Chapter 19:

Together

Pixie


Their lips met shyly, apologetically at first. Then he demanded more.

Poppy sharply inhaled as the prince smashed his mouth against hers. It was a kiss of need, not just want, and they both instinctively knew what their bodies needed. What they’d both been deprived of for various reasons.

His lips forced hers open and she was startled by the sweep of his tongue against her mouth. Poppy almost felt challenged by his forwardness, so she returned it with force. She deepened the kiss and felt him flinch against her. Satisfaction swelled within her.

Then, without warning, Kai stood. Poppy looked up at him, eyes wide and lips swollen. “What are you--ACK!”

The prince lifted her from the chair and gently carried her like breakable glass. Poppy clung to his arms and shirt as he walked into the sitting room and set her onto the couch. So carefully, he moved around her. It made her heart ache. She also wanted to show him just how unbreakable she was.

Their mouths found each other again and this time Poppy was insistent. She pulled at his buttons and fumbled with them until each and every one came loose. When she ran her hands across his bare chest, he shuddered beneath her touch.

Kai released her mouth and began kissing along her jawline, working in a pattern all the way to her neck. An embarrassing sound escaped her when he left a wet kiss along her collarbone and she turned a deep shade of crimson.

The prince felt her hesitation and pulled back. He placed his hands on either side of her face and looked into her. The crisp green of his eyes had almost been wholly swallowed by the blacks of his pupils. The sight made Poppy’s stomach churn.

“It’s okay,” he assured her, his voice a throaty rasp. “Everything you do attracts me.”

Poppy’s lip wobbled and she couldn’t take him looking at her any longer, so she pulled his face towards her own. They continued kissing like that for a long while, their clothes slowly falling around them like discarded leaves.

When the prince’s hands began exploring beneath his borrowed shirt she wore, she began to pull up at its soft hem. Kai held her hands in place. “Are you sure?” he said, breathing uneven. “If we go any further, I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold back.”

They stared at each other and Poppy jerked her head. “I want this. With you.” Her voice was near inaudible, but the prince nodded.

He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. “That makes me overjoyed to hear, Poppy.” He caressed the side of her face and she leaned into it, closing her eyes for a moment.

“I don’t think I’ve told you how much you mean to me,” he said and pulled her in for a tight embrace. She could feel his heartbeat pounding through his chest and their remaining clothes. It was deep-sounding and powerful. “I want you to stay by my side forever, Poppy.”

The way he said her name was like a prayer, how attentively he spoke it. It came so easily to him now, yet it sounded so out of the ordinary to Poppy. It’d been a very long time since she’d heard her own name spoken out loud. Now that she was hearing it on an everyday basis, she couldn’t quite describe her elation, or her fear.

Yes, she was indescribably happy to have him know her. To say her name. However, there was still that fear. Everyone else who’d known her had left her, so why wouldn’t he? Even those related to her by blood had escaped.

Poppy had started trembling without noticing it and the prince tensed against her. “What is it? Are you hurt?” he asked, worry instantly soaking into his words.

She shook her head and took a shuddering breath, trying to gather her words.

He pulled back and looked at her face. Quickly studied her for injury. “Was it something I said?”

“No,” she got out. “No, it’s not you. I’m just--” she wiped her face.

“Poppy?”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“Sweetie, I’m half naked in front of you right now. You shouldn’t fear being embarrassed with me.”

Poppy sighed and got herself back to rights. He was correct, after all, and she was being selfish for ruining the moment.

“I’m afraid you’ll leave me,” she said in a small voice.

Kai watched her expressions and shook his head before pulling her close once more. “Silly. You actually think I’d let you get away.”

Her voice was muffled against his chest but she tried anyway: “But that’s not what I--”

“I’m not going anywhere and neither are you,” he assured her, his chin resting atop her head. “We’re this far in and you actually think I’d be able to go back to how I was before you fell into my sitting room? Before I caught you in the kitchens? We’re far beyond our previous normalcies.

“What amazes me the most, however, is that you still think I’d be the one to leave you. It’s outrageous, really.” He sighed. “You’d be the one to leave me, anyway.”

“What?” Poppy said to his chest.

He squished her tighter. “Enough with your nonsense,” he demanded. “Let your fears be realized for what they are: redundant. It’d be impossible for me to leave you. Whether you take my word for it or not is up to you, but I can try to make you believe for as long as I am able.”

“As long as you’re able?” she said, having freed her head from his overbearing embrace.

“Well, until I tire,” he said with mischievous eyes. “I plan to assure you until exhaustion wears me out, Poppy.”

Something about the sparkle in his eyes made her wary.

“Maybe you didn’t drink enough water,” Poppy scrambled. “I’ll go get you a glass.”

She moved to stand, but didn’t get far before Kai grabbed her waist and pulled her back down onto his lap. “Hey!” she exclaimed.

He wrapped his arms around her stomach, leaving no room for escape. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“But I ruined the mood with my babbling,” she said while looking at the ceiling.

