Thorn Queen (Dark Swan, #2)(3)

"Goddamned cat," I muttered.

Love, I decided, was a hard thing.  Well aware of my grumpy mood, I knew part of my anxiety over Kiyo stemmed from the fact that he was also passing part of his sabbatical in the Otherworld, spending time with his ex-girlfriend who just happened to be a devastatingly beautiful fairy queen.  Fairies, sidhe, shining ones...whatever you wanted to call them, they were the tall, long-lived rulers of the Otherworld.  I and most shamans referred to them as gentry, an antique term.  Maiwenn, Kiyo's ex, was almost nine months pregnant, and although they'd broken up, he was still a part of her life.

I sighed.  Tim might have been right about my questionable taste in men.

Night wore on.  I finished the puzzle while blasting Def Leppard, making me feel better.  I was just shutting off the music when I heard Tim yell: "Yo, Eug.  Kujo's here."

Breathless, I ran to my bedroom door and flung it open.  A red fox the size of a wolf trotted down the hall toward me.  Relief burned through me, and I felt my heart soar as I let him in and watched him pace around in restless circles.

"About time," I said.

He had a sleek orange-red coat and a fluffy tail tipped in white.  His eyes were golden and sometimes bore a very human glint.  I saw nothing like that tonight.  A purely animal wariness peered out at me, and I realized it'd be a while before he changed back.  He had the ability to transform to a wide range of foxes, everything from a small, normal-sized red fox to the powerful shape before me.  When he spent a lot of time in this bigger form, turning human took more effort and time.

Still, hoping he'd transform soon, I dumped another puzzle on my desk and worked it as I waited.  Two hours later, nothing had changed.  He curled up in a corner, wrapping his body in a tight ball.  His eyes continued to watch me.  Exhausted, I gave up on him and put on a red nightgown.  Turning off the lights, I finally slipped into my bed, falling asleep instantly for a change.

As I slept, I dreamed about the Otherworld, particularly a piece of it that bore a striking resemblance to Tucson and the Sonora Desert surrounding us.  Only, the Otherworldly version was better.  An almost heavenly Tucson, warmed by bright sunshine and ablaze with flowering cacti.  This was a common dream for me, one that often left me yearning for that land in the morning.  I always tried my best to ignore the impulse.

A couple hours later, I woke up.  A warm, muscled body had slid into bed with me, pressing against my back.  Strong arms wrapped around my waist, and Kiyo's scent, dark and musky, washed over me.  A liquid feeling burned inside of me at his touch.  Roughly, he turned me toward him.  His lips consumed me in a crushing kiss, blazing with intensity and need.

"Eugenie," he growled, once he'd paused long enough to remove his lips - just barely - from mine.  "I've missed you.  Oh God, I've missed you.  I've needed you."

He kissed me again, conveying that need as his hands moved over me.  My own fingers slid along the smooth perfection of his bare skin, reveling in its feel.  There was no gentleness between us tonight, only a feral passion fueled as much by animal instinct as love.  He had not, I realized, completely regained his human senses, no matter his shape.

When I woke up in the morning, my bed was empty.  Across the room, Kiyo pulled on jeans, meeting my eyes as though he had some sixth sense that I was awake.  I rolled over on my side, the sheets gliding against my naked skin.  Watching him with a lazy, satisfied languor, I admired his body and the sexy features gifted to him by Japanese and Hispanic heritage.  His tanned body and black hair stood in stark contrast to the light skin and reddish hair my European ancestors had given me.

"Are you leaving?" I asked.  My heart, having leapt at his presence last night, suddenly sank.

"I have to go back," he said, straightening out a dark green tee shirt.  He ran an absentminded hand through his chin-length hair.  "You know I do."

"Yeah," I said, my voice sharper than I'd intended.  "Of course you do."

His eyes narrowed.  "Please don't start that," he said quietly.  "I have to do this."

"Sorry.  Somehow I just can't get all that excited about another woman having your baby."

There it was.  The issue that always hung over us.

He sat down beside me on the bed, dark eyes serious and level.  "Well, I'm excited.  I'd like to think you could support me in that and be happy for me."

Troubled, I looked away.  "I am happy for you.  I want you to be happy...it's just, you know, it's hard."

"I know."  He leaned over me, sliding his hand up the back of my neck, twining his fingers in my hair.

"You've spent more time with her in the last week than with me."

"It's a necessity.  It's almost time."

"I know," I repeated.  I knew my jealousy was unwarranted.  Petty, even.  I wanted to share his happiness at having a child, but something in me prevented it.

"Eugenie, I love you.  It's that simple.  That's all there is to it."

"You love her too."

"Yes, but not in the way I love you."

He kissed me with a gentleness very different from the roughness of last night.  I melted against him.  The kiss grew stronger, filling with ardor.  With great reluctance, he finally pulled away.  I could see the longing in his eyes.  He wanted to have sex again.  That said something for my charms, I guessed.