Jumping in Puddles

by Barbara Elsborg

  Ellie kissed the worry from his face. “I’ll always look after you, and I don’t know if I can turn you into a faerie. I could try biting you.”

  He laughed. “How old are you?”

  “Double what you think.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “I like the idea of being your boy toy.”

  Ellie stroked his lower lip. “I know all this is surreal, and I don’t know the answers to everything, I just know I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you, and whatever happens, nothing will take that away from me.”

  He kissed her then, and Ellie tried not to clutch him too tightly, tried not to think about a world without him in it. Love at first sight, an invisible thread tying them together, even when they were apart. Ellie didn’t want to lose him, but even if she did, she’d never stop loving him.

  “How big is the shower?” Jago whispered against her mouth. “Room for me to demonstrate the awesome power of my magic wand?”

  She laughed. “Let’s go and see.”

  She led him along the corridor to her bathroom, shared with her siblings when they were around, but usually all hers. There was a freestanding claw-foot tub in front of the window and a large shower inside a curved wall of glass in the corner. They cleaned their teeth together at the washbasin, and even that simple act made Ellie’s heart thump faster. As she watched Jago shave, she stripped off her dress, bra, and sandals and came up behind him to wrap her arms around his waist.

  Ellie untucked his shirt and unfastened the buttons. When she pressed up close behind him and slid her hands over his chest, Jago groaned.

  “How am I supposed to concentrate on not cutting myself?”

  Her hand slipped lower. His cock was already hard.

  “Hurry up,” she whispered. “I want to play with your magic wand.”

  He laughed. “I think we’ve gone far enough with that one.”

  As she reached for his zipper, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

  “Want to answer that for me?”

  Ellie brushed his cock with her fingers as she retrieved the mobile. “It’s Henry.”

  “Answer it. I’ve nearly finished.”

  “Hi, Henry,” she said and put it on speaker.

  “Where are you? I assume Jago’s with you? Or have you dumped him somewhere and stolen his mobile?”

  “He’s shaving. We’re in London at my parents’ house.”

  “I have a tall, dark-haired guy standing next to me who says he’s your brother.”

  “Slightly sulky, doesn’t say much, calls himself Micah?”

  “Yep,” Henry said.

  “He’s just keeping an eye on things while Jago’s away.”

  “I can do that.”

  She caught the hint of annoyance in Henry’s voice. “I know, but there’s a chance some people might come looking for the treasure, and Micah’s good at getting rid of undesirables. Almost makes up for his terrible personality.”

  “I heard that,” Micah said, and Ellie smiled.

  Jago wiped the remaining foam from his face. “We’ll be back soon, Henry. Tomorrow hopefully.”

  “Good, because I’ve had a call from the local paper. They want to interview you.”

  Jago groaned. “Bloody hell.”

  “Less of the complaining. It will be great publicity for Sharwood. Can you believe we’ve had paying visitors arrive already this morning? Though a few of them almost turned round when Ellie’s brother scowled at them. Diane’s son is on the gate, and until we set up some sort of café, Diane and I are making drinks. She’s baking too. I’m going to be the size of an elephant because she insists on me testing everything.”

  “You’re already the size of an elephant,” Jago said.

  Henry growled.

  “Ellie?” Micah said.

  “Yep?”

  “Was the reaction what you’d expected?”

  “No, it wasn’t.”

  “Okay. I’ll call you later.”

  She switched the phone off. Jago removed his shoes and socks and shrugged out of his pants and boxers. He curled his fingers around Ellie’s and tugged her across to the shower.

  “No more interruptions. I want you to just stand there and let me wash you,” he whispered. “You’re a very dirty girl.”

  And didn’t that send a shudder of pleasure ripping down her spine.

  Ellie turned the dial and closed her eyes. She tipped her face to the warm water and instantly felt soothed. Jago started with her hair, rubbing shampoo into her scalp, the pressure of his fingers so sensual, Ellie crumpled against him.

