Fighting Fate: Book 2 of the Warrior Chronicles (20 page)

Merlin lifted his arms to the sky and his face to the dappled sun in supplication. “Help me Lord and Lady. Help me keep her safe on this quest. Help me gently guide her toward her true goal. And if that doesn’t work, give me the strength to push her stubborn tail every step of the way. Guide me in my goal to help her find her true heart before I have to beat her senseless or use any of my other heretofore hidden skills to make it happen. So Mote it Be.”

Merlin lowered his arms and his head, pausing a moment to add a silent supplication. When he was finished, he bent, leaving a sprig of lavender he’d taken from Jesse’s herb garden in place of the acorn thereby finishing the ritual. He headed back to Castle Rhia with a renewed commitment to his ultimate purpose. He had a love spell to weave, no small matter when both potential occupants kept evading the web, no matter how fine or how sticky he made it.

Time to up your game Magician.

Merlin shook his head at his folly, sure that he heard the trees laughing.

…

Taryn took one look at the six foot something wet dream standing in front of her in the castle’s kitchen and stared in open mouthed appreciation for the male form before her. Jesse had to put a finger under her chin and gently shut her malfunctioning mouth. Tomorrow she’d be embarrassed. Right now she didn’t want to blink.

Throaty feminine laughter saved Taryn from adding drooling to her list of sins against this stud. The blond, bare-chested, barefoot Adonis in front of Taryn, winked at his wife, who was holding their two year old curly-headed cherub of a daughter in her arms. She threw a balled up black t-shirt at his chest which he caught with a smile.

“Put a shirt on Herr-Rock-Star before you give the poor woman a heart attack with your flamboyant awesomeness. Where is your shame Ramsey Macleod?”

Taryn watched the easy by-play between Ram and his wife, Rhia. She especially envied the way Rhia smiled at her husband’s over-the-top Lothario routine that didn’t seem to bother her in the least. Ramsey caught the shirt in one hand and took his time pulling it over his muscled chest. He bent to take his daughter in his arms, and planted a loud raspberry on her pink cheek, eliciting peels of joyous laughter.

Ram turned his attention to Jesse, and pulled a skeleton key from the front pocket of his well worn jeans. The grin he gave Jesse was best described as lethal tiger on the prowl recognizing a kindred hunter and wishing him happy hunting. Ram tossed the key to Jesse, who caught it effortlessly.

“I believe you requested the key to the magic kingdom, my good man.”

“I did.” Jesse returned Ramsey’s smile, the heat it promised made Taryn’s breath catch. In moments like these when Jesse wasn’t so vigilant and felt free to show his sensuality, Taryn thought there was no one on earth more appealing. Including Herr-Rock-Star.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Ram said, covering his toddler’s ears. She tugged on his long hair in response. He howled in mock pain eliciting more of the golden child’s infectious laughter.

“Is that even possible?” Jesse said, his tone suggesting it wasn’t. It was Rhia who responded with a genuinely kind smile on her face and a naughty twinkle in her eye.

“Probably not, Jesse. So feel free to do whatever you wish in
my
kingdom.”

“Nice to meet you, Taryn.” Rhia said, smiling before she turned serious and whispered, “You get used to men like Ram and Jesse and then you never want to let them go. Don’t hang on to your heart so long that you miss the prize, Taryn. They’re worth the risk.”

Rhia turned and had Jesse in the same affectionate hug before Taryn could say,
Nice to meet you too.
Jesse was more than a head taller than the small woman, and yet she had him bent to her will. Rhiannon Thorson Macleod was a whirlwind of dynamic energy. She’d have to be to keep up with all the trouble that goes with being married to the world’s most sought after rock-star.

Taryn stared in awe as she whispered something in Jesse’s ear that made him blush, then laugh and then kiss her on the cheek. At Ram’s rather loud throat clearing, Rhia turned, grabbed her purse, her car keys and Ramsey’s flip-flops as she headed for the door with the speed and precision of a NASCAR driver. Taryn needed a nap after watching the energy Rhia expended just saying good-bye.

“We’ll be at Pentla House in Pontryhydyfen if you need anything. Flossie is missing Eppie, and Ram’s still trying to figure out how to get our caretaker to accept laundry service. Flossie doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do. She’s a sweet, stubborn woman who will overdo it if Ram’s not there to push her around and get her off her feet. Ta ta.” With that, Rhia and her family were gone with a wave.

