Witch's Bounty (17 page)

“Is that why you came to my shop? To tell me?”

“I suppose that was part of it, but the main reason I was waiting in your shop was to tell you I can’t live without you. Titania’s blessings don’t matter. Oh, they’d make our lives easier, but we’ll do all right without them. I never spent much time hobnobbing with other Sidhe.” He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “They’ll probably miss me more than I’ll miss them.”

Pain sluiced through her. His offer was wonderful, amazing, but she couldn’t let him forsake immortality for her. She shook her head sadly. “I’m touched and flattered, but someday you’ll resent having lost your immortality. And you’ll blame me for it—”

Sadness rimmed his eyes with a network of fine lines. “Are you trying to tell me you don’t want me? I know we’ve only just met, but I’ve never been so attracted to anyone. I can’t imagine my life without you in it, Colleen. Please, please don’t push me away.”

The tears that had threatened a few moments before overflowed. She scrubbed her cheeks with the backs of her hands. “It would be for the best. You need someone truly immortal like you. Someone where the queen will bless your union…” Her voice ran down, buried in a sob.

He gathered her into his arms and held her tight against him. “You’re scared.”

She nodded against his chest, almost too overcome to form words. “It’s a huge step. Relationships are hard under the best circumstances, and if you have to give up everything to have me, I just don’t see how things will ever work out.” Her heart ached, but what she was doing was important, necessary. Even if he couldn’t see beyond today, she could, and—

“Sweetheart. Stop that.” He tightened his arms around her even more. “Did it ever occur to you that after living as long as I have, immortality might have lost some of its panache? I don’t care about living forever. Many of my people either go mad or fade into the
Dreaming
. What I care about is you. If Titania excommunicates me and alters something inside me that starts a more normal longevity clock ticking, it doesn’t feel like a sacrifice.”

She started to argue with him, tell him he wasn’t thinking straight, and then she ran what he’d said through her mind. Joy, as poignant as her grief had been, burned through her like an out-of-control wildfire. She pushed back so she could look at him. “Really?” Her voice came out as a squeak.

He nodded. Tears glistened in his eyes too. “Really. I’ve been afraid you wouldn’t want me, but I was going to sit in that shop of yours until you showed up so I could find out for sure one way or the other. I didn’t know quite what I’d do with myself if you sent me packing. Immortality would have felt particularly empty and meaningless, facing another few millennia just like that last one’s been.” Hope illuminated his face, making his beauty even more ethereal. “If the only reason you’re hedging is to save me from myself, forget it. I’m long past old enough to make my own decisions, and take full responsibility for them.”

“Okay.” She swallowed hard. “Last hurdle. How do you feel about Bubba?”

“I helped save him, didn’t I?”

“Not what I meant. He’d have to be a part of our life.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, but I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit I’m hoping we’ll have other children too.”

Something about the way he said
other children
melted her last reserves away and brought on a fresh spate of tears. “Christ! Look at me. I’m a maudlin mess.” She snuffled. “You’re right about me being scared. Hell, being responsible for me and Bubba has been hard enough.”

“Darling.” He pulled her against him again. “You wouldn’t be responsible for me. We’ll take care of each other.” He laughed, sounding self-conscious. “Not that either of us has much experience in that regard, but we can learn together.”

She pressed her face into the hollow between his neck and shoulder. “We’ll probably make a whole lot of mistakes.”

“It will be fun kissing and making up.” He tilted his head and closed his mouth over hers. The kiss started out sweet and tentative, but escalated rapidly into something with a mind of its own. His lips felt firm and demanding pressing against hers. As he plumbed her mouth with his tongue and she sparred with it, the world dropped away, leaving just him, her, and the sensations coursing through her body. Her nipples tingled, taut with need. Her crotch flooded. She wound her arms around him and slid her hands under his clothing, desperate for the feel of his skin beneath her fingers.

“Are the two of you coming to dinner?” Roz called.

Colleen broke away from their kiss long enough to call, “Just wrap whatever’s left in foil. We’ll get to it later.”

Raucous laughter rang from the kitchen. “We’ll take first watch,” Jenna yelled.

“And second,” Roz chimed in.

