Page 12 of Fae Tithe (The Cursed Courts #1)

H elena had slipped between Lance’s bent knees as they rested together on the beach, her back pressed against his strong, tattooed chest. She had wrapped one of the scratchy towels around her torso as she had begun to feel the sting of sunburn on her breasts.

The pair had sat in a comfortable silence as the spring sun shone overhead.

Helena felt Lance press his nose to the top of her head. He sniffed deeply at her brown waves. “What are you doing?” she giggled.

The Merman cleared his throat. “Oh, uh. Well, I noticed that my scent mark on you has worn off. Can I…?”

Helena quivered at the thought of being marked by him again.

Lance had explained it all the first time he had done it to her.

Merfolk liked to mark their partners with their own scents to show they were attached to someone.

Helena likened it to when human couples exchanged gifts like jewellery for their partner to wear.

“Well…” She tapped her chin playfully, as though she had to think about it.

“Please,” Lance whispered in her ear, the Merman’s full lips just grazing her skin.

Goosebumps tracked her arms at the purr in his voice. In truth, she found being marked by him exciting. “I would never really say no to that.”

“Thank you,” Lance breathed out.

He rubbed the bottom of his strong jaw on the top of her head, and she felt a tingle shoot down her legs.

He moved to the side of her tanned, freckled face, rubbing his stubbled cheek against hers.

She giggled at the scratching tickle. Helena’s toes dug into the sand as he rubbed his chin and cheek against her neck, excitement pooling between her thighs.

Lance turned his face and pressed his nose to her temple. “Much better,” he exhaled with a contented sigh.

Helena quivered from his touch and voice.

I Faedamn love it when he does that. She brought the salt-bleached tips of her hair to her nose and sniffed.

Sure enough, the Merman’s sea-breeze scent was there, reminding her of the beach on a summer’s day, salty and warm.

She leant back against his tattooed chest. “Happy now?”

“Yes,” he replied and pressed a tender kiss to side of her head. He arched his neck forward slightly and rested his chin on Helena’s shoulder. “Ready to head up now?”

“Definitely. I haven’t been out in the sun for this long for a while. I’m getting a little burnt,” she replied.

They stood. Helena’s eyes watched eagerly as Lance slung the second towel around his hips. The material sat low, and she could see the dark stubble of his groin peeking out the top, his body hair beginning to grow within minutes of his shift to human and then disappearing as he changed back.

“What?” Lance smirked as she ogled him.

“Honestly?” Helena raised an eyebrow. “I miss the tail.”

He snorted and bumped his hip playfully into her side.

The pair made their way up the beach, hand in hand, fingers entwined.

They climbed their way up the steep steps carved into the limestone cliff.

When they arrived at the top, the pair passed through the chipped, white gate that marked the beginning of the villa’s grounds.

Helena surveyed her inherited home, taking in the gardens, rows of neatly ordered vegetables and fruit trees, flushed green after the winter’s rains.

Thank the Fae for Rose doing all of this, otherwise we could be nearly starving.

Her gaze drew to the tumbledown villa, desperately needing a new coat of paint, and an obvious crack across the mosaiced tiles of the veranda.

Hopefully next year, after El has finished school and there’s no more fees, I can afford to have some masons come. The villa really needs some repairs.

Lance stooped to sniff the rosemary that framed the entrance.

Helena watched as he rubbed a leaf between his thumb and forefinger and brought it to his nose.

The rosemary bushes ran the length of the boundary of the grounds, almost absorbing the stout white fence that denoted where the property of the villa began.

He straightened up, eyeing the building. “There are tiles loose there.” Lance pointed to a spot on the terracotta roof where Helena could not see. “The storms must have been bad here too. I’ll fix that while I’m home.”

“I didn’t even notice,” she admitted. She tilted her head up to him curiously. “Wait, how long are you home for?”

“I have a rest period of three weeks,” he replied, a warm smile dancing on his lips as he looked down at her.

“That’s…wonderful,” she breathed, heart fluttering at the thought of having so much time with her Merman all in one stretch. Usually, they had only days or at most a week together before duty called and he returned to the sea.

Helena turned back to the garden, clutching the towel wrapped around her middle with one hand, and gave a small wave to Rose.

Her friend straightened up from her crouching position amongst the herbs, abandoning her gardening tools.

Her red eyebrows flew up into the shadows of her wide brimmed hat.

