Ride: Felicity and Niall: Episodes 1-4 (Puca Mates Collection)

by A. C. James

  “Aye, there have been a lot of improvements since I last visited my family's cottage.”

  He knew better than to ask about Wi-Fi, but apparently it had been installed in the O'Leary cottage too. Or so he’d been told. Niall could kick himself for not investigating further. It was hard to concentrate when all his stallion wanted was for her to ride him and prove she was as fertile as she smelled.

  “You’re on holiday?” she asked.

  “You could say that.”

  “So you have family here?”

  “Aye, my family has always been rooted to this island. What about you? Do you have family back where you’re from?”

  Felicity shook her head. “Cyn is the closest thing I have to family back in London. My parents died in a car accident six years ago. So it’s just me.”

  He’d seen a few of those cars on the island. Not many. And they looked different than he remembered from the last time he’d crossed over the veil. Niall could see how they could kill a person. Looked like wheeled death traps, and they didn’t seem nearly as sturdy as those old cars he remembered from years ago.

  “I’m sorry to hear it,” he said.

  “It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”

  He wondered if there was a man in her life. His stallion didn’t like that idea at all. She is ours to mate. We will have her. She will ride us. He tamped down the inexplicable possessiveness that made his stallion’s nostrils flare.

  “So it’s just you, love. You don’t have a mate?” he asked.

  Again, she looked puzzled at his choice of words. “I had a fellow, if that’s what you mean. We’re not together anymore.”

  Sadness filled her eyes. Niall could hardly stand it. He much preferred smiling Felicity to the heartbroken woman who didn’t seem to want to let anyone in. How could he prove that she didn’t have to be guarded with him when he wasn't willing to reveal his stallion to her yet? How could he keep from hurting her? His stallion’s desire warred with the part of him that thought taking a mate meant losing his freedom. But they’d reached Pier House, and he could barely keep his stallion in check when she stood so close, her fertile scent testing his resolve.

  “Then he’s a fool, love, to let you go,” Niall said.

  That wouldn’t be us. Keep her. Make her our mate. How long could he ignore the voice of his stallion pounding inside his head? His words elicited a response from Felicity that was even harder to ignore. Her lips parted, almost an invitation, and her intake of breath was audible as they stood in front of Pier House. The chemistry flowing between them was electric. Kiss her. His stallion didn’t need to prod him because more than anything Niall wanted to pull her against him and kiss her until her lips were swollen.

  “I should go,” Felicity murmured, but she didn't move. Only inches separated them. “Thank you for walking me back.”

  There was no denying that his stallion wanted this human. He didn't even know her full name, yet his stallion would ride off with her beyond the veil given the chance.

  “Felicity…you never told me your last name.”

  “Forrest. Felicity Forrest.”

  “Goodnight, Felicity Forrest.”

  “Goodnight,” she said, and turned toward the door.

  But his stallion would not settle until he’d tasted her lips. He was losing the war with his beast. Niall knew his stallion had reached the breaking point. His shirt began to tighten as his equine spirit expanded his chest and he felt himself start to shift. His clothes would be ripped to shreds by the time his stallion emerged, but there was nothing he could do.

  “Aye, fuck,” he said. His stallion snorted.

  Felicity turned around, her eyes widening. Niall’s legs elongated and his feet became hooves. He ground his teeth together, because no matter how many times he’d shifted the process was always painful. His skin became a glossy short-haired coat, black as night, and the hair on his head darkened and grew into a long, elegant mane. Her jaw dropped in shock. She started to back away from him. His stallion would have to use persuasion to get her to mount him. He needed to feel her on his back, with her legs wrapped around him.

  Chapter 11

  Never in her wildest dreams could she imagine what she'd witnessed. Niall had shifted into a stallion. His glowing amber eyes stared into hers. She backed away slowly. But then she was glued to the spot, unable to move as his eyes glowed brighter than before.

