Love's Fury (Immortal Ireland Book 2)

by Kristen Cobb

“She will not let me out of her sight.”

  “Do you have so little faith in my ability to woo my own wife into your bed?” Conri pretended to be seriously offended.

  “Consider me gone.” Rory wasted no time leaving in search of female companionship, whistling as he went.

  Now came the part he had been waiting for all day, seducing his wife. Was she still praying? Did she even realize they were gone?

  Those questions were answered the moment he entered the tent. Nessa remained in the same position, on her knees praying by Rory’s bed.

  Heading directly for his wife Conri knelt down beside her, leaning his elbows on the bed, clasping his hands as if intending to pray. “What are we praying for?”

  Nessa opened her eyes, looking at him for no more than a heartbeat. “Go away.” Closing her eyes again she shut them even tighter, as if that would make some invisible deity suddenly answer her prayers.

  “No.”

  Nessa opened her eyes again, glancing around the tent, likely intending to have Rory throw him out. “Where is Rory?”

  “Busy.” His hands were still clasped, ready to pray. “Now, what are we praying for? Perhaps your God would hear you better with two people assailing his ears. Do invisible deities have ears?” He just barely managed to maintain a serious demeanor.

  Nessa stood quickly. “He should not be out there alone. What if…”

  “He has an entire army protecting him. Rory is fine.” Conri stood up, blocking his wife’s path to leave the tent. “Or can you not endure more than a few moments without his love?” When she said nothing in response he continued the assault. Leaning down close to her ear he whispered. “I remember what a passionate woman you are.”

  Conri pulled back to look into her eyes while still remaining close enough that their bodies were almost touching. His wife’s breathing became noticeably labored, her eyes fixed on his.

  Running his hand slowly down her arm he watched her wonderfully expressive face. “I have a confession to make wife.”

  “Ri please.” Her voice sounded strained and breathless, the words barely audible.

  “I wanted him to leave. I made the issues sound more urgent so I could have some time alone with you.” He almost grinned, rather proud of himself for coming up with a version of the truth that actually aided his cause.

  Teetering on the edge now his wife’s beautiful green eyes were wild.

  Brushing her long hair aside he leaned down and gently kissed the side of her neck, just below her ear. “Have you missed me wife? I have missed you.”

  “Yes.” The longing in her voice as she uttered that one word was the most beautiful sound he ever heard.

  Conri looked intently into her eyes, giving her the chance to tell him no. He needed this to be as much her choice as his.

  Without any warning at all she kissed him. He lost all control the instant her lips touched his. Kissing her back as if it were their last day on earth he lifted her up off the ground. Nessa wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs wound tight around his waist.

  Tongues mating he carried her toward the bed. That soft mewing sound she always made when he kissed her nearly sent him over the edge. His entire body pulsed with a raging need for the woman who held his heart.

  Clothes went flying, thrown wherever they happened to land. Conri’s last coherent thought as he fell onto the bed next to his wife was that Ronan’s assessment of the situation had been accurate. It only took one kiss to crumble all of Nessa’s carefully erected walls.

  LAST NIGHT MUST HAVE BEEN a dream. Stretching languorously Conri feared opening his eyes. He seemed to be in a bed, a good sign since they were on campaign and he normally slept on the ground.

  Ever so slowly opening his eyes, spotting Rory lying on the other side of the large bed caused them to quickly shut again. Lying in bed naked next to Rory did not make for a pleasing first sight of the morning. Nessa did not seem to be in the bed with them. Rolling over and hesitantly opening his eyes he found her sitting at the table in front of a plate of food, ignoring it completely as she stared at nothing, deep in thought.

  Conri watched her for a moment, simply enjoying the sight of the woman he loved. Finally everything would be out in the open and they could move on. After last night she would have to give up this ridiculous quest to keep them apart. They belonged together.

  There had been no discussion of the situation last night. They did however make love more than once, eventually falling asleep in each other’s arms. The nightmare claimed him at one point, as it always did. This time Nessa lie beside him, whispering that he was safe, soothing the fears that claimed him in the dark of night.

  He hated being afraid. It made him feel like less of a man. He pretended to be healed and whole with no ill effects from the abduction and torture yet in the dark of night his mind reminded him that was nothing more than wishful thinking. There were also moments in the light of day that revealed how truly damaged Declan’s men left him. He would see someone coming toward him out of the corner of his eye and think they had a dagger in their hand to stab him. He nearly attacked a few of his own men during these episodes. In those moments the threat seemed all too real.

  A small part of him knew Nessa’s concern was valid and quite real. Being with her put him at risk. He barely survived his ordeal at the hands of Declan’s men. The absolute certainty that Nessa would save him being the only thing that kept him fighting to stay alive, willing his body to heal just enough to last one more day through the excruciating pain. No one in their right mind would want to repeat that experience.

  The intelligent thing to do would be allow the current situation to continue without interference. He did not doubt Nessa would spend the rest of her life as a hawk watching over him. Her devotion could not be held in question at this point. In the end it all came down to one problem, he wanted her beside him, not as a bird but a flesh and blood woman. That desire overshadowed any risk her presence might bring. He simply did not feel like a whole person without her.

