She opened the door an inch. All was clear. Wonderful. She stepped across to the window and smiled while outside, a score of muscled men with bare chests and belted Matheson plaids partnered up and tapped their swords together. They swung, and the heavy clang of steel on steel ricocheted toward her. Dreary gray skies loomed overhead, not unusual for this time of the year. ’Twas overcast more than sunny during these cooler months.
“Ailith?” A hand closed over her shoulder.
She jumped and clutched her chest as she faced her nemesis. “Hunter, you shouldnae sneak up on a lass like that.”
“I didn’t mean to frighten you. Have you finished in the bathroom? I—” He frowned, sniffed, then frowned again. “Did you use the bacon soap on the shelf in the shower cubicle?”
“Aye.” Butterflies abounded in her belly, his wide chest so close and his torso still bare, although he’d changed out of his kilt and now wore tan rawhide breeches, which still sat far too low on his hips. Eyes up. No ogling his body.
“There are all sorts of pretty pink soaps in the bottom drawer of the vanity for our female guests.”
“I only opened the top drawer.”
“You could also have used the other bottle of shampoo in the shower.”
“What other bottle?”
“The one behind the meat scented one.” He waved his nose over her head, an easy feat since he stood a good foot taller than her. “Aye, that’s pork belly I can smell. They’re both gifts from Bella. My favorite food is pork and bacon, thus the reason for those scented products.”
“Oh, of course it is.” She clicked her fingers. “You told me so last eve. That those were your favorite foods.”
“Speaking of last eve.” He released a low growl, and she side-stepped.
“Don’t move.” He followed her and leaning in, dipped his head and trapped her easily between him and the wall. “You can’t go downstairs smelling this good. You’ll cause a stampede, one with claws coming out.”
“I’d hoped to mask my scent by using the soap and shampoo, not make myself more alluring.”
“I can help change your alluring state if you wish.”
“How?”
“It’ll be best if I show you, rather than tell you.” He pressed closer until they were cheek to cheek, then he rubbed his body fully against hers.
“What are you doing?” She tingled everywhere they touched, warmth shooting to her core and making her nipples ping to attention.
“Embedding my scent into you. My kinsmen will now think twice before attempting to touch you.”
Oh goodness. He was too close. She grasped his shoulders and bit into her bottom lip. “Please, you must stop.”
“Not yet.” A soft purr rumbled deep in his chest. “You still need more of my scent on you.”
Her mind fuzzed and she swayed.
“My bear likes you.”
“That’ll be the pork and bacon speaking to him.”
“He wants to take a bite out of you.” He nipped her ear. “I have a request.”
“I’m no’ entertaining any requests at present.”
“I want my memories back. Can you restore them the same way that you took them from me, with your faerie dust?”
“Aye, but ’tis best I dinnae.” He already knew the basics anyway from overhearing her conversation with Isla, and she didn’t want him learning anything more.
“I can’t stand not knowing what’s already happened between us.”
“I can offer compensation.”
“In what form?”
“A new memory I won’t take from you.” She reached up on her toes and kissed his cheek, then settled back down and dragged in a hopeful breath. “There, will that do?”
“It’s a start.” A very satisfied grin lifted his lips.
“I’m sure I smell exactly like you now.” This man was too much of a temptation. “You should finish dressing. Donning a shirt would be helpful. Cover up well, a jacket too.” She motioned out the window where a hazy mist had now swept in, the clouds overhead darkening further. “A storm is brewing.”
“As they always do in these parts.” He stepped back, thankfully, although his smoldering golden gaze remained on hers.
“That-away.” She pointed at their connecting bathroom. “Go.”
“I’ll go, but come and talk to me while I pull on a shirt.” He turned and strode into his chamber as if she would follow his every command.
