Not All Who Wander are Lost (4 page)

“I need you inside me. Now!” She cried. Finn was eager to comply. He ripped the delicate strings holding her panties on, and in almost an instant, he was inside her. Their lips met again as he moved inside her. She could taste herself on his lips. He pulled up, watching her face, taking in the wild look in her eyes as he took her. She wrapped her legs around his waist taking him in deeper. Her hands went to his chest, feeling his muscles tense beneath her fingers. She the tension inside her building again and nearly screamed as she exploded. Finn rode the wave in as she came. He shuddered and cried out as he came with her.

With a long sigh, her rolled over and pulled his close to him, breathing in the scent of her hair. No words would come, so she nestled closer to him and closed her eyes. Their breathing slowed, and they were soon both fast asleep.

Chapter 6

T
he first thing Crimson noticed when she awoke was the alluring smell of coffee coming from her kitchen. The second things she noticed was that she was wearing her socks, and nothing else. Memories for the night before came back as she stretched contentedly. Finn’s scent still lingered on the pillows. She hugged the pillow and breathed it in. If she listened carefully, she could hear the rain on the roof and the sounds of cooking.

Her stomach rumbling at the wonderful smells, Crimson rose and pulled on a silk robe. Finn was at the stove frying bacon and eggs, looking good enough to eat in his boxer briefs and his wrinkled and loosely buttoned shirt. Unable to resist, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his back.

“Good morning, sleepy head. Did I wake you?” He said.

“No, I smelled coffee.” And man, she added to herself with a smile.

He turned and lifted her tiny frame up onto the counter, admiring the view as her robe came open a little. He nuzzled her neck and Crimson giggled. “Nice socks,” he teased.

“These old things?” They were the white lace trimmed bobby socks with cows embroidered on the cuffs. “I bought them the other day at a silly little shop in Tillamook. I liked the cows. I have undies to match.”

“Those I would definitely like to see sometime,” he beamed. “Sit, it’s almost ready. I’ll get you some coffee.” He helped her off the counter and she sat down at the table.

“How do you like your eggs?”Finn asked as her handed her a large mug of steaming coffee.

“Scrambled,” Crimson replied. The food smelled good, and the coffee even better, but Crimson couldn’t help but think of other things besides breakfast.  She felt her nipples harden beneath the silk of her robe. She never imagined watching a man scramble eggs could be so alluring. As if he sensed her watching him, Finn met her gaze. Her robe was open almost to the waist now and he took in the curve of her lush breasts.

Finn slid the eggs unto plates and brought them to the table. As he bent to set the plates down, Crimson noticed that his shirt did little to hide his erection. “That looks good,” she murmured, not thinking of the food. “Come here.”

Finn stood in front of her and her hands found his hips, tugging down his boxer briefs. “The food will get cold,” he whispered. “I don’t care,” she answered as her hands closed around his cock. She looked up at him seductively and then took him into her mouth.  She softly licked him from root to tip and then took him into her mouth again. Pulling out, she licked her way around the head. She gently squeezed his sac as she continued to suck. Finn groaned and threw his head back. He wound his fingers in her hair, urging her on, but not pushing. She felt him throb in her mouth and then swallowed as he spent himself. Finn looked down at her as she drew away.

“Um…good morning.” He said with a silly grin.

“You already said that,” Crimson replied. “Eat your eggs, they’re getting cold.”

“Have I told you that you are amazing?” Finn said, kissing the top of her head.

“Nope.” Crimson said coyly.

“Well you are.” Finn sat down and started eating his breakfast.

After breakfast, Crimson cleared the table and stacked the dishes in the sink. “Do you have to go to work today?” she asked.

“At some point.” Finn leaned back in his chair, folding one leg up on his knee. “Why?”

“You should probably take a shower then.” Crimson shrugged her robe off her shoulders and let it fall. Walking into the bathroom, Crimson called out,” Well, are you coming?”

“Not yet,” Finn said to himself following her.

Chapter 7

Eventually, Finn had to leave for work. Crimson was at the table drinking coffee, when Ivy called.

“How was your date?” Ivy gushed. “Tell me everything!”

“It was nice,” Crimson said slyly.

“Nice? Really? Nice. Let me look at you. Bruised lips, messed hair. Still in your bathrobe at noon. Nice? Sure.”

“What? Really. It was nice.”

“I’ll bet. That’s fine, no need to go into details. My imagination is probably better anyway.”

“I doubt that!” Crimson said with a smirk.

“Oh, so it was better than nice. You little tramp. Good for you. Been awhile hasn’t it.”

“A long while, yes. But it was more than that. I really like him, Ivy.” Crimson looked dreamy. “He told me that I’m beautiful. No one has ever said that to me before.”

