"What sort of job?" Aislyn asked, turning to face him for the first time.
His heart twisted when he saw the tear tracks that shone on her face. "Ah, Aislyn."
"Don’t feel sorry for me. I’m not a charity case." She prickled up like an agitated hedgehog and flounced across to a fallen log. She sat. "Do you really have a job or are you trying to make me feel better about my failure?"
He’d thought it before and no doubt, he’d think it again. The female was a shrew. For a brief moment, he wondered why he bothered then she stretched and his hormones jogged his memory, tightening his body in places that had no business reacting. He counted slowly to ten. So the girl had one or two less than sterling qualities, but they made her fairy. "I have a job," Seamus said, thinking on his feet. "I’m working on a case at the moment. We’re short staffed and need help. It’s not exciting, but you would be helping us on a real case." The more he explained, the better he thought his off-the-cuff idea. It was a brainwave actually, he thought with a trace of smugness, and it fixed several problems at once.
Aislyn rose from the log she perched on and stepped toward him, her face shining with eagerness, her blue eyes glowing with enthusiasm. "You mean it? You really mean to let me help work on your case?"
Seamus nodded then lurched back under Aislyn’s weight when she threw herself at him. The armful of quivering female almost did him in. His heart thumped erratically as he registered her softness and curves and smelled her delicate scent--not the floral fragrance associated with most of the women he knew, but a woodsy aroma that reminded him of the time he and Gill spent on holiday in the Greek Islands.
"When can we leave the colony?" she asked. "Tomorrow? Oh! I’m so excited I could burst." Without warning, she tore from his light grasp and whirled in circles, her copper curls flying about her head while she danced with sheer delight. "Wait until I tell everyone I’m leaving the colony. That will stop all the whispering."
Leave the colony? God’s balls! What had he done? Seamus grabbed for her arm. "Aislyn, wait. You won’t be leaving the colony."
She stopped dead. "What? But you said...." She trailed off, staring at him with big blue eyes that reminded him of a whipped puppy. "You said I would help you with your case," she whispered.
The hopeless tone made him cringe inside. Her bottom lip wobbled. Please don’t cry again, he prayed fervently. He wanted to help her, but he could only do so much. His hands were tied. Of course, she didn’t know he was Guardian or the constraints he labored under. Few fairies knew, and that was exactly the way he wanted to keep it. As it was, the paparazzi tagged after him whenever he appeared in the colony. If they found out he was Guardian as well as fairy force liaison, they would make his life a living hell. Seamus knew he had to be careful. He did not want to relive the hell of his fairling years.
"I meant here, Aislyn. I would bring the work here for you to do. I never said you would leave the colony."
Aislyn jerked from his touch and started walking briskly away from Glenveagh, heading in the direction of his house.
"Aislyn, stop. You can’t go much further. Stop. Talk to me. Or better yet, head back to the village and sleep on it. I’m serious about the job." Guilt and alarm sharpened his voice.
The hard knot of disappointment inside Aislyn shattered and her temper ignited, but she clamped down on her bottom lip so her frustration stayed within. Talk to me, Aislyn. Head back to town, Aislyn. You can’t join the fairy force, Aislyn. You’re a female, Aislyn. They don’t leave the colony.
Didn’t the fairies around here get the plot? Yes, she was a fairy. Yes, she was a female fairy, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a brain!
Her legs pumped harder, faster. She clenched her jaw and seethed at the total injustice of it all. It wasn’t her fault she’d been born a female. Heck, given the choice she’d have picked male. Males got to do everything. And after all, what was so bad out there in the human world? Cats? Cog wash! As far as Aislyn was concerned, cats were an excuse. She’d never seen one, for goodness sake. Not even a picture. The men on the board of directors had banned pictures in case some dim-witted fairy performed a magic spell and brought one to life. As if! Everyone talked about cats. The scientists were always trying out new potions and pills to deter the furry beasts. Yet, she’d take a bet that most of the other inhabitants of the colony had never seen one either.
"Aislyn, stop!" Seamus grabbed her elbow, jerking her to a halt. "You’ll set off the alarms."
