He put his forehead to hers and closed his eyes, never wanting to let her go but knowing he couldn’t hold on to her forever. The longer he stood, holding her, still pressed with her body, the more he began to feel the aftermath of their joining. His cheek and neck burned. It took him a moment to remember Gigi had scratched him during the height of the moment.
Staring down at her, he gave her a questioning look. “Gigi, did I hurt you?”
She let out a long, slow breath and wiggled on his cock. “You’re not exactly little, Korey, and you weren’t…ah…umm, very gentle.”
Guilt washed over him. He’d been so caught up in finding out Gigi not only understood what he was but wasn’t human either that he’d lost control of himself. “Gigi, I dinnae mean to…”
Pressing her hand to his lips, she shook her head and stared up through thick lashes. “Make love to me, Korey. But—” She squirmed in his arms. “—not against the tree again. One log—” She glanced down the length of him. “—ramming into me is more than enough.”
A chuckle escaped him as he bent to kiss her. “Mmm, I’ll take you again, love, but first I’ll see to yer battle wounds.”
“Battle wounds?” she asked, licking her lower lip.
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Aye, seems as if you gave me a few of my own.”
Gigi touched his scratched cheek and heat flared between them. Her magik danced across his skin, healing him. “I didn’t mean to do that. I’m sorry.”
Chapter Four
Gigi rolled onto her side, enjoying the warmth from not only the sun but Korey’s sleeping body as well. They had bathed in a river and he’d used his power to conjure a blanket and food. While the bath was much needed to soothe her aching body, the food hit home. She hadn’t realized she was hungry until Korey had practically shoved a cube of cheese down her throat.
He insisted she keep her strength up. That she’d need it.
The tone of his voice and his cocksure swagger told her exactly what he had in mind. She hadn’t been innocent to a man’s touch prior to her joining with Korey but for what it had been worth, she might as well have been. His guilt for being so rough with her ran off him while he bathed her in the river but he’d remained tight-lipped about their first encounter. It had been raw and full of passion, much like Korey.
She traced his handsome face as he slept so soundly she had to lean in to assure herself he was breathing. Many a night of sleeping in the heather to guard against evil left countless warriors schooled in the art of silence, even in their sleep.
Gigi ran her fingers lightly over his scruffy chin before skimming over his lower lip. He nipped playfully at her thumb, catching it between his teeth and alerting her to the fact he was now awake.
He wiggled his brows as he sucked on her thumb. When he released his hold on it, Gigi leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his, still managing to yank on his lip with her hand in the process.
He tugged at the blanket, pulling it down and freeing her breasts. The minute Korey palmed them, Gigi melted against him. His touch was expert. Her nipples hardened to pebble-like peaks and she moaned in his mouth as he continued his erotic, slow tease of her upper body.
It took Gigi a moment to realize Korey seemed to be going out of his way to not only take his sweet time torturing her but to be gentle as well. Peeling her mouth from his, she panted to catch her breath. “Kor, I won’t break.”
His gaze flickered towards the tree he’d taken her against and Gigi couldn’t stop a splash of heat from going to her cheeks. “I know but I’d like verra much to enjoy you, Gigi, and to show you that you’ve every right to be cherished.”
He tweaked her nipples more, making her belly quicken with desire. Gigi tipped her head back, giving him access to her neck. He took the hint, planting a row of kisses on her feverish skin, making her think she might truly burst into flames if he didn’t continue. She slid her hands into his hair and pulled enough to force his head up. “Korey, all of this…what’s happened between us…it can’t ruin our…”
His gaze locked on her. “Woman, if yer trying to tell me we can finish this and go back to being friends, yer wrong.”
Her breath caught.
Korey flipped her onto her back, sliding up and over her so fast she had no time to protest. Not that she would have. He nudged her legs open with a powerful thigh before settling between them. “It’s too late to go back, Gigi. Yer a claimed woman now. Do nae forget that or even think of trying to run from me.”
She shook her head. “We’re not really married, Korey. You know—”
He thrust into her in one long stroke. Gigi cried out, digging her nails into his back and doing her best to breathe. He struck a perfect rhythm, grinding his lower abdomen against her clit while his sac slapped her ass. It took a minute for Gigi to recognize the feel of his magik and when she did, she immediately began to struggle to get out from under him.
“Korey, no! Don’t tie yourself to…” The words faded as he pumped into her, striking her clit just right and sending her crashing over the edge of bliss. His magik encased her, merging with her own, forever sealing the deal. She was most certainly a claimed woman now. Korey had left no question about that.
He’d blended magiks with her during the height of passion. There was no greater binding for their kind. He thrust into her, stilling and coming with a start. A strangled cry broke free of him as his body shook above her.
Gigi wanted to hate him for what he’d done—damning himself to whatever fate her uncle and the dark ones had in store for her—but she couldn’t. She loved him, in spite of himself.
“My uncle will want you dead too, Korey.”
“Aye, but nae as much as I want him dead.” He kissed a line down her neck, remaining deep within her. “I cannae believe we waited so many years to be together, Gigi. What took us so long?”
A laugh bubbled up from her. “Well, you were kind of young for me the first time we met.”
