Lone Star Magic (14 page)

Staring after two breathtakingly beautiful
creatures, Carly shook her head. “If I had to live around such
perfect people all the time, I’d be depressed.”

They’d reached her room. One hand on the
gleaming doorknob, Alrick turned to face her. “Depressed Why?”

“They’re too damn beautiful.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “But then so are you.”

He delivered the compliment in the same
polite tone one might use to comment on the weather. She searched
his expression for some hint of real admiration, or longing, or
anything. But she saw only polished sophistication, the well-bred
prince being kind to a lowly human, nothing more. Inside, his
emotions had to be riotous. He’d just learned of a threat to his
beloved people and in the same breath, realized he could do nothing
to help defend against it. Yet he looked at her and twisted his
mouth in a courtier’s smile and she wanted to shake him.

Instead, she gave a light touch to his arm.
“Hey, let’s keep it real. This is me, Carly. You don’t have to
pretend around me.”

The look of incomprehension he gave her made
her alternately want to laugh and cry. Suddenly, she wanted more
than anything to drive that non-emotion, that blandness, from his
face. It too painfully mirrored the way she had begun to feel
inside, after Liam died.

“Kiss me,” she ordered, her voice harsh
rather than seductive.

Alrick reared back. “What?”

The frustration built in her. “Don’t look at
me as if I don’t exist.” She grabbed the front of his shirt,
pulling him closer to her. “Kiss me, damn it.”

With a polite smile, he bent to comply,
aiming so his mouth would chastely touch her cheek. Instead, she
grabbed hold of his hair, pulling his face to hers while she
pressed herself against him.

“Make me feel alive.”

His eyes darkened. “Carly, you don’t know
what—.”

“Oh, but I do. I want you to kiss me with
heart,” she brushed her mouth over his. “Like you mean it.”

He made a sound low in his throat. Still, he
protested. “Carly, seriously…”

She’d had enough talking. Instead, she showed
him. Pressed full against him with her entire body tingling, she
pressed her lips to his and kissed the hell out of him.

Long, deep, and thorough. Her body responded
immediately. As did his.

Now
she felt alive. Definitely
alive.

Reluctantly lifting her head, she studied
him. His color was high, his eyes had gone dark. No longer
impassive, Alrick looked dazed, aroused, and very aware of her.

“Thank you.” Her voice was husky. Though
she’d only kissed him as a sort of experiment, she realized she
wanted more. She wanted, she realized with shock, the whole
enchilada.

“Thanks? You kissed me to give me thanks? For
what?”

Slowly, she licked her lips, letting him read
her desire in her face. “No.” She’d asked him for truth, therefore
she owed no less to him. “Actually, I’ve wanted to do that for the
longest time, but it seemed wrong.”

“Wrong?” Apparently struck dumb by her
actions, Alrick only stared.

“Yes, wrong. But kissing you didn’t feel
wrong at all, truly. It felt like…”

“Like what?”

Taking a deep breath, she wondered why
admitting the truth felt so painful. “Like coming alive.”

Then, while his stunned expression told her
he was still digesting this revelation, she kissed him again, this
time arching her back so her breasts pressed against his chest. Her
nipples were hard.

She felt his body respond immediately.
“Carly…”

Laying her finger across his mouth, she
stopped him. “I’ve been dead inside for so long. Make me feel alive
again, Alrick.”

He growled, low in his throat. When she tried
to lift her mouth from his, he kept her in place, his arousal
pressing huge against her.

A moan escaped her. Frantic now, she wiggled
in his arms, trying to get closer to him, impossible with so many
clothes between them.

He cupped her breast in his hand. She pushed
for his touch, desire pushing away control. With another growl, he
responded in kind.

The sound of fabric tearing was
startling.

Wide-eyed, Carly froze. Alrick did the
same.

“This isn’t a good idea.”

Part of her agreed. The other part, so long
denied, raged inside of her, longing to drown in mindless lust.
“But I want you,” she said.

“I want you too.”

“Then…”

“We can’t.”

“Why not?” But she knew. They both did.

“Lance.”

This, she hadn’t expected. “What?”

“Lance. The name of your unborn son. You are
to have a child who saves the future.”

“Yes, I know.” Stepping back, she dropped her
arms to her sides and prayed he wouldn’t continue. “I get the
picture.”

