by 1
“What do you want me to do first?” She looked up at him, noting the small marks of stubble on his chin.
He took her hand in his, his thumb moving over the spirit band. “I see you kept part of our city with you after all.”
It was on the ring finger of her left hand, a finger that her family reserved for marriage bands. It had been the only place the ring would sit, no matter which of her other fingers she tried it on. The moment it had touched her ring finger, the magic had been sealed.
“I didn’t have a choice, it wouldn’t come off.”
His eyes widened slightly, the deep forest green flaring in the limited light. “I see. Well, come with me. You will have a full day’s work ahead of you and once you have made a deposit on our bargain, your cousin will be brought to the city for treatment.”
“A day?” The hope that surged up was met with disappointment at so short a time with him.
“A day as a deposit against our help. The remainder of your payment will be determined when we find out what she needs.”
He took her by the hand and walked with her through the halls and the flickering daylight.
The urge for small talk swept through her as they passed the bakery and pastry shop. “The city has expanded since I was here.”
“The wards you gave us have been very useful, Asha.”
Her shock was genuine. “They are still holding?”
“We maintain them as you instructed and they are doing well to block out the most direct rays.” He gave her a small smile.
“Where are we going?” They had passed the lot where his home used to be. The only thing left was the looming estate at the end of the lane.
“My home is now that of the High Lord. It is maintained by the energy of all of us.”
The door swung open as the master of the house approached. Asha swallowed, her mouth unaccountably dry.
“Will your grandparents be upset by this turn of events?”
“My being indentured for the health of Elhara? No. She means more to us than I can express. My grandparents will take it in stride. It is my father that you should be worried about.” She snorted.
Reycon of the Crimson clan had met Asha’s mother at one of the Warders’ events. He had clawed his way through his competition and won Andrea’s heart and her hand. He had submitted to alteration to make his appearance more human and worked with Andrea’s dwarf father at the jewellery shop. Goblins had an affinity for gems that had made the family concern very successful.
“Is Reycon expected anytime soon?”
She blinked as they entered the exquisitely shaped foyer. “How do you know my father’s name?”
“I looked into your lineage after your first visit. You come from a long line of craftsmen as well as a lovely selection of Warders.” He led her into the kitchen and smiled at the goblin woman working over the stove. “Carrag, this is Asha, she will be helping you today. Please feel free to use her for any domestic purpose that you can think of.”
Without a word, he turned around and left her with the goblin housekeeper.
Carrag looked her up and down, baring her teeth as she passed judgement. “What can you possibly do, you are a pathetic and weak human.”
Grinning, baring her own teeth, Asha approached and wrapped herself in power while facing the older female. “Not pathetic and not human. The weaknesses will be exposed as I work. Now, what would you have me do, female of the Sapphire clan.”
Carrag hissed and leaned back. “You are goblin!”
“Not quite. I am a Warder. The goblin is just an added bonus.”
With that settled, Asha was assigned to weed the kitchen garden and drive off any bugs. The weeds were fun to dig out and the bugs were no match for her wards. Only pollinating insects could get through when she was finished with setting the buried stones in the garden.
Asha returned to the house and washed her hands, getting the dirt out from under the nails. “What next, Carrag?”
“How are you at making bread?”
Asha was knuckle deep in dough before Carrag could change her mind. Working with her hands was satisfying, a throwback to her father and grandfathers. Kneading the dough was also helping her get her frustrations out.
When she set it aside to rise, Carrag was ready with her next task. “Sweep the upper floors and staircases then finish your bread.”
Taking the broom and dustpan in hand, Asha skipped up the stairs and then the next set of stairs and then the third.
A high turret was easy to sweep, not that it needed it. She chased the minute pile of dust down the stairs, tucked it neatly to the side and walked to the end of the long hall, going into each room as she found it.
Libraries, studies and a plethora of guestrooms all suffered from her broom’s attack. Tuartha must have returned to the council hall. He wasn’t in any of the rooms that she swept out.
It took her two hours to finish the initial sweep and she carefully carried the full dustpan into the kitchen. Everything in a leprechaun’s house was imbued with magic and the dust was no different. It was burned as a fuel source and stored carefully in a bin in the kitchen.
She stored the pound of dust that she had collected and put her tools away.
“You have been in this city before.” It wasn’t a guess. Carrag was staring at her in shock.
“I have. When I was sixteen, I found a rainbow, picked up a shamrock made of gold and made a wish. I wished to find out where the shamrock had come from. It transported me here.” Asha scrubbed her hands and arms to the elbow and then started work on the mass of dough that had grown to tremendous proportions while she worked.
“How did you get home?”
The baritone she remembered so well spoke from a shadowed corner. “She stole part of a leprechaun’s soul and made a wish that put her back where she had come from at that exact moment in time.”
Asha kept punching down her dough. “Yes, I did and my family was none the wiser. I had no idea what the ring meant and you know it. Carrag, what kind of loaf did you want?”
