The Wicked

by Cheyenne McCray

  Guilt lay like a heavy weight in Keir’s gut. He had not taken her with him as many times as he should have, and he had mostly left her alone in this empty room.

  He had brought her food, trinkets, and tiny books from Enchantments that Cassia had given him. The half-Elvin witch hadn’t said a word, just put the books into his hands along with the pretty trinkets.

  There was something about Cassia.

  Galia loved the books, and the sparkling crystals Cassia had sent delighted the Faerie to no end. With the cloths and other items Keir continued to bring her, she had made herself a pretty little place in one corner of the room to play with her things. When she was bored she begged Keir to take her places and he usually did.

  But leaving her in this room so often—it brought an ache to his heart. It reminded him too much of his own childhood, where he had been relegated to sleeping in the barn when his half-brother Hawk had stayed in the family home.

  As the bastard son, Keir had grown up feeling lonely and he did not like the thought that Galia might feel the same way.

  When he closed the door behind him, the Faerie opened her sleepy eyes and gave him a bright smile. She straightened at once. “Keir! Have you come to take me flying with you?”

  He had planned to watch over Rhiannon while she slept, but it would not hurt to let the Faerie fly with him for a while. He knew exactly where he would take her this time.

  “Come.” He opened the door leading out into the corridor and Galia gave him a questioning look.

  “You always make me hide in something,” she said as she came up to hover near his face.

  “No more hiding,” he said in a gruff voice. “Except from humans.”

  The Faerie gave a delighted squeal that made Keir wince. She clasped her hands together and bobbed up and down. “Really? Truly?”

  Keir did not answer, simply held the door open to allow her to fly beside him.

  “I cannot believe it.” She zipped to and fro, making him dizzy with her movements. “You are so sweet, Keir.”

  He narrowed his gaze at her and scowled. “I am not sweet.”

  She grinned. “You are. You just like to hide it beneath all that grouchiness.”

  Keir chose to ignore her and climbed up to the rooftop of the apartment building to the small garden. He was relieved they did not pass any of the other D’Danann. He was not sure how he was going to explain Galia’s presence.

  He welcomed the freedom and exhilaration of his wings unfurling from his back. With a single flap he took to the air and vanished from human sight, Galia zipping ahead of him.

  It did not take long to reach the place he had never shown her before. The search for the Fomorii had been concentrated in the downtown part of San Francisco.

  Ocean breezes hit him full in the face, and Galia’s gasp carried to him on the wind.

  Water stretched out before them, so far that no land could be seen from where they flew.

  Galia seemed stunned into silence for the moment, which in itself was an amazing thing. Keir touched down on the small, sacred stretch of beach the D’Anu witches used for many of their rituals. He folded away his wings and Galia hovered beside him.

  Her eyes widened with wonder. “So much water and it’s so pretty.”

  “The ocean.”

  She looked at Keir. “I have heard of such large bodies of water in Otherworld, but I never thought to see anything like it.” She sighed, her expression one of complete delight.

  Waves crashed against the shore and the sound of the ocean was like a living thing. It smelled clean, and nearly free of the pollutants that marred the beautiful city behind them. Nothing would compare to Otherworld, but this place came close.

  Galia darted down and landed on the sand. She laughed and wiggled her tiny toes, then bent over and scooped up handfuls of sand and let it slip through her fingers.

  “I love it!” She kicked sand into the air then plopped her naked ass onto a smooth section of the beach, close to the water’s edge.

  A larger wave rose, just feet from Galia. Before it crashed down on the Faerie, Keir scooped her up in his hand.

  Water splashed both of them and he growled as he tossed back his head to get his now wet hair out of his face.

  “You must be more careful,” he told her with a scowl.

  Galia grinned up at him. “Can we do that again?”

  Rhiannon slipped from wakefulness to dreams and back again. Strange images pervaded her subconscious that she couldn’t quite reach.

  Whenever she came close, a flash of white light would blind her dream eyes and then it would all start over again.

  Another dream recurred too, one that she’d had since she was a child—

  A woman shoving her, pushing her. Little Rhiannon falling and crying out. Then an explosion before blackness shrouded her.

  Again she would go back to the strange images and flashing white light.

  When Rhiannon gradually came awake, she tried to hold on to a thread of a thought, but it dissolved like every other one had.

  For a while she stared up at the ceiling she’d painted bright pink. The trim was white and she liked the contrast from the yellow of one wall to the pink of her ceiling.

  The blueberry-scented candle had burned low. She pushed herself to a sitting position and stared at the flame that caused shadows to dance on her walls.

  She looked at the dark billowy shapes in her bedroom and memories came back to her of the times she would play with the Shadows. They had been her playmates, her friends, until Aunt Aga…

  Rhiannon’s heart raced a little faster.

  Shadows.

  She swallowed hard. She remembered being afraid to go to sleep at night wondering what would happen if the Shadows inside her released themselves while she slept.

  Right now, those dancing black shapes could well be the things that were supposed to be hidden inside her. What if they hurt someone while she was sleeping?

  At this moment, the Shadows were still inside her and those on the walls were merely a result of flickering candlelight. She could feel their presence within like dark energy balled up tight.

