Wolf Castle (Phoenix Throne Book 4): A Scottish Highlander Time Travel Romance

by Heather Walker

  Was this what it felt like to take flight and to dominate the world as a dragon on pointed wings? She saw the world spread out below her from the heights of space. He took her there and left her suspended in the stars.

  In the middle of it all, he rocketed off the bed and flipped her over. He slammed her down on her back and attacked her in all his ravenous fury. He plowed into her deeper and harder than ever. She split her legs wide open to let him in, and the harder he struck, the higher she soared.

  Wave upon wave of catastrophic climax swept her far away until she lost all awareness of what he did. She knew only the endless delight of swimming through the clouds wrapped in his arms. He roared into her ear, and his teeth brushed her neck. She screamed into his brain. She wanted him to know what he did to her. She wanted him to hear so he would never forget.

  Her sweet nectar overflowed to lubricate his shaft. His creamy froth filled her up, and they became one.

  Chapter 24

  Callum tucked his shirt into his belt and nodded to Sadie. She lay under the blankets on his bed. Her hair cascaded over the pillow, and that heavenly glow of sex still shone out of her skin. “Be careful out there.”

  “I will. Ne’er ye bother yerself aboot that.”

  She propped her head up on her hand to watch him. He couldn’t go near her again, or her kisses and her arms would draw him down into bed again. He had to do this, and he had to do it now.

  He positioned his sporran in its place and buckled on his saber. He ran his fingers through his hair for the hundredth time. When he got ready, he pulled the door open, ducked outside, and closed it immediately.

  He walked away from the room as fast as he dared. No one would think to look for Sadie in his room. Lachlan might already miss her. Callum had to head him off at the pass.

  He strode downstairs and found Lachlan and his brothers in the dining room. To Callum’s surprise, Jamie sat in his usual chair nearby. Callum straightened up. “Ye mun’ be feelin’ better, lad.”

  “Aye,” Jamie replied. “I cinnae allow ye tae earn all the glory while I sit on me duffer and pine.”

  Callum broke into a laugh. It sounded strange coming out of his mouth. How long had he brooded in somber depression that he didn’t laugh anymore? He couldn’t remember the last time he really let his laugh out like that.

  “We’re just discussin’ this curse business,” Lachlan added. “Yer brother agrees wi’ ye aboot fetchin’ this ’Azel o’ yers from yer own country. She seems tae ken all aboot this curse.”

  “Aye,” Callum replied. “If anyone can break it, it’s ’Azel.”

  Lachlan nodded. “I dinnae care tae think ye ha’e another reason tae want tae take that course.”

  Callum whipped around to face him. Jamie asked. “What reason is that?” but Callum already understood him. The expression on Lachlan’s face told him everything he needed to know.

  Lachlan fixed his eyes on Callum, and a charge of animosity passed between the two men. Lachlan knew all about Callum and Sadie. Callum was still a threat to Lachlan’s plans.

  Jamie interrupted what could have turned into a heated confrontation. “If ye want the curse lifted, there’s none but ’Azel can lift it. Ye’ll no lift it by marryin’ Sadie.”

  “That’s what yer brother says,” Lachlan muttered.

  “It’s true,” Jamie replied. “Angus never lifted the curse on us by marryin’ Carmen. That happened long after he got burned in the fire and raised the Phoenix from the ashes.”

  Lachlan spun away. “I ha’e heard the whole story a million times.”

  “Then ye ha’e no reason tae marry Sadie,” Jamie replied. “Ye can marry a Lady o’ yer own standin’ and lift the curse intae the bargain. That’ll make ye happy.”

  Callum looked back and forth between his brother and Lachlan. Jamie had no idea Callum entertained designs on Sadie in conflict with Lachlan’s desires. He simply stated the case in its simplest form.

  Lachlan, on the other hand, understood the subtext. His eyes shot daggers at Callum. Callum already did his best to convince Lachlan he didn’t need to marry Sadie, but Lachlan wouldn’t trust Callum’s motives. He persisted in thinking Callum made it up to steal Sadie from him.

  Callum might want to steal Sadie from him, but now Lachlan heard the same story from someone else. Lachlan couldn’t exactly suspect Jamie of trying to steal Sadie when Jamie didn’t know Callum’s plans.

  Callum kept silent. Talking wouldn’t get him anywhere right now.

