“Kaelen, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
He stopped in front of the window and stared out. “Or maybe it’s Darrick. Yes, it has to be him. Bastard.” He began to speak in a strange and beautiful language, though Abagail guessed he was cursing up a blue streak.
Crack! Thunder boomed, causing the house to shake.
Abagail jolted and looked past him out the window. “Holy cow, that was close. We must be in for some storm.”
Glancing back at him, she gasped. He clasped his head with both hands and swayed from side to side. She jumped up and ran to him. Even in the darkness she could see the paleness of his skin and the sweat beading his brow. Wrapping her arm around his waist, she guided him back towards the bed.
“Come on, you need to sleep. You’ve had a head injury and shouldn’t be up and about.” She bit her lip as he lay back down. “Maybe I should call the doctor or get you to an emergency room.”
“No.” He reached out and grasped her hand. “Just need to rest.”
“Fine, but at least let me get you some aspirin or something. You’re obviously in pain.”
“I have no need for medicine. Sleep. I just need sleep.”
Sighing, she picked up the blanket and comforter that had been kicked to the floor and covered him.
“Sleep well, Kaelen,” she whispered and brushed his hair away from his forehead. Giving into impulse, she leaned down and pressed her lips to his. “Sweet dreams.”
“Beautiful Abagail,” he murmured.
To her amazement, tears pricked her eyes at his words.
“Sleep well,” she repeated and hurried from the room.
Once upstairs in her bedroom, Abagail flopped on her bed with a groan. God, her body still hummed and flamed from Kaelen’s touch. She had never reacted like that with a man. Another minute or so and she’d have come hard and fast. That wasn’t normal—at least not for her. Despite the exhaustion beating down on her, she managed to climb out of bed and change into her pyjamas.
She crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, replaying the last several hours in her head. This was certainly a day she wouldn’t forget anytime soon. Damn it! She never figured out how he healed so blasted fast. He hadn’t given her the chance to ask.
Her swollen breasts ached and her nipples tightened to nubs at the memory of how he’d distracted her. Desire pooled in the junction of her thighs. She had to think about something else. Fast.
The music. The soft, sensuous music. Now that had been strange. Where had it come from if it hadn’t been in her head? What did it mean, and why did it tug at her so? Her skin tingled at the mere thought of it. It was very sexy. Kaelen had heard it, too. Or hadn’t he?
Abagail narrowed her eyes in the dark. She couldn’t be certain he’d heard the same music she had. He had a head injury, for Pete’s sake. Maybe he was hearing things. Considering the massive headache he suffered after the episode, that scenario was entirely possible. That had to be. It was the only thing that made sense. Who had ever heard of two people hearing the same music in their heads?
She breathed a sigh of relief, convinced she had it figured out. Of course, that didn’t explain his injuries and how they’d healed in a matter of hours. Tomorrow, she decided. She’d question him on it tomorrow. By then, they’d both have recovered—he from his headache and she from a different kind of ache altogether. Squeezing her legs together, she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.
* * * *
Downstairs, Kaelen struggled against the weakness settling over him. Damn it, he had to think, not sleep. He hadn’t planned to give in to his attraction to Abagail. Nothing good could come of that. His good intentions had fled when he’d awoken with her bent over him. All that long brown hair caressing his bare skin, her breath whispering across his stomach. Then when she turned those soft green eyes on him…hell, his body had taken over from there. His only thought was to be with her, to mate with this woman. Then suddenly the Song of Souls filled the room.
It didn’t make sense. He had no mate in this life. He’d seen that in the Waters. And, despite what his dear aunt and Maraana claimed, he’d never known them to be wrong.
It had to be Darrick playing mind games. But that didn’t explain the jolt of power. It hadn’t been a storm as Abagail believed. It’d come from him. He hadn’t reined in his anger. Hell, he hadn’t had to for the past twenty-some years. So how did he cause it? Was his power returning? How? He needed to contact those who had answers.
