Where is it written only men can be heroes?
Meav O’Shay didn’t start out to be a hero….in fact, circumstances started her in the opposite direction….
fleeing Ireland like a coward in the dead of night, after declining the proposal of the lecherous Hollister McGreary,
who murdered Meav’s entire family, Now Meav found herself a stowaway, hiding with the rats in the hull of the Sea Dragon,
the British vessel crashed upon the shores of a magical island…. Little did Meav know her coming had been foretold in the island’s Prophecy.
Meav felt her spirit rise from her body. She looked down at the stone slab and saw herself lying peaceful, deep in sleep. Neteru stood beside the stone altar, chanting and singing words Meav could not understand. The melody had a tranquil effect on her, as she floated to the chamber ceiling. ‘Twas from that vantage point she spotted the large, black cat. He entered the room slowly, his amber eyes rising to meet hers. Meav floated down...down...until her bare feet touched the stone floor. Then she climbed upon the panther’s back. With each feline step his muscles moved sensuously between Meav’s bare thighs. She gripped the fur at his powerful shoulders and rode his sleek, shiny body out of the chamber.
He took her to his cave, carefully setting her onto the pile of animal pelts. Then he sat before her, opened his large mouth to reveal long, sharp fangs and looked into her eyes, growling ferociously.
Meav was not frightened...oh, she should be, but she was not. She reached out and stroked the cat’s chest. “You do not scare me, so you can stop trying. I will not be that easily dealt with. ‘Tis time you let another help you.”
The cat’s eyes bathed Meav in adoration, searching each and every facet of her face. Slowly he backed away to the far corner of the cave and stood on his hind legs.
“Come to me, Rule,” Meav gently coaxed, extending her hand. “I am here now.”
In a blink of an eye the man replaced the animal, standing before her in nothing but a green loin cloth.
“‘Tis really you, then?” Rule muttered.
Meav stood. “Aye, ‘twas always me, it just took some time for me to understand.” She smiled warmly. “I am not afraid or repulsed by you, milord.”
Rule stepped closer. “Sute...how could you not be? I repulse myself.” He looked away, his words clipping into silence.
Meav inched her way toward him. “Look at me, milord.”
He brought his gaze to meet hers, regarding her for a long moment.
Meav saw the hurt and longing lying naked in his eyes. “I choose to see the man first, and marvel over how he has handled his plight instead of condemn him for it.”
Rule could feel his insides quake, the ice around his heart beginning to melt. How could a warrior feel such vulnerability? “Tell me sute...how can you do this, my lady?”
Meav placed her hand over her own heart. “Here tells me ‘tis right.”
Rule placed his hand over her heart. “What else does your heart say?”
“That you are the reason I am here, the reason I have been born,” Meav whispered.
“Nay, you were born to brighten this world, to love and make the man of your heart happy,” Rule said.
Meav swallowed and drew a steadying breath. “Could not that man be you, milord?”
Her simple question filled Rule with hope he had long lost, and a simple hunger he needed to satisfy. “Aye,” he whispered.
Meav gently touched Rule’s cheek. “You would have me then, milord?”
Rule pulled her tight to his chest. She was soft and yielding. “Aye...in a heartbeat.”
She smiled up at him. “Whose, milord? Yours or mine?”
He returned the smile. “Both,” he said before lowering his head and capturing her mouth with his.
His lips floated over Meav’s gently, their warmth weakening his resolve. She fell against him, and in that moment he was unable to resist her very essence.
He caught her up into his embrace, deepening the kiss, his tongue exploring the soft folds of her mouth.
Rule’s groan of pleasure echoed through the cave.
Meav’s hand drifted up around his neck, her fingers playing with the curls at his nape.
Her touch sent shivers of passion through his body, through his bones, swelling his loins beneath the skimpy green covering. He broke away and looked down at her. “My lady, you do not know what you are doing.”
She stared up with longing at him. “Rule...oh, Rule, but I do.”
His name, just a whisper upon her lips, melted the bitterness within. He suddenly sought solace in the silken oak of her voice. Overwhelmed by longing and sadness, Rule fought back his tears. “I have waited so long for you.”
Meav’s eyes softened with his response. “I am here now, to stay if ‘tis what you wish.”
Rule unlocked his heart and soul. Gently he traced her full lips with the tip of his finger. “‘Tis, my lady.”
A small smile curved her mouth, her large, round eyes fluttered bashfully.
Rule chuckled softly. “Ah, my little seductress is just a shy lass at heart.”
“I am an inexperienced lass, milord.” She tipped her head sideways. “But perhaps...slowly...you might educate me?”
Rule’s heart danced with excitement. “The best things are done slowly.”
Meav’s hand drifted toward his. “Will you teach me now?”
The rich, soft sound of her voice affected him intensely and a delightful shiver of wanting ran through him. He felt her dainty fingers interlace with his, her touch sending explosive currents running through him. “Are you sure ‘tis what you want, my lady?”
“Aye, milord...without me knowing it, I have been ready for this moment all me life.”