Duncan grinned. “Is there somewhere a little less public where we could go?”

She grinned back. “Why Mr. Regis, what kind of girl do you take me for?”

“It’s actually Lord Regis. And the kind of girl you are is one who will be my wife.”

Before she could rein in her tongue, Colleen squealed, “I accept.” She rolled her eyes and felt heat suffuse her face. “Gosh, I sound about fifteen.”

“I understand completely. If it didn’t seem so undignified, I’d turn cartwheels across the floor.” He got to his feet and pulled her after him. “Now, about that bedroom.”

“Follow me.” She led the way up two flights to her little room snugged beneath the old house’s eaves.

Duncan followed after Colleen. The swing of her hips and the firm globes of her ass, outlined by the blanket wrapped around her, mesmerized him. His cock pressed uncomfortably against the front of his trousers and his throat felt dry. Heart pounding with anticipation, he walked into her cozy room and summoned his mage light, dialing it to dim, just enough to see by. A double bed with a colorful, quilted throw sat beneath the room’s dormer window. An antique armoire butted against one wall. Bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling. A computer desk was tucked into a corner, complete with an enormous screen. Some sort of tablet or e-reader lay on a bedside table, next to a softly glowing, crystal lamp. He stifled a chuckle.

Colleen turned to face him. She took him in from head to toe; her frank gaze probably didn’t miss a thing. “What’s so funny?”

“I’ve never gotten used to the blend of old and new. Computers and witchcraft. Books, scrolls, and an e-reader, all in the same place.”

“Don’t you have a computer?”

“Of course I do. But it’s placed out of the way where I don’t have to look at it unless I want to.” He shrugged, feeling sheepish. “Don’t dig for meaning. Feelings don’t have to make sense.”

She unwound the blanket from her body, and laid it over a chair. The lines of her shoulders, arms, breasts, stomach, and hips were clean and beautiful. She was so perfectly formed, he forgot to breathe. He hastened to her side and met her ice blue gaze. “You are quite possibly the most striking woman I’ve ever seen.”

She colored and looked away. “Oh, please. Coming on the heels of your earlier pitch about tonight being a time for truth…”

“It is the truth, at least in my eyes. No,
oh please
, about it.” He ran his fingers through her thick, auburn hair, combing it back and away from her face. Tracing her cheekbones down to her neck, he murmured, “No goddess was ever more perfect. Your skin has a dusky, golden cast to it that almost sparkles. Your eyes remind me of ocean shallows in warm climates. Such a clear, pure blue.” He drew his fingers down her face again. “High, defined cheekbones, a strong, determined jaw, full, kissable lips—”

“You’d better stop that. I’ll become insufferable.”

“Somehow, I don’t think that’s possible.” He filled his hands with her breasts. They were amazing. Full, with generous nipples, they rode high on her slender ribcage. He stood just touching her and drinking in her beauty. The moment felt magical, yet far beyond any magic he’d ever summoned. Her nipples puckered against his palms in the chill air of the room. He bent and took one in his mouth, nibbling, sucking, teasing, and was gratified when she moaned, arched her back, and buried her hands in his hair.

He moved from one breast to the other, and then back again. His cock was so swollen it ached every time he shifted position and it rubbed against his clothes.

She tugged away from his mouth, breath coming fast. “Let’s get rid of the rest of your clothes and get under the covers. It’s cold in here. The heating system doesn’t include the attic.”

He grinned. “We’re our own heating system.”

She traced the corners of his eyes. “When you smile, wonderful little lines radiate from your eyes, just like miniature sunbeams.”

He felt himself blush; his throat thickened with emotion. “I think that may be the most wonderful thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

“Aw, come on.” She pushed his sweater off his shoulders, dropped it atop a chair, and then went to work on the buttons holding his shirt together. “You’re such a handsome man. I’m sure somewhere along the line women have raved about your hair, or your eyes, or…” Her voice trailed off and it was her turn to blush.

He threw back his head and laughed as his shirt slid from his body. “Yes, I’ve gotten a bunch of comments about the thing you couldn’t quite get around to mentioning. But it was always in the heat of passion, and I never took them seriously.”

