“I need you too,” he murmured against her lips then pushed a second finger inside her.
She screamed his name as she thrashed underneath him, her channel tightening around his fingers and then she was there, soaring free as her inner muscles dragged his fingers deep within her.
“I’m right here with you, Goldilocks.” He growled as his seed rushed forth across the bedcovers, then he collapsed on top of her.
Chapter 9
Curled on her side with intense warmth surrounding her, Ailith lifted her heavy eyelids. She blinked and forced the room to cease moving and her vision to clear. Embers glowed in the hearth and through the narrow window at the side of the bedchamber, the sky remained dark, although she sensed the rising sun was near.
“Go back to sleep.” Hunter’s deep murmur at her back rumbled past her ear, his arm heavy around her waist.
“’Tis almost dawn.” The sloshing of waves and the hoot of an owl drifted in from outside. She stretched, her belly rumbling with hunger. Giggling, she covered her middle, not that her hands helped to muffle the noise. “Ignore that.”
“I’m hungry too.” Hunter tipped her toward him and searched her gaze. “I love sleeping in the same bed as you.”
Smiling, she cupped his face and brushed her thumbs over both adorable dimples indented each side of his luscious lips. The enchanting lock of hair curling across his forehead drew her attention too, and she gently tucked it behind his ear, his big body radiating so much warmth. She leaned in closer for a morning kiss then grinned as he kissed her passionately.
He stroked her back, curved his hand over her bare bottom then lifted her leg and slid it between both of his legs, his crisp leg hairs tickling her sensitive flesh and their bodies aligned perfectly from head to toe. “Good morning,” he murmured, in a way that had her melting into him.
“Good morn to you too.” She stroked along his stubbly jaw and kissed him again, their next melding of lips bringing such content to her very soul. “It would be a dream to carry your cubs. I want you to know that, no matter what happens in the future.”
“It would be a dream to give you one, and I promise you, we’ll have a future together, a long and loving one.” He brushed his nose through her hair and nuzzled her neck.
“Ailith, ’tis Cairstine.” Her sister tapped at her mind along their telepathic link. “Dinnae get mad.”
“What are you doing here?” She and her sisters all held the same telepathic skill, but ’twas only possible for them to reach each other while in the same time, which meant Cherub must have returned beyond the veil to bring Cairstine through a portal, and all without warning her or taking her back to the past when she did. Aggravated, she muttered, “Cherub left without me?”
“Who are you speaking with?” Hunter searched her gaze.
“My sister. She’s here.”
“Cairstine or Lilias?”
“Cairstine. Give me a moment while I uncover more.” She focused again on her sister. “I needed to leave and Cherub should have warned me she was going.”
“You cannae leave yet. Have you forgotten Murdock’s vision? Cherub told me all about it. He said you must wait until you and Hunter have fought a battle, one in which you must both undertake to reach a resolution.”
“I take it Cherub’s told you everything then?”
“Aye, she left naught out.”
“What about Lilias?”
“She remains at the warrior encampment, and I’m now in the guest chamber two doors down the hallway from yours. I packed a bag and brought clothes for us both.”
“Thank you. I’ve been borrowing things from Isla, but I’m clear out of clothes.”
“I need to see you, and afore dawn breaks.”
“To feed?”
“Aye.”
“I’m at the fae village. Bring me a change of clothes when you come. You can meet Hunter.”
“Clothes, of course. Consider it done.” Her sister closed their link.
“Cairstine is on her way, and she’ll be soaring through the skies to get here fast.” She tapped Hunter’s nose.
“I wasn’t ready yet to leave this bed.” He stuck his nose in her hair and sucked on her earlobe.
“Neither was I, but there is no other choice, not with dawn so close.”
“Ailith?” A knock rattled the door. “I’m here, with food for you to break your fast as well.”
“Wait right there.” Her sister had moved fast, and she understood why. She bounded out of bed, nabbed Hunter’s shredded tunic from the mat and slipped it on. Holding the flapping sides to her front, she opened the door and accepted the bundle of clothes and boots from her sister, who gave her a sly, wicked smile.
