The Ruby Kiss (27 page)

Ruby grinned. Devin’s father needed to be taken down a peg or two.

Ana slid off her chair, waddled across the room with her bandy-legged gait and took hold of Troy’s hand. His enigmatic gaze fell on her face. “Come on, Troy. Declare a truce. You can’t win every time, lad.”

A muscle in Troy’s jaw twitched. “I am
not
competing with anyone.”

“’Course you aren’t.” With a small smile, Ana towed him across to the bed and patted a place for Troy to sit before she climbed back onto her chair.

Troy chose to stand beside Nightshade. “I hope you have a good reason for calling me back,” he grumbled, his stony glance at Ruby indicating that it had better not be anything to do with her.

“Ruby’s father has her Magic Knot, and we need help to get it back.”

Troy went taut like a drawn bowstring. “Kade? When did he take the Knot from her?”

Nightshade looked to Ruby.

“When I was a baby. Ana thinks that’s why I haven’t completely developed the Mistress’s power.” She left out the part about being infertile. She didn’t want to give Troy extra ammunition to shoot her down as a good partner for Nightshade. Although she’d like to see
him
try to give Nightshade a baby.

For long moments, Troy’s inhuman gaze drilled into her, the silence beating in her ears. “You have
never
had possession of your Magic Knot?”

“Not that I know of.”

His gaze dropped to the bed. “That does explain your underdeveloped power and your inability to see the cause of Nightshade’s sickness.”

It wasn’t an apology for his earlier accusations, but it was probably the nearest she would get.

“We could do with your advice on how to best Kade,” Nightshade continued. “When we faced him in the Seelie Court he made Ruby choose between her Magic Knot and me.” He flashed Ruby a warm smile. “She chose me.”

“Very noble,” Troy said. His level tone left Ruby unsure whether his words were praise or sarcasm. She suspected the latter.

In the interests of diplomacy, she behaved as if the
compliment was genuine. “Well, I could hardly leave Nightshade behind with Kade. My father’s a complete jerk.”

“Unfortunately, he’s also wily.” Troy walked to the window, parted the curtains, and glanced out at the dark garden. Only after a few moments did he return his attention to the room. “My first piece of advice is to meet him on
your
home ground. If that’s not possible, use neutral ground. Your initial unsuccessful attempt to reclaim your Magic Knot might work in your favor. Kade’s false sense of superiority will make him less wary.”

Ruby scoffed. “Much as I hate to say this, I don’t think his sense of superiority is false.”

Nightshade straightened, and his chin rose. “I could have taken him down.”

Troy swiped aside some loose strands of golden hair and strutted back to Nightshade like a peacock. “You and I will take Kade down together, my friend.” The two men nodded at each other resolutely. “He will rue the day he crossed me,” Troy added with a thread of steel in his voice.

The male bonding was getting on Ruby’s nerves. “It was me he crossed, actually,” she said.

“He crossed me the moment he thought to imprison Nightshade.” Troy flashed Ruby a quelling look, so she didn’t delude herself that he was there for her.

Ruby sighed. She didn’t like Troy, but she had no doubt he’d make a powerful ally. If he helped them persuade Kade to hand over her stones, she was willing to put up with him. “Okay, then. I suggest we get Kade to meet us at my house in Scotland.”

“I’ll need a few days to fully recover,” Nightshade said. “I must be fully fit.”

“Let me know when you leave here,” Troy glanced at Nightshade. “I have family matters to attend to, but I can spare an hour or two to teach Kade a lesson.”

* * *

Nightshade spooned his body around Ruby, her bottom snug against his groin. He listened to water trickling along the stream outside Stigy Mill, the house on the vast Trevelion Estate that Niall had let him have while Ruby was there. He would rather they stay in the manor house, but Ruby was stressed by the infertility issue and felt uncomfortable surrounded by families with children.

Pressing his nose to Ruby’s hair, he breathed in her scent while the tempting beat of her heart resounded through his body. He’d taken blood from her twice in the week since they’d arrived in Cornwall; once more and he should be back to full health and ready to face Kade.

She shifted, pressing her bottom against him. His arousal stirred in response. How had he lived until now without sampling the pleasure of mating? They had mated—or made love as Ruby called it—whenever they came to bed, but he couldn’t get enough of her.