He chuckled and bit at her earlobe. “Mmm, yes. Now, yer too young for me. Do you know how old I am?”
She thought back to the day she’d put the villagers under her protection. “I have a fairly good idea. So, yes, you’re too old for me. And you’re plenty old enough to realize I’ll bring you nothing but trouble.”
“I suppose,” he said with a grin. “But isnae what a wife does?”
Gigi slapped the back of his arm lightly. “For that remark I’m making you watch the movie I picked out twice.”
Korey withdrew from her. “Och, I can hardly wait.” He kissed her upper chest, centering on her breasts to start and then moving down her stomach. Licking a line around her belly button, he made a torrent of cream form between her legs.
“No more. I need another bath.”
He looked entirely too pleased with the idea of her being wet. He ignored her plea and dropped his head lower, licking a line to her slit. Gigi clawed at the blanket as Korey parted her folds and flicked his tongue over her swollen bud. She thrashed under his skilled mouth. Each lick, each swipe of his tongue left her gasping and another orgasm building.
She screamed, yanking hard on the blanket and arching her back to him. Korey chuckled into her pussy as he lapped up her cream, only serving to make her body quake.
Gigi stared down the length of herself at him and gave him a scolding look.
He grinned, his chin glistening with moisture. “Mmm, you taste every bit as divine as you are, my goddess.”
She froze.
His goddess.
Korey kissed her inner thigh and bit at it, causing her no real pain. His words played in her mind again and again.
His goddess.
Panic welled. Norval would come for him and there was no way Korey could defend himself against a god. She’d sealed his fate—doomed him by being too weak to deny him.
“I cannae say it pleases me to see that look upon yer face after I thought I did a rather nice job down here.” He planted additional kisses on her inner th
ighs before moving up the length of her. “Gigi, you look as if yer going to be sick. What troubles you, lass?”
“I need to talk to Parth. He’s an old friend of mine and he can help keep you safe from my uncle.”
Korey rolled away from her, his anger bristling off him. “You mean he’s an old lover of yers, Gigi. I saw him in the pub. I heard everything he said to you and you to him.”
Gigi stared at Korey’s backside. “I never meant to lie to you, Korey. I only ever wanted to protect you from who and what I was running from.”
He let out a choked laugh. “You do nae deny you were lovers?”
“You’re stuck on that when I’m worried the skies will open and my sadistic uncle will drop out of them and strike you dead?”
Korey glanced over his shoulder, his look deadly. “Aye, I’m stuck on that.”
“Typical man,” she said, exhaling and staring upwards instead of at his lush ass. “Ignore the fact a god will want you dead. No. It’s much better to fixate on a relationship I haven’t been in since you were just a boy. That’s mature. Glad I fell in love with the sound O’Caha boy.”
Gigi continued on her rant for several more minutes before stopping and realizing Korey was watching her with a peculiar look on his face. “Kor?”
“You love me?”
She bit her lower lip and lowered her lids, ashamed to meet his gaze. She’d been in love with him for four years. How had she fought her feelings for so long?
He touched her cheek, surprising her with how close he was. “Never be embarrassed about what we feel for one another, Gigi.”
We feel?
She lifted a brow. “And what do we feel for each other, Korey?”
“Right now I’m fightin’ the urge to whisk you away to a location even more secure than this one before spanking you until you learn your lesson.”
Her jaw dropped open. “And what lesson is that?”
“That I do nae need yer ex-lover to protect me, or you. I’m yer husband and I can and will see to yer safety.”
She rolled her eyes. “Wonderful. My husband doesn’t tell me he loves me. No. He tells me he wants to punish me for daring to have the nerve to worry a god…you know, those pesky hard to kill superpowers…will want his head on a platter. My marriage is everything I’d hoped it would be and so very much more.”
“Sarcasm does not become you.” Korey’s shoulders shook and she caught the gleam in his eyes telling her he was fighting the urge to laugh. “I should take you over my knee now. Make sure you understand who is boss in this relationship.” He laughed then as he bent to kiss her.
Gigi turned her head away. “And I should spank you for being a big druid bully to me when all I wanted to know was whether or not you claimed me because you wanted to or because you felt you had to.”
“Big druid bully?” he asked, feigning shock.
Gigi wanted to play along. She did, but each time Korey changed the subject she couldn’t help but think it was because he knew she wouldn’t like the answer. Rolling to her feet, she put her hand out and called upon her magik. She summoned clothing, not only for herself but for Korey as well. “We should head back now.”
“Gigi.”
She refused to look at him while she dressed.
“Dammit, Gigi.”
Again, she faced away.
“Woman, do nae make me keep my promise to spank you. I will.” The anger in his voice made her laugh.
“An honest emotion for once. Good to know you still have those after seven hundred plus years of bedding women, Korey.”
“W-what?”
“Nothing.” She bent to pick up the blanket and found he hadn’t so much as moved let alone began to dress. His blue gaze locked on her.
“Yer really going to hold my past against me? I dinnae know you were out there, Gigi.”
“Yet you’re willing to blame me for Parth when he was my only anything, Korey. He was a good man once. A man I thought would be my husband.”
