Tamlin: After the War

Chapter 9 - Kaira

Tamlin had been gone for a couple of days and Kaira was beginning to worry. She was well aware of what the Court of Nightmares was capable of. She saw the anger in Tamlin's eyes when he left, she saw his claws release when she mentioned Keir. She wondered, for a moment, whether he'd kill Keir. Though she had warned him not to. They needed the rake.

She paced around the manor but pacing seemed to slow everything down further. So, she baked. She baked a giant chocolate cake and decorated it finely. It took hours.

She felt his presence before she saw him. He always arrived like a hurricane. A whirlwind of power and muscle, too big for whichever room he found himself in. The ground he landed on seemed to bow in fear.

He held out the rake, half a smile playing on his lips. But it never reached his eyes. She exhaled in relief. "What did he want?"

Tamlin shrugged. A casual gesture, but she knew those big shoulders carried the weight of thousands of families, alone. "A favor. We'll have to see."

Kaira mimicked his casual shrug, even though a favor owed to Keir was the worst thing she could imagine. She watched as his eyes peered over her shoulder and settled on the cake. His mouth dropped open slightly.

Kaira couldn't hide the pleasure she felt watching him salivate while staring at the cake - for a moment, she envied the cake. "You want some?"

The big warrior nodded enthusiastically, the rake disappearing to whichever space he deemed safe enough to hold it. He pulled out a chair and sat down, looking up at her.

Kaira sliced a piece of cake and presented it to him. He brushed his hand across hers and a Creha flower appeared in the palm of her hand. She felt her eyes well up, and looked at him. He smiled at her, his hand lingering on hers, before pulling it away and taking a bite of the cake.

Kaira blinked back tears and cradled the flower in her hands before grabbing a small glass and filling it with water for the flower to settle in. She set it down in the darkest corner of the kitchen.

When she turned back to Tamlin, he had devoured half the cake. Chocolate ganache smeared across his chin and fingers and yet he leaned forward to slice off another piece. He looked up at her guiltily, "Was anyone going to join us?"

Kaira giggled lightly and walked over to him. She leaned down to quickly place the gentlest of kisses on his hard jaw. "Thank you for the flower."

His green eyes met hers for a moment and something stirred within her. Before he could say anything, she asked for the rake, "I'd like to get started, we have lots of ground to cover, who knows when he'll want it back."

Tamlin held her gaze for a second longer before throwing back another piece of cake and fetching the rake.

After a couple of days, the once muddied soil was covered in green. A hope of fruits, vegetables and a variety of flowers sprouting from what seemed to be barren land. After a few more days, families were able to pick their own home-grown tomatoes. Eagerly telling Tamlin this as he presented them with whatever animal he hunted for them that day.

Tamlin arrived at home glistening. His smile broad, his eyes tired, but joyful. There was something else. A look Kaira couldn't place. She stood up from their own vegetable garden and took off her gardening gloves and hat. Smiling curiously as he approached her with that unknown look.

"It worked." He whispered when he reached her.

She laughed, "I know." and pointed to the tomatoes she had just harvested. His laughed wrapped around her own as he leaned downward and kissed her. Gently at first, their lips touching softly against each other as he laughed into her mouth.

She looked into those green eyes and hungrily pulled him closer for another kiss. Harder. She wanted more. So did he.

He lifted her up, effortlessly and pushed her against the wall as his lips crashed into hers. His tongue desperately seeking hers as his hands firmly gripped the underside of her thighs. She felt a heat between her legs and wrapped her legs around him tightly, pulled his body up against hers.

Her body felt like it may explode. Every second his lips left hers, she thought she may die. She pulled him closer. She didn't need to breathe. She needed him. The undersides of her thighs were on fire, burning against the feeling of his strong hands. Every inch of her body needed him. On her. In her.

He pulled away, his green eyes flashing brighter than she had ever seen them before. She attempted to pull him back towards her. She wasn't ready for it to stop.

"Do you feel that?" he asked breathlessly, quietly, "I knew it."

"Knew what?" she asked, leaning towards him to place kisses along his neck.

"Kaira, you're my mate."

She knew it too. She could feel it. In her bones. In her heart. She could feel it in the air she breathed. She needed him.

She pushed him away and watched as hurt flashed across his sensitive eyes. "You need to eat. You need to eat." She mumbled and a small laugh escaped him as he leaned down to kiss her cheek, her neck, her lips.

"Go. To. The. Kitchen." She managed, her breath stolen by the feeling of his lips on her throat, "I need to make you something to eat... Unless you don't want me to?"

Tamlin pulled away from where he had been kissing her neck and looked into her eyes, "Offer me that tomato."

Kaira burst into a fit of laughter. "I'm a skilled chef and you want me to offer you a tomato as our mating meal?"

"Offer me the tomato." He said again, biting his bottom lip and Kaira bent over to pick up a tomato. Rubbing it against her shirt to clean some of the soil off.

"It's dirty." She laughed, offering it to him.

"I don't care," he said before biting into the tomato more enthusiastically than she had ever seen anyone eat a tomato. The juice ran down his chin and Kaira grabbed his shirt, pulling him downward so that she could lick his neck, his chin, and eventually his mouth. Tamlin growled with pleasure as he lifted her into his arms and winnowed her into his bedroom.

Kaira sat on the edge of her bed. Her body threatened to explode if he stepped an inch closer.

He didn't step.

He kneeled.

She looked down as Tamlin, the High Lord of the Spring Court kneeled in front of her, a lesser faerie, a mixed breed. He opened her legs and placed them over his strong shoulders. Maintaining eye contact with her the entire time. His tongue traveled up the inside of her thigh and upon reaching the top, he hungrily, viciously, licked her. Kaira's body erupted within seconds, but he wouldn't let go. She moaned loudly, calling his name, which only made him hungrier. For her. To taste her. To feel her writhe underneath him.

"I need you inside me." She begged.

Tamlin couldn't resist the offer. He peeled off his pants, exposing his considerable length and climbed on top of her, entering her gently, but she pulled him toward her, desperately. She kissed his neck, inhaling the smell of his skin as he pushed himself deeper and deeper inside her.

She dug her fingernails into his muscular back, urging him closer. He still wasn't close enough. He pushed deeper, biting at her neck while doing it, moans of pleasure escaping her mouth.

"I love you." She whispered and he growled as his body came crashing down on top of her.

He pulled her towards him, "Say it again."

"I love you, my mate."

Tamlin pulled her on top of him and she leaned closer to him as his mouth wrapped around her nipple, she felt him harden again just as she felt herself pool. She had heard of the rumors of the sex frenzy after finding your mate but she didn't expect this. She closed her eyes and rubbed herself against him, his wet mouth making her wetter and wetter.