Page 73 of Her Irish Treasures
Gritting my teeth, I fought for control. Deep, hard strokes as she demanded. Rocking her body, grinding her pelvis down harder on Keane’s tongue. Making her breath thud out heavily with each fierce thrust.
I wanted to make this last as long as possible. I might only taste her pleasure this one time…
I didn’t think she understood the brutal reality of what it meant to be the treasurekeeper. What it meant for her treasures to be spun back to the mortal plane over and over in an endless war. Mortals were born and gone in the blink of an eye. Brilliant kaleidoscopes of emotion and beauty, yet gone just the same.
I could not bear to think of her dead and gone.
Let alone the thought of her inevitable suffering. Grief, when her treasures died as they always did, returning to Tír na nÓg. Her own brutal death as Evil Eye’s grip tightened on her world. Whether together or one by one, the treasures would be destroyed, and without them, she, too, would die. This glorious light would wink out, and I would spend all eternity in darkness. Trapped like her painting that I’d stolen away to the Summer Isle.
Another wave of her pleasure slammed into me like a visceral punch in the gut. I grunted, wavering a moment on a towering precipice. Crystalline rainbows of magic danced around the bed, spinning out from her. Pure magic, the brightest light of her soul. And she had no idea.
I clutched her desperately, aching to keep her safe. Cursing myself for bringing her back to the mortal plane when I could have kept her forever in the Summer Isle. She wouldn’t have to die. She wouldn’t have to suffer her other lovers’ death.
I could have made her forget it all.
But then she wouldn’t have this. Keane’s gift sending another wave of pleasure rolling through her body. Aidan waiting in the wings with his burning, ravenous gaze. Doran and Ivarr moments away, ready to rush to her rescue or join us at her request. As much as I yearned to have her safe forever in my domain, she wouldn’t be fully happy without them. Without the incessant pull between conduit and treasures, she never would have found her way intoShamrockedin the first place.
She screamed, a wordless plea that made me shove deep, aching to fill her up. To be so deep inside her that she’d never forget me. Her magic rolled through me, leaving me shaking in release. Out of my head, bathing in her pleasure, I barely remembered to capture all the magic we released before we lit up the Kansas City skyline like the Fourth of July. Even if the changeling didn’t dare attack four united treasures, I’d be a fool to mark our location for Evil Eye’s minions. He had plenty of dark fae at his beck and call to send an entire army against us.
But it was too much magic for me to absorb. Straining to keep it contained, I pushed back as much as possible into Riann, giving her all that her mortal shell could hold. Treasurekeeper magic braided with leprechaun green and gold. Such a marvel to behold.
Panting in a sweaty heap, I fought to keep my face easy. My eyes bright, or at least soft and full of emotion. Not grim or full of dread, abject terror at the thought of watching her suffer and die.
She lifted her head, brushing hair out of her face. Hers, mine, a glorious tangle. “Help me up. I think I suffocated Keane.”
“Nonsense.” Still mostly underneath her, Keane let out a long, pleased rumble of satisfaction. “Now that was a feast indeed.”
Blushing hotly, she heaved up to her hands and knees in an awkward scramble and flopped back down as if she’d used the last of her reserves. Indeed, as I assessed her condition, her mortal body felt paper thin despite the elixir she’d drunk in Faerie to heal her injured leg.
With a thought, I pulled an ice-cold glass of spring water into my hand and pressed it to her lips.
“Wait,” Aidan barked, quickly sitting up and reaching for the glass. “What is it?”
She arched a brow at him and took the glass from me. “What does it matter? I’m dehydrated and dying of thirst. Thank you, Warwick.”
Her eyes were shadowed and heavy, her face pale, though her tart tone made Aidan settle back against the pillows with a humph.
I inclined my head, a wry smile on my lips. “Providing hydration is the least we can do after such a precious gift,mo stór.”
She drained the glass and handed it back to me with a glum look tightening her face. “I’m wiped out and only one of you actually… er…” Crimson flooded down her neck, drawing my gaze to the hint of luscious breasts beneath the leather coat she still wore. “If we were grading sex scenes, that’s only a thirty-three percent completion rate. I’d fail for sure.”
Sitting up to grab her by the lapels, Aidan dragged her closer to him, tucking her down against his side. “You couldn’t be more wrong. For one thing, Keane blew his load just as hard as the leprechaun did. So you’re two out of three in that regard. But you failed to realize that some of the points on this assignment are weighted more heavily than others. The three of us are fucking lightweights in that regard. The only one who matters is you. You fucking aced the exam, won a shit ton of extra credit, and now can skip a few grades and sleep for a fucking year.”
“But—”
He glared down at her and jerked the sheet up around her. “No ifs, ands, or buts about it. You fucking rocked our world off its axis and then some. You’re alive. You’re breathing and smiling and screaming with pleasure just fine, thank you very much. When it’s my turn, it’s my turn, and I’ll have your screams and pleasure then, too. For now, I’m grateful that you let me watch. I’m even more grateful that you’re now going to fall asleep in my arms, safe and sound.”
Keane crawled up the mattress to spoon her other side. Quietly, I rolled to the edge of the bed.
“Wait,” she called softly. “Where are you going?”
Surprised, I paused on the edge of the bed and looked back at her. Eyes heavy, hair tousled, lips full and lush, cheeks and throat rosy, her skin gleaming with afterglow magic. “Did you want me to stay?”
A crestfallen look of sudden doubt swept over her face.
In the blink of an eye, I knelt over her legs and cupped her face in my palms. “Forgive me for ever putting that look on your face,mo stór.I would rather Aidan hack off my head for good than leave you a single moment. But if this is to be your home in the mortal plane, then I wasn’t sure of my welcome. A visit is a fine thing but guests stink like fish after a few days.”
She hooked her forearm around my neck and lifted herself up to press her face against my throat. “If you’re not welcome, then I’m not either. You’re more than a guest to me.”
