Page 3 of Simon Says

CHAPTER ONE

Up ahead hecould see a lone figure. Unmistakably female. Waiting.

For him?

There was no mistake that she was looking in his direction, watching his approach. She was standing, one leg canted with her weight shifted to that hip, watching his approach. As he drew closer he could see that she was wearing a thick shin-length skirt, a heavy cotton and hemp mixture, hiking boots and layers under a puffy vest. The olive green skirt ruffled slightly in response to a light wind and drew his eye to the places where the fabric clung to her curves.

When he was within twenty feet, he stopped and said, “Hi.”

She cocked her head and said, “Human.”

He thought, perhaps, if she was local, she’d never seen someone like him. It was true that humans were rarely seen so far north.

Of course he couldn’t know that her use of the word ‘human’ wasn’t a verbal assessment of species. It was the fae marveling about the fact that her mate had just presented himself. Out on the deserted plain of an Orkney isle, far away from the next living person.

Life was strange.

With every step he came nearer the pull had intensified, leaving no doubt that the figure in the distance was the one destined to be her lifetime lover. When he was close enough to see, she was pleased with what the Fates had conjured for her.

Then she realized he was human.

It wasn’t so much that she was averse to the idea of interspecies mating. It was more surprise because fae-human pairings are rare. And perhaps a fleeting sadness that the idea of offspring was no longer to be a question mark. There would be no children.

She had to stop herself from rushing forward and throwing herself into his arms, sampling his kisses, and sampling the long-awaited feeling of rubbing herself enthusiastically against the body of her mate. But she knew she’d have to go slow and not scare the human away. If she wanted to keep him forever, she’d have to make him fall in love with her first.

He shrugged andsmiled. “I admit it.”

She blinked slowly, trying to recall what had been said before. “Admit it?” she repeated stupidly. Then she remembered that she’d called him ‘human’. She covered her momentary reverie by saying, “How could you no’?” Then without waiting for a reply, forged on with, “Why are you here?”

His eyes pulled away reluctantly to drift toward the tomb and back again. “I’m, uh, here to see the Viking carvings?”

Her throaty laugh sounded like it was overlaid with tiny tinkling bells. He shook his head, thinking he must have imagined that. For a second he wondered if he’d been caught in a spell. The woman was fae with wild and wavy golden locks that lifted in the breeze to reveal beautiful curved ears pointed in the most seductive and enchanting way. At that moment he thought there was nothing he wanted more from life than to trace the edge of those ears with his tongue.

“Well, what’s stoppin’ you?” she asked with a bright shining amusement dancing from eyes that were such a bright amber they almost appeared to be on fire.

He thought about how to answer that question and decided to tell the truth. “You are.”

“I?”

“Yes.”

“How’s that?”

“I don’t seem to be able to look away.” It was his turn to cock his head. “Did you put a spell on me?”

Again, she rewarded him with the laugh that was a bawdy dance of bells. “You think your gift of flattery will cause my legs to fly open.”

Simon looked like he was considering that seriously. “I didn’t, but now that I have that image, I have to ask. Is that a possibility?”

She laughed harder. “You’re pretty for a human.”

“Well, uh, thanks. You’re pretty for a fae. You’re pretty compared to anybody for that matter.”

She nodded like she’d have to agree with that assessment, then looked toward the tomb. “Archeologist? Historian?”

He grinned and shook his head. “Vampire slayer.”

He’d found that he could often get away with telling the truth because no one would ever suspect he was telling the truth. Life was strange.

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