Carrag was looking between Tuartha and Asha with the kind of nervousness only a goblin could manage. “Whatever you want to do, dearling. Just do what you will.”
Tuartha was next to her, looming over her as she worked. “Nine loaves, braided and buttered.”
She nodded and moved her hands swiftly across the mass. First, she broke the pile into nine even pieces and then the first loaf was split into three for roping and braiding.
Carrag watched, fascinated, as Asha worked. In under ten minutes, the loaves that Tuartha had requested were formed and set onto waiting pans. She melted the butter in a small pan and brushed the loaves one by one.
Carrag winced when Asha turned to the oven. “I am sorry. I forgot to start the blaze earlier.”
Asha looked to the High Lord and knew he was responsible. “It is fine. I remember how to do it and the bread needs to rise again anyway.”
A small scoop of the dust in the bottom of the bread oven made the wood ignite with a whoosh. She puttered around under the watchful eye of the High Lord and the housekeeper and cook. With practiced ease, she moved the coals aside to line the walls and created the necessary heat.
As a precaution, she warded the pans against overheating before she slid them into the waiting bread oven before setting the door into place.
“What is next, Carrag?”
“Uh. I have no duties for you. The laundry was done this afternoon, so there is nothing else for you to do today.” Carrag tried to dodge Tuartha’s glare.
“Then I will wait for the bread and put myself at your disposal, High Lord.” She bowed low, not using the name that was on the tip of her tongue.
When she looked up at him, she saw a flicker of pain on his features. The last time she had been in the city, she had lived with his people for two years before he had taken her into one of the few spots of light and kissed her. As his lips had touched hers, he had slipped the ring on her finger and she
had wished for nothing more than to be back home so she could share the excitement with her family.
She had pictured home as she last saw it, her body as it had been and the day as she remembered it. When she woke from the kiss to find the rainbow in front of her and the gold shamrock in her hand, she thought that the two years with the leprechauns had been a dream. The spirit ring on her finger was the only proof that anything had actually occurred and no one else could see or feel it.
She had gone from sixteen to eighteen to sixteen in an instant and it was only when she had spoken to a warlock at one of the family gatherings that she had found out she could have sent her soul to Realm and snapped it back two years later.
No one had come looking for her because she had never been gone. It was all horribly complicated, but it seemed that the only two folk who even knew anything had occurred were Asha and the man glaring down at her, his bruised soul in his eyes.
Her mental timer went off and she grabbed and folded a cloth to remove the pans of bread from the oven. Each loaf was flipped onto a cooling rack and she looked at her efforts proudly. “Do they meet with your approval, High Lord?”
He looked from the bread to her and back again. “They will do. Now, run me a bath. It has been a long day. Carrag, I will take dinner in my rooms.”
“Yes, High Lord.” Carrag nodded and returned to watching over the stove.
Nodding, Asha left to run a bath for the High Lord of the leprechaun society. The only man she had ever loved.
Chapter Four
The coursing of water distracted her. She was leaning over and checking the temperature in the huge tub when hands cupped her buttocks. She nearly pitched into the tub.
“What the hell?”
Tuartha chuckled. “Any service I request. Now, I am requesting that you let me touch you. I have dreamed of this day for years.”
She turned and stared into his forest green eyes, looking at her own dark-haired reflection in their gleaming surfaces. “You really do remember?”
“That I slipped my ring on your finger, kissed you and you disappeared? Yes.”
“Do you know that I wasn’t really here?” She bit her lip and watched his gaze focus on her mouth.
“Your soul was here which is why my ring will not come off your finger. We are bound, Asha, no matter what anyone thinks.” He wrapped his arms around her and hauled her in for a kiss.
She leaned up eagerly and wrapped her arms around his neck, the relief that he still wanted her burning in her mind. Even if he simply wanted use of her body in exchange for healing Elhara, she would take it if it meant she could touch him again. He was not the only one who had suffered in the passing years.
Asha could taste the wild magic in him. It was in every inch of his skin and hair. While it was tempting to let the kiss take her over completely, she heard the water and ripped herself from his arms. With quick motions, she turned off the taps and tested the water. It was perfect.
He looked hurt, so she simply turned back to him, clasped her hands around his neck and pulled his head down for another kiss.
They went from polite explorations to a ravenous connection in an instant. She groaned as he pulled at her shirt and she felt fabric tear, then sighed happily when her bra died the same death.
Her jeans were tugged at and pulled away from her, magic was definitely involved. She went from fully clothed in human gear to wearing nothing but her hair in under a minute.
To her frustration, he remained fully clothed.
She tried to tug at his shirt, but he pulled her hands away and knelt before her, pinning her hands at the small of her back. One hand held her hands prisoner while he kissed his way to first one breast and then the other. His magic added to the tension sparked by his touch and when he stroked her between the thighs, parting her sex and delving in with one digit, she shuddered and moaned.
As his finger slipped and slid inside her, the magic that ran through every cell of his body moved within her. His thumb stroked her clit and she was soon holding herself together with her own energy. The buildup of tension gave her the feeling that she was about to fly apart.
