Genesis of a Fairy Story...

ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT by Portia Da Costa [in Magic and Desire]



The inspiration for ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT germinated long, long ago as the idea for a vampire story that I was considering writing for a different publisher, not Black Lace. I'd never written a novella before, but I was intrigued by the idea of creating a shorter piece, something very tight and driven by a very simple and intimate storyline, yet shot through with the magic of the paranormal. I'd first flirted supernatural erotica back in 1996, with GOTHIC BLUE, but since then I hadn't written any more paranormals.

I first 'saw' the idea for ILL MET... while watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I can't remember which one, but in it, Spike is crouched on the top of a high wall or gatepost, then he leaps off it, descending almost in slow motion, his fabulous black coat billowing around him like the wings of a great dark bird until he touches down on the ground, as lightly as a feather. When I saw that incredible move, I just knew I had to write a story in which the hero did the same thing...

I didn't write the story straight away, as other ideas and commissions came along, but I still kept thinking about that image from time to time, and drawing together bits and pieces of plot and characterisation to flesh it out.

Eventually the call came for the Black Lace paranormal erotic romance collections, and it seemed the time had come to write my 'black coat' story. However, I'd moved on from crushing on James Marsters to crushing on Vincent D'Onofrio, so the mysterious dark clad figure who leapt down from a high vantage point had morphed quite a bit. Not least of all, I'd decided to make him a fairy rather than a vampire... a big, butch, muscular and very masculine fairy with a naughty and very powerful magic wand inside his black denim jeans!

And thus, Robin was born. A creature of energy and magic power who, every year during May, is able to assume human form and experience all its myriad physical sensations and pleasures, as well as taste the joys and the anguish of our complex emotions. Year after year, he indulges his curiosity, but then during one Maytime, Lois, a lone young woman comes to stay in a holiday cabin on the edge of the fairy wood, and Robin himself becomes enchanted, and compelled to take steps that he's never taken before...

In this very short, not particularly explicit excerpt, Lois has just woken up from a vivid erotic dream, induced by Robin, and she wonders why on earth there's dust [of the fairy variety] all over everything... and why she can still smell the intoxicating odour of the lover she's just been dreaming about. At the same time, Robin, the unusual and curious fairy and part time human, muses on his temporary condition and how it feels to experience tangible physical sensations and the wild, confusing emotions of lust and passion...


Why the hell is this stupid place suddenly covered in dust? It wasn't here earlier… Where is it all coming from?

The cabin had been impressively spick and span when she'd arrived but now, a delicate veil of dust lay over most of the surfaces and drifted across the floor. There were even whorls of scattered over the bed and on the pillows, with several strange heaps against the head and the foot rails.

What the f…

She shivered. She sniffed the air. And then tentatively, almost reluctantly, she slipped a hand down into her knickers and touched her wetness.

Of which there was a lot. Far more than there ought to have been from simply playing with herself.

But it wasn't the quantity that bothered her, it was the way it smelt.

As she withdrew her fingers, a familiar odour made her head spin.

Lavender… It was lavender… Why does my crotch smell of lavender?

Pulling the quilt over her head, she tried hard not to think.

In human form, Robin crouched on the woodshed roof and tasted the flutters of fear in Lois's mind.

No, this was not what he wanted. Not at all… He'd wanted to give her pleasure, not scare the living daylights out of her. Savouring the physical sensations of sighing, he sent out his mind, and touched hers again, filling it with soothing waves of peace that granted sleep.

There, that was better. Unable to resist the temptation, he disassociated and floated through the roof of the cabin so he could be close to the new object of his attentions.

Touching down, he re-associated, and stood by the bed, just looking at her. Not that there was much to see with human eyes. She was curled up beneath the thick quilt like a hibernating dormouse, and only a few tufts of her tousled blonde hair were protruding from the top of it.
There was much to be said for being what he was though. If she woke up now, and emerged from her hiding place, she would see a man… but what she couldn't perceive were the powers he still retained.

He could see through the quilt to the pretty face, and even prettier body that lay beneath.


She was delightful and complex and Robin liked that. Connecting with her gave him everything that was delicious about assuming human form. Every year in the month of May, when the transformation was possible, he tasted and interacted with humans, feasting indulgently on their complicated and sometimes turbulent feelings. His own kind had emotions, true, but they were mild, bland and somewhat basic. Contentment… Satisfaction… A kind of wistful regret, occasionally… The only emotion that had really stirred him while he was in his true form was curiosity. And in that, he knew he was unusual amongst his breed.

And one of the very few to pursue the ancient privileges of merry May…

But look where it had got him!

He was addicted now, perhaps polluted somehow. Even while discarnate, he was gripped by powerful yearnings. Feelings had filtered through by osmosis into the whole of his existence… and he only felt truly alive when he was 'human'… or as near as to that condition as he could approximate.

And tonight, with beautiful Lois, he'd almost believed for a moment that he was a man.


Read more about Robin the macho fairy in much naughtier excepts here and here.

Magic and Desire is available from Amazon.co.uk now, and from Amazon.com in July.

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Happy Reading!

Portia Da Costa
So fond of big, macho fairies...