GettingLuckyinGalway (7 page)

“Hell, no!” Calder pushed back from the table and her
delicious meal. “I’m not hanging around waiting a quarter of a century for a
man who may or may not come around to being my mate.” The very idea of lowering
herself to waiting for a man, not even a male lion, had her seeing red.

“But, Calder, Roark needs some time to settle down and come
to terms with the idea,” Nob protested, cutting her off as she headed straight
to the back door and into sanity.

“I am a fully grown, capable and mature female shifter. I am
not some two-bit human woman willing to beg for a man’s attention. If he
doesn’t want me now then he won’t want me twenty years from now. I’ll find a
man who does want everything I offer and he damn well better be a lion I can be
proud of. Not some sorry excuse for a leprechaun, useless to anyone but
himself.”

Calder stormed past the determined brownie, careful even in
her anger to avoid brushing by him. No sense in hurting the last innocent
person in the house.

“Bye, Nob. It’s been…well…it’s been something. Thanks for
the great breakfast and sending the cousins to straighten out my packing
attack. If you ever get a vacation from Lord Vain-A-Lot be sure to look me up
in Louisiana.”

“Oh I can’t let this happen,” she vaguely heard the small
man whisper. “Goddess forgive me, but a brownie must do what a brownie must
do.”

With that he let loose a long string of lyrical words that
stopped her in her path. Her head filled with the individual notes, each more
unique and lovely than the last. Her world ceased to exist outside those
strange, mesmerizing words until finally the words disappeared.

Calder was left standing in a strange, brightly lit glen,
but she wasn’t alone. Her possible mate, the vainest man she’d ever met in her
life stood side by side with her, a perplexed expression crossing his face.

“What are we doing here?” he asked softly and without a hint
of his normal arrogance.

“How the hell should I know, magic boy? This is your best
buddy’s doing.” A quick look around showed her nothing. Literally there was
nothing to identify the land and/or country. Wherever Nob had sent them, he’d
done a good job of concealing all natural landmarks. “So wrinkle your nose,
cross your arms, blink your eyes, bob your head, click your heels, just do
something and get us the heck out of here.”

“I beg your pardon. I do none of those things. Magic is
inherent to me therefore ridiculous gestures are beneath me.” His nose went
straight back in the air.

“Then you’d better come up with something, Lucky Charms,
because we’re not in Kansas anymore and you sure as hell aren’t Toto.”

Really, the things he’d been forced to do since meeting his
Liaria
fairly blew his spectacularly intelligent mind. “Why don’t you go piss on a
rock or something while I get us out of this mess.”

“You arrogant, useless male,” Calder sputtered then
disappeared in a flash of brilliant colors. With a flick of her tawny tail, his
mate bounded off, growling the entire time until she disappeared from his view.

“I am most certainly not useless,” Roark muttered to
himself, even while he wondered if what she said could possibly be true.
Whenever Nob or his family called him vain or self-centered, Roark took their words
as good-natured teasing or jealous barbs.

However, in the past twenty-four hours Calder called him a
number of unflattering names and she didn’t have the benefit of knowing how
extraordinary he was. Then again, telling her to urinate on a rock probably
wasn’t a show of great intellect on his part.

“You’re a useless mate, male and leprechaun.”

He spun around to face the owner of the masculine voice only
to find no one there. “What the—”

“Step up, be a man, grow a pair. If you don’t there is
another male out there capable of being your Calder’s mate. Lose her and
there’s isn’t another for you. She’ll spend the rest of her long life not
giving you another thought while you won’t be able to go a minute without
yearning for her.”

No matter where he looked, the owner of the voice remained
invisible to his eyes. “Show yourself and face me like a man.”

A shout of laughter taunted him from above. “First you’d
have to be a man and I can’t see this happening anytime soon. Balls don’t make
a male, Elf. Maybe it’s time you learned that lesson.”

Anger and overwhelming fear had his hands shaking as he
hastily stuffed them into his pockets. His magic sensed nothing when he moved
in a slow circle. “Who are you? How did you get here?”

The low, taunting laughter rang out again. “What makes you
think I wasn’t here first?”

The high green grass brushed Roark’s bare feet, the gentle
wind causing the chill to cover his skin. “This is your home?”

“Let’s just say I belong here more than you do.”

“Where’s Calder?”

