Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)

by Callie Hart

This bastard would shit himself if he realized he had the Saeris Fane in his grasp.

The idiot below wouldn’t be the first enemy I’d made out of one of Madra’s men, but I wouldn’t be giving him another thought.

Sometimes, objects shook around me. Objects made of iron, tin, or gold.

“You’re going to fix it?” Carrion’s pale blue eyes drilled into me as I stepped away from the booth. “I’m going to fix it,” I snarled back. “Good. Oh, and Saeris?” The guy just didn’t know when to quit. I spun around, scowling at him. “What!” “Even filthy and tired, you’re still beautiful.” “Gods and martyrs,” I whispered.

Twenty-four years. That’s all the time I’d been given in this cursed existence. Despite how hard, and miserable, and hot, and frustrating it had all proven to be, I’d bizarrely hoped for more of it.

Funny how your own impending demise will rob a girl of her desire to take in the scenery.

Do you know much about metalwork, Captain? I do. It’s under the most unbearable conditions that the sharpest, most dangerous weapons are forged. And we are dangerous, Captain. She’s turned us all into weapons. That is why she won’t suffer my people to live.”

My anxiety over Hayden was all-consuming. Come hell or high water, I was going to get back to my brother, but I couldn’t rush into this. Rushing something so dangerous that I had no understanding of whatsoever would undoubtedly mean death or, at the very least, serious trouble.

“I knew it wasn’t warded.” “How?” “Because I’m magic.” “What about you is magic?” “Everything,” he said, entering the room. “My looks. My sword skills. My personality—” “Your personality is trash.”

“Elroy swears that a man will lie about the size of his cock every time a woman asks him.” Kingfisher stilled. “Are you asking me how big my cock is, Osha?” “I don’t care how big it is. I care about the way you answer.” A slow, terrifying smirk spread across his face. “It’s big enough to make you scream and then some.”

She hadn’t banked on Kingfisher kicking in my bedroom door, me thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and wailing like a banshee. Nor had she expected his ultra-foul temper, his split bottom lip, or the thin line of blood trickling down his chin. She’d squawked when he’d thrown me unceremoniously down onto my bed and snarled, “Bad human,” at me.

The king said that Finran, Fisher’s father, was responsible for the quicksilver stilling and declared him a traitor to the Fae—” “Wait. Kingfisher said that Madra was responsible for stilling the quicksilver.” Everlayne’s expression became troubled. “And that might be true. Fisher has certainly never believed his father was responsible. But without any proof to the contrary, Belikon announced that Finran was to blame. Less than a year later, Belikon announced his engagement to my mother.

“Careful, human. We Fae have an excellent sense of smell. You’d be amazed what we can scent floating on the air.”

it was hard not to look at him and ache. I had grown up in a pit of misery, where people died more often than they lived. I hadn’t seen many beautiful things in my short life. But, of all the beautiful things I had seen, Fisher was the most beautiful of all.

“We have similar internal organs, though we do possess a few that humans do not.” Extra internal organs? That was intriguing. “We’re bigger. Taller, of course,” he continued. I arched an eyebrow at that. “Of course.” “Our hearts are bigger by ratio.” I couldn’t help it. I looked up. “Really?” He nodded. “Mm-hmm.” “Wow. Weird.” “Our eyesight is far superior to yours. Our...sense of smell,” he said, his eyes lowering, traveling down my body. Heat flared in the center of my chest. The way he was looking at me...there was nothing friendly about it. Kingfisher and I weren’t friends. At best, we were loose allies who irritated the hell out of each other. So why, then, was he looking at me right now like I was an ally he’d like to fuck?

“I’ve fucked plenty of humans,” he whispered. “Does that surprise you?” “Yes. Seeing as how you...seem to hate us...so much.” His mouth. Gods, his fucking mouth.

“I don’t hate your kind. I’m just disappointed by how breakable you are. If I held you down and fucked you the way I’m imagining fucking you right now, I doubt that you’d survive it.”

