Gabriella suddenly felt woozy. She closed her eyes tight and held her breath, hoping the wave of dizziness would pass. Suddenly, a sharp pain manifested in her chest. The agonizing stabbing increased, stealing her breath and plunging her into darkness.

Someone was shouting.

“Her blood pressure is dropping! We’re losing her!” a female cried.

“Michaels! Get over here!”

Was that Malak?

More voices. There were hands on her body. She felt someone place something cold on her chest.

Gabriella opened her eyes to a bright light. She tried to see past it, but could only make out strange shadows rapidly dancing around her. She tried to turn her head, but found she could not move. Beeping. She heard beeping. And the clinking of metal.

“Her vitals are returning to normal,” the female said, a little calmer.

“Where in the hell is St. Remy?” Gabriella heard someone mutter. It sounded so much like Warren.

“Danvers went to get him,” Malak responded.

Danvers? As in Scott?

The dizziness returned and she felt herself fading into the darkness once again.

Gabriella awoke to a bright light in her eyes. The muscles in her body screamed in protest. She tried to move, but couldn’t. Glancing down, she realized she was bound to the bed.

“She’s awake,” she heard a familiar voice say.

The light moved aside and Aunty Ana’s smiling face appeared. Gabriella looked at the four people now standing around her. Scott, Aunty Ana, Alex and Charlie?

Scott laughed. “Good idea there, Alex. Your suggestion really did pull her out of… well, whatever place dear Francis had put her in.”

“Well, I told you three weeks ago that we shouldn’t let her go with Francis,” Charlie muttered. “But you didn’t listen. You let Francis have her.”

Gabriella’s wanted to speak, but her throat was parched. Her tongue seemed so thick and swollen, she worried she might choke on it. “Where am I?” she mouthed slowly.

She wanted to ask more-- like why she was tied to a bed--but she didn’t have the strength. She also wondered why they thought Henri had the crown jewels?

Actually, where were the diamonds?

“Sorry Princess,” Alex offered. “You’re probably very thirsty.” He left her side and returned a moment later with a small bottle of water. He brought it to her mouth.

She drank a couple of small sips, but her stomach lurched, rejecting the liquid. She began coughing.

“Easy, Gabriella. You’ve been without food and water for three days,” Aunty Ana said.

Her head began to throb. “Why?” she croaked.

“Because it was the only way to get you out of the… trance… Francis put you under,” Scott replied. “The serum was no longer working and we could only gain limited access to your mind. But bringing you near to death seemed to snap you right out of it.”

Gabriella couldn’t fathom what the hell he was talking about. Francis? Trance? Near death? She stared at her college friend in disbelief. He seemed to be a whole different person now. Almost… evil.

“Francis?” she asked, glad to hear her voice returning some. “My brother put me in a trance?”

Scott, Charlie and Alex all began laughing.

“Francis? Your brother? Oh, that’s cute,” Scott scoffed, his voice laced heavily with sarcasm. “I wonder which one of your many friends implanted that association into your head.”

“You don’t have to be an asshole about it,” her aunt said.

He eyed the older woman sharply. “This coming from the woman who convinced Gabriella she was a princess of some made-up country, and you were her dear aunt trying to rescue her from her many suitors.”

Gabriella looked over to the woman she thought she knew all her life, hoping she would deny Scott’s statement. But Ana fell silent, turned and walked out of the room.

Right when she heard the door slam shut, Gabriella knew she didn’t want to know anymore. It was happening all over again—the lies, the manipulations, the bullshit. They were going to tell her that everything she saw and felt was just another hallucination, or another dream, or another allergic reaction to… whatever. She closed her eyes.

“Oh, come now princess, Don’t you want to know what really happened?” Scott whispered in her ear.

She opened her eyes and shook her head.

He rose up and began pacing around her bed, tapping his chin with his finger in contemplation. “Hmmm… What would have been your last coherent memory? A memory not tainted by brain washing or drugs.”