Jesse and Taryn were alone in their borrowed castle.

“Eppie?”

Jesse shook his head. “Ram insisted on naming their daughter after Rhia.”

Taryn didn’t get it at first, then the light dawned. Apparently she wasn’t the only one on the planet interested in the old gods and goddesses. “Ah…I get it. Rhiannon is Rhia’s full name. The Welsh horse goddess, Epona, is sometimes identified with Rhiannon.”

“Yep.”

“But, Eppie? It sounds like something you shave with.”

“It could have been worse. They could have named her Apple.”

Jesse set the skeleton key on the kitchen table and came to her. There was something different in his easy stance and his ready smile. He was relaxed here, at ease in a way she hadn’t experienced him being before. Real warmth settled into his deep blue eyes. His smile as he took her hand in his was more devastating to her senses than the memory of his lovemaking. She wanted him like this always. Open, at ease, wanting nothing but her company.

He bent down to her. Taryn parted her lips and closed her eyes for a kiss that didn’t come. Her eyes popped open at his softly spoken words as he pulled her with him.

“Shall we explore our new domain, my queen?” His smile was small, but real. Again her heart flipped in her chest as she looked into the deep blue sea of his eyes. With every step she took by his side and every breath she took inhaling his grass and herb scent, the closer to her heart he grew and the farther her heart moved from her control.

Heaven help her. Instead of heading back to England with him zip-tied in the back seat, Taryn returned his smile, squeezed his hand and said, “As long as we start with Rhia’s dungeon, I’m all in.”

Jesse, who’d been irritated by Taryn’s extreme reaction to Ram, a friend he’d never envied before today, laughed, a full-throated, all-body sound. He’d watched Taryn’s embarrassed and intrigued reaction as Rhia described the sexual playground she called her ‘dungeon’ and he’d turned as hard as the stone holding up these castle walls.

Jesse figured he’d have to coax Taryn into making love again since asking never seemed to get him anywhere with her. For the first time since she came flying out of her office brandishing her shillelagh at him, Jesse felt like he’d made the right move bringing her here.

“The dungeon it is.” He said, feeling hopeful for the first time since Taryn left him in his gazebo.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

The dungeon was actually a separate building that could have been used as a bed and breakfast suite. It was decorated in period and modern naughty. There were chains on the walls, feathers on canes, and chairs made out of silicone built for two, and those were just the accoutrements Taryn could readily identify. Tame by the standards of people who took toys seriously, but deliciously intriguing for someone like her who didn’t have more than one battery operated device. One that she never used in mixed company.

A king-sized canopy bed with sheers flowing from a tapestry curtain top took up residence in the middle of the main room, which had been designed with one function in mind. Every element here was selected for its beauty and its sensuality: silk in burgundy, gold and grass green, Egyptian cotton, Hungarian goose down pillows. Even the appliances in the galley kitchen were done in rich enamel colors that gleamed in the afternoon sun. Flickering incandescent bulbs shaped like flames burned in the cast iron fleur-de-lis wall sconces. A multi-bottle wine chiller housed what had to be twenty bottles of champagne and assorted white wines. Thirty or so bottles of red hung from an ivy shaped wrought iron wine rack, next to an enormous refrigerator, which Taryn had no doubt was well stocked.

A sixty inch flat screen T.V. hung from the wall opposite the bed. Taryn hadn’t seen the bathroom yet, but the wall separating it from the open space living and loving room was done in stained glass depicting lovers in various states of action and repose. The space was so over-the-top it should have been gaudy or tawdry, instead, Taryn found it joyously and elementally vulgar in a way that made her want to look further rather than turn away.

“I may never want to leave here, especially if there’s popcorn in the cupboard and butter in the fridge.” Taryn said, more to herself than to Jesse, who’d dropped her hand when they entered and left her to explore the room on her own. Jesse seemed to take pleasure in the way her hands caressed the bedding and the textured surfaces of the furnishings. He sat at the kitchen island where he had an unobstructed view of the spacious room and the grounds beyond, watching her.

