Fae Collector Read online

  Copyright © 2018 Noah Fox.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication, including the cover, may be used, copied, or reproduced by any electronic or non-electronic means or methods, or in any form or format whatsoever, without consent from the owner of this copyrighted material.

  This is a writing of fiction. All names, places, events, people, characters, and unintentional likenesses are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious.

  1

  “I’m starting to think political science was a poor choice of major,” Axel said. His legs were cramping up as he hunched over three open textbooks on the floor of his dorm room next to one cold cup of ramen that smelled like cheap teriyaki.

  “You can do this,” Holly said. She sat on the floor next to him, her legs tucked neatly beneath her body while her palms pressed against the coarse carpet that covered the room from edge to edge. She leaned slightly forward, but turned her gaze away from the highlighted pages and toward Axel instead.

  “It’s just so much information to cram before a final,” Axel said. “I should have started—”

  “Earlier than a day before?” Holly asked. “Yep, but we studied like this for midterms and everything was fine. Besides, we’re in this together. That’s what counts, right?”

  Axel smiled. He knew why he picked poli sci, and he’d do it again in a heartbeat. Holly Barnes had been his best friend and unrequited crush since she moved into his neighborhood as a kid, and if he was totally honest with himself — which he always was — he followed her here to Rockling City College to pick whatever major got him a chance at staying by her side.

  There was something magical about Holly, something powerful and alluring. It wasn’t just the way her hips swayed when she walked slowly and confidently across campus or the short, colorful skirts that hugged her tight, toned ass. It wasn’t just the perfectly round, pert breasts that sat high on her chest or the low-cut shirts she wore as a fuck-you to all the catcalling guys she refused to acknowledge.

  No, it was the way she relaxed around him, the way she trusted him and let down her guard. Her skin was smooth and bright, made more radiant when she skipped the makeup and pulled on a bright white T-shirt. She hunkered down on the dorm room floor with cheap noodles, a thermos full of dining hall coffee, and endless patience for a boy whose eyes spent less time rereading textbooks and more time stealing glances at the tight cotton shirt that stretched to its limits across her ample chest.

  Axel smiled while Holly tucked a long strand of blonde hair behind her ear. Moments like this only existed in private, when Holly felt safe. That’s what Axel was. Safe. He needed to get out of the friend zone one day, but today, he needed to cram.

  “Holly, Holly, oxen-free,” someone said from the open doorway. Axel looked up and took a deep breath.

  “Craig,” Holly said. “We’re a little busy here.”

  “I’ll keep you busy, mama,” he said. “Come to my room, take a break.”

  Only a self-important “star” athlete like Craig would have the brashness to walk into some other guy’s dorm room and hit on the girl he was with.

  Holly’s eyes trailed down Craig’s body. Axel could see she was thinking about it, thinking about all the muscles Axel didn’t have and all the bravado Axel couldn’t muster. Craig was a newcomer, a transfer student on a full scholarship who brought their school its only few wins this season.

  Craig stepped into the room. Axel wanted to stand up and tell the guy to get lost, but his legs didn’t move and his mouth didn’t open. Holly stared defiantly at the jock as he stepped right up to the three books that formed a wall too low to hold back this invasion.

  “What is this shit?” Craig asked.

  “Political science,” Axel said. “It’s for our War and Revolution class.”

  “I didn’t ask you, asshole,” he said. He kicked the spine of one book with his boot, knocking the edge of its hard cover into the styrofoam cup of ramen and tipping it over. Axel pulled the books away from the spreading pool of limp noodles and sauce that started to seep into the rug.

  Craig, meanwhile, crouched down by Holly, spreading his legs as he rested on the balls of his feet. “Let a real man show you how to spend a night,” he said. “Come on.” He reached his hand toward Holly’s cheek as she turned away to avoid his touch.

  Something inside Axel welled up, a burning sensation that started in the pit of his stomach and spread to his lungs, his arms. His fingertips were tingling a moment later when he said, “She said ‘no.’ Back off.”

