Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Blitzø’s boot kicked open the door to the lone bedroom in the small cottage where he had found his mate after six long months of their being apart. Stolas, his fae Prince, had been out here not that long, from what he remembered of Millie’s words before he’d left the Knolastname's farm. His task was to bring a newly arrived mystery woman a basket of farm goods to help her get settled in. But instead of some lonely lady, he found his mate, and a part of Blitzø was kicking his own ass for not having known his mate was so close. He should have picked up on it somehow. 

A smell on the wind.

A voice dancing through the trees

A ripple in the world around him.

Anything that could have told him the mystical bird he loved had returned and was already preparing a home for them. 

Entering the room, Blitzø still held the blushing owl in his arms and looked at the very bare space. There were empty bookshelves built into the walls on one side, while a cold fireplace with a mostly rotted-away mantle sat in the other corner of the room. The windows were caked in dust and possibly mold, obscuring the light coming in from outside. And at the other side of the room was a lone bed meant for someone his size. 

Truly, this was a horrible place for their much-awaited reunion. 

But there wasn’t anything Blitzø could do about it with him still holding the fae he loved in his arms. And he didn’t think he could stand the walk through the woods to go back to the farm he lived on to take his dear Stolas to his room in the attic to reconnect with his mate properly. Plus, having to explain to Millie and Moxxie the fact that he was about to fuck the ever-loving shit out of the terrifying creature they had thought they dreamed up months before during Fertalia wasn’t something he could reasonably do right now. All that mattered was this reunion with his long-lost mate and beginning to work on those pups his silly owl had already teased him about having. 

There was another possible option for them: the pond that wasn’t far from this cottage. Their pond. The same one where they had met and shared their first mating season. The first of hopefully many. If Blitzø could find himself a decent enough blanket, he would carry Stolas back to that spot and -

“Darling?” The voice of the beloved bird pulled the hungry imp from his internal struggle, and he looked at him to see his mate staring at Blitzø with worry. “Is something the matter?”

Blitzø looked at the bed, then back at the tall drink of water he was carrying, and gave a slight frown. “The bed is too small.”

Stolas smiled and then brought one of his feathered hands up to cover the imp who held his eyes. “Make a wish, Darling.”

Blitzø smiled, feeling a wave of relief go through him as the soft, tiny black feathers on Stolas’ hands tickled his eyelashes. Then, he thought of his wish: a room meant for him and his mate. A place that would be their sanctuary and where they would grow their family and fully express their love for each other every night. A bed big enough for him to chase his pretty fae bird around and indulge in every carnal desire either of them had. This was his wish for them, and only when he felt the hand fall from his eyes did he open them, and they widened in stunned disbelief. 

The fireplace was alight, its roaring flames blanketing the space with pleasant warmth. Its mantle that had been mostly crumbling away was now fully formed, and its filigree restored as well, though there was a marking in the center that suspiciously looked like the same one that graced the imp’s forehead. Those opaque windows were now cleared of the mess that made them less see-through, and the simple four glass panels had been altered to create a mosaic pattern of the moon’s cycle in each one. The faded flooring was replaced with fresher planks, and the walls seemed to be coated in a mahogany lacquer that seemed to stretch the space taller than it had been before, making it a more comfortable level for the tall fae ex-Prince Blitzø continued to hold. 

The once-empty shelves were filled with leather-bound books that had words written on them he couldn’t understand. They were in a language that Blitzø could only guess was his mate’s native tongue. And on one of the shelves sat the star emblem he had been left when Stolas had returned to his realm to declare himself mated to the King, his father. A mating that the regal man had not approved of and found the need first to imprison and then banish his son. The special ornament had been transported from his room at the farm to here, their space, and the sight of it made the imp’s heart race with giddiness. 

But all these changes paled in comparison to the grand, four-poster bed that now sat where the smaller, simpler one had been. It had sheer curtains hanging from all sides that glimmered with a dusting of shimmer, and even from across the room, Blitzø could make out the finer bed linens and comforter that adorned it. This was luxury at its finest, especially compared to the simplicity of the little village the cottage sat just at the border, and now things felt right for him and his mate. 

“How?” Blitzø couldn’t help asking, and Stolas smiled happily at the man who held him close. 

“Just a minor spell to help make our home what it is we want, my love,” Stolas spoke adoringly as he reached to gently stroke his long fingers down one of Blitzø’s horns. It made the imp shiver with a hungry need, and his tail swished. He had missed his mate’s touch, and now that he had him, he wanted to feel those elegant digits all over him. The needy man moved once more, carrying his mate to the side of the bed as he continued to listen. “My magic has diminished greatly since my removal as Prince, and shall continue to do so as long as I am outside of the fae realm, but I have enough in me to be able to turn this cabin into the home we want for us and our pups. I was merely waiting for you before using it.”

Pups. Fuck, that word was like lightning shocking his body and brain each time his mate uttered it. Blitzø struggled not to rush over to the bed and throw his beloved owl onto the satiny sheets and ravage him immediately. No, he wanted to savor this moment. Six months of waiting and praying that today would be the day they would be together had finally been answered, and he would indulge in every way possible. 

Blitzo set the long-legged avian fae on the edge of the bed, but kept him sitting upright as he reached up to thread his claws through the beautiful white feathers of the owl’s face. There was such rapture in feeling them tickle the skin between each digit, and he smiled like a lovesick teenager as he watched his mate close his eyes, equally enjoying the contact, and rubbing his face against the hands that held him. 

“I’ve missed you so much, my Darling,” Stolas softly whispered, and his eyes opened only a little as he looked at the imp that stood before him. There was a hunger in them that Blitzø knew all too well. 

