Healthy Progress, page 8
“I got it tonight,” he muttered.
“Darby, this place—I have so much money,” I whispered. I hated that money could be a thing with us. He gave me so much more and I wanted him to see that.
“It’s not my money,” he admitted after the employee gave him back change. He sighed when I frowned. “Hudson gave me a bunch of bills. He knew I would take you out after and said to make sure it was sweet stuff because you’d be emotional. I knew that but yeah, he gave me the money to pay.”
“I didn’t think he knew about this,” I muttered, suddenly fascinated with the display case.
“I think he’s pulled his head out of his ass. I asked why he wasn’t coming, and he said he didn’t want to add pressure to you or make your night about him.” He cleared his throat when I didn’t answer. “I think he’s struggling. A lot.”
“I can’t be the one to help him after what he did,” I said… But really kind of asked myself. Could I be?
“No, that’s too much for anyone,” Darby replied firmly. “And he knows that. I think…”
“What?”
“It’s not for me to say.”
“No, it affects you,” I argued, looking at him. “I won’t get mad. Please? It’s hard for me to juggle when I’m being over the top or what to do.”
He waited until our stuff was boxed and then brought me outside. We’d gotten hot chocolates since it was winter in New York City where the bakery was. The moment we sat, I also used a rune to heat the area a bit for us so we could be comfortable.
“I think this is for him to figure out, but it’s not—I wouldn’t consider it time abandoning you,” he blurted as I took my first bite of heaven. “He’s clearly paying attention and not being a tunnel vision idiot. This is—he needs to fix what’s going on with him before it could hurt you more like you did.”
“Plus, I’m the one who said I was taking a break,” I agreed, nodding at what he said.
“But tonight is about the opening,” he said when I got lost in my head. “We’re celebrating how amazing you are. I am.”
I narrowed my eyes as I picked up one of the mini cakes. “Oh, but I can’t do that when you get a rocking LSAT score? I remember someone telling me that I couldn’t.”
“Until after finals,” he mumbled, looking completely busted. “You can now if you want.”
“Good.” I winked at him as I happily ate my treat. “Thanks, Darby.”
“I’m really proud of you, agra. You put yourself first and did what you needed instead of what everyone told you to. I think it will help you more than you realize.”
“And maybe others too,” I muttered, thinking about the reactions people had to my paintings.
“Yeah, that too.”
Some of the commanders had followed us but sat at other tables and had their own fun. I got a few thoughts that they were worried, but I didn’t know if for me or all of Faerie. I left it alone and was simply grateful they were letting me have this with Darby.
We went back to campus and basically had everything ready to go. The paparazzi had long since given up hounding me at the school. They’d probably come back at the start of next school year just to try and see who else might attend here, but we were done with most of the hoops.
So we were home in no time. I had to repack for the mountain villa we were staying at over break, but I could do that in the morning. Packing was never a worry when you could open portals and just grab anything else you needed or wanted.
“Can I give you the rest of your congratulations?” Darby asked when we were alone in our room.
I smirked at him. “I think sex with me is just as much of a treat for you.”
“It is, but that’s not what I’m planning.” He held up a satiny-looking sleep mask. “I messed up last time wanting to do something fun and new when you’re stressed. I won’t this time, I promise.”
“You didn’t mess up,” I whispered, brushing my lips over his. “Yes, I want to play.” Honestly, I just wanted to go to bed, but I could feel his excitement and nerves.
“Trust me,” he murmured before slipping the mask over my eyes. He kissed my cheek and then down my neck before working his way up the other side. He nipped my earlobe but didn’t touch me in any other way, leaving me standing there blind to what was going on.
It was interesting and definitely required me to trust him.
Luckily, I had no problem with that.
He moved around me and unzipped the dress I was wearing, kissing along the path of the zipper until it stopped right above my butt. He didn’t take it off though, slowly exposing more of my skin to the air and kissing what he could now. It was slow and tender. Feeling his lips on my skin made me shiver more than once, especially if he changed the area.
“You are so fucking beautiful, it’s blinding, agra,” he praised a few minutes later as the dress finally fell to the floor. He knelt in front of me and kissed down my thigh. Darby went all the way down to my feet and kissed them after he took off my shoe. Then he did the same on my other leg and foot. “Hold your hands behind your back.”
Oh boy. He was doing it so I didn’t hold his head while he ate me out. I loved doing that and he was changing things up.
Yeah, he was but not in the way I thought. He didn’t give me oral sex. He simply stood and went back to touching and kissing my skin. It was fascinating and a bit overwhelming. I felt the lingering traces of him like when I was dreaming. It scared me and I felt my anxiety shoot up.
“Why are you scared?” he worried, stopping what he was doing immediately.
“It echoed my dream or the feeling lingering,” I admitted. “I started to worry I’m dreaming.”
“No, you’re awake,” he mumbled. “That doesn’t prove it to you.”
I thought about what Julian had already shown me. “No, this is real. I know that. It just startled me and—sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you’re being honest with me and feel you can.” He gave me a soft kiss on the lips and went back to touching me. That was it for several minutes. His fingers simply trailed all over my skin.