Gabriella tried to ignore him.

He stopped. “Oh yes, when Francis took you to Ireland.”

She shook her head again. Her time in Ireland couldn’t have been a fantasy. Aiden had to be real!

“Well, princess. So much has happened since then. Please, let me enlighten you. After Henri, Alex and Charlie dropped you off at the airport, they went to deliver the diamonds, or microchips, to Malak and Warren’s client. Unfortunately, Dr. St. Remy had a serious accident on the way there and is no longer among us.”

Oh, God! They killed dear Henri!?!

Gabriella struggled against her bonds as much as she could in her weaken state.

Scott continued, “Thankfully, Alex and Charlie were there to finish the mission… sort of. However, our new client in Morocco, the one who did receive the diamonds, had a problem with the microchips. It seems a magic password is needed to access the information.”

Gabriella stopped struggling. That sounded familiar… magic words. Didn’t Malak ask her about magic words once? Or was it Aiden?

“Yeah!” Charlie chimed in. “So we had to crash the little party you and F.C. were having in Ireland!

Oh, no…

Alex sat on her bed and grasped her hand. “Sadly, F.C. thought he’d be heroic and utter something he shouldn’t have, thus sending you into la-la land again. Despite all we did to convince him to give us the words to bring you back, he resisted.”

Hot tears began rolling down her cheeks. They didn’t have to say what she already knew.

“Don’t cry, princess,” Charlie said in mocking sympathy. “It might bring you some comfort to know that he died defending you. Or is it because of you? Well, however you want to look at it.”

“Go to hell,” she spat.

“Tsk, tsk. That’s not how a princess should talk,” Scott reprimanded. “But listen, the story only gets better. It seems that Malak and Warren figured out where you were sooner than we anticipated. They too showed up for the party. Warren stole you away and drove off, left Malak behind to deal with us alone.”

The men started laughing again.

No, God, please don’t let Malak and Warren be dead too.

Scott’s voice cracked with hilarity. “However—and this is the best part of the story—you went and kicked Warren’s ass, dumped him on the side of the road, and stole his car!”

Now she knew they were lying. Warren was a brick wall, there was no way--

“It’s true, princess,” Scott assured her, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. “You didn’t leave any visible marks so to say; I guess you must have disabled him with a pressure point move. It seems that F.C., before he died, must have dredged up some of your more… how should I say… deadlier skills from your time as an operative, however delayed and short lived that recollection might have been.”

“What happened to Warren?” she dared to ask, wondering if she killed him.

“He’s around,” Alex replied.

“And Malak?”

When Alex shook his head, she choked.

Scott sat on the other side of the bed. “We thought we lost you when we tracked Warren’s car to the bottom of a lake. Do you know how glad we were to find that you shacked up with the dude who rescued you?”

Aiden!

“Little princess Gabriella, can’t resist a pretty face or a hero!”

“What did you do to Aiden?” she growled.

“Aiden?” Charlie asked in disbelief. “You were with him? No way! He hasn’t been in around in years. Last I heard he was dead.” Charlie turned to Scott. “Shit, if Aiden’s back, what are we going--”

Scott waved him off. “Aiden got out of our business a long time ago. He doesn’t concern himself with these kinds of matters. Maybe he heard rumors about what was going on and took a temporary interest. But as you can see, he let us take Gabriella, so he must have decided she wasn’t worth the trouble. He didn’t show up to rescue Warren either.”

“Warren is around? Do you know where he is?” she asked

“Yeah, we caught up with his dumbass not long after you got into the limo with Aunty Ana. Warren’s in the room across the hall, a tad incapacitated, but still alive,” Charlie explained.

“It doesn’t matter who’s where,” Scott stated. “What matters is that for the last seven days, we’ve been trying to access the password we think is hidden somewhere in your mind. But every time we try to retrieve it, you spew incoherent bullshit.”

“Fairy spells to be exact,” Alex chuckled.

