldred ever fought Maurelle over. In all other areas, Eldred was devoted to Maurelle, but he always seemed to choose Blissa over her.

“Do you remember?” Maurelle asked. “Do you remember when the men came? Do you remember the dead fairies, their indigo blood lining the streets? Do you remember King Errol murdering my mother and drinking her blood so he could have strength enough to defeat my uncle?”

Errol looked down at the ground. “I remember,” he whispered.

“And do you remember the day my uncle forbade the union of fairies and men? Do you remember how he stood in front of this very throne and said men would be empowered by fairies no more?”

He nodded this time, as if he didn’t have voice to speak.

She looked off into the distance, unable to meet his eyes as the painful memories seared her heart. “And do you remember how she came into my room, after her father’s death, after she was to take the throne, and announced that she would abdicate? How she announced she was giving up her kingdom to be with a human, even though humans almost destroyed us?”

“Humans aren’t all bad,” Eldred said.  She couldn’t help but turn to see him, to see if he had really said that in all earnestness. He had repositioned himself, kneeling before her. “Humans are good and bad, just like fairies are good and bad, Maurelle. We all make mistakes, and for some people, pride keeps them from recognizing their error and correcting it.”

“You think I make a mistake by pursuing the princess, by ensuring my gift comes to pass?”

A pained look crossed his face, his gray eyes seeking something, but Maurelle wasn’t sure what. “I think you make a mistake by not moving past what is already done. Your mother is dead. And Blissa’s husband didn’t kill her.”

“But his father did,” Maurelle shot back. “Edmund is son of Errol and she knew that. She knew his father was a power-hungry, wicked man, and he raised a power-hungry, wicked son. And he can have nothing but a power-hungry, wicked child.”

“And me?” Eldred asked. “Am I nothing but the son of an evil human, who can only do evil?”

Maurelle shook her head, instantly. He was baiting her, trying to make her change her mind based on ill comparisons. “You are not evil. You are kind and wise, and one of the best seers that ever was.”

“But my sight fails you. You know that, Maurelle. The one thing you fear most, I can’t see. I can’t see how the actions of humans will impact our world, yet it is crucial to your future. Still, you retain me as your oracle.”

His lack of sight into the human world wasn’t ideal, but by forbidding human-fairy unions, King Roldan had greatly reduced the likelihood of their influence on the fairy realm. “Seeing humans isn’t necessary.”

“But it is,” Eldred said. “I have told you to let this go. But you won’t. I can tell you now that if you do this, the girl will sleep. She’s a Halfling, so I can see that much. But when she awakens, she will take your throne. I just can’t tell if she’ll awaken in a hundred years or a hundred days or any amount of time more or less than that. I only know that a human determines her fate, and I can’t see that.”

Maurelle bristled. A descendant of Errol’s on her throne. Her mother’s murderer to have his way at last, if not for himself, but for his heirs. The thought turned Maurelle’s insides.

“If I do nothing to the girl? If I recall the spell, what happens?”

Finally, a smile came to Eldred’s face. “Then you will be happy.”

Happy. Was that even a thing anymore? Did people still feel that? It seemed as if it had been so long since Maurelle had been happy and carefree. “And my throne? The kingdom?”

Eldred looked down at the ground again. “Maurelle, this kingdom, it is not meant to be yours. You look at Briar Rose as a descendant of Errol, but she is also a descendant of Roldan. She will eventually inherit this throne. But if you let her be, you will be happy. We will be happy.”

She stared at him, a hopeful glint in his eye. “We?”

He slid his hands around her right hand, cupping it softly.  “I have not known what to say, or whether to say anything, for speaking of the future sometimes can change it, and I’ve not wanted to change what I saw. But we could be happy if you let go of your anger at Blissa for following her heart, at Errol for wanting a fairy kingdom to rule, and most of all at Briar Rose for being born to a king who sought to establish her birthright. If you could move past that anger, you would secure our happiness. You know how I feel about you. I told you on the eve of your coronation. I asked for your hand.”

“Stop,” she said. He’d promised never to speak of it again. He’d promised her answer would be final. Only, sometimes she did wish her answer weren’t final.

“Yes, my queen,” he said, withdrawing his hands and standing. “Just know that happiness could be yours.” He paused, then added quietly, “Happiness could be ours.”

“But the realm will not be mine?”

“For a time, it will be, as it is now,” Eldred said. “I just don’t know for how long.”

“And when Briar Rose rules? Will it be good for our people, for the realm?”

He closed his eyes, as if searching the heavens, the currents of time for an answer, and then he opened them again and said. “I can’t lie to you, my queen. My sight is inadequate on this issue. I believe her heart is good and she will do well. But I can see nothing of her reign. She will be influenced by humans, and as you know, my sight fails me on matters of human influence.”

Humans. She would be influenced by her father, Edmund. The same man whose own father had murdered her mother. She closed her eyes and remembered the sound of her mother’s last gurgled breath as she huddled in the closet with Blissa. The terror at first, followed by the warmth that Blissa wrapped her in, to keep her from exploding with grief right then and there. No. No descendant of Errol deserved to influence the fairy realm. Maurelle had made up her mind.

Eldred turned and began to walk away.

“Where are you going?” Maurelle asked.

He was halfway across the room now, but turned to face her. “You’ve made up your mind. There is no reason for me to stay.”

She nodded.  “I’ll see you when I return.”

“No,” he said. “My time here has come to an end, Maurelle. I can no longer be your oracle. You ignore my advice and you break my heart. I can stay no longer. Surely you understand.”

She closed her eyes. She did understand. She’d thought having him near would be better than not seeing him. Better than not glimpsing the way he longed for her with those sweet, kind eyes. But she had been so wrong about it. She looked down at the stone in her hand. “This fairy stone is connected to the girl’s?” she asked. “The minute she returns home using it, I will be taken to her?”

“Yes, you will,” Eldred said. “It was a simple fairy charm that did it. Once she used the fairy stone, I used a charm to connect this stone to her use of the fairy stone. Presuming she uses it again before the night is over — and if my vision is correct, she shall — then you will be able to intercede with her tonight.”

“Thank you, Eldred.”

“I do not want your thanks, Maurelle,” he said. “The only thing I want from you is the one thing you withhold.”

With that, he turned and walked out of the room.