Shifters, Beasts, and Monsters (22 page)

****

As they walked arm-in-arm
through the gardens, Shamus was beginning to gain hope that perhaps there could
be something between them. Something other than the spark, of course. She
seemed to have given up on digging for information about him. Instead, the
conversation between them throughout lunch and now as they walked through the
Boston Public Gardens, enjoying the beautiful late-afternoon weather, was
casual and general in nature.

Each time she laughed when
she thought something he said was amusing; each time she chewed on her bottom
lip when she was nervous, or thoughtful; each time she looked up at him with
those amazing blue eyes when she was considering something he said or did
– all those things and a million more were convincing him that fate
certainly had it right when it chose Suzanne for him.

As her soft, shapely form
brushed up against his as they walked, his body was finding yet another reason.
He'd avoided physical contact with her throughout lunch, simply because he
wanted to keep a clear head. But he was having a hard time fighting the urges
his body was demanding on him currently. His one solace was that she seemed to
be experiencing the same urges towards him as he was having for her.
Misery
sure does like company
.

"Oh here!" Suzanne
exclaimed, dropping her arm from his and pushing open the delicate brown wooden
gate that led into someone's private garden. "Come on, it's by far my
favourite," she called over her shoulder when he hesitated.

Shamus followed her through
the archway and into the garden. He could see why she loved it. In the center
of the twelve-foot squared area, give or take, sat a tall red and white marble
fountain. Two cupids in white marble were positioned back to back, bows and
arrows in hand as if ready to take aim at the next lucky couple to arrive. A
white marble bench ran along the perimeter of the fountain's basin.

The outer edge of the garden
was lined with a variety of flowers, the vast majority being roses of all
colours and varieties. He also spotted carnations, tulips and assorted wild
flowers. He took in a deep breath, enjoying the sweet assortment of fragrances
drifting towards him.

For a moment he thought he
had lost her, but as he rounded the fountain he found her sitting on the bench,
back turned to the cupids, one shapely leg crossed over the other, eyes closed,
head back exposing her long swanlike neck and enjoying her surroundings.

Oh, how he yearned to press
his lips to that neck. Run his fingers through her long dark hair, which was
cascading down her back.

It occurred to him once more
just how lovely she was. As seductive to him as a siren, yet as enchanting as a
forest nymph. He could almost envisage her dancing in the tall grass of an open
field, her long brown hair flowing out around her; her knee-length skirt being
blown tight against her thighs.

Shamus took in a deep,
unsteady breath. His cock became alert, begging to be freed from his trousers.
He raked a shaky hand through his dark hair as he continued to watch the sun
beat down upon her.

Sensing the intensity of his
gaze on her, Suzanne opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. A coy
smile lit her luscious, frosted, pink painted lips. "Isn't it
breathtaking?" She patted the bench beside her.

Yes. She was breathtaking,
the atmosphere was breathtaking. Everything about that moment drew him in,
making him ache for her.

"Amazing," Shamus
confirmed, his eyes locking onto hers. The intensity of his gaze caused her to
avert her eyes, her face reddening.

Shamus accepted her
invitation; in the matter of three strides he made it to her. He sat close to
her, their legs grazing each other.

Feeling his leg next to hers,
Suzanne turned her head back to face him. The raw desire forming within her
eyes unnerved, yet excited him.

I have to have her
,
he thought as his eyes surveyed every inch of her body for what felt like the
millionth time since he had first seen her through the molten liquid in his pot
of gold.

Reaching out, he caught a
stray strand of hair that had fallen over her eyes and tucked it back behind
her ear, the palm of his hand caressing her cheek as he did so. The contact
spurred the now familiar array of colours to flash between them. His breath
caught in his throat as the desire deepened within him, urging him to touch
more of her.

This time, however, Suzanne
didn't seem surprised by the spark. She closed her eyes, and opened her lips
slightly, inviting him to taste and explore them.

Leaning over he lowered his
lips to hers, claiming them.

She sighed, responding to his
kiss, her lips parting further, welcoming his tongue in. He happily obliged,
his tongue seeking out hers.

Her hand touched his strong,
chiselled jaw as she leaned into him, her desire for him increasing to match
his own in urgency.

Shamus's hand slipped around
to run its way through her soft, satiny hair.

Suzanne moaned under his
lips, letting her head fall back exposing the creamy flesh of her neck to him.
His lips worked their way across her jaw and to her neck, his tongue teasing
the delicate, exposed skin as he went.

His stomach was in knots; his
head felt light from his need for her. His cock continued to beg for release,
to feel her hot, sensual body against his. He slipped a hand around her waist
and pulled her closer to him.

