Chapter Twenty-Three
Maeve sensed something from Stephano but didn’t know what. She felt trapped. Brennan knew something was different. His gaze was too serious, too intense for her to believe she could fool him. Stephano was as bad, if not worse than Brennan, but each time she glanced his way, he wasn’t staring at her.
She wished she could disappear. She didn’t want to speak to anyone. Her emotions were too raw. She felt exposed. All the men were watching her. Oh, they looked away when she glanced at them, but gone was the easy comradery from before. She was thankful they were all safe, but sad to have lost that. It had been special, she realized. The first time in a long time she felt like she had…friends.
Now, there was only silence as they entered the heavy double doors and walked down the tree-lined path to the archway in the distance. The Tracker was the only one of the men who didn’t make her feel…like an oddity. The Silkie was aloof, as if she were merely one among this group of foreign creatures that didn’t belong to this realm.
As they drew closer, Stephano eased back until he was walking with her, his steps shortened to match hers like he always did. Then, shocking her, he bumped her and the others passed them by as he hung back, holding her in place with a stare. As soon as the others were a few steps ahead of them, he brushed something from her face, making her blink.
“I want to talk to you, wanted to talk to you, but now, as soon as we rest, I want to talk to you.”
“Brennan—”
“Fuck Brennan. We’re talking.”
She widened her eyes and glanced beyond his shoulder to where she could see her brother slowing and turning. Ajax said something to him and Brennan walked over to answer.
“Okay.” She felt her heart soar at the implications of what he was saying. Does he want more? Or simply another time with me? “If you think we need to.”
“Think we… I fucking think—” He grimaced and looked away from her. Before she could open her mouth to say something—anything, he turned back to her with such an intense expression she wanted to take a step away from him. She stood her ground instead. “I think we need to talk, yes,” he practically growled. “I’ll find you. Wait for me.”
“Maeve?” Brennan was standing on the trail, his frown fierce.
She gave Stephano a small nod and pulled free so she could hurry to Brennan’s side.
“What did he want?” Brennan eyed Stephano.
“Nothing. I had something in my eye,” she lied. She blinked rapidly, not having to fake the moisture that filled her eyes. Her emotions were too high for her to control easily. He wants to talk. That must mean something.
“The Silkies are dangerous, Maeve, you know that. Try to stay close.”
“I know.” She held in the sudden urge to remind him that not only had she survived, but she’d freed a warrior from the Dark Faye and an entire town from a curse. “I’m glad you were safe, Brennan. I was scared for you. How did you break free?”
“It was the Silkie and the Tracker. They pretended to side with the Dark Faye, but spied on them instead.”
She could only stare at him. Who would do such a thing? “But they can read minds, can’t they?”
“I always thought so, but the Silkie seems to have some protections.” They reached the true entrance and he caught up to the others, dismissing her.
Stephano came up behind her and brushed along her arm, winking at her when he did. She felt that mixture of heat and something else…something powerful, almost as if they shared a secret. My strength. She’d heard him boasting over what she’d done, and listening could hear something in his tone, something that belied the way they’d ended things. Does he care about me? She thought he did, but more… She couldn’t imagine him wanting more. He had all the women he wanted—why settle for one?
An hour later she waited in her room, anxious to see if he actually came to her or not. The Silkies had not only provided them with lodging for the night, but they each had their own room. The entire house was carved from white sandstone. Her room had a sunken hot water spring far in the back, and a crevice for a soft bed and another for a table and two chairs. It was far different from her cottage, but still managed to feel…homey. Am I so desperate than anything looks homey?
A scratch at her door, followed by Stephano pushing it open, startled her badly enough she almost screamed. He saw and a smile flashed across his expression, but almost immediately, a serious one fell into place.
Her heart beat too fast all of a sudden. Her breath was shallow too and where he’d entered her body, she clenched, missing the hardness of him filling her to the point of almost pain. Want me. Want me for more than sex, for more than this journey. Want me, me!
The silent desperation of her cry only made her feel worse, not better as he closed the door and stared at her without speaking. His expression gave nothing away while she feared hers revealed every inch of her heart.
Stephano couldn’t seem to find words. All his adult life he’d used honeyed words with women, phrases that had them falling into his arms. But now, facing the one woman he knew was the best thing that had ever happened to him, he had nothing. I fucked this up. There has to be a way to fix this.
He’d paced the confines of his room, unable to come up with a plan for what to say to Maeve once he got her alone. Finally, he’d left and ended up facing her door expecting something to come to him. He’d then paced outside of it for another period of time, until he’d stood, once again staring at the wood separating him from her. Nothing had come to him. Everything he’d ever read had warned him that women didn’t like to be fucked hard and fast, then dropped off without a word.
I should have said something. Anything. It felt like eons since he’d had her to himself and all he could circle around was that all his life he’d never known a woman could feel so right. Essential.
She stood, still appearing distant, even a little afraid of him. He tried to figure out what to do, but with a frustration only slightly less than he’d felt in his room, without her there, he couldn’t stand the distance. He walked over to her and gently pulled her to the chair and onto his lap. She sat stiffly and would have jumped away but he hugged her around the waist and pulled her slim body up against his.
This is what I need. He breathed in deeply, for the first time it felt like since she’d walked away with a sad, broken smile back on that hilltop. The hardness constricting his breathing unknotted. Gradually she also seemed to relax, until with a soft sigh, she stroked his arm, tentative at first, but continued to rub from his wrist to his elbow and back down. He realized with surprise that he’d been caressing hers as well. When the silence grew too much, he cleared his throat.