  -Don't be afraid, Felicity. I won't hurt you.- As the telepathic voice echoed through her mind, all willpower to turn away and go inside Pier House vanished. -Get on my back.- Niall lowered himself to the ground. She knew in her gut that it was some kind of mind control when she found herself swinging a leg over him and climbing on against her will. She had no choice but to accept that, yes, this was happening, because no matter how hard she tried she couldn't resist whatever persuasion he was using on her.

  The stallion rose from the ground, and Felicity held on for dear life, her heart hammering against her chest. Thankfully, Felicity had done this before, the horse-riding part at least. She had ridden her whole life, and muscles never quite forget what they're supposed to do. It's like riding a bike. Breathe. She was even more thankful that the púca had a broad back and low withers. Still, there were no reins. Even when she rode bareback, she'd always used reins. As if sensing she had no idea what to hold onto, Niall’s voice filled her mind. -Grab onto my mane.- She knew it wouldn’t hurt him, but she hesitated. There was no bond of trust between them, as she’d never ridden him before.

  “Are you certain?”

  Laughter seemed to vibrate through him. -Do it.-

  “Right,” Felicity muttered.

  But she wound part of his mane around each hand anyway, surprised at its softness. She wrapped her legs around his body for balance, because there was nothing else she could do against his powerful persuasion.

  -Hold on tight.-

  Before she could respond, Niall moved forward with a jolt and they were riding through the brisk summer night. As he picked up the pace Felicity tried to remember to keep her legs where they’d have been if there were stirrups to place her feet in. Her calves touched the stallion’s side, but she was careful not to apply pressure. Pretending that she was riding a horse rather than a mystical beast helped. When his stride became a canter she relaxed her legs, leaning back a little, and let her body rock with his movements. -Yes, like that.- It seemed to please Niall that she matched his rhythm. Then they were trotting down the dirt road and her body bounced from side to side.

  As they moved in rhythm, her hips rocked into him, and there was something sensual about the pressure between her thighs. Heat rushed to her face and the pressure intensified as his back bounced against her most sensitive, most intimate areas. Her breath hitched in her throat. Felicity could feel the beginning of an orgasm building, which was absolutely absurd. She was riding some supernatural horse and there definitely shouldn’t be anything sensual about it. Still, she couldn’t deny the wave she felt cresting inside her as she rode him. It was wild and earthy and beyond anything she’d ever experienced. Felicity was certain of one thing. . .she was going to feel this tomorrow.

  Chapter 12

  Niall’s hooves hit the dirt road beneath them and it felt like they were flying through the night. It felt good to have her legs wrapped around him and her fingers tangled in his mane. -She will be ours.- Right now he was in no mood to argue with his stallion. That she could ride him meant she’d be able to bear his offspring. Her breath hitched and he heard her whimper. Her hips ground against his back, and he could feel her respond to the sexual tension of the ride. Perhaps he’d take her beyond the veil once he’d figured out why they’d been awakened in the first place. If he had to take a mate, then one with curves like hers appealed to him. Niall found he liked that she wasn’t like the female púca-shifters in his clan. They were thin wisps that could blow away if the wind was too strong.

  Felicity bounced on his back as he pounded along the path. Her pulse wa
s accelerated, and he could tell she was fighting the desire building between them. If she comes right now, orgasms while riding you, well that would mean only one thing… No, she can’t be our true mate. Niall could feel the blood rushing between her legs and prayed the bump he hit in the road wouldn’t drive her over the edge. He didn’t believe in true mates. As far as he was concerned that was some silly fairy tale his mother had told him to put him to sleep. Her hips rocked into him again and his stallion snorted.

  It was difficult for his stallion to think of anything other than riding her outside of town where he could lay her in the grass and explore her beautiful curves. He’d promised himself that he wouldn’t, but he couldn’t resist his stallion. We want her. Take her. Ride her. And they were riding out of town, but he was careful to keep to the road rather than jump over the stone walls that the islanders had built which divided the land in almost every direction. He could tell from her seat that she was an experienced rider, but that didn’t mean he’d startle her by jumping if he wasn’t one hundred percent sure she was ready. He wouldn’t touch her until she made the first move, either. Regardless of how much his stallion wanted her she had to make the first move.

