14
Alarie
I awoke to a knock at my door. The pounding got more and more incessant.
“I’m coming. I’m coming,” I yelled, exasperated, padding down my hallway toward the door.
I had a slight headache and felt like I could use some water. I had stayed out late at Bar Louie with the boys. I opened the door, expecting it to be either Luke or Rhett. They were the only ones who ever visited my wing of the Rein manor and the only ones who would feel comfortable enough to knock on my door like a mad man.
“Is that how every lady answers the door around here? If so, then I’m beginning to think I could really like this place,” he said, wagging his eyebrows at me.
I was wearing a silk slip of a nightgown. The hem barely covered the top of my thighs, and the lace detail at the top exposed the tops of my breasts.
“Cass,” I said, smiling. I stepped aside to let him in. “I didn’t know if you were going to make it.”
He leaned down and gifted me with a roguish smile and a kiss on the cheek before moving into my foyer. Last time he showed up at my door unannounced, we had shared a passionate kiss that had been cut short by the necessity of Cass having to leave the High Court and patrol along the magical border wall between Alancia and Valencia. I had been worried that our kiss would make it weird between us, but him showing up on my doorstep unannounced and giving me a hard time felt completely natural.
“This is what you get when you wake people up from a perfectly good morning of sleeping in,” I replied, bumping my shoulder against his large body. I bounced off his muscled frame, and I doubt my attempt even registered with him.
“Come on, we’re going hiking,” he replied, ignoring my jape. He walked toward my bedroom like he owned the place.
“Ugh,” I groaned, following him to my room.
I found him digging around in my closet.
“Don’t you have anything in here that isn’t silk, lace, or see-through?” he quipped. He held up one of my more indecorous tops with a single finger and wagged his eyebrows at me.
I rolled my eyes and snatched the top from him. But now that he mentioned it, I didn’t know if I did have anything that was suitable to wear for hiking. I started digging for a pair of tennis shoes I knew I had left over from before Jay replaced my entire wardrobe.
“Okay. I’ll go hiking with you on one condition: Go make me some coffee,” I bartered.
“I accept your terms,” he teased, abruptly ceasing his rifling through a drawer of delicates and walking out of my bedroom toward the kitchen.
I heard him clanking around in the kitchen while I dug out a tank top and an old pair of shorts that I had not worn since I came to the High Court.
* * * *
“I’ve never been out here before,” I said.
We headed away from the Court in the opposite direction from the way I would have taken into town if I were heading to Bar Louie. The direction we headed in was the same way to go if we were going to Breakpoint or Harborview, but instead of heading along the main road, we immediately cut into the woods as soon as we were outside of the High Court’s perimeter.
“Yeah, you don’t look like you get out in the woods much these days,” Cass replied.
It was true. I had not gained weight despite having access to any kind of food and treats that I wanted, a luxury I did not have back home. Instead, I was about as thin as I had always been. But there was a softness to me that had not been there before, particularly around my chest where the top of my breasts had filled into mounds. Back home, I had been lean and wiry, probably from a combination of never having a lot of food around and having to walk almost everywhere. Plus, I used to be a little more rough and tumble, going hiking or for a run on the beach.
“I’m not complaining,” Cass assured me, noticing my analytical stare. “It looks good on you.”
“Where are you taking me?” I asked. I was beginning to work up a sweat already.
“There’s a watering hole over here, not too far,” he replied, holding a low branch for me to walk past.
I took the lead for a while, dunking under tree branches and watching for holes and loose rocks on the forest floor. It felt good to be active. The most physical activity I got these days was walking to and from Bar Louie, and that was only when Luke didn’t carry me.
I grabbed a branch to move it out of our path like I had done the last twenty minutes or so.
“Mandy, watch out—”
Cass tried to warn me, but it was too late. I had failed to realize that there was a wasps’ nest perched on the branch. I released the branch in my hand and the nest crashed to the ground at my feet. Angry wasps exploded from the pieces of the nest, swarming me and Cass.
“Run,” Cass yelled, taking the lead once more.
I took off, loping after Cass. The wasps buzzed around us as the watering hole appeared in sight. Cass threw our pack on the bank and kicked off his shoes. He dove head-first into the clear water. I managed to kick off my shoes before crashing into the water after him, fully clothed.