He must have wanted to make absolutely
certain she did, because he continued anyway. “I am not to be the
father.” Then, his gaze still smoldering, without another word.

God help her, Carly kept silent and let him
go.

An hour later, Cenrick found him, slumped in
his favorite, over-stuffed chair near the stone hearth, well on his
way to downing his fourth or fifth goblet of ale. Or was it sixth
or seventh? He’d lost track.

The blazing fire had occupied most of his
attention for the better part of ten minutes.

Cenrick laughed when he saw him. “Why the
long face? I just heard the news and think you’d be happy. Is it
true her stallion has impregnated four of your best horses?”

Stallion? Ah, his brother spoke of horses.
Alrick blinked and tried to sit up straight. He had a feeling he
was still sitting crookedly. “So? He’s a fine stallion.”

Cenrick laughed again. “So he is. No need to
go all defensive.”

“I wasn’t.” But he had. He’d heard the sound
of his own voice. A loud sigh escaped him.

“What’s wrong?” Cenrick dropped into the
chair across from him. Elbows on his knees, he leaned across to
look his brother fully in the face. “Do you want to talk about
it?”

“No.” Alrick shook his head. “Yes.”

“Which is it?”

“I don’t know.” He drank deeply, no longer
feeling the sting of the ale slide down his throat. “Has the Mage
summoned you yet?”

“The mage? No. Why would he?”

Alrick tried to focus on his brother’s face,
but no matter how hard he tried, Cenrick still appeared blurry.
Briefly he outlined what the mage had told him earlier.

Cenrick looked properly horrified. “Does
father know?”

“A messenger has been sent.” Alrick sighed
again. The ale had merely blunted his anger and deepened his
despondency. “In the meantime, you’ll have to start gathering
forces.”

“Me? What about—?” Cenrick cut short his
question when he realized the truth. “You have to go with Carly
back to the human world, don’t you.”

“Yes.” Alrick drained the last of his ale.
“Even worse, I fear I’m the wrong man for the task.”

Cenrick’s expression changed to confusion.
“Wrong man? What are you talking about?” He shook his head. “Who
could better protect her? Of the two of us, you’re the best
fighter.”

“You’re good too.” Alrick felt the reminder
was necessary. “None save me has ever bested you.”

“True.” Flashing a quick grin, Cenrick
punched Alrick’s shoulder. “But you are unbeatable. The Warlord
doesn’t stand a chance against you.”

Now he admitted the second thorn in his side.
“It’s not the Warlord who worries me.”

“Then who?”

Alrick sighed. “Myself.”

Cenrick’s eyes widened. “I don’t
understand.”

“Neither do I.” Pushing himself to his feet,
he began to pace unsteadily. “I kissed her today.”

“You what? Why?’

“She kissed me first.” He turned on his heel,
facing his brother while he upended his goblet in a futile search
for more ale. “I taught her to ride, something her husband
apparently never did, and then Mort summoned us and afterwards, I
think I was in shock but… we kissed.”

“Husband? She had a husband?”

“Had.” Alrick grimaced. “He’s dead.”

Cenrick still didn’t get it. “So Carly
carries his child then? Their son will be the Lance?”

“No. He’s been dead and buried for the past
year. The child’s father yet remains in the future.” He made a low
sound of frustration. “You’re not listening to me. We kissed. I
wanted her. She wanted me. If I’d stayed there much longer, we
would have…” He gestured helplessly.

“Had sex?”

“Made love.”

“I see.” Then Cenrick ventured to say the
very thing that had worried Alrick earlier. “Are you sure it’s not
you, then? That you’re not the one who was meant to sire the
boy?”

“Of course not,” Alrick snarled,
automatically assuming a wobbly battle stance. “I am to be the
protector, nothing more.”

Holding up his hands, Cenrick shrugged. “All
right, sit back down. Watching you sway and stagger is making me
nervous. No offense meant.”

Damn it, his brother was right. Alrick forced
himself to relax. Grumbling, he found his way back to his chair and
gratefully fell into it. “None taken.”

At Cenrick’s signal, the serving girl
appeared and refilled their glasses. She batted her long, silver
eyelashes at them and smiled invitingly. Cenrick grinned back.
Alrick looked away.

When she’d left, both men drank deeply.

