Highlander's Sword: Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (Clan Matheson Book 3)

by Joanne Wadsworth

  “Oh goodness.” His mind surged into hers, tunneled deep and she panted as he created the private pathway that would only ever be theirs. Such a stunning connection. She grabbed ahold of it, cemented it within her own mind then along their link, whispered into his mind, “Naught has ever felt so right, as if you’re now exactly where you belong, deep within me.”

  “You’re my chosen one, the other half of my soul, the only one I shall ever live for.” He seized her mouth with his and liquid heat surged through her core. With breathtaking reverence, he deepened their kiss, showing her with his body alone just how very deep their connection ran.

  “I cannae believe we actually fit together. I must admit worry flittered through me for a moment, but now I feel only incredibly full and completely at peace.” The sheer depth of her feelings for him rose and keeping them from him was impossible. “Your essence is the very purest I’ve seen, your star within the dream realm shining the brightest.”

  “Being inside you feels incredible, phenomenal. Every inch of me is ablaze where we touch. My bear is also in heaven, has calmed right down now that I’ve claimed you and made you ours. This is what he wanted, what I wanted and needed too. I wish I’d seen it sooner.” On the ground either side of her head, he pressed his hands then he rocked over top of her, pulled back and heaved all the way back in again. Moving harder and deeper, he increased his pace and her lashes fluttered down, her heart singing with joy and her body on fire for more. “Look at me, my sprite. Tell me you feel pleasure, that I’m not hurting you.”

  “I promise you, there is only pleasure.” He lunged in, until she almost couldn’t take any more of him yet still craved whatever he could give her. Desperately craved. “Go deeper. Please, go deeper.”

  Clinging to him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and her legs hooked around his backside as he thrust with such a heavenly drive, she accepted all of him, over and over.

  “I cannae hold on any longer. Forgive me.” He latched onto her neck, bit down and sent a fiery blast of unadulterated pleasure through her.

  She cried out at their raw and primitive joining, clasped him tightly to her and as she bit him in return, he roared his pleasure, dived even deeper inside her, his thoughts a blustery storm of pure heat and lightning that swarmed in and around her own.

  * * * *

  Alec bellowed and sank balls-deep inside his woman, clamped down on the other side of her neck and marked her again. He bit her hard and then she did the same to him in return and cried out at their fiercely intense joining. Her bite had him soaring to the edge of no return. More, he needed even more. He surged, pumping into her as her inner muscles squeezed and dragged his cock right to her core then together, they careened over a high ridge and soared to the heavens, his essence pulsing into her in one long, hot stream. Carnal thoughts consumed him. He wanted her connected to him in the ultimate way, for his seed to take root and for her to carry his child. “You’re my lover, my chosen one, my everything and all.” Never would he be able to accept anything less than her complete and utter surrender to their bond and all that he was. “Want me, the same way that I want you.”

  As he kissed his woman, he locked his mind tightly around hers and laved each of the marks he’d stamped on her neck, nibbled on her tiny earlobe, all of her a heady and intoxicating mix that made his spine tingle and the pressure in his shaft once again build. Hell, he’d only just come, but soon he’d need to come all over again. With his need riding him hard, he gave into his body’s demand and kissed her, cherished the luscious recesses of her mouth as he plunged his cock ever deeper inside her, her fiery heat bathing him below as she clutched his butt and pulled him in.

  “Take whatever you need from me. You are where you now belong, my warrior, my ravenous bear, the other half of my soul.”

  He moved deeper inside her, and she met each of his thrusts with one of her own, her teeth scraping back and forth over his neck. “Do it. I need every mark you’re prepared to give me.”

  “There is naught more beautiful and all-encompassing as this bond.” She clamped her teeth down on him and he roared and whipped his teeth into her neck in return. Her inner channel tightened like a fist around him and she lapped the new mark, inched along his neck and bit him again, her arousal flying down their link and swamping him in it. “Can’t hold on—must—please—”

  “I’ve got you.” With her channel contracting, pulsing and sucking him in, he bucked into her, his essence jetting from him a second time, thick and heavy to her core. No one would ever be able to separate them again, not now their connection had been forged like steel into his very heart and soul. She was his, always his, and his bear gripped him tight, clawed then saturated himself in all that she’d so willingly given them.

