Dare to Believe (10 page)

“A what?” Confused, Ruby stared up at him.

“A marriage contract. An arranged marriage was set up by my mother’s father, Armand Joloun, and a man named Cullen Malmayne. Both sides thought to benefit from a marriage of power between Cullen’s son and my mother, but my grandfather is the one who approached the Malmaynes. Which is part of why this whole thing is so screwed up.”

“Your grandfather’s name sounds French, but your mom is Irish. Isn’t she?”

“Half Irish. Moira’s named for our grandmother, and Mom was raised in Ireland with her.”

Ruby thought about that, absorbing it, and let it go. It had no real relevance. “Okay, so your grandfather and this Malmayne dude wrote out a contract, swearing to wed their children to each other. I gather Aileen wasn’t so thrilled with the idea?”

“Oh, at first she had no real objection. It isn’t all that unusual, and from what I understand Duncan Malmayne is a fairly attractive man, wealthy and powerful. But Mom met Dad, and that was pretty much the end of that.”

“So, what, the Malmaynes sued for breach of contract?”

Leo sighed. “Here’s where it gets tricky. Mom and Dad share a unique bond, something that should have nullified the contract, but apparently there was an escape clause written in by my grandfather. In the event that either Duncan or my mother was unable to fulfill the terms, it would devolve to the next generation of both families. In other words, any one of their children could make an arranged marriage.”

“And they want Shane to fulfill this clause in the contract?”

Leo looked at her, and Ruby felt her heart sink. “No. They want me.”

They can’t have you!
Ruby shivered with the force of that denial. “Why you?”

Leo opened his mouth, but nothing came out at first. “I’m not quite certain how to explain this.” He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck nervously. The other hand picked up hers and clasped it warmly, his thumb moving in soothing strokes over the back of her fingers.

“Open mouth, spit out words. C’mon, Leo, it can’t be
that
bad.”

“There’s something you need to know first.” His eyes were glued to their joined hands.

“Okay, what?”

“I will never, ever, do anything to harm you. You mean more to me than you could possibly understand yet. And if I have my way you and the Malmaynes will never cross paths.” He clasped both of her hands in between his, his expression more serious than any she’d seen on his face yet. She could practically feel him willing her to believe in him. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

She shook her head. She was starting to get scared. “Leo,
what is going on
?”

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Dare to Believe

He took a deep breath, and her world exploded in light. She was forced to close her eyes against the blinding brilliance. When she opened them again, she was shocked speechless.

The hay bales and farming equipment had disappeared. Instead she found herself inside a huge sapphire tent, the edges and “windows” detailed in delicate gold Arabic scrollwork. The floor was completely covered in brightly colored silk pillows of every hue imaginable. A small gold table had been set up against one wall. On it sat a carafe of wine and a plate of candied dates. Fragrant oil lamps hung from the three poles holding the tent up, sending the delicious scent of vanilla into the air.

Wide-eyed she turned to look at what was behind her. It was only then that she realized that she could feel the soft caress of silk against her bare flesh. She looked down.

“Holy crap!” The scanty harem costume, consisting of two barely-there red scarves over her breasts and long, sheer red skirt held at her waist by a gold belt, left absolutely nothing to the imagination.

“Hmmm, I do like you in red, kitten.”

She stared, her eyes wide as saucers, towards the front of the tent.

There, in all his half-naked, white-garbed splendor, was Leo. His white pants were gathered at the ankles and waist with gold ties and his chest and feet were bare. Golden armbands encircled both of his biceps. His expression held a glimmer of amusement mixed with a healthy dose of lust.

He entered the tent, moving with the grace of a panther. Any other man of Ruby’s acquaintance would have slipped and fallen on the silk pillows. Leo glided over them, his feet barely making an impression. Her nipples tightened in anticipation at his predatory expression. His gaze roved over her body with unmistakable possession.

Ruby gulped and bit her lip. “Leo?”

“Don’t be afraid, kitten. Remember, I’ll never, ever hurt you.”

“What’s going on?”

“Trust me.”

“Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Nebraska anymore,” Ruby whispered.