  She rubbed her forehead and was surprised to find her thoughts clear and her head free from pain. Unless she thought of the C-word, that goddess’s name, and her head would ache. So she kept her thoughts focused on the here and now.

  And right now she was hungry.

  Rhiannon slipped out of bed, her stomach growling its agreement. She’d fallen asleep in her now wrinkled clothes.

  Eleven p.m. according to the clock. No wonder she was hungry—she hadn’t eaten since lunch. She was pretty sure her own refrigerator was empty.

  Food had to be in the common room, though, since Jake had installed two big refrigerators that the witches kept stocked just for the D’Danann.

  Could those warriors eat!

  Spirit materialized from nowhere—Silver always said he was like a ghost, and Rhiannon had to agree. The cat ran circles around her ankles and meowed, and she wondered what he wanted.

  She yawned, slipped on her sandals, and walked through her bedroom doorway. Her place was almost completely dark, but she could make out the shapes of her furniture well enough from what little light came in through the windows.

  Besides, she knew her way through her own apartment with or without light—

  Her ankle hit something hard and solid. She lost her balance and pitched forward, giving a small cry as she prepared to hit the floor.

  Just before her face met wood, large hands grabbed her upper arms and stopped her. Even before he pulled her onto his lap and into a chair, she knew it was Keir.

  “Bless it, Keir.” She tried to wriggle out of his grasp but he held her tight. She could barely make out his harsh features in the dim light as he engulfed her with his embrace.

  “What are you doing up, a stór ?” he asked in his usual rough voice.

  “What are you doing in my apartment?” She had tripped over his legs. She tried
to pull away from him. “You almost made me fall flat on my face.”

  “Where were you going?” Damn him and that possessive, commanding voice.

  She narrowed her eyes. “None of your business.”

  He brushed his knuckles across her cheek. “You are my business, my little treasure.”

  His words sent thrills from her belly to that place between her thighs. The heat of his body burned through her clothing and his scent was intoxicating.

  From the time she’d tripped over him she’d been tense, but now all she wanted to do was relax. She allowed herself to sink into him, to feel comfort in his embrace. She couldn’t think beyond the moment and for some reason that was okay. It was the here and now that was important. Why, she didn’t know.

  And right now she didn’t care.

  She relaxed her head against his shoulder and looked up at him. His dark eyes glittered in the dim light, fierce as always, but when she tilted her head back, his features softened. He slipped one of his hands behind her head and played with the hair at the nape of her neck. With his other hand he stroked her face.

  “How are you feeling?” His face was so close to hers she felt his warm breath on her lips.

  Rhiannon sighed. “Right now I’m feeling really, really good.”

  And bless it if she wasn’t. Crazy sensations moved from her belly to her nipples, and down to her center.

  She thought she saw the hint of a smile on his lips, but maybe she just imagined it.

  Either way she wanted him to kiss her. After all this time fighting her attraction to him, she didn’t want to anymore. She wanted him and it was time she admitted it and did something about it.

  When he simply continued stroking her hair at her nape, she reached up and slid her arms around his neck and pulled his face down to meet hers.

  She felt his hesitation as she ran her tongue along the seam of his lips then gently bit his lower lip.

  He groaned and opened his mouth to her and their tongues met. Thrill after thrill rolled through Rhiannon’s belly. He’d kissed her three times before—she remembered every one of them so clearly that more warmth filled her.

  Two times his kisses had been demanding and possessive, and she had to admit she’d loved the way he’d taken control, the way he’d made her feel. Those kisses had been filled with fire and excitement.

  But now—goddess the kiss was so sweet. This one was a gentle exploration that made her body tingle from head to toes.

  He grew hard beneath her as he cradled her in his lap. Her nipples tightened, and her breasts ached. Her kiss grew more demanding as she pulled him closer to her, locking her fingers around his neck.

  Keir broke away with a groan and she whimpered. She needed this—needed him.

  “Gods.” His voice was hoarse and the look on his face was tortured. She wondered why his hands weren’t roaming her body, possessing her like he had before.

  “What’s wrong?” She nipped at his lower lip and he groaned again.

  “You have been ill.” The sound of his Irish brogue caused her stomach to flip.

  He shifted her on his lap as if to ease the pressure of her ass against him and she felt the sheer length and width beneath her. The jeans he wore had to be even more confining than his usual leather gear.

  “I feel fine.” She slid one of her hands from behind his head to his arm and rubbed it, feeling the bulge of his biceps through the cotton of his T-shirt. She skimmed her fingers down through the hairs on his arm to his strong hand. She wrapped her fingers around his. “I feel more than fine.”

  A rumble rose in his chest that vibrated against her. “Rhiannon—”

  “Take me to bed.” She kissed him and drew away. “Don’t wait.”

  “You could get with child,” he said with a frown.

  “I can’t get pregnant because my magic protects me from everything, Keir,” she said. “So you don’t have to worry about that.”

  Keir hesitated for all of two heartbeats. He gripped her tight in his arms and strode from the living room into her bedroom. She snuggled against his chest.

