“No, no.  You’re worried about taking my virginity.  I get it.  But I’m not going to be a virgin forever.  Just keep that in mind.”

-=(1)=-

He couldn’t help keeping in mind and it was beginning to piss him off.  Grant sighed heavily as he flopped back in the tall, wild grass, his face, now turned toward the night sky tense with aggravation.  Adriana Storm was quite the force to be reckoned with.  He’d always known that ever since she began touring the Sanctuary, home of the Shapeshifters.  Now, all her force bared down on him with a vengeance, and with a focus on sex.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t wonderful.  She was the type that would fuel young men’s fantasies for years to come and some older men’s as well.  And every time he saw her, it became increasingly harder to picture her as the ankle-biter that he’d first met.  No, she was definitely turning into a beautiful young woman. Long legs.  Trim, lean body.  Shimmering silver locks that cascaded down her back to her perfect rear end.  Wonderful breasts, not much bigger than a handful, but that was all any man really needed.  Lately, Grant couldn’t help imagining what it would be like to take one into his mouth and ta–

No, no, no, no…

Damn it, he was a grown-up and the girl was half his age.  It made no sense for him to drool over Adri like some horny high-schooler feeling his oats for the first time.  He wouldn’t.  He refused.  He was thirty-seven, for the love of God.  He’d spent enough time on the earth to know how to keep his libido in check.

Not only that, she was a princess of the new principle power of the world.  After “The End of the Modern World,”  Adriana’s mother rose to power, bringing her people into a reality that had almost forgotten them.  Humanity, in hopes of protection for the darkness, fell to the knees of the renewed Fae Courts and the one queen that ruled over them both.  The world was knocked back into some sort of post-modern, high-fantasy world.

As a princess, due to the heavy protection around her, Adriana was practically untouchable in every way.  And that was just her guards.  Her father…well, her father was almost a super hero despite being human.  The things Grant had heard about him…The things he could do to a man with a mere butter knife…

He shuddered at the thought.

Yes.  Princess Adri was untouchable.  She would always be untouchable for too many reasons.  Especially since….

With a heavy sigh, Grant closed his eyes.  Using every mental effort imaginable, he tried not to think about his young friend.

Resistance.  Discipline. Strength.

Heaven help him.

-=(2)=-

Adri’s looks of utter contentment had basically gotten her thrown out of the palace.  Her mother, naturally, wasn’t bothered by the fact that she was now having sex.  Her father, on the other hand, had begun practicing with an iron pike.  It had put most of the royal guard on edge.  Iron was as deadly to Fae as silver was to Shifters.  No one wanted to be on the receiving end of her daddy’s extensive and brutal training.

So, in efforts to preserve every male in the palace, Cayden, the captain of the royal guard, politely suggested Adriana visit the Sanctuary.  He felt that it would be an excellent learning experience with the emergence of her new earthy powers.  When she reluctantly agreed, Cayden shoved her into the nearest carriage before she could even think.

Just as well, she mused.  She loved her daddy, but he was just so…human in thought.  How her mother dealt with him on a regular basis was beyond her.  It wasn’t like she was the first daughter to go through the Awakening.  In fact, she was the third!  Having time outside of home would probably do her father some good.  It would give him time to unclench.

Besides, it had been two weeks since her talk with Grant.  Two weeks since the challenge was thrown on the proverbial table.  Fourteen luxurious nights in Nicolo’s bed.  She hadn’t fallen for her first lover as her friend imagined.  Nicolo was a wonderful companion, but it remained as “just sex.”  She’d proven her point that the body’s pleasure had nothing to do with the heart’s emotions.  Someday, she would fall in love, but it wouldn’t be due to the bed.  And it wouldn’t be with Grant.

A small smile moved across her lips as she watched the blooming trees rush passed the window.  Yes, romance would come someday, but not yet.  Soon, though, she would be able to share herself with someone she cared for–someone who she could save from his quiet solitude.  It had been a wish she’d had since she became old enough to understand…

“I’ll make you forget, Grant,” she whispered as her eyes fluttered closed.  “Even if it’s just a moment, I’ll help you find peace.”

With time, her mind’s wanderings spilled into a fretful dream that she’d had for too many nights ever since she found out the truth.

