The Harp and the Fiddle: Glenncailty Castle, Book 1 (8 page)

They were waist-deep, Tim cradling her so that she floated on the surface, the water lapping her sides. She allowed him to guide her hands back, grasping the rough concrete edge as he held her hips. She was glad she had something to hang onto as he lifted her hips above the surface with one hand, the other rubbing her sex through the wet barrier of her underwear. Ripples of pleasure made their way up her body.

“Oh yes, please, yes.” Her words were little puffs of air.

When his fingers flicked her clit a little too hard, she hissed, arching her back and tightening her legs around his waist so that his body slammed into hers. His cock rubbed against her, and he groaned.

Reaching back, he grabbed her ankles, forcing her to let go of him. He stepped out from between her legs, yanking her wet panties down and off. 

“Are you ready for me?” His voice was a rough growl. Standing above her, outlined in starlight, he was like a sea creature of old, risen from the cold sea to claim her for himself.

“Yes.”

His fingers delved between her legs once more, testing her. As he parted her legs to step between them, she gasped. The water was shockingly cold against her warm core.

“Does this hurt?” One thick finger rubbed her clit, then slid into her body.

“No, it feels good.” She arched her back, feeling his finger flex within her. “The water’s cold.”

“I’ll warm you up.” There was a grin in his voice.

He pumped his fingers into her, stretching her, filling her.

Water lapped against the pool, the soft
tap, tap, tap
lost under the sound of Caera’s moans and sighs. 

“You’re tight.” Tim’s voice was rough with desire.

“I’m ready.” Caera reached down with one hand, trying to push his hand away as she simultaneously drew his hips towards the apex of her thighs.

“Not yet.” He tipped his hips away, his cock rubbing against her thigh, close to where she wanted it, but not close enough. It wasn’t enough.

“I want you. I want you in me.”

“And I want you to come for me.”

His fingers pumped into her as he rubbed her clit with his thumb. Pleasure built low in her belly. Her skin trembled with it, her nipples drawing so tight they hurt. 

He added a second finger, opening her, stretching her. That was enough, coupled with his thumb on her clit, to send her over the edge. Her fingers squeezed the side of the pool, her legs clamping back tight around Tim’s hips as the orgasm shook her. She gasped and arched her sex into his hand as the shivers of pleasure skittered through her.

“I wish I could see you. Later I want to see you, see your face as you come.”

Caera didn’t answer. Post-orgasm warmth filled her.

Drawing his fingers from her, he held her hips in his hands, thumbs pressing against her hipbones. He pulled her away from the pool edge, her fingertips scraping over the rough stone border as he drew her into the center of the pool. The water caressed her sides, her core.

Tim held her up, held her in place and kissed a path from belly to breastbone. His lips veered to the side, taking her cold, beaded nipple into his warm mouth. Caera tipped her head back as the pleasure swamped her. She was so caught up that she didn’t think about the water until it rushed over her forehead. She jerked up, gasping as the water touched her mouth. 

“I’ve got you.” Tim slid a hand under her back. He pulled her upright, their upper bodies sliding wetly against each other. 

Caera’s hair fell against her shoulders, a cold blanket. She wrapped her arms around Tim’s neck, her legs tight around his hips. The orgasm he’d drawn from her wasn’t enough. The dark desire, the deep madness was still rolling inside her. She kissed him, their cold lips meeting, pressing together with frantic energy. 

He tasted like man. She wanted him in her, wanted him to fill her until she didn’t feel so alone. 

Water rose up her waist to her breasts as he walked them deeper into the pool. 

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

Tim put a hand under her ass, lifting her higher. Caera braced her elbows on his shoulders. His cock, which had been resting on her belly, slid down between her legs. The tip pressed against her sex, and Caera shifted until the head was poised, ready to enter her.

Tim grasped her hips, drawing her down onto his cock. Cool water rushed around her sex, mixing fire and ice as his hot, thick cock entered her. Caera gasped, pressing her cheek alongside Tim’s. His ragged breathing was loud in her ear. 

When he was deep within her, Tim moved one hand from her hips, stroking his way up her back. He cupped her head, turning her face to his for a kiss. With their lips fused together, he flexed his hips, pumping his cock into her with small jerks.