He was quiet for a moment before nodding. “Is he the man you wish was yer husband now?”
Unable to stop herself, Gigi walked over to him and delivered a good hard slap to his face. It had no effect on him. She expected as much. “You are an arrogant jerk with a one-track mind.”
“But you love me all the same.”
“Yes, I do but…” She paused, realizing there was no malice in his voice. “Korey, I do love you. You know that, right? I’m not trying to take away from how powerful you are by suggesting we ask Parth to help us, I’m being realistic. I can’t lose you. Do you understand what I’m saying? I can’t live without you. I understand you claimed me out of some misguided need to protect me but it doesn’t change the fact I really do love you.”
“Gigi.”
She ignored him, continuing on with how much he meant to her. It wasn’t until Korey covered her mouth with his hand that she stopped.
“Wife, yer about to talk my ears right off my head.”
She giggled into the palm of his hand.
“If you would be so kind as to refrain from speakin’ a moment.”
She nodded, but he kept his hand there anyways.
“Gigi, from the moment you stepped into my life, I’ve been in love with you. Since I believe I was six or seven at the time that means—” He tipped his head back and forth, appearing to calculate the years. “Well, I’ve loved you a long damn time, lass.”
Tears fell freely as she stared down at him. Korey’s bashful look only made Gigi cry harder. She tried to tell him she loved him too but he still held his hand over her mouth, making it come out more as a mumble.
Korey chuckled. “Aye, guid to know, lass. Guid to know.”
He hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her down to him. His kiss was gentle to start but fast moved to heated. Gigi returned it with all she had, loving the kiss more, if that were even possible. Breaking the kiss was hard to do but she did it all the same.
“Korey, we need to go back.”
“Och, what we need is to enjoy the start of our honeymoon, a ghrá”
She pushed dark strands of hair back from his face and kissed his cheeks. “Mmm, I want that, I do, but if two dark ones were able to track me, more will follow. Coyle is the only one there. It means they’ll attack him.”
The thought apparently sobered Korey’s horny state because he set her to the side and hopped to his feet. He was dressed in seconds and had his hand out to her, his eyes wide. “Come.”
Chapter Five
Korey held tight to Gigi’s hand as he used his power to travel back to the pub. At first, he assumed all was well. The place seemed quiet, and if Korey’s calculations were correct, it should have been closed for business. The office was in order, meaning Coyle had handled the clean up. Still, something felt off. A power he didn’t recognize filtered through the air, buzzing about. He almost didn’t sense it but thankfully he had.
Gigi gasped, apparently sensing the power as well, and ran for the office door. Korey held her back, shaking his head no and pointing to the corner of the room. “Go. I’ll check.”
She took a few steps in the direction he wished her to be in and then stopped.
Stubborn woman.
Korey moved to the side of the door, listened closely and then opened it, peeking out to see overturned tables and chairs. That wasn’t all. He spotted a bloody mass lying in the center of the pub, unmoving.
Coyle.
Everything around him seemed to fog as he rushed out, intent on getting to his cousin to render whatever aid he could.
Do nae let him be dead. Do nae!
Korey dropped to his cousin’s side and noticed then that another body lay close to Coyle’s. This one was covered in the markings of a druid sorcerer turned rogue.
Parth.
He too lay motionless in a pool of his own blood.
Korey sensed Gigi near him before he saw her. She let out a strangled cry and dropped next to him, reaching for Coyle. Without thought,
Korey smacked her hand away. Guilt for having been with her, rutting like a wild beast, instead of here, with his cousin consumed him.
Gigi drew back from Korey and went to Parth’s lifeless body. “P-Parth? No!”
She rolled the man over and shook as she touched his cheek. Korey tried to numb himself to the jealously he felt but couldn’t. Nor could he deny the rage crashing through him over Coyle’s death. Deri, CJ and the new baby would be without him. For all eternity.
Korey’s head fogged more and the next thing he knew, he had hold of Gigi’s upper arm, yanking her to her feet. “Take me to yer uncle, now!”
Her eyes widened. “N-no. He’ll kill you, Korey. He’ll know you’re coming. It’s a trap.”
“Take me to him!” he shouted with so much force Gigi cringed beneath the weight of his touch. Additional guilt struck him but he swept it aside, focusing only on his rage.
Gigi shook her head. “No. I won’t take you to your death.”
Korey lifted his hand and when he realized it had been with the intent to strike his wife, he gasped at the same time as Gigi, releasing her so fast she fell over Parth’s body and struck the pub floor.
“Och, Gigi, I dinnae mean… I wouldnae ever…”
She scrambled away from him and straight into the arms of a man who appeared out of thin air. The man had a head of dark brown hair, streaked with strands of white. His green eyes locked on Korey and he smiled. “Thank you for looking out for my niece. Your work is done.”
He lifted his hand and shot power at Korey before Korey could so much as blink. The magik slammed into Korey, lifting him up and off his feet. He struck a table and it buckled under his weight, breaking to pieces. White-hot pain shot throughout Korey’s body as he hit the floor and the power of a god turned rogue ripped through him.
*
Goddess of the Grove Page 4