Love For the Faerie King's Daughter: Brothers Book Two

Something In the Kitchen

    "What’s wrong?" Cail asked Joey when they were seated. "You seem agitated."

    Joey chuckled, a bit nervous.  "Oh, just..."

    "Just?"

    "I had kind of a weird dream last night, and it's been bugging me," he replied.  She'd understand.  "It was... well, weird."

    Cailleagh looked at him as the waitress set down the glasses of iced tea.  "A nightmare?"  She took a sip of her tea. "Nightmares are portents, you know.  Warning you of things."

    Joey eyed her when she said that.  "Only I don't think it was a nightmare."

    She c****d her head to the side.  "Oh?"

    "Yeah, it was weird," he said eyeing the menu.  "It was like there was something in it I was supposed to remember."  At that, he noticed Cailleagh pale a bit.  "Did I say something wrong?"

    "Uh..."  She looked down at her glass.  "Dreams like that usually mean something from your past is trying to surface."  Her brows knitted together. "I have... been having those dreams lately, too."

    Joey eyed her pretty face, saw the confusion in her eyes.  "Is that why you asked your Mom about Scotland?"

    She sighed heavily.  "Yes.  It turns out the man who fathered me was from there," she replied.  "He didn't stick around."

    He blinked.  "Before or after she found out she was pregnant?"

    Cail gave him a small smile.  "Before she even knew she was pregnant."

    "Then, he was an asshole," Joey said.  "But, why the dream?"

    Cailleagh shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I just have this bad feeling he's gonna come trolling around after all this time."

    The waitress placed their plates on the table, then left.  Although he got the impression that she knew more than she was telling about her dream, he knew it was not his place to pry.  They didn't really know each other that well yet, and he didn't want to sound nosey.  "Let him," he said at last.  "I am sure you or your Mom will tell him where to go."  He smiled warmly at her.  "Now, I see. Your brother is your half-brother." 

    Cail nodded.  "His father died when he was just a baby.  Drunk driver hit him."  She let out a sigh.  "Pat's father was on his way home from work when the village drunk swerved in front of him, colliding and then both going off the road."

    Joey's eyes widened.  "Wow. Let me guess, the drunk lived?"  Though he knew the answer to the question, it was still appalling that the drunk survived and Patrick's father did not.

    "For about two days.  His injuries were so extensive that he finally succumbed to them.  But not before he confessed to driving while drunk."  She took a bite of her meal.  "That was the one and only time Mom was ever married."

    He nodded.  "My dad hasn't remarried either."  He chuckled a bit as he took a bite.  "I actually think he feels Mattie and I would be upset if he did." It was true; his father had not tried dating seriously since the death of Joey's mother. That one statement was an opinion he felt was the reason for Joseph, Sr. not seeing anyone new.  

    Cail snickered as she picked up her glass.  "You know, maybe he just doesn't want to date anyone.  Maybe he felt his wife was enough. Not all widows or widowers get back into the dating scene." She snickered again. "Then, again, maybe he fears disappointing his sons?"  She arched a brow. "Unlike my mother who doesn't give a damn whether she's disappointed anyone or not."

    Laughter erupted from him.  "I take it your mother is an acquired taste?"

    Cail shrugged.  "She's Irish, and like most Irish women, she's brash, and outspoken.  She doesn't have a temper... letting it stew until she finally decides to tell you off."  She shook her head.  "She's also a bit cryptic sometimes, which drives me nutty!"

    Joey laughed some more, then became serious.  "Does your mom speak Gaelic?"

    The question had apparently caught her off guard.  "Where did that come from?"

    Huh.... good question.  Where did that come from?  But, even as he asked himself that he knew the answer.  His dream.  "Uhm..." 

    Cail put her fork down and stared at him.  "What is it?"

    Joey furrowed his brow and tried to think how to tell her so that he didn't sound... well,  f*****g loony.  Then, it occurred to him who he was having lunch with.  The daughter of a Wiccan shop owner.  "There was this woman in my dream.  She spoke to me, but in another language."

    Cailleagh blinked.  "And you think the language was Gaelic?"

    "It sounds funny, but yeah.  In fact, this morning, I couldn't place the language," he explained.  "But, just now, when I asked, I don't even know what made me think it was Gaelic."

    "Well, something did,"  Cail said.  "Do you know what was said?"

    Joey scrunched up his face.  "Uhm, I don't know if I'll pronounce it right.  But it sounded like Coovnik movac.  Coovnik see too feen. At least I think that's what it was."

