Dare to Believe (11 page)

The difference? In the center of the collar, in ruby chips circled in emeralds, were the letters
LD
. He’d collared her with his initials.

Gently taking the collar from her hands, Leo moved to fasten it around her throat. One black brow rose in challenge when she started to move back a step. “I wouldn’t do that, kitten.” He moved closer to her, crowding her smaller frame with his, surrounding her with his strength and warmth, subtly threatening her with his blatant sexuality. “You know you’re meant to ride off with me. You belong to me.”

When he reached out to clasp the collar around her throat once again she stood still, watching his hands. A flash of gold caught her attention. When he lowered his hands, she grasped the left one, turning it so that she could see the ring that gleamed there on his finger.

The gold ring was on his ring finger, right where a wedding ring would rest. The black onyx was slightly oval, like Leo’s pupils. Engraved in the face of the onyx were the initials
RH
. Without words, he’d told her that he belonged to her just as much as she belonged to him. Wondering, she looked down at the ring, touched beyond belief. In a gesture that was pure instinct, she pulled his hand to her lips and kissed the ring.

His eyes flared brightly, their green glow intensifying. If she hadn’t known before that he wasn’t human she’d certainly have known it now. He’d lost control over his personal glamour. She could see the points of his elfin ears through the strands of his hair. The gold dusting of his skin glimmered under the lamplight. With a rough, inarticulate sound he bent down to capture her lips in a searing kiss that claimed her as thoroughly as his body had two nights ago.

She felt one of his hands tangle in her hair and roughly clasp the back of her head. His other hand moved to her hip. She felt herself being herded backwards out of the lamplight, into the shadows, and she struggled briefly.

“It’s safe, kitten. I’m here. Nothing can hurt you.”

She felt herself relax at his roughly whispered words, up until she felt the bricks of the building against her bare back. Leo bit into the side of her neck, his mouth working, sucking at her neck, marking her as his for all the world to see. He undid the fastening of her halter top, pulling the strands down, exposing her breasts to the cool night air.

She looked with dazed eyes over his shoulder at the figments of her imagination, those few men whose attention she’d so desperately craved at one time or another, and let them go with no regrets. For her, now, there was only Leo. The figments watching them didn’t matter, only Leo’s hands did. He began

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Dana Marie Bell

to greedily pull and tweak her nipples into diamond-hard points, palming the weight of her breasts, commanding her body’s responses.

Gasping for breath, Ruby decided two could play at that game. She reached down with one hand and began to rub his erection through his pants. She pulled the zipper down in a frenzy when he dipped his head down, sucking on her nipple as if he were a starving man and she a five-course meal.

“God, Leo, don’t stop.” She was panting with desperation, eager to feel his silken heat in her hands.

She pulled his erection out of his pants and stroked it up and down as he suckled her.

“If you don’t stop that this will be over before it’s started,” he growled. He shifted to her other breast and took the nipple between his teeth. He nibbled it, smiling against her when she gasped in pleasure. In response she moved her hand faster on his throbbing cock. He yanked at her zipper, pulling frantically at her pants. “God, kitten, you’re killing me.”

“Good.” Ruby wiggled slightly as he pulled her pants down, sighing her pleasure when he stroked and petted her soaking wet pussy. He pinched her clit almost roughly, smothering her scream with a kiss that practically devoured her.

With a quiet oath Leo tore his mouth from her. He took her hand off his cock, tugging and pushing till he had her positioned facing the wall, both hands spread, her ass cocked back and waiting for him. “Does it excite you to know the figments are watching us, kitten?” He stroked her ass, holding her in place within the cage of his body. He leaned against her, brushing his erection between the cleft of her buttocks in a hypnotic rhythm.

“What? Who? God, Leo, could you fuck me already? I’m dying here!”

Leo laughed under his breath at the rough tone of her voice. In one swift move he sheathed himself in the tight, wet heat of her body, stealing her gasp of pleasure with another rough kiss. She felt tighter this way, unable to spread her legs because of her pants down around her knees. Her pussy clung to his cock, holding him to her, reluctant to let him go.

