Birthday Shift (8 page)

“No.” She cupped
his face, pulling him close for a kiss, reveling in the slide of his naked skin
against hers. “You’re better than any dream I could ever have.”

About the Author

Jasmine Aherne writes sensual contemporary romance and
paranormal romance, and has dreamed of having her work published since the
beginning of time! She is now thrilled that people would like to read about the
men and women running amok in her head. She lives in Cardiff.

Website
–
http://www.jasmineaherne.com

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Enjoy the first
chapters from other books in the Spellbound Treasure series

Fairytale by Mary Winter

Chapter One

The last time
Princess Liseannechelle Aerchere had seen her lover, he’d been running away
from her. Not that she blamed him. Having his secret thrust into the open
destabilized everything the two of them had been working towards since her
parents had been deposed as the leaders of the fae council. Lise doubted she’d
ever sit on that chair again, and frankly, she was glad to leave it to her
younger sister. Cheri and Riley would rule well together, far better than she
and Lukos ever could have, considering all the secrets and betrayals they’d had
to hide.

Because they
really hadn’t taken power in a coup after all.

Lise closed her
eyes and drew a deep breath, redolent with the smells of humanity. Car exhaust,
factory pollution, too many people, and a bit too much alcohol combined in her
nose to make her stomach churn. Or the trembling in her gut could be because
she’d had a message the last time she’d visited Sparkle and Moondust. The one
she sought would be here tonight.

Lukos.

Her heart sang to
think of him so close, just beyond the thick, concrete walls. The bar, Sparkle
and Moondust, contained a portal to the fae realms inside. Mostly fae
frequented it, well and those humans who wanted to play amongst the creatures
of her realm. The name was an in-joke amongst the fae, that most of the humans
thought they were creatures of fairy dust and moonlight. The building, an old
factory, stood in a not-that-nice part of town, though that didn't matter to
most of the patrons. Her thoughts went to only one other. Would he welcome her?
Would he run away again? Well, there was only one way to find out.

She stepped
forward, wobbling a little on the impossibly high heels she wore. Her halter
top and short skirt bared so much more skin than she was used to, but when in
Rome, or in this case Sparkle and Moondust… She plastered one of the soft,
royal smiles she so often gave, the one that said “I’m a princess and I know
it” on her face and strolled into the bar. This time of night, the crowd was
sparse, but she only had eyes for one fae man.

Lukos sat at the
bar with his back to her. He, too, wore mortal clothes, black jeans and a black
T-shirt that made his pale skin look even more so. His white-blond hair had
been cropped short, nearly shorn, so his pointed ears stood out prominently.
Lise admired the breadth of his shoulders, the way his torso tapered to his
trim waist, and the fit, tight muscles of his ass modeled so lovingly by the
worn denim. Black snakeskin boots with silver accents covered his feet, and
she’d never seen a sexier looking fae. A pink bag, incongruous with his
badass-biker look, sat by his feet.

Her pulse
fluttered. She breathed deeply. With the bar’s doors closed, she caught the
faintest hint of Lukos’ deep woods aroma. Behind the bar, Menelik nodded to
her. She smiled back. He’d been the one to set up this meeting, and discreetly,
he moved to the other end of the bar to clean its spotless surface.

Lise glided
forward. Her heels clicked against the floor. Men’s gazes turned to watch her
passage, but not Lukos. He sat, his back ramrod straight, and stared into the
tumbler full of amber liquid he held.

She’d rehearsed
how to approach him a thousand times since coming to the mortal realms. Be
sultry and entice him back to her bed. Or maybe just telling him
straightforwardly that she knew the truth about his parentage and it didn’t
matter to her. It hadn’t back in Caroann, the fae realms, when she’d taken him
to her bed, or when they ran political circles around the betrothal offers for
both of them, never once revealing that they were lovers. She knew the entire
truth and she loved him just the same.

Her courage fled
the closer she got to him. She slid onto the empty barstool next to him.

Menelik
straightened and went to her. “What will you have, beautiful?”

Next to her,
Lukos stiffened.

“The usual,” she
replied.