“I wouldn’t fuck you—if you were the last living—” “Don’t bother.” The words held bite. “Lying is pointless with your heart betraying you so loudly.” “It’s beating fast because I’m afraid,” I snapped. “Of me?” Kingfisher huffed a blast of laughter down his nose. “No, you’re not. You should be, but you’re not. That’s one of the things I like most about you.”

“You can pull away at any time. Looks to me like you’re choosing to stay. It also looks like you’re having to stop yourself from touching me. You want to touch me the way I’m touching you, don’t you? To feel the weight of me beneath your palms. The heat of me...” He angled his head a fraction, something wicked dancing in his eyes. “Just to see what would happen.”

“That your body is betraying you in other ways. That I can smell you, Little Osha, and I’m thinking about drinking the sweet nectar you’re making for me straight from the fucking cup.”

“Aren’t you curious? Don’t you want to know what I taste like?”

I’m just...going to kiss you. And you’re just going to sit there. You aren’t going to move a muscle. You’re not even going to kiss me back?” Gods above, saying it out loud made it sound even more ridiculous. Kingfisher just stared at me. “Find out.”

This was the kiss to end all kisses. Demanding, urgent, and carnal. I hated this male. Hated him with every fiber of my being. But curse me, I wanted him just as bad.

“Careful,” he panted. “I swore I’d be still while you kissed me. At no point did I promise to exercise restraint if you climbed up into my lap and started grinding yourself against my cock.” I hadn’t—I wasn’t— Fuck. I had. I was. Without even realizing, I’d straddled him.

“You fucking tricked me!” “No,” he said bluntly. “I taught you a valuable lesson that will serve you well for the rest of your very short human life in this realm. Always pay attention to the fine print. The devil’s in the details.

“Feeling a little sore, human?” “Sore doesn’t come close,” I grumbled. “I’ll happily kiss all of your aches and pains better for you once we strike camp. I’ve been told my mouth has healing properties. Especially when administered between a pair of thighs.” The suggestion in Kingfisher’s voice was a promise made of dark silk. Seductive. A little thrilling, if I was being honest. I wasn’t in the mood to be honest, though.

Kingfisher looked up at Archer. The rune disappeared. “Stop fretting, Arch. You’re not hallucinating. I returned home late last night.” Archer threw back his small head and wailed. He trampled right over the broken tea service in order to get to Fisher. Throwing his thin, fiery arms around Kingfisher’s neck, he sobbed hysterically. “You’re here. You’re here!” “Whoa. Steady now.” I waited for Fisher to shove the little creature away, but he wrapped his arms around him instead, hugging him close. “You’ll make everyone think we’re being attacked.” Archer leaned back, pressing small hands to Fisher’s face, patting him everywhere, as if to make sure he really was real, leaving black smudges all over Fisher’s cheeks and forehead. “I missed you. So, so much. I wished, and I hoped, and I—” Archer hiccupped. “I wished, and I hoped. Every day.” “I know. I missed you too, my friend.”

“After you, Little Osha.”

With his lips parted, I could just make out the points of his teeth. It was rude to stare, but I couldn’t help it. My heart missed a step whenever I saw his canines. As if he knew perfectly well what I was focused so intently on, Fisher opened his mouth a fraction wider, his top lip rising a little so that more of his teeth were on show. It was a subtle difference. Perhaps only a millimeter more of those sharp, white canines were visible, but heat exploded between my legs of all places, and suddenly...Gods, I needed another drink.

“There’s every way,” Fisher rumbled, his eyes darkening. “I’d know the smell of you anywhere. On anyone. I’d know it blind and in the dark. Across a fucking sea. I’d be able to scent you—”

“If I were evil and using your oath for my own purposes, I’d order you onto your knees for me,” he said, cutting me off. “I’d order you to part your legs for me. I’d order you to suck and fuck me until you passed out from exhaustion. Is that what you want, Little Osha?” Heat detonated in my chest. An inferno, raging inside me, eating up all of the oxygen in my lungs.