-=(3)=-

The courtyard was finally recovering from winter with some of the trees beginning to bloom.  Quietly, they whispered to Adri.  The time for renewal had come.  Sing the new life with us, they beaconed.

She swayed as the wind still touched with the tiniest bite of the season of death.  It was bitter against her skin, causing her to shudder.  But it wasn’t just the cold that made her shake.  It was also the power emanating from the woman on the other side of the courtyard.

The woman’s back was turned.  Silver hair, much like Adri’s own flowed freely down her back.  The robe she wore nearly matched, but it had darker silver designs etched into the fabric.  She glowed with a pale white light that made the silver dance on air.  She looked like an angel, but Adriana knew the woman was more than an angel.  She was an earthbound goddess: The Great Mother in flesh form.  She was the High Queen.

“Mom?”

Her mother turned to her.  The woman’s emerald eyes were filled with a sadness that broke Adri’s heart.  She wanted to go to her, but fear held her in place.  Fear of whatever the truth may be.

“Adriana,” her mother’s voice echoed almost formlessly on the air, “you must be careful of the broken heart.”  The woman lifted her hands, each filled with fleshy lumps dripping crimson down her mother’s porcelain white skin. “You’re too young to know.  He loved her so much…loved her body to death…Now his soul, aching for release from pain, can have none.”

“I want to help him.”

Something like a human scream filled the air.  From the top of the wall, a flaxen cougar jumped to the ground before Adri.  Her eyes widened, but she stood her ground.  Nervously, her eyes rolled back to the face of her mother.  Tears trickled down the woman’s face.  Petals fell and swirled around the queen, dancing on the wind.

“Some things can’t be helped,” her mother said so very sadly.

The cougar called her attention again.  There was something in his face, something darker than primal.  He moved one step closer, two.  On the third, he pounced Adri, claws ripping into her chest, tearing a scream from her mouth.  He fought with everything he had while Adri tried her best to get away.  She couldn’t; he had her too firmly.  And she knew that her pain was locked in his, even if he couldn’t tell her.

Then there was an awful stillness, like death waiting just beyond.  Her eyes opened to find a man above her.  His green-hazel eyes were wells of tears.

“Adri…” His voice ached with emotion.

His hand cupped her cheek.  She felt the light pressure of his thumb run across her skin.  She frowned up at him which made him shudder.

“Adri…” He whispered again

Her hand reached for his, trembling.  When it finally closed around his, he closed his eyes with a whimper.  The first waiting tear fell onto her slightly parted lips.

“I’m sorry.”

Grant’s expression changed to that more-than-primal look.  Suddenly, his hand was around her neck, squeezing tightly.  His nails dug into her throat, ripping through the flesh there.  Her blood filled her mouth.  Death reached for her as she lie beneath her friend. And as Grant continued to squeeze, he whispered repeatedly “goodbye.”

-=(4)=-

“Princess, we’ve arrived.”

Adri jumped in her seat.  She hadn’t remembered drifting off, but that dream had come again.  She shook down to her core.

“Are you well?”

Her attention turned to the coachman who stared at her with frantic eyes.  Weakly, she nodded to him, while her fingers moved to her neck.  She could still feel the hand wrapped around her throat and nails digging in.

“I’m fine,” she told the man quietly,  “Just had a bad dream.  That’s all.”

He gave her a sympathetic smile as he held out his hand.  A moment of hesitation later, she took his offer with her own smile.

Gracefully, she stepped from the carriage while squeezing the coachman’s hands. He gave her a slight bow as he let her go.

Adri flexed her bare feet in the tall, wild grass.  She rubbed a blade between her toes.  She felt a sudden wave of happiness rush through her, but she wasn’t sure it was her own.  Her eyes moved down to her feet.  The blades of grass around her seemed to be pointing to her, each one begging to have a little of her attention.  Adri gasped in surprise.  This hadn’t happened at home, so why here?

Before she could question the grass further, a pleased “whoop” filled the air.  Next thing she knew, there was a weight pushing her back as arms flew around her waist.  Adri gasped in surprise, which eventually turned into joyful laughter.  Her arms wrapped around the new bundle latched to her waist.

A little chin pressed into her stomach as the little boy in Adri’s arms looked up at him.  He grinned at her with all his little gleaming white teeth showing.  Her hand ruffled his dark hair.