  “I’ll tell ye what,” Jamie chirped. “I’ll fly home and bring ’Azel ’ere. Will that suit ye? Then ye’ll ha’e lost naught in the waitin’.”

  “I cinnae allow ye tae do that,” Lachlan replied. “Ye’d miss the wedding.”

  “What wedding?” Callum blurted out.

  “My wedding,” Lachlan replied. “My wedding tae Sadie. I moved it up. We’re doin’ it tomorrow.”

  Callum stared at him. Lachlan gazed back with that satisfied placidity Callum understood to the core of his being. Lachlan outmaneuvered him at every turn. Whatever Callum did, he couldn’t allow this wedding to take place, not after he just spent the greatest night of his life with Sadie in his bed.

  He closed his mouth and dragged his eyes away from Lachlan’s face. He turned his gaze on Jamie, who showed no such surprise at the news. “Weel, congratulations,” Jamie told him, “but don’t ye think ye’d better deal tae this curse afore ye plan any grand celebrations?”

  “If I marry her, I willnae need tae lift the curse,” Lachlan replied. “Even Koto says so.”

  Jamie shook his head, but he didn’t bother to argue anymore. Lachlan set his mind on one course. He wouldn’t change it now for anything.

  Lachlan faced his brothers and started talking about his plans for the wedding celebration. “Make sure ye’ve got the castle surrounded so the vermin dinnae get the jump on us. I dinnae want naught tae interfere with it once’t we get started.”

  Callum couldn’t listen to any more of this. He knelt down by Jamie’s chair. “How are ye comin’ alaing, lad?”

  “I’d be just rippin’ if I could get out of this castle,” Jamie murmured back. “I asked him tae let me go home so I could heal in me own bed, but he wouldnae let me go. I wonder he hasnae lost summat upstairs under all the strain.”

  Callum shook his head, but he had to bite his lip to stop himself smiling. He kept his voice low so no one would hear him. “I dinnae say so, but summat’s no right in this.”

  “Who’s this Koto, anyway?” Jamie asked. “I ha’e me doubts she’s on a par wi’ Ross when it comes tae all that.”

  “I’m certain o’ it. Perhaps it’s she who tells him tae keep ’Azel out.”

  “Then they’ll ne’er break the curse, and it’ll come back tae haunt us all.”

  “If it comes tae haunt Urlu,” Callum returned, “we’ll deal tae it in our own way. It’s ainly…”

  “What, mon? Tell me.”

  Callum dropped his voice to a whisper. “It’s Sadie. We mun’ get her out o’ ’ere afor the wedding.”

  Jamie’s eyes flew open. “Is that all? Wheesht, mon, we can do that any time. We just take her up and…”

  Callum shook his head. “We’d bring on a war atween us and the McLeans. It’s all very weel fer Urlu. The McLeans’d ne’er stand against us. It’s the Camerons I worry aboot. If we cross Lachlan, he’ll attack the Camerons on the mainland. He may no e’en realize we’re a different tribe tae them. The wolves’d chew through ’em in no time.”

  Jamie stared at him, wide-eyed. Then he cracked his wicked old mischievous grin. “Awright, mon. Ye ha’e got me. What do ye want me tae do?”

  Callum barely dared breath getting the words out. “Just sit tight, lad. Heal up ’ere and accept his hospitality. Wish him weel fer his wedding. That’s all ye can do, and I’ll take care o’ the rest.”

  “Are ye sure, mon? Let me do more.”

  Callum shook his head. “Leave’t tae me. I’ll handle this. It
’s me fight, and I’ll fight it.”

  Callum couldn’t contain himself any longer. He had to get out of that room before he exploded. He hopped to his feet and headed for the door. He headed for the stairs when rapid footsteps made him glance back. There stood Lachlan, right behind him.

  “Dinnae run away when we’re ainly gettin’ started,” Lachlan purred. “I mun’ consult wi’ ye aboot this wedding as much as the others.”

  “Ye neednae consult wi’ me aboot naught,” Callum replied. “Ye ha’e made yer plans, and ye’ll go ahead wi’ ’em.”

  “I mun’ ask ye,” Lachlan returned. “We’ll ha’e men stationed all aboot our perimeter tae stop the creatures comin’ at us. I’ll need ye standin’ by tae deal tae ’em so they dinnae disturb the ceremony.”

