Artistic Vision (8 page)

He hesitated a moment before holding out his hand. Perhaps he hadn’t seen her after all. “Tristan Malmayne.” He gave her a puzzled frown. “May I ask why a Blade would still be in Nebraska?”

She grinned. “My partner is living here now, so I’m back for a visit.”

There was a flicker of something in his eyes that she didn’t quite catch before it was gone. “I see.”

The star in her iris widened as Akane opened her inner sight. She could see the power swirling around him and realized he was much older than he looked. Conflict swirled around him, some dark, some light, mingling at the center into gray. Figures danced within the mist, writhing and gesturing, anger and confusion rampant. “Jaden Blackthorn. I’m sure you’ve heard of him.”

He leaned back in his chair, his expression closed. “You did roll me last night, didn’t you?”

Crap.
She put her palm to her chest. “Do I look like a Sidhe?” She allowed a brief puff of smoke to exit her nostrils, enough that he caught it but not enough to get in trouble with the very human wait staff.
 

His lips slowly curved up in a smile. “A dragon. I can’t remember the last time I met one of you.” His genuine delight dotted the gloomy mist around him with a happy silver and gold glitter. Some of the darkness around him receded, a figure of a man with glowing red eyes shoved out of the picture. “I’m going to make a wild guess and say your temperament is fiery?” She tried to focus on him while Tristan spoke, but the image faded too quickly for her to latch on to it.
 

“Good guess.” She studied the figures around him, noting faces, expressions, anything that might help protect the Dunnes.

He thanked the waitress for refilling his coffee cup and waited until she’d gone. “You seem different than the woman I saw on the video feed.”
 

“That was business.” She ran one finger down the back of his hand and batted her lashes. “This is pleasure.”

He relaxed a bit more but she could sense the tension still in him. “Nice to know you find my company a pleasure.”

She took a deep breath and prepared to lure her little fishy in. “Want to go some place private? Somewhere we can…talk?” She licked her lips, smiling when his gaze glued itself to her mouth.
 

“I’d love to, but unfortunately I have other plans.” He took hold of her hand. “However, if you would be willing to join me for dinner, I’d be more than willing to discuss…talking…further.” He pressed a kiss to her knuckles, an open invitation clear in his eyes.

Akane suppressed a shiver. She didn’t like his lips on her skin, the way his finger caressed her palm before letting her go. “It’s a date.”

She waved as he took his leave. What the fuck was wrong with her? She’d wanted to gag at the feel of Tristan’s mouth on her, his breath so close it stirred the fine hairs of her arm. Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed Etienne leaving the restaurant. She’d wait about fifteen minutes before following him out. They couldn’t be seen together, not now that she’d hooked their fish.

Besides, there was still pie left on her plate.

Shane followed his father into the tack room and grabbed one of the leather harnesses that needed repairing. His father could move from one edge of his property to another in the blink of an eye, but Sean Dunne loved horses and rode them simply for the joy of it.

“Why haven’t you Claimed her yet?”

Shane studied the harness and gathered what he’d need to repair it. “She’s skittish.”

“Then you need to break her in.”

He shot his father a look before turning the harness in his hands. “She needs a gentle touch.”

“She needs to be ridden.”

Shane choked on thin air. “I am not discussing this with you.”

Sean Dunne frowned. “Why not?” The man could have easily been a model; at four-hundred-and-twenty-five years of age his Seeming still had the looks of a twenty-seven year old human, a gift from his bonding his Sidhe mate. His true appearance was even more stunning. When Sean Dunne allowed his inner leprechaun to show, those sapphire eyes glowed with power. His skin would show the brown whorls of his earthy heritage and his dark hair would grow, landing at shoulder length. The strength of the earth itself flowed in Shane’s father, and there was no one he admired more.

But he still wasn’t discussing his sex life with the man. “Leave it be, Da.”

“No. Not until you tell me why.”

“Because you’re my father.”

Sean snorted in disgust. “Please. Like I don’t know what that thing between your legs is begging you to do.”

“Da!” Leave it to an earth sprite to get…earthy. Shane pointed the tool he was using at his father and scowled. “Don’t make me call Ma.”

