The Magic Knot (22 page)

Rose stared into Jacca’s eyes as the implication of his words penetrated her aching brain. “So you’re saying”—Rose licked her lips—“you’re saying that to activate my pisky half, I must sleep with you?”

Jacca blinked slowly and held her gaze.

Rose stared at her slim pink hand lost between his dark fingers and remembered Niall’s long fingers, so gentle on her skin. “There has to be another way.”

“Not that I know of.”

She pulled back her hand and clenched it with the other in her lap. “I’ll stay human. I can still be the queen.”

“Look at yourself, Rosenwyn.” He indicated the scarlet skin of her arm. “If you’ activated your fairy side you wouldn’t have been burned. Your link with Niall would also be stronger.”

Rose glanced at him questioningly.

“I sense him in you, Rosenwyn. You owe it to him to make the bond as close as it can be.”

“That just about takes the biscuit.” Rose laughed incredulously. “Sleeping with you will bring me closer to Niall. I don’t think so.” She stood shakily and walked to the fire to get some distance from him.

“Niall asked me to come to you himself.”

“But he might have changed his—”

A shrieking sound from the chimney made her jump back and fall on the sofa.

“What the hell?”

“At least we know the salt’s working.”

“Scared me half to death.” Rose squeezed her eyes closed.

“Run the light with me and your injuries will heal immediately.”

Rose stared at her red skin. The heat from the electric fire made the pain worse, but didn’t reach her icy core. What ever Jacca said, if she slept with him, Niall would never get over it. He’d jumped into the circle of flame for her and shielded her body from the fire. She loved him, and in his own way he loved her.

Rose curled up on the lumpy sofa. “I’m going to wait for Niall.”

When she closed her eyes, light flashed behind her eyelids, then faded. Cold crept through her limbs, spreading heavy and dark into her mind. Locked deep inside, her survival instinct cried, trying to make her take notice. But she was so tired. All she wanted was oblivion.

Niall drummed his fingers on his leather armrest and stared out the aircraft window as the lights of the Dublin airport faded into the distance. “Grand going,”
he whispered. He was on his way back to Rose. Her pain grated in his mind like an off-key note, his head throbbing in sympathy.

With Michael’s sweet-talking and a generous amount of cash, Niall had rerouted his charter to Bristol. As soon as they set down, he planned to find a rental car and drive to the west coast of Wales. Three hours, maybe four, and he’d be with her.

He closed his eyes for a moment, reaching out to check her. His chest tightened. She was weaker.

Michael snored, mouth open, sleeping like a baby. Full of surprises, his brother. who’d have guessed he’d take Niall’s side and return to Cornwall?

Niall tried to relax. An hour of sleep would be a good idea, if he could rest with Rose in his head.

Rose!

He bolted upright, sending a cup of apple juice flying. Suddenly he couldn’t feel her. Psychically he cast around for their link. No barrier, no presence. Nothing.

Fear gripped his heart with icy claws. It was as if she’d ceased to exist.

At just after nine in the morning, Niall accelerated his rental car along the motorway past Cardiff. He kept his mind open, searching for Rose. As he neared the coast, he felt Nightshade and tracked him. The longer he went with no sense of Rose, the more difficult it was to resist the waves of desolation pounding at his mind. But he wouldn’t give up. Not until he knew for certain.

Weaving the car along the narrow roads toward the coast, he found himself circling the area, unable to pin down Nightshade’s location. The fugitives would be
near the cliffs, probably in a sparsely populated area. In desperation, Niall parked in a muddy field, left the car, and hiked, crossing fields and leaping hedges.

Off in the distance, the front door of an isolated cottage opened. An unmistakable black form filled the doorway. Niall ran until he was close enough to be heard, then grabbed a breath and shouted, “How’s Rose?”

The stalker came forward and opened the gate, his face grave. “I can’t wake her. She’s been asleep for hours.”

