Page 18 of Fae Tithe

“It’s warded,” the blue-eyed Guard replied, shepherding her to the velvet armchair in the corner of the room and seating her there. “Don’t do that again, it’s pointless and you’ll just hurt yourself. You are completely secure here, no way out until a Fae Lord takes you home.”

Eleanor glanced around the room. “Where’s the other one? The guard you were with.”

“He’s gone to inform the Governess of your arrival.”

The Governess? Who the Faedamn is that?

She leant back in the chair, eyes closed and an aching thud behind them. Sleep tugged at her exhausted mind, days of terror and scattered sleep pulling at her heavy limbs as she finally slept.

Helena had slipped between Lance’s bent knees as they rested together on the beach, her back pressed against his strong, tattooed chest. She had wrapped one of the scratchy towels around her torso as she had begun to feel the sting of sunburn on her breasts. The pair had sat in a comfortable silence as the spring sun shone overhead.

Helena felt Lance press his nose to the top of her head. He sniffed deeply at her brown waves. “What are you doing?” she giggled.

The Merman cleared his throat. “Oh, uh. Well, I noticed that my scent mark on you has worn off. Can I…?”

Helena quivered at the thought of being marked by him again. Lance had explained it all the first time he had done it to her. Merfolk liked to mark their partners with their own scents to show they were attached to someone. Helena likened it to when human couples exchanged gifts like jewellery for their partner to wear.

“Well…” She tapped her chin playfully, as though she had to think about it.

“Please,” Lance whispered in her ear, the Merman’s full lips just grazing her skin.

Goosebumps tracked her arms at the purr in his voice. In truth, she found being marked by him exciting. “I would never really say no to that.”

“Thank you,” Lance breathed out.

He rubbed the bottom of his strong jaw on the top of her head, and she felt a tingle shoot down her legs. He moved to the side of her tanned, freckled face, rubbing his stubbled cheek against hers. She giggled at the scratching tickle. Helena’s toes dug into the sand as he rubbed his chin and cheek against her neck, excitement pooling between her thighs.

Lance turned his face and pressed his nose to her temple. “Much better,” he exhaled with a contented sigh.

Helena quivered from his touch and voice. I Faedamn love it when he does that. She brought the salt-bleached tips of her hair to her nose and sniffed. Sure enough, the Merman’s sea-breeze scent was there, reminding her of the beach on a summer’s day, salty and warm. She leant back against his tattooed chest. “Happy now?”

“Yes,” he replied and pressed a tender kiss to side of her head. He arched his neck forward slightly and rested his chin on Helena’s shoulder. “Ready to head up now?”

“Definitely. I haven’t been out in the sun for this long for a while. I’m getting a little burnt,” she replied.

They stood. Helena’s eyes watched eagerly as Lance slung the second towel around his hips. The material sat low, and she could see the dark stubble of his groin peeking out the top, his body hair beginning to grow within minutes of his shift to human and then disappearing as he changed back.

“What?” Lance smirked as she ogled him.

“Honestly?” Helena raised an eyebrow. “I miss the tail.”

He snorted and bumped his hip playfully into her side. The pair made their way up the beach, hand in hand, fingers entwined. They climbed their way up the steep steps carved into the limestone cliff. When they arrived at the top, the pair passed through the chipped, white gate that marked the beginning of the villa’s grounds.

Helena surveyed her inherited home, taking in the gardens, rows of neatly ordered vegetables and fruit trees, flushed green after the winter’s rains. Thank the Fae for Rose doing all of this, otherwise we could be nearly starving. Her gaze drew to the tumbledown villa, desperately needing a new coat of paint, and an obvious crack across the mosaiced tiles of the veranda. Hopefully next year, after El has finished school and there’s no more fees, I can afford to have some masons come. The villa really needs some repairs.

Lance stooped to sniff the rosemary that framed the entrance. Helena watched as he rubbed a leaf between his thumb and forefinger and brought it to his nose. The rosemary bushes ran the length of the boundary of the grounds, almost absorbing the stout white fence that denoted where the property of the villa began.

He straightened up, eyeing the building. “There are tiles loose there.” Lance pointed to a spot on the terracotta roof where Helena could not see. “The storms must have been bad here too. I’ll fix that while I’m home.”

“I didn’t even notice,” she admitted. She tilted her head up to him curiously. “Wait, how long are you home for?”

“I have a rest period of three weeks,” he replied, a warm smile dancing on his lips as he looked down at her.

“That’s…wonderful,” she breathed, heart fluttering at the thought of having so much time with her Merman all in one stretch. Usually, they had only days or at most a week together before duty called and he returned to the sea.

Helena turned back to the garden, clutching the towel wrapped around her middle with one hand, and gave a small wave to Rose. Her friend straightened up from her crouching position amongst the herbs, abandoning her gardening tools. Her red eyebrows flew up into the shadows of her wide brimmed hat. A smirk played on her lips as she ran her eyes over the pair. Biscuit, who had been relaxing next to Rose, bounded over to Lance.

Helena watched with a grin as the dog waggled his whole body as he made his way over to the Merman, giving an excited whimper as he sat on Lance’s feet.