“Now you think about her? Minutes have passed and you think
about yourself before the woman created to be the better side of you.” All
pleasure and amusement left the ghostly voice. The wind went from gentle to
brutal in seconds.

“She left me, not the other way around. Besides, she’s a
shifter, a lioness, more than capable of taking care of herself.” What Roark
didn’t say or possibly couldn’t admit was he felt Calder, was somehow connected
to her. Knew within his heart of hearts she was okay. While he didn’t know
exactly what was happening, Roark did know he wanted Calder nowhere near this
invisible tormentor.

He’d been on his way back from town, bouquets of flowers in
one hand and four dozen humongous, thick steaks in the other, determined to
speak his mind once and for all to the blessing Fate had chosen for him. Even
dropping to his knees in apology had been one scenario to run through his mind.

Now instead of making up to his lovely, lusciously curvy
mate, Roark found himself tossed into a dimensional portal. Nob, for all his oh
so humble ways, would pay for this one when they finally got out. Roark would
introduce the brownie’s favorite iron beaters to the garbage disposal, just see
if he didn’t.

However now was not the time or place to venture into
revenge fantasies. Not when this invisible voice kept taunting him, the words
stabbing deeply into emotions Roark would have sworn he didn’t have.

Concentrate on Calder, he reminded himself. She’s the
important one here.

To keep her safe he would deflect the taunts and absorb the
insults without a flinch. Because if what his mystery guest said were true,
then Calder had someone else out there ready or more than capable of filling
her life with the happiness she deserved.

After spending last night in her arms, well, part of last night,
Roark knew he’d never find another woman who would challenge him as much as his
shifter. Too bad his entire experience with relationships involved his
domineering mother and omega father. They’d spent the last few centuries doing
everything possible to make their spouse’s life miserable. Why in the name of
all that glitters would he want the same torture for himself?

Then Calder appeared in his life, brighter and more
desirable than the largest pot of gold. She tempted him with her laughter, her
bright new look on life, everything about Calder appealed to the man he kept so
carefully buried beneath layers of vanity and selfishness.

“She left because you told her to take a piss on a rock. Not
the most romantic of proposals, lad. It’s no wonder she’s thinking of ways, of
magics to break the bond between you both.”

Fed up, scared for Calder even if his mind knew she was
safe—pissed, but safe—Roark’s patience ran out. “Show yourself or fuck off.
I’ve things to do and I’ll not be wasting any more time with you.”

“There’s the spine I’ve heard rumors about.” Something about
the mysterious visitor’s tone struck a memory with Roark, but the feeling faded
before he could grasp it. “Tell me something, Roark, if you know the mistakes
your parents have made of their lives, their marriage, why do you think you’ll
be doomed to repeat the mistakes?”

“Shit, get out of my head,” he demanded, feeling naked down
to his very weary soul. “You know nothing.”

“True, I know little about you as a person, but as a mate I
can pretty well predict all your patterns.”

“Ah then,” Roark made a vague gesture in the air, “tell me,
oh wise and full-of-shite being. Tell me what my next move will be, and while
you’re at it, mind telling me the lotto numbers as well? Could use a bit of
coin.” Actually he didn’t need the money. As a leprechaun Roark had access to
all the money he could ever need.

What he didn’t need was a goody-goody invisible biddy
meddling in his business. Because Calder was his business. He might not know
everything about her, but she intrigued him. Her quick wit, sassy mouth and
mouthwatering curves were lacking in so many modern women.

“Spoiled brat,” the other male complained in a good-natured
tone. “I’m not some bleedin’ mysterious eight-ball, here for your amusement.”
The sound of a deep sigh filled the air between them. “What do you think will
happen if you open yourself to your
Liaria
, show her there is more to
you than passable looks, mediocre intelligence, semi-talented lovemaking skills
and a decent gold stash.”

This time he didn’t let the insult pass. “Hey, I have no
complaints from my lovers except when I’m making them leave the next day.”

“Focus, you addled-brain leprechaun, there’s more work to do
here than to stroke your ego.”

“There are a lot of things you can say about me, but leave
my sex life alone. No man needs another man talking his private bedroom
business.” It sounded dumb coming from his lips, but Roark had to make sure the
other…person knew there were some lines he wouldn’t allow to be crossed.
Besides, the sex he’d shared with Calder didn’t belong in the same category as
the females before her.

