The First Fae Mate

Sixty-three | Sky Fae

"Everyone is safe for now. No one has spotted the Council's Helicopters or Hunters in days."

"Maybe they're just planning something bigger," Visena replied to Gideon, not looking up from the pond. She spent more time with the tadpoles than with him. 

Gideon sat on a nearby tree stump, watching his despondent mate. He looked like he was grieving too, but his emotions were closed off to Visena. "When were you planning on reaching out to them?"

"Soon."

"When are you coming back to our bed?"

"Don't know."

Gideon growled, startling her and a few small fish, and paced the length of the pond. "You are my mate, and you're treating me like a casual hook up. Do you not feel the pain from our separation?"

Visena hadn't. Rather, she thought it was just the grief of losing her friend. However, the constant ache now made a bit more sense. "I did- I mean, I think I do."

"Then why are you pushing me away?" His voice rose, and Visena turned to face him. "Do you think it hasn't hurt me? Do you somehow think you're the only one Eve's death affected? I've known her my whole life, Visena. She was my best friend, and now she's dead." His chest heaved as he silently watched her stare at him for a beat. Then two.

The Fae stood abruptly and started walking back to the packhouse when Gideon grabbed her bicep, stopping her. "Stop shutting me out! Mates are supposed to help each other through things like this, not fall apart. I am your mate, Visena."

"I know!" she shouted. Her throat burned from the volume, and she almost fell into a coughing fit. "I know what you are, and it's exactly what I took away from someone else. Thyra is out there alone," she finished with a whisper, gesturing wildly in the direction of Malum. "She is all alone because I killed her mate."

"Did you shoot her? Did you make her step in front of you? No and no. She would have chosen to die for you in a heartbeat. It doesn't make it hurt any less, but you need to stop self-destructing. Let me in!"

"I can't! Just go away."

"I won't. Not now, not ever." He spun her until her chest pressed against his and cupped her head in his palm. "Look at me. See me."

She looked into his olive eyes with a pained whimper and let the tears fall. His touch instantly eased her pain, and she realised so much of her suffering was from her isolation.

When his lips dipped to meet hers, she kissed back hard, pulling against his shirt with bunched fists. He hoisted her legs around his waist and deepened the kiss as he sat atop the hundred-ringed log.

"You're coming back to my bed," he grumbled against her lips.

"Yes." She tilted her hips over Gideon's groin and moaned at the pressure. It had been so fucking long since she had felt anything.

"Fuck," he groaned, but his hands stilled her rocking. "You wouldn't be doing this for the right reasons."

It was Visena's turn to swear. "Why the self-restraint, Gideon? I thought you wanted me," her husky voice had him hardening against her core.

"I do. And I will take you, in every position, on every surface in our house."

"When?"

"Don't know."

Visena couldn't believe he threw her words back in her face. "Fine, well, I'll just sleep at Pr-"

Her words cut off with a shriek as he hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her to the packhouse. Without comment, he forcefully tucked her beneath his weighted duvet and draped his limbs across her so she couldn't escape.