Shelley Munro

Aislyn glanced at Rory as he peered up through the sturdy wooden gate.

“Are you ready, lass?” His wrinkled face bore concern, but at least he’d stopped trying to talk her out of the ride.

Inside the chute, Aislyn gave a clipped nod. She clamped a black cap on top of her head and waited, her stomach jitterbugging with nerves.

“On the count of three, lass. One.”

A shuddering breath filled her lungs to capacity.

“Two.”

Aislyn tightened her grip on the reins, wrapped her slim legs around the streamlined body that quivered with fury beneath her and leaned back in the saddle.

“Three!”

The gate shot open with a protesting creak. Muscles bunched beneath her, and a bad-tempered neigh exploded from the dragonfly as it sprang from the chute. Aislyn’s body jerked. She ignored the protesting shake of taut muscles and clung more tightly, determined to emerge the winner in this battle of wills.

She had to win–she just had to.

The dragonfly skewed to the left, bucked and twisted mid-air. Sides heaved in exertion, wings flapping frantically. One jolting buck merged into another. Aislyn’s whole body jarred with each powerful surge. Her head snapped back. Her teeth rattled. She could do this. Eight seconds wasn’t that long…

The brief lapse in concentration proved all the edge her opponent required. Aislyn sailed over the dragonfly’s head, landing in the dusty arena with a bone-crunching thump.

Aislyn sucked hoarsely for breath. Rat’s tails! Failure when the honeyed taste of success had been so close. Close enough to touch. She tried a tentative movement. A jagged shaft of pain shot up her leg, radiating outward. She gasped as every bone in her body protested the abuse. The sound of running feet beat in unison with her head.

“Aislyn, sweetheart. Are you all right?”

A stupid question. Totally idiotic. Was she all right? Huh! Aislyn didn’t recognize the strong brogue, but suspected it was Rory rushing to her aid and her hearing was fuzzy from the fall. Was she all right? Of course she wasn’t!

She’d failed to last the required eight seconds.

“Aislyn.” Gentle hands probed at her body, leaving a tingling warmth in their wake. They turned her over, and she bit back a moan of protest. “Aislyn!” The voice took on a stern tone, almost angry, while the hands grasped her shoulders.

“Stop squeeze…squeezing me,” Aislyn muttered. Her eyelids fluttered open.

“How many fingers?”

Aislyn focused blearily then gasped at the harsh visage that swam into view. Midnight black hair and gray eyes the color of the Tasman Sea on a stormy day. She sighed, convinced she was dreaming, but murmured his name aloud anyway. “Seamus?”

“Hell’s teeth, Aislyn! What were you thinking?” He ground out the words from between clenched teeth while his fists tightened on her shoulders. She winced at the flash of pain. “You could have been killed!”

Well, she’d wanted his attention but not quite like this. Aislyn groaned and pushed to a sitting position.

“Why?” he demanded, his gray eyes diamond hard in an equally hard face.

She felt a fiery blush bloom on her face and spread downward. Rats. Why did he have to arrive home right at this specific moment? It seemed all the single most embarrassing moments in her life occurred in front of Seamus. If she’d thought about things a little harder, she’d have guessed he’d turn up.

“Are you going to answer me?”

Aislyn decided to respond to his interrogation from a standing position. The way he loomed over her made her feel vulnerable. Feminine. Not a good look for a recruit. She gritted her teeth and pushed to her feet with a wobble. Masculine hands shot out to steady her, but she shrugged them off. “I don’t need your help.” And I can’t think when you touch me.

“You need a keeper,” he growled.

She tried to look Seamus right in the eye, she really did. But a few seconds of that mesmerizing glare and her gaze shot to her dusty black boots, while her heart pumped in double-time to keep her from expiring on the spot. She sighed, acutely aware of his athletic physique and the way he towered over her by a good eight inches. Aislyn snuck a quick look at his face. Tanned, not handsome or pretty but masculine. Confident. A reassuring male to have around and the male she lusted… Two rats and a mouse! She’d thought she’d had this crush thing beat.

“Why, Aislyn?”

“I have to prove I can ride,” she mumbled. “I want to join the fairy force.” Since I can’t have you.

