He took another step forward. “When will you be?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“You don’t care about him,” Troy accused. “You could have prevented his recent suffering. Instead, you chose not to help him.”
Prevented his suffering? “Don’t talk crap!”
Troy narrowed his eyes, his expression as hard and cold as ice. “Did you not even take the time to analyze his life force and discover what ails him?”
Ruby’s cheeks grew so hot they stung. She knew it would come to this. Having the power meant people had expectations of her and she would only let them down. Just as she had always let her mother down when she couldn’t locate her father. “I don’t know how to do that. It’s only been a few days, and Aila only taught me the basics.”
“Devin told me you’ve exhibited this power since puberty, maybe before. In all those years have you never explored your abilities?” Troy sounded dubious.
“I thought it was some sort of affliction. I wanted to get rid of it.”
“And do you still want to rid yourself of this powerful gift? Many would kill to possess it.”
“You have no right to judge me,” she growled. “You don’t know anything about my life.”
“I know that you are not good enough for Nightshade.”
A desperate burst of anger raged through Ruby. “You’re not having him,” she spat.
“He’s already mine.”
His condescending tone snapped her control. Ruby lunged at him, desperate to smack the superior look off his perfect face. He caught her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back, then bent her hand up. She gasped as her shoulder burned with pain.
“You don’t deserve him,” he whispered.
Troy was a bloody jealous psycho. She closed her eyes and breathed through the agony. “Nightshade wants me,” she pushed out between gritted teeth.
“That’s the only reason you’re still here.”
“You’d kill me?”
“I’d send you back to Scotland with no memory of him.”
The concept terrified her. “Don’t. Please.”
A hazy feeling swept through her mind and Troy released her. She jumped away from him and cradled her arm to ease her aching shoulder.
“I’ll let you stay with Nightshade on two conditions.” He wagged a finger at her as if she were a child. “First, you let him drink your blood immediately, and second, you face up to reality and learn how to use your power, Mistress of the Beasts. If you don’t, I’ll take Nightshade and your memories of him.”
Ruby shivered at his tone, certain he meant every word.
“Get in that bed now and give him blood.”
She balked. “I’m not doing it with you watching.”
Troy became inhumanly still. “If you refuse, I’ll let him bite me again. Then he’ll be bound to me for the rest of his mortal life and you will never have him.”
She had no doubt he was telling the truth.
The light dome dissolved with a pop, and Nightshade roused. “I nodded off. What were you talking about?” he murmured.
Troy went to the side of the bed and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Although he behaved like a psychopath toward her, his feelings for Nightshade appeared genuine.
“Your woman will give you blood to aid your recovery. That saves me from performing the onerous task.” Troy gave a small smile. “Be well, my friend. I’ll see you again soon.” His gaze flicked up to Ruby and hardened. “I’ll be watching you,” he added.
Then he disappeared into thin air.
* * *
Chapter Fourteen
Ruby’s gaze darted around Nightshade’s bedroom. Was that threatening psycho Troy still around or had he really gone?
Nightshade smiled. “Sorry I fell asleep when you came in. I don’t know what happened.”
Ruby knew; Troy had sent Nightshade to sleep so he could intimidate her without interference. She joined Nightshade on the bed and snuggled against his chest while rubbing her sore shoulder. She still smarted from Troy’s criticism, but she reluctantly admitted there was some truth in what he said. She had put up with her affliction for years but never explored if she could use the strange energy. She hadn’t wanted anything to do with the magic or supernatural, especially after her mother was found dead floating in that loch, her face frozen in terror. Ruby was sure something had killed her, although the police had called it an accident.
Nightshade tickled her ear with his breath. “Ruby, love, are you all right? What did Troy say to you?”
“He told me off for not letting you bite me and for not learning how to use my power.”
“He can be autocratic,” Nightshade agreed with a rueful smile.
