Immortal Blood by Magen McMinimy, Cynthia Shepp Editing Page B

Fae grew alongside your Human World and at one point in time, we grew with the humans.”
    “So what happened? Why don’t we know about your people now?”
    “Because humans evolved and western religion, fear, and hate began to taint your species against anything different from its own. Wars broke out, and my people made the choice to return to our world and protect our people. Some felt humans should become slaves to our will and needs, while other preferred to come back to our lands and leave the humans to find their way to acceptance again.”
    Izzy could feel Bain’s eyes on her as she mulled over his words . It sounded just like human nature; fearing what they don’t understand, and fighting because of that fear, but she continued to stare at the stars instead of saying anything. One star in particular caught her eye; it was bright, out shining all the twinkling spots around it.
    Finding that particular star as a good of an excuse as any to veer away from the poor decisions mankind was notorious for making, she asked, “Is that the Northern star?”
    “Ah … the one thing we see differently. Yes, it is the same as your Northern star, but we call it the Immortal Heart here.” Bain’s gaze was locked on the star, and now Izzy was drinking in his profile.
    “Tell me about it ,” she said softly, staring at the bright star again.
    Bain smiled . “The Immortal Heart belonged to a very special Fae—our god of sorts. The story is of his love. She died in the first major war between the Dark and the Light. When Ekon found her dying and, Jelena—one of the three Immortal sisters—came for her, Ekon begged that she give Estrena back to him. Jelena could not, but rather than take her to the Underworld, where Ekon could not gaze upon her beauty any longer, she turned her into our brightest star, to always watch over him. Over the centuries he spent without Estrena, he never took another woman. He had loved Estrena far too deeply to ever hold another. When Ekon was on his death bed, Estrena came down, a star floating from the skies to our land, and took him home with her.”
    Bain turned his head then to look at Izzy . She had a twinkle in her own eyes. “That’s beautiful.”
    Ah hell, Bain couldn’t take it . He wanted to hold her, to touch her, to finally kiss her. It had taken every bit of strength he had today not to slip his tongue past her parted lips and kiss her until he was dizzy, drunk off her spicy scent and taste. He reached out to cup Izzy’s cheek, anchoring his fingers on her neck. He dropped his lips to hers. Izzy’s lips parted, as she offered no resistance to his move.
    With her soft lips parted, Bain slid his tongue beyond the plump, subtle curve of her mouth. With each little twist, he deepened the kiss and Izzy met his hunger. She moaned softly as he pulled her tongue into his mouth and sucked gently. Izzy ran her fingers through the silk strands of Bain’s blond locks and pressed her breast hard against his chest.
    Finally , she thought as she gave up every inhibition she had and melted into his touch.
    Bain rolled them over so he lay half on top of her. His hand gathered the silk fabric of her dress, slowly pulling it up to her hip . He ran his rough, battle-ready hand up and down her thigh, her softness a welcome feeling to his fingers. He wanted to feel more of her. Bain slid his hand under her bottom and pulled her hard against him. When she moaned into his mouth, he knew she’d felt his erection; he was hard as stone for her.
    Every inch of him wanted to be covered by her skin, and every inch of his hard flesh wanted to slide into her slow and steady. He could make love to Izzy for hours, no rush. He would keep her in his bed as long as she would let him and when she thought she would want to move, he’d make love to her again just to keep her with him a little longer… Such new thoughts to him. He had never cared to keep a woman, but this sweet, stubborn human had pushed her way