Luck of the Irish

by Sara Humphreys

  “Very funny.”

  Maggie shook her head and chuckled. She found herself hopelessly charmed by his brutish ways. If a regular guy acted like this she’d kick him to the curb. She glanced at his bare legs and her face heated.

  It must be the kilt.

  “I will say, Declan, no one has ever gobbled up my cooking like that before. So thanks for that. Actually, I can’t even think of the last time I cooked for anyone other than myself”

  She went to pick up his empty plate, but his large hand grabbed her wrist halting her in her place. Maggie gasped and flicked her gaze to his steely stare. He ran his thumb slowly over the underside of her wrist, and she shivered when her skin broke out in gooseflesh from the tiny movement.

  “Why do ya want to come with me?” He asked in a low, sexy whisper. “Ya have a life here in this dimension and I can promise ya that nothin’ but trouble will await where we’re goin’.”

  “I may have a life, but I haven’t done very much living,” Maggie murmured.

  “The fae, leprechaun and otherwise, don’t take kindly to mortals who invade their dimension.” He squeezed her wrist briefly before releasing it. “Ya won’t be welcome there.”

  “Then it’s a good thing I’m going there with a six foot four inch wall of muscle who carries a sword and can perform magic.”

  Declan let out a scoffing sound. “You’re an impossible woman.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know,” Maggie said with a smile. “I’ll stay out of the way, and after you find your daughter you can send me right back here to my boring, normal human life.”

  Maggie grabbed the dishes and quickly deposited them in the sink, needing to put a little space between her and Declan. She turned on the hot water and started scrubbing away at the pot hoping it would wipe away some of her own fears, to say nothing of her growing attraction to, of all things, a leprechaun. Maggie let out a slightly hysterical giggle and swallowed the bucket of crazy that threatened to erupt.

  What the fuck was she doing drooling over Declan and fantasizing about sex? She didn’t even like sex—at least until now. She’d had more carnal thoughts in the past few hours than she had in the last several years.

  Declan rose from the chair, the sound of it scraping along the linoleum floor echoed through the narrow, galley style kitchen. She could feel the heat of his body as he moved in next to her, but Maggie kept her eyes on the dishes.

  “Why is findin’ me girl of importance to ya?”

  “A girl needs her father,” Maggie whispered, memories of her own parents rippling through her mind. “Unfortunately, she can’t have her mother, but she can have you. Even if she is all grown up by now, she needs you. I know what it’s like to be alone... without anyone to love or to love you back.”

  She stilled and shut off the water before turning to face him. Maggie leaned one hip on the counter and dried her hands while trying to do the math in her head.

  “You said you were in that mirror for like two centuries.” She tossed the towel on the counter. “Not to be rude, but she’ll be really old if she’s even still alive. Have you thought about that?”

  “You’re thinkin’ like a mortal.”

  “I am a mortal. That’s the only way I know how to think.”

  “I disagree.” He grabbed his sword, which was leaning against the doorjamb, and quickly slipped the harness back over his chest. “Ya did let me out of a magical prison, did ya not?”

  “Touché.”

  Maggie rolled her eyes and tried not to stare at him while he adjusted the sword’s position. Even with that loose shirt she could see the muscles working beneath. Sweet Mary. Focus, Maggie. Jeez.

  “Do fairies or witches, or whatever, not age like mortals? I mean, I know you’re old, but you were trapped in a prison. So... ”

  “In my prison it was like being frozen in that moment. No hunger. No passion. No life or magic. In the fae dimension time passes far slower. A hundred years here is only about a year in the fae dimension. So my girl will only be two or three years.” His mouth set in a firm line. “If she was taken there as I requested, but if she remained in this realm... I fear she may no longer live. Witches and fae are cousins of sorts. Witches live in the human realm. Though most of them live far longer than humans, they are not immortal. The fae remain in their dimension and hardly age at all. My girl, she was born of a leprechaun fae and a witch, and if no one was there to show her the ways of magic or how to use her amulet... ”

  The pained expression etched into Declan’s features tugged at Maggie’s heart. She knew what torture it was to lose everyone she ever loved. She knew raw, soul searing grief. In that moment, her desire to go with Declan was no longer driven by a need for adventure. It was about helping him avoid that same wretched sense of loneliness she suffered on a daily basis.