“What?” His eyes turned to molten steel. A vein twitched in his clenched jaw. Seamus stalked closer.

“You’re always yelling at me.” Even though they were almost chest to chest, Aislyn stood her ground and scowled back. Quick panting breaths partially blocked his appealing citrus scent. She thought she saw a flicker of admiration in his face but wasn’t sure. Frustration at his attitude made her tense, like a mythical cat primed to pounce. Seamus had no right to tell her what to do.

“The fairy force doesn’t accept females. Or should I say, young headstrong juveniles?”

“Says who?” His smug tone infuriated her so much she whipped a small black book from her trouser pocket and slapped it against his hard chest. “Where in the rule book does it say that? Show me.”

Aislyn placed her hands on her hips and gave a triumphant smile. He couldn’t. She knew because she’d spent every waking hour of the last month pouring through that same little black book, checking the small print. No way did she intend to knock herself out training then be hauled back from the brink of success because of a stupid rule she’d missed.

Seamus glanced at the book before placing it on a nearby railing. “Aislyn, you don’t have a hope. When the board of directors stop laughing they’ll screw up your application form and send you away with a pat on the head. Hell, even if it’s not against some rule, nothing will come of your scheming. Face it, you’re not strong enough to complete the final training.”

“Not at the moment, no. But I’m smart. That’s half the battle won.”

His dark brows shot toward his hairline. “You forgot stubborn.”

Aislyn nodded, knowing the accusation was nothing less than the truth.

“Why?” he demanded. “Why do you want to leave the safety of the fairy colony? It’s dangerous out there, especially for fairy females.”

Why? He should try being a female fairy, restricted to Glenveagh. Never allowed to leave the colony because of stupid cats. Huh! She’d bet they were an urban legend. She bit down on the words at the tip of her unruly tongue. No point wasting her breath. Only to herself did she admit the truth.

There were only two things she wanted from life - Seamus Gallagher and the fairy force. And since Seamus treated her like a younger sibling, she intended to concentrate on joining the fairy force - even if she had to make fairy history to do it.

“Well?” Seamus stared at the copper-haired sprite standing in front of him. Defiant to the last. Her obstinate expression made him want to shake her silly or at least put her over his knee and spank some sense into her.

“I imagine for the same reasons you joined.” Her face flushed with indignation. “I want to see the human world. Explore Auckland and compare it to the colony. Do good deeds, fight destructive crime. I want to see what it feels like to be human size. I don’t like needlework. The other females can do it. Who wants to sew a straight line?”

She definitely needed some good sense spanked into that delectable… Hell’s teeth. Appalled, he put a brake on his thoughts. He sucked in a deep breath and let it ease out. “Tell me again. The truth this time.”

“That is the truth.” Aislyn’s small pointed chin shot up, and she inhaled deeply thrusting some stunning curves into prominence.

Dammit. Seamus averted his gaze hurriedly. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. The enticing vision remained imprinted in his mind so he started silently counting backwards from one hundred.

“You - you’re an M.C.P.!”

Her sky blue gaze struck like a bolt of lightning, stabbing right to his heart. His counting came to an abrupt halt. “M.C.P.?”

Aislyn gnawed on her full bottom lip. He realized he was staring. Ninety. Eighty-nine. Eighty-eight.

“Male chauvinist pig!”

“Male… Aislyn, that’s a human term. Where did you hear that? Have you been spying on the human that lives at the top of the garden? Have you been spying on the Guardian? He knew it was possible for the fairies to see out, given the right atmospheric conditions, but humans were unable to see inside the protective bubble of the colony.

“No!”

“Aislyn.”

Guilty color flooded her face and crept down toward her chest. Seamus grinned, starting to enjoy her predicament. Aislyn had been spying on him! Not that she knew it was him. One of the conditions he’d imposed on the board was secrecy. He had enough to worry about without the paparazzi dogging his heels, trying to establish if he took after his fickle, womanizing father.

“Oh, all right.” One dainty foot traced a pattern in the dusty arena. “I happened to be passing.”

“Happened to be passing? That’s a bit out of your way.” Hell’s teeth, this sounded promising. Damn. Eighty-seven. Eighty-six. Don’t say it. Don’t say it. “Fancy him, do you?” Dammit, stop fishing, Gallagher. Eighty-five. Eighty-four.

