Colin’s shoulders fell, but he straightened up again. “If you don’t believe me, send someone you trust into town, or better yet, go for yourself,” he said. “I’ve never lied to you before, and I’m not lying now.”
Jamison sighed. “Okay, I’ll send someone in the morning to check things out,” he said. “Where can I find you?”
Colin looked over at her, and she nodded. “There’s a little farm outside of town; just follow the main road until you get to a fork in the road and take the right fork,” Colin said.
They slipped out of the castle without attracting any attention, a bit surprised when a carriage rolled up just when they walked out. The coachman jumped down and opened the door. “Ms. Ruby told me to watch for you to come out. I’m supposed to take you home,” he said.
Colin lifted her into the carriage, then followed; the driver shut the door, and they were off. As they drove through the night, Darby suddenly found herself getting nervous. Something had changed between them that night in the library with Jamison. When she’d looked into Colin’s eyes and seen the love there, she knew that she’d fallen in love with him too, that her life was never going to be complete without him in it.
But going to the castle tonight had also proven to her once and for all that it wasn’t a world she belonged in. All the glitz and glamor, the jewels and beautiful dresses, did nothing for her. If anything, she felt repulsed by the wealth so prominently displayed. She’d never survive in Colin’s world, never become accustomed to living off of someone else’s sweat and tears.
By the time they got to the farm, Darby was a mess, thankful for more time with Colin, but all too aware that this might be their last night together. But as happy as she was to have him with her, living with the knowledge that he would leave her soon made each minute bittersweet. When they stopped in front of the house, Colin jumped out before the driver could get down and motioned for him to stay put, then helped her out.
“Thank you,” Colin said to the driver. “I’d tip you, but I’m afraid I’m a little short right now.”
The driver waved his hand in the air. “That’s okay. Ms. Ruby pays me well enough.”
When they got into the house, Colin took her wrap and laid it over a chair, then pulled her into his arms. “You’ve been quiet since we left the castle. Is everything all right? I had to tell Jamison just a little bit about you.”
Darby looked up at him. “No, that’s not it. I just can’t stop thinking about what it’s going to be like when you’re gone,” she said. “I’ve gotten used to having you around.”
“I’ve gotten used to being here. I kind of like it here,” he said, looking down at her.
She could feel her chest getting tight, and tears forming in her eyes, but didn’t want to ruin what time they had left with tears. “I’m sorry, Colin, I shouldn’t have brought it up,” she said, looking down and taking a few deep breaths. “Let’s just pretend I never said anything.”
Chapter Eighteen
***Colin***
Colin reached down and tipped Darby’s chin up so she was looking at him, a wave of emotion almost stealing the words he wanted to say. “Darby, don’t ever hide your feelings from me,” he said. “Destiny seems to think that we belong together, and I’m beginning to believe that myself. I’m falling in love with you, Darby, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to walk away from you.”
“But, Colin, the crown,” she said, then shook her head. “I won’t let you do what you’re thinking about. The people need you; you’ve seen that.”
“They need the man I am when I’m with you,” he said. “We’ll figure it out, Darby; it’s time Ballentine changed, and maybe that’s a good place to start.”
“It won’t work, Colin. I won’t fit in,” she protested.
“Then we’ll live here; it doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “I just want us to be together.”
“I’m scared to even hope for something like that,” Darby said, pulling away from him. “It’s too dangerous. My heart is already going to be broken when you leave.”
He watched her walk down the hallway to the bedroom, desperate to make her understand that he meant what he said. Striding down the hallway after her, he asked, “Will you answer one question for me?”
She stopped and turned around, her eyes full of tears, sighed, and nodded her head.
“Do you love me?” he asked, knowing that it was a low blow but desperate to get through to her.
The tears in her eyes spilled over, and he wanted to sweep her into his arms, but he stayed frozen in place, watching the emotions play across her face. She took a deep breath, opened her mouth, then closed it again, her bottom lip trembling, and he wished he’d never asked.
Then he saw anger blossom in her eyes, and he knew that it was okay. “Yes, I love you. How could I not? Are you happy now that I’ve said it?” she asked, her voice hard. “But now that it’s out in the open, you might as well know that when you leave, my life will never be the same. I’ll never feel complete again. A part of me will leave with you, and I know I’ll never get that part of me back.”
He couldn’t stop the huge grin that spread across his face; he’d known the answer to his question, but hearing Darby say the words made his heart soar with joy. The kind of joy he’d never experienced before in his life and his head became a little fuzzy as the reality of what they shared descended on him.
“Since I love you too, I think we’d better get a few things cleared up,” Colin said, closing the distance between them but not touching her. “I’m not leaving you: not tonight, not tomorrow, not ever. I can rule Ballentine from here just as well as I can from the castle. If the people want me, they’ll come to wherever I am. I’m going to clean up this town, and while I’m doing that, we’re going to raise pigs and chickens, and maybe a few babies.”
