An Breitheamh.
Fionn’s pure iron dagger. The one he’d killed the fae prince with. Fionn tried to make sense of it. Somewhere, deep in his subconscious, he knew this moment had started as a memory … But this, Lir being here with the dagger, that didn’t happen.
What was going on?
Aine flicked her hand again and Rose was in the room, naked, on her knees before Lir. The captain yanked her hair back with his ungloved fist, and as she cried out, Fionn lunged toward her.
“Uh-uh,” Lir taunted, resting the iron dagger at Rose’s throat. It touched her skin and she hissed in pain, tears filling her eyes.
“You bastard!” Fionn rushed toward Rose but Aine blocked his way.
He tried to push her aside but with fae strength, she held him back, laughing at his growing panic.
Fionn pushed and shoved and swung punches that she easily avoided, all the while keeping him from Rose as Lir cut her body all over with the iron dagger. Then his hand fell to the buttons on his leather trews, his cruel gaze fixed to Fionn. “I will rip her apart before I kill her and you will watch.”
Powerlessness burned like a hot brick in Fionn’s throat as he watched Rose.
Tears streamed from her eyes and she whispered to him, “Look away, mo chroí. Look away.”
Fionn panted, pushing himself up off the bed, and reality flooded in. Along with it came immediate relief.
Rose was okay. It was just a dream.
His hand trembled as he pushed his hair off his face and braced his elbows on his knees.
Fuck.
That dream had felt so real.
The need to find Rose, to feel her beneath his hands and know that she was alive and unhurt, was strong. Even more was the need to hold her, clinging to his need for vengeance at the same time wanting his mate in his arms.
Just a taste. Just a touch.
Something to take with him, hold to him, before the darkness welcomed him for good.
30
The castle library wasn’t an epic, vaulted, multilevel archive of books worthy of a Disney movie. In fact, the only high-ceilinged room in the building was the main hall.
Although larger than many of the other rooms, the library wasn’t huge. There was, however, a step ladder attached to a rail on the cases so the higher shelves could be easily reached.
Rose thought that was pretty cool, even though she could use her abilities to pull any book she wanted off the shelf.
Standing in the middle of the room, elbows bent, palms up, Rose did just that.
Romances.
An excited smile curled her lips as books floated out of their places on the shelves. Not for the first time, Rose wondered if she’d ever lose the thrill of almost childish glee she felt when her abilities allowed her to do something amazing.
She gently laid the books on the floor at her feet. Reading the titles, Rose realized most of the romances she’d pulled were medieval, tales of knights and chivalry and heroic deeds. A copy of Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory; The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
Rose wrinkled her nose. She was looking for something a little less dark. Finally, she came across a first edition of Jane Eyre. Not exactly easy reading but at least Rose knew it had a happy ending for Jane.
She held on to the book and with a flick of her wrist, the others floated back up into their spots on the shelves.
A shiver skated down her spine, tickling around her ribs and across her breasts. Hugging Jane Eyre to her, Rose turned, knowing she’d find Fionn in the doorway.
There he stood, watching her.
Intense and focused.
Rose shivered again, as a low flip deep in her belly caused a welling of anticipation inside her.
What was going on?
“Fionn?”
He walked farther into the room, his pace casual, his expression anything but. Those green, intelligent eyes wandered all over her body before locking onto hers with a fierceness that made her breath catch.
“I need to say something,” Fionn announced.
Tingles came to life all over. Rose nodded, her mouth dry.
“Whatever happens … I need you to know that I haven’t felt human in a long time. I even reveled in that fact, needing the simplicity of a purpose devoid of complex emotion. Purpose and revenge were all I needed. Everything else be damned.” His face darkened with something more intense than mere desire. “Until you, Rose. You make me feel more human than I ever felt when I was one.”
The ache that had lived inside Rose since she first realized she had deep, complicated feelings for Fionn bloomed inside her until there was no room for anything else. It pushed at her lungs until she was breathless. And only Fionn could breathe the air back into them.
“Fionn,” she whispered.
“Your eyes,” he said, his voice gruff. “They’re gold.”
Before Rose could respond, Fionn was a streak across the room. She felt his hands on her waist and then she was slammed against a wall. The book in her hand slipped to the rug-covered flagstones just as several books fell off the wall at her side to join it.
Fionn’s face bent close to hers, his fingers holding firm around her waist. His eyes were gold too.
“Tell me you want this,” he whispered hotly against her lips. “I need to hear the words.”
And understanding why turned the lust hot and thick inside her to something so much more.
She loved him.
Even knowing he would break her heart, Rose still clung to hope. And so she answered, every feeling she had for him blazing out from within, “I want you.”
The words were barely out of her mouth when he captured her wrists in his hands and pinned them above her against the books, holding her captive. They both knew Rose could escape, and the melting of her body into the wall made the gold of his eyes brighten to an otherworldly glow. Breathing heavily, his face now but an inch from hers, Fionn stared into her eyes as if there was nothing else in the world he’d rather do.
Rose’s skin flushed. Her whole body felt like it had been dipped into a hot liquid gold. She could feel her breasts swell against her tight T-shirt, and the tingling between her legs was now an insistent throb. The hitch in her breath caused Fionn’s expression to darken. He looked at her mouth, and he leaned his body more heavily against hers until his arousal dug into her stomach.
Squeezing her legs tighter together, Rose lifted her chin, reaching her mouth toward his. “Fionn. Mo chroí.”
Awe flashed across his face and then Fionn’s lips were hot against hers, his tongue licking at hers. The bristle of his stubble on her skin as he deepened the kiss caused Rose’s nipples to harden swiftly.
No one had ever kissed her like Fionn.
Like she was air. Life. Food and water all in one.
Rose let out a little gasp of excitement as he released her lips to trail kisses down her throat. He squeezed her wrists as she arched against his mouth, wishing she wasn’t wearing a T-shirt.
A chill skated over her skin as Fionn lifted his head, a pleased smirk playing with his mouth. Rose frowned and glanced down.
She’d literally wished her T-shirt off.