“Yes. No! All right,” Aislyn snapped.

This was Duncan’s baby sibling. Remember? Eighty-three. Hades, he must pick a candidate for his first lady and announce the betrothal before he committed a supreme act of stupidity. Even thinking possibilities… Hell’s teeth! Aislyn O’Sullivan was out of bounds. Eighty-two. Eighty-one. Eighty. Do not pursue this conversation. “And if you were a member of the fairy force you could travel freely between the human and fairy worlds. You could meet your human on equal terms.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “So now you know my pitiful secrets.”

As Seamus watched, she averted her face, but not before he saw the bright red flush on her cheeks again. Tenderness twisted inside him, and he reached out to grasp her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. He searched her face intently. “The fairy force is hard work.” He wasn’t so old he didn’t remember how difficult the training had been, how mentally draining and physically challenging it was. “It’s not glamorous. The human world isn’t that different from our colony. We have the same facilities here, some of the same problems. Why would you want to leave?”

“You don’t understand. I want this so badly, Seamus.”

“Ah, Aislyn.” Despite all thoughts of self-preservation, he pulled her into a loose embrace and smoothed his hand over her unruly mop of hair. In the bright New Zealand sunshine the curls looked like shiny new Irish pennies. They were soft and springy to the touch and smelled like fresh juicy apricots. She cuddled closer and gave a soft sigh. Seamus cursed inwardly. Bad move, Gallagher. He wished he wasn’t attracted to her. She was so determined, so stubborn. She made him want things that could never be, not if the colony was to survive into the next millennium.

He stepped back, putting a safer distance between them before cupping her face in his hands. “Have you any idea what you are letting yourself in for? I meant what I said; it won’t be easy. The odds are against your success, even if you manage to persuade the board to let you try out for the recruits.”

Aislyn smiled, and thought how cute he looked. So intent. So sincere. So similar to the human who lived at the top of the garden. She let out a small gasp. Was that why she felt so impelled to watch the human whenever she had the opportunity? Because he looked a bit like Seamus? Not that she’d had a clear view, since she’d only seen him from a distance. The veil that separated fairy from human made everything hazy. And that time when he’d been entertaining that woman. She’d heard them talk then.

“What?” A smile lurked in his eyes.

Some, she thought vaguely, might call it a mischievous twinkle, but she knew better. Seamus thought of her as an annoying younger sibling in need of protection. While she loved him. She railed at the injustice while her heart sank at the enormity of her problem.

“Nothing,” she mumbled. Seamus was a lost cause. He’d never consider her in a romantic light. That’s why she’d decided to set her sights on the force. Okay, so she carried cat-attracting pheromones. All the females did. Aislyn couldn’t see the problem. After all, how could a cat eat you if you were human-sized. According to rumor, a cat was a huge, hairy beast with fangs and smelly breath, but Aislyn was sure the story was exaggerated. She’d questioned the fairy force members when they came back on leave. They avoided straight answers so Aislyn thought cats had to be smaller than humans.

“I’ll help you,” he said without warning. “But I’m not making any promises. Duncan would want me to help you.”

Her brother.

Again.

Aislyn studied him, trying to read his expression but failed dismally. She had no idea what went on in that mind of his. Suspicion made her question. “You’re not joking? Making fun of me?”

Seamus clutched his chest and raised his eyes to the sky. “She wounds me.”

“Fool,” she snapped, trying not to stare at the rippling muscles under his pale blue shirt.

Seamus dropped his grin. “I’m offering to help you train.”

“Why?” Her eyes narrowed on the hard angles of his face. “You don’t approve.”

“Think of it as a favor to my best friend’s baby sister.”

Aislyn deflated inside like one of her manual attempts at a soufflé. Verbal proof. Exactly what she’d thought. He looked on her as a sister. In that moment she decided to accept his offer. And make him suffer for the unknowing hurt he’d inflicted.

“Okay,” she said, thrusting out her hand to seal the bargain. Aislyn steeled herself against the shiver of pleasure she knew would follow his touch. “So,” she said hurriedly. “Where and when do we start?”