Leo stopped. His lips twitched. “You’re about to be ravished by a Seelie Sidhe lord and you’re misquoting
The
Wizard of Oz
at me? I think I may be insulted.”

Ruby blinked, her rampant sense of humor once again threatening to get her into trouble. “First off, a Sealy is a mattress—”

“You’re welcome to lie on me anytime.”

“Second, you are
so
not a she.”

“Shtheee. It’s pronounced
Shthee
.”

“Uh-huh. Lord? That I believe. Hell, you’re the absolute King of Bullshit.”

Leo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Somehow, this isn’t going quite the way I expected.”

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53

Dana Marie Bell

Ruby could practically feel the light bulb settling over her head. She sat up carefully. “Seelie Sidhe lord.”

Leo eyed her warily and nodded.

“You’re an
elf
?”

Leo frowned. “Sidhe.”

“Like Legolas?”

“Ruby!”

“Oh! Galadriel! Can you do the glowy pond thing, too?”

Leo flopped down on the pillows next to her, his breath huffing out in an exasperated laugh. “No, Frodo, I can’t.”

“Hey!” She sniffed. “I at least get to be Arwen. Hell, I’ll take Éowyn.” She waved a hand regally.

“You can be Gimli.”

She dissolved into helpless giggles. Leo rolled over and pulled her under him, one dark brow rising arrogantly. “Ruby, I really am a Seelie Sidhe lord.”

She was laughing too hard to answer. He sighed, and pushed his hair back over his ears, allowing their delicately tapered points to show. “Ruby, I have no glamour on me now. Look at me.
Really
look at me.”

He had to wait until her giggles died down, and that took a bit of time. They had a slightly hysterical twinge to them that even she could hear. Once they did, she really took a good, hard look at him.

The differences were subtle. His ears were slightly tapered into delicate points. His eyes had an otherworldly glow to them that made them gleam brightly in the lamplight. His skin glittered with sparkles of gold, the effect when he moved erotic. The most exotic change, however, were his pupils. Human pupils were round. His pupils were oval. Not much of a change, and easily disguised, but obviously not human.

Ruby caressed his ear with a wondering hand. Her fingertips gently brushed over the tapered points.

He shuddered, his eyes closing in exquisite pain.

“Do you know how long it’s been since someone’s done that for me?”

She smirked, feeling incredibly sexy all of a sudden. “Erogenous zone?”

“Oh, very much so.” He opened his eyes, a sensuous smile curving his lips. He stared down at her barely covered breasts, the sensuous smile heating. “How do you like my fantasy?” She raised one cynical brow, loving it when he chuckled. “At least you’re wearing clothes. I’d have preferred you naked.”

“I almost am!”

“Yes. Operative word:
almost
.”

“Pig.”

“That’s
Lord
Pig, thank you very much.”

“How are you doing this?” Ruby rested her hand on his shoulder, brushing at it to see if the gold sparkles came off in her hand. They didn’t.

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“It’s called glamour. What you see around you isn’t actually here. It’s…all in our heads. A shared fantasy, if you will.”

“An illusion?”

“Not quite. If someone were to take a picture of us right now, it would show the two of us still in the hayloft. To you, however, everything feels real. I could take you outside, place you on my stallion and ride off into the desert with you, and to you it would all seem incredibly real.”

“And this is your fantasy? To be sheik to my houri?”

He brushed his thumb across one of her taut nipples. “Can you blame me?”

She stared up at him, that wicked sense of humor starting up again. “Man, you must have had some incredible jack-off material when you were a teenager.”

He blinked, stilling above her. “What?” He sounded like he was choking on something. More than likely it was his own laughter.

“Picture this,” she waved her hand around, encompassing the tent, “but with a naked Playboy bunny in my place.”

“Um, it doesn’t quite work like that, and I’d rather picture you naked.”

“Oh? How does it work?”