Darby’s face was white as a sheet; for a moment he thought she was going to faint, but then the color began to come back, and two spots of pink appeared on her cheeks. “Did you say babies?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“As many as you want,” he said. “The girls will look like you and the boys will look like me.”
Tears began to fall down Darby’s cheeks. “Okay,” she said.
“Okay, what?” he asked.
“To all of that,” she said, a huge smile spreading across her face.
Colin opened his arms to her, and she flew into them. “Then let’s get started on our lives together,” he said, looking down and wiggling his eyebrows at her. “I’ve been wondering all night what’s under that dress.”
Darby giggled, and her face turned scarlet. “I think I might have just gotten my answer, but I’d better check just to see for myself,” he said, lifting her into his arms and carrying her into the bedroom.
He set her on her feet, but before he could reach for the zipper on her dress, she stopped him. “You first,” she said, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt.
Darby worked each button slowly until his shirt fell open, then ran her hands over his muscular chest, purring softly in her throat. Desire flared to life deep inside him, stealing his breath and making his heart pound with anticipation as she slid his shirt off his shoulders and to the floor. She reached for the button on his pants and he sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly as she lowered his pants and nudged him to step out of them.
Standing before her naked as she let her eyes roam over him, he felt himself stiffen when her eyes filled with desire, and the little vein in her neck began to pound. He reached for her then, desperate to feel her body against his, but she stepped back and shook her head. He dropped his hands to his sides, mesmerized as she turned her back and slowly slid the zipper of her dress down, then let it fall to the floor.
The moonlight streaming in through the window illuminated the curves of her body, her shoulder, her hips, and his hunger for her grew. His body throbbing, he waited for her to turn, for the moonlight to show him the treasure that belonged only to him. She reached u
p and pulled the pins from her hair then let it cascade down her shoulders. He groaned deep in his throat, imagining running his hands through the silken mass.
“If you’re trying to seduce me, I’m way past that point,” he said, his voice husky with desire. “I want you so much right now it hurts.”
Darby let out a sultry laugh and turned to face him, her body illuminated in the moonlight was more than he could take. Closing the distance between them in only a few strides, he wrapped his arms around her and slammed his mouth down on hers.
***Darby***
Darby had been playing a dangerous game, and she’d known it, but she’d never dreamed that Colin would react the way he was. His kiss was rough and demanding, leaving no room to doubt how deeply he wanted her, and it made her feel powerful for the first time in her life. Heady with the feeling and Colin’s kisses, she suddenly felt brave, felt the power she held over the man she loved.
Sliding her hands down his back and between them, she took his swollen manhood in her hands and began to stoke him. Rewarded with a gasp and a deep growl from Colin, she continued to stroke him, then letting instinct take over, she sank to her knees in front of him. Then only hesitated a second before taking him into her mouth until she could feel the throbbing tip of his penis at the back of her throat.
Colin threaded his fingers into her hair and held on as she used her mouth to bring him pleasure. Her body responded to his sighs and moans of pleasure with a burst of moisture and a tightening deep inside her that surprised and pleased her. When he pulled her to her feet only a few minutes later, one hand still tangled in her hair, she was more than ready to let him take over.
He guided them over to the bed, then bent her head back and kissed her until her knees trembled. They tumbled to the bed, their arms and legs entangled, their mouths desperate for more, and Darby found herself on top of Colin. Grinning up at her, he said, “You know, there is more than one way to do this.”
When he grabbed her hips and lifted her so that she was straddling him, she gasped first in surprise and then in pleasure when he settled her over his throbbing member. He rocked her back and forth, rubbing himself on her swollen nib, and her body exploded with pleasure. Wave after wave that built until with one final burst she fell over the edge.
Colin groaned under her, then lifted her hips and brought her back down, driving himself deep inside her. Darby cried out her pleasure, that moment more wonderful than any she’d experienced before, but then Colin lifted his hips and thrust into her again. With each stroke, she gasped as he filled her over and over, making her feel more complete than she ever had before.
Panting his name as her body tensed, ready to go into the oblivion only Colin could inspire, she stopped breathing for a second when he reached between them. When his finger slid across her pleasure center, and he drove himself into her at the same time, she busted into a million pieces.
Pleasure driving her to ride Colin, her hips thrusting in time to his, she drove him over the edge. He grabbed her hips and thrust into her deeply, then held on, his fingers digging into her skin as he emptied himself inside her, sweeping them both into the sweet oblivion of love.
Later, as they lay entwined on the bed, the stars the only light in the room, Darby asked the one question she’d been afraid to ask. “What will happen to Ballentine if Samuel wins? What will happen to us?”
Colin was silent for a long time, then he leaned up on one elbow and looked down at her. “If you would have asked me that question a few hours ago, I wouldn’t have had the answer. As long as we’re together, we’ll be fine, Darby. You make me the man I was always supposed to be, and even if we can’t stay here, we’ll find a place where we belong.”
Darby knew that the time had come to show him the last of her secrets. “There’s something I want to show you, but we’ll have to go outside,” she said.
“Now?” he asked, surprised.
She nodded and slipped out of bed. “It has to be at night. I think we still have enough time if we hurry.”