He chuckled wryly. Yeah, that was going to happen. Any of his people who saw him hightailed it in the opposite direction. What was he going to do now? Could Abagail be his mate? Even in his weakened state his cock twitched at the thought of her. He shook his head. He’d never heard of human mate. Damn, what was he going to do?
Chapter Three
Abagail stood on the edge of a cliff overlooking the dark grey sea. Droplets of salty water misted over her as waves crashed below. She lifted her arms high to greet the moist wind as it swept around her, lifting her hair and tangling her long skirt around her legs. For a moment, she felt incredibly wild and sexy. She wore no bra or panties and the sensation of the cool, damp air stealing up her skirt and caressing her hot folds was deliciously wicked. She felt so alive. Every cell tingled, every pore opening for more sensation, for more…more…something.
“Are you a witch then, beautiful Abagail? Conjuring up a tempest on a whim?”
She lifted her face towards the sky, enjoying the sound of Kaelen’s voice. “Being here almost makes me believe in magic.”
“Oh, but there is magic, love.” His voice licked her ear as his arms wrapped around her. He pulled her back tight against him, her ass snug on his hard length. “You’ve felt the magic, haven’t you? You felt it with me earlier.”
His hands cupped her breasts, taking their soft weight in his palms. She moaned and arched her back, pressing both into his hands and grinding her ass against his erection. Shivers danced up her spine as he nudged her hair aside to press a kiss on the base of her neck.
“Feel that?” he asked and rolled the tight crowns of her breasts under his thumb. “Magic.”
“Magic,” she repeated breathlessly.
“Let me make love to you, beautiful Abagail. Let me show you magic beyond anything you could possibly imagine.”
She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. Standing on tiptoe, she answered him with her lips a hair’s breadth away from his, “Yes.”
His slid his tongue over her lips, coaxing her to allow him entry. Diving her fingers into his silky hair, she opened herself to him. The heat from his mouth enflamed her. She fought against her tangled skirt, trying to wrap a leg around his. With a grunt, he reached down and yanked it up, bunching it against her ass, pressing her tighter against him. She cried incoherently into his mouth when her softness cradled his length through layers of clothing.
“Are you feeling it?”
“Yes,” she gasped. “More. I need more. Now.” She punctuated her demand with a slow roll of her hips. The intensity of the feelings he incited overwhelmed her and made her ache for more.
She felt like she was flying, then suddenly Kaelen pressed her up against the flat side of a large boulder. With what she thought was a curse he gripped the collar of her blouse and tore it down the front. Cool, moist sea air swept delectably over her hot, sensitive skin.
“I need to taste you, love.”
He dipped his head down and took one rose tipped breast in his mouth. Fire race through her body as he suckled and swirled his tongue around the hardened peak. She wrapped his long hair tighter in her fists and held him close. The pressure, the intense pleasure-pain threatened to explode.
“Kaelen.” She said his name at last. Moaned it. “I can’t take this.”
“Yes, you can. Let go; let go for me.”
“I don’t want to come until you’re inside me.” She groaned, lost in the sensations his touch induced. “Deep inside me.”
>
He pulled away and looked up at her. She gasped at the stark desire darkening his gaze. His pupils dilated until there was just a sliver of molten, fluid silver encircleingthe blackness.
“You’ll do both, love.” He flicked his sinfully glorious tongue across her moistened skin. “Sweet Lady above, I cannot get enough of you. I ache for you, Abagail.”
He pulled her skirt up around her waist and cupped her sex. The cool stone kissed her ass as his palm pressed against her pulsating clit. She squeezed her eyes shut. Oh God, she would go up in flames if he didn’t stop. Of course, she’d have to kill him if he did now, and that wouldn’t satisfy either of them.
All thoughts escaped as he moved his hand in a small, but oh so nice, circle. Sensation after sensation built and burst inside her, shooting straight through her belly to her dripping sex. A trickle of moisture slid onto her inner thigh. Her head fell back, and he took the opportunity to sample her sensitive neck.
