Bound to Be Wicked: Mists of Eria, #4

By Lisa Kumar

From award-winning Lisa Kumar comes a contemporary fantasy romance novella of a banished elvin lady who gets a second chance at life--and love--in the arms of a sexy human doctor. 

Freshly banished to Earth from the elvin land of Eria, all Alalise wants is a new start—no males needed. When a sexy single father crashes into her life, a bond she never thought possible forms between them. Will this human doctor be able to capture the heart of a reformed temptress, or will the baggage of their pasts end their relationship before it has truly begun?

 

Content warnings: this novella mentions past sexual abuse and a current ring of human trafficking and drug use, but nothing is overly graphic. This story contains adult content.

This story was previously published in the anthology Wicked As She Comes. The Mists of Eria series is suitable for lovers of elf/fantasy romance and fans of Sarah J. Maas, Elise Kova, and Miranda Honfleur.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lisa Kumar
• Release date: Jul 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201951931

Lisa Kumar

I'm a wife, mother, and romance writer who grew up in small-town Indiana. I studied psychology in college and have worked off and on in the mental health field over the years. I now reside in the suburbs of Chicago with my husband and our two sons. When not spinning tales of romance and fantasy, I can often be found with my nose buried in a book. I also love going for walks with my youngest son and taking Zumba classes. One of my stories, Bound to the Elvin King, won Ind'Tale's 2015 RONE award for best Sci-Fi/Fantasy.  You can find me on: Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/lisa_kumar Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lisankumar

Book preview

Bound to Be Wicked

Freshly banished to Earth from the elvin land of Eria, all Alalise wants is a new start—no males needed. When a sexy single father crashes into her life, a bond she never thought possible forms between them. Will this human doctor be able to capture the heart of a reformed temptress, or will the baggage of their pasts end their relationship before it’s truly begun?

Content warnings: this novella mentions past sexual abuse and a current ring of human trafficking and drug use, but nothing is overly graphic. This story contains adult content.

This story was previously published in the anthology Wicked As She Comes.

Books by Lisa Kumar

Mists of Eria Series:

Bound to His Fate, Prequel

Bound to the Elvin Prince, Book One

Bound to the Elvin King, Book Two

Bound to the Dark Elf, Book Three

Bound to Be Wicked, a Novella, Book Four

The New Earth Chronicles:

The Fae Lord’s Companion, Part One

The Fae Lord’s Companion, Part Two

The Fae Lord’s Companion, Part Three

The Fae Lord’s Companion, the Complete Edition

Love in Time Series (Time-travel Regency):

An Earl in Time

Saving Lord Avingdale

The Faerin:

Falling for the Driade (previously part of the anthology Crashing into You)

Claiming Riley (coming soon)

Elven Heat:

Claiming Lord Thuran, Book One

The Dark Forest:

Hearts of Tar, Book One

Other Titles:

Elven Lord for Christmas

To Claim a Dragon

Bound to Be Wicked

Copyright © 2021 Lisa Kumar

All rights reserved.

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Dedication

A big thanks to my family and to my friends Brenda, Jessica, and Bobbi. I couldn’t write without you guys!

Chapter 1

Alalise shivered as an icy gust of wind blasted against her. Pink and red hearts plastered across a display window earned a scowl from her. Why did humans put these abominations everywhere? In store windows, on their clothing? She couldn’t even get away from these damned hearts when she watched that device called a TV.

She increased her pace, avoiding groups of annoying humans with as much grace as possible. The narrow sidewalks, slick with patches of ice, made that disturbingly hard. Darkness had fallen a long time ago, and she had no food in her disgustingly tiny apartment. Not that she knew how to cook, anyway. When she’d been a lady of Eria, there had been no reason to. That was what servants had been for.

Sweeping her gaze over the buildings of downtown Murren, she looked for the Delightful Panda. The restaurant had to be around here somewhere. Curse her desire to get out of her abode! She should’ve just had it delivered like she usually did.

Another display in a window snagged her attention. She slowed down and stared at a virtually naked lady who was posed seductively. What in Eria? As she drifted closer, she saw it wasn’t a real human. It was some kind of posable statue dressed in skimpy underclothes. Underclothes that were decked out with gaudy red hearts and arrows.

With a snort to herself, she pulled away and strode on. These mortal creatures were enamored with Valentine’s Day. Well, they had to have something to look forward to. After all, they were stuck in this frozen wasteland where the sun rarely shone for months at a time. Yes, it seemed natural they’d cling to such a pathetic notion as love.

