The Fae Hunter Ch. 06

Hastenbond bounded past me, having apparently already killed Orin. I let go of the dead body in my hands and ran after him. The remaining bandit tried to shoot a fourth arrow, but the sight of Hastendbond and me charging him was too nerve wracking and the arrow flew past us harmlessly. Hastenbond was swinging his long sword as he charged. The bandit threw his bow at him, bouncing the weapon off Hastenbond's head. Hastenbond didn't miss.

We stopped and looked down at the headless body of the last bandit. I reached into the tunic of the body and pulled out the bounty. It was a picture of Orin.

Hastenbond, coming down from the fight, grinned at me in exultation of being alive. "Thanks," he said. "You're a life saver."

****

Teresa and I set out earlier than I would have expected. It was barely past mid-morning when we left Bynton behind us. Teresa had been terse and firm with her deputies. They didn't look happy with her riding off with a stranger but didn't say anything. The parting with Marge was longer and more emotional. Klum glowered in the background, unappeased that we were, in the words of Teresa, hunting down the real killer of her sister.

She didn't deign to ride her horse, instead choosing to store her armor, dried food, and sleeping gear on the animal and walked briskly beside me. Her sword, she kept on her side.

"You want to go back to Rhineville?" Teresa asked companionly. She had flat out refused to be left behind. Hadn't bothered to argue with me. Just informed me that she was either traveling with me or tracking me. I don't normally like traveling companions, but she was an easy and soothing comfort in the back of my mind.

"Yeah," I said slowly, dragging the word out. "I've been thinking about how I got the bounty. There was something strange about it."

"What?"

"Well, Hastenbond was acting shifty. As if he were hiding something."

"And who's Hastenbond?"

"A constable like you," I grinned down at Teresa and bumped her with my hip. "Not as good looking."

She grinned back and slapped my ass.

"A good friend," I said more somberly. "One of the few people I actually call friend." I frowned. "I really don't want him to be involved."

Teresa reached over and gripped my arm. "I'm sorry Mikal," she said. "I hope he is not involved as well." There was a lag in the conversation. It was a comfortable silence. I marveled to myself on how compatible we were with each other. Even her military pace matched my own mile eating gate with ease.

"That's a nice smile," she said, looking over and finding me grinning to myself.

"Thanks," I said. "I think I might be happy. Not a feeling I get a lot. I'm glad you are coming with me."

Her eyes softened and she moved into me, stopping our progress. She pressed her body into mine and pulled my head down to kiss my lips. One hand reached down and felt my cock. "I'm extra glad I came then," she said quietly. My cock quickly grew hard and I kissed her back, pushing my tongue into her mouth. I gripped one taut ass cheek as my hard on pushed into her stomach. She twisted out of my grip with a laugh. "Now, now," she chided me. "We have a long way to go and we got a late start today." But she licked her lips as she eyed the outline of my cock.

The rest of the day was spent in a teasing, fun manner between us. I allowed myself the luxury of not thinking of The Heart in my chest. Of not thinking about the fact that I was a fae. Of not thinking. It was so easy to talk to Teresa and allow the conversation and our interactions take my worries away. She told me about her childhood. Teresa had been much more athletic than any of the other children. Stronger, faster, and more agile. She had gravitated towards wrestling and sword play. Her aunt, Eldric's mother, had lavished attention on her. When she took Eldric to Trepple, she had taken Teresa as well. There, while Eldric had learned magic, Teresa had learned to fight with the royal guard.

"Was your aunt a mage as well?" I asked.

"Yes," Teresa answered with a nod. "She controlled weather."

I nodded again. "That's why she took to you then," I said. "She was interested in your magic."

"I don't have magic," she replied with a quirky smile. She skipped over closer to me and kissed the edge of my mouth in passing. "Sorry to disappoint." She looked at the expression on my face. "At least I didn't until you saved me from the werewolf poison."

"No," I disagreed with a shake of my head. "You had the same magic aura around you that the werewolves had. A brown aura."

"Are you sure?" she asked. She stopped walking to ponder this new information. "I wonder why it never manifested? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"I don't know," I told her. "But maybe that's why you've been stronger and faster than normal people." I thought back to the fight the previous evening. "Those werewolves were incredibly fast and strong."

