He thrust up. “Hungry?”
She licked her lips. “Oh yeah.”
Akane surprised him. She turned on the table, straddling his head and presenting him with her lace-covered pussy. When her mouth once more engulfed his cock Shane was more than willing to provide what she wanted.
He licked around the edges of the lace. He pulled it aside, revealing the wet lips of her pussy. He thrust his tongue into her sweetness, enjoying the moans around his cock.
He needed to get the panties off of her. He couldn’t enjoy her properly with them in the way, but he didn’t want Akane destroying them the way she had the last pair. He began tugging them off of her, grateful when she lifted and twisted enough for him to take them off. He tossed them on the floor and pulled her back down to him, eager to sample her again.
Akane was making it damn hard to concentrate on what he was doing. The feel of her hot mouth on his cock was killing him. He was going to blow soon, and blow hard.
He wanted to do it inside her. He wanted to give her his seed, his life, his all. “Akane.”
“Hmm?”
That hum around him had him arching off the table. It was definitely time to fuck his mate. “Turn around. Ride me, a ghrà. Make us come.”
Akane turned and straddled him. A smile on her face, she lowered herself onto him, those sharp claws of hers digging into the wood of his worktable, scarring it further. Her wings fluttered above them as she sank down, pulling him into her balls deep. Akane rotated her hips and moaned. “Oh gods.”
Shane went to grab her hips, help her ride him, but Akane moved, holding his hands down. She pushed them until they were above his head. He let her do it, wondering what his dragon was up to.
“Uh uh uh. Naughty Shane. You got caught fucking around, and now you have to pay the dragon.”
Shane decided to play around. “But she tasted so sweet.”
Akane’s hips moved. “Did she?”
“Mm-hmm. I’m dying to taste her again.” He thrust up into her, chuckling when she gasped. “She tasted like hot, sweet cinnamon.”
Her eyes glowed. Dragon fire lit her skin from within. Her wings were golden, flaming glory above them. She rolled her hips again, and Shane bucked beneath her. Her lips curled up in a feminine smile. “Maybe you’ll get a chance to taste her again.”
He planned on it.
Akane began to ride her mate. She was leaning over him, pinning his wrists to the table, her breasts threatening to spill out of her bra. Her hair hung down, brushing Shane’s cheeks with each stroke. The curls at the base of his cock brushed against her clit, teasing her, tantalizing her.
She couldn’t wait to see his reaction to the white garter belt and stockings. She had the feeling he’d go insane when she wore them for him.
Shane thrust into her, distracting her from her thoughts. She wrapped her fingers around his wrists, pinning down her prey while she took what she wanted from him. His velvety hard cock slid inside her over and over again, dragging her closer and closer to orgasm.
He shifted, and she realized he’d planted his feet on the table. It gave him the leverage he needed to truly thrust into her. “Hurry.”
From the strain on his face he was close. Akane lifted his hands to her horns, ready to give in, ready to come with him.
Shane stroked her just right. One hand slipped down her body to pet her lace-covered breasts. The other stroked the tips of her horns. Her body quivered as their movements became jerky. They were both so close she could taste it.
Shane was panting. He was fucking her so hard she could hear the loud slap of their bodies.
Then Shane flicked the tip of her horn over and over again, sending her screaming over the edge. Her wings ignited at the force of the orgasm, the glow lighting the room behind her.
Shane yelled, his lights dancing around them, sparks landing on her skin as his Sidhe half once more Claimed her. He came, following her into ecstasy as she watched, still reeling from the strength of her own orgasm.
Finally it was over. Akane collapsed on top of Shane, the sound her gasps joining his.
“We need to buy more white lace.”
She began to laugh.
“I’m serious.” She could hear the humor in his voice, but was too tired to lift her head from his shoulder. “I know someone who can make an entire gown out of the stuff.”
“We’d never leave the bedroom.”
He tilted her head up. “Your point?”
“I have to go.”