  Damn, if anyone ever attempted to come between him and his chosen one, he’d kill them. He and his bear had stated their claim and he’d never allow another to impinge upon it.

  “Dinnae go anywhere.” Her beautiful long lashes fluttered down and she softly sighed. “Stay right inside me where you belong. No separation. I cannae abide the thought yet.”

  “You’ll be lucky if I ever leave the sanctuary of your body. You’re my mate, my destiny, my past, present, and future. Where you go, I now go.”

  “That’s the most perfect, smallest step I’ve ever heard of. I look forward to seeing what a big step is for you.” She smiled and yawned then succumbed to sleep and he did exactly as he’d promised he would and remained right where he was, his woman tucked tightly within his arms as he carefully wrapped his plaid around them both.

  Aye, it appeared he couldn’t take small steps, didn’t even have a chance of doing so. Glad he was too. As a gentle breeze blew and rustled the bower of leaves over their sacred place, he finally allowed the pull of the night to tug him under, or as much as his bear would allow with him still being so deeply entrenched within their enemy’s land.

  Chapter 10

  An owl hooted and Alec, resting in his light state, opened his eyes, the night skies still dark, although he sensed dawn neared. Annella lay snuggled against him, her mind and soul drifting toward the dream realm even as she tried to hold onto their connection. He followed her thoughts, joined her as she soared higher amongst an array of twinkling stars, her body going limp within his arms.

  She circled a particular place as if waiting for something to appear and anxiety ate at her. Needing to comfort her, he stroked her back within the warmth of his plaid, their merged link of the mind a gift beyond measure. ’Twas a connection he’d never give up, wished he’d claimed the very first night when she’d solidified her spiritual form. Never would he ever be able to take one simple small step with her, not when all his heart and soul desired, was forever.

  He wanted her in his bed each and every night, her hair a tangle of gold on his pillow and his shaft captured firmly inside her snug channel as it currently was. His balls tightened something fierce and he couldn’t halt his body’s need. Down between them, he fondled her nub then thrust his cock even deeper. Her inner channel contracted around him and he came, so swiftly, his ragged grunt muffled into her neck as his essence shot into her. “I’m so sorry, Annella. I didn’t mean to come that fast and while you traveled so far away from me.”

  Before his greedy other half could command him again, to wake her and force her return from the dream realm, he pulled out.

  His bear rose up and rumbled his displeasure at the separation. He didn’t care for it either, but so too he couldn’t take his mate again without her being fully present, nor could he allow her to go unattended any longer. She must hurt. He’d taken her maidenhead and she’d cried out with the initial pain of it. He spread her legs and touched the smear of blood along her inner thighs lit by a trace of the sprinkling moonlight. She’d given herself to him, in every way and he’d ensure she never regretted doing so.

  He slid out of their bower, stepped into the stream, splashed his cock and cleaned himself before scooping a handful o
f cool water and returning to her. Gently, he washed the blood from her thighs and once assured he’d done all he could, he touched his lips to hers, his mind still entrenched within hers as she traveled through the night sky so far away. She waited, for either her father or brother’s stars to glow, but neither did.

  “Wake up, love. Return to me.” He urged her back to him with soft kisses. Last night he’d demanded her return then barely caught how her search had gone. She’d found Ronan alive although restrained within Duncan’s brother’s stronghold, deep within his dungeons. Only he’d awoken her just as she was about to search farther afield from the underground cells and locate the entrance. She hadn’t been able to return to her brother then, and she still couldn’t connect with him or her father now.”

  “Mmm, Alec.” She murmured his name in her sleep, her thoughts infused with his then slowly, she blinked her eyes open, wrapped one arm around his neck and drew him down on top of her deliciously curved body, the most sinful smile on her face. “I’m back.”