“I fucked up. I do it. Ajax says a lot. I don’t think. Not when it comes to sex. I forget that my head below my belt isn’t in charge,” he tried to tease.
She tilted her head and stared into his eyes. There wasn’t a smile there, no happiness at all, only a look far too wise for his excuses. He realized with a suddenness that caught his chest in that tight grip again that here was a person who had seen more pain in her short life than he had in his long existence. Maybe not the kind that left her gasping on a battlefield from a mortal sword wound, but still painful all the same. He was lucky to even know her, to even hold her, and have drawn her eye and he’d… And I never considered her that way.
She’s a Siren. She could have her choice of men. Even if she feared her powers, she would grow into them. ‘I’m powerful.’ She’d said it with amazement, as if the idea had never occurred to her, as if she had no clue of her own worth. But some man, some day would, and he’d catch her eye, then her.
And it won’t be me if I don’t get my head on straight. He brushed her long thick hair back over her shoulder, marveling at how silky soft it was, like mink. He could remember the way it had felt, tickling along his arms as he held her and took her with such abandon. I fucked this up. I should have held her tenderly and made slow love to her. She killed for me. And I fucked her on a mountain top then let her walk away before the sweat had even dried.
With a ball of lead in his stomach he knew he couldn’t sweet talk his way out of this. She deserved more than that. Truth was, she deserved more than him. He had no clue how to be with a woman, actually be with one day in and day out, but for the first time in his immortal life, he wanted that—if it could be with her. It wouldn’t be hard. It wouldn’t be tiresome or boring or too much work. He feared, suddenly, that waking each day without her would be.
He closed his eyes and tried to think of not turning and seeing her right there, of not waking to the warm press of her body at night, or not having her looking at him with such confidence that he had the answers to whatever it was she wanted to know… Or kiss me as if she gets as lost as I do from such a simple act.
The pit in his stomach grew. I fucked up. But I can fix this. Every article ever written says to communicate. Talk to her.
“I lost my head. I know you aren’t sure if I’m being honest, but I am.” He took her hand and gently threaded their fingers. Hers were so pale and slim, so small and fragile. “I can be, honest.”
He met her eyes. She was frowning, that adorable expression he knew meant she was considering what he said, but found it lacking.
“I’ve gone a long time, for me, a long time, since I had a woman.” Her gaze became frosty but he forged on. “But I won’t make this mistake again,” Even if I want to again, right now by taking her until every inch of that frost melts for me. “I… You can trust that.” I’ll make such slow love to her she’ll beg me to go faster.
She studied him with an inscrutable expression. The Sphinx could have taken lessons from her. “Mistake?”
Good, at least she’s speaking. He had a sense he was lucky that she was. “Yes. I rushed this, I can see that now. I…I don’t have to have sex.” He swallowed, not sure where those words had come from. Surely not from me.
“You don’t?” She appeared so mystified, he immediately needed to prove he didn’t need sex.
“No,” he growled. “I didn’t for months before I met you and didn’t for weeks with you.” Weeks that had nearly killed him. He smoothed her hair back from her face, even though he’d been the one to snap at her. “I want you. I want to show you more than what we had. There is more. That was wild.” It was addictive. She’d been so wet for him. No woman had ever been so wet for him. He hadn’t even taken the time to prepare her. She’d been so ready, but tight and damn it, scorching hot silkiness around his cock, he’d lost his mind, taken her as if he’d been her lover for years, not the first time! “I…” Lost my mind? Lost my ability to think once you kissed me? Sank into paradise and wanted to ensure you always fit only me?
“I wanted you, too…”
He heard the but, he knew it was there, so he covered her mouth. “I can be slow and sweet, too. Don’t judge me for earlier.”
“I don’t judge you.” She pulled his hand away, then surprised him by threading their fingers together again. He felt immensely better. He still doubted she was being honest.
“Liar.”
She blinked and the misery she’d been hiding was there, a shadow of it in her eyes.
“You think all I want is sex, and nothing more,” he accused her.
“You said yourself you can’t have more. You like variety.” Why does it seem ages ago that I thought that way? How could I ever think this person was anything but essential to me? “You’re a warrior, they don’t have homes and wives and children.” She mocked his deeper voice and would have gotten up.
He was man enough to know that there was no possibly way of letting her get up. He did what he had to. He held on to her, refusing to let her go and tried to remind himself that women were known for throwing a man’s mistakes back in his face. “I wasn’t thinking of you, or me. I was…hell, just talking. I do that with you. I’ve never talked to a woman before. I guess I need to think before I speak.”
She stilled her wiggles and tilted her head again, in that way he knew meant she was listening. “You don’t speak to women? How do you bed them, then?”
He laughed. He could tell it was the wrong thing to do, but he couldn’t help it. She was so serious, as if she could believe he had some secret sign language with woman that got them into his arms.
“Oh! You! Why do I bother with you?” She made a bid for freedom again but he caged her in.
“Sorry, sorry, I talk but only to get them into bed, not…to listen to them, or have them listen to me. With you I talk.”
“Now. Before you talked to get me into bed, so I could see what I’d been missing.”
Men really do say stupid things. “Mae, tossing a man’s words back at him constantly isn’t wise.”
Her brow wrinkled. “Why?”
He shot his hands up in frustration. “Because sometimes I say the wrong thing and it’s your job to figure out when I’m meaning something else.”
Her eyes flew wide. “What? How can I—?”
“Listen. I’m used to a certain way. I’m…” Settled? Boring? “I don’t want…” To screw this up?
“Don’t want me. I know. I know that. This was sex, nothing more.” She sprang out of his arms, throwing him for a loop with her words. “I understand.”
“You don’t want more?” He felt as if she’d punched him.
