Surrender (10 page)

His eyes were hooded, his lips parted, and he gasped for breath. The muscles of his neck and shoulders constricted as he took them closer and closer to culmination.

Wendy thrashed wildly as she neared her release. She screamed and began to convulse when an orgasm rocked her to the core.

Shuddering in the aftermath, she barely felt him lower her back onto the bed while still moving in and out of her. His pace quickened, and his soft grunts beckoned her to come again with him.

“Oh, God, Kieran,” Wendy gasped, instinctively knowing he was about to crest. She wrapped her legs around his thighs, urging him onward. With a primal growl, Kieran shuddered and expelled himself into her. She climaxed a second time, her scream intermingled with his. His heated seed filled her as he gave a final thrust and then fell on her, his heavy breathing in her ear. He remained on top of her, his arms securely around her.

Kieran’s face was turned away from her, and when she tried to move away, his arm tightened around her waist. Letting out a sigh, she relaxed into him and closed her eyes, soaking in the intimacy of the moment.

Wendy pulled her fingers through Kieran’s tresses, stroking his silky hair absently. He laid half on top of her, his body limp, his face still turned away.

Then, he tensed.

“This should have never happened. It was a mistake.” His voice came across tight, restrained. Although the pillow muffled the words, they were clear enough for Wendy to note the bitterness in the words.

Hurt and resentment surged through her, and she sat straight up and threw his arm off. “Don’t you dare take this moment away from me!” Wendy screamed, hating the choking sounds she made. “Maybe to you it meant nothing to be with me, but don’t you think for a minute you can turn this into something meaningless for me!”

She jumped from the bed and began to grab her discarded clothing, shoving his leg aside to get her underwear. “You are such a jerk, Kieran,” she told him, slapping the back of his leg. “I don’t even know what to think right now.”

Without bothering to look at him, she jammed her clothes on in case Jake might have returned. She did not want him to see her storm out of Kieran’s bedroom half-naked. Of course, if he was there, he’d probably heard her shrieks during lovemaking.

Kieran rolled to his side and watched her, as usual his face devoid of expression. She glared at him once she finished dressing and waited for him to say something. He glanced away momentarily before looking at her again. “I apologize.”

“Don’t. Just forget it, Kieran.” Wendy slammed the door behind her and rushed to her bedroom. The house was empty. Thank God, there were no witnesses to her humiliating experience.

In her room, she went directly to the bed and laid down on it. Closing her eyes, she could smell Kieran on her skin; still feel his touch, the image of the look on his face while he was joined with her still very fresh. Why did he have to make that comment? Was he so intent on keeping everyone away from him that he felt the need to hurt her right after sharing such an intimate moment?

Except for not kissing him, she’d felt a connection with him. It was probably her imagination, a pathetic attempt to give the experience more credence than it deserved. All because she’d been foolish enough to fall in love with the man from the moment she’d met him. Now what? Pretend nothing happened? Could she do that?

“Ugh.” Wendy rolled onto her stomach and closed her eyes. What would her mother tell her to do right now?

I’ll ask her.
She got up and went to clean the kitchen while she phoned her mother.

Wendy’s call to Ireland did make her feel better. By the time she ended the phone call, the kitchen was clean, and Jake had arrived. She’d asked for her mother’s advice, leaving out the steamy parts. Mostly asking what to do after she’d had an amazing time with a guy, and he immediately said he’d made a mistake. Her mother’s advice was “Tell him he’s probably right. He’s not worth any more of your emotional time. Ignore that anything happened between you and let him squirm.” Her mother had ended with “What a jerk!” to which Wendy readily had agreed.

After sleeping for only a couple of hours, he woke not only to smell her in his bed, but the pictures of her face and her body assaulted him. Not able to remain in there, he left his room.

Once in the kitchen, Kieran drank coffee while skimming his messages. Reluctantly, he went in search of Wendy and Jake. The bank would only be open for a couple more hours, so they had to leave.