At least she was alive. Relief sparked along Niall’s nerves, firing him with energy. He raced through the doorway, burst into the room where she lay on a tattered green sofa, and dropped to his knees beside her.

She lay motionless beneath a tan blanket and his flight jacket, her face scarlet and swollen. Niall pressed his palm against her burning forehead. Closing his eyes, he extended his touch into her mind. With a burst of relief heady as a shot of finest Irish malt, he slid along the delicate thread of connection between them. He skimmed around the taut boundary of her consciousness. Drawn in tightly, she had instinctively focused her strength inward to survive and recover.

Niall’s relief faded to fear as he sensed the shallow-ness of her breath, her thready pulse. Rest alone would not mend her. She needed some form of human medical care fast.

Or she needed to activate her fairy half.

“What shall we do?” Nightshade asked from the doorway.

Niall stared at him, imagining Rose’s slim, naked body pressed against the muscular bulk of the stalker. Much as he hated the idea, he would make any sacrifice
to save Rose. But she was in no condition to run the light with the stalker now.

Niall looked down at the shallow rise and fall of her chest. “We’ll have to get the lass to a hospital.”

Nightshade snorted. “Impossible.”

“There’s no other way. To all intents and purposes, she’s human. If we let them treat her, she’ll recover.”

“Eventually,” Nightshade added scathingly. “After she’s suffered.”

Niall jumped up. “Do you have a better idea?”

“Let me run the light with her.”

“Not with the lass sick.”

Nightshade approached and halted just out of reach. “There’s a chance my bite will have the same effect as sex.”

“Aye. And you’ll be blood-bonded to
my
woman!” Jaw clenched, Niall rode the wave of jealousy that surged through him. When his turmoil subsided, he pressed his temples. He must put Rose first, what ever it cost him.

“If you’re in her mind when I bite, the blood bond won’t form.”

“And what if you’re wrong?”

“You’re fully bound to her, Irish. Her link with you is strong enough to prevent another bond from forming.”

Niall gazed at the brown carpet. “Looks like I’m out of choices.” He glanced at Rose and sighed. “Are you wanting me on the sofa with her?”

Nightshade scanned him from head to toe. His nostrils flared. “The sofa is good.”

After easing Rose’s limp body onto his lap, he sank back into the couch, his back against the armrest. She moaned and mumbled his name.

He pulled her closer, touching his lips to her ear. “Rose, me love. I be here with you now.” Loosening the boundaries of his mind, he extended his awareness, enveloping her with his strength. He hated to feel her weak and suffering. This must work.

The ancient sofa creaked in protest as Nightshade knelt beside them. Niall had become so used to the stalker’s almond scent he normally didn’t notice it. Now the sweet fragrance swamped his senses. Nightshade leaned close, staring into Niall’s eyes. “You’ll feel it when I bite her.”

Niall shifted Rose on his lap, positioning her between him and Nightshade. “Just pretend I’m not here.”

Nightshade licked his lips, and the glistening white points of his fangs appeared.

Great Danu! Have I lost me mind?

With effort, Niall clamped down on his instinct to push Nightshade away. He focused on Rose, on her pain grating in his mind. “Don’t you go taking too much of her blood.”

Nightshade inclined his head in agreement. “I have her best interests at heart. She’s my queen.”

Niall considered Nightshade’s expression, judged his words true, and relaxed a notch. “It goes without saying, I’ll have to kill you if you bite me.”

With a flick of his eyebrows, Nightshade grinned, exposing hooked fangs. “I have a taste for O’Connor blood, but I’ll endeavor to restrain myself.”

Tilting Rose’s head to the side, Niall exposed her neck. “Don’t go touching her.”

“That’s going to be difficult if you want me to bite her.”

“I’m meaning don’t go putting your hands on her.”

“In Ireland you sent me to her bed. Now I mustn’t even lay a hand on her?”