“I’ve missed you, too. More than I could ever possibly express with words.”

“Then show me, my love,” the now gently blushing owl said with a smile and reached out to cup the burning cheek of his imp lover. Blitzø sighed at the contact as he had finally been given a glass of water after being denied refreshment for ages. He rubbed his face into that delicate black hand and then kissed the open palm reverently. Such warmth and that beautiful smell of his mate made every inch of Blitzø’s skin burn with hunger. He needed Stolas, and he needed him now. 

“Hey, pretty bird. Think you can do that thing again with our clothes?” the touch-starved imp asked and got a somewhat perplexed look. “You know, how you got them all off really fast?”

“As you wish, my love.” Stolas flicked his delicate hand, and the familiar tingling sensation overtook the imp. Next thing he knew, he was standing there, completely naked and hard as a fucking rock in front of his mate, who sat with such elegance and beauty that it made the hungry man ache and his knees feel like jello. There was something he wanted to do, needed to since their coupling at Fertalia, but they had been so lost in each other it had somehow escaped the lovesick imp. And he’s sworn to himself that the second he gets his hands on his mate, he will right this wrong. 

But first, the hands that held onto the feathery face of the fae owl slid around back and pulled the equally as lovestruck man’s face closer as Blitzø tilted his head so their mouths would fit perfectly together. Fuck, how he missed something as simple as kissing his sexy mate, and even his nightly imaginings had paled in comparison to the real thing. There was no way his memory could truly capture the amazing feelings coursing through his body as he continued kissing Stolas. His Stolas. His mate. 

When he felt the familiar pressure on his lips that told him his lover wanted to deepen the kiss, Blitzø did something unexpected. He pulled away and watched with an amused smile when his beloved bird’s mouth tried to follow, and then pouted so adorably at being denied more. The enraptured imp just chuckled and booped his sweet fae lover on his beak. “Patience, Stolas. I’ve waited six months for this. I am taking my time.”

“Six months,” the fae owl repeated, and something about that seemed odd at first to Blitzø, but the heat in his veins told him to push it to the back of his mind for now. He would find out how things had been for his beloved during their time apart, but only after he’d reconnected with his life partner over…and over…and over again. 

Dropping to his knees, Blitzø reached out to touch the rough, leathery skin of his beloved fae’s taloned feet. The first part of his much-anticipated chore begins here. He wanted to map this sexy owl’s body and commit each part to memory. Stolas seemed to understand and sat perfectly still as the hungry imp slowly slid his clawed fingers up each foot and into the feathers around his ankles. They were just as soft as the ones on Stolas’ face, and he heard his mate giggle a little from how the slow drag tickled him there. That was something the lovesick fool of an imp would log away for later moments when he wanted to be playful with his beloved. 

Inch by agonizing inch, Blitzø slowly slid his claws through the feathers on Stolas’ calves and knees. He wanted to feel each one as it danced across his palm, and the soft tickles brought tears to his eyes as they further cemented for the touch-starved imp that his mate had truly returned. Months of no contact, not knowing if Stolas would ever come back, had been agonizing, and some of the worst parts had been his friends not fully believing him when he shared the news that he had indeed found himself a mate during Fertalia. 

They had asked where the lucky man or woman was, and Blitzø tried to explain, as best he could, that his mate had to return home to settle some things with their family before they could return. That seemed highly unlikely, since imps were known to stay together once mated, and if his partner had needed to leave, it would have been understandable for Blitzø to travel with them to do so and either settle there or return to settle in Lunaris. But Blitzø had tried to cover for this by saying his mate insisted on doing it on their own, and that he had been left a love trinket so they could still feel close. Moxxie and Millie shared a concerned glance but said nothing further… for a while. 

At the third month mark, Blitzø’s resolve in his partner’s return had not wavered even an inch. Still, the Knolastnames had begun to suspect that this “mate” of their employee was more than likely someone who had used the lonely imp’s need for companionship against him and probably would never return to Lunaris. This would leave their friend in a bad way when the reality of being alone once more settled back in, and that made Millie decide to find a way to ease the blow of having lost what was supposed to be his forever partner. 

“Hey, B,” he could recall Millie calling to him after working hard in the field one day. “I got a delivery for you.”

“Who?” Blitzø had asked as she offered him a glass of ice-cold water. 

“Ms. Netherford.” Another newly arrived single lady in town has come to start her life anew after the loss of her parents. And the moment she had seen Blitzø at the Knolastname's stand, it seemed the lonely lady was determined to make him hers. The still weary imp had done his best not to be too rude to her when she kept coming by to flirt with him. And her flirting game was on point, for sure. Low-cut blouses. Skirts that hugged her curves to show she was definitely ripe for getting knocked up. And then the occasional brush against him, which was always an accident. Her latest attempt at trying to lure him into her home and bed had ended with him actually getting his ass slapped before she walked away. Blitzø had yelped as she was not trying to do so subtly or playfully. It had been a straight-on, ‘I’m trying to leave my mark’ kind of slap, and he’d rubbed the spot as she disappeared into the crowd. 

Usually, something like that would have sent the isolated imp into a frenzy. He would have followed her, not caring if he’d abandoned his post at the market, and probably not waited until they got to her place to pin her against something and fuck her until she couldn’t walk. His taste for sex in the open sex meant he had little to no shame. But now…now the slap had the exact opposite effect on him. It didn’t turn him on, but made him grumble as she had touched somewhere that only his mate was permitted to. And although he had made it clear he was no longer on the market for anyone in Lunaris, this woman seemed adamant to press her luck. 