“You are crafty bedding the man already. He must surely be your mate for you to accept him as you have.” A light breeze drifted through from the open window in the main room, the odd star still twinkling in the lightening skies.
“The bedding didnae include any completion of the bond.”
“So there’s no chance you’re yet to make me an aunt?” Her sister tried to peer past her into the room, but she closed the door to within an inch and made sure to stand in Cairstine’s way. “No possibility whatsoever. We’ll be out in just a moment.”
“I would say take as much time as you need, but I cannae risk being caught so far from the keep afore dawn.” Still smiling, Cairstine rubbed her hands together. “Lilias is going to be so mad she missed out on seeing this.”
“Then dinnae tell her what you’ve seen.” She closed the door in Cairstine’s grinning face and walked face-first into Hunter, who’d appeared right in front of her on silent feet. She raked one fingernail down his bare chest and left her stake of claim right there, which settled her a touch. “Dress yourself.”
“I want to meet your sister.” Possessively, he stroked the mark she’d made on his chest, his gaze locked with hers.
“No’ while you’re naked.”
“Is she well? Her skin appeared rather pale compared to yours, or at least what I saw of her face through the gap in the door.”
“She needs to feed and once she has, the rosiness to her cheeks will return.”
“Does she travel to this time often?”
“Aye, she finds more acceptance here.”
“Why is that?” He strode to the wooden rack, the long length of his back rippling with muscle and his firm buttocks on delicious display. He plucked his tan breeches from one rung and jerked them on before nabbing an inky-black tunic from the ambry and donning it.
“Are you aware of how one with her morphing skill takes their nourishment?” She should dress too. She set the pile of clothes her sister had brought her on the bed, shrugged his tunic off and tugged on a pair of her own skin-tight black leather breeches.
“No, I’m not aware. Tell me.” He eased in behind her, smoothed her hair over one shoulder and dropped a kiss on her nape.
“Since their bodies are always reconstructing due to their ability to morph into any creature, whether shrinking to the size of a bat, extending to the width of a dragon, or anything in between, it makes it difficult to eat, so their canine teeth extend and they drink blood, directly from those they choose as their feeders.”
“Wait. I do recall learning something like that when I was younger. It’s believed that centuries and centuries ago the legend of the vampire might even have first stemmed from a human who met a fae with the skill to morph and wasn’t aware of what they truly were.”
“Aye, that is quite likely. Usually within all legends, truth exists in some form.” Cream tunic tugged over her head and the hem fluttering loose past her bottom, she added a soft leather vest of tan rawhide and strapped her wrist daggers in place and her sword at her hip. Hunter collected his boots and perched on the rumpled blue and cream patchwork quilted bedcovers. He tugged them on and she dropped down next to him, slid her own feet into her calf-high boots and laced them tight.
“Does she feed from you?” A gruff questi
on.
“Aye, and from Lilias too. She is my sister and I would never allow her to perish from lack of sustenance.” Teeth gritted, she pushed to her feet.
“Why is it you sound slightly defensive?”
“There are few with her ability beyond the veil, and the fact she drinks blood from her kin, and how she goes about doing so, can cause others to form misjudgment, which I don’t appreciate.”
“What kind of misjudgment?” His brow drew into a furrowed frown. “There’s something I’m missing, but I’m not sure what. Where does she feed from, your neck or your wrist?”
“Primarily the neck. Her bite is sharp at first, then that sharpness disperses as Cairstine releases a substance that allows one to go into a dream-like stance as she feeds. She then heals any incision with a single lick alone. That is a part of her skill.”
“During this dream-like stance, are you able to halt her if you need to?” He stood and towered over her, his frown lines deep.