  Before she thought about what she was doing Maggie grabbed his hand and tangled her fingers in his. The warmth of his flesh surrounded hers with comforting ease, and as his eyes searched hers Maggie’s stomach summersaulted.

  “I’m sure she’s fine,” Maggie whispered. “And I’ll help you find her. You don’t have to do this alone... okay?”

  She went to pull her hand from his, but Declan held on tightly. He opened his fingers tangling hers deeply in his as though sealing their connection. Maggie swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and fought to keep her breathing steady. Her heart pounded against her ribcage as he inched his towering frame closer blocking out everything else around them. In that instant, Maggie could have been standing on Mars and she wouldn’t have noticed.

  “Maggie O’Malley,” he murmured. Declan tugged her closer still and brushed a lock of hair from her forehead gently, almost reverently, before running his thumb along the curve of her jaw. “I’ve been alone so long I can hardly recall anythin’ else.”

  “Me, too,” she whispered shakily.

  “Are ya sure ya want to go with me, lass?” Declan cupped her cheek as he pulled their tangled hands between them and cradled them against his chest. “Ya have no reservations?”

  Maggie shook her head unable to utter a single word. Her body hummed with anticipation. She noted every delicious spot where their flesh connected. She fit against him perfectly as though her body had been made only for his, but that was crazy wasn’t it?

  Almost as crazy as the fact that he was going to kiss her.

  It happened so fast that Maggie couldn’t stop it. Not that she wanted to.

  Declan’s mouth, firm and warm, covered hers on a groan as he cradled her face. Maggie sighed and opened to him, his tongue demanding entrance. His beard scruff rasped around her mouth in a surprisingly erotic way. The roughness of it only served to heighten her desire and the frenzy between them.

  She tilted her head and tugged her hand from his, linking her arms around his neck. Holy cow. This was a kiss. A deep, penetrating, all consuming kiss. Standing on her tiptoes she clung to him and met his hungry desire with aggressive, demanding strokes of her own. Need, stark and raw, fired through her as she allowed him to devour her.

  Hell, she welcomed it.

  Declan kissed her, licked and suckled her lips, like a man getting water after a drought. He had a drought of sorts didn’t he? So had she. A life void of passion and desire. She may not have been trapped in a mirror, but Maggie had put herself in her own kind of prison.

  Not anymore.

  His hand drifted down to her shoulders and she moaned into his mouth as his talented fingers fluttered over the sensitive skin of her throat. Maggie tangled her fingers in his hair and let out a moan of discontent when Declan broke the kiss. Breathing rapidly and struggling to find her voice, Maggie licked her swollen lips. The ones he’d kissed raw. She was about to ask him why he stopped when Declan pulled the chain off over her head and swiftly deposited it around his own neck.

  Her face heated with a mixture of anger and embarrassment as Declan winked at her and strode out of the kitchen.

  “You son of a bitch,”
she seethed.

  Maggie stormed after him, but he didn’t turn around. The arrogant guy kept right on walking to her bedroom. Fine. She could yell at him with or without him looking at her.

  “You kissed me so you could steal back the necklace?” Pure outrage edged her words. “I’ve heard of sleazy moves but that one takes the cake. Well, that is the last time you’ll be doing that with me, mister.”

  What a lie, she thought.

  Declan stopped in front of the mirror and stared into it.

  “Ya have me wrong, Maggie.” Declan caught her gaze with his reflection and winked. “I kissed ya ’cause I wanted to, but I took the amulet ’cause I needed to. It’s the source of my power in the mortal realm, and like I told ya I’ll be needin’ it to go to the fae dimension.”

  “You could have asked me for it,” Maggie said firmly. “You didn’t have to pretend to want me and make me think you... ”

  “I do want ya, lass. There was no pretendin’.” His voice was low and gruff and it sent a zing of desire straight to her core. “I’ve not had a woman in more years than a man can count. Aye, I kissed that lovely mouth to distract ya, but also ’cause it’s all I’ve been able to think of since I set eyes on ya. And lord help me it will not be the last. Me father always said if ya can find a lass who’s brilliant in the kitchen and in the bed ya best not let her go.”