Oh, he couldn’t wait until Stolas was back and would hear what Ms. Netherford had been up to. He had given everyone in the village a nasty, nightmare-like experience just for being mean to him. Imagine what a powerful fae owl would do when he knew that someone had touched his mate. 

“Mills, I’m not going over there.”

“Why not?”

“You know why.” Blitzø pushed past her and stepped onto the porch to get out from under the grueling Pentagram’s rays. “I’m not interested. I have a mate now.”

“Blitzø,” Millie said, trying to be understanding of his unique situation while also trying to help her friend, who she felt needed a serious wake-up call. “I don’t think they’re coming back.”

“He is.”

“How do you know?”

“He said he would.”

“But he hasn’t, hun. I think it’s time you come to face the truth. Whoever it was you thought you had mated was using you and is gone.”

Blitzø rarely ever looked at his dear friend and employer with anything other than gratitude and friendly companionship…but right now, he glared at her for doubting him and retreated inside the house. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, I do,” Millie continued, following him. “It’s been months now, Blitzø. Three to be precise. Mates are not supposed to be away from each other that long. It’s supposed to be literal agony for them to be apart like that.”

Blitzø set his glass down on the counter and turned to face her with his arms crossed. Her words weren’t untrue. Being without Stolas was the deepest pain he’d ever known. Even deeper than the night he’d lost his mother. Being with her had been hard, but being without his mate…it was like his heart was missing, and he wanted to claw out the hole where it should be so it could be put back inside. But he wouldn’t admit that to his friend, who was pushing him to do something he didn’t want to do at all for the sake of seeing him happy and not with a mate she didn’t believe existed. 

“Drop it, Millie,” he spoke in a tone that was a clear warning. “I’m fine, okay. And when my mate comes back, everything will be better.”

“Really?” the younger female imp moved to stand before him, crossing her arms in defiance. “Because I see how you are hurting. And you finding someone else, someone here that won’t abandon you, is what is best.”

“I’m not lonely,” Blitzø defended, but again, his friend didn’t believe him.

“Bullshit, Blitzø. You can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me.”

That had been the end of the argument as Blitzø had retreated to his room to sit and cool down, but also to hold onto his star and pray that his mate could hear him. Hear his call and know to return soon. It had taken three more months after that for Stolas to be here, and the hungry imp’s claws traveled dangerously up the sexy owl’s thighs. His thumbs were nearing the space between those feathery stems where he knew that delicious birdpuss was waiting, wet from the way he scented the room and could taste the mouthwatering musk. Oh, he would have his fill of that soon, but again, there was something more important he had to do.

“Blitzø…please,” Stolas nearly whimpered as he lay back on his hands and threw his head back, enjoying the slow rake of claws moving through his feathers. But when the thumbs moved at the last minute to avoid touching the area that was just as eager to be explored, instead of reaching for his hips, Stolas let out a groan of frustration and looked at his beloved. 

“Patience, pretty bird.” Blitzø reminded. “Lie back on the bed. There is something I need to do first.”

“Oh?” Stolas asked, almost panting, then crawled farther back on the bed to lie down as instructed. His beautiful ruby eyes stayed locked on his lover, who climbed onto the soft piece of furniture and straddled him so he was entirely over his lower half. “What is that, my love?”

“As my mate, I was supposed to mark you.”

“You did, didn’t you?” Stolas reached one of his delicate hands up to touch the part of his neck where Blitzø’s mouth had sunk his fangs into. The delicious fae lifted a few of the feathers there with the edge of his palm, and the desperate imp’s heart raced even faster as he saw the dark marks of bite were still there, though hidden. It had been a concern of Blitzø’s when he’d been alone in his room and wondering what this sexy fae avian was up to. Would the people in his world know he had been marked, or would it be gone, and they would disbelieve their fellow fae, just like Millie and Moxxie doubted him? But here was the proof, and the giddy imp smiled as his tail swished happily behind him.

“Yeah, but that’s not the only kind of mark I need to give you, pretty bird. I need to cover you in my scent, too. This way, anyone who comes within a few feet will be able to smell me on you and know who you belong with.”

“Oh my,” the fae avian said with a blush and a giggle. Satan-damn, that sound. It had goosebumps forming all over the horny imp’s skin. He wanted to blanket himself in that sound every night. Thankfully, the sweet former prince found his strange sense of humor titillating, so something told Blitzø it wouldn’t be hard to do. 

Starting just above the y-intersection of musk scented feathers, Blitzø placed his forehead and allowed the joy of feeling himself so connected with his mate to wash over him like a warm bubble bath. The feathers were little kisses spreading onto his skin, and he slowly began moving his head from side to side as he rubbed the spot his forehead had been with his entire face. The scent glands located on the imp’s jawline and behind around the she’s of his cheeks seeped out his scent and lightly coated the grey feathers with his smell. Having the combined flavors of magic, flowers, sweat, and something akin to cinnamon (his mama always said he was a spicy pepper) fill his nostrils, making his entire body shiver with pure ecstasy.

As his scent lingered, Blitzo could not help himself and kissed the mound just above the slit where his claws ached to part and dive into. But not yet. Not until every inch of this fucking sexy bird has been marked by him, so no one would ever guess that this was his mate. Stolas’ body tensed at the delicate touch, and had his lover’s legs not been planted firmly on either side of them, the equally aroused avian would have undoubtedly wrapped them firmly around the imp’s head, locking him there until only his tongue delving into that weeping core would have earned his freedom. 

A freedom he would never want if Blitzø had anything to say about it. 

