My Reaper's Daughter (31 page)

“I…” she began, but he shook his head firmly.

The gloves came off and unerringly followed the hat. Next he untied the strap at his

thigh and began unbuckling his gun belt.

“Glyn…”

“Hush, Myst,” he ordered.

She took a step back, suddenly fearful and intimidated by the hard glint in his

amber eyes. His jaw was set and a muscle flexed at the jawline as he swung the gun belt

from his waist and then laid it with more care atop the table.

“A Reaper will mate with only one woman in his lifetime,” he said through

clenched teeth. “He will love but one woman for as long as he draws breath.” He began

tugging the shirt from his pants. “Those were two of the
geis
the goddess laid upon us

when She made us.”

“The what?” she asked.

“Law,” he answered. “Command, demand, order—call it what you will. She made

it clear that we are to have but one woman and one woman alone. We can have only

one mate and we’d best pick wisely for once we put our flesh inside that woman, that

flesh can not enter the flesh of a woman who is not our mate. A Reaper’s cock won’t

accept a substitute once it has been sheathed. That cock will not harden.”

Mystery took another step back as his fingers ran the buttons of his shirtfront and

cuff, peeling the garment from his broad chest. She unconsciously licked her upper lip

when those strong hands went to the belt at the waistband of his uniform pants.

“I pledged my love to you, Mystery Butler,” he said, eyes hard. “I promised myself

to you.” He snapped the belt from its loops and tossed it angrily aside. “I
gave
myself to

you.”

With a flick of his fingers, his boots went flying across the room and landed with a

dull thud against the wall, making Mystery jump and cry out.

“To you, Mystery,” he stressed. “I gave myself to you.”

She couldn’t move as he peeled out of his pants and stood there with his legs apart,

the evidence of his arousal jutting like a battering ram before him.

“To you,” he repeated. “And only to you. Do you hear what I’m telling you?”

She nodded and licked her lips again, unable to look away from the powerful shaft

that was straining toward her.

“This piece of meat between my legs is only for you. It will not awaken to another

woman’s touch ever again. Do you understand?”

“Aye,” she whispered.

“Then come here.”

With feet that felt encased in mud, she walked toward him, fearful of the temper

she saw revealed in his stern eyes. She hung her head.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

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He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face so he could see her. He searched

her eyes then tilted his head to one side.

“Mystery, I don’t know how I came to be in the housekeeper’s bed. I certainly did

not go there of my own freewill. If she tried to mate with me, she failed for my cock

would have spurned her. It would not have risen. Whatever her intent, it was not

successful.”

“She wanted to hurt me,” Mystery said, and a single tear slid down her face.

Glyn caught the tear with the pad of his thumb then brought it to his mouth,

spreading it over his lips. “And because she hurt you,” he said, his face hard, “because

she made you cry, she will pay a very dear price.”

She caught his hand and pressed his palm to her cheek. “No, beloved,” she denied.

“Leave her be. There has always been bad blood between us but I’ll not have hers on

my hands or yours.”

He put his other hand to her face as well. “Are you sure?” he asked. “Say the word

and I will make her rue the day she ever brought her mischief to our door.”

“Leave her be,” she repeated. “She’s not worth it.” She turned her lips into his palm

and kissed the calloused plane.” Will you forgive me for doubting you?”

“I hold no blame toward you,” he told her. “The evidence was damning but now

you know it was false, staged, and had no more substance than dandelion fluff.”

He gathered her into his arms and bent his head to place his lips to her neck.

“Aunt Zettie died,” she said against his chest.

“Aye, I know,” he replied, wondering if he would ever tell her of his conversation

with the dead woman. He doubted he would.

She slipped her arms around his waist. “I was there when she passed on.”

“When her spirit left her body,” he said, and felt her nod.

“I went to sit with her after Leilani… After I saw…” She took a ragged breath then

lifted her head to look up at him. “Glyn, I don’t ever want to be apart from you again. I

died inside thinking I’d lost you.”

“I’m here,
ben my chree
,” he said, calling her the woman of his heart. “I will be here

for all time.”

She searched his gaze. “But can I?”

Glyn’s brows drew together. “What are you asking?”

She took a deep breath then let it out raggedly. Took another then in a rush said,

“Make me like you.”

Nothing she could have said would have shocked the Reaper more. He stared at

her. Previously he had taken only one drop of her blood. Not to make her one of his

kind but so he would forever be able to find her, to read her mind, to know the

thoughts in her head that might cause her hurt or pain so he could ease that hurt,

eliminate that pain. He wanted to know her soul so he could care for her as she should

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My Reaper’s Daughter

always have been cared for. He wanted to keep her safe, but the thought of her

undergoing the pain of Transition turned his black blood cold.

“Mystery…” he began.

“It’s what I want,” she whispered.

“You don’t know what you’re asking, wench,” he said, shaking his head. “It is not

an easy life and the initial Transition is rough. It’s very painful. You won’t be able to

exist without taking blood, enduring the pain of the tenerse injections.”

“I would not be able to exist without you,” she said, and when he would have

protested that statement, she cut him off. “Glyn, I have already lost one husband and

though he and I were not close, did not have this overpowering love between us that I

have found for you, he was the father of my child and I respected him. I missed him

when he was killed and I mourned for his passing. I want to be with you, I want you

with me for as long as the Fates will allow but that time will be longer if I become like

you.”

His eyes turned tender. “Before you make that decision, you should speak with the

other Lady Reapers—to Aingeal and Danni and Rachel and Lea.” He thought of Bevyn

Coure’s mate and winced. “They will be able to give you female insight into this that I

never could. Lea didn’t want to be a Reaper. It was forced on her. Danni too. Even

Rachel wasn’t…”

She put her fingers over his lips to shush him. “It is what I want,” she told him. “I

don’t need to ask anyone anything. I believe I loved you at first sight—though I was a

bit afraid of you—and I know you might think this rushed, but I know what I want. I

want you and I want to be with you for as long as I can be.”

