The room faded. Every scrap of her attention focused on her Magic Knot. Desire to possess it slammed through her. As if her life depended on it, she stumbled a half step forward.
She closed her eyes and clenched her fists. “Not. Like. This.”
“Would you walk away without your Magic Knot?” Kade asked, his silky tone weakening her control.
“Return Ruby’s stones,” Nightshade said. His voice was lethally soft.
“So she can give them to you, stalker? I don’t think so.”
Ruby pressed against Nightshade’s side to help her hang on to her control. “Aila told me it’s against the Seelie Court’s rules to take another person’s Magic Knot without permission.”
“As it is in the Unseelie Court,” Twister added.
A pink flush ran along Kade’s cheekbones. “A father has the right to take his child’s stones into safekeeping.”
“So bloody well hand them over. I stopped being a child a long time ago.” Ruby slung out her arm to present him with her open palm.
“You are still under my protection.”
“I’ve never been under your protection, and I’m not letting you control me.” She snapped her fingers. “Hand them over.”
Kade gestured, and the other Seelie hunters moved into position. “Very well. Take your Magic Knot and leave.” He dangled the chain in front of her.
Ruby trembled with conflicting emotions. Every instinct she had told her to snatch her stones from him while she could. But she wasn’t silly enough to think he’d let her go that easily. “What’s the catch?”
His lips thinned in a parody of a smile. “I have the Seelie king’s authority to detain your nightstalker friend if you won’t stay.”
“Why, for god’s sake? What’s that going to achieve?”
“Leverage,” he said.
She ran her gaze disparagingly over Kade. “Fine. Keep my Magic Knot. Nightshade is more important to me.”
Twister’s breath hissed in, and Kade stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. After a moment he recovered. “Very well, I’ll choose a male to bond with you.”
Kade beckoned one of the hunters, but Ruby didn’t spare him a glance. Her father was bluffing. He would never bond her to another man and give up his power over her.
“You need your Magic Knot,” Nightshade said softly, his gaze locked on the three hunters closest to him.
“I’ve done all right without it so far. I’m sure I’ll survive.”
“You really are beyond foolish, you stupid girl.” Kade glanced around at his minions. “Capture my daughter and throw the others out.”
* * *
Nightshade prepared to fight.
Beside him, Twister snapped, “Don’t you dare lay hands on me,” his eyes flaring gold.
“About time you found a backbone,” Nightshade muttered. He scanned the hunters’ facial expressions and body language, trying to gauge who would attack first.
A few seconds of tense silence strummed the air; then the Seelie hunters backed down.
“You’ve taken this too far,” one of them said to Kade. “We can’t touch the Unseelie king.”
Nightshade grabbed Ruby and took off toward the door.
“You can’t run away from me,” Kade shouted.
Nightshade glanced over his shoulder. The other Seelie hunters weren’t coming after him. Kade had lost his support. With luck, he was too much of a coward to pursue them alone.
Twister caught up as they reached the throne room. “I’ll take the lead. I can’t assume wolf form in this realm, but I can fight anyone who tries to stop us leaving,” he said.
“Let me down!” Ruby wriggled free from Nightshade. She kicked off her pumps, hiked up her skirt, and sprinted after Twister, while Nightshade watched her back. A few of the Seelie specters circled beneath the ceiling, but they didn’t attack.
Kade appeared in the throne room doorway at the far end of the corridor behind them.
“He’s coming after us,” Nightshade said, trying to both watch Ruby’s father and make sure they weren’t heading into more danger. “How will we get down?”
Twister opened the door atop the glittering stairway they’d ascended. “Devin’s disappeared off to cool his heels but he’s left the Darkling Road visible for us.”
“Take Ruby to safety,” Nightshade said. “I’ll keep Kade busy. What power does he have?”
“Check the symbol on his breastplate,” the Unseelie king replied. “Remember, don’t fly down; we’re in a different realm. You can only leave via the Darkling Road.”
Ruby rushed back and hooked her fingers through Nightshade’s belt. “No, come with us.” She tugged him toward the stairway. “If we have to fight Kade, let’s do it on your turf.”
