With the flannel bedsheets balled up between her fingers and his strong arm wrapped around her neck, Mory braced against the slow beautiful agony Haldir was blessing her with in the early morning glow that entered the room. 

She slid upwards from his arm like a piece of thread through the eye of a needle with each lunge as his hips rocks against her ass. 

While his hot steamy breath moved across her cheek, she whimpered and panted like a scared animal backed into a corner. The complicated intermingled sensations of pain and ecstasy under Haldir’s sweaty body mixed with her feelings of sorrow and joy over meeting him now were complete overload for the mentally fragile woman.

As another throbbing wave of euphoria began deep between her legs, Mory’s eyes rolled up to the ceiling and her lips parted while she rode her orgasm out in his arm. 

Sliding his big warm hand up to her chin, Haldir wrapped his fingers around her mouth as she moaned into them. Trying to capture a few of her pained whimpering demands for more in his palm, Haldir tilted Mory’s head to the side and clamped down onto the soft crook of her neck with his teeth. 

As his hard love bite sent a new blast of joyful anguish through her nervous system, it sent her crashing over the edge once again as she cried out for her ancient lover.

Haldir had ruled her body all night long, not that she ever slept much anyway. He’d sworn to her that he’d make her life worth living again and as he shuddered against her quivering, plump ass while his seed filled her, that was exactly what he did.

As he rolled onto his side while pulling her with him, Haldir rubbed his nose and lips softly up and down the back of Mory’s neck. His thigh held her firmly wedged between his legs as it lay over hers. With his head in his hand behind her, Haldir slid his fingers up and down Mory’s arm. 

Trying to rack his mind for solutions to a problem he didn’t yet understand, Haldir kissed Mory’s shoulder. “Are you sick? Because whatever it is, I know people and I can get you the best doctors in the world. We have all the money we could ever want, Morana. I could take you anywhere for help. My daughter, she’s one of the best potion makers in the business. She could make you an elixir to fix you up just like that,” Haldir said as he snapped his fingers.

Mory huffed through her nose as she smiled. “I’ve never been sick a day in my life. Not even a cold. You know, I think my mother, the one that raised me, always secretly held a grudge against me because she could never do anything for me. Most mothers get to love on their kids when they skin their knees or make them chicken noodle soup when they have a cold. Me…I never needed anything. I was just always so…I don’t know, independent, I guess. Maybe that’s why she gave me this terrible name.”

Haldir kissed his way up her shoulder then asked, “What do you mean? What’s wrong with your name?”

Mory rolled over to her back and pulled the blanket over her bare breasts. “Morana Faye. It means The Death Fairy. Kind of a fucked-up name for a nurse, don’t you think? It just seemed a strange choice, especially considering what a devoutly religious woman my mother was.”

As he made wavy lines on her soft chest with his fingers, Haldir felt her heart beating underneath him. Even if she didn’t feel it, couldn’t recognize the connection, her heart called out to his. It clutched for his fingers like a drowning person grasps for a life jacket. “Sounds like she had a good sense of humor.”

Mory licked her lips and swallowed down her disappointment as she recalled her early life. “No, definitely not. She was a wonderful woman who treated me very well, but they were quite old by the time I came into their lives. There was no tolerance for silliness.”

Turning his attention back to her words, Haldir  asked, “What about your father?”

“He was a Lutheran priest, Father Brian. Very good man, but very hands off. I made him uncomfortable, I think. They, uh, I don’t know. They never treated me poorly, but they didn’t really care for me either. I mean, my mother, she would cook and clean and make sure I always looked nice, but there was just no affection there. It’s like they were just babysitting me or something. I know I didn’t belong to them really, and that’s exactly the way they made me feel. I know they didn’t mean any harm or anything, and I should be grateful that they took me in, but I always just felt unwanted.”

Leaning down into her face, Haldir looked her in the eyes and said, “Those days are over. You are very much wanted here,” then he kissed her lips gently before pulling her arm over his head and laying his cheek against her breast. As he inhaled the soft smell of her skin, Haldir closed his eyes. “This would be easier if you just explained things to me. I have visions, but I’m not a mind reader.”

Mory kissed the soft hair on top of Haldir’s head. “Not now. Please. Tonight has just been too perfect. I just want it to stay that way for a little while.”

Pulling Mory closer to him, Haldir kissed the soft arch of her breast. “I just want you to understand that you can trust me. If you ever feel like acting on one of those impulses telling you to take those pills, Morana, you come to me first and give me a chance to change your mind. You’re not alone in this world anymore and what you affects me.”

Mory sighed as she thought about what he said. She knew that there was no way she could go on with her plan now. Every instinct was begging her to fight for this new life she’s been given. The possibility of a family she never thought was possible. “I will. I swear. So…tell me all about your kids, Haldir. You said they’re all grown up. Do you have grandchildren?”

