Fashionably Fabulous Read online

  Taking a sip, I stared at the man I loved over the rim of the glass and wondered if all of his answers this evening were going to be as cryptic. Two could play that game, but as time seemed to be running out, I didn’t want to play any games. What I wanted was to be in his strong arms and forget about my absurd and potentially deadly reality for a few minutes.

  My Fairy poured himself a bourbon, took a healthy swig and then sat down across from me at the granite kitchen island. His long blond hair brushed the collar of his impeccably tailored Hugo Boss shirt. His high cheekbones could cut glass and his eyes were so blue I felt like I could swim in them. He was the stuff romance novel heroes were made of. My man had lashes that belonged on a woman and his bod was so freakin’ hot, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. The Kev was simply the most beautiful man I’d ever seen—and he was more beautiful on the inside than the outside. I still had to pinch myself to believe he was mine.

  “Satan was in top form?” I asked.

  The Kev chuckled, put his elbows on the counter, and rested his chin in his hands. “He was unusually forthcoming.”

  “And?” I pushed.

  “And he owes me a large favor—more significant than any favor he’s had to repay to anyone in eternity.”

  “Okaaaay,” I said, wondering why on earth Satan would do something that would mean he owed someone that much. “You wanna be more forthcoming?”

  “All in good time, my lover,” he replied with a lopsided smile that made my heart skip a beat.

  “Just tell me you’re okay.”

  “Right now I’m more than okay because I’m looking at you.”

  My smile widened and a happy sigh left my lips. “You’re very sly, Fairy.”

  “I am, my Queen,” The Kev agreed. “I’ve waited five hundred years for my heart to be whole again. I’ve waited for you.”

  “Are you trying to seduce me?” I inquired with a laugh.

  “Is it working?”

  “Yep.”

  “Then the answer is yes,” The Kev said. “However, would you like to share your day first?”

  “It’s kind of a buzz kill,” I said downing my wine in a quick and unladylike gulp. It was next to impossible to become intoxicated as an immortal, but I could always try.

  “I’m proud of you.”

  “You’re not mad?” I asked, setting the crystal wine glass carefully on the counter.

  “At you? No. At the good Fairies of Zanthia? Yes.”

  I sighed with relief and then poured another glass of wine. I would sip this one and enjoy it. “I kicked his ass.”

  The Kev laughed and took the full glass from my hand. “I would expect no less.”

  “The Shelia, Ethan, and Tiara seemed shocked,” I told him.

  The Kev shrugged and moved around the island. His scent was intoxicating and my head felt light. I didn’t need alcohol to get drunk. I just need my Fairy.

  “They don’t know you the way I do,” he replied easily with his lips a breath away from mine. “The Ned is not a problem anymore. However, there will be more like him when we go home.”

  The information he was imparting was important. I was certain of it. And I was doing my damnedest to keep my eyes on his face and listen to what he was saying, but my eyes desperately wanted to roam his body, followed by my hands, and then my mouth.

  “Are you listening to me, Gemma?” The Kev asked with a twinkle in his eye and a sexy half smirk.

  “Yes,” I said quickly. “Umm… The Ned will look great in hair pants and everyone will want them when we go home.”

  “Hair pants?” The Kev asked, confused.

  “Shit. You didn’t mention hair pants? I could have sworn you said hair pants.”

  “Nope. Would have remembered that one,” he said with a laugh. “Care to expand on that?”

  “Do I have to?”

  “No, but now it’s all I can think about,” he replied, tilting his head to the side and waiting for a reply.

  I shrugged and then traced his full lips with my finger. “The Ned was a dick and he punches really hard, so I removed the hair from his head and put it on his ass—hence hair pants.”

  The Kev’s laugh went all through me and I joined him. The calm feeling of being totally free washed over me. Love was such a gorgeous and simple thing.

  “Zanthia will never be the same, lover. You will be a breath of fresh air in a very dark place.”

  “About that,” I said, squinting at him. “The Ned said he’d been sent by a group that wants me dead. Am I going to have to start a hair pants company?”