“No, of course not. You made it perfectly clear you didn’t. Why would I?”
The pain in his heart grew worse, but his temper soared. The little witch! Here he was all in knots because he worried over her and she only wanted… Wait. He studied her averted gaze, the grip she had on her hair, the tension in her shoulders. The little… “You little liar. You want more.”
She dropped her hands to her hips and glared at him. “I do not want more! And stop calling me that!” she shouted.
“Then stop lying,” he thundered. “You damn well do want more!”
She gasped and stepped back, hand at her throat. Too late he realized shouting at her might not be the best decision on his part. She does want me. She wants more, the home, the meals, the talks, the…me. Immediately doubts assaulted him. Why? Why would she want more? No one ever has. No one—
“I did. I mean, I do. I mean, I think I do.” She sealed her lips into a tight line, then burst out, “But you…you…make it so hard!” She paced away from him, but he didn’t care. Such a rush of happiness hit that he took several seconds to savor it. She wants me. The entire time she paced back and forth railing at him for being arrogant and pushy and always, she said, trying to bed her without regard for anything else, but she wanted him. She wants me. Only me.
“You’re always trying to have sex with me! Even when you’re being the protector, I worry you’re doing so to bed me! Then what? I know what! You’ll leave and go to your realm and I’ll…I’ll never see you again!”
He corralled her by the bed so the last frustrated explosion he had hold of her slender shoulders. Never see him again? He’d be damned if they’d ever part. But first she had to admit more. Me. She wants me.
“Who touched who? Who kissed who? Who jumped in whose arms—?”
“Stephano! I did not jump into your arms!”
At her breathy little eruption, he brushed his fingers over her lying lips. “You little liar, when will you trust me and speak the truth?” He guessed by her mulish expression it would take time. I did try to bed her every chance I got, but still…that was then. Now is now. She wants me. She wants me, that means…she loves me.
“It’s hard to be truthful with you,” she admitted in a whisper. “You never are!”
He held in the grin at that, but accepted maybe she was partially right. Her gaze was on his again and in her pretty eyes he saw the pain, the hurt and the hope. She wants more from me. He tucked her hair behind her tiny ears. The gesture soothed him. Meeting her eyes again, he knew now was the time for him to give more.
“I once thought I would never trust another woman, or want to trust one either, but with you that’s all changed.” He ran his hand along her hair and gathered it behind her head in a mass of heavenly silk.
“You loved a woman? Once?”
He snorted. “No, I’ve never loved anyone.” Until now.
Her eyes grew sad. “That’s why you want variety. You don’t know—”
“The only variety,” he spoke over her, “I want is which position we’ll try from the Karma Sutra.” He dropped her hair for the pleasure of smoothing his hands down her slender back to her curvy bottom. The knowledge he’d come inside her, that even now she could be pregnant was messing with him. He wanted her round with babe. His babe. She’d never think to leave him then. “With you, I want a home. I want babies,” he growled, pulling her hips tightly to his so she could feel how ready he was to start on that. “I want you ripe with my child, and you cooking for me, and you kissing me, and you sleeping with me, and you babying me, only me. Barefoot and pregnant sounds perfect.” It also sounded Neanderthal, but there it was. He grinned and shrugged, adding, “If that’s what you want…I mean.”
Her eyes had widened the more he spoke, but at his teasing, the misery melted from her eyes, replaced by that sultry heat he wanted.
“I want to make love to you, Mae. Slowly, until you’re begging me to fill you. Then you know what I want?” He kissed the softness of her warm cheek. She smelled delicious. He wanted her scent all over him, and his all over her.
She shook her head, shivering against him.
“I want to make you come until you’re so hot and wet for me I can fill you with one hard thrust. You want that, don’t you? My cock again, filling you? For me to stay there, all night long, riding you until you can feel me there tomorrow, until I can fill you again?” His erection pulsed harder than his heartbeat, but with each throb, he felt an answering shiver from Mae. He didn’t think she even knew she was curling her fingers in his shirt, little kitten claws, digging into his flesh, too, to hold him tighter. He wanted those nails marking his back again, her teeth biting into his shoulder from the fierceness of her passion.
“Stephano,” she breathed and he shuddered roughly at the need in her tone. Had any woman ever sounded so perfect to him? She released his shirt, but only to cling to his shoulders and press her full breasts to him. Gods, he could feel the tight buds of her aroused nipples. He hooked his arm around her slim waist and kissed her. So beautiful. Flushed cheeks, wild eyes, dark hair. She was utterly captivating. He couldn’t imagine not having her in his life. She drew her hands up to frame his face and the move made soft pillows of her bosom.
“Mae. Gods, woman you’re killing me.” He ducked down and kissed the softest flesh ever created, loving it with his mouth and tongue until she moaned heavily. Only then did he unlace the back of her gown and allow the material to slide down and give him a view of her rosy nipples under the thin layer of her chemise. Has anything looked so delicious? He sucked one pink areola in his mouth, tightening his grip on her as the nipple budded hard against his tongue. His cock thickened to a heavy weight that dragged at his abdomen, more than ready to plunge between her gorgeous globes. Slow. Slow down. She was still too new for that kind of ride. Instead, he gave her open-mouth kisses from the bottom of her heavy breast to the tips, then on to the sides and tops.
She cried out his name with such passion he could hear her inhibitions vanishing even before she fisted his hair and gyrated her hips against him so his cock was treated to the softest rub down of his life. He groaned. It was so loud it hurt his throat. She seemed to like the sound because she built a rhythm with her hips that hit the underside of his cock perfectly.