He curled his hand around hers and kissed her neck. “Ruby, love.”

She grumbled as she stirred. “You’re insatiable.”

“Making up for lost time.”

“Humph.”

She wriggled against him and his breath caught. “If you’re trying to put me off, that’s not the way to do it.”

She pressed her lips to his palm. “Who said I was putting you off?”

A growl rumbled in his chest and he tightened his arm around her. “It’s three days since I last bit you.”

Ruby gave a little whimper, and he grinned. She’d done a complete reversal and changed from not wanting him to bite her to begging him for it every time they made love. He had to struggle to restrain himself. Although he didn’t take much
blood each time, he wouldn’t risk her health by drinking from her too often.

She started to turn, and he held her in place. “From behind.”

Anticipation burned hot in his blood, setting a fire in his belly. She was already naked from when they’d made love earlier, and his erection nestled against her bottom. His hand cupped her breast, stroking, rolling her nipple between his fingers in the way she liked.

“You’re losing too much weight,” he whispered. “Your breasts are getting smaller.”

“Typical man.” Ruby reached behind her and pinched his backside. “There’s me, thinking that at least all the hassle has made me lose weight, and you want me fat.”

“I want you any way I can get you.” He nipped her neck, drawing tantalizing scarlet beads from her milky skin.

Ruby convulsed and moaned. “Oh, do it, Nightshade. Do it all to me.”

The faint hint of desperation in her voice made him pause, but passion drove him on to find satisfaction. He licked her neck. The salty taste of blood and sweat and the scent of her arousal set his blood humming in his veins. She reached back and her fingers brushed his erection in light, tormenting touches. He let her guide him between her legs, then pushed forward into her wet heat. His breath rushed out at the enticing grip of her inner muscles.

Thrusting slowly, he circled his fingers over the silky skin of her belly before moving higher to torment her nipples. He smiled against her hair when she grabbed his hand and pushed it down between her legs—his Ruby always knew what she wanted. He teased her, his fingers playing across the tops of her thighs before he meandered toward the place she really wanted him to touch.

The tiny whimper in her breath told him she was nearly
at her peak. He gripped her hip, thrusting harder. He ran his tongue along the side of her neck.

“Do you want me to bite you?” he whispered.

“Hmm.” She rocked her hips, encouraging him.

He sucked at the skin over her carotid artery, waited until her expectant tension hummed, then sank his fangs into her neck. She wailed a long trembling exhalation of unbearable pleasure. The nectar of her blood filled his mouth and he closed his eyes. The rush of pleasure tugged low in his belly, and he fell into the hot mind-numbing bliss.

He ran his tongue over the twin holes in her skin and dropped his head to the pillow as the waves of pleasure ebbed away, leaving him languorous and sated. The power of her blood streaked along his nerves, restoring strength to his weakened muscles. Although they’d finished making love, he kept his arm around her so she couldn’t move. He wanted to enjoy the sensation of being deep inside her for a few minutes more.

How embarrassingly naive he’d been when he met Ruby, believing that mating was just to make babies. He was a different person now. He needed this love, this shared pleasure, this warm bed where he could wrap himself around Ruby’s soft body. After years of being alone, he finally knew what it meant to really belong with someone. As much as he ached inside at the thought of never having a son, he would not give her up if she were barren. He wanted Ruby, child or no child. And to make sure she understood she was more important to him than a baby, he wanted her to have his Magic Knot now.

“Are you asleep?” He ran a finger down her cheek. She turned over to face him and nestled her head beneath his chin. He hugged her for a few minutes, enjoying the soft warmth. His hand trailed up her back to play with the fine hair at her nape. “I’ve got something to give you,” he whispered.

His heart thumped with unfamiliar apprehension as he
rolled away to snag his jeans from the floor. After his first aborted attempt to give her his Magic Knot, he hoped the exchange would go smoothly this time. Before he met Ruby, he hadn’t considered giving his Magic Knot to anyone. He didn’t completely understand the bond between male and female, but he’d witnessed the love and devotion between Niall and Rose, and Michael and Cordelia. He wanted that for himself and Ruby. Yet the thought of sharing his memories and thoughts with another person was still a little unsettling. Especially as he wasn’t proud of some of the things he’d done.

