by Anya Bast
Either way, this was war.
KIERAN spent the day recovering. The poison that should have left him dead merely made him sick for a few hours. The whole day passed in a euphoric haze of bliss despite the dregs of toxin still left in his body. All his dreams had come true. They had the piece. The curse was gone. He’d been touched by Danu, herself.
He had his love.
He wondered if Priss had suspected that sacrificing his life for Charlotte’s would break the curse and give him a return ticket from the Otherside. Asking her was on his list of things to do.
But not for today.
Charlotte had fallen asleep next to him on the couch. The fire before them crackled and soft music played behind them. She’d spent the day trying to make him comfortable, but all he’d wanted was her near him. The scent of her skin. The feel of her hands on him. The sound of her voice in his ears.
He sat up, slipped a pillow under her head, and gazed down at her, studying the curve of her cheek and the shape of her lips. Every time he looked at her, his chest swelled with love. He didn’t know how it was possible to care about someone this much, to want everything for that person no matter what it might mean for yourself.
He might be centuries older than Charlotte, but she’d taught him more about himself in their time together than anyone else had since the time of his birth.
He wasn’t alone anymore.
Walking to the window, he gazed out over Piefferburg Square. Twilight painted the horizon in a tangled splash of reds, oranges, and pinks. It was the leading edge of night, but it felt like a whole new day.
His gaze strayed to the Piefferburg Securities Exchange where Queen Aislinn was now meeting with the Summer Queen about the bosca fadbh. One would have thought the Summer Queen would have jumped the moment the Shadow Queen had sent word that the final piece was in her possession, but that had not happened. The Summer Queen had delayed. That either meant Caoilainn Elspeth Muirgheal planned to give them trouble regarding her two pieces of the bosca fadbh or she was attempting to gain control by making the Shadow Queen wait for the glory of her presence. Knowing the Summer Queen, it could be either.
Kieran bet it was the former.
A warm hand touched his shoulder. He pulled Charlotte against him and she sighed, her body warm from her nap. He tipped her head to look up at him, her mussed dark hair curling around her face. “You let me fall asleep.” There was a teasing note of accusation in her voice.
He twined his fingers through her hair and brought her mouth to his for a deep kiss. “You needed it after all you’ve been through in the last few days.”
She let out a long sigh against his lips. “I still can’t believe you’re here with me.”
He dragged her up against his chest and buried his nose in her hair, inhaling the scent of her. He wanted to savor every moment he had with her now, knowing how all their moments had almost been taken away.
Pulling her back, he guided her to the couch and found her mouth with his. His lips moved over hers, his tongue finding its way into her mouth to tangle with hers. She made a small sound in the back of her throat that made his cock go hard. He wanted to feel her under his body right now, wanted to feel the blood pumping through his veins. He wanted her. Every sigh of pleasure he could get from her, every moan. He wanted to slide his hands over every inch of her skin and memorize all of her curves.
And this time it wasn’t because he was going to lose her, it was because he would have her for the rest of their lives.
She pressed her hand to his chest. “Kieran, we need to discuss something very important.”
He nuzzled her throat and made her moan. He ran his fingers down the goose bumps he’d raised on the back of her arm. “What could be more important than this?”
“It’s just that . . . you’re going to live now.” She sighed and slipped a hand beneath his shirt. “For a very, very long time, and I’m—” She broke off on a moan as he nibbled the skin beneath her earlobe.
“What was that?” he murmured against the curve where her neck met her shoulder.
“Never mind,” she sighed.
His hands found the hem of her sweater and he pushed beneath it, finding smooth, warm skin. He wanted her naked, soft, and spread beneath him.
She smiled against his mouth. “I thought you were feeling sick.”
He nipped at her lower lip. “I’m feeling much better now that you’re here.” He pulled her sweater over her head and discovered she was fully, deliciously, bare underneath it. Making a little growling sound in the back of his throat, he lowered his head and sucked one rosy nipple into his mouth while slowly running his fingers over the other to excite her. It went hard against his palm and she let out a low moan, her fingers curling in his hair.
