Faerie Fate (26 page)

Kieran almost
laughed out loud as he watched the emotions flit across the cailín’s face. That
she was as affected by him as he was by her was reassuring. He considered
knocking down a rail just to get this thing over with so he could properly
introduce himself, and then seduce her at his leisure. Unfortunately, his honor
wouldn’t allow it. He was an officer, and though he was Irish, he was gentleman
to boot. He wouldn’t throw the competition.

Becca rode through
the gate, determined to ignore the big man. She reined Ari around so they were
facing the arena. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she was pleased he
seemed to be ignoring her. Good. That meant he had no interest in her.

His instincts were
more finely honed than most soldiers’. His active duty unit was the
Sciathán
Fianógloch an Airm,
the Army Ranger Wing of the Irish Defense Forces. The
unit drew its name from the legendary Fenian Warriors of ancient times. Kieran
knew she was checking him out and her perusal had stopped at his groin.

She hadn’t meant to
look at him, but since he wasn’t paying attention to her... She took her time
looking him up and down, and...
Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh
, she
chanted in her head. Was he ever up!

Slowly, he turned
his head and his indigo eyes stared into her cerulean ones. She blushed
furiously, and Kieran confirmed her thoughts were as prurient as his own. He
grinned unabashedly, cocked an eyebrow, and winked.

Becca ducked her
head, and tried to stifle her mortified groan. Oh, God. He knew exactly what
she was thinking. She was mortified at the decidedly sexual direction her
thoughts had taken. Unlike most of her peers, Becca had not jumped into the
sexual revolution. In fact, she was probably the only twenty-four-year-old
virgin in the entire U.S. of A. However, one more look from him, and she might
just jump into his arms and demand he take her virginity right here, right now,
in front of God and everybody.

He watched her worry
her bottom lip with her teeth again. The subconscious gesture was enough to
send his
boidín
to full attention. Damnation, he was never going to get
through this next round. He wanted only to drag her off her horse, find a stall
full of new hay, and tup her until neither of them knew their names.

The course stewards
made their adjustments to the obstacles, and the chief judge came over to
discuss order with the two riders. Ever gallant, Kieran deferred. “Ladies
first,” he offered in a brogue as thick as honey and just as sweet.

“But I’m not a
lady,” Becca retorted before she could stop herself.

“Then, I’ll go
first,” Kieran replied smoothly, flashing a cocky grin.

He mounted
effortlessly, and Becca’s breath caught in her chest.
Ohmygosh, omygosh.
She chanted the mantra again. She was never going make it. She could actually
feel wetness between her legs. She glanced down, hoping it wasn’t visible.
Sweat.
It’s just sweat.
” She didn’t believe a word of it.

She tried very hard
not to watch, but couldn’t help herself. As he rode, she let her imagination
have full sway. She pictured him as some ancient warrior, his blue-black hair
flying in the wind, a sword at his side. She couldn’t breathe, and got dizzy
from the vision she conjured. She almost fell off Ari again.

“Whoa, cailín,” an
amused voice said.

She glanced down.
The good-looking man from the practice ring patted Ari’s shoulder, and the
horse whickered. He wore a uniform with riding breeches and boots as well.
“You’re with him.” She took a deep lungful of air, then let it out slowly.

Rory grinned at her.
“Aye, cailín,
’
tis true. Lieutenant Rory MacDermot at your service.”

Becca glanced to the
rider still in the ring, then back at the man standing next to her stirrup.
They certainly didn’t look anything alike. Was MacDermot a common name like
Jones or Smith or Miller?

As if reading her
mind, Rory grinned easily at her. “Cousins. I got all the personality, and he
got all the brooding good looks.”

Becca giggled and
relaxed. This was what she needed to get her focus back, this harmless flirting
and banter. That other, he was too dark, too intense, too...well, just too much
of everything.

Kieran and Fenian
once again had a clean round, though they just barely beat the time limit.
Becca rode out into the arena before he came through the gate. She couldn’t be
anywhere near him and maintain the focus she needed.

“Watch the turn on
number six,” he called to her as they passed several feet apart. “
’
Tis
sharp.”

Becca nodded. She’d
been watching him on the course. His horse came off jump number five on a left
lead and had about two strides to gather himself, change to a right lead, turn
and take the double oxer that was number six. Any but a skillful horse and
rider would turn too wide to come square at the fences on six. Becca briefly
considered changing leads right before five. She questioned whether Ari would
have enough time to gather himself for the tall jump. It was a risky move, especially
since five was close to the arena wall and faced a sea of spectators. However,
she was a fierce competitor. If it worked, it could shave off enough time she’d
win. If it didn’t, she would probably come in second anyway.

She leaned over
Ari’s neck and petted him. “In for a dime, in for a dollar,” she told the big
horse.

Kieran dismounted
and stood beside Rory at the gate. They watched silently, knowing this was the
make or break round. Becca cleared the first four obstacles, her time was neck
and neck with Kieran’s. As they watched her approach jump five, Kieran caught
the subtle shift in her weight and watched the big black horse switch leads.

“Smart.” Her
audacious decision impressed him.

Horse and rider
approached the high triple-barrier fence. Becca was in complete control, and
Arien launched himself effortlessly. They would clear the fence with little
problem. There was a blinding flash, and time clicked into slow motion. The big
horse seemed to hang suspended in mid-air, and then he was falling, crashing
through the top bar of the fence. That rail splintered, and the rest came
crashing down around him. His left front foot hit the ground, and his leg
buckled. His body followed, twisting as it plunged. Becca was flung from his
back by the force of the fall, and she hit the ground several feet away.

