13

A miracle happened and no one was an asshole about me being able to have children earlier than "real" fairies or giving me crap about it. I only received congratulations that my healer was able to confirm I was healthy and the human vaccines hadn't left any lasting damage. That I could have a family when I was ready.

Everything healthy and normal. I was beyond shocked how gracious and nice people were.

And not just fairies. Once we announced it across the board, even other leaders and communities.

Sure, there was the occasional jerk who was upset that it would probably strengthen my chances of being the ruler of Faerie, but no one was cruel .

When had that ever happened? Seriously?

And it was dropped fast. It was like a quick blip.

Yeah, I hadn't seen that coming either.

People were way more focused on the information we were putting out about the study to heal witches and warlocks. To be fair, we decided to not have Katrina's store be one of the first five locations to take appointments for the pilot program. And it had been all outlined through the council and with a delegation of fairy healers.

Another miracle happened with the help of the council, and no one just demanded fairies foot the bill or donate our time and magic. Healers were going to be paid to be there twice a week to assess people, and those who could pay for appointments could, otherwise the council would cover the cost. Funds were being raised by them, and their community agreed it was important.

I could have been pushed over by a feather, but White said it was an issue that had plagued their community for generations. Everyone always had someone in their family tree who had gone off the rails or was a bit too dark, and while it was a dirty secret, they all knew it. Now there was a possible solution or at least hope from anyone else they loved doing the same.

Even if it wasn't discussed, it was a problem they all took seriously.

Awesome. Really. And the two warlocks who had joined Campbell and Mary Craftsman in the original trial had both offered to do a few interviews and speak to the media on their experiences. It was a bit embarrassing how the one mocked me a bit for constantly worrying I was going to make them explode because I was so unsure of my magic, but… He told the truth.

They both did. People were honestly supportive that I took safety so seriously when everyone painted me as such a rebel and always reckless. I deserved the reputation of being a bull in a china shop, but him picking on me made it clear that I took the safety of others incredibly seriously and never risked people when it came to magic.

Edelman echoed that and how from the first moment he'd met me long before I'd known anything about my heritage that the first thing I'd said when I'd been brought to Artemis was I'd agreed to be trained so I would never hurt people. That I hadn't known where to get help, but the moment my magic had accidentally hurt people, I worried and wanted to learn control.

I appreciated the backup, and it was amazing to see the tone of reports and the news change about me. I also noticed the way fairies treated me get better as well. They had been giving me more benefit of the doubt but even more so.

Hey, I would always take more.

But now that we had a pilot program in place, I had to check in on the original four again. Nothing grinded on me more than having to see Mary Craftsman and Campbell, but their progress was astounding. They were completely different from even when I'd first met them.

They were both still bitches and hated me… But they were different and more like themselves. Mary especially remembered everything and retained everything now. Apparently, she had been having problems even before we'd met and the issues with Julian and the former headmaster at Artemis had been going on.

I didn't get into it all and I didn't care since there was no fixing that relationship, but I was glad she was mentally better. All I really cared about was that she knew I wasn't abusing Julian and she wouldn't ever try to throw around those kinds of accusations again. She was also horrified that she'd ever tried to attack me to separate us.

She didn't want us together, but the fact she'd ever done something like that… She wasn't really that crazy. That was progress.

Except she was still possessive of Julian. She was the type of parent that her child was hers . It creeped me out. Julian was his.

Her thoughts gave me the ick. She thought of him in ways I didn't even when we were mates and involved. I got overly jealous, but I was never… It was weird.

"This isn't the mood I'd hoped to find you in," Neldor grumbled, scaring the shit out of me since I hadn't thought anyone would be in my kitchen.

I rubbed my chest and set down my bag. "I just had to deal with Mary Craftsman and Campbell. Yeah, I'm full of salt and bile."

He frowned. "That wasn't at all what I thought ‘C&C update' was on your calendar."

