“Um, yeah. I think a lot of people have heard that story.”

He zipped up his pants, and then looked at her. “It’s true.” He shrugged at her complete shock. “Okay, the part about Underhill isn’t true. The not aging part was.”

“And the aging-three-hundred-years-in-a-day part?”

He took a deep breath. “Also true.”

“Leo…”

He couldn’t help but respond to the sudden fear in her voice. He held up one hand. “Please, let me explain.” With infinite care, he pulled her jeans back over her hips, batting her hands away when she went to do up her zipper. It was his right, his privilege to care for his mate. “When a Sidhe finds his mate, he binds her to him. There are three steps to the bonding, the first being the Claiming.”

“What’s the Claiming?”

He looked up at her, then back down at the ground. “Do you remember the golden light that surrounded us just as we came?”

He heard her suck in her breath. “That was the Claiming?”

He looked into her eyes and nodded, holding his breath all the while. This was the part that scared the crap out of him. She could reject him utterly at this point, deny the mating and pull away from him. He wouldn’t be too surprised if she did. In the grand scheme of things, they’d only really known each other for three days. Although she wouldn’t really be able to go very far, now that the ritual was halfway done.

He watched her absorb the implications. “Do you choose your mate, or is it a fate kind of thing?”

He was surprised. He thought she’d have more questions about the Claiming. “The gods choose our mate for us before we’re even born. If we’re extremely lucky, we find her or him during the current life; if not, we hope, no, pray we may find them in the next.”

“So, there’s no choice?”

He didn’t like the slow, considering way she said that. “The moment I saw you, no other woman would do. Before the other night, do you know how long it had been since I’d had sex?”

“No.”

“A year.”

She blinked, stunned. “A year?”

“You went seven.” His grin was lopsided, he knew, but this was too important an issue to screw up with a lame joke.

“But…your reputation…the blondes you escorted all over the place…”

“I dated, occasionally, but I didn’t really…click…with anyone. Couldn’t figure out why, at first.”

“You joined the company five years ago.”

He nodded, watching the wheels turn in his woman’s head.

“But we didn’t meet until three days ago.”

His expression turned tender. “Vanilla and peaches.”

“Huh?”

“Your scent. Vanilla and peaches. I could smell it wherever I went in the company. Took me a while to track it down to accounting, and when I finally did I had the CEO slot, and you kept disappearing.” She bit her lip, looking guilty. “Yeah, I figured it was deliberate.” He sighed. “I could see you occasionally from the back, and, while I must say it is a mighty fine view, I prefer the one from the front.” He brushed a hand down her cheek, delighted when she blushed. “I love watching your eyes.”

Those beautiful eyes of hers darkened, as did the blush that still stained her cheeks. “When…” she cleared her throat, “…when did you realize I was yours?”

Leo resisted the urge to grin in triumph. She’d accepted him, whether it was consciously done or not.

“When I tasted you.”

“What?”

“Remember the kiss on the dance floor at the Halloween party?”

“The one where you tried to lick my toes through my mouth?”

He laughed. “Has anyone told you that you have an interesting way with words?”

“Mm-hmm. Was that when?”

“Yes. I knew you were the one for me.” He couldn’t help himself. He stroked her hair back from her cheek, enjoying the feel of it slipping through his fingers. Everything about her fascinated him.

“This whole bonding thing. What’s the next step?”

He returned his gaze to her face. “The next step is the actual ceremony. In it I pledge my being to you, and I share of my power with you. In doing so, I grant you some of my life force, which lengthens your life. You’ll live as long as I do, actually. It’s one of the true pieces of magic the Sidhe actually possess, other than our human glamour. All Fae have a human seeming. It’s a gift from the gods to protect us in the human world.”

“And the whole Arabian Nights slash Easy Rider thing wasn’t magic?”

He shook his head. “Not like other Fae can do, like my Dad.”

“Sean isn’t Sidhe?”

He sighed and took her hand, just because. He began stroking her fingers absently. “No, he’s not, and that’s the root of a lot of the problems on the Joloun side. His blood isn’t blue enough for Mom’s family to fully accept him.”

“What kind of Fae is he, then?”

He looked at her and just knew what her reaction was going to be. “He’s a leprechaun.”

For a moment she didn’t react. Then her lips twitched.

“I wouldn’t say it if I were you.”

If she heard the mild warning in his voice she chose to ignore it. “So, are they really always after his Lucky Charms?” Her eyes were beginning to water as she tried to suppress her laugh.

“Ruby, I’d stop now.” He could feel Sean beginning to move towards the barn. When a leprechaun wanted to, he could move with preternatural speed on his own land.

“Can I see the purple horseshoes?” She bit her lip, the laugh beginning to escape.

His father was inside the barn now, propped up against the door, one ankle crossed over the other to match the arms crossed over his chest. He was staring up at the hayloft with an amused expression. Leo sighed.

“So, is the blue moon this month?”

Sean’s brow rose and Leo braced himself. “No, but I understand the two of you were mooning my horses a little while ago. Care to come down here and ask me those questions now?”

Ruby jumped, her face filled with a mixture of guilt and fun.

“Dad, we’re not bonded yet, so don’t do anything…permanent, okay?”

Ruby leaned over the side and grinned down at Sean. “So, what really happens if I take my eyes off the leprechaun?”

Leo’s awed, horrified “Holy shit! ” was almost lost as Sean gave her a wickedly lethal grin. “Darling, if you’re really, really lucky, said leprechaun will show you he knows exactly where the pot of gold is.”

Leo gaped. He knew his father was devoted to his mother. He also knew his father wouldn’t really put the moves on Ruby. When his father winked at him, he closed his mouth.

Sometimes Leo needed that little reminder that, in fact, he was a leprechaun, too.

Sean pushed away from the doorframe. “Now, if you two are done playing in my hayloft, Aileen has lunch ready.” Sean sauntered, whistling, towards the house, and Leo’s heart left his throat.

“You are a brave, brave woman, and if you ever scare me like that again I will tie you up and lock you in a tower for the rest of your life.”

Ruby looked back at him. Something in his face must have given away exactly how much she’d frightened him, because now, after the fact, she looked concerned. “What?”

Leo took a steady, calming breath. She had to learn, and she had to learn fast. He couldn’t let her be hurt through ignorance. “Leprechauns are earth spirits. This is Dad’s land. If he really wanted to, he could hear a whisper a mile away, cause an earthquake, open a sinkhole the size of a dime that goes damn near to the core of the earth, you name it. He knows everything that happens on his land unless something is done deliberately to block him. The minute you started with the jokes he knew and headed over here.” Leo growled. “And you are very lucky he likes you.”

“Oh.”

“Needless to say, we did not eat Lucky Charms when I was a kid.”

“Poor deprived baby.” The joke was almost absent-minded, like she’d already dismissed his warning.

“Lunch, then we finish the conversation?”