I was already out of breath from running when I began laughing. Fortunately, the wasps had finally decided to leave us alone. Cass emerged from the deeper water, running a hand through his dark green hair. His wet shirt clung to him, so that I could see his muscular pecs and defined abs underneath.
“You get stung?” he asked, his laughter fading. He ran his rough hands over my arms and back, feeling for stingers. A shiver that had nothing to do with the cool water ran down my spine.
“I don’t think so,” I answered, trying to shake off the chill on my skin.
He pulled his soaked shirt over his head, shaking the water from his hair. The full extent of the tattoos I had seen peeking out of his shirt before was revealed. His chiseled chest was covered in ink. The black, blue, and green ink melded together, making it difficult to make out distinctive features of any particular tattoo without having to stare.
“Take off your shirt,” he ordered.
“What?” I said, tearing my eyes away from the drops of water now dripping down his bare chest.
“Shorts too,” he said.
I looked at him incredulously.
“Or keep wearing wet clothes,” he responded to the look in my eyes. “But I’m going to lay my clothes out to dry.”
He began to walk toward the edge of the water. I stripped off everything but my bra and panties and handed them to him. He trudged over to the grass and laid my small clothes over a branch. Then he peeled his shorts off, revealing a pair of short navy boxer briefs, and threw his clothing over a branch as well. The muscles in his thighs were so huge that his briefs were forced to bunch up at the top of his legs.
I was sure that he could feel my eyes on him as he waded through the water back to me. I noticed a long silvery scar along the inside of his thigh just before his lower half disappeared beneath the waterline. It looked new. I knew that the silvery nature of the scar, like the one I had under my chin, meant that the cut had been made with an iron blade.
“What happened to your leg?” I asked.
“Someone tried to relieve me of my femoral artery,” he replied nonchalantly.
I wanted to ask more questions about the battles in the north.
“So, what do you think?” he said, changing the subject. He held his arms out and turned around in the water, gesturing at the alcove of the forest around us.
“It’s beautiful,” I responded, looking at the canopy of trees. “From here, you can’t even see that there’s a city out there.”
“I know. That’s the point,” Cass replied.
But I was distracted by the tattoo I spotted on his back when he turned around. I swam up to him and began to trace the outline of the tattoo that covered the entirety of his back and worked its way down his muscular arms. It was a set of wings. But not just any wings. They looked just like the dark set of feathered wings I knew his father donned.
Cass was proud of his father and his wings. His dad used to be able to retract and recall back his wings at will but, as the magic began to fade, his ability to do so also faded until one day he could no longer make the wings disappear. His father had always said he was thankful that when that day came, he was stuck with his wings, instead of without them. But Cass had grown up envious of his father’s wings and his ability to fly. Cass had felt that the dying magic had robbed him of his birthright—his own set of wings.
“How’s your dad?” I asked, pulling my hand away from his skin.
“Good. I stopped through for a minute on my way here. He says you haven’t been home since you left,” Cass replied.
Cass laid back, floating in the water and closed his eyes. Guilt coursed through me, just like every time I thought of home, my mother, and everything I left behind.
“Yeah, you know…” I equivocated. “I’ve been busy,” I finished, lamely.
He opened his eyes, cutting them toward me.
“It’s not as bad as you remember, Mand. People miss you there,” he replied, closing his eyes again.
But even the sound of him calling me by the name I went by back home—Mandy—struck a chord of existential dread within me.
“Speaking of missing people. Why’d it take you so long to come visit me?” I said, changing the subject.
He didn’t push. He knew I had mixed feelings about everything to do with our childhood home.
“Someone has to fight their wars,” Cass replied.
And I knew that he meant the high fae by “their.”
I shivered again, this time from being cold.
“I’m going to go lie in the sun for a minute,” I said, swimming toward the shore.
As I walked out of the water, I remembered I was wearing a thong. But it wasn’t like it was that much more revealing than the bathing suits Cass had seen me in a million times before. The fact that my bra and panties were white was the bigger problem. They were practically see-through when wet.
I decided just to lie on my stomach for a bit. A few minutes later, I heard Cass getting out of the water. Then I felt him settle next to me. We sat in silence in the soft green grass, allowing the sun to dry our bodies and our clothes. I flipped over to lie on my back, peeking one eye open to stare up at him.
