Faery Kissed

Chapter One

Chapter One

"Don't tell me you give credence to all those old wives tales, Bran."

Fergus shook his head at me in disbelief as he stared down at the Royal Fern Seeds I held in the palm of my hand.

I shrugged. "I might. My mother and father are very big on all the old customs and lore." I closed my fist around my prize and slipped them into my pocket, hiding them from Fergus's view.

"Well, let me help you put this lore to rest. You picked those seeds at midnight here on Midsummer's Eve, and I can still plainly see you. You are not invisible. I think this is one legend you can cross off." He ran a hand through his wild red hair—hair I was positive would never be tamed.

"You don't have to believe, Fergus. It's not a human I want to be invisible for." I looked around at the revelers in the celebration around us and lowered my voice. "It's the Fae."

Fergus snorted and started to walk away.

I grabbed him by the arm. "I know you believe in them too. You were scared of them as a child."

"I've overcome my fears." He stood up taller. "Like you, I'm on the brink of manhood now with almost twenty summers to my name. You would do better to quit talking about such crazy things and go find your beautiful Ceridwen before some other young man swoops in to carry her off."

Laughter came from behind me, and I turned to find Ceridwen eavesdropping on our conversation.

"No one will ever steal me from Bran, Fergus. Who could beat him? He's the tallest, brawniest, and the handsomest man around. Not to mention he's kind-hearted as well. No, I think I should be afraid to have him stolen away from me." She smiled, reaching up to touched the edge of my jawline with her fingertips.

"He's also the craziest," Fergus muttered, and I elbowed him in the ribs.

"That will never happen, my love," I assured Ceridwen—reaching with one arm to pull her in closer so I could kiss her ripe plum lips. I tangled my other hand in her long, honey colored tresses, enjoying the way she felt against me.

Fergus cleared his throat, and the two of us broke apart, staring over at him.

"Before you get anymore wrapped up in your wildly handsome, dark-haired lover, Ceridwen, you might wish to know he's a little touched in the head. He intends to become invisible by using his magic seeds while he goes off hunting Fae tonight." He lifted a finger and made a swirling motion around his ear. "I think someone has been dipping a little too heavily in the honey mead."

She laughed. "I like that he's not afraid to believe in things he can't see. I wish I could go with him, but I need to get back to help my mother and sister with the food now."

Ceridwen gave me a quick peck once more, and I grabbed her before she could run off again, deepening the kiss even farther.

She smiled against my lips, and flattened her palms against my chest as she tried to push away from me. "You are going to cause quite the spectacle if you keep carrying on this way, Bran."

"I don't care." I captured her lips and kissed her breathless. "Come into the woods with me," I whispered when I pulled away.

"I can't. I promised my mother. But you go have some fun with Fergus."

Fergus grunted. "You won't catch me out in the woods. That's all I need is to have some Fae capture me and end up walking around like some faery-kissed fool." He strode off toward the group gathered around the bonfire.