Текст книги "Dare to Believe"

Автор книги: Dana Bell

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 11 страниц)

“Like that, do you, kitten?” Leo continued his unhurried pace, his cock shuttling back and forth between her lips. He settled the vibrator between her pussy lips, the sensation almost ticklish. “How about this?”

He leaned over slightly and something soft and round pushed up inside her. The red penis must be a vibrator.

“You’re going to feel the vibrations even more intensely now, kitten,” he whispered as he settled the vibrator deep inside her. Something brushed up against her clit as he began fucking her with it, something that sent delight screaming down her spine. “Those are called the rabbit ears, love. How does it feel?”

She moaned when the “ears” once again brushed her clit.

“Now, don’t forget about me, kitten.” He grasped the back of her head, angling her mouth where he wanted it. He began fucking in and out of her mouth with increased speed, the hand holding the dildo matching him stroke for stroke. Her hips arched up to meet it, driving it in deeper. She let him know of her pleasure the only way she could, moaning around his iron hard flesh and licking him frantically until he groaned.

With an audible pop he pulled out of her sucking mouth. She felt his mouth brush hers lightly before he began kissing his way down her body, pausing long enough to suck on her sensitive nipples. With a twist of his wrist he ground the ears of the vibrator up against her clit and sent her screaming into her first orgasm.

“Oh, yeah, that’s what I like to hear.” Leo’s satisfied voice held an unmistakable hunger in it. The bed began to jiggle again. She could hear cloth rustling and figured he was finally removing his clothes. Her guess was proven right when she felt his hot skin alongside her own, his hand caressing her still quivering flesh. “So, how do you like the vibrator, kitten?”

She thought about it for all of three seconds before she began purring deep in her throat.

“Oh, kitten, you’re in trouble now,” he laughed. He reached over her body for something, the bed dipping, her body swaying with his movements. She wished he’d take the blindfold off. “Ready for your next experience?”

Since he’d begun licking her nipples as he asked the question, her only response could be a small moan.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he muttered, pulling one tight bud into his mouth and suckling, laving the tip with his tongue until she was writhing on the bed.

She felt him insert the vibrator into her and waited for the delicious sensations to brush her clit again.

When those sensations brushed her ass instead, she jerked, not at all certain she liked it.

“Relax for me, kitten. If you don’t like it, I promise I’ll stop. Only pleasure, love.”

“You haven’t come yet,” she muttered, twisting against the strange sensations shooting through her anus. The vibrations echoed distantly in her clit. The fake cock inside her vibrated in time to the ears on her anus. She licked her lips, wanting something, anything, to ease the ache building inside her.

“No, I haven’t. I’m saving it for something, something special.”

She froze. “Special? Should I be afraid?”

He leaned down and kissed her soothingly. “No, sweetheart, nothing to be afraid of.” She heard the cap of the lube being flicked open, the plastic sound loud in the air. “I’m just going to get you ready so I can ream your ass, that’s all.”

He said it so matter-of-factly that it didn’t register at first. “Uh, Leo?”

“Hmm?” His voice was distracted as he pulled the fake cock out of her pussy.

“I’ve never… I mean, I’m not sure…”

“Shhh. I am. Trust me, kitten.”

She did trust him, or she wouldn’t be tied to the bed. Besides, the vibrations against her anus were beginning to feel good. “I am so going to regret this, aren’t I?”

She felt him lean over her body, one slick finger rubbing lube over the pucker of her ass. It glided into her ass, the feeling causing her to clench around him in alarm. “Double-dog dare you.”

Aw hell.

Ruby blew out a rough breath. “Fine, shove whatever it is up my ass!”

“You need to relax, Ruby.”

“No, actually, I don’t.” She sniffed, thoroughly miffed. How could he double-dog dare me on that?

“Yes, you do, or it will hurt.”

She could feel the muffled amusement in his voice as she did her best to do a naked, tied up huff.

“Fine, see? All relaxed.”

