Protecting Shaylee (The Fae Guard Book 1) (20 page)

“It does, baby. Well, in his case, it cloaks it rather than suppresses it. That’s one of the reasons we are at a loss. We aren’t sure how they found out about you and your dad.” He blows out a frustrated breath, “For that matter, we don’t know how they were able to best him. Your dad was one of the best on the Mie’Lorvor we had before he met your mom and took a leave of absence.”

“So, if they knew my dad was Fae, they had to know about me.” I observe.

“That’s the logical conclusion, yes. But, I never detected their presence around you while I was there.” His tone turns wary when he alludes to his unexpected departure from my life. He doesn’t seem sure whether to expect a fight, and honestly, until this moment, I couldn’t have told you what I would do. But, the past is behind me and I want to look to my future with Aden. I’m trying to get beyond my fear that he will find an excuse to leave me again. Right now, he has no intention of ever going, but what if, someday down the line, he gets bored of me, or meets someone else? The thoughts cause pain to knife through my chest, so I quickly shake them away and focus on our conversation.

“Were you replaced? We didn’t have anyone who was consistently around, like you were.”

Aden shakes his head and scratches his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Not really . . . I mean, they sent Guard members to check on you from time to time, but without any indication that you were in danger or had been detected, they came and went before you ever noticed them. They would have reported any indication otherwise, and it wasn’t until the day I got back that it became obvious that you were being watched.”

Confusion fills my mind and I want to pepper him with more questions. But the relaxation I felt earlier has dissipated with our discussion and I can tell that Aden doesn’t really have the answers I am looking for. He must sense my troubled thoughts, because he reaches over and takes my hand, bringing it to his mouth, sweetly kissing it. I settle back into my seat and we spend the rest of the ride in silence.

I flop down onto the mat, a sweaty mess and try to calm my rapidly beating heart. We’d done a wide range of activities from training on the clinch, grappling, work on the heavy and speed bag, while throwing some Maui Tai into the mix. Last, we mixed magic in with it all, and now, I am exhausted, like bone-deep tired.

For the last week, Aden pushed me harder every time it seemed that I had mastered something. I was excelling fast, and he wanted to keep the momentum and get me trained as quickly as possible. The only positive was that, after we were done, he would run me a hot bath and then use his magical hands to work out the knots and kinks all over my body. In fact, he made it his mission not to miss one spot and, by the time he finished, I was sated in more ways than one. I’d almost blurted out that I loved him a few times, but something was holding me back; fear, I guess.

Aden plops down next to me and I’m distracted from my musings. His magnificent body is covered in a sheen of sweat, but, to my great annoyance, he’s not even a little winded. However, my annoyance is over shadowed by the sight of his muscles, particularly that delicious v dipping into his pants, a v that I very much enjoy running my tongue along.

Get your mind out of his pants, Shaylee.

Right. Concentrate on something else, come up with a topic of conversation.

“I’m going to set you up with Laila for some sparring time next week,” he speaks up.

I turn my head to peer at him. “Laila?”

“Yeah, she’ll work with you outside first, and then, when you’ve got a handle on everything, she’ll bring you back inside to feel what it’s like to truly fight with limitations. Basically, we don’t want you to accidentally demolish the building.” His voice is laced with amusement, but I’m stuck on the fact that he is pushing me off onto Laila.

“Why aren’t you going to continue training me?” Has he tired of me already? Panic begins to course through my veins and I am faced with the realization that he is the reason I’m so grounded and accepting of this new reality. I’m afraid that, without him, I would lose the battle with my nerves and lose my freaking mind.

“I’ll keep training you; I just won’t be sparring with you.” His tone is matter of fact, oblivious to the cautious fear seeping into mine.

“Is that normal?” Maybe this is what everybody does; maybe he isn’t trying to distance himself from me. “To split the training between two teachers?”

Aden shrugs, “Well, no. But I think it’s best for you. I won’t be able to push you like she will.” I want to keep my mouth shut, to play it cool, and not let on that I’m terrified he is going to disappear again.

Get a grip, would you? You’re strong enough to handle whatever life throws at you.

My inner pep talk makes me feel a little better, but I lose the battle to remain silent.

“Why not? Why is it best for me?”

Aden finally turns his head, his green eyes surveying me, probably trying to see beyond the forced subtlety in my questions.

“I don’t want to hurt you, baby.”

“Excuse me?” Indignation heightens my volume, but I instantly lower my voice when I realize it. “You think I couldn’t take you on?” My question clearly amuses the hell out of Aden because he starts laughing, the sound coming from deep in his belly.

Without answering my question, Aden jumps up and reaches a hand out to help me up. I don’t like the disadvantage my current position puts me in, so I grip his hand and let him pull me up. He drops a quick kiss on my nose, then lifts his chin to the locker room door, and gives my arm a little tug, indicating that he wants to continue this discussion in private.

