Behind the Veil: 3 (Temptation Unveiled) (12 page)

She crossed her arms protectively over her chest and lifted
her chin defiantly. “Chicken out, Tinkerbell? Too much for you? I thought we
were supposed to be witnessing the claiming. Isn’t that what you said?”

Finn paced in front of her, running a hand through his
mussed auburn hair. “Yes, and I’ll catch hell for it, I’m sure, but you saw
enough. You know they weren’t using magic to coerce him. I think Ceri naked
within touching distance was more than enough persuasion for your beloved Kyle.”

Sheridan swallowed. No doubt. It had nearly persuaded her. “Did
they take his life force?”

He glared at her. “For someone who couldn’t look away, you
weren’t paying that much attention. The claiming is a connection. They shared
their light, their life force, with him. There was no taking. They marked him,
tasted him so they would be able to find him anywhere, at any time. You didn’t
see it, but then, you don’t see things like your cousin, do you?” He exhaled
roughly. “You can barely see what’s right in front of your eyes.”

He really was upset. And now so was she. “What the hell is
wrong with you? Did I break some fairy rule I’m not aware of?”

He strode toward her until she had to look up to meet his
fiery stare. She refused to look away. Refused to be the first to blink.

Finn swore. “No, damn it.
I
broke the rule. Several,
in fact. Ceri is an outcast and I made her Kyle’s protector. The queen knows
about her, but I didn’t tell her about Dian. Didn’t tell her that I had no
qualms about allowing a Dweller, one of the true and sacred disciples of Danu,
to leave our realm to participate. And worst of all…”

He swore again, this time in another language, the twitch in
his temple telling her she wasn’t going to like what he said next. “Worst of
all I am recently cursed with more conscience than a Fae should be asked to
bear. I don’t feel shame as humans do, Sheridan. About certain things, yes, but
not about sex or desire. I give and take pleasure with no apologies and no
regrets. As a rule, I’m not made to carry the burdens of guilt that made Damon
and Hawk’s lives so bleak before they found their mates.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked breathlessly.

“I’m talking about you,” he growled. “You, whose body tempts
me beyond my powers of restraint, beyond sanity. Even now, with every beat of
your heart you are offering what I’ve wanted with something akin to desperation
since I met you. But now, because I know you—know what you value and care what
you think of me—I cannot take what you are finally offering. Not until I tell
you…” He took a breath as she held hers. “Sheridan, I was in your dream last
night.”

Her jaw dropped. She hadn’t been expecting that. “How do you
know that? You can’t read my mind. You’ve never been able to.”

He didn’t look away, but his jaw was set as he forced the
words out of his mouth. “I can’t, but in this case it wasn’t necessary. I was
in
your dream. It’s something my people used to do centuries ago. To inspire and experiment.
You controlled it, every step of the way, but I was there in the alley. In the
interrogation room. I remember everything.” He met her gaze again. “I don’t
want to lie to you. Not even by omission to make things easier. I won’t.”

She couldn’t catch her breath, could hardly form a coherent
thought. Not that he gave her any time. He walked toward her until her knees
hit the edge of the bed and he reached for her waist. “Most importantly, I don’t
want you lying to yourself about this. About us. You are not under a spell and
you aren’t dreaming. Nothing that you’ve done has been against your will and
everything
you felt in that room just now was real. What you told me in your dream was
real…and I can’t force myself to pretend I’ve forgotten. You want me as much as
I want you. You can taunt me and fight with me, you can try to chase me away,
but you can’t deny the truth anymore. Not with me. I know.”

“You mean that was you in that ridiculous sweatshirt? In
handcuffs? You let me…”
Shit
. She’d known the dream was different, but
she hadn’t expected that. She felt her cheeks flush as she remembered how
brazen she’d been, feeling safe in her dream. But he’d been there. She recalled
the darkness that had chased them out of that bedroom. He knew about that now
too.

Send him away. He wants to end me. He’ll use you to get
to me.

“You will not shut me out now, Sher.” Finn tore at his shirt
with one hand, the buttons flying as the other still held her close to him. “I
saw you suffering. I was trying to take away your nightmares. Your pain. I had
no idea where we’d end up. Once I realized, I couldn’t leave. I didn’t want
to.”