  “Oh wow. That feels really good. Keep going for a couple of hours.”

  “You have the most beautiful hair,” Jago said. “The only problem is that almost every time it brushes against me, I get a hard-on.”

  She chuckled.

  “I lied. It isn’t just your hair. You only need to be in my vicinity, and my cock reacts.”

  His soapy hands swept her chest, and he tugged her closer, his fingers rubbing her nipples. With his cock nestled in the crease of her butt, he lowered his mouth to her neck. As he teased with his lips and his teeth, Ellie’s breathing stuttered. When his fingers slid between her legs and he groaned in her ear, her brain turned to mush, and her problems gurgled down the drain. For these precious moments, the future didn’t matter. The only thing Ellie wanted was to be safe in Jago’s arms.

  Slick with shower gel, they rubbed together like sinuous cats, caressing each other with arms and legs, their fingers entwined, arms and legs linked. Ellie tipped her head back so she could kiss him, and Jago’s tongue speared her mouth with a deep possessiveness that clutched at her heart. Mouths fused, their movements hardened, fingers digging into hip bones as they rutted together. When they pulled back for air, Ellie saw in his face the pleasure she brought him, the flush of his skin, the quickness of his breath, the slight curve of his mouth.

  “You undo me,” he whispered.

  Jago knelt behind her, and when he pressed his face into her butt, Ellie sucked in a lungful of water, but even as she coughed, she spread her legs wider. He licked her thighs and laved her backside as he massaged it with his palms.

  “The cutest butt,” he mumbled.

  When her knees buckled, she rested her elbows on the shower wall, lost in the unexpected bliss of having her bum played with.

  Then he licked her asshole, and Ellie slammed her mouth against her arm to muffle her squeal.

  “What…?” she gasped and tried to pull away.

  “Let me. Please.” Jago held her firm, and really, she didn’t want to go anywhere.

  He nudged her legs apart, spread her butt cheeks with his hands, and teased her, the roughened pad of his finger circling her tightening hole.

  “Relax,” he whispered. “Trust me. I’m a doctor.”

  She laughed. “I can’t believe you said that.”

  “Did it work?” He nipped her backside.

  “Ouch. No.”

  “Just let me touch you. Don’t think about it; slide into it.” He landed a flurry of kisses over her lower back and down the line of her bottom.

  Ellie imagined herself dissolving as water cascaded over her head and tension seeped from her muscles to make her sag.

  “You have to stay on your feet,” Jago said with a laugh.

  His finger was still nudging her anus, circling, pressing. She sucked in a breath against the sharp burn when it slid in, but he was slow and gentle and persistent, twisting in and out until Ellie stopped thinking about what he was doing and began to enjoy the sensation. When he moved his other hand to her clit and rubbed her there, a deep ache swirled tighter and tighter around her womb. She wasn’t sure how much longer her legs would support her.

  Somehow he turned her round so he knelt facing her, his fingers back in both entrances to her body, and he fluttered his tongue over her clit. Looking down at his dark head flipped switches in her body one after the other at supersonic speed as if she was wired into a circuit. Crackling fi
re raced up her nerves with the speed and power of an electric storm. A wicked nip at the tight bud of her clit, and she flew apart before she could take a breath, flailing in a maelstrom of pleasure. And all the time Jago licked and sucked and lapped and fucked her with his fingers.

  As she floated down, he pushed himself to his feet and lifted her so her legs were over his arms and he supported her butt. Ellie clung to his neck.

  “You’re going to put your back out,” she whispered.

  “Totally worth it, especially if you kiss it better.”

  The ball of his glans pressed against her folds, and as he slid his tongue into her mouth, he arched his hips and pushed his cock inside her. The pleasure was so intense Ellie wondered how she’d lived without it, yet understood that all this time she’d been waiting for this man. I can’t lose him. In this position, he had to do almost all the work. Ellie could do little more than hang on for the ride and enjoy it. She clenched around him on each upthrust, watched the changes in his face, and felt the moment his body shifted toward orgasm.

