Finding Faerie (Pixie Dust Chronicles 3)

He looked over his shoulder at the alarm clock. “Five minutes past one.”

Wow, I’d spoken with Erica around six in the morning. I couldn’t believe I had slept for another seven hours. No wonder my bladder was about to burst. “I need to talk to you about Erica.” I got out of bed and made my way towards the bathroom. “Give me a few minutes to freshen up, okay?”

He nodded. “Of course.”

I came out feeling minty fresh and started sifting through the closet for something to wear. I was exhausted, but I thought getting dressed would help me perk up. Eying a pretty sundress I asked, “No chance the temperatures have heated up about twenty degrees, is there?”

He chuckled. “Why are you looking through your clothes?”

I crinkled my brows in confusion. “Because I don’t want to spend all afternoon in my jammies.”

He laughed, full on this time. “My dear, it’s one o’clock in the morning, not afternoon. You’ve been in here for over twenty-four hours.”

“What?! I slept through the entire day? Why didn’t you wake me up?”

He shrugged. “You seemed tired so I left you alone.”

I lost a full day? I sat on the edge of the bed and grumbled, “I’m still tired.” Stupid immortal side effects.

He hooked an arm around my torso and pulled me into him. “Rest, my sweet. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

I snuggled into him and yawned. He didn’t need to tell me twice. “Okie dokie.”

I was careful to check the AM/PM indicator on the alarm clock when I woke up. It was just past five in the morning, and Leo was snoozing next to me. I quietly crawled out of bed and made my way into the bathroom. I took my time showering, letting the hot water beat down on my sore muscles. It always amazed me how quickly my body seized up from inactivity. As I was shaving my legs, I got a sudden wave of dizziness. That turned into a large volt of energy shooting throughout my entire body, causing me to gouge myself with the razor.

“Fuck!” I looked down and saw pink water swirling around the drain. Man, I got myself good.

The door burst open a few seconds later. “What happened?” Leo asked.

I jumped in shock and made a feeble attempt to conceal my nudity. The shower had a clear glass door so all my goodies were currently on display. “Leo! What the hell?”

His eyes quickly scanned the room, seemingly satisfied that no threats existed. He turned around and said, “I apologize, my sweet. I heard you shout…then I smelled your blood. I thought you were injured.”

I sighed. “I’m fine. I cut myself shaving; no big deal.”

“Would you like me to heal you?” A vampire’s saliva had enzymes in it that carried the ability to repair broken skin. Leo had sealed more than a few of my wounds since we’d met.

I looked down at my leg and saw the giant gash I had created. Dammit. “Just give me a minute, okay? I’ll meet you out in the bedroom.”

“Of course,” he said as he exited the room.

Once the door was closed, I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower to dry off. I grabbed some tissue, attempting to staunch the blood flow, but wasn’t having much luck. Resigned, I wrapped a towel tightly around my body and stepped into the bedroom.

Leo’s eyes zeroed in on the cut as his fangs grew in response. He patted the open spot on the bed next to him. “Sit.”

I sank into the mattress and stretched both legs over his lap. He stared at the blood trickling out for only a moment before he lifted my injured leg to his mouth and began lapping at the wound. Before meeting Leo, the thought of anyone cleaning up my blood with their tongue would have grossed me out. Now, all it did was remind me of the blinding pleasure he could induce with a simple prick from his fang. I felt my body warming at the memory of his bite. Based on his enthusiastic licking, I was sure he was feeling a bit nostalgic as well.

I needed to focus on something other than his tongue lazily drawing circles against my skin. “Something really weird happened right before I cut myself.”

“Hmm?” Leo murmured.

“I got dizzy,” I continued, “and then I felt this crazy jolt of power. Have you ever been around a downed power line? It was like that —I could feel the charge in the air—except it was inside of me. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

He gave me one more lick for good measure and raised his head with eyes closed. I watched as my skin knitted together between his hands, leaving everything good as new. His fingertips bit into my calf muscle while he took deep breaths through his nose.

“Leo, you okay?”

His fingers continued to flex and retract. “Just…give me a minute.”