  He settled her on the edge of the bed so she had her hands braced on the mattress, her feet on the floor. Looking up at him, her breathing came a little faster and her heart rate picked up.

  The flickering candlelight cast shadows on Keir’s face but she could see him better now. He looked so good and her body was so ready for him.

  She reached out and slipped her hand into his and tugged, bringing him closer until he stood above her, in between her parted legs.

  His voice was husky and raw. “You need to have time to heal—”

  “Enough of that.” She threaded their fingers together. When he didn’t move, she tugged at him again. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

  The hint of a smile curved the corners of his lips, just a hint, but it gave her such a thrill to know she had made the big, strong, gruff warrior smile.

  “How could I ignore such a threat?” He lowered himself so he was kneeling beside the bed, between her thighs. “What else would you command of me?”

  Rhiannon gave a soft laugh. “Stop making me wait already.”

  Keir looked down at her feet and began to stroke her from her heels to behind her knees and back. He did it almost reverently and she felt she was seeing yet another facet of the man who was still pretty much a mystery to her.

  As his palms moved to her thighs he looked up and met her gaze. In the candlelight his eyes glittered, filled with something she couldn’t read.

  “You’re taking too long,” she whispered.

  That hint of a smile flickered at the corner of his mouth again before it vanished to be replaced by the usual dark, brooding, bad boy look he always had. He moved his palms along her thighs, pushing her skirt up with the movement. She caught her breath as his fingers reached her panties.

  “Why do you wear this?” he said as he ran his palms over the silky material.

  Rhiannon giggled and clapped her hand over her mouth. She never giggled. Keir was intent on studying her undergarment, which was obviously frustrating him from the look on his face.

  “Never had sex with a human before?” Rhiannon said with a grin.

  Keir growled as he found the waistband. He jerked down on the panties so hard the silk tore in his big hands. He ripped the material and tossed it aside.

  Looked like she’d be making a trip to Victoria’s soon.

  Keir studied her like he’d found a prize. Rhiannon shivered and her belly flip-flopped at how close his face was to her center, at the intensity of his expression, and the fire in his gaze.

  He moved closer and his breath warmed her. Her thighs began to quiver from the need to have his mouth on her. “Keir. Please.”

  Instead of answering her, he nuzzled her and she heard his deep inhale. He murmured something in Gaelic. It only added to her excitement and her desire.

  When he finally licked her, she thought she was going to come with just the one swipe of his tongue. She cried out and gripped the sheet tight in her fists to anchor herself.

  He buried his mouth against her and began licking and sucking. Small spasms caused her core to contract and she clamped her jaws with the effort it took not to come too quickly. It felt much too good to rush and she’d never felt this way with any sex partner she’d had.

  She watched him and it only brought her closer to the peak. Her whole body shook and then she couldn’t hold back any longer.

  With a loud cry she climaxed. Her thighs clenched around his head and her body rocked against his mouth. She trembled and shuddered, her mind spiraling.

  He paused and she took deep breaths as her climax slipped away. She almost let herself fall back like she was a pool of melted candle wax, when he started it all over again.

  Her thighs quaked even more as he brought her to another peak, shoving her over the edge, faster this round. Her body shook and she squirmed, needing him to stop—she was too sensitive. With every touch of his tongue, her bo
dy spasmed.

  When she fell back onto the bed, he finally stopped and moved so that they lay side by side. He kissed her, this time a hungry, possessive kiss. It was different from the domination he had shown before and the gentleness they’d just shared in the living room.

  He began to tug at the buttons on her shirt. She slapped his hand away. “Let me, you big barbarian. All I need is to lose more buttons.”

  “Do not make me wait,” he said as he settled his palm on her belly. “I want to see the beauty of your body.”

  Rhiannon’s cheeks heated for some reason at the thought that he was going to see all of her. She fumbled with her buttons but managed to get them undone and her shirt fell open.

  Again he looked frustrated. “Why do you cover your breasts? They are so beautiful.”

  “It’s a bra,” she said with a smile. “It didn’t seem to bother you the time we were in the basement.”

  “I want it off,” he said in an impatient tone that only made her smile more.

  “Hold on. No more ripping off my clothes.” She pushed herself to a sitting position and shimmied out of her shirt, then unfastened the back clasp of her bra. Her heart beat a little faster as she took it off and saw the hunger in his gaze when her breasts were completely bared.

  “This, as well.” He pulled at the waistband of her skirt and she hurried to tug it down.

  When she was completely naked, he took one of his large hands and pushed her back on the bed again. He drew small circles with his fingertips on the soft skin between her breasts and she shivered.

  He cupped one breast and pinched the nipple. Rhiannon was still in the middle of a gasp when he enveloped her other nipple in his warm mouth and sucked.

  She squirmed and moaned as he eased his mouth and hands from one breast to the other. His long hair tickled her chest as he moved and his stubble abraded her skin. He slid one of his hands between her thighs.

  She gave a soft cry as his finger entered her but his mouth took the sound when he kissed her, and turned it into a moan.

  He began fingering her sensitized flesh as he kissed her and in seconds she climaxed so hard, tears moistened her eyes.