Loving a Fairy Godmother (6 page)

Looking out the window, Reina discovered she
had a good view of Tiernan, now fixing the side of the barn.

His shirt and pants were plastered against
his skin because of sweat, putting the muscles of his body in stark
relief. His movements were fluid, a living sculpture any woman
would pay to see.

Reina tried to swallow but found her throat
too dry. How could beauty keep catching you unaware after living
with it for thirty years? Yet somehow through the years, Reina kept
being transported back to that first day she saw him.

Lying on the couch, his face relaxed, that
fringe of lash resting against his cheeks. She didn’t believe him
mortal at first. Only the Fae were said to possess such looks. Yet
this mortal man put every other male she had ever seen to
shame.

And then when he opened his eyes…

Reina rubbed the back of her neck, the gut
punch that had overtaken her as strong in memory as it had been in
reality.

Desire was dangerous. It blinded you to
everything about the other person. It left you defenseless. She
knew all this, and yet when it came to this man, she always found
herself raw and ragged.

But maybe she could exercise those
demons.

There was now too much moisture in her mouth,
and she swallowed several times, hoping to banish the thoughts
coming to her, but no, a crack had formed and nothing would stop
the rush of illicit thoughts.

She was far from the Compound, far from the
other women. No one would know what transpired here between her and
Tiernan, no one could judge or find fault with her conduct, no one
could gossip about her.

What if she took this opportunity to get him
out of her system? Ignoring him hadn’t worked. Pretending the
attraction didn’t exist was ludicrous. What if she took the other
path? What if she enjoyed the time they had together instead?

She scoffed. Ridiculous, of course.
Ridiculous. Once they got back, how would he treat her? As some
sort of trophy, probably.

But he never treated any of the other women
badly, and the crack opened wider. She never heard of any women
hurt because of his actions, never heard any of that mock
sympathetic cooing in regards to any woman because of a liaison
with him.

She’d feel a fool. Hadn’t she already been
made a fool too often at the hands of a man?

Reina nodded, certain she had made a wise
decision and put such thoughts out of her head.

The crack remained.

Once again, Tiernan was on the roof, lying on
his back with his hands behind his head, looking at a sky where the
stars were covered by a thick mass of clouds.

“I owe you an apology.”

He felt Reina appear beside him, but chose
not to say anything. Now that she had spoken, however, it would be
churlish not to answer. “For what?”

“A lot of things.” She sat down beside him,
following his gaze up to the sky. “Will it rain, do you think?”

“Talking about the weather?”

”Well, I’m not from the mortal realm. I have
no talent to know what the weather will do, so it fascinates
me.”

He chuckled, the sound no less honest for
being small and slight. “That is true.”

“I was wrong to try to get you kicked out of
the FGs because it wasn’t you I had a problem with. I judged you
against someone else, not on your own merits. For that, I am
sorry.”

“Do I look like him?”

Reina laughed at that. “Why would you think
that?”

“You seem to have an especial problem with me
versus just any male. I always thought maybe I looked a little like
him.”

Reina took in a great expanse of breath
through her nose. “No, you don’t, but you have a similar way about
you. He was also the type of man who had woman dropping everything
to follow him.”

“Would it help if I told you I’ve always
tried to use my power for good and not evil?”

“I always knew that they were never able to
fix your mental capacity completely after that dragon was done with
you.”

Tiernan smiled at her, glad that they were
back to their usual truce. Maybe even better. Before they came
here, he could never have envisioned an apology, much less her
talking about her ex, even if only in passing.

He heard the rustle of cloth, but it was
slight, not enough to suggest she had left. “Cinderella’s
dreaming.”

This time the quick change of subject left
him confused. He looked at her again. “Reina?”

She shook her head, her tone all business.
“Remember your assignment, Fairy Godfather. Look into her
dreams.”

