No lesser member created her. Dar had. He was the only pure fairy left. The Huntsmen had captured all the other Unseelies, and the chances any of Dar’s other half-breed children having lived to maturity were slim. The taint Dar had infected them with would have turned them into beacons in the night, drawing redcaps and sluaghs to them.
Without a way to defend themselves, the immature half-breeds would’ve become no more than food sources. Besides, the strength resonating from Harley hinted at how very powerful she’d be if she embraced her heritage. She’d rival her father.
“Dar, their leader, sired you.” Calan would bet his life on it.
“Condemned me, you mean.”
Calan shrugged, the only response he could manage. He didn’t want to speak of what her future would entail if he didn’t bind himself to her.
She glided to the wall, the sway of her hips a wonderful sight, and slipped the torch she carried into the empty holder. “Why?”
The question could’ve meant a number of things. His fate rested on his ability to convince her to willingly pick up the key from the pillow on his bed and unlock him. He couldn’t risk alienating her by answering incorrectly. Many of his responses wouldn’t please her.
“What do you mean?”
“If you were created to hunt the fairies”—she peered over her shoulder—“why are you here? In chains?”
“Because during the fight that should’ve wiped the last fairy from the earth, I was led into a trap. Dar imprisoned all the Huntsmen that night.”
“There are more Hunters like you?”
“Yes, my flower, and once I capture Dar, he will join his brethren in Hell, and my siblings can be released.”
Harley hugged herself. “Don’t call me that.”
“Why? It’s a pleasant nickname.”
“It makes me feel beautiful.” Harley dropped her hands, balling her fists at her sides. “I feel the taint festering in my body. Every day it grows. Soon I’ll be as monstrous as Dar.” She advanced on Calan. A few feet away, she stopped and scrunched her nose. “Am I right?”
He reached for her. His fingers fell short of her chest, and she didn’t close the scant distance. He let his hand drop. “You’re still pure.” Mostly.
“But not for long.” She groaned, the agonized sound cutting at his heart, and took one more step closer. “Am. I. Right?”
Calan grasped her arm and tugged her struggling body against his. She shoved at his chest, but he wouldn’t allow her to slip free. He slid his hand down the length of her spine to her rounded bottom and pressed her against his straining cock. She stilled.
“Keep embracing that rage, and you’ll spiral into the darkness you’re fighting.”
Her chest heaved. Each exhale pressed her breasts into his hardened muscles. After a moment, she fisted his shirt and clung to him. “I don’t want to be like them.”
He lifted her with a hand on her bottom. Harley gasped but grabbed his shoulders to steady herself. He held her gaze and asked the one question that had bothered him for years. “Then why didn’t you return to me? I promised to save you.”
Harley turned her head. He nudged her with his chin until she focused on him. She sighed. “I was afraid.”
“Of me.”
“Of everything. My family had just been attacked by monsters, and you show up as a disembodied pair of eyes. Then…” She shook her head. “I wasn’t about to believe a ghost.”
“Do you still think I’m a ghost?”
“You’re changing the subject.”
Yes, but the lust darkening her eyes suggested it wasn’t an unwanted diversion. With the conversation steered in a different direction, he wanted to explore it. “And you’re avoiding my question.”
She skimmed her hands over the rough material of his shirt to the leather twining at his neck. With trembling fingers, she undid the binding. The fabric parted, revealing his upper chest. She traced the contours of his exposed muscles and settled her palm over his heart. Warmth spread from where she touched him and made him very aware of the female he held, a woman he’d wanted from the first moment he’d looked into her eyes.
“Not a ghost. You’re real. I’m glad too.” She leaned closer. “I’ve fantasized about you for years, and this…” She ran her fingertips over his cheek. “This face is more captivating than any I could’ve imagined.”
The rightness he’d experienced nine years ago returned, stronger than before. He wanted Harley’s lips on his. Needed it. “Kiss me.”
She shook her head.
“Harley.” He waited until she met his gaze. “Kiss me.”
Hesitantly, she pressed her mouth to his. He nudged at the seam of her lips with his tongue. She parted them, and he slipped inside. Her flavor hit him. She tasted of candy, a delectable treat he could easily become addicted to. He moaned and kissed her harder. After a long moment where he led her into passion, she dragged her fingers through his hair, grabbing sections of the short strands and tugging him closer.
On a whimper, Harley linked her legs around his waist. Her heat pressed against his stomach. He automatically arched his back to line up his erection with her sex. Her small stature and his tight bonds prevented him from experiencing her tempting warmth along the length of his shaft. It didn’t dim the lust consuming him. The scent of her arousal and her squirming body intensified it.
He took control of the kiss, needing her wild. He wouldn’t settle for anything else. Quicker, deeper, he stroked his tongue with hers. She tightened her grip on his hair and returned his passion. Their teeth banged as the melding of their mouths grew wicked, and her blood flavored the kiss. Blood that held the tang of pure chaos. It was her taint, a curse from her father and the reason she was turning into a monster.
He turned his head, breaking the kiss. The evidence of the chaos working its way through her body
