Goddess of the Grove Read online

  Tongue-tied?

  Korey attempted to argue the point but was distracted when Gigi leaned over, the side of her breast brushing his shoulder, making his cock twitch. The amused look on Coyle’s face made Korey want to slap him out of his chair. It wouldn’t be the first time such a thing had happened, nor would it be the last. Gigi picked then to put her hand on Korey’s shoulder, saving his cousin from an ugly fate. Her very touch calmed him. Always had and, he hoped, it always would.

  “Kor, you want anything?”

  I want you.

  For a moment, all Korey could hear was the beating of his heart. He wouldn’t have been the least bit shocked to see the organ burst free of his chest. It wasn’t as if his magik couldn’t cause something that absurd to happen. Hell, his cock was on the verge of breaking loose, why not the rest of him? Whenever she was around anything was possible.

  He swallowed dryly, focusing on Gigi and the question she’d asked. “No, and I can get my own. You do nae need to be waiting on me hand and foot, Gigi.”

  Though, I wouldnae turn you down should you offer to spend the night pleasing me.

  Thankfully, his inner thoughts remained hidden. Making an even bigger fool of himself in front of his cousin wasn’t how Korey wanted to spend the remainder of his evening. He’d be hard-pressed to get Coyle to stop teasing him as it was.

  Gigi gave his shoulder a squeeze. “You know, Kor, you should really lay off the weights. I think you’re harder than the table.” She tapped the table with her free hand for emphasis.

  If she only knew how hard he truly was, she’d run screaming from the pub. All he wanted to do was spread her out before him and sink his cock into her glorious depths. Taking her would be heavenly, of that he was sure. So many nights he’d pictured her spread out below him as he pumped his cock to release. It was Gigi’s face he saw when his orgasm struck and it was her body he wanted to find comfort in tonight.

  Tonight? Pfft, more like every night.

  Gigi slid her hand down his arm and lifted his black T-shirt sleeve. He wanted her caress to dip further, venture into bedroom territory but Korey knew enough to relish her touch regardless.

  She ran her finger over one of his many Celtic and druid tattoos and fire shot through his body. As she traced the one meaning eternal, he stared into her blue eyes and longed to tell her the truth about who he was.

  I’m an immortal druid sorcerer, lass, and I cannae think of going a day without you.

  The words never left his mouth.

  Gigi’s soft smile was hypnotic. “Are we still on for tomorrow night?”

  “Aye.” He stared, transfixed by her sheer presence.

  Coyle’s chuckle pulled Korey from his stupor. “Now what would you and my cousin be planning for tomorrow?”

  Korey gulped, not wanting Coyle to learn the lengths to which he’d go to spend time with Gigi.

  Gigi grinned. “Friday night is movie night for us. You didn’t know?” She stroked the back of Korey’s neck, as if petting him. He was fine with that. “Korey and I have spent almost every Friday night for the past two years either going to see a movie or watching one at my place.”

  “You do nae say.” Coyle’s amused look equaled one thing—he was planning to embarrass Korey.

  Korey stiffened.

  “What is the movie of choice this week?”

  Gigi ran her fingers into Korey’s hair, causing him to temporarily forget his manly, warrior ways were about to be called into question. “Whatever I want to see. I try to get him to pick but he always leaves it up to me. This week we’re renting a new release. One I’ve been wanting to see about a girl who tries to make it big in New York.”

  Coyle’s lips trembled. “So, Korey likes chick flicks?”

  Gigi rolled her eyes playfully and bent, pressing a chaste kiss to Korey’s cheek. “No, he doesn’t, but he still comes each and every week to keep me company. And if you, Coyle O’Caha, dare to make fun of him about it, I’ll call your wife and tell her how much you think the idea of a man spending time doing things a woman likes is hilarious.”

  Coyle paled. “Och, now do nae be hasty, Gigi. I never said I thought it was funny. I just…umm…so, the girl tries to make it big in New York? Sounds fascinating. Might rent that one myself.”

  It was Korey’s turn to laugh.