She released a long, unsteady breath then drat it all, she did indeed follow him. Like a lamb to the slaughter, she walked through the bathroom then stopped in the doorway while he foraged through his dresser. He flapped out a navy tunic with billowy sleeves, lifted his arms and let the soft cotton swish over his head. He tucked the hem into his breeches, the loose tunic ties swaying, the deep V of the neckline showing off far too much of his gloriously muscled chest.
“Allow me.” She dragged the ties together and knotted it tight under his neck. “There we go. That’s much better.”
“I still need to breathe.” He coughed, one finger tugging the neckline looser, amusement flickering in his eyes.
“Breathing is overrated.” Best she brought whatever it was between them back to friendship, and fast. She slapped his arm as her fellow warriors often did with each other. “Are you joining your kin for training? You’ll need your sword if you are.”
“I’ll join them after I’ve eaten breakfast with you.” From on top of his trunk, he picked up his weapons, strapped on a wrist dagger and his sword belt.
“No need to join me for breakfast. I already have a date with Levi.”
“You better not.”
“He calls me his sweet pea.”
He stared at her lips, her eyes, then her lips again, and for the life of her she couldn’t move an inch. Good heavens, she needed to get out of his room, immediately. More heat pooled between her thighs and he breathed deep, his eyes slowly closing. He brushed up against her, and she fisted his shirtfront as he tipped her backward and pressed his cheek against her cheek, his lips a mere inch from her lips.
She couldn’t move, not if the castle was on fire and burning down. Three more blasted weeks and she would know if he was truly hers, meanwhile she was one-hundred percent certain he was the warrior she sought, which meant leaving so she could ensure his protection. “I, ah, I want things right now that I shouldnae be wanting with you, Hunter.”
“Trust me, I believe we both want the same thing.” A long growl rattled from his chest and escaped his lips, beautifully full lips she wanted on hers.
“I want a mate who is all mine, who I can claim in every way.” The truth, right from her heart, which she shouldn’t be sharing with him, not right now, only she couldn’t help herself.
“Then we definitely want the same thing, of which I’m certain you’re looking at the man you’re mated to.” He curled his palm around her nape, his fingers warm and firm on her skin as he drew her even closer, then he angled his head and covered her mouth with his.
His kiss swept her away, sending a wave of dizzying sparks through her body, and goodness, his mouth was so achingly soft against hers. He parted her lips with his tongue and swept inside. He tasted her with gentle strokes and she clung to him, desperate for even more.
“Hunter?” His very stiff erection jabbed into her belly and she sighed with utter delight. Completely and utterly helpless to resist his touch, she rocked her hips against his hips. So sublime, and exactly what she needed. Such a depth of need overtook her.
“We wouldn’t be touching like this unless we’re mated.” Hunter carried her one-step back to the wall, pressed her back against it then made love to her mouth with great care and devotion. Such a master of seduction, and she was falling fast. “You’re mine, Ailith.” He gripped her bottom and lifted her higher against the wall, his bicep muscles bulging as he raised her to his height. He kissed her deeply, every inch of his body surrounding hers.
Trapped. She couldn’t move, not that she w
anted to, so she hooked her legs around his hips and ground her lower body more deeply against the fierce heat he emitted.
Another rough and incredibly skilled kiss as he pushed his tongue into her mouth, and oh sweet heaven, she wanted to kiss him just as roughly in return. She yearned for more of this.
She yanked his tunic’s hem from his breeches, smoothed over his lower abs and as she did, he kissed her as if breathing life into her. “We should stop,” she murmured against his lips.
“Aye, we should, but I can’t.” He moved his mouth from hers, down her neck until he drifted over her pounding pulse point. He licked her skin, his tongue raspy and warm and then he scraped his teeth back and forth over her sensitive flesh. “I need to bite you, Goldilocks.”
“I’m too hot.”
“I like that you’re hot, and I still need to bite you.” He unzipped and opened her jeans, slid his hand down and rubbed her tight nub through her silk panties, then with his teeth on her neck, he bit down and she shuddered as her core rippled over and over with a fierce orgasm that took her breath away.