"Wow," she said and starting walking again. A silence fell over us as I let her come to grips with this new information. A few miles later she snagged my hand and squeezed it. "Tell me about your childhood," she said. "What was a young Mikal like?"

I squeezed her hand back, looking up to the sky. It was late afternoon. There was a stream nearby and a nice space to make camp. "Let's stop here for the day," I said.

Teresa looked at me quizzically, as if waiting for me to say something else. I stared back in mild confusion.

"What?" I asked finally. "Is this not a good spot to camp?"

"Yeah," she said. "It is."

We worked in perfect conjunction with each other. Barely needing to speak as we gathered the wood, started a fire and cooked a meal. While I cleaned the dishes, she set up our bed rolls near the warmth of the fire. Afterwards, I settled down to stare into the flames. Teresa laid down beside me and put her head in my lap. I absently stroked her hair.

"Hey," she said quietly. I looked down to see her staring up at me. "You don't have to talk about your childhood," she said. "But I will listen without judgement if you ever do want to talk."

Her eyes were sparkling at me, her features soft from the fire light. Her hair cascaded around her head. In that moment she seemed more beautiful than any other woman I had ever met. For a brief moment I thought of Cynthia. The first time I had ever seen her, she had walked into Al's Tavern and her ethereal beauty had instantly captured me. In a flash I realized that there was a haziness around my memories of Cynthia. As if every time I thought of her and how she looked, I was the one implanting the memories of her beauty instead of remembering what she actually looked like. Teresa's hand on my cheek brought me back to her. I smiled as I leaned down and kissed her. I was going for a gentle kiss, but it instantly deepened and grew hungry. She moaned into my mouth.

"I want you," she breathed into me. I felt her desire, her need for me. Her body ached to feel me inside of her. To feel me stretch her like no one had ever done before. To feel me push so deep inside of her pussy that she wondered if my cock would enter her stomach. The erotic danger of knowing that I controlled her. Teresa moaned into my mouth as her pussy flooded and her nipples grew so hard they hurt. I reached down and roughly pulled her shirt off her. My aggression and the cool air on breasts and nipples made her shiver and shake with desire, on the edge of orgasm. I bit one nipple, my tongue playing with the tip and she came.

"Oh fuck. Oh gods." She wailed, her body flopping around and falling off my lap. I picked her up and took her the few steps to the bed rolls and placed her firmly onto her back. She was still shaking with aftershocks. I tore one boot off and then the other. "What are you doing?" she asked, her body squirming around. Her breath was coming back to normal. She started to sit up.

"Stay still," I growled, pushing her flat onto her back.

"What..." she started to say but stopped when, in one hard, aggressive move, I pulled her pants completely off her and tossed them behind me. She now lay completely nude below me. "Oh my," she moaned, powerless to stop me. That turned her on more than anything else. I spread her legs apart as I kneeled between them. I settled down further, putting one hand under her ass. I reached up her body with my other hand and gripped one nipple between my fingers. I pushed the flat of my tongue against her clit as I twisted the nipple roughly. Teresa screeched in pain and pleasure, the two sensations twisting around each other in a euphoric high.

"More," she cried. I twisted the nipple harder, pinching hard. I lapped at her clit. With the hand under her ass I pressed her pussy more firmly into my lower face, my chin pushing her pussy lips apart and shallowly entering her. I gathered up her dripping pussy juices with my thumb. Continuing to lick her clit aggressively, I let go of her nipple and reached up to put my fingers in her mouth. She sucked at them desperately, moaning. My thumb found her asshole and I pushed it in her ass. Her sphincter muscles tried to push my thumb back, but I kept the pressure on as I licked and sucked on her clit. And then my thumb popped into her ass.

Teresa moaned louder around the fingers in her mouth as I fucked her ass with my thumb, her clit with my tongue, her pussy with my chin, and her mouth with my fingers. All of the sensations overwhelmed her and she gushed my face with her juices as she came apart. Her mouth fell open in a silent scream as she came. I pressed my tongue firmly down but stopped moving as she came and came and came. Finally she stopped moving and convulsing. I lifted off her, pulling fingers out of her mouth, face off her pussy, and thumb out of her ass. Teresa was insensate, drooling from pussy and mouth. I stood up and took my clothes off. I went back down to my knees and started masturbating myself to hardness as I looked at her displayed body before me. She came back, her eyes refocusing, as I got to full hardness. She looked up at me in awe and amazement.

