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“Right. Do you know about how faeries take human infants from their beds and replace them with changelings?”
“I’ve only read about such a thing in faery tales. That’s something that really happens?”
“It does. Or it did. It’s been almost thirty years since any major baby thefts have occurred and changelings were left behind. Related to Faery, that is. But it’s started again. Only this time, the faeries have decided not to leave a changeling in the human baby’s place. They just take the baby and run.”
“What do they want the babies for?” She pressed fingers to her lips. “Oh, my god, do they eat them?”
“No. Faeries have a thing for half-breeds. Unless its half demon. That’s a long story. But suffice, they raise the humans in Faery and when they are grown, breed them with their own. It’s not like a breeding farm. Some are treated as family. But it’s how things have always been done.”
“That’s fucked.”
“Gotta agree with that assessment.”
“It sounds like human trafficking.”
“When you put it that way, it is similar.”
“You’re protecting innocent babies. That’s so honorable.”
“I try. I’ve gone out every night for the past two weeks. Each night I slay one or two collectors. They often come in pairs, sometimes just the one.”
Ry stood and paced to the windows that looked out over the city. Twilight was creeping up and the streetlights below fought with the remaining daylight. The sky was a hazy azure-and-gray violet. Behind him, he heard Indigo shift on the sofa.
“You don’t have to buy everything I’ve told you,” he said over his shoulder. “But it’s the truth. And...” He turned to face her. “You can’t tell anyone about this.”
“Who would believe me? I’ve got enough problems without adding crazy faery lady to the list. And I do believe you. Can I just say it’s kind of cool to know you? I mean, you really are Batman.”
“Call me what you want. But I’m not a superhero. All I want is to stop innocent families from having their precious children stolen.”
“I wish there was a way I could help you. I’m glad you trusted me to tell me.”
She walked up beside him, and when he sensed she was looking up at him Ryland met her gaze. The outside light gleamed in her eyes and gave her skin a soft matte texture that looked finer than the most expensive silk. He wanted to kiss her. He should kiss her.
“One last question,” she said. “And this one is the most important.”
“Shoot.”
“When I was hiding out in the alley, watching you battle the collectors with your sword, I saw something.”
“Like what?”
“I saw you change. Briefly. Your whole body bulked up and your face... Ry, what are you?”
Chapter 5 (#ucb55dd12-1f56-5278-b0ae-28279fd7849d)
“I should have kissed you when I was thinking about it,” Ry said.
Indi’s jaw dropped open. The man had been... “You were thinking about kissing me?”
He nodded. Smirked. A sexy move that crinkled the corner of one eye. “Just now.”
Indi forgot her question. Had she asked him something? The man wanted to kiss her? “Then why are you standing there staring at me?”
His smirk curled to an outright grin. And as he leaned forward, kiss forthcoming, the delicious aura of him surrounded Indi with a fresh, outdoorsy gush of man and might. Overwhelmed by his stature and the sudden glee that invaded her core, she could but remember to close her mouth as his lips touched hers and one of his hands slid across her back to firmly take her in hand.
This was a slow and focused seduction of her senses that lifted Indi onto her tiptoes to taste his lips, his teeth, his tongue. He clutched her tighter and deepened the kiss. The move made her feel safe and owned, yet also alive and sensual. The man knew how to hold a woman.
Gliding her hand up his chest, she slipped her fingers through the ends of his long hair and clutched at it, inadvertently pulling him closer to her, into her, if possible.
She sighed against his mouth as he tilted his head to change their angle. And when his other hand slid down her hip and over her ass, Indi couldn’t resist lifting a leg to hook at his hip. And then the other leg. He held her there, wrapped about him, sinking into his taste, his smell, the hardness of his body and the gentle control of holding her.
Something perfect about this moment. But she wasn’t going to analyze right now. Now was for pressing her breasts against his chest. Her nipples hardened and the man who held her groaned into their kiss. It sent an erotic hum through Indi’s system. She rocked her hips forward, wanting the sensations to travel deep, and knew she was growing wet. Just from a kiss. A stunning, all-consuming kiss.
All of a sudden, Ry broke their connection and said, “Whew!”
Indi realized she’d actually jumped into his arms and decided that had been a bit forward, so she disengaged from him. With reluctance. Tugging at her ponytail and stretching her gaze along the floor, she couldn’t prevent a giddy grin.
“I think I forgot my name,” she confessed. And then when she looked up into his eyes, and he delivered her a waggle of eyebrows, she lost it and broke into a giggle. “Seriously, that was some kind of powerful kiss.”
“I could give you another one. Unless that one was too much to handle?”