“Don’t argue. I want you safe.”
Nightshade kissed her, then pushed her away. A gamut of emotions swept her face, but she turned and disappeared down the steps with Twister. Nightshade braced for a fight, smiling at the sound of Ruby berating the Unseelie king for leaving him to fight alone.
Kade broke from the doorway at a run, launching himself into the air with a downbeat of his huge feathery wings. “Bloody bird,” Nightshade said to himself. “Last thing I want is another mouthful of damn feathers.”
Instead of coming for him, Kade headed for the edge of the terrace. Belatedly Nightshade realized that, as a Seelie, Kade would be able to fly down from this realm to the mortal world. If Kade left the Crystal City, Nightshade’s only way of intercepting him would be to run down the long flight of stairs behind him.
He sprinted a few steps before leaping skywards. His wings were smaller, so he wouldn’t have Kade’s speed, but he would be more maneuverable.
“Out of my way, batwings,” Kade sneered as Nightshade cut him off. The hunter hovered, his wings swishing up and down. “You’ll never have the Mistress. Go now and I’ll forget you interfered.”
“Scared I might whip your feathery arse?” Nightshade grinned. But his amusement fell away when he noticed a lightning-bolt symbol on Kade’s breastplate. What in the Furies could the hunter do with lightning?
Kade’s hands were empty, and Nightshade could see no sign of the silver chain holding Ruby’s Magic Knot. But he had to try to retrieve it for her, especially after she had chosen him over her stones.
“Give me Ruby’s Magic Knot,” he demanded.
“Are you deaf as well as stupid? Skedaddle back to where you came from. Scottish Fairy Court matters don’t concern you.”
Blood thundered in Nightshade’s temples. He hated the stupid power struggles in the damn fairy courts but he always seemed to get tangled up in them: first the Irish, then the Welsh, now the Scottish. If he wasn’t careful, he’d one day end up fighting the Norse gods in Asgard with Troy, or Devin’s scary mother in the djinn city under the desert sands. After this trip, he promised himself to stay put in Cornwall. Still, he ached to wipe the supercilious look off Kade’s face. “They do when you involve my woman.”
Her father kicked out. Nightshade lurched back to avoid a thump in the guts, and Kade dived past him. Swinging around, Nightshade returned the kick, catching the hunter a solid whack on the thigh. Kade recovered with a grunt and flew on.
He’d thought the hunter was running from the fight, but fifteen feet away Kade swung around. A sizzling flicker of light danced between his palms. Nightshade swore and glanced around for cover.
Kade parted his hands. A streak of lightning arrowed through the air, and pain slashed across Nightshade’s ribs, accompanied by the smell of burning flesh. Nightshade sucked in air, his eyes watering, and by the time he recovered his senses, Kade had drawn his wings in tight as he swooped down toward the mortal world.
“Damn and blast!” Nightshade dropped to the green marble terrace, running the moment his feet hit the ground. He headed for Devin’s doorway, then pelted down the Darkling Road, leaping five or more steps at a time with the aid of his wings. When he emerged from the bottom, Kade stood on
the grassy path, blocking Ruby and Twister’s route back to the Bunker. The fight had only been delayed.
Ruby marched toward her father, holding a broken branch, her face taut with anger. “Get out of my way,” she demanded.
As she swiped the makeshift club at Kade, he caught her wrist and threw her back. “You want to be treated like an adult, yet you behave like a child.”
She glared defiantly at him. “That makes you father of the year, I suppose.”
Twister stood to one side, watching. He wasn’t protecting Ruby, but he hadn’t abandoned her, either. “Don’t taunt him, foolish woman,” the Unseelie king said.
“Don’t criticize me for standing up for myself, coward.”
Twister straightened, his eyes flaring gold. “You’re the most infuriating woman I’ve ever met. You have no idea how politically awkward this is for me.”
“I take it the engagement’s off, then.” She smirked.
Nightshade hurried to intervene. “Ruby, love, let me handle this.” He rounded on Twister and gave him a meaningful look. “Home advantage,” he said under his breath.