“Angel,” he panted, lifting his head to kiss her jaw, feeling as desperate for her as he had back on that hilltop. “You’re gonna end this before I can begin.”
“I am?” She sounded delighted.
I missed this, her excitement, rushing things. Slow, I gotta go slow. He caught her hand as she sneaked it down to his breeches. “I owe you a few more orgasms before you’re giving me that again.”
“Why? You liked it. I know you did,” she added with a confidence he wanted more of. He got a sweet kiss instead then a sparkling smile. Gods, she’s so beautiful. Don’t let me screw this up. “I think you really liked it.”
“Really liked it? Angel,” he growled into the plush pillows of her bosom. How can they be so big when she’s so small? She laughed, which made them quiver. He was a breast man. Oh, he loved her little ass and the rounded pert curves were deadly, but her breasts were lethal. She laughed again and they bounced. The groan he made came from deep, deep down. Reluctant as hell, he lifted his head, and only because she tugged his hair. She took his breath away. Her eyes were bright with happiness. Go slow, show her, tell her the truth. “You can do that anytime you want to and I’ll be one happy man. But…” He pulled her in closer until their lips were inches apart. “I’m the man, I’m going to make you come first, then you can do whatever you want with me.”
“I can?” she breathed, digging her sharp nails into his scalp.
“Oh damn, do that,” he growled.
“Come. Is that…when the pleasure makes me tingle from the inside out?”
“Yes, yes, that’s coming, something you’re going to make me do if you don’t stop. Climax. Orgasm, come, go off, whatever you want to call it,” he breathed out another groan. Her nails sent ripples down his spine. “Don’t stop doing that.”
“I thought you said to stop.” She giggled when he arched his neck for her to reach another spot. His cock went harder than concrete when she obeyed. He felt like a dog getting his stomach scratched. But if he didn’t end this, he was going to blow this again.
“Stop, gods, stop.” He caught her and tossed her onto the bed, following so he was on top. He pressed her down with his body weight. She gasped again and the needy sound she made when he pushed his erection to her pussy was enough to make his shoulder blades shiver and a cold sweat break out on his body. “We gotta slow down, gotta slow—”
“No.” She gripped his hair, tugged his head down and kissed him. Like every other time she kissed with that hunger, he lost his mind. Only now it was a million times more potent. Now he knew how wet she would be, how hot she was for his body.
“Angel.” He grunted when she got his pants undone and his painful cock out faster than he could. “We need to slow down. I don’t want to hurt you.”
She tightened both her hands on his erection. “Oh, you’re so big, so ready.” He threw his head back as she rubbed up his cock then back down. Gods has anything ever felt like this? “You won’t hurt me. I promise.”
He caught her hands and tried for control, but no one had ever needed him this badly. He wanted to give her anything she wanted. Everything she needed. But he wanted to show her how good he could make her burn before she burst into her pleasure.
“Stephano,” she moaned, opening her thighs and sliding her legs up his ribs.
He shuddered, battling to think past the lust. The head of his cock brushed against her—his willing woman. She was ready. She wanted him. Now. He caught her face gently with his fingers. She was flushed, her eyes dazed with need, ready. “Are you certain?”
“Yes! Now, please, Stephano!”
If she’d doused him in gasoline and lit a match, he wouldn’t have gotten hotter for her. He shoved his hips down, seeking her with an urgency he couldn’t contain. Her gown was in the way, the fabric frustrating his efforts. Then, with a suddenness that brushed her sweet pussy to his aching cock again he found her. She shifted her legs wider, opening for him.
Gotta make this good. Slow. Go slow. He cupped her bare bottom and kissed her sweet lips as he aligned their bodies. Her flesh was soft, so smooth and lush, he had to take a moment to savor how good her ass felt in his hands. She tipped her pelvis, rocking her hips up so her slick entrance wet his cock. That was all he could take.
“Put your legs around me,” he instructed in a voice he barely recognized. “And hold on.”
Obediently, she slid her legs higher. He drove his hips forward, but she lifted, meeting him on the thrust so he entered her deeper than he’d planned. His hips smacked into her lush thighs. Fearful that he’d hurt her, he froze. His entire body trembled at the force of his need, but he held off, clenching her ripe bottom lightly so he wouldn’t bruise her. His erection hurt it was so full, but worse, now it was strangled by the heat of her tight pussy. He swore he could feel her heartbeat through their joined bodies.
“More, more, Stephano!” Her wild cry, so demanding and needy dissolved his fear and broke his control. Relief, then an animal need rose and swallowed him. His body took over. His back clenched and his ass flexed as he began to give her long, hard pumps of his hips. He had to let go of one lush cheek to anchor his hand on the mattress above her then shift his knees wider apart so he could maintain his pace. Otherwise, he was lost, the journey, the room, the worry he’d fucked up were gone and all that was left was Maeve thrusting up to each of his lunges, pushing him to the brink as quickly as he was taking her.
“Oh, yes, yes!” She sobbed and began chanting his name.
It was too much. He began to unravel, his balls drew up tight, his muscles clenched and he knew pleasure hovered, tantalizingly close. He bent his head and breathed in the scent of her lush breasts. One pink nipple drew him, and he latched on, sucking the hard berry against the roof of his mouth. She moaned in abandon, tossing her head and dug her nails in.
The telltale tremble along his shaft nearly made him come. He threw his head back and shouted as she fell into a hard climax. Sweat drenched him, making them both slippery, and added to the sensitivity of his skin. She slid along his body even though he held himself as still as possible for her as she clenched around him. But with each second, her muscles drew so tight on his cock. He had to move. Groaning in defeat he let go, taking her again in wild out-of-control lunges that forced them both up the bed.