Methodically, the desperate lover began moving inch by painstaking inch up the quivering owl’s body. This act of love and possession was affecting the fae under Blitzø as much as it was the imp himself. When the reverent stopped just a few inches up his lower abdomen, he felt he had found the very spot where his mate would swell with his pups. This would be the part of his skinny, sexy bird that would round and hold their children before they were ready to enter this world. A world that would only have a partial claim on them, as they would share the magical bloodline with the father who carries them. It was for them to discuss at some point, but not now. 

Blitzø continued to kiss the area reverently, as if paying homage to his god, which Stolas now was to him. Not only his mate but his reason for everything. His reason for getting up in the morning and working towards a better life for them. His reason to do what good he could in the community that was starting to embrace him more, so he could make his mate proud. Even the reason why the pentagram and moon rose and fell each day. Stolas was his everything, and he would be lost if he had truly stayed away as Millie had surmised. 

Stolas seemed to pick up on the revering act and reached down to glide his thin fingers along one of the hungry imp’s horns. Again, it made his tail swish and even snap as they slid around the back of his head and slotted themselves between the spikes there. The nails softly scratched the space, and Blitzø could not help the groan they drew out of him or how his spine arched him so he could press his skull further into that sacred palm. 

“Fuck,” he whispered, being drawn so deep into his lust that his soul was already burning. “You’re…you’re making me lose focus.”

“Do you wish me to stop?” the sexy fae asked, and Blitzø didn’t have to look up to hear the playful smirk that the question came out of. 

“Do it, and I’ll bite again. And not in a sexy way.• He enjoyed the chortle he got for his threat and continued to indulge for a little longer before going back to rub his scent all over his handsome owl. 

“I hope to one day give you children, my Darling.”

“One day?” the heated imp mockingly asked, but playfully, “If I have my way, you’ll always be full of my pups. You spend the rest of your life giving birth….or laying eggs? Whichever happens.”

“So many? Is that wise with us living within modest means?” 

Blitzø looked up as his mate, his chin resting in the soft grey pillows of Stolas’ stomach. For a moment, the question had almost sparked an adverse reaction. It nearly sounded like he didn’t want his mate’s young. That Stolas was going to try and get out of growing the family he had been dangling before the lonely imp’s eyes. But then a small part of Blitzø’s rational side of the brain spoke through the lustful fog, telling him that wasn’t what his pretty fae was saying. He wasn’t denying the idea of having children; he was just concerned about their ability to give them a good life. 

The tender-hearted imp quickly shuffled up his partner’s body so he could place both hands on either side of Stolas’ neck and stare straight in those red pools that he loves looking at. “You don’t need to worry about that. As your mate, it is my job to protect you and our family. And to provide for you all. Even if I have to work all the time at every farm and never sleep or eat, I will, Stols. I will be your shelter, and you will be my solace.” 

“Oh, Blitzy,” his pretty bird said through moist eyes. His smile seemed to stretch all across his face, and those sinfully soft hands grabbed his face and pulled him into a much-needed kiss. 

Their mouths aligned perfectly on the first attempt. It was as though they had been doing this for years, not just the few times over the past six months since they met. Already, their bodies were aligning without being told. They were already making the subtle changes that mates did so that they could move around each other perfectly. It was the thing that Blitzø had longed for the most when he began craving his true partner. Someone he could dance through life with and never miss a step. 

These feelings of completion came bubbling up to the top, and the emotional imp could not stop from hiccuping slightly into his beloved’s mouth as their tongues wound around each other. Blitzø immediately wanted to take it back, though when his mate pulled back from kissing and gave him a concerned once-over. 

“Darling, what is wrong?”

“Stolas,” he whimpered, and needing to feel even more of his beloved around him, fell flat onto the lithe fae, burying his face in the crook of the long neck and wrapping his arms around it as though it were the only thing saving him from drowning. Those thin arms wrapped around him, holding the sobbing man tightly, and the tail of the sad imp wrapped around one to further anchor him. Stolas allowed his lover to cry out his emotions for a few minutes until he was fit to speak again. “I’ve missed you so much.” 

“I’ve missed you-“

“No, you don’t understand.” Blitzø dared to look up into those dreamy red eyes that had two white dots in them that were pointed at him, but they didn’t deter him from speaking more. “I haven’t just missed you, Stolas, because I like being with you. I’ve missed you, my mate. Everything about you. Your feathers, your smile, your voice, your scent. Even your soul. Mine has been in agony without you for these past six months. Every step has felt like walking on shards of glass because you were not walking with me,  and each breath was not filled with you like a dagger in my heart.”

Stolas seemed to begin to understand the pure torture his departure had caused his mate, but Blitzø continued. “Please, Stolas, never do that again. Never leave me like that. Not even for a day. If you must go back there, you have to take me with you. I won’t survive being apart like this again.• 

“My love…if I took you back to my realm, you would not survive it either. The fae realm is full of tricks and dangers. You would be killed within the first few hours of arriving.•

“But I’d at least die with you beside me.” It was a morose endearment, yet filled with so much devotion and a need never to be left behind again, not like the members of his family, who had survived the fire. He would not be able to live without his mate, and if he had to die, it would be looking at the only reason he had to live anymore. 

“Blitzy,” Stolas practically whimpered as the exposed, raw emotions of his beloved’s words hit him like a stack of bricks. With unexpected urgency, the limber avian rolled them over, pinning the upset imp beneath him. The pressure of his mate’s weight pushing him into the soft mattress felt grounding, as did the kisses that were planted all over his face. “My Darling, I swear to you I will never leave you again. I am here to stay and shall be at your side, working just as hard to build our home for the family we desire. You need not do it alone anymore, my sweet mate. I am here to carry the load with you and shall give you the comforts you have promised me.”

