Impossible.
He used his hands to rock her against his mouth, setting the rhythm. She followed his lead, loving the feel of his thick flesh bumping the back of her throat in time with his tongue piercing her sex. She never wanted to stop, never wanted to forget how good this felt. How he tasted and smelled, how hot his blazing skin made hers. But she wanted it all. This dream was so real it made her desperate to discover if she could take all of him. If he was right.
He resisted when she lifted her head and tried to move off his body. His fingers tightened instantly, almost bruising, until she called his name.
“Finn, wait.”
When she rolled over onto her side, he rose up on his elbows, his eyes fierce as he studied her. “Don’t ask me to stop, Sher. Not now. Not yet. Not ever.”
Damn, he was irresistible. She struggled to look away from him and rose up on her knees to straddle his waist again. The heat of his cock, still damp from her mouth, brushed against her sex and she shuddered.
“Just a dream,” she whispered out loud. But she knew, somewhere inside her she knew there would be no going back from this.
His eyes told her he understood. “Yes, love. Yes.” Finn’s jaw was tense, his eyes slits of violet need. “This is your dream. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t mine as well, but it’s up to you. Take what you want, Sheridan. Take it before I lose what little control I have left.”
She wanted him. No matter what happened, or how much he drove her crazy, that never changed. She lowered her hips and gasped at the fullness, the pressure. The electric shock of desire that blinded her the moment the thick head of his cock pushed inside. “Oh God. Oh my fucking God.”
Finn was muttering in another language. His stomach was tight and rock-hard when she rested her palms on it for balance. He was still holding back. Letting her take the lead. It was frustrating as hell.
Sheridan knew how to fight with him, knew how to tease and ignore him, but this was different. It made her feel powerful in a way she hadn’t expected. Made her feel for the first time in months that she was as strong as everyone expected her to be. A warrior.
She sank down a little farther, air hissing out between her teeth as the action stretched her to the point of pain. But it was a pain that was so close to pleasure it was hard to tell the difference.
And more electricity.
Her vision focused long enough to see that it was him. Beneath his skin she could see that shimmer that she’d always teased him about. Only it was no longer a dusting of light. It pulsed with his heartbeat, the same one she could feel inside her. Light beneath the surface. The palms of her hands crackled with it as it entered her skin. Connecting them. “What’s happening?”
Finn was shaking his head, an expression on his face that was both longing and denial. “I didn’t know, Sheridan. I didn’t know this was possible. Not here. Not with… Sheridan, I can’t stop—I can’t help it.”
“Then don’t,” she growled. “Don’t make me beg, Finn. I’ll hate you if you make me beg.”
He dragged her hips down with a force she hadn’t been prepared for. She shouted his name and threw her head back, gasping for the breath that had been knocked out of her as she took all of him. Her arousal had eased his way, but it was still a tight fit. So tight. So hard.
Perfect.
Spots of light danced in front of her eyes as she heard him growl again. “I’m sorry, love. So sorry…”
Why was he sorry? Sheridan couldn’t think—she was too busy feeling. Her sex clenched around his shaft and they both cried out at the sensation. Just this. Not moving, not breathing, just feeling this connection. This fullness. She’d never known anything like it.
“More,” she whispered.
“What?” Finn’s voice was guttural. Shocked.
She curled her fingers into his hard stomach and scraped lightly. Her hips shifted and they groaned in unison again. She felt alive. On fire. “You heard me. Whatever I want, you said. Do I need to spell it out? Fuck me the way I know you can, Fae. Stop holding back.”
Something changed in Finn’s expression. There would be no more hesitating, she knew. After all this time, all their verbal sparring, all her now seemingly uninspired fantasies later, it was finally happening. A tidal wave was rising inside her. Every inch of her already begging for release. Primed for it. Needing it the way only he could give it to her. Soon she would be utterly lost. His. Whole.
An unholy screech rocked the interrogation room, rattling the walls and making the bed quake.
