Wicked Enchantment

by Anya Bast

  “Nonsense.” Carina hooked her arm with his. “I’m sure he can’t think of anything more interesting than spending time with one beautiful woman and a less-pretty married one.”

  “I enjoy spending time with gorgeous women and you definitely fall into that category, Carina,” answered Gabriel with a smile.

  Carina grinned at Aislinn. “I really like this man.”

  “Yes,” Aislinn murmured. “So does everyone else, it seems.”

  “Except for Kendal,” Carina answered. “Everyone’s talking about what happened last night. That was some kiss and Kendal’s reaction was classically jealous.”

  Aislinn sighed. “I noticed that, but it’s not because he loves me. It’s only because he loves himself.” She turned her gaze to Gabriel. “So you’re coming along, then?”

  “I can hardly wait to go dress shopping.”

  “It takes a man who is very secure in his masculinity to say that,” snickered Carina.

  Together they walked to the entrance of the building that faced the streets of downtown Piefferburg. The hobgoblin servant at the double doors of the Rose Tower greeted them with an incline of his small, bald head. “Miss Finvarra, your car is here.”

  The three of them exited onto the street, where a cool, early spring breeze blew, and allowed the driver to usher them into the back of the limo she’d ordered to take them to the shop. The back of both the towers looked out on Piefferburg Square, where no cars were allowed, only pedestrian traffic. Along the edges of the huge cobblestone square were the most successful of troop businesses—some securities and law firms, a few cafés, and some retail shops.

  In the center of the square was the charmed iron statue of Jules Piefferburg, founder of their prison. The statue could not be taken down because of its magick, but it could be altered and maligned, and usually it was . . . badly . . . profanely. Sometimes it was dressed up according to holiday or season, but usually in a way that disrespected the man it represented. The only other notable landmark of Piefferburg Square was the clock tower on the north side, perfectly in between the two courts, like it was counting down to something.

  The area around the front of the Rose Tower was the richest and poshest of downtown Piefferburg, complete with all the troop-run jewelry stores, clothing establishments, swanky restaurants, and coffee shops. Piefferburg and Piefferburg City had a thriving economy, though it still received much financial help from the world outside its borders and many shipments of supplies. Aislinn figured they were entitled to it, since they were keeping them in prison.

  She understood the area around the Black Tower was also posh, except inclined toward the nightmarish portion of the fae troop. Aislinn was curious to see it, though she’d never say so out loud.

  The car pulled away from the curb and started down the street. Troop passersby were dressed nicely in this part of town and paid very little attention to Seelie vehicles, which were commonplace here.

  “You said Ronan and Bella are doing well,” Aislinn said to Gabriel once they were moving, “but you didn’t really elaborate. Can you?”

  Gabriel gazed out the window as he spoke. She sat across from him in the back of the limo and Carina sat beside him. “They came to the Unseelie Court under the Summer Queen’s banishment last winter. The Shadow King took them in immediately. Ronan was far more at ease in the Black Tower than Bella was, but it didn’t take long for her to see it wasn’t as bad a place as most Seelie believe it to be. They have an apartment there, have made friends, and seem to be happy. I believe they’re trying to have children, may the powers that be allow it.”

  No fae could really try to have children. Fae fertility didn’t work that way. Women couldn’t use birth control to prevent a pregnancy, it never worked. Just as women couldn’t time intercourse to increase the chance of conception. Pregnancy was at the whim of the Goddess Danu.

  Aislinn blew out a slow breath. “I hope you’re telling me the truth.”

  He turned his face from the window to study her. “Why would I lie?”

  She looked him in the eye. “There’s something about you I don’t trust. Call it my intuition.”

  “Still? I think that’s your ex talking, Aislinn. You don’t truly believe I’d lie to you. Or perhaps you hold the same bias against me that Kendal does.”

  “Of course not. It’s just that I don’t understand why the Shadow King would take Ronan back so easily. I mean, he defected the Black for the Rose and then pulled that job for the Phaendir—he worked for the Phaendir, Gabriel—I’m surprised the Shadow King didn’t kill him on the spot.”