As Shamus's mouth reached her
collarbone, Suzanne wrapped her arms around his neck, as she arched her back,
thrusting her breasts out to him.

Shamus pulled back to peer
down at her. Her breathing was heavy and ragged. Despite having his t-shirt
between them, he could still feel the sharp pinch as her fingernails dug into
his shoulders.

He trailed a finger across
her collarbone until he hit the center. Suzanne's breasts strained against the
delicate button of the blouse she wore. The collar of her thin white cotton
blouse dipped dangerously low between her breasts before he even arrived at the
first of just two pearl buttons holding it closed across her. He let his
fingers move down her chest slowly, dipping between her breasts to the first
button. He undid the first, then the second. The material fell away to expose
her soft round breasts, her nipples small and tight under a white lace bra,
with a little pink bow at the center.

When Shamus hesitated,
Suzanne snaked a hand up his neck and buried it into his hair, at the back of
his head. Her hand urged his mouth down to her breasts.

"So beautiful,
Suzanne," he moaned as he lowered his lips between her two generous
mounds.

His body pushed hers back
against the cool marble bench so he hovered over her, bracing himself up with
one arm at the side of her head.

She moaned once more, her
arms leaving his neck to stretch up above her head. Her back arched, her
breasts begging for him to release them from the lacy constraint.

Shamus pulled back the lace
covering her left breast to expose a small tight, pink nub. He lowered his
mouth to take the nub between his teeth, gently nipping and sucking it as his
hand cupped the other, kneading it, using his fingers to harden the tip.

Suzanne moaned as his teeth
gently tugged at her nipple. Her hands clutched at each side of the bench above
her head. Fire burned between her legs, her matching white lace panties
dampening with each nip of his teeth, and every flick of his tongue, across the
hardened peak of her breast.

"Oh Shamus," she
moaned as his lips left the first breast to move on to the second. He pulled
back the lace barrier to expose the second tight pink nipple. His mouth claimed
it, sucking hard, his tongue circling the tip.

He needed to feel each and
every inch of her – and needed it now! Shamus's hand moved between them,
seeking out the wet heat between her legs. The world around him seemed to
disappear. Where they were, or who might be around to see or hear them, was no
longer a concern to him. All that mattered was her, pleasing her, tasting her,
feeling her body quiver under him as she came.

Shamus had no idea just how
much he loved skirts, until that moment. Reaching down his hand pushed the
material up, as his fingers worked their way up the inside of her thigh.

Suzanne gasped, her pelvis
thrusting up against him.

God, he wanted her!

He lifted his mouth from her
breast to claim her lips one more. So soft and sweet. She tasted like sweet
nectar.

His hand was mere inches from
plunging into her moist depths...

"Someone in there?"
the voice coming from what sounded like an elderly woman demanded from outside
the gate.

Chapter 6

Ah, hell
,
Shamus thought, quickly sitting up, pulling Suzanne into a sitting position
with him.

Suzanne looked over at him,
with eyes glazed over and still burning with her passion for him.

At the sound of somebody
unhooking the latch to the garden, the look of passion in her eyes was quickly
replaced by one of alarm. Her fingers fumbled, but still managed to redo the
buttons on her cotton blouse and straighten herself before they heard the
shuffle of two pairs of feet coming into the garden.

"Someone here?" a
second voice called out. Male this time, but also sounding elderly. Spoken more
quietly, "There's no one in here, Beverly."

"I know. I heard it. I
heard someone in here Herald," the female voice said.

"We're sorry. It was
just us," Shamus called out, snatching up Suzanne's hand as he stood,
urging her to follow him around the cupids and into the elderly couple's line
of vision.

If she could have seen her
face in the mirror Suzanne was certain it would be drained of all colour, with
guilt written all over it.

"It was just a couple of
young people admiring your work Beverly," the man said.

The couple were easily in
their eighties. Both of them were somewhat on the short side; just barely over
five feet in height, the wife only slightly smaller than her husband. While the
wife's hair was white and tied up into a tight bun on the top of her head, the
husband's head was devoid of a single strand of hair. They wore identical
silver-rimmed glasses and grey running suits. Easily one of the cutest elderly
couples Suzanne had ever set eyes on.

The wife wasn't about to let
their intrusion of her garden go so easily. "Has either of you been
stealin' my roses?" she demanded, her eyes narrowed at them from behind
her thick glasses. Her glare moved from one guilty face to the other.

"They have no roses in
their hands Beverly. No one has been stealin' your roses," her husband
assured her.