Leo ended the kiss and looked down as he thrust his shaft in and out of her body, watching the gleaming length sink in, each move causing the woman under him to moan and gasp in delight. When she tried to wiggle her ass in an attempt to get him deeper he slapped it, causing the globe to ripple enticingly.

Her gasp at the sting of his palm turned to a moan as he gave her what she wanted, moving deeper into her as he pushed her hard up against the wall. One hand held on to her hip and pulled her to him, back and forth, forcing him in even further. The other hand dipped down between her thighs and began strumming her clit between his two fingers.

“Oh, oh God, Leo, that feels so good.”

“Yeah, it does. Can you come for me, baby?”

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She did with a muffled shriek even before he was done asking. She bit her lip to keep from screaming, something Leo didn’t like. He wanted to hear her scream, but it was too late. Leo felt the climax rip through her and, with a surprised cry, felt himself come deep inside her. He pounded into her as the last rippling echoes of her climax set off his own.

Leo shuddered against her. Golden sparkles drifted around them and settled on her skin like fairy lights. Inside and out, he surrounded her, filled her senses until nothing else existed but him. He collapsed against her, pushing her almost roughly into the bricks, both of them gasping for air. She rested her cheek against the brick, her face turned towards his. A satisfied smile drifted across her face.

His breath tickled her ear as he whispered against her, “Mine.”

With a sigh, she closed her eyes. “Yours.” He felt his breath hitch before he buried his face in her neck with a contented sigh.

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Chapter Six

When Ruby opened her eyes, they were back in the hayloft. She was on her stomach, her pants down around her knees. Leo lay over her like a dead man, panting lightly, his nose still buried in the side of her neck as if breathing in her scent. With a huffed little laugh, she whispered, “I gather not everything just now was an illusion?”

“Nope,” he breathed against her neck.

She shivered at the intimate sensation. “All I can say is, that was one hell of a mind fuck.”

“Gives a whole new meaning to the word, doesn’t it?” The rich satisfaction in his voice made her grin. She could feel his lazy smile against the side of her neck. One of his hands reached up and tangled their fingers together as he slid off to the side. He cradled her in his arms and she settled against him, content to be held.

The lay together like that for a while, getting their breath back and enjoying the feel of each other, until thoughts and feelings began to race through her head again. “Leo?”

“Yeah?”

“How old are you?”

He sighed, pulling his softened cock out of her body and rolling onto his back. “Are you sure you want the answer to that?”

She looked over at him, his glamour down, that gold-dusted skin even more exotic in the mundane hayloft they were in now. “Yeah, I want to know.”

“I’m ninety-three years old.”

She blinked. “Wow. You look good for your age.” When he sighed wearily she pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, trying to reassure him. “I know. Elves are immortal, right? Unless someone kills them?”

“Try long-lived rather than immortal and you’d be closer.”

All of the impossibilities of a relationship with Leo began to rear their ugly heads. “That means when I’m old and wrinkly—”

“You won’t be.”

The note of complete certainty in his voice confused her. “Uh, give me about forty years and I will be.”

Dare to Believe

He shook his head. “That’s the other thing I need to explain to you.” He sat up and began pulling up his pants. “You’ve heard the stories of a man riding off with a Sidhe lass to Underhill, only to return three hundred years later and age all of those years in one day?”

“Um, yeah. I think a lot of people have heard that story.”

He zipped up his pants, and then looked at her. “It’s true.” He shrugged at her complete shock. “Okay, the part about Underhill isn’t true. The not aging part was.”

“And the aging-three-hundred-years-in-a-day part?”

He took a deep breath. “Also true.”

“Leo…”

He couldn’t help but respond to the sudden fear in her voice. He held up one hand. “Please, let me explain.” With infinite care, he pulled her jeans back over her hips, batting her hands away when she went to do up her zipper. It was his right, his privilege to care for his mate. “When a Sidhe finds his mate, he binds her to him. There are three steps to the bonding, the first being the Claiming.”