Scott ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “But now that you’re awake, and somewhat back to normal, we’re hoping you might happen to have some ideas of what that password might be.”

Suddenly, it popped into her mind. Holy crap! She actually knew the password!

Alex rose from the bed. “She knows it! It’s written all over her face. She knows the password.”

“Will you tell us what it is?” Scott asked, his voice softening in hope.

It was Gabriella’s turn to laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’ve killed Henri, Francis and Malak-- and are holding me and Warren hostage. Do you honestly think I’m going to tell you?”

“Why shouldn’t you tell us?” Scott hollered, jumping to his feet. “Your little boyfriends have done nothing but scramble your brain for years. They’ve screwed with your memories and manipulated your life. Essentially, they’ve played you. Used you. Now we’ve rescued you from all that. At least we’ll leave you be once you tell us what we need to know. You can go on your merry little way and live your life. All we want is the password.”

But what would Scott do if she told him? What would Scott do if she didn’t tell him? She didn’t care so much if they killed her, but she didn’t want Warren to die too because of her stubbornness. She’d gotten enough people killed already.

“Will you let Warren go, as well?” she asked.

Scott didn’t reply. He studied her, as if considering her words.

“You can’t!” Charlie exclaimed. “You know Warren ain’t gonna let this go so easily. He’ll come after us sooner or later. We’ll always have to be watching our backs.”

“Yes. You and Warren can leave,” Scott conceded, ignoring Charlie’s concerns. “But if we ever see Warren again, we’ll be forced to kill him, and in turn, we’ll hunt you down and kill you too. Do you agree to the terms?”

Scott seemed sincere, especially about the “hunting down and killing part”.

“Yes,” she breathed. “Now untie me.”

Scott nodded and released her from the bed. “The password?”

“It’s Brian B--”

“Not necessary, princess,” Aiden interrupted from the doorway, his gun solely pointed at Scott. “We are once again in possession of the diamonds and the password has already been changed.”

Aiden wasn’t alone. Malak was with him, his gun aimed in Alex and Charlie’s direction. Warren stood behind them. He looked a little unsteady on his feet, but his arm was wrapped tight around Ana’s throat. He had a gun to the back of head.

Gabriella gasped as rough fingers grasped her arm and yanked her off the bed. Scott swung her in front of him, literally using her as a shield.

“Malak,” he mumbled. “Back from the dead so soon?”

Malak cocked his head, as if indifferent to the barb. “I guess you should have made sure I was bound good and tight before you left F.C.’s house. It was such a cinch to loosen the boy scout knot and ropes and escaped out the back door right before you blew up the house. Actually, let’s not insult the boy scouts by comparing your skills to theirs.”

“I’m glad you made it out. Now you’ll be around to see your little princess die.”

“Reg-nad!” Aiden shouted.

Suddenly, Gabriella found herself in a frenzy of movement. The next thing she knew, Scott was lying on the floor at her feet, out cold.

She glanced at Aiden and Malak. “Holy shit! How in the hell--”

Alex and Charlie rushed her. A few blocks and couple of swings later, they too were on the floor. It all happened so fast, she wasn’t even sure what she did.

Aiden and Malak lowered their weapons.

“Good job, lass,” Aiden complimented.

She stood dumbfounded. “How?”

“Only two people in the world have the ability to make you remember your defense training. Francis was one, and Aiden here is the other,” Malak explained.

She looked at him and scrunched her nose. “Why don’t you have the ability?”

He gave her that cute smile of his, the one that always made her heart melt. “I guess, I always thought it was more important to make you remember more pleasurable things,” he responded.

His words brought heat to her cheeks. She tried to play it off. “Wonderful, Malak. Really. Thanks for looking out for me.” She looked to Aiden. “What does reg-nad mean?”

Aiden winked. “It’s Danger backwards.”

