“I thought you were heading to London for the weekend to meet your sister?” I murmured.
“I was. I am.”
His voice was softly accented, sending shivers of delight down my spine. Or maybe they were caused by the finger that was ever so slowly tracing its way down to my hip. “But we did arrange to meet here for breakfast before I left, remember.”
I didn’t remember, but it wasn’t like I’d really had time to think since I’d left the hospital. “And we both know ‘breakfast’ is your code for hot sex.”
“Only if my breakfast partner is willing.”
She definitely was. “What time is it?”
“Ten o’clock, or thereabouts.”
Meaning I’d slept for averylong time. I turned to face him. He was a typical Tàileach pixie in looks, with wide shoulders, slim hips, and thick mahogany hair. Though his face was probably a little too sharp to be called handsome, his lips were full and definitely made to give pleasure, and his body was well muscled.
“Hey,” he said softly, and kissed me, a warm but intense prelude to what was to come.
“That,” I said, when I could, “is quite a lovely way to wake up.”
The burnished gold flecks in his buttery brown eyes gleamed in the room’s shadowy light. “Your pendant would seem to disagree. One of these days, that lightning is going to strike.”
I laughed, tugged it off, and placed it on the bedside table, where she continued to throw little jabs of energy into the air. She did this every time we shared a bed, though not, strangely enough, at other times. I wasn’t sure why it was happening, and I really needed to ask Beira about it, given she’d known the goddess who had gifted the Eye to my family and could likely tell me if this was a warning or something else.
I really,reallydidn’t want it to be a warning.
I pushed the concern aside and ran a hand down the chiseled length of his body, letting my fingers play lightly across his erection. He made a low sound deep in his throat and wrapped his hand around my neck, pulling me closer, kissing me almost savagely. From that moment on, there was no talking; we explored, kissed, caressed, until desire burned as hotly as the Eye and all I could think about, all I wanted, was him inside.
Then he was, and we moved as one, slowly at first but with increasing urgency, until need and desire combined, becoming a force so fierce I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything more than simplywant. My orgasm hit hard and fast, and I gasped, shuddering and shaking as pleasure consumed me. He came a heartbeat later, his body stiffening against mine, his deep groan echoing.
For several long minutes after, neither of us moved, then his lips brushed mine and he slid to one side.
“Now that,” he murmured, “is an even better way to wake up.”
“Agree. But now, I need a proper breakfast.”
I flung off the blanket, grabbed the still-pulsing Eye and put it on, then picked up my knickers and a T-shirt from the floor, pulling them on as I headed into the kitchenette.
“Tea or coffee?” I called. “Toast or cereal?”
“Is there no bacon on offer? I’m mortified.”
I laughed. “So am I, but I forgot to go shopping after getting out of the hospital yesterday.”
“Thatis what I call a very good excuse. Coffee would be perfect.” He came out of the bedroom barefoot, wearing jeans but no T-shirt—a look I’d always approved of when it came to a good-looking man. “Did you ever find out how Mathi and Cynwrig found you?”
I shrugged and filled the kettle, then dragged the coffee machine from the under-bench cupboard, blew away the dust, and reached for the bag of beans I kept in the upper cupboard. I had no idea how fresh they were, given how rarely I made myself bean coffee up here, but if he didn’t like it, well, there was always tea.
“Mathi said it was something to do with the resonance of my weight on the earth.”
“A Myrkálfar can pick one resonance from another? That is indeed a talent.”
“Well, we’ve been bed buddies for a while. I daresay that helps. Toast?”
He shook his head. “I’ll grab something at the airport if I get hungry.”
I shoved a couple of slices into the toaster for me, then made his coffee and handed it to him. “What’s the plan for the weekend? Are you taking your sister and her children anywhere special?”
“Children?” he said, looking at me blankly for a second. Then he laughed. “Sorry, no, the children are staying home with their father. She had some business in London and thought it the perfect opportunity to catch up with her big brother.”