  Gigi gave a slight wave to a patron across the pub and Korey reached up, taking her hand in his. Even he was shocked at the move. He was even more surprised to find himself drawing her onto his lap. She felt as if she’d been made to fit him perfectly.

  Gigi giggled. “Korey, what are you doing?”

  I’m getting ready to fuck you.

  His thoughts sobered him instantly, but he didn’t release his hold on Gigi. She felt too good, too right in his arms. As she put her arms around his neck, his cock fought against his jeans, wanting to be free.

  Gasping, Gigi froze. “Umm, Kor?”

  He had little doubt she could feel how much he wanted her. Touching her chin, he directed her gaze to his. “Aye?”

  She wiggled, making him groan. “N-nothing.”

  “Will the two of you need to be gettin’ a room?” Coyle asked, taking a drink of his beer and winking at Korey.

  One can only hope.

  They stayed like that for what seemed like forever. Korey closed his eyes and pulled Gigi’s head down, causing their foreheads to touch. He exhaled slowly, doing his best to control the raging need rushing through him. He waited for Gigi to yell, to push away from him, anything to show she didn’t share his feelings. The moment her warm, tender lips pressed against his, he jerked, nearly dumping her from his lap.

  Laughing, Gigi hopped to her feet and shook her head. “Looks as though I can still knock their socks off, huh?”

  “Verra smooth,” Coyle said, grinning from ear to ear.

  Chapter Two

  The door to the pub opened and the lightning outside acted as a backdrop for the tall, ominous figure filling the frame. Instantly Korey sensed danger, as did Coyle. They pushed to their feet and Korey tugged Gigi behind him, readying himself for a possible attack. It was rare but not completely unheard of for a supernatural attack to occur with human witnesses. Granted, it was considered bad form, but so was going rogue and killing humans. Sadly, it happened. It was his job to clean up the mess whenever it did.

  Gigi ignored his attempt at keeping her safe. She picked up the tray with their empty bottles on it and headed to the kitchen. The figure in the doorway stiffened and Korey sensed power rolling off the man. Korey and Coyle immediately drew upon their magik, preparing to fight if need be. So in tune with one another, they needed almost no words to pass between them. They’d fought enough battles together over the centuries to anticipate the other’s moves and they could recognize the other’s power in the blink of an eye.

  The man stepped in farther. His eyes were so dark they looked to be as black as his short hair. Silver earrings lined each ear and tattoos covered his neck and the exposed portions of his arms. The second Korey spotted the man’s markings, he drew upon more of his magik. The newcomer’s symbols indicated he was into some serious magik. The oppressive feeling in the air meant only one thing—the magik was dark.

  “Hey, Kor, you sure you don’t want another—” Gigi’s words died on her lips and Korey turned to see her eyes widen with something akin to fright.

  “Georgia,” the man said, his voice deep.

  Gigi dropped the tray and the bottles hit the floor, breaking upon contact. Her gaze snapped to Korey before landing back on the man in the doorway.

  “Can I help you, stranger?” Coyle asked, his tone warning.

  The corners of the man’s mouth drew upwards. “Just here looking for someone.”

  Korey stood tall, puffing out his chest. He shouldn’t feel threatened by the man, yet he did. It wasn’t even a fear of being bested in battle that consumed him, it was something else. The urge to glance at Gigi was great. He held back. Was it fear of losing her?


  “We’ve no one named Georgia here.” Coyle kept his magik high. It pressed alongside Korey’s, forming a nice barrier between the man and Gigi, should he attempt a mystical attack of any kind.

  “Funny—” The man stared past Korey to Gigi. “—I seem to have found her. Though she’s nae giving me much in the way of a greeting.”

  Gigi cleared her throat. “Umm, sorry, Parth, I’m just shocked to see you. I thought you…umm…I thought…”

  Parth grinned. “Dead? Yeah, the rumors have been circulating. Tell me—” He took another step in. “—are the ones about you being married true? What did yer ma tell me his name was?” He rubbed his chin. “Oh, yes, Korey.”

  Coyle’s eyes widened and he looked as shocked as Korey felt. Korey had met Gigi’s mother on more than one occasion. She knew they weren’t married. Why would she tell a stranger such a thing?

