Chapter 33 Tegwyn
Tegwyn
I run my claw down the groove of Ivy’s spine, making her body shudder all over. When she finally looks at me with those brilliant starburst eyes, I give a wicked smirk.
“So, you are awake...”
She scowls, and my chuckle reverberates through the cave when I spy that cute crease between her brows. This human is ridiculously expressive; it’s amusing to watch.
“Yes, I am now. No thanks to you. Don’t tickle me there.”
“Where? Here?”
I scrape up the length of her spine again with the hook of my claw, and she gives a shrill gasp, slapping my chest. “Yes, stop!”
Yet the more she protests, the more I scratch, and she harrumphs, shoving my hand away. She finally settles, nestling down beside me again, using her hands as a pillow as she closes her eyes. The poor human is spent, and it’ll be days until she regains her strength.
I have no remorse. What can I say? I’m a beast.
Ivy more than lived up to my expectations, and she tasted far better than I imagined. Like honey straight from the comb. It’s going to take a lifetime to forget the sweet sensation of her arousal from my tongue.
If only we could lie this way forever, but alas, we must return to reality. I’m going to have to tell her what Bannog informed me of at the shop. Tonight. Before the light of a million stars…
Ivy deserves to see some beauty in this world before it’s cruelly ripped away.
“You think too loud.”
My heart thumps at her words, and now I steer my thoughts elsewhere. This moment with her, right here, right now. This is perfect. The way the heated water drips down her body, the candles turning her skin soft, buttery gold…
She lifts her face, hiking up a pale eyebrow. “I can hear your heart beating. You can’t hide anything from me.”
Fuck. She’s on to me.
“What’s on your mind?”
I swallow, and she watches the movement run down my throat.
Worry dances inside her eyes. “Tegwyn?”
She knows I can’t tell a lie, so there’s no way I can skirt around this.
So, I focus on her gorgeous face, appreciating the way the candlelight casts a shadow on the dimple above her heart-shaped lips.
The humans call it Cupid’s bow… Quite fitting, given how besotted I was from the instant I spied her lush, red mouth.
Rather than telling her the truth outright, I grasp the back of her head, threading my claws through her golden hair. “Later. I promise.”
She regards me for a few moments. She’s not an idiot; she knows it’s something bad. Yet she lowers her gaze, giving me a nod, and I lean forward, bumping our heads together.
Ivy rises to her knees, water trickling down her alabaster skin, and it looks like she’s getting out of the tub. But I want to indulge a little longer and drag her back to me. “Not just yet. I want to cherish this moment. It’s amazing having your wet, naked body pressed up against mine, princess.”
She smiles teasingly. “Oh, really?”
I return her smirk. “Really.”
My heart pounds as she straddles my hips, pushing me back against the lip of the tub, and I’m rewarded with the sight of her pert breasts. When she moves her mouth close to my lips, I shut my eyes, savouring the sensation of her hot breath on my damp cheeks.
The water is still hot, fuelled by my magic and her insatiable lust.
It turns out that sex with Ivy is a good way to refuel my reserves. It all started from the moment I bit her neck.
She still bears my mark, the candlelight casting shadows on the indentations left by my teeth.
My next mark: her breasts. One of her dusky pink nipples has my name on it.
“My eyes are up here, Tegwyn.”
Slowly, my gaze trails back to her face, and there’s no missing her smirk. She reaches across, running her finger tortuously between my pecs. She gets in between my abs, brushing away the water there, then continues south.
The blood rushes hot through my head when she teases her finger down the V of my hips. I’m not going to last.
Any moment, I’ll pounce on her.
Finally, her finger finds my cock, and a growl loosens from my throat.
“Easy now,” she whispers.
My growling stops, replaced by a tick of my upper lip. This beast of mine is relentless, accompanied only by the thrashing of my heart. Without warning, she presses her palms to my pecs, grinding her cunt along the base of my cock, and that’s when she rakes her sharp nails down my chest.
Fuck. That hurts...
She leans forward, pushing her hardened nipples against my tender pecs, then whispers into my ear. “Now, I’ve marked you…”
Suddenly, she rises, water dripping off her body like music as she steps out of the tub, collecting her shredded clothes off the ground. I remain in a state of shock as she pads out of the cave stark-naked, tossing me a final look over her shoulder.
My heart is still raging, my rapid breaths bouncing off the cave walls.
She… marked me…
Slowly, I gaze down at my chest, spying the gashes she left with her nails. I’m bleeding, and I look back in her direction.
She is full of surprises. With a heavy sigh, I slump back against the tub, slipping beneath the scorching water to relieve some of the tension. I guess I will finish myself off then.
Ivy
Tegwyn woke me in the middle of the night, telling me he had a surprise waiting at the end of the tunnel. Should I be worried? Hopefully, it’s not revenge for marking his chest. If he thinks he’s the only one with claws around here, then he can kiss my derriere.
Oh, wait. He already did.
“Skies should be clear tonight.”
I raise my brow, gazing at the back of his horned head. “Clear for what, exactly?”
He glances over his left shoulder, oil lamp swinging in hand. “For stargazing, of course. There’s going to be a meteor shower. One you don’t want to miss.”
My heart rate spikes. I did always have a love for the stars, and I bet they’re even brighter in the cold, dark north.
We arrive at a fissure in the rock, and the moment I step out onto the cliff, a gust of icy wind takes my breath away.
Yet the wind has nothing compared to the open sky.