It was maddening and amazing and just everything.
“I hate running,” he whispered, making me flinch since it was right in my ear after that long of silence. “I hate it. It’s boring and annoying.” His fingers moved up my breast. “But watching your delicious tits bounce when you run makes it the best thing to do ever. Even if I do it hard for you.” He chuckled when I shivered.
That was quite the compliment, but it was only the beginning. He praised me on so much. He brought up outfits I’d worn recently or how my hair looked on certain days. Apparently, Darby was a big fan of fairy braids when I was the one wearing them. He thought they were sexy as fuck when the rest of my hair was wildly curly.
But it wasn’t only my looks. No, he talked about how hard I worked and how smart I was. He listed everything he loved about me down to how I checked if he wanted the last of anything we ate. He noticed so much and appreciated everything I ever did for him. It made me feel so many things, completely overwhelmed and spinning, especially after the gallery opening.
It felt like forever he drowned me in praise and touches before he picked me up and positioned me on the bed kneeling.
“Keep your hands behind your back again,” he murmured. “I don’t want to restrain you, but I want you to pretend you are.”
I nodded, thanking him for being so considerate. I could handle him holding me down, but after being abducted and restrained, I could react badly to even playing that way. Shocking after it had happened twice.
“Do you want your present now?” he asked as he got on the bed with me.
“Yes,” I hissed, very, very ready for the fun and sex with him.
Except I only got one of those.
Something rubbed against my clit. It wasn’t his fingers. It was too big for that.
And it wasn’t his dick… Because it was ribbed.
I was about to ask when it started vibrating, cluing me in. “Toys?”
“Mm-hm,” he murmured as he leaned in and nibbled on my earlobe. “Tonight is all about you, agra. I’m going to make you a mess and pass out from pleasure. I’m going to push you and show you how addicted to you I am. Are you game?”
I nodded, shocked but also a bit excited. Screw going to bed. I’d much rather play with Darby all night and pass out later.
He teased me with the toy until I orgasmed.
Then he fingered me while moving the toy from my clit to my nipples and more to drive me crazy.
Then the toy was in me and he fingered my ass.
Then the toy was in my ass and his fingers got rough with my pussy. It was insane. After several orgasms, I couldn’t stay kneeling like that. I told him that as my body shook from aftershocks.
“Sit on your feet and lay back that way, hands behind your back still. I want to see my mate be that flexible for me.”
Wow. Okay. I did as he wanted, thanking him when he moved a pillow behind my head. It wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t bad either. I completely forgot about the position when he spread my knees wider and fucked me with the toy… While it was on max level no less. I didn’t know when one orgasm started and the next ended. It was such a wave of pleasure it was crazy.
And he did make me a mess. If I was in my head more, I would have been mortified at the noises I was making. He seemed excited how I’d gotten the comforter wet I was orgasming so much. I could push aside my embarrassment because he was so into it but really, I was pretty glad he kept me blindfolded.
He also made me pass out from pleasure. One moment I was riding the crazy and then just nothing.
Wow.
Like wow.
Okay, what did I have to do to get that again?
Probably not do what I was plotting, but it was something I needed.
A few days later after we were settled at the villa and rested after finals, I grabbed everything I had ordered from the bakery and asked Irma to make me. I swallowed loudly when her skin was changing colors between fear, anger, and worry.
“I’ll be careful,” I promised. “I swear he won’t hurt me.”
“You don’t know that, Tamsin.”
“I do. He’s had lots of chances. Something is going on and he’s not what seems. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think we were related. He’s that protective of me.”
Irma sighed, shaking her head. “You’d know. Fairies and fair folk can sense their family. It’s like a zip of your magic. Or how the hounds get excited for no reason that you understand. They know someone in another pack is related to them or someone they’re friends with.”
I sighed. “I didn’t know that, but he won’t hurt me.”
“You would be a fool to think him a good person.”
“I don’t. I absolutely don’t think he’s a good guy,” I promised her, waiting until she settled some. “But a lot of people wouldn’t have said I was either, Irma. I beat up bad people which was still against the law.”
Her skin flared bright red like my hair. “Yes, but he’s murdered people.”
“I know. I know.” Again, I let her settle with that. “But if I was going to infiltrate the Underground, I would murder a bad person.” I shrugged when she looked horrified. “If I hadn’t been the heir, I had exactly some of those plans to take out the Underground. He could have found someone selling witches on the black market like I did.”
She sighed, her skin calming while she nodded. “I understand and that’s not a point I’ve thought of. I will concede you could be right if you hear me that it might not be that either.”
“I agree.” I leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I’m not looking for the good in him, Irma. I’m saying he’s shown me that I’m safe with him and he won’t lie to me. That’s it. That’s better than a lot of the supposedly good people I’m told to trust. So trust me.”
“Always. I always trust you, Tamsin.”