Pandemonium erupted.
Kieran and Rory were through the gate at a dead run. Kieran actually beat the
nearest course steward to Becca’s crumpled body. His hands skimmed over her
body as he checked for broken bones. Her helmet had been knocked loose, and
Kieran carefully removed it. As he’d suspected, she had golden hair shot with
silver highlights, and its luxurious mass escaped its bun. Her eyes fluttered,
but she remained unconscious.

****

“Not again,” the male
said, disgruntled.

“You worry too
much,” the female said.

“Well, he took so
long to find her, ’twouldn’t do to lose her now,” the male groused.

“He’ll bind her,
give her the Knot, and all will be well in our world,” the female declared.

“S’cuse me,” Becca
interrupted.

Silence.

“Hello?”

Still silence
.

****

Becca moaned and
slowly opened her eyes.

“Don’t move, Becca,”
her hunk in green uniform commanded.

“Ari,” she groaned.
“Is Arien okay?”

Kieran glanced over
his shoulder. Rory held the horse and checked him over as the event
veterinarian, along with a couple of paramedics, ran up. “He’s up and movin’,
cailín. I think he’ll be fine.
’
Tis you I’m concerned about. Just lie
still
’
til the medics check you over.”

Becca smiled at his
worried, blue eyes. “I’m fine,” she asserted. “Guess this means you win.”

“Doesn’t matter.”
Kieran dismissed the idea out of hand. “What happened?”

Becca screwed her
eyes shut, trying to remember around the headache pounding her temples. There
was the ghost of a bright flash behind her eyelids. “Flash,” she finally
replied. “I think from a camera.”

“What bloody idiot
would use a flash camera at an event like this?” he growled.

“A bloody stupid
one,” Rory responded at his shoulder. “Yer beastie will be fine accordin’ to
the vet,” he added.

“Thank goodness.”
Becca closed her eyes and bit back a groan. She peeked out from under her long,
dark lashes. “Can I get up now?”

“Not
’
til the
medics give their consent,” Kieran asserted.

He moved back to
give them room, and found he had to bite back a huge dose of jealousy to keep
it in check. He didn’t like the idea of another man touching Becca one bit. In
a few moments, the paramedics cleared her, and Kieran took their place at her
side.

“Now?” she asked
him, cocking an eyebrow.

He gave her a little
room, but not much. His body wanted to crowd hers, to touch, to savor and
taste. He tried to get a grip on his emotions. She could have been killed or
severely injured, yet he could only think of one thing—getting her into a nice
soft bed where they could spend the next six weeks tupping and getting to know
one another.

He helped her to a
sitting position, and then stood to pull her to her feet. She swayed against
him for a brief moment, and white-hot heat burned a hole in his skin where
they’d made contact. Her gaze jerked up and stared into his eyes, mesmerized.
Kieran smiled at her. “Aye, yee feel it, too,” he whispered.

Becca was unhurt.
The crowd applauded, seemingly captivated by the fact that her staunchest
competition had been the first one to reach her side. Kieran paid them no
attention, and she suspected he’d be bemused by the dreamy looks many of the
women cast his direction as he and Rory escorted her to the gate.

The vet and a
steward had already led Arien out of the arena, and Becca was anxious to check
on him. If her head didn’t hurt so badly and it weren’t so undignified, she’d
have run to the holding area. As it was, she was awfully glad Kieran and Rory
walked beside her.

The three of them
moved through the tunnel from the arena. The chief judge and the chief steward
were talking loudly to a man with a large assortment of camera equipment
dangling around his neck.

“There’s yer bloody
idiot,” Rory pointed out.

Kieran took off like
a shot. He stalked up to the man, grabbed his arm, spun him around, and landed
a haymaker squarely on the man’s nose. The photographer went down like he’d
been poleaxed. Kieran glared down at him, his eyes the color of the North Sea
in December. The man on the ground muttered something about the police and
wanting to sue.

“Yee bloody well
deserved it, yee friggin’ bugger. Yee want to come after me, yee go right
ahead, but I guarantee there’s more where that came from,” Kieran snarled.

Becca stood there
gaping. A very secret feminine center buried deep within her relished the
thought that this man was willing to fight for her. One look at his face would
tell even the most stupid of people that he was a warrior. Most smart men
wouldn’t be dumb enough to take him on.

“Close yer mouth,
cailín,” Rory chuckled. “Absolutely overwhelming,
’
tisn’t he?”

“That’s the
understatement of the year.”

When Kieran rejoined
them, they followed the vet and the steward as they led Arien toward the
stables. Walking side-by-side, Becca’s arm brushed Kieran’s and the next thing
she knew, he was holding her hand. It felt like the most natural thing in the
world, as if holding his hand was something she’d done a hundred times before.
Her body sought every excuse it could find to brush against his as they walked.
His did the same.

The vet checked
Arien again in his stall, pronounced him fit, but as a precaution, he wasn’t to
be moved or ridden for several days. “Use some liniment on his legs to help
with the swelling and stiffness,” the vet instructed before he left.

“Won’t be a
problem,” Kieran told the vet. “Becca will be tied up for several days. She
won’t have the time to be ridin’
him.”

She cut her eyes at
him, her cheeks flushing bright red when she realized what he was implying.

“Well, yee will be,”
he whispered in her ear.

His warm breath against
her neck sent a shiver all the way down to her toes.

Becca’s parents and
grandfather hovered at the stable door, along with Rory and Neal. Kieran chafed
at the restraint the crowd put on his designs. He planned to spirit Becca away,
and it would be several days before they’d return to the world.

He introduced
himself to her family, told them the outrageous lie that he and Becca were old
friends from the circuit with plans to get reacquainted after this meet. Becca
didn’t deny it. Kieran gave her no chance to get away. He snagged her hand, and
pulled her toward the stable door. If they didn’t get somewhere private soon,
he swore he’d take her right there in an empty stall.