Behind the Veil: 3 (Temptation Unveiled) (18 page)

His muscles tensed. “Why?”

Sheridan pulled back to study his expression. “‘Why’ is not
the correct response. ‘Yippee’ was more what I had in mind.”

His violet eyes were dark with yearning. Need. With worry. “You
saw Danu.”

Damn the man. “How do you know what I saw?
If
I saw
anything?”

“Dian owes you more than his life. Danu would be the only
reason. He saw her with you. Spoke to her.” Finn’s jaw clenched. “Was it worth
it, Sheridan? Was it worth leaving me alone to wait, helpless to protect you
yet again while you took your little journey through Dian’s soul?”

She shook her head, struggling out of his embrace until she
was facing him, a few feet away. “I don’t know, Finn. I do know that I’m not
the only one who has a hard time listening.”

Sheridan glanced down at her outfit, surprised to see she
was still in her torn, sheer dress. It felt like days since dinner. Longer
since Finn had touched her. She reached for her homemade slit and tore to her
neckline, letting the wispy fabric drop around her, leaving her in nothing but
a strapless bra and emerald panties. She stepped out of her heels and placed
her hands at her sides. “Are you listening now?”

He was. She could tell by the flush climbing his neck. By
the hard pulse at his temple and the way he licked his lips as he studied her.
By the hard outline of his arousal, straining against his pants. But still he
resisted. “You don’t know what you’re asking for.”

“Trust me,” she murmured, pushing down her panties and
reaching behind her to unclasp her bra, baring her flesh to the cool air. “This
is the one thing I definitely know. You want me. I want you. I’m naked and you
should be. How complicated does this have to get?”

There was a boulder behind her the color of brushed copper.
She leaned against it, cupping her full breasts in her hands as he stood, still
frozen. Unmoving. She sighed. “Are there magic Fae words? Something I have to
say in Tuatha-ese to make it official? I release you from the sacred pact you
made, etcetera, etcetera. No rules. No hidden agendas. Take me. Do me. Ravish
me before I find somebody else who—”

Those were the magic words, Sheridan thought with a gasp as
Finn was beside her a heartbeat later. He could move as fast as a Dweller if he
wanted. Good to know. He lifted her against the smooth, cool boulder until her
legs were wrapped around his waist, and then lowered his mouth onto hers in a
carnal kiss that curled her toes.

This was nothing like that first kiss.

Oh it still drove her instantly wild, still scared her how
quickly she could become a slave to his taste. But this time, Sheridan didn’t want
to fight it. This time she was kissing him back. Opening her mouth to let him
in, sucking his lower lip until he groaned. Giving as good as she got.

Wanting him.

She tugged impatiently at his shirt and he lifted his lips and
stopped touching her just long enough to pull it over his head, pressing his
bare chest against her breasts. She moaned in pleasure when her hardened
nipples scraped his, immediately reaching down between their bodies, desperate
to undo the buttons at his waistband.

Finn lifted his head, gripping her wrist to pull her hand
away. “Wait.” He ground his hips against her. “We need to get a few things
straight.”

Now?
“Anything.” She huffed out a harsh breath. “Just
hurry.”

Finn smiled, lowering his hand between them and pressing his
knuckles against her clit as he fondled the first button on his pants. She
shuddered with need. Why was he teasing her?

“I don’t want you, Sheridan Kelly.”

She jerked in his arms, her eyes blinking rapidly as she was
thrown out of her dream-like haze. “What?”

“I don’t want you,” he repeated, his expression hardened
with desire. “I crave you. I burn for you. I… Want just doesn’t cover it, love.”

He undid the button, making her squirm the way his words
had. “Point taken.”

He opened the panel of his pants and she could feel his hot,
impossible erection pressing against her thigh.
Yes.
But not close
enough. Not nearly close enough. “Anything else?”

“Yes,” he rasped, looking down to watch as he lined up his
cock with her sex. “There are no magic words to end this thing between us,
Sher. Our destiny is set. But I
can
promise you that this won’t be
enough for either of us. Whether you like it or not, you won’t get me out of
your system so easily.”

She knew. Oh God, she knew.