He clasped his stones in his fist and swung back to face Ruby. She blinked up at him sleepily. He held out his hand and revealed the linked rings.

“Oh.” Ruby’s eyes widened, and she suddenly looked wide awake. “Nightshade, are you sure? What if it turns out I really can’t have kids?”

“I love you, Ruby,” he said. “I’ll learn to live without a son if that’s what the gods have planned.”

Ruby looked down and chewed the inside of her cheek, and unease fluttered through Nightshade.

“You’re not still worried about bonding with me, are you? I know Twister forced you into an unwanted bond, but it’ll be different between us. I love you,” he repeated.

She slowly shook her head. “I love you, too. I want to bond with you, but . . .” She turned anxious eyes on him. “I love that you want me even if I can’t have kids, but what if you change your mind in a few years? Once you’ve given me your Magic Knot you’re stuck with me.”

“I don’t want anyone else. If you can’t have children, I’ll survive without them.” He paused, wishing he’d worded his reply more positively. He extended his hand again, urging her to accept his stones.

Her hand stayed curled against the sheet between them. “I know how much you want a son, Nightshade.”

“I’d rather have you with no babe than any other woman who can give me a son.”

Ruby still didn’t take his stones.

Nightshade swallowed his impatience. This was a huge decision for both of them. She already had a bond with Twister and would naturally think carefully before agreeing to another. Nausea churned in his belly every time he remembered his woman was bonded with bloody Twister, even though she couldn’t sense the Unseelie king this far from Scotland.

Finally, she smiled. Tentatively. “Can I take a rain check until after our trip to Scotland to get my Magic Knot?”

His heart contracted to a tight point of pain.

Ruby ran her fingers along his jaw. “I’d love to accept your Magic Knot. It would be even better if we can exchange them together.”

“So what happens if you recover your stones and find out you are still infertile? Will you leave me?”

Ruby’s gaze drifted away and lost focus. She shook her head. “I don’t want to leave you. I’ve been happier these past few days than ever before. But if we bond and I can’t give you your son, you might end up resenting me.”

“I won’t!” But even as the denial burst from his lips, a tiny worm of uncertainty bored into his heart. What if Ruby was right? What if in a few years his longing for a son grew so strong that he did regret bonding himself to a barren woman?

* * *

Ruby watched Apollo and Ares scamper around her house in Scotland, excited to be back after being away for nearly three weeks. The metal dog bowls rattled against the tiles in the mudroom as they searched for crumbs.

She wandered down the hall and halted outside her moon room. She’d loathed the room and the disability that
had trapped her there every full moon. Now she knew there had been nothing wrong with her. And if her father hadn’t stolen her Magic Knot, her power wouldn’t have leaked. She wouldn’t have had all the difficulties that made puberty onward a nightmare.

Returning to the kitchen, she found Nightshade on his cell phone. He was looking out a window over the garden with a hand resting on the edge of the sink.

“Put him on the phone,” he said. “I want to talk to him.” A few beats of silence. “Rhys. Are you being a good boy?”

Ruby could hear the grin in Nightshade’s voice, and her heart pinched with anxiety over the future. She turned away and went upstairs. Her bed was strewn with the clothes she’d left behind when she hurriedly packed to go to Cornwall, but she plopped down on the edge of the mattress anyway.

She knew she’d made the right decision to refuse Nightshade’s Magic Knot until she had her own back, but her stupid mind kept throwing up what-ifs. What if she couldn’t have kids? What if Troy stole Nightshade away? What if she or Nightshade died before she experienced the true bond they were always meant to have? Perhaps she should have just kept her mouth shut and bonded with him when he offered.

She squeezed her eyes closed and banged her fists on her knees in frustration. Nightshade was a wonderful father figure to his little brother, and he would make a great dad. She would
not
deprive him of his chance to have a son. She prayed that when she got her Magic Knot back she would be able to have children.

A subtle brush of awareness touched her mind, and she stilled, her mental turmoil fading. A new one took over as the leap of her heart shocked her. She’d missed her strange connection with him, even though he was not her favorite person.
Twister?