“Hello, Davi.”

Davi’s grin  managed to widen after she mentioned his name.  Adri’s heart warmed at the sight of his happiness, washing away the remnants of pain from her dream.

“You came back!”

“You know I couldn’t stay away for long,” Adri replied, ruffling his hair again as she said it.

Davi pouted up at her, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.  No, those were still filled with mischief like all the kittens in the Sanctuary.

“It’s been two whole weeks,” he told her in his saddest voice.  “You’ve never been away that long.  Not even once.”

Adri gave him her most apologetic smile.  Her fingertips brushed over his soft cheek then moved to his chin where she pinched gently.

“I’m sorry.  I had something important to do.”

His pout reached his eyes then. “More important than us?”

She shook her head as she lifted the little boy into her arms.  The boy wrapped himself around her tightly as he brushed his face against hers.  She heard him take in a deep whiff of her for a long moment.  Then he went very still against her to the point she couldn’t even feel him breathing.

Adri frowned as she rubbed one of her hands across his bare back comfortingly.  She carefully pulled him back a little so that she could see his face.

“What’s wrong, kitten?” she asked him as she probed his face for answers.

His amber eyes were a large as saucers, dilated wildly.  He move moved his lips a few times, but no words came out of his mouth.

“Davi?”

She adjusted him in her arms, giving him a little shake.  He blinked rapidly, focusing on her again.

“Wow,” he gasped, “Adri, you smell…”

He seemed to be grasping for the right word.  Adri’s frown deepened.

“Do I stink?” she mumbled as she sniffed around herself.

Movement caught her attention.  Adri’s eyes rose to meet those of the leader of the Sanctuary and his mate.  They gave her a welcoming smile.  She slowly lowered Davi, their son, to the ground.  The young kitten practically wobbled over to them, wrapping his arms around his mother’s waist.  The older woman examined the boy closely.

Davi’s father gave the child a quick, confused look then grinned at Adri.  She couldn’t help feeling a little sheepish at the look.  There was some secret there that she didn’t quite understand.

“Welcome back, Princess.  We’ve all missed you.”  Jonah told her cheerfully, then nodded towards his little boy.  “Some more than others.”

“It’s good to be back!”

“Good to have you back.”

Iara, with Davi in tow, moved to Adri.  The woman wrapped her free arm around Adri, rubbing her cheek against the princess’ cheek.

“It’s never the same without you,” Iara said with a hint of her Brazilian accent poking through her voice.

Davi looked up at his mother, eyes still dilated to saucers.  There was a look of mystified awe on his face.

“Did you smell her, Mom?” He asked, “She smells…”

Again, he was a loss for words.  Adri sighed and shrugged.

“Apparently, I stink today.  I showered and everything, but…”

“No,” Davi said, “You smell really…good.  You always smell good, but today…”

Iara leaned in and took a sniff of her.  When she leaned back, there was confusion on her face.  Her eyes were dilated, but not to the extent of Davi’s eyes.  She turned to look her head to look at her husband.

Jonah moved forward to them, his face serious.  He leaned in and took his own sniff at the princess.  Much like the others, he came back to meet her face in a daze.  Unlike the other two, he came back with a dark smile on his face.  His eyelids were lowered.  Suddenly, everything about his face was distinctly and dangerously male.  It reminded her of the nights she’d spent with Col as he led her to the bed.

Adri’s face turned very red at the association.

“You guys smell it, too?”

Jonah gave a low growl from deep in his throat, but not in anger.  His smile remained intact, but it became wider and hungry.  Ignoring all around him, the man took a few steps closer to Adri.  Iara’s hand reached up and pressed against his chest.

“Hold it, Tiger.”

With his blue eyes cutting towards his mate, he growled louder this time.  Iara’s eyes narrowed at the challenge before returning her own growl.  Jonah shook his head, closed his eyes, and tilted his head toward the sky while he sighed.  It was as shaky as it was relieved.

“Guys!” Adri cried out, unable to keep her rising panic out of her voice.  “What’s going on?”

Iara kept her hand on Jonah’s chest while she answered.  There was something close to fear on the woman’s face.

“You smell like us.  You smell like a Shifter.”

Normally, Adri would have liked that.  To be a part of the group that made her feel whole was a dream that she’d had since her childhood.  Now, though, she wasn’t sure that it was good.  Not at all.

