by L. A. Boruff
His scowl wasn’t nearly as impressive as the Queen’s, but he straightened and dropped his hand to his side. “I’m not.”
“Yeah. I’m just… You’re nervous, and you’re the one who lives here.” I sighed. “Well, at least I don’t have any pets to starve if I don’t get back home.” I was trying to make light of the situation, but the seriousness in my tone wasn’t helping at all.
Trial. I was there to do a trial. I looked around to get an impression of my current situation. A brook babbled through the grass; there were trees and bushes all over the place, and some pale flowers. And blackberries, lots and lots of blackberries. Maybe this was where they got the fruit for the wine.
I shuffled a few steps here and there, but it quickly became obvious we were on our own. We weren’t waiting for, say, a giant to come out and attack us. That probably meant I had to get somewhere. There was nothing obvious, no path, or streetlights, or glowing neon sign to tell me where the hell to go. Directions and the GPS on my phone would’ve been nice, too.
Although, GPS… I could feel that my gold was nearby, so I had to have some kind of reference for it. When I concentrated on it, on trying to follow the feeling, I found it came from that way. I started in that direction, Domhnall close at my side.
“At least it’s not raining,” I said after we’d been walking for a few minutes. And I was wearing comfortable clothes. I couldn’t imagine tramping through the blackberry bushes in some of the outfits I’d seen in the Court.
“It never rains here,” Domhnall said quietly. “The Keeper nourishes the garden.”
“The Keeper?” Maybe that’s what I needed to do, find the Keeper. That was a more concrete objective than roaming through a garden in a nebulous direction I hoped was the right way.
“You summoned?” The voice was bird-like, for lack of a better way to put it. Like the croak of a raven.
Domhnall’s hand strayed near the hilt of his sword, putting me immediately on edge. Where was some of that wine when I needed it?
“Not really,” I said lightly. “Just passing through.” I peered around to try to find the source of the voice, but I couldn’t see anyone. Just the plants growing green and vibrant, rustling in a light breeze.
“It’s been some time since I’ve had a leprechaun in my domain.” The voice seemed to be coming from all around me, like it was coming from the plants themselves. “Tell me, gold-keeper, have you brought coin to lay at my roots to bless the growth?”
“No?” I peered at Domhnall, but his expression didn’t give anything away. “No, that’s actually why I’m here. I’m trying to get my gold back.”
“Ah.” An explosion of black feathers whirled in front of me like a tiny tornado, and a man stepped out. He was tall, lean, and seemed to be dressed in a skinned raven. Not the feathers or anything, like a really big raven had been stretched out and wrapped around his body with its beak resting just over his forehead. “That’s another story then, isn’t it? I can’t have just anyone wandering through my domain.”
Don’t flinch. I stepped forward and lifted my chin. “And what would it take to get you to let me pass through?”
“A gift, of course. You don’t just enter someone’s home without bringing them a gift, do you?” He clucked his tongue. “They don’t teach you manners anymore, do they?”
I let that go without comment. “And what sort of gift are you looking for?”
He paced a few steps one way, his dark eyes unblinking as they stayed fixed on me, before pacing back the other way. “A goldless leprechaun asks what she can give me, when she doesn’t have the thing I seek.” He smiled, but the expression wasn’t pleasant. “Bones make excellent fertilizer, don’t they?”
I swallowed hard, a fresh burst of adrenaline racing through my veins. I had no doubt he meant that too. “Well…” I took a deep breath and put my best customer service smile on my face. “What if I wasn’t a leprechaun?”
That stopped him short. “Not a leprechaun?”
“You jumped to gold because I’m a leprechaun, but to be honest, I’m a little new to this whole thing. And I’m only half-leprechaun on my dad’s side, so what if I wasn’t one? What would an acceptable gift be then?”
He looked at Domhnall. I was a little surprised he hadn’t questioned the fairy guard, but he didn’t seem to want to. “An interesting question. What do all fairies trade in?” He sniffed, and it looked like the beak on top of his head twitched. “You smell of sex. Maybe you’d offer that? A boon. Blood.”