“What the hell—” Finn’s hold on her loosened at the startling sound.
“No.”
Sheridan scrambled off Finn’s body, her own instantly screaming in denial at the loss of contact. He’d found her. She’d thought here with Finn she’d be safe. For a moment she’d believed the darkness had been beaten. That he was gone.
But he’d found her.
“It always worked before,” she muttered to herself, remembering how the voice had disappeared with her passion. But nothing was the same in this insane dream. And apparently, neither was her power over the darkness.
“What’s happening, Sheridan?”
Finn. Something ugly and terrifying occurred to her. What would Eonis do to this dream? How would he defile it? Would he hurt Finn here to pay her back for daring to escape the nightmare? Would she be forced to watch him suffer now?
It took her a moment to hear the urgency in Finn’s voice. When she realized he was standing beside her, she forced herself to breathe. He wasn’t locked up. He could get away.
He gripped her shoulders and repeated his question. “Sheridan? Sheridan, I can help you. What is that? It’s more than a nightmare. Why didn’t you tell anyone? Tell me so I can help you.”
She laughed raggedly. “You can’t help me. Not even the real Finn can. Go away. Go away before he finds you.”
She looked up and watched the oily black mist seep through the seams of the wall. Beneath the door. “He’s here.”
“Eonis?” Finn swore as the room darkened. “He’s dead, Sheridan. Eonis is dead.”
Sheridan prayed she’d wake up. Prayed harder than she ever had before. To Danu. To God. To whoever would listen. “Are you sure, Finn? Are you absolutely sure?”
Blackness rushed toward her, pulling her out of his arms and into its embrace.
“Wake up!” she screamed, hoping some part of her consciousness would hear her before the nightmare started again. “Wake up now!”
Chapter Four
“He’s dead, Finn. I cut his head off with my half of the Claíomh Solais. You don’t come back from something like that, even if you are a member of the Horde. Besides, wouldn’t you have sensed him if he was nearby?”
Hawk was standing on the balcony of the home he shared with his brother, Linnea and her child Crystal—the next in line to rule his people. Finn hadn’t meant to intrude on the Vikings and their preparations for the commitment ceremony, but he’d needed to talk to someone. And with Damon mated to Sheridan’s cousin Meru, and Myrddin besotted with Sheridan’s mother, his choices were limited.
“My tracking abilities have been…off of late.” Finn looked out on the city of his birth and sighed. He would be bringing her here soon. But before he did, he needed answers.
When he’d sought her out in her dreams, he’d had no idea what he was in for. No idea that he’d find himself arrested and handcuffed by the sexy detective. That she’d lower her guard enough to tell him—to show him—what she wanted from him. That her lips around his shaft would be so…
His teeth clenched as his cock hardened. He couldn’t think about that now. Not again. His physical reaction to her had always been intense, but now his body responded as if it were undergoing adolescence. And a Fae during that time was a wildling, incapable of coherent thought. Unable to resist relieving the pressure of thwarted desire.
Just as Finn had been unable to resist seeking relief when he’d returned to his body after her dream ended
—then again when he’d slipped into one of the queen’s guest suites to refresh himself, and hell, even on the way over to the Vikings’ home—he’d become so aroused at the memory of her words, of her tight, athletic body taking him inside, he’d been forced to take matters into his own hands.
He was getting damn sick of his own hands.
He had to think about something else. Eonis. He’d sensed a power in the mist that invaded her dream. That same gut-level awareness that he had when facing the Dark. Not as strong, but it was there. And whatever it was, it appeared to be following Sheridan Kelly. Attached to her somehow. Was Eonis still alive? Were her nightmares real? It would explain her self-inflicted separation from her family. But there was no way it could be true.
Hawk’s sigh drew him out of his speculation. “Still that bad, eh? I was hoping she’d be doing better by now. Dragon Boy must be losing his Zen-like healing mojo.”