  Maggie’s mouth opened and closed as she stormed over to him and stammered like a babbling idiot while trying to formulate a response. No one had ever spoken to her about sex with such outright, brazen directness, and she didn’t know if she was offended or turned on.

  Nope. That was a lie. Maggie was totally turned on.

  She stopped next to him and put her hands on her hips while giving him a furious look. Before she could utter a word Declan linked one strong arm around her waist and yanked her against him as he planted a firm, hot kiss on her mouth. Maggie gasped and her hands clung to his shoulders.

  “Time to fulfill that second wish,” Declan murmured softly.

  Panic raced through Maggie’s mind. She wanted to go with him, but she wasn’t ready. What she really desired more than anything else was time alone with Declan. Time to find out if that kiss, the one she still felt on her lips, and all those words he uttered, were for real.

  “Wait,” she shouted. “I wish I had the amulet back, and that you can’t have it until I give it to you.”

  Declan stilled, his arms tightened around her and a deadly expression covered his face. Holy crap. She could not believe she said that. The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

  His silvery, gray eyes narrowed as he swore under his breath as the amulet around his neck glowed green. In a blinding flash of light it vanished briefly before the chain materialized once again around Maggie’s neck. The cool, gold disc settled in the valley of her breasts as though it had never left.

  “And ya say ya aren’t a witch?” Declan released her abruptly and stepped back, the cool air of the room replacing the warmth of his body. “Would seem ya tricked me again, lass, but at least ya have no more wishes with which to vex me.”

  “What’s the matter, Declan?” Maggie pressed her hand over the amulet beneath her sweater. “You can dish it out, but you can’t take it?”

  He growled something in Gaelic that she didn’t understand and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. Maggie backed up and sat on the ledge of the closed window not sure what to do or say next. She still couldn’t believe she said that wish out loud.

  “Why would ya wish that?” Declan growled with frustration.

  He tore his sword off over his head and leaned it against the wall. Maggie noticed that it had the same shamrock emblem embedded in the handle.

  “I-I’m not ready to leave yet.”

  “Ya don’t have to come, lass.” Declan kept his voice low and moved closer. “Ya can take back the wish.”

  “No.” Maggie shook her head and pulled the amulet from under her sweater, worrying the disc between her fingers as she did anytime she was nervous. “I want to go with you but... it’s all happening too fast. Give me a couple of days to get to know you and hear more about your story, and then I’ll give you the amulet.”

  “Alright.” Declan inched closer still, invading her space with ease and dropping his voice to barely a whisper. He pushed a lock of hair from her forehead before trailing his knuckles along her cheek and finally settling them under her chin, tilting her face toward him. “Tell me, lass. What would ya have me doin’ while I’m here?”

  Maggie’s stomach fluttered from the heated look in his eye and suggestive tone that edged his words. He oozed power and sexual energy. She wanted to tell him to take her right then and there. To strip her naked and fuck her until she couldn’t walk, but her face heated from the mere thought of it let alone finding the nerve to say it out loud.

  “I’m just so tired of being alone, Declan.” Tears she wasn’t expecting stung her eyes and fell down her cheeks before she could stop them. “Stay with me... and tell me about where you’re from. Tell me stories like the ones Aunt Lizzie used to share, and tomorrow after sunset I’ll give you back the amulet and you can leave.” Maggie sucked in a deep breath before exhaling slowly and whispering. “I rescind my second wish. You do not have to take me with you and when I give you back the amulet... you’re free to go.”

  Chapter Six

  “Ya are full of surprises, Maggie O’Malley.” Declan studied her face, open, innocent and earnest. He searched her lovely green eyes for any hint of deception, but found none. “That’s all ya desire? To hear me speak of days long gone? And you’ll not want to come with me when I leave?”