She felt him sigh and still the finger inside her. “I won’t hurt you, Ruby.”

“What?”

“You don’t trust me, not yet, but I swear I will do nothing you don’t want. So tell me, kitten. Do you want this?”

She sighed, all her half-fun outrage demolished at the seriousness of his tone. He would stop if she said so. “Leo?”

“Yeah, kitten?”

“I trust you.” She forced her body to relax back against the mattress, turning her blind eyes to his voice.

“You sure, kitten? You don’t seem particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of anal sex.”

She shivered. “Limited experience, remember, Leo? How will I know if I like it if you don’t show me?” She could almost feel the wheels turning in his head and shrugged. “Of course, I could go somewhere else for my education.”

She could feel the outrage pour off him, even with the blindfold. “Like hell!” His mouth descended on her breast and suckled her fiercely. His finger soon began shuttling in and out of her body as he switched to the other breast. The hand that wasn’t busy learning her ass moved to her bare mound, his thumb dipping down to begin massaging her clit.

Very quickly Ruby found her hips moving in time to his strokes as his mouth swooped down on hers in a devouring, conquering kiss. There was nothing gentle in his mouth as he laid claim to hers. A second slicked finger joined the first in her ass, stretching her out as he fucked them ruthlessly in and out of her.

“You are mine,” he ground out against her lips, and Ruby began to realize what her teasing had unleashed. “No one else will touch you. No one else will have you. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, Leo.” She reached up and brushed a light kiss against his jaw, instinctively trying to soothe the beast she’d unwittingly unleashed.

“No one will take you from me,” he ground out, his voice harsh.

“I won’t leave you,” she whispered, once again trying to soothe him even as her body began to throb.

“Who do you belong to?” The possessiveness in his voice was darkly thrilling. A third finger began shuttling inside her overheated body. It burned, but that burn quickly turned to a dark pleasure that had her arching up into his hand.

“You, I belong to you Leo!”

His fingers scissored open, stretching her, preparing her for what he wanted. He pulled his hands from her body and she cried out, feeling empty. Once again the bed dipped as he reached over her body, his hard and taut above hers, and heard the clack of the plastic lid of the lube being opened. She heard him squelch the lube over something and hoped to God it wasn’t his cock. She wasn’t certain she was ready for that.

“Hold still, kitten.” She felt him begin to thrust something much larger than his fingers into her ass and consciously relaxed her muscles, pushing out against the invasion. The butt plug slipped in with surprising ease, the pleasure mingling with the slight pain as the fat base slipped past her muscles to fit snuggly inside her.

“You did beautifully, kitten,” he whispered against her lips as he positioned his body above hers.

“You are so gorgeous with that plug up your ass.”

She felt his cock at the entrance of her pussy and her eyes widened behind the blindfold. She felt full just from the butt plug. How the hell was he going to fit that monster in, as well?

She opened her lips to protest when she felt the head of his cock slip into her pussy. He pushed inside her in a slow, inexorable slide, the satin-smooth iron bar of flesh parting her, and she chocked on her words at the feeling.

She’d never felt so full in her life. It was almost more than she could bear.

And then he began to move.

He began fucking her slowly at first, letting her feel the full slide of him as he pulled out, the gentle push as he reentered her body. She could feel him against the butt plug, such a tight fit she was surprised the flesh between her pussy and ass didn’t rupture.

When he flipped the switch on the butt plug and made it begin to vibrate, she screamed.

Faster and faster he fucked in and out of her body. She could feel his sweat dripping down onto her.

He whispered to her in that sweet lilting language she didn’t understand. He began pounding into her as the vibrations in her ass intensified, shuddering in and out of her body so hard she could hear their flesh slapping together.

And she loved every fucking minute of it.

The man of her dreams was fucking her into the mattress, pounding his body against hers, losing that tight control he usually kept on himself. She threw her hips up at him, matching him stroke for stroke, brushing her clit against the base of his cock until she shrieked in an orgasm so intense she nearly passed out from the pleasure of it.

