The Lost Queen

Ch. 2: Fahpo

A muscular, partially clothed form leaned his shoulder against the entryway of Rayne's front door with his arms crossed over his chest. His broad shoulders strained with the effortless movement, and the sun shining behind his bronze skin made him glow like a beacon of light in the wooden cottage. A tendril of dark hair that had escaped his braid caressed his jaw and illuminated the devilish smirk curling at the tips of his pink lips.

"Hell no, I'm not watching this again. Catch you lovebirds later," Ronan complained as he walked to her backdoor, but the couple didn't pay the wolf any mind.

Rayne jumped up from her spot with a jitter of excitement from the floor and rushed to Jarrah, her arms already open and ready to wrap around his neck. His beautiful smile beckoned her poor heart to pump faster as he pushed himself off the wall in time to catch her around the waist. She shoved her face into the crook of his neck and inhaled the woodsy scent that always drove her wild with the impossible need to be as close to him as possible. Her fingers curled into the long, dark coils of his hair, the strands thick and soft beneath her eager fingertips.

Jarrah held her just as tight as he lifted her high enough for her legs to wrap securely around his middiff. "Looks like my favorite wolf missed me," he teased in her ear, his fingers roaming across the stretch of skin below the leafy shirt she made a few days prior. Some of the leaves were already wilting without his magic to help encourage the longevity, but she was still getting better with making them on her own.

And her hard work didn't go unnoticed, as Jarrah nudged her back to marvel at her crafty work. "You've been practicing," he noted, impressed.

She tilted her head to the side and smiled back. "Not too bad, huh?"

"Not bad at all," he murmured, fingers tugging at the twigs in the back but she stopped him with a laugh.

"We don't have time for your perversions, King of Fae. We have a meeting to get to, remember?"

Jarrah sighed, but removed his fingers. "The kingdom can wait. I haven't seen you—all of you—in what? Two weeks?"

Rayne mock gasped despite the heat rising in her cheeks at what he was hinting at from their last meet up. "Two weeks? That's practically forever."

"It is to me," he scoffed, his tone playful. He leaned his face closer to hers and she lowered hers enough for her lips to hover above his. "I missed you, Rayne."

Rayne's heart tugged at his raw confession. "I missed you too," she whispered, closing the space between them and pressing her lips to his.

His soft mouth wrapped around hers in a loving caress, coaxing her desire for him. They'd laid together twice already a few weeks before, and she was ready to go again with just that one kiss. And the longer his tongue swirled with hers, and the harder his fingertips pressed into her waist, the closer she was to giving into those wants.

But then Jarrah pulled away, with a fever in his darkening eyes and a flush in his cheeks. He licked his lips and shook his head when Rayne tried to continue his kiss.

"We have a meeting to get to, remember?" he mocked, his voice husky as he pushed a bundle of her curls behind her ear.

She pouted. The thought of going to her first Fae meeting was both exhilarating and nerve-wracking, so having some form of a distraction would have been helpful, but he was right. They didn't have time to do what they wanted. Yet. "Fine."

He patted her hip. "We'll have plenty of time for that later tonight. Are your bags ready?"

Rayne nodded and gestured over to where they were. He walked over to pick them up with one hand while still balancing her with the other, shrunk the luggage in the palm of his hand, and then shoved the toy-sized bags into his pockets. He wrapped his other arm back around her and walked them outside beneath the late afternoon sun.