“Coming right
up.” Menelik moved behind the bar with an easy familiarity of a good bartender.
He placed her drink on a napkin, even added a cherry on a little plastic sword
the way she liked.

Lise reached for
her purse.

“It’s on the
house, enjoy.” He winked at her and returned to his place at the other end of
the bar.

“What’s the
usual?” Lukos asked.

The first brush
of his voice against her ears was like a match to tinder. Heat, never quite
banked, flooded her body, making her nipples harden behind the flimsy material
of her halter top. She pressed her thighs together. The pure sensual effect of
his voice caught her unawares, and she took a sip of her drink in the hopes it
would calm her nerves.

“A fairyland
special,” she replied.

Lukos arched one
finely sculpted brow. “I think I have one of those for you.” Lukos drowned the
last of his drink in a single gulp. If the liquor burned all the way down, he
didn’t show any signs. Reaching between them, he picked up the bag from the
floor. "I believe you ordered these."

Lise gasped.
She'd nearly forgotten about the order placed on the Spellbound Treasure
website. The small tag containing a crest and the initials ST announced he'd
brought her package. Her cheeks heated, and she cursed her pale complexion. Of
all the people to know she'd bought
those.
Maybe he hadn't looked
inside. Maybe he didn't know what he held. She licked her lips and took the bag
from him. "Thank you," she said, setting the bag on the bar and
taking the stool next to him. She rested her left hand against his thigh. “I’ve
looked for you a long time, Lukos. I’m glad I found you.”

“Well, I’m not.”
His gruff rebuke shocked her like a bucket of ice water. She flinched, her hand
curling into a fist. She stared at him, realizing more had changed than his
hairstyle. In the three months since Riley had won Cheri in the
Quartanine
and
proved she was his bonded mate, Lukos had grown cold and bitter.

Lise sipped her
drink, needing the warmth of alcohol. “I always knew the truth about you,
Lukos. I don’t understand why you left.”

“Because no one
else knew the truth. Now Iver knows, and Cheri, and Riley, and who knows how
the hell many people they told. My disgrace has been made public. All my life I
proudly proclaimed myself as Prince Lukosoloman Aerchere, when in reality, I’m
not. I’m Luk, not even worthy of two syllables to my name. Just Luk.”

The pain in his
words tore across her heart. “I don’t care that you were a laborer’s son bought
in a deal to save my parents’ reputation. I love you.” She reached for him, and
he batted her hand away.

Menelik
straightened.

Lise shook her
head, not wanting the two men to fight. Not now that she had found him and
feared any action might send him running again.

“Your parents
should have given up their throne when their child died. They didn’t. And
I
had to pay the price.”

She knew. Goddess
bless, she knew, and it plagued her day and night. No use chasing after water
that’s already gone downstream, the priestesses were fond of saying. She
doubted Lukos would want to hear the platitude now. “I wish I could say I was
sorry, but if the past hadn’t happened, then I would never have known you. Not
Prince Lukosoloman, but you, the real fae behind the made-up name. I won’t take
back a single moment of it. I’m not here to bring you back to fae. I’m here
simply to be with you.” She gave a soft sigh and sipped her drink. Until the
words had tumbled from her lips, she wasn’t quite sure what she’d do with Lukos
now that she found him. She couldn’t think of him as Luk. He’d always be Lukos
to her. She flicked a glance at the bag. Maybe she wouldn't need the shoes
after all.

Lukos turned to
face her.

She met his gaze,
green eyes clashing with brown. He had laborer’s eyes, the fae had said, eyes
the color of freshly-tilled soil, and the people had loved him for it. She
suspected if they returned to fae, they’d love him as Luk just as much.

“I don’t believe
you, Lise.” Her name emerged as a strangled groan. His hands curled into fists
and he pressed them against the bar, almost as if he were stopping himself from
reaching to her. “You loved the parties and the pageantry more than Cheri. You
were born to rule the fae council. I can’t believe that you wouldn’t go back.”

