Faerietale

It was a dream.

The music was of flutes and pipes. It came from nowhere, and at the same time from everywhere. The air shimmered and crystal motes flowed through the light mists. The floor was a vast expanse of marbled light blue and lavender, the walls a creamy white. The ceilings reached to an eternity of black with the swirls of stars and moon dust.

Brianna stood at the end of the ballroom, feeling out of place in her sweeping nightgown of maroon silk, her dark brown waves of hair tousled, her wide eyes still heavy from sleep. Her arms were bare, and so were her feet, but she didn't feel cold. She watched as beautiful men in dress tunics and gorgeous women in ball gowns danced to the music that no human hand could have played.

This has got to be a dream.

Suddenly, the music stopped and the waltz ended. The dancers had cleared a path from where Brianna stood to the other end of the room, where a tall man had watched her. As if pulled by forces unknown, she found herself taking a step, walking forward, her eyes trained on the man, too far away to see, yet too near for comfort. The closer she got to him, the harder her heart beat in her chest, the harder it was for her to breathe. And when at last, after a lifetime of waiting, they stood before each other and she lifted her face to look at him. She wanted to stagger back. The heartbreaking beauty of his face had twisted at her heart. He was perfect. His nose was high, his cheekbones aristocratic. His full mouth was soft and firm and sensual and invited a woman to lose all thought in her head. His thick hair was short and neat, rain-straight and night black, and fell to his temples with the softness of silk. And his eyes... his candle flame eyes were soft but powerful, framed by curled eyelashes too long and thick to be a man's. Brianna had to struggle to bring air back into her lungs as she lost herself in those eyes. He studied her, then he smiled a slow lazy smile, the effect of which was more devastating that his eyes. "Brianna," he said, his voice soft and soothing, drawing her forward through dreams, through mists, through time. "I have been waiting for you."

And when his lips met hers, there was nothing for her to do but to surrender, to cling, to rejoice, for here was power, and glory, and love.

At last, at long last, she would wait no more.

Brianna turned and murmured in her sleep, lifting her hand to touch his cheek only to find out that it was her pillow she was holding. She blinked awake, and shot up from bed.

It was real. It had to be real. Her lips were still tender, still tingled, her body, still heated. It couldn't be a dream.

She lay back down and stared wide-eyed into the darkness, hearing the echoes of flutes and pipes.

~~~

Through the cloak of dreams, Prince Finnian stood, watching her. He had waited a thousand lifetimes for her, what was the harm of waiting for a little longer when she was so near?

Haenlan's hand touched his shoulder and he turned his head to look at his consort. "It is she, isn't it?" she asked with in a quiet voice that was laced with regret that she had valiantly tried to hide.

Finnian looked at the soft woman that was Haenlan, with golden blond hair and eyes as quiet blue as his was bold. She shimmered. Her beauty would have driven a mortal man insane. They had spent lifetimes together, as friends, as lovers, yet there had never been love, the burning passionate love that Haenlan had felt for Finnian, and that Finnian now knew he could feel, for Brianna. He touched her cheek, not knowing what to say. He had the most beautiful of the faeries, yet his heart had yearned for a mortal. "Haenlan," he started.

She lifted a finger and touched his lips. "No," she said with a sad smile. "I had known this day would come, and I am ready," she told him, touching his cheeks with the tips of her fingers. "Go to her, my lord. I shall enjoy watching you woo a mortal."

Finnian smiled, and her heart broke. He bent his head and kissed her gently, and her heart shattered. Then he was gone.

~~~

Brianna lay on the blanket she spread over the grass outside the cozy little cottage she had rented in an isolated grassland in the west of Ireland. She had wanted peace and quiet and breath-taking beauty and she had had those in endless supply since she arrived. Her book was moving as it should; her heart was finally finding its balance again. But there were the dreams, the disturbing dreams of faeries dancing in forts, and full moons and blue flame eyes, and kisses that strengthened and overwhelmed. She sat down in the middle of the red and white checked blanket (of course, it had to be read and white), then filled her lungs with delicious air. Her eyes trained beyond the stone wall to the emerald slopes, to the sapphire water of the sea, and felt contentment she had not felt through the success or the money that had been her life. Here, she thought, was home.