He pulled her to him, his skin sliding against her, his embrace growing more fevered. In one fluid motion he swept her, weightless, into his arms and carried her to the bed of pelts. Gently he placed her down upon the soft skins. Her eyes watched flirtatiously through the tendrils of fire that graced her forehead. “Ah, dear lady, you have not a clue what havoc you are causing deep within my flesh.”
Meav cast a quick glance at the bulge between his thighs. She was glad for the semi-darkness that hid the flush of her cheeks. “I believe I do, milord.”
Rule followed her gaze. “Would you like to see?”
Meav nervously cleared her throat, her heart was thundering. “Aye,” she whispered.
Rule untied the string holding the loin cloth and dropped the material to the floor. He lifted his eyes to meet hers and knelt before her. “Touch me, Meav.”
Meav’s hand trembled as it reached out toward him. Slowly she wrapped her fingers around his hardened shaft. The heat of his flesh permeated the palm of her hand. Gently she tightened her grip.
Rule inhaled sharply.
Meav moved her fingers to explore the two sacks between his legs. Tenderly her fingers enclosed around the soft pouches, weighing them as she fondled.
Rule strained to keep from exploding, wanting to experience her touch for as long as his hungry flesh would allow. Taking a deep breath he slowly removed her hand, his long fingers encompassing her tiny wrist. He reached for the other wrist and quietly laid her back onto the hides, nuzzling his face into the rich, glowing auburn of her hair. The thick mane fanned in long, graceful curls across the animal skins. Rule inhaled her scent, than moved his lips softly over hers.
Meav gave herself freely to the passion of his kiss; her warm lips sent new spirals of ecstasy through him.
Rule left the heat of her mouth to nibble at her earlobe, then to sear a path down her neck. Lower he traveled, till he came to the V neckline of the robe. With his teeth he pulled at the string lacing. The material opened wide, revealing two creamy orbs.
Meav gasped when his urgent tongue explored one globe, its rosy peak marble hard. Her breast surged at the intimacy of his touch.
Rule drew the swollen nipple into his mouth, sucking and tasting. Then his lips slid down her silken belly, where he gently outlined her navel with the tip of his tongue, the musky scent of her flesh lingering in his nostrils.
Rule put his head between her shapely legs and buried his mouth deep into her crevice. With feather like licks he teased the hidden petal.
Meav spread her thighs wider for him.
Rule left the moist valley under the tip of her triangle and moved his kisses down to the inner part of her knees.
Meav breathlessly protested his departure. “Nay, stay where you were.”
Between each word he planted kisses down her leg. “I will return, my lady.”
“Sooner rather than later, please, milord,” she whispered.
He smiled to himself and made his way to her right foot, kissing each toe.
She began to giggle when he roamed down her arch and to her heel. ‘Twas then he pulled back and looked at the bottom of her foot.
“This mark,” he said, tracing the crescent shape with the tip of a finger. “‘Tis the same as the one my mother’s handmaiden had at the bottom of her foot.”
Meav sat up. “You mean, Meridith.”
Rule lifted his gaze to her. “Aye, Meridith.” He frowned. “Has Wysteria spoken of her?”
“Aye, but I knew her long before I met Wysteria,” Meav said, pulling her foot away and closing the front of her robe.
Rule stood. “Sute...how?”
Meav took a deep breath. “She is me mother.”
Rule stared at her in disbelief. “But she was set out to sea to die.”
“And she did not die. Instead her raft found Ireland’s shores where she fell in love and had three daughters...me being the eldest.”
His shock turned quickly to fury. “Then she is alive and well?”
Meav’s voice broke slightly. “Nay, she died after the birth of my twin sisters.”
The silence lengthened between them. Meav shifted uncomfortably.
Rule felt like a volcano on the verge of erupting. “Did you know Meridith tried to kill my mother?”
“Nay, ‘twas not her,” Meav objected quickly.
Rule’s nostrils flared with ferocity. “And now you have come to kill me.”
Meav shot to her feet. “Nay, milord...you have it all wrong.”
Rule’s expression darkened. “Ah, my lady, for the first time I think I have it right. You thought you could bewitch me, as your Aunt Devora has done...as Meridith did to my mother, and then finish what each of them has started.”
Meav’s lips thinned. “None of what you say is true.”
He glowered at her. “Nay?” His lip curled. “I beg to differ.”
She threw the words at him like stones. “I do not hold any loyalty to Devora; have not even met the woman.”
Rule threw his head back and laughed sardonically. “Oh, this is rich, my lady. You lie with such sincerity.”
Meav stomped her foot. “I am not lying!”
Rule spat the words out contemptuously. “You are nothing but a little witch, and I want you gone from Keronia. I will see to it that you are banished like your mother.” He retrieved the loin cloth from the floor, wrapped it around himself, and looked fiercely back at Meav. “If I have to put you on a raft myself!”
Rancor sharpened Meav’s voice. “I am not a witch...I am just a girl from Dublin who has come to...”
Rule interrupted her vehemently. “Deona...be silent!”
Meav suddenly stepped away from the heat of his rage. “Will you not allow me to explain?”
He replied with disdain that forbade any further argument. “Banished...do you hear? From this time on you are banished!”