  Sitting up in bed Conri threw off the blankets. Setting his bare feet on the ground, the straw mattress made a crunching sound as he stood. Tufts of dead grass kept most of the dirt from sticking to the sole’s of his feet. They’d been camped here for two months. Rory’s tent blocked out all sunlight and rain, killing anything that might wish to grow.

  Nessa turned quickly, watching him walk toward her. The sound his large body made when his weight lifted off the crunchy straw mattress alerting her to the fact that he was awake.

  Brushing her long blonde hair aside he kissed the side of her neck. “Good morning wife.”

  Nessa pulled away as if burned. “Stop that. What happened last night can never happen again. I am with Rory now.”

  Taking a step back he could only stare at her in complete and total shock, not even sure where to begin poking holes in her story. The very idea that she would, at this point, claim to be in love with Rory was beyond absurd. No, actually, he did know where to start.

  “You made love to another man in his bed. He saw you naked in his bed with said man. The three of us spent the night in said bed together, naked. How can you possibly look me in the eye and claim to be in love with him?” He could just hear the gossip now. Everyone would believe Nessa was sleeping with both of them at the same time. Last night destroyed her plan whether she liked it or not yet the woman stubbornly refused to give up.

  Nessa stuck her chin in the air defiantly. “It may not be a traditional relationship but that does not make it any less valid.”

  “So you intend to bed the both of us at the same time. Is that what you are saying because we both know you cannot resist me? I predict you will be quite sore servicing us both.” One way or another he would get her to admit that she did not love Rory.

  “Do not be crass. I had a moment of weakness. It will not happen again.” Nessa turned away, dismissing him.

  “You had three moments of weakness. They likely heard your screams inside the
walls of Dublin when I made you come.” He truly had no intention of becoming angry. His wife should be declaring her undying love so he could forgive her for lying. Leave it to her to make this far more complicated than it needed to be.

  “I am in love with Rory. Nothing you say or do will change that so you might as well leave.” Nessa avoided making eye contact while claiming to love Rory.

  That fact did nothing to cool his anger and frustration at her obstinate refusal to give in. Slamming his hands down on the table he leaned in close. “Stop lying to me! I know you are the hawk! The only night you have ever spent in Rory’s bed was last night with me.”

  Nessa’s eyes began glowing, bright green balls of fury. She stood and faced the bed. Rory still lie in it with his back to them, most likely pretending to be asleep. Nessa swung her right arm back then heaved it forward. A fireball appeared from the palm of her hand, hurling toward the bed in the blink of an eye. “You betrayed me!”

  Rory turned over in bed to face them just as the fireball hit the side of the straw filled mattress, an extremely flammable material, his eyes widening in terrified disbelief.

  The blankets on the bed immediately caught fire. Conri ran over to help while Rory jumped off the far side of the bed. Conri pulled the flaming blankets off the bed, dragging them over to the tent flaps.

  Rory stuck his head out of the tent. “Hold these open!”

  The two guards on duty each grabbed a flap, holding them open as instructed. Conri dragged the blankets out of the tent. Once he pulled the flaming blankets far enough away to ensure they could do no harm he stuck his head back into the tent. At least the bed had not caught fire.

  Conri watched his wife closely as she followed a naked Rory outside. Not a stitch of clothing covered his own body, adding to the spectacle. If Nessa were trying to keep last night a secret she was failing miserably.

  His wife stalked angrily toward Rory. When her hand flew up in the air Conri ran as fast as he could, barely managing to grab her arm before she flung it forward.

  Conri leaned in close. “Rory did not reveal your secret. I figured it out on my own.”

  Thankfully Nessa’s arm lowered, her attention now focused on him rather than Rory.

  “Cluny woke me early yesterday morning to inform me the hawk flew into Rory’s tent. Rather than wake him attempting to chase it out they asked me to go in and get it. Instead of the hawk I found you. I knew the instant I saw you the hawk had been you all along.” Conri turned Nessa so that she faced him, trying to block out the people beginning to gather. “Please tell me what is going on. I know you are not in love with Rory. You have spent every night with me. If you did not want to be with me any longer why not just tell me? Did you have to be so brutal? Making me believe you were sleeping with my king, my friend. Making everyone else believe it. Why would you do that to me?”

  Nessa’s eyes were no longer glowing. Raising her hand to touch his face she slowly lowered it without actually making contact. “I need you to trust me. It is for the best.”

  “Trust you?” He found it difficult to believe she would even utter those words under the circumstances. “You have been lying to me for months. The only conclusion I can reasonably come to is that you enjoy making me suffer.”

  “No! That is not true.” Looking directly into his eyes Nessa implored him to believe her.

  “Then tell me the truth!” He fought to control his anger. One small slip and he would inadvertently reveal that someone spilled all of her secrets from their hiding place. After watching what she did to Rory it seemed rather imperative he tread carefully.

  Tears welling in her eyes Nessa shook her head.

  He could not continue living this way. “Either tell me the truth right now or leave forever. That means no following me around as a hawk or any other animal. Choose. Now.”

  He had to give her credit. She managed to fight back the tears and compose herself. “I cannot be with you. That is the truth.”