Delighted, she switched her laptop on, and spent the afternoon in the company of the people inside her head.

~~~

It was sweet, and warm, and so very soft. She moaned and let the kiss go on as she slid her fingers into his dark hair. She sighed, and her eyes, heavy with sleep, with arousal, opened to meet his. Finnian smiled and touched her cheek. Brianna smiled back, stroking his hair. She lay on the blanket, cradled against his side, protected from the chill of the night wind by his body and his magic. "Who are you?" she asked, knowing that she was dreaming again, and she loath to let him go without knowing who he was, and why he made her feel the way he did, warm, heavy, happy, loved.

"Your lover," he answered, whispering kisses over her lips.

"No," she said, moving her head. She would have to think clearly if she wanted answers, and his mouth and his hands on her was the farthest thing from clearing her head. "I don't know you," she protested weakly.

Finnian nuzzled her neck, laid bare to him when she moved her head. "But you have waited for me," he said, his lips warm on her throat. "Just as I waited for you."

Brianna lifted her hands and framed his face, her eyes looking deep into his, heat meeting burning heat. Knowledge flowed into her, warm and sweet, recognition came next, then long, liquid pulls of happiness. "Finnian," she said his name like a prayer.

"Brianna," he answered as if he was in pain. "I've waited thousands of lifetimes for you. I will not wait any longer."

Brianna pulled him down to her, her mouth eager and hungry beneath his. "Then wait no more, my love," she breathed. "Neither will I."

Beneath the full blue moon, the rich scatter of stars, she clasped him to her, her lover. Finnian's mouth covered hers again, and with a sigh, she accepted the teasing licks of his tongue over her lips. She slid her fingers into his hair, rubbing the strands, while his tongue slid into her mouth, flicking against the softness of hers.

She moaned in protest when he shifted so that he was lying by her side instead of on top, then moaned again, this time in delight, when his hand moved to her breast. He caressed one soft, precious globe gently, as if trying to test the weight, then teased the nipple into a hard nub. She gasped when she felt his fingers on bare flesh, and her eyes flew open to meet his. Her clothes had melted as if by magic, and she was pressed against his naked chest.

He chuckled and pressed a kiss on her nose before rolling on top of her again. His body was a heated haven, his mouth a moist furnace, as he closed his lips over her nipple, delicately taking a sip, before opening his mouth to take as much of her breast as he could. She arched her back, holding his head to her while sensations streaked through nerve-endings scraped raw by desire. Her legs tangled with his and his arms slid beneath her to hold her position while he feasted on her.

Brianna took a sobbing breath when he released her nipple, only to moan again as his mouth crossed over the valley between her breasts to devour the other one. He flicked his tongue over the aching, sensitive tip before suckling, leaving her chest moist, and heated, and tingling.

"Finnian," she said, her tone pleading, her foot rubbing the back of his leg, her hips twisting, searching for relief. Her stomach cupped his hardness, and she instinctively rubbed herself against him.

He gasped and lifted his mouth from her, pressing his forehead over her chest. "Ah, my love," he said in a tortured tone. He pushed away from her, leaving her body suddenly bereft, but he only sat on his haunches between her spread legs. He rested her thighs over his and looked down at her womanhood.

Brianna's face flamed and she tried to squirm away. "No, don't look at me."

His eyes lifted to hers, their flame-blue depths burning with desire. "You are beautiful," he said, "Perfect." He looked down at her exposed secrets and then touched her. He dipped one finger into her nectar, running a fingertip on one, long, slow line from the bottom of her slit to her clitoris. Brianna sobbed and shuddered.

He held her clit between his thumb and forefinger, rubbing in tiny increments, setting her on fire. Her body wept for him, and she threw her arms out, hands grasping at the blanket beneath her, her head trashing, thighs trembling.

Finnian watched her as she writhed and moaned, her face and body bathed by moonlight. He continued rubbing her clit gently, circling, nudging the hood to touch the sensitive flesh beneath. Every time he did, Brianna's body would jump, and he smiled an arrogant, triumphant smile that all men, faerie or mortal, used when they had seduced a woman.

He slid a finger of the other hand inside her, feeling her inner muscles clamp around him, before relaxing to let him in. Moist silk, soft satin, and he almost lost control when he imagined how it would be for his cock. How she would receive him, clasp him, close around him.

Brianna's hips followed his hand when he withdrew his finger, and he slid it back into her. In and out, he fingered her, while his other hand continued circling her clit. Her hips lifted and fell with his rhythm, and her nectar flowed from between her lips. He increased his pace, watching her eyes grow blind, her mouth opening on a silent scream while her inner muscles fought to hold his fingers. The climax exploded within her, and she screamed, short and sharp, her body vibrating around his fingers.

When she lay limp and sated, her eyes wide, Finnian smiled and pulled his fingers from out of her, lifting his hand to his mouth. She watched as he licked her nectar off his fingers, watched his tongue flick over his lower lip.

He smiled at her, then moved closer to her, spreading her legs wider. She felt him touch her again, this time two fingers parting her. "You're ready for me," he said. She could only nod. She lifted herself on her elbows, then stretched one hand to his cock. Her fingers closed around him, kneading, gentling, arousing. She guided her to him, while her fingertips danced over the sensitive head.

When she felt the tip of his cock touch her clit, she sighed. Finally this. Finally him. He rubbed himself against her, moistening himself, pleasuring them both, before he lifted her hips and slid inside her.

It was homecoming, belonging. He groaned in pleasure. She was incredibly tight, incredibly wet, incredibly delicious. He pulled back, then pushed forward again, sliding deeper into her each time.

Brianna had closed her eyes to better savor the thousand sensations of pleasure. She felt him pierce her, fill her to overflowing, but there was no pain, only the intense bliss. She pulled him down to her, and he framed her face with his forearms, sliding his hands beneath her to cup her head. She opened her eyes and looked into his, and felt cherished.

He thrust into her, slowly, gently. Slow, deep thrust that she felt caressing every inch inside her. She lifted her head and licked at his lips. It was the only encouragement he needed.

He plunged, hard and deep, again and again, giving her no quarter. She cried out and held on, her arms and legs wrapped around him, her hips rising and falling in the fast, steady rhythm he had set with his own. His pelvic bone rubbed her clit with every thrust, driving her higher and higher with every sharp thrust.

The world spun, the stars over her head danced before her eyes, and the moon glowed as bright blue as his eyes, and she shattered beneath him, her body coiling tightly around him as she squeezed him, inside and out. He groaned low in his throat as he held still, before taking up an unsteady rhythm with his hips. His thrusts became ragged as his body raced to it's own climax, spilling his seed in long, hot spurts within her as her contractions clutched him like a wet, velvet fist.

He crushed her to him, and she stroked his damp back while they both shuddered with the aftershocks of their lovemaking. With the song of the wind, and the quiet drop of a faerie's tears, he became her first, her last, her only.