A chess piece fell to the floor as Wendy punctuated something in a story she was in the middle of telling Jake, hitting the table with her fist. “So the lady slams this huge bag full of crumpled money and coins on the counter and demands I count it for her.” Her hands flew up over her head dramatically. “There were like twenty people waiting in line behind her.”

Jake’s eyes met his momentarily, acknowledging his entrance, but he returned his attention to Wendy without making a move to stand.

Kieran cleared his throat. “Let’s go.”

“I’ll tell you what happened next later,” Wendy told Jake, getting up, flashing them both a smile and dashing from the room. “Let me grab my purse real quick.” The fresh lavender scent of her recently washed hair caught Kieran’s attention. She’d showered and changed into a short green dress. Her sandals clacked noisily on the wood floors as she hurried away. He noticed her ankle was still bandaged.

Both men watched her leave, the sight of her bare legs quite fetching. Kieran held back a possessive urge to punch Jake for looking at them.

On the way to the bank, Kieran drove, and Wendy sat in the passenger seat. Although not as chatty as usual, she made comments to Jake about the Atlanta landmarks they passed. Jake encouraged her by asking questions and paying close attention. The man practically drooled every time Wendy looked over her shoulder at him.

Whatever anger she’d had toward Kieran earlier seemed to have dissipated. Instead of relief at not having to deal with her hurt feelings, he was disappointed at how easy she’d let it go.

Wendy intrigued him. She’d informed him of her feelings and then allowed him to have his own. After that, she dropped it, it seemed, no questioning, no tearful reproaches. Unfortunately, it made him want to know even more about what she felt and thought.

“So, Kieran,” Wendy got his attention. “Just to give you a heads up, Marlene, the bank manager, is going to be the one that will probably escort us to the safety deposit box area. She’s a total cougar, so be prepared.”

Glancing at her, their eyes met for a moment. Wendy’s expectant, wide look only gave him the impression that she was waiting for his reply to her comment, nothing more. He didn’t see any hurt or sadness, not even her usual subtle flirty look. Her lips curved mischievously, giving her a wood sprite appearance. Just glancing at her lips, his heart skipped, and the instant heat made him hard. If not for Jake in the backseat, Kieran was sure he would have pulled the car over and would not have been able to stop himself from having her one more time.

He nodded, acknowledging her comment, and she returned her attention out the window.

The transaction at the Georgia Bank and Trust was quick and efficient, given that Wendy had worked there. Several of the tellers eyed Kieran with curious stares as Wendy introduced him as a friend.

As Wendy predicted, Marlene, the office manager, slipped him her phone number while Wendy had her back turned.

Heading back to the house, she insisted that he drive past her apartment. In the parking lot, she looked at the building for a few minutes, not speaking a word.

“Do you want to go inside?” Jake asked her. He leaned forward and placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it before letting her go. Kieran clenched his jaw and gripped the steering wheel while looking straight ahead as they waited for Wendy’s answer.

“No. I guess I just miss being home,” Wendy replied, her voice flat. The sad undertones in her voice almost made him reach for her hand.

Once they arrived back at the house, Jake went to the living room, giving them space so that Kieran could study the jewelry.

Wendy withdrew a purple velvet jewelry roll from her bag and placed it on the table. Her hand shook as she unrolled it, her eyes downcast, her lips pressed together. For some reason, seeing the pieces affected her. He watched sadness and melancholy roll across her features as she reached inside a pocket and pulled out a large golden locket.

The ornate pear-shaped locket was large in Wendy’s hand. With trembling figures, she fidgeted and opened it by pressing an almost invisible side latch. Inside were two pictures, both of women. Both had fine features and large eyes that seemed to gaze back at the observer. Wendy placed it down on the velvet and pushed it closer to Kieran so that he could study it.