  A shiver of understanding slid up his spine. Because she knows I can protect her daughter.

  “I’m Korey and, aye, Gigi and I are wed. Are you here to wish us yer best?”

  Gigi drew in a sharp breath and rushed to his side. “No, Korey, don’t—”

  Korey twisted and pulled her into his arms. She fit flawlessly against him. “Do nae be shy, lil’ one, tell me who yer friend is.”

  Parth clenched his fists. “Better yet, Georgia, you can tell me why yer husband dinnae seem to recognize yer name.”

  Korey held Gigi close, ignoring the fact she was trying to break away from him. He could feel her fear of the man and he’d be dammed if he let harm befall her. Cool, protective energy enveloped him and he was unsure of its source. He knew enough to know it wasn’t his cousin’s and Korey highly doubted the guy in the doorway gave a rat’s arse about soothing his temper.

  “Do I nae get even a hug from you, Georgia?” Parth’s gaze was hard. “Seems to me, there was a time in our lives, you were all too willing to embrace me.”

  Jealousy flared in Korey. How could Gigi align herself with a man such as Parth, one who practiced the dark arts? Did she know? No. She couldn’t have. If she had then she would understand and know what Korey truly was. Since she’d never once uttered a word about magik, he found it hard to believe Gigi knew it existed.

  Parth whispered a spell in an ancient language few still knew and a rush of dark power moved over the pub, coating the patrons. Korey recognized it for what it was—a spell to halt time in the minds of humans. Magiks would still move and think freely during it. As Coyle stiffened, making no comment about the spell, Korey knew his cousin was thinking the same thing he was—let’s see what this asshole has up his sleeve.

  *

  Gigi blinked, shocked to see a man she’d long thought dead standing in the entrance of the pub. Parth looked harder than he had before. Gone was the smile he once wore, replaced with a deep-set knowledge of what it was like to walk on the darker side of existence. There had been a time in her life she’d followed Parth blindly, believing they had a future together. That time had passed.

  Glancing around the pub, she noticed no one other than Parth was moving. “What have you done?”

  “Made it so we can speak in private, Georgia.” He put his hand out to her but she didn’t leave the safety of Korey’s embrace. “I’ll nae hurt you, lass. You know as much.”

  “Do I?” She shook her head as she noted the number of tattoos covering his body. Gigi knew what the symbols meant. She also remembered a time he wore only ones representing good.

  Parth stepped closer and raked his gaze over her. “Yer even more beautiful than I remember. Married life agrees with you.”

  Fearing for Korey’s safety, Gigi slid out of his hold and ran her hand down his muscular arm. “Don’t hurt him, Parth. Please. He’s a good man and he doesn’t know about things like us.”

  Parth tipped his head back and laughed. “Things like us? They do nae know yer real name or what you truly are? You tied yerself to a man based on lies, Georgia. Yet you would fault me for what I did to be with you.”

  “What you did was wrong. You took power from a source of darkness for personal gain.”

  “Personal gain?” He slammed his fist into his chest. The sound made her wince. “I took it to be with you. To have the power to free you from the ties holding you to the Otherworld. You dinnae ask to be born to yer parents…to be next in the line for their power…and to see you being punished for merely existing was too much.”

  She couldn’t help but go to him. He was right to a point. He had taken on dark magik in order to free her from a binding spell holding her in the Otherworld. She’d spent the equivalent of hundreds of human years locked away, but it had felt like only a year or so to her. Time moved differently between realms and when one was trapped between them, all rationality went out the window. All that remained was the fact time had indeed passed rapidly while she was prisoner—at least for everyone but Gigi. “Thank you again for coming for me, Parth.”

  “It was my duty as a druid sorcerer, Georgia. And it was—” His body stiffened, as if he were apprehensive. “—my duty as the man who loved you.”

  She covered her mouth, fighting her emotions.