Niall stared at the glowing electric fire. He remembered Rose’s anger when he’d told her he would send another man to run the light. “I had no right to go making that decision for her. We won’t be taking liberties while she’s unconscious.”

“Very well. You have my word.” Placing one hand on the sofa’s back and the other on the arm, Nightshade corralled Niall and Rose between his arms. Muscles trembling with the instinct to escape, Niall leaned back as the stalker bent over Rose’s throat.

Long, cool hair slithered across Niall’s neck. Ignoring the stalker, he concentrated on Rose, praying this would activate her fairy half. He focused on the warm weight of her against his thighs, chest, and groin. With a sigh he sank into her mind, slowed the tripping beat of her heart, drew her breath in and out steadily, softened the clench of nausea pinching her gut.

“Ready?” Nightshade whispered.

“Get it over with.”

“Your wish is my command…Niall.”

Sweet, sharp pain radiated through Niall’s head and neck. He hung on to his connection with Rose, pushed deeper, boosted her endurance. The pain resolved into tiny points of ecstasy in his neck—no, Rose’s neck— then spiraled along his nerves in a dark dance of sensation in which pain and pleasure became one.

Niall’s muscles spasmed. The back of his head thumped against the sofa. His groans mingled with soft gasps from Rose. He fought to stay detached as primitive longings lured him deeper. Dark lust pulsed in his heart, inside Rose, outside her. pleasure tasted hot, thick, metallic.

Light flowed into her belly, his belly, gathered in a spinning ball, hummed along veins, chased away doubts. Went supernova. Niall’s body arched. Rose groaned, and her bottom ground into his groin. pleasure exploded in flashes of dark and light that seared the sense from him.

A long way off on the edge of awareness, Nightshade sniggered softly.

The world was dark, silent, unbearably sweet. Niall floated in the dreamy aftermath of pleasure. There was somewhere he should be. If only he could remember.

“Niall?”

The soft entreaty in the voice snagged him, pulled him up through diaphanous layers until he felt breath fill his lungs. He became aware of a warm weight on his lap. His eyes snapped open, and Rose stared back at him, an enigmatic smile on her face.

“Rose. Shit! Sorry. It worked.” Relief washed through him, mixed with wonder as he stared at her smooth, pale skin and glowing green eyes. “You’re looking…”

“Beautiful,” Nightshade finished for him.

Niall turned at the sound of the stalker’s voice. His vision wavered, as if the room were full of water. Nightshade grinned with predatory satisfaction that shot warning bolts up Niall’s spine.

“Well, well, Irish. Who would have guessed you’re so…sensitive?”

Niall shook his head to clear the fluff out of his brain. “What in the Furies are you talking about?”

Rose framed his face between her hands and feathered his lips with hers. His recent pleasure echoed through him.

“Thank you, my love. I knew you’ come for me.” She grinned, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. Pressing her cheek against his, she whispered into his ear, “We won’t tell anyone you came for Nightshade as well.”

The truth sucker punched him. He squeezed his eyes closed. When Michael found out, Niall would never live this down.

As Niall maneuvered the rental car through the narrow Cornish lanes, Rose flipped down her sun visor and stared at herself in the mirror for the hundredth time. Not only were her burns healed, but she looked amazing. Her features were finer, her skin smooth and glowing. She’d always wondered why she didn’t resemble her mother. With her fairy half activated, she did. If Ailla could see her now, she wouldn’t call her plain anymore.

What would her work colleagues think? She’d have to tell them she’d had an extreme makeover— administered by a bloodsucking fairy. She smiled and snapped the visor up. Okay, maybe not. Her smile fell away. She shivered with a strange mix of emotions. Maybe she wouldn’t see her old colleagues again. Everything had changed so fast.

She glanced over her shoulder at Jacca lying under a blanket on the backseat. He grinned and blew on the tips of his fingers as if he’d burned them.
You’re hot
, he mouthed silently.