At first, he didn’t notice anything unusual about the locket other than its obvious great worth and antiquity. When he studied the back of it, a symbol caught his attention. He’d seen it before. But where?

With a pen, he sketched it on paper and studied it closer; the symbols were ancient writing. Then, taking great care, using tweezers, he removed the photographs.

There were similar ancient symbols etched behind each picture. Now, there was no question. If what he suspected about the symbols behind each of the pictures was right, it had to be the key.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Oh. My. God. Oh. My. God. I have the key the demons want.
Wendy repeated the statement over and over in her head, rubbing the locket that now hung around her neck as they headed to Fallon’s house to meet with the Grand Poobpah Protector, otherwise known as Julian.

Shifting toward Kieran, Wendy stared at him, she needed explanations. Needed to know what it all meant. Why did her grandmother give her this locket? Had she been aware of what it was?

Kieran continued staring straight ahead, ignoring her. It amazed her. Just a few hours ago, they’d been intimate, and the man still seemed just as distant as ever. If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear he’d forgotten all about it.

Wendy pushed at his shoulder. “Please stop ignoring me and answer my questions. What does the key mean? What is Julian going to do to me? Am I…going to die?”

Finally, when he glanced at her, the concern in his eyes surprised her. He actually looked worried. His brows pinched together for a second before he looked back to the road. “I don’t know the answers to your questions. When I called Julian and described the symbols on the locket, he insisted that I bring it there right away. He also insisted that I bring you along.”

“What about my last question?” Wendy whispered, leaning toward him just to see what his reaction would be to her proximity. His eyes shifted to her, and he visibly tensed. The thick walls were back.

“You’re not going to die. I won’t allow it.”

She released a breath she wasn’t even aware she’d been holding. “Okay. One more question. Can you tell me why you’re pretending we never slept together? I mean, if that’s how you normally act after sex, then fine, whatever, but it’s kinda strange.” She sat back running out of words, not sure why she’d even asked. “You know what? Don’t bother answering.” Warmth heated her face.
Why did I have to bring that up?

“I don’t know what you expect. It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of your being under my protection,” he replied, not looking at her. “I apologize for my lack of control.”

Anger surged through her. “I am learning not to expect much when it comes to you, Kieran. And you didn’t take advantage of the situation. I wanted it just as much as you did. It’s just that, well, I like you. I have liked you since you saved me from the demon attack….Forget it. Never mind.” Blinking back tears, she stared out the passenger window. Okay, now she was making a fool out of herself.

She was scared out of her mind, and there wasn’t anyone to tell her everything was going to be okay.
That’s all right, I can be strong.

To add to her mortification, she let out a shaky sob.

Kieran pulled the truck over instantly. His hands actually ached from gripping the steering wheel tightly for so long and not reaching out for Wendy. At the sound of her quiet sob, he couldn’t take it anymore. She was terrified. Why hadn’t he realized that her bravery was just a front?

As soon as he parked the car on side of the quiet country road and turned toward her, she flew into his arms. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m crying….I’m so scared.” Her small frame shook, and she pushed her face into his neck, her fingers clinging to his shirt.

Kieran wasn’t prepared for the assault and strength of the emotions that flooded over him. He wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt Wendy. She was his to protect. Thinking that anyone, whether a demon or even Julian, would try to hurt her sent fury through him so hard and swift that his incisors fell and a low snarl exploded from his throat.

“No one will hurt you. You have my word,” Kieran’s voice sounded husky even to his own ears. She’d stopped crying but didn’t move away, and he couldn’t push her away now, even if his life depended on it.

She fit perfectly against him, slipping into his arms, her legs curled up on the long seat of the truck.

When she raised her face to look at him, he was lost. Her gorgeous dark green eyes were damp; her long lashes were clumped together with tears. She was stunning.

Her parted lips drew him like a lure, and he fell into her. When their lips met, everything ceased to exist. Hearing her soft sigh, he felt his heart expand, beating so hard that it echoed in his ears. Pulling her fully onto his lap, he continued exploring her mouth, their mouths expressing more than words how much they desired and needed each other.