“Oh God.”
Keeping pressure on her clit, he slid, first, one finger inside her heat, then another.
“By the Goddess, you’re tight.” He scraped his teeth along the length of her neck. “Exquisite.”
She whimpered as she rode his hand, frantic and hard. Desperate for release, she clutched at Kaelen’s shoulders, murmuring incoherently.
“Now,” he commanded and shifted his hand, burying his fingers deep inside her. “Come for me, now.”
His thumb flicked over her swollen pearl and sent her over the edge. She felt like she was falling off the very cliff they stood on, but there was no cold sea below. Only heat. Thick, sweet, liquid heat.
She screamed as she slid over the final wave and held on tight.
Moments passed as only the sound of the waves crashing below mingled with their harsh breaths. She leaned forward until her lips touched his shoulder.
“Kaelen,” she whispered after pressing a kiss to his wet skin.
“Yes, love?”
“Who are you? Why do you pull at me so? How is it that I feel like I know you?”
Suddenly she was alone, leaning against the boulder. Her clothes intact again, the only memory of the passionate encounter was the moisture between her legs and the quivering of her body.
“Kaelen!” she cried.
Whirling around, she searched for him and continued to call out his name until her eyes fell on a woman and two children huddled near the edge of the cliff. The woman lay in a heap, covered in blood; her children, horror etched on their tiny faces, clutched at their mother and stared towards two men standing a few feet away.
The taller of the two stood with his back to Abagail, but she could read the rage and fury contorting the other man’s face. Both men held themselves stiffly as they regarded the other. With preternatural speed the faceless man closed the distance between them and grasped his opponent’s neck.
Bile rose in her throat when the sickening, wet sound of bone snapping reached her.
It wasn’t until the victor began striding towards the woman and children she saw his face, as rage-filled as the man he’d quickly killed. No, no, no. It couldn’t be. It was Kaelen!
She couldn’t hold back the sharp, horrified cry that escaped her lips. Kaelen lifted his gaze to meet hers. His silver eyes burned as they focused on her.
“This is who I am, Abagail. You don’t know who or what I am.”
His raised voice chased shivers across her skin and she began to sob, as she stood frozen, watching him move closer and closer towards the helpless trio.
“No, please!”
Abagail continued to sob as she escaped the dream. She didn’t know what happened. Had he hurt them? Killed them, too? Violently shaking, she pressed a hand to her churning stomach. Why? Why had he killed the man? The woman had obviously been beaten. Why had he done such a thing?
What was she thinking! It was a dream. A bizarre dream, but a dream nonetheless. It wasn’t real. She knew Kaelen was not the monster she dreamed of. If he was, surely she would have known it, felt it, when she was with him. It was a dream, a hideous dream best forgotten. Straightening the covers, she settled back to seek sleep again.
* * * *
Kaelen leaned back against the headboard as the morning sun slashed though the billowing drapes. He hadn’t slept more than a few scant hours. After the dream he’d had of Abagail, sleep had been horribly elusive. Not surprising with the image of the beautiful woman succumbing to ecstasy firmly entrenched in his mind. He’d woken up hard and sweating, wishing the dream hadn’t ended before finding fulfilment himself. If Abagail were half as responsive as she’d been in his dream, she would consume him in flames if he were lucky enough to sample her.
“Good morning.” Abagail came into the room, carrying a tray. “I thought you might be hungry. You didn’t eat anything last night.”
“I am hungry. Will you sit and eat with me?”
She met his gaze and smiled. “If you’d like.”
“Nothing I’d like more.”
Placing the tray across his lap, she sat on the edge of the bed and quickly jumped up again.
“Why do you have the window open? You’ll catch your death.”
“Wait.” His voice halted her halfway across the room. “Please leave it cracked. I like to smell the air, the woods.”
“Okay, but only a crack. You don’t need a chill right now after all you’ve been through.” She left it opened an inch and returned to his side. “Did you sleep well?”
