Chapter 1




The buzzing was familiar. I'd planned to get up early, and I used my cellphone like a lot of folks do as an alarm these days. The warm body lying next to me was not. It took me a moment to go through last night's events in my head. A lot had happened in the last month but I could have sworn I'd gone to bed alone. Hell, I hadn’t even been drinking. Had I?

She was a Faerie, of course. But then again, what else would she be? Sure, you're probably thinking of sweet and cutesy little Faeries like those on TV wearing tight fitting woodland garb. You know the ones. Flitting all about, making sure the seasons unfold as they are supposed to or something like that. Well, you'd be partially right, they were cute. To be honest, most were sexy as hell. But that's where the similarities end. The Fae are dangerous. I should know, I am one.

I pushed her brown curls from my face and reached around her to turn off the noise. "Excuse me," I said, gently nudging her. "Who are you?" I must have startled her.

"Oh, deep apologies, my Lord. I did not mean to wake you," she said as she sat up. She was of course, naked as a jaybird.

"You didn't," I replied, now sitting up as well. "But I have to ask again. Just who are you and what are you doing in my bed?" Unlike most human girls who might find themselves in a stranger's bed, this Fae didn’t seem concerned. That's one thing about them, the Fae that is, they aren’t modest.

She was beautiful, of course; early 20s, dark skinned with light brown, curly hair, hazel eyes, nice breasts, as well as other assets. Not that I was trying to stare, but it's kinda hard not to notice when you're lying next to someone in your own bed. To be honest, I was almost used to it. I'd been in contact with several of the Fae, and depending on the place, clothing seemed to be optional. Especially when crossing over from one plane to the other. As for me, well, let's just say that with all the weird shit that's been happening to me lately a naked hottie in my bed was a nice change of pace, Fae or not.

"I'm sorry, Lord, I was so tired," she finally answered. She hopped out of bed and began perusing my nightstand. "I have seldom traveled to the human realm. What is this?" she asked as she picked up my cellphone.

"That's a cellphone. We use it to contact one another," I answered as I got out of bed. I walked into the bathroom and pulled on my robe.

The alarm went off again. I guess I'd only hit the snooze.

"A messenger device? But why does it speak so strangely?"

"Speak strangely? Oh, that was the alarm," I answered, taking the phone from her and resetting it.

She gave me a perplexed look but didn’t say anything.

"It's the noise I use to wake me in the morning." I shook my head, why was I trying to explain this now? "OK, listen; I need some coffee and then I need to take a shower, then we'll talk. Did you bring any clothes?" I asked as I put the phone back down on the nightstand.

"Clothes, oh yes, I came prepared." She walked over to the doorway and retrieved a brand new neon Tinker Bell backpack and held it up. "Here they are."

A Faerie with a Fairy backpack, now that's something you don’t see every day. I shook my head and stifled a laugh. "Great, why don’t you get dressed while I make the coffee? Meet me downstairs when you're finished."

She was pulling things out of the pack as I headed downstairs to the kitchen.

I started the pot and went out and got the paper, I grabbed one of my latest cups, it was white with a big red button on it, and was just pouring the coffee when she came down. She had on a pair of tight jeans and a black t-shirt. I almost burned my lips. The shirt had a giant size Fairy printed on the front and said simply, Tink. It, too, was in neon. Well, at least her backpack matched.

"Tinker Bell?" I just had to ask.

"Oh, yes, do you like it?" she asked striking a pose. "Tink is a very popular Fairy."

How do I respond to that?

"It's very nice. Look, I need to take a shower. Then we can talk. Can I fix you anything to eat while you wait?"

She shook her head as she began perusing the items around my kitchen.

"Ok, I'll be back in a few" I said as I went to the back door. "Charlie," I yelled. The huge black and white dog came flying from around the side of the house and ran up to me. "Come with me, boy," I said and headed back up to my bedroom with him in tow.

"Would you mind telling me who the hell the Fae I found in my bed is?" I asked as I set my cup down and turned the shower on. Charlie just stood there meekly, head down and eyes looking up at me. Well, that is, if over 185 pounds of Great Dane mix can ever be said to stand meekly.