“Why?” Lise
drowned the rest of her drink. The false courage spread through her veins,
bringing with it a warmth that had nothing to do with Lukos’ presence. “You forget
that I imprisoned my sister. We are not blameless in this, you and I. You
conspired to marry her to Iver or put her in a cage. I should hate you for
that, but I don’t. I love you. And I want to be with you. I suppose the
priestesses would say that I’ve damned myself with my emotions, and your
refusal will damn me to torment for the rest of my very long, fae life. I
suppose I deserve it.” She shook her head, unsure if her words were having any
effect. “Maybe I should just go.” She started to slide from the bar stool and
curled her fingers around the handle of her bag.

“Wait,” Lukos
whispered. “Don’t go.”

She stilled.

He swallowed
hard. Revealed by his hair, the tips of his ears darkened to a warm brown. “You
should hate me. Why don’t you?”

“Because I’ve loved
you for a very, very long time. Where are you staying?”

“I have a place,
not far from here.” He reached for his wallet to settle his tab, but Menelik
waved him away. “Thanks,” he said to the bartender, then stood and offered Lise
his hand. “Let’s go.”

As far as
sweeping declarations went, it wasn’t much to go on. No bended knee
proclamations of love and fidelity; no demand to battle for her hand. But she’d
take it. Goddess bless, she’d take it and run with it as far as she could. She
clutched Lukos with one hand and her precious bag with the other.

Lukos led her
into the parking lot toward a sleek, black sedan. She didn’t question his use
of mortal transportation. She’d driven here herself, trying to blend in with
the locals. “What about your car?” he asked.

“We can either
get it later or I’ll tell the rental company to pick it up,” Lise shrugged.
“It’s none of my concern at the moment.”

“Spoken like a
true princess,” he replied, and she couldn’t tell whether his droll words were
just a comment or an insult. He opened the passenger door for her. As soon as
she was settled, he closed it and got behind the wheel, saying nothing until
they were well away from Sparkle and Moondust. “So, what would you say if I
told you I had no intention of going back to Caroann, but making a life here.
I’m a laborer’s son and good with my hands. I’ve found I rather like the
construction trade.” He eased the vehicle into the flow of traffic with an
expert grace that she hadn’t yet mastered.

Lise stared at
his hands curled around the steering wheel, the easy way he sat there. The dark
denim molded to his long legs, the silver on his boots flashing when the street
lights illuminated the car’s interior. She’d seen human construction workers,
brawny men in hard hats wielding power tools, and she’d thought of them as
magicians, able to build something from pieces and parts. “Do you have a tool
belt?” she asked, not completely immune to human fantasies.

He grinned. “I
might have to show it to you sometime.” The teasing glint filled his eyes, and
for a moment, Lise thought she had her old Lukos back. Then, as suddenly as the
spark came, it extinguished. He gave his head a small shake as he turned into a
residential neighborhood filled with older homes. “What are we doing, Lise? If
I go back to fae, I’ll have to reveal my laborer parents and the deal that
yours made to stay in power. It’ll destabilize everything. There’s a chance
that Cheri and Riley won’t be able to hold power. We’ve done some horrible,
terrible things to them. For once, I don’t want to bring them any more trouble.
They’ve had enough from me, I think.”

He pulled into
the driveway of a two-story home. The home looked in need of repair, with
insulation showing from where the home was in the process of being resided. “It
looks better on the inside,” he said.

“I wasn’t even
worrying about that.” Lise opened the car door and got out, taking in the large
yard. A white picket fence wrapped around the back part of the house, and
though it was nearly dark, she thought she saw spaces for flower gardens in the
back.

Lukos glanced at
her and headed for the front door.

She followed him,
careful on the uneven flagstones of the sidewalk in her high heels. She made it
to the front door just as he stepped inside and turned on a light. A crystal
chandelier beamed down from the ceiling, illuminating the living room and the
adjacent stairwell in a puddle of golden light. Just from the foyer she could
tell that someone had done loving work on the interior. The banister gleamed,
all polished wood and loving craftsmanship. The hardwood floor looked freshly
laid, its warm wood tones giving the room a sense of home that she couldn’t
find in a fae castle. Wainscoting of matching wood wrapped around the foyer and
the living room, and she saw it extended into a dining area. Tools rested near
a fireplace, the wooden mantle in the process of being carved.