The smile flitted back to her lips. At least Jacca appreciated the change in her appearance. She cast a
sideways glance at Niall’s stoic expression. Maybe she shouldn’t have teased him about losing control. Niall was lucky to have found release. Since Nightshade’s bite she’d been primed and ready. If she’d been alone with Niall, she’d have made him pull the car over and jumped him long ago.

When they arrived at the Elephant’s Nest half an hour later, Jacca left to report to Tristan.

Rose followed Niall in through the bar. The same fair-haired woman who’d been serving the night Rose first arrived stared at her with no recognition. She really was a different person from the accountant who’d walked in a week ago.

There was no going back. Ever.

For a moment the realization froze her in place. Then a little thrill of excitement crawled into her belly. She didn’t want to go back. This new life was her future. Niall—she breathed through her mouth to control her swell of emotion—Niall was her future. And she’d damn well break through his protective shell and make him understand.

“Is Michael back?” Niall asked.

The woman grinned. “Few minutes ago. He got a taxi from the station.”

They mounted the steps toward the kitchen. Michael’s presence glowed on the other side of the door like the promise of a warm fire in winter. With her new fairy senses, she could feel any fairy who came close, and each had his own energy signature.

Pausing with her hand on the door, she glanced at Niall. The feel of him melted into her, permeating every cell of her body. She sensed confusion. The burn of desire tempered by wariness. She touched his arm. “Now that Jacca’s gone, please talk to me.”

He shook his head. “I need to clean up.”

Without thinking, Rose dropped her gaze to the stain at his crotch. The shadowy barrier he used to keep her out of his mind fell back into place.

“Niall, I didn’t mean—”

“Later.” He pulled away, turned, and walked off down the hall.

Rose sighed and shoved open the kitchen door. Michael stood in his usual spot against the counter with a cigarette in his hand. He grinned at her and waggled his eyebrows. “Wowee, Rose, darlin’.”

She couldn’t help smiling at him as he stubbed out his cigarette and advanced on her.

He grasped her hips and shimmied closer. “You’re looking scrumptious.” He pulled a face. “What a foolish fellow I am for passing you on to me brother. D’you think there’s a chance I can change your mind?”

Sudden tears filled her eyes. He always made her feel good about herself. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged fiercely.

He yelped. “Mind me bruises. Fighting for your safety, I was, and not a word of a lie.”

“I believe you.” She kissed his cheek and stared into his eyes until his smiling facade slipped. “Thank you, Michael. Thank you for being there for me when I needed you.”

“It was nothing.” He glanced away, faint color in his cheeks.

“Yes, it was. You could have taken advantage of me, and you didn’t.”

Michael stood a little taller. “Well, sometimes I like to show me brother I’m not the waster he believes.” His tone was lighthearted, but there was a sharp edge
of pain beneath the words. In his own way he was as complex and guarded as Niall.

“I thought you wanted to stay in Ireland.”

He sighed and touched her cheek wistfully. “Naw, lass. I’ve moved on. I can never go back to being one of Ciar’s pets. I want more from me life now.” He pressed his lips to her forehead and grinned. “Maybe some of Niall’s stubborn pride has gone and rubbed off on me. Think I’ll blame me brother. Always makes me feel better.” Michael laughed and, as usual, Rose couldn’t stop herself from joining in with the contagious sound.

“This is cozy.” The sharpness of Niall’s voice cut off her laughter. She glanced at the door. He had changed his clothes, but obviously not his attitude.

“You sharing the details of our jaunt with Michael?” He hid behind a menacing expression, but hurt hollowed his voice.

Did he really believe she’d make fun of him the first chance she got? She wished she’d never teased him about the incident with Jacca. She should have realized he’d blow it up all out of proportion.

He turned away and fury whipped through her. “Don’t be so bloody certain everyone’s out to hurt you. And take that ‘I’m above this silly emotional crap’ look off your face.” Rose stormed forward, grabbed the back of his jacket, and yanked him to a halt. “I love you. Don’t shut me out.”