The wife reached out and
pointed her thin, shaky index finger from Suzanne to Shamus then back to
Suzanne. "Guilt’s written all over their faces, Herald. They were up to no
good."

Suzanne stole a glance in
Shamus's direction.

As if sensing her watching
him, Shamus turned his eyes from the couple, who were now huddled together in
what looked like a small argument, over to meet Suzanne's. He smiled sheepishly
and shrugged.

"We are sorry. We were
just admiring your fine garden," Suzanne said, interrupting their argument
and bringing their attention back to her.

The wife seemed to relent
somewhat, her expression softening. She nodded. "Well thank you young
lady. Come in whenever you like." Her expression hardened a notch once
more, "as long as you promise not to be stealin' my roses."

"You have our
word," Shamus confirmed. Giving Suzanne's hand a tug he ushered her
forward, past the couple and out of the garden plot. There was a rushed
exchange of good-byes with the other couple as they started to leave.
Embarrassment now showing on the faces of both Shamus and Suzanne, they
scurried out of the garden plot like two teenagers who had almost been caught
by their parents for making out.

"Never a dull moment
around you, Winters," Shamus teased as they made their way to the gardens’
exit and were out of earshot from the elderly couple.

Suzanne looked up into his
dark eyes and nodded in confirmation. "Indeed."

****

Suzanne, assisted by Shamus,
cleared the kitchen table, after having eaten
the best
chicken dinner
Suzanne had ever tasted. Shamus had prepared it. It occurred to her that she
hadn't gotten around to calling in to work to report her absence for the day.
Dropping the plate she had in her hand she made her way into the living room to
check the answering machine. The light on the machine flashed the number three
in bright red numbers.

She was about to press the
play button when she stopped herself. Looking over at Shamus, hands deep in
dish water she decided hearing her boss scold her for not showing up would do
nothing but ruin what had turned out to be one of the most enjoyable days she'd
had in a very long time.

Besides, she only had a few
days left there. During dinner they had talked extensively about a lot of
things. She'd shared a fair amount about herself, personal stuff, but Shamus
still hadn't said anything personal about himself. Namely, where he
really
lived and what he
really
did for a living. She was going to get to the
bottom of those mysteries this evening, before whatever was developing between
them intensified.

Just thinking about earlier
this afternoon, Shamus with his lips travelling down her neck and further down,
kissing and nipping, sent fresh shivers down her spine, beginning at the top of
her head and pulsating between her legs. She caught herself just as a soft moan
attempted to escape her lips.

"Suzanne?" The
deep, sexy voice of Shamus came from behind her, distracting her from her
momentary daydream.

Snapping herself back to
reality, Suzanne drew her hand away from the
play
button on the
answering machine. Spinning around to face him, she couldn't help the smile
that played on her lips at the sight of him, standing in front of her sink,
elbow-deep in the soapy dishwater. She'd need to add adorable to his list of
qualities. Adorable, mysterious and sexy – what a lethal combination!

"You really don't have
to do those," Suzanne protested for the third time since he plunged his
hands in the dish water. "You're my guest," she added as she made her
way back into the kitchen to stand next to him.

Snatching up a dish towel she
began to dry the wet dishes as he passed them to her.
Where do I start to
get the info I want?
she mused, putting a dinner plate in the overhead
cabinet. "So tell me about your work. Anything interesting going on?"

Shamus stopped washing to
look over at her, eyebrow arched.

Well, no getting one over
on him Winters
, she scolded herself.

Silence overtook the room for
the span of several beats.

"I'm actually working on
a big case right now," Shamus replied, rinsing off another dinner plate.

"Really?"

"Indeed. It's... a
complicated one." Shamus passed another cleaned dinner plate to Suzanne.
Their fingers touched in the transfer of the plate causing a rainbow of colours
to flare up between them. An instant later, it was gone, as if the spark of
colour was simply a figment of her imagination.

Frustrated, Suzanne set the
plate on top of the previous one in the overhead cupboard and tossed the
dishcloth onto the counter. Her hands planted firmly on her hips she turned to
face him. "I need to know the truth. Who are you? What you do,
specifically? Where are you from? Enough with the vague, cryptic answers."

"Suzanne, everything I
have said to you has been the truth. Everything. You are choosing not to
believe me." He stopped washing to face her, wiping his hands dry on the
dishtowel she had discarded.

"You want me to believe
you're a leprechaun from some alternate reality? Or dimension? Or whatever it
was you referred to it as?" Her eyes narrowed at him. "Okay, then how
do you travel back and forth?" A smug smile adorned her face. She had him
now. She couldn't wait to hear the load of crap he was about to feed her about
that
!