He walked her backward until her calves hit the side of the couch and then moved his hands down, unbuttoning her jeans. She wiggled out of them and went to work on his clothes, kissing and nipping at his skin as she undressed him. They said nothing. The only sound was their breathing and the rustle of clothing hitting the floor.
Wanting to play out the fantasy he’d had in his head for so long, he turned her so that her back was to him, then bowed her over the armrest of the couch. Running a hand down the smooth skin of her back, he admired the curve of her spine and the delicious shape of her rear. Parting her thighs, he slipped his hand between them and found her wet. Locating her swollen clit and the entrance of her sex, he made her even wetter. He slid one finger inside her and thrust, then added another, stretching her muscles.
Charlotte grabbed hold of the cushions of the couch and moaned out his name. “Please, I need you.”
As he needed her.
He stroked himself from tip to base; he was hard as a rock and couldn’t wait to slide inside her. She spread her thighs, her lovely buttocks tipped up in invitation. He pushed the head of his cock inside her. The sensation of her tight, velvety walls clasping his length made him arch his back and groan. She felt like heaven. She was heaven.
In this position, he was able to leverage himself in just the right way to drive deep and fast into her. He pushed them both hard, loving the way Charlotte squirmed and moaned beneath him until she finally shattered in climax, the muscles of her sex pulsing and releasing around his shaft as he thrust into her.
When she was limp from the throes of her first climax, he pulled her up, sliding his hands over her breasts and nibbling at the back of her neck and ear with his cock still lodged deep inside her. Then he pulled free and guided her to lie on the thick carpet in front of the fire, enjoying the sight of the light playing on the aroused, rosy flush of her skin and licking at her beautiful, hard red nipples.
He came down over her, kissing her deeply, driving his tongue into her mouth as if starved for the feel of her tongue against his. She shifted beneath him, forcing his rigid cock inside her once again. He drove deep, making her gasp with pleasure and shiver as though he was completing the missing part of her.
As she completed the missing part of him.
As one, joined, they moved together. He caught her gaze and held it as he thrust slowly in and out of her. Her eyes were filled with as much emotion as he felt coiled tight within his chest. Contentment was finally his, after so many years. He wanted to tell her thank you, but was loathe to interrupt the soundless communication of their bodies.
Instead, he gave her pleasure. Slipping his hand down between them, he found her swollen clit and stroked it with his thumb. Her eyes fluttered shut and her back arched, her breath coming faster.
Monitoring the way she moaned, breathed, looked at him, he pushed them both to flirt with the leading edge of ecstasy and held them there, prolonging it, building it to a shattering crescendo when he finally decided to push them both over the precipice.
She shuddered, then cried out, her face flushing and her back arching. Pleasure rose up from his balls, exploding over him. They cried out each other’s names as they came together. He poured into her and hoped,
for a fleeting second, that Danu would grant them a child.
They collapsed together in a tangle in front of the fire, breathing heavily.
She curled around him and knotted her fingers through his hair.
“I love you,” he murmured.
Tears glistening in her eyes, she kissed him. “I love you, too,” she whispered against his lips.
He stroked his hands over her body, leaving no inch unexplored, and drove her to one last quiet orgasm there on the carpet. He never wanted to leave the rug, never wanted the fire to sputter and die. At the moment, all he wanted was Charlotte. The rest of the world could go to hell.
“I want to marry you.” The words came out rough with emotion.
She pushed up on her elbows. “What?”
“I want to tie my soul to yours in the way of the fae. I want to bond with you right now.”
She laughed. “I don’t understand.”
“I want to give you my soul by saying the Joining Vows. They’re the magick-laced words of the traditional Tuatha Dé wedding ceremony.”
“Magick-laced?”
“They’ll give you the life span of a fae.”