When she heard his shout of completion moments later she was still dealing with the aftershocks and wondering how she would survive their next bout.

She yawned, barely noticing when he released the cuffs that bound her to the bed. She cuddled up against him, blindfold still in place, and succumbed to sleep curled up on his chest.

Leo pulled the butt plug out of her ass with a small wince. When she’d threatened to go to someone else to learn, he’d lost it, taking her like an animal when she deserved so much more, so much better, for a wedding night.

Still, from the small smile on her face as she slept in his arms, maybe it wasn’t a total fuck-up.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have switched the peach plug for the black. It might have been a bit much, especially for a novice.

Still, if this was how his kitten made love when she had very little experience, he couldn’t wait to find out how she’d make love a hundred years from now. Or two hundred.

He reached down and pulled up the comforter, trying his best not to disturb her any more than he had to, and settled in to watch her sleep, guilt and bone-deep satisfaction a strange mix in his blood. He’d clean up the toys later. Cuddling his wife was definitely higher on his to-do list.

Chapter Eight

Ruby woke to sunshine and a wary expression on Leo’s handsome face. “Good morning,” she mumbled.

“Afternoon, actually,” he rumbled, his expression wry. “Hungry?”

“Um. I could eat a horse.” Ruby stretched that full body stretch that usually made his eyes bug out of his head.

This time, he averted his gaze. “I’ll go get some sandwiches.” He slid out of bed and reached for his pants.

“Leo? What’s wrong?” Ruby frowned.

“Nothing.”

“Gee, when I said nothing like that I got the third degree. What should I give you?”

Leo sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose wearily. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Ruby had no clue what had him riding the guilt train but was determined to find out.

“I didn’t mean to be so…rough…with you earlier. I’m sorry.”

She thought about that for a moment watching him pull on his T-shirt. He made his way to the bedroom door and she knew she had to say something now or forever hold her peace. “I never said stop.”

He paused, one hand on the doorknob, his back tensing as he heard the thoughtful note in her voice.

“Think about it, Leo. I never said stop. You said you would if I said it, remember?”

She watched as he turned to her, relief and regret equally mingled. “I lost my head.”

“I know.”

“I could have hurt you.”

“Nope.”

He frowned. “What do you mean, nope?”

“I mean, you’d never hurt me.”

“Not deliberately! Accidentally!” Leo’s hands pushed through his hair, pulling slightly at it. “I lost control, Ruby. I could have hurt you.”

She shook her head, coming out of the bed and padding quietly over to him. “Nope.” She hooked her arms around his waist and leaned into him, letting him feel her trust in him. The love she was beginning to feel for him warmed her as she cuddled against him, uncaring that she was completely naked.

His arms went around her, hard and secure. “I was scared to death when you didn’t wake up after the Binding. That wasn’t how I planned on spending our wedding day, Ruby. And then when you did wake up I lost control. I’m so sorry, kitten.”

Ruby tensed at the words “wedding day”. “Leo?”

“Hmm?” He’d buried his face in her hair and was breathing deep, his big body relaxing into hers.

“When did we get married?”

She felt him stiffen in her arms, and not in the good way. “I explained the bonding to you, remember?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“The Claiming, the Vow and the Binding?”

“I remember the Claiming, Leo. Details on the rest, please! When did we complete the ceremony, and where was I?”

He stared at her, his expression shocked. “In the front yard. Malmayne tried to take you away from me.” Hazy memories began to surface, of Cullen yanking her out of Leo’s arms, calling her human with such derision she’d felt soiled. No wonder her harmless teasing had unleashed his beast! “I used earth magic to get him away from you and spoke the Vow.” More memories surfaced, of Leo surrounded by incredible power, living tendrils of light that swept all before him as he made his way to her side. “Once the Vow was spoken the Binding took place.” He showed her the picture in her mind, of his power spearing into her as he finished the Vow, causing her to black out. “Our truebond is complete now.”