“A lot of them. They just keep popping them out. Great grandchildren as well.” Haldir propped himself on his elbow as he reached for the stand behind him. Picking up a picture frame, he glanced at it before he handed it to Mory.

Mory squinted at the picture as she struggled to see in the dimly lit room. “These are your children?” 

Peeking over at them, Haldir smiled as he remembered the day of Tessa’s wedding. Even though it wasn’t an especially joyous occasion for him, being presented to the world officially as her father was something he would never forget. “Mmm-hmm. That was us at Tessa’s wedding. I know I’m not her real father, but this was the proudest day of my life by far. I don’t much care for the pricks she was bound to, but that’s not really my call, I suppose. She and Teddy are one of the very few things in my life I ever did right. They mean everything to me.”

As Mory gave Haldir the frame back, he reached back behind him and laid it one the otherwise empty table. “They’re beautiful. How many kids do they have?”

Haldir snuggled back into the comfort of her velvety skin. “Tessa has six, so far, and Teddy has five.”

Mory blew out through her mouth as she imagined what that must be like. “Jesus, that poor woman.”

Haldir shook his head. “Un-un. Poor woman, my ass. She keeps her mates quite busy.”

Mory pulled down her brows in confusion as she looked down to his face. “I’m sorry, did you say mates? As in more than one?”

Haldir slid his hand under the blanket and rubbed small circles on her abdomen with his fingers. “Yes, she has two. They’re twins, as well, and Teddy is married to their sister. It’s a common practice among their kind.”

As the rising sun started to push its way through the room,  Mory sighed as she realized that she wasn’t getting any sleep at all. “Kind? What kind is that exactly?”

With the soft hum of his rough voice spread through her chest, Mory flinched while he spoke. “They’re both witches and they’re married to werewolves.”

Mory pulled her head back so she could see Haldir’s eyes. “Really? That’s the coolest goddamn thing I’ve ever heard. I’d really like to meet them.”

With the reality of that never being able to happen settling in his chest, Haldir’s heart ached for the life he’d never be able to give Mory. The one he knew she deserved. “Yeah, I’d like that as well. I know they’d just love you.”

Pulling on the spiky tufts of hair left behind from his sweat, Mory asked, “Do they live far from here?”

A smile curled up on his lips as Haldir nodded. “Yeah you could say that. Pretty far.”

Curling his messy hair around her fingers, Mory said, “Hmm. That’s too bad. You must get so lonely all the way up here.”

Haldir pushed himself up then hovered over Mory’s face and kissed the bridge of her nose. “Not now. I think I got all I can handle with you for a while.”

While he breathed hard against her cheek, Haldir moved slowly to straddle her body underneath him again. As he returned to the sweet, comfort of her neck, Mory put her hands on his chest and began to push him away. “You know, this is fun and all, but reality is going to come knocking sooner or later. I got to start work tomorrow.”

With the buzz of his raspy voice vibrating across her throat, Haldir spoke softly. “You don’t have to work anymore if you don’t want to. Like I said, we have all the money we could ever need. We could go anywhere in the world, do whatever we want. Just tell me when and where.”

Pushing away from him harder, Mory shook her head. “As tempting as that sounds, I can’t let James down. He took a big risk bringing me here like he did. I owe him.”

Haldir rocked back until he could see her eyes. “I want you to come stay with me, Morana.”

Mory pouted her lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You don’t think that’s…I don’t know…sudden?”

He shook his head and tapped his finger on Mory’s chest. “I want you here. There isn’t a reason for us to be apart.”

There wasn’t a part of Mory that didn’t want to say yes, and it scared her. “Let me think about that. Okay?” Haldir dropped his forehead to her chest and blew out through his mouth. Mory felt his disappointment and it made her nauseous.  “Where is the little girl’s room?”

Haldir chuckled out through his nose frustratedly then looked back to her face and nodded towards the other side of the room. “Behind the kitchen.”

Crawling back off Mory, Haldir stepped onto the cold wooden floor then bent over and grabbed his boxers. As Mory sat on the side of the bed, he found his shirt and handed it to her. 

He rubbed his hair as he walked to the kitchen. “You want some coffee?”

While Mory pulled the shirt over her head, she said, “Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks.”

When the bathroom door shut behind Mory, Haldir walked to the couch and sat down then pulled her jacket from the back. He searched each pocket and patted down the inside before tossing it back. “Fuck. Where’d you hide them?”

Turning off the water, Mory shook her hands over the sink then took a towel from the cabinet to dry her hands. She smiled to herself as the memory of last night played out in her head. Laying the towel down on the edge of the sink, Mory reluctantly looked up at her reflection in the mirror. As the deep purple light moved across her, Mory gasped. 

Slowly tracing her face in the reflection with her fingers, tears spilled from her eyes. “Dammit. Not yet, please.”