  He pulled her down harder, held her closer, ramming his hips to drive his cock into her at jackhammer speed. The pressure in her head rose, an overheated steam engine ready to blow. Ellie couldn’t bear it, yet didn’t want it to stop. She clenched hard around him, her muscles giving a final kiss to the sensitive head of his cock, and they exploded together. Jago’s cock swelled and jerked inside her, bathing her in hot spurts of cum.

  He pressed his mouth to her ear. “I love you; I love you; I love you; I love you.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  They emerged from Ellie’s room late that afternoon. Not much of their time had been spent sleeping. She’d never felt so close to anyone. They’d talked and memorized every part of each other’s bodies while what would happen tonight hung over them like a black cloud. Ellie knew there was a chance she’d never see Jago again and wondered if he sensed that too, because he kept touching her, always wanting part of his body in contact with hers.

  She was thrilled he’d accepted what she’d told him, more than thrilled. If he’d laughed or looked at her in disbelief, she or her parents would have had to wipe his mind, and she’d never have seen him again. Even if he did eventually remember, he wouldn’t believe, and they’d have moved.

  Her mother used to read the book to them when they were children, rules they must not break. One said that if they ever revealed they were a faerie and weren’t believed, they’d start to die. She didn’t know whether it was true, but until this morning, she’d never said it to anyone.

  Hand in hand, they descended the stairs, and Ellie led him through into the kitchen. Her mother had filled the table with food. Her eyes shone too brightly as she smiled at them, and Ellie’s stomach churned.

  “Hope you’re hungry,” her mum said.

  The last thing Ellie wanted to do was eat, but she tugged Jago down beside her and put the Kewen on the table.

  “Wave to your brother.” Her mother nodded toward the laptop sitting on the counter. Micah’s face filled the screen.

  “Hi, Micah. Is all okay at Sharwood?” Ellie asked.

  “Yes. Henry is with Diane. I’m in the gatehouse using his computer.”

  The door flew open, and Asher strolled in. Ellie felt Jago tense as her brother stared at him. Jago rose to his feet.

  “Asher, this is Jago,” Ellie said.

  They shook hands.

  “Jago knows what we are,” Ellie said.

  Asher raised his eyebrows. “Is this the miracle I’ve been ordered home to see?”

  Ellie took a deep breath. “I found the Kewen.”

  Asher slumped down on the opposite side of the table. “Bloody hell.” He stared at the bag. “Is that it? Can I see?”

  Ellie tipped it out.

  “Don’t touch it,” her mother said. “Just in case.”

  The door opened again, and her sister froze in the doorway.

  “Pixie, meet Jago.”

  Her sister slunk into the room like a naughty puppy.

  Jago stood and shook her hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

  “Sorry,” Pixie said. “Sorry, sorry, sorry.” Then she grinned. “That should cover me for a few more cock-ups.” Her face fell when she saw what lay on the table. “I’m not going.”

  “Pixie!” snapped her mother.

  “I’m not. What if I don’t like it and I can’t come back? You can’t make me go.”

  Their father came in, and Pixie flew to his side. “I don’t want to go.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “The week before last you were desperate to go.”

  “That was because I was being stalked—again.”

  “What about you, Asher?” Ellie turned to her brother.

  He twisted a fork in his fingers. “I guess I’m a little like Pix. I don’t like the idea of not being able to come back.”

  Ellie tensed. “But you’ve always said you wanted to live in Faerieland.”

  “Because that’s what we’re all supposed to want.” Asher stared at his father. “It was easier to go along with the fantasy when I didn’t think there was a vampire in heaven’s chance of it becoming reality. I’d like to go, to see it, but I’d also like to come back.”

  “I feel the same,” said Micah.

  “Me too,” said her mother.

  There was silence for several seconds while her father stared slack-jawed at her mother.

  “Cait?” her father whispered. “But I thought that was what you always wanted. To go home and see your family.”

  “I am home. You’re my family.”