Finn studied the bronzed, well-muscled Viking. Beneath his obvious concern, he seemed genuinely happy. A berserker at peace was a rare sight and Finn knew love and fatherhood had everything to do with it.
“She’s better,” he offered, knowing it wasn’t the whole truth. “Stronger at any rate. You’ll be impressed, I’m sure.”
“So she’s agreed to come?”
Finn nodded. “With several caveats, as I told you. You know her.”
Hawk’s brother Val walked through the open balcony doors to join them and laughed. “She is a feisty one, isn’t she? It’s one of her most attractive qualities. You’ve got to love a woman who knows what she wants. What are her demands then?”
Finn felt his smile tighten. “You worry about the Guardian Mother’s qualities and leave Sheridan’s demands to me.”
Hawk raised his eyebrow and caught his brother’s gaze. “If he wasn’t Fae, I would say he sounded jealous, wouldn’t you?”
Val smirked and crossed his arms, studying the uncomfortable Finn with something akin to enjoyment. “If he wasn’t Finn the Fae, I’d be more likely to believe he could be. We’ve known that horndog for years. Monogamy is not his style. We’ve counted his conquests, heard his stories about holding the record for most women fucked into blissful unconsciousness in one night. When was that? About sixty years ago, as I remember. And wasn’t it just last year that you offered to beat your personal best in that department, Finn? I definitely remember the words ‘free-for-all’ and ‘orgy’ being liberally used at the time.”
“Enough,” Finn grumbled. He didn’t need to be reminded of his previous conquests. Of how much he used to enjoy himself and revel in the pleasures of the flesh. He’d been proud of it—his species had never been known for sexual repression. Fucking was natural and necessary. It was a skill that needed to be continuously honed.
But things were different now. What Sheridan did to him made his past conquests fade into oblivion. What he wanted to do to her made the levels of sexual deviance he’d reached in the past pale in comparison. He shifted and attempted to quiet the ever-present hum in his body that was his desire for her. This was neither the time nor place. “There is no point to this conversation. You two have preparations for your ceremony to make and I have work to do.”
Val paled. “That’s right. The ceremony.”
Now it was Finn who was enjoying someone else’s discomfort. Misery loved company, after all. “What’s wrong, Viking? Is the thought of commitment that frightening?”
“I love Linnea.” Val glared back at him. “And I love Crystal as if she were my own child. I have already made my vows to them. But this isn’t exactly a traditional wedding, is it?”
Hawk chimed in wryly. “Since when were we worried about tradition? I know you’re worried about her, but Linnea will be fine. Let them all watch us, what do I care? They certainly haven’t been shy when it comes to public displays of affection. We may as well show these people how it’s done.”
Finn bit his lip to keep from smiling. Neither man was concerned with being accepted by Dagda or the blood vow required to become acknowledged protectors of the Queen’s heir. It was the consummation that would conclude the official ceremony that made Val hesitant.
He still didn’t understand the Fae’s appetites for exhibitionism. He would learn.
He supposed he couldn’t blame them—they were currently mortal, after all. Their curse had been broken. Though that, along with their pre-wedding jitters, wouldn’t last long either. Once the ceremony was completed, they would have a lifespan and healing abilities comparable to the Fae. It was necessary to ensure the happiness of their family, as well as the powerful protection of the throne offered by the twin holders of the Claíomh Solais.
He stepped away from the balcony. “I’m sure you will do your best to try. And with that, I must leave you now. Let the Guardian Mother know that she’ll soon have company.” He bowed to Hawk respectfully. “Ask her to inform Badger of Sheridan’s request.”
Hawk nodded in return. “Of course, my friend, though the Druids come as a pair, I have a feeling those two will be more than happy to oblige. Particularly Badger. She is easily bored and aptly named. She’s been itching for something to occupy her time until Meru’s baby comes.”
Finn allowed his thoughts to transport him without responding, the light fading as he reached his next destination—the beginning of the sacred caverns at the edge of the city. He was sure he would find who he was looking for somewhere nearby.