Sean grinned, completely unrepentant. “You need her. She needs you. Get her ass tipsy and topple her, boy.”

Shane was horrified. This was getting worse and worse. “Is that the advice you gave Leo?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

His father shot him a knowing look. “Because he’s not you.” Sean dropped the tack back on the scarred work table and took Shane’s face between his hands. “Leo is like your mother. Gentle, with a core of strength none can deny. Moira is more like me, willing to fight with all her strength for what’s right but able to turn around and admit when she’s wrong. And you?”

Shane took a deep breath at the look on his father’s face. “What about me?”

“You’re the best of us both.” His father leaned forward and whispered in his ear. “But don’t tell your sister I said that. I don’t think I could handle the puppy eyes.”

Shane closed his eyes and swallowed. “Thanks, Da.”

Sean released him and Shane opened his eyes. “She needs you, Shane. She needs
us
.”

“I know.” Shane leaned against the table. “Her life before us was cold.” He allowed the vision that had driven him to create
Akane
dance behind his eyes. “No room to fly, no place to be free.”

Sean scowled, the part that made him such an incredible father ready to defend his son’s mate against all comers. “Her mother didn’t abuse her, did she?”

Shane shook his head. “No, not really. She tried her best, but can anyone truly understand the needs of a young dragon but another dragon?” He’d slipped back into his mother’s native language, speaking to his father in the Sidhe tongue as they often did when trading secrets. “Her father died to keep the Seer safe, sacrificing himself so she could escape with an infant Akane.” Shane swallowed. He could only imagine the Seer’s devastation as she’d fled, knowing her mate’s fate, and her own. “She knew, Da. She knew when she met him what would happen and loved him anyway.”

“There’s strength in that.”

“Aye. And she’s done her best for Akane since, but even the Seer can’t see into her heart.”

“Can you?”

He sighed. “I’m trying.”

“Perhaps you see her better than most.”

Shane was pleased that he didn’t jump. He was equally pleased that his father did. It served him right after the discomfort of their previous discussion.
 

Only Robin Goodfellow could sneak up on a leprechaun on his own land. The bond between a leprechaun and the land he laid claim to was incredibly strong. Sean could sense every single person on it, hear whispers a mile away, open holes in the ground barely a pin wide that went all the way to the core of the earth. It took a minor deity to sneak up on him on a
bad
day.
 

Robin did it without even trying.

“Good day, Robin.”

The redheaded menace stepped into the tack room wearing the gaudiest western shirt Shane had ever seen. If he stepped into any straight bar in Nebraska every redneck for miles would try and kick his ass for that shirt alone. Add in the super tight jeans, the shiny alligator boots and the black cowboy hat with the purple-checked bandana for a band, and you had one fey-looking fae. “And good day to you, Shane Dunne.” Robin leaned against the door jamb, his arms crossed, one toe digging into the scratched wooden floor. “Akane giving you fits?”

Shane eyed the Hob’s outfit. “Is this your way of telling me I should giddy-up?”

Robin grinned and pulled something out of thin air. The silver and gold object glittered in the light, the intricate lines and swirls etched in it as familiar as Shane’s own skin. “I think you understand her quite well.”

“I didn’t get a chance to give that to her last night.”

“Does she know what the prize inside is?”

“No, and I’m not planning on telling her either.” He grinned. “That’s half the fun, isn’t it?”

Robin laughed easily and tossed the puzzle box to him. Shane caught it easily. “She’s meeting Tristan Malmayne for dinner tonight.” He held up his hand at Shane’s rumble of discontent. “Let it go. Trust her, if not me. No harm shall come to your mate this eve.”

Shane ran his hands through his hair. It would be hard to stay away from her knowing she was with another man. A man who’d touched her skin, embraced her warm body. “I’ll do my best.”

“Good. Because this is part of who she is, and if you try to take that from her, your little bird will fly away.”

Leaving Shane to rot in the grief of mate sickness. “I understand.” He darted a glance at his silent father before turning his attention back to Robin. “Did you see it?”

That eerie flash of green erupted from Robin’s eyes. “Yes.”

“Did you understand it?”

Robin grinned, and Shane shivered. “
Yes
.”