“Autocratic!” She pulled back enough to see Nightshade’s face. “He’s a bloody psycho.”
She was about to relate how Troy had twisted back her arm and threatened her but thought better of it. She would be happy if she never set eyes on the man again. Unfortunately, he was Nightshade’s friend.
Nightshade frowned. “I shouldn’t have let him speak with you. I’m sorry.”
Ruby squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t let you bi . . . take my blood. I had no idea it would help you recover.” She stared into his face trying to assess his expression. “Troy thinks I knew and let you suffer. I promise I didn’t.”
Nightshade pulled her close and pressed his lips to her hair. “I believe you.”
They lay in companionable silence for a few minutes. Ruby closed her eyes and let her hands drift over the smooth contours of his chest and shoulders. Hot little flutters of desire flared to life inside her and gradually burned away the last of her anger at Troy. She feathered a line of kisses along Nightshade’s collarbone.
“Shall we do this then?” she whispered against his ear.
“You don’t have to submit to my bite, Ruby. I know how strongly opposed you are to bonding. I won’t force you like Twister did.”
“That was completely different. I never had any feelings for Twister.”
Nightshade shifted against her, his hands rubbing up and down her back. “I still don’t want to—”
“Shh.” She pressed her fingers to his lips. “I want you to bite me. Anyway, what would you do if I said no? Call back your luminous psycho friend? I don’t think he’d play nice if he thought we had to share a bed, and I’m not about to give you up.”
Nightshade grinned, a little of his usual attitude returning. “You and Troy fighting over me would be a sight.”
Little did he know the fight had already taken place.
“Hmm. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, bad boy?” She speared her fingers into the long black silk of his hair and pressed her mouth to his. The sharp tip of a fang caught her tongue. The taste of blood filled their mouths and Nightshade groaned—a long deep needy sound.
He flipped her onto her back and reared up over her; his hair fell down and tickled her neck. “This dressing gown is an improvement on the last, but I want you naked.”
He untied the knotted belt and pushed the robe off her shoulders and down her arms. His hand molded her breast through her pajama top before sliding underneath to splay over her tingling flesh. He lowered his head and took her mouth in another kiss as he teased her sensitized nipples.
She stroked her fingers inside the waistband of his briefs. The memory of his size sent tremors of excitement through her. The few guys she’d slept with had been average in every way. Nothing about Nightshade was average. He was exceptional. She pushed down the fabric and tossed the garment aside.
“Crikey, Nightshade.” Her memory hadn’t done him justice. “You’re so big.”
“I am?” He looked down and grinned. “All the better to bring you pleasure.”
“Oh, yeah.”
He suddenly closed his eyes and let his weight drop back to the bed. “But I won’t have the energy to mate until I’m feeling better.”
Oh God. Ruby was not going to l
et him stop now. “Bite me. If that doesn’t make you feel better, I’ll do all the work.”
He grinned, pleased with himself. “You’re keen.”
“I’m not getting out of this bed until I’m satisfied.”
He laughed; then his face contracted in pain. “Shit. Don’t make me laugh. It murders my head.”
She sat up and pulled her top off. Nightshade’s expression grew serious, and he licked his lips, his fangs shiny white needles against his lower lip. “Ruby . . .”
She lay back. “Shh. Come here.”
He rose over her, cocooning her in the protective shadow of his wings. Her hands slipped around his ribs to the taut muscles of his back, and a tiny whimper escaped her lips as his warm breath brushed her neck. The tip of his tongue traced a wet path over her skin. Flickers of desire chased across her. She closed her eyes, concentrating all her being on the place where his fangs would sink into her flesh and forge a bond between them.
Those teeth scraped lightly across her skin, shooting sparks along her nerves. Her heart raced with a tantalizing mix of excitement and fear. His hand cupped her breast, fingers kneading, winding her up until she wanted to scream.
“Do it. Please,” she whispered.
