GettingLuckyinGalway (8 page)

Her mate shook and uttered a foreign curse. He moved his
hard body back for the few seconds it took to lift her more fully against him,
placing most of her weight against the boulder he’d pinned her against.
Automatically, her legs went up to clasp his hips. His big hand brushed her sex
as he teased them both while shaking.

“I love how you get so wet and ready for me with just a
touch.” The husky, deep voice made her lungs gasp for air and her thighs clench
in painful desire.

Words weren’t needed. Calder knew he could feel her juices
spreading between her thighs. It amazed her how quickly he could make her hot.
Just a look or touch and her body melted. She was primed for sex, primed for
him.

He placed enough space between them so when she tilted her
head down, Calder could watch his actions, fascinated.

A drop of pre-cum glistened from the red, swollen head.
Calder’s mouth watered with the need to taste and take him. She’d never been
one to volunteer to go down on her lovers, but something about the wide
thickness made her want to drop to her knees and suck him deep in her mouth. To
taste the salty fluid glimmering in the bright light.

He guided his cock right where she needed it. He slid his
hand between their bodies and spread her with his fingers. With a slow, easy
glide, he ran his cock back and forth in her juices, teasing them both until
she wanted to scream and impale herself on his rigid length.

Finally, when her desire outmatched her patience, he worked
the thick head in and thrust deep.

Calder let herself be taken over by him, her mate and other
half. His mouth dove down, back to devouring hers, his hot chest kept her
pressed against the rock, his hands, free now, held her thighs spread wide. The
sensual rub of his hairy thighs proved an intense counter to the soft feel of
his skin.

Roark shoved into her, mouth lifting from hers. He looked
down at her through desire-heavy eyes, his face so tough and rough, green eyes
glowing under the illumination of the sun. “You’ll never leave me again.”

With those few words, Calder came in sharp, grasping pulls
and the scent of her cream caused his nose to flare. He drew in a deep breath
and continued thrusting. He moved in her with deep, forceful strokes. He seemed
to know exactly how to move to keep her in one long, continuous orgasm. Her
inner contractions continued until she could no longer keep track. Her heart
hammered and her body throbbed.

He rubbed his hair-covered chest against her breasts,
teasing the sensitive points of her nipples with every brush. She felt the
vibration of his mindless murmurings against her glistening flesh. Finally, the
pulsing tapered off while his strokes continued rough and quick.

“My mate, my
Liaria
, my Calder, come for me again.
Please, love, let me feel it. Fuckin’ perfection…” He breathed the words
against her sweat-damp hair then pulled his hips back and fucked her without
restraint or practiced moves.

With no thought, only instinct guiding her, Calder met her
mate stroke for stroke right into another world-bending orgasm. Her body
exploded down to her molecules before reforming under his desperate thrusts. A
high wail escaped her mouth as she felt the head of his cock stroking a spot deep,
deep inside her that she never knew existed until Roark. For that alone she’d
be grateful for the rest of her very long life.

A rough animal growl of triumph filled the air as hot, wet
streams of his semen jetted into her still spasming depths.

Chapter Six

Roark looked down at the woman in his arms and marveled at
the wisdom of fate. Two days ago he’d known nothing of the female or the impact
her existence would have on his life. Now he couldn’t imagine a day without
listening to her opinions on… Well, everything. She’d fallen asleep in his arms
as a lover and remained in the same female form all night. Feeling very pleased
with himself, he placed a brief affectionate kiss on her temple.

Her cat trusted him so there’d be no leaving him for some
faceless loser. They’d belong only to each other for the rest of their long
lives. Two days ago the thought would have him reaching for itching cream. Now
the thought of touching or tasting another woman had his stomach churning with
bile.

He loved her zest for life, her ability to laugh at herself
and to be honest, he liked that she could laugh at him as well. Too many people
had allowed Roark to take himself too seriously the last century or so.

Now everything would change if it hadn’t already. Sure they
still needed to get out of the magical time-out Nob had put them in, but other
than that their lives were indeed on the right track.

He ignored the nagging feeling at the back of his neck, not
wanting anything to interrupt or intrude on the start of his new guilt-free
life. Calder wouldn’t stand for it he somehow knew and grinned.

Calder, his mate. His mate, Calder. The lioness Calder was
his mate. His mate was a shifter named Calder.

Damn, he had it bad. Good thing there were no pencils or
notebooks around or else he’d be writing their initials in trees and all over
schoolbooks. But honestly he didn’t care.

Amazing how much things can change during one brief leap
from reality. The voice had been right. He wasn’t his parents. Their mistakes
didn’t have to be his own. He really did deserve more credit than he’d been
giving himself. So he’d make sure to pat himself and Calder, his mate, on their
backs quite often to remind them what incredible people they both were.

“Shhh,” Calder mumbled from where her head rested so
naturally on his shoulder. He smiled until her hand came up and with shifter
strength slapped that hand over his mouth. “Trying to sleep, Charms. Shhhh.”

He wanted to cry out, to magic a mirror because he knew
there would be blood. No one could get hit that hard and not have some sort of
scar left over. Carefully as he could, he slipped his lover’s hand off his
mouth and breathed a sigh of relief when she seemed to settle down back into a
peaceful sleep.

