Motor City Witch (16 page)

Aidan led her to another bench, this one in the shade of an ancient, gnarled oak tree, its leaves beginning to turn red. He eased her down and paced back and forth in front of her.

“Where are we?” she asked, stalling for time from a conversation she didn’t know how to begin. “I mean, if we were in the human realm, where would we be on the map?”

“Southern Ireland. Not too far from Cork.”

“Is this what Ireland looks like in the human realm? I’ve never been there.”

“It did once. Now this part is pretty built up—towns and farms instead of forest.” He stopped pacing to stand in front of her. “Look, Elise, I’ve had a good bit of time to think about this in the last few days. I know there’s a possibility—maybe even a probability—that Dina isn’t my biological daughter.”

She opened her mouth to contradict him, to tell him what she’d learned, but he held up a hand to stop her.

“And I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t bloody well care.” He grimaced and shoved his hands through his hair, pacing again. “That didn’t come out right. I
do
care. But it doesn’t matter to me if she’s not of my blood. One way or the other, Elise, she’s
mine.
I can’t explain why, I can’t tell you how it happened, but I love her and I want to be her father. She already seems to think it’s a grand idea.”

“Aidan—”

“I’m not done.” All his pirate arrogance was back as he turned to face her, legs splayed, hands on hips. “I love Dina and not only because I’m in love with her mother, though that’s part of it. I always have been. If we hadn’t argued, I’d have been there for you when you were attacked. I’d have been by your side through your pregnancy, through childbirth and I’d have claimed her as my own, right from the beginning.”

Elise had stopped breathing. She felt her jaw drop, knew her eyes were round as dinner plates. Aidan loved her? He always had?

She dragged in a breath, or tried to at any rate, but before she could get her lips to form the words, a shot rang out from behind a trellised rose bush.

“Elise, down.” Aidan leapt across the few feet between them and tackled her to the ground on the far side of the bench. The sharp tang of blood filled her nostrils even as she felt the impact of the earth beneath her and his weight on her chest.

“Fuck.”

Well, if he was swearing, he couldn’t be dead. That was good. She couldn’t heal him if he’d already died.

“I am getting bloody well tired of being shot.”

Okay, he wasn’t even badly injured; his voice was too steady. Elise pushed herself out from underneath him and eased to her knees behind the bench. Two men with guns advanced steadily toward them.

“Made it too damn easy, didn’t you, Green Oak? I thought I’d have to get into your house and use your private portal to come find you. Instead, you came right to me. How convenient is that?”

Oswald—she recognized him from the cairn—lifted his handgun and sighted down the barrel.

Behind Elise, Aidan leapt to his feet and blinked in a gleaming bronze cutlass. Pushing Elise down below the stone bench with one hand, he jumped over it to face his opponent.

She had no doubts about his ability to defeat Oswald. As soon as Aidan closed with the other elf, Oswald dropped his gun and ’ported in his own sword, a sharp-edged Roman-styled gladius, also in bronze. Elise might have let them finish it if she hadn’t seen the djinni, standing off to the side of Oswald, raise a lethal-looking revolver with the longest barrel she’d ever seen on a handgun. He aimed directly at Aidan, ignoring her.

She looked around for a rock, a stick, anything, but couldn’t find a single weapon. Even her shoes were too soft to be of any use. Fortunately, Aidan managed to maneuver Oswald between himself and the djinni.

“You ruined everything, you stupid mortal-loving sod,” Oswald bellowed as their swords clanged. “You were supposed to be dead.” The clanging and bashing of swords and grunts from their impact created gaps in his tirade, but he kept on going.

“You’re a sniveling coward and an ass, Le Faire.” Aidan parried a vicious thrust and sent a bolt of force that made Oswald stagger back a step. “At least this time you’re doing your own dirty work instead of preying on children.”

“Oh, your halfling brat is going to die too, count on it,” Oswald sneered. With his off hand he lobbed a small ball of energy that Aidan easily ducked. Aidan’s blade nicked his shoulder, but he managed to put a gash in Aidan’s side at the same time. “And the others, one by one. With Abed over there, I can go anywhere in either realm. The Willows, the Northwoods—” he grunted as Aidan got him with an elbow to the gut, “—all the contaminated families.”