"I don’t care." She snapped her fingers in his face. "I don’t give a rat for your stupid rules and regulations."
Seamus’s hands slid up her arms to curve around her shoulders, holding her in place while he looked down at her. "The rules are there for a reason, Aislyn. To keep us safe and help the colony survive into the next century. I know you’re disappointed about not making the recruits but my offer of a job is serious. You really can help. Will you reconsider?"
Aislyn thought about the long days that stretched ahead. After her insistence on applying for the fairy force, her father had refused to talk to her and after tonight, she’d have to find a flat and move out. Her savings account was seriously sick and if she didn’t find a job soon, she would have to tow the line and apologize to her father, admitting her failure. She sighed, brushing away a tear. She’d be a fool to turn down this job; at least it sounded interesting. "Yes, I’ll take the job." At least the work related to the human world. Too bad that was as close as she would ever come to traveling and exploring the countries outside the colony. "Thank you for thinking of me," she added, politely knowing deep down Seamus was trying to help.
"Good." His touch gentled and belatedly Aislyn realized how closely they stood.
Her heart lurched. Her face heated at the thought.
"Come on. We’ll celebrate your new job." He grabbed one of her hands and tugged her down the leaf-strewn path. Trailing green ferns brushed her skirts as she followed him. He seemed in an awful hurry.
Aislyn hastened to keep up with him and finally noticed they were still heading away from the colony. "Where are we going?" She dug in her heels, coming to an abrupt halt. "Seamus, stop! We can’t go any further. It’s against the rules!"
He grinned, a devil-may-care grin that turned her insides to mush. "It’s not against the rules for anyone belonging to the fairy force."
Aislyn flinched. Did he have to rub it in? A failure--she was a failed fairy force applicant. "I’m nothing to do with the fairy force," she stated, her tone dignified and designed to hide every scrap of hurt that hurtled around inside.
Seamus chuckled. "I’m a member of the fairy force. Last time I looked, I still had my wings," he said, "and indirectly so are you, since you accepted my offer of employment."
Aislyn’s mouth rounded to a perfect O. A croak emerged when she tried to speak. Swallowing, she tried again. "Do you mean what I think you mean? You’re escorting me from the colony?" Not much better, but at least she’d forced the words out.
His smile widened. "I am." He held out his hand. "If you want to come."
Was the male mad? Of course, she wanted to explore outside the colony. Aislyn accepted his hand and frissons of awareness sprinted up her arm from the point of contact. "Where will we go? What will we see?"
"I thought we might visit the man at the top of the garden."
"But ... but...." Bright red colored her cheeks, a hue that no doubt clashed violently with the orange warts on her face. "Seamus," she said in an agony of embarrassment. She had admitted to spying on the man, but only because he reminded her of Seamus. It was Seamus she loved. The man at the top of the garden--well, he was forbidden and sometimes Aislyn couldn’t help herself. She just had to break out and defy the colony rules. It wasn’t as though her transgressions were huge and world-altering ones.
She chewed on her bottom lip as rebel debated with sensible. Sensible won the race by a head. "Wait," she blurted, yanking at his hand. Breaking petty rules was one thing, but banishment from the
colony was another matter entirely.
CHAPTER FOUR
"Was I wrong? I thought you were eager to meet the man. You went starry-eyed when you talked about him."
Heat suffused her face. Rats. That fib would come back to bite her in the bum. "I did not! What I’m thinking is that I’ll get evicted from Glenveagh if I set one foot outside the colony. That would be a problem." Problem big time! The possible consequences made her shudder. Once rumors surfaced none of the other colonies would accept her either, and she’d end up living life in limbo. Alone.
He nodded thoughtfully, but to Aislyn’s intense frustration didn’t comment.
"Won’t you get in trouble too?" she demanded. What was it with males? She wasn’t a touchy feely sort of fairy, but at least she spoke her mind when it mattered.
Instead of answering, he reached inside his pocket and pulled out a long, thin cylinder. Using one hand, he removed the tight-fitting lid then blew. A mist of liquid particles floated from the vial and spread until they danced all around her. Aislyn felt a tickle building at the back of her nose. The sneeze exploded from her, dislodging a wart.
