Free Irish Seduction by Ann B Harrison

by his attention.
    “There will never be another woman for me while your tender heart beats,” he said to her, his hand over his chest. He winked at Jasper and took a seat in front of the fire and accepted a small glass of port.
    “What do you think of Jasper’s last visit to Upper Therrus?” Lady Ellen asked, getting down to business.
    “Quite interesting. I was very disappointed to hear that they wouldn’t give us any help with Edrith O’Reilly. We have been dealing with her for years anyway, so carrying on with her is really no major hardship. I must say, though, that I am intrigued with the offer of any one thing they have promised to grant to Jasper for payment in kind. The question is—what do you ask for?”
    “That is the reason for this meeting, Mother,” Jasper explained. “We need your input. You were always the one that helped us sort ourselves out when we were young and undecided. Now, more than ever, we have need of your knowledgeable ways to help us decide what will benefit us the most.”
    “It must not be anything to do with Edrith O’Reilly, is that right?” asked Richard.
    “Apparently,” Jasper replied bitterly.
    Lady Ellen glanced at her son, her eyes not giving away what she was thinking. “Tell me again of the discussion you had with them. Refresh my memory, if you will.”
    He took his glass of port and stood in front of the fireplace, facing his mother and best friend.
    “Edrith was banished to the Americas because of some indiscretion they refuse to discuss with me. They thought that she was far enough away from them to not cause any trouble. Her powers were stripped from her and it would appear that she has been calling upon the dark side to regain them. Helan said that they would not help us with her because they had already punished her. Now that she is in our world, she is subject to our rules and we have to deal with her.”
    “Rather a one-sided way of looking at things if you ask me,” Lady Ellen said.
    “I agree. But what choice do we have? They make the laws and we have to deal with it.” Jasper was getting depressed by the whole one wish deal.
    “Why don’t you tell us what you want most, Jasper,” Richard said. “I know there is something going on with you. You should probably get it off your chest.”
    “No, you have it wrong, Richard. There is nothing going on that you don’t already know about.”
    “Tell him,” his mother said. “You know he will get it out of you in the end anyway. He always does.”
    Richard beamed at her with a beautiful smile and turned to Jasper. “Give,” he said, in a tone that brooked no argument.
    Jasper proceeded to tell all of what had been happening to him over the last few months. Richard listened with disbelief on his face when Jasper told him that he had made love to the god’s daughter and had taken her virginity.
    “Do you have any idea what they will do to us when they find out?” he cried, a mixture of anger and fright making his voice tremble. “Did you stop to think what you were doing, man?”
    “No, I did not and now I have to live with that. Believe me when I say that none of this was planned. I would never do anything intentionally to hurt my people, you know that.”
    “Well, it looks like you have done just that, Jasper,” Richard replied with scorn in his voice. “How could you let your dick think for you?”
    “Don’t tell me that you have thought everything through before you bedded a maiden, Richard,” Jasper yelled. “I have seen you many a time leading a willing female into the barn for a quick rumble in the hay. I can guarantee that you didn’t think of the consequences before you pulled up her skirts.”
    By now the two men were standing face to face, hands on hips. They both let go of their frustrations on each other, something that they had been doing since childhood.
    “I think that will be enough of that language for now, both of you,” Lady Ellen said.
    They looked at her, suddenly