  He picked up their pace and cut across a field once they’d left the town. The wind rushed over them as he galloped across an open expanse. Her fingers tangled tighter in his mane, and the tugging sensation felt unbelievably good. It sent shivers through him. But Niall slowed and came to a halt when he reached a stone wall. Lowering himself to the ground, he made it easy for Felicity to dismount. She swung her leg over him and slid down his side. He could hear her heart hammering like thunder, and her breathing was fast and hard. His stallion could smell her desire. Niall slowly shifted back to human form as he rose from the ground. Even in summer the air was cool across his skin. Now he was naked, revealed by the moonlight.

  Her eyes dropped to his waistline and her cheeks were like rosebuds. When the moon was full, as it was tonight, the island wasn’t nearly dark enough to hide his nakedness. He grinned.

  “See something you like, love?” he asked.

  “It’s you.”

  “Aye.”

  Fear, disbelief, and desire conflicted in her pinched features, so Niall stepped backward to the stone wall and kept his distance. His stallion, on the other hand, wanted him to pull her into his arms and show her that she didn’t have anything to be afraid of. Not with him. He’d sooner die than hurt her. Although, he wasn’t about to analyse that one either.

  “You’re really real? You’re a púca?”

  He could tell her question was rhetorical—she’d puzzled through her experience as he’d whisked her across the countryside—but he answered anyway. “Aye, I am.”

  Her eyes dropped to his dong and her face turned red all over again. She was awfully cute when she was embarrassed. “Could you turn around or something?”

  Niall laughed. Still, he grabbed one of the rocks off the top of the wall and held it so it blocked the view of his shaft. “Well, when you write about me on your blog are you going to tell everyone I’m hung like a horse?”

  Chapter 13

  Felicity scowled at him. Although she certainly couldn’t argue with his cocky remark. He was hung like a horse. She must be out of her bloody mind. Part of her wanted to believe that she’d drank one too many pints back at the pub, or maybe she’d hit her head and was passed out unconscious in her bed at Pier House. Then this would be some sort of drunken delusion her subconscious had constructed because it had been way too long since she’d shagged someone. Except the logical, journalistic part of her brain reminded her she’d only had one drink.

  It also reminded her that she’d blogged about battlefields filled with ghostly soldiers. They’d come to haunt the blood-soaked grounds where they’d died, but if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes she’d never have believed in ghosts. Felicity knew there were things in this world that defied all belief. It had been a long time since one of her cases had proved to be supernatural, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t ready to believe it. Her thighs were still humming from the vibrations of riding him. Wasn’t that enough proof?

  You wanted concrete evidence. Well, here you go. Now stop staring at his penis.

  The thing she found most unbelievable was that despite her shock she wanted to shag him right there in the field. Felicity wondered if that was some sort of supernatural whammy, like her inability to say no when he’d prompted her to climb onto his back. She wasn’t desperate, even though she hadn’t been with anyone since William and that was six months ago. It was safe to say that she couldn’t trust herself when it came to being around Niall, because she wanted to climb on top of him and ride him in an entirely different sort of way.

  Especially when she found herself walking toward him, she knew she couldn’t trust herself—in fact she should stop right there. Bloody hell, she should have been backtracking across the field, to the dirt road, and marching straight back into town. His cocky grin slipped a little when she started toward him. Good. He needed to be taken down a notch or two. She hated that he’d embarrassed her, made her uncomfortable, and seemed to get a kick out of shocking the shite out of her.

  Felicity stopped when only inches separated them and jabbed a finger into his chest. “You think I haven’t seen a naked man before?” she asked, eyes deliberately dropping to his erection. “Trust me. It’s nothing new.”