It’s like an artist’s canvas. I couldn’t even begin to describe the colours she used: indigo, mauve, violet, sparkling silver…
The way the paint swirls and bleeds with just a single brushstroke.
Not even back at home did the stars ever look so spectacular, so vivid.
Bright, shimmering clusters blink across the span of the night sky, and I soon forget which way is up and which is down as I free-fall into oblivion.
“It’s beautiful…” I whisper.
Tegwyn blows out his lamp, and we both gaze up at the sky now. A light streaks across the velvet expanse, and I jump. Then a series of others follow, and I can’t stop laughing. “This is amazing. Look!”
I point north towards a hazy pillar of red light. Several other pillars materialise with the first, growing in brightness and intensity until they stretch skyward. Then they dance, rippling across the night sky like a curtain of red, green, and purple, and I can’t believe it.
“The northern lights.”
Tegwyn confirms my statement. “That’s right. I was hoping they would appear tonight along with the stars.”
They’re breathtaking, the way they dance and light up the whole night.
The faerie chuckles. “If you think that’s impressive, then you’ve seen nothing yet. Come here.”
He grips my chin, drawing my eyes away from the pretty lights, and he plants a chaste kiss on my lips.
I have no idea what he’s doing. At first, I thought he was just being passionate, but when I look at the night sky again, that single brushstroke of star-kissed paint explodes into a river of sparkling dust.
And the lights… They burn magenta, lime green, and flaming violet now, overlapping as they dance more vividly than ever before, and I try to catch my breath.
Oh…so, this is how the night sky appears to the Fae?
It’s phenomenal.
More stars streak across the now-living canvas, merging with the dancing aurorae high above, and there are no words. With my new gift of faerie sight, they’re simply blinding, and tears gather in my eyes.
So many humans live their entire lives without getting to see a night sky like this, and I just wish everyone got the chance to experience it one day.
I glance at the faerie beside me, and the star-flecked river reflects inside his eyes. “Thank you for bringing me out here tonight. It was worth waking up for.”
He returns my smile. “Don’t mention it, princess.”
The magic soon leaves me, returning to its original proprietor. Does he have to sacrifice a little of his own lifeforce just to share what he did with me tonight?
Now he appears crestfallen, and I step closer, taking his hand. “Tegwyn?”
He sighs, gazing up at the dancing aurorae. “It’s time you finally knew.”
My heart drops at his dire tone. “All right.”
He shut his eyes. “You remember when Bannog and I were talking yesterday?”
A cold shiver rattles down my spine. “Yes.”
“He…informed me of some grave news...”
The Fae sighs, reaching up to run his claws through his hair. He appears to be in pain. What has got into him?
I wet my lips, heart thumping. “It’s okay. You…you can tell me…”
Finally, he looks my way, and I meet those dancing pillars inside his shining eyes.
“I’m sorry...”
I struggle for breath. “S-sorry for what?”
“Your parents. Bannog has contacts at the king’s court. They’re…they’re gone, Ivy...”
The sky shatters like a mirror high above, and the sweet illusion of magic vanishes instantly as a grey cloud takes over. A life without colour.
Nothing.
Just…emptiness.
My head spins, the ground dissolving beneath my feet as I forget how to stand straight.
He captures me in his arms.
“N-no…they…they can’t be…”
My lungs shrink, and I breathe through a narrow passage. The blood rushes through my head, and it’s all too much. I had my suspicions. But I pushed them all aside, clinging to false hope.
“It’s all right, Ivy. Deep breaths.”
I can’t even fathom breathing. My brain can’t connect with my lungs. A strangled sound leaves my throat, and when my knees buckle beneath me, refusing to keep me upright, I finally collapse into his arms.
Nothing could have ever prepared me for this. It’s like someone gouged my heart out of my chest, and it’s bleeding on the cold, hard ground now, slowly losing life.
Once upon a time, the sky was a blaze of colour… But now, it’s just black.
Suffocating.
“I’m… I’m yours, Ivy…”
His words pull me back from the depths of despair, and I meet those gilded eyes. A flaming ring of gold surrounds his pupils, and I find my stars again.
It seems I did the impossible; I won the heart of a once-selfish faerie…but how?
He presses his mouth to mine, and splashes of colour return to my eyes, as well as warmth and sunshine.
“You’ll always have me. I’ll be your family from now on. You won’t ever be alone. That’s a vow.”
Alone?
Did I say that at one point?
Finally, I meet his kiss, drinking up his raw passion. “I’m… I’m yours, too.”
A heartbeat passes between us. Then he whispers in a voice only I can hear, “Têr nghalon…”
My eyes open, meeting those rings of pure gold. “What did you say?”
He swallows audibly. “My true name is Têr nghalon. All faeries have one. Now, you command my every action. You can peer into my mind if you so much as wish, hear my most intimate thoughts. You can even make me kill… Best of all, you can tap into my magic, use it to heal yourself.”
I… I have no idea what to say. He’s giving me such a rare gift, and it’s not one I could ever return. No bartering, no deals.
Just his trust.
His sheer faith in me stitches up the hole in my chest, helping me to breathe and think clearly again, and I finally say, “Thank you… Têr nghalon…”
He goes ramrod straight when I call him by his true name. Even its mere utterance allows me to peer into his mind, sensing myself in two places.
The two streams of consciousness are a little too much to handle, so I cleave free of his mind, gazing at him from my own perspective again.
We don’t speak. Instead, I nudge into his headspace, letting him sense how much I love and appreciate him, and soon we embrace beneath the light of a thousand stars, two lost souls, forever entwined.