These words were the final cannonball that made all the walls years of being the despised outcast of Lunaris disintegrate. No more did he need to shield himself, as he now had someone he could trust to care for him and keep him safe—something he had needed and been denied for so long. 

The kisses peppering his face began to move further south as those soft feathers whispered down his body. His lover was on the move and did not stop until his mouth was pecking tender devotion at the base of his throbbing, weeping member. 

“Stols,” he huskily whispered, and wanted to arch his groin up for more kisses, but a pair of delicate hands held his hips and kept them pinned to the bed with his uncanny fae strength. He did not appear to be capable of restraining the much more robust imp, but Blitzø couldn’t even move an inch to his frustration. 

“Patience, my love. Now I must mark you.” 

Blitzø gasped as his mate’s mouth slowly and softly kissed up the engorged flesh, being careful not to hurt him with the somewhat sharp point of his mouth. Then, when he reached the top, the warm breath of his beloved bird hit the sensitive flesh first, making him hiss before groaning as the sexy owl’s tongue playfully emerged and wrapped around it, sliding all the way down to the base.

“Fuck,” the touch-hungry imp cried out when the mouth attached to that tongue enclosed around his length and began sucking on it to increase the sensation. “Goddamn, Stols. I’m not gonna last like this.” 

Stolas pulled back with a grin, giving a satisfying pop as he stopped sucking on the sensitive muscle. “Well, then, I guess it is good we have forever to do as we wish.” 

Before the imp he was ensnaring could come up with a reply, the prim and proper former prince was back at it, lapping at his mate’s flesh and sucking on it while beginning to move his tongue head up and down in a slow bobbing motion. 

“Satan, fuck.” Blitzø’s legs were grabbed by those long fingers that were holding onto his hips and quickly thrown over narrow shoulders like he was putting on a shawl to fight the upcoming chill. The heated imp didn’t mind being manhandled like this as he enjoyed the rapture of his sexy fae’s mouth on him, driving him into a frenzied ecstasy. 

This reunion was better than anything Blitzø could have imagined in the months since their separation. True, sex was craved, but also the intimacy that could only come from opening oneself up completely to one's life partner. And here he was, open and utterly vulnerable to this magical man’s tongue. It traced one of the thicker veins running along the underside of the firm member in its mouth, as if coaxing it to release the salty fluids that were already seeping out in anticipation. 

“Stols, I…Ahh!” Blitzø was unable to hold it back any longer, mainly when that beautifully gray feathered head bobbed once, twice, and then went further down that it already had, pressing the sensitive flesh against a tight opening before relaxing his throat and taking it as far down it as he could. That was the final piece of the Stolas puzzle that fit so beautifully with his mate’s crazy one, and he was lost as his hips began to twitch with each sputter as it released all the months of pent-up passion the poor imp had been holding onto. He cried out his joy and rapture while burying his claws in the gray head feathers of his beloved bird, holding him there while his hips softly jutted upwards in small bursts to continue the stream of pleasure before he could take no more and collapsed against the bed. “Fucking Hell. That was…Goddamn.”

“Mmm, glad to know I can satisfy you thusly, my love.” The somewhat dizzy imp didn’t have to look down to know his partner was smirking with pride at having reduced the thick-skinned outcast of Lunaris into a mewling, simpering cat. Those beautiful, delicate feathers licked up the very sensitive skin of Blitzø as his mate moved up once more to claim his reward for doing such a good job: a very slow, languid kiss filled with so many promises. 

“I fucking love you, Stolas,” he was eventually able to say once he regained the ability to think again. The happy fae nuzzled his lover’s cheek and into his neck, lying down at Blitzø’s side so as not to lose contact. The contented imp pulled the happy owl’s head down to rest on his chest and ran his claws leisurely through the head feathers of his mate once more. “Give me a few minutes, and I’m gonna make you see stars too.”

“Take your time, my Darling. We have nowhere we need to be.” And that was true. They were out here, in this home that Stolas had obtained for them (which Blitzø planned on asking him about eventually), away from the other residents of Lunaris. There were no nosy neighbors for them to worry about, nor a call for them to be social with the other residents. And the only two who knew where he was were his employers and friends, the Knolastnames, since they had been the ones to send them on this errand. So for the next however long it took for a search party to be called for and assembled, there were just the two of them, him and his mate, alone in the whole world, and that felt like the best gift anyone could have ever given him. 

“Hey, Stols?”

“Yes, my love?”

“Tell me what your world is like.” Blitzø had been curious about it ever since meeting the handsome fae owl. The magical beings were a mysterious race, keeping their world closed off from the mortal realm that they both feared and played in. Not much was known of what their world looked like, except for the few mad rantings of those who had claimed to have been there and escaped fighting for their lives and freedom. It was hard to know what was real and what was delusional, but now he had someone from there as his mate and could ask these kinds of things. “You say you’ll never take me, so tell me what it’s like. Is it like our world?”

“Yes and no, Darling,” Stolas began to paint the picture of his former home. “The colors there are more vibrant, bluer blues and greener greens than what you have in your realm. And the stars are the ones that come down and kiss the plants with sparkling dew in the early mornings before the sun rises. Some go out to gather the dew to make potions or creams, intent on preserving their youthful appearance. And once the world is awake, it sings in a glorious harmony that could calm even the most threatening storms.”

“Sounds amazing.”

