Sheridan heard Meara gasp, saw the fingers loosen for an instant on her staff and took the opportunity to strike. Hard. Yes. Right on her kneecap. Point to her.
Meara rolled over with a cry of anger, leaping to her feet with the grace of a cat, staff still firmly in hand. “How do you know that word? It’s a child’s story. A fantasy.”
Sheridan shrugged. “So is most of my life lately. That doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
“Just one more reason,” Meara muttered, her eyes brightening to an eerie purple. A familiar light that made Sheridan’s heart race. She had a feeling this particular Fae wouldn’t need that big a nudge to turn Horde.
She reached out to know Meara. Just enough. There. Right on the surface. Not even that well hidden. “You’re close to the queen and her ladies, aren’t you, Meara? You are one of her favorites. Do you tell your evil puppet masters everything she says and does? Or only the really juicy gossip?”
Meara bared her teeth and came at her with renewed speed and aggression. Sheridan blocked most of the blows, but not all. She could feel Meara’s rage and jealousy. Knew her thirst for power, thwarted as she was by her station, had been her weakness. Knew she wanted the spear, and if it could not be retrieved, she was determined to stop the Fianna from possessing it.
But she wasn’t the only one.
Sheridan swung her staff like a baseball bat, feeling it connect with Meara’s shoulder. This was no longer just a game. “All the queen’s ladies? I admit I wasn’t expecting that, but it would explain why she’s letting this happen. Have they been whispering in her ear? Making her doubt her loyalties? Making her question the Fianna? Her faith in Myrddin?”
She knew Damon would be able to hear their conversation. She trusted that. Because from the expression on Meara’s face, she had a feeling she might not make it out of here on her feet.
“If we could have read you, we could have discovered a way to retrieve the spear before anyone found out what you are. What you had to be to get it in the first place, which those morons guarding you would know if they had two brain cells to rub together. Then this wouldn’t have needed to end so bloody. And in front of your poor, helpless cousin too.” Meara pretended to pout, but her eyes sparkled. “That would have been a shame though. I do love to have my fun.”
Sheridan was done. She’d allowed herself to be bruised and bullied. Allowed herself to be put in this ridiculous outfit. But now she just wanted to kick this Faery’s ass. “By all means, let’s not miss your fun time.”
She was strong. And now she knew it wasn’t just because she was Druid. She had powerful blood in her veins, and Raj had trained her endlessly for months. She also “knew” the kind of fighter Meara was. She didn’t need help to bring this bitch down.
Sheridan ducked when Meara’s weapon whizzed over her head, sliding her staff beneath hers and between Meara’s arms and falling onto her back. The move sent the Fae flying over her body to crash onto the hard ground behind her.
She got to her feet just as Meara stopped rolling, using her staff as a walking stick to hide her limp from the watchful Finn. “Having fun yet, Meara? I am. I’ve lost track of the points thing,” she added with a shrug. “But points are for sissies, right?”
Meara was at her side in a heartbeat—she really needed to learn that trick—with a cut on her forehead and murder in her eyes. “So are rules.”
Sheridan felt the static charge an instant before she was flying. She’d been hit with one of those Fae bolts. The bitch was cheating. God, and it hurt. She spoke to the air. “Damon, tell Finn not to overreact. I’m still breathing. Ouch. God, I don’t like fairies.”
It was a good thing Meru’s husband had such big ears. She used her staff to pull herself to her feet again and glanced up at the queen. The woman’s hands were fluttering and she seemed more unsure than she’d ever seen her. Good. At least she hadn’t gone completely dark side.
She hadn’t done anything to stop the fight either, a fact both the Vikings had noticed. Sheridan grinned past her pain. The queen wasn’t going anywhere, not with them standing on either side of her.
When Meara landed with a cry of pain at her feet, Sheridan sighed. Damon obviously hadn’t relayed her message to Finn.
“Meara of Aisling has used her powers in single combat,” he shouted to the crowd of shocked onlookers. “This disqualifies her without equivocation. She has also admitted to attempted treason and collusion with the queen’s ladies to incite discord and to hand one of our sacred artifacts over to the Dark. Let her punishment be suitable to the crime.”