As if that could excuse him. Whatever his intentions, he’d
just ripped away all her protective armor. He knew what was in her mind, the
darkness, but he hadn’t mentioned it. That fact alone was suspicious. “I think
you should go.”

His violet eyes were alive with light. Glowing in the dim
light of her room. “No you don’t, love. I don’t need my telepathy to know what
you’ve been thinking since last night. What you were willing to let me do just
now as we watched Kyle getting his brains fucked out. You want that. You want
that with me.”

He was right. She still wanted him, damn the consequences.
Still felt lightheaded and aroused and ready. Her mouth watered. She wanted to
taste him again. “Don’t tell me what I want.”

“Drop the pretense, love.” He pushed her lightly with his
body and she lost her balance, falling back on the bed. Finn reached for the
buttons on her jeans as he continued to speak in savage, almost guttural tones.
“Our bodies are screaming, one for the other. Desperate for a replay of last
night’s tease. Desperate for release.”

He tugged her jeans and underwear down and off. Sheridan
didn’t push him away or try to stop him. He was right. Oh God, he was right.
She wanted him too much to deny it. Yearned to reach for him. Touch him. “Why
are you bothering with the clothes?”

His lips tilted so sensually she almost moaned. Beautiful.
“Maybe I like this human tradition. The unwrapping of my gift. Or perhaps I
enjoy making you wait. A moment of payback for what you’ve put us through for
too long.”

As he spoke she lifted herself up onto her elbows to watch
him. He slid his hands slowly up her thighs and she shook her head to stop him.
“What I put us through? What? Just because I didn’t leap into your lap like
every other woman you’ve ever me—”

“Just because you haunt my dreams,” he murmured, his fingers
digging into her skin in a way that made her gasp. “Just because you pushed me
away and made me suffer—made both of us suffer—by denying what was between us.
You ruined me with one kiss. No one else will do and I will never be satisfied
until I have you.”

Until
he had her. She was a challenge and she knew
it. Knew that was what was driving him to say all the things she most wanted to
hear, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to deny herself anymore, or spend
another night, another minute wondering. Wanting.

But she couldn’t let herself forget who and what he was.
Fae. Other. Someone she would have to work beside until her part in this was
done. She wasn’t so far gone that she couldn’t see how many new complications
they were about to create.

She covered one of his hands with her own. “Then let’s
agree. One night, Finn. That’s all. Just to get this out of our systems. My
only condition is that my dreams are my own. You help me solve the mystery, but
you stay out of my head and my bed until it’s over.”

His hands paused and he closed his eyes for one tense,
nerve-racking moment. “One night won’t be enough.”

Her tongue slipped out to dampen her suddenly dry lips. A
part of her had been hoping he’d say that. “Then until we solve our riddle. But
you can’t tell anyone about this.
No one
. Then, if either one of us
wants out, that’s it, no questions asked. No drama from the peanut gallery.
This is just between you and me. And like I said, you stay out of my head.
Agreed?”

He was looking at her again with an intensity she’d never
seen. “Agreed. Sheridan Kelly, you have made a pact with a Fae. If you knew
your history better you’d know you couldn’t have made a more dangerous
decision.” He caught her shiver and grinned. “There is always a catch.”

She wasn’t sure what he meant, and frankly, she didn’t care.
Her gaze clung to his body. It was true. Every detail of her dream had been
true. He was magnificent. And for the moment, he was hers. She reached between
her legs to scrape his hard stomach with her nails, making him hiss out a
surprised breath between his teeth.

“You are playing with fire, love. I’ve been thinking of
nothing but this since last night. Your taste. How you felt around me.” He
moaned when she pulled her hand back long enough to drag her sweater over her
head, revealing the peach lace of her bra. It was nothing like the leather
costume her mind had invented, but from the look in his eyes it was even better.

Her thighs were already damp and shaking, waiting for him to
take her. To crawl onto the bed and finally give her what she craved. Her
impatience was a living thing inside her. Greedy and aching. “Please, Finn.”