“I can’t really craft a fantasy and project it into my own mind. For me, it would be a daydream, just like anyone else’s.” He smiled, the expression crossing his face slow and wicked. His thumb caressed her bottom lip. The butterfly touch left her wanting more. “I
can
craft a fantasy of my own making and project it into
our
senses. Sight, taste, touch, all of them would respond to the magic as if everything were really there. Or…”

Ruby wasn’t certain she liked the speculative gleam in his eye. “What?”

“Or…”

The lights began to swirl together in a kaleidoscope of color, whirling sickeningly around them as the tent, and everything in it, disappeared. She closed her eyes against the sudden onslaught of her senses as everything, sight, smell, even taste became hypersensitive.

When the maelstrom of sensation died down, Ruby opened her eyes. She blinked and gasped. She was staring at her deepest, darkest sexual fantasy, the one she wouldn’t admit even on her deathbed. “What in the world?”

She stood at the street corner near the old deli where she’d grown up. Traffic was non-existent. It often was late on a Sunday night. The chalkboard sign just outside Dooley’s Bar and Grill proclaimed it Suds n’ Spuds Sunday. Ruby felt herself relax, the fantasy taking over her body and mind. She stood under the glare of the streetlamp, totally secure, totally safe, knowing that
he
would be riding up any minute now to pick her up and take her away.

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55

Dana Marie Bell

She wore tight leather pants, so tight you could almost see the cleft of her pussy. Her black leather halter top left her midriff bare and made the most of her cleavage. Her navel was pierced with an electric blue stone. On her feet were high-heeled leather boots. She was dressed to kick ass. She knew, if she took her clothes off, there’d be no underwear to get in the way of whatever
he
wanted to do to her.

Her hair was pulled up in a cascading fall that drifted over one shoulder. At her throat was a diamond collar. Something about the collar felt strange, different from her usual fantasy, but she didn’t move from under the streetlamp to check it in the window of the deli. If she did she’d lose the safety and security the light provided. She knew, without having to look in a mirror, that her makeup was smoky, her lips blood red. Her nails were painted the same crimson color, and if she took off one of the ridiculous high heels her toenails would be the same.

She looked over her shoulder and blinked.

Behind her stood every single man she’d ever felt slighted by, including Bobby Pencil-Dick. Each and every one of them stared at her with a yearning expression.

But she didn’t belong to them. She belonged only to
him.

A strange rumbling sound pierced the darkness of the night. She turned back and looked down the road. She could see the bright headlight break through the damp fog and felt butterflies begin to dance in her stomach. The sensation was so intense she pressed her hands to her middle. The motorcycle came purring up to a complete stop at the curb right in front of her.

The man on the cycle was to die for. Rich leather covered a lean, muscular figure that had her mouth watering in reaction. He swung his leg off the bike, pulling the leather taut over the firm globes of his ass.

He reached up and pulled off the helmet and set it on the seat. He seemed to flow into the light. He stopped before her, leaned down and gave her a swift, hard kiss that rocked her back on her heels.

When Leo pulled back, his gaze went straight for the diamond collar at her throat. With a smile of satisfaction and possession, he took her hand and started to lead her to the cycle.

“Don’t even think I’ll share you with any of the figments, kitten. You’re all mine.”

She blinked and shook off some of the effects of the glamour he’d woven around her. That part of the fantasy hadn’t even crossed her mind. Picking and choosing between the panting suitors at her back, leaving them all in her high-heeled dust as she rode off into the night with her fantasy lover, no longer had any appeal.

It seemed Leo wasn’t taking any chances, however. Apparently he’d decided to skip straight to the riding off portion of tonight’s entertainment.

With the bold recklessness this particular fantasy tended to inspire in her, she asked, “How do you know I’m ready to leave them behind and have only you?” Of course, she
was
ready to ride off, but who said she couldn’t play a little too?

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Leo stopped and turned. He hooked one finger in the diamond collar and pulled her towards him in a move that screamed possession. “You’re mine, kitten. You wear my collar. Or didn’t you notice?”

Her fingers flew to her collar, tracing over the design on the front. Unhooking the clasp, she removed the collar and turned it to look at it.

It
was
different from the collar she usually pictured. Four strands of diamonds still made up the collar.