A few minutes later, they were dressed and heading down one of the paths out to the fields. “I’ve never shown this to anyone but Eli and my grandmother, but I think you should know,” she said.
She led him to the center of the fields and through a gate in an ivy-covered fence. “I don’t remember seeing this the last time we were out here,” he said, ducking through the small space.
“I kept you away on purpose,” she said, then stepped aside so he could see.
Spread out before them was the bed of Moon Flower blooming white in the darkness and giving off their unique fragrance. “Oh, it’s...beautiful and haunting at the same time. What are they?”
“Moon Flower,” she said, plucking a blossom and handing it to him. “These are the secret behind all my products. They have amazing powers to calm and soothe, plus, used right, they have a healing power stronger than anything else on Earth.”
Colin twisted the blossom around in his finger, then sniffed it and grinned. “And it smells good,” he said. “This is how you healed me.”
She nodded. “These and a little magic were all I needed.”
He put his arm around her, and they stood looking at the swaying blossoms so bright in the dark night that it was almost like day. “Thank you for sharing this with me Darby,” he said.
She looked up at him. “I love you, Colin, and I don’t want any secrets between us.”
“I love you too, my little witch,” he said, kissing her. When they finally parted, he looked again out at the flowers. “I wonder if there’s a way for us to use these against Samuel and the Unseelie.”
Chapter Nineteen
***Colin***
When Darby began to shiver in the cold night air, he gently led her out of the garden and back toward the house. It had been a long night, and all he wanted to do was snuggle under the covers with the woman he’d just pledged his life to. But it felt like something was missing, like he’d forgotten something important, and then it hit him. He climbed into bed with Darby, pulled her into his arms, and made plans for the morning, hoping that he’d wake up before she did.
But it wasn’t the sun that woke him in the morning. It was the sounds of a pig squealing out in the barn. Darby was out of bed before he could process what the sound was. “Something is wrong with the sow,” she said, throwing on a robe and disappearing through the door.
He got up and quickly dressed, grabbing Darby a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt on the way out of the bedroom. She was in the barn leaning over the pen when he came into the barn, her butt almost sticking out of the back of her robe, and for a second, he almost forgot about the sow.
“How is she?” he asked, handing her the clothes.
“Loud, angry, and very temperamental, but we’ve got three new piglets,” Darby said, beaming at him.
“Well, if there’s no real danger, I’ll go make us some breakfast and bring it out here,” Colin said.
“Are you sure you can handle that? I don’t need anyone else to take care of if you burn yourself,” she said.
He swatted her on the butt. “I think I can handle it.”
The sun was high in the sky when they finally emerged from the barn, both covered in straw, blood, and a few other things he didn’t want to think about, but the proud parents of twelve new piglets. They’d named them one by one as they weighed them and cleaned them up, each taking a turn, so their little family had some unique names.
“You know, it’s not a good idea to name animals you might eat someday,” Darby said, shutting the barn door.
“Yeah, probably not,” Colin said. “But this is my first time, so you have to let me have a little fun.”
She laughed. “There is one more thing I wanted to tell you,” she said, grinning at him. “You aren’t naming any of our kids.”
He grinned at her. “What’s the matter? You didn’t like Hortense or Barnaby?”
“Horrible,” she said, pretending to shiver. “Just horrible.”<
br />
Colin was just about to sweep her into his arms when he saw three horses coming down the road. “Looks like we’ve got company,” he said. “We’d better get cleaned up.”
But they didn’t get any farther than the porch before the riders were on them, and he felt Darby stiffen beside him. “It’s okay; that’s my cousin Reese and my best friend Keaton with Jamison.”
The three men stared at them for a long time, then Jamison said, “I’m having a hard time believing that it’s you standing there in all that muck, Colin.”
Colin looked down at his clothes. “We’ve been bringing pigs into the world. You should try it sometime; it’s really quite exciting.”
The other two men jumped down from their horses, looked at each other, then burst into laughter. “We didn’t believe Jamison when he told us you’d been living on a farm, but that’s all the proof I need,” one of the men finally said when his laughter had died down.
“And this must be the woman responsible,” the other said, stepping up to Darby. “I’m Keaton. I’m supposed to be Colin’s best friend. That’s Reese, his cousin, who has another home but just keeps hanging around here.”
“You try living with my parents,” Reese said, then bowed to Darby. “It’s a pleasure to meet the woman who finally managed to tame Colin. What’s your secret?”
Darby was a bit taken aback, but she managed a smile. “Uhhh, it’s nice to meet you,” she said. “Would you like to come inside for some lunch?”
“That sounds wonderful,” Keaton said, then turned to Reese. “Maybe it’s her cooking.”
Reese was studying Darby. “I think it’s more than that,” he said.
“Okay, you two, that’s enough,” Colin said. “Come inside and make yourselves at home while Darby and I get cleaned up.”
“Lead the way,” Jamison said, his voice tight, his expression unreadable.
The Fae Prince: (Fae of Ballantine) Page 11