They thrust together for what felt like an eternity, a perfect eternity where the pleasure rose gently but wasn’t enough to take her to the peak. It was Caera who broke the moment, needing and wanting more.

“Fuck me, I want you to fuck me.” She stared into his eyes, their dark glitter in the starlight almost menacing.

He was silent for a moment, his gaze searching his face. 

“I’ll fuck you—” his hips flexed, cock sliding in and out a bare half inch, 

“—if you agree to make love to me in the morning.”

“What?”

“Fucking now, make love later. That’s the deal.”

Make love. Caera knew nothing about gentle sex, and she didn’t want love.

“I want you to fuck me.”

“Then agree to what I want.”

“That’s blackmail.”

“Maybe, but I have a suspicion that when this is over you’ll disappear.”

“If you don’t want me…” Caera unwound her arms from his neck.

“You’re not going anywhere. You’re mine, now and again in the morning.” 

Caera shivered, but not from the cold. His words both thrilled and terrified her. She’d heard similar words from a man before, but from Tim they were exciting, a promise of pleasure to come.

“Yes.” Her answer surprised her. “I’ll…make love…to you in the morning.”

“Good.”

Tim withdrew his cock, then thrust in, hard and deep. Caera threw her head back, shaken by the sensation of being so thoroughly filled. Water splashed around them as Tim slammed her down onto his cock. Over and over he fucked her as the pleasure grew far beyond anything she’d experienced before. 

When that wasn’t enough, he walked them back into the shallows.

“Turn over, grab the edge.”

Caera unhooked her arms and legs from around him, splashing in the water in her haste. She bent at the waist, lowering her breasts into the water. Folding her arms along the edge, she rested her cheek on them. Tim grabbed her ass, squeezing and separating the globes. He traced a line down her spine, between the cheeks of her ass. His finger hovered briefly at her anus, rubbing the sensitive skin there. Caera shivered, frightened and secretly thrilled that he might fuck her ass, even if it were only with his finger. 

“Have you been fucked anally before?”

Dark memories threatened to flood her mind and destroy the pleasure coiled within her. “I don’t talk about my past.” She bit off the words.

Tim’s finger stilled, then left her ass. Parting the lips of her sex, he positioned his cock. This time he entered her with a smooth, hard thrust. His thighs slapped hers, the water splashing around their hips.

The memories his words had brought up were shattered as he filled her. She gasped, her breath raising goose flesh along her forearms.

“Yes, yes. That’s what I want. I want you to fuck me.”

Tim withdrew, thrust in again. Each stroke was powerful and deep, the rhythm building in tempo until he was slamming into her hard and fast, her body shaking with need. 

“You’re beautiful, so beautiful.” His words were broken, his breathing fast. 

“I’m close. Please, I’m close.”

“Yes, come. Come with me.” Tim reached under her, pushing his foot between her ankles to spread her legs. Now his fingers could reach her clit, rubbing the swollen nub.

Waves of pleasure crashed over her. The orgasm made her clench her teeth, her sex vising around his cock. Tim growled, then withdrew, rubbing his cock along the cleft of her ass until he too groaned in orgasm.

Exhaustion overcame Caera. She slid away from the pool edge and would have slipped under the water if Tim hadn’t caught her. Lifting her in his arms with one hand under her shoulders, the other under her knees, he carried her from the water. 

Caera shifted, goose bumps breaking out on her naked body. She was lying curled against Tim on a pool chair. From the feel of it, the newly delivered chair was still wrapped in plastic. Beside her, Tim’s breathing was slow and even.

Caera slipped out of his arms. Grabbing the first dry article of clothing she found—Tim’s shirt—she slipped it on and tiptoed out of the pool house. The night was cold and clear. Her toes pinched with pain as she dashed across the gardens to the side entrance of the west wing. It was late and all the hotel room doors were closed, so Caera was able to sneak to the housekeeping closet near the elevator without seeing anyone. 

Towels pressed to her chest, she raced back, wincing as stones in the path dug into her cold feet. 

A light flicked on in the pool house. The small ball of light was faint, as if it came from a lighter. Tim must have woken. A second light appeared. The twin flames wavered and danced in an uncertain pattern. Caera drew in a breath. That wasn’t Tim with a lighter. That was something else.