“Mmm.” The deep rumble of his response vibrated through her body. He nipped at her skin, the tiny pricks of pain hardening her nipples to sensitive nubs beneath his palm. “You smell delicious.”
His hand glided down her belly and paused at the elastic of her panties. Lifting her hips, she encouraged him to move lower. He feathered his lips up her jaw and captured her mouth in a kiss that stole her breath; his tongue plunging deep, he explored her with slow maddening strokes.
Ruby dragged her mouth from his and snatched in a breath. Two could play at that game. She pushed her hand between their bodies and found the hard length of him. His breath left him in a little grunt of surprise as her touch fluttered lightly along his erection.
His lips returned to her neck, and an exquisite shaft of pleasure-pain shot through her body like liquid fire. She drifted in a dark, delicious dream, strung between the ecstasy of his bite and the magical stroke of his fingers. Ruby forgot where she was and rode the hot tremors of pleasure rippling inside her. She clutched him to her, never wanting the sensation to stop.
When the feeling finally ebbed away, her body trembled with tiny aftershocks. She hadn’t noticed Nightshade withdraw his fangs.
He licked the place he’d bitten, then she felt him roll away. When she opened her eyes, he grinned. “Did you enjoy that?” he asked.
Ruby sucked in a shaky breath before she could answer. “Mind-blowing.”
“Ready for round two?”
“You’re feeling up to it?” Excitement raced through her.
He ran his hand up and down his erection and raised his eyebrows. “The power of your blood sings inside me. I’m feeling stronger already.”
“I think I’m going to enjoy being blood bonded.”
Ruby tried to sense Nightshade’s presence in her mind, but she couldn’t feel him as she had felt Twister through the Magic Knot bond, not even when Nightshade stretched out half on top of her and touched her diamond nose stud.
“I love this,” he said. “It’s so you.”
They kissed again. Ruby relaxed and focused on Nightshade, hoping to connect with him mentally. Nothing. So when he broke the kiss and trailed his lips toward her breasts, she told herself to enjoy making love with him and question him about the blood bond later. But she had never been good at waiting for answers.
“You don’t have to hold back with the blood bond,” she said.
He raised up, his silver eyes gleaming in the lamplight. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t sense you in my head.”
“That’s not how a blood bond works. This is how it works,” he said. The desire to touch him flared in her mind, and she closed her hand around his erection.
The compulsion faded.
“Did you just make me touch you?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Oh.” Disappointment flashed through her. However pleasurable Nightshade’s bite, the blood bond wasn’t a twoway bond for intimacy. It was simply a way for a predator to control his prey.
“Ruby, that was just a demonstration,” he hurried to say. “I’ll never make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
She believed him. Over the last few days he’d often put her wishes first and proved he was considerate. But she was still disappointed.
“Were you expecting the blood bond to be the same as your bond with Twister?” A subtle vocal inflection revealed his uneasiness. If she were jealous of his bond with Troy, how must he feel about her bond with Twister? The Magic Knot bond was far more intimate.
“Twister and I barely tolerate each other. You know that,” she said, trying to reassure him. She wouldn’t admit that, despite her antipathy, her bond with the Unseelie king did fascinate her. Although, this far away from Twister she wouldn’t be able to sense him through the bond even if she wanted to.
Nightshade nodded and pressed his lips to the curve of her breast. She didn’t need a bond to sense his sadness. Her bond with Twister hung like a dark cloud over their relationship. The only way to alleviate the problem was to recover her Magic Knot from her father and give it to Nightshade. That would prove she loved him. If she and Nightshade exchanged Magic Knots, perhaps that would be a strong enough bond to override her bond with Twister.
His lips brushed her skin and the wet heat of his mouth enclosed her nipple. Her breath caught as he suckled, streaking fire into her belly.
“Do you want to mate with me?” he whispered against her skin.
“Oh, Nightshade.” Why did the word ‘mate’ suddenly sound incredibly cute and sexy?
