“The Tasting.”
“Yup. Dad, being a Leprechaun, figured out pretty early that she was Sidhe, but had no idea whether or not she was high-ranking, or even which Court she belonged to.”
Ruby shook her head. “Court? You mean like Seelie and Unseelie?”
He looked surprised, and pleased. “Something like that. The Malmaynes and the Jolouns were both White Court and owed allegiance to Glorianna.”
“I thought Oberon and Tita—”
His fingers pressed against her lips. “We don’t say that name.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
“It’s said if you say the name of the Dark Queen she’ll hear you. Possibly take an interest in you.” He shuddered. “You really don’t want that.”
This just kept getting better and better. “The Dark Queen?”
“The Dark Queen rules the Black Court. It’s a long story, but basically the Dark Queen was jealous of the power Oberon had. He was High King over all the fae, and they say he was truly smitten with his queen to the point that he’d bonded with her the same way I’ve bonded with you. His queen, however, wasn’t as smitten. It’s said she sold her soul to some dark beings who granted her certain powers. In exchange she was to take over the Court and pay the dark beings in power and blood. She betrayed Oberon, creating the first vampires, tainted creatures created from both humans and other fae, and started a war that almost destroyed us. Somehow Oberon managed to break the truebond they’d shared and shattered the Court.”
“I thought a bond couldn’t be broken.”
“He’s the only one I’ve ever heard of who has managed the feat. No one knows how he did it, but I bet the Hob had a huge hand in it. Now we have the White Court, ruled by Glorianna, the Black Court, ruled by Oberon’s ex, and the Gray Court, or Oberon’s court. Oberon is still the High King and holds sway over the others, but for the most part he tries not to interfere.”
She decided to ignore the fact that a truebond could be broken. She was strangely reluctant to even think about it. “Which court does your family belong to?”
“The Dunnes are White Court, but my family isn’t very high up. Shane and I are only lords due to our Joloun blood. Dad’s always talked about becoming Gray Court and finally leaving all of the politicking between the families behind, but we’ve never actually done it.”
“Which reminds me. How did your mom get your dad to bond with her?”
“He got tipsy one night and kissed her, and she knew he was the one. Mom made sure he had a bit more wine and managed to get herself into his bed, not that he fought all that hard.”
“That sounds familiar.” Leo looked completely unrepentant. “Did she take the Vow then?”
“Actually, no. She decided to introduce him to her father first. Needless to say Papa Joloun was not amused, and threatened to have my father ‘taken care of’.”
“And then she spoke the Vow?”
“Nope. Dad left Paris that night. He’d decided she’d be better off with the Malmaynes than with him. Remember, both the Jolouns and Malmaynes were considered Fae of power. Going up against them was no small thing. Add in the fact that he had no clue that Mom had begun to truebond with him, and it just made sense to do what he thought was right. Mom, of course, was heartbroken and refused to go through with the marriage contract. When Papa Joloun locked her in her room and set a few brownie guards, Dad got wind of it.”
“How? I mean, if he wasn’t in Paris how did he find out?”
“Brownies are also earth spirits, and one of the guards was a personal friend of Dad’s and got a message to him. When he found out what was happening to Mom he returned to Paris. By the time he got there he said she no longer looked like the naïve teenage girl he’d first met. She actually had gray in her hair. With the help of the brownies he broke her out of the Joloun mansion and spirited her away. When Duncan Malmayne caught up to them Mom was in the process of binding Dad to her, over his rather loud objections I might add.”
“Why did he object? He loved her, right?”
“That’s why. He thought he wasn’t good enough for her. Anyway, Duncan, realizing it was a truebond, wished them well, but the rest of the families were outraged. Mom and Dad have nothing against Duncan personally, but the rest of the Malmaynes and Jolouns have made it clear they feel that Mom and Dad are beyond the pale.”
Ruby’s head was swimming with information. “But your parents exchanged Vows downstairs.”
“It’s customary at the bonding of a Sidhe to a non-Sidhe for the Vows to be exchanged, but that’s part of the formal ceremony, not the Binding itself.”
“Oh. Sort of a Sidhe wedding, then?”