“Not only that,” Iara continued hesitantly, “You smell like…How to put it delicately?”

With a rough voice, Jonah answered, “You smell like sex.”

Adri gasped as she took a step back.  Her hand moved to her chest, covering the heart that threatened to pound through her chest.

She watched as Iara shooed Davi off to one of the other mothers in their camp.  Once the boy was away, Iara focused her attention on the princess.

“It’s more than smelling of sex.  You smell as though you are in heat.”

“Oh, by the Great Mother.” Adri groaned.

When Nicolo helped awaken her magic, she knew it had a connection to the Shifters.  She never would have considered what type of magic would come.  If she had known what it had meant, she wouldn’t have walked into the lion’s den…

“Sorry, guys, I didn’t know.”

“We understand,” Jonah told her, voice still rough.  “It might not be a good idea for you to be here right now.  I can barely hold control.  I can’t imagine how Lessers are going to react.”

Lessers were the non-dominate shifters of the Sanctuary.  While they were more attuned to nature, they were less in touch with their humanity.  There weren’t many in the Sanctuary since most of them spent life beyond the wild civilization offered inside, however some did.  Once they got a whiff of Adri, it would be chaos.  And if she got hurt, it would be terrible for the relations between the Sanctuary and the Court.

Adri lowered her head.  Her whole body felt heavy with the weight of consequence. She should have explored her new-found powers before venturing into the Sanctuary.  Her fingers twisted the short, green skirt she wore.

“I’ll have to go, then.” she told them, voice choking in her throat.

The princess turned back to where her coachman had been.  He had already departed for the stables a mile down the road.  With a sigh, she started toward the dirt path that would lead her to the coach.

“Hey, guys, what’s going on?” A new voice asked with confusion.

Adri turned to the new voice and suddenly, the weight got heavier.

Grant’s green-hazel eyes focused on her with seriousness.  He looked to his leader, but Jonah ignored him.  Iara’s hand grasped Jonah’s arm as she gave the slightest shake of the head.  Suddenly uncomfortable, Grant wrapped his arms around his bare torso.

He took a step forward.  Adri, fighting a new instinct to flee, stood her ground.  Her body, though, shook between fear and intense anticipation.  Grant was nearly to her when Iara’s voice called to him.

Grant turned his face toward his leader’s mate, eyes narrowed.  His attention didn’t stay with her for  long.  He took a sniff of the air.  Slowly, he turned to back to Adri.

He’d caught her scent.  His body stiffened.  His face became dark with longing.

Adri couldn’t breathe.

She took a step back, but he wouldn’t allow her to flee.  Before she could consider running, he was on her.  He took one of her thin arms into his massive hand and he jerked her against him.  Adri had to shut her eyes to keep from focusing on the delightful feel of his leather pants—so perfectly molded to his muscled legs—against her bare skin.  When she thought she could look at him again, she found his face too close to hers.  With every breath, he shuddered.

“You’ve really kicked me in the nuts this time, kiddo,” his voice was strained and raspy as he spoke.

His eyes closed.  His nose brushed against hers as he tilted her face upward with his free hand.  When his lips lightly brushed hers, she thought to stop him.  No matter how many times she’d imagined this moment, she never saw herself forcing it on Grant.

“Grant, I–” Adri whispered.

She was cut off by a loud wailing in the distance.  Grant held her tighter, using an arm to press her face against his bare chest.  From there, she could hear his angry and possessive growl.  He took a step away from the wooded area before them, dragging her with him.

“Grant, get her out of here,” Jonas yelled, his voice rough and scratchy.  Adri knew he was about to shift and that made her afraid.

She never had a chance to see what was coming, but she could feel it.  Grant pulled her back enough that he could grab her hand.  As they began running across the expansive common field, Adri touched the minds behind her.  Primal, hungry, needing to find that female that smelled so very good.  They were going to take her and she had no choice about it.

In the distance she could hear Jonas’ roar and then the screams of others.  Jonas would try to control them and fight them off, but she knew more than he could handle were following them. Hesitantly, she looked behind.  At least five half-shifted men were close, eyes wild.

“Don’t look at them,” Grant growled, yanking her arm forcing her to focus forward.