  He rubbed himself against her and a fiery burn invaded his limbs and stiffened his cock. His bear demanded he take her again and with her folds spread, he gripped his aching shaft and rubbed the head of himself against her wet entrance. Groaning, he tried to hold back, but couldn’t. He pushed his length deep into the heart of her intense heat and slid home.

  She gasped underneath him, her eyes now wide open as she panted. “Oooh, that was fast.”

  “Did I hurt you?”

  “You could never truly hurt me.”

  “I have a confession to make.” He rocked his hips and she hooked her legs around him and kissed him, so possessively his cock throbbed on the verge of release. He had to calm this fever he had for her, only he had no idea how to do so. “I woke up a few minutes ago, still inside you and I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. I touched you down below and you contracted around me and made me come so fast.”

  “I’m sorry I missed the moment.” Panting, she moved with him as he lunged inside her, the tight, heated slickness of her channel making his eyes nearly roll to the back of his head. “Come again as you please. I’ve no intention of missing this joining.”

  “The next time I come it’ll be when you come, and not before.” He plundered her mouth, thrust his tongue between her lips just as he thrust his cock into her below. Filling her in every way, pumping deep inside her, he’d never stop loving her until she too couldn’t take any more.

  “Mmm, I’m so close,” she whispered against his lips.

  Buried deep within her, he rubbed one finger over her clit and she cried out and came, so swiftly, her channel snagging him deep within and making him fly right along with her. He coated her womb with his seed, jet after jet until she’d milked him completely dry.

  “Well,” she murmured as she softly sighed, her eyelids fluttering down. “Dinnae ever let me miss a joining again. They are too precious, and rather addictive.”

  “Then don’t fall back asleep and we should be just fine.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, his heartbeat a thumping mess against hers. “I need to apologize a second time. Tell me more about Ronan.”

  “One moment.” She covered his mouth with hers and kissed him, a gentle teasing of tiny licks and nips that made his bear roar for more, only ’twas time for her kin to come first, not him.

  Carefully, he pulled out of her then touched the marks he’d made during the night either side of her neck and across the top rise of her full breasts. She was the only woman who could ever tame both him and his beast, and loving her from this moment forth would be a journey filled with promise and the ultimate adventure. Aye, he wanted everything, all of her, and for them to always be together. Never would he miss even one more day without her by his side. “Begin.”

  “I found Ronan and spoke to him, although Father still remains beyond my touch and I searched for him as often as I could after our joining when I once again slept.” She pushed against his chest and he let her roll them over until she came up on top. “Ronan and Father were separated at the meadow, Father taken in one direction and Ronan the other. Just as you and Kirk discovered from their tracks. Ronan gave me the directions to where he’s being held. From the meadow, we journey another half day then when we leave the forest behind in the valley before the hills, we’ll find the inner channel of a loch winding inland. At the very innermost point is a MacKenzie holding that now belongs to Coll. He’s unsure which loch exactly since they covered his head with a sack when he caught sight of the waterway, but the stronghold is either somewhere along the length of Loch Kishorn or Loch Carron. He also has no idea where the entrance to the dungeons lie, but every now and again he catches a trace of salt in the air, although all I caught while I was with him was the grittiness of the earth and the overpowering reek of urine and sweat. I wish I’d gotten the chance to look around, but ’twas no’ to be.”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you back, only I couldn’t help myself. Patience isn’t one of my virtues.”

  “You didnae know I’d found him.” She cupped his face in her hands, gently stroked her fingers back and forth along his jaw. “There is more. There’s also a lass with Ronan by the name of Kyla and she’s the Chief of MacKenzie’s daughter and Duncan’s sister, but more than that she holds a fae skill and even though she initially said she knew naught of it, she finally admitted to Ronan that she did. She’s hiding her skill, even asked Ronan no’ to tell another soul about it. She cared for him, brought him a meal and ensured he ate it as well.”

  “How can she be a MacKenzie and of fae blood too?”

