“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?