    Cailleagh picked up her fork and took a bite of food.  "Hmmm.  She wants you to remember who you are.  And she called you "my son"."

    He sat back and stared at Cailleagh.  "My son?"

    She shrugged.  "Mo mhac means "my son".  Was the woman your mother?"

    "That's just it,"  he replied.  "I never saw her face, yet, she seemed familiar somehow."   He stared right at her, shrugged. He felt perplexed. First, he'd never had dreams like that. Second, he wasn't sure why he'd had a dream like that.  "Oh, and the place this woman stood was odd."

    Cailleagh narrowed her eyes.  "What do you mean?"

    Another shrug.  "It was like she was standing on a moor in a stone circle," he replied.

    At this, Cailleagh nearly choked on her iced tea.  She plunked the glass down as Joey stood up and went to her. 

    "Hey! Are you okay?"  He rubbed her back for her.  "I didn't know I was going to make you choke!"  He knelt next to her, soothed her, held her hand.  And, he couldn't help it, he had to reach up and cup her chin to see if she was indeed all right.  A deep urge to kiss her came over him.  

    So, he did.  

    He gently pulled her head down to his, his lips touching hers lightly.  The kiss wasn't overly passionate, just soft and gentle.  Enough to let her know he cared and he did want her.  Her soft vanilla scent filled his nostrils, her lips warms and inviting.  

    When he broke the kiss, he smiled knowingly at her.  "Better?"

    Cailleagh's cheeks turned a beautiful pink.  "Oh..." she sighed.  "Guess I need to choke more often." Her fingers touched his clean shaven face, sending electric sparks throughout his skin.

    Joey laughed.  "No, don't do that.  I don't think that would be a good idea.  There are other ways to get my attention," he teased.

    She raised her brows.  "Oh? Hmm...."  Her fingers left burn marks on his face.  "Maybe you'll have to enlighten me."  Her green eyes darted around. "Unfortunately, we're in public."   She fixed her gaze on him, and it was full of mischief.

    He gave her a sexy smile.  "Oh, believe me. I will enlighten you.  Perhaps sometime soon."

    After lunch with Joey, Cailleagh pondered his words about his dream.  The idea that he found the mysterious woman standing in a stone circle left her baffled.  She hadn't expected to hear that, let alone have him ask if Moira knew Gaelic.  The whole thing was rather bizarre, which was why she choked on her tea.  The idea that he may have been having a similar dream made her head spin. 

    It was also disturbing.

    And then, there was that kiss... that kiss that nearly stole her breath away.  It was just passionate enough to get her attention, to make her toes curl, to make her want. 

    To make her wonder just what else he was good at.

    The kiss was all Joey, and not The Love Talker. 

    Those kisses from the faerie were too rough, too demanding.  Too sinister.  She hated the feelings the faerie    incited in her.

    Lust.

    Fear.

    Need...

    The only thing she needed was to get rid of the Love Talker before he grabbed a hold of her for good.  She wanted to put him in his place. Make him go away.  She shook herself.

     Later in the evening, she padded to her kitchen.  Food... she needed food.  

    She opened the fridge and stared at the contents. Nothing impressed her.

    Then, she heard a thump behind her. 

    Spinning around, letting the fridge door shut, she scanned the counters.  The sound had come from near her broken coffee pot and the toaster.  Her eyes narrowed.  

    Okay...

    She went back to trying to find herself something to eat.  This time when she opened the cupboard, she heard a distinct sound of feet pattering across the counter top behind her.  

    What the hell...?

    But this time, she saw the creature. A spindly little thing, wearing a hat, naked with a... tail?  

    Hello!  

    While the little creature was hiding, its tail was poking out from behind the potato box.  She crept closer toward the spot, not wanting to scare it, but a bit on the fearful side herself.  "H-Hello?"

    Two large, black orbs looked up at her, blinking.  The creature scooted further behind the box.

    "I can still see you, you know," she said wryly.  "You don't have to be afraid. Come on out."  She watched as the tiny humanoid crept out from behind the box, eyes huge and afraid.  "Oh, my..." she breathed.  "You--You're a pixie!"

    At this, it puffed its chest out and stood tall.  A  very big grin itself plastered on its face, the cheeks round and rosy.  The ears were pointed, sticking up through two little holes in the make-shift cap.  Glossy black hair hung just past its tiny shoulders.

    "Oh! You're cute!"  Cailleagh exclaimed in wonder.  Then, as soon as she said it, she suddenly began to realize she was seeing a pixie.

There's a pixie in my kitchen…