Tears streamed down her cheeks.  Of all things to happen.  Perhaps her father was right: wherever Adri is, trouble is brewing.

Grant pulled her in a different direction.  “This way, come on!  I think I have an idea,” he told her as their pace quickened.

The pair flew through bushes and hanging branches from trees as they plowed through the woods.  Adri was struck in the face more than once, but she ignored the pain.  The others were gaining.  Their loud and angry screams echoed around the place.  Terror filled her as the realization of what would happened hit her hard enough to stumble her feet.  Grant lifted her into his arms and held her closely to his body.

“I’m sorry,” she whimpered.

“We’ll talk about it later,” he responded.

She hid her face against his skin as the calls became louder.  A shiver went through her.  Those beaconing sounds made her body react with a spasm.  She gasped out, throwing her head back in pleasure.

“No!” Grant yelled at her as he shook her. “Fight it, Adri.”

The need to mate swamped through her.  She wanted to be taken.  She had to be taken.  Grant shook her again, anchoring her back to him.

“Stay with me.”

She nodded, swallowing hard.  She had to focus on him and no one else, especially not the wild men closing in.  One managed to take a hold of Grant’s shoulder.  He jerked free, but nearly tripped in the process.

The scent of wet soil filled the air and seconds later icy waters splashed around them as Grant rushed  into the Sanctuary’s lake.   Her arms squeezed around his neck tighter, but he pried her off quickly.  He mumbled what she figured must have been an apology before unceremoniously tossing her into the frozen shallow pool ten feet from the shore.

Grant ignored his friend’s yelp and focused on the angered howls of the Lessers rushing towards him.  He braced himself, maneuvering into a fighting stance.  His inner beast rose to the surface, bubbling over his human form until teeth, fur, and claw flowed over him and escaped his insides.

The second his cougar escaped to half-form, one of the Lessers pounced him, jaw snapping at Grant viciously.  Together, they toppled over to the ground with claws digging into each other deeply enough to bleed.  Grant cried out as shifter above him took a small chunk out of his side.  He managed to tumble the other beneath him and once he had, he punched hard to the beast’s rib, breaking bone.

Another jumped his back then smacked the back of Grant’s head with dizzying force.  He wobbled and slumped forward, loosing his balance above the beast below him.  He shook his head to regain his composure, but the moment he did, one more Lesser jumped into the pile, knocking everyone down.

Trapped beneath furred, muscled bodies, Grant felt panic rising through him.  Teeth bit into him, claws scratched him.  When he managed to force one off, another waited for him more vicious than the last.  He screamed as one tore into his thigh a little too close to very important bits. Grant bunched that one in the snout, breaking it.  But that didn’t stop the pain, didn’t stop that hungry male desperately seeking Adri.  The fight continued on, mindlessly.  At least they were after him and not Adri.  The water helped to hide her scent after all, he thought with relief.

Their rage pummeled him along with physical contact.  Silently, he knew that he really didn’t have much of a chance against three Lessers, but he didn’t care as long as Adri was safe.  The world was being eaten away by darkness as it was.  Sooner or later someone would come, but he didn’t think he would be around to see it.

Power washed over him, warm and pleasurable like being surrounded and cuddled by everyone he’d ever loved.  It was like a song calling to his very soul, soothing all of his worries and doubts and inner rage.  He shivered in delight of it.  The others must have felt it, too, since they shivered in a similar fashion.

Bodies and minds suddenly calm, their heads turned to the direction of that delightful magic.  Grant found himself unable to fight and barely able to think.  He looked to Adri and found her a shining, glorious thing, made of light and love and everything that could be wonderful in the world.

He  didn’t hear the Lessers howl and bark and sing to the beautiful goddess in the lake.  He didn’t notice when they ran off into the trees leaving him alone with her.  All he knew was Adri and the pounding in his scratched chest.

And suddenly Adri slumped in the pool, shoulders hunched and shaking.  In that moment, her magic released him allowing him to breath again.  He gasped deeply, then slumped himself, placing his hands  on his knees.

“What the Hell?” he gasped out.

It took a few moments for Adri to collect herself.  “I don’t know.  Seemed like the right thing to do?”

He raised a brow as he slowly moved himself into an upright position.  Once he was sure that he was steady, he walked further into the pool of water.  Adri seem much less steady than he, so he wrapped his arms around her small body and lifted her from the shallow water.