“Rickon always said you were pretty.” Ivy countered.

“No, what Rickon always said was that I was pretty for someone so tall. Not exactly the same. And he made me breakfast.”

“Oh, and did you make him breakfast?” Ivy said with a slightly evil raise of his brow.

“Shut up!” Crimson giggled. “How did you know?”

“Seriously, girl, I’m your best friend, you tell me everything, and that’s your signature move.”

“You’re an ass.”

“Maybe, but I’m a right ass. Tell me I’m wrong!”

“You’re not wrong.” Crimson blushed, her face fully aflame. “So what do I do now?”

“What do you want to do?”

“Besides chain him to my bed and repeat the last few hours over and over? I don’t know. I’m so confused. Happy. But confused. He’s my charge, Ivy! Sleeping with him was not part of the plan. And then there is this one little complication, and I swear, if you knew, I’m going to kill you when I get home!”

“Complication?” Ivy said innocently.

“Kate. She raised him.”

“Oh, that…”

“Damn you, you did know!”

“I might have known something about that. Does it matter?”

“Duh! Of course it matters. How am I supposed to face her after I basically threw myself at him? It was so unlady-like!”

“Only you could say duh and unlady-like in the same sentence,” Ivy said shaking his head. “The Human world is rubbing off on you in weird little ways. Newsflash, sweetheart, who do you think asked for you specifically on this job?”

“No.”

“Yes. I think her exact words were, ‘Send Crimson, she is exactly what Finn needs.’”

“Fuck!”

“Now that was unlady-like!” Ivy burst into hysterical laughter. Crimson soon found herself laughing too.

“You suck, Ivy,” Crimson said, snorting.

“Not as well as you,” Ivy replied. “I’ve got to go. Things to do, but I’ll check in later. You going to be ok?”

“Yes. Thanks, Ivy. You are the best best friend ever, you know that?”

“I do. I do.”

Chapter 8

F
inn left the cottage conflicted. On one hand, he had just had an amazing night with a beautiful woman, on the other hand, Katie was keeping something from him. It had to be something big if there was a Guardian here in Seaside. What he didn’t get was why she didn’t warn him. Katie had always been so careful to hide Finn and his sister from that world. After what happened to their parents, she had always worried that someone would come for the children.

He was only a little surprised when he caught a glimpse beneath Crimson’s glamour. She was either very young, or hadn’t spent much time in the Human world to let it slip so easily, even if only for a moment. Humans are very easily frightened. A Human might be able to talk themselves out of having seen her slightly pointed ears, thinking it a trick of the light. But those bottomless catlike eyes, just a tad too red to be Human, were a dead giveaway. He had to admit, however, that staring up at him clouded with lust, they had been the sexiest eyes he’d ever seen.

Crimson had not given any indication that she knew he was anything other than the Human he pretended to be. He was very practiced at holding his glamour. He had honed his skill well enough that he was relatively safe even from other non Humans. It was part of staying safe. Safe and hidden from a world that his parents had run from.

Finn and Mariah’s parents were practically a cautionary tale. Two people, who under ordinary circumstances, should never have met, never fallen in love. A love that had cost them everything—their home, their families, and even their lives. Riordan, his father, was a Marbendlar. The mighty warrior son of the strongest of all the Mer-Kingdoms. Sent on a diplomatic voyage to another kingdom, his ship had gone down and much like Crimson’s “uncle” Ian, he had been stranded off the coast of Seaside. Like so many other strays, Katie had taken him in for a time and introduced him to another stray, Dealen-dé, a Sylph whose mother had been one of Katie’s childhood friends. Both young and far from home, they had fallen in love almost before Katie’s eyes.

Katie hadn’t even thought to prevent it, and may have even encouraged the young lovers, having had a star-crossed lover herself, in her youth. But like the saying in the Human world goes, a bird and a fish can fall in love, but where would they live? So elementally different, a creature of the sea and one of the air as a couple was unheard of in the other realms, an abomination even. So they stayed in the Human world. They took on Human lives. Riordan worked as a fisherman.  Dealen-dé made them a home, and then gave him two children—twins, a boy and a girl.

Life was good for them. The children grew. Little Rory took after his father. He was strong and the sea called to him. He could swim almost from birth. His skin carried his father’s coloring, iridescent, but with only a slight tint of sea green. This was easy enough to hide with a glamour. Marbendlars do not manifest tails until puberty, and then only at will, so they weren’t worried too much.

Mariah’s butterfly-like wings were another story. They required a serious glamour to conceal and keeping the spirited youngster grounded was nearly impossible. But their home was far from town and Dealen-dé did her best to make the child understand why she needed to stay on the ground.

