Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)

by Callie Hart

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

Except our fire hasn’t burned out the way she’d hoped it would. We’ve been reduced to embers, yes, but the coals that lie beneath the ash of my ward are still hot enough to burn. 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.”

Death. The bastard had come to claim me in person. Emerging from the silver, the huge figure rose up from the pool as if ascending from the very depths of hell itself. Broad shoulders. Wet, shoulder-length black hair. Tall. Taller than any other man I’d ever seen. His eyes shone an iridescent, shimmering green, the pupil of the right eye rimmed by the same shining metallic silver that ran in ribbons from the black leather armor that covered his chest and arms.

“Graceless gods,” he hissed. “What’s this? A fucking joke?”

“If you die before you can give this back, I’m not going to be happy,”

“It’s rude to stare at a male’s hardware,”

“I wouldn’t have thought that was anything to brag about,” I replied. “You should probably get it looked at.”

“Oh, come on. She’s not going with you,” Kingfisher drawled. “She’s coming with me, aren’t you, Oshellith? She wants to know secrets, and I’m the only one willing to give them to her.”

“An Oshellith is a type of butterfly,” he called as he went. “Osha for short. They hatch, live, and die all in one day. The cold kills them very fast. Isn’t that right, Renfis?”

“It’s because I bite.”

“It’s big enough to make you scream and then some.”

“Maybe the issue is that you asked me a question about my cock like a hungry little bitch in heat and didn’t ask me something that mattered.”

“Bad human,”

“Admittedly, I do enjoy when a female kneels for me, but in this particular case…”

“You like it?” he purred. “I figured some extra protection was in order this morning since you’re now given to hurling yourself at me like some kind of rabid feline.”

“Cats scratch,” I said flatly. “I came this close to knocking you on your ass.”

“In your fucking dream...

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

“You’re making it worse.”

“I like being surprised,” Fisher said, spinning his fork over in his hand. “I’m also a fan of aggressive foreplay. It’ll be a fun reminder.”

“You could at least say hello before you start eye-fucking me.”

“There you go again, lying your little heart out. You like my sweat, don’t you, human?”

Gods, he was a sight to behold. Every line of him was art. With his full mouth, and the faint shadow of stubble marking his jaw, his fascinating eyes, and all of his midnight-black hair, 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.

But Fisher was the epitome of everything that was strong, and male, and powerful. He was so much more than anything I’d experienced before. He was beautiful. Looking at him made me feel like I couldn’t catch my breath.

“If you want it, come here and touch it,”

“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.”

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…”

“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?”

“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.”

“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. Now go.”

“Feeling a little sore, human?”

“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.”

“Are you thinking about running? Gods, I hope so. I’ll give you a head start if you like. It’s been an age since I’ve hunted anything.”

“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—”

“We are nothing alike,” he said quietly. “You nearly died from a scratch that would have been a mild irritation to me. You are soft. You are fragile. You are vulnerable. You are a newborn fawn, stumbling around in the dark, surrounded by predators with very sharp teeth. I am the thing that exists on the other side of the dark. I’m the thing that puts the fear of the gods into the monsters who would eat you bones and all.”

“Mm. You’re right. I don’t think you will invite me. When the time comes, I think you’ll beg—”

“You let a fire sprite jerk you off with a handful of Fae moss?”

“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?”

“If I compelled you to do it, you’d be innocent. Your actions wouldn’t be your fault. You wouldn’t have to face the fact that you wanted me.”

“And I’d prove what a vile monster I was, wouldn’t I? How vindicating for you. To get exactly what your body is calling out for while also being proven right.”

“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—”

“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?”

A part of me knew that Fisher himself was the trap, and I was well and truly snared…

“When you take all of me, remember to breathe.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Such a pretty flower, blooming just for me,”