Shane paused, his hand still on his zipper. They’d gotten dressed much more quickly than he would have liked, but she was right. She had a job to do, and he’d delayed her longer than he’d meant to. “Let me come with you.”
Her brows rose. “How would we do that?”
“I can sit and have tea with Ruby and Leo while you do your fly-bys.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I could ride you over there.”
If he hadn’t sounded so falsely innocent her mind might not have dropped right into the gutter. As it was she was getting visions of a different sort of aerial acrobatics than the ones Robin had in mind. “I’m working.”
His hand hovered over the tattoo for just a second before it dropped with a sigh. “Damn. Trumped my ace.” He shook his head. “Curses. Foiled again.”
She ventured close and hoped he wasn’t faking it. She really did need to boogie. “Give me a kiss before I go?”
His eyes went wide before he swooped down, capturing her mouth, laying claim to it in no uncertain terms. He released her with a sigh. “Remember your mother’s warning. Be careful.”
She licked her lips. How long his taste would linger there? He hoped it stayed forever. “I will.”
“Promise?”
She crossed her heart. “Promise. Do me a favor and have Sal guard you while you sleep, okay? Jaden’s still sleeping off whatever Duncan and Moira did to him, and I want to make sure you’re safe while I’m gone.”
“I will. I promise.”
She gave him one last kiss before flying out the door, her dragon eager to take flight. Shane watched his mate take off and sighed. Damn. He’d known she had to obey Robin, but what was about to come would break her heart. She would know she could have prevented it. Worse, she’d understand he’d allowed it to happen. He almost stroked the tattoo, but by doing so he might cause her flight to falter or, worse, call her back. It was too late now to stop what was coming anyway. If this didn’t happen the way he’d foreseen it the entire prophecy would mean nothing. He had to let things follow their course, or Oberon’s future would be beyond grim.
Akane was going to kill him when she found out.
Heart racing, he shut the outer lights of the studio. He conveniently “forgot” to summon Sal, unwilling to risk the salamander. He couldn’t allow Akane’s pet to be hurt in any way. She loved that silly salamander.
Shane walked through the workspace of his studio, past the display space, and found himself standing outside the vault. It took but a moment to unlock it before he swung the door open.
Here was a treasure trove of unfinished pieces and unrealized visions, things circumstances had forced to come to naught. Precious and semi-precious stones, balls of silver and gold and the occasional bit of cold iron, anathema to any of Sidhe blood, were thrown into bins and across surfaces like discarded Tinker toys. Shane, like most with Sidhe blood, had to wear special gloves whenever he worked with iron or run the risk of serious damage. He walked past several of the unfinished statues before finding the one he sought, the one that had once more begun to dance behind his eyes after talking with Tristan. He pulled the sheet off the piece and sighed.
No. Akane was not going to like this one little bit. But he wasn’t leaving this vision out for her eyes.
Shane pulled the piece out and brought it to his workbench, intent on finishing as much as possible before it was too late.
Akane flew over the Dunne estate three times before coming in for a lan
ding. Nothing seemed out of place. None of her senses tingled. The place seemed well defended. Leo had even shown her some of the tricks up his unique sleeves. His ability to use the land to amplify his Sidhe mind powers was amazing. No wonder he’d been able to sneak up on Kaitlynn and her guards. He’d been able to enter all of their minds, erasing his image and that of Duncan from their sight until he was past the security cameras and down in Kaitlynn’s dungeon.
Then, looking a little green around the gills, Leo had shown her the spot where he’d killed the vampire Jeremy West and saved his true bond. Akane was impressed, but understood on several levels why Robin had never tried to recruit the Sidhe into the Blades. With his powers Leo was phenomenally strong, but only on his own land.
Add in the fact that the man had no stomach for bloodshed, and his usefulness as a Blade would be severely limited. He didn’t seem to have any of the specialized skills that would keep him out of combat the way Red did, or the healing abilities of the nymphs. No, he was just a Sidhe with a little something extra, not enough for Robin to pull into the fold.