For five years, they stayed hidden. But one summer night, Riordan swam too far out to sea and was spotted by a kinsman. The sighting of the lost prince made its way back to his father, who sent his younger brother, Kieran, to bring him home. Riordan refused, but his father insisted. Kieran, jealous that he was second in line to inherit the kingdom, hatched a plan to get rid of his troublesome brother for good. He lured him and Dealen-dé out to sea with the promise of a meeting with Riordan’s father to explain why they wanted to stay in the Human world, but instead, he murdered Riordan in front of his wife and then called up a storm to sink the fishing boat with Dealen-dé locked helpless and dying in the hold. Not knowing about the children, Kieran went home triumphantly to tell his father about the tragic accident that had claimed his brother, and take his place as prince.

After that, Katie took the children in and kept them hidden. She kept them safe and they grew. Little Rory never learned to manifest his tail, but he was such a fast swimmer that the kids at school started calling him Finn, and the name stuck. Mariah learned to stay on the ground and how to hide her delicate wings from the world. They got so good at hiding, that sometimes they would forget that they were different. But something would always come to remind them how important it was for them to hide. Katie would take in another stray from the other realms, or a visitor would come, and the illusion of safety would be shattered again.

High school was hard for Mariah. The constant hiding of her true nature took its toll and she turned sad and self destructive. She got into drugs and trouble with the law. The only way Katie knew to save her was to send her away. She sent her home to Dealen-dé’s family with a vow of secrecy, and they promised to keep her safe. Katie had hoped that she would be better off in a world where she could fly free, but that didn’t last either. One day she just took off. Katie and Finn always kept a hope that she was ok and would find her way home, but it had been 7 years with no sign of her.

Finn went to Wyoming to school, but it never felt like home. He missed the sea. He missed Katie’s crazy house with its ever changing cast of characters. She welcomed him back home with open arms and things had been quiet. Until now.

As he pulled up in front of Katie’s ramshackle house, all he wanted was answers. He slammed the truck door and stormed the porch. “Katie!” he called out. “Are you here?”

“In the kitchen.” Katie answered.

Fury building in his eyes, he quickly found her. “What the hell? Why didn’t you warn me that there was a Guardian in town?”

“I see you’ve met Crimson,” Katie said rather matter of fact.

“Why is she here, Katie, and don’t give me one of your patented riddles. Tell the truth.”

“She’s a Guardian. She’s here to look after you.”

“The hell you say? I don’t need looking after. Tell me you didn’t have anything to do with this.”

“Not much,” she said with a smirk. “She doesn’t know, by the way, if that’s what you are worried about. And she won’t, unless you tell her.”

“Why on earth would I… shit.” Finn looked down at his rumpled clothes and shook his head. Katie didn’t miss anything. He’d never been able to keep much from her. “It was you, you are the one that messed with her car! You sent her to me. Oh man, this is rich. This is crazy even for you.”

“I take it you hit it off?” Katie said with a knowing smile.

Finn sunk into a chair defeated. Katie poured him a cup of coffee and tipped a hefty shot of whiskey in as well. “Here,” she said, handing him the cup. “You look like you need this.”

Katie sat down as well. Her amusement faded and Finn knew there really was something serious happening. “There is something you need to know, lad. There was a prophecy about you. You are supposed to do something important, no one knows what, but something. That’s why they sent a Guardian.  They don’t know who you are, of course, they think you are just some random Human, but one that warrants watching, so when they contacted me and wanted to send a Guardian, I asked for Crimson.”

“Do I even want to know why?” Finn asked, rubbing his head absently.

“For one thing, she’s very good at what she does and she’s been doing it for a long time. For another, I thought you might like her. I can see I wasn’t wrong.”

“How long could she possibly have been a Guardian? She’s what 21 or 22?”

“Silly child. I forget how sheltered you are. It’s not polite to tell a lady’s age, but I can tell you she’s a lot older than you think. Elves age very well. I’m surprised you caught her out. She must have been starved or emotional  or something drastic to let her glamour slip.”

“Um, something like that, “Finn said. His face flushed bright red with embarrassment.

“Oh my stars!” Katie chuckled. “Well, I guess you did have a good night.” Katie shook her head and muttered something about randy young’ens under her breath.

“Damn it Katie. What am I supposed to do?”

“Just what you are doing. Let her do her thing. Like I said, she’s good at her job. She may be a tiny thing, but I’ve seen her in action, and I wouldn’t want to tangle with her.”

“I don’t need to be looked after.” Finn said, his frustration growing.             

“The seers think you do, and they are rarely wrong. Now go on with you, aren’t you supposed to be at the shop? It’s nearly noon.”