Elise crept from behind the bench to behind the giant oak. If she could get close enough to touch the djinni, she might be able to do something…

Fear coiled in her stomach, forcing her to swallow back bile. Magic had failed her when she’d needed it most, so she’d rejected it. In order to save Aidan, though, she’d face down the damn Gravaki demon again. Or try the same dreadful spell. She was steadier now, calmer, and had more on the line. This time, she’d make it work—she had to. Steeling her nerves, she eased around the trunk of the tree and gauged the distance between her and the djinni.

Aidan and Oswald continued trading blows and magical blasts, though now both were breathing too raggedly for speech—both were bleeding pretty heavily too. Aidan caught Oswald in a clinch, but Oswald broke his grip with a blow to Aidan’s chin that sent him staggering back. Elise watched the djinni raise his weapon now that there was a gap.

She jumped.

Springing forward with all the strength her legs could muster—thank the gods for her spinning class—she tackled the djinni, knocking him to his side on the ground. His gun flew
from his hand, though not before he’d squeezed off a shot. Wood chips sprayed her back as the bullet buried itself in the trunk of the old oak.

He tried to throw her off, but she scissored her legs around his and clamped down, holding tight. Gritting her teeth against the revulsion, she pushed her hands up under his shirt. That shocked him into pausing for a moment, which was all she needed.

Focusing all of her power, Elise did the one thing a healer was never supposed to do. She reversed the energy of her healing magic, draining his life force.

***

Aidan felt every wound Oswald had inflicted, but he refused to let them slow him down. Where were his damned guards when he needed them? Right—he’d wanted to talk to Elise alone, so he hadn’t told any to follow them to the garden. Damn it. Well, one way or another, this would be over soon. Either he or Oswald would be dead. He hoped like hell Elise had made it to the house, where his staff could keep her safe.

While Aidan was tiring, he could see that Oswald was too, maybe even more so. Aidan had made a point of keeping fit, whereas Oswald believed all his abilities were his by right and probably didn’t do anything to stay in shape or practice his swordsmanship. Aidan feinted with his cutlass and fought off Oswald’s attempt to ’port the sword from Aidan’s hand—a beginner’s trick. When Oswald blocked the strike that wasn’t there, Aidan got a wicked slash in against his opponent’s hip, drawing a fair bit of blood and knocking the rotter off-balance in the process. He ducked in close with his cutlass raised almost to Oswald’s neck, but Oswald brought up his off hand and landed a jab into Aidan’s chin that sent him reeling back.

Oh, shite.
Aidan saw the djinni point the long-barreled revolver.

Before the bastard could shoot, Elise erupted in a blur from behind the ancient, holy oak tree that had given his family their name. The djinni fired as she bore him to the ground and Aidan barely missed being beheaded by a swipe from Oswald’s sword.

Forced to focus his attention on his own opponent, he rode the adrenaline spike caused by his fear for Elise. With rage fueling his sword arm, he beat Oswald back toward the tree until his knees bumped the bench. When he wavered for a second, Aidan struck. His cutlass blade slammed into the side of Oswald’s neck, cleanly severing the man’s head from his shoulders.

His head rolled off behind the bench, while his body stood for a second, blood fountaining from the neck, before it crumpled to the ground.

Aidan had already started moving toward Elise. She lay on the ground, her limbs tangled up with the djinni’s, and neither of them were moving. Aidan started breathing again when he saw her chest expand and contract as she hauled in a breath. He stepped closer until he could see what was going on.

Un-fucking-believable. Elise had her hands on the djinni’s skin, which was rapidly turning from swarthy to ashen. He gasped for breath, barely still alive, while Elise was pale and shaking herself. Aidan could feel the trails of magic swirling about the pair. This wasn’t Elise’s normal white, healing magic. This was something dark, corrupt and wrong, though in this case, it had probably been necessary. Abusing her power this way must have hurt, magically and emotionally.

The djinni’s gasping stopped as his body went still. Aidan took Elise’s trembling shoulders into his hands and said, “
Leannan
. Stop.”