Her brow wrinkled. “How would that be possible?”
“You have fae DNA in you, Charlotte. Not that much, but you do have it. I don’t know for sure if it will work, but it should. I will give my soul to you. When you die, so will I. You don’t have to say them back to me, but if you do, your soul will be forever linked to mine.”
“And when you die, so will I.”
He nodded. “It’s a hell of a commitment.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk about before, the difference in our life spans. When I left Piefferburg I didn’t know you loved me. When I came back, we were both going to die, so it wasn’t an issue. But now . . .” She licked her lips. “I don’t even have to think about it. Yes. Yes, of course, I want this.”
He gave her a head-to-toe sweep with his gaze. They were both still naked in front of the fire. “Do you want a real ceremony? A dress? Flowers—”
She put her fingers over his mouth. “Everything I want is right here, right now.”
THIRTY
CHARLOTTE wept with joy as Kieran took her hands in his. He stared into her eyes and spoke in Old Maejian first, then in English so she could understand.
I give you my blood, bone, and breath.
I give you my soul and the spirit it rides in.
Should you be discarded by others, I will cherish you.
Should danger come, I will give my life to protect you.
Should your honor be lost, in mine I will cloak you.
Should you become sick, I will heal you.
Should you be lost, I will find you.
Ask me never to leave you. Stop me not from following after you.
Where you go, I will go. Not even death shall part us.
I am yours.
A warm, tingling magick enveloped her, making her eyes close, her chest swell with gentle heat, and tears stream down her cheeks. In that moment, she felt what Kieran felt for her. All the love she saw glimpses of on his face and in his eyes, all of it became an actual, tangible mantle of peace and warmth that settled around her shoulders.
It was what she felt for him, mirrored back at her.
When she opened her eyes, she felt different. Stronger. Healthier. Happier.
Practically immortal like a fae?
It seemed likely. Now she didn’t have to worry about growing older and dying before Kieran did.
They could be together now. Forever.
She squeezed his hands and began saying the Joining Vows back to him. They came to her in Old Maejian easily, even though she didn’t speak the language. They simply poured out of her mouth with the intention of giving herself completely to him. The magick swelled and Kieran bowed his head, accepting her gift.
They were one.
CHARLOTTE came out of the bedroom, rubbing a towel through her wet hair, to the sound of someone pounding on the front door of Kieran’s apartment. It brought back bad memories of the morning that she shook off. That nightmare was over. Kieran was fine.
And she was married, literally, to her soul mate.
Kieran wore only a pair of blue jeans, a look she found exceedingly distracting. The visitor pounded on the door again and he shot her an expression that said, This probably isn’t good, and answered it.
Niall stood on the other side. “We’ve got trouble. Heaps and heaps of pure, black trouble.” He leaned in and waved at Charlotte. “Trouble. Got it? Feeling better? Hope so. Can you come with me?”
And just like that another nightmare began.
Kieran grabbed his shirt and a pair of shoes by the door. “Charlotte, you coming?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she said dryly, finding her own shoes. She could only imagine what kind of danger was headed their way now.
Niall led them to the queen’s chambers. Entering, Charlotte looked at the place where she’d knelt by Kieran’s lifeless body only hours ago and suppressed a shudder.
Gabriel and Aislinn stood by one of the huge windows that looked down over Piefferburg Square. The rest of the group Charlotte had come to recognize as Aislinn’s advisors were assembled in the room. The entire Wild Hunt—Melia, Aelfdane, and Aeric O’Malley, plus Bella, Emmaline, Ronan, and Niall.
Aislinn looked at Kieran and Charlotte pointedly. “All right?”
“More than all right,” Kieran answered. “We’ve shared Joining Vows.”
The queen smiled. “We’ll have to celebrate after we deal with this new crisis.”
Kieran walked toward her. “Did the Summer Queen give you the two pieces of the bosca fadbh?”
“Of course not,” Gabriel growled. His fists were clenched. “But that’s not our primary concern at the moment.”