A smirk played on her lips as she ran her eyes over the pair.

Biscuit, who had been relaxing next to Rose, bounded over to Lance.

Helena watched with a grin as the dog waggled his whole body as he made his way over to the Merman, giving an excited whimper as he sat on Lance’s feet.

He stooped down to roughly scratch Biscuit’s head. “I missed you too, boy.”

Rose made her way over to the pair, casting a knowing eye over them.

“Did you two fall over on the beach? A lot?” She gestured to them, their bodies covered head to toe in sand.

Lance grinned, faint lines appearing at the corners of his lips. “Good to see you, Red.”

“You too, Fish Boy,” she said, beaming. “Glad you finally made it back. Len has been like a lovesick puppy since you left.”

Helena rolled her eyes at her friend’s teasing. “Thanks, Rose.”

“I live to give.” Her eyes passed between the couple, after a moment, the edge of her lip quirked upwards. “I am going to head to the village early, visit Will. Maybe the boys and I will stay there tonight too after I pick them up from school.”

“Will? Who’s the lucky man?” Lance asked playfully, raising a thick, black eyebrow.

Helena coughed. “Willow. The lucky woman is Willow.”

She watched Lance carefully and Helena giggled as the wheels seemed to turn in his head.

“Willow? Oh…oh!” He grinned down at Rose. “I’m very happy for you.”

Rose flushed in response. “I will leave you lovebirds to it. See you tomorrow.” She winked and glanced at the dog sitting on Lance’s feet. “C’mon Biscuit,” she said, tapping her slim thigh.

The dog panted, hefted his chunky body off Lance’s feet and trotted behind Rose as she walked past the rosemary bushes and exited through the garden gate. Helena watched her go as she made her way down the road until she vanished from sight.

Lance rounded on Helena, a wide grin revealing his pointed teeth and a glint of mischief in his eyes. “Let’s get cleaned up.”

“Cleaned up?” Helena asked, looking down at herself, her body caked with sand “Good idea.”

Lance focused on the well a short distance away.

Limestone blocks surrounded the deep hole.

A canvas shade cloth strung to four wooden poles was in place to protect the person gathering water from the strong Seelieland sun.

Lance reached his magic down, spiralling the fresh water up.

He felt a rush of soothing power rise in him like a tide as he did so, the magic so innate it was an extension of himself.

The Merman could conjure water, but only salted. He could, however, manipulate any fluid. The well water twisted into a floating orb suspended above Helena’s head.

“Drop your towel, Len,” Lance said, his eyes plummeting from the floating water orb to her body.

“Here?” she asked, a flush blooming on her cheeks, looking side to side.

“Who’s going to see?” he challenged playfully.

Lance watched with rapt attention as Helena slowly unravelled the towel, her throat bobb as it dropped to the floor at her bare feet.

He studied her short stature. She was bronzed and freckled from a life mostly spent in the sun, with thick and lovely sweeping curves, accentuated with well-toned limbs.

Lance drank her in, his mouth watering, as he tamped down the surge of desire he felt.

The Merman’s lips quirked upwards at the sight. “So perfect.”

He turned his focus back to the freshwater orb.

Lance used his magic to pull tiny strands of water down onto Helena.

The pace continued until a gentle shower of drops fell onto her.

Lance had even taken the tiniest parts of the water he could sense and vibrated them together, so it was warm to the touch.

He felt a minute drain on his strength, as he always did when he used his magic out of the sea. He ignored it, focusing on the moment.

The Merman watched blissfully, heat blooming in his chest, as Helena tilted her head towards the warm water raining down on her.

Her shoulders dropped and she gave a contended sigh.

Lance channelled all the water floating in the orb, sluicing the sand from her body, and she rewarded him with a beaming smile once he was done.

“I Faedamn love it when you do that. Thank you,” she beamed.

Lance felt a pulse of joy from her praise. Helena was so genuinely appreciative of the things he did for her. It was one of the things he adored most about her. “My pleasure, as always.”

“Let me get some more towels,” she said, glancing down at the sandy, wet fabric lying in the dirt.

“Sure,” Lance replied.

His core tightened at the sight as she leant forward to scoop up the towel and swimming equipment she had abandoned in the garden, greedy eyes focused on her round ass as she walked away from him.

He watched eagerly as she deposited her items by the back door before, soaking wet, she stepped in the villa.