The thought stopped him. Calder didn’t belong in the past
with his other conquests? The more he tossed the idea around the righter it
felt all the way down to his shadow-covered soul.

“Why me?” the irritating voice broke through his rather deep
and unusual thoughts.

“Now let’s get on with it. You think I need to grow a pair,
face my demons and all that Hallmark crap. Well, here’s a shocker for you. I
know exactly how and what my demons are, but just because I accept them doesn’t
mean they magically disappear as Calder and I skip into the future filled with
kittens, bunnies and rainbows.”

“No, it doesn’t, but allowing the past to go and
understanding you’re nothing like those who came before you will allow your
real dreams to come true.”

“This is ballocks.” Roark shoved away from the nothing he
leaned on to pace away. “You know nothing, nothing in the way I grew up, what I
lost or the selfish creatures my parents are. What they allowed to happen to
those they were supposed to care for.”

Chapter Five

For most women finding out their mate was two cards short of
a full deck might have been a blow, but not for Calder. She liked the crazy,
ego-driven, sometimes Irish male.

Still, finding him pacing the empty field, hands waving
about and apparently arguing with the very air surrounding him was a bit on the
disturbing side.

Not that her body particularly cared if he talked to the air
or a nutra rat. Goddess, he could think she was a figment of his imagination so
long as he did it naked while fucking her. Damn the women in her family, she
silently cursed them, why hadn’t they warned her the mating heat would drive
her to the brink of slutty madness?

“Would you like me to leave, or do you care to introduce me
to your little friend?” She had no choice but to interrupt his miniature
tirade. The threats were coming fast, furious and sometimes not even in
English.

Black hair whirled around his shoulders as he turned to face
her. “I thought you left.”

“I did and now I’m back.”
With an itch only your strong
cock can scratch.
She left out the last part, at least out loud. Some men
wanted to be desired for more than the package between their legs. The man had
to be brilliant at something.
Other than making love
,a naughtylittle voice in her head whispered.
Shut up
, she told the voice, not
needing any more encouragement to jump back in Roark’s bed. Or the ground, a
tree—pretty much anywhere that involved them both naked and panting would suit
her just fine.

“Well, go away again.” He waved both hands in her direction,
using a little shooing motion. “Go on, move.”

Thank the goddess none of her friends or family could see
her or her bat-shit crazy mate now. “Yeah, that’s not so much going to work as
piss me off. Not a good idea considering I may be your only partner here. Even
crazy people need love too.”

“Crazy?” Black brows lowered over glowing bright green eyes.
“I am not crazy, Calder. There’s a voice calling me names. Too much of a coward
to come out and face me like a male should. I’ve been telling him to get lost.”

Oh where should she start? Calder left a nice semi-sane
though pissy mate only to return to one insisting there were voices taunting
him. “That’s great, sweetie, tell the big ole bad voice to put up or shut up.”

What the hell? She always thought the insane people of the
world deserved love too. Maybe she’d get it put on a bumper sticker when she
got home.
“Save a crazy person, even window-lickers need love.”

She snickered behind her hand, not wanting to push her
mate’s crazy button any harder than necessary.

“This is not something just made up in my head, woman. I
haven’t taken leave of all my senses.” He protested a little too hotly while
slowly circling around her, his gaze a constant source of motion.

She held her hands up in an unarmed gesture, hopefully
showing her willingness to play with the insane. “Hey, I like senseless people.
They are the best entertainers. I’ve petitioned to have the insane moved from
their padded walls to the padded luxury of Hollywood. After all, what’s the
difference between one group of useless, crazy people or crazy people with no
agenda?”

Instead of looking properly humbled and in awe of her
brilliant plan, Roark shook his head again. She vaguely wondered whether he’d
somehow gotten water in his ear. Then she forgot the thought as he stepped
closer, his muscular form capturing all her attention and sending surging heat
between her thighs.

“Ye need to get out of here, Calder, there’s danger about.”
His arm came up to wrap around her waist as he propelled her in the direction
she’d just come from.

“Hey.” She didn’t fight against his hold. Why should she
when this is exactly where she wanted to be? “Let’s play crazy man seduces
innocent shifter woman? You can give me a head start before coming to attack
me.” She shot him a wink to show her hopes of the upcoming attack.

“You think I’m insane yet you’d want to play sexual games
with me? Calder, I really think there may be something wrong with you. Maybe you
should get checked out once we get out of here,” he offered instead of jumping
on the chance to get her naked.