When he began to push slowly up inside her, she knew it
would feel just as good as it had in the dream. Just as powerful. She didn’t know
it would be better. The sweet pain that came as her body struggled to take his
hot thickness, the stretch as he filled her. It was real. It was physical and raw
and messy and perfect.

She rolled her head on the rocks behind her, loving the
sharp scrape of them, the light scratch of his pants against her calves as she
tightened her grip to pull him closer. “Finn.”

“Don’t,” he growled. “Don’t say a word, Sher. Don’t beg for
more. Don’t say please so sweetly that I lose what little bit of control I have
left and this ends too rough and too fast.”

She hummed, rubbing her breasts against him. “Rough and fast
sounds good.”

He swore. “Yes it does. But so does savoring how you feel
wrapped around me. Hot and wet and tight. My home. I’ll never want to be
anywhere more. I told you, you’ve bloody ruined me, Sher. I hope you’re happy.”

She was. She cried out when he bent his head and took one
nipple between his teeth, biting as he swung his hips against hers, giving her
more. Making her crazy with it. Crazy for him. This was what she wanted. To be
lost to him.

There was no shame and no regrets. They were outside, where
anyone could come and find them and she loved it. Maybe she understood the Fae
tendency for exhibitionism after all. She wanted to be watched as this man
worshipped her with his mouth and owned her with his cock. To show them how it
was supposed to be done. How a woman could be made to beg.

Finn was lifting her thighs over his arms now, lifting her
up so she could take every last inch of him. So he could take away her control.
“Yes, Finn. Oh fuck
yes
.” She gripped his hair and tugged sharply until
he was looking into her eyes. “I can take it. Don’t hold back.”

His eyes were flames of violet and black. Wild and fierce. His
skin was shimmering with light. He growled and pumped his hips harder against
her, making her cry out. So full of him, stretched so tight she could feel
everything. As if they were merging. As if there were joining in a way that was
intensely physical, but so much more than that.

“I
can’t
hold back, love. You don’t understand, I
know.” His breathing lifted his chest against her and she trembled. So close.
She was close to something amazing. “You’re mine. My
síorghrá
. My other
half. I need to be inside you. I need to feel you shatter around me as I come,
knowing nothing can separate us once it’s done.”

Nothing? Something on the edge of her awareness woke at
that. Pulled itself out of sensation and heard his words. “I don’t understand.”
Why had he spoken? Why had she listened?

His voice was a rasping rumble in his throat. “Neither do I.
Didn’t believe in it. But now I know. When I come inside you—
oh fuck
I
need to come inside you—when it’s done, you’ll know you can trust me. You’ll
know everything. And then I’m going to fuck you again.”

She’d know everything.
He’d
know everything. He
couldn’t. Not yet. Not until she was sure. Not until she understood. And the
games…

Her worry couldn’t dim what was happening inside her body. A
thousand fires and lightning strikes. An endless wave of pleasure that was
building in strength and ferocity, close to consuming her.

Sheridan kissed him and whispered against his lips. “On the
ground. I want to ride you.”

She sensed his knees buckling as he complied, ensuring he
didn’t lose contact with any part of her body until he was in position. “Whatever
you want,” he groaned. “This time.”

She couldn’t be this greedy. Couldn’t take from him and
leave him nothing in return. She lowered her head and dug her nails into his
chest. Son of a bitch.

“
This time
I can’t have what I want. This time I have
to change my mind.
Damn it.”
She felt a sob welling up in her throat and
her body’s angry shout of denial. “And I need you to keep your word. The first
one where you said you would wait for me—for this—until I’m ready.”

He loosened his grip on her hips enough for her to roll off
of him. She stood and took several steps back, covering her breasts with her
hands. She was suddenly keenly aware of her lack of cover. Her scars.

Finn leaped up from his prone position on the ground to
stand in front of her with legs spread and eyes blazing. He looked crazed. Wild
and angry and it was all her fault. “Is that what you were waiting for, lover?
Were you waiting to pay me back for the night I left you? Playing with me until
I gave in? Come on, Sher,” he mocked. “Call me a Faery Fool and say something
clever. Twist the knife a little more.”