  “Remains to be seen. I’ll go back before you. You will come with The Shelia when I feel the time is right.”

  I wrinkled my nose and narrowed my eyes. “I don’t like that at all.”

  “Neither do I,” The Kev conceded. “But I believe it’s the wisest choice. We do have allies, but I need to figure out who our true enemies are. It’s been centuries since I’ve spent time there. I’ve missed it. You will see how special it is very soon.”

  I kind of doubted that but stranger things had definitely happened. I’d had a weird tinge of something I couldn’t define when we’d gone there but we’d only been to the outskirts of the city. Zanthia had apparently been my home before, but it remained to be seen if it was where my heart would be. All I knew for certain was that my heart would be wherever The Kev was. That was a no brainer. If our destiny was in Zanthia, so be it. I could be flexible as long as I was alive.

  The Kev pressed his forehead to mine and my insides started to tingle. With strong hands, he lifted me off the stool and onto the granite countertop. He slowly and very deliberately ran his hands down my thighs and I sighed with delight. I had an intense desire to open them, trap him between my legs and keep him there forever. We could just spend eternity at the Cressida House doing wonderfully pornographic and naughty things to each other. It would be so much more fun than having to fight for my life and making half of Zanthia bald.

  “You are exquisite,” he whispered as he nipped at my ear.

  He smelled so damned good, I wanted to throw him on the floor and ride him until both of us couldn’t walk for a week—or three.

  “When will you go to Zanthia?” I asked, letting my head fall back to give him easier access to my neck.

  “Tomorrow,” he said, as he slowly ran his lips down my neck and along my collarbone.

  I felt my nipples harden and smiled as I watched his blue eyes change to a sparkling silver filled with desire. His lazy grin at my quick and needy intake of breath almost made me faint. I really liked the direction we were headed. I wanted to get to the good stuff, but if he was leaving tomorrow we needed to talk some more.

  “Susu will watch over you,” he said and leaned in for a kiss.

  “She’s a pain in the ass,” I mumbled against his lips. “She wants to eat everyone.”

  “Let her,” he replied, sucking my bottom lip into his talented mouth.

  “Can something that tiny eat a full-sized bad dude?” I asked, rubbing my chest against The Kev’s like a cat in heat.

  “Yes,” he said, grabbing my legs and inching me closer. “Turn your head when she does it. It’s not pretty. I’ve been around for a couple thousand years and still can’t watch that.”

  “This is not great foreplay conversation,” I said with a laugh as I wove my hands into his thick blond hair, cupped his head, and pulled his lips back to mine. “It’s pretty gross.”

  “True,” he agreed with a chuckle against my mouth. “Suffice it to say Susu can be trusted. She was created for you and you alone. Her methods can kill an appetite—pun intended—but keep her close.”

  “Roger that,” I said, ready to end all talk of profane, narcissistic Guardian Angels. I wanted all the focus on me. “Kiss me for real.”

  The Kev’s lips feathered across mine and he made the sexiest sound I’d ever heard. In a hot second his lips were no longer gentle and soft. He bit at my bottom lip and caught it between his teeth. He
teased my tongue with his, sending happy little shockwaves through my hungry body. My Fairy tasted even better than he smelled. The feeling of his body pressed firmly against mine sent heat coursing through my body. Making out with my Fairy was every kind of awesome.

  “More,” I begged. “I want more.”

  “My pleasure,” The Kev replied with hooded eyes and a smile so sexy, I groaned with pleasure.

  His hands moved down my body and grabbed my ass, pulling me flush to him and grinding me into an erection so impressive I almost passed out. There was no way hairy Italian dudes were bigger and better than this. No freakin’ way. Susu was nuts—like I didn’t already know that tidbit. Oh my Hell, no more thoughts of insane tiny people. But there was still more to discuss.

  “I love you,” I whispered, staring straight into The Kev’s eyes.

  “I love you right back—more than you will ever know.”

  I groaned and giggled in one breath. “As much as I want to be a cowgirl and ride you like a bronco, we need to talk some more.”

