Witch's Bounty (22 page)

Colleen had other ideas about the tempo she wanted. She bucked against him and pressed her clit against his pubic bone. Rocking against him, crying, shrieking, she came over and over again, one set of spasms starting up almost before the last had subsided. He hung on as long as he could, but somewhere after her third peak, his balls snugged against his body, and he knew he’d passed the point of control.

Semen juddered from him. A feral cry split the air. It took long moments before he understood it had come from him. Her pussy tightened around him once again and he knew she was coming. He kept on thrusting until their last shudders died away.

They sat clasped in one another’s arms for long moments while their breathing normalized. He stroked her damp hair and kicked his inner barriers wide open to a love so deep, and so pervasive, it filled every molecule of his being with longing.

“I love you too,” she murmured and moved back enough to smile crookedly. Her face was blotchy with the heat of their lust. “Two can play that mind reading game, plus I thought I should tell you in case we face the Irichna again, and don’t come up quite so lucky.”

He placed a hand on either side of her face. “Nothing bad will ever happen to you. Not on my watch.”

She crinkled her nose. “Just what I like in my men, a Neanderthal attitude.”

“What did you just call me?” But then he dissolved in laughter.

“Let’s get your hair washed and get out of here. Water’s getting cold. We could warm it with magic, but it would be better to get into bed.” She scooted off his cock, moved behind him, and poured water through his hair. He started to protest that he could wash his own hair, but in the end he let her do it because he loved the feel of her hands on his body.

He opened the drain, got out of the tub, and helped her out. Colleen was so weary, she swayed on her feet when he wrapped her in a fluffy, white terrycloth towel. He blotted the water from her and wrapped her hair in another towel. She started unsteadily for the door, but he scooped her up and carried her to the bed. “I’ll be right there.” He strung kisses down her neck. “Just as soon as I’m a bit drier myself.”

Her mage light winked out. He went back to the bathroom, made sure they hadn’t forgotten to do something critical, and grabbed a towel for himself. By the time he returned to their bed, she was sound asleep. His cock twitched, wanting more, but he told it to stand down. Morning would be plenty of time.

Careful not to waken her, he got into bed, dialed his mage light back to the barest glow, and just watched her sleep until darkness took him as well.

•●•

A sharp tapping on the door brought him flying out of bed. Duncan sent magic surging outward and started breathing again once he recognized Jenna, Roz, and Bubba’s energy.

“It’s okay,” Colleen said sleepily and patted his arm. “The bad guys don’t usually knock.”

“If I hadn’t been so deep asleep, I’d have realized that.” He snapped up a towel, wrapped it around himself, and strode to the door.

“It’s about time.” Bubba pushed past Duncan once the door was open. “Colleen,” he called. “Where are you?”

“In here, sweetie.” The changeling made a beeline for the bedroom. Springs creaked, and Duncan assumed Bubba had jumped onto the bed.

Roz gaped at him, open-mouthed. “Good God,” she said. “What a hunk you are.”

Jenna snorted and licked her lips. “Christ on a crutch, you aren’t kidding. Maybe Colleen would consider sharing.”

“In a pig’s eye,” Colleen yelled from the bedroom. She came into view, also draped in a towel. “Thank Danu.” She strode to Duncan’s side, bare feet slapping the polished wooden floor. “From the sound of things, I figured you’d lost that towel somewhere between our bed and the door.”

“Where’s Bubba?” Duncan looked over a shoulder and laughed. “I should have guessed. Bouncing on the bed.”

“Colleen,” Roz said in a wheedling tone and gazed meaningfully at Duncan. “Remember all the favors I’ve done you.”

Colleen eyed the other witch. “Sharing my husband-to-be feels like a lot bigger favor than you loaning me your favorite black skirt.”

Roz shrugged and balanced her hands in front of her like a scale. “Favorite skirt. Favorite man. Not all that much difference…” Colleen growled. Roz broke into a broad grin. “I’m just teasing, sweetie. Don’t know what I’d do with a Sidhe.”

“I do,” Jenna cut in. “From the rumors I’ve heard—” She caught herself mid-sentence and stopped talking. Her face reddened.

Bubba trotted to Colleen and inserted his body between her and Duncan. “I’m hungry. Is there any food in here?”

Roz held out her arms and the changeling came to her. She lifted him and kissed the tip of his nose. “How about this? We’ll go out on the porch and let them get dressed. Then we’ll all go to the main house for breakfast.”

Duncan glanced out a window. “Closer to lunch time, isn’t it?”

“Whatever. When you keep the hours we do, food is food. Doesn’t matter how you label the meal.” Roz turned. “See you guys in a couple of minutes.”

“That won’t leave us any time for a midday roll in the hay,” Colleen said archly.

Jenna slugged her in the arm. “Nope, it won’t. Nothing like rubbing your good fortune in the faces of your two sex-starved sisters.” She wrapped her arms around Colleen and kissed her on both cheeks. “Kidding aside. I’m so happy for you. Can Roz and I be bridesmaids?”

Colleen laid her cheek next to Jenna’s. “I’d be honored. So would Duncan, but before the wedding, it looks as if we’ll all be taking a trip to the U.K.”

Jenna drew back. “What? Why?”

“Tell you once I’ve got some clothes on.”

Duncan dressed quickly, wishing he had fresh clothes that didn’t hold a hint of demon stench. He experimented with varying degrees of magic, but couldn’t quite rid his trousers of the smell.

Colleen gathered the few things from her backpack and picked up her wallet. “Ready?”