I snorted. "I have twisted humor because it's actually not Campbell and Craftsman but ‘crazy and crazy.'" I winced. "Don't tell Julian I said that." No matter my valid issues with his mother, I shouldn't be that petty and tell people I put things in my calendar in reference to his mother like that. "Why? What's up?" I frowned. "Why were you checking out my calendar?"

"I thought it was something fun since it was your free afternoon and clear after that," he grumbled, not answering my question. "I blocked off the rest of your day and night.

"I hadn't noticed that. I left it empty because they normally piss me off." I went to ask again when he frowned deeper.

Instead, he came closer and leaned into me. "There has to be a way for me to be able to change your mood. I can't let you be cranky for this, baby doll."

I studied him closely. "What's going on, Nel?"

He clearly didn't want to answer. "Let's go flying. We've not gone together yet." He frowned when I didn't answer. "I know it's your thing with Hudson. I'm not trying to—you don't need lessons still. I'm okay too. We can just—can we just change the mood?"

I wasn't sure what was going on with him, but I could practically feel the disappointment pouring off of him and worry. "I haven't gotten a chance to visit the fae dog sanctuary in a while. A bunch are set up in Faerie now, right? Want to go check on them?"

"Yes. Yes , that's perfect. Let's go check on the pups." He grabbed my hand and opened a portal and pulled me through. We went downstairs to the portal and did the dance to the right place.

It was exactly what we both needed, and we spent about an hour just checking in on the dogs and people in charge. It was running well, and a few packs had formed bonds from the trauma of surviving and wanting to make sure Faerie always knew peace so nothing like that ever happened again.

We gave the dogs tons of love and thanked everyone for doing such a good job before heading back. We grabbed food and ended up back at Neldor's house that he was staying at with Lucca and Julian now. It seemed weird that Julian would live there after selling his condo since we'd mated but… There were too many memories with him at my house.

I had been floored when he'd been the one to suggest it. It had meant the world to me when he had. He'd said that he planned to live forever with me at my family's castle in Faerie, and I was mostly at school now for my last year, so what did it matter? I fell deeper in love with him each time he was so understanding like that.

We ate and talked about normal everything. I was tired and wanted about double of what I ate and a ton of dessert before turning in for an early night. It might have been several days since my period was over, but I was still getting over that drama and even wrapping my head around it all. I wasn't even back to training yet, but I needed to soon.

There was just so much going on and I was tired.

So fucking tired.

That was probably why I didn't notice that Neldor had taken my hand and led me somewhere.

Especially not his bedroom.

I gasped when I saw the flameless candles and rare flowers from Faerie all over. He moved behind me and slid his arms around me, kissing along my neck so I could take it all in.

Oh shit.

That was the only thought in my head at first.

Then I wanted to smack him. I was too tired. I wanted a shower before we had sex the first time. To brush my teeth after we had barbeque for dinner!

Was this man really this stupid?

Yes, apparently, he was because his hand was under my shirt and teasing my skin.

Shit, we were really doing this. I had no idea how to gracefully get out of this after he'd put so much effort into this… But apparently, I should have.

Twenty minutes later we were done, and it had been the worst sex of my life. I stared at the ceiling, and it was so blah that my chest wasn't even heaving and my heart beat like I'd gone for a walk.

Every cliché bad thing that could have happened did.

The kisses were wet and gross. That had never happened to us before.

Our teeth had bonked together and hurt.

I hadn't been wet enough and it hadn't gone well and then been awkward to try to go back to him eating me out to make things happen.

I'd faked my orgasm to make things progress to just get it over with.

I was pretty sure he'd faked his orgasm just to make the disaster end so we could just proceed to the funeral of our sex life. I had no idea how to even handle this with any grace or like what to say.

So in typical Tamsin fashion, I didn't.

I teleported away with my clothes.

Seriously.

I checked myself in my bathroom and swallowed a hysterical chuckle. He'd faked his finish. There was no finish in me.

"Oh my gods. We suck so bad at sex together that he faked it too," I whispered, completely mortified for both of us.

How the fuck had we gotten to that point? Seriously?