Gabriella wanted to laugh, but that dizziness she had earlier came back with a vengeance. She stumbled backwards, reaching for the bed to support herself. Malak and Aiden were at her side in an instant, guiding her to sit down.

“What’s wrong, Gabriella?” Aiden asked

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel a little weak. Too much excitement I guess.”

Gabriella’s Summer Adventure

It has been a wild ride for those of us participating in Gabriella’s Adventure.

Past, future and present rolled up in a nice little package. Unfortunately the ride is nearing an end. Next week is the Romance Writers of America conference in Dallas, and many of our writers will be attending.  I believe that is a good time to give Gabriella her privacy and let her explore her options on her own.

Tia Fanning has graciously volunteered to write the final episode for Monday, July 9^th.

Please enjoy the final week of Gabriella’s Summer Adventure and be sure live life to the fullest, creating your own adventures with people of your heart each and every day of the year!

Aleka

PS

A post for today will follow in a few hours.

Okay, I haven’t heard about a post yet, so I’ve added my two cents.

Here goes:

“Aiden, I’m lost.” Gabriella stared at the lush green countryside as the sleek Porsche maneuvered easily along the turns. “I don’t get it. But for some God forsaken reason, I feel comfortable and at home with you.” She looked at his rugged profile outlined by his tousled hair. A strong jaw line, a well defined nose, even the muscle twitching at the base of his cheek seemed familiar. “All the others claim that despite my inability to remember them, I’ve known them for years. You on the other hand, I’ve just met, and you’re the one I know the best. How I know you, I haven’t got a clue.”

“Sweetheart, you know me. But don’t trouble your pretty head over that just yet. It’ll come to you.” He placed a large calloused palm on her bare knee and gave her a big smile. “And don’t go getting all Gabby-pissed at me ‘cause I referred to your ‘pretty head’. “

He laughed, a strong and comfortable sound that found its way into her heart. She wouldn’t admit it, but she kind of liked the way his macho-abrasive tone rubbed her.  Aiden was different. He had a place in her heart, not just on her body, but in her soul.

Leaning against the headrest, she truly relaxed for the first time in days. So much had happened. She was a secret agent- no scratch that- she’d had a bad hallucinogenic reaction to a common antibiotic! She was a princess, chased by a series of ‘proper’ suitors for her hand in marriage. Yeah right, suitable! But how had she almost drowned and end up in Aiden’s bed? She’d have to think about that one. And who was this king and awesome ruler she was supposedly related to?

It just didn’t flow. There must be a logical explanation.

Oh, what about those diamonds? A magical crown with powers to grant her wish was a fantasy she’d had while growing up in Brooklyn. So why had she remembered so vividly the one summer she’d spent in Frisco?

 Her head hurt, and all she wanted was to put her head in Aiden’s lap and sleep.

“Aiden?”

“Tell me, love.”

“Can we pull over and just sit in the field coming up after this hill?”

He slammed on the brakes and stopped the car in the middle of the road. “You remember?”

“You’re Brian Boru,” Gabriella whispered, slowly regaining consciousness from her fainting spell. “The last High King of Ireland.”

“That’s right, little one,” The man sitting in the throne said in a deep voice. “But how do you know who I am?”

Gabriella gazed at Brian Boru’s a strong chiseled face. A gold crown with studded diamonds sat atop his long, flaming red hair.

“I remember seeing your picture hanging over the bar at the Irish Pub in San Francisco where my mother worked as a waitress many years ago. My father and I would sit at the bar waiting for mom to get off work and I would listen to the patrons talk about Brian Boru. Some said you were a legend, calling you the King of Leprechauns but mom would argue with them saying you were a real man and your story was no myth.”

“And why do you think your mother defended me, sweet Gabriella?” His eyes smiled as he gazed down at her.

“Well, I suppose because she studied the history of Brian Boru and knew that you were a great warrior who brought the clans of Ireland together.”

“Your mother was right. But she may have had another reason.” The woman sitting next to him spoke up. Gabriella had totally disregarded the woman that moment.