Within two, three thrusts, Mae cried out his name in a voice saturated with pleasure. A cold sweat drenched his back and shoulders. She climaxed in rippling spasms down his shaft. His ass clenched, his balls drew up hard, shivering as he hung there, poised on the brink of climax. Then he exploded, jet after jet bathing her tight heat so he was fucking into his own sizzling release. The added pleasure of knowing she was taking all of him, everything he gave her, made him shudder and groan, louder and louder, when normally he was a quiet, distant lover. Not with Maeve. She sucked on his shoulder, crying out in abandon as she raked her nails down his back with unrestrained passion.
It felt like an eternity later, his body slackened. The hammering of his heart eased. But even then, the afterglow was so good he couldn’t move for long, long minutes. Finally, he lifted his head, but only to brush kisses over her sweaty brow, murmuring things to her he’d never said to another. “Mae, you’re so beautiful, my little angel, so beautiful, I’m never letting you go. You’re mine, Mae, mine.” Euphoria swirled around him, mixing with the scents of his woman and the taste of her passion on his tongue. He stroked every inch of her body he could reach, kissing and licking her with a tenderness he felt deep down.
Contentment, something he’d never felt before, settled over him. Maeve’s snug pussy fluttered around his cock in wonderful spasms. Each time, she grasped his shoulders and sucked on his flesh with a soft moan. It was so damn adorable he chuckled.
She moaned louder, cinching tighter on him. His body swelled and the need for her blossomed again.
“Once more?”
She arched her hips and slid her soft legs up around his hips. “I was hoping all night?”
At the question in her tone he nuzzled her neck, growling into the super silkiness of her body until she giggled and swatted him. Their gazes met and he ground his teeth at the beautiful flush coloring her cheeks. Her eyes were alive with something, something he hoped she felt. I’ve come inside her twice. If the gods have blessed me, we’ll have a babe. Then she’ll never want to leave me.
“Stephano?” She hugged his neck, kissing his lips. “What is it?”
“I wanted slow.”
She laughed, but broke off with a gasp as he thrust deeper in her tightness. How can she fit me so damn well? Like a fisted hand on my flesh?
“Oh, you feel good.” At her groan, he held himself still and pressed kisses to her heated cheeks. No one will ever hurt her again. They were sweaty, he was unclothed without knowing how, and her shift was shoved down and torn, exposing her luscious breasts. Amazed he rested his head down next to hers, feeling such contentment he couldn’t move. “Don’t stop.”
Stop? He wasn’t sure if he could start without embarrassing himself by coming too soon again. “You made me lose control,” he growled against her throat when she clenched down on him again.
She moaned throatily and arched her head for him to kiss her neck. “I want to again.”
“What?” He lifted his head, staring down into her lovely hazel eyes. “Why, angel? I want to take my time and show you—”
“Because I want you, not what you think I want. I want you.” She spoke with such feeling he swallowed hard as emotions rushed him. “The way you are. Wild. Wanting me.”
Gods, no one in his life had ever wanted him, just him, Stephano. He pinched her chin gently and kissed her lips. He needed to devour her. Words filled his head then poured out before he could check them. “I want you, too, Mae. You. It’s always been you, not this.” He gave her a hard, deep drive of his hips and lightly bit her lip when she gasped in pleasure. “Believe me, I want you the way you are too. Because you have me, don’t you see? You have me.” He tried to explain but with a passionate moan and that lush, sexy smile on her lips, he wasn’t sure she was listening.
She squeezed down on him, nearly making his eyes cross. “I do have you, don’t I?” She slid her hand along his side and up to his chest, covering his heart. Their eyes met and in that moment, he understood. She did hear him. She believed him. More, she trusted him.
He couldn’t stop his hips from thrusting deeper. Her eyes widened. Passion swirled in the depths of them. She dug her nails into his shoulders with a gasp as he lunged forward again. They maintained eye contact, making each second deeper than anything he’d ever experienced. He’d never had such perfection. She was hot, tight and the knowledge that he’d spilled his seed inside her body, that he was fucking into his own release, did strange things to his breathing.
“I want you,” she cried. “Wild and out of control, not Stephano the seducer, but…you, only you for—”
“Only me for you, Mae.” He bent down, changing the angle of his hips. She gasped in pleasure, but didn’t drop her gaze from his. Lips a breath away from hers, he watched the passion flare higher in her amber eyes. “Only me,” he repeated. “For you.”
“Yes. Stephano.” She suddenly bit his lip, sucking it hard after, eyes on his as she began meeting his lunges with hectic thrusts of her hips. It felt so good he nearly went off. He concentrated, focusing on her. Go slow. Give her everything. He bucked upward but slowed her with a grip on her lush bottom. Her gaze grew unfocused then she moaned louder than ever and her head fell back.
The telltale flutters of her impending orgasm tickled along his throbbing erection, but he held off, gritting his teeth to keep his strokes even. He focused on her neck. It was exposed, the tender chords so tempting he licked along them then bit down lightly before he sucked the spot. Her pussy squeezed harder on him.
“Stephano! Please!” She met his eyes again and framed his face, like before. “Now. Please!”
He let go, stopped trying to control this, and took her the way they needed.
* * * *
Maeve brushed Stephano’s hair off his forehead. He was sleeping, face down, his powerful body relaxed. His buttocks were so rounded with muscle she trailed her hand down the dip between his shoulder blades and spine. He grunted, but didn’t wake, merely shifted closer, his hand tightening on her breast possessively.
She found it amazing that he was sleeping. After loving her most of the night, he’d finally rolled to the side and dropped off to sleep from one moment to the next. With her tucked under his arm and leg. It was warm and comfortable. He was heavy, but she felt protected.
