Page 51 of Her Irish Treasures
My eyes closed, holding the thought close like a secret in the depths of my heart. I would know if anyone lied to me. Even Warwick.
Tension bled away from my shoulders, softening the heavy sense of dread in my stomach that I’d been trying to ignore. I didn’t doubt Warwick’s honesty in the slightest, and I refused to believe that he’d conned me. But now I would have that confirmation if I ever needed it.
I painted in long, broad strokes. Hurried. Throwing paint onto the canvas with abandon. I wanted to finish it. Quickly. So I could slide into that vision and bring it to life.
I dropped the paintbrush with a clatter. I didn’t wear a flowing nightgown, but when I pulled the shirt over my head and wriggled out of my jeans, I didn’t hear a single word of complaint from the men waiting for me on the bed. Doran lifted me up effortlessly, setting me on my knees between his splayed thighs. He didn’t ask anything of me, choosing to sit and wait for me to decide how quickly I wanted to proceed.
As soon as I focused on Ivarr, he rose up slightly from his reclined position beside his friend, though he, too, simply waited for my direction. My pace. My rules. It was so shocking to me, which unsettled me all over again. It made me suspect there were dark things in my head that the changeling may have feasted upon. Horrible things he’d done to me, just so he could devour those dark memories.
They knew it, reading the slight waver on my face. Or sensing the unsettling pit in my stomach.
“If Greenshanks had anything at all to do with that sickness swirling in your stomach, I’ll see him drawn and quartered.” Doran’s grim rumble pushed back some of the uneasiness threatening to overtake me. “Though I hope for your sake that he be as innocent as you believe.”
I moved closer to Doran, reaching up to cup his heavy head in both my hands. “When you first started talking in my dreams, I didn’t believe you. I didn’t believeinyou. But I do now. I believe in you. In all of you. And I believe in Warwick too.”
Doran leaned his mighty head down against mine, resting his chin on the top of my head. “Then I believe in him too,mo stór, because I, more than any of we four, have been saved by the incomparable strength of your heart.”
I leaned forward and pressed my lips to one of the deep grooves in his shoulder. He had so many scars. So many battles. I couldn’t comprehend how many times they must have died to save the world that didn’t care about them in the slightest. He wore the impact of all those lives deep in his flesh. Physical proof of all the times he’d fought and died to save the world.
His skin quivered against my lips, a soft sigh escaping his lips. I raised my head, stunned to find the scar had smoothed away. His flesh looked whole and unmarked once more.
“Such power,” Ivarr whispered. “You truly are magical, Riann.”
“It’s not me,” I replied, shaken. “It’syourmagic. I’m only the conduit.”
“A conduit can change the flow through it,” Doran said. “Transform it into something else. It’s been so long since we were all four reunited with our treasurekeeper, methinks the fae magic is so relieved and excited to be used again that it’s expanding your ability.”
Me. Magic? I certainly felt magical in their arms. Especially when they looked at me with such burning desire. Vivi was the beautiful woman who drew men to her like bees to honey. I’d never been magnetic like her. I was the quiet geeky artist with paint smeared on my cheek. Too shy and awkward to even think about dating much.
But they both looked at me like I was a miracle. That certainly felt magical to me.
I rose up over Doran’s hips and slowly began to take him inside. His big hands settled on my waist, supporting me while I worked him deep. He was a big man in all ways. Sweat beaded on my forehead when I rocked my hips. I didn’t try to take him balls deep. Not yet.
I’d entertained the possibility of having Ivarr inside me at the same time, but I didn’t think I could bear any more sensation. Though he pressed his lips to mine. The gentle glide of his palms over my back and arms brought my skin to life. His heat warmed my back, just like in the painting I’d been working on. Solid muscle everywhere. Safe.
So safe.
Climax rippled through me, a wave that started gently, like their touch, but built to a crashing crescendo. Shattering me up against a crystalline ceiling that exploded into a million stars. Doran’s guttural sigh pushed me higher, his big hands squeezing me harder against him. His hips thrusting, lifting me up, driving me into a higher level that made me claw at his shoulders.
Panting, I sagged against him a moment, trying to catch my breath. “No offense, big guy, but I’m going to need to start with one of the other guys next time so they get a turn before I’m unconscious.”
“I’m not complaining,” Ivarr nuzzled my neck, still curled around my back. Soft golden light shimmered all around him. “Your pleasure always pushes me over the edge. Though I’d love to be inside you too.”
It hadn’t really dawned on me until now. I had four men in my bed. No, five. We’d been intimate. They’d come on me. Yet only Doran had ever actually been inside me. As Ivarr said, he wasn’t complaining. But I was going to have to come up with some kind of system. No matter how eager I might be after so many years, I was only one woman after all. Human, even, compared to supernatural Irish treasures and a fucking leprechaun.
Doran rolled slightly onto his side, letting me settle between him and Ivarr. “Flip a coin next time. Though not Warwick’s gold. Aidan’ll never trust it not to favor the leprechaun with every toss.”
The bed was too small to get very comfortable between two large men, one of which resembled a massive stone gargoyle even in his human form. “Is there bad blood between them?”
“Not that I know of,” Ivarr replied. “Aidan isn’t the trusting sort to begin with.”
I huffed out a sigh and closed my eyes. That was the understatement of the century.
9
Freshly showered, I sat on one of the hotel beds while the guys argued over who was getting the bathroom next. I hated to keep spending Vivi’s money, but maybe we should have gotten a couple of rooms. One shower for five people—especially large, rowdy men—was a challenge. I hadn’t seen many cars in the parking lot, so hopefully there weren’t a lot of guests that’d be filing noise complaints.
Aidan and Keane had brought several bags of fast food with them—as well as what looked to be the entire whiskey selection from the liquor mart on the corner. As long as they kept the noise down to a dull roar, I didn’t mind them drinking, though I couldn’t help but dwell on the fact that we could have gone toShamrockedfor all the alcohol they could want.