“You mean if we get out of here since ya know we don’t have
one flipping clue to tell us exactly where the hell we are!” Sexual frustration
hummed through her nerve endings. She needed her mate and the need grew
stronger with every blasted second that passed.

“Of course we’ll get out of here. I’m a leprechaun, one of
the strongest and mightiest of my race. And you… Well, you’re a shifter.”

Oh the man truly won the clueless mate of the year award. An
award she really hoped they both lived long enough for him to accept. Until
then she needed the clueless Fae for something other than spouting useless and
most of the time ignorant rhetoric.

Mating heat hit her hard, demanding the fire in her blood be
sated with Roark’s solid length.

“Yes, I’m a shifter, a feline shifter in need of some
special attention from her mate. Are you up for the task?” She deliberately
cupped her hand between his thighs and gave his manly package a light squeeze.

To give the leprechaun credit, he immediately rose to the
occasion in her palm, overflowing the small space she’d given it. Yummy! “Not
the right time or place, Calder, love. We’re not alone here.”

“Ask me if I give a damn if your voices want to join in.
I’ve always fantasized about a threesome. Just remember to suit up.” Using her
free hand, she slid it around the back of his neck to pull him down for a kiss.

The softness of his lips and the delicious taste of him filled
her with white-hot fire. She needed him inside her now. “Fuck me, mate.”

He struggled to lift his head from her powerful embrace.
“Wait.”

When he said nothing more, Calder rubbed her aching body
along the hardness of his erection. “Wait for what? We’re here, there’s time
and I need you.”

A frown marred his handsome face as she watched him fight
the tide of lust threatening to carry away his concerns. “There is something.”

“There’s nothing but us and my body’s starving for your
cock. I want to ride you until both of us pass out.”

“No condoms,” Roark finally managed to choke out.

Calder batted the excuse away. “I’m not on my fertile cycle
and since neither one of us can catch or pass on human sickness we’re good to
go.”

“Aw, fuck me,” he cried out, falling back into the soft
grass.

Calder giggled as she came to rest on top of him. “That’s
what I’m trying to do. Now magic our clothes away so I can get what I need.
Then I’ll let you go back to being the slow boy from down the street.”

“The only thing crazy around here is you, woman.” With an
elegant wave of his hand, their clothes disappeared. “Now come here and let’s
see if you’re as hungry as you said. ’Cause I’m not going to last long, luv.”

“So long as you last until I’m done with you,” she panted
the words back at him, her mouth practically watering at the feast laid bare
before her eyes. “No judges’ scores here to worry about, other than mine.”

“Quit your fuckin’ teasing and fuck me,” Roark finally
demanded as he grabbed her hips and slammed her straight down on his thick,
rigid cock.

“Oh sweet heaven to Barney’s you feel so damn good.” She
almost cried as he sliced into her. “Move, move, move.”

“No.”

“No?” Had he really told her no? To her face? While she was
sitting speared on the two-by-four he called a cock. “I don’t like the word,
Lucky Charms.”

“Then you’ll have to adjust, Garfield,” he returned, his
voice tight as sweat beaded down his forehead. “We’re doing this my way.”

With that he slipped out of her, flipped their positions
until Calder’s knees rested on the springy grass and she was stretched out
facedown, her arms in front of her. Two seconds more and she would have been
pleading with the man to fuck her, but luckily for them both Roark knelt behind
her. His hand went to her hair, snatching the thick strands back. He kissed her
and he had to feel the fangs against his talented tongue. But she didn’t care
right now. She was a lioness, hear her roar and all that crap later. She wanted
him too badly to mind her shifter manners. He’d deal and be damn grateful.

Roark moved away. “Why can’t I say no to you?”

She looked into those emerald-green eyes glinting at her in
the early afternoon sunlight. Fae eye, tricky Fae and for once she didn’t give
a ripe damn about any Fae but the one who should be fucking her. “Take me now
before I change my mind and rip your dick off to use as a dildo.”

She swore she heard Roark growl, but dismissed it as her
imagination. Fae didn’t growl. “Fine, it’s on your head then. Don’t come crying
to me when you can’t walk for the next two weeks. I tried to warn you.” His
voice was almost too low to hear as it rumbled deeply out of his throat.

