The Fairy Gift Read Free Page B

at all in the way I had thought it would. I wanted very badly to be a small innocent boy again, to not know or care anymore about my future than what I was told to by my parents and tutors. I hated that fairy, Draeden, and the way he made me feel—as if being such a sexual and base creature was something that was acceptable; as if I should be grateful for the evil curse which he had forced onto me. Most of all, I hated myself—hated myself for thinking that I should have any say in my future. Me, the spoiled, sexual deviant.
    Without realizing it, I had picked up a long branch from the ground and begun to swish it back and forth, enjoying the satisfying thwack that resulted whenever it impacted with a branch or trunk of a tree that happened to be in my path. I was staggering aimlessly, not certain of where I was or where I was going; I focused only on the rhythmic swing and impact of the branch, imagining that its targets were everything that I hated about my life:  me, that stupid fairy, my stupid powers, and my disgusting and evil sexuality. I barely noticed when the twig impacted, quite forcefully, with a human obstruction.
    The obstruction had, unfortunately, been carrying quite a heavy load of dry wood, which toppled everywhere upon my directly running into him with a branch. Blushing and apologizing profusely, I immediately stooped to help gather up some of the wood, and before I could remember not to, I stared up into a pair of surprised blue eyes.
    "Adam," I blurted out, and proceeded to drop several pieces of wood onto his hands and feet. The entire load of wood once again toppled to the ground around us.
    "Um. Adam," I said again. "Here, let me help."
    "That's alright!" he exclaimed, skirting away from my help, obviously dreading another instance of the heavy logs dropping onto his bare feet. "It's fine. Marcus?" He stopped gathering wood for a moment and looked at me, shoving the sweaty blond hair from his face. "What are you doing here? You look … different."
    I was staring at him again, unable to focus on anything but the intense concentration it took to keep my new powers in check, unable to even look away from him. The fact that he was quite possibly the most beautiful human I had ever laid eyes on didn't serve to lessen the difficulty of the situation any.
    "Adam," I said, and then again, "Adam." I walked toward him, slowly, with my hand outstretched. The scene was fiercely reminiscent of one from mere hours ago, when a dark fairy had moved in close to a young, innocent boy, hand outstretched to take from him all his inhibitions. Only this time, I was the seducer, and Adam was helpless against me. I saw his breath, shallow in his chest, and felt the intense, heated core of him move subconsciously forward to meet my outstretched hand. I saw those blue eyes flicker to mine—there was unmistakeable lust in them—and a foreign shiver ran down my spine again. Except it didn't seem quite so foreign this time. Lust, power, and control were quickly becoming more familiar.
    We stayed that way for a few incredibly long moments, my hand outstretched and tense, his body pulled taut toward it, as if on an invisible string, and our eyes locked with all manner of unspeakable, unsaid things passing between us. I knew then that I could have Adam, take from him whatever I wanted, and own him completely.
    For a moment, I considered it; thought about moving close to him, touching him, ordering him to take his clothes off …  Then my guilt surged back in full force, and I ran.
    I didn't dare look back until I reached the castle, and then I bent over double, raggedly gasping, my legs shaking. What was wrong with me? How could I think those things? Of course it had been fine to think about them before, when there had been absolutely no chance of them ever happening, but now … everything was different. I had to be careful. I had to be careful, or else I might …
    I shook my head violently and ran in through the front