Page 33 of A Dance with the Fae (Mistress of Magic #1)

Faye knew without being told that the faeries had her, though she didn’t know how or why.

The sound of cruel laughter cut the air, snatching away the air she needed to breathe…

Stay away from the human man, sidhe-leth .

Finn’s voice sounded like he stood next to her, but as she whirled around, looking for him, there was no one there. This is a warning.

Before she had time to take a breath, she found herself standing over a chasm that fell away to nothing under her, and she reeled from sudden vertigo, slipping from her tenuous footing.

She flailed, reaching for mossed rock on both sides of her, not knowing where she had been taken to, and marshalled her instincts as quickly as she could.

What was it that grounded me before? She reached for the vision of the shop, her place of power.

Closing her eyes, she remembered the security of its stone-flagged floor under her feet; of Grandmother, sitting by the fire with a blanket over her knees.

I am a Morgan, you cannot take me. Return me immediately!

In the name of my Morgan ancestors, in the name of Grainne Morgan, I command you, Fintanaeon of Murias, return me!

I am human, I am of earth, I am a witch, you cannot take me like this.

Faye’s eyes snapped open as she heaved in a ragged breath, doubled over by the – what? A kind of slippage into faerie, an out-of-body experience? – that had just happened. She was back in Rav’s house.

‘Rav. Rav! ’ She shook him; he looked enchanted, vague. His eyes were misted over.

‘Sorry, I…I don’t know what happened there. I was kind of…transported. I don’t know…I…’ he stammered, confusion muddying his expression. ‘Were we…? I thought I was kissing you, and then you…disappeared.’

‘I don’t know what happened. It felt like I was transported somewhere, too. A precipice. It was so real…’ She shuddered. Rav stepped back, away from her.

‘I don’t know what’s going on, Faye,’ he murmured, rubbing his eyes. ‘This is getting weird.’

‘I should go.’ She frowned. Finn had warned her that he didn’t want her to see Rav any more; clearly, he meant it. But Rav looked so disappointed that she felt terrible.

‘Please don’t go.’ He took her hands in his. ‘Please, keep me company at least for tonight? I don’t want to be here on my own again…Please? Stay?’

‘Okay. But this is faerie territory. They were here first…There is supposed to be a balance between them and us. It’s a lot to explain, but I guess we have to work harder to appease them, for them to let you live here uninterrupted.

’ Privately, though, Faye wondered whether the denizens of Murias would ever leave Rav alone, now that their king had decreed that Faye was his.

Even if she and Rav never had any contact again, Finn was just that petty and cruel – and Rav’s house still sat on the faerie road.

His face brightened.

‘Thank you.’ He kissed her again, and she felt herself respond. He took her hand shyly.

‘Rav…I don’t know,’ she whispered, taking in a jagged breath as Rav kissed her neck softly, and as his lips found her collarbone.

So close to the faerie road, she knew that it was forbidden.

She could feel Finn’s eyes on her, that same sense of dissociation she had felt at the shop.

Unbidden, she heard the faerie king’s voice in her mind.

You are mine, Faye Morgan. Remember my warning.

Forbidden too by the faerie king himself: Faye knew what Finn Beatha could do to both of them if he was displeased.

Faye could feel the electric energy of faerie running through the house.

She took a breath and grounded herself, imagined roots growing from her feet deep into the earth, closed her eyes and saw herself as part of the planet, like the hills and mountains and rocks and soil.

You will not command me; you will not control me , she thought, pushing back against Finn’s voice.

She could sense him, here, in the room with them.

I come from a long line of witches; you do not control me.

Suddenly, she thought of the Morgan wand, and what was inscribed on it.

Grainne Morgan had told her in her vision to use the protections against the Fae .

But what were the protections? Was that one of them?

She had never thought specifically of the wand as protection against the faerie realm, but perhaps it could be.

Faye wished she had the wand with her, that it wasn’t sitting in the cabinet back at the shop. She should have brought it.