She glared at him, her mind whirling a mile a minute. “Don’t I have to repeat the Vow for it to be binding?” No pun intended.

His face went still. “It’s different with non-Sidhe.” She saw the wince more in his eyes than on his face when she raised her brows. “Non-Sidhe don’t have to repeat the Vows back for them to work.”

She tilted her head, confused. In the kitchen his father hadrepeated the vows. “Didn’t Sean repeat them when Aileen said them to him?”

Leo coughed. “Well, no, actually. He didn’t. Not the first time, anyway.”

Her eyes went wide. “You mean she bound Sean against his will?” She couldn’t begin to imagine trying to force Sean to do something he didn’t want to do.

Leo chuckled. “Now, that’s a story.” Leo put his arm around her shoulder, guided her back to the bed, and sat her down on the edge. He moved the chair over by the bed and settled into it directly across from her. “When Mom was sent to Paris to meet with Duncan Malmayne for the first time, it seems Dad was there slumming.”

“Slumming?”

“It was the eighteen eighties, and Paris was the place to be at the time. That, or New York, from what I’ve been told, and Dad had decided to do the European tour thing. Anyway, Mom met Duncan and was agreeable to the marriage contract. Then, one night at the opera, she saw Dad. Said something about their eyes met, he winked at her, and she was lost. She went looking for him the next day.”

“The Malmaynes must have been furious.”

“They didn’t know. Mom snuck out, started asking questions about the blue-eyed Irishman. When she found him she took one whiff of his scent and almost bound him on the spot.”

“Wow. Really? What did he smell like?”

Leo smiled. “Mom always says Dad smells like home.”

Ruby sighed mistily. “I reallylike your parents.”

“Well, it took a few days, and a lot of flirting, but Mom finally got him to kiss her.”

“The Tasting.”

“Yup. Dad, being a Leprechaun, figured out pretty early that she was Sidhe, but had no idea whether or not she was high-ranking, or even which Court she belonged to.”

Ruby shook her head. “Court? You mean like Seelie and Unseelie?”

He looked surprised, and pleased. “Something like that. The Malmaynes and the Jolouns were both White Court and owed allegiance to Glorianna.”

“I thought Oberon and Tita—”

His fingers pressed against her lips. “We don’t say that name.”

She frowned. “Why not?”

“It’s said if you say the name of the Dark Queen she’ll hear you. Possibly take an interest in you.” He shuddered. “You really don’t want that.”

This just kept getting better and better. “The Dark Queen?”

“The Dark Queen rules the Black Court. It’s a long story, but basically the Dark Queen was jealous of the power Oberon had. He was High King over all the fae, and they say he was truly smitten with his queen to the point that he’d bonded with her the same way I’ve bonded with you. His queen, however, wasn’t as smitten. It’s said she sold her soul to some dark beings who granted her certain powers. In exchange she was to take over the Court and pay the dark beings in power and blood. She betrayed Oberon, creating the first vampires, tainted creatures created from both humans and other fae, and started a war that almost destroyed us. Somehow Oberon managed to break the truebond they’d shared and shattered the Court.”

“I thought a bond couldn’t be broken.”

“He’s the only one I’ve ever heard of who has managed the feat. No one knows how he did it, but I bet the Hob had a huge hand in it. Now we have the White Court, ruled by Glorianna, the Black Court, ruled by Oberon’s ex, and the Gray Court, or Oberon’s court. Oberon is still the High King and holds sway over the others, but for the most part he tries not to interfere.”

She decided to ignore the fact that a truebond could be broken. She was strangely reluctant to even think about it. “Which court does your family belong to?”

“The Dunnes are White Court, but my family isn’t very high up. Shane and I are only lords due to our Joloun blood. Dad’s always talked about becoming Gray Court and finally leaving all of the politicking between the families behind, but we’ve never actually done it.”

“Which reminds me. How did your mom get your dad to bond with her?”

“He got tipsy one night and kissed her, and she knew he was the one. Mom made sure he had a bit more wine and managed to get herself into his bed, not that he fought all that hard.”