In a daze, she held on tight as he carried her to his bed. He dropped her lightly on the mattress on her back then stood over her. He thrust one hand down his pants and gripped his shaft, his body humming with power and his gaze locked on hers. “I wish to mate with you.”
“We dinnae know if we belong together, and we willnae until the next full moon.” She shoved up onto her elbows. “We should wait.”
“Or not wait.” He pressed his knees into the mattress either side of her hips, his hands either side of her head as he knelt over her. “When our shifter kind join as one with our true mate, we forge a merged link of the mind. It’s inherent in our shifter blood, which means we’ll know if we’re mated far sooner than the next full moon if we join fully together right now.”
“Have you forgotten, Hunter? I’m a telepath and can forge that merged link of the mind with you right now if I wished. You saw me do so with Isla and her babies.”
“Damn.”
“Let me show you.” She activated her telepathy, touched her mind to his and whispered along the private pathway, “You’re one insistent bear, but ’twill be three weeks until you sense the need to hunt me. I will return by that time, to make sure I’m here and close. That isnae so long to wait considering you’ve already waited six years and I’ve waited over eight-hundred.”
“I love hearing you in my mind.” Smiling, he leaned in, touched the tip of his nose to the tip of her nose. “I’m not a telepath, but I will be able to connect to my mate’s mind once we join together. That ability is inherent in my shifter blood, to forge and hold that connection with our chosen one. I say we join together now and see if I too can connect with you. That will prove one way or the other if we’re mated.”
“If you’re wrong and we arenae mated, then we can never reverse what we’ve done.” They had to wait. There was no other way. She broke their link, shut their connection down. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I never meant for any of this to happen. I should have spelled the removal of your memories again after you overhead Isla and me talking.”
She pushed against his shoulders and thankfully he rolled onto his back and away to the other side of the bed. Hands linked behind his head, he breathed deep, jaw clenched as if he tried to restore some control.
“You’ll need to shower again,” he muttered. “Otherwise I’m going to be all over you in two seconds flat.”
“Consider it done.” She bounded into the bathroom, closed the door and stripped off. A quick raid of the bottom vanity drawer secured her a pink bar of soap and she jumped in the shower and scrubbed her skin until it was almost raw. The other bottle of shampoo, which happened to be strawberry scented, got scrubbed through her hair and once she was all clean and smelling girly again, she emerged from the steamy confines of the shower and dried herself. Her clothing would still hold his scent as well, so she rummaged through the duffel and tipped out the only remaining clothing from within.
Gah, a gown. ’Twas beautiful though, that she couldn’t deny. No underwear left, so she dragged on the forest-green fabric trimmed with brown fur around the hem and neckline and thrust her arms through the sleeves which draped over the backs of her hands. The velvet skirts brushed her ankles and she eased the matching slippers on since her boots just wouldn’t suit. She’d do pretty for this morning.
A knock rattled the door. “We need to talk about what just happened.”
“Nothing happened.”
“Everything just happened.” He opened the door and stepped inside. Agony tore at his face and made her heart squeeze.
“I’m sorry. This is all my fault.” Clutching her bodice to her chest, she gave him her back. “Please, laces. I cannae reach them.”
“Will you still be in heat in three weeks?” He tightened the laces then once done, turned her around by her shoulders, dipped his head and pressed a soft kiss against her neck.
“Hunter.” She’d wanted to snap his name out, instead it had come out all sultry.
“I didn’t mean to do that.” He held his hands up as he took a step back. “I couldn’t help myself. Tell me about your cycle.”
“They fall twenty or so years apart, and I’m only ever in heat for a week at most. ’Tis one of the frustrations of my fae kind, that even with the extended length of our cycles, all the time we have to conceive is a similar length of time to that of a normal human woman.”
“I don’t want to wait another twenty or so years to conceive a child with you. Unless…” A deep smile lifted his lips, a naughty smile.