Wendy wrapped her arms around his neck and straddled him, pushing her small, tight body into his. Kieran opened his eyes and scanned the area. It was deserted, but it wasn’t nightfall yet, and he didn’t want to chance someone spotting them. He had to have her again.

And he would be with her again. Nothing could stop him now.

He picked her up and roughly put her down away from him. Not looking at her, he slammed the truck into drive and drove into the crop of trees a few yards away. As soon as the truck stopped, he threw it into park and brought her to him again, immediately seeking her mouth with his. “I want you,” he told her gruffly between kisses, his hands already on her firm butt, pulling her onto his hardness.

“I want you, too,” Wendy gasped, reaching for his fly, her fingers unfastening his pants.

In one fluid motion, Kieran pushed her shirt and bra up, taking her hard peak into his mouth, suckling while pushing her pants down.

“Oh, God,” Wendy cried out when his fingers explored her damp center.

“Tell me what you want, Wendy,” he said, a moan escaping when she pulled his pants open and released him..

“I want you deep inside me. I want us to cum together,” she told him.

His hands circled her hips and helped her lift up so he could impale her on his hardness.

Setting a violent pace, they raced toward oblivion. The sound of her moans and their bodies joining was like a symphony to his ears. When she screamed, her sex tightened around his shaft as she came, a loud groan escaped his lips as he, too, lost control and spilled into her.

Limp, she fell against him, her fingers tangled in his hair, her breasts pushing against his chest. Kieran caressed the soft skin of her back while waiting to catch his breath.

His eyes flew open.

They’d kissed.

The first time he had kissed a woman in over two hundred years.

Wendy pushed back and looked at him, her lips curved into a satisfied smile, her eyes still hazy with fulfillment. Without another thought, he kissed her again and held her to him. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she whispered, “but I really need to get my pants on. I’d hate for whoever owns this land to happen upon us.”

They looked at each other for a long moment. The bond between them shook him. He would not care for her. He couldn’t allow it to happen, not again.

The struggle between the need to protect her, to have her near, fought with the knowledge that he had to guard himself from certain heartbreak. Unless Julian changed his mind, Kieran would be marrying someone else soon.

Uncertainty flickered in Wendy’s gaze. “What’s wrong? You’re not going to tell me that this was another mistake, are you?” Looking away, she tried to move off of him, but he held her in place. He wasn’t ready for them to separate. Not yet.

“Look at me.” She lifted her eyes and met his. “This was not a mistake. We both needed this.”

When her lips curved into a happy smile, his heart skipped a beat, and he frowned. She giggled at his expression and kissed him. The kiss intensified, and he began to harden again.

“We have to stop.”

They didn’t, not until they both had cum again.

Later, when Kieran was able to form a thought, he kissed Wendy and helped her up, feeling strangely empty at no longer being joined with her.

While Wendy squirmed into her clothes, Kieran adjusted his. Then, he waited for a few moments to collect his thoughts. He saw she bit her bottom lip and stared straight ahead, her fear threatening to come back. He held his arm out. “Come here.” He almost smiled at how fast she snuggled under his arm.

The closer he got to Fallon’s house, the more apprehensive Kieran became at Julian’s reaction to the locket, to Wendy, and to what had transpired between them.

# # #

The library in Fallon’s house was quiet. Every eye in the room turned toward them when they entered. Wendy stood slightly behind Kieran, not ready to face his boss. She clung to his arm, not able to control her shaking.

“Please, sit down,” Fallon told her, motioning to a sofa. Reluctantly, she released Kieran’s arm and went to sit, her eyes not meeting anyone’s in the room. Instead, she just looked past the man at the front of the room.

Kieran remained standing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw four men sitting around. Cyn sat in the chair next to her, across from her sat Roderick, and next to him sat the new Protector, Logan. At the front of the room, behind Fallon’s desk, a last man stood. Julian.