  “Excuse me?” Craig said, looking amused.

  “Leave her alone and get the fuck out of my room.”

  Craig stood, then planted his foot on the open pages of a textbook. “And who are you to boss anyone around?” He twisted his sneaker against the pages, forcing them to crinkle and crackle. He ground the book into the floor like he was snuffing out a cigarette butt.

  “That’s enough,” Holly said. “Just get out of here, jerkoff.”

  “I will,” Craig said, “but I’ll be thinking of you the whole time, baby.” He gestured, feigning masturbation before he left Axel’s room, slamming the door shut behind him. Holly’s eyes lingered on the closed door.

  “You want me to go beat him up?” Axel asked. Please say no, he thought.

  “Not unless you have some secret powers I don’t know about,” she said. Her eyes bore into Axel’s for a moment, confusing him.

  “I wish,” he said.

  “Then no,” she replied. “Don’t bother with Craig. He’s a meathead, all muscle and no sense.”

  “If you did want to go see him,” Axel said, “I’d understand. He’s a football player after all. I’d still be here studying when you got back.”

  Holly laughed. “You think I’m into that idiot? No way. But I could use a little break from all these books.” She put her hand on Axel’s knee and he tensed up immediately. Still, he felt the blood rush south. Wishful thinking, no doubt.

  “The dining hall stays open all night during exams,” he said. “We could take a walk, top off our coffees.”

  “No,” she said. “There are too many reports of students being mugged at this hour — or worse. And I’m not at all tired, are you?” Axel was sitting cross-legged on the floor, so when Holly’s hand started to move up, past his knee and slowly up his thigh, it wasn’t far to go before she’d reach the growing erection trapped painfully against his clothing.

  He wished he weren’t wearing jeans. The thick denim absorbed most of Holly’s touch, leaving only the pressure of her fingers against his leg with none of her warmth.

  “I’ve got my old PS3 here somewhere,” he said. His voice was on the verge of panic.

  “Lie back,” she said.

  Axel wasn’t sure what was going on. His arms reached backward, propping up his torso as he stretched his legs across the floor. Something slimy and wet seeped into his lower pant leg, but he ignored it. A teriyaki stain was a small price to pay for whatever was coming next.

  Holly climbed on top of Axel, her short, colorful skirt riding up her legs as the insides of her thighs rested against the outside of Axel’s hips. Now he felt it, the warmth of her body, filtering through his jeans and heating up his skin.

  “Holly,” he said. “I—”

  “Tell me something,” she said, still sitting on top of him, her hands bracing against the floor for support. “A memory. A big one.”

  “Oh,” Axel said. “Like what?”

  “About your mom this time,” she said.

  “This time?” he asked.

  “You don’t have to,” she added.

  “No, it’s okay.” Axel’s parents had died in a carjacking when he was nine, and while the pain of losing them stil
l crept into his mind at almost random times, it was a dull ache that he learned to live with. His memories of them were still vivid though, and they always made him smile.

  “I’ve got one,” he said. “You remember how I was afraid of heights as a kid, right?” He glanced at the ceiling to avoid staring right down Holly’s shirt — the view was spectacular, but it didn’t feel like the right backdrop for a story about his mother.

  “More afraid than you are now?” she asked.

  “Much,” Axel said. “It took four consecutive birthdays, about a hundred godforsaken rollercoaster rides, and one unrelentingly patient mother. She would drag me to Action Land on every birthday, just the two of us, and she promised me that with each terrifying plummet, with each upside-down loop at mach speed, the wind would shake more and more of the fear out of my bones.

  “ ‘That’s where fear lives,’ ” she would say, “ ‘in the bones. But you can blow it out like a birthday candle if you know the trick to it.’

  “ ‘What’s the trick?’ I’d ask, every year. I knew the answer, but it had become a ritual.

