by Billi Jean
“It looks deserted to me.”
“It’s never deserted,” she corrected him.
“Well, on that, I have to agree. Look at our cozy cottage.”
That made her pause. I liked that cottage almost as much as my own. “They destroyed the benches and the table,” she confided. “It was a terrible mess and you…you killed two of them.”
“I would have killed more if they hadn’t sprung up out of nowhere when I was daydreaming about getting you in a bath.”
“Stephano!” She gasped and got yanked up against him when she did. Shocked, she stared at his face.
“I thought I was going to make it up to you with a long, hot soak in a tub, instead I got knocked in the head and you had to rescue me.” A faint, teasing smile surfaced but was quickly gone. “Promise me something.” He was suddenly so serious all she could do was nod. “Never do such a thing again. I nearly lost a hundred years off my life seeing you jump on that Faye with only my knife in your hand. He could have killed you.”
She was unsure what to say to him when he was so warm and hard against her. He bent his head and rested it on her shoulder with a groan, tightening his arms when he did.
“So you can die?” he muttered. “And still you did that!” He glared down at her with such an expression of outrage she almost laughed.
“I was hoping I wouldn’t and I was certain they were going to torture and kill you. I had to. I couldn’t carry you, not if you fell asleep,” she reminded him when he still frowned at her.
“Gods, woman!” He startled her with a rough kiss to her neck that she felt all the way down to her toes. He slid his hands along her back and cupped her bottom almost painfully so he could draw her closer. There was such urgency in him, she was amazed to find she felt the same. She wanted to kiss him so badly it was as if all this time, all the things they’d been through together, that right now, this moment, she needed him. Only he could make everything better.
“Mae,” he groaned her name in a deep, husky tone. “Do you feel what you’re doing to me?” He pressed her hips to his, and she felt the column of his erection against her stomach. His aroused flesh ignited a fire in her blood, making her grip his shoulders and grind her hips to his. She was trembling, but in anticipation, not fear. He shuddered with her. “Sweet Gods, angel.”
Something clicked into place. It wasn’t something she could rationalize a way, or deny. There was her, and there was her with Stephano. It was as if he belonged to her.
“Yes. I feel it, I…want it.” Him. I want him. “Now. I want you now.”
“Fuck,” he swore, blinking sweat out of his eyes to stare at her in disbelief. “You want it?”
She nodded urgently. “Yes.”
“Me? Fucking you here on this mountain top?”
At his coarse words, her sex throbbed and she grew lightheaded as the explicit pictures flooded her mind. She vividly recalled his fantasies and this, taking her outdoors, was one of them. But it was hers as well. She didn’t need sweet and gentle. She didn’t need love or promises. I will never have those, anyway. We could die today. We could be taken again. I will never have a man for myself. But I have him, now.
“Yes.”
The relief and satisfaction that flashed over his face meant more to her than anything in that moment. He wants me. He needs me. I need him. It was that simple.
She didn’t wait, but reached down to his belt to free him from his breeches, not bothering with his armor or shirt or weapons. He devoured her mouth, driving his tongue inside with hard, hungry lunges and rough, growling groans. Once his flies were unbuttoned, his erect flesh bulged out of his trousers into her hands. She took hold, possessively testing his length by stroking the thin skin over the stiff flesh all the way up and down his shaft. Within seconds her hands were slick with his pre-cum, while he backed her to a tree and thrust repeatedly between her palms.
“My cock is so damn hard for you,” he panted. “It’s been hard forever, for you.”
She didn’t want his suave words, or his seduction. She wanted sex. Him, inside her giving her something she wanted for the first time. A man. Stephano.
She pressed her lips to his to stop such lies. But once her mouth touched his again, she was lost to the taste and heat of him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling him shove her gown up her thighs and settle his hips between her legs. There were no words then, only him and her and this, sex.
He gripped her hips and lowered her so his hot shaft was poised at her entrance. Right when she thought she’d die if he didn’t fill her, he tightened his arms around her waist, grabbed her shoulders from behind, and deepened their kiss. At the same time, he tensed and thrust. The sharp burn of his powerful erection barreling deep inside shocked her. But the immediate groans and frenzied lunges Stephano delivered right after had her crying out in pleasure. He spread her body to fit his with glorious moves over and inside her. The pleasure was astounding. It was as if her channel were made for his discovery. With every desperate drive he gave her more until with a jolt his pelvis rubbed against her clit. Once gained, he gave her hard, firm thrusts, each one better than the last, until she couldn’t draw air past the pleasure of having him.