With a cough, Michael grabbed his cigarettes from the counter. “Time to make meself scarce, I think.”

Niall tried to pull away. “I have to go check on Ana.”

Pausing as he pushed past Niall in the doorway, Michael gave him a serious look. “You can’t go running away forever. Let me check on Ana for you.”

Tightening her grip on Niall’s jacket, Rose tugged
him back a step as Michael let the door slam. “Tell Ana I’ll be seeing her later,” Niall shouted after him.

When Rose grasped Niall’s arm, he allowed her to turn him around. He stared down, his expression rigid with control.

The angry knot inside her loosened, and she ached for him. He must have been hurt so much to be this defensive. “Talk to me, Niall,” she said gently. “How do you feel?”

He shrugged, short and sharp. “Furious.”

“Why?”

He stared past her, his internal battle raging in his eyes. “You’re meant to be mine, but it took the stalker’s bite to turn you. I couldn’t and I…” He glanced down. “I made a fool of meself.”

You’re meant to be mine
soaked into her, sweet as honey. “You admit we should be together?”

He cast her a brief glance. “That’s beside the point. I failed you.”

“Crappy logic, Niall. I failed you as well. Ciar set us up to fail.”

Niall swung away and paced to the window. He stared at the trees. “I shouldn’t have agreed to take you to Ireland. I knew the risks well enough.”

Rose walked up behind him. “I didn’t give you a choice. I make my own decisions. Always have. Always will.” She laid her hand in the center of his back. “So you see, tough guy, however much you want to blame yourself, I won’t let you.” She ran her fingers up his spine and played with the short hair against his nape. “Let it go. Move on. Forget about what happened with Jacca.”

He glanced at her over his shoulder, and she raised her eyebrows. “Gonna turn around and talk to me?”

Facing her, he leaned back against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms.

Rose swallowed her nervous ness at his reaction to what she wanted to say. On the outside she kept up her bravado, but on the inside her stomach churned with fear that he would turn her down again. “Here’s the deal. I give you something precious, and in return, you do the same for me.”

He frowned but said nothing.

She unfastened the chain bearing her Magic Knot. Niall watched silently. With every second he didn’t speak, the fear inside her swelled. Rose drew a shuddering breath and reached to fasten the chain around his neck.

His expression softened, and the hint of a smile touched his lips as she carefully straightened her stones against the front of his clean brown shirt. “Have you got a date in mind, then?” he asked.

“A date?”

“The giving and receiving of Magic Knots is a symbol of handfasting. ’Tis like an engagement ring and a wedding ring rolled into one.”

“Huh?” Rose stared at him with her mouth open as the words sank in. “So that means…” Her breath caught. “I’ve just…Crud.” She slapped her hand over her mouth. Her ears buzzed as the blood drained out of her head, then flashed back, making her cheeks sting. “You’ better give them back to me.” Just when she thought she was taking control and making progress, all she managed to do was make a fool of herself. How could she hope to help the piskies when she knew so little about fairy customs?

All the stress and fear of the last few days tumbled back. Her lip trembled, and she bit it in an effort
to keep control as she reached up to unfasten the chain.

Niall caught her wrists and put his mouth to her ear. “How about next week? I want to make an honest woman of you.”

She pressed her face against his neck and breathed in his scent. When he wrapped his arms around her, the tension drained away and relief flooded the void. Her eyes watered with happiness. After a few minutes Niall took her hand and pulled her out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

“’Tis my turn now, lass.” He drew her into his bedroom, closed the door, and sat her on the end of his neatly made bed.

Rose glanced at the laptop and remembered the other time she’d been in his room. Was it only a week ago? It felt like a lifetime.

He sat beside her, opened the small wooden box bearing the O’Connor coat of arms, and lifted out his Magic Knot. He stared at the stones cradled in his palm, then unraveled the leather thong and put it over her head. “Now ’tis official. We hold each other’s fate by our hearts.”

