Fairyville (Fairyville #1)(11)
Author: Emma Holly

All that had ended when he met Zoe—or it had ended as much as it could.

The terms of his magical visa were simple: Win a woman’s heart under each full moon, seal the deal by cl**axing inside his partner, then return the heart afterward. Nothing said he couldn’t have sex more often, and certainly he wanted to, but to do so with Zoe watching didn’t strike him as the best way to keep her regard.

Unfortunately, given the amount of satisfaction he was wired to crave, it was nearly killing him to restrict himself to ha**ng s*x once a month. He could pleasure himself, of course, but to his kind nothing compared to the delicious skin-to-skin contact of intercourse. He needed that like Phoenix needed water, and without it he felt himself approaching a state that, for a naturally cheerful person like himself, resembled surliness.

Zoe had no idea how she’d upped the difficulty of his life by breaking into tears this morning and forcing him to kiss her. Now he’d tasted her sweetness. Now he’d felt her eager embrace. Now—damn it all to the nether realm—he knew what he was missing!

In spite of the arousal that still goaded him like a lance, Magnus chuckled at the cloudless sky. He sat beneath an awning in the little courtyard across the street from her gallery, waiting patiently for her to emerge for lunch. Sun-sharp shadows shifted slowly around the circle of adobe shops, different but every bit as beautiful as his home.

He could hardly claim to have been forced to kiss her when he’d been wanting to do it for the last two years—ever since he’d spotted her giving readings in the little park the locals called Tourist Square. All sorts of artists and prognosticators set up booths there on summer weekends—and Zoe hadn’t been the only friend to dead people there. Nonetheless, a line ten-deep had snaked back from her table, mostly women fanning themselves in the blazing heat, clearly determined to speak to no psychic but her—even if they melted in the meantime.

Magnus had taken one look at the reason for their patience and had known he wasn’t going to move on to Colorado like he’d planned. Zoe was worth sticking around for, even if it meant remaining where his mother could get at him.

Stable portals between the human world and Fairy were hard to come by, and just as hard to open if you weren’t a queen. Sadly, Magnus’s mother was a queen, and the door to Fairyville was as old and stable as they got. Titania could come and go as she pleased, with one disadvantage. Should she ever step into the human realm, she’d have to leave the bulk of her magic behind.

Titania didn’t want to do that, not even if it improved her chances of retrieving her unruly son. Full-strength fairy magic was a drug without which she couldn’t function, the blood that kept her power-loving heart beating. She’d try every way she could think of to reel Magnus back, so long as she didn’t have to come into this world.

Imagining how many ways Titania would think of—especially once she realized he wasn’t going to tire of his "rebellious phase"—had been behind his plan to change states, at least, until he’d laid eyes on Zoe.

Zoe had been a vision in that park, as if one juicy little person could unite the glitter and buzz of Fairy with the comforting solidness of humanity. Her curly hair had rioted like silk around her slender shoulders, a rich blue-black that made her soft gray eyes shine. In her bright gauzy skirt and skimpy summer top, she’d resembled a sexy butterfly—lean and lithe with br**sts the size of oranges. Her smooth, tanned skin had made him want to nibble her all over, to sample every inch of those sun-kissed curves, but even then he recognized his reaction as more than lust.

She’d smiled at her clients, nodding at their troubles and patting their hands. Some had shed tears as she’d shared messages from their dear departed, and all the while that soft, sweet smile of hers had not wavered.

This one knows, Magnus had thought. This one knows there’s more to life than most people see. This one knows there’s truly nothing to cry about.

He’d been tempted to get a reading for himself but hadn’t dared, for fear of what she would discern. Her magic was a perfume swirling through her aura, a pulse of deeper, more vibrant life. He’d watched her for days before he’d concluded she could not read minds, days during which he’d realized he couldn’t sleep with and forget this one. Instead, he’d proposed she join his string of proteges, the human artists whose shops and studios he funded, whose careers he gently oversaw and took commissions on.

She’d been surprised by his offer but not shocked. He’d been pleased to discover she knew how good she was. Confidence was a kind of magic by itself. Though it hadn’t been his primary goal, he’d known his investment in her would pay off.

That she had a private coterie of fairies had been an unexpected plus. Magnus hadn’t had a close-up encounter with his diminutive cousins since they’d slipped from his mother’s iron grip two human centuries ago. He’d been looking forward to the reacquaintance. As fellow escapees from Fairy, they had much in common. He hadn’t realized the little fey were going to flee in terror whenever he came near.

That hiccup in his ambitions should have told him his simple desire to enjoy Zoe’s nearness wasn’t going to stay simple long.

He wanted her heart and body, and he wanted both for keeps. Sadly, this was a luxury the very magic that allowed him to be near her forbid. The only thing that pained him worse than not claiming all of her was knowing how his monthly ritual bruised her feelings. That, more than anything, prevented him from taking extra partners. No amount of temporary gratification was worth hurting her.

But who said sex was all that could gratify him? Magnus straightened as Zoe’s door opened, the glass pane flashing like a mirror. Seeing it was her, he waved his arm to catch her attention and jogged across the street.

It wasn’t the few seconds of exercise that had his heart pumping hard. An unfamiliar nervousness battled with the physical excitement that always hummed through him in her presence. Magnus couldn’t read human thoughts, but he sensed their earlier kiss hadn’t left his friend in an ideal mood.

"I thought we’d have lunch today," he said, putting all his fairy power into the smile he turned down at her. This was nothing to the power he could have called on if he’d still lived in Fairy. The denseness of the human realm muted all glamour. All the same, he knew the flash of teeth was persuasive.

Zoe rubbed her forehead perplexedly. "Today?"

"Sure. My treat."

It wasn’t an unusual invitation. They ate together several times a week, under the pretense of it being casual—though Zoe was the only protegee he did this with. Now she looked down the street toward the Longhorn Grill, where they usually went. The words oh, no swam into his mind. Until that moment, he’d forgotten the existence of Sheri Yost. He might not know all the ins and outs of human romance, but he was pretty sure having lunch in the restaurant that employed his previous night’s lover wouldn’t count as considerate.