Chapter 3

Sarah came to herself still feeling her body tremble with the aftershocks, feeling the warmth of his hand still cupping her, the fingers of the other just gently caressing the nape of her neck. Somewhere between the time where the world stopped spinning and started again, her legs had been lowered to the floor and she could sense his hardness against her and feel the scent and warmth of him clouding her shaken senses.

"Sarah..."

The low whisper had her tremble just a little as she unclenched her hands from his hair, as she tried to ease away from him without opening her eyes.

"Let me go, please"

Ada'an frowned as he looked at her. Her hands had eased away from his shoulders, her head down and her voice pitched low. Somehow, she had managed to distance herself from him despite the fact that his hand was could still feel the slight spasms pulsing through her core. And he did not like that. Especially when he could still smell her, and his body was still hard with wanting to plunge into her, to thrust his tongue into her even as he possessed her totally.

"Please! I'll listen to you, but just let me move away a little..."

Sarah sighed as she felt Ada'an's hand move away from her, felt the distance as he stepped away just enough so she could button up her jeans before she ran a shaking hand through her hair, shaking the remaining strands loose as she leaned back against the door. She could feel his gaze on her but shame, a vague sense of disbelief and guilt mingling with the resonance of very powerful lust made her reluctant to look at him just yet. And jerked as she found her chin held by strong fingers and turned towards a countenance now grim, the molten eyes somber, that sensual mouth firmed, looking every inch the otherworldly prince.

"I don't take kindly to being ignored Mistress, especially by a woman who I felt shake apart in my arms!"

"I don't take kindly to being followed all over the city, regardless of how much a man, or whatever you are makes the earth shake for me."

Sarah's voice was sharp as she jerked he head away from his fingers to walk past him to try and put some distance between them. She pushed the heavy mass of hair falling down her back coiling it at her nape, before collapsing onto the settee in the living room, looking up at him, back in control of whatever emotions were seething through her.

"... But you were saying?"

So this is how it would come to be. Ada'an felt a reluctant admiration for the woman's will but forced his expression into one of sober arrogance, settling on a seat opposite her to present his case.

"You knew who I was. Am I to assume you know why I am here as well?"

"You'd assume incorrectly. But I'd guess that it has something to do with your world."

The derisory accent of her voice had Ada'an bristling and his response was brisk.

"That world is a part of you as well!"

"I am mortal and having nothing of that world in me!" Sarah's voice was cold, her eyes hard as flint as she made her statement.

"You cannot deny that your parent was of the fae."

"Oh, can't I? I knew nothing of him and have nothing of him in me. My entire life has been my mother who spent her life and her death protecting me from the likes of him. All I know of the fae is their undependability, their cruelty and their fickle nature and I disown all this if it means I have to accept him.:

Ada'an leapt to his feet, temper roiling through him as he heard this ordinary woman dismiss all that he was in one statement. It was that temper that had his fingers curling over her shoulders to pull her up from her seat and have her face him.

"Tell me then mortal, what is the color of my eyes? Tell me!"

Sarah felt her teeth rattle as he shook her, those clear, iridescent eyes gleaming in all their unworldly shine as they looked at her.

"S-s-silver! Grey... I don't know... They are bright, molten; almost colorless!"

She watched Ada'an's mouth twist in mockery, hearing it sharp and cold in his voice as he let go of her shoulders, holding her in place by the power of that gaze alone.

"You are as much a fae as you are mortal, my proud Mistress. Had you been as mortal as you claim, you would have seen me through the veil of the worlds that would have given me ordinary blue eyes to match my glamour. Only the fae or beings that possess fae-like powers can see the actual eyes of another fae. It is what helps them to identify each other in other worlds."

"But..."

He held up one large hand, silencing whatever she was about to say, now every bit the emissary from another world on a task that must be completed.

"Nonetheless, my purpose is not to discuss your mortal or fae existence. I have been obligated by the Council of Elders to bring you to them so your future can be determined."

Sarah felt her temper snap to meet his and her response was as imperious, as measured as his.

"Your obligations mean squat, Prince of the fae. My future will be determined by my own destiny, my own decisions and not the judgment of the very council that condemned my mother."

And found her wrist snared by a fine thread, shimmering against her skin, linked to the hand that Ada'an held out towards her.

"I have just enough capability to bind you to ensure that my obligation is met. With this magic, you and I shall both be present at the Council when the summons is sent. And in that world, Sarah, it will serve you well to remember that Prince Ada'an is more powerful than his glamour of an ordinary man projects."

And he disappeared.

It had been hours since all this happened. Sarah stood under the shower, feeling the hot water beat down on her, as she tried to rub away the glowing thread-like mark from her wrist, giving up on a breath as she only succeeded in rubbing her skin raw. She had spent the day since Ada'an had shimmered out of her apartment in a daze, following her normal routine, doing the vacuuming, and dealing with the wash, as well as handling some office tasks and importantly, throwing away the clothes she had been wearing when she had let Ada'an...

"Stop Sarah! Don't even go there."

She groaned out loud as her body reacted to the remembered feel of his fingers rubbing her, touching her to completion. The scent and taste of him on her mouth, and she could still feel the mark of his fingers on her skin. She turned the shower off, slipping on a toweling robe and belting it around her waist, wrapping her hair up as well as she stepped into her bedroom. She had just left the lamps on, which meant her room was bathed in a warm hue, and let off an aura of comfort that Sarah was not really feeling as she crossed the room to sit in front of the dressing table. She glanced unseeingly in the mirror as she undid her turban style towel to finger comb her hair, till it lay in a soft, damp untangled fall to below her waist. She reached for a bottle of lotion, pouring out a little to massage into her face and over her throat. Her skin warmed, releasing the scent of the lotion as she worked it lower, loosening her robe as she worked in small circles. She kept her eyes open as she continued to work over her breasts, rubbing them, working her way to her nipples that were already hard, her breath hissing out of her as her fingers brushed the aroused tips. Her breathing grew shallow, and faster as her mind went to the way Ada'an's hands had felt against her skin, to the hot, sharp arousal followed by a swift rush, lending color to her cheeks that swept over her throat and giving her body a warm tinge.

As arousal brightened her eyes, her hands moved over her legs, massaging her calves and up over her thighs, her robe now lying open over her shoulders, her body gleaming in the soft lights of the lamps, the air growing heady with the perfume of her arousal and the lotion calling to the figure who had materialized by the bed watching Sarah's reflection.