  “He defected to the Rose for Bella, for love. The Shadow King understood that. He’s not without a heart. Also, Ronan is a powerful mage, Aislinn. You’d be surprised how much currency you have in the Black if you possess strong magicks.” He paused and his eyelids lowered halfway. Lazily, he asked, “Satisfied?”

  “It sounds plausible enough.”

  “I’m happy you think so,” he replied with a wry twist to his lips. “I aim to please you.” The last words were spoken in a low, smooth voice and with a double entendre that made her lower stomach flip. She looked out the window at the stores they were passing.

  The car reached the dress shop and let them out. The driver would return when they called for him. On their way into the small, high-class establishment, Carina squeezed Aislinn’s upper arm and hissed, “Be nice!” Gabriel was already on his way inside.

  “I’m honest and I always voice my feelings and opinions.” She hesitated outside the door. “I can’t pretend to be anything but what I am, Carina.”

  “Okay, but there’s this little thing called tact. Try some, you’ll like it.”

  GABRIEL was glad she was both honest and intuitive. For her sake it was better, though it was making his job much harder than he’d ever imagined it would be.

  He watched her enter the store, having heard every word of their hushed conversation. It was good that she didn’t trust him. Healthy. She shouldn’t trust him. Gabriel liked her honesty, too. He knew where he stood with her. No guessing. And that was refreshing.

  Aislinn was an intelligent person and insightful, too. Those two things, combined with her beauty and the mystery of her magick, made her intriguing to him on a level not many women were.

  He genuinely liked her.

  Too bad he was duping her.

  An odd, heavy sensation filled his chest, wilting the smile he wore as he gazed at her. For some inexplicable reason his thought process had diminished his pleasure. What was this feeling? Aislinn breezed past him, touching the gowns hanging on the racks near the door of the small, crowded shop. His smile completely faded and the heavy weight grew as he watched her. Was this regret?

  Gods . . . was it . . . guilt?

  Carina hit him playfully on the shoulder. “You’re frowning. What’s wrong?”

  He blinked and jerked, not sure how long he’d been standing there so annoyingly confused. “Where’s the lingerie and let’s see if we can get Aislinn into some,” he growled and walked toward his prey.

  “There’s my boy,” Carina purred.

  Aislinn had stopped to finger the material of a dark red gown with a plunging neckline and back. It was sleeveless and had a long straight sheath skirt. Aislinn would be a knockout in that dress. It would set off her light skin tone, the silver blond fall of her subtly curling hair, and her beautiful light gray eyes.

  “It’s beautiful,” he murmured as he imagined taking it off her. She’d look even better swathed in nothing but moonlight. Or just his hands.

  She flipped the tag up at him. “It’s Valentino and it’s twelve thousand dollars.”

  “You can’t afford it?”

  “Oh, yes, I can afford it,” she said, moving to the next rack of gowns. “My family had money before Piefferburg was created.” She flicked him a sour glance. “We don’t live off the backs of the troop. However, I make it a point never to spend that much on any article of clothing for myself. It’s too
self-indulgent.”

  “I would spend that much in a heartbeat,” murmured Carina, coming to stand beside Gabriel. She fingered the rich material of the dress, then wandered off toward the purses.

  “Okay,” answered Gabriel, pushing past Carina. “Then let me buy you something expensive and self-indulgent.”

  She turned and narrowed her eyes at him. “No.”

  “You have to let me. It’s to show you my appreciation for being my guide this week.”

  She turned her back to him. “No, thank you. It’s not necessary.”

  “Something slinky and sexy for your next lover, maybe?” He paused. “Who won’t be me.” Lie, lie, lie.

  “No.”

  “Ah, that means you will be taking me as your next lover?”

  A clerk came near. Aislinn smiled and waved her away. “Hardly.”

  “Good. We’re agreed. Let me buy something for the next lucky man. You have no reason to say no and you’ll offend me if you do, since I’m trying to repay you for your kindness.”