~~~

When Brianna woke up, she was on her bed inside the cottage, and she was vaguely dissatisfied. She woke up with her body soft and pliant from loving, her soul singing, but she was unsure if she had dreamed everything. She could taste him on her lips, scent him on her skin, feel his hands on her body and the hungry, urgent way he had moved with her, the way a man does with a woman.

She was going insane.

Gingerly, she sat up and started to swing her legs over the edge of the bed when she saw him standing by the window. The moon that she had sworn was blue when they made love was a full silver sphere that hung low in the sky. The wind blew her curtains and his hair. He was standing there like a man with thoughts in his mind, his naked body laid bare to be caressed by the moonlight, his eyes looking at the darkness outside like he saw everything, like he saw nothing.

Brianna lifted the sheets to her breasts. "Finnian?" she called softly. He turned to her, not seeing her for a moment, for his vision was filled with what had been and what would become. Then he smiled, and walked towards her. She took the hand he held out, and allowed him to pull her to the window.

Nuzzling the nape of her neck, he asked her. "What do you see outside, beloved?"

She tilted her head back, resting against the heat of his body, shivering because of the night wind and his lips on her skin. "I see beauty," she said as she beheld the countryside shimmering in silver moonlight. "And wonder, and promises of tomorrow into forevers." She turned towards him. "What do you see?"

His eyes were bright and hot, and he touched the hand she held fisted on the sheets at her breasts. "I see you. I cannot see pass you. You're all there is to me, past, present, future. I care not for the lifetimes I will live without you, just as long as I know this one with you."

She released the sheet and pressed against him, skin to warm, naked skin, and lifted her hand to touch his face, knowing, in her heart, that when she was gone, her immortal lover would mourn. "Will you love me for the rest of my life?" she whispered achingly.

Finnian's arms encircled her, held her close, held her tight. "No," he said. "I shall love you for the rest of mine."

When they kissed, the moonlight burst in silver beams, scattering the night with crystal dust, the stars streaked across the sky, and the wind blew in comforting silence as the faerie prince silently pledged his heart to the mortal woman in exchange for her own for all eternity.