Taryn moved to a large wooden chest that was next to the burgundy velvet covered love seat at the end of the bed and opened it. She pulled out a set of padded velvet lined handcuffs and dangled them from one index finger.

“These are nicer than the ones you used on me. Care to slip out of your clothes and into these?” Taryn smiled at Jesse before giving him a slow exaggerated wink. His mood must have been wearing off on her because she felt more relaxed with him than she’d felt before. That might have had something to do with the fact that he’d already seen her naked, and she him. Now that the embarrassing bit was over, she wanted to explore more with him.

And, she didn’t want this playfulness to stop once they’d climaxed.

She wanted it to continue as she cuddled into him, and as they talked about whatever silly things sprang into their heads. Maybe then she’d fall asleep in his arms after they’d watched a cheesy movie and ate too much buttered popcorn. Then, after they woke up, they’d take a bath and do it all over again, substituting breakfast for popcorn.

“Not a chance, sweetheart. But feel free to lay down and secure your wrists to the headboard. After a suitable amount of time I’ll come find you.”

Taryn liked the spark in his eyes almost as much as his obvious enjoyment of her saunter, as she made a show of swishing her ample hips. She added a breast shimmy and shake just to see that appreciation turn to flame with his,
Oh Baby, do it again,
look
.

She did, and he whistled. Then their eyes met and all pretense fell away.

She stopped several feet from Jesse. Not close enough to touch yet not far enough away to turn tail and run. Taryn didn’t want to run. Truth be told, she wanted a partner for awhile rather than an adversary. She wanted, even for a small moment, to enjoy a sense of belonging to something greater than just herself. She hadn’t felt that in more than a decade since she and her mother became a duo of sorts, with Aunt Olive acting the part of third wheel once or twice a year.

“Truce?” She said.

Jesse turned his squared jaw, looking at her like he didn’t quite trust the word. His navy eyes shifted to neutral making her almost regret her choice of words. But she didn’t regret it, or him, or pulling out the velvet handcuffs that she now tossed aside.

“I mean it, Jesse. I want to pretend.”

He sat straighter, but otherwise didn’t move. Not closer to her, nor farther away. She got the message that she was on her own here and she didn’t have a flipping clue what she was doing, or why she was doing it. She plowed forward anyway sure that she was right in her mixed up purpose.

“I live. I love. And, every once in awhile I have to fight.” Said Jesse. “I create. I plant. And, I take great joy in helping at Potter’s Woods. I don’t eat red meat. I don’t swear in front of grandmothers. I don’t pretend. Not anymore. Not ever.” His jaw turned rigid, and Taryn wanted nothing more in that moment than to take away his tension and his pain. “I haven’t had to pretend since Reed adopted me. Not once. I won’t do it now. What you see is what you get. If you want to know what I’m thinking, ask. It’s that simple. That straight forward.”

Taryn didn’t think, she just blurted out what popped into her head. “I don’t usually pretend either, but I’d like to pretend now. I’m not asking you to. You can act any way you like. I’d just like to stop pushing against this thing between us.”

“I’m listening.”

“I’d like to pretend our contract means we’re really married. I’d like to act like we love one another.”
Oh God…
she was starting to sweat and ramble and she had no clue how this was going to end…

Not badly. Please… not badly.

Jesse stood, pushed in his chair, but otherwise didn’t move closer or farther away from her. His expression was kind, but held none of the teasing of moments before.

“I’m not sure what you’re saying to me, Taryn. I have no idea what you want me to do or say.” His tone was measured and he appeared calm. That was good, right? He also looked confused. Oh, hell. So was she. Confused and making about as much sense as a penguin in the castle.

“I want you to be my friend. I want to hold your hand whenever I want to. I want to kiss you good morning and good night after sleeping beside you every night as you promised we would.” Her chin went up with the reminder. He
had
made that part of their contract, so
that
couldn’t be hard for him to agree to.

Both of his eyebrows shot up as he widened his stance, hands palm up at his sides as if imploring her to be clear and get on with it.

“I want access to your heart, your body and your mind without guilt or remorse or…
or
…
questions
about how I feel… about wanting this… or you… or wanting us to be together.” She was stammering and she knew it, but Taryn couldn’t seem to stem the list of wants tumbling from her mouth.