At first she didn’t hear him. Two huge tears rolled down her face.

He shook her slightly. “Elise, he’s down. You won. You can stop now.” Grasping her wrists, he pulled her hands from the djinni’s abdomen.

“Aidan?” She let go of the djinni and looked up at him, her eyes wide and blank. “You’re hurt?”

“Only a little. I’ll be okay, but it would be nice if you could fix a couple of the deepest wounds.” And maybe turning her magic back to healing, where it was meant to be, would help her come out of the shell-shock she was in now.

“But the djinni…”

“Is almost dead.” Aidan checked quickly to verify the
almost.
Yeah, there was a trace of a heartbeat—slender but that was enough. “He won’t be conscious any time soon, sweeting. Come over here and you can help me out, hmmm?” He held her hands while she rose to her feet, and he guided her toward the keep.

Now, two guards came running around the side of the castle. He jerked his head toward the body and the djinni, receiving nods in response. He had a good team; they knew what he needed them to do.

By the time they reached the kitchen garden, Elise had come out of her fog. “Is Oswald dead?”

Aidan nodded. “He is. I’d be sorry about that if he hadn’t tried to kill us both one too many times.”

A ghost of a smile flickered across her lips. “I’m not. It had to be done. Did I kill the djinni?”

“Not quite. I imagine he’ll survive to be questioned by Llyris.” Aidan paused by the door to the kitchen and lifted one hand to her cheek, turning her face up to him. She was still pale, but the glazed look had gone from her eyes.

“Good,” she sucked in a couple of deep breaths and followed him into the keep, growing steadier with each step she took. Clearly the need to care for him was keeping her upright despite the drain on her magic.

When they got inside, Aidan felt the adrenaline rush leave him and suddenly all the pain and blood loss overwhelmed him. He swayed slightly, right before Elise shoved him into a chair.

“Let’s get that shirt off you,” she said and began to examine him with a critical eye. Without turning to the cooks, she held out her hand, “I need a wet cloth, please.”

When it was placed in her hand, she dabbed at a gouge on his upper arm, making sure there were no bits of cloth stuck in the wound. Once she was satisfied, she lay two fingers over the cut and healed it.

When it was done, she sighed and met his eyes. “Whew. I wasn’t sure it was going to work after what I did outside. Glad to know I didn’t screw up my powers for good.”

“You didn’t do anything but save your life and mine—and probably a whole lot of others, if they’d gotten away to carry out their plans.” He lifted her hand and kissed it, heedless of the fact that it was stained with his blood. “We’d both be dead right now if you hadn’t, and Dina would be alone. Don’t feel guilty about that,
leannan.
”

“I’ll try not to,” she said. She bent over to clean a cut on his ribs. After a pause, she said, “No, that’s not right. I
won’t
feel guilty, any more than I do about the elf I killed yesterday with a gun. Magic is simply another tool and I’d use it again if I had to. I’ve learned
that much about myself. When it comes down to it, I’ll do whatever it takes to protect the people I love.”

Aidan looked up at her. In the background, he heard the kitchen staff all stop what they were doing to listen, but he didn’t care that they had an audience. They’d wasted too damned much time already. “Say that again, Elise.”

She finished the cut on his ribs and moved to tend the bullet wound on his left forearm. “I said I love you, you dolt. I’m not sure why, but I do. Always have. Always will.” Without pausing to look at his face, she finished repairing the graze and switched to another cut.

“Well.” This was where he was supposed to sweep her into his arms and carry her off to bed, or get down on one knee and propose. Neither of those seemed likely with her picking bits of silk out of his shoulder. “I love you too.”

“So you mentioned,” she said. “Just before they started shooting at us.”

“I guess I did.” He looked around and realized the cooks had tactfully left the room. They’d be getting bonuses in their paychecks this month. When Elise finished with the slash on his shoulder, he caught her hands in his before she could move to find another. “Look at me, sweeting.”

She stopped fussing and gazed into his eyes.

“I love you, Elise Mei-Xing Sutton. Will you marry me? Lifebond with me, even though it means spending the next several centuries dealing with the rest of the Seelie Council? I know it’s a lot to ask, but darling, I don’t want to live all those years without you.”