I didn’t want that beak anywhere near my naked parts, and I wasn’t really sure I wanted to owe a favor to someone who’d mentioned using my bones as fertilizer. “Blood?”
“Blood.” Seeing my interest, he seemed to swoop in on it. “A taste, nothing more. Sharing a piece of yourself with someone is one of the most intimate things you can offer, second only to tears. A piece of yourself and exquisite emotion…” His eyes moved over me. “Tell me, goldless leprechaun, would you cry for me?”
The way he asked sent a chill down my spine. I wasn’t really big on crying on demand, and I did not want to know how he would make me. “Blood,” I repeated again. “Just a taste?”
“A taste, legacy seeker, nothing more. Unless…” The smile again turned unpleasant. “Unless you seek to give more.”
I certainly didn’t. “Right. How do we do this?”
“Just a little nip, a little cut here.” His finger felt cool as he touched the tip of my index finger where it wrapped around my walking stick. “I could do it for you now.”
The anticipation in his eyes made me not want him to. The blackberry brambles were only a few steps away, and I went to them. I hesitated, my fingers lightly gripping a thin branch. “Just a taste?”
“Unless you choose to give me more.”
I gritted my teeth and pressed my finger directly over one of the thin thorns. My body didn’t want to hurt itself. It seemed to hurt more than it maybe should’ve, but it got the skin to split open.
I went back to where the raven-man waited for me and held up my hand. A bead of crimson blood welled at the end of my finger. “A gift, then, for allowing me to pass through your garden.”
“Dear girl,” was all he said. His fingers curled around the back of my hand, eyes locked on me as he brought it to his mouth. He didn’t just lick the blood off the tip; rather, he drew my finger into his mouth up to the second knuckle.
He sucked on it. A gasp fell from my lips as the sweetest pleasure pierced through me, as though he were sucking directly on my clit. I hesitated, not pulling away, hardly daring to breathe. I wondered if he would do it again. My body certainly wanted him to.
He drew on my finger slow and steady, sending waves of sensation cascading through me. It was like a vibrator kissing right against my sensitive nub, like the most skillful tongue darting back and forth, like nothing I’d ever felt. My eyes slammed shut. I’d come when Tom had pushed me up against the wall, but that seemed to pale in comparison to this.
Desire rolled through me on pleasure’s heels, winding me tighter and tighter even as I silently urged him for more. As I stood and swayed, it felt like the next suck would pull me over into ecstasy, and the next, and the next. I’d never been amped so high, my entire body throbbing with need.
And still he wound me tighter.
It’ll never end. The thought fell through me like a rush of cold water, somehow coming from both outside my mind and deep inside it at the same time. It felt like I had to swim to the surface of the hazy pleasure to take a breath and clear my mind. It took some effort to pull my hand out of his mouth, back from where he lovingly cradled my elbow and held me to him.
My eyes snapped open in time to see his bloody grin. My blood. How much had he taken? I felt a bit shaky, and I tightened my grip on my walking stick. It took me a second to find words, to connect my brain with my mouth. “I trust you appreciated the gift?” My voice was still husky and thick. The desire didn’t suddenly vanish just because it wa
s no longer building.
He lifted his hands and stepped back. “Exquisite, dear girl. You’re welcome in my home any time.” The promise in his words sent another shiver through me, not a pleasant one.
“Yeah.” I looked at the tip of my finger. It was pale and pruny, but it didn’t seem to be bleeding anymore. “How exactly do I get through?”
A stone arch stood just behind him. It didn’t appear, it was simply there like it had always been there, leaving me wondering if I’d somehow missed it, or it had suddenly appeared. He stepped to the side, out of my way. “Come and see me again.”
I passed through, Domhnall a silent shadow at my heels. “Not if I can help it,” I muttered as I went between the stones, and I heard a chuckle. Was that Domhnall or the raven-man? Did it matter?