  She halted near a rack of designer shoes. “I haven’t been very kind to you.”

  “All the more reason to relent and allow me to buy you a gift.”

  She ran her index finger down a pair of red Jimmy Choos. “I’ll say yes just to get you to quit and let me shop. I have a feeling you won’t stop until I give in to you.”

  Oh, she was right about that.

  He flashed a smile and hoped it didn’t look as predatory as he felt. “I’m nothing if not persistent.”

  “Believe me, I noticed.” She turned and began to saunter away. “When I find something suitable, I’ll let you know.”

  “It has to be lingerie and you have to let me see it on you before I buy it. You know, to make sure your next lover will approve.”

  Her steps faltered, but she only called airily over her shoulder, “Fine.”

  He blinked. He thought she’d howl at that string he’d attached.

  Having no particular interest in women’s clothing other than when he was taking it off someone, Gabriel watched Aislinn. She touched the gowns, examined their sizes and lengths, talked to the clerk about alterations, but she did it all with a dull look in her eyes. Whereas Carina seemed beatific in the shop, with her ability to buy new things to wear at court, Aislinn touched the garments with listless, roaming hands, as though searching for something that wasn’t there, something she knew she’d never find between the four walls of the building. While all the time she kept glancing out the plate-glass window to the street and the passersby.

  Aislinn Christiana Guinevere Finvarra of the Seelie Court, supposed purebred Tuatha Dé Danann, was bored. Bored with her life, yearning for more. That was another secret she kept from her peers. Add it to the pile.

  She had to feel so lonely.

  The heaviness that had settled in his chest earlier eased a bit. Luring her to the Unseelie Court was the best thing he could do for her. In the Black Tower she could develop her magick without fear of reprisal or banishment. A woman as intelligent and as interesting as Aislinn deserved that and more. She didn’t deserve to be stifled and strangled in a toxic and delusionary environment like the Seelie Court.

  She wouldn’t be bored anymore. She wouldn’t be alone. Sure, she’d hate him for what he’d done. This couldn’t end any other way. But in the long run she’d be better off in Black with her own people.

  “I think I found it.”

  Gabriel came back to himself, realizing she’d browsed over to the lingerie section. A distance away he could hear Carina nattering at one of the store clerks. He walked to Aislinn and saw she held a red satin and chiffon slip in her hands. It looked long and . . . fascinating. Sexy. Now these were the kind of clothes that men were interested in, at least for the couple of minutes a woman wore them before they became a heap on the floor of the bedroom.

  His eyebrows rose. “Try it on.”

  She disappeared into the fitting room and reappeared a couple of minutes later. It covered her down to her ankles, yet still managed to be the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. The bodice cupped her breasts just perfectly, just the way he wanted to. His fingers curled as he imagined doing just that. The red looked incredible against her skin tone.

  “Turn around.” His voice came out just a tad hoarse and he realized he was clutching a silk gown off one of the racks hard enough to wrinkle.

  She turned and he lost his breath. The back dipped down very far, all the way to the top of her beautifully rounded bottom. He wanted to run his lips over every inch of slender, flawless skin from the nape of her neck to the small of her back and then—

  “Gabriel?” She’d turned around and was staring at him, frowning.

  He cleared his throat. “It’s beautiful on you. Your next lover will drool all over the carpet.” He knew that for certain because he would be that man. No way was he allowing any other man to see her in that gown. Aislinn was his.

  “I like it, too.” She flipped her heavy hair over one shoulder, the silver locks curling around her breast and making him almost swallow his tongue, and turned this way and that in front of a nearby mirror. Her nipples were rock hard and pressing through the thin fabric of the gown. “I never wear stuff like this.”

  “You looked just as pretty in your sweater and pajama pants a couple of nights ago, but luxury is good once in a while.” He turned and walked toward the shoes. She needed to put her clothes back on before he spontaneously combusted in the middle of the store. “You need a pair of pumps to go with it.”