Elise felt her eyes well up with tears. Her lips worked but no sound emerged. The first words that did weren’t what she meant to say. “I can’t believe you remembered my middle name.”

“It means ‘beautiful star.’ How could I forget something that suits you so perfectly?” He feathered his thumb across her lower lip.

Could he be any more wonderful?
“Dina’s middle name is Lien, for my mother. It means ‘lotus,’ but you know I chose her first name to honor you. In my heart, you were always her father, even if my rational mind believed differently.”

“What’s important is that we’ll both love her, no matter what,” Aidan said, so tenderly that her eyes filled up again. “I give you my solemn oath that she’ll always be my daughter, in every way that counts, for the rest of our lives. I love her, Elise, almost as much as I love her mother.”

“Aidan, I need to tell you something.” Drained from both the fight and healing Aidan, she slumped on the bench beside him and waited until he turned to face her. “Last night, when Fianna jumped in front of that bullet meant for Dina? You need to hear what she told me that upset the maid to the point of murder.”

“Tell me, sweeting. Let’s have no more secrets between us. Whatever it is, we can deal with it together.”

“Did you notice that portrait of the queen as a girl in her office? The one on the swing?”

“Yes.” He tilted his head. “What does that have to do with us?”

“Did you notice the color of her eyes in the portrait?”

“No, why?” His brows knit together in puzzlement. “Her eyes are a pale blue—always have been.”

“No.” Elise clasped his hands tightly. “They haven’t always been. In that portrait, they were purple and the artist didn’t make a mistake. According to Fianna, who is a distant relative of the queen, I gather, certain exceptionally powerful Fae are sometimes born with eyes that change color. Somewhere in early childhood, they settle on a shade that suits them best. Llyris chose ice blue. Oswald, apparently, chose a darker sapphire. That’s why he believed it was his destiny to rule.” She paused as she watched the realization sink in. “And yes, my love,
our
daughter chose green. Just like her father’s.”

“But…” he opened and closed his mouth like a fish. “She’s so much more powerful than me—and there’s no one in my family like that…”

“I have a theory I’ve been working on.” She leaned up to kiss his chin, because she couldn’t resist. “When Desmond killed the demon that was attacking—raping—me, the magical explosion was—nuclear in scale. Like I said, I was completely burned out and pretty much unconscious for a long, long time. It was that massive. If I was already pregnant and Dina somehow got the best of both of our abilities, maybe she was able to absorb some of that stray magic and keep it, rather than being harmed by it. It could have kicked her powers up to a new level.”

“It’s possible, I suppose.” His voice was soft with awe. “But, oh, goddess, we’re going to have to keep a close watch on her at court. The queen won’t like it at all if she ever finds out.”

“You’re making assumptions, love.” She wrinkled her nose at him and grinned. “I haven’t said yes, yet.”

His face paled and his grip on her hands tightened to the point of pain. His eyes went wide with panic. “You have to say yes. I love you. You said you love me. You have to marry me.
Please!
”

“Okay.” She laughed and sniffled at the same time—her heart was overflowing with that much joy. Wait, had she responded to his proposal with the word
okay?
How utterly lame. “I mean
yes
, Aidan. I’ll marry you. And lifebond. I’ll even take on the damned Seelie Court. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you—hopefully, a really long one, to help make up for all the time we’ve wasted.”

“Thank the gods!” He dragged her into his lap and crushed his lips down on hers. Long moments later he spoke again. “I love you. I can hardly believe we’ve finally sorted that out.”

“Well, we’re a bit slow.” She gazed up at him, happier than she’d ever been. “But we get it right eventually.”

Before he could kiss her again, or she could kiss him, a discreet cough from the doorway interrupted their moment.

“My lord? We’ve transported the prisoner to the queen’s dungeon. Her Majesty would like to see you as soon as possible. We told her you were being healed and might be a while.”

Elise felt her face heat, even as Aidan chuckled.

“Thank you, Philip.” Aidan stood, tugging Elise to her feet with him. “And the other?”

“Sent to the morgue, my lord. Both parts.”

Okay, Elise didn’t even want to think about that statement.

