Panic bottomed-out in my stomach, and must have shown on my face because Pierce rubbed the tension from my cheeks. “Not you. Not because of you. I’ve watched my mother struggle with her gifts, known I inherited the genetic possibility for more than enhanced vision, and being with you brings them to the surface.”
Relief spun through me. “I get that. Touching things and not knowing what I’ll see is scary. Not the images so much, although they can be ugly. It’s more about not knowing how deeply I’ll drop into that other dimension, and whether I can make my way back to my body, to reality, or not. And yes, being around me, sensing my vibration, especially when I’m using my ESP fingers, probably affects you.” Heat traveled up my neck. “We’re connected and our energy fields tend to…intermingle.”
I was treated to a full-out Pierce grin. “Is that what you call it?”
We turned in unison when the front door opened. Annie waved. “There’s a great screened porch right through that archway. I think I can find my way back through the maze, but if not I’ll text you, so pay attention. And call me when you come up for air.” She didn’t wait for an answer, just closed the door with a distinct snap.
Pierce and I were alone.
Really alone. For the first time since we acknowledged our feelings for each other. Since before Ireland. Before I met his family. Before my revenge was complete. My body tingled with intense awareness.
He drew the tip of his index finger over my cheek. “Everly.” His breath brushed my lips, and I tasted mint, awareness, and need.
Shivers blossomed over my skin, an earthquake of sensitivity that wouldn’t stop. Every defense I’d been building since childhood crumbled at my feet, no longer important, no longer needed. “I love you, Tynan Ailill Pierce.”
His eyes danced with love and curiosity. “How did you find out?”
“Your mother, of course. What does it mean?”
He nuzzled into my neck with a deep inhalation. “Tynan means dark and Ailill means elf. Ailill was the husband of a queen.” He inhaled again. “I love your scent, Everly. Fresh honey. I love you.”
My mind spun. “And you smell like life force, like the beat of our hearts, the vibration of our souls.” I ran my tongue along the cord of his neck. “It fits. Dark elf. You’re shadow magic.”
Tynan lifted me, and my legs automatically wrapped around his waist. Like they remembered where they were supposed to be. His palm landed on my backside with a possessive smack. “What I am is yours.”
Heat flared in my core, spread to my breasts, and to the sensitive folds of my sex. I waited so long to share these sensations, this intimacy with Tynan, that I had to tighten my abdomen to keep from slipping into a mini orgasm. I wasn’t going there, not without him. But getting him caught up to my needs was a top priority, and what was taking him so long to find a bedroom? “The floor will do. We can find a bed later.” My words wobbled.
“First time. I want you on a bed. All that red hair spilled over a pillow. Over me.”
I arched my back, pushing my core closer to him. Every feminine part of me ached with a wild desire I’d never experienced before. “Need you naked. Need to feel you against me.”
“Not yet. I intend to savor you. Inch by inch.” Tynan’s halting whisper skimmed my ear, and I melted.
I had to touch him, to find skin. I slipped my arms around his chest, then under the waistband of his cargoes. And found bare skin. No underwear. Just Tynan’s glorious, hot, smooth, kissable skin. “Want to kiss.” I pressed my fingers into a tight curve of his muscle. “Right here.”
He stumbled, regained his footing, and then slipped roving fingers between us and freed the button on my waistband. “There are consequences when you play with a dark elf, Belisama.”
A haze of desperate need clouded my vision. The sound of my zipper being inched open squeezed the breath from my lungs, leaving me panting. I squirmed under Tynan’s touch. Gave up when the heat from his palm penetrated my bare skin. “Glad. Wore. Thong.”
His lips curved into a smile against my neck. “Ummm. Good choice.”
Shifting his attention, he nibbled on my neck. Licked. “Your heart is pounding.” He licked again. “Right here under my touch.”
Spirals of energy twisted through me. I worked my hand around his hip, fingers testing his skin, finding the lines and planes of his muscles. And finally I let go of my ESP barriers and allowed myself to dip into the stunning images flooding my mind. “You’re beautiful.”