  “Then this is goodbye. I will expect you to leave after the siege.” Turning away, intending to make a grand exit, Conri suddenly remembered his lack of clothing. Heading back into the tent to get his clothes he tried to ignore the large crowd now gathered to watch the never-ending spectacle that was his marriage.

  Rory followed him inside. “Walking away is unacceptable. You are the only thing that keeps her under control.”

  “You call that controlled? She nearly killed you.” Grabbing his pants off the ground he quickly pulled them on. Looking around he found his tunic flung halfway across the tent.

  Rory walked over to the trunk, plucking his pants off the lid. “She nearly killed Glenna.”

  Conri picked up his boots, heading toward the bed. “Why would she want to kill Glenna?”

  Rory slid into his pants. “As it turns out Glenna spent her time pleasuring Declan while you were being held hostage and tortured. Add the fact that Glenna defended Declan and your wife decided she might pose a threat to you. Glenna saved her own life by saying Conri will never forgive you. The only thing that exerted any amount of control over Nessa was you, even though you were not even there. You cannot give up and just walk away. I know she is obstinate but…”

  “She has moved well beyond obstinate.” Pulling his second boot on Conri stood up.

  Rory slipped the red tunic on over his head. “I have never known you to concede a battle so easily.”

  Did he truly intend to give up? Probably not but he was seriously frustrated and out of ideas at the moment. Conri walked out of the tent without responding to Rory’s comment.

  The burning blankets were the first thing that caught his eye. His wife stood there watching him as if her heart were breaking, an impossible situation he had no idea how to fix. Confronting her with the whole truth was out of the question now. He could not risk Nessa learning that Will betrayed her trust. Their friendship would not be enough to save William from her wrath.

  There seemed to be no point standing here arguing with her. His wife refused to budge from her current path. Walking away with no particular destination in mind Conri left his wife behind, clutching tightly to her secret.

  “MAYBE WE COULD FAKE another kidnapping, make her think it happened again.” Will shrugged nonchalantly.

  Ronan and Will were sitting with him on the edge of camp attempting to come up with some kind of plan to break his wife. The task apparently took three grown men. Her strength of will, while certainly impressive, frustrated him beyond belief.

  “That is quite possibly the worst idea anyone has ever had.” Ronan was staring at Will in utter disbelief.

  Conri had to agree with that assessment. “If we do that she will never let this go. It will only reinforce her fear. I will be stuck with a bird for a wife until the day I die.”

  “Can you truly not see the solution staring you in the face brother?” Ronan had that condescending you are all idiots look on his face again.

  “No, apparently I cannot. Enlighten me.” If Ronan had a solution then he wanted to hear it, arrogant attitude much less so.

  “Bond with her.” Ronan made it sound so simple.

  A solid suggestion. Bonding would no doubt solve their problem. Nessa could stop worrying about him because he would have her powers. “There is one not so minor problem with your solution. My wife did not ask me to bond with her. She decided to leave me instead.” It brought up the question of why Nessa did not even bother to ask.

  “According to your wife she did ask but you turned her down.” Ronan emphasized the word you. “Apparently you had a bit of a tantrum and broke things off with her over the mere mention of bonding. Your wife told me she promised never to bring it up again. I suggested your kidnapping and torture might provide extenuating circumstances but she refuses to break her promise. If you want bonding to be an option you will have to be the one to bring it up.”

  Basically he left her no other option. Initially he took her suggestion of bonding as an insult. Nessa loved him even thou
gh he could not change form. That much would be clear to a blind man at this point. So how did he feel about bonding now? He had not given that particular option any thought at all. “So I did not give her much choice. Is that what you are trying to say?”

  “You did not give her any choice at all.” His brother emphasized the word you again. Intent on pointing out that he could not claim complete innocence for the current state of his marriage. “Nessa came up with three possible options for protecting you from the threat her powers would bring. The first was bonding, giving you all of her powers to protect yourself. According to our father when one bonded partner dies so does the other. That would also eliminate the threat of anyone ever wanting to kill you to bond with her. Murdering you would also kill her. Your wife eliminated that as an option because of the aforementioned tantrum and promise.”

  Shooting his brother what he hoped was a scathing look Conri could not help encouraging his annoyingly accurate brother to continue talking. “The second option?”

  “To guard you night and day for the rest of your life. She ruled that out on the basis that you are a pain in the backside and would never allow it.” A mischievous sparkle in Ronan’s eyes conveyed his delight at sneaking in an insult.

  “Paraphrasing I assume.” Fighting back a grin Conri almost enjoyed this brotherly banter. A gift from his wife. He never would have sought out a relationship with Ronan on his own.

  “Perhaps, but the essence is entirely accurate. In the end the only option left open to your wife seemed to be removing herself from your life thereby removing the threat. There was of course a fourth option she never even considered. I can honestly say with unwavering certainty it would have been my choice were I in her place.” Ronan did not say another word, just looked at him with an impish grin on his face.

  At times his brother reminded him of the mischievous fairies of Irish legend. The ones mortal parents would tell their children stories about. He refused to take the bait.

  “What is number four?” Will’s brow furrowed in curiosity.