“Oh, all right,” the king said. The air around Twister smudged, and a huge gray wolf appeared in the Unseelie king’s place. It prowled toward Kade, lips drawing back to bare vicious pointed teeth. A hint of panic flashed in Kade’s eyes. Nightshade pressed the advantage by moving forward himself.
The hunter ceded ground. Sweeping down his wings, he took flight. Nightshade grasped Ruby’s hand and ran with her toward the Bunker.
Twister loped past on four legs and got there first. He had the door open for them when they arrived, but just before they went through to safety, Ruby halted. She stared up at Kade, who was hanging in the sky and watching.
“Nothing’s settled yet,” he shouted sullenly. His fingers uncurled to reveal her three linked stones.
Anger flashed through Nightshade, and he nearly went after Kade then and there, but Ruby hung on to his hand. “I’ll get my Magic Knot from him when I’m ready,” she promised.
“One day you’ll be back for these,” Kade shouted.
“Too bloody right I will,” Ruby bellowed. “And you’ll regret it!”
* * *
In Devin’s room in the Bunker, Ruby sat in a luxurious burgundy silk armchair. The fire flickered, casting a dancing pattern of light over the plush patterned carpet and brightly striped wall hangings. Nightshade and Devin sat in matching chairs, the three of them forming a semicircle around the fire.
Shortly after they’d arrived back here, Devin had returned full of apologies for deserting them. He said he’d had to get away before he killed the Seelie king and started a war.
Ares snuggled in a hairy ball on Nightshade’s lap, and Apollo sat on Devin’s, his chin resting on Devin’s arm while he gazed up at the djinn adoringly. Ruby tried not to be miffed that her dogs had deserted her in favor of the men.
Devin petted Apollo absently. “Tell me again what Aila said when you gave her my gift.”
For the third time, Ruby dutifully repeated everything that Aila had said about Devin.
“Oh.” He leaned back, his gaze drifting into the distance.
Nightshade gripped Devin’s arm. The two men’s eyes met, and the silent support and concern in the nightstalker’s expression made Ruby’s heart trip. What a strange and complex creature he was: uncompromisingly male on the outside, soft on the inside.
“She was worried about you, Devin,” Ruby reassured him.
“So she hasn’t forgotten me.”
“I reckon she thinks about you all the time.”
Devin closed his eyes and dropped his head forward.
How could Eavan and Nairne doubt the djinn’s character? Ruby still wasn’t sure what was wrong with being a shadow elemental, demon, whatever. After all, it was just a label. But she’d bet he was more worthy of Aila than all the Seelie hunters put together.
The silence lengthened, the only sound the funny little squeak of Ares’s snoring. Ruby’s gaze traveled back to Nightshade, and she pretended she was looking at Ares rather than his solid, muscular thighs. The lamp between the chairs cast a sheen over his sculpted abs and pecs. She lingered with concern on the raw streak across his ribs where Kade had zapped him.
When her slow perusal reached his face, he gave her a knowing grin.
“Thank you for protecting me today,” she said. Her words came out breathy with the fluttering of her heart.
“My pleasure,” he replied, his voice again dark velvet. “Thank you for choosing my freedom instead of claiming your Magic Knot.”
“Kade would never have stuck to any bargain anyway.” She smiled, trying to make light of her decision.
“I’m only sorry I didn’t get the chance to teach him a lesson.”
“Next time,” she said. “But we won’t take Twister again. Talk about useless.”
“I have to keep apologizing for my uncle’s behavior,” Devin said, rousing from his thoughts. He frowned at the fire. “I don’t understand what’s gotten into him the last few days.”
Ruby stood and stretched, hoping Nightshade would take her hint. “Well, I’m worn out from Aila’s lesson. I’m off to bed.”
He scooped Ares off his lap and rose, making her pulse jump. He held the tiny dog at eye level. “Time for bed, scamp.”
Devin stood, too, passing Apollo to Nightshade, and the two small dogs relaxed in the nightstalker’s grasp as he headed for the door. Ruby firmly believed that animals were good judges of character. His fangs obviously didn’t worry them, and he’d given her ample reason to trust him. She was finding more and more that she did.
