Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(8)

“They are an arrogant people. They tend to dismiss anyone not like them,” Bris said quietly to me. “Give it time, and they will see you as we see you. We think you are the most beautiful woman here, and you should not doubt it.”

He leaned in and kissed me softly, his lips brushing mine, and suddenly I didn’t want to get off his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let his soft magic skim across my skin. Bris’s magic was like a warm wave that blanketed me. The world dissolved around us and I kissed him freely, opening my mouth under his and letting his tongue play against mine. I moved closer, wanting to meld with him, brushing our chests together, needing more. His hands were in my hair when I heard Sarah.

“Snap out of it,” she said sharply, and I came to my senses.

Sarah was a good girlfriend. We’d made a deal. She wouldn’t let me make an idiot of myself in public. I pulled back and Bris looked disappointed. I didn’t try to break free, but I wasn’t about to get lost in those eyes again.

“I apologize, good gardener,” Bris said with a sigh, turning his attention back to the gnome. “I came out for a purpose and got distracted by my goddess. I find her tempting. Now, you said the fields are fallow?”

“Aye, My Lord, that they are,” Loran replied soberly because gnomes took their gardens seriously. “Our crops have been weak ever since we lost our Green Man. One more season like this and we’ll have trouble feeding our people.”

Bris nodded. “Then this shall be our first task. Tomorrow we will tour the fields and decide what must be done to correct the problems. I shall make sure you have no issues with scarcity.” He turned to me again, and his eyes were hot. “Of course, we will also be performing some fertility rites. It’s another problem the Fae have been plagued with, and we must help. I’m looking forward to that, my goddess.”

“I just bet he is,” Dev said with a self-deprecating smile. He looked up, reassuring me Bris had gone dormant again. “Sorry, I told him he could handle the heavy agricultural lifting. He’s excited about making things green. It’s been a long time since he used his powers.”

I doubted that was the only thing he was excited about. “So, fertility rites?”

Dev looked sweetly sheepish. “Yeah, I kinda promised we’d be doing some of that. I hope you don’t mind but it is my job. You’ll love our temple, though. It’s beautiful and peaceful.”

“Is it going to be as…intense as the last time?” We had performed a fertility rite for a large group of werewolves, and the experience had been draining, to say the least.

“No,” he replied quickly. “This will be much simpler. I promise. I’ll handle everything. You just need to let me take care of you.”

Ross sat another beer down in front of Dev and looked at the coffin on the table next to us. “So, Prince Dev, has tragedy befallen your group? If someone has passed on, then allow me to offer my condolences.”

Dev’s smile became devilish as he drank his beer and eased me out of his lap. He crossed to the coffin and leaned against it. “He’s not dead. He’s just a lazy bastard. He didn’t want to walk all this way.” Dev knocked on the top of the coffin. “How ya doing in there, Dan?”

There was an angry blast like Danny had punched the coffin from the inside. “It’s f*cking hot in here, Dev. Move this caravan along. This thing is almost dead.”

“See, he’s fine,” Dev said with a shit-eating grin. He held a hand out toward Zack. “You got the spare I asked you to bring?”

Zack produced the extra game system, and Dev quickly opened and shut the coffin, shoving in the needed item.

“He gets pissy when he can’t play his games,” Dev explained, winking my way. We had put together a “you have to spend several hours in a hot coffin” care kit for Danny. Danny and I had also done some fooling around in the small box because he said he liked my scent. It made him more comfortable when he could sense me near him. I was his companion, and we were connected on a basic level. He’d finally started asking me for what he wanted, and I worked hard to make sure I gave him what he needed.

Declan frowned and crossed his arms petulantly over his chest. “How exactly is the vampire doing anything in his coffin when you were supposed to make certain he was wrapped in silver chains?”

Dev didn’t bother to look guilty. He stared his brother down. “Well, he is my partner. Those chains are uncomfortable. They burn his skin. He’s also good at revenge. I wrap him in chains and I assure you he spends the entire trip coming up with some way to get me back.”

“Are we there yet?” Daniel must have been screaming because even I heard him.

“No,” Dev screamed back, not caring that his whole town was watching the byplay. “Suck it up, Donovan. I’m drinking.”

“That beer better be worth it, Quinn!”

“Would the man in the coffin like a drink?” Ross asked, confused because unlike the tabloids, he apparently hadn’t heard the rumors.

“Oh, he’d like one,” Neil explained. “He just has to wait until Dev’s blood alcohol level is up.”

“Working on it,” Dev said, finishing off beer number two. “Keep ’em coming, Ross. I have an ‘interview’ with my mother in a couple of hours, and I would like to be shit faced before I have to deal with that. If I work hard, Dan can be drunk off his ass too when we finally have to deal with the royals.”