He tensed, shuddering as though rocked by a powerful wave. “You
have no idea how long I’ve waited for those two words to come from your lips. I
have to hear them again. But first, I have to deliver on a promise.”

Finn dragged her body down the bed and pulled her to her
feet. She inhaled in sharp surprise when he twirled her around in his arms,
took her wrists in his hands and bent her over the bed. “What are you doing?”

“I think the ‘real’ Finn owes you a spanking,” he muttered.
“It’s long overdue.”

“What? No!” She tried to move but she couldn’t. That
knowledge should terrify her or make her angry. It did neither. Hadn’t she just
had this fantasy? The one where he took control? “Oh God.”

He stepped behind her and caressed the cheeks of her ass
with his hot hands. “I thought we were finally going to stop denying what we
want. What we deserve. And oh my fiery Sheridan…you definitely deserve this.”

She deserved a spanking? Her breath caught as the idea
thrilled her. It shouldn’t, but it did. Yes. A spanking. For pretending she
didn’t want him. For teasing him and pushing him away. For being strong enough
and stubborn enough to resist him for so long.

Regardless of the lust she could feel pouring off him in
waves, he was taking his time. Too long. His fingers lightly traced the back of
her thighs, her hips and each curve of her body as she fought to keep her knees
from buckling. But then, he wouldn’t let them, would he? His magic held her
body up for his pleasure, still and completely vulnerable to his every whim.

“You want this.” It wasn’t a question and yet… “Say it. Tell
me you want this.”

She groaned. “Hell. Yes, okay? Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“I want it,” she whispered, feeling the heat rising up her
neck and bathing her face.

Finn bent over her and kissed her shoulder, the feel of his
body flush against hers making her tremble. “What—
exactly
—do you want?”

He was going to make her say it, damn him. Going to make her
admit her need. It didn’t scare her.
He
didn’t scare her. He drove her
crazy, and turnabout was fair play. She turned until she met his intense stare
with her own. “I want you to spank me, Fairy Finn. I want you to spank my ass
and pussy until I come. And then I want you to fuck me with your big, hard cock
until I’m never the same.”

He reared back as though she’d dealt him a physical blow and
Sheridan’s lips quivered into a smile. “You wanted me to tell you. Was I
supposed to be subtle?”

He opened his mouth on her shoulder and bit into her skin
just enough for her to feel the pinch. As he stood, taking away his warmth, he
shook his head. “Why start now, Harridan?”

She heard the sharp smack of his hand on the curve of her
ass before she felt the impact. But when she felt it…? “Oh God.”

He did it again. And again. The sensation of stinging fire
seemed more intense because she couldn’t move away from it. His magic held her
hips still, made her ass tilt upward as if in supplication. As if she were
silently begging for more.

She was.

She couldn’t explain why, or why she was so emotional. All
her senses were heightened. She felt like laughing and crying at the same
time—and she was so close to coming she wanted to scream. The rhythm of his
hand sped up, peppering smacks on each cheek, on her upper thighs. More. She
still needed more.

“I’m going to spread your legs,” he muttered. “I’m going to
give you exactly what you want, love. Exactly what you asked for.”

Her legs spread without his touching her and she moaned, knowing
he’d stepped back to watch. That he could see everything. The arousal coating
her sex, her thighs. Her clit that felt swollen with need.

“And I’ll keep our bargain,” he whispered harshly as he
positioned himself at her hip. “I won’t tell anyone how wet I’m making you. How
much you love being bent over and spanked by Fairy Finn. You can scream if you
like. I promise you, I’ve made sure no one—with supernatural senses or not—will
be able to hear you shout my name and beg for it. Only me.”

His hand came down between her legs and she screamed, her
climax crashing around her with that first, perfect slap. “Finn!
Fuck
.”

Stars and spots clouded her vision and she bit her lip until
she tasted blood. She couldn’t move with it. Couldn’t move at all. All she could
do was feel. It rocked through her body, refusing to fade in intensity as he
continued to spank the lips of her sex, her clit. Continued to torture her with
pleasure again and again. Soft and hard. Pain and pleasure. One wave of
sensation swallowing another until she was drowning in it.