Seamus chuckled as the wart bounced once then rolled across the path coming to a stop at his feet. "The increasing mist takes a while to get used to. Sneezing is a side effect."
Aislyn looked down. Whoa! The ground blurred alarmingly. She swayed then jerked her gaze away from the gravel track. The dizziness receded enough that she chanced another peek. Oh, rats. The ground undulated so much she felt as though she sat in Duncan’s boat braving the lake waters on a windy day. A case of queasiness ordered she divert her attention elsewhere so she concentrated on Seamus. The nausea converted to a gut-punching lust that stole her breath. Oh, rats. What was she going to do about Seamus?
Seamus muttered an incantation, the words soft and obscure. A shimmering portal opened in front of them.
"Wow," Aislyn whispered, diverted from her dilemma.
"Come," Seamus said extending his hand. "We’ll stay for one hour then I’ll bring you back. And don’t worry. If you don’t tell anyone then the board of directors won’t find out."
"I promise," she said fervently, grasping his hand as though it were a lifeline. Now that she was so close to leaving the colony, even if it was only for an hour, she would promise anything. "Can we go now?"
Seamus chuckled. "Minx. Before we go, there are rules." At Aislyn’s groan and roll of eyes, he held up his hand. "This is important, Aislyn. Cats are a threat to you. If one corners you while you’re fairy size, you’re history."
Aislyn nodded, but impatience made her long to sprint past him, to jump straight through the portal into her adventure. Like a bottle of O’Sullivan home brew, she fizzed with eagerness, greedy to experience, to touch and taste all the new sights at once.
"Are you listening?" Seamus demanded.
"Yeah, you’re lecturing me about cats. I’ve heard it all before."
"Aislyn." He grabbed hold of her shoulders and turned her away from the portal to face him. "The rules. Stay with me at all times. Don’t wander off."
"Yes, all right. What will we see?"
"I’ll take you for a drive around Auckland."
Auckland! This was better than she’d dreamed. "Will I see the Sky tower?" she asked, Seamus’s touch the only thing keeping her grounded and standing still. She knew her grin stretched from one side of her face to the other, broadcasting her emotions for him to see, but she didn’t care. Aislyn O’Sullivan was finally going to see something of the world.
"If you’d stop and listen then we might get to the Sky tower a little faster. We might even have time to take the elevator to the top if you’d stop interrupting."
"I’m listening. I’m listening. I have to stay with you."
"At all times."
Her mouth curved in a secret smile as her gaze flicked down his body. She nodded. No hardship there. "At all times. I have to do what you say, when you say, and I have to keep my visit secret. Got the rules. Can we go now?"
Seamus felt an answering grin spread across his face. The female was not only a shrew; she was incorrigible and made him want to laugh. He tugged her toward the portal, pushing aside the faint worry that he’d come to regret this impulse. She’d cried, and each tear that had plopped down her cheek had smarted like a kick to his head. All he’d wanted to do was make her smile again and if that meant flagrant rule-breaking then the board could bite him. "Come on."
Together, they stepped through the portal and into his garden. The Guardian’s garden, Seamus reminded himself. Aislyn didn’t need to know he was Guardian. He wasn’t that far gone yet. He snapped his fingers and chanted. The portal faded then disappeared.
Punga ferns swayed in the faint breeze while the leaves in the taller kauri and rimu trees rustled. As he led her up the path toward his house, the leaf litter and small twigs crunched underfoot. The closer they came to the wooden house, the louder the noises of the city. Muted traffic sounds and the bark of the next-door neighbor’s fox terrier shattered the silence of the garden.
Aislyn’s reaction intrigued him, scouring away years of detachment and making him feel part of her new experience. Awe and excitement burned in her expression while her head whipped from side to side so quickly he was reminded of a contortionist he’d seen at a circus when he was a fairling. He took half a step toward her, the urge to brand her with his kiss so strong that he trembled. The roar of a car with a broken muffler jerked him from folly. His heart thudded at the near miss. Fool. He had no business dallying with Aislyn, not when his future was etched in concrete.