I quickly freshened up and fled my house so he didn't try to find me there. The only thing worse than that performance of sex was having to talk about it which he undoubtedly would want to. Neldor was an adult and mature like that.

Fuck no. No thank you, not ever.

My mind couldn't seem to process what had happened though. We had chemistry! We had amazing chemistry. Always. We had like Fourth-of-July-level fireworks chemistry.

Fine, some level of awkwardness was expected. Of course, it would be.

I decided to cleanse. If there was ever a time that I needed to get out what I was feeling and the negative everything, it was right then. Plus, people had jumped on the idea of expanding the sorbet business to humans. Everyone in Faerie was all about it.

Honestly, it was a bit scary. If I was an evil person, I could easily have exploited their beliefs. I kept that to myself and didn't even speak such an idea, but it was a bit… Troubling. I would never call their religion or behavior cultish, but it was a bit much.

It was. They needed to see the potential pitfalls. Fine, I wasn't abusing it, and I hoped no one ever did, but they needed to learn from their mistakes.

Ancients weren't ever supposed to be the bad guys, right? How had that worked out for them?

But yeah, another lecture for fairies another time. Right then I was the only person who could abuse it and I wasn't, so I wasn't going to invite problems or reasons for people to mistrust me. I wasn't stupid like that.

Instead, I found my security and we went to get a ton of food and I let Ara be in charge of my cleansing.

On the land I'd bought that any supe could hide at with Guardians stationed where we now had farming operations of fruit found on Earth so we could expand. We were starting with dragon fruit, lychee, dates, and passion fruit. They all had a lot of health benefits and weren't easy to purchase in large quantities.

There had been some back and forth on bananas, but I had shot that down and instead discussed using our magic to help the current banana farmers with the problems they had. Fairies—especially our farmers—had rallied around the idea and especially that I would never screw people over. A team of biologists was dispersed and from what I'd already heard were making progress with… The problem.

Honestly, I had so much going on that I couldn't keep up with it all. I couldn't remember if it was a bug or fungal thing. Maybe both?

Earth had a lot of issues, and I had a lot of them in Faerie. Someone was on it, and we would help the farmers and save bananas. That was the point.

Good, because I loved bananas, and they made our sorbet awesome besides for the weirdos like Darby who loved tart.

Weirdos. Everything should always be sweet in my mind.

I got lost in my head and stuffed my face as I grew out the passion fruit plants all over the set-up trellises. It was so beautiful the way it was like decoration. I loved it and how it would be a ceiling of life and hanging food and flowers. I smiled when Ara handed me my earbuds and even brighter when the song was awesome.

I put my phone on repeat when I realized it was Marshmello's "Leave Me Before You Love Me" with the Jonas Brothers. I danced around as I sang and ate and cleansed.

"I want this at the castle off the throne room," I said to myself as I kept going and stared back at it all. I spun around and then reached for what food was next.

Instead, a hand grabbed mine and my earbud was pulled from my ear.

Light green eyes met mine and flashed shock as his arm slid around me. I realized the song and the implication.

Oh shit.

He ignored it and dipped me before twirling us all around the open area. I felt his magic push mine as if telling me to keep cleansing and letting it out more. He spun me back and forth as a thrill went through me, my bare feet gliding over the grass like nothing.

Neldor let the song play twice before he swung me up over his shoulder and I realized I was missing my other earbud now. "She'll be at my house. We have matters to discuss. You can finish her food and are done for the night."

I didn't even have a chance to object or yell at him before we were going through a portal and were in his bathroom.

"I did this all wrong, and we are not leaving things that way," he bitched as he set me on my feet. He leaned into his shower and turned it on. "And that was not our first time having sex since we both fucking faked it." He didn't let me reply, brushing his lips over mine. "And I'm sorry for being a fool. I was nervous. I should have done better."

"What? I don't blame you," I gasped.

"You should. Of course, you would have wanted to shower before our first time," he muttered between kissing my skin. "Brush your teeth. Prepare. I know you. I know better. I was nervous. I wanted—I'm a stupid fairy. It didn't happen. This is our first time, and you're a dirty fairy that I need to shower."