Despite the fact that I was laid out in front of him nearly naked, he was staring at my face. I gave him a small smile and closed my eyes again, thinking of our kiss the last time I had seen him. And then Luke popped into my mind. But it wasn’t like that with Luke. It wasn’t like we were…exclusive. He had been on other dates. He was going on a date with Karina Dempsey tonight, and that would kick off his “courting” of her, as he had promised his parents.
Before I could make up my mind on whether my prior kiss with Cass had been a good idea, his lips were on mine.
At first, I was hesitant. Cass and I had always just been friends. But that was then, and this was now, and my body was telling me that I very much wanted to explore new territory with Cass. I pushed myself up to meet his embrace. Our kiss dragged on until my panties, which the sun had almost dried from my swim, were drenched for a different reason. Cass broke away from my mouth, a devilish grin on his face.
“Man, I can’t tell you how long I have wanted to do that,” he said.
“Just that?” I teased, the ache between my thighs vehemently disagreeing with him not touching me.
He looked at me, amused.
“I don’t know how they do things here at the High Court, but back where we come from, you at least have to take a girl to a proper meal first,” he replied, raising his eyebrows at me suggestively.
“Cass, I’ve known you almost my entire life. And I’m not hungry right now,” I retorted flatly.
I propped myself up on my elbows under him, my nipples poking through my translucent white bra. He set his jaw, contemplating.
“Well, lucky for you, I’m starving,” he joked, but his eyes blazed with a hunger that was anything but jovial.
He rose to his knees, and his large body cast a shadow over me as I looked up into his brown eyes, noting the gold that traced through them, just like mine. He pressed his hulking mass against my small frame, pushing me to the grass. He reached a hand between my legs, pushing my panties to the side, and found me soaked in anticipation for him. He hovered his mouth over mine as he slid a finger into my core.
I gasped, trying to close the gap between our mouths, but he pulled back, keeping just enough distance so that I breathed into his mouth but could not touch his lips. He brought his finger to his lips and licked at it, showing me with his eyes how much he enjoyed it. He relieved me of my bra before he went back to working his two fingers in and out of me. He inhaled my breathy moans.
“At night, sometimes after a battle, I lay in my tent and dreamed of this. Dreamed of you,” he whispered.
He looked at me like I was everything he had ever wanted in life materialized before him. I pushed myself up, closing the distance between our lips and kissed him, stopping him from spilling any more of his secrets.
“This is real, Cass. This is me and you, right now.”
“Then make my dreams come true. Come on my fingers, Mandy,” he growled.
He stroked the same knot inside of me over and over again. I clung to his back, my hands clawing at the outlines of tattooed wings I knew were there, imaging what it would be like if I clung to real wings instead. I closed my eyes as I opened myself to him and allowed my climax to crash over me. The pleasure washed over my body, and I loosened my grip on Cass, lying on my back with my eyes still closed.
I felt Cass rise to his knees and then a shadow settled over us like something large was standing over us. Startled, I popped my eyes open, but it was still just the two of us in the alcove. The shadow I felt settle over us came from Cass.
Large, feathered onyx and charcoal wings now protruded from his back. I was too shocked to say anything. He rose to his feet and pulled me up to him. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me to his chest like I was something to be cherished, and his wings closed over us like a cocoon.
“Better than a dream,” he murmured, kissing the top of my head.
And then, the next thing I knew, we were in the air, his wings beating around us. Before I could find my words, we were above the tops of the trees. I should have been terrified that I was naked and flying above the city. But wrapped in Cass’s arms, I felt as safe as I had ever been. He was laughing as subtle tears of happiness streamed down his face.
“Wha—How?” I managed to gasp out.
“You,” he replied simply, laughing and smiling down at me.
I began to protest before I remembered Luke moving inside of me in the ocean and the blinding ball of the light surrounding us. Cass flew toward the High Court.
“What about our stuff? I’m naked, Cass!” I protested, remembering myself.
“Fuck our clothes and fuck them,” he said, flying over the parapets and rooftops of the Court.
We landed on the balcony to his room at the Dumont manor. Cass encircled me in his wings, leaning his head down and gently bestowing a kiss upon my lips before letting go of me for the first time since we lay in the alcove. I followed him inside as he walked toward his closet.
“It might be a little big,” he joked, tossing me one of his white undershirts.