“Wow, Newgrange! Maybe I’ll try to get down there with Se…” I stopped myself before I let Sebastian’s name slip. Until I was sure what was going on with him, I thought I’d keep him to myself. “Maybe I’ll swing by before I head back to London.”
We laughed and ate and joked for a big chunk of the afternoon. After a while, Mum started looking tired.
“Shall we let you get some rest, Mum?” I asked.
“No, no,” she scolded. But she looked exhausted. I nodded to my brothers and we gently insisted she go back to bed for some rest.
We sat around in the sitting room for hours while she slept, chatting and catching up on our lives. Kim and Tom were great company.
“So, anyone special in your life, Finola?” Kim smiled, her green eyes twinkling.
“Er…”.
What was I going to say to that?
I almost brought up Sebastian at last, but he seemed impossible to explain. He was so high profile and rich, it would’ve caused a stir that might have overshadowed the day. That’s without the whole shifter revelation. It would have to wait for another time.
I smiled mysteriously. “I’m open to possibilities, let’s just say.”
“That’s our girl,” Declan smiled. “You’ll find someone, Fin. He’s out there somewhere.”
He certainly was.
I checked my phone. He’d texted.
“Ready when you are. Call any time. X”
I took our teacups out to the kitchen and glanced out of the window as I did so. The security guard’s SUV was parked at the furthest curve of the road. It looked very much like Sebastian was on the back seat, reading.
He had been sitting out there, possibly for hours, just for the chance to collect me.
My heart fluttered. I ached for him. Not just physically, but emotionally.
Whether he could ever be what I needed, I had no idea. But I had to give him the chance to try.
While my brothers made moves move to leave, I caught Dad alone in the kitchen. He was tidying up.
“Let me do this.” I took the cloth from him.
“Not a bit of it!” He pushed my hands away, mock-angrily. “You’re not going to lift a finger, young lady! Today is a special day. No chores for you.”
He hugged me close and I closed my eyes, soaking up the unconditional love.
“I was so stupid, Dad. If I could turn back the clock and be a decent daughter, I would. Thank you for letting me come back.”
“Ah, fiddlesticks. You were just going through a tough time, my angel. We knew you’d come through it. And we’re so proud of how you’ve turned out. You come any time, my love. Any time at all. Come over, or call, or get in touch any way you want, any time you like. We’re here for you.”
I helped him tidy up the crockery, chuckling at his protests.
“Listen, love. Did you ever get back in touch with your birth mum after you… after you left home, love?”
The question made my skin prickle. I shook my head.
“I never tried again, once she rejected me.”
“Ah.” He put the dishcloth down. “There’s something you ought to know then.”
“What’s that?”
He took a deep breath. “I’m afraid she passed away earlier in the year, Fin.”
The news felt shocking, even though we had no relationship. Perhaps it was the realization that we never would have one. Although I had probably known that already.
Dad put his arm round me. “You all right, love? Always a nasty thing to hear, that sort of news.”
I nodded numbly. “Did she… How did she…?”
“She was ill, pet. She had a short illness and then she passed.”
I nodded again. The woman who brought me into the world had left it.
It felt like nothing had changed, and yet everything had, all at once.
“The thing is, Fin, her estate got in touch afterwards. She left an envelope for you.”
“For me?” I stared at him. “Why would she leave something for me? She wanted nothing to do with me.”
“You were her daughter, love,” Dad said, with a sad half-smile. “I don’t think for a second she ever forgot that. She may have had her reasons for doing what she did, god knows. But you can’t switch off that bond.”
“She had a good try at switching it off.”
“I’ll get you the envelope.”
He reached into the dresser drawer and pulled it out.
I wasn’t sure I wanted it. Still, I took it from Dad. It was a cream mottled envelope about the size and thickness of a glossy magazine, with ‘PRIVATE - FOR FINOLA’ written on it in spidery real ink script.
I wondered whether I should ask Dad about the idea of magical heritage. Would he know if my birth mother had been magical in any way?
It just sounded too ridiculous even to phrase the question. I stayed quiet.
We returned to the washing up in companionable silence.
While we worked, I marveled at the strange march of time. Some things had changed completely since I was away. Other things were left wholly untouched.
My adoptive family’s love for me hadn’t changed, even while we all had changed and evolved as people.
It was such a beautiful thought. I felt cleansed and renewed.
Even if it was touched with an odd regret at the loss of the woman I could never make love me.
It was Sebastian I had to thank for my family reunion. If it hadn’t been for his encouragement, I wouldn’t even have made the first call.
And there he was, still sitting outside. A billionaire with an empire to run, just killing time with his tourist guidebook. Waiting as long as it took to take me home with him.
My heart ached for him.
“Dad? I think I’ll get back to the hotel soon, if that’s all right with you and Mum?”
“Of course, my darling! You get off and have yourself a hot bath or something. It’s been a long day, and an emotional one.”
“Shall I visit you again tomorrow?”
“Ah. Now I come to think of it, your mum has a hospital appointment. They always keep us hanging around most of the day. What about coming back the day after instead?”