Pierce’s steps faltered. “What do you see?”
“What I’m touching. Soft skin. A hard scar. The beauty and balance of darkness and magic. Honeybuns.”
His grunt shook. A first. One hand edged under my shirt, lifting it and a gentle breeze wafted over my lower back. Tynan slid me along the front of his body, slowly, one hand massaging my backside, the other exploring my waist, my back… “No. Bra.”
Feminine power exploded, tightening my nipples, teasing my sex. “Commando. Touché.”
His hold on me loosened, and when my boots touched the floor, I realized the bamboo had switched to a tatami mat. The snick of my zipper being released brought my attention back to Tynan’s hands—skilled, warm, trembling hands. My pants pooled around my ankles, and he skimmed my t-shirt over my head, lighting tiny fires everywhere he touched.
“Perfect.” Tynan ran his fingers down my abdomen, then circled the diamond nestled in my navel.
Fire shot through me.
“You’ve had a part of me with you since the day I gave it to you.” He winked at me. “Suits you.”
Hot need flared in my belly. “That’s exactly what you did then.”
“Only thing that’s changed, I didn’t know I loved you then.” He reached for me, stopped, dropped his cargoes to the floor, stripped out of his shirt, and faced me in naked male glory.
My hands ached to touch him, but the love in his gaze stole my ability to move. “I…”
Feral light glittered in his eyes. He stepped toward me. I stumbled back, a tiny burst of panic detonating in my gut. Sex like I’d never had the nerve to fantasize about was about to happen. I had to have my hands on him. Now. I reached for him, holding his gaze.
He shook his head. Took another step, crowding me, bouncing me onto a soft mattress. The barely-functioning part of my brain recognized a screened porch and very large bed covered with white linen sheets. They rasped against my sensitized buttocks and upper thighs. Hunger shattered my ability to think. I kicked, trying to release my feet.
Tynan dropped to one knee and worked the laces free on my boots, slipped them and my socks off before I managed to breathe, and then he lifted my foot and kissed the arch. Waves of pleasure washed through me. I grabbed his arms and rolled, tumbling him onto the bed with me. “You found a bed,” I whispered. “Now it’s time for me to find you. Every single inch of you.”
A strong hand tucked me tight against him. Skin to skin. Nothing between us. Except my thong. I wiggled, wanting to rip it off, needing to open to him.
Tynan nibbled a line of kisses over my face. “The taste will be richer with patience, Belisama.”
“Taste.” A new desire clawed at me. Tasting him.
“Umm-hmmm.” His mouth found mine.
The kiss shivered up my spine, over the curve of my butt, and crashed into my core. Mini orgasm. “No, no, no.”
Tynan’s palm pressed tight against the tiny spasms, held me until I stopped shaking. “Usually,” he drawled. “That’s a yes, yes, yes.”
I sucked in a breath, reached for sanity. “Not without you. Our first time has to be together.”
My words loosened something in him. His control broke. Piece by piece. The hand cradling my sensitized skin, ripped the thong into pieces. Tynan’s free hand fisted gently in the tangled mass of my hair, and with a slow, easy tug he exposed my neck to his mouth, teeth, tongue. Every one of his muscles tightened against me. “Together, then.”
Our love exploded into a living entity, consuming
us. Waves of our energy merged and joined with nature, then flooded back to us. Our breath, our thoughts, our bodies, became one with the Universe in a spiral of never-ending communication. Daylight faded to dusk, and finally to night.
I remember everything and nothing about our first joining. The unfamiliar sweet aches in my body told me it lasted for hours. Time told me it was but a single moment that would be drawn into a lifetime.
“Our lifetime.” Pierce whispered the words against my breast.
THREE
MY INTERNAL CLOCK HADN’T RECORDED the passage of time, but insistent pressure from my bladder woke me with a jolt. It took all of a nanosecond to realize I had no idea where to find the bathroom. I untangled my legs from the sheets, and forced myself to scoot away from the warmth of Tynan’s body.