“Another reason? What other reason could there--?” Gabriella stood up and walked closer, brushing away the helping hands of the warrior who had broken her fall when she fainted.

As she approached King Brian Boru, his smile grew bigger and his blue eyes twinkled.

“Wait a minute,” she said, focusing on the countenance of this man who sat before her. “You remind me a little bit of my mother. Although, there’s plenty of red-headed, blue eyed Irish people in the world.”

“Yes, there are, and there’s plenty of O’Brien’s in the world, which was your mother’s maiden name. Am I right?”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with anything.”

“The O’Brien clans are direct descents of Brian Boru.” The woman said.

Gabriella’s mouth dropped open. She looked from one to the other.

“So what you’re saying is…I’m related to you?”

They both laughed in tinkling unison and nodded at her.

“And you?” She pointed at the woman. “Are you-?”

“No child,” She replied in a soft, soothing voice. “Brian had four wives before me. Although, I would love to say I’m a descendant of a beautiful girl as you, I cannot.”

“I can’t believe this is happening.” Gabriella shook her head, attempting to make sense of the newest scenario. After everything that had happened to her, why would she end up here, face to face with one of the most famous figureheads in Ireland and finding out she was related to him?

“So how and why did I wind up here?”

“You were summoned, dear heart,” Brian said. “I had to think of some other way to bring you here after Aiden’s foiled attempt a week ago.”

“Aiden?” Gabriella gasped.

“Yes, I had asked Aiden Sharp to help me find you. I trust him in spite of the fact that sometimes his fascination of the opposite sex gets in the way of following orders. However, he was in the process of bringing you here until another bloke called Malak got in the way.

Malak. Ohmygosh, she’s forgotten all about him. Gabriella turned and ran past the fleet of warriors, down the long corridor and through the huge wooden doors of the castle.

“Malak!” She cried, shading her eyes from the sunlight. “Malak. Where are you?”

“He’s long gone, woman.”

Gabriella instantly recognized the husky, Irish brogue. As her eyes adjusted to the sunlight, the silhouette of the familiar black sports car came into view. Inside, she spotted the handsome, wise-cracking Aiden in the driver’s seat. Sitting next to him was, who else…

“McFadden!” Gabriella shrieked happily and ran over to the car.

McFadden jumped out the window and met her half way, barking and wagging his tail. Crouching down, she welcomed the old, black lab into her arms.

“Hey, enough with the tears of joy at the sight of my animal. Get in the bloody car, we got places to go and people to see.”

Gabrielle welcomed the idea of being back in the 21^st Century. Opening the car door, McFadden hopped in the back. As she wriggled in next to Aiden, the feeling of being safe washed over her. Before thinking, she reached over and kissed Aiden on the cheek.

“What kind of kiss is that for the bloke who saved your life?”

Aiden wrapped a strong arm around her waist and hoisted her over to sit on his lap. Grabbing her head in his hands, he brought her face close and captured her lips in his.

The strength and energy of his tongue explored the inside of her mouth to the point of making her weak. His hands moved over her shoulders and to her neck. Spreading open the collar of her shirt, his lips left hers and he gazed down at her exposed skin.

“I’ve been dreaming about your neck since the day I pulled you out of the water.”

“My neck?” She giggled.

“Well, let’s just say my dream starts at the neck…but goes much further.”

His hands slid over her blouse until he circled her breasts, bringing her nipples to peak with the brush of his thumbs. Gabriella gasped as a volt of electricity zapped through her. She leaned in to kiss him again but he stopped her. Before she knew it, he had lifted her off his lap and back into the passenger seat.”

“What? I thought-?”

“Later.” Aiden turned back to the steering wheel and started the engine. “We have to get going.”

“Where?” Gabrielle asked, trying to disguise the disappointment in her voice. Forget Malak. Forget Warren. Nothing she wanted more right now than to be back in the muscled arms of Aiden Sharp.