“That sounds familiar.” Leo looked completely unrepentant. “Did she take the Vow then?”

“Actually, no. She decided to introduce him to her father first. Needless to say Papa Joloun was not amused, and threatened to have my father ‘taken care of’.”

“And thenshe spoke the Vow?”

“Nope. Dad left Paris that night. He’d decided she’d be better off with the Malmaynes than with him.

Remember, both the Jolouns and Malmaynes were considered Fae of power. Going up against them was no small thing. Add in the fact that he had no clue that Mom had begun to truebond with him, and it just made sense to do what he thought was right. Mom, of course, was heartbroken and refused to go through with the marriage contract. When Papa Joloun locked her in her room and set a few brownie guards, Dad got wind of it.”

“How? I mean, if he wasn’t in Paris how did he find out?”

“Brownies are also earth spirits, and one of the guards was a personal friend of Dad’s and got a message to him. When he found out what was happening to Mom he returned to Paris. By the time he got there he said she no longer looked like the naïve teenage girl he’d first met. She actually had gray in her hair. With the help of the brownies he broke her out of the Joloun mansion and spirited her away. When Duncan Malmayne caught up to them Mom was in the process of binding Dad to her, over his rather loud objections I might add.”

“Why did he object? He loved her, right?”

“That’s why. He thought he wasn’t good enough for her. Anyway, Duncan, realizing it was a truebond, wished them well, but the rest of the families were outraged. Mom and Dad have nothing against Duncan personally, but the rest of the Malmaynes and Jolouns have made it clear they feel that Mom and Dad are beyond the pale.”

Ruby’s head was swimming with information. “But your parents exchanged Vows downstairs.”

“It’s customary at the bonding of a Sidhe to a non-Sidhe for the Vows to be exchanged, but that’s part of the formal ceremony, not the Binding itself.”

“Oh. Sort of a Sidhe wedding, then?”

Leo kissed the back of her hand. “Would you like to do that, Ruby? Have a full ceremony, with friends and family present, and a long white gown? I’m more than willing to do that, kitten, if it makes you happy.”

Ruby snapped her mouth closed when Leo chuckled. “Is that a proposal?”

“We’re already married, sweetheart, but if you want the formal proposal I can do that.”

Ruby bit her lip. “I need time to think, Leo.” She reached up and smoothed the frown lines on his brow. “I’m not going to run. Didn’t I promise I wouldn’t leave you? I just need to think things through, digest everything you’ve told me. Leo, think about it. It’s been a hell of a week.”

“I love you, Ruby.”

She battled back the tears that started up. His face was totally serious, his eyes sincere and loving despite the hardness of his face. She wasn’t certain she could speak past the sudden lump in her throat.

“Leo…”

“Shhh.” He placed one finger over her lips, his smile lopsided. “You don’t have to say it back, not yet.”

“Shut the hell up.” She felt one of the tears slip past but didn’t care. “You big goob.” Rising, she turned and settled into his lap, cuddling up to him as his arms went around her. “I want us both to wear rings, you hear me?”

“I hear you, kitten.” She felt his sigh of relief as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

“And if you cheat on me I’m cutting off your balls and pickling them.”

His involuntary twitch made her giggle. “Duly noted.”

“Leo?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you too. How the hell did it happen so fast?”

“Does it matter how fast it happened? To me all that matters is that you do.” Leo took her left hand in his and held it out in front of them. Gold sparkles coalesced around their ring fingers until two plain wedding bands appeared. “What design should we make?”

Ruby looked up into his glowing, otherworldly eyes and bit her lip, trying not to laugh. “Horseshoes?”

“Oh, hell.” Leo’s head thumped the back of the chair as the sparkles dissipated.

“With a blue diamond?”

He closed his eyes on a groan. “ Ruby.”

“Well, I think ruby balloons would be a bit much, but if that’s what you want…”

He cut her off with a kiss that curled her toes. “I was thinking Celtic knot-work myself.”