An irritated female voice had him turning around. “You should try walking. We have beautiful legs meant to be stretched as well as spread. It makes the journey more meaningful and the arrival far more satisfying.”
Just the Fae he’d been looking for. “Ceri, it’s been too long.”
She still looked the same. Brilliant red curls spiraling down to her waist, eyes wide and innocent…until you looked closer and saw the hard-won wisdom within. Ceri was a warrior. One of the best he’d ever known. Before her fall from favor, she had been courted by nobles from every house and coveted as a pleasure companion for every celebration. A brilliant Fae who knew the history of his people better than the archivists, with a bawdy sense of humor that never failed to shock and amuse. An amazing example of what it meant to be Fae.
She had also been an addict.
In the time before they’d decided to go into seclusion and disappear from man’s memory, Ceri allowed herself to experience the pleasure of “tasting” the human spirit once too often. She’d scared them with her passions, enchanted them with her beauty and enticed trustworthy warriors to stray. Many a man would disappear from his family’s home, never to be the same again once she called to him.
She had never killed a soul, never lusted so much that she crossed the line and became Horde. He knew others had been unable to resist, but she had. He admired that about her. But the law decreed that she’d come close enough, that she’d put humans and Fae alike in danger.
Her penance had been to spend the last thousand years in exile at the edge of the city, being close to her people but not among them. Apart from the festivals and gatherings that were foundational to the Fae’s spirituality and sense of community. Those she could attend if she chose, though she rarely had.
Instead, she made them come to her. She’d become one of the foremost experts on controlling the urges that she’d once given in to. Too late for too many he had known and cared for, but not for those still able to be saved. And he’d heard from his sources that business had been good. Due, he was now certain, to the sect in the city aiding the Dark. She could have valuable information, but he wasn’t here for that. His mind was currently on other things.
Despite her status, Finn trusted her completely. That was why he had come. “I have spoken to the queen.”
The beautiful waif snorted. “Lucky you. Would you like a medal? How about another honorary title? That’ll be exciting and different. A nice change of pace for our golden boy, huh?”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t start. You know I never cared about that.”
“Oh that’s right. The queen’s pet joined the Fianna. Now you’re Myrddin’s whipping boy. Having fun saving the humans, are we?” She raised her slender brows. “I hear you lost a few good fighters to us recently. Need any help?”
“Actually I do. Which is why I’ve spoken to the queen. She’s agreed with my plan to request your aid.”
Ceri had been walking toward her small stone cottage, but that stopped her. She turned to face him, her expression wary. “I won’t help you find them. Don’t ask me to do that, Finn. I enjoy living too much.”
He reared back in surprise. The spies? “So you do know about that.”
She opened her door and gestured for him to come inside, glancing around behind him as though worried someone might be nearby. Listening. “You’d be surprised what I know. People tend to forget the exiled have ears. It’s served us well over the years.”
“Us?”
An amused male voice answered him from the living area. “Yes, us. Ceri, you should warn me when company’s coming. You know how I love company. Especially the attractive kind.”
Finn’s eyes widened at the sight of the male, and then he lowered them out of habit. A Dweller? Dwellers were Fae who spent their lives beyond the small community of exiled, deep in the sacred caverns. There was no mistaking his distinctive appearance. Skin nearly translucent, eyes a clear crystal with only the slightest hint of violet. No trace of hair on his head…or anywhere else.
What was he doing here?
It was said they were devoted disciples of Danu, so grieved when she left corporeal form that they spent their lives attempting to join her. They lived in total communion with nature, deep within the caverns. Their music and their skills as healers were renowned. Stories were told of wanderers lost in the dark, near death, who had been revived by their touch. They were also, if rumors and childhood stories were to be believed, protectors of Danu’s most closely guarded secrets. All Fae were instructed from an early age to leave them to their studies.
Behind the Veil: 3 (Temptation Unveiled) Page 7