  “ ‘Breathe the wind,’ ” she’d say. “ ‘Not just the air, but the wind. That’s how you conquer the fear of falling. Become something that cannot fall.’

  “I always dreaded those trips, but she was right. The time to face your fears is when you’re too young to know any better. And funnel cake helps.”

  “I thought you loved those trips,” Holly said.

  “I did, in a way,” Axel replied. He loved them more now that they were memories. “I was also embarrassed. So I had a phobia, so what? Lots of people do. My mother was adamant about rollercoastering this one out of me.”

  Holly still sat on top of Axel, straddling his waist and listening with rapt interest. Humoring him, probably. As he stared into her eyes, there was a look of something unfamiliar there too. Doubt? Guilt? Axel was an idiot. Whatever that story was, it had killed the mood entirely.

  “See,” Holly said. “I can’t take that away. Your mother was teaching you something. You may need it one day.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked. There was a familiarity to this odd exchange, an almost déjà vu.

  Holly brushed Axel’s cheek with the back of her hand. “I want you,” she said. “I always have, and it all just breaks my heart.”

  “I want you too,” he said.

  “I know, but it’s complicated,” she said. “Can we make love?”

  Make love, he thought. That’s what it would be. Not the cheap sex that cretin Craig wanted from her. I’ve waited my whole life for this.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Even if you won’t remember it in the morning?” she asked.

  “I’d remember it for the rest of my life,” he said. “I’ve never… It would be my first time.”

  She smiled at him, warmly but tinged with sadness. “It would sure feel like it. But I need to know that you still want this, even if you’ll forget.”

  “I want this,” he said.

  She leaned forward and her long hair fell like a blonde waterfall around his face. She smelled like lavender and vanilla, then she pressed her lips against his. He leaned back, guiding their bodies toward the floor together.

  Axel’s hands wanted to touch every place at once, but he worked hard to slow himself down. He started at Holly’s hips, then ran his hands down, cupping her tight, firm ass and giving it a slight squeeze through the fabric of her skirt. She pressed her pelvis forward, grinding it against Axel’s, rubbing gently against his pants. He moved with her, teasing his body against hers through their clothes.

  Holly pulled her shirt off, revealing a lacy white bra before leaning forward to kiss Axel again. His hands trailed up her bare back until he found the clasp to her bra, and he fumbled for a minute to unhook it, pinching his fingers together at different angles until he released the tiny hooks that kept the whole garment in place. The straps fell toward Holly’s sides and she pulled the thing off her, freeing her large breasts.

  Axel leaned up from the floor long enough to yank his cotton T-shirt up and off. Holly hiked her skirt up while he did that, then leaned forward again, pressing her ample chest against Axel’s as they lay flat together on the dorm room floor.

  He loved the way her large, plump breasts pillowed against his body, but he couldn’t see them from that angle. Couldn’t tease her hard nipples with his tongue or taste her skin. He wanted to take his time to admire every inch of her perfect shape, but her pacing was urgent and her desire for him unbridled.

  “I never knew,” he said, but Holly kissed him again, stopping him from speaking at all. Instead, he reached down and unbuttoned his jeans, tugging them as far down his hips as he could at that angle, then reached under Holly’s skirt. She wore nothing underneath it.

  Axel’s hand caressed the inside of Holly’s thigh until he reached her sex. She was already slick with excitement, but he didn’t want to seem too eager. He wanted her to enjoy this, to know it wasn’t just sex to him, it was her that he wanted.

  He traced her most sensitive parts with his thumb, searching for a spot at their apex that she’d like. When Holly pulled back from their kiss and let out a quick gasp of pleasure, he knew he’d found it. He’d never seen her face like this, her cheeks flush with desire, biting her lower lip to keep some semblance of control as her body lost it. His erection throbbed harder knowing he did this to her. He made her wet and wanting.

  Holly reached down next and curled her fingers around his shaft. For a moment, he thought only about her touch. About her warm, soft fingers and the slight pressure of her grip against him. Then, she guided his length until it slowly entered her core.