“What, not even a green clover?”

Leo nipped her throat. “Look at our hands,” he growled.

Looking down, Ruby gasped. Intricate knot-work rings of white gold sprinkled with white diamonds graced both of their fingers.

“The Celtic knot symbolizes eternity, as does the ring itself.”

“So do the diamonds.” She blinked tears from her eyes as she stared at the beautiful rings his imagination had wrought. “Diamonds are forever.”

“You like them?”

Ruby looked up into Leo’s shining eyes and felt her heart turn over. “Oh, yes. I like them. But, there’s one other ring I’d like made.”

“Which one would that be? Your engagement ring?”

Ruby shook her head. “Read my fantasy, your lordship.”

And Leo’s face filled with tenderness as a second ring landed on his hand. This one was yellow gold, with an oval shaped black stone. The initials RHwere carved into the surface of the stone.

Ruby was hardly surprised when she felt the weight of his collar around her neck. Their lips touched, brushed against each other lovingly.

“Mine.”

And ever after, neither was quite certain which one of them said it first.

Leo and Ruby dragged themselves to dinner, both drained and ravenous, a sketch of the wedding bands, ring, and collar in Leo’s hand. He wanted to talk to his father about finding an earth sprite to do the work for them.

Dinner that evening was both a pleasure and a pain, his family adjusting to his mating and welcoming Ruby with open arms. Always present, however, was the spirit of the missing Shane, and more than once Leo had to pull back his own happiness and deal with the pain and loss they were all still experiencing.

Moira tried her best to lighten the mood with her wisecracks, but wasn’t able to get more than a half-hearted smile from his mother, and none at all from his father.

“Well, now, don’t you all look gloomy,” a light tenor voice spoke from the doorway. Turning, Ruby saw a strange man standing in the early twilight, his long red hair bound back with a leather tie, his deep blue eyes gleaming with merriment. He was dressed in black velvet pants and a white poet’s shirt, with black leather boots on his feet. He leaned nonchalantly against the doorjamb watching the Dunne family finish their dinner.

Ruby waved hello to the newcomer. “Hi. Are you a friend of the family?”

She felt Leo tense next to her and wondered what she’d done wrong. The man had come in and was obviously at home here. Wasn’t he a friend?

The man smiled at her sweetly. “Aye, I am. And you’d be the lovely Ruby, I presume?”

Ruby nodded and watched the red-haired man saunter around the table. In his odd getup, with his long red hair, she’d thought him effeminate. Until he moved. He didn’t walk, he prowled, his movements sleek and powerful. He reminded her of a jungle cat.

He reached for her hand, placing a delicate kiss on her knuckles. She noticed that his nails had been painted black. “Charmed, my dear, and congratulations on your mating.” Laughing blue eyes moved to Leo as the man held her hand. “Brightest blessings on your mating, Leo! And congratulations on defeating the Malmaynes!”

“We haven’t defeated the Malmaynes. They still have Shane.” Leo’s eyes never left the red-haired man’s, and Ruby could have sworn she saw fear in them.

“I’m sorry, we haven’t been introduced. You are…?”

“My apologies, my dear. You may call me Robin.”

“Robin?”

“Yes. Robin. Robin Goodfellow, actually.” His expression was pure mischief, his bluer than blue eyes twinkling at her as he waited for her response.

Ruby blinked.

“Dear gods, don’t say it, Ruby.”

She ignored Leo’s whispered command as her lip began to twitch. “Um. I see Shakespeare was wrong. What’s knurly-limbed mean, anyway?”

Robin’s eyes widened for a moment, the twinkle in them deepening. “Want to find out?”

“If it has the same results as liposuction? Maybe.”

Robin’s lips twitched. “Hardly.”

“Oh. Well, then.” Ruby sighed, the twinkle in her eyes matching Robin’s. “So, have you been friends with Leo for long?”

One red brow rose as she waved him to a chair. Without thinking, Ruby got up and poured him and Leo a cup of coffee. “Not for long, no.” Ruby noticed his voice was thoughtful as she handed him the cup.