He pushed her forward until they moved just in front of a
perfectly groomed ash tree. Roark used one hand to grab a firm hold of her
wrist while his muscle-thick legs pushed her knees apart. Blunted human teeth
bit into the back of her neck in a pathetic attempt to hold her in place.

“Watch the teeth, Lucky Charms,” she warned even as she
pushed her ass back against him.

“You’ll scream my name out before we’re through here,
woman.”

“Make it worth my while and I will,” she promised.

When his free hand moved to her pussy, two fingers sliding
inside and stretching her wide open, Calder almost screamed his name then and
there. Instead she squeezed those talented fingers tight and he cursed.

“Enough foreplay.”

She opened her mouth to agree, but his hips slammed into
her, his cock shoving its way in and her ability to think, speak and reason
disappearing in a maelstrom of lust and need.

He forced his cock in deeper, stretching her even wider
until his entire pole sank inside her poor body. No warning, no grumbles or
comments or concerns. Just Roark with his mighty, massive cock. He kept her
pinned to the ground with his body and tightened his hold on her wrist, keeping
her from moving away or doing anything to try to control the claiming she knew
was coming. So Calder did the only thing she could, she knelt there and
accepted everything he wanted to give her and more.

He gave her everything she’d demanded. Hard, rough, primal
fucking at its most basic and exactly what Calder’s cat needed. A claiming the
animal would understand and accept.

He thrust inside her as Calder opened her legs farther to
allow all of his delicious cock in. She writhed desperately under him while she
tried to pull her arms out of his grasp. He wouldn’t release her and she and
her cat almost came from that knowledge alone.

His free hand roughly grabbed her breasts, squeezing each
one hard then tugging at her beaded nipples.

She gasped at the rough treatment, purring her approval when
Roark heard her cat’s endorsement and kicked his movements up a gear. His cock
slammed into her mercilessly as big fingers slid down to her throbbing sex and
plucked and teased her sensitive, swollen clit. The pressure was just this side
of painful and she loved it.

“Roark,” she moaned as the movements of his fingers sped up.
She wanted him to come first, but the tricky leprechaun countered her every
move.

Even though shifters always liked their sex a little
forceful, Calder hadn’t known she’d wanted something this violent, this
primitive. But want it she did, she’d crave this feeling for the rest of her
life just because it felt that fucking amazing.

Her body jolted, tension riding hard as her orgasm appeared
on the horizon even as Roark’s calloused yet talented fingers continued to tug
and flick her clit. He jackhammered into her, no rhythm left in his forceful
thrusts. They were both too lost in the need to come to worry over who won what
round.

The world narrowed down to Roark and his pounding, pleasing
cock as he slammed into her and she would swear from here to the goddess his
cock almost doubled in size the closer they both came to release. To reward him
for the incredible feeling, Calder squeezed her muscles tight against his slick
invasion.

He punished her by using his fingers to lightly twist her
clit as he slammed deep and solid inside her. Her orgasm ripped through her,
tearing her apart, sending her screaming from one rush through another. She heard
the deep, powerful growl of her cat and lifted her head long enough to find and
bite the arm continuing to hold her down.

He teased out her satisfaction, changing the strokes of his
fingers and his cock until she thought she might pass out from the bliss.
Something she instinctively knew Roark would never let her live down. Instead
she clenched him one more time, using every muscle she had to pull him in and
keep him there. She clenched down hard. He roared Irish curses, then came and
kept coming, spurting inside her until finally he was done.

Together they collapsed to the soft green carpet beneath
them. Calder panted as she desperately tried to get her breathing back under
control. Until she heard Roark’s lungs working twice as fast as her own.
Feeling smug, sexy and still full of her very own fucking leprechaun, Calder
curled deeper into the shelter of her mate’s body and let sleep finally come to
claim her.

* * * * *

When she woke, Roark already had her wet and ready for him,
even as he held her tight, lifting her up and moving them fast, all the while
taking her lips in deep, drugging kisses that left her head spinning and body
aching. How had he moved her so quickly and without waking her? The leprechaun
had some mad skills.

One gentle hand reached to stroke the tender skin of her
inner thigh. It felt so good to have his hands again. To feel the heat and
strength of his touch. With her eyes closed, Calder stretched up and opened her
mouth fully, taking everything he gave and demanding even more. She teased his
tongue with her own, slipping and nipping with her teeth as the heat built in
her veins.