But now the morning was upon them. I have to tell Brennan. He didn’t like Stephano. As soon as Brennan had followed her to her room last night, he’d asked questions about the time they’d been apart. Most of those questions had been around Stephano.
‘I don’t like him. Stay away from him, Maeve. He’ll only use you and leave you.’
‘No, he won’t,’ she’d argued, for once saying what she felt. ‘He’s more than he appears.’
Brennan had been horrified. He’d thrown his hands up, paced the room like an angry bear, and bemoaned everything about Stephano. When that got him nowhere, he’d confronted her. ‘You’ve already fallen for him! You can’t see him for what he is!’
‘I see him clearly, it’s you that can’t. He saved my life, Brennan!’
‘Listen to me.’ He’d grabbed her hands and held them tightly. ‘He’ll use you and leave with his men. You’ll never see him again.’
Hurt, she had jerked away. ‘He wouldn’t do such a thing to me!’
The memory of their argument made telling him today even harder, but she had to do it. Stephano deserved more than what her brother thought of him. He’s a good man. He wants me. He said he wanted me.
“Why are you awake?” Stephano bounced her breast in his hand and chuckled when she startled. “You should be sleeping.”
“It’s morning.”
He opened his eyes and peered at her. His lovely hair was free of the confines he always had on it. She brushed the silky strands out of his eyes, marveling that she could.
“And?”
“Well.” She stroked down the warm muscle of his shoulder, feeling her heart squeeze at how much she felt for him. How did I find him? Of all the people in his realm and mine, how is it that we found each other? “We do have to…join the others.”
“Ah, I see. And that’s all that has you worried?”
“What makes you think I’m worried?”
He rolled over and dragged her with him. His strength amazed her but his gentleness with her made her heart skip. “Well, you frown, right here.” He touched her forehead above her nose and settled her next to him. Head in his hand, he stared down at her with a slight smile. “And you seem to worry a great deal. About me?”
“No, not so much you.” She stroked up his warm chest hedging his real question. His heart beat pulsed against her palm. Immediately she felt better. Stephano was strong. His strength made her feel stronger. “Brennan.” She met his eyes at the one word and saw his grin grow.
“Your brother doesn’t like me much, eh? Thinks I will use you and leave you, I imagine. Warned you I was nothing more than a scoundrel.” He laughed when she didn’t deny it. “Ah, well, I’m hurt, truly, but…” He brushed his fingers from her collar bone down to her navel and back up. She shivered and his semi-hard penis stiffened. She liked that, how he grew so hard for her. She could see him grow thicker by the second when she copied his gesture. “Ah, ha, none of that, my boys are already getting fire power ready. But first.” He caught her hand and made her squeal when he leaned down and sucked on her throat like a Vampire. Releasing her just a little, he breathed her in for a second more, then kissed her, far too briefly. “We should think on what you’ll say.”
“To Brennan?” She blinked, unsure if she wanted to think on it at all.
A sound outside her door had Stephano tugging the blanket over her and standing, scanning the room for something. “Where’d you put my pants?” She couldn’t think of a thing to say. Stephano naked, fully beautifully naked, left her speechless. His body was scarred by his life, but every inch of him was hard and toned, especially the long, hard length of his erection. How did we fit? It hung down to his thighs, heavy and bold. The only softness of him hung behind the thick flesh, half hiding in dark curls.
She giggled at the thought. The next instant, someone banged on the door, and she nearly fell off the bed in surprise.
“Maeve, get up. We have to leave. The Silkies are under attack!”
“What the—? Maeve, get dressed!” Stephano dove for his clothing. “Fuck! I knew this was too sweet,” Stephano whispered loudly, not too loudly, she hoped. She fumbled with the bedding, but managed only to get to her feet by the time he’d found and pulled on his breeches. Suddenly he drew her up so hard she fell against his naked chest. “Stay with me. Do not leave my side.”
“I will.” She was suddenly struck by the intensity burning in his eyes—now protective—not passionate.
“Maeve? Maeve!” Brennan shouted.
“I’m coming. Yes, yes, I hear you,” she called, then rushed to say, “Wait. I’m dressing!” Brennan would never enter her room if he even thought her unclothed. Sure enough, he groused that he would meet her at the courtyard.
Stephano smothered her with a tighter hug then released her with a fevered glance at her nakedness.
“Gods, I didn’t…we didn’t…you’re—” He caught her up in his arms again and for some reason, kissed her passionately while he stroked his hands everywhere he could reach. By the time he let her go she was breathless and wanted him as desperately as she had hours before.
“Stephano,” she panted. “What are you doing?”
“I have no idea. I can’t believe I didn’t take the time to kiss every inch of you.” Looking down at her body he shook his head. “I…damn woman…get dressed. But later…” He sighed heavily then finally met her eyes. “I want to take it slow.”
“I think slow is for later. For now, neither of us can wait.” She certainly didn’t want to wait. After…will there be an after? Who attacks Silkies?
“No worrying.” He kissed her once more before he bent and picked up her gown, then shoved it at her. “I like how you think. Now, get dressed because you naked is screwing with my ability to think.”
Minutes later, they raced down the corridor and out into the courtyard. The men were already there, with the addition of half a dozen more Silkies who seemed to be arguing. She knew they were Sentinels by their clothing. The Sentinels were the guardians. They guarded the gates into and out of this realm. They were the one reason she and Brennan always used the two gates outside of their protection. Stephano stayed by her side, even when Ajax cast him a scowl that made her shield herself with Stephano’s broad shoulder.