The purring anticipation in Robin’s voice warned him to keep any misgivings to himself.
 

“You’ve had a vision?”

Shane turned to his father, nothing but acceptance on the other man’s face. “Aye.”

Sean nodded once and turned to the Hob. “You’ve helped our family after the debt was paid. If you need us, call.”

The Hob’s eyes went wide and dark, the awful, yawning emptiness Shane had seen in him lightening just a hair. “Thank you, Sean Dunne of Clan Blackthorn.”

Somehow, that thanks sounded more like a vow.

Shane had never been prouder of his father.
 

Robin’s attention turned once more to Shane, that wicked grin once more on his lips, the moment lost forever. “Well? What are you going to do about Akane? Hmm?”

Shane snatched Robin’s hat and plunked it on his own head. “Giddy-up.” He tossed the puzzle box back to Robin, winking at his father while Robin’s laughter filled the barn.

Akane sat in the restaurant and waited for her date to show up. She’d texted Shane a message letting him know she’d be late getting home that evening and reminding him to stay close to the farm where Sean could protect him. His
Yes, dear
had not amused her.

Not much, anyway.

She wiped the silly smile off her face and glanced once more at the restaurant door, nodding when her date walked in. She’d used the excuse of wanting her own car and first-date jitters to get out of having him pick her up. If Tristan figured out she was staying with the Dunnes rather than Jaden no lie would save her. She’d be forced to take drastic measures.

“You look amazing.” Tristan brushed a kiss across the top of her head before sitting across from the table.
 

She couldn’t help the little zing of pleasure at the compliment even as her skin crawled at the caress. “Thank you.” She held up her glass. “I took the liberty of ordering our wine. I hope you don’t mind.”

There was the slightest tightening around his eyes. “Not at all.”

Liar. This was a man who enjoyed ordering for a female. If she’d known she would have held off on the wine. She decided to stroke his manly ego a touch. “I can’t believe you found a place like this out in the boonies.” She looked around, allowing her approval to shine through. She had to drag Shane here at some point whether he liked it or not.

Tristan leaned back in his chair with a smug expression. “It is a good find, isn’t it? A friend of mine suggested it might be a nice place to take a beautiful lady.”

Akane toyed with her fork and shot him a flirtatious look. “How many ladies have you brought then?”

“Several. But none as beautiful as you.” Tristan lifted his glass and toasted her silently.

Gag. Me.
Akane toasted him back and sipped her Bordeaux, enjoying the full, bold flavor bursting across her tongue. She bet Jethro would hate it.
 

Out of the corner of her eye she caught a flash of blonde hair. She kept her gaze on Tristan, but allowed her inner sight to open.

Constance Malmayne was leaving the restaurant. Not surprising, since the food here was up to even the Malmayne’s exacting standards. What was surprising was the fierce expression on her face as she spoke into her cell phone. Akane couldn’t hear her words, but her tone came through loud and clear. Constance was pissed off at whoever was on the other end of the phone, and Akane had the urge to run across the room and “accidentally” bump into the woman to find out who she was speaking with.
 

“Akane?”

She turned her attention back to Tristan. Whatever Constance was up to would have to wait. Akane had a bigger fish to land.

They made small talk as they waited for their food, the soft sounds of cutlery on china the only music. After they’d eaten Akane suggested dessert. There was a hell of a lot of flirting she could do over chocolate mousse.

Tristan agreed, and Akane proceeded to seduce him into a stupor. She ran her tongue slowly across the back of the spoon to catch every last bit of deep, rich chocolate. She swirled her finger through the whipped cream, making sure to suck it off in a gesture just this shy of obscene. Licking chocolate off her lips earned her a soft groan, and when she “accidentally” ran her foot down his calf it was Tristan asking her back to his room.

Once there, she’d get what she needed and get out, leaving Tristan with a memory that would rock him for years to come. One of the perks of having a Sidhe for a partner was their ability to weave a believable fantasy for someone simply by dipping into their mind. The recipient of the fantasy would have all of their senses immersed in it, making it seem like reality. Most Sidhe used this ability to protect themselves from humans or weave romantic fantasies for lovers.