Tiernan closed his eyes and entered
Cinderella’s dream. He saw what Reina must have seen, saw himself
and Reina entwined with each other, kissing. Reina’s naked body was
vivid, while his was hazy, the lower portion completely misted
over. The dream Reina’s expressions were not as he would wish,
continually sliding into pain.

His eyes opened onto Reina’s face, and he
said, “Not only is she wary of men, she knows nothing of what
happens between men and women. If anything she thinks it’s a
torture women have to endure.”

Reina nodded. “She truly is an innocent. I
talked to her some today. I didn’t want to pry too much, but I
needed to understand where she was. She has never been accosted,
but at best her family told her nothing, and at worst, they made
sure she knew only the details that would scare her.” Her fist
clenched, and Tiernan wondered if she was imagining using it on
certain members of the household. “That Stepmother of hers needs to
meet the sharp end of your sword.”

“As a knight, that whole chivalry code would
have prevented me from doing anything like that.”

“No exceptions?”

“None.”

“A shame.” She got up and started pacing the
roof. “You were right. As wary as she is now, she’s not ready to be
courted. We need to figure out how to get her over that fear.”

“Have faith. We’ll figure something out.”

She cocked her head, her hair falling along
the side of her jaw as she looked down at him. “What do you
suggest?”

He shook his head as he rose to a sitting
position. “I’m not sure yet. Being here posing as a married couple
helps, but we do have a time limit. That alone won’t be
enough.”

She sat back down next to him and drew her
knees to her chest. After a moment, her brows drew together, and
she began fidgeting, small movements at first, slow, but in short
moments grew in speed and intensity.

“Reina?” he asked, and she jumped. Whatever
she had been contemplating was enough to make her shut out the
outside world. She looked at him and then away at once.

She shook her head. “It’s crazy,” she
whispered.

“OK,” he agreed cautiously, not pushing the
issue when he saw the fidgeting increase. Some sort of internal
battle was waging, and he was happy to stay far away from it.

“We don’t have much time,” she said, not
looking at him, her face still flushed.

He nodded, not sure where she was going with
this.

He saw the battle end as the fidgeting
stopped and her back straightened. She turned to him, her face
still flushed but her gaze steady. Reina brought her lower lip
between her teeth, biting it for a moment before taking in a breath
and saying, “We could show her what physical love between a man and
a woman is like.”

The blood stopped moving in Tiernan’s veins
as he stared at that lovely face. “Reina, what are you proposing?”
But he knew, every sense focused on her.

She licked that lower lip, and Tiernan’s
every thought urged him to follow her lead. “We are husband and
wife here.”

With the elemental part of his being
screaming at him for being a fool, he shook his head. “I will never
use you like that. You’ll come to my bed for your own pleasure
only, not as some sacrifice or an apology.”

Reina reached out, laying the flat of her
palm against his chest, sliding it upward until it cupped his
cheek. “I want that pleasure for its own sake. Does it matter if it
somehow also helps us as well?”

Her proposal took his breath as surely as any
blow to his body ever had. Thoughts of everything he wanted to do
to her filling his head, he stood, never taking his gaze from
her.

He refused to reconsider. Nothing in her eyes
or body language told him she regretted making the suggestion, and
he would not be the cause of her changing her mind. “Wait for me in
the barn,” he said, his voice guttural. She nodded and used magic
to vanish from his sight.

He disappeared from the roof, mere seconds
later appearing in Cinderella’s room, and he leaned over and
whispered into Cinderella’s ear, “Five minutes. You will awaken and
come to the barn, thinking you heard the animals upset. Once you
get there, you will see Tiernan and Reina. Watch them and learn
what really happens between a man and woman.” Cinderella gave a
little nod in her sleep, confirmation she had received the magical
suggestion.

He then disappeared from Cinderella’s bedroom
only to reappear in the corner of the barn, and seeing Reina there
waiting for him, Tiernan had never been so grateful for the magic
in him as he was at that moment which allowed him to be with her so
quickly.