Once safely ashore, Grant gently lowered the girl to the ground.  Immediately, he flopped down beside her, stretching his full length along the damp grass.  Adri soon joined him, though warily kept her distance.

“Water, huh?” she murmured. “Pretty good thinking.”

He chuckled breathlessly. “Well, I figured we had to get you away from anything earthy.  I assumed that it was your power source.”

“Wow, you’re good!  Didn’t know you knew my people like that.”

“Well, I figured better safe than sorry.  I asked a few elders about you pixie people.”

Tentatively, he turned his head enough to look at her.  She was flushed and breathing hard and looking more wonderful than any woman should ever look.  He tried to shake the growing interest within him, discounting it as her power of illusions, but somewhere deep down, he knew that it was more than that.  Quickly—too quickly as he wrenched his neck—he turned away from her.

“I’m really sorry, Grant,” she whispered somberly, “I didn’t think that—well, you know.  I hadn’t really tested my powers…”

He remained silent for a long moment, unsure of how exactly to respond.  He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, which no doubt would be easily bruised thanks to the events of the day, but at the same time he sincerely wanted to chastise her for her recklessness.

“It’s okay.  It’s over now,” he told her, deciding to let it go for now.

And suddenly Adri was crying.  He sat up and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly against his body.  Instantly, he knew it was a mistake.  The scent of her hit him, jolting every instinct within him.  It took every ounce of his humanity to stop what in every right should have happened next.  Taking very deep breaths, he pulled the young woman off him then wiped away the tears flowing down her soft cheeks.

“We should probably get you out of here,” Grant whispered.

Adri didn’t respond at first.  Eventually, her emerald eyes intensely focused on his, capturing him completely.  He swallowed hard, unsure of what to do next.

“Grant…”

One moment she was looking up at him with those beautiful, soul-filled eyes, the next her sweet lips were plastered on his.  He wanted to return the kiss so much and he very nearly did, but he pushed her away as delicately as he could.

“You shouldn’t do that.”

With that, he stood from his spot and walked a few feet from her as he wrapped his arms around his body.  Seconds later, he could hear her soft footfall approaching.  Luckily, she didn’t come too close or touch him.

“Why not, Grant?  I want to give myself to you.”

Quickly, he turned to her, eyes wide with shock.  When he let that statement soak in, his eyes narrowed with mild anger.

“Are you crazy?” he growled.

“No.  I offer myself to you in friendship.  Why is that so wrong?”

“You’re a child!”

“I’m a woman.  We’ve had this conversation once.  And, in that conversation, you said that you’re worried that I’ll fall for the first man I’m with,” she said, her tone becoming more heated every word.  “Well, guess what?  For the last two weeks I’ve been fucking every night, several times a night, with a very skilled mentor.”

“That doesn’t mean shit, kiddo.”

She closed her eyes as though gathering her strength.  It threw him when her tactic changed.

“I know about her.”

His heart stopped and dropped into the pit of his stomach.  He never, ever, talked about that time and he couldn’t help feeling pissed that someone blabbed the past to Adriana.  He didn’t dare speak, but that didn’t stop her from continuing.

“I know that you haven’t been with anyone else since her.  The madness in the moon took her, not you.”

“Don’t talk about things you don’t understand, Adriana,” he whispered, seething with anger.

“But I do understand, Grant!  I’m not some silly child.  Your my friend, my dearest friend.  I can feel your soul aching, breaking in the pain.  Let me remind you what it’s like to connect with someone again.”

Her offer was tempting.  Since she started visiting, he started relearning what it was like to feel something more than pain and grief.  The haunted dreams had lessened.  The agony began to fade.  But the memories were still fresh wounds in his heart.

“You’re a fool,” he croaked. “Why would you want to bed a man that killed his last lover?”

“Because I trust you not to hurt me.”

“You shouldn’t.  If you were smart, you wouldn’t.”

“Love, no matter the form, is never smart.  That’s what my grandfather always told me and he’s walked the earth for a long, long time.”

They stood before each other, neither willing to stand down or give in.  However, to be safe instead of sorry, Grant shook his head and looked away into the trees.  When he finally allowed himself to calm down just a bit, he spoke softer than the wind.