He nodded his thanks in a curiously formal gesture.

“Oh, well, we’re planning on formalizing our binding with a ceremony once the problem with the Malmaynes is resolved. You’ll come, right?”

She ignored Leo’s choking and the Dunne’s silence as she waited for Robin’s answer.

His eyes dancing with unholy amusement, Robin replied, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

 “I like your bondmate.” Leo headed out onto the front porch, the Hob following closely behind. “Few there are that aren’t terrified of me.”

Leo turned his head long enough to see Robin’s face. Though his expression was relaxed, Robin’s eyes were serious. “You’re welcome to come.”

Robin’s gaze sharpened, softening when he realized Leo meant it. “My thanks, Dunne.” Wicked merriment filled the Hob’s face. “I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with a suitable wedding present.”

Leo groaned.

“But that isn’t why I came.” Robin perched on the railing, balancing on the balls of his feet as he crouched, his head cocked to the side as he stared at Leo. “First, the Malmaynes are not taking your truebond lightly. I fear they may make a move against your Ruby.”

Leo’s eyes glowed green, his glamour forgotten. “I see. I’ll take care of that. And the other?”

Robin looked delighted. “Rumor has it that the Malmayne’s caged bird has flown, but where he’s flown to is a mystery.”

“Shane’s free?” Leo couldn’t quite believe it, but if the Hob said it was so then he’d have to.

“Aye, which is why I believe they will make a move on your woman. They will need new leverage to get you to agree to their terms.” Robin looked down at his black nails. “So, what did you think of Kaitlynn and Cullen?”

Leo sighed. “Cullen is indulging Kaitlynn in this, I think. He would be willing, if not happy, to have Shane or Moira fulfill the contract, but Kaitlynn seems fixed on me.”

“It’s that pretty face of yours. She covets it.”

“She can’t have it.” Leo stared out at the night sky. “Why did you agree to help us?”

Robin chuckled, the first genuine expression Leo had seen on that pretty face. “I owed your mother a favor for something she’s not even certain she did.” Robin looked up at Leo, his eyes glowing green. “The Hob always pays his debts. Always.”

And with that, quick as he’d come, the Hob was gone, his voice floating back on the evening breeze.

“Remember: there is another Malmayne.”

 Jaden blinked, feeling totally put upon. Where the fuck are you, Duncan?“You want me to what?”

Kaitlynn sighed, totally exasperated. “Bring me the little human whore, stuff her in the cage Shane was in, and leave her to me. Even someone of your limited intellect can understand that order, yes?”

Jaden snarled. “Careful, sweet cheeks.”

He shuddered once again when she smiled. There was just something…off…about her that made him think of spiders.

Jaden hated spiders.

“Bring me the girl, stuff her in a cage, and forget about her. Understand, Mr. Blackthorn?”

Jaden took a deep breath. He did notlike the direction her thoughts, obvious on her face, were going.

“Duncan will not be happy if we hurt an innocent girl.”

That saccharine sweet expression crossed her face once again, and Jaden wondered where Daddy Dearest had gotten to. Cullen was one of the few people capable of dealing with the Deranged Darling.

“Duncan can go to hell. Do what I told you, vampire.”

Jaden did his best to mimic her smile. “No.”

He was pretty sure the slap she landed on his face was supposed to hurt. It probably would have left a bruise on a Sidhe face. On a vampire, it was barely noticeable. “Do as I tell you or I call Mr. West.”

The fact that the threat was delivered in the same sickly sweet tones she normally spoke in only made her seem creepier. Time was running out on Kaitlynn Malmayne.

If it wasn’t for Duncan, the bitch would already be dead. It was becoming his damn mantra. If it wasn’t for Duncan, if it wasn’t for Duncan…

Jaden turned and stormed out of her office and out of the house. He headed straight towards his car, a classic black Mustang. As soon as he was off Malmayne land he pulled out his cell phone.