“Good. In that case, I think my healer and I will retire to my chamber for a nice long rest. After which, we’ll have a meal.
Then
we’ll report to the queen. Please don’t interrupt us unless the keep is burning down. Understood?”

The guardsman smothered a laugh. “Of course, my lord.” As Aidan dragged her past, Philip tipped his head. “My lord. My lady.”

“Well put.” Aidan towed her toward the stairs. Halfway up the steps, he paused and looked down to where a crowd of servants had gathered in the great hall. “Allow me to present the future Lady Green Oak.”

Cheers and applause followed them all the way to Aidan’s bedroom.

***

All Aidan wanted to do was drag Elise over to the bed and tear her clothes off. It wasn’t polite, it wasn’t civilized and he didn’t care. His body and soul were craving her that badly. She’d said yes, and now he intended to claim her as well as celebrate the fact that they’d escaped being killed—again.

“Stop.” She let him lead her halfway to the bed, then halted. “I wasn’t done healing you yet. And we both need to clean up. I assume you have something close to a modern bathroom in this place?”

“Of course. Just because the bed is an ancestral monstrosity, doesn’t mean I haven’t kept up when it comes to comfort.” The bed was ancient. Tall and elaborately carved with velvet curtains, it was the same one his parents and grandparents had used. He wondered what she’d think of the oak tree carved into the headboard. Silver acorns topped each sturdy post. The mattress, though, that was a top-of-the-line number from the same store that supplied the
house in Grosse Pointe. And it was new enough that he’d never shared it with a woman. He liked that Elise would be the first.

“Shower.” She tapped him on the chest to bring his thoughts back to earth. “I need to finish healing you and I really don’t want to make love to you covered in blood.”

“Of course not.” She deserved better than that. “Bathroom’s through here.”

His suite was in what had once been the solar of the old keep—meaning it had windows. The glass in the diamond-shaped panes was so old it was rippled, distorting images but letting in a great deal of sunlight—perfect for a bathroom. Blinking away his jeans, boxers and boots, he sat on the edge of the tub—a large, marble affair with steps leading up to the rim. He gave the taps a magical nudge to start the water running. “I think you already got all the major wounds though.” At least he wasn’t feeling any pain. Just euphoria that Elise was going to marry him.

“Shut up and let me look.” Her hands trailed down his arms, finding small nicks and instantly repairing them. None that were left were serious enough to have bits of cloth stuck in them.

“Do you think Dina will approve of us getting married?” He focused his eyes on her feet to try to distract himself from the touch of her hands on his skin. Making it more difficult, she leaned over him and rubbed her breasts against his shoulders.

“I think Dina will be thrilled. She’s considered you hers since the first time she saw your picture. Why do you think she chose green for her eyes? She took one look at your picture and said, ‘Daddy.’” Elise cupped his chin in her hand and mended the bruise from Oswald’s fist, finishing with a quick brush of her lips over the spot. “There. Everything’s all fixed.”

She stepped over to the sink and washed the blood off her hands while Aidan adjusted the temperature of the tub, turned off the taps and added a touch of almond oil to the water before turning on the jets. It also gave him a moment to swallow the lump in his throat. He was moved beyond belief that Dina wanted him for her father.

When he turned back, Elise stood before him with a washcloth in her hand. She’d also shed all her clothes except her bra and panties. “No blood in the tub.” She wiped the areas where his wounds had been. Her touch this time was every bit as tender, but her gaze was hot. When she was done, she tossed the washcloth back into the sink and stood between his splayed thighs, her hands on his shoulders. “I love you.”

“Goddess, Elise.” There was more to say, but kissing her was as important as his next breath. He pulled her down onto his lap.

She pressed her breasts into his chest and her thigh grazed his erection. It only took him a thought to dispense with her underwear, since he wanted no barriers between them. His tongue explored the contours of her mouth, tasting, caressing. She flicked hers against it and sucked lightly. He cupped one of her breasts in his hand and kneaded it, swallowing her moan. Elise tangled one hand in his hair and kissed him harder, this time pushing her tongue into his mouth and taking control. Her free hand dropped between his legs to stroke him and this time the moan was his.