 “I have orders from Brian Boru,” He said, shifting the car into gear.

“But, I don’t even know what Brian Boru wants.”

“I do.” Aiden shot her a sexy grin. “And you will…soon.

When we last saw them, Malak and Gabriella were fleeing for their lives from angry miners in 1880s Colorado ...with the help of -- a faery queen?

Gabriella chanted "Queen Diana Leigh, please hear our song.  Take us away from danger and bring us home.  In the name of the Good Faery of Uffizidome."

Malak pulled her hard against him, this time with none of the sensual playfulness he'd managed when mere bullets were flying toward them.  This time, he meant business.  His lips came down on hers, hard and demanding.  Apparently, if they were going to die against the back wall of a cave, he was going to get some first.  Which wasn't a bad idea, except for the fact that they had about one minute to impact.  Gabriella's worst lover ever had taken longer than that.  Still, she opened her mouth under his assault, curious to see whether the flutter in her stomach whenever he was near was nerves or hormones. 

Then she forgot to think.  His tongue tangled with hers, thrusting into her mouth with fevered strokes that heated every cell of her body, and made her forget everything except some been-there-done-that memory of his skin against hers.  One hand somehow found its way under her clothes, stroking ever closer to the most sensitive part of her.  She moved against him, wanting anything he wanted to give her.

            "God, don't stop ..." she breathed, moaning. 

            "I wasn't planning on it," he whispered back, his mouth against hers, so that she could taste him as much as hear him.  "We're going to make a beautiful baby, princess."

            Baby ... baby...baby ...BABY???? Oh, shit.  "Wait, no ... I can't."  She pulled back.  She was up for a fling with Malak, even if he was the angel of death, but God, who wouldn't be, with those rippling muscles and sexy voice, not to mention that he was still Mr. Smell Good, even after that trip through the mine.  Which, by the way, was ...

            "Malak, where are we?"

            Malak, who was pouting, either because he thought it was sexy or she'd bruised his ego, didn't answer, just looked at her with those smoldering eyes.  Then he reached out a surprisingly gentle hand and touched the side of her face. 

            "Poor Gabriella," he said finally, his feather-light touch tempting her to give in, to go back to that world where there was nothing to think of but the hard heat of him lying against her.  "You must have hit your head again."

            "What, with you holding me like I was a life preserver?"  What was he thinking?  Frankly, she'd about had it with these guys.  Hot, definitely.  But really twisted, as though the whole summer up to this point hadn't been a really bizarre remake of The Wizard of Something or Other.  She was up for seduction, but good grief, couldn't just one of them handle sex without making it a long-term commitment?  The whole pack of them were about to skew the statistics of the entire male population in that regard.  Of course, according to Aunt Ana, Gabriella was quite the matrimonial prize, but still, you'd think they'd be faster to take advantage of her without scaring her off with talk of babies and marriage and whatever nonsense any one of them was likely to be murmuring in her ear.

            "But, it is your destiny.  And mine.  Would you deny us both?"  Now he was being just plain ridiculous.

            "Screw destiny.  I just want to make it through the summer alive.  We can talk about babies later." Much later.  Maybe three more speed-dates with Warren and a good two or three afternoons in the Irish countryside with Aidan later.  "Good grief, Malak, people are shooting at me and you think I want to make babies?" Now he was definitely pouting.  Whatever.  "Besides, we need to find out where we are."

            "Well, you did ask for home."  Malak recovered somewhat.  Good.  About time he put on his big-boy underpants and dealt.  No more frat boy fumbling, no more talk of destiny, if she was lucky.

            "Yeah, well, this isn't New York City."  No, what it was, was dark.  So assuming the time hadn't changed, just the location .... "We're back in Ireland.  How about that?"

            "What do you mean, back in Ireland?"

