Page 45 of Her Irish Treasures
“I can nip downstairs for some coffee if you’d like,” Ivarr offered. “It’s not as good as what your friend made, but it’s better than nothing.”
“That’d be great, thank you.”
He leaned down, bracing his forearm on the headboard. “My pleasure,mo stór.”
His eyes gleamed with soft golden light that seemed to flow into me, filling me with sunshine and warmth. It felt incredible, like an internal hug and a thousand compliments all wrapped up into an exquisite chocolate candy that dissolved on my tongue and sweetened my entire body.
I cupped his cheek, tracing my thumb along his jawline, enjoying the roughness from his stubble. “You really are incredible.”
He closed his hand over mine, moving my fingers so he could kiss each fingertip. “Nothing compared to the treasure of your heart.”
I tipped my head back, offering my mouth silently, if he wanted a kiss. He did indeed. His soft lips nibbled against mine and the sense of glow intensified. As if I was swallowing a warm, thick glob of honeyed sunlight. So good. I could feel that heat spreading through me as if I’d thrown back a shot or two of fine Irish whiskey.
He lifted his head, his eyes sparkling with faceted rays of sunlight.
“Wow,” I breathed out. Too bad I hadn’t brushed my teeth yet. I would have gladly opened up for a deeper kiss.
“You give me that power,mo stór. My light had all but died out before we found you. I’ll be right back.”
Warm sparks danced through my blood as I watched him leave. Double wow. His ass filled out his jeans just as spectacularly as his kiss had lit me up. Shaking myself out of a dazed stupor, I got up and dragged the bag into the bathroom. Aidan had even thought to grab my toothbrush. Bless his grumpy heart.
At the very bottom of the bag, I found the worn gold coin that had allowed me to step intoShamrockedthe first time. Did I still need the coin to enter the pub? Or would it look like the old run-down abandoned house again? As long as I was with the guys, it probably didn’t matter. They were the lost magical treasures of Ireland.
I was just the human lucky enough to be their conduit.
Though holding Warwick’s gold coin made me feel a little more magical and less like a basic human. I slipped the coin into my pocket, determined to carry it with me as a good luck charm. Hopefully more of that magic would find me.
Freshly scrubbed and dressed in my favorite faded, paint-streaked jeans, I found Ivarr waiting for me with the promised cup of coffee. “I wasn’t sure how you liked it, so I brought some packets of creamer and sugar.”
I ripped open some packets of the dried creamer and stirred them in, but they did little to help the bitterness. It was still caffeine. “What’s on the agenda today?”
“I called Aidan while I was downstairs, and he said they’re going to be another couple of hours. What would you like to do in the meantime?”
“I’d like to head over to the warehouse and get some of my paintings listed for sale. Vivi got me connected with an online art gallery. I just need to finish uploading the pictures.”
Then, if I still had time… I’d see if the muse had anything new to say.
4
We grabbed some fast food on the way to the warehouse. Munching on salty fries, I got the first canvas loaded to the gallery’s site. I chose to sell the painting I’d done of the gargoyle in the creepy church graveyard, but I couldn’t bear to part with the portraits of each of the guys. I put an insanely high price on the church one, thinking it probably wouldn’t sell anyway, but if it did, it would solve my immediate cash problems.
I definitely needed to prepare something new to sell. Painting for myself was one thing. Painting for profit… I wasn’t sure what would sell anyway. In a perfect world, I’d paint whatever I wanted, and it would sell like hotcakes. I snorted, shaking my head. A fairytale for sure.
To warm up and get my creative juices flowing, I started by painting Ivarr. The way he sat so casually and easily, a warm light in his eyes. A ready smile on his lips. Golden energy rising up like a nimbus around him.
Nice. But I wanted to go deeper. Something more challenging. “Would you take your shirt off?”
He winked at me as he tugged his t-shirt over his head without hesitation. I painted him sitting, facing me. Turning away. The long, lean lines of his back. His graceful, gentle fingers. The black flap of his coat rising around him like wings as he flew out over the lake to help Aidan. The heavy longsword held in both of his hands over one shoulder.
His light pushing back the imps in the cellar. Shining. Always shining against the darkness. Slowly dimming.
Until he kissed me. Which lead me to thinking about his mouth. The delicious, rounded curve of his ass.
“No fucking fair.”
I jolted at the vicious tone near my ear, whipping my head around to see that Aidan had joined us, along with Doran and Keane. “Hello to you too.”
He scowled at me, even as he leaned in and pressed a hard, searing kiss to my lips. “I’m next.”