“I’d love to. Thanks, Dad.”
I tiptoed into my Mum’s room. She lay on the pillow, snoring quietly. I kissed her very softly on the cheek and whispered goodbye.
The parting and hugging with my brothers took a while. When they’d had gone, I made my way out to the SUV.
When I was sure my parents weren’t watching from the window, I opened the passenger door.
The security guards had noticed my approach, of course. But I surprised Sebastian.
“Finola!” His face lit up with genuine pleasure.
“Hello, Sebastian,” I said. “Thank you so much for helping me do this.”
“Hey, I did nothing. This was all your doing. I just waved pompoms.”
My heart beat faster just looking at him. I grabbed his hand and looked deep in his eyes.
“Let’s go someplace right now so I can show you just how much I appreciate you.”
His eyes widened slightly as he read between the lines. My whole body craved him. He must be able to tell with his tiger senses.
“Start driving,” he said to the security guards, never taking his eyes off me for a second.
27
The car journey was way too long. Just for today, I wished we didn’t have two guards up front.
But then I realized at least it meant we had someone looking out for us. Sebastian and I were so wrapped up in staring at each other, we might not have noticed if the vehicle was surrounded.
“Where are we going?” asked the driver.
I thought his name was Pete, but I was embarrassed to realize I had them all mixed up a little. Rufus seemed to have hired endless numbers of highly-trained black-clad security guards with identical buzzcuts and sunglasses.
Then I felt guilty for not knowing for sure what his name was. It was
just like Sebastian forgetting the name of his own staff member, Dennis. And I’d thought that was terrible.
I resolved to be more attentive in future.
Except all my attention right now was on Sebastian and the way his jaw clenched.
And the way the early evening sunlight hit his dark blond hair, making it gleam gold.
And the curl of his lip as he smiled at me, like we shared a private joke.
“What’s so funny?”
He nodded at the two guards in the front seats. “This poor guy is just driving aimlessly around the streets, trying not to look at us in the back seat. If we don’t answer, he’ll probably drive until the gas tank’s drained. I think the least we can do is tell him where we want to go.”
He stroked his hand up my leg, tapping gently on my upper thigh with casual pitter-patter fingers. My body responded to his touch instantly.
“So, Sebastian. Do you know where you want to go?”
He stared hard at me, worlds of meaning behind his eyes. “I think I have a good idea where I’d like to be right now.”
I bit my lip, lustful urges mounting.
How were we ever going to lose these guys?
Safety suddenly took a back seat to my desperate need to claim him, right now. I couldn’t hold off until we got back to the hotel. That seemed like forever to wait.
“We need to go to Newgrange,”I blurted. “I haven’t been there since I was a kid.”
“Newgrange?” Sebastian started flicking through that damn guidebook.
“It’s an ancient site. One of the oldest Stone Age temples in the world. At solstice, the sun hits a certain point and lights up the whole entrance. It’s incredible. It’s right here, in Meath.”
There was no reason on earth to go there now, other than that my family reunion had reminded me of happy childhood memories spent playing around there. But something deep inside made me want to.
“They have daisies to pick and bluebells to skip through and standing stones to play hide-and-seek behind,” I jabbered. “Wide open space, and then the incredible monuments. We won’t be able to get inside the main temple, because you have to book like a hundred years in advance, but we could watch the sunset on the hill. That’d be lovely, right?”
Sebastian winked at me. “You had me at daisies.” He leaned forward to speak to the security guys. “Yeah, Newgrange. You heard the lady. As fast as you can, please.”
* * *
The guards were adamant that we weren’t going anywhere on our own.
“Absolutely no way whatsoever, Mr Chase. I’m sorry, but my job’s on the line. More importantly, so’s your life.”
They obviously had no idea who they were dealing with.
Sebastian started off with his usual persuasive charm. That didn’t move them. With every refusal, he became more and more authoritative.
At last, he laid down the law.
“Enough. It doesn’t matter what Mr Harley-Jones told you to do. I am Mr Harley-Jones’s boss. That means I am also yours. You either leave us here and wait in the car, as instructed, or I hire replacements right now and you look for new jobs.”
They shook their heads and made irritated phone calls, presumably to Rufus. But we were free to go.
It was reassuring to know they were looking out for us from their parking spot anyhow.
But none of it mattered to me right then. I could hardly wait another second to get my hands on Sebastian.
As we crossed the green grass, I felt a shooting pain in my temple. Then another. I grimaced, rubbing my head.
Sebastian’s pace slowed as he stood in front of the huge monument. He gaped at it, transfixed.
“This is an extraordinarily magical place, Finola. I can feel it. The ancient magic still runs through here like a river.”
I looked all around, as though I might actually be able to see the magic flooding the area. Everything looked as it ever had. But my head started to throb again.
Sebastian saw me massaging my head. “Is it another migraine?”
He looked worried.
“Hope not. Don’t know. It’s been a long day, that’s for sure.”
I pulled his hand and placed it on my waist.
Right here, right now, I felt bold.