This was it—everything he’d ever wanted, ever dreamed, right here in his arms. When she shifted off his knee, he started to protest, until he realized she’d knelt on the step between his knees, her hand wrapping around his cock, her lips trailing kisses from his throat and down the centerline of his chest to his navel.

“Oh, gods, Elise.” He threw his head back in ecstasy as her tongue flicked across his tip, lapping up the droplet of fluid that had already beaded there.

With a pleased hum, she continued kissing her way down the ridge to his testicles, swirling her tongue around each. Aidan’s eyes rolled back in his head and he gripped the edge of the tub. This wasn’t what he’d had in mind, but damned if he was going to tell her that. Her long hair tickled the insides of his thighs as she moved, licking her way back up his shaft to take his crown into her mouth.

Every muscle in his body tensed. She swirled her tongue around the rim, then drew him to the back of her throat and sucked. One hand circled his length while the other cupped his balls, squeezing gently. Getting shot—again—had been worth it if this was his reward.

His body tightened, straining toward completion, but this wasn’t how he wanted it to end, not this time, their first since they’d spoken of love. He flexed his fingers to release his death grip on the marble, then cupped her face in his hands. “Enough, sweeting.”

She dropped one last kiss on his cock, then lifted her head and smiled, licking her lips.

“It’s my turn.” Aidan stood, pulling her to her feet as well. He stepped down into the tub, going to his knees on the bench inside and guided Elise up over the edge until she stood straddling his thighs. Once her feet were in the water, he had her sit down on the side of the tub, opening herself to his gaze.

“You’re so beautiful.” He leaned in to trace a finger along her crease. His tongue followed as he tasted her. He made love to her with his mouth and hands until he brought her to a shuddering climax.

***

“Sit back, Aidan.” As soon as she could gather enough breath to speak, Elise got to her feet. Would it always be like this between them? A year from now? Ten? A hundred? Goddess, she hoped so. She stepped down onto the bench beside him as he turned. Kneeling above him, she lowered herself onto his erection. Being filled by him felt wonderful—exciting and yet somehow comfortably right at the same time. She leaned in to kiss him and began to move, which meant thinking ceased to be a possibility. The warm, scented water swirling around them from the waist down added another layer of sensation, enclosing the two of them in their own private world.

Aidan claimed her mouth in a kiss, his hands sliding between them to toy with her breasts. It wasn’t long before she shattered again, clenching around him with their mouths fused together. He reached around to clamp his hands down on her butt, holding her against him when his own climax hit. After a while, they each pulled back to gasp for breath, leaning their foreheads against each other’s.

Eventually they eased down into the tub, side by side. Aidan smoothed her hair away from her face and chuckled. “I really hope Dina doesn’t plan on sleeping with us every night.”

***

Adjusting to being Aidan’s fiancée had been easy, Elise mused two weeks later. Even moving her and Dina into his house, and making plans to open a second branch of her gallery here in Grosse Pointe hadn’t been difficult. Getting used to being Lady Green Oak was going to take a lot more doing. She swore Aidan’s staff insisted on using the title just to aggravate her—
especially since their life-bonding ceremony at Oakwood wasn’t for another week. The mortal wedding here in Grosse Pointe was a while off yet—getting all the details sorted out was tricky since she was still a Canadian citizen and Aidan’s passport said he was Irish, but they both wanted the wedding to be here. Christmastime was looking like a real possibility. Dina was utterly delighted that her parents were finally together.

“Greg and I still haven’t found out any more about Beowulf.” George helped himself to a slice of pizza off the kitchen table. For some reason, they all congregated here rather than in the formal dining room whenever their friends came over. It was a Monday night, the one day of the week the Novaks all took off from the New Moon. “He checked with the pack in Chicago, and I talked to some friends in L.A. Nothing.”

“I can’t find a trace of the leak in the
Wyndewin
League, either.” Even Des had relaxed to some extent around the elves and the wolves, though he’d still glowered when Lana had walked in wearing painted-on jeans and a skimpy cami. Elise was beginning to think Lana dressed like that purely to piss Des off. Either way, it was entertaining to watch someone manage to unsettle Elise’s usually stolid brother.