“Cease smiling at me like that. It isnae very helpful.” She strapped her wrist daggers and sword in place, stuck her pouch in her pocket then ducked into her chamber and hurried down the passageway.
“I’m smiling because I’ve finally found my mate and nothing could make me happier.” He kept an easy pace one step behind her.
“Stop following me.”
“You are so stubborn.”
“I could say the same about you.”
He chuckled and jogged around in front, then cut her off before she could reach the stairwell. Blocking her path, he crossed his arms, spread his feet wide on the blue and green runner and gave her a very hungry-bear smile. “I need to know everything there is to know about you.”
“I get very angry when constantly contradicted, or if my requests are ignored.”
“You can guarantee I’ll never ignore you.” He tapped her nose. “Your current requests though, I completely disagree with. You want to run, and I want to put my hands on you, my lips too. My cock is also still rather hard and I want to put that deep inside—”
“Hunter Matheson!” She slipped a pinch of faerie dust from her pouch, slapped a hand against his chest and sent her gold dust fluttering over him. “Listen to me well. You will remain right here while I leave. You will also ignore any urge to follow me, and your cock will deflate and go all soft and you will totally forget about wanting to put it anywhere near me. Have I made myself clear?”
“Don’t do this to us, Ailith. You are my responsibility, mine to protect and care for.”
“Nay, you are mine and now I’ve found you, I will ensure your protection.”
Chapter 6
Ailith hurried through the foyer toward the large oak doors leading into the great hall. Behind her, Hunter’s fierce growl rumbled from the top of the stairwell and she checked over her shoulder as he pounded down the stairs. Good grief. He shouldn’t have had any urge to follow her. “Leave me be, Hunter.”
“You’re asking the impossible.”
Breathing deep, she pushed against the carved wooden doors engraved with the clan chief’s arms, that insignia carrying two bears as supporters either side of it. The Gaelic words for Matheson, Son of the Bear, “Mic Mhathghamhuim,” were emblazoned underneath. Gilleoin’s shifter line had blended with her fae line and ’twas this clan she’d given her oath to guard and protect. Clan Matheson must
survive and thrive, and never fall asunder. She’d win this current battle with Hunter too, and before this day was done.
She stepped inside the great hall abuzz with chatter. A good hundred of Hunter’s kinsmen sat eating at trestle tables, then as they caught her arrival—and likely her huffing breath—those faces all turned toward her. “Ah, good morn, everyone.” She waved a hand. “I’m Ailith.”
“She’s also my mate.” Hunter wrapped an arm around her waist from behind, his warm breath fanning the top of her head and tickling strands of her hair across her cheeks. “I’m also certain of that, but I will have my work cut out for me convincing her. That being the case, I would appreciate as much aid as possible from you all.”
“Wait.” She held up both hands. “Hunter simply hopes I’m his mate, but as you are all aware, shifters must wait until the full moon afore you can truly know if you’ve found your chosen one, so for now his decree is mere speculation alone. He does no’ require your aid at all.” She slipped out of Hunter’s hold and made a beeline for the trestle table overflowing with breakfast foods. Before the first table where the plates were stacked, she scooped one up and caught the glimmer from the precious gems sparkling within their Matheson clan shield hanging in pride of place on the wall where all could see it. Diamonds, rubies and yellow and blue sapphires sparkled along the silver edge and she touched one finger to the diamond sparkling the brightest in the center. This shield hung in Gilleoin’s time in the same spot as well and she’d often admired its beauty. Hunter eased in beside her and she couldn’t help but share her first memory of seeing it with him. “Did you know this shield was handcrafted by one of Gilleoin’s favored blacksmiths, and the gems were gifted to him by David of Scotland in the late eleven-hundreds?”
“No, and do you mean David of Scotland, as in the Scottish prince and the eighth Earl of Huntingdon?”
Highlander's Claim: Time Travel Romance (The Matheson Warriors Book 2) Page 6