  She laughed and said in a dry tone, “Yes, with fluffy feathers on them.”

  He picked out the fluffiest pair he could find while he kicked the plot for her seduction into high gear. Except this time it had nothing to do with the Shadow King and everything to do with his own desires.

  SEVEN

  AISLINN was still shaking a little bit when they arrived back at the Rose Tower. Still shaking even though they’d spent the whole morning at the dress shop while Carina practically bought the place out. Still shaking even though afterward they’d lunched at O’Shea’s, where they served traditional Tuatha Dé Danann dishes like roasted sea bass with capers and lamb cutlets with honey and apricots.

  Gabriel affected her that way and it made her mad.

  She was exhausted and well fed, but she couldn’t shake the shivers she had from when Gabriel had watched her try on the lingerie. She’d done it thinking it wouldn’t matter. He was never going to get into her pants, no matter how high he cranked up the charm. She’d told herself she wasn’t at all attracted to him—or at least she could control her attraction—and teasing him a little bit would be fun.

  The joke had been on her.

  She thought she’d concealed her reaction well enough, but standing there in front of Gabriel in that very sexy swath of silk almost-nothing had completely and totally flipped every switch she had. Right now she hated herself for it, but she couldn’t deny that the way his gaze had taken her in—like she was not just the most attractive woman he’d ever seen, but the only woman he’d ever seen—had heated her blood.

  Which was stupid.

  Gabriel Mac Braire probably looked at every woman that way. Most likely it was a practiced look, not at all genuine, perfected after centuries of womanizing. A consummate actor, he was skilled at seduction and she didn’t buy for a minute he wasn’t trying to seduce her.

  Although it seemed that her body might be working against her mind in this aspect, since being partially clothed in front of him, wondering . . . knowing what had been going through his mind as he’d looked at her, had made her nipples hard and her body more aware than it had been in a very long time. Sex with Kendal hadn’t been bad, but it hadn’t been earth-shattering, either. Mostly, it had been average. All those memories with him were tainted now, anyway.

  They reached the tower and entered amid the usual crowd of Seelie going here and there, preparing for the evening, standing in small clutches impeccably dressed and gossiping or
talking to the people from Faemous.

  She was home. Ugh.

  “I would like to make dinner for you tonight, Aislinn. Although the catch is we’ll probably miss the . . . what is it tonight?”

  “Drinks in the common room,” Carina answered.

  Aislinn hesitated because the prospect of having an excuse to miss cocktails was very tempting. She could only beg off with headaches or fatigue so many times before people began to talk. But the lingerie . . . “I don’t think—”

  “I’m inviting Carina and Drem, too.”

  “Oh, lovely. Yes, we’ll be there.” Carina gave her a side-long glance. “You, too, right, Aislinn?”

  She sighed. As long as they wouldn’t be alone. “Fine. Thank you. I think I’ll go up to my apartment now and relax a little. See you at the dinner hour?”

  They made their good-byes and one of the Rose Tower hobgoblin footmen followed Aislinn up to her place with all her packages. Carina would probably need five helpers.

  She spent the afternoon cleaning up, drinking tea, and thinking. Restless, she put on some Nina Simone and prowled her apartment, poking in closets and organizing drawers until she wanted to scream. Close to twilight the skies clouded over and it began to rain. She found herself at her living room window, wrapped in a throw from the couch against the spring chill and looking out over Piefferburg Square. Raindrops splashed against the glass. Below her people scurried to get out of the rain, at least the ones lacking umbrellas or the magickal ability to shield themselves.

  Raising her gaze, she hugged herself and stared at the Black Tower. Bella and Ronan were there now. What were they doing with their days? Surely life had to be much different. While she’d been shopping this morning, Gabriel had said they were studying their magick, developing it. She frowned, wondering what it would be like to have a meaningful purpose every day.

  Must be nice.

  The rain was coming down harder now, obscuring her vision, but she could just make out the roof where the Wild Hunt met every early morning.