7
We were in space. Okay, no, we weren’t actually in space. We were in a chamber of some sort, but the walls and ceiling swirled black and purple, and tiny white lights flickered and danced all around us. It was endless, stretching on forever in all directions. I felt like my gold was closer than ever, but I couldn’t see anything except the swirling infinity.
It was heartbreakingly beautiful, calling to some part of me I hadn’t even known existed. I could’ve stayed there all day.
But that was dangerous, if my time in the garden had taught me anything. I looked a question at Domhnall. “Where’s the Queen to tell me what my final trial is?”
“This is your final trial, Eva,” he replied quietly. “This is the essence of the fae, of magic, of what makes us up. You have to prove to it that you’re fairy enough to take your pot.”
I opened my mouth and closed it again. “Prove…” Of course. Because ordinarily if this happened, I would probably have grown up learning whatever magic I was supposed to have. “Like leprechauns are supposed to be able to shrink, right?”
“Leprechauns can change their size.”
I sighed. That wasn’t happening. For the fun of it, I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to concentrate on shrinking, on making myself as small as I could get. When I opened them again, I was still eye-level with Domhnall’s chest.
I tried to think of what other magic I was supposed to have. I could take someone to my gold if they directed me to, so maybe that was a form of magic? I could teleport there or something? “I don’t suppose you could grab me and ask me to take you to my gold, could you?”
“I’m not allowed to directly interfere.” The subtle emphasis on the word directly made me widen my eyes.
His voice. Realization came crashing in. That had been his voice in my brain telling me the unending pleasure wasn’t actually going anywhere. “You-”
He caught my gaze and gave the slightest shake of his head. Maybe he wasn’t supposed to do that.
“You’re not permitted to interfere,” was what I lamely finished with. “Directly.” The idea that we were being watched, or listened to, or both, vaguely creeped me out. It didn’t come as a surprise, though.
“Think of me like a piece of the background. Like that.” He pointed to the shillelagh still clutched in my hand.
I eyed it dubiously. “Right.” Presumably an actual leprechaun would know how to do something with it. But I wasn’t an actual leprechaun. I was half-human, and I didn’t even have the slightest idea of what being a leprechaun meant.
No. I couldn’t afford to go down that path. I had to focus and get through this. So if I wasn’t a leprechaun, I was still a fairy. Maybe I could prove I was a fairy. I tried to think of everything I knew about fairies in general.
The raven-man had mentioned a few things. Fairies traded in blood, favors, and sex. Blood was right out. Domhnall’s sword was undoubtedly sharp enough to easily cut through my skin, and probably with a lot less pain than the thorn had. But I was still down however much the raven-man had taken, and the idea of losing more made me feel all wobbly.
I couldn’t exactly offer the room a favor. Was it even a room? There was a life to the unending swirl of darkness, the same life that ran through my walking stick.
The same life that ran through Domhnall. I narrowed my eyes at him as I thought. That wouldn’t work, would it? It seemed stupid to even consider, but I wasn’t sure I really had any other options. “I have a question, and I don’t know if you can answer, but I kinda need you to go with me on this one.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Ask your question, Eva.”
“You say you serve as basically the same function as this, right?” I lifted my walking stick. “So back in the garden I could have offered that asshole your blood?”
“If you were in a position to offer it.” He inclined his head to the shillelagh. “It’s much easier to get that to do what you want, considering it won’t try to stop you.”
“But if I could somehow convince you to do it, you would have?” He didn’t answer, which seemed pretty telling to me. “So…” Heat spread up into my face. Unable to meet his eyes, I focused on a spot over his shoulder as I pressed ahead. “Fairies trade in sex, right? So there has to be some kind of magic to it, of sharing yourself with another person. So if we…” I trailed off as I gestured between us, and winced. “Am I way off base here?” It felt like a stretch, but I was starting to think that might be the idea.
His eyes locked on mine, his lips curling up into a smile. Again, he didn’t answer.