Standing reorganized my internal organs, and they shot a warning from my nether regions to my brain: find loo now. My grandparents hadn’t installed streetlights on the property, so the screened porch was pitch black. Not even moonlight to guide me. I shook my head, trying to remember if there were any light switches on the porch and couldn’t come up with a single memory other than Pierce, and the bed. The memory of his body touching mine was so powerful it briefly replaced my bathroom issue with mind-blowing lust, and it took all of my will power not to drop back into bed with him.
Step away from the bed, Everly, or the embarrassment of explaining a puddle to Pierce will mess with your sex life for-freaking-ev-ver. A few baby steps later I was hopelessly disoriented. I knew I wouldn’t bump into anything dangerous, but a run-in with the wall would probably leave bruises, and jolt Pierce out of a deep sleep. I edged my way over the rough surface of the tatami mat, using my toes to search for the seam separating it from the bamboo floor.
I vaguely remembered that there were lamps on either end of the sofa, so if I could just pace off the distance to the living room, I’d be okay. Or I could wake Pierce and ask him to take me to the loo. How embarrassing would that be? And how stupid to be bothered by a little embarrassment, especially now that he was intimately familiar with my body.
“Everly?” Tynan’s voice was husky with sleep.
“Bathroom.” The situation shouldn’t need more explanation than that.
He responded with a right-there-with-you grunt. “Wait.”
Wait? Sex had addled his brain if he thought we’d be sharing a bathroom. There were some things that shouldn’t be shared. Ever. Desperate to escape, I dropped to all fours, which if I’d been thinking clearly should have been my first move after getting out of bed.
There was a good chance I could cover the distance more quickly on my hands and knees—and with less chance of injury. Also, there was a face-saving component in this the situation that made it all the more important that I get a move on. I hadn’t needed help getting to the john since my fourth birthday. Pain shot from my neck to my forehead. “Shit, that hurts.”
The flat of Pierce’s hand landed on my bare back. Well, damn it all to blue bloody hell. I’d forgotten about his superior vision. “You can see me.”
“Nice ass. What hurts?”
“Head. Lately daggers have been shooting through my brain when I try to remember something from childhood.”
“Doctor?” There was a subtle note of command behind his question.
“No. It’s energetic, not physical. Besides, the pain fades away quickly. All gone now.” It wasn’t my best attempt at sounding reassuring.
“We’ll visit your grandfather in the morning.”
My nerve endings went wonky. “Was that an order?” I barely restrained my temper, but the situation in my lower abdomen was close to exploding. “Never mind. We’ll talk about it later. Bathroom now.”
I couldn’t see his grin, but the air vibrated with smirky humor. Annoyance nipped at me, and sarcasm took over. “How about you turn on a light?”
Soft, padded footsteps blended with the night breeze, and two seconds later the room was flooded with a warm glow. I jumped to my feet, suddenly self-conscious about being stark naked and on all fours. It was unnatural to be crawling around au naturel…unless there was monkey sex involved. But now wasn’t the time. It took a concentrated effort not to hide my girl parts from his slow smile. And then my brain focused and really saw him, immediately clicking into lust mode—sweat-dampened body, messy bed head, male parts ready for action, and love turning his eyes a vibrant blue.
“I love you.” The words slipped from my heart. No matter how much he pissed me off, I’d always love him. Well, damn, if the timing of that revelation wasn’t piss poor. Literally.
“Yeah. Same page, Belisama.”
He caught my hand, tugging me into the living room, down a wide hallway, and into the biggest bathroom I’d ever seen. It was decorated in shades of blue to match the ocean. Not ordinary blue, but the real thing that only nature could produce. “Wow.”
“Agreed. Do your thing then we’ll take a tour of the house.”