  Callum snorted. “Is that the real reason ye want me and Jamie at yer wedding? I think no.”

  A crooked smile stretched over Lachlan’s face. “Ye and I both ken the reason ye mun’ stay, and it’s naught tae do wi’ any curse or bloodsuckers or naught else. Ye mun’ see it done, laddie. Ye mun’ see her gi’en tae another man so ye can taket home wi’ ye. Consider’t a gift from me in gratitude fer dealin’ tae the devils yesterday.”

  “A priceless gift it’d be, too, if I may say,” Callum muttered.

  “Ye may.” Lachlan clapped him on the shoulder so hard Callum’s hand flew to his weapon. “I kenned ye’d appreciate a gift like that. Ye’ll attend, and ye’ll see. Ye’ll stay the night, and ye’ll go home the next mornin’ in the certain knowledge I had me way wi’ her on our wedding night. Ye’ll live the rest o’ yer life in the certain knowledge she’ll bear me heirs, and she’ll ne’er be yers.”

  Lachlan walked away and left Callum seething in turmoil. He could count up a dozen reasons to let Lachlan have his way. He could number off on his fingers the several reasons he ought to help Lachlan beat these vampires so their two Clans could live side by side in peace for another ten generations.

  Even knowing that, he knew he wouldn’t do it. He would never let Lachlan marry Sadie. He couldn’t, and he couldn’t defeat the vampires for Lachlan if he thought Lachlan would use that power against him and Urlu.

  He had to find a way to stop this man. He had to find a way to break down Lachlan’s plans, but he had to do it carefully. Above all, he had to break the curse. He couldn’t allow these bloodsuckers to move their disgusting little war to Urlu. Callum had to stop it right here and now.

  He spun on his heel and stormed up the stairs on his way back to his room. He burst through the door and found it empty. The sheets and featherdown blankets lay folded back, and a perfect imprint of a human body disturbed the clean white surface. Sadie was gone.

  That was just as well. She knew better than to hang around his room with Lachlan on the prowl. She must have slipped off back to her own room while he was gone.

  He sat down on the bed and buried his face in the pillow. He closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath of her smell. All the delirious delights of last night rushed back, and he nearly died of all the roiling emotions fighting for control of his insides.

  He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t stand by and watch her married to another man, not after last night. He gave his all to her, and she gave her all to him. He never doubted that. A woman couldn’t let go like that if she didn’t mean it.

  She was his. He would fight and die for her. He would bring down all Urlu and the rest of the world besides to win her. Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to hate Lachlan. Callum possessed her heart and her body and her soul and her mind. Lachlan would never have any of that. He might force her to marry him, but he could never touch her. Even if Callum never saw her again, their love bound them together for all time.

  Chapter 25

  Sadie clutched her arm over her dress and rushed down the landing to her own room. Her heart pounded and she struggled to breathe, but she never stopped running until she slammed her door and bolted herself in.

  She couldn’t button her dress by herself, but that didn’t matter. She shucked off her clothes and tossed them into a pile. She slipped into her nightdress, twisted her hair into the messy knot she usually slept in, and dove into her own crisp, clean bed. She kicked the blankets and sheets every which way until she made it look like she spent the night there.

  She barely got into position before a knock rattled her door. Lachlan’s voice boomed down the landing. “Open this afore I break it down.”

  She jumped out of bed and pulled the door open. Lachlan barged into the room. “Ye had yer wee game, lassie, but yer fun’s all o’er. Ye’re marryin’ me tomorrow, and when that’s done, ye’ll watch yer sweetheart leave fer his own country. Understand that right now. Ye’ll ne’er see Callum Cameron again. Ye’ll marry me, and ye’ll make a perfect mother fer the next generation of McLeans.”

  “Tomorrow!” she cried. “You can’t do this!”

  “It’s awready done,” he replied. “It’s planned down tae the detail. The men’ll defend the castle so nothin’ disturbs the ceremony. Then, when it’s all done and settled, ye and I’ll go tae me own room, and I’ll plant the seed in ye fer me heir. Ye’ll be mine, and ye’ll break the curse the way Koto says.”

  All the tension and fear drained out of Sadie’s being. She pulled herself up straight in front of him. “That won’t happen, Lachlan. I already gave myself to someone else. You won’t marry me, and I won’t break the curse. You have no choice now but to let both of us go, because you could never defeat Callum in a fair fight. You know that.”