  Her father pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

  Some emotion bubbled in Ellie that she couldn’t identify. A combination of annoyance, relief, and fear.

  As she tried to stand up, Jago pulled her down. “Wait. We need to discuss this more.”

  “What do you have to do?” Micah asked. “What did the slate say?”

  “Jump from London Bridge into the Thames,” Jago said.

  Even hearing him say it made her stomach go into freefall.

  “Shhhhit,” Pixie whispered.

  Asher reached across the table and squeezed Ellie’s fingers. They all knew how scared she was of water.

  “The bastards,” Asher muttered. “Why the hell make it so hard to take the damn thing back?”

  “Maybe Oberon the fifth never wanted it back,” her father said. “And what he started has merely been continued by his successors. Ellie has evidence the Kewen wasn’t stolen but handed over in exchange for three human children, two of them ancestors of Jago.”

  “That’s not going to go down well,” said Asher.

  “What are you going to do?” Pixie asked her.

  “We.” Ellie’s father sat by her side. “We have a number of options. We could carry on as we have been—”

  “I don’t think we have options,” Ellie said. “They’ll know by now in Faerieland the ring has surfaced. I think we should assume the banished fae who Pixie spoke to will have used the knowledge to try and lessen their sentence.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Pixie gulped.

  “What’s done is done.” Ellie gave her a little smile. “We can’t lie about it. In the end that would bring us more trouble. I’ll be expected to bring the Kewen to Faerieland. But what isn’t expected is that I’ll have demands. I’ll leave the original bill of sale here and take a copy. I suspect the current Oberon won’t want his ancestor’s name stained by the truth. So the question is, what do you all want? To stay as you are, going to Whitendale every year to replenish your energy? More power? Less power? A chance to spend time on the other side? The problem will always be one of trust. But if we keep the bill of sale safe, I think that gives us an advantage.”

  “Can’t we just recharge somewhere convenient?” Pixie asked. “Does it have to be the middle of a bloody bog?”

  “I thought you didn’t want the power anyway,” her mother said.

  “I’d like more,” Pixie whispe
red. “What I have now is neither one thing nor the other. I’m fed up of running out of energy.”

  “You should conserve like the rest of us,” her father said.

  “I’m happy as I am,” said her mother. “It would be nice to visit my family, but I won’t risk losing any of you.”

  “I’d book a couple of weeks’ vacation there,” Asher said. “If I liked it, I wouldn’t mind being able to move between the two worlds at whim.”

  Ellie turned to the laptop. “Micah?”

  “I’ll jump with you.”

  Jago stiffened at her side, and Ellie knew why. He wanted to jump with her.

  “You need to come back,” her father said. “We have to do this tonight.”

  The laptop screen went blank.

  “We might as well eat,” her mother said.

  They all picked at the food. Jago had his fingers wrapped around her hand, his foot hooked around hers.

  “I can’t let you jump with me,” she said quietly. “I don’t know if you’d be allowed into Faerieland.”

  Jago didn’t say anything for a moment, but the grim set of his face, the tension in his jaw told her he wasn’t happy.

  “If you end up in the Thames, you might drown. I don’t want you to take that risk,” she whispered.

  “What if I do?”

  JAGO HOVERED BETWEEN belief and disbelief. He really wanted to believe, told himself he did, and yet deep down, knew he didn’t. He still hunted for some logical explanation. He ignored what he couldn’t explain and thought of magicians who could make coins disappear into thin air, guess what playing card you’d chosen, and make elephants replace jumbo jets. One thing was certain. This family stood together, and he wasn’t prepared to lose Ellie by standing apart.

  When Micah walked in less than twenty minutes later, his face gray, his eyes almost white, Jago dismissed the fact that he’d seen Henry’s kitchen in the background of the laptop screen. It had to be a trick, and he was the only one not in on it.

  They want the Kewen. Was that it? This was some elaborate scheme to get their hands on the jewels? Why go to all this trouble? Why not knock him over the head and steal it?