Page 30 of Shamrocked
Ivarr came toward us at a dead run, his long black coat flapping behind him like wings. He leaped, lifting the sword high above his head, and light poured out of his chest. Only this light sustained him in the air so that he flew over the lake. With one stroke of his massive sword, he hacked a deep slice into horse’s neck, almost lopping off its head. Though it hung there, flopping, screaming out a strident whinny.
Aidan surged up out of the water and finished the job. Still twitching, the tentacles folded up like a writhing nest of thick snakes and sank into the deep channel.
Warwick carried me to shore. I was shivering so hard my muscles were cramping up. Vivi touched my cheek and hissed. “She’s ice cold. We’ve got to get these wet clothes off her.”
“I didn’t. Bring. Spares.”
“Give her to me,” Keane demanded, shoving the flame thrower out of the way.
I would have groaned if could get my muscles to cooperate. I’d already tasted his kind of magic and I didn’t think I would be able to survive climaxing on top of hypothermia. Surely there was another way to warm me up.
Pulling me toward him, though Warwick still held me too, Keane locked his mouth over mine. I braced for the surge of desire. Instead, he breathed fire into me. Glorious heat. Tiny sparks spun through my blood stream, cascading brighter and hotter. It hurt, too, like I’d swallowed a gallon of scalding hot coffee, but it was heavenly at the same time. My skin started to heat, like I was sunbathing. Hot enough that Warwick must have felt it too. I heard the catch in his breath, and felt a subtle shift of his grip on me.
:We’re both going to come when the magic peaks,:Keane warned in my head.:Pointy Ears, too, if he’s touching your bare skin. But you’ll be warm and dry and hopefully not scorched.:
Um, yeah. Scorched would be just as bad as frozen.
The fire coursed through my body and settled deep in my groin. Liquid heat pooled there, making my muscles ache. My pussy clenched, and I couldn’t hold back a moan. I hurt, but with need this time. I hooked an arm around Keane’s neck. My other hand was tangled up in Warwick. His hair, it felt like. Maybe his shirt too. As desire crested in me, magic flared deep in my stomach in a spinning circle. Keane and Warwick were like spokes of the wheel, but the hub was inside me. The wheel tried to spin, but some of the spokes were missing. It wobbled, off balance and incomplete, yet the magic rolled through me and spun back toward them in a stronger wave.
I was the conduit. I magnified their power.
If we could find Doran and make the wheel complete…
No wonder Balor wanted the treasures broken apart and crippled.
No wonder the kelpie wanted to drown me. Though I didn’t have any power of my own… I made the formidable treasures even stronger.
The wave of power hit Keane and his fingers tightened on my cheek as he groaned into my mouth. Warwick pushed against me, sandwiching me between him and Keane, and I thought I’d die with bliss. Now I trembled from head to toe, but with pleasure. I’d never really thought about having two men in bed at the same time, but now that I felt them shaking, coming against me, even though they weren’t inside me, I wanted it. I wanted it so badly that a very horny part of my brain insisted it’d be a grand idea to take them down to the ground right here and have my wicked way with them.
“Right, so Ivarr and I are out there saving your cute arse, and you’re too busy coming all over each other to even say thank you.”
Keane released my mouth but I sagged against him, nestled between him and Warwick. I finally managed to get my head to turn, enough to look at Aidan, and while he wore a fierce scowl, his eyes weren’t frosty. They blazed like blue fire.
“She was cold,” Keane said. “I warmed her up.”
“Fucking eejits,” Aidan retorted, shaking his head. “Did it not occur to you that the leprechaun could have bathed her in magic and taken away the chill with a thought?”
Warwick rubbed his mouth against the top of my head and let out a pleased little sound that made my inner muscles tighten all over again. “This was more fun. Though I will bathe us now so we don’t stink of sex as we go free the gargoyle. I don’t want him to beat me into a bloody pulp for touching her.”
Green light spilled through me. I heard tinkling chimes and his scent rolled over me: a green, lush jungle, sweet fruits and flowers, bright and colorful and glorious.
They set me on my feet between them. My clothes were dry, even my parka. My hair was fluffed out like I’d stuck my head under a dryer. I’d lost the ponytail holder somewhere. Warwick doused himself and Keane, and then dumped green magic over Aidan too, so he was dry after diving in after me.
He came closer and I threw my arms around him. He squeezed me tightly enough I grunted, unable to breathe. But again, this was a good pain.
“I thought I fucking lost you,” he whispered roughly against my ear. “Don’t fucking do that again.”
“Are there going to be more kelpies ahead?”
“The fuck if I know. Probably worse things, to be honest.”
Great. I blew out a sigh and pulled back enough to see his face. “Thank you. And you too, Ivarr. What you two did was incredible.”
Ivarr smiled cheerfully. “At least we know you’re on the right track. No way would a kelpie be camped out in this random lake in Missouri if it wasn’t guarding something important.”
“You did kill it, right?”
His smile slipped to a grimace. “Hopefully, aye. But even beheaded kelpies can sometimes work their twisted dark magic and sprout a new head.”