Apparently, I was very, very into the idea after his hands had been all over me dancing together.

"Don't lose my earbuds," I muttered before he kissed me again.

"I tossed them to Ara," he promised before pulling off my clothes, his already missing somehow.

Right, I lost my head during cleansing.

Sure, that was it. Not the loops and crazy he was throwing me for. I could totally blame it on that.

And this time we did it better.

Much, much better.

Holy fuck better.

Like it was so good that my mind couldn't keep up with it all. We were just in the shower somehow and his hands and lips were everywhere. Mine were the same and then he was finishing on me begging me for more and to slow down. I didn't even realize that I'd grabbed his cock, but clearly I had.

Then we had already washed each other and he was eating me out. I came again and again, my leg over his shoulder as he muttered about kneeling before me being his favorite place to be except he couldn't reach my perfect tits.

Yeah, I orgasmed. I gushed all over his lips and he demanded more.

I was sitting on his bench as he gave me a scalp massage as he washed my hair. Then a shoulder and breast massage as the conditioner set.

Oh, and another round of eating me out.

He rinsed the conditioner out and we were in bed.

"We're making love like fairies, baby doll," he demanded. "Let your wings out. Do it." He pulled me to sit up as he did, nodding as he let his out.

I did as he fingered my dripping pussy, both of us soaked and our hair a tangled mess. It was as funny as it was hot and all I wanted was him. I'd never seen his hair all over and… It was kind of perfect. I straddled his lap and slid my arms around his neck, moaning as my breasts rubbed his chest.

"You like that I've toned up, don't you?" he asked as I stared at him.

I licked my lips and nodded. "Apparently, I am really a shallow bitch. I never thought I was, but… Julian's abs and your fucking neck and shoulders. Lucca's butt dimples. Hudson's thick thighs. Darby's damn back that shows every movement—all of it. I am a shallow, shallow bitch who is so into the physical that I should be embarrassed."

He snorted. "You like our voices and their accents too much as well to say that." He brushed his lips over mine to take the sting out of his words. "Plus, you liked them first, but it just took everything up a notch. And we're the same, Tams. You were always gorgeous, but when you took your training up a level— fuck , baby doll. I've just…"

My gaze snapped to his. "What?" I growled when he snapped his mouth closed. "Tell me! I told you."

He smirked and grabbed my ass, yanking me closer.

And thrusting into me.

"Your thick, toned ass. The five of us cannot get enough of it. It was so fucking perfect but, gods, the way you made it a ghetto booty that just—it's so perky and muscular filling out every skirt and anything you wear is just—we're always fucking hard staring at your damn ass. It's—we're obscene and pervs. It pisses off—"

"If you bring up someone you shouldn't the first time you're inside of me, it will be the last time you're inside of me, Nel," I warned him.

"Yup, good point. This is why you're the smart one," he praised.

I burst out laughing, but then he moved me, and nothing was funny anymore.

No, everything got really serious, really fast.

I mashed my mouth to his and it was perfect— we were together. We moved in harmony and exactly how the other needed. My wings seemed to flutter as his did. I fisted his hair as he did my ass as our bodies worked against each other, every inch of us touching as we devoured each other's mouths.

My magic built too. I used the X rune and I told my magic no mating, no giving a piece of my soul—none of it. It sort of rolled its metaphorical eyes at me and seemed to tell me to just enjoy the fun. Fine, my magic had sort of orgasmed before when I had, so I figured it was like that.

But it had also misbehaved and signed me up for too much as well, so I wasn't taking any chances either. I was definitely the smart one on that.

Seriously though, it wasn't just a climax that built, but like the climax. When we finished, we fucking finished , both of us screaming our heads off as our wings fluttered so fast I was shocked that we didn't hover off the bed or something.

"Yeah, that was our first time," he chuckled as he nuzzled my neck and then chest.

I swallowed a giggle, but then it slipped out.

Yeah, that was our first time. Seriously.

Glad we could get it right even after the ridiculous false start.