Reina’s gasp was loud in the surrounding
silence as he lifted her and sat her on a bale of hay, nudging her
knees apart so he could stand between her bent legs.

“Do you trust me?” he asked, his hips moving
in small circles, his breath in her ear, and the second she moved
her head in the affirmative, his lips claimed hers, hungry and hot.
He had waited an eternity to taste this woman, feel her. He felt
her shock, but that was not going to stop him now, not when she was
here, her soft body cushioning him perfectly where he pressed and
strained.

He absorbed every sensation, how her mouth
opened under his, her tongue tentatively coming to taste him, and
he groaned.

He didn’t want this rushed. This moment was
so long denied he wanted to spend hours dwelling on every single
sensation. Her mouth on his was a miracle he could live on for
days, and he took his time making sure he had kissed her in every
possible way, with both soft caresses and demanding pressure,
before moving to other areas of skin to do the same there.

The skin of her throat heated where his
fingers touched, the lush scent of aroused woman coming from that
delicious body he had always been hard for. His mouth followed his
fingers, marking her throat, wanting everyone who saw the satin
skin to know she was already owned.

“Tiernan,” she gasped.

He travelled back to her mouth, plundering
and tasting, before putting his lips to her ear. “You are mine,
Reina. Remember that.”

His hands traveled firmly down the front of
her bodice, pressing into her breasts, the nipples hardening under
his ministrations, and a loud rrriiippp as the fabric tore away
from her body, leaving her bare to him.

“So beautiful,” he murmured, his hands coming
to palm the heavy weight of her chest, his thumbs circling her
nipples. “And so hard. Would you like me to take one of these hard
little buds into my mouth, Reina?”

He didn’t wait for her answer. Lowering his
head, his tongue flicked out to touch one tip. At her cry, he
pushed his lower body harder into hers as his tongue settled more
fully onto her nipple, sucking it into his mouth.

“Tiernan… so good,” she said on a low moan
that stretched out as his teeth came into play.

He explored until he was sure each of his
senses was satisfied that they had learned everything they could
about this part of her body, and only then did he move on to her
other breast. Beneath him, she was a wild thing, moving and crying
out and begging him for more, her hands threading into his hair,
trying to force him closer, her lower body grinding into him.

He settled back slightly, bringing his face
close to hers while his hands continued their devastating assault
on her nipples. “One day, Reina, I’m going to play with your
breasts until you come from that alone, but right now I’m a greedy
man and there is something I need to do for myself.”

He came down to his knees in front of her,
taking her thighs into his hands and gently spread them wider,
giving him complete access.

She instinctively tried to close her legs,
but he was prepared for that, using gentle pressure to keep her
legs apart, his thumbs softly rubbing the skin of her thighs.

His tongue came out again, touching her
through the fabric covering her hot core. Her body arched, pressing
his tongue harder on her, causing her body to buck with the
pleasure.

“So damn responsive,” he whispered. “I’m
barely touching you, and you move like I’ve dreamed.”

Feeling her fingers thread through his hair
again, he looked up, meeting her eyes as she stared at him, arousal
and disbelief swirling through those shadowed eyes. His gaze never
left hers while he gently moved his hand, then used one long finger
to move the fabric covering her, baring her dripping pussy to his
assault.

Her eyes dropped lower, taking in the sight,
his face so close to her most intimate part, naked and vulnerable
and wet and open to him. She was near panting, but no words came
from her.

He leaned in.

This time, tongue tasted wet female flesh,
aching and ready for whatever he would give.

She never looked away, even as the sounds
coming from her increased in volume and intensity, even as it
became evident she was struggling to breathe.

His eyes closed in ecstasy, his tongue and
mouth determined to explore every inch of flesh, bring in every
subtle difference so he could savor everything about her. He was
making noises as though it was her mouth on him, as if doing this
gave him more pleasure than he could stand.