She found Robin watching over Leo, who was holding a sleeping Ruby. The human was curled up in the living room on a red velvet sofa in front of the fireplace. The way Leo’s face softened as he gazed at his sleeping bondmate, tender yet fierce, reminded Akane of the way Shane had looked at her. That same expression had adorned Shane’s face more than once when he watched Akane, but she hadn’t wanted to admit to herself that it was there, let alone what it could mean.
The truly scary part was the way Robin watched Ruby with that same look. Was the Hob in love with Leo’s mate?
Robin nodded in welcome, the tender expression smoothing out to his normal, cheerful look. “She’s as safe as we can make her.”
“What about Shane?” Leo’s voice was soft in deference to his sleeping bondmate.
Akane shrugged, but something deep inside her squirmed. She wasn’t entirely comfortable being away from Shane. “Sal and your father are standing guard.”
“Dad has to sleep sometimes. He’s running the farm and guarding Shane. He’s going to run out of juice soon.”
Akane sighed. “We can call for reinforcements if you like, but if we do that we’re less likely to draw the Malmaynes out of hiding.” She fingered the puzzle box in her coat pocket and wished she could bring it out to play with. She needed to remain vigilant, but the golden toy called to her, Solve me, Akane! Solve me!
She was going to kill Shane. He should have known better than to give a dragon a puzzle. Her fingers stroked over it again, feeling the lines and grooves of its carving. She’d never hand the puzzle box over to anyone else, even after she solved it.
“And your father has declared his desire to see this war ended.” Robin leaned his head back against his seat. If Akane didn’t know better she’d swear the Hob was weary, but Robin was like the fucking Energizer bunny. He kept going and going until whatever needed doing was done.
“I can’t help thinking that they’re not going to make a move until they’re good and ready.” Leo stroked his wife’s hair, careful not to wake her. “We have to keep her safe.”
“I gather, since Kaitlynn’s scheme didn’t work, that Ruby was unwilling to share?” A Sidhe lord could take a second spouse despite a bond, but only if his bondmate agreed. Otherwise the bond itself would protect the Sidhe, preventing anyone from touching him or her by gifting the offender with nasty shocks that increased in intensity until the offender gave up or passed out. Akane remembered one instance where the would-be spouse persisted to the point where the shocks had resulted in death.
“Even if she had agreed I wouldn’t have. They tortured her to get my compliance. Kaitlynn used her powers to make Ruby experience electrocution over and over again.” He shuddered. “No matter what else happens I’ll never give a child of mine to the Malmaynes.”
Robin froze. “What did you say?”
Leo frowned. “I’ll never give a child of mine to the Malmaynes.”
Robin and Akane exchanged looks. “Could it be that simple?”
“The child would be half human. They might think it would be easy to control.” Akane began to pace. “But I thought they wanted to use Leo’s seed to create their own child, one as close to Sidhe as possible.”
“When life hands you lemons, make lemonade?” Robin rubbed his eyes. “All of this could be ghost chasing. We know they want to control the prophecy, but do they even understand what it means?”
Akane bit her lip and hoped Shane wouldn’t have a hissy fit. “It could have something to do with the statues Shane created.” Leo was listening to every word they said, the frown still on his face as he stroked his sleeping mate. “The ones about you and Oberon?”
Robin shook his head even as Akane nodded. Robin stood fast as lightning, his pretty blue eyes burning bright green. “What do you know?”
“Just that the statues do have something to do with the prophecy, but Shane wasn’t sure how.”
Robin took a deep breath. “I need to speak to Shane.” A miniature tornado whirled around the Hob and he was gone, the only sign of his presence the cooling cup of tea he’d left behind.
“Do you think the prophecy has to do with Robin’s statue or Oberon’s?”
“Oberon’s.” She was almost positive. Shane had finished Robin’s, but hadn’t quite finished Oberon’s. The time for him to do so was coming.
She stood and began to pace, her fingers twitching. She had the urge to fly, to check on Shane, but Robin had given her a task and she had to complete it. She had to protect Leo and Ruby. Besides, Robin himself had gone to speak to Shane. If something were wrong, Robin would take care of it.