“Nay, she holds the mind of her feeder when she feeds and there is naught I can do to halt her. She could drink me dry if she wished, which is why she only feeds from Lilias and me.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“Which is why some say ’tis a dark fae skill she holds. Many will have naught to do with her, even though she is the granddaughter of Ailbert, King of the Fae.” She crossed to the wooden drying rack, dug the pouch of faerie dust from the pocket of her gown and hooked it to her belt loop.
“Has she ever taken too much from you or Lilias?”
“Only when she has gone too long between feedings, but you need no’ worry over that. Lilias and I can regenerate our lost blood during the deep, rejuvenating sleep of our kind.”
“So she can’t feed from me if I offered?”
“She could, but only an immortal can survive one of her ravenous feedings, and she would never risk one of our half fae-blooded kind by feeding from them.” She opened the door and stepped into the main room, her sister’s golden spiral curls bobbing loose and long down her back. Very few could tell her apart from Cairstine since they were identical in every way, other than for her sister’s currently pale complexion, which gave away the exact depth of her hunger. She pulled her sister into her arms and squeezed her tight, making certain she exposed her neck to her.
Cairstine rubbed her thumb along her jugular and murmured in her ear, “Introduce me to your companion, my dear sister.”
“Of course.” Releasing her sister, she motioned to Hunter. “Cairstine, meet Hunter. Hunter, this is my nosy sister, Cairstine. I should also warn you, she is like a bloodhound when Lilias and I make new friends. She will wish to know everything about you.”
“Aye, I can definitely be a bloodhound.” Cairstine eyed Hunter with fascinated interest. “’Tis lovely to meet you Hunter. My sister has told me so little about you, although Cherub has informed me of a great deal, thankfully.”
“Nice to meet you.” Hunter eased in behind Ailith, pressed his chest against her back, one hand curling around her waist as he extended his other hand to her sister and shook Cairstine’s hand. “When did Cherub collect you?”
“During the dark of the night, right after Murdock had another vision in which he saw the need for me to be here too. I gladly came.”
“Interesting.” He tightened his hold around Ailith’s waist. “My chief’s visions are strong. I’m glad you’ve come.”
“I’ve brought breakfast with me. Sit, and eat.” From the countertop, Cairstine handed her a bowl of hot oats and a plate of buttered toast, then picked up a second bowl and plate and handed those dishes to Hunter. With a flourish of one hand, the long, draping sleeve of her red gown swaying, Cairstine gestured to the corner table with four chairs surrounding it. “I’ve already laid out the cutlery and such.”
“How did you manage to bring all this?” Hunter set his food on the table holding a small bowl of honey, jug of milk, two tankards filled with apple cider and a jar of raspberry jam in the center.
“A sprinkle of faerie dust and a simple spell ensured it soared right along with me.” Cairstine nudged Ailith with a hand at her back and she crossed to the chair next to Hunter’s and sat, while Cairstine sat beside her and picked up the honey and swirled it over top of hers and Hunter’s hot oats. Her sister added a splash of milk. “I often long to eat human food. It always looks so delicious.”
“You can’t even have a mouthful?” Hunter spooned oats into his mouth.
“I can, but I always pay the consequences for it.”
“In what way?”
“My belly aches terribly, and I usually cannae keep the food down for long.”
“Have you ever eaten human food?” Another mouthful, Hunter’s interest clearly piqued.
“I did, until the age of eight or nine. That’s when I began morphing more often, into all manner of creatures, big and small.”
Ailith slid a spoonful of oats between her lips and moaned. So divine, and exactly what she needed to warm and fill her belly, and to ensure she had enough sustenance to provide for herself and her sister.
Cairstine smiled at her, in that way she always did when slightly amused. “You’re a tease.”
“I dinnae mean to be.”
Her sister rested her elbows on the table and leaned closer to Hunter. “I had an interesting conversation with your clan healer after my arrival, Liam his name was. He said he was well versed in all of the fae skills, even those as ancient and rare as mine. I accompanied him upstairs to his medical rooms and he showed me his meticulously written notes about my ability to morph. He even keeps donated blood from your clan here, in a special refrigerated unit that remains monitored to ensure the temperature of the blood never gets too cold or too hot. In case a blood transfusion or such is needed for one of your kind. He asked if I would like to try one of the bags of blood.”