“Nora was everything to me, Adri, and I loved her more than anything.  She wasn’t strong enough to survive the madness even as a half-shifter.  I don’t want to hurt anyone else, especially a friend who I care about.”

Arms wrapped around his waist and the memories that had flooded him made him too tired to pull away.  He took the tiny woman into his arms and buried his face into her long silver hair.  Moments strung together and by the end of it, Adri had molded her body against his.  Despite himself, he realized that he thoroughly enjoyed the feel of her.

He pulled her away slightly, which gave her enough room to rest her chin against his chest and stare up at him with an innocent and sympathetic smile.  Gently, he pressed his lips against her forehead.  Closing his eyes, he took in her scent and found it to be everything wonderful in the world.  It was enough to tear him away from her, though carefully as he could.

“So,” he started enthusiastically, “we’d better find your carriage so you can head back to the palace.”

Slowly, she nodded.  “Yeah, I guess so.  I’ll figure out how to get my powers in order.”

He grinned at her, petting her head.  “Your mom is the most powerful pixie ever.  I’m sure she’ll help you.”

Adri turned on a heel and started heading back to camp.  Once he fell into step behind her, he heard a faint giggle.  Suddenly, the little sprite took off into a run.  The thrill of the hunt swamped him.  Quickly, he ran after her, desperately wanting to capture.  He wanted her as his own, marked by his scent.  An elated grin spread over his lips as he chased her, excited by the game offered.

When he caught a whiff of her sweet scent on the air, he realized that it was much more than a game.  Lower parts of his body tightened in readiness.  He tried to clear the primal urge that flooded him  This was exactly what he didn’t want, yet he couldn’t control himself.  He had to have her.  Nothing—not even his sensibility—could stop him.

She was small and quick with her shapely legs, but the cougar-man was faster.  Before too long, he was close enough.  He wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her from the forest floor.  He buried his face against her neck, taking a deep smell from her delicate skin.

“Grant?” she said, gasping breathlessly with surprise.

Before he could stop himself, his mouth opened and his teeth nipped at the expanse of perfect, smooth skin.  The woman in his arms shuddered with a soft moan.  Grant pulled her lithe body closer to his own, rubbing his semi-hard member into her bottom.

With the force of his body, he lowered them towards the ground until on their knees with Grant hovering above.  Adri wasn’t able to hold her weight, so she pressed her hands onto the woodland floor to support them both.

One of his massive hands traveled her flat stomach and continued moving until one of her pert breasts was inside his palm.  He kneaded it until her nipple felt hard and ready even beneath her leather bra.  A growl escaped him; the material between flesh was keeping him from his prize.  The hand moved beneath the offending bra in search of skin.  When he found it, he squeezed it less-than-tenderly; first the mound, then the rough nipple at its center.

His free hand ran up her smooth leg until he reached beneath her short skirt.  Soon, he found the center of her, covered in flimsy material.  With a low grunt in his throat, he balled the underwear in his fist, then unceremoniously yanked the panties from her body.  His captive yelped and squirmed beneath him, rubbing her pert behind into his groin.  He pressed his body against her rear, grinding his hips on her until she moaned.

“Grant…?” she questioned again.

Roughly, he pulled her to him, raising them both to their knees so they no longer slumped near the ground.  He held her tightly, one hand still holding a breast, while the other slipped between her hairless folds.  Once he touched the small hardness in the middle of the slick heat, Adri shivered and slightly slumped.  Grant took the skin of her neck between his teeth, nibbling his way up to her ear.

Her hips moved as his finger danced around her clit.  One moment he kept his pace achingly slow, then next he sped up until she made the sweetest, panting sounds and incoherent whispers.  It was maddening for him; the sounds she made and the very scent of her made him want to throw her down and slip between her heat.  It took every ounce of will to keep his pace.

Seconds passed like hours as Adri trembled and begged to come.  Grant enjoyed every bit of his torture, though his needs longing to be met decided to speed the process.  Using two fingers, he buried himself within her, bringing a moan from his own lips.  She was wet and tight and spasming around him.  With eagerness, he pumped in and out of her and used his thumb to stoke her sensitive spot.  Not long after, as she began calling out his name like a mantra, his pixie came for him with throaty scream.  Grant clenched his teeth, forcing his libido to calm down for just a little longer.