“Oh, I can handle a lot. Bring it.”
Ry’s smile collided with hers. And with a giggle, Indi again jumped up to fit her legs about his waist. He reached around and cupped her derriere, all while diving deep into her.
Had she come here to make out with the man? It hadn’t been her intent. She’d had questions. That had been answered. Most of them. Yet the flexing of his pecs and abs against her torso enticed her to abandon her previous worries and simply fall into the moment.
Hot and firm, his mouth. And he knew exactly how to kiss her. She clung to his wide biceps as he opened her mouth in a deep, lush takeover. He wanted to be inside her? Yes, yes, and oh, baby, yes, please.
“You are some kind of delicious, Princess Pussycat.”
“I like when you call me that. But it reminds me of my tattered dress that will never get clean. How could you have thought me a princess when I must have looked like—”
The next kiss was immediate and urgent. And it felt like the admonishment it had been meant to be. She’d been going down the route of complaining and putting herself down, and Ry stopped her. Bless him.
Clutching at his hair behind his neck, she curled it around her fingers and felt her toes curl within the strappy gladiator sandals. Had a kiss ever been so sensual? Targeted to her very core? Every part of her reacted to every part of him. And if she could get any closer to him she would, but she was already clinging to him for all the sweet, hot contact he would give her.
When they finally parted, she lingered in his arms this time, enjoying the feel of his warm chest against her torso and she hugged him. She wrapped her fingers about each of his biceps. So strong. Then she remembered how he’d wielded the sword as if a Viking warrior.
And those creatures. Collectors. From Faery.
Indi slid down from the embrace and tugged at her skirt. “You’re very sneaky,” she said.
One of Ry’s eyebrows lifted in question.
“That was a well-timed kiss. And the follow-up kisses distracted me from the question I asked you. But I can’t forget. What I saw that night is seared into my brain.”
She gave one of his biceps a squeeze, feeling the strength in his pulsing reaction. She felt sure many men who worked out were as solid and pumped as him. But did they wander about a place where faeries and humans overlapped carrying big swords? And did they...change?
“What are you, Ryland?”
He stepped back from her, swooping a hand over his hair, a devastatingly sexy move that spilled the brown locks over an ear and forward against his neck and under his jaw. Indi’s fingers wiggled, anticipating another glide through that delicious darkness.
And yet he looked down at her with an expression she couldn’t figure. Challenge? Or an intense anxiety that he tried to bolster with silence?
“Are you a faery, too?” she prompted, unwilling to ignore her curiosity. “Because, you know, I am on board with all the faery stuff. Apparently.”
He was the last example of what she’d expect a faery should look like. But then, those black sparkly things had never been in her mental catalog of what should and shouldn’t be a faery. The few she’d thought to see in the backyard garden had been no higher than her index finger and had looked human and had sported glittery wings.
He exhaled heavily, one of those disapproving sighs that could go either way. Resignation or acceptance.
Indi dared to meet his gaze again, and this time he nodded and shoved his hands in his front pockets. Walking to the windows, he stood there for a while. The streetlights beamed and, while the sky was yet light, the moon was nearly full. It hung above the distant spire of the Eiffel Tower. A pretty picture. Made even more intriguing by the silhouette of the handsome yet seemingly troubled man standing before her.
“Ryland?”
“Just Ry, okay?” he said softly. “That’s what all my friends call me.”
She was relieved he had added her to his friends list. But after that kiss, and the following one, and then the next one, she had been hoping for something a little more than merely being friends.
“The things I told you,” he said, still facing the window, “about FaeryTown and what I’ve been doing, have to be kept in strictest confidence.”
“Of course. Like I’ve said, no one would believe me anyway.”
“I’m not sure why I told you. Well, I had to. You were there. And for some reason beyond my ken you could see Faery. And, of course, if you believe in faeries, then you should understand there’s a whole lot of other sorts out there that are best believed as only myth.”
“Like vampires and witches?”
He nodded and turned to her. “Does that freak you out?”
Indi gestured calmly with splayed hands. “Do I look freaked?”
Now he narrowed his gaze at her, and there was that growing smirk again. “You don’t. But maybe you’ll go home and have a real good think about everything we’ve discussed and then the freak will pounce on you.”
She shrugged. “Possible. But I’d like to fall on the side of me being a smart woman who can rationalize and decide for herself what is real and what is not. Show me a faery? I believe. Tell me vampires exist? Next time some guy flashes fangs at me, I’m going to guess it would be wise to run. Not sure what to do if I ever meet a witch, though.”
“You wouldn’t know it if you had met a witch. Or a vampire, for that matter. Unless he flashes his fangs at you. And then? How would you know if he’s real or one of those poseurs that dances in the clubs and has a weird fetish?”