"Are you hungry? Would you like a drink before we leave?" He hoped Aislyn didn’t clue in on the huskiness. So help him, if she threw herself at him this very minute, he feared the big brother pretence would crack wide open.
"I couldn’t eat a thing." She skipped a couple of steps ahead, her witches cloak billowing in the breeze.
"Come inside while I find the car keys. We’ll stand out in our costumes, but if anyone asks we’ll brazen it out and say we’re going to a fancy dress party."
"What about the man that owns this house?" Aislyn’s tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip, and Seamus barely restrained his groan.
Spending time with Aislyn was a mistake. He knew it all right, but it didn’t make a shred of difference. As he watched, her tongue moistened her top lip. The groan escaped unbidden. "Aislyn."
"What?" She jerked her eyes from the wooden door at the top of the steps, freezing when she looked at him. Delicate color filtered over her cheeks.
"You’re still wearing orange warts." Seamus shoved his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t touch.
A gamine grin lit her face. "Aren’t they sexy?" she demanded, thrusting one hip out in a pose.
"I wouldn’t exactly say that."
"Can you take them off for me?"
Damn. His heart thudded then dropped to his gut. Withdrawing his hands from his pockets, he noted without surprise, that they shook. His breathing ratcheted a notch drawing in essence of Aislyn at the same time. Seamus stopped inhaling, rapidly plucked the offending warts from her face and stepped back out of danger. Sweat beaded his brow as though he’d completed a grueling gym session and his legs wavered as though the bones had been sucked out.
"Ouch. That hurt." Aislyn rubbed her cheek with her right hand.
"Let me see." Danger. Danger! Seamus closed the gap between them and smoothed his thumb over the tiny red spot on her cheek. "I think you’ll survive. A fairy kiss should do the trick." Fool, don’t kiss her. Seamus paid no mind to the swirling mass of conscience that jabbed and nattered at him. He lowered his head, blood roaring, body at full alert.
Aislyn’s eyes widened, the pupils growing large, the blue of her eyes deepening. "I ... I don’t think that’s such a good idea." The words came in a heated rush.
"A kiss won’t hurt." But that was a lie. Even as he said it, his fingers threaded through soft copper curls. Conscience poked him mercilessly, firing
alarm. Hell’s teeth. Couldn’t he do one thing for himself for once? Did he always have to put duty to the colony first? One kiss. Just one. Seamus touched his mouth to hers in what he thought would be a chaste and friendly kiss. Over and done with in mere seconds once his curiosity was quenched.
Instead, he found himself drawing her nearer, fitting her softness to his chest, sipping at her mouth and encouraging Aislyn to let him taste her more fully. His heart beat erratically, slamming against his ribs. She made a soft, sexy sound deep in her throat. Reaction to her innocent sensuality made his whole body clench in urgent need.
Conscience let rip, barking orders with the precision of a military commander. Wrong. Stop. Duncan will kill you. No future here.
Seamus eased out of the kiss and pulled back so inches appeared between their bodies. Difficult. He closed his eyes, fighting the urge to lift her in his arms and sweep her off to his bed. His hands tightened around her upper arms, unwilling to let go, but he forced them to relax and drop to his sides. Damned difficult. Every pore in his body demanded more, protested the separation.
But conscience and duty won. He took another step backward, ripping his gaze from her red, kiss-moistened lips.
"Am I interrupting?" Gill asked in a dry tone.
"No! No, dammit, you’re not interrupting." Seamus straightened, aiming a glare at his partner.
Gill folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against a verandah support. "Glad you cleared that up for me."
Part of Seamus wanted to hug his friend with gratitude while the other part wanted to deck him for the way he was eyeing Aislyn up and down. "Aislyn, meet my partner and friend, Gill."
"Pleased to meet you, Aislyn. Seamus, a word." Gill gestured with his head that he wanted privacy, and he came quickly to the point. "Got a lead--an insider who’s willing to help us out with Maximillan. Where the hell have you been? I’ve been waiting for ages."
Seamus flinched inwardly at the gleam in his friend’s eyes.
Aislyn Page 5