“Ruined the mood?” He let Poppy fall sideways so suddenly she was laying down and he was positioned atop her, just centimeters from touching. “Is that what you think?”

He leaned down and planted kisses along her collarbone. Poppy’s breath hitched as he reached for her hem and lifted the shirt in a quick maneuver. With her skin exposed like this, goosebumps quickly formed, and Kai watched as they did.

Poppy covered her mouth with the back of a hand. “Stop looking at me.”

“You’re free to look at me too, you know,” he said. “But as you wish, my lady.”

She soon regretted her loose phrasing, as instead of looking, the prince then went to doing. His tongue was hot against her skin and it caused her toes to scrunch.

This foreplay went on for quite a while longer, up until Poppy was practically begging for it to end. She wasn’t sure she could handle the endless amount of affection the prince had to offer any longer.

They moved to the bedroom, this time the prince carrying Poppy with her legs straddled around his hips and their mouths meeting in the middle. When her back hit the cool sheets, Poppy abruptly tensed up. Kai gently kissed her forehead, her neck, then her lips while gently massaging his fingers into her hair.

Poppy opened herself up to him, as relaxed as she could possibly be. With their fingers tangled in each other’s hair and their scents intermingling, Poppy felt herself bloom that night.


When she woke up, she knew she was small again.

Poppy blinked the sleep from her eyes and abruptly sat up. She had the feeling that she was in the middle of something, or perhaps late to something, and her knee-jerk reaction was to get out of bed. However, once her cloudy mind began to clear, she realized this wasn’t the case.

She was sore. She realized this as she sat up in bed and felt an aching sort of pain. It wasn’t a bad feeling at all, rather it hurt worse when she drank the potion and grew in size.

Poppy yawned and stretched her arms up high. Popped a few cricks out of her back. She looked to her right to see Kai sleeping soundly. He looked much younger while resting, his features softened. His full lips were slightly parted.

As much as Poppy would have liked to watch him sleep all day, she also desperately needed to use the restroom.

It was a quick trip, or as quick as it could be with her short legs. Poppy used a miniature chamberpot, although she wasn’t sure what its original use had been. There was a small bowl of water with a chunk of soap for her to use as well. The soap had rose petals infused within it, and occasionally one of the petals would break free and into Poppy’s hand. It smelled expensive, and Poppy had been afraid to ask Kai how much it’d cost.

While she was at it, Poppy quickly washed up. She eyed the shot glass full of vnuembr as she lathered her body. Its lime-green color was as intense as ever. She made a face at it, despite how useful it’d been. It tasted like a mixture between chalk and pennies, with a hint of pepper. Absolutely horrendous.

Poppy wondered if she could charm it to taste like strawberries.

Now there was the matter of her clothes. The blue shift she’d been wearing was now torn to pieces after she’d quite literally grown out of it. She could drink more of the potion and retrieve the clothes Kai lent her, but Poppy wasn’t sure how safe it was to drink such a potion so often. She’d have to do more research and find out.

The rest of Poppy’s clothes were located in the bedroom, so she set off that way. She slipped into an easy pair of pants and green top before climbing back atop the bed. The prince appeared to still be sleeping, although a bit restlessly. He jerked an arm and rolled onto his opposite side, facing away.

Poppy rolled her eyes and settled far enough away so as to not fear him tossing and turning onto her. She pulled the sheet back up and lay there, studying his back. The comforter was pooled around his waist, so the greater expanse of all plains and sharp edges were exposed.

She couldn’t deny that he was eye candy. What could Poppy say, even she wasn’t immune to the good looks of a man. Of course, she’d never outright admit this, and she pitied Kai a bit. He deserved someone a bit more vocal about their admirations.

Still, it seemed they suited each other, despite one of them being an outrageously small size most of the time. If Poppy continued to take vneumbr, then it really shouldn’t pose a problem. However, if she could find a more permanent solution to her problem of size, that would be better.

If Poppy were to become the size of a giant permanently, she’d need an enchanted object such as Colette’s talisman. Something like that was priceless, and getting one custom-made by a wizard was impossible. She wasn’t even sure if there were any wizards left alive, at least not on this continent.

After the ostracization of the fae all those years ago, many fled to different countries or even different continents. The wizards were the ones who foretold such a fate; they disappeared long before anyone else did. After many years some were found dead, their bones auctioned off as magical relics, and the rest were never heard from again for understandable reasons.

Poppy hoped they were still alive. Enchanted object or no, having wizards alive in the world was something everyone could benefit from. They were such powerful beings that sometimes they had impacts on the world people weren’t even aware of. Poppy had heard stories of them using their magical prowess to prevent natural disasters, all the while the rest of the world was ignorant of such activity.

She sighed and stared at the ceiling. Despite having just woken up, Poppy felt she could fall back asleep at that moment. Something about listening to someone else sleep could be so calming.

Despite her worries, she soon found herself lulled into a dreamless nap.