“What’s the Claiming?”

He looked up at her, then back down at the ground. “Do you remember the golden light that surrounded us just as we came?”

He heard her suck in her breath. “That was the Claiming?”

He looked into her eyes and nodded, holding his breath all the while. This was the part that scared the crap out of him. She could reject him utterly at this point, deny the mating and pull away from him. He wouldn’t be too surprised if she did. In the grand scheme of things, they’d only really known each other for three days. Although she wouldn’t really be able to go very far, now that the ritual was halfway done.

He watched her absorb the implications. “Do you choose your mate, or is it a fate kind of thing?”

He was surprised. He thought she’d have more questions about the Claiming. “The gods choose our mate for us before we’re even born. If we’re extremely lucky, we find her or him during the current life; if not, we hope, no, pray we may find them in the next.”

“So, there’s no choice?”

He didn’t like the slow, considering way she said that. “The moment I saw you, no other woman would do. Before the other night, do you know how long it had been since I’d had sex?”

“No.”

“A year.”

She blinked, stunned. “A year?”

“You went seven.” His grin was lopsided, he knew, but this was too important an issue to screw up with a lame joke.

“But…your reputation…the blondes you escorted all over the place…”

“I dated, occasionally, but I didn’t really…click…with anyone. Couldn’t figure out why, at first.”

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“You joined the company five years ago.”

He nodded, watching the wheels turn in his woman’s head.

“But we didn’t meet until three days ago.”

His expression turned tender. “Vanilla and peaches.”

“Huh?”

“Your scent. Vanilla and peaches. I could smell it wherever I went in the company. Took me a while to track it down to accounting, and when I finally did I had the CEO slot, and you kept disappearing.” She bit her lip, looking guilty. “Yeah, I figured it was deliberate.” He sighed. “I could see you occasionally from the back, and, while I must say it is a mighty fine view, I prefer the one from the front.” He brushed a hand down her cheek, delighted when she blushed. “I love watching your eyes.”

Those beautiful eyes of hers darkened, as did the blush that still stained her cheeks. “When…” she cleared her throat, “…when did you realize I was yours?”

Leo resisted the urge to grin in triumph. She’d accepted him, whether it was consciously done or not.

“When I tasted you.”

“What?”

“Remember the kiss on the dance floor at the Halloween party?”

“The one where you tried to lick my toes through my mouth?”

He laughed. “Has anyone told you that you have an interesting way with words?”

“Mm-hmm. Was that when?”

“Yes. I knew you were the one for me.” He couldn’t help himself. He stroked her hair back from her cheek, enjoying the feel of it slipping through his fingers. Everything about her fascinated him.

“This whole bonding thing. What’s the next step?”

He returned his gaze to her face. “The next step is the actual ceremony. In it I pledge my being to you, and I share of my power with you. In doing so, I grant you some of my life force, which lengthens your life. You’ll live as long as I do, actually. It’s one of the true pieces of magic the Sidhe actually possess, other than our human glamour. All Fae have a human seeming. It’s a gift from the gods to protect us in the human world.”

“And the whole
Arabian Nights
slash
Easy Rider
thing wasn’t magic?”

He shook his head. “Not like other Fae can do, like my Dad.”

“Sean isn’t Sidhe?”

He sighed and took her hand, just because. He began stroking her fingers absently. “No, he’s not, and that’s the root of a lot of the problems on the Joloun side. His blood isn’t blue enough for Mom’s family to fully accept him.”

“What kind of Fae is he, then?”

He looked at her and just
knew
what her reaction was going to be. “He’s a leprechaun.”

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For a moment she didn’t react. Then her lips twitched.

“I wouldn’t say it if I were you.”

If she heard the mild warning in his voice she chose to ignore it. “So, are they really always after his Lucky Charms?” Her eyes were beginning to water as she tried to suppress her laugh.

“Ruby, I’d stop now.” He could feel Sean beginning to move towards the barn. When a leprechaun wanted to, he could move with preternatural speed on his own land.