“Ignore him, that was for me.” Stephano took hold of her hand. Immediately her fear lessoned. No one will get past Stephano. She threaded their fingers. But they did before. She held on tighter, taking heart in the many callouses on his strong hand.
“We have to get you out. It’s your presence that is tipping the balance,” an elder Silkie was saying to her companions. Even with his hair glistening like snow he stood tall and broad-shouldered with his men. His beard was short, framing his face but not adding any age to it that she could detect. But when he settled his gaze on her, she could sense the eons he’d lived in the depth of his aquamarine eyes. “It is you, and yours that have upset the order of things here, in our realm.”
“Nonsense,” Brennan argued. “Their presence has nothing to do with it. Your meddling has caused this, not the presence of these foreigners. If you wish to free our realm of this evil then these are the ones who can do it! They fought them and won twice now!”
“Brennan,” Ajax muttered, “we’re not here to rid this world of the Faye. Such a task is beyond us. All we can do is return to our realm and inform our commanders. Let them know of the ties between this world and the darkness in our world and others, eh?”
“He’s right,” Garret agreed when the Silkies all started grumbling. “The Dark Faye have made pacts in our realm, it’s not too much to imagine they’ve made others as well.”
“And? Once you are gone from here, you will fight your battles on your soil and leave us to ours.” The elder’s gaze grew icy. “We know your kind. You come here but give nothing back.”
“Nothing back? I’ve given back.” Brennan struck his chest with his fist. There was such rage in his tone, Maeve shivered and clung to Stephano’s arm. “My people were destroyed fighting the Dark Faye. We suffered from outsiders too, but it was the evil within this realm that destroyed the Sirens. Where were the Silkies, the guardians of this realm, when we were left with nothing? No homes, no cities, our people scattered? Don’t talk to me of riding this realm of outsiders when they are fighting a battle you’ve perpetuated!”
“How dare you!” one of the Silkies snarled, drawing his weapon.
“How dare I?” Brennan shouted. “You’ve made pacts with the Dark Faye. Don’t tell me otherwise. Your border sits on theirs and yet they don’t attack? Until now,” he amended. “Right when they believe they will lose something that they want.” She couldn’t decipher his expression he directed at her.
The Silkie shoved forward. “We have no—”
The elder held his hand up and around him, the men sheathed their weapons and quieted. “There was nothing we could do for your people. Their lives were gone before we were even aware they were threatened.”
Her memories of smoke and fire, of screaming and her mother’s frightened face…then Brennan, a boy himself, hurrying with her through forests she didn’t recognize. The starving time, the dirtiness and always being cold. He never spoke of it, and after a while of him not answering her questions, she stopped asking.
“Mae? Maeve?” Stephano brushed his knuckles along her jaw.
“I’m all right.” She shook her head slightly at the memories. Such a long time to carry such pain. Does he carry it as well? Is that why he is always angry?
“When we leave this place, we will return.” Ajax stepped forward. “This is our word. We will return and aid you in this fight.”
“If we can stop it here, maybe we can stop it there, as well.” Garret motioned to his brother. “We come from a people that have always upheld the right. We will aid you, if you will allow us.”
The elder and his people still appeared unconvinced.
“Now we know there are connections between our worlds. If we can cut those, sever the head from the body, we will.” Stephano moved away from her, but only by a few steps. She still felt oddly exposed as if he’d left her. “It’s not our way to let evil linger, even in worlds that aren’t our own.” He spoke with much more reverence than she’d ever heard from him and the elder seemed to respond to the tone of respect.
“Very well, Spartan. We will trust your word.” He bowed his head ever so slightly. She got the impression he wanted to silence the arguments still lingering in the air more than anything. Did the Silkies have such agreements with the Dark Faye? She tried to catch Brennan’s eye but he was staunchly avoiding her. “Your lands are through this gate.” He gestured to one with an oak tree in the center of the arch and six stars surrounding it. “Trevor and Argon will be able to open the gate once you wish to return.” For some reason, he gestured for her to come to him.
She held back but at his continued wave she stepped forward until she was close enough to see the fine lines around his eyes. Stephano had walked with her so she could feel his presence at her back.
“You have a part to play in this, much as you had a part to play in freeing the White City. It is not your place to leave this realm—”
“What?” Stephano moved to half shield her with his broad shoulder. “She’s leaving. She comes with me.”
At Stephano’s words, mayhem broke out, not only among the Silkies. The elder and three of his men began speaking in their language. Ajax suddenly muttered something in another language to Stephano. Brennan shoved his way to her side, then shocked her by yanking her arm hard enough she gasped.
At the sound, Stephano suddenly had hold of Brennan by his leather armor. In his face, he growled, “Never do that again.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” No one seemed to hear her, least of all her enraged lover and her brother.
“You touched my sister, didn’t you? Filthy Spartan! I should geld you!” Brennan shook him off, shoving Stephano hard enough to make him stumble backward.
She watched in horror as Stephano’s expression became fierce. “What did you call me?”
Without a word, Brennan threw a punch at Stephano. The blow barely missed his face and only because he ducked and it hit his shoulder. Brennan quickly landed a hard jab to his stomach instead. Stephano crashed his fist down on Brennan’s face, scaring her so badly she covered her mouth and cried out.
Ajax, Trevor and Garret wrestled a still struggling Stephano back. His hair had fallen loose, much as it had last night. The reminder of how he’d so gently loved her made her heart thud. Two Silkies had hold of Brennan. He stared at Stephano and dragged his wrist over his mouth.
All at once, the clearing grew quiet. Above the drum of her heartbeat she tried to make sense of what seemed to be moving much too fast.