We enter the wide room that reminds me of the club house at a baseball stadium. It is a wide rectangle, each wall lined with tall, and somewhat wide, wooden lockers, though each sports a full length door, so they are more like closest. Benches sit a few feet back from them, following the same pattern around the room. But, a big difference with this space, is that the center has two little “conversation nooks.” Each has two comfy couches, facing each other, and they are flanked by overstuffed, reading chairs, and creating a sort of semi-circle in either side. There are also three full size bathrooms at each end of the room, for students and trainers who don’t live at the facility.

The room is empty, but Aden continues walking, pulling me into one of the bathrooms and shutting the door behind us. It’s a decent sized space, but Aden crowds me up against the countertop, just to the right of the door, his face level with mine.

“Baby, I have no doubt that eventually, you’ll be able to hold your own with me. But even then, I won’t spar with you.”

Now, I’m just so perplexed. I frown, “I don’t understand. Have you done this with any of your other students?”

Aden’s eyes roam my face, pausing on my mouth, and his tongue darts out to wet his lips. I just barely catch the groan that wants to escape, my eyes riveted to his mouth. It’s ridiculous how hot he can make me with the slightest action. I just want to fuse us together and sink into his kiss.

He lifts his eyes and stares deeply into mine, the emerald darkening to a mossy green. “No.”

I’m so caught up in the lust sparking in me, that for a millisecond, I’m not sure what he is saying no to. No, he won’t kiss me? I inwardly snort at the thought.
Yeah right.

Then, I remember the question. “Why haven’t you done this with anyone else?”

Aden grabs my hip and lifts me onto the counter, settling himself in the v between my thighs. Our faces are perfectly aligned now and his eyes bore into mine.

“Because I wasn’t in love with any of them.”

I gasp in shock, my mind completely lost to anything but those words.
He loves me?
Relief pours through me and I feel freer, like I’ve shed a heavy coat and can bask in the beautiful breeze.

I’m about to get sappy. Are you ready?

The breeze is his love.

I warned you.

My thoughts clear and Aden is still watching me intently. I don’t see any fear or uncertainty in his eyes, and I realize he’s confident that I return his feelings.

What the hell, let’s just lay it all out there.

I place a hand on each of his cheeks and kiss the tip of his nose, each eyelid, and finally I place a sweet kiss on his mouth.

“I love you too.”

HER WORDS SNAP THE tenuous hold I have on my control and with a hand at the back of her neck and another on her lower back, I pull her forward and slam my mouth down onto hers. Plunging my tongue in, a deep growl rumbles from me when she sucks it deeper and I grab her legs guiding them around my hips. She gives a soft mewl of desire as I press forward into her heat. Our bodies are already warm and slightly sweaty from our workout, but the temperature of her pussy is ten times hotter and it burns my cock in the sexiest way.

My mouth moves down, kissing and licking along her chin, neck, ear, and on down to her collarbone, where I stop to suck on the salty skin. I can still taste the sweet strawberries and, the mixture of salty and sweet, sets my cock in stone. One hand wanders down to her breast, squeezing it and plucking at the nipple, while the other grabs a fist full of her hair and gently yanks her head back to give me better access. Shaylee cries out and her legs clench, clasping my cock even tighter to her core. The sound rips through me and I can’t think of anything but plunging my dick into that velvet heat, feeling her walls clench around me in a rough, hard orgasm.

I pull her legs down and grip her hips, setting her on the ground and slip off her shirt before spinning her around to face the mirror. Then, I peel her tight, Lycra shorts off of her perfect, endless legs. The sight of all that flushed, creamy skin has my need for her ready to explode. Her tits are encased in a tight sports bra but when I notice the front zipper, I decide who ever invented it is going to get personal thank you note. I slide it down and her tits spill free into my eager hands. I lift them up and squeeze them tight, rubbing my palms along her nipples, before using my fingers to twist and pull at the rosy peaks. Shaylee’s head falls back onto my shoulder, her eyes closed, and her lips slightly parted letting out a little puff of air. I pinch her nipples a little harder to get her attention.

“Open your eyes, baby. I want you to watch what I do to you.”

Her eyes struggle open and when I see the explosion of lust swirling around in them, I just can’t wait any more. I bend her forward over the counter and pull her hips out and up, pushing my rock hard dick into her ass for just a moment. She moans and her eyes begin to droop again. I grab another chunk of her hair and tug it, not enough to hurt her, but enough to make it sting.

“Aden!” she cries out but shoves her ass back into my cock, letting me know that it was a cry of pleasure.

“Keep looking at me, baby. I don’t want to have to tell you again,” my voice is rough with hunger and I practically growl at her. She gives a tight nod of understanding and once again, I feel her ass pressing back. I swiftly pull the drawstring on my pants and let them drop, my cock springs free, and I gasp at the pain from the pants pulling on it as they fall.

I slide my hand along her hip, around to her stomach and down, grabbing ahold of her panties, ripping them off, and tossing them behind me. She moans loudly and I slip my hand down to her bare pussy. Fuck, I love that my girl is completely on display for me. My fingers plunge into her and are immediately coated with her wetness.