Fear clawing at her, Caera sprinted the rest of the way, heedless of the damage to her feet. There were things in Glenncailty that no scientist would ever be able to explain but that were real and dangerous. She hadn’t thought this building was haunted, at least not after it was gutted.

She burst through the door. 

The lights hovered over the pool, their reflections on the surface of the water making it appear as if there were four. Wary, Caera edged along the wall towards Tim. She’d gone no more than five steps when the lights froze, then zoomed towards his sleeping form.

“Tim!” Caera shouted his name and ran. 

Tim jerked up, head whipping around as he looked for her. There was a split second when his startled face was illuminated by the lights, which were on a collision course with his chest. Just before they would have touched him, they blinked out. 

“Caera?” He stood, naked body silhouetted against the wall of glass doors.

Her heartbeat slowed, though adrenaline still coursed through Caera.

“I brought towels.” She handed him one.

Tim took a towel from the stack she held and wrapped it around her shoulders. He dropped to his knee and used a second towel to rub her legs before wrapping it around her waist “Did you see something? Were you calling me?”

Caera looked down at him, unsure how to handle the caring attention. She took a towel and hesitantly draped it around his shoulders. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“You’re welcome.” He didn’t seem to notice how odd she found being cared for. “Did you shine a flashlight at me or something? I could have sworn I saw lights and heard people talking, and then you were here.” His eyes widened in comprehension. “Was that a ghost?”

Caera looked away, not sure how to deal with his delighted horror. After a moment, she realized she didn’t know what to say, and settled for quoting Shakespeare. “‘Now it is the time of night that the graves, all gaping wide, every one lets forth his sprite.’”

Chapter Six

The Light

Caera looked at the pool, grimacing. Somewhere at the bottom were a variety of clothing items she couldn’t see. Her wet clothes from the pool deck were bundled in one of the towels while she wore a second towel around her chest along with her pants. She’d found her shoes. Tim stood behind her wearing his shirt and a towel, staring at the dark water. “It’s late,” she told him. “You should take yourself to bed.”

“We should both go to bed. Together.” He rubbed her upper arms, his chest at her back warm and solid.

Caera shook her head. “Ah, no. That wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Why?”

“I have to go.” Caera twisted away from him, slipping on her wet shoes. 

“We have a deal.”

Caera stilled. She shouldn’t see him again, certainly shouldn’t touch him again. She hadn’t meant to touch him the first time. Sorcha had one-night affairs with men all the time, but the romances never survived until morning, as much as the men might want them to. If Sorcha could brush men off, then she could too.

“What was said in the water was passion, nothing more.” Caera headed for the door.

“We had a deal.” Tim, not unexpectedly, stopped her with a hand on her hip.

Caera didn’t turn to face him. His touch made her entire body tingle with longing. She’d be lost if she looked at him. “You blackmailed me.”

“Yep.”

His unrepentant attitude startled a laugh from her.

“I’m not done with you, Caera Cassidy.”

“And if I’m done with you, Tim Wilcox?”

“That’s too damn bad.”

Caera sighed as if resigned, but she was thrilled. She wanted him again, still. “Very well.”

“You know…” he stepped up behind her, pulling her hair to the side so he could breathe his words against her neck, “…you’re not fooling anyone. You want this as much as I do.”

Caera tipped her head back against his shoulder. “No.”

“Yes.”

“Maybe.”

“Yes.”

“Morning.” Though she longed to turn in his arms and kiss him, Caera stepped away, twisted to face him. She’d conceded enough.

Tim was smiling, a devilish look of mischief and cunning. “I look forward to it.”

Caera tipped her chin. “You’ll come to me.”

“Okay, what room are you in?”

Caera’s lips twitched. “Your bargain didn’t include my telling you that. And you can’t go asking people. This is my job, and they can’t know we were together.”

He nodded once. “You won’t tell me?”

“No.”

“And if I don’t find you by say, 2 P.M., the deal is off?”

“You said morning. If you don’t find me by noon, it’s off.”

“I accept your challenge.” Tim bowed, like a knight of old.