The next instant his entire body bowed in pain, mind-numbing,
ball-shrinking pain. Roark wept, cried and whimpered, careful to keep the noise
at a minimum lest he wake and face the full wrath of his shifter mate and her
paws of mass destruction.

One arm thrown up to protect his once perfect face, Roark sacrificed
his other hand to protect what was left of his family’s royal jewels. After
she’d finished smashing them with her iron knee of agony. A small, pitiful moan
left his tightly clasped lips as he brushed against the sensitive skin. She’d
unmanned him, left a bleedin’ eunuch, never to be able to pleasure another
woman for as long as he lived. Might as well drink the poison now as he was no
use to the world without his legendary and mighty bed skills.

Though, he reminded himself, while the throbbing between his
legs continued, he was quite brilliant at finance. So maybe offing himself
wasn’t the best answer to the cock problem.

Plus his good looks alone were more than enough to turn any
woman’s head. He could still be useful as an escort, for charity events and
publicity shots. Yes, Roark still had value as a man even if he’d never be able
to pass all his extraordinary traits on to offspring he never knew he wanted
until he couldn’t have the precious disasters.

Curled up in a small ball, whimpering like a child, Roark
did his best to roll away from the disaster that was his
Liaria
. The
woman would be the death of him.

“Where are you going?” his woman dared to mumble while
trying to cuddle up with him.

“To try and save what’s left of my manhood.” He unrolled
from her clasping claws and naked limbs. “Leave me go, woman. You’ve already
killed our possibly having children.” The last words came out in panting gasps
as the pain continued to rack him.

“Huh?” Feminine ire in a low, husky, sleep-heavy tone
grumbled behind him. “Is all the moving really necessary?”

“Yes, it is.”
Moving not a good idea, boyo
, Roark
reminded himself even as lightning forks of pain shot through his veins.

Her paw of pain, otherwise known to the unaware as Calder’s
right hand, landed lightly on his shoulder. “What’s the matter?” She leaned
around his still twitching form to look at his face.

“Are those tears in your eyes?” An even closer look. “You
have snot bubbles! What the hell is the matter with you? Where’s your big
badass persona you’re always dragging around?”

“You managed to…” pant, pant, “to kill off any Y chromosome
left in my…body.” Oh the agony, it was hell, it was torture, it was…wearing
off.

The crazy female huffed out an irritated breath. “You don’t
have to snap my head off. Geez.” She moved away quickly. “You should have just
told me you weren’t a morning person. For cripes sake, grow a pair,
cher
,
and suck it up.”

Oh how badly he wanted to rail at her. Tell her without her
lethal knee there would be no snot bubbles, not that he believed Calder on that
one. However taking his temper and now fading pain out on his
Liaria
was
pointless.

“I’m attempting to suck it up, but first my lungs have to
learn how to breathe,” he responded as evenly as possible.

“There’s a tray of coffee plus some muffins and other stuff
if you’re interested.”

What the hell? Ignoring the remaining pain, Roark sat up and
looked around. They were still in the wooded glen, the large ash tree
sheltering them from the mild heat of the sun.

“Where did all that,” he waved a hand, “come from?”

Calder shrugged the large shirt she wore hanging from her
curvy frame. “Where did you get that?”

She shrugged, more concerned with the food than his
clothing. “It was here folded up next to the food. Ya know while you were curled
up like a bed-wetter at a sleepover. Here,” she tossed a pair of jeans in his
direction. “I’m guessing these are for you ’cause there’s no way my hips are
fitting in those twiglike dimensions.”

“Twiglike?” he objected, holding the soft material up for a
closer examination. “What the bleedin’ hell are you blathering on about now?”

“Men. You are so clueless as a species it truly amazes me
you manage to figure sex out.” Stalking over to where he innocently stood,
Calder took the pants out of his hands and held them to her own luscious frame.
“See, there’s no way my fluffy parts will fit.”

Handing the blue jeans back, Calder turned from him and went
to where she’d been in the process of spreading the food out on a thick red
blanket. Delicious smells of buttery scones, sweet jam and hot coffee filled
the air and had his stomach rumbling.

“I’m not a dainty eater so if you want any food then get
over here.” Calder plopped down on the blanket, spreading a blue linen napkin
across her lap. “And I might as well warn you now, I’m a coffee whore. I’ll
pretty much sell whatever or whoever I need to get my fix.”

“Fine, I’ll remember not to stand between you and your bean
addiction. I’ll trust you to have the same courtesy with myself and tea.”
Feeling as though he were walking across a minefield, Roark hesitantly set his
foot down as if it might be his last step.

“Your tea bags are your own, promise. I promise you won’t
ever have to worry about me touching them.”

“Not bags, you barbaric American. Leaves, real tea leaves to
make real tea.”

“Okay, I won’t touch your leaves. Now will you sit your
whiny ass down? Geez, the shit I have to put up with in order to get laid is
unbelievable.” She cut a scone in half, put one half on a plate then handed it
to him.