Tingles raced up her body, cinching tighter and tighter around where he possessed her so fully. She threw her head back, breaking the kiss to cry out at the joy of it. With a shock, she felt it blossom higher. Then it happened. She reached her peak and soared. Her vision blurred and sounds seemed to disappear. It didn’t matter. The perfection of Stephano’s love making was on her. She flew with it and dug her nails into his back to the sound of him growing even more passionate.
“Yes! Gods, yes!” He sounded distant but so filled with desperate pleasure she spiraled outward, lost except for the feel of him—Stephano. She whimpered and bit down on his shoulder. Then, when she thought the world was spinning free, she felt it. His flesh stiffened to an even bigger degree. She could feel each groove, each hard inch filling and spreading her to new levels of awareness. Then with a wild shout, heat spilled inside her.
He shouted again, each time his erection jerked and more warmth filled her. It was overwhelming. She moaned into his muscled shoulder, lost in a sea of such passion she clung to him for support.
Breathless and still shivering from passion, she sank down on him until her body stretched taut. She wanted every inch of him. With a sigh of longing, she released the bite on his shoulder so she could rest her head there and try to catch her breath. Don’t let it end. Don’t let this be all there is. He circled her with his arms, breathing as if he’d run a race, but didn’t speak. The cooler mountain air began to ease them. She shivered as the chill touched her exposed legs.
Slowly, unsure what to think, or how to act, she stayed silent. With a groan, Stephano squeezed her tighter and kissed her on the cheek.
“Here, your legs have to be hurting all over again.” He lifted her off him.
His body left hers slowly, but once gone, she felt empty. She was set down as if nothing—not sex, not wild sex on a mountain—had even occurred. He straightened his clothing and cast her a soft smile, but it was quickly gone as he reached out and brushed something from her hair.
“We’d better head out soon. Do you need a moment?”
She forced a quick smile before she walked away from him. A cold, awful feeling rose in her chest and strangled her. She tried to ignore it. I wanted this. She stumbled once as she walked, but headed toward the sound of gurgling water. Not too far away she found a brook bubbling up from rocks and spilling down the sides into a natural crevice.
For some reason, the beauty of it brought tears to her eyes. I wanted him. I wanted… She fell to her knees, suddenly unable to see for the burn of tears in her eyes. I wanted him. She plunged her hands in the clear, cool water and splashed her face repeatedly, only then letting the tears fall.
Brennan was right. It’s the same without love. The same after, but…everything else was different. Why isn’t it dif
ferent after, too?
Stephano paced the area where he’d so recently ruined everything he’d felt building between him and Maeve. Building. As if I can have more than sex with a woman. The last one he’d trusted that way… An image of Livia’s face, or a ghostly version of it, without the detail that had once been engraved in his brain, floated across his consciousness. He smacked it down. She was long since buried, while he’d survived, besting her in the end by simply living past her.
He pulled on his ear. Maeve isn’t Livia. She wasn’t power hungry, or using her feminine wiles, or even flaunting herself to distract him from what he knew was right. She never used any of her considerable appeal. Until now.
Her kiss…the way she’d rode him in abandon. Gods, she’d come—three times, he thought. But now, when he should be with her, caressing her and holding her sweetly, he had let her walk away. That smile… That shy, uncertain, trusting-him-to-make-this-right smile had been missing. Instead, he’d gotten a brittle, fragile thing that shot a painful dart right to his chest. Why?
Because she’d trust him before and now… She knew better.
Trust me? Is she insane? Doesn’t she know I’m not trustworthy? Hadn’t she always accused him of only wanting to bed her? Hadn’t she always maintained she didn’t want him? Then why stroke him? She’d not demanded her due. Not even appeared to feel resentment that he’d gotten his happy ending and she’d…curled up against him and fallen asleep. After I passed out. She’d even cleaned me up. What woman does that?
He rubbed his face hard, trying to get a grip.
She walked all night to save me. She cares about me. She’s not Livia. If I can’t give her more once we’re free of this shit, I can sure the hell give her more, now.
Fuck it! He marched after her, but froze, head up and shoulders tingling. A sound from his left alerted him. He spun, sword out, and growled a curse seeing Ajax jumping back out of his way.
“Whoa there, man!”
“Fuck! Ajax!” He dropped his guard and hugged the other man hard, smacking his back. Darren, Garret and Brennan were grinning at him from where they were cresting the hill.
“Steady, that’s right where those fuckers hit me,” Ajax muttered. They pulled apart and Stephano saw the smile in the other man’s eyes. Such relief eased from him, tension he’d not realized he felt until then, that his head spun.
“Damn, I think he’s gonna faint,” Garret grumbled. “Didn’t I say I’d get them?”