“It is, but for each beauty there is also a hidden danger. Many of the animals and plants there could harm those not used to their ways. Many a soul has found their way to our realm through various hidden doors only to be quickly gobbled up by a seemingly innocent-looking fawn whose tale hid a gaping maw.”

“Fucking Hell, Stols,” Blitzø remarked incredulously. “That’s crazy.”

“Yes, it is,” his beloved mate agreed. “The fae realm has many rules to keep it in order, but the first and most important rule is the one you must follow at all times.”

“And what is that?”

“The fae cannot be trusted.”

This rule was something he had once believed himself, having learned it from his own mother, who was fascinated by their kind. He could only imagine how she would have felt to have one in the family. But now, the rule felt odd. The fae cannot be trusted. How was that possible when he trusted the sexy owl that continued to lie with him on this amazingly comfortable grand bed? Was this his mate’s way of trying to scare him off? By making it seem as though Blitzø could never believe in the one person whom he should without any doubt or hesitation? For if you could not trust your mate, were they truly your mate to begin with?

“I do not mean to distress you, my love,” Stolas spoke softly, as he reached up to cup the side of his lover’s face and tilt it to look at him. “The rule is as it is in the fae realm. You already know that they are shifty, sly creatures who seek only to enhance their own lives and pleasures. I, however, swear to you now, my Darling Blitzø, that you can trust me.”

Blitzø just gazed at his sweet owl, and perhaps the lack of an immediate response made his mate worry that his previous words had caused some trouble between them already. Then, he watched as Stolas raised his hand and placed it on his heart. 

“I, Stolas, do here by swear to always be truthful and faithful to my mate, Blitzø. I, Stolas, do here by swear to always be truthful and faithful to my mate, Blitzø. I, Stolas, do here by-”

Blitzø was rolling them over so he could pin his beloved fae under him and kiss him with a deep passion that made the pretty bird swoon as the imp’s probing tongue ravaged his mouth. He did not need oaths spoken repeatedly to know that, although the rule might apply to the fae realm, it had no meaning here. He trusted his mate no matter what, even if there was a chance the sexy owl was lying to him. 

He would believe Stolas’s word even if he marched him outside right now and said the sky is red. It would be the most magnificent shade of red the young imp had ever seen before in his life. Or if Stolas told him that breathing was no longer necessary to live. Blitzø’s would immediately stop functioning as the only thing he would ever need to sustain himself was the man who lay beneath him now, wrapping his arms around the shoulders of the lovesick outcast who had finally found someone to share his existence with at last. 

“Blitzy,” Stolas sighed when the now hungry imp’s mouth abandoned his to trail kisses down his long neck as she shuffled further and further down his body. The original plan was a simple one: to return the incredible feeling he had been given when his beloved owl had gone down on him. But, once the tip of his throbbing member grazed the slickened feathers located between his mate’s thighs, oh, there was no hope of him doing anything other than quickly getting onto his knees so he could bury himself inside the moist heat of his true partner’s body. The pretty bird gasped out a song that made the spikes along Blitzø’s back fully extend and straighten, and his tail was firmly wrapping itself around one of those sinfully decadent thighs he had missed grabbing a hold of. 

Feasting on his mate would have to come later, as now he needed to do more than make his lover writhe on his tongue. No, he needed to see his reasoning for living being broken apart and put back together in the beautiful way that their bodies met over and over again when he began slowly but firmly pumping himself in and out of that slickened opening. 

“Goddamn,” Blitzø raggedly spoke in a way that was a mix between a sigh and a whimper. “Fuck, baby. I wanna fill you up so badly.”

“Do it, my love. Fill me up. Claim me again.”

The heated imp lowered his face to rub it in the feathers on his mate’s stomach, enjoying how they whisped across his burning flesh as they continued their intimate dance. “Do you want that? Want me to claim you again?”

“Yes. Again and again for all time.”

“Oh really?” The roaring fire in his belly told Blitzø that he was done ‘testing the waters’ and now it was time to let go as he pulled his hips back just enough so the tip of his member was almost entirely out of the wet opening before driving back in with the force of a desperate man. “Ah, Blitzy.”

“Like that, pretty bird? Want me to do it again?”

“Yes, please,” the equally hungry fae practically begged, and his lover was happy to comply, shoving himself even harder. The sound of the bed they lay upon squeaking at the imp’s mighty thrust had him smiling like a damn cat with such glee. He was truly showing this bed and this bird who his body now belonged to. 

The hands that had been holding him up shifted, leaving him to support himself on his elbows. This freed up his hands that could now cradle and stoke the slender waist of his mate. Blitzø buried them both under the pretty bird’s back and pressed up, making him arch slightly, and his insides tilted in a way that had the hungry lover moaning as well with how it angled them both as he continued to drive himself harder into his beautiful fae. 

“Oh, Blitzø. This is…I feel…”

“Me, Stols,” he mostly spoke in a lower register, borderline growl. “You can only feel me, moving inside of you, marking you as my mate.”

“Yes, Blitzy. Claim me as yours.”

“I already have, pretty bird,” Blitzø smirked as he pushed the spine of his lover up so he would tilt even more. Stolas squealed in pleasure as he was forced to rest the top of his head on the mattress. His hands were pressed against the headboard, trying to add even more resistance as the ravenous imp roughly staked his claim once more. “Mine.Mine.Mine.”

“Yours, my love. I am yours. Ah.” 

“That’s it. That’s it. Fuck, I can feel you tightening.”

“I’m so close, Darling. I can feel you about to fill me up.”

“Is that what you want? Tell me.”

“Yes, Blitzø. Fill me up. Give me your pups.”