When she touched the stones resting between her breasts, they throbbed against her fingers, sending pulses of longing through her. A few days ago the Magic Knots had been a mystery. Niall had been a mystery. Now she and Niall were joined by the stones in a mystical way she still didn’t understand.

He brushed the back of her hand, caressing her skin while his energy pulsed into the core of her being, sending spirals of heat radiating through her. A small, needy sound slipped from her lips, and she curled her hand into his.

He glanced over his shoulder at the bed. “Are you remembering the last time you were here?”

Memories of his body pressed against hers made her tremble. “Perhaps you should remind me.”

He closed his box and placed it on the desk. “Last time I told you a wee fib.”

“Did you now?”

“Aye.” He gave her a self-deprecating smile. “Me arousal was not caused by friction.”

Rose glanced down at his lap, her pulse skittering. “So friction had nothing to do with it, then?” She ran her palm up his thigh and rubbed the bulge beneath his zipper.

He sucked in a breath.

“I’d hazard a guess the friction helped.”

He cupped her cheek and nuzzled her ear. “A little friction down that way would not go amiss.”

Her blood sizzled as she sought his mouth. Kissing him in huge, greedy gulps, she pushed off his jacket, then broke away to tug the shirt over his head. With a shove she pushed him flat on the bed, then unfastened his pants, leaned back, and stripped off her dress. Niall gazed up at her, eyes dazed. “Crikey O’Reilly. Where’s the fire?”

Rose grinned and ripped away her underwear. He blinked slowly and opened his arms to her.

With a squeak of excitement she leaped on him. He tried to roll her underneath, but she grappled for superiority, and they wrangled around on the bed, laughing, kissing, and touching until they were both gasping and trembling.

Finally they paused, Niall on top, the ebb and flow of their breath as one. He stared down into her face, his pupils huge and dark. “Want you.”

A needy little sound escaped her as she pushed at the top of his pants with her feet, kicking them down his legs. Hot, silky flesh pressed between her thighs, blurring her mind. She grabbed at the firm muscles of his backside as her body bowed to meet his. Then he was inside her and moving. Niall’s presence surrounded her, filled her body and mind. Passion stripped away his protective layers, and the raw ache in his core squeezed her heart. Could he believe she loved him? Would Niall conquer his fears and stay with her this time?

Rose opened her mind and let him sense her acceptance and love. She turned her lips against the sinewy strength of his forearm and tasted his skin.

He licked her neck, nibbled her ear, stroked her lips with his silky, hot mouth. She grabbed Niall’s back, traced the length of muscle and strength of bone as he pressed her into the mattress. The stones around their necks tangled, pulsed as one. Rose sensed Niall sparking like electrical energy, ready to discharge. As he reached his peak, sensation blasted through her, a wild shock to the system that left her trembling and utterly complete. “God,” she croaked into Niall’s hair.

He lifted his head and smiled, eyes drugged with pleasure. “Fast and furious.”

She grinned and stroked the damp hair off his forehead. “I love seeing you smile. Yo u should do it more often.”

Niall rolled off her with a sigh, pulled the covers over them, and gathered her against his chest. “You make me forget me woes, beautiful Rose.”

“Did you sort things out with your father?”

With a shrug, he pulled her closer so she couldn’t see his face. “Aye. Much as they’ll ever be sorted. ’Tis
you and me I be wanting to concentrate on now. We have to make plans to free the piskies.”

Although she wanted to think about the piskies, sleep dragged down her eyelids.

Niall stroked her hair. “Sleep now,
a ghrá
. I know what must be done. We’ll plan later.”

“Knock-knock—make yourselves decent.” Michael’s voice sounded through her sleepy haze. Rose forced her eyelids up as he opened the door and peered in. The frown on his face sent a bolt of warning up her spine, jolting her awake.

Pushing himself up on his elbow, Niall asked, “What’s the problem?”