“Well enough, I suppose. How about you?”
“Oh, I’m fine.” She pushed the plate of toast closer. “Eat.”
He frowned. Pale violet smudged under her eyes, and she kept avoiding his gaze. Did his presence make her uncomfortable, unable to sleep?
“I’d like to thank you for your help last night. The Goddess must have been smiling upon me when she sent you into the woods.”
She chuckled. “It was hardly a goddess that sent me.”
“Really? What did send you?”
“Nothing really. Just an argument with my sister-in-law. I know better than to let her rile me, but I did anyway. So I went for a walk to clear my head. I tripped over you,” she informed him.
He grinned. “Well, I’m glad you happened upon me.”
“How did you end up there, anyway? Who did this to you?”
“It was nothing, just a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?” she asked, incredulous. “A misunderstanding left you beaten to a pulp and left in the cold to die of hypothermia?”
He stared at her. “I was at a club, and a woman hit on me.”
“Oh please, a woman did this to you?”
“In a manner of speaking. Her boyfriend didn’t take kindly to her showing an interest in me, so he and a couple of his thug buddies decided to, how did they say it? Oh yes, they decided ‘to ruin the pretty boy permanently’.” He shrugged.
“And they beat you up? Just because some jerk’s girlfriend liked the look of you? How is that your fault?”
“Abagail darling, it isn’t about fault. They wanted to show their women how tough they are. If it hadn’t been me, it would’ve been someone else.”
“Oh yeah, that’s manly and attractive, ganging up on a lone man. Idiots.” She got to her feet and began pacing the length of the room.
She was so agitated. On his behalf, he thought with amazement. Her face was flushed, and she gripped her hands in fists as she quickly walked back and forth across the room. Her eyes flashed with anger. She already cared. His heart contracted. What was he going to do?
“Please sit down. I’m fine now, and the idiots will go on living their idiot lives.”
“You could press charges.”
Yeah, that’s what he needed, to talk to the police and explain things he didn’t even want to think about. Yes, officer, I’m a banished faery Prince. Will you please arrest these men for picking on me?
“No, it’s behind me.”
She looked away from him and
wrung her hands together in her lap. Her teeth worried her bottom lip. He shifted uncomfortably. Damn, she had a sweet mouth. Soft and incredibly tasty. He found himself swept back into the previous night’s dream. He could almost feel the hot wetness of her kiss. The feel of her firm breasts in his hands and the sweet responsiveness between her thighs. His cock sprang to attention. Shifting again, he hoped the comforter hid his state.
“Kaelen?”
He raised a brow at her whisper. “Yes?”
“How did you heal so quickly? You have nothing but faint scars now. How is that possible?”
Shit.
“Uh, I don’t know. I’ve always been a fast healer.”
There. That was honest. He really didn’t know why the Fey were such fast healers and he had always been that way.
She leaned forward. “Really? I mean, I always thought I healed fast. Which I do compared to my brothers, but nothing like that. Have you talked to a doctor about it? Maybe they could figure out why. Imagine what that would mean—maybe they could figure out a way to help other people.”
“No, no doctors. I don’t like them.”
“But, Kaelen, you could—“
“No!”
A strong wind whipped through the room, causing the curtains to swell and Abagail’s curls to flutter around her face. A glass flew off the end table and onto the floor, shattering loudly.
Pain shot through his head, and his stomach lurched. Damn it! He was so careless, letting his emotions take control. How was he going to explain this away? He didn’t want to lie to her. He lifted his hands to cover his eyes. The blinding pain ricocheted through his head. Had to get out of here. Had to get away so he didn’t hurt her. He uncovered his eyes to find her on her knees, picking up the shards of glass, her face deathly white.
“Abagail,” he whispered.
She looked up at him with wide green eyes.
“I need to leave. If you could get me my clothes, I’ll be on my way.” He bit out each word, the pain in his head intensifying with each syllable spoken.
Fate's Song Page 3
