“And how could I want to? You take me by surprise and hold me in this … just what is this … and …”
“And I mean to make you mine, if not now—soon,” he said simply.
“Could we stand on solid ground while you make the attempt?” She pulled a face at him, and he laughed out loud.
“Oh, but you amuse me as well as work my lust,” he said on a low note.
She eyed him and mentally slapped herself. This seducer was handsome and sounded so gentle, but she knew different. She knew what he was, she reminded herself, and yet … she felt a moment’s empathy for him. After all, he laughed, he teased, he … and here was the crux of it, her mind cogitated worriedly; her compassion and willingness to always see the good in someone, anyone could get her into deep shit.
“Well … ? Will you set me down?” she urged.
“I cannot. We are in a dimension I call the ‘in-between, where time stands still.”
“How … ?” she started to ask, shocked to her core. Time travel was something only the queen could accomplish, and even the queen had been unable to accomplish it in recent years.
“Ah, I may be Unseelie, but I was created by the Seelie Dark King. My powers are quite unlimited when combined with the Dark Magic I have perfected over the centuries.” He stroked her face. “One day I will rule the earth with my Queen Morrigu and my brothers. You will sit beside me, as I have chosen you, but for now, I need a place from which to work my … plans, and this simple but perfect dimension suits me.”
“But—”
“Be quiet, Seelie Princess,” he admonished and clucked his tongue. “You must know that I don’t wish to wage a bloody war on humans. I will enslave them, yes, but with mental persuasion. They will be easily controlled when the time comes. It is the Seelie Fae that must be conquered—and I shall start with you.” Suddenly his tone, which had become grim and displayed some of his ruthlessness, softened once more. “Indeed, beautiful Princess … I shall start with you …”
She struggled as he bent once more and left a blazing trail of kisses across her neck, to her ear, and back to the hollow of her neck. Then he startled her further by pulling at her tank top.
She pushed at him. “Hold it, Pestale—or do you mean to take me against my will?” They were her words, but she acknowledged to herself that his kisses, his touch, and his aura had an effect on her. Curiosity flooded her veins, he damn well knew it, and she was shocked by it—by her reaction to him.
He chuckled and touched her chin. “You are but a child, untried … I shall enjoy introducing you to pleasure.”
“You think you can conquer the Seelie Fae?” she said, changing the subject. “But you have set yourself an impossible feat.” She watched him for a reaction to her words. Had she drawn on his temper—would he lose control?
“Have I? And yet, here you are, in my arms …” he said, and his lips brushed against hers. She had to get away from him immediately.
“Do you think I can’t leave whenever I want if I put my mind to it?” she answered him sharply, trying to draw on his fire.
“Can you?” He smiled, but she felt something beneath that smile, som
ething dark and ever ready to explode.
“Yes, but …” she answered flirtatiously, “your question should have been … do I want to leave you?”
He smirked, but his dark eyes lit up. “Do you take me for a fool, little Seelie? Do you think I don’t know what you are doing? And did you think I don’t realize it will take time to make you truly mine?” He shook his head. “But I will play your game, so tell me, my rare one, do you wish to leave me?”
“Yes,” she said and immediately found the magic to break free and shift. She had had this power all along, and now he would know and not be fooled the next time. Her shifting brought her back to the Lower Lake, and even as she felt the earth beneath her sneakered feet, she heard his angelic-sounding laughter fading into the atmosphere.
Then his voice whispered darkly in her ear, “Ah, my Seelie beauty, there are consequences when one is rude to me, and leaving me like that—very rude.”
That had the ring of a threat, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it as something else entirely grabbed her attention.
She had shifted to the very area where she had been before he had taken her, but Royce discovered a kicker to the scenario. She should have been in the present—her present, but she wasn’t.
She was in the past.
She looked up the slope to see herself, Trevor, and Chance just before he stalked off.
Oh, so very bad.
But this incident had taught her something: events in the future could be changed, because this time she did not go to the lake alone; instead, she ran away from it, and the other her vanished as she ran towards Trevor and Chance and screamed for their attention.
This time, Pestale had not scooped her up and taken her off for a repeat performance, and yet oddly enough she retained a memory of the entire experience. She blinked as she tried to put logic to it.