“No one has the right to be that sexy,” he groaned between clenched teeth.

Grant allowed his gasping pixie to slide down his body until she stretched out on the grass.  She stayed there, shuddering with the aftermath of what he’d done.  Later, he would congratulate himself for a job well done, but all he could think about was sinking his hard and heavy cock inside of her.

After he pulled out his manhood, which practically twitched with relief from being free of his pants, he turned his girl to her back.  She watched him with half-lidded, content eyes.  Adri bent her knees and spread her legs as she reached for him.

He didn’t have to be told twice.

Hungrily, joined her on the ground.  His mouth smothered hers, tongue dipping within.  She tasted sweet and earthy.  He couldn’t pull himself away, despite feeling as though he would drown between her lips.  Deciding to ignore the sensation, he focused on finding the center of her.  With a hard thrust, he sank himself inside of her to the hilt.  The woman beneath him cried out between his lips and he savored the sound.

He drove himself with a vengeance, taking her as hard and fast as he could.  Each time he heard the slapping of their skins together, he nearly fell over the edge.  But she felt so good and being in her felt so right, he made himself hold on a little longer.  It had been so long…too long…

“Adri,” he grunted when he could pull himself away from her lips long enough to speak.

He looked down at her face flushed with sex and lust.  Her green eyes glimmered with a quiet sort of joy.  Adri’s lips, swollen from the force of his, upturned in a small, but wicked smile.

“Come for me, Grant,” she moaned.  “Come inside me.  I want it so much.”

Grant couldn’t deny her.  With his head thrown back, his eyes closed, and his body tensely arched, he spilled into her with more force than he’d ever experienced.  His entire body throbbed with the force of it as the orgasm spread from his cock outward.  It was almost like the sensation was alive and pouring from his pores.

It took forever to come down from the pleasure and, when he did, Grant found himself exhausted and dizzy, but in the most wonderful of ways.  He collapsed on Adri, wrapping himself around her as much as  he could.  With effort, he managed to open his eyes and found Adri’s eyes on him.  She still had a lusty, mischievous twinkle in her emerald eyes, but she seemed sated.  She was like a waking dream with her silver hair lying on the grass like moonlight.  So magical, this girl in his arms, he mused.

Suddenly, he was filled with emotions so strong he almost felt ill from them.  It had been so long since he allowed this sort of connection.  It had been too long since he’d been free from the guilt and the pain.  And Adri released him from it all…if only for one quiet moment.

Tenderly, he pressed his lips to hers, letting the emotion flow into the simple gesture.  When he pulled away, she looked at him with surprise. He moved beside her, holding her as though trying to meld with her.  Adri melted against him as though it were her rightful place to be beside him.  Quietly, as the last hints of daylight fell to the night, the pair stayed that way, touching tenderly.

***

Hours passed without a word.  Adriana found herself more content than she’d ever been as she and Grant remained in each others arms.  It lulled her, pulling her eyelids closed.  She found the perfect spot on his chest, one which she’d always thought of as hers, and nestled in for a nap.

“Will they miss you at home?” Grant asked, breaking the peaceful silence.

“Have they ever?” she murmured tiredly.  “Mom practically threw me out of the palace, so no hurry to return.”

Another silence.  His warm, wonderful body coupled with the sound of his heartbeats carried her off to an easy doze.

“What about your friend?”

She snorted slightly, then lifted her head slowly since it felt surprisingly heavy. “Nicolo?”

He grunted noncommittally.

With a tiny shrug, she returned to his chest.  In the process she yawned deeply.  “He won’t miss me.”

“Okay,” Grant whispered as he stroked her arm.

“Mmm…When I go back, you should come with me.”

He stopped stroking to ask, “To the palace?”

“Mhm.  You’d like it there,” she said with another yawn. “You can meet my family.” She patted his chest gently. “I know they’ll like you.”

He cleared his throat a few times before he spoke, “Uh, okay. Sounds….interesting.”

He didn’t speak again for a long, long time.  In fact, she was sure that he’d finally drifted off to sleep without worry.  She started drifting off to the thought of tomorrow’s pending conversation about what everything meant and what happened.  Moments before deep sleep could capture her, she heard Grant grumbling.

“I’m in big trouble.”

Adri chose not to respond.  Instead, she fell asleep with smile on her face.