“Sebastian, I need you to fuck me,” I whispered. “It’s urgent. I can’t bear another moment without you inside me.”
He looked amazed, but pulled me by the hand round to the back of one of the huge standing stones. There, we were shielded from view from the main grounds.
Few people were around. It was the end of the day. The monument would be closing at any minute.
“There aren’t many places we can go,” he said in a low voice. “If someone walks past these stones, they’ll see everything.”
I saw the lust in his eyes. He wanted me just as much as I wanted him.
“They won’t.”
He lifted me up so we were eye to eye, with my back against the ancient rock. I wrapped my legs round his waist.
“Tell me what you’re going to do to me,” I panted.
I licked my lips. All I could think about was his naked body, rippling and flexing, as he impaled me on his massive cock.
“Don’t tempt me,” he grunted, kissing my neck.
“But I want to tempt you. I want you to rip my clothes off with your tiger teeth and pound me until I scream.”
His hard cock burned into me through all our layers of clothing. I felt the heat rising off him.
“What’s gotten into you?” His complaint was insincere. He nuzzled into my ear, his hot breath sending pangs of yearning through me.
As always, carrying me seemed like no effort at all for him. He maneuvered my pussy right onto the thick ridge of his erection. I moaned into the spring breeze.
“I need you in me now,” I pleaded. “No fooling around. No taking our time. Just hard and fast. Fill me now with your huge cock. I can’t stand to wait a moment longer.”
His face was flushed and wild. He looked as close to his tiger side as he ever could while human.
“People could see us,” he growled again, but he was already undoing his pants.
“I don’t care,” I whispered. “Let them see.”
He scrabbled at my panties with one hand and I thanked the universe for making me put on a skirt today.
It took just a second for him to probe my opening with the tip of his cock. Then, with a jolt, he was inside me.
I yelped. He hissed “Ssh” at me.
Immediately, I was reminded of our less hurried encounter in my shower, back in London. He’d demanded silence then too, because my roommate was in the apartment. How long ago it seemed now.
We rocked together for a few minutes at gradually increasing speed. Our need for one another was unstoppable.
Everything seemed to come down to this. Him, and me, and our bodies, joined like one machine. A red-hot machine, with pistons pumping and steam rising.
Our combined motion reached fever pitch. He slammed into me, over and over again, while I bounced helplessly on him, clinging on with knees and arms.
He panted my name. Then I felt the first hot surge of his fluids shoot inside me.
That was all it took. I shot straight to the top of my own heights of ecstasy.
Biting down on his shoulder, I tried desperately to keep my screams from escaping and attracting an audience.
My pussy squeezed every last drop from him, as I gasped breathlessly into his ear.
His face shimmered with fine beads of sweat.
“God, I love you,” he said.
I stared at him, still getting my breath back. The words took a good long while to sink in.
At last, my brain started working again. “Did you just say what I think I said?”
“Yeah. I think I said what you think I said.”
I watched his handsome face break into a wide smile. His white teeth glinted in the late spring evening light.
My heart swelled fit to bur
st.
“Say it again.”
“Again?” He toyed with me only for a moment. “All right. Again. I love you, Finola Malley.”
I smiled so hard, I thought my face might crack. Tiny prickles of tears hit the corners of my eyes.
“And yes, I know,” he said, “it’s insane, and we’ve only known each other five minutes. And yet, there it is.” He kissed me. “Love is what it is. I loved you the first minute I saw you, running out of that parking garage with your shoes in your hand. You’re my other half. Fate sent you to me and me to you.”
My thoughts clouded over for a second. “But fate also wants to take me away.”
“No.” His jaw set firm again. “No. That’s not going to happen. I told you I wouldn’t let it.”
“If dying is my fate, how can I avoid it?”
“Dying is everyone’s fate, in the end. But I’m not going to let your migraine prophecy come true. That’s for sure.”
He lifted me carefully off him, sliding out and tucking himself away swiftly. I adjusted my panties so they covered me again. They felt wet now, but I didn’t care at all. Feeling his essence inside me was just super hot.
“We should get back to the car,” he said. He took his phone out of his pocket. “Wait… There’s a missed call from Rufus. Let’s head over to the parking lot and I’ll call him on the way.”
He took my hand and led me back across the grass. A peaches-and-cream sunset silhouetted the standing stones. It was beautiful.
“Hello Rufus?” Sebastian was silent for a moment, listening to Rufus talk.
We reached the car and the security guys leaped out, looking annoyed. Sebastian opened my door and I climbed inside.
“Okay,” I heard him saying. “Yep. Got it. We’ll be there in forty minutes or so. Don’t do anything until we arrive.”
He jumped in the car next to me. “Back to the hotel, please, gentlemen. Our apologies for the unscheduled stop. We appreciate your patience.”
He turned to me. “Rufus has more news to tell us. They think they’ve found Lavery.”
“That’s wonderful!”
Maybe this nightmare would end soon. Maybe Sebastian and I could just be together, without the specter of murder hovering over us.
Tiger Billionaire: The Whole Story (BBW Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance Box Set) Page 18