For that was what love was. Pathetic and false. It’d never done anything good for her. A chunk of ice skittered in front of her, and she kicked at it. The lump burst against the brick front of a store, pulling a smile from her. However, it faded as soon as she remembered where she was.

Earth. She was on Earth, exiled and surrounded by mortals who could never know what she was. An elvin lady who glamoured her appearance to pass as human.

Damn Talion and Aistiane. This was all their fault. No, it was her father’s. He’d set her on this path long ago. In fact, everything could be placed at his feet. She and Alanon were in this desolate world because of him.

Resentment and fury burned in her chest, but the frigid wind soon made it sputter. By all that was sacred, it was never this cold back in Eria’s capital, Eriannon. Magic kept the worst extremes of the seasons away for the most part.

Finally, the Delightful Panda stood before her. Tamping down the urge to dive toward the door, she forced herself into a purposeful stride. She pushed the door open with glove-covered hands. Blessed heat from the interior blasted her with warmth.

Blond tendrils came loose from where they’d been stuffed in her hood and fell across her eyes. As she stepped over the threshold, she ground her teeth together. Could this evening become any worse? She needed to get her food and—

She crashed into something hard, and the sound of a plastic sack crashing to the floor filled her sensitive ears. However, her mind was focused on other things. The body against hers was male. Solid. It was a feeling she knew well. She’d been bonded before, after all, and her father had planted her in the beds of more than one elvin lord over the years. However, the sensation did nothing to improve her mood. It reminded her too much of him. If nothing else, life had taught her that the male species of any race were abhorrent creatures who only wanted one thing from her, and it wasn’t her conversation.

Opening her mouth to deliver a scathing retort, she raised her head to look at the offender. The words on her tongue slipped away, and she could only stare stupidly at the human man before her.

A sparkling yellow-white aura surrounded him. It was so bright it made her squint. Some distant part of her noted it had nothing to do with the establishment’s lighting, which was on the dim side. After a few seconds, the intense light faded away. What in Eria had that been? Yet her sense still hadn’t returned. She couldn’t tear her gaze from him.

Blond hair, darker than her own platinum, framed a ruggedly handsome face. For a moment, Talion’s long locks mingling with hers flashed through her mind, and she suppressed a cringe at the thought of the Erian king. However, all similarities between the two males ended at their hair color. The fine specimen before her was even taller and staring at her with startling blue eyes. She so did love tall men. They made her feel cherished, protected, though she’d long ago learned it was a fleeting sensation based more on her imaginings than on true reality. Still, her tongue refused to work, curse the stupid thing.

He finally blinked but didn’t move out of the way. Pardon me, madame.

Her deadened heart lurched. Madame? Wasn’t that a human expression used when one didn’t know how old the lady in question was? Though she was over eight thousand years old, she didn’t look a minute over twenty-eight.

She found the presence of mind to paste a humorless smile on her face. Her days of fawning over any man, let alone a human, were gone. Apology accepted, sir.

The man’s smile faltered a bit, but he fixed it in place. It’s quite cold out there.

It is, she replied coolly. Why was he prolonging the conversation? Just because she was beautiful and he was just as attractive, standing there in his form-fitting coat that highlighted the width of his shoulders and— No! Alalise, stop these thoughts now. They were a waste of time, futile. She didn’t want any man, especially not a human one.  

For that was what he assuredly was—a human. He wasn’t elvin or even faerin, their holdout cousins who’d remained on Earth when the veil had removed the elves to Eria.

You seemed in a hurry.

To get out of that damnable cold, yes.

A young, childish voice broke their awkward spell. Dada, want to go.

The man’s gaze dropped down to his side, where a little girl peeked out from behind his legs. Alalise wasn’t good at placing any human’s age, but the girl couldn’t be much out of her baby years. The human’s child?

She waited for the discomfort to come. Children weren’t creatures she took pleasure in being around for many reasons. However, she was surprised to feel...nothing. If anything, she was curious, damn it to Eria. Where there was a child, there was likely a wife. Not that it mattered one bit to her.

A blinding smile, full of white teeth and dimples, flashed across the man’s face. Of course, honey. We won’t keep this nice lady waiting any longer.

His easy, familiar way with the child confirmed Alalise’s belief that the child was his. So he had a wife somewhere.

She resisted the urge to sneer. Married men who sampled other women were repulsive. She knew that only too well from her one and only experience with a bonded male and took great pains to never be the other woman again. Though her morals were laxer than she’d ever envisioned, she did have some principles and would never be forced into that situation again. In fact, her father could manipulate her into nothing here on the mortal plane. Even if he tried to reach her beyond the veil, he didn’t have Alanon to hold over her head, as