“No!” She couldn’t blame him. Why wouldn’t he think that?
She’d begged him. Stripped and laid herself at his feet. And now she’d stopped
before either of them found release. But he couldn’t know. Not yet.

Still, she had to tell him something. “I couldn’t lie to
you.” His gaze narrowed on her and she shivered. She didn’t want to lie to him.
She wanted him to know everything. She wanted him. But she couldn’t have that.
Him. Not yet. “I did speak to Danu. And Danu wants me to…”

Finn put his hands on his hips, drawing Sheridan’s hungry
gaze to his thick, impossibly beautiful erection—still glistening with her
arousal. “Danu wants you to what, Sheridan? String me along some more? Fly to
the moon? What?”

She lifted her chin, her own anger rising to meet his. “You
keep begging me to trust you, Finn. You say the prophecy wills it, that you’ve
earned it, but you’re wrong. At every turn
you
choose not to trust
me
.
You think that I can’t handle myself. That you’re responsible for me. I don’t
have to
know
you to know that you’re the one with the chip on his
shoulder. I refuse to give my trust to anyone who won’t give me his in return.”

Finn winced as though her words had cut him and looked away.
“What does Danu want, Sheridan? What did she say?”

She took a breath. “Danu wants me to be the
Fianna
champion.”

It was true. Mostly. Though he might want to kill her when
he found out all she
wasn’t
telling him. Trust was less a two-way street
lately and more of a twisting labyrinth.

* * * * *

Meru banged on the table that had been set on the Guardian
Mother’s balcony, drawing Sheridan’s wandering attention. “Walk me through this
again. You got a weird feeling at dinner, got to really
know
a few
Dwellers and now you’re going to fight in the Fae games for the
Fianna
.
Am I right? Please tell me I’m not right, Sher.”

Sheridan tried to smile. Tried not to think about last
night. About Finn. “You’re right. You know how Danu is. She speaks, we listen,
right?”

Her cousin narrowed her deep blue eyes and frowned. “What I
know is that you’re a really pitiful liar. Raj and I both can see you’re hiding
something, can’t we, Raj? Are you going to spill or do I have to pull the book
out and find out?”

She placed one finger over her lips and then looked over at
the usually serene dragon shifter, watching him pace the long stretch of
balcony. Sheridan forced a chuckle. “Worried I’ll make you look bad, Master
Sparky? Don’t the Fae have fireballs I’ll have to dodge?”

He wasn’t laughing. “I trained you for fast and dirty
fighting with the
Dark.
But skilled Fae warriors on their turf?” He
shook his head. “Either they will go easy to publicly shame you, or you will be
hurt. The Fae are stronger than they look. Much stronger. No one without Fae
blood has ever—”

“I know. I know,” she sighed. “Raj, it’ll be fine. I
promise. And thank you. For worrying. For giving me a place to heal when I
needed it. For forgiving me for throwing it back in your face when I realized
where we were.” She looked into his eyes and saw the surprise and relief there.
Had she been that much of a bitch? “Even now, you’re making sure I get some
time alone with my cousin and being such a wonderful coach. So I know it will
be okay if I ask you for something else. One last time?”

“What is it?” Raj seemed genuinely concerned. “You’re trying
to pretend, but I can see a sadness in you. Why? What can I do?”

She reached across the table and took Meru’s hand. “I need
to talk to Meru, I need a computer and I need you to distract the others.
Especially Finn. I have a feeling he could use a little of your serenity right
now.”

Raj furrowed his brow in confusion but disappeared in a
flash, hopefully to retrieve what she needed. She lowered her voice. “Meru, we
don’t have much time, but stop with the interrogation. I can’t tell you
everything because Fae can read you. I
have
to fight in the games and I
did
speak to Danu. I also got a weird clue about how to find the spear and, on
a completely unrelated note, I may have ruined my chances with Finn forever.
But that’s another story.”

“I don’t think that’s possible, Sher. Have you seen the way
he looks at you?” Meru blew out a heavy sigh, glancing at her sideways. “You’re
trying to distract me with gossip. You know I’ve been going crazy wondering
about the two of you and it’s killing me, but this is more important. If you
are
putting yourself in danger for no reason I will sic Myrddin on you.
And
your mother.”