            Gabriella could barely restrain herself.  "Think about it, I asked for home.  Faeries are known for their literal interpretation of requests.  What's more likely to be home to a faery queen than Ireland?"  Ireland, where Aunt Ana, who made more sense than anyone here, could maybe straighten out a few more things.  Like why the diamonds seemed to cause time travel ... crap.  It was also possible that they were in Ireland, all right, just not in the 21^st century.  Which meant no Aunt Ana, no Aidan, no Warren, no Brian Finnegan to make sense of anything. 

            "Malak?"

            "Yes, princess?"  Malak was starting to sound a little tired, too.  She turned to look at him, saw him looking in the direction of a faint glow through the trees.

            "What year do you think this might be?"

            "I don't know, love, but I'll bet those blokes over there with the torches and whatnot could tell you.  You'd just better hope they didn't see us appear out of nowhere.  They don't look the understanding type."

            The crowd came closer.  Gabriella's eyes adjusted to the light of the torches and she gasped.  At the front of the group was a man ...or maybe man wasn't quite right.  He was tall, and lean, with hair that glowed silver in the torchlight.  It fell at least to his waist, as best she could tell, but was no more exotic than the clothing he wore.  A silver sword hung at his side, and he walked with a feline grace that seemed almost alien.  The warriors -- for they were all similarly armed -- at his side were every bit as stunning as he was.  The closer they got, the brighter the torches glowed until the ground around them was lit up like Yankee stadium during the playoffs.  Red, gold, purple, and green, their silk tunics and leggings were a riot of rich earthy colors, and their hair as well.  Every one of them was absolutely stunning. 

            He spoke.  "Who is it that commands the attention of our Queen?"  His voice was like velvet, like whisky and chocolate, and Gabriella thought she would orgasm just from listening to him. 

            "Er, um, I don't know if command is the right word," she stammered. 

            "Was it you that uttered the code words?"

            "Probably," she admitted.  "Except that I don't know what they were."

            He smiled, sending a rush of power into the air, and heat finding all sorts of interesting pathways through her body.  One hour with him would be like days with Malak, or Warren, or possibly both of them together, Gabriella thought.  So this was why the old stories warned of faery lovers.

            "Nonetheless, it must have been you, for she'd not have been summoned by the likes of him."  Malak frowned at this.  Guess he didn't like being a "likes of," Gabriella thought, smiling back at the faery warrior.

            "Come," he beckoned to her with his hand.  "Take my hand, Gabriella."

            Gabriella couldn't say no, not when he said her name like it had never been said before.  She put her hand in his, her knees buckling at the power that spun through her.  She bit down on her lower lip, hard, to keep from crying out.  God, it was the best sex she'd ever had, and he hadn't done more than touch her hand.  She looked to where their hands joined.  His was strong, calloused, a warrior's hand.  His fingers closed over her hand, sensual and comforting all at the same time.  He was more of a man without trying than anyone she'd ever known.  And he reminded her faintly of Aidan.  Must be the Irish.

            "How do you know my name?" she thought to ask.  Was shocked at the sound of her voice, which sounded like she felt -- like she was just coming to after a long afternoon amid rumpled sheets.  At that thought, the thought of this Sidhe warrior conquering her as he must conquer everything and everyone who crossed his path, she ran her tongue over suddenly dry lips. 

            He smiled, a wicked smile that started in his blue-green eyes, and ended somewhere around the juncture of her thighs.  "I know everything."  His smiled widened.  "And," he continued in a seductive whisper, "if you're very, very good, I might even tell you."  Then he straightened and issued a sharp command in a strange language.  The other warriors formed a circle around them, leaving Malak on the outside.  That same, strange glimmer she'd seen around Aidan and Brian earlier appeared around the circle, and she blinked.

            When she opened her eyes again, they were standing in a great hall.  At the end of the hall was a pair of thrones, and on one of the thrones was the most beautiful woman Gabriella had ever seen.  Next to her, looking quite at home, was a man Gabriella had never thought to see again.  She barely felt the Sidhe warrior catching her in his arms as the world once more went dark.