Meara got to her knees, shaking with rage. She looked off to the side, where those favored by the royal court were gathered. “Get the human. We end this now.”
Sheridan watched as several flashed away before her eyes. Before she could register what Meara had said. Get the human? She met Finn’s gaze across the space that separated them. “Kyle.”
“Over here, Druid.” Sheridan heard the male voice close behind her and turned. It was a man who looked very much like Finn. Her heart sank. Whoever he was, he was holding Kyle up in the air with one hand. As if he were a toy. A breakable toy.
He sneered at her expression. “Worried about your little friend? Don’t be. No one wants him dead yet. We all want to taste him first. I’m surprised my brother hasn’t already. But then, he’s been on a strict diet since he killed my sister. Did he tell you about that? That he went off to play hero because we couldn’t stand the sight of him anymore? Because he chose a lesser species over his own family?”
There was anarchy in the stands around her. She could hear it. Knew some of the Fae were escaping, some were moving closer. She sensed it all, but she kept her focus on Kyle and the Fae holding him.
She took a few careful steps forward. “So you’re what? Paying your brother back like this? Rude-awakening alert. The human you’re holding? Finn isn’t fond of him. He’s jealous, if you want to know the truth. Killing him won’t exactly make Finn suffer.”
She snared Kyle’s attention. He would play along.
He started to struggle in the Fae’s strong grip, legs flailing. “Oh God, she’s right,” he whimpered pitifully. “Finn hates me because I’m her partner. He wants her to himself. Oh God, I’m gonna die!”
The Fae was defensive. “I know that. I may not be the kind of mind reader my brother is. The kind of tracker. But I know his weaknesses.” His chuckle was not one of joy. “I know what can hurt him.”
Sheridan moved closer. “What? Tell me, please, because I thought nothing could hurt the pompous bastard.”
He grimaced, holding Kyle higher, farther away from her. “Don’t. I’m not human. I can’t be so easily fooled. Don’t pretend you haven’t been begging him for more every night. That you could resist the perfect Prince Finn. The favored son.”
“Who’s pretending?” She shrugged. “That doesn’t mean I like him. Or that I wouldn’t want to know about one or two weaknesses for future reference.”
People were fighting behind her. She heard Meara cry out, drawing the Fae’s attention, and she pounced, knowing there wouldn’t be much time. “Now, Kyle.”
She said a little prayer and took a few running steps, jumping and aiming her booted feet at his chest. Maybe if she were human, she couldn’t have done this. Then again—Kyle’s well-aimed kick caught the bastard right in his eye, forcing him to drop her partner while he shouted in surprised pain—humans did a pretty good job on their own.
Sheridan bent down to pick up her staff and knock the Fae unconscious, but before she could she saw that Kyle had only achieved temporary freedom. Two of the queen’s ladies were on top of him, sucking on his skin. Sheridan could see the glow. She knew what they were doing. “Get off of him, you wingless little life-suckers!”
She raced toward him, but Ceri got there first. Sheridan saw the glint of a dagger an instant before one of the ladies scrambled away, without two of her fingers.
Ceri’s smile was lusty. “Anyone else
want to take what belongs to me?”
The other woman flashed away before any of her body parts could be severed. Sheridan swallowed. “Good job, Ceri. Is Kyle okay?”
“Traumatized,” he muttered, answering for himself. “But okay.”
Her sigh of relief came too soon.
A powerful hand grabbed her ankle and Sheridan was falling face first into the dirt. She reached for her staff, dug her fingers into the loose ground, but nothing could stop her momentum as she was dragged back to the center of the arena.
“Brother,” the Fae shouted, telling her she should have bashed his head in when she had the chance. “I have your latest toy. Let go of my wife and maybe I’ll give her back to you.”
“Your wife will pay for her crimes,” Finn growled. “As you will. As we all must.”
Sheridan looked over her shoulder and saw a subdued Meara at Finn’s side, looking much worse for wear. There were also several male Fae lying still and bloody at Finn’s feet. Were they alive? And where were the queen’s ladies?