He nodded. “I can’t wait until we have a long, uninterrupted stretch of time together. Like a year, maybe. Or a century.”

She stretched on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “That will never happen. We have Bubba.” She laid a hand over her midsection. “And maybe another small, dependent soul, since we weren’t careful. Not that I couldn’t do something about things like that if you didn’t want to be a daddy quite yet, but…”

Love filled him and spilled over. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close. “I do want children. Never felt that way before, but I want them with you. No worries, darling. You’re not pregnant. Not yet, anyway, but you just say the word.” He drew back so he could meet her gaze. “I control when my seed creates life.”

“Let’s at least get on the far side of the next couple of weeks.” Her blue eyes twinkled.

He took her hand. “Come on. Bubba sounded desperate for food.”

“He’s always desperate for food.” Colleen grinned.

“Yes.” The changeling’s voice sounded from their front porch. “Come on.”

They walked across the grounds to the main house and settled at a corner table in the large dining room. Witches brought them enough food to satisfy twice as many people, along with coffee and a fragrant, herbal tea.

“What were you telling Jenna about us going to England?” Roz asked.

Colleen looked at Duncan. “This is your dog and pony show. How about if you explain it. I was pretty tired when you told me last night.”

“It was actually early this morning.” He set his fork down. “I’d be glad to.” He outlined having called the Sidhe council meeting and what had transpired. “In any event, they’re considering taking back some—or maybe all—of the responsibility for the Irichna. They asked that I bring all of you to the next meeting. Let’s see.” Duncan thought about it. “It’s in about four days, taking the eight hour time difference into consideration.”

Roz drew her dark brows together. “What if we don’t want to give up stalking demons?”

“Funny,” Colleen said, “but I asked the same question.”

Jenna kept her gaze on her plate. Duncan stayed out of her mind. It was clear she was torn. At length she looked up. “Some days I’m sick of being scared to death. Of wondering whether today will be the day when some demon does me in, or sucks the soul out of me and makes me one of them.” She took a breath. “On the other hand, I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I wasn’t with you two.” She tipped her chin at Colleen and Roz.

“And me,” Bubba piped up. “Don’t forget me.”

“Yes, hon. You too.” Jenna reached over and patted his shoulder. “Even though I got really excited at the possibility of getting out from under stalking Irichna, the more I thought about it, the more I came around to deciding that I’m okay sharing our job with the Sidhe, but not okay with them just swooping in and taking over for us.”

Colleen blew out a breath. Duncan knew she’d been worried. He’d seen it in her mind. She placed her hand in his lap and grasped one of his. “When do we leave?”

“Soon,” Duncan said. “I’m assuming you’ll want to take a few clothes along, which means we need to swing through Fairbanks.”

Colleen looked sheepish. “I hadn’t even considered that, but of course we’ll need something beyond what we have on.”

Roz snorted. “I’d settle for something clean at this point.”

Jenna glanced at her clothing. It had huge rents and bloodstains from her battle with the demon. “Clean and without holes.” She amended Roz’s statement.

“How are we going to get there?” Bubba asked. “Isn’t it a really, really long way?”

“Teleporting all of us might be a little much, even for me,” Duncan admitted. “I can gin up a glamour to make Bubba look more human, and I can get us airline tickets. Do all of you have passports?”

Jenna nodded. “I do.”

“So do Roz and I,” Colleen said. She bit her lip and looked at Bubba.

“What’s a passport?” he asked, sitting up straighter.

Naomi drifted by, pulled up a chair, and sat. “Do you have everything you need?”

“I need a passport, whatever that is,” Bubba said and ate another forkful of scrambled eggs.

Naomi grinned and shoved her long hair behind her shoulders. “Well, you’ve come to the right place, little one. I’m sure we can come up with something that will work for you.”

“How’d Mathilde’s funeral go?” Colleen asked.

Naomi worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “Good thing about twenty of us showed up to bid her farewell. I’m certain I sensed Irichna hovering. They apparently didn’t want someone they’d used as a vessel purified during our cremation rites.”

“I didn’t feel anything when we walked over here,” Roz said. “And I did check.”

“You probably wouldn’t have,” Naomi said. “They left as soon as Mathilde’s remains caught fire, and we added incense and sacred herbs.”

“Maybe the demons are gone for now, but they’re not really gone,” Bubba said sadly.

Duncan blew out a tense breath. Not only were the demons not gone, but they felt more intrusive than ever.

They’d teleported to Fairbanks so she, Jenna, and Roz could pack a few things for themselves and Bubba. There hadn’t been time to stop in Haines and pick up their Subaru. Colleen hoped to hell the ferry authorities wouldn’t tow it before one of them had a chance to retrieve it. They’d boarded a jet in Anchorage that took them back to Seattle. From there, they’d caught an over-the-pole flight for London. Duncan had told them it would have been closer to his home if they’d been able to land in Glasgow, but that would have meant flying across the U.S. to one of the eastern seaboard cities, and then catching an additional flight, which would have taken longer.

Since she’d done very little in the way of international travel, she let him make all the arrangements, trusting he knew what he was doing. It actually felt really, really good to be taken care of. She’d expended so much effort holding men at arm’s length, she was surprised how quickly Duncan wormed his way around her barriers. It felt as if they’d been together for years, not just a scant span of days. He felt solid and warm and comfortable, and she didn’t think she’d ever get enough of his nakedness pressed against her, filling her until her world shattered into streaming bits of ecstasy.