  Her breathing hitched when he dropped the rock and grabbed her hand. Crap. Crap. Crap. Oh. Crap.

  His eyes darkened with a desire that she felt coursing through her like an electrical charge. “Aye, but I imagine you’ve never ridden one like me before.”

  She wanted him. She should be scared or something, and maybe she would have been without the calm that washed over her from whatever mind meld he’d used to get her to do something she’d never have done otherwise. And she wouldn’t have done that, right? Cyn was the impulsive one. Not her. There was no way she would have gotten on his back unless he’d persuaded her. Not even a tiny part of her wanted to ride him. Who was she trying to convince anyway?

  He moved so close to her that her heavy breasts pressed into his chest. “And you want me. Admit it, love,” he whispered against her mouth.

  Crap. Could he read minds too?

  “Is this some sort of trick? Are you using some kind of supernatural seduction? I certainly couldn’t say no when you had me hop on your back and you kidnapped me. Did you bring me out here to…to…have your way with me?”

  It was hard to think when his erection was poking her in the belly and she wanted to feel it thrust lower, to relieve the pulsing between her legs.

  Niall laughed. “Trust me, if I wanted to have my way you then you’d have known it. You’d already be half-naked in the grass with your pants around your ankles.”

  Felicity closed her eyes. She didn’t want to look at him when what he’d said had etched that image into her mind.

  “It’s because you’re fertile, and you can mate with me. That’s you reacting to my stallion; because whether ye like it or not, love, you want me. You can’t deny it.” His whisper brushed against her ear.

  Again, she couldn’t argue with him. She did want him. More than anything, Felicity wanted to bring her hands up to explore the hard planes of his body and part his lips with her tongue. If she was being honest with herself, and she wasn’t, she’d wanted him since she’d seen him sitting at the bar at Tí Joe Watty’s. She opened her eyes, determined not to give in to her treacherous body.

  “Do I?”

  “Aye.”

  “Prove it,” she said.

  The amber flecks in his eyes hardened at her challenge. He was still holding the hand that she’d jabbed into his chest, but he had dropped it beside her hip. What she wanted then was to feel his hands cup her hips and then the volume of her backside. He let go of her hand and pulled her body tight against his. His angles contrasted with her soft curves, and she fit into them as if her body was the final puzzle p
iece that was meant to fill his hard grooves. Instead of grabbing her hips like she desired, he cupped her face instead.

  -I won’t unless you make the first move, Felicity. It has to be you.-

  His eyes were locked on hers, his hand still cupping the side of her face. She couldn’t stop herself. The hand that she’d been jabbing into his chest explored those planes and moved to the ripples of his abdomen. What was she doing? But it seemed to be all he needed for confirmation that she wanted this to happen.

  His mouth crashed down on hers, and she met his ferocious hunger with the desire she’d felt back at the pub. Her self-imposed abstinence dissolved as she unleashed the full weight of her lust and wrapped her arms around him, raking her nails up his back as her arms circled his neck. Niall let out a groan, and his arm snaked around her back and moved to her ass, pulling her against his erection, which prodded into the thick denim encircling her leg. He kneaded her ass and more than anything she wanted to feel his hands on her, his fingers thrusting in her.

  Yet this nagging voice in the back of her mind made her pull away. It’s because you’re fertile and you can mate with me. If this reaction was because of mating chemistry, like he’d said… He didn’t want her. Not really. It was just some sort of supernatural pheromone-induced frenzy. If that was all it was then it didn’t mean anything. And she really didn’t want him. She broke the kiss and wriggled out of his grasp. She took several steps back, trying to put some distance between them.

  Niall looked confused. And then he looked pissed. “What’d you do that for?”

  “What? You didn’t expect me to drop my panties and fuck you right here I hope, because if you think I’m some silly little tart you’ve got another thing coming.”

  He took a step toward her. Reached out his hand. “I don’t think that, but you can’t deny that there’s something between us.”

  “It’s not real. None of it.”