‘I don’t expect anything from you. I don’t expect to be your boyfriend or anything, if you don’t want that. We can take it slow. I just want to be with you. Here and now,’ Rav breathed. ‘I’ve tried to be in control of my feelings before, with women. But I can’t control how I am with you.’

But there was something about the danger, the prohibition of being with Rav that excited Faye. And her rebellious heart refused to be cowed by Finn Beatha. She had not committed herself to him. How dare he tell me what to do and who to want. I decide that. No one decides it for me.

‘I can’t stop thinking about you; it’s like you’ve possessed my mind,’ Rav murmured. ‘I’ve never known anyone like you before. You’re like…I dunno…some kind of enchantress.’

He knelt in front of her.

‘Perhaps I am,’ she replied seriously. She looked around at the room; Finn still lingered here, she could feel it.

Since you like to be watched, perhaps you like to watch, too , she thought wickedly. Watch, then, if you must. But I banish you, Fintanaeon of Murias . Go, leave us.

There was a noticeable shift of energy in the room. Finn had gone. Faye felt suddenly euphoric. She had felt so powerless with Finn, but she didn’t have to be.

I am more powerful than you think, Finn Beatha. I am a Morgan. The blood of every Morgan witch runs through my veins. Do not toy with me.

Now, Faye felt the energy of the faerie road under her feet and all around her, but rather than it being a threat, she felt as if she was standing in a live stream of power, plugged into it, merged in it like a river.

You gain power from this , Grainne’s voice said, in her ear.

I am with you, and all the Morgan women are with you.

And this is one of the secrets that we knew, and that you now know: the faerie road, the faerie magic, the faerie kingdoms, contain power that you can use.

You are half fae. Take the power and let it grow inside you.

‘Faye?’ Rav touched the hem of her dress. ‘Are you okay? You seem a little distracted.’

‘I’m fine.’ She turned her attention back to Rav, feeling the glittering, swirling faerie power fill her up, as if she had been empty, as if she had only been half living, all this time.

She touched his cheek with her fingertips, and watched his pupils widen, his eyes darkening with desire. ‘Am I your queen?’ she asked him, savouring the sight of him on his knees. The rush of faerie power flooded her; she would take what she wanted and she would answer to no one.

‘My queen, my enchantress. The most beautiful, captivating woman I have ever known,’ he breathed, looking up at her in awe.

‘Have you ever knelt before a woman before?’ she asked, stroking his cheek.

‘Never.’ His voice was thick with longing.

‘Yet, you kneel for me.’

‘Yes.’

‘Why?’

‘Because…’ He blinked, and swallowed hard. ‘Because I feel compelled to do so.’

She nodded, and slowly unbuttoned her dress, letting it fall to the ground. She took off her underwear and stood in front of him completely naked.

‘Take off your clothes,’ she ordered him, relishing her new power. And she could see, when he was naked, that he wanted her. His thick, long cock was hard for her. She touched it gently, and he made a stifled noise of want and desire.

‘What do you want to do to me?’ she asked, running her hands over his broad, muscled chest. ‘What will you do to please me?’

‘Anything, my queen,’ he breathed, his pupils large.

‘Are you under my spell?’ she asked him, and he nodded.

‘Completely.’

‘Will you do anything that I desire?’

‘Yes, my queen.’

She lay on his bed, her legs open.

‘Kiss me,’ she said.

He knelt in front of her once more and kissed the inside of her thighs. She spread her legs wider.

‘Pleasure me, until I tell you to stop,’ she ordered him, and, wordlessly, he bent his head to her, moving his tongue gently in circles around her clit.

She caressed his hair, plunged her hands into his thick black waves.

Pleasure filled her abdomen immediately; she started to moan, pulling his head to where it needed to go to give her the most pleasure.

‘Harder. Faster,’ she ordered, and he began lapping her with increased pressure.

She let out a long, guttural sigh. ‘Damn, that’s good,’ she sighed.

The familiar tightness and the sweet pleasure began to grow, and she began to breathe faster.

‘Don’t stop,’ she ordered, as her pleasure started to peak.

She watched him as she started to climax; wanted to see him kneeling between her legs, worshipping her like a queen, this huge bull of a man, completely in service to her.