Kieran went to the Roman, and they exchanged a greeting, putting a hand on one another’s shoulder. Kieran spoke to the man in another language, which Wendy guessed to be Italian.

Finally, when Kieran sat next to her, she muscled up the courage to openly study Julian. She almost gasped out loud.

There was no way the man was real. Perfection personified was the only way she could describe him. His blue-black hair was brushed away from his face, showcasing his angelic features. Dark, piercing eyes framed by the longest eyelashes she’d ever seen on a man met hers, and she glanced away.

Fallon stretched into a chair, studying her and Kieran with narrowed eyes.

He knew. There was no doubt by his cocked eyebrow when his eyes met hers that he’d sensed what happened between them as soon as they arrived. Too overwhelmed, she hadn’t even tried to hide her thoughts from him.

If he knew, and Julian was the strongest of them, then….

“May I see the locket Miss O’Sullivan?” Julian’s smooth, Italian-accented voice made her jump.

“Of course,” she pulled it off over her head. In the next instant, he stood in front of her, his hand outstretched and catching her by surprise. She dropped the locket into his palm, her eyes meeting his, almost as if he had willed them to. She couldn’t pull her gaze away.
Don’t be afraid. I know your truth.
A soothing, invisible veil seemed to fall over her, and she let out a sigh. Finally, she was able to look away from him. Next to her, Kieran’s body tensed.

Julian walked away studying the locket. “Who gave you this?”

Wendy cleared her dry throat. “My grandmother left it to me in her will.” She looked to Kieran, who gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Leave us alone,” Julian told the Protectors, his eyes lingered on Kieran. “All of you. I must speak to Miss O’Sullivan in private.”

The room swayed, and she grabbed at Kieran, but he pushed her hands away. He leaned into her ear, his Scottish lilt reassuring. “I’ll be right outside. Don’t worry.”

Once the Protectors left, eyes locked on her folded hands, she waited for Julian to speak. Under her lashes, she saw that he sat for a long while, continuing to study the locket, holding it under the light of a table lamp. She took advantage of this to study him further. His dark hair curled on the nape of his tanned neck, giving him a softer look from the side. She noticed that his muscled biceps strained under his white shirt. His shoulders were wide but not so much so that he lost the sleek look of a predator. A magnificent predator.

When he finally looked up to meet her gaze, she flushed, wondering if he’d heard her thoughts.

“This locket was left in the care of the Fae hundreds of years ago.  It is the Key of Peace. There are several universal keys. Each key was given to a different race of people to protect. Demons were given one, the Fae another. I am not at liberty to say who holds the others.”

“The Fae?” Wendy croaked. “Like in fairies?”

“Yes.”

“What does that mean? How did my grandmother end up with it?” Wendy stood, not able to remain seated, her hand up to her mouth.

Julian didn’t answer. Instead, he asked her another question. “Where are your parents?”

“They moved to Ireland a few years back.”

“How long since you’ve seen them?”

“I don’t know, a year. I planned to go visit soon. What does that have to do with anything?”

A look of impatience crossed his face. “Miss O’Sullivan, are your parents particularity young-looking?”

“My parents…um, well, yes, I suppose they are very youthful. My mom got a face-lift, so she looks younger than she is, at least that's what she told me. ” Wendy babbled, trying to make sense of his questions.

“What is your mother’s name?”

“Maureen.”

“Maureen O’Sullivan?” Julian asked, his eyes piercing hers. “Your father is Rouri O’Sullivan then,” he said, not seeming to need her response.

“Do you know my parents?” Wendy squeaked.

“Miss O’Sullivan, you are going to have to go to Ireland. You must take the key to Ireland, and you must remain there with it,” he stood now, his towering height shrinking the room. “Gwendolyn, you are the keeper of the Key of Peace, like your grandmother was before you.”