“Are you ready for war?” That came from Niall, who still stood near the door. “The old-fashioned kind. The kind we used to have, way back when. Remember?”
Kieran’s body tensed beside her. “I’ve done a good job forgetting.”
“Well, you better remember,” said Ronan from his place on one of the white couches. He had an arm wound protectively around Bella’s shoulders.
“The red caps report activity at the gates.” Aislinn pursed her lips, pausing for a moment. “The Phaendir are massing to enter Piefferburg. Not only can the guards see it, it’s all over the human TV news. The Phaendir mean to act without consent from the U.S. government.”
“What?” breathed Charlotte. “They wouldn’t dare.”
“The HFF is there, too,” continued the queen. “There are protestors and riots starting already in Protection City. The government is calling in the National Guard—”
“But we don’t know what side the human military will end up on, right?” Kieran rubbed his chin, caught in thought.
Gabriel nodded. “We don’t know if the National Guard is coming to control the Phaendir . . . or us.”
“And the Summer Queen?”
“Is balking.”
Kieran swore in Old Maejian. “The bitch. I knew it, but the majority of Tuatha Dé Danann in both courts won’t stand for it.” He turned, pushing a hand through his hair. He glanced at her, fear in his eyes. Fear, she knew, for her. He didn’t want her caught in a fae versus Phaendir war, maybe with U.S. military thrown in. “We need to get those pieces from her. Now.”
“We’re working on it.” Gabriel nodded at Niall. “We have the best thief around, after all.”
Niall gave a bow with a mocking flourish. He didn’t look the least bit worried, but why would he be? He had no one he loved to fear losing to warfare.
Charlotte cleared her throat. “How well can the fae handle a conflict like this? Trapped here in Piefferburg?” Piefferburg was large area. Still, it seemed like it would be shooting fish in a barrel.
Emmaline bared her teeth in a feral grin. “Oh, we’re stronger than we seem, Charlotte. We’re not sick this time with Watt Sy
ndrome, we’re not weakened by widespread internal strife. We have magick and, mostly, unity. The humans had better watch out. The Phaendir . . .” Her grin got a little more brutal. “Well, a lot of us have been waiting for a chance to fight them.”
“I’m making an announcement to the Black Tower today,” said Aislinn. “We’re opening the arms cache. Weapons for all.” She gave Aeric O’Malley a pointed look and raised an eyebrow. “I guess it’s fortunate that our Blacksmith has kept his secret forge hot all these years. The charmed iron won’t work on the Phaendir, of course, but the pointy parts will.”
Aeric blinked and jerked a little, clearly surprised that the queen knew about his secret work. Creating charmed iron weapons had been outlawed, but the former Shadow King had created a forge for Aeric to make them in anyway.
“You think I didn’t know, Aeric?” Aislinn gave him a cold smile. “Bring all the weapons you’ve made over the years. We’ll need those and more. You can train others to help you, since the weaponry doesn’t need to be charmed it just needs to be able to kill. We aren’t going down without a fight.” The queen raised her voice, the tattoo of the Shadow Amulet flaring black against her pale skin. “We’re not going down at all.”
Slowly, they filtered out of the room. Aeric tapped most of them to help with the weapons. Before Kieran and Charlotte made their way into the bowels of the tower to Aeric’s apartment, Kieran pulled her aside.
They stood in silence in front of a large window overlooking Piefferburg Square. They couldn’t see the gates from where they were, but Charlotte could imagine the chaos beyond them. She knew better than anyone in Piefferburg the mix of fascination and fear that humankind had for the fae. The threat of the walls coming down would be rippling through human society like the explosion of a nuclear bomb on American soil.
“You need to leave, Charlotte.” Kieran’s voice was hard, resigned.
She slipped his hand into his. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He rounded on her, cupping her face between his hands. “You have no magick. You can’t defend yourself and Gideon will be gunning for you. You need to leave.”