When they reached the room she’d been given, Nightshade deposited her dogs on their blanket near the fire. He hadn’t been alone with her much since they arrived at the Bunker, and he hadn’t mentioned mating again. But the heat in his gaze suggested his thoughts were X-rated. She was more than ready to bring those thoughts to life just as long as he didn’t mention babies again.
He turned to leave, but she called his name.
“Yes?” He pivoted, sweeping back his long hair with a casual gesture that sent desire shivering through her.
“Stay with me a little longer.”
“Ruby . . . .” He hesitated, and her heart tripped.
“Come on, laddie, I don’t bite.” She grinned at her joke. He didn’t.
“That’s a problem. If I spend time with you alone, I might.”
“Oh.” Her nipples peaked so hard against her leather bodice they pinched. The little hairs on her body prickled with a darkly tantalizing fear she didn’t understand. How could the thought of his fangs sinking into her neck fill her with both fear and longing?
Nightshade’s nostrils flared. His eyes widened then narrowed. “You want to mate, woman?”
A strange languorous shiver ran through her. “You’ve got it in one.”
He moved toward her with the sinuous grace of a predator. “I thought you didn’t want a—” He halted. His brows snapped down, then slowly relaxed as if he’d just fought an inner battle. She just hoped the right part of him had won.
He took her hand and drew her closer until they stood toe to toe, not touching anywhere else. She had to crane her neck to see his face.
“You’re not going to throw me out of your bed this time, are you?” he asked.
The memory of Nightshade’s naked body pressed against hers set her pulse racing. “I’ll tie you to the bed so you can’t get away.”
His eyebrows canted up, showing his surprise. She grinned. For all his macho bluster, he was obviously inexperienced with women. She relished the chance to educate him. “I’m joking,” she said. “I won’t tie you to the bed—until we know each other better.” Then, before he had a chance to reply, she leaned into him and rubbed her breasts against his chest, reaching up to link her hands behind his neck.
“Oh, Ruby,” he said on a rush of breath.
He gripped her waist and turned her so that he could
sit on the edge of the bed. She needed no encouragement to step between his splayed thighs. When she angled her head, their lips met in an achingly sweet kiss, gentle, very different from the hungry urgency of the kisses they’d shared at her home. She slid her hands beneath his wings to stroke the knots of sensitive muscle, and he groaned against her lips and moved to nuzzle her neck.
“You’re just a big pussycat,” she whispered against his hair. “I bet I can make you purr for me.”
One of her hands continued to stroke his back; the other glided over his ribs to the front of his jeans. Simmering excitement weakened her knees as she traced her fingers along the ridge of his erection. “Sweet,” she whispered while she caressed him. Her memory hadn’t exaggerated.
He pulled at the lacing down the back of her dress. After a few minutes, he leaned back with a grunt of annoyance. “Twister’s dressed you in a bloody chastity belt.”
She suppressed her smile and turned her back so that he could see what he was doing. After a few more seconds of tugging, she heard the ping of snapping leather laces. As she turned back to face him, he pulled the sagging dress down to her waist.
“Ruby, Ruby . . .” His breath rushed out. He cupped her breasts, stroking her with his thumbs. Her eyelids fell as streamers of sensation fluttered across her skin.
He lowered his head and ran his tongue over first one nipple, then the other. “What is it about you? I’ve never been interested in breasts before, but yours drive me crazy.”
She found herself surprised again. “So there’ve really been no other women?”
“No.”
As he explored her with his mouth, Ruby cradled his head between her hands. She speared her fingers through his silky black hair; her head fell forward and nuzzled his.
I’m the first woman he’s fancied. Good. But isn’t that odd? Either he likes women or he doesn’t—
Ack! She gave herself a mental slap and tried to lose herself in the wonderful sensation of Nightshade’s mouth against her nipples. But her stupid mind wouldn’t quit.
“So . . . you like men?”
He looked up, the fading flames of the fire reflected in his silver eyes. “Biting them, love. Dominating them.”
The Ruby Kiss Page 11