For a long moment he looked at her and then he sighed, gently pulled her fingers

from his lips. “If you are sure, then once we are Joined, we will see that it happens.”

“You promise?” she asked.

He drew in a long breath, held it for a moment then exhaled slowly. “Against my

better judgment. Aye, I promise.”

She smiled and though the rain was slamming savagely against the tin roof, the day

became bright and cheerful for him. He found himself grinning boyishly back at her.

“You do forgive me?” she obviously wanted to clarify. “For doubting you?

Thinking bad of you?”

“You were tricked and you were hurt,” he replied. “Had the tables been reversed

and I’d found you naked in another man’s bed, I’d gone on a rampage the likes of

which I hope you never see.”

“Would you have fought for me?” she asked, staring up into his hooded eyes.

“Wench, I would have taken the bastard apart piece by bloody piece and sucked the

marrow from his broken bones,” he answered. “There wouldn’t have been anything left

of him when I was finished.”

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Charlotte Boyett-Compo

She laid her cheek to his chest and wrapped her arms around him. “I take it you

have some feeling for me too.”

Glyn chuckled. “As if you didn’t already know,” he said, and dipped his knees to

sweep her up from the floor. “Let’s just see how much, shall we?”

He carried her to the bed and before she even realized what he was about, he

waved his hand over her and the clothes vanished from her body.

“Glyn!” she gasped, surprised by the action.

Once more his hand flashed through the air and his own clothing was gone.

“I’ll teach you how to do that,” he said as he stretched out atop her, nudging her

legs apart with his knees so he lay between her thighs. “Between that and teaching you

to fly, we’re gonna have a good old time.”

Mystery’s eyes grew huge in her face. “I’ll be able to fly?” she whispered. “Through

the air?”

“Where else would you fly, wench?” he laughed, and ducked his head to press his

lips first against the hollow at the base of her throat and then over one dark nipple,

drawing the puckered little bud deep into his mouth.

“Fly,” she said with awe. “Like a bird?”

“Umm,” he said as he suckled her, sweeping his tongue over and around her

nipple.

“Can I choose what kind of bird?”

He lifted his eyes and looked at her, speaking around the possession of her nipple,

his teeth clamped lightly around the swelling bud. “What kind of bird would you like

to be?”

His words were slightly garbled and his warm breath as he spoke fanned over her

breast to send shivers down her spine.

“What kind of bird do you become?” she asked then giggled, her attention going to

the dark blue tattoo of a hawk that swept down the left side of his face. “I’ll be a lady

hawk. A red-tailed lady hawk like we used to see out in the Moilia territory. They are so

graceful and pretty.”

“Huh,” he agreed, and resumed his firm suckling.

“But how can I do that, Glynnie?” she asked. “How do you—”

He stopped, released his hold on her nipple and gave her a stern look.

“Wench, I am having trouble concentrating on my job here. I’ll answer that one

question and no more. Deal?”

She nodded, smiling.

“To change into a bird—or any creature for that matter—all you need do is hold

that image in your mind and will your body to transform itself into that creature.

Okay?”

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My Reaper’s Daughter

“Okay,” she agreed, and ran the fingers of both hands through his dark hair and

urged his mouth back to her breast.

“No more talking,” he ordered, and took her nipple between his lips again.

Mystery gave herself up to the pure ecstasy this man was capable of giving her. The

heat from his mouth, the wetness of his tongue as he swept it around the areola of her

breast, the weight of him pressing her to the mattress was such glorious pleasure it

brought tears to her eyes. As he shifted his weight and slid a hand down her leg and

over to her aching sex, she drew in a quick breath.

He eased the folds of her vagina apart with his index and ring fingers and stroked

gently, very slowly along the opening of her sheath with his middle finger until she

became moist. He pressed his palm to her wetness and rubbed gently as he slipped a

finger inside her. A light grunt of appreciation came from him as the muscles of her

sheath tightened around his tender invasion.

Moving his lips from one breast to the other, he suckled her in rhythm to the slow

thrusting of his fingers within her as his cock hardened against her thigh.

Mystery’s fingers raked through his thick curls, holding him to her as she had

Valda when an infant. Her eyes were closed as she soaked in the delight his lips and

teeth and fingers were having on her body. His cock flexed against her leg, a drop of

pre-cum fell on her flesh, causing her belly to clench with anticipation.

“I love you with all my heart,” she whispered. “I never thought I could ever love

this deeply or so quickly.”

Easing his mouth from her breast, he scooted up on the bed until he was wedged

between her thighs and he was paused over her, one finger still deep inside her.

“I never thought I would find a woman I wanted to spend my life with,” he said. “I

was lonely but content enough until I began to experience you in my dreams. Once that

happened, I was lost, milady.”

“Lost?” she questioned, her forehead creased with doubt. “You make it sound as

though I took something from you, Reaper. Is that how you see it? That you’ve lost your

freedom because of me?”

“No,” he said firmly. “That isn’t what I meant at all. I lost my heart to you, Myst.

Not my freedom. Perhaps I should have said I found myself with you. I know now

what I’ve been missing all these years. It wasn’t just the companionship of a beautiful

woman or the love and pleasure that woman could give me, but the sense of peace I feel

when I see myself reflected in her eyes.”

Mystery pulled his head down, brought his lips to hers and acknowledged that

statement with a gentle kiss. She put her entire being—soul and body—into that kiss,