Page 10

Chapter Ten

Balor

I ’d been so close to fucking her right there in the street.

I had her there, exposed to me, pink and panting with her cunt soaking wet and walls fluttering in anticipation. Practically begging for me to take her. And her scent, fire and fury , she smelled like she’d been forged just for me.

In the old days, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself. Control had never been my strong suit. What did I care if the humans saw me? I couldn’t shift into my true size and crush them beneath my feet, but I could burn them to a crisp before they got within a hundred feet of us.

Maybe it was some deep part of me that was slowly shaking awake. The king within, or whatever remained of him, knew his mate deserved to be bonded somewhere comfortable and safe. Not on the side of the filthy road.

She might have been a mortal—and a fecking McCrum at that—but regardless of the fact that she was my sworn enemy, I could touch her.

That condemned her to a fate worse than death.

Maeve would be my wee queen of the giants.

Not that there was anything for her to rule over, only bones and faded memories.

I half-expected the portal spell not to work.

Those cultists, descendants of the Tuatha Dé Danan, were after my eye for its ability to open a pathway to the magic realm of their ancestors.

What if their stray bullet had destroyed all hope of me performing that spell too? The irony was fecking demonic.

Unholy relief rippled through me when the portal opened in a burst of writhing flames. Lush foliage rustled in the breeze, and a potent wave of energy swept through the portal, licking against my skin like fire.

Stepping through the portal to Tír na nóg was a rush.

The magic here leaked from the trees, seeping into the soil and bleeding into the air. It was old and potent and even Maeve must have sensed it by the way she went still in my hold.

My castle walls had crumbled and the forest had long since taken over. But the gardens were the same. Faded memories of smoking a blackweed pipe here, high as a fecking fairie, pushed to the front of my mind.

Being free of my curse was a similar rush. My head, my whole body, whirled with dick tingling ecstasy.

I was home again. Even though home was nothing but rotted castle walls and the dusty bones of the female giants who’d died out when the males never returned from the battle of Mag Tuired.

“What are those?”

My attention dropped to Maeve tucked beneath my arm, who was craning her head to eye the rib bones which created arches over my gardens. “Giant bones, what else?”

Her face drained her color. “You can get that big?”

“Bigger. These are the bones of a female, a rather small one at that.”

I could feel her heart lurch, thrumming against her chest like it was trying to burst free. An infernal grin curled my lips.

She was no doubt imagining just how big parts of me could get.

Maeve didn’t know my power was leaking from my eye, and that I’d lost my ability to shift. Was she afraid I’d shift while I was inside her?

It was almost like Maeve could sense the dark path where my thoughts had wandered, because her efforts to free herself from my hold renewed. I dropped her to the lush forest floor, and she scrambled to her hands and knees.

She looked hellishly delicious in that position, and my cock stiffened as I imagined dropping to my knees, ripping that skirt off her and taking her from behind.

“Where are we?” She gingerly plucked a gold coin from the grass. Treasure littered the grounds among the roots and the grass and crumbling ruins.

“Tír na nóg. Commonly known as the Otherworld,” I said with a growl, my attention clamped to her backside. “These are my old palace grounds.”

“Looks more like a graveyard.”

“It is,” I responded with a sneer, hunger making me take a predatory step toward her.

She shot to her feet, skirt whirling around her curvy hips as she whipped around to face me, and stumbled back when she realized how close we were. As she fumbled backward, she tripped on a root protruding from the ground and fell onto her arse.

“W-why did you bring me here? To bury me?”

“I have no intention of killing ya, girl.” I paused, rubbing my flaming beard in thought. “Not anymore.”

“But you’re going to fuck me, right?” Her tone turned sharp, coming out as an accusation rather than a question. “You’ll kill me. You’re going to shift while you’re inside me. I—I just know it.”

Both my brows arched, and I crouched down with my hands gripping my knees so we were at eye level. Pathetic wee thing was terrified and outraged and confused by the desire she felt for me in equal portions. “Do ya now? See the future, do ye?”

“If you’re going to rape me, get it over with.”

“Rape?” I frowned. “No, Maeve. Make no mistake, we won’t be leavin’ this place until we’ve sealed our bond. But I won’t be forcin’ myself on ya.”

“Then you’ll die waiting, because I’m not fucking you.”

I smirked. “Really? Well, shame. I thought ya liked red-heads. Otherwise, why bring back that male from the pub?”

Maeve’s nostrils flared at the mention of the man from earlier. “I’m not going to fuck you because of your hair color. I’m not fucking you because you took everything from me. Not to mention, I’m way too small for you.” She pointed to my groin. “I’ll die if I try to ride that thing.”

I canted my head at her, grinning like a devil. “I think ye’ll enjoy it more than ya think.”

When she shook her head with a frantic motion, I sighed. “Yer a stubborn girl. How about this? See this bed of shamrocks?”

I gestured to the large patch of grass she sat in, which was covered in clovers. “Find me a four-leaf clover. Do that, and I’ll take it as a sign from the gods that we weren’t meant to mate.”

“How long do I have?” Her eyes narrowed, her voice laced with suspicion. I didn’t blame her for thinking this was just a way of torturing her. In a way, it was. Though, in a small part, it was a gesture so she’d think she had at least a shred of autonomy in this.

Even though she didn’t.

“You have as long as ya need. Search forever for all I care.”

“What if I get hungry?”

I took several steps toward a dilapidated building and sat on a portion of an old pillar, which made for a convenient stool, with the column lying in pieces several feet away. “Then find something to eat. This is the Otherworld. Magic makes the soil rich with nutrients; food grows everywhere.”

“But if I eat the food, won’t I be trapped here?”

I smiled to myself. She was already trapped. “Someone’s been readin’ too many fairy tales.”

I plucked a juicy berry from a nearby bush to demonstrate.

It was a plump berry that I couldn’t recall the name of, but it was almost as large as my head.

I plucked one of the round orbs of flesh clinging to its core and sank my teeth in, juice soaking into my pants and making my erection more noticeable than before.

Maeve’s eyelashes fluttered as she took in the way juice soaked my lips and gushed down my chin. No doubt she was thinking of how I’d feasted on her soaking cunt just minutes ago.

When I ran my tongue over my lips, groaning softly at the sweet nectar hitting my taste buds, she quickly averted her attention to her search among the clovers. “I’ll find a four-leaf clover, and when I do you’ll take me back to Ireland.”

That wasn’t the deal. I told her if she found a four-leaf clover, I wouldn’t be making her my mate after all. I didn’t bother correcting her. She could search until her eyeballs wore out. She wouldn’t be finding one.

I grinned smugly to myself and kicked my legs up on the broken pillar, making myself comfortable. “Whatever, ya little misfortune. Whatever ya say.”