“Thank you,” he warily replied, not sure what the hell had
happened to his passionate, confident mate of last night, but he wanted her
back. This woman made every hair on his body stand up, and not in a good, sexy
way.

“Look, I’m sorry if we got started on the wrong foot. We’re
here together and likely stuck together until Nob chooses to let us go. Aside
from you hearing strange voices, I think we’ll be okay.”

“You’re crazy.”

One blonde brow arched. “It’s taken you this long to figure
that one out,
cher
? Then we’re both in trouble for more reasons than I
thought.”

Too many things were hitting him all at once. Instead of
replying off the top of his head like his female seemed to do, Roark sat down,
ate the food on his plate and thought through everything Calder had said since they
woke up.

“Why have you changed? Has someone said or done something to
offend you?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Last night I fell asleep with an incredible and generous
lover I couldn’t wait to fuck. This morning I wake up to every male’s nightmare.
A pissed-off female pretending everything is okay. Everything is not okay, so
please stop pretending it is. Talk to me.” Ack. Dear goddess of the moon, had
he really asked a woman to talk to him, to share her feelings? This emotional
crap had better come with more benefits than sharing thoughts. He was a man. He
didn’t do feelings.

Talk to him? Roark actually spoke those words out loud?
Never one to keep her thoughts or concerns to herself, Calder obliged him.
“Fine, here it is.” She took a last sip of delicious coffee, set down the
fragile cup and turned to face her leery mate. “We had incredible sex last
night. I mean knock-me-off-my-feet, mush-for-brains fucking.”

A smug smile spread across his beautiful lips. “Aye, that we
did.”

“Imagine my surprise when I wake up this morning to find a
crying, whining snot factory in place of my passionate mate.” Goddess, even the
thought of what he’d looked like made her cringe. Was this how all couples
reacted? Surely not or the two-footed race would have died out long ago.

“You—” He stopped, sputtered nonsense for a moment before
regrouping himself by closing his eyes and taking long, slow breaths. Finally
those glorious emerald orbs opened and fixed on her. “Calder, my love, what we
have here is a failure to communicate.”

Startled by the pop reference, she could only nod. Who knew
leprechauns liked modern media so much? Weren’t they supposed to spend all
their time fixing shoes and hiding pots of gold underneath rainbows?

“Focus, darling, before we find something else to fight
about.” He tapped the end of her nose playfully with the tip of his index
finger.

“Right, I’m paying attention.”

“So here it is. I wake up to my amazing mate in human form
cuddled in my arms. You can’t imagine how grand I felt knowing you trusted me
enough to keep you safe.” He touched his chest, right above his heart. “Never
thought to actually feel a pain in my chest not caused by my family’s fighting,
but there it was. And while I was busy ruminating on all the joy I’ve found,
you sucker-punched me in the face. Then, if that wasn’t enough of an insult,
you went after both our favorite body parts!”

Huh, she’d wondered about the slight discoloration she’d
seen in his face, but didn’t say anything. Mainly because she didn’t notice it
yesterday before she jumped him. Sex had a way of wrecking her already
notoriously short attention span. Then the last part of his words sunk into her
head.

“I beat your cock?”

His too handsome face flushed red. “Nay, of course ya didn’t
beat my cock. Ya slammed your mighty paw into my impressive manhood.”

Isn’t that exactly what she’d said, without the mighty paw
part? Men, she mentally grumbled, can’t live with them and can’t beat them
within an inch of their lives. Well, you could, but holy goddess of catnip, the
whining. No one could live with the whining and stay sane.

“Well, is it broken?” she asked, since it seemed to her the
most important question of the day.

Again he looked offended. “Of course it’s not broken! It
would take something far more massive and lethal to destroy something so big
and hard.”

Barely able to resist rolling her eyes at his drama, Calder
cut to the chase, her body already warming with need. She could fuck him still,
but again the whining. Who needed it? “So you’re not broken, maimed or
irreparably harmed?”

“No, I don’t think so.” He looked down at his lap as if
expecting his penis to speak a list of grievances. “Yes, I think everything
will recover nicely.”

That did not sound good or at least not quick. And she did
need her mate to make a quick recovery from his imaginary injuries. “When do
you think you’ll be recovered by?”

Green eyes narrowed at her in suspicion. “Why? Are you
planning on mauling me again?”

“Oh jeez.” This time she couldn’t stop the urge to roll her
eyes. “I did not maul you. I may have given you a playful love tap that any
other male in the universe could deal with, but that’s it.”

“Love tap, my rock-hard ass.” He jumped to his feet and she
quickly followed his actions. “You have no idea what those mighty paws of pain are
capable of.”

“Stop calling them that.”

“Stop using them to try and unman me.”

“Unman you? I touched you once. I don’t think it counts as a
habit.”

“Just so you don’t go getting ideas in your head.”

She lost it. Later she would look back and marvel on the
sheer stupidity of them both, but hindsight and all that. “Roark, I get it now.
I really do.” She allowed the defeat she felt to show in her voice and the
slump of her shoulders. “You don’t want this mating and you’ll pretty much do
and say anything to get rid of me. Fine, I don’t want to be with someone who
only sees me as a convenient fuck.”