Finn’s brother chortled. “You never paid. You branded yourself and went off to live with them. To live away from your people with your blinders still on. You couldn’t see our true path. The right path. You couldn’t see that Fiona wasn’t wrong. She knew, like I did, that humans didn’t deserve what they had. All that life they wasted. You never learned.”
“I guess not.” Finn’s voice was so sad, Sheridan almost felt like crying. “I’ll let your wife go, brother. Just put Sheridan down.”
The crazed Fae was in no mood to bargain. Not anymore. “You never learned, but I could teach you. If I kill all your friends here, if I break this one, would that turn you? Would you lose your control? Lose yourself to the darkness? We could do it together, brother. Make ourselves into what you most despise.”
Finn didn’t answer, but Meara did. “He thinks the mongrel is his síorghrá.” Her laughter was pained. “Killing her should be enough to push him over the line.”
Sheridan struggled in his grasp, but he was strong. She saw Ceri, still protecting her charge, and held out her hand. Understanding immediately, the beautiful warrior threw the dagger in Sheridan’s direction.
She grabbed it just in time. Finn’s brother was lifting her off the ground by her ankle. Sheridan could feel the bones creak as if they would break, pain shooting up her leg.
“I’ll kill her,” he was saying. “I’ll kill her and then I’ll watch you suffer.”
“Don’t bet on it,” she grunted, stabbing the dagger into his shoulder with all her might.
She landed on the ground an instant before all hell broke loose. In less than a heartbeat, Finn tackled his brother to the ground. Fighting—not with magic—but with his bare hands, beating his face bloody.
“Was it you? After all this time, was it you all along?” Finn was shouting. “What lies did you tell her? What did you say to make her believe you? To make her kill?”
Sheridan saw Damon and the others move closer, as well as several Fae holding those who’d attacked her in custody. Still, Finn couldn’t seem to stop.
“Sheridan, you need to stop him.” Ceri was behind her, whispering, “He must stop soon. His rage, his pain is too great. He is intent on killing him, but if he does it this way, then his brother gets his wish.”
He would get his wish. Did that mean Finn would go crazy? Turn Horde like Eonis? Oh God. “What can I do?”
Ceri squeezed her arm. “I will help you. But know that you will have to give yourself to him. Submit. The state he is in, that is the only way to pull him back. There is no time for niceties or private rooms. Give him what he needs. His síorghrá. His other half.”
She couldn’t lose him to the Dark. Not now. Not after all they’d been through. “Help me.”
She listened to Ceri’s whispers and repeated her words out loud. “Finn of Aisling. Let him go and listen to me. Hear the plea of your síorghrá.” God that sounded strange. “Finn, please stop.”
His hand, raised to deliver another punishing blow, stilled. When he looked up at her his eyes were wild. Too wild. Scaring her. Reminding her of someone else.
No. This was Finn. Her Finn. She knew him. Trusted him. “Please, Finn.”
He stood, releasing the body of his unconscious brother and staring at her in silence. Could he see her? Did he know who she was? “What now?” she murmured to Ceri.
“Now Damon will take Meru away.” Ceri made a shooing motion with her hand. “And you, Sheridan Kelly, will roll over onto your knees and offer yourself to your lover.”
“I thought you said Fae sex wasn’t like Werewolf sex.” Meru’s fading words made Sheridan blush. She’d thought so too.
Finn was growling.
Maybe they’d both been wrong.
Sheridan hesitated for a moment longer, her heart racing and her body heating at the idea of what she was about to do. Her favorite fantasy. Finn taking her here. In front of everyone.
She started to shake. It was overwhelming, the emotions vying for supremacy inside her. Fear and heat, excitement and love. But at this moment, the feeling in the lead was lust. Thinking about what might come next—after she submitted—she groaned, rolling over to press her head on her hands and her ass in the air.
Ceri leaned down near her head, speaking softly so she wouldn’t distract Finn. “Spread your legs. Good, he’s responding. Now tell him you are ready to join with him forever. Ready to know him. To share yourself completely.”
“Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” Why was she afraid? And why did her feelings of trepidation only enhance her need for him? It must be another Fae thing. Oh hell, she hoped it was a Fae thing.