As she thought that: that he was serving her, like a loyal subject, like a knight pleasuring his queen, she started to come.

She held on to his head, ramming it into her, smothering him with her wet pussy, as she cried out, again and again.

The orgasm continued, and Rav kept licking her as she rode out every peak, again, again, until it was over, and she pushed his head aside.

She reached for him and lay back on the bed, drawing him to her.

‘That was amazing,’ he breathed. She kissed him, tasting herself on his lips. ‘Thank you for letting me pleasure you.’

‘You do it very well,’ she replied. ‘Now, I want you to fuck me.’

He was still rock hard, and she knew that he ached with desire to be inside her. She wanted that desperately, too. She remembered how good he had felt, before, and she wanted that again.

He grinned. ‘As my queen commands,’ he said. He kissed her neck, his hands on her breasts, on her waist and then gripping her bottom.

Slowly, he entered her at just the right angle.

‘More,’ she whispered, her lips full and eyes heavy-lidded with pleasure. He held her, gently but firmly, and drew in and out of her slowly, taking his time, but making sure that he pushed all the way inside her, and then all the way out, repeating the motion until she urged him to go faster.

The sensation of his thickness filling her, stretching her, was almost overpowering. She took in a breath as he pushed inside her, deeply.

She started to moan and writhe as she felt the orgasm coming.

‘I want to hear you. I love hearing you come,’ he said, gazing at her full lips and then kissing them. ‘You’re so beautiful. Like a goddess.’

She didn’t answer, but pressed his head to her breast. She breathed in deeply as she felt the sweetness build inside her, rising up her body, radiating from her core like the sun, like fireworks, a pure force of pleasure.

‘Oh. Oh, Rav, yes, yes, please, yes, yes…’ She buried her face in his neck as she came, long and loud, with nonsense words, a guttural cry as something inside her gushed .

She felt a long spurt of wetness escape her.

She cried aloud in surprise, and his cries followed hers; Faye felt him tense as his own climax shook him.

‘ Fuck. Fuck. Fuck ,’ he exclaimed, as his orgasm grew, as he emptied himself inside her.

She felt the heat of his thick cum spurt inside her.

‘Oh my god,’ he muttered, shellshocked. His hair was matted and his eyes were wide. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever had an orgasm like that before. You’re amazing, Faye,’ he breathed.

Gently, he tilted her head up to meet his lips, and kissed her, slowly and passionately.

‘That was…amazing. Wow,’ he breathed, staring at Faye as if she was covered in jewels; as if she really was a queen who had deigned to take her pleasure with him.

‘Yes. That was…pretty great,’ she chuckled, reaching up and tracing the line of his cheek with her fingertip. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever…you know. Let go like that before.’ She peered down at Rav’s bedsheets, which were soaked.

‘Ha. I’m delighted to have made that happen for you, then, my queen.’ He took her hand in his and kissed the tips of her fingers. ‘I hope it’s the first of many times.’

‘Mmm,’ Faye giggled, purring like a cat. ‘Yes please.’ She snuggled into Rav’s chest, and he wrapped his vast arm around her. ‘I’d like that.’

It had felt good to feel so powerful and in control with Rav.

And the fact that he had clearly enjoyed it was amazing: he was grounded in his masculinity, enough of a man to enjoy giving pleasure, to enjoy worshipping Faye like a queen, without needing to subdue and subjugate her.

She had never experienced sex like that before. It was…remarkable.

Yet, as she lay with him, breathing in the scent of his sweat and revelling in the feel of her head on his strong chest, him gently stroking her hair, Faye felt a chilling energy ripple over them both like a cold breeze.

Rav shivered, and drew the covers over them.

But Faye knew that the sudden change in atmosphere wasn’t a breeze.

She felt Finn’s eyes on her, and knew that he was furious.

You betrayed me , his voice intoned in her mind.

I did no such thing , she thought, in reply. I never agreed to your demands. Leave me alone.

I will never leave you alone, sidhe-leth , he said. Never.