“You’re thinking about my hands sliding up the insides of your thighs right now,” he said. “About my fingers slipping inside the wet folds of you. Working against your swollen clit, rubbing you until you’re panting and whimpering, begging for me to sink my cock into your—”

I wouldn’t admit it to myself, would never allow the thought to take shape, but my body wasn’t as accomplished at lying as my mind was. I did want Fisher. I hated myself for it. Hated that he knew it.

It was Fisher’s mouth. His lips crashed down onto mine. For a brief moment, I didn’t react. I’d slipped into a daydream. This was a fantasy. It wasn’t...it wasn’t real. But the second his tongue moved past my lips, past my teeth, and I tasted him, and I felt the blast of his breath against my face, I knew better. It was real. Shockingly so...and I wanted it more than I wanted air.

That was a terrible idea. I should not have let him do that. I should not have kissed him back. I shouldn’t have rubbed myself against his cock like that. I shouldn’t have moaned. I definitely shouldn’t have told him that I wanted him. For the love of all the gods in all the heavens, why had I said that?

“Fisher—” He shook his head emphatically, his eyes begging me not to speak. Quickly, he took hold of my hand and placed it onto his chest, right in the center. Thum, thum, thum, thum, thum, thum....

The cards had been on the table for a while now. We were either going to kill each other or fuck each other, and I was glad we were both opting for the latter option.

Fisher’s eyes flared as he grabbed the front of my pants by the waistband and pulled me roughly to him. “You asked for this. When you’re sore from coming so hard and you can’t recall your own name, remember that, Little Osha.”

“My, my. So worked up already? You’re slick as hell. What do you taste like, mm? Are you going to scream for me like a good girl when I have you ride my face?” “Y—Ye—” It was no good. I couldn’t speak.

“I can’t wait to hear what kind of sounds you make when I thrust into you for the first time,” he purred. “I’m going to make you pant for me, Little Osha. And when we’re done, I’ll close my eyes and replay the sound of you moaning in my head every time I stroke myself to completion.”

“Let your knees fall open,” he demanded. “I—” “No arguments, Osha. I’ve driven myself half-crazy wondering what you look like. I need to fucking see. Put me out of my misery.” I’d never been timid in a bedroom before. I was in way, way over my head this time, though. I fought a wave of nerves as I let my knees fall open, and Fisher unleashed a strained growl. “Perfect. You’re absolutely fucking perfect. If Danya does rip my head off tomorrow, at least now I’ll die happy.”

“Such a pretty flower, blooming just for me,” he rumbled, climbing up onto the end of the bed. His hands closed around my ankles, and I stopped breathing. He was going to... I screamed as he yanked me down the bed toward him.

“You smell so, so fucking good,”

“I could probably use a sho—” “Do not fucking dare finish that sentence,” he snarled. “I don’t want a mouthful of soap and perfume. I want to taste you.” With that, he placed his mouth right onto the very center of me, as if he were biting into a piece of ripe, delicious fruit, and my whole world ignited.

The roof of my mouth tingled like crazy. I couldn’t feel my feet. “This—oh my gods—fuck—I—I—” “Not yet,” he murmured against me. “You don’t get to come until I say so.” “Please! I—oh my god, I’m so close!”

“Don’t worry. I know what you need.”

This wasn’t just an orgasm. It was an awakening. Cradled in Fisher’s power, I felt his hands tighten on my thighs as I bucked and writhed, but I felt his shadows bind tight to me, too. They slid over me, pooling in the hollow of my throat and pouring over my stomach, whispering over my heavy breasts—a level of ecstasy I’d never experienced before. It was as though I was breathing him in, taking a part of him inside me—

“Oh, no, Little Osha. You’re gonna be looking right at me for this,” Fisher said. “Look.”

“Yes. I want it. I want you.” His smile was pure, powerful male satisfaction. “Hold on tight then. I hope you’re not afraid of the dark.”

Fisher. Kingfisher. Lord of Cahlish. I hated him, I did. But you couldn’t hate something without caring about it just a little, too.