CHAPTER 95

However, based on Sulyvahn's behavior, it was likely that she couldn't directly ask him. But there were other ways to glean that information. "Were you worried when Cecilia fell in love with Mike?"

He nodded, a look of uncertainty on his face. "That be an interesting question, lass, for sure and for certain"

"Fae who fall in love with mortals don't have happy endings, do they?"

This time the dullahan shook his head. "Not historically, no. Read up on yer legends, lass, and ye'll discover that it oft ends badly for both."

"Is that why the queen sent you here? Because she thought you would hate Mike for what he did?"

He smirked and looked away from her, his eyes on a pair of centaurs who had entered the maze. "Some would say that I should hate the mortal that could steal me sister's heart. It would make sense to send a spiteful fae, would it not?"

"But that isn't how you felt?"

"All I be knowing is that she were happy here. And maybe a place that could make her feel that way would be worth protecting while she were gone." He chuckled, then flicked a piece of dirt off the sundial. "The two of us haven't spoken in decades. She were actually on her way to payin' her respects to me when she were imprisoned.""You must have been very angry."

"Indeed. Some would say that I were angry that me own sister had been defiled by a mortal, but...I felt her heart break through our bond, and the moment her cage were locked, I..." He looked away from her, then cleared his throat. "Sorry, lass. I be forgettin' what I were saying."

She placed a hand on his cheek. His skin was smooth and cold, just like marble. His eyes widened a little in surprise, and she slid her hand upwards and ran it through his long hair. It was surprisingly soft to the touch.

"You don't suppose you came here because you were lonely too, do you? Maybe you were hoping to find just a little of what your sister did? A place to call home, and maybe even a family?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Instead, he just gazed into her eyes for several moments, then turned his attention to her hand. He put his hand over hers and closed his eyes, then pressed against her.

"Ye feel warm," he told her, his voice barely above a whisper. "Dullahan don't get cold, but we never feel warm either. Not unless we be touchin' someone."

"When was the last time you felt warm, Suly?"

He laughed, but his eyes stayed closed. "I canna remember."

Her heart pounded loudly in her chest as she lifted her legs and put them on his hips. Using her free hand to brace herself on the sundial, she pulled him closer. When his thighs met the dial, she scooted forward the last couple of inches until her face was inches from his own.

"Even humans get lonely. But we have many ways to cope," she told him, then placed her hands around his waist. His musculature was easy to feel beneath the leather of his outfit. He had the body of a warrior, but she felt like he had the mind of something more. Maybe a poet, or a dreamer. These were things for her to ponder later, as she felt that longing void open up inside of her. This was new, and exciting, and she didn't have a clue what was going to happen next.

But she knew exactly what she wanted.

He grunted in surprise when her lips touched his. Like the rest of him, they were cold and unyielding. It was just a light peck at first, an exploration of intimacy, and when she looked into his eyes afterward, the dullahan was speechless.

"Lass, I..." He touched his lips with a gloved hand. "I dinna know what to say."

She kissed him again, this time parting her lips to run her tongue briskly over his. He made another sound of surprise, his mouth opening, and she ran her tongue along his upper lip. He tasted like black licorice, and when she inhaled, the cold rush of air was enough to briefly paralyze her lungs, a sensation reminiscent of a cold, winter's morning.

When she shivered, Sulyvahn backed away.

"I'm sorry, lass, it be not somethin' I control, and—"

She kissed him again, and ran one hand up his back and then through his hair. Heat was being sucked from her body, but she didn't mind in the slightest. The rush of having such a being between her arms was more than enough heat to keep her warm.

While tense at first, he melted into her. His hesitant hands touched her waist, then moved along her back until one hand rested just above her buttocks and the other was in the middle of her back.

When she broke the kiss this time, she exhaled a small cloud of fog and grinned at him. "Feeling warm?"

"Aye," he whispered. "But I could be warmer."

This time, he pressed into her. She ran a hand along the smooth, supple leather that he wore, impressed at how much of Sulyvahn's musculature that she could feel beneath it. There were several silver buckles that held the outfit together, and she fumbled with one, trying to undo it.

He broke the kiss. "Ye be movin' fast, lass."

"Some of us don't live for centuries," she told him, then pulled the buckle apart to reveal skin like marble underneath. Her hand just barely fit between him and the leather, and she undid another buckle and lifted the leather away to reveal his neck and shoulder.

"Ye only get one more," he warned her.

"One more what?"

"Buckle." He fingered one that she hadn't undone yet. "The leather is a part of me, but it needs adjusting sometimes. 'Specially if it gets wet."

"Oh, so what happens after three?"

He grinned, but didn't answer. This time, he explored her neck with his lips, and she undid a third buckle, allowing her to push his leather jacket down and reveal the white skin of both shoulders. The thin line along his neck where his head came off occasionally sputtered out dark smoke depending on how he bent his neck. Stunned, she pressed on the seam, her eyes wide when the smoke curled around her finger like a snake before disappearing.