  The sensation was warm and smooth, and for a man who had never had sex before, entirely incomparable. Something deep inside his mind took over, an instinct that set his pelvis in motion, rocking upward and deeper into the woman that straddled him.

  Holly arched her back as Axel made love to her, leaning her upper body away from his.

  There they were, her pale white breasts, beautiful and large. He leaned forward and kissed one, starting on the inside of her breast and trailing kisses toward its peak. He swirled his tongue around it, eliciting a moan from Holly that vibrated through this own body. He licked at her, flicking his tongue against her erect nipple, turning her moan into a whimper.

  The motion of Holly’s hips rising and falling against his pelvis forced her breasts to bounce, higher and harder the faster she moved. Her breath came in quick bursts now, Axel starting to grunt with the force of each thrust. Then Holly took over, pressing her hands against Axel’s chest and rolling her hips forward and back, forward and back, taking Axel’s length deep into her body, then sliding away from him again, almost all the way, before thrusting them into union again.

  Her skin prickled with goosebumps as her body neared completion. Her fingers sank further into his skin, her chin tucked closer toward her chest, and her sex tightened around him, her muscles pulling him closer and threatening never to let him go.

  Her excitement put Axel over the edge. He thrust upward involuntarily, climaxing at the same time Holly did. Their bodies continued to pulse and heave a few moments more, drawing the last few strokes of pleasure from each other before they quieted, satisfied.

  He took a deep breath then as she rolled to the side and lay next to him on the floor, pulling her skirt back down so that it reached mid-thigh again.

  He just stared at the ceiling, amazed. Everything about that moment had been perfect — everything except the cheap, rough carpet under them and the lingering smell of the spilled ramen that soaked through the rug. But Holly’s soft lips, her gentle touch, and her impeccable timing made his first time a sensual and well-choreographed dance, not the awkward shuffle he expected from his virgin self. It was like their bodies had already known exactly what to do.

  Axel reached his arm out, looping it under Holly’s neck before looking back up and away. He didn’t want to ruin th
is moment with a reminder of his own arm, lanky and weak. His skinny wrists and bony chest were always an embarrassment, even more so now that star quarterback Craig Botkin had blown through here without much of a challenge.

  “Axel,” Holly said. She leaned onto one side as he stared at the ceiling. She touched his face, her forefinger rubbing against his temple.

  He turned toward her. “Holly, that was—”

  “Memorable,” she said. “I know. Good night, Axel.”

  Something sparkled a brighter green inside her already emerald eyes when she said that, and Axel felt a crushing wave of tiredness wash over his entire body. He wanted to say “good night” back, but his tongue was heavy and numb. Then, with the lights still on and his pants still unbuttoned, he fell into a deep and instant sleep.

  2

  Holly Barnes looked around the messy dorm room after Axel’s eyes shut and his body relaxed against the carpet. The boy’s laundry was in a heap in the corner, books and food sat haphazardly in their study space on the room’s floor, and an odor hung in the air. Sex, of course, and ramen, but something else. Something undefinably male.

  She cracked a window to help air the room out and thought about cleaning, but decided not to. The more left untidied and unexplained, the better. She fixed her hair and her clothing in a small mirror that sat on Axel’s dresser, then sneaked out, locking the doorknob behind her as she pulled the door shut.

  Axel would be fine, but now her real studying could begin.

  When she looked back on that night, she’d wish she had gotten some sleep before a morning that would change everything. She’d wish for a shower, and clean clothing, and a chance at a square breakfast. She didn’t know anyone that granted wishes though, and while there were a lot of things she could do to help herself, altering the past wasn’t one of them.

  3

  Craig Botkin paced back and forth in his room. It was a minute past midnight. That was one minute past the time his benefactor promised to call. It was also one minute less he would have for scouting out a hookup for the night. One by one, these college girls would go to bed and he’d be left to… fend for himself.