Leo kissed the back of her hand. “Would you like to do that, Ruby? Have a full ceremony, with friends and family present, and a long white gown? I’m more than willing to do that, kitten, if it makes you happy.”
Ruby snapped her mouth closed when Leo chuckled. “Is that a proposal?”
“We’re already married, sweetheart, but if you want the formal proposal I can do that.”
Ruby bit her lip. “I need time to think, Leo.” She reached up and smoothed the frown lines on his brow. “I’m not going to run. Didn’t I promise I wouldn’t leave you? I just need to think things through, digest everything you’ve told me. Leo, think about it. It’s been a hell of a week.”
“I love you, Ruby.”
She battled back the tears that started up. His face was totally serious, his eyes sincere and loving despite the hardness of his face. She wasn’t certain she could speak past the sudden lump in her throat. “Leo…”
“Shhh.” He placed one finger over her lips, his smile lopsided. “You don’t have to say it back, not yet.”
“Shut the hell up.” She felt one of the tears slip past but didn’t care. “You big goob.” Rising, she turned and settled into his lap, cuddling up to him as his arms went around her. “I want us both to wear rings, you hear me?”
“I hear you, kitten.” She felt his sigh of relief as he rested his chin on the top of her head.
“And if you cheat on me I’m cutting off your balls and pickling them.”
His involuntary twitch made her giggle. “Duly noted.”
“Leo?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you too. How the hell did it happen so fast?”
“Does it matter how fast it happened? To me all that matters is that you do.” Leo took her left hand in his and held it out in front of them. Gold sparkles coalesced around their ring fingers until two plain wedding bands appeared. “What design should we make?”
Ruby looked up into his glowing, otherworldly eyes and bit her lip, trying not to laugh. “Horseshoes?”
“Oh, hell.” Leo’s head thumped the back of the chair as the sparkles dissipated.
“With a blue diamond?”
He closed his eyes on a groan. “Ruby.”
“Well, I think ruby balloons would be a bit much, but if that’s what you want…”
He cut her off with a kiss that curled her toes. “I was thinking Celtic knot-work myself.”
“What, not even a green clover?”
Leo nipped her throat. “Look at our hands,” he growled.
Looking down, Ruby gasped. Intricate knot-work rings of white gold sprinkled with white diamonds graced both of their fingers.
“The Celtic knot symbolizes eternity, as does the ring itself.”
“So do the diamonds.” She blinked tears from her eyes as she stared at the beautiful rings his imagination had wrought. “Diamonds are forever.”
“You like them?”
Ruby looked up into Leo’s shining eyes and felt her heart turn over. “Oh, yes. I like them. But, there’s one other ring I’d like made.”
“Which one would that be? Your engagement ring?”
Ruby shook her head. “Read my fantasy, your lordship.”
And Leo’s face filled with tenderness as a second ring landed on his hand. This one was yellow gold, wi
th an oval shaped black stone. The initials RH were carved into the surface of the stone.
Ruby was hardly surprised when she felt the weight of his collar around her neck. Their lips touched, brushed against each other lovingly.
“Mine.”
And ever after, neither was quite certain which one of them said it first.
Leo and Ruby dragged themselves to dinner, both drained and ravenous, a sketch of the wedding bands, ring, and collar in Leo’s hand. He wanted to talk to his father about finding an earth sprite to do the work for them.
Dinner that evening was both a pleasure and a pain, his family adjusting to his mating and welcoming Ruby with open arms. Always present, however, was the spirit of the missing Shane, and more than once Leo had to pull back his own happiness and deal with the pain and loss they were all still experiencing. Moira tried her best to lighten the mood with her wisecracks, but wasn’t able to get more than a half-hearted smile from his mother, and none at all from his father.
“Well, now, don’t you all look gloomy,” a light tenor voice spoke from the doorway. Turning, Ruby saw a strange man standing in the early twilight, his long red hair bound back with a leather tie, his deep blue eyes gleaming with merriment. He was dressed in black velvet pants and a white poet’s shirt, with black leather boots on his feet. He leaned nonchalantly against the doorjamb watching the Dunne family finish their dinner.