  “I’m listening,” he said, slowly unbuttoning what used to be a kickass Prada shirtdress before The Ned altercation.

  “Kinda hard to concentrate,” I said, quickly unsnapping my bra and tossing it behind me.

  “Very hard,” The Kev agreed, placing my hand on his very happy camper. “Keep talking because soon I’m not going to be able to concentrate on words.”

  “Martha and Jane want to come to Zanthia and do a concert tour.”

  “Are you trying to kill the mood?” he asked with a pained laugh, running his hands through his hair and letting his head fall forward.

  “No,” I said, smacking his rock hard chest. “I just have to get your fine ass up to speed because you’re leaving. I told them no way in Hell.”

  Scooping me up off the counter, The Kev moved with inhuman speed to our lavish bedroom. “Good plan. Before I toss you on the bed and ravish your insanely hot body are there any other potential erection killers you need to share?”

  “Can Tiara and Lizard come back to Zanthia with me too?”

  He shook his head and sighed heavily. “As they’re part Demon, it’s not a good idea.”

  “Why? I call bullshit on that.”

  “I agree, but they could potentially lose their memory like Astrid when she went to Zanthia. Demons are forbidden in our land. Tiara and Lizard are half-Fairy and half-Demon. I don’t want to risk them,” he said in a strange tone.

  “I don’t understand why Demons are forbidden,” I said, leaning my head against his strong chest and breathing him in. “Why is that the way? Aren’t other species allowed?”

  He nodded and buried his face in my hair. “Certain species are, but only for limited amounts of time other than Mini-Elves.”

  “At the risk of sounding repetitive… why?”

  “It is law,” he said with a shrug.

  “Made by who?”

  He paused and looked at me. Gently laying me on the bed, he made himself comfortable beside me. Taking my face in his hands, he kissed the tip of my nose. “You made the law, my love.”

  “No way,” I said, jerking up to a sitting position. “There is no way I would be that kind of racist or specie-ist or whatever the Hell an immortal would call it. Not all Demons are bad.”

  The Kev said nothing. I didn’t like it when he said nothing. It meant he wanted me to figure shit out myself. How in the Hell was I supposed to figure out shit from a life I couldn’t remember?

  My anger at my lack of memory caused a minor—or major, depending on how you looked at it—Fairy dust explosion. The sedate décor of the bedroom went from creams and peaches to glittering pink, silver and gold. There was so much glitter. I coughed and waved my hand to control the amount of dust swirling like a mini tornado around the room.

  “Dang it,” I shouted as I clapped my hands and tried to tamp it back.

  No luck.

  “Can you help me out here?” I demanded, squinting at The Kev through the storm of magic.

  “It’s not the best idea to hold it in,” he said with a laugh, swatting at the swirling enchantment. “Magical constipation is unhealthy.”

  “Is it a good plan to drown in it?” I grumbled with an eye roll I was certain he couldn’t see due to the weather in the room.

  “Focus, Gemma,” he instructed calmly as he almost got blown off the bed in a violent gust of golden wind. “Control your power. Do not let it own you.”

  “Easy for you to say,” I griped as I tried to center myself and end the spontaneous sparkling magic shitshow. With effort mostly guided by my need to get laid, I chanted in a language that was becoming more familiar to me—not that I could translate it into English—but somewhere in my soul it made sense.

  The words were melodic and dissonant at the same time. They flowed from my glitter-covered lips with ease and confidence. Suddenly the room stilled and the dust fell in shimmering heaps to the burnished hardwood floors. The wind became a gentle breeze and I could see The Kev. He was grinning from ear to ear. The love shining in his eyes humbled me. I was a magical freakin’ menace and he still loved me.

  “I have got to get a grip on that shit,” I muttered, falling back on to the pillows. “It could be a real problem in the wrong situation.”

  “Or it could be the answer to a prayer,” he pointed out, taking me in his arms.

  “I suppose I could get a job in the circus or as a special effects expert in the movies,” I replied with a giggle as I snuggled in his embrace. “But surely I didn’t make that law. That’s not the kind of person I am. Could I have changed that much in a new life?”