“I’ve only heard about it, so I can’t be sure. But I believe I’m right.” Ceri’s words did nothing to reassure her.
And then he was there. On his knees with his hot hands on her hips. Sheridan repeated Ceri’s words, adding a few of her own. “I’m ready now, Finn. Ready to join with you. To know you. To share myself completely. I trust you, do you hear me? I trust you.”
He groaned behind her. “Don’t pull away again,” he warned roughly. “Don’t leave me.”
He was caressing her bare thighs and she couldn’t help but shudder. “I won’t.”
She heard the sound of fabric tearing, saw one of the buttons from his pants land beside her and she bit her lip so hard it bled. This was happening. This was really happening.
Her arousal soaked her sex and the buttery fabric between her legs. She felt his fingers curl inside it and heard the ripping that preceded the feel of cooler air on her wet sex. Nothing to separate them, she thought. Nothing ever could.
“No one move. No one look away,” Ceri cautioned when movement behind her made Finn’s fingers tighten and the rumbling in his chest grow louder. “He’ll see it as a threat or a dismissal of what he’s about to do. Remember the old stories.”
What he was about to do. He pushed two fingers, then three, deep into her sex. Claim her. He was going to claim her. Not like the temporary claim Ceri and Dian had on Kyle to protect him. Like a mate. Forever.
She didn’t want to run away this time. She wanted to claim him right back.
Sheridan rocked against his fingers and he used the palm of his other hand to spank one bare cheek. Oh yes. She rocked her hips again, waiting for his next reaction. Would he spank her like he had the night Kyle was claimed? Make her come like that in front of everyone?
He didn’t spank her again.
“Oh God.” Her hands dug into the dirt around her, scrambling for something to hold on to as he filled her with one long, hard stroke. So big. She gasped for air. “Finn.”
“You are mine,” he moaned as he pulled his hips back and rocked forward again. Slowly. Deeply. Completely. “Say it.”
“I’m yours. Fuck, please, Finn. I’m yours. Don’t stop.” It felt good. Perfect. The hushed, breathless crowd only made each sensation sharper. She could feel their eyes on her. On them. It was primal. Bl
ood and dirt and sweat and sex.
She looked down at her hands and noticed the faint sparks of light beneath her skin. Knew her beautiful man would be glowing with energy by now, lost in his desire for her.
Finn. The otherworldly Fae who wouldn’t take no for an answer. The man who saved her and stole into her dreams. The one who drove her crazy.
She felt one of his hands leave her hips to slip between their bodies. He pressed his fingers against her already stretched sex and hummed. “So wet for me, love. Will you let me do anything? Claim you any way I choose?”
She licked the blood from her lower lip, savoring the taste on her tongue. “Anything. Yes.”
His next thrust was harder, more of what she needed. Sheridan spread her legs wide, pushing back against him, begging without words for more. Finn’s body jerked against hers, then he groaned again. His wet fingers slid around her hip and in, and then they were pushing between the cheeks of her ass. Going to that forbidden place that she’d loved. Pressing inside her until she was filled front and back. Oh God, yes. This. In front of everyone. Anything. Everything.
She trusted him.
“You’ll let me claim you here.” Finn wasn’t asking. “You’ll come on my cock and then I’ll fill this sweet, perfect ass. Make you mine in every way.”
A male groan that didn’t belong to anyone she knew made her bury her face in her hands. But it didn’t make her stop. It didn’t quiet her moans as he slung his hips against hers, harder and faster until she was quivering.
Until she was coming. Shattering. Falling. “Finn.”
“Yes!” His shout was filled with triumph. A victor claiming his spoils. The shocks of her climax were still rocking her body as they had before, not fading but increasing, when she felt the wet head of his cock pressing against her ass.
Her heart stopped. “Finn, I—” The head of his cock stretched her ass so wide she swore she felt a small pop. A moment of sharp pain and then relief. Sensation. Too much sensation. Pain and pleasure. Agony and need. Climax after climax, one indistinguishable from the other, building on each other. Everything was happening at once, making her head spin and her body quake against his.
Behind the Veil: 3 (Temptation Unveiled) Page 19