  Her small form wavered and she lifted one shoulder before swiping at her tearstained cheeks. This woman, delicate yet feisty, sexually charged and yet shy, was a bundle of contradictions. Declan suspected that his time with her would be anything but boring. He was drawn to her beauty, yes, but it was more than that. What struck a chord with him most of all was her loneliness and clear desire to connect with not only him, but also the world around her. And yet by all accounts she seemed to rarely venture out into it.

  “Yes.” Maggie tore her gaze from his and fiddled with the amulet. “That’s it.”

  He was about to ask her more about her own life, the family mentioned who no longer lived, but a sudden and almost forgotten physical need pulled him from his thoughts. Declan cleared his throat and stepped back increasing the distance between them.

  “Pardon the indelicate request, lass, but it seems that the feast I ate is catchin’ up to me.” He felt like an idiot. “Where might a man... ”

  “Oh!” Maggie’s brows lifted and her cheeks pinked, clearly catching his meaning. “The bathroom? You need to use the—of course—sorry. It’s right out here.”

  She hopped off the window ledge and hurried into the hallway before disappearing to the right. He followed and found her standing in a small bathroom made of white tile and with walls painted blue.

  “Do you, um, know how to use everything?” She folded her arms over her breasts, her face reddening further by the second. “I know they didn’t have plumbing when you were last here.”

  “Aye.” Declan nodded and stepped into the cool bright space with her. “At one time the mirror hung in a room such as this and I saw the way of it. Then again, I saw more than I needed if you catch my meanin’.”

  “Right.” Maggie scrunched up her face and shook her head before slipping past him to the hall. “I’m sure you did.”

  She stopped in the doorway and pointed to the towels that were hanging on a bar along the wall by a shower stall.

  “If you want to take a shower you can use those towels. They’re fresh. I hung up new ones yesterday after I had my shower. The hot water is on the left and the cold water is on the right. There’s soap and shampoo in there, too. Use whatever you need.”

  “I may do that.” Declan nodded his approval and bowed his head. “I give ya my thanks.
”

  She stood there for a moment as though she didn’t know what to say or do next. For a split second Declan considered inviting her into the shower with him, but the thought left as swiftly as it came. It was better for both of them if he put a stop to that now. He’d kissed her because he hadn’t thought of doing much else since he’d laid eyes on her, but getting involved with him would bring her nothing but heartache. He’d already destroyed Anastasia and he refused to do the same to Maggie.

  “Anyway, um, okay.” She jutted her thumb over her shoulder and backed out while closing the door. “I’ll be out in the living room. Take your time.”

  After Maggie left Declan did exactly what the lass suggested and took his sweet time. He stripped his clothes and stepped into the shower, eager to use the indoor rain the way he’d seen so many do over the years. It looked enjoyable enough, but nothing could have prepared him for the exquisite ecstasy of the hot water as it sprayed over his weary body. He remained there until his flesh began to wrinkle, and truth be told would have stayed longer if the water hadn’t cooled.

  When he slid the glass door aside and stepped onto the thick mat Declan grabbed a towel and dried himself. It took him a minute to notice that his clothing was gone. What had that woman done now? Did she plan on leavin’ him naked so he could not leave? A growl of discontent rumbled in his chest and he wrapped the towel around his waist. He tore the door open and stormed down the hall ready to give the lass a talking to.

  “Where in the hell have ya put me clothes, woman?” Declan groused.

  He rounded the corner into the main living area of her home and found her sitting cross-legged on a couch flipping through a large book with pictures in it. She snapped her head up and gaped at him like a fish out of water.

  “Answer me.” He settled his hands on his hips. “What have ya done with me clothes?”

  When he saw the shocked look on her face, he instantly regretted his tone.

  “I-I put them in the washing machine,” she said softly. Her emerald gaze drifted over his bare chest in one long, lazy stroke. Declan’s dick twitched as she studied him brazenly, and when her gaze clapped with his it was like a kick in the gut. He saw need and desire in her eyes, but he also sensed hesitation. “I thought you would want them cleaned. I mean, you’ve been in them for two hundred years. I’m sorry... I can take them out. They’ll be wet but... ”