Ruby waved hello to the newcomer. “Hi. Are you a friend of the family?”
She felt Leo tense next to her and wondered what she’d done wrong. The man had come in and was obviously at home here. Wasn’t he a friend?
The man smiled at her sweetly. “Aye, I am. And you’d be the lovely Ruby, I presume?”
Ruby nodded and watched the red-haired man saunter around the table. In his odd getup, with his long red hair, she’d thought him effeminate. Until he moved. He didn’t walk, he prowled, his movements sleek and powerful. He reminded her of a jungle cat.
He reached for her hand, placing a delicate kiss on her knuckles. She noticed that his nails had been painted black. “Charmed, my dear, and congratulations on your mating.” Laughing blue eyes moved to Leo as the man held her hand. “Brightest blessings on your mating, Leo! And congratulations on defeating the Malmaynes!”
“We haven’t defeated the Malmaynes. They still have Shane.” Leo’s eyes never left the red-haired man’s, and Ruby could have sworn she saw fear in them.
“I’m sorry, we haven’t been introduced. You are…?”
“My apologies, my dear. You may call me Robin.”
“Robin?”
“Yes. Robin. Robin Goodfellow, actually.” His expression was pure mischief, his bluer than blue eyes twinkling at her as he waited for her response.
Ruby blinked.
“Dear gods, don’t say it, Ruby.”
She ignored Leo’s whispered command as her lip began to twitch. “Um. I see Shakespeare was wrong. What’s knurly-limbed mean, anyway?”
Robin’s eyes widened for a moment, the twinkle in them deepening. “Want to find out?”
“If it has the same results as liposuction? Maybe.”
Robin’s lips twitched. “Hardly.”
“Oh. Well, then.” Ruby sighed, the twinkle in her eyes matching Robin’s. “So, have you been friends with Leo for long?”
One red brow rose as she waved him to a chair. Without thinking, Ruby got up and poured him and Leo a cup of coffee. “Not for long, no.” Ruby noticed his voice was thoughtful as she handed him the cup. He nodded his thanks in a curiously formal gesture.
“Oh, well, we’re planning on formalizing our binding with a ceremony once the problem with the Malmaynes is resolved. You’ll come, right?”
She ignored Leo’s choking and the Dunne’s silence as she waited for Robin’s answer.
His eyes dancing with unholy amusement, Robin replied, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“I like your bondmate.” Leo headed out onto the front porch, the Hob following closely behind. “Few there are that aren’t terrified of me.”
Leo turned his head long enough to see Robin’s face. Though his expression was relaxed, Robin’s eyes were serious. “You’re welcome to come.”
Robin’s gaze sharpened, softening when he realized Leo meant it. “My thanks, Dunne.” Wicked merriment filled the Hob’s face. “I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with a suitable wedding present.”
Leo groaned.
“But that isn’t why I came.” Robin perched on the railing, balancing on the balls of his feet as he crouched, his head cocked to the side as he stared at Leo. “First, the Malmaynes are not taking your truebond lightly. I fear they may make a move against your Ruby.”
Leo’s eyes glowed green, his glamour forgotten. “I see. I’ll take care of that. And the other?”
Robin looked delighted. “Rumor has it that the Malmayne’s caged bird has flown, but where he’s flown to is a mystery.”
“Shane’s free?” Leo couldn’t quite believe it, but if the Hob said it was so then he’d have to.
“Aye, which is why I believe they will make a move on your woman. They will need new leverage to get you to agree to their terms.” Robin looked down at his black nails. “So, what did you think of Kaitlynn and Cullen?”
Leo sighed. “Cullen is indulging Kaitlynn in this, I think. He would be willing, if not happy, to have Shane or Moira fulfill the contract, but Kaitlynn seems fixed on me.”
“It’s that pretty face of yours. She covets it.”
“She can’t have it.” Leo stared out at the night sky. “Why did you agree to help us?”
Robin chuckled, the first genuine expression Leo had seen on that pretty face. “I owed your mother a favor for something she’s not even certain she did.” Robin looked up at Leo, his eyes glowing green. “The Hob always pays his debts. Always.”