"I don't know how much more I have in me," she gasped.

I flipped her over onto her stomach and pulled her hips toward me, raising her up and on her hands and knees. I edged her knees apart and pulled her ass up. Her pussy was wet and engorged, her asshole on full display. "Amazing," I said, gazing with complete lust at her two holes. Teresa looked back at me as I just stared at her. She wiggled her ass from side to side.

"You're so sexy," she panted. "Take me."

"You're the sexy one," I said, placing the head of my cock against the entrance to her pussy. I gripped her hip with my right hand as I held my cock with my left. I shoved the head of my cock between her pussy lips and lodged myself firmly inside of her. She was wet but extremely tight around my girth. I grabbed her hair to pull her head back and around. She gasped and moaned. I pushed the thumb that had been in her ass in her mouth. "Get it nice and wet," I ordered. As she slobbered and sucked on my thumb, I pushed another inch of cock into her.

"Fuck," she hissed. "So big."

I pressed my lubricated thumb against her asshole. With my cock stretching her pussy to her limits, the entrance to her ass was even tighter than before. I pushed, but there wasn't room for my thumb to enter her.

"Harder," she groaned, spreading her legs a little more.

I shoved hard with my thumb and it popped into her ass. I was using so much force that when her asshole finally gave, my whole thumb was shoved all the way inside of her. Her inner walls were so stretched thin that I could feel my cock against my thumb as if there was no skin between them.

"Ayyyy," she shrieked as if in pain, but pushed her ass back toward me.

I held my thumb deep inside of her as I started to push in and out of her pussy with my cock. It was overwhelming for her and she put her head down. I wanted her tighter around me so I reached over and grabbed her hair in my free hand. I pulled on her hair, forcing her head up and back. This forced her to arch her back, creating a tighter squeeze to both my thumb and cock.

I fucked her hard and fast, making sure to not go too deep. Finding a rhythm, I added a back and forth with my thumb. When I pushed in with my cock, I pulled out with my thumb and vice versa. It didn't take long before her pussy and ass tightened painfully around me as she came again. Her inner muscles milked me as she had her orgasm but was so tight around me that I couldn't move. I waited for her to relax enough for me to continue fucking her. After a minute, she opened up enough for me to move and I pushed my cock far enough inside of her that I hit her cervix.

"Ugh," she groaned. I pulled back and forced my way all the way to her limits again, smacking into her cervix with the head of my cock. I pushed and pulled as I got closer and closer to my own orgasm.

It was then that I felt the presence of another person. They were standing just outside the light of our fire. I don't know how long they had been there watching us. I still couldn't see them, but I knew with certainty that there was a person standing there. Watching. Teresa must have sensed them at the same time because, despite getting fucked hard for nearly an hour and cumming multiple times, she reacted instantly and forcefully.

She jumped forward, disengaging from both my thumb and cock. I grunted in surprise as my cock audibly popped out of Teresa's cunt. She was on her feet, sword in hand, as I groaned, missing the tight, wet enclosure of her pussy.

"Who are you!" she demanded, staring into the darkness where I felt the presence.

"Ahh," a man's voice said. "I was wondering who the pup was." He stepped forward. He was an inch or two shorter than my six-foot height but looked without concern at the naked blade and woman. He was sleight of build and wore a black tunic and pants. He smiled at Teresa slightly, amused at her aggressive stance.

"What do you want?" Teresa demanded. I stood up. I didn't sense that the man was going to attack so I waited to see how things would settle out.

"I wanted to see the pup that was giving Galen such troubles," he said, looking Teresa up and down. "And to be honest, I don't see how you could have-" He stopped mid-sentence, looking carefully at Teresa, still completely ignoring her long sword. He sniffed the air. "You are not a fae hound," he said, cocking his head to one side. He was mildly accusatory. Before Teresa could react, he was up against her, one hand gripping her sword hand so strongly that she dropped her weapon. His other hand was around her throat. "You are a familiar," he hissed. "That's not possible." Their noses were almost touching, eyes staring into each other.

"Let her go," I growled, stalking forward.