Stephano laughed and gripped Ajax’s shoulder. “I knew you were too damn arrogant to get trussed up by a bunch of fairies. Where’s Alrick?”
Everyone stilled at that. “He’s distracted,” Ajax answered. “He’s going to be a bit longer.”
“Where’s my sister?” Brennan asked, scanning the hilltop.
Stephano gestured toward where Maeve had walked off. “Cleaning up. We had some trouble, but she’s fine,” he lied. With a sinking feeling, he realized he couldn’t go after her now, couldn’t talk to her or make this right.
Two more men joined them, appearing out of the trees as if they’d been there all along. One was dressed in black and had eyes like the Faye, angled and sparkling like hard jewels. “Who—?”
“This is Argon and Trevor, Argon is a Tracker, Trevor a Silkie. Both aided us.” Ajax gestured back at the men. “They’re solid men.”
A Tracker. “Are you the man that helped Maeve?”
The Faye glanced in the direction Mae had headed, but focused back on him to nod.
“Argon has taken a vow of silence, but he was able to hide your companion from the Dark Faye,” Trevor supplied.
“Trevor will allow us to use a gate on the Silkies’ lands.” Ajax sent him a frown, warning him to back off. Stephano eased off on his scowl. “They also have word of Jacob. It seems he’s not gone after all, merely…distracted.”
“That’s good news, eh?” Stephano tried to feel relief that Jacob was all right, but his insides were clenching so tightly he felt sick. Gotta go see Mae. She’s been gone too long.
“Should I go get Maeve?” Brennan muttered, glancing worried from Stephano to where he’d indicated she’d gone.
“No. She probably needed some time alone. She walked all night to find me and barely had a chance to rest since then. She freed me from the Dark Faye.”
Ajax’s frown deepened and Brennan’s attention became sharper.
“She’s brave, and while a bit reckless, she’s strong,” he added with a pointed glance at her brother. Brennan was frowning at him in a way that made it clear he wasn’t happy.
“Maeve freed you?” Ajax asked clearly dumbfounded. “Maeve? Freed you from the Faye?”
“The Sirens are strong in spirit.” The Silkie stepped forward. Stephano didn’t care how much he’d helped Ajax and the others. He didn’t like the man. “Once their heart is given, their loyalty is absolute, so is their capacity for revenge if wronged,” Trevor added with a laugh. He was fiddling with something at his belt. He pulled a knife free and reached down to slice a limb from a tree. “You found that out in the White City, though, eh?” He peeled the bark and rubbed the moisture from it on a cut along his forearm.
“The White City?” It made sense. The buildings were all white. “The Siren there…yes, we ran into that. Maeve freed her.”
“Maeve speaks? She’s a Siren?” Ajax asked, glancing from him to Brennan to Trevor.
Brennan exhaled. “We are both Sirens. Maeve doesn’t speak because her voice is still untrained.”
“It’s trained now,” Stephano snapped. “She only needed to have some confidence, or someone to believe in her, eh?”
“My sister is—”
Maeve walked into the clearing, staring wide-eyed at her brother, then at the men. She was so beautiful, every time he saw her, it was like a blow to his head. Or chest. Her gaze landed on him once, but so briefly he couldn’t register it before it skipped to the Tracker, then centered on Brennan. Her brother went to her immediately and took her hands, staring into her face. It was an intimate moment and the men got busy with other things, but he didn’t take his eyes off Maeve. She was scared, he thought, and worried. What am I thinking? I can’t have her. She deserves more than me.
“She’s tired. We should go, if we’re going,” he announced. “How far until this land of yours?” he asked the Silkie.
“The nearest entrance to the Silkie lands is there, beyond those white rocks.” He pointed down the mountain, at a blur of light among the trees. A half day’s walk, at the most. Close to the Dark Faye though, too close in his opinion. He wanted to ask Maeve what their relationships were with the dark ones, for surely being that close but one glance at her and he knew the time had passed for him to speak. It’s for the best. Let her go. Look what you did to her! Fucked her like a party girl at a club!
His chest felt too tight, his stomach a knot. Ajax was staring hard at him when he fixed his attention off Mae. He had no doubt his old friend knew exactly how badly he’d fucked up, especially with the scowl tugging at Ajax’s brow.
“We go without Alrick?”
“Alrick is busy.” Darren grinned. “I think he’s found his mate.” His brother didn’t hold back from a laugh. “I can only image he’ll be a while, eh?”
Trevor and the Tracker both smiled, but Ajax still wore his frown when their eyes met.
“Let’s go then, eh?” Stephano suggested, feeling as if the earth were opening up under him to take him straight to Hades. This time I don’t need Hades to tell me what I fool I am. I know.
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 watchi
ng 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.