She danced her fingers along golden swirls. Robin would take care of Shane. She had to trust in that.
Shane could hear them moving around. Not even his father would be able to stop what was about to happen; the one who’d come for him had been too careful. Shane winced and ran his hand down the cold iron blade. He watched the blood well through haunted eyes. If he could avoid this, dear gods he would, but there was no other way.
Shane flung out his hand and allowed his blood to paint the story he wanted to tell.
“Shane.”
Shane turned. Behind him stood someone he’d thought he was familiar with, someone he could trust. The betrayal was shattering. He must have planned this from the start. When the first blow came he tried to block it, but there was no stopping what was coming, no way to save him. He fought enough that they wouldn’t think he’d given in, but not enough to cause himself permanent damage. He made sure both of them bled, adding their essence to the canvas he’d be leaving behind.
The blow to the back of his head sent him hurtling into darkness.
Robin stared at the wreckage of Shane Joloun Dunne’s workshop and snarled. Blood, too much blood, tinted the concrete floor. Not all of it was the hybrid’s, but enough that Robin would have to keep Akane from entering the room. If the dragoness scented her mate’s blood splattered around the room she would go feral, uncontrollable until her mate was found and returned safely to her side.
Woe unto those who had harmed him, for dragons were fierce when it came to protecting their own.
He eyed the spot where his statue had been and stilled. Where once the ball of jagged metal and glass had stood was a new statue, one that had Robin swearing in several different languages. Upon a silver table, a figure made of gold and green glass writhed in agony. Fire somehow glittered in the glass man’s core, some trick of the light that, when Robin moved, disappeared from view. Dark tendrils drifted like smoke from the table and into the man’s body, the sight all too familiar to Robin’s eyes. The glass man’s mouth was open in a silent scream, one fist clenched around a golden, thorny rose, one petal poised to fall. Beneath the figure’s clenched fist rose petals littered the floor, black glass rimmed with faded gold. The figure’s other hand reached for something unseen, away from the agonized face.
Over it stood a
figure in black, robed and hooded, like all cheesy villains were. But what chilled Robin to the core was the glowing green eyes in the face of the figure. Eyes he was intimately familiar with, for he saw them in his mirror every day.
Robin breathed, and the black figure shattered.
“Robin?”
He turned to find Sean Dunne standing behind him, the leprechaun’s fury a match for his own. Sean was staring at the shattered black glass, his expression unreadable, but beneath his feet the earth itself heaved. If Robin hadn’t been who he was he would have been knocked on his ass. As it was he almost staggered, startled anew at the strength the Dunne leprechauns showed.
“Where is my son?”
Robin allowed his claws out and grinned. “Good question.”
Akane rubbed her hands up and down her arms. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong, and her dragon was beyond upset. It took three tries to open her inner sight, her dragon was so upset.
When she did, she cried out in horror. Shane’s bright light was dimmed, barely visible to her inner eye. Blood matted his bright hair; his blue eyes were closed in what she prayed was simple sleep. She couldn’t tell where he was. It was dark, even to dragon eyes. She shrieked, her song of rage loud, her Seeming falling from her in tatters, her hybrid form unleashed at the knowledge that her mate was injured, possibly dying.
“Akane?”
She turned, the rage so strong Leo seemed bathed in ruby light. “They hurt him.”
“Who?” He grabbed hold of her arms, surprisingly strong for an almost full-blooded Sidhe. “Shane?”
She nodded, ripping out of his hold easily. She had to go, had to find Shane, had to stop them from hurting her mate. She needed to taste their blood, to rip into them, to feast on their pain until she was satisfied they’d never hurt Shane again.
“Akane, wait! Wait until Robin gets back, or call Jaden. Hell, get hold of Tristan if you like, but don’t go alone. If the Malmaynes have Shane he might be your best bet for getting him free!”
Artistic Vision Page 13
