Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CAELAN

I do not know what's possessed Wren to throw herself into my arms, to let me devour her with my mouth, to hopefully, finally, taste the sweetness between her legs, but I'm fucking grateful for it all the same.

As if I would ever say no to her.

She's especially beautiful like this, eyes glossy with lust, cheeks flushed the prettiest rose, and I don't think I've ever found anything or anyone as alluring as I do this mortal witch.

I take her plump ass in both hands, groaning as I squeeze the soft flesh of it and pull her up. Her legs wrap around my waist, and the feel of her hot cunt against my stomach makes me lose what little control I have left.

"Need you," I tell her, massaging the delicious flesh of that ass. "I want throw you to the ground and plunge my cock so deep inside you, you alluring little minx." I kiss my way up her neck, scraping my fangs across the throbbing vein there, then begin whispering fervently against her ear. "I'm so glad you've finally come to me. I would have waited a century, but this is much better. I will ruin you for other males. Once you have a taste of my cock, you'll be the one bound to me, Wren."

She moans, arching her back, and I run my hands up through her blouse, one arm wrapped around her waist as I kiss her.

I could die for the taste of her, and while I was already certainly bewitched, the tattoos scrolling across my skin telling the tale of our entwined fates, after touching her like this, obsession will be the only way to describe what I feel for her.

Obsessed with the way her fingernails scratch lightly down my back, obsessed with the way her breath hitches when I find the stiff peaks of her nipples.

"Wait," she says, her body stiffening against me, and not in a way that signals pleasure.

I pause, breathing heavily, and do my best to pull my mouth away from the addictive taste of her skin.

"Wait," she says again, and her voice is panicked, that half-lidded look of lust replaced by wide eyes.

It takes all of my self-control, which I admit is not one of my strengths, to set her down.

Early autumn leaves crunch under her boots, and she backs away from me so quickly she rams up against the rough bark of a tree.

It stings. More than stings, it hurts to see her look at me like that, like I'm some kind of disgusting creature instead of the perfect specimen I know myself to be.

"Change your mind, love?" I ask, arching an eyebrow and crossing my arms over the ache in my chest.

"You don't want this," she says, shaking her head, her lower lip trembling. "It was the cookie."

"I do—" I pause, trying to parse her odd declaration. "The what now? Is that what you call this? Is that a witch saying? A cookie?" My gaze drops to the juncture of the thighs which were so deliciously wrapped around me only moments ago.

"Cookie?" I repeat, utterly confused.

"No, don't call it that." She throws her hand down as if trying to shield herself from my view.

"You're wearing pants, love. I can't see it, no matter how much I would like to," I purr, stepping closer to her.

Her eyes go wide, and she holds up a hand. "You don't want me."

"What?"

"The cookie. The cookie we shared, it was charmed from The Pixie's Perch, from Piper. I forgot. It had an alluring charm on it." She pales, clearly so distraught about feeding us both some kind of seduction spell that she doesn't even realize that kind of charm wouldn't work on an Unseelie fae.

My attraction to Wren isn't the result of some silly kitchen witch's spell.

Not even close.

My stomach drops though, because not only does she think it is, that damned cookie is the cause of her sudden change in behavior.

My face falls.

Stricken, I step away from her.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, Caelan, I would never have kissed you otherwise, that was just… a spell. I'm so sorry." She scrapes a hand over her face, looking lost as a little lamb led to slaughter.

And I, the monstrous fae, hold the axe. It would be so easy to paste a smile on, to tell her the feeling has passed.

I glance down at my shirt on the ground, and the thick black tattoo vining across my bare arm catches my attention.

The tattoo that appeared as soon as Wren Tierson walked into my life.

Fate works in funny ways, and I'm sure she's laughing at choosing a mortal witch as my mate.

"The cookie didn't make me kiss you," my mouth says, and I must look as terrifying as I am terrified, because Wren makes a small squeak of horror.

I could back down, tell her it was all a cruel joke, but I don't want to hurt her.

I want to kiss the pretty lips that form a tight line on her face until she opens for me like a rose in bloom.

"Yes, it did?—"

I hold up a hand, and her throat bobs as she swallows. "No, it did not. I wanted to kiss you as soon as I saw you walk through the door of the kitchen witch's café."

"She's not a kitchen—" Her head snaps up. "Wait."

"You know, I think I'm tired of that word," I say on a sigh.

I feel lighter for having told her the truth, at least, part of it.

"But I bound you to me," she insists, looking miserable. "Maybe you're just feeling the spell effects and saying that because I did it wrong?—"

"Wren of the gold and jewels," I say softly, shaking my head. "I am bound to you willingly, you little fool. I could have broken your spell the minute you called me, but it suits me rather well to be tied with the object of all my desires. I find that I am unwilling to be away from your side, and you are just as much now bound to me." I spread my hands wide, at a loss for how to further explain my feelings on the matter.

"I, uh," she stammers, pushing a stray lock of golden-blonde hair from her forehead. "I don't know, maybe we can read up on how to break the binding before we fulfill our purpose together."

"No," I say vehemently, and she startles, blinking up at me with those sea-blue eyes. "I'm not interested in breaking the binding. We will find your dragon sapphires, and you will allow me to…" I search for the word, trying to figure out a way to say what I mean.

"Court me?" she asks, a slight hopeful tilt to her lips that makes me want to fucking ravish her.

"Court you until you decide to let me ruin you for all other males and keep you to myself forever," I snarl. "Call it courting if you will."

She simply stares at me, her mouth slightly open in shock, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Oh."

"Oh," I echo, feeling like more of a complete idiot than I ever have in my long life. I brush my fingers through my hair, then a chill breeze reminds me I'm half-naked in the Ever Forest, and I slip my shirt back on.

"Well," I say expansively. "Shall we continue to search for your sapphires?"

Her pink tongue darts out as she licks her lips. "I didn't know you felt that way."

Her long hair falls over her shoulder as she cants her head up at me, scrutinizing and so adorable I have half a mind to tuck her under one arm and carry her around.

"Now you do," I make myself say mildly, because I know enough about the golden witch to know she would not appreciate being carried around.

"Are you sure it isn't from the cookie?"

"Do you wish it were?" The question slips out before I can think better of it.

It hangs between us for a long moment.

A grey squirrel skitters into the clearing then stops, standing on its hind feet and glancing between us before darting back the way it came, deciding this was not an answer it wanted to stick around and hear.

"No," she says, and it's faint.

I'm selfish enough to take that as her full stamp of approval.

"Good. Then prepare yourself to be wooed."

"Wooed?"

"Wooed." I nod emphatically. "And the first order of wooing is finding your sapphires so that you can achieve your goal. Then I will make you a delicious dinner, rub your feet, which I can tell are hurting, and you'll decide to let me kiss you again."

"I will?"

"Yes." I point through the trees, eyes narrowing. "I think the rocks you want are this way."

I don't wait for her to argue or agree, simply set off in the direction of the tug of jewel ore in my gut.

All things underground belong to the Underhill, and my witch was bright enough to recognize I'd be her best bet in locating the vein of gems.

I always did like a clever girl.