“Alrick,” Cenrick cleared his throat. “Is
there any real possibility you might be wrong. That you and Carly,
you know…?”

Alrick nearly choked on his ale. “Dragon’s
breath, no. I’m better disciplined than that.”

At his vehement denial, Cenrick slumped
forward, visibly relaxing. Alrick wished he could relax as well.
But he knew better. `Twas the closest to telling a lie that he’d
had ever come.

“What if it’s meant to be?”

“Meant to…” Alrick nearly spilled his ale.
“You know I don’t believe in that nonsense.”

“Such a thing is possible. There have been
many documented cases of true soul-mates, especially among our
ancestors. Look at Kenrick of Blackstone and his Megan. Or Darrick
of Thorncliff and his fae wife, the Princess Alanna.”

“Romantic nonsense.”

Cenrick shrugged. “Maybe to you. But these
are our ancestors. If love could happen to them, love could happen
to you.”

“I am better disciplined.” Maybe saying the
words twice would make them true. Again he drained his goblet.

Cenrick quickly followed suit.

“You’d better be.” Chuckling, Cenrick waved
the serving girl over with more mead. “Mayhap you should find a
willing bed partner for tonight. Take a bit of the edge off.”

“Maybe I should.” But Alrick’s agreement
sounded half-hearted, even to him. In this way also the Fae
differed greatly from humans. To them, sex was a form of enjoyable
recreation, with little of the emotional connotations brought to
the act by human scruples. Yet somehow, sex for sex’s sake no
longer seemed fulfilling enough. Not now that he’d known how good
kissing Carly felt. He could only imagine how great the lovemaking
would be…

“I’m available.” Her slender body pliant, the
silver-haired serving girl leaned in close. “And I’m told I’m quite
skilled at bed games.”

Blurrily, Alrick had to force himself to look
at her, really look at her. Before he’d taken charge of Carly, he’d
been an enthusiastic proponent of bed sport, like all the Fae. Now,
all he could think of was Carly.

For some reason, he knew Carly would feel
betrayed.

As he would, were Carly to take her own
lover among his people, or hers
.

The thought stunned him. Shocked him. After
all, she had to mate with someone to sow the seed that would become
Lance, the all important child of the future.

“Alrick?” Cenrick prompted. “Are you going to
take her up on her invitation or not?”

Alrick blinked. “I don’t even know your
name.”

Her seductive gaze dipped lower. “Since when
does that matter to you, my Prince? It’s never stopped you before.”
Her laugh was sunny and uncomplicated. “Your prowess is legendary,
highness.”

Before she’d even finished, Alrick was
shaking his head.

“My name is Elfora, then. If that
matters.”

“Elfora.” Though he didn’t want to hurt her
feelings, Alrick saw no other way. “I’m sorry…” he began.

Her heart-shaped face fell. She began to back
away. “I understand. No harm meant. None taken.”

Once she had gone. Alrick resumed his moody
study of the fire.

“Mind telling me what that was all
about?”

Alrick didn’t even look up. Cenrick would, he
knew, keep at him like a dog with a bone until he answered. “As a
matter of fact, I do. Mind.”

“But—.”

“She wanted to use me.”

“What?” Cenrick’s mouth fell open. “Who?
Elfora?”

“Yes. No.” To his absolute horror, Alrick
felt his face burning. “Her too. But I was talking about
Carly.”

“Carly wanted to use you?”

“Yes.” Abjectly miserable, Alrick didn’t
understand why this made him feel so bad. And not understanding
made him angry. “She wanted me to make love to her, to make her
feel alive.”

“And this
bothered
you?”

“Yes. Of course.” He gave another heavy sigh,
slopping ale onto his tunic and absently wiping at it with his
sleeve.

Expression baffled, Cenrick studied him. “But
you’re Fae, not human. We’ve always taken our pleasure where we
find it. Especially you.”

“I did. I do.”

“Then why…?”

More ale spilled. With a growl, Alrick drank
the rest of it in one motion. “I don’t know. Damn it. I have no
earthly idea. Maybe it was because earlier she was mourning her
husband out loud. Talking about how after he died, she didn’t want
to live. Then she kissed me, asked me to make her feel alive
again.”

“And you couldn’t deal with this?” For some
reason Cenrick seemed to find the idea amusing, to judge by the
sparkle in his violet eyes.