  “She and Ronan spoke while I listened in. Ronan told her twenty years ago a young lass of only three summers was taken from the fae village farther along the loch from the House of Clan Matheson. Her name was Christina and she was the first child born to Grace and Isaiah, two of our highly skilled fae. In the middle of the night, under the cover of darkness, Christina disappeared and the elders of the village believed she’d been kidnapped, although in the search for her afterward, none could find her.”

  “Your brother remembers her?”

  “Aye, he does. He was a lad of eight at the time, said the wee lass had always intrigued him with her golden-red curls and blue eyes. He told Kyla she was his mate, that he sensed the threads of their bond taking form, although she is in denial, said there wasnae a chance they were soul bound.”

  “A man knows when he’s soul bound.” Even though he’d denied the truth during the times Annella had come to him in his dreams, deep in his heart, he’d known all along she was his chosen one. He’s just been too stubborn to admit the truth, even to himself.

  “Ronan pleaded with me, told me to go to Father first and free him. Once that is done, we’re to return for him. My brother wishes for more time to convince Kyla that they’re soul bound.”

  “She’s been raised by the MacKenzies. Her loyalty to them will be strong.”

  “Aye, that I fear too.” She glanced skyward at the lightening sky, the stars slowly disappearing as red speared through the dark blue, the sun slowly breaching the horizon. The rising sun sent a flare of gold through the foliage overhead and sprinkled over them.

  “I told Kirk we’d be back at dawn.” Even though leaving this magical place with her was the last thing he wished to do, he rose and collected his scattered belongings. Taking care not to look at her for fear he’d tumble her back to the ground, he donned his billowy sleeved white tunic, sheathed his daggers at each wrist, then hauled on his black leather pants and shrugged on his steel-studded gray jacket. Needing to keep something of hers on him, he swiped her blue hair ribbon from where he’d pocketed it the night before in his now discarded pants and tucked it inside his shirt pocket, right over his heart. Sword belt strapped on and boots laced up, he knelt next to the stream and dunked his head fully in the water. He lifted up and shook the drops free, scented the air and slid his claymore from its sheath. All still remained clear. Swiftly, he stabbed a wild
brown trout darting through the water and pierced another swimming right along behind it then holding his catch up, grinned at his woman as she sat on his tartan, her mass of golden tresses tumbling around her shoulders and swaying over her full breasts.

  “Nice catch.” She smiled, pushed the tartan pooled in her lap away and stretched, her arms raised high and her breasts bobbing beyond the curtaining of her hair.

  He was beside her in less than a second and on his knees, he flicked her locks back and ensured he didn’t lose the glorious sight of her nipples beading tight in the cool morning air. “You need to dress.”

  “Aye, I do, my mighty bear.” One finger hooked into the front V of his buttoned jacket, she tugged him closer and touched her lips to his. She kissed him, so sensually soft yet with a hungry undercurrent of simmering need, the same as what roared through him. “We need to spend some time alone, and the moment we’ve freed my kin, I’m going to demand you take me somewhere where ’twill be only the two of us together.”

  “I’m going to lock you in my bedroom and feast on you until you’re screaming my name.”

  “Aye, your chamber it shall be then.” She jiggled, her breasts bouncing. “I cannae wait.”

  “Hold still, lass, otherwise we’ll never leave this place when it’s truly time for us to be away.” Head dipped, he fastened his mouth on one rosy nipple and moaned. He would crave her for the rest of his life, an addiction he intended to get lost within. Gently, he lapped the beaded tip, moved to the other peak and plumped it up with the same dedicated attention as he’d done the other, until it shone all wet and red from his mouth.

  “Mmm, I love the way you kiss me.” She caught his face in her hands, drew his mouth to hers and seized his lips. Her kiss had his cock filling and straining for release within his pants. Hell, he needed to cease touching her, and right this second.

  Breathing heavily, he pulled back and stood, fisted his hands behind his back and bit out, “We have a busy day of tracking ahead of us. Get up and get dressed. That’s an order.”