“Right. But you can’t interfere, so I’d have to…” I set my shillelagh gently on the ground as I considered him. I was going to have to be the one to initiate everything, wasn’t I? I took a step closer. “You know, this would be considerably easier if you weren’t so tall.” My hands rested on his chest as I peered up into his face.
“I don’t think you can convince me to grow shorter.” There was a hint of the familiar arrogance, but it only made me smile.
“What about convincing you to come down here so I can kiss you?” This was more awkward than I was really prepared for, but I was still somewhat buoyed by the desire left over from what had happened in the garden.
“Is that what you want?” His low tone was nothing but invitation, and just like that, the awkwardness vanished. I was going to have to initiate or ask for whatever I wanted, but I could work with that.
I licked my lips. “Can you come down here and kiss me?”
He leaned down to kiss me. It was just the gentle pressure of his lips until I flicked my tongue against his lower lip. He took the invitation, his tongue coming out to tease and dance with mine until I wanted to melt against him.
I pulled away enough to look up into his face. “I want to fuck you, Domhnall. Can we do that?” I usually wasn’t so blunt about it, but since I had to convince him…
One arm came around me, pulling me to him. The other hand settled on my ass. He studied my eyes for a long moment before bending down until he could nip at the side of my neck.
A sigh slipped out. My body was more than ready to remind me how amped up I’d been in the garden, and he barely had to nuzzle into the hollow under my ear before I was trying to find some sort of access under his leather vest thing. He wasn’t nearly as worked up as I was, and I needed to change that. “Does this come off?”
He slipped away just enough to start pulling it off. “Does yours?”
I stripped my hoodie off and dropped it on top of my walking stick, the shirt underneath quickly following. I hesitated, but then peeled off my sports bra too.
He found my hips and turned me away from him before molding himself around my back. “I want to roll around in your scent,” he murmured into my neck. One hand pressed flat over my stomach, holding me against him. The other found my breast, rolling my nipple until it tightened and I arched into him.
That pushed my ass against his pelvis, and he made a pleased-sounding noise. “Do that again,” he said.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to inter-” I cut off in a gasp as he gave the rosy bead a deft pinch.
“And I thought you wanted to fuck me,” he returned. He rolled my nipp
le between his finger and thumb until my back arched, chasing him for more and rubbing my ass against him. “You should know I like certain things.”
“Yeah?” I let my head roll back against his shoulder, my eyes closed. “Like what?”
“I want you on your hands and knees.” His lips moved over the curve of my ear. “Not yet. And I bite.” He nipped as if to prove his words.
A sudden giggle tore from my mouth. Doggystyle. Right. My laughter abruptly cut off when my breath caught on another sharp pinch.
“Is something funny?” Domhnall’s words were almost a low challenge.
“Not at all.”
He tugged, pulling me up on my toes. “Are you sure, now?”
“I’m sure. Fuck!” The white-edged pleasure was intense, zipping straight down to my clit in a pulse of fresh desire.
He released me, making me let out a hard breath as I slumped back against him. “I can smell how much you want me,” he murmured. “Makes me want to bury my head between your thighs for hours.”
A high, thin noise slipped out. That sounded fantastic, although maybe not right away. I could feel his cock getting hard, and I wanted him inside me. “You should take off your pants.”
“You too.” His fingers trailed down over my stomach to dip just under my waistband. “And get on your knees for me.”
I had to step out of my shoes first. The floor felt warm the same way my walking stick felt warm. I quickly shed the rest of my clothes.
Domhnall grasped my hips and urged me down to my knees. I’d shifted my hoodie over to kneel on, but it wasn’t too uncomfortable. My hands slapped softly against the floor as I bent forward. “More, Eva. Down more.”
I folded my arms and lowered my head toward them. His hand pushed between my legs to spread them, leaving me entirely exposed. I didn’t have much time to dwell on that thought before his hands settled on the back of my thighs, his thumbs gently spreading my center wide. His tongue flicked delicately against my clit. It felt a little rougher than normal – not uncomfortable, but enough texture to really feel.