  “You’re the same person,” The Kev said. “And I can’t tell you why you made the law. I was off fighting a war with the Trolls when you did it. By the time I returned, you were gone.”

  “Dead?” I whispered.

  He nodded and my stomach lurched. There was something so wrong with the story, but I didn’t know what. Pushing the feeling away, I went for another angle to try and make sense of why I would do something like I’d apparently done.

  “Were we attacked by Demons?” I asked, hoping there might have been reasonable cause to make such a harsh judgment against an entire species.

  He shook his head no and I sighed. God, going in blind to Zanthia was going to be dangerous on so many freakin’ levels. Maybe it was good to have a Guardian Angel with a healthy appetite for evildoers. Whatever. Maybe it was time to go home and right what was wrong. Was that why I’d come back?

  As long as I had The Kev at my side, everything would be okay. That was the only thing I knew for sure in the continually shifting hot mess that I called my life.

  “Are we good now?” The Kev inquired, with a raised brow and the hint of a smile pulling at his lips.

  “Do you mean the weather report?” I asked with an eye roll.

  “Nope,” he replied smoothly. “To get back to business.”

  “Can I say one more thing?”

  “Will it cause an earthquake?”

  “And if it did?” I shot back.

  “I wouldn’t give a damn. Say what you want whenever you want to say it.”

  God, I loved this spectacular man so much I was pretty sure it verged on obsession. “I’m not sure I’m ready to do this—go back to Zanthia and be the Fairy Queen,” I whispered.

  “Ready is not a term that Fate takes into consideration, lover. Time marches forward whether we are ready for it or not.”

  “Fate is kind of bitchy,” I muttered.

  “Accurate assessment,” The Kev concurred with a small smile. “However, Fate does not control free will. We do. Whatever this life throws at us, we have the choice to meet it head-on or turn and flee.”

  I was quiet for a long moment after that one. The love of my immortal life simply gazed at me and waited.

  “That was kind of profound.”

  “Yep, well, I’m kind of old,” The Kev replied with a wide grin. “Experience can do that to a guy.”
>
  “I think you’re perfect,” I told him, lightly running my hands over the sprinkling of crisp blond hair on his massive chest. “And I think Fate has Satan by the balls. I never thought he’d fall for anyone.”

  “There is someone for everyone,” The Kev said on a hissed intake of breath as my hands wandered lower. “However, she does own his balls.”

  “I’d really like to own yours,” I said with a giggle.

  “Trust me, lover. You do.”

  “Show me.”

  “Your wish is my command,” he said in a gruff voice that sent all my girlie parts into overdrive.

  I squealed with delight as he flipped me over, pinning me beneath him with my arms over my head. It was all kinds of sexy. All of his hard pressed against all of my soft was exactly what I wanted. I hadn’t been this turned on in… well, since the last time we did it. Sex with my Fairy just kept getting better and better. How was that even possible?

  When his mouth moved slowly and deliberately down my body, my squeals turned into labored breathing. My brain was a fabulously happy jumbled mess and my body took over. I arched toward him wantonly. His controlled dominance made my thinking erratic and our crazy need for each other was more than obvious to both of us.

  “Look at me,” he said, taking my chin in his large hand and forcing me to stare into his beautiful eyes. “Do you know what you do to me?” he demanded, lowering his lips to mine and kissing me senseless.

  I writhed beneath him, inviting him to take all of me. His eyes shimmered silver and I knew mine matched. He tore his mouth from mine and ran his open lips from my jaw to my heaving breast. My back arched up and his chuckle of delight sent shockwaves through me. I had never wanted any man so badly in my life.

  “You are my beautiful Fairy,” he murmured before taking my nipple into his mouth. He drew hard and I gasped, arched higher, and silently begged for more.

  He nipped and sucked until I saw stars. He pressed the lower half of his body against mine, creating a rhythm that made me feel dizzy. I slanted my mouth across his and drew his tongue into my mouth. He dug his fingers painfully into my hips and increased the speed of his undulating body. I cried out. It was perfect... that mind-numbing sensual place that I craved.