  “You stood before yer uncle, demanding he leave our immortality intact and nae—”

  Gigi’s chest tightened at the memory of it all. “Parth, he wanted to wipe all of you from the face of the earth. The little ones he…he was going to kill the…”

  Parth caressed her cheek. “I know, lass. I was there. I remember how yer uncle threatened the lives of the children born to be immortal sorcerers. I’ll never forget you barging into that village, putting yer power over its residents and shouting with all yer might how you wouldnae allow harm to come to them.”

  A small laugh tore free of her as she thought of the little boy with hair as dark as night creeping from his family’s home to stand near her side. He’d tugged on her dress and given her a handful of freshly picked flowers.

  Parth’s gentle touch brought Gigi out of her memories of the night. In reality it had been over seven hundred years ago. For her, it had been less than ten years. Ten short years ago she’d encased the residents of the village in a protective spell and paid dearly for her actions—two years trapped between realms and eight living with the knowledge she escaped, but only barely.

  “Had I known giving you flowers would win yer hand in marriage, I would have done so myself.” Parth glanced towards Korey. “Though, I lacked the same boyish charms then.”

  “Did Norval hurt them?” She’d been taken, her powers bound and her life forfeited before she’d set foot out of the village. Gigi had spent almost all of her time locked away worrying her uncle had still managed to find a way to destroy the children of the druids.

  “No.” Parth crossed his arms over his powerful chest. “Yer uncle couldnae touch any of the druids in the village. They nae only carried their immortality but that of a goddess as well. ’Tis why Norval was able to take you without incident. You had weakened yerself to protect them.”

  A gasp caught Gigi’s attention. She glanced at Korey but he didn’t appear to have moved. “Do you know what became of the villagers?”

  Parth cleared his throat as his body stiffened. “Aye. They upheld their sworn promise to protect nature, the magik, train others in the craft and fight evil. They grew, fighting the battle while you lay beaten, broken and near death in a cell nae fit for an animal, let alone a person. And I do nae want to hear about how you were only there for two years because I saw the condition yer uncle left you in, two minutes was too long, Georgia.”

  She winced. “Gigi. Please call me Gigi.”

  “Tell me how it is you came by the name first.”

  She snickered. “The little boy who gave me the flowers was thinking it when he heard you call my name. I unknowingly tapped into his thoughts long enough to pick up on it. I don’t think he could pronounce my name. I liked his version better, so when I was free, I used it.”

  “This boy—” Parth’s heated gaze r
emained on Korey. “—meant a lot to you. Why?”

  “I wondered that often enough myself. Maybe he was destined to do great things for our kind, Parth. Maybe he was to father a child who was pivotal to our…umm…the side of good staying ahead all these years.”

  Parth rubbed his chin. “I am nae working for the enemy, Gigi. I possess their powers but I do nae believe in their cause. I remain close to them, reporting my findings to others, to help our side stay ahead of them. I was too new to the power when we last met to control it fully. You did what had to be done, Gigi. There can be no fault in that.”

  “That may be the case, Parth, but it doesn’t make what happened hurt less. I watched you kill an innocent with your bare hands before turning on bystanders.” She shook her head. “I was powerless to stop you. I tried. I did, Parth.”

  “Shhh, Gigi. You did stop me from killing so many more. The moment my hands wrapped around yer neck, I woke from what felt like a dream. I couldnae hurt you and by putting yerself between me and the innocents, you saved the rest of them.”

  “Why have you come?” Defeat, guilt and a sense of what if came over her.

  Parth sighed. “To assure yer well. The dark ones have learned Norval stripped you of yer powers and that yer free. They’re nae always the quickest to catch onto things, Gigi. You know how they are…how it is for immortals. We blink and it seems a human year has passed.”

  He was right and she knew it.

  “They seek to make an example of you to show what happens to an unguarded female of good.” He cast a speculative glance at Korey. “Yer mother told me you live as a human now. I dinnae believe her and I feared this husband she spoke of would nae be equipped to protect you from the dark ones.”

  Gigi covered her mouth at the thought of Korey being attacked because of her. “Ohmygods, Parth, I have to go! I can’t lead them to these people. Coyle and Korey are great men. And Deri is my best…oh gods, Deri and CJ. I can’t let anything happen to them.”