I turned back to Ian and noted that he was knocking out the guard with a large stone from the roadside. As Ian approached the coach, I said, “Help me get him on my horse”. I realized too late that I had now revealed myself as a woman to the coachman. Once Ian assisted me in getting Sin onto my horse, I realized that my fears were for not because Ian gave a large bag of coins to the man, who spoke in a thick Scottish accent, “Nice doing business with you, Frenchie. Bloody English bastards.”
I mounted my horse then and deliberately rode separately from Ian in the wrong direction from home. I then took a smugglers route to the shore and then on to my cottage. I worried for Sin as he only mumbled a few words along the way so I was relieved that when I dismounted the horse, he seemed to becoming more alert. I left him on the horse to go inside to light a fire.
I returned to the horse quickly and spoke softly to him as I ran my hands lightly on his face. “You must wake up. I do not know if I can carry you inside. Please wake up.”
At first, I worried he would not wake up and I would have to devise some way to get him inside but then he said, “Cat?”
“Yes, it is me.”
“Why am I draped over this horse like a dead deer?”
“You have been shot.”
“Really? What fun. That has never happened before.” He slid down the side of the horse. For a man who had been shot in the chest a short time he seemed in perfect health. “You rescued me, Cat. Why?”
“Because if anyone is going to kill you, it will be me.”
He started to chuckle but then kissed me full on the lips. “Ah, I have missed you, Cat.”
We went inside the cottage and seeing him in the light I was even more confused by his quick recovery from the gunshot.
He sat on a chair as I poured a whiskey into a mug and handed it to him. His fingers lingered on mine but he did not take the mug.
“Put down the mug, Cat.”
“But you were shot. You must be in pain. You should take off your shirt so I can tend to the wound.”
“Not to worry. The wound is already healed. You do love me after everything that has happened, do you not, Cat? I betrayed your trust but you still love me. Even now, you are wounded yet you want to take care of me without a thought of yourself.”
“It is nothing. Just a scratch.”
“You could have been killed, Cat.”
“I have been in worse situations.”
“As have I. I had a plan. You should not have risked your life for me. Life is fragile.”
“I do what pleases me, Sin. But you do owe me an explanation of just what is going on here.” I sat in the chair opposite of him waiting for his words to clear my confusion.
“When we were in Cuba that last time, something beyond understanding happened. I was playing cards at some drinking hole in Havana and I was winning and I got a bit too full of myself and the losers did not take too kindly to it. A fight broke out and I was knocked out I guess by the blunt of a pistol. When I awoke, there was a man in robes standing over me doing some sort of ritual. Cat, I know it sounds crazy but there were people draped over me drinking my blood and then I blacked out again. At some point, I felt my heart stop. I died. But I awoke again in a hotel room yet I was not the same. I no longer needed to eat food or drink water but I craved the taste of blood. I could be satisfied with small amounts of blood but all the same, I became a blood drinker. On top of that, I had orders to betray you. Cat, I was going to have to turn you in when we reached New Orleans. I could not do it. I left you in Havana so you were not even on the ship when it reached New Orleans where my superiors were waiting.”
He paused waiting for me to say something but I said nothing so he continued. “You see, I work for the American government and they were trying to break the smuggling triangle between Ireland, Cuba, and the United States. I was not supposed to fall for you, Cat, but I did so I had to protect you even if it meant hurting you.” He paused once more but I still said nothing. “Will you say something, Cat?”
I suddenly felt very tired and the wound on my arm throbbed. “When you were gone from my life, I ached for you. I cried and grieved for you and hated myself for it. Being with you once more has brought to life part of me I long thought dead. I came to Ireland to start a new life but now in rescuing you, a man whose true name I do not know, I must leave the only place I have ever considered home. I have nowhere to go now but I will see you safely to France.”
He pulled me from the chair and held me in his arms. “You may continue to call me Sin. Do you plan to leave me in France?”
“France is in so much turmoil that they will not take notice of you. I am sure you will find your way back to the United States. I will go with the Crimson Witch to Havana where I will consider what options for home are available for me.”
“Stay with me, Cat.” His hands began to stroke my back and I pulled away.
“I need to treat my wound. It is almost morning. Go up to bed. I will be up shortly.” He seemed to hesitate but then went up the stairs.
I removed the black shirt and tended to the wound on my arm. I placed a mix of herbs directly into the wound to speed the healing. As I did so, I tried to clear my head of wanting to stay with him. I threw more peat onto the fire and then went up the stairs and shed my clothes to join him in the bed. I watched him for a while before falling asleep to dreams of making love with him on the headlands of Valentia Island just as I always did.
I awoke to the smell of tea and opened my eyes to see him smiling down at me. He wore only his breeches and handed a mug to me. As I drank the tea, the covers slipped down exposing my breasts and when I finished, I handed him back the empty mug.
I noted the desire in his eyes and said, “We need to leave for Caherciveen before dusk. The Crimson Witch will be waiting for us.”
“It is mid-afternoon. We have time.” He pulled me out of the covers toward him so he could suck one of my exposed breasts. I could only think about how delicious this felt and how I would miss him. But I had to let him go – not because of his cravings for blood but because I could not trust myself with him. With others, I could always trust my gut, but with him, my heart always over-ruled my instincts. I fought not to cry. He knew I was not a weepy female and so he immediately lifted his head when a tear hit his face. He pulled me close and held me until the tears stopped.
I whispered in his ear, “Do you need my blood, Sin?”
“Perhaps just a bit.”
I pulled him down on top of me clutching his buttocks as he lightly kissed and then bit my neck. I felt no pain as he sucked gently and licked the blood. When he finished he looked up at me and smiled. I reached down to undo the buttons of his breeches. Once his cock was released, I began stroking him with my hand as my other hand reached down to touch myself. He allowed me to pleasure us both for a time until he pulled from me to fully remove his breeches. He continued watching my fingers move in and out of my wet spot. He then slid close to me and gently pulled my hand away. He thrust into me. I bit into his shoulder. My hands slid up and down his back as he thrust harder and harder into me, my hips rising to meet the thrusts and fully feel him inside of me. I could feel the tiny contractions within my body start to build so I moved my hips even more so he could come with me. Faster, faster, harder, harder. When I came, I could see lights shattering before me, I could not catch my breath, and then I could feel him explode his seed within me. He collapsed onto me but then moved slightly off to the side so his weight was not full upon me. I felt his one hand stroking my side as his other hand smoothed the hair away from my face.
We laid in silence for a time. He then propped his head up on his elbow to look at me and gave me a seductive smile. “Will you stay with me now, Cat?”
I looked into his eyes which always seemed to change to a deeper blue just for me. I returned his seductive smile and said, “Perhaps I can be persuaded.” Then I bent to lick his nipple as my hand reached down to stroke his cock once more.
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Prince, Nikki, Sinsperationally Yours
Sinsperationally Yours Page 29