I nodded, my attention on the cool glass tiles under my feet. It was like strolling on top of a wave. A blast of body-to-brain urgency had me slamming the bathroom door and high-tailing it to the commode. Mission accomplished, and not wanting to pick up any bathroom images, I shut down my ESP and ran my fingers over the rectangular glass sink. It matched the floor, and in the glow from the light fixtures, seemed to shimmer like moonlight on the ocean. I washed my hands. No, it was more than that. I bathed my hands in soap that captured the fragrance of sea salt and sunshine, and then dried them on thick, white, terry towels. A quick search of the wood cabinets provided a new toothbrush and tube of toothpaste. I brushed with one hand while I strolled around the room and ran my fingers over the stones my grandparents had used to create a shower alcove. Heavenly. I wanted a shower. Preferably not alone. I finished up with the toothbrush, deliberately averted my eyes from the mirror because I didn’t want to see the resultant horror of bed head mixed with sexual gymnastics, and went to find Pierce.
He was leaning, oh so casually, against the doorjamb across from the bathroom, completely comfortable with his nudity. I deliberately relaxed the tension in my shoulders, then stuffed my hands behind my back and squeezed them together to keep from exploring his body. I nodded toward the door I’d just exited. “Your turn.”
“Already took care of it.”
I smashed my lips together. No way was I going to ask for details. There had to be other facilities in the house. Didn’t there?
Pierce shifted his weight, bringing my attention to his man parts. Or maybe that was my mind wandering into happy territory. Whatever, it zinged my corresponding girl parts and my fingers at the same time. I squeezed my hands into a tight knot. “If I touch you, we’ll never make it through a tour of the house, and lest there be another bathroom emergency, I need to have at least a passing acquaintance with the layout of the rooms.”
He held out his hand. “Is it a problem that I cleared the area before you got here?”
Bracing myself for the rush of pleasure touching him ignited in me, I slid my hand into his and considered his question. “Yes and no. Yes because it’s an inheritance that is part of my past, one that probably holds information I need to know…and I’m not sure when I’ll be ready to share that with anyone, even someone I truly love.”
Pierce grunted. This one sounded like he understood what I was saying. Good thing I was beginning to understand “grunt.” Next up, learning to speak it.
“And No?”
“Because I didn’t have to do it, and because I was thinking this would become our house, which gives you a free pass.”
He stopped moving. “Our home, not just a house, Everly.”
My heart did a flip, then settled into a happy rhythm. I touched his cheek. The image of love was so powerful it would have dropped me to my knees if Pierce hadn’t been holding my hand. “Same page, Tynan Ailill.”
His lips twitched, then he tugged me farther along the hallway. “You’re tossing around my middle name like you o
wn it, Belisama.”
“I like it. A lot. You really are shadow magic, and I think it fits you much better than Tynan.”
“Tynan means dark. Not that different.”
“Still, I like the way Ailill feels in my mouth. But we need to back up a bit here and set some boundaries. Loving you does not mean you get to make decisions for me or order me around, so let me just make this clear. I’m not going to tell Aukele about the pain in my neck.”
“Your reasons?” He sounded way too calm.
“I don’t trust him, and whatever is going on with my memories is—”
Pierce turned me to face him.
“It scares me.” The confession stole the air from my lungs. “Wow. I didn’t expect to say that.”
He brushed his thumb over my lips, then folded me into a hug. Our bodies surged to life with the recent memory of incredible sex. Mine had turned into molten steam, and his blood had rushed to sustain an erection that was built to please.
Swamped with conflicting emotions, I pushed away from him. “I—”
“Bare assed or not, you’re safe.”
My confusion evaporated. “Even when you’re in full command mode, you get me. That’s…” A sob shook my body, but this time Pierce didn’t touch me, just gave me the space to work it out. I swallowed and found the words I wanted. “Loving you is comfortable, easy. And that’s unbelievable because you’re not an easy man. Not exactly comfortable either. You are perfect in your imperfection, and that’s—”
He pressed his fingers against my lips, laughter dancing in his eyes. “Silence is good.”
I nodded. He definitely got that right. I was a mess.
Pierce reached into the room behind him, flicked on the light, and then ushered me inside. It was empty. The floors were a continuation of the bamboo in the living area, but in this space the walls were also made from the same bamboo. Windows lined the far wall.
“What’s outside?” I asked. It looked and felt like a perfect yoga room, but only if the view supported mindfulness.
“Mountains. Peaceful.”
a Touch of Intrigue Page 3