“Come for me, Asha.” He was staring into her eyes and she relaxed her control for just an instant. An instant was all that it took, his fingers plunged and he took one nipple between his teeth, biting lightly.
Her body started shaking, an endless moan came from her lips and when her breathing took on a rapid pant, her control shattered and pleasure broke over her.
Asha dropped to her knees and leaned her forehead against his chest while she quivered and her channel clasped his finger over and over. He released her wrists and she braced herself on his chest.
“You are still a virgin.”
She licked her lips and looked up at him, calm and direct. “You weren’t there.”
His cheeks darkened and he kissed her again before pulling away with a groan. “The bath is for you. More suitable clothing has been provided for you. Come out to the study when you are ready and we will discuss your responsibilities while you are here.”
He was stroking her hair absently, as if it was an uncontrollable impulse.
Asha swallowed and nodded. She backed away from him and his finger slipped out of her. To her dazed horror, he raised his finger to his mouth and licked her juices from his skin.
Her blush could have started a fire.
“Bath, Asha. You have had a long journey today and tomorrow will not be easy for you.” He took her by the hand and helped her into the tub, adding the scent of wildflowers to the water.
She sat in the water and stared at him as he walked to the other room. Whatever she was going to have to do, she would have to remember that he was holding her services for the ransom of her cousin’s recovery. It was a business arrangement.
Asha looked around the room as she absently scrubbed herself. The leprechaun-styled clothing was on a stand next to the towels. A floor-length dress of dark green and a snug waist-cinching jacket were the standard garb for the women of the city. Soft leather slippers sat on the floor next to the dress and it made her wonder what she was going to be doing if she was dressed as a lady of the leprechaun city.
She was squeaky clean and winced at how much cloudier the water was when she left it. There had definitely been some grime from the trail on her skin and in her hair. She drained the tub and dried herself before rummaging around for a brush.
This was the one time that she truly appreciated the men of Realm favouring long hair. She towelled her hair almost dry and then ran the brush through it until it hung in a heavy wave to cover her breasts.
A loose braid kept it out of the way while she pulled on the dress and laced the sides so that it fit her snugly. The jacket buttoned at her waist and as she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw a respectable woman who could have been a leprechaun with just a little bit of green in her skin. The Crimson clan were pale goblins with red blood and her father had bequeathed none of the normal greenish pigmentation to her. She looked completely human.
The slippers were her size and as she noted the tiny scuff on the shoe, she gasped. They were her shoes from over a decade ago.
She had fallen under the hospitality rules when she had first arrived in the city as a teen. Life at the High Lord’s home was easy, her every need was provided for, including clothing. The dress she was wearing now would never have fit her then, nor would the jacket. Her breasts had made a surge for attention in her early twenties and were now quite impressive by human standards.
He had saved her shoes when no one else would have even known she was ever there.
A tear made its way down her cheek and she brushed it away before pasting a bright smile on her face. The diamond effect was restricted to a large gathering of leprechauns, but his sentimentality had a value far beyond diamonds.
With a sense of determination, she opened the bathing room door and wandered out into the High Lord’s bedroom.
He was sitting at the table s
ipping at a glass of wine with his gaze squarely in her direction. “As I thought.”
She blushed at his frank appraisal. “What?”
“You are as lovely as I imagined you would be when you fully matured. How are the shoes?”
She walked to him and lifted the edge of her skirt so her feet peeped out. “Just as I left them. I never thought about how it must have been for you. What happened when I disappeared?”
He ran his hands through his hair, making her want to tidy it. “I fell apart for six months, my father feared for my sanity, but there was a surge of power that accompanied your leaving, so I soon came to the conclusion that you were alive, healthy and would one day come back to me.”
“I was told that you wouldn’t remember it.” It was a feeble excuse, but it was one that she clung to.
“I remember every moment that we were together. I sought a demon’s perspective and he noted that my soul was incomplete. Because I tied my soul to yours, we both remember the two years of conversations, courtship and that one kiss.”
She had no words. Asha walked to him and kissed him, tasting the wine in his mouth. When she released him, his hand was on her back, keeping her close. “I was so excited that I wanted to tell someone, anyone back home, what was going on, that I was in love, I returned to the moment I left with only the memory of our kiss and the ring that no one else could see on my hand.”
He took her hand in his and ran his thumb across the ring, sending a shiver through her as the power pulsed. “So, we both had to face the loss. I must say that it does make the pain lessen slightly.”
“Nothing can take away the pain, but we can shove it into the past. Now, High Lord Tuartha, what is your order for this evening?”
She yelped as he sat her across his lap.
“Have some dinner. You have not eaten yet today and tomorrow will be taxing.” He pressed a kiss to her nose and hauled the tray close to them.
Together, they consumed the food selection which included the buttered and braided bread. Asha didn’t start any conversations, merely enjoyed the sensation of being next to Tuartha once again. It wouldn’t last long, so she was going to make the most out of every moment.