  He regarded her with his head on the side. For an instant, he didn’t understand what she said. Just for a fraction of a second, she fooled herself into thinking this might work, but she should have known better. He never walked away from anything he set his sights on.

  In a heartbeat, he grabbed her. He crushed the back of her neck in his iron grip and marched her out of the room. He half-shoved, half-dragged her down the stairs to the dining room where his brothers and cousins still stood around in casual conversation. They jumped when Lachlan came in with Sadie. “Get Koto,” he snapped. “Get her this instant.”

  He hurled Sadie into a chair, but she jumped to her feet in a flash. She would never be afraid of him again. If he killed her on the spot, he couldn’t devise a worse punishment for her than marrying her and driving Callum away.

  “You can’t do this to me,” she shrieked. “You can’t marry me.”

  Lachlan ignored her. He sliced his finger at Christie. “Fetch that dozy glackit doaber down ’ere. I want him tae see this, too.”

  Christie disappeared. Sadie narrowed her eyes at her enemy. “Don’t you dare do anything to Callum, Lachlan. You’ll be sorry if you harm a hair on his head.”

  “Shut it!” he barked. “Ye ha’e flapped yer cludgie enough fer one day, I’d say.”

  Just then Koto entered the room from the opposite door. Christie and Callum returned at the same time. Lachlan rounded on the old lady. “This fud says she’s gi’en her worthless minge tae the radge o’er there. It’s all off. She’ll no break the curse now.”

  Callum took a step toward him. “Ye’ll mind yer lip afore her.”

  “And ye’ll mind yers afore me, scunner, or ye’ll taste a piece o’ me doaber ye’ll no like,” Lachlan shot back. “She’s a waste o’ all that now.”

  Koto sidled close to Sadie’s face. Her ugly visage turned Sadie’s stomach, and the old woman stunk to high heaven. Sadie held her breath while Koto examined her. “She’s soiled,” Koto rasped, “but there is another way. Kill the other, and she’ll be free.”

  “What?” Sadie shrieked. “Don’t you dare, Lachlan! You wouldn’t dare.”

  Lachlan chopped his hand through the air. “Ye heard her. Kill him.”

  No one moved a muscle. The McLean brothers exchanged glances. Callum kept his eyes fixed on Lachlan’s distorted face.

  “Are ye all deef?” Lachlan bellowed. “Do ye want tae fight those fiends fer the rest o’ yer lives? Kill
him! It’s the ainly way. Christie! take him outside and dump him in the sea.”

  Callum turned his head with infinite slowness and came face to face with Christie. The two men regarded each other for a long moment. Callum smiled at him before Christie turned back to look at Lachlan. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

  Lachlan threw up his hands. “Aw, ye’re all useless. Do I ha’e tae do it meself? Some Laird I turned out tae be. I cinnae get married, and I cinnae order me own men tae do me biddin’.”

  He charged up to Callum. He laid hold of Callum’s shirt sleeve, but Callum didn’t budge. Lachlan pulled his saber. He hauled back his arm to strike Callum down. Callum raised his arm at the last moment. He blocked Lachlan’s blow so hard he knocked the saber out of Lachlan’s hand.

  Lachlan snarled in his face, but Callum stood still. “Ye’ll no kill me that way, lad. If ye wish tae kill me, ye’ll ha’e tae fight me mon tae mon, wi’ no funny stuff.”

  Lachlan flapped his hand at Christie. “Get him out o’ ’ere. I cinnae stand the sight o’ him.”

  Christie raised his own hand to touch Callum’s arm, but he let it fall. He peered into Callum’s face in silent questioning. “Dinnae bother aboot that, lad,” Callum told him. “We’ll go taegether.”

  The two men walked out of the room. Lachlan returned to Arch, Carson, and their cousins in front of the fire. He changed his tone without twitching an eyelash. “As soon as he’s out in the open, we’ll all take him as a pack. He’ll play fair, wi’ no funny stuff, and that’s exactly how we’ll take him. We’ll put him in the ground, and we’ll ne’er ha’e tae deal tae him again.”

  Sadie swallowed hard. “You can’t do this, Lachlan. You can’t turn against the very man who saved your wretched hide.”

  He swept his languid eyes up and down her body. “Gang ye upstairs and change yer clothes. Ye’ll watch this and choke on’t afore I’m done wi’ him.”