Warm Bodies, Cold Iron

softness. She flexed and moved out of the sun. She just wanted to curl back up and go bac

ress, her heels tucked next to the bed. Her dress strap was digging into her shoulder. It wa


The bed wasn't hers. In fact, it was bigger than her entire apartment. The room itself was sleek and modern, filled with comfortable-looking furniture, but otherwise ordinary. There were no pictures or posters on the walls, either. A closet stood ajar, and Kelly could see a few t-shirts.

soft, but bland. Plain cotton, no identifying colours or marks even. They wouldn't be out of place in a magazine catalog. Th

steel eyes, trees frozen in time and ice that was so out of place for summer. The ice, the ice, why was there ice? Kelly curled up from the remembered cold, dancing across

r memory, something keeping that deep freeze here. Befor

m with an animal need. The icy core of her lust had taken over now, and she pounced on top of him, talking him to the bed. In surprise, his eyes wide

obing and sweet. She wanted more, to get to the very core of him and take it posses it

shock and worry there too. He reached out to her dream-like, but he wasn't relaxed. He was breathing heavily. With a tremendous effort, he got up and moved away from Kell

hand on her shoulder, and said, "Kelly darling, plea


"But I want you so much, Rian, I need you. I can feel my heart freezing over, I need your heat. I've always loved you, and you saved me." What was she saying? Her secrets spilling in the small room, her desires and fears she'd even refused to acknowledge. Her tongue tasted of mint and coolness. She coughed and ice flecked on the sheets in front of her. This was normal. She was cold, so of course ice was forming in her. It needed to get out.

. "Kelly, I am so glad that you feel this way about me, and I want to speak with you afte

r mind. Just take him, claim him. Rian O

, wh

to force her thoughts in. It felt like her bra


"Rian," her voice was weak, a wisp of what it was just before, "I don't know what's happening. Can you, can you--"

another full body shiver wracking her nerves as she grasped on to him. "I

d something sibilant and quick, a language that sounded like nothing Kelly had ever heard befor

hugged herself, and huffed, sweat on her brow and laboured breathing like she'd j

mple fae glamor, Kelly.

ed, and lo

g up quite a debt, Mr. Enforcer," sh

an unprecedented situation that it just kind of slipped out of her before she could catch

a laugh straight from his stomach, deep an

w how to fight, and do other things. I mean I saw

couldn't see you in pain like that. That lowlife


Kelly's breath hitched. "So, you do admit it."

and more besides. Kelly, I would do it a thous

with something underneath the skin of it, something kind. She stood up from the bed, and touched his

this beca

a lot worse. When I saw that that-that thing got to you, I was terrified. They'd done

agic shooting through her veins. "Last time?

say before your ill-advised but spirited walk n the woods." She looked down then, and he laughed, bu

ughed, trying not to get lost

rigued them, but that wasn't the true


"Oh. So now I owe a bunch of mobsters my life? I'm not sure that I want that." She grinned, for the first time since waking.

"Well, I will assure you they'll never actually come to collect. Just you continuing to exist is payment enough. Although, those feelings you had, under the fae glamour, I will not presume that they were true--"

Kelly felt her face heat up. "I, um, I need a shower," she stammered, moving to leave the room. Rian took his hand from hers and let his own fall, no longer glowing. "I'll just be-ah--I'll just be a moment."

and exertion. The past few minutes were like an icy lake in her mind, something she could see through, all the way down to the bottom, but not clearly. She remem

he took that memory, and with hands gripping the edges of the claw

to be in a show

ce-blue eyes and smiled. In that split second, Kelly reacted, reaching

Kelly was naked, in an unfamiliar place. So, s

d cold once more, the heat leeching out of her surroundings. Kelly focused with all of

. O'Faire isn't here to protect you, oh morsel. J

er accept. I

as sculpted and toned as Kelly expected underneath his shirt. The fae cre

Kelly buried her face in his neck, and suddenly was standing in the shower, feeling his body l

econd time," she said

delightful part of my job. Now, l

them upright. He was sea salt and smoke, and she drank him in, pushing up against him. Her skin broke out in gooseflesh, the water flowin


"Are you sure you want to do this, Kelly darling? If we do, well, there's no taking this back," he said, his sibilant accent stumbling on the last word.

y Irish brogue ever since you walked into my father's office. Let m