That was better than most, and I knew she worried because she loved me. I loved Irma too, but something was telling me that this was the right thing to do. My gut was spot on mostly, so it would be stupid not to listen to it.
And I wasn’t stupid.
I teleported to a beach I liked to go kitesurfing at. I found an area tucked away from any foot traffic and a good distance from the water so no one would be looking for this place. Setting everything up didn’t curb my nerves, but when it was done, I still sucked it up and opened a portal to Luke.
He came storming right through. “Are you like stupid?” Steam about came out of his ears when I simply blinked at him. “You have no idea who I was meeting with. What if it was a room full of—”
“I locked the portal to you,” I cut in. “Only you could have walked through.”
He sighed. “Fine, you’re a little less stupid, but that’s not enough. If people saw a portal open and only I could walk through, they would have opened portals to follow.”
“The area is locked as well.”
“Fine, you’re not stupid but don’t do it again.”
“I might be able to cloak a portal from a distance when I open it on your end,” I muttered.
“Others can sense fairy magic,” he argued. “Teleporting me was better.” He waved me off as he reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled something out. “Use this if you need to see me. Throw it on natural stone, not like bricks or pavement.”
I caught it when he tossed it at me, snorting when I saw it was an older-looking coin. “Nine pieces of eight? Yeah, you guys aren’t pirates.”
He did a double take. “How do you know about that?”
I frowned. “Darby likes Pirates of the Caribbean. I watched it with him a couple of months ago.” My eyes went wide as I glanced back at the coin. “Seriously, how much did supes leak to Disney?”
“It’s not that, but I can’t tell you.”
I studied him closely and used my magic to see what was on him like I had White after learning her father put magic on her. I frowned at what I found and had no idea what I was looking at. “You can if I’m in the know.”
“Yes.” He smirked when he said it, clearly impressed I’d figured that out.
That gave me an idea. “What can you tell me, Lieutenant?”
“Up one,” he chuckled.
“Captain of the Underground, huh?”
He opened his mouth but then sighed. “Okay, so you’ve kinda opened an area like in gaming. I can talk about being a captain.” He narrowed his eyes at me as he moved closer. “So know that there are commanders and generals above me. And we have one big boss.”
“So like cartels,” I muttered, studying the coin. “And I would bet like some cartels, you don’t know who the other people are. One contact, right?”
“You are impressive,” he muttered as he plopped down next to me. “Yes, I’m at the level that I speak with one commander now. For the record, I’ve identified three other commanders and one general. That’s it. That’s how hard it is to uncover who they are.”
“I believe you, but you’ve been working alone.”
“Don’t. You have enough to deal with and keep focused on. You poke these bears and they will kill you.”
I nodded, not willing to say more. I’d had a lot of people threaten that but if they were magically stronger than Luke, I would take these guys seriously.
I wasn’t stupid after all.
“This has magic on it and not yours,” I said as I wiggled the coin. “It’s not Aztec gold like the movie, but you got nervous. It’s Spanish though.” I was taking a guess because there was no way the magic that let the Underground become so big was that easy to break or they wouldn’t have made it that far.
He sighed but then flinched. “Wow, okay, I think if you know anything it messes with the magic because you’re so powerful. I’ve had people poke that and I still couldn’t talk.”
“I’ll take the win.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “That still doesn’t mean I’ll just tell you everything.”
“Tell me this and we’ll move on to why I wanted to see you,” I pushed after a moment, setting the first containers out in front of him. “A picnic should have pleasant conversation after all.”
He swallowed a moan when he saw it was full of fae treats. The way to a supe’s heart was through their stomach.
I knew because I was the same.
“It’s not Aztec gold,” he confirmed as he dug right in. “But yes, what we were doing was leaked to Disney.”
“Because people would assume you were jokes then. The movies were made after fairies were locked away, and no matter how people act like you guys started after that, you didn’t.”
“No, the Underground is at least fifty years old,” he confirmed. “Without the boring history lesson, a powerful warlock family used to be the royal family of Spain. Way before my time even. The boss of the Underground is called our King.”
“Of that family?”
“No, but he was party to wiping them out. I’ve heard whispers of the story from my commander, but that’s it.” He nodded to the coin I was still playing with. “That’s part of the loot that the Spanish king at the time had blessed for his daughter’s dowery. Spain and France were going to combine under warlocks or something.”
I snorted. “That wasn’t in any history I was taught.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re shocked what’s written in books isn’t the truth? You’re smarter than that.”
“Yeah, I am. I just—I’m not shocked, but it’s still surprising sometimes.”
He nodded, clearly not wanting to get into it anymore. “What did you need?”
I cleared my throat and tucked away the coin. “So what do you know about a dragon’s tunnel vision?”
He froze in his next bite, studying me closely. He finished eating what was in his hand before reaching for something next. “I know it’s bad, and that’s why most don’t mate dragons besides other dragons. It’s why I was upset you were mates with a dragon, especially one who was given everything and would be a pain in your ass.”
“Hudson’s not like that.”
“I’m going to call you stupid again if you defend him after everything he’s done to you,” Luke threatened.