Shamus grinned, lifting his
left hand out in front of him. On his index finger he wore a thick gold ring,
the band lined with small emeralds, its top featuring a Celtic crest that she
couldn't quite identify.

"So you have a
teleportation ring?" Suzanne rolled her eyes. "Let me guess. You
can't use it in the presence of humans. So you won't be able to show me how it
works."

"On the contrary."
Shamus's grin widened as he brought his right hand up and rubbed the crest of
the ring.

And he was gone.

Suzanne blinked. Her brow
furrowed.
Where'd he go?
"Shamus?" Suzanne called out, but
received nothing but silence in response. Suzanne walked around the counter
island that divided the kitchen from the living room. No Shamus.

"Shamus!" she
called out again, a little more panicked this time. Her apartment was fairly
small so she had fully investigated every room, every nook and every cranny
within a few minutes.

Still no Shamus.

He couldn't have
disappeared
, she reasoned with herself.
"Teleported," she huffed, "not possible." But it appeared
as though it was. She continued to search, peeking out of the windows and door.
Still nothing. He had vanished. Right before her eyes.

"He's got some sort of
David Copperfield shit going on," she muttered to herself, peeking into
the cupboards under the sink, but knowing she'd come up empty-handed. He'd
never have been able to fit in there anyhow. Certainly not in the blink of an
eye, literally.

She heard a deep, masculine
chuckle behind her. Whirling around, she gasped upon seeing that Shamus had
re-appeared behind her, and was now reclined against the kitchen sink, his arms
crossed over his broad chest.

"How...how...how did you
do
that?" Suzanne took a couple of steps backwards, one hand to her
chest, her eyes wide. She wasn't frightened, just surprised. Confused. It
wasn't possible. But it was.

"There
is
magic
in the world Suzanne."

"So where did you go?
Just now."

"Back to my cabin, in
Leprechaun Valley. I watched you search for me. Once I was certain you were
satisfied I was no longer here, I came back."

The look of confusion
adorning her face intensified. "What do you mean
watched
me? How
often do you
watch
me?" Suzanne demanded, her confusion and
disbelief giving way to indignation. How dare he just watch her whenever he
felt like it? Like she was some sort of attraction!

Shamus spread his hands out
in front of him, palms out in surrender. "It's my job. To watch, so I can
help you get your luck back. So I can put you back on your destined path."

"How long have you been
watching me?"

Shamus shrugged. "A
couple of weeks, human time I suppose."

Suzanne could feel her face
turning a deep shade of crimson. If he watched her anytime he wanted then...
"Have you seen me naked?" she blurted out.

Shamus look a step backwards,
hands still up but this time more in an attempt to brace himself for the
impending assault he presumed was going to take place. "A few times, but
it's my job."

"Oh my God!"
Suzanne exclaimed, snatching up the dishcloth by one end and whipping his
shoulder with the other, "You're a...a
peeping leprechaun
!"

Taking hold of the free end
of the dishtowel as it was about to make impact with his shoulder for a fifth
time, Shamus gave it a tug, sending her hurtling into his arms.

Suzanne yelped as she fell
against Shamus's hard, warm body.

His fingers found their way
into her dark hair as his lips came down to meet hers. His mouth soft, yet firm
grazed hers, causing a soft moan to escape from between her slightly parted
lips. Pulling her closer, he took her moan as in invitation to deepen the kiss,
his tongue seeking out hers.

Sensations of pure pleasure
pulsated through her body. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to give in
to the waves crashing through her. The feel of the rigid muscle under her
fingers as her hands explored his shoulders and chest over his shirt; the feel
of his hardening, lengthening cock as he pulled her pelvis tight against him;
even the smell of him, fresh and natural, all seemed to draw her in.

It was becoming evident with
each touch, each moment that passed as their tongues wrestled, that there was
something undeniably powerful between them. She'd never felt such intensity
with anyone. All the issues that seemed to be concerning her about him seemed
to slip away as she began to lose herself in his arms.

As they continued to kiss it
felt as if she could tap into his feelings for her. She could feel how much be
cared for and desired her. She knew what he had told he was true. He was a
leprechaun. He did come from what he called the mystical dimension. But more
importantly, they were destined to be together. She knew that now. She knew as
her hands lowered to the bottom of his shirt and lifted it up and over his head
that the beautiful, strong, kind, generous man standing shirtless against her
was born to be hers.

"Do you feel that?"
she asked panting as she reluctantly tore her lips away from his.

Shamus looked down at
Suzanne, his eyes thick with the desire he was feeling. "It's the
spark," he explained. "A way for destiny to make it clear who you're
fated to be with."