That fucking word again had Blitzø ‘s vision blurring both with tears and with intense pleasure as his balls tensed and began shooting load after load into his mate. And the way those walls gripped him tightly so it could keep what he gave from slipping out…it was enough to make a sane man go mad and a mad man become sane. Blitzø continued to thrust through his and his lover’s mutual ecstasy, both of them riding the high of their union before collapsing as sweaty, panting messes onto the bed.

“Mmm, Blitzy. That was…”

“Yeah,” the once more dizzy imp agreed, not needing to hear the rest as he could feel the sentiment of pure bliss radiating from his beloved owl and knew that was what he was unable to vocalize. The two of them looked at each other, grinning happily, before Stolas helped to drag his shorter mate back up so they could be face-to-face and kiss once more. 

This dance of words and passionate displays continued well into the night and early the next morning. They would kiss and cuddle after a rather vigorous act of lovemaking, for that was what it truly was, before something would set one of them off, and they were once more trying to merge their bodies into a single flesh. Blitzø began to suspect that his member was spewing anything it could find as orgasm after orgasm was pumped from him and into his mate. After the tenth one, Stolas decided that they required proper rest if they were going to continue in this manner. Blitzø didn’t fight it, instead burrowing himself deep in those silky feathers and holding onto the soft fur that he remembered having held onto once before. It was the perfect spot for him to pass out quickly so he could get up and ravage his pretty fae some more. 

He had managed to get a few hours' rest before it was interrupted by the sound of banging on the front door, followed by soft murmurs. Blitzø opened his eyes, and the first thing he noticed was that his mate wasn’t with him any longer. The sexy owl had slipped out of the bed, which could only mean… Panic gripped the now fully alert imp, who quickly pulled on his pants and headed through the closed bedroom door. That panic was heightened even more when he recognized all three voices that were coming from the other side.

“Guys,” he nearly squeaked out as he opened the door to find the Knolastnames standing in the shabby living space of the cottage he was in, and a woman whom he at first didn’t recognize but then recalled was the impsona his beloved fae was using so as not to freak out people. Blitzø quickly moved to her side, placing his arm possessively around her waist. “What are you two doing here?”

“Blitzø, there you are,” Moxxie said with a sigh of relief. “See, Millie. I told you he was okay. We thought something might have happened to you.”

“Why? I was just delivering that stuff you gave me. So it took a little longer than usual.”

“Yeah, over a full day,” Millie retorted as she stood there with her hands on her hips, clearly annoyed. Blitzø turned towards one of the few windows in this room and could see some light outside, though it was already starting to give way to darker tones, meaning night would soon be upon them again. Had the hungry imp not spent horse properly ravishing his pretty bird, he would have been suspected here for only a short while and not a whole day. 

“Oh, shit. Sorry, guys. Didn’t mean to worry you.”

“Well,” Millie drawled and pulled back on her anger at having worried over her carefree friend. “At least you’re alive. And with… I’m sorry. I don’t think we got your name, hun.”

“Oh, it’s Stolas,” the kind woman he stood next to offered with a smile. That was clearly a boy's name, but it wasn’t unheard of for women to be given more masculine-sounding names if their fathers had been praying for one and ended up with a girl instead. Ah, the joyfully backwards thinking of Lunaris. But at least with his pretty bird giving his actual name and not some made-up one, Blitzø wouldn’t have a hard time remembering what to call his beloved when they were around people. “And you must be the two who took in my dear Blitzy. Millie and Moxxie, right?”

“Yeah, that’s us,” Moxxie said sheepishly and then grinned mischievously. “How do you know Blitzy?” 

Oh, he was gonna regret mocking the imp’s special nickname from his beloved fae. Blitzø would see to that. 

“He’s my mate,” Stolas offered. “We met during mating season.”

“Wait, you? You’re his mate?” Millie asked incredulously. “You’re the one who fucking left him alone after mating him?”

“Um, yes?” The female imp at Blitzø’s side was clearly growing nervous as the fiercer female began to tense and huff, the person she had first denied existed but now knew for a fact was real, being right in front of her, and she could vent her anger at them. 

“What in Heaven is wrong with you?!” Millie nearly screamed. 

“Millie, honey, you need to calm down,” her husband cajoled as he reached out to grab her arm, which she pulled away from him. 

“Mills, back off,” Blitzø also said, offering her a fair warning but moving so he was partially shielding his mate. If she wanted someone to fight with, then it would be him and now his mate, that was for sure. But Millie didn’t make a move to start throwing punches or even claw at the stranger in the room, nor did her eyes ever leave the somewhat trembling woman he stood in front of. 

“Do you have any idea of the pain you put this man through? How bad it got while you were off doing Satan only knows what? Blitzø was beyond lost, and it fucking hurt to see my best friend nearly falling apart every moment of every day because you didn’t have the decency to either stay here or take him with you. And what the Heaven was so damn important that you had to go? Hmm? Tell me.”

“Mills, I mean it. Back off!”

“No, she needs to know how bad she hurt you. How shitty she was and how royally fucked up it was of her to do that to her mate after your first night together.”

A sniffle came from behind Blitzø, and he quickly whirled around to see the woman’s eyes filled with tears. Her lips were pulled tight and trembling as the words of his best friend hit her like a ton of bricks. Seeing his mate in such distress had the young imp pulling her into his arms and holding her close like his very reason for existing was about to fade away once more. 

He couldn’t love him. Not again. 

“Shh. Shh, Stols. It’s okay. It wasn’t that bad,” Blitzø spoke soothingly, ignoring the scoff from Millie, who was clearly not appeased with how badly her words had hurt the woman he held. 