“Exactly. The world is filled with oddities. But what about mermaids?” she asked suddenly as her thoughts drifted. “Do they exist? Oh, please, tell me they do, because I so want to see one of those someday.”
“They do, but you’d never want to meet one. They’re vicious.”
“Seriously? Have you met one? How do you know about all these creatures, Ry? If you’re not a faery...?”
“I’m part faery,” he said suddenly. And before Indi could ask for clarification, he added, “But mostly werewolf.”
Chapter 6 (#ucb55dd12-1f56-5278-b0ae-28279fd7849d)
He should not have stopped kissing her. Because then the question had been asked.
Ry had a thing about the first kiss. A man could tell a lot about a woman from that kiss. Awkward and graceless? There was always room for improvement. Sloppy and aggressive? Nerves could be the culprit, or just an overzealousness with which he didn’t want to deal. Firm and accepting, yet also the woman jumped into his arms and wraps herself about him like she was made to fit his body?
Mercy.
His heart was still thumping from that incredible contact. And he wished his erection would chill. Because there were more important matters. Like his confession about being part faery, part werewolf to a perfectly human woman. He never did that. And on the one occasion he had told all? He’d known her for months, and her name was Kristine, and he trusted her implicitly with his secret because she knew all too well that secrets could be painful.
He’d known Indigo for less than forty-eight hours. Didn’t know her last name. Wasn’t even sure she believed in faeries or if she was playing along with him until she could laugh at his stories later. Who was this incredibly compelling woman who had loosened his lips so much that he’d laid it all out there like that?
That was it, wasn’t it? That kiss of hers had loosened him up.
And now?
He wanted more from this woman. And for some reason, his better judgment had abandoned ship and decided he needed to tell all.
“Werewolf?” she said. Her voice was soft and awe-filled. Or was that fear? She stared up at him, hands clasped together below her chin. It looked like wonder in her gaze, but he could be wrong. Could be disgust. “And faery?”
With a heavy sigh, Ry knew he wouldn’t be able to push her out the door and send her on her merry way now. The deep dive had occurred. Now to surface without sustaining too much damage.
“Sit down,” he said.
She sat immediately. Eagerness lifted her chin, and yes, that was weird awe in her beaming gaze. “That’s what I saw,” she said. “I thought you changed to something like a wolf. Your head and shoulders and chest...they were—”
“I didn’t realize it happened. In the moment, my anger and the fury at trying to destroy the collector overwhelmed and I briefly shifted. You shouldn’t have had to see that.”
“Why? It didn’t scare me. I mean, from what I recall. Still kinda fuzzy from that whole adventure. And sore.” She pressed a hand to her back and arched it forward. “I wonder if I could talk to that faery healer. Ask her what she did to me, and how long it’s going to take to feel better?”
“Give it a few more days. You went through a lot the other night. And I’m sure I shoved you less than gently to get you out of the way.”
“You were trying to protect me.”
“A lot of good that did. You almost died, Indigo.”
“There is that. I have no memory of a near-death experience, though. But let’s talk about you. Come sit by me. Tell me about being a werewolf. And a faery! Please?”
In for the dive, Ry sat next to Indi and pressed his palms together before him as he summoned the strength and downright calm to put himself out there. He didn’t have to tell her all. He would never do that. Because he didn’t know her. But she knew too much. Enough that leaving her hanging would only push her away from him, and could likely result in her telling others his secret.
For once, Ry wished he had a vampire’s skill of persuasion. They could change a human’s mind, convince them they’d never been bitten. Or that they had never seen a werewolf shift halfway while battling vicious critters from Faery.
“Okay, here goes,” he said.
She wiggled expectantly and leaned forward.
“I was born werewolf. My mother was a werewolf, and my father...” This part he didn’t need to go into detail. “It’s a twisty thing. My father was a faery, but my mother was married to the pack leader. She had an affair. Leave it at that. So I’m half-and-half, but I have more werewolf tendencies than faery. I don’t have wings,” he said quickly as she opened her mouth to speak.
“Oh.” Her shoulders dropped. “I was going to ask about that. Do you have a tail?”
Her fascination disturbed him on a level he couldn’t quite measure. Such a question made him angry, and a little humiliated. But why he felt that way went back to being ousted from the pack because he was part faery. Too many bad memories.
“I don’t have a tail. In my were shape. Were means man. Werewolf means half man, half wolf. Like you saw the other night. Though I didn’t shift completely. If so, my clothes would have split and fallen off and...you would have known for certain you’d seen a werewolf.”