And with that, quick as he’d come, the Hob was gone, his voice floating back on the evening breeze. “Remember: there is another Malmayne.”
Jaden blinked, feeling totally put upon. Where the fuck are you, Duncan? “You want me to what?”
Kaitlynn sighed, totally exasperated. “Bring me the little human whore, stuff her in the cage Shane was in, and leave her to me. Even someone of your limited intellect can understand that order, yes?”
Jaden snarled. “Careful, sweet cheeks.”
He shuddered once again when she smiled. There was just something…off…about her that made him think of spiders.
Jaden hated spiders.
“Bring me the girl, stuff her in a cage, and forget about her. Understand, Mr. Blackthorn?”
Jaden took a deep breath. He did not like the direction her thoughts, obvious on her face, were going. “Duncan will not be happy if we hurt an innocent girl.”
That saccharine sweet expression crossed her face once again, and Jaden wondered where Daddy Dearest had gotten to. Cullen was one of the few people capable of dealing with the Deranged Darling. “Duncan can go to hell. Do what I told you, vampire.”
Jaden did his best to mimic her smile. “No.”
He was pretty sure the slap she landed on his face was supposed to hurt. It probably would have left a bruise on a Sidhe face. On a vampire, it was barely noticeable. “Do as I tell you or I call Mr. West.”
The fact that the threat was delivered in the same sickly sweet tones she normally spoke in only made her seem creepier. Time was running out on Kaitlynn Malmayne.
If it wasn’t for Duncan, the bitch would already be dead. It was becoming his damn mantra. If it wasn’t for Duncan, if it wasn’t for Duncan…
Jaden turned and stormed out of her office and out of the house. He headed straight towards his car, a classic black Mustang. As soon as he was off Malmayne land he pulled out his cell phone.
“Duncan? Jaden. Where the hell are you? Get your ass to Nebraska. We have more trouble.”
He was worried. Duncan hadn’t responded mentally in almost a week. Wherever he was, he was out
of range of their bond and a cell phone tower.
Or he was dead. In which case Jaden had every intention of finding the person or persons responsible and making them pay in exquisitely painful ways.
“Contact Duncan? But why?” Aileen’s voice was tight with anxiety and hope.
“I don’t know, but Robin mentioned it just before he left. He said, and I quote, ‘There is another Malmayne.’”
Ruby watched Leo pace back and forth before the sofa. His parents sat together on it, Sean’s hand resting firmly on top of Aileen’s clasped ones. Ruby had the impression he was keeping her from wringing her fingers to pieces. Moira was currently reading in her room. Ruby knew that the pressure of Leo’s mating and Shane’s continued absence was beginning to tell on her.
“Maybe he meant Duncan and Moira could fulfill the contract.” Ruby turned back to Leo to catch his reaction.
“Oh, no! Duncan’s much too old for Moira!” Aileen’s voice was very firm.
“Um, no offense, but you guys live practically forever. What would age have to do with it?”
“Moira’s barely fifty years old!”
Leo nodded. “Anyone under fifty is considered a child still.”
“What does that make you? A precocious teenager?”
Leo’s expression heated. “Yup. Wait until I hit my prime.”
“Oh, hell.” Ruby rolled her eyes. “So how old is Duncan?”
“Duncan Malmayne is over five hundred years old.”
Ruby whistled. “Wow. A mature man, huh?” She ignored Leo’s growl and focused on Aileen. “So he’d have to wait to claim her?”
Aileen looked absolutely horrified. “My Moira couldn’t handle a man like Duncan Malmayne!”
Ruby smiled tightly. “Moira could handle just about anything.” She still hadn’t quite forgiven Moira for the pain she’d caused Leo, despite the fact that they’d apparently made up. She turned to Sean. “Do leprechauns mature more quickly than Sidhe?”
Sean nodded reluctantly. “Yes. By fifty we’re considered adults, but our life spans are shorter than the Sidhe.”
Ruby looked at Aileen, who had “stubborn refusal” written all over her face. She shrugged. “It was just a thought.”
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