He moved over her, and she spread her legs to cradle his hips. Her skin prickled and burned. She moved beneath him, restless, hungry to touch him everywhere, to feel him inside her.
He rocked against her, his breath coming out in a whoosh. “Ye gods, why haven’t I tried this before?”
Ruby let her eyelids fall and wriggled, her body electrified by their intimate friction. He adjusted his position, and the tip of his erection nudged her. Her breath jammed in her lungs, her body thrumming.
“I might be too big to fit,” he whispered, glancing down in consternation. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Her eyelids snapped up, and she stared down at where they were so close to joining. Her voice was breathless. “It’ll fit. Just push harder before I die of anticipation.”
She was right, and it was wonderful. The slow deep slide as he filled her left her trembling. He paused, his cheek pressed against her hair. He breathed hard for a few seconds then withdrew and pushed in again, finding a rhythm that sent tingling waves of pleasure rolling through her. She wrapped her legs and arms around him, stroking the tense muscles of his back and digging her heels into his buttocks.
The pleasure of his bite, as amazing as it was, had been nothing compared to the ecstasy of making love with him. She had never before been in love with a man. But this deep tenderness that brought tears to her eyes could only be love.
Her building pleasure peaked with a muscle-clenching shudder of release. A few seconds later, Nightshade groaned and slumped against her, boneless, before rolling to the side.
She snuggled up to him. “Feel good?” she asked.
“Shit,” he said in an incredulous whisper. “I’ve been missing out.”
“You’ll have to make up for wasted time.”
He lifted his arm off his face and his lips twitched. “Good idea.” Then he sobered and sucked in a breath. “Damn. Devin said I should use protection, whatever that is. I forgot. I’m sorry. I know you aren’t ready to have a baby yet.”
Guilt and fear spiked through her. From the start he’d made it clear he wanted kids. She’d been meaning to tell him that she probably couldn’t have children; she just hadn’t found the right moment. �
��It’s all right—”
“I won’t push you, Ruby. I want a babe, but we’ll wait until you’re ready.”
I can’t have a baby. The bitter words filled her mouth like shards of glass, but she couldn’t spit them out.
“There’s something I want you to have, Ruby.” Nightshade fetched a tiny leather bag from a desk under the window. Once he dropped back on the bed, he loosened the drawstring, spread his hand, and poured out three linked earthy-brown stone rings hooked on a metal clip. “I normally keep it in my pocket, but I didn’t bring it with me to Scotland.” He held up his Magic Knot and asked, “I know you’re already bonded to Twister and I don’t know how that will affect this . . . but will you bond with me as well? I love you, Ruby.”
Ruby’s breath stuttered in and out of her lungs. She longed to share the intimacy of this bond with someone she loved, but it wasn’t fair to take Nightshade’s Magic Knot without first telling him about her infertility.
When she didn’t hold out her hand to immediately accept his stones, his brows drew down and his fist closed around them. Ruby shut her eyes for a moment, digging deep to find the courage to dash his hopes or her own.
“I love you, Nightshade.”
A kaleidoscope of emotion crossed his face. “I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
“I want to accept your Magic Knot and bond with you.”
“But . . . ?”
“I don’t think I can have children.”
He blinked. Then: “Stay here with me. Spend time with Rhys. I’m sure you’ll change your mind.”
“No. That’s not what I mean, Nightshade. I’m not able to have children. I’m . . .” Her heart pounded at the look of dawning understanding on his face. “Infertile,” she finished, the word slipping out in an apologetic whisper.
For long moments he didn’t move, his face frozen in a mask of horrified disbelief. Then he climbed from the bed, pulled on his jeans, and, without another word, left the room. A burning wave of sorrow flooded her. Was that it? Had she lost him? Did he want a baby more than he wanted her? Ruby curled into a fetal position, pressed the bunched sheet to her face, and sobbed.
The Ruby Kiss Page 19