Colleen slid her hands down his bare chest and cupped his erection through his pants. “You’d better take me seriously. Your cock is amazing. Before I ran into you in my shop, I could hardly wait for bedtime to join you on the Dreamers’ Paths.”

A warm glow began deep in his belly that had nothing to do with his arousal. She’d been anxious for more time with him, looking forward to it. He wrapped his arms around her, glorying in the way her breasts felt crushed against his naked chest. She tilted her face up and he closed his mouth over hers. The wonderful jasmine-rose scent of her thickened, enveloping him. She opened her mouth, welcoming him, and he deepened their kiss, while he let his hands roam down her back until they cupped her ass.

She straddled one of his legs and rubbed herself against him. From the sound of her breathing, she had to be close to release. Without breaking their kiss, he moved a hand between them, and slid it into the moist heat between her legs.

She writhed against his fingers, and then pulled away, panting. “If we don’t lie down, I’ll fall down. My legs are shaking.”

He scooped her into his arms, laid her on the bed, and gazed down at her passion-splotched chest. Her nipples were tight little buds and the red-gold curls between her legs glistened with her fluids. Duncan was so overcome by her beauty, his chest tightened. He knelt and placed his mouth over her nubbin. She laced her fingers through his hair, urging him closer.

At first, he just breathed heat into her, but her hips bucked and writhed beneath him. He licked around her sensitive tissue, then began sucking on her, while moving his fingers past her opening into her blazing hot core. She squeezed her muscles around him. Her clit stiffened in his mouth and he sucked harder. He felt the rhythmic contractions of her orgasm in his mouth and fingers as she thrust upward against him, shrieking her delight, and calling his name over and over.

He kept sucking until the last of her spasms died away, and then strung kisses up her stomach and breasts. He straddled her body and balanced on his arms, looking down at her. What a gorgeous woman. With her auburn hair splayed around her, she looked like a Botticelli angel. She reached down, undid his pants, and captured his cock in both hands. Her touch was so incredible, he almost came. She rubbed fluid around his glans and stroked his shaft.

When she let go, he realized his eyes had been closed. He opened them, about to protest because she’d stopped touching him, but she slid from beneath him and flipped him onto his back. “Not fair,” she said. “You still have clothes on.” Kneeling over him, she unlaced his shoes. They clunked when she tossed them onto the floor. He started to slide his pants down, but she batted his hands away and did it herself. His underthings followed.

She threw a leg over him, sat across his thighs, and traced the lines of his body with both hands. “Beautiful,” she whispered. “So beautiful. I’ll never get tired of looking at you.”

He opened his mouth to correct her, to tell her that, no, she was the beautiful one, but she bent her head and took his penis into her mouth. All thoughts fled. The only thing left was the magic of her lips and teeth and tongue as they worked his shaft alongside her hands. His cock was on fire. Though he rode a ragged edge of control, it was so elusive, he didn’t understand why he hadn’t come yet. “You’re doing…something.” His voice caught in his throat, raspy with passion.

She didn’t answer. Just when he thought his balls would explode, she moved her mouth off him and positioned herself so the opening to her vault was right over his cockhead. Because she was kneeling, her body arched over him, back bent like a bow, breasts straining. He groaned at the mind-boggling feel of her, settled his hands on her hips, and plunged deep inside.

She was snug, hot, marvelous. He hit bottom, withdrew, and did it again. He wanted to be slow, elegant, but he was too aroused. Even though he’d come after being ejected by the Dreamers’ Paths, he was still hotter than hell. She touched her nipples, rubbing them, then moved a hand to her clit. Watching her touch herself drove him over the edge. He groaned, unable to absorb any more stimulation. Semen raced out of him in burning jets about the time he felt her tighten around him over and over. He’d wanted her to climax again, and she was.

He came for so long, the world shimmered and his vision dimmed. And then she was laying atop him and had pulled a quilt over them both, all with him still buried within her body. He wrapped his arms around her and clenched the muscles that would make his still-rigid cock jump inside her.

“More?” She licked his neck, and then circled her tongue into his ear.

“I’ll always want more.” His voice was rougher than he’d wanted it to be.