“Did you accept?”
“Nay, that I could never do, no’ when Ailith’s blood is so delicious.” A dark glimmer lit her sister’s eyes as she cast her gaze back at her. “Ailith, you have barely touched your food. Keep eating.”
She spooned more oats into her mouth, then spread jam over her buttered toast and chewed fast. That dark glimmer always meant the darkness was spreading through her sister, that when she fed, she might very well take too much, and she didn’t want Hunter to witness one of Cairstine’s ravenous feedings, not just yet. ’Twas too soon.
“Drink.” Cairstine nudged her tankard toward her. “You need adequate fluids too.”
She gulped her cider, her sister’s hunger beating at her along their tight sisterly bond.
“Sooo,” Cairstine drawled as she cast her gaze back to Hunter. “Murdock tells me you hold the fae tracker skill.”
“Aye, I do.”
“He also told me of his vision about the battle you and my sister will soon have. I cannae wait to witness that.” Her sister dunked one finger into the raspberry jam, gripped Ailith’s hand and smeared a small line of red jelly across her inner wrist.
“What battle would that be?” Hunter watched her sister extend one jagged nail and nick her wrist. Her blood pooled, held in place by the jam from running down to her palm. Cairstine licked her lips.
“One fought with swords,” Ailith answered Hunter, before sending her sister a frown. “Cairstine, there’s no need for this display. I understand you’re hungry.”
“Your lover needs to know exactly what I am and how tightly you and I are bonded, that I have first right to you.”
“I’ve already explained our bond to him, that I’m one of your feeders, along with Lilias.” She pushed her wrist under her sister’s nose and Cairstine couldn’t withhold her desire. She wrapped her mouth over the blood and licked it away, her saliva sealing the cut swiftly, even though Ailith’s own ability to heal would have sealed it within seconds.
“Mmm, I do love an appetizer.” Cairstine licked a drop of blood from her lips, her eyes darkening further, no longer emerald, but now a swirli
ng raven color tinged with blood-red.
“I’m done.” She polished off her last bite of toast, collected the dirty dishes, carried them to the kitchen counter and stacked them inside the cardboard box on the countertop, which Cairstine must have brought them in. With a pinch of faerie dust from her pouch, she sprinkled it over the box and muttered the spell, “From whence this box came, swiftly and surely send it winging back.”
The box shimmered and disappeared and Hunter raised his brows from the table. “That’s impressive.”
“Thank you.” She crooked a finger at Cairstine and tugged the neckline of her tunic to one side. Cairstine joined her in the kitchen and Hunter scraped his chair back and heaved to his feet.
He stepped directly in behind her, a snarl rattling in his throat.
Cairstine shrugged as if his growl didn’t worry her in the least. Likely it shouldn’t since she could command his mind as well if she wished to, whether she fed from him or not. A fact she wasn’t telling Hunter yet.
“Don’t take any more than you should.” Hunter gave Cairstine a narrowed look. “My bear will get aggressive if you do.”
“Your warning has been noted, and I’ll do my best.” Her sister’s sly smile returned, her canine teeth lengthening and her eyes glowing a deep blood-red, as they always did when the darkness of her need for sustenance swarmed her.
Cairstine opened her mouth and sank her teeth into her neck. No hesitation.
Pain flared then subsided, although instead of sending her into a dream-like state, Cairstine kept her in the present.
Hunter gripped her waist under the loose hem of her tunic, his claws slicing out and digging into her bare flesh. She reached one hand behind her, wrapped it around his neck and drew his mouth to the other side of her neck from where Cairstine gulped blood. “Bite me, Hunter,” she demanded. “You’ll feel better if you do.”
“You’re already in pain.”
Highlander's Claim: Time Travel Romance (The Matheson Warriors Book 2) Page 10