“You see? You belong here.” The elder gestured to the gates. “In their world, you will cause this and more.” Her stomach, already tight with fear, clenched even harder. I can’t go with them. I can’t. I always knew I couldn’t. “Everywhere you go, you will draw death.”
His words felt like a slap. A tear leaked free before she could control it. Then, before she knew he’d moved, Stephano held her to his chest. The contrast from angry warrior to protective lover was startling. But the steady beat of his heart against her gave her strength. What if I am the cause of his death?
“Don’t listen to him, Mae,” he murmured in a voice she realized then was only used with her. She tried to listen, tried to believe him, but what if the elder was right? What if I cause this trouble? I did for Brennan. What if I do the same everywhere I go?
“She is not causing anything.” Stephano turned her in his arms, hiding her from the Silkies. “He is. I will never stand by while she is harmed. Brother or not, if you hurt her again, I will ensure you never do it again.” Stephano tightened his arms around her protectively at his shocking words. “She stays with me, either here or in my realm. But she is not the cause of this, no more than any other woman who chooses a man her brother doesn’t like.”
Brennan finally met her eyes. He dropped his. Is Stephano right? Is this about me not choosing a man he wants? She trembled at the anger visible in his tense shoulders and breathless stance. He lifted his head, and there in his eyes she saw the anger still simmered.
“Is this true? You have chosen this…man?”
With all eyes on her, and Stephano holding her so firmly, she couldn’t think of an answer that would explain what Stephano meant to her. “Yes.”
Stephano sighed, she thought maybe in relief. She hugged him once more, then dropped her arms and tried to back away.
She would have gone to Brennan, to explain more, but with a disgusted shake of his head, he muttered, “Then you have made your decision.”
The air left her as if he’d hit her in the abdomen. She couldn’t understand his anger, or what he’d said to Stephano. It had sounded personal. ‘Dirty Spartan’. Her legs were trembling but she took a step out of Stephano’s arms and toward her brother.
Stephano caught her elbow and gently stopped her. “Let him have some space, Mae.”
Everything was moving too fast. Ajax rounded on Brennan, telling him that a brother supports his sister and that Stephano was the best man he’d ever fought beside. Garret slapped Stephano on the back and tried to calm him down with advice on brothers-in-law. The Silkies were back to discussing something in their language, but all of it blurred, as if the pain of Brennan’s dismissal eclipsed everything else. He can’t stay angry with me. But she saw the set of his shoulders, the tense anger on his face and the way he shut her out. He’d always done this before, but never at her, but she knew the signs. He was moving on. He’s leaving me now.
The crash, when it came, scared her to the point of crying out.
Stephano caught her to his chest again and tucked her close with one arm, while his sword rang as he pulled it free with the other. “What was that?”
The Silkies all drew their weapons. The elder shouted something to his men. Several formed a unit as they ran toward the arches. Trevor, she thought it was Trevor their Silkie guide, hurried to them, his face creased in concern.
“Come. The last barrier has broken. We can’t hold them off if they’ve gotten through our guard.”
“What does that mean?” Stephano’s muscles hardened against her where they touched.
Ajax stepped closer and Garret moved to her front, blocking her view of Brennan.
“It means that soon this clearing will be filled with Dark Faye. Come, we leave now, my people will see to them.” Even as Trevor spoke, Silkie warriors dressed in the red sea serpent armor and wearing capes of crimson with long, flowing blond hair began to pour out of the gates nearest them. Some carried bows, but most had broad swords like Stephano and raced toward the entrance they’d come through the night before.
Stephano ushered her after Trevor so fast she barely had time to notice it all, but she kept scanning the woods as they ran, her attention divided between Stephano and her brother.
“Here, through here,” Trevor urged. Angor was already up ahead, waiting by an enormous arch set in the middle of the forest, his long bow out and an arrow already notched. The gate.
In front of her, Garret had his bow out, as well and held back with Angor as they raced by. Ajax shouted something to Stephano and broke off from them, flanking their left.
Stephano took her hand tightly and forced her to run faster.
Trevor motioned to the gate. “We go—”
A black arrow hit him in the throat, and he fell backward, unmoving. She screamed in her hands, and spun in time to barely miss being hit by another arrow. It thudded into the wood of the gate, right where her head had been.
Stephano deflected another with his sword and shoved her to his left, arm out to hold her back or protect her, she didn’t know.
Another Silkie died in front of her. Garret hit the archer. The Dark Faye went down and didn’t rise. Three more soared over a fallen log in the forest to land mere feet from them, already releasing arrows.
Unable to keep her fear quiet, she shouted, one word, that echoed as if she’d hit a mighty gong. “Stop!” They paused, their bows drawn tight, their arrows notched and ready.
Stephano spun and their eyes met. Ajax paused as well. “Again, Maeve, do it again,” Stephano urged.
She nodded, unable to bear the idea of any of them dying.
“Stop! Stop this and return to your realm, leave this land, it is not yours!” She put every ounce of sorrow, every memory of pain and fear she could in her voice and shoved it at the warriors in black. She continued to sing, drawing more of her painful break with Brennan into her voice, and built in the fear she felt over losing any of them. “Go, go away. Never return!” The pain, the terror, the fear, all rolled together creating the song and making it stronger as it took more and more from her.
They fell back, their expression turning from rage to terror as they stumbled and clutched one another. Then as if by magic, the Faye were suddenly running back the way they had come.
In the silence that followed, she collapsed to the forest floor, finding it odd that her body felt as light as a feather, but she still experienced a sharp crack as her head impacted with a rock. Her vision tunneled in on itself until all she could see was far, far away the blue of the sky as it shrank to a pinprick then vanished.