“Oh, Blitzø. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. Had I known, I…”

“Hey, it’s okay. How could you have known? It’s not your fault.”

“Something is off here,” Millie said again, and Blitzø kept his back to her as he continued to hold and rock his beloved Stolas, trying to soothe her. His tail wrapped around the one that hung limply behind the woman as her arms came to encircle his waist.

“Yeah, Moxxie voiced as well, as though he was pondering something that was alluding him. “This place is…odd.”

Blitzø gulped a little at their words. These two were very perceptive, probably the most he had ever seen in his entire life. And it was no wonder they were picking up on signs that told them this house and the woman inside were not what they seemed. He knew that eventually they would tell the Knolastnames the truth about Stolas and what he actually was, but the young imp had hoped to have some more time before then, so they could get to know the man/woman he loved and would be dedicating his life to. 

But things rarely went the way they were supposed to, and so, with a sigh, he pulled back the weeping woman and tilted her chin up so she was forced to look at him. “You should show them.”

“Blitzø?” his mate asked, uncertainty clearly in her voice as she peered at the two imps behind him. “Are you sure?”

“It’s the only way Millie will understand why you had to leave.”

“But…can we trust them?” the concerned lady asked, and Blitzø nodded. 

“I trust them. Do you trust me?”

“Of course, my love.” The female imp he held slowly slipped from his arms. He looked at the Knolastnames equally, seeing their confused expressions at the strange exchange they had just heard between their friend and this woman who claimed to be his lost mate. Stolas closed his eyes, resigning himself to doing what he was clearly very nervous about, but then relinquished the form, much as he had the day before when he had brought Blitzø into their new home, and revealed his true self.

Seeing the way Moxxie and Millie’s eyes both widened in shock and wonder at this tall, leggy owl fae that now stood before them was priceless. Especially when Moxxie’s eyes then rolled into the back of his head, and he fell backwards onto the floor from sheer and utter shock. If Millie had noticed her husband fainting, she didn’t show any outward reaction but continued to stare in disbelief at what she was seeing. Then, she gave a small holler and bounced on her hooves.

“I knew there had to be a reason why you left,” she immediately spoke giddily. Stolas gave her a small smile, most likely still feeling bad for having done that and not realizing what it would have put his mate through. Blitzø refused to hold it against the pretty bird and instead slid those slender digits between his own and grasped them with all the love he had for the sexy owl. This act of care seemed to remind his best friend that he was still here, and she reached out towards him. He thought he was about to get a hug, or maybe an apology for having doubted his mate’s existence, but instead, that hand turned into a mighty fist and roughly punched the imp man’s shoulder hard. 

“Ow!” he yowled. “What the fuck, Mills?”

“You!” she chided him, her irritation having clearly been shifted from Stolas to the one who he stood by. “Why in Satan’s name didn’t you tell me your mate was a…a…what are you, sweetheart?”

“Um, fae,” Stolas provided. “Goetia far too be more specific. We are a noble line of avian fae who have ruled-”

“Yes, yes, bird fae,” Millie cut him off, clearly not needing to know all the specifics as she addressed her friend and employee. “A bird fae, Blitzø. You could have told me that.”

“Yeah, uh-huh, right. And you would have TOTALLY believed me if I had said that. You already thought he didn’t exist.”

“Because I was applying imp logic to him. Not fae logic. If you had said ‘I mated a fae bird, and he’s gone back to his world for…whatever reason’, I would have believed you then. It would have made more sense, what with them being all mysterious and stuff.” 

Blitzø didn’t really care for the weird impression his best friend did of him, but said nothing as he heard his mate trying to stifle a chuckle behind one of his feathered hands. Oh, he would pay for that later. “Sorry, Mills, okay? You already knew I was a weirdo for being looked down upon in the village. Didn’t need you thinking I was losing my marbles, too.”

“It’s okay, B,” Millie eventually said with a slight eyeroll and then turned back to Stolas. “Welcome to Lunaris, Stolas.”

“Thank you,” the somewhat shy bird said with a smile. He was clearly not expecting to be so openly welcomed, but Blitzø had not once doubted that the Knolastnames would embrace his mate once they learned the truth. 

“Well, I had best get Moxxie back home. He’ll need to be reassured he didn’t dream this.” Millie bent over to pick up her husband, throwing him over her shoulder like the boss ass queen she was. Blitzø quickly grabbed the door and opened it for her. He knew Moxxie was gonna have a ton of questions for her and him when he did come too, but that was a later problem. Once they were across the threshold, Millied turned back to look at him with a mischievous grin and, in a lower register, said to her best friend. “Have fun, you two.”

Blitzø just winked at her and was joined by his mate as they watched her heading back towards their farm with her mate in tow. Stolas offered a sweet, “She seems nice. Perhaps we should have offered to help take him back for her.”

“Nah, she’s good,” the happy imp said as he leaned against the door he still held open. “Besides, it’s not time yet.”

“For what, Darling?” his sexy owl fae asked and blushed at the seductive grin he got from the suddenly hungry again imp he had been left alone with once more. 

“Still got another day before I’m letting you set foot outside this house.” 

As the door slammed shut behind him, Blitzø grabbed his mate much in the way that his best friend had just carried hers back towards the bedroom where he was determined to finish out the remaining twenty hours he had left on the forty-eight he’d set aside to welcome his long lost prince back properly. By the time he was done with Stolas, the giggling owl wouldn’t remember his own name. 

Blitzø would then happily remind him what it was about to become: Stolas Buckzo.