The man tossed Teresa aside as he turned to look at me for the first time. Teresa stumbled and fell on her ass. She jumped to her feet and was about to re-engage with him, but I put up my hand and shook my head. She settled for glaring.

"Michael," he said, eyes widening in surprise. His pale, almost translucent, skin whitened even further in shock. We looked at each other. There was wariness in his eyes that I knew was reflected in my own. We looked very different physically, but there was no denying we were related. It was in our eyes. He gave me a very small smile. It wasn't joy or humor. "Tales of your death are greatly exaggerated, I see." He said finally.

"You know me?" I asked.

His eyes blinked and started to glow. He was looking at me with his fae sight. He started to walk around me. I turned so that I was always facing him. Teresa ground her teeth and moved to be ready to attack.

"There is a glamour about you," he said. "Does Galen know that the wolf pup he is trying to kill is really a vampire?"

"I think you have me mistaken for someone else," I said. "I'm not vampire or wolf."

"Really?" he asked with another hint of a smile that was here and gone. "What game are you playing at now?"

"No games," I said grimly. "I think I'm the only one not playing a game. Who is this Galen? Why is he trying to kill me? How do you know me?"

"Hmmm," the man said. "There is truth in your words. And this glamour around you is not of your handiwork." He eyed me curiously. "Well, friend. You stepped in it this time, didn't you?"

"Tell me what is going on?" I rushed him, grabbing his shirt collar and bringing our faces nose to nose. "By all the gods, talk to me!"

"Listen," he said. He was unconcerned by me holding onto him. "I don't want to get involved between you and Galen. I was merely curious to see what manner of fae was giving him such histrionics. I have satisfied my curiosity. And will be on my way."

"Not before you tell me who Galen is. And why he is trying to kill me."

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "And I don't care."

"You will care soon enough," I promised and opened up The Heart. This man was really a fae. A fae with a deep and powerful purple aura. He was a beacon of power as far beyond the werewolves as they had been beyond mages. And The Heart hungered for all of him.

He looked at me in true shock. In true fear. "What have you done?" he gasped. With an astonishing display of strength and power he pulled free of my grasp, falling to the ground. "Michael," he pleaded. He wasn't begging for his life. "Don't do this. We have had freedom these past millennia. Why would you, of all people, want to bring back our slavery?"

"Answer," I said slowly, desperately holding back The Heart from consuming him until I had some answers. "My...questions."

"Damn you," he said, his face filled with anguish and fear. "Damn you." His body shrunk and changed and became a large bat and he flew away as I stared at him in shock. On the winds created by the bat wings there was a whisper of words that reached into my mind. We put Drak away. No matter what he promised you, he cannot be brought back. For all of our sakes.

I stared up into the sky long after the bat had disappeared. I felt the warm pressure of a woman's body pressing into mine. It was my familiar. She looked up at me, seeking direction. I had missed the succulent wealth of life force that had been the vampire. Her life energy was nothing compared to its. But it would be enough to feed me for the evening. The Heart sang for her death. I closed it down. I shut myself off from it.

I staggered and leaned my full weight on Teresa. She held me up easily.

"You okay?" she asked.

I nodded weakly, still wanting, needing to feed off her.

"What was that?"

"A vampire," I said. "I think."

"Well fuck," she grimaced. "I thought they were made up boogeymen." She led me back to our bedrolls. "Come on. I don't know what exactly was going on, but you are exhausted."

I nodded weakly as I let her sit me back down on our bed. "One thing is for sure," I said, grimly. "It looks like there will be more of the fae coming after me." I pulled her down gently to sit next to me. "It's too dangerous to have you travel with me. I think that-"

"Don't be ridiculous," Teresa interrupted sharply. "I'm with you until we find my sister's killer. And from what that vampire said, it sounds like this Galen character is right in the middle of this mess."

"Yes, it does," I agreed. I knew I should argue more for having Teresa leave me, but we were connected in ways that I didn't want to think about. The thought of her leaving my side was distressful. "There is a fae elf that your cousin Eldric knows. She is one person to question. She lives right outside the capital."

"But first, your friend Hastenbond?" Teresa asked. She shivered and wrapped a cover over her naked body. The adrenalin rush from the encounter was seeping out of both of us.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Sounds about right. Hastenbond. Then Eilish, the elf trader."