by Donna Grant
There was something in Corann’s tone that set off alarms in Phelan. He narrowed his eyes on the Druid. “You might want to watch your tone. Those Warriors you’re so ready to hate are the ones who’ve kept Deirdre and Declan from taking over the world. Those Druids you speak of have done the same while finding mates with the Warriors. For centuries some of them have lived waiting for the time when Deirdre would reappear and we could kill her.”
“Which they did,” Aisley added.
Corann seemed unimpressed. “Be that as it may, Warrior, the last time a Druid teamed up with one of your kind havoc reigned.”
“You’re referring to Deirdre.” Phelan fought to keep calm. “That bitch had set her plans in motion long before she unbound our gods.”
Corann sneered. “That is a story told to young Druids. Deirdre never had the magic for such things.”
Phelan came to his feet. It was only Aisley’s hands on his arm that held him still. “Doona tell me what you think happened, old man. I know the truth. I was there. She unbound my god and kept me locked in that awful mountain for over a hundred years.”
Aisley tugged on him to leave, but he remained rooted to the spot.
“There have been Druids who have refused the offer of help from us,” Phelan continued. “Those Druids are no longer. Deirdre wiped them out. Declan did his share as well. The new drough who has been playing havoc with things is Jason Wallace. He’ll know I’ve been here. He’ll come for you. Without our help, how long do you think you and your Druids will be able to stay alive?”
“Is that a threat?” Corann asked.
“It’s a statement. Do with it what you will.”
Corann slammed the end of his walking stick into the ground. “You’re evil.”
“The god inside me is, aye. I didna allow my god control. I’m in control. I call up my god when I need him.”
Corann lifted his walking stick and pointed it at Aisley. “What’s your excuse for being with a Warrior?”
Phelan glanced down at her to see Aisley’s pulse beat wildly in her throat. She feared these Druids. That in itself infuriated him. She was one of them. They should be welcoming her, not condemning her for being with him.
“He’s a good man. Not only has he helped me, but he’s protected me,” she answered in a clear voice.
Corann returned his stick to his side and leaned upon it. “What do you need protection from?”
Phelan had heard enough. If she wouldn’t tell him, she certainly wasn’t going to tell Corann. “There are things in her past. That’s all you need to know.”
“She’s a Druid,” Corann said. “She has magic to protect herself.”
That same thought had gone through Phelan’s mind. He knew how powerful of a Druid Aisley was, but that didn’t deter him from wanting her. “She’s … special.”
Corann’s bushy gray brows rose in response. “Is that so?”
“I didna come to give you a history lesson of my life or to validate what my friends and I have done to protect this world. I came for your assistance in trapping the selmyr. If you willna help, then just say it and stop wasting our time.”
“I’ll think on it. Stay here for the night. If I’m no’ back in the morning, you have your answer.” Corann then walked into the back of the cave with the black-haired Druid and both promptly disappeared.
“Wow,” Aisley said.
Phelan grunted. “I think we already have our answer.”
“So let’s start back now.”
He tugged on a lock of hair that hung next to her cheek. “We’ve had a long day. Let’s stay. Besides, I want a closer look at the Fairy Pool.”
“I knew you were going to say that,” she said with a sly look.
Together they set down their packs and looked out over the water. The sun was low in the sky, casting everything in a deep orange glow.
“What’s the legend?” Aisley asked.
“The Fae, of course.”
“Seriously? Fairies?”
“Fae,” he corrected. “And they are no’ what has been depicted in movies. They’re our size and doona have wings.”
She walked to the entrance and leaned a shoulder against the rocks. The waterfall was so loud she had to raise her voice when she asked, “So I gather they’re very magical?”
“Aye,” he answered from beside her. “Verra. But no’ all of them are good. There are the dark ones.”
The light faded a bit from her eyes, almost as if his words had saddened her. “There is evil everywhere.”
“In every dimension. There is also good.”
She slid her hands into her back pockets. “People think you’re evil. I know you’re not. How do you deal with that?”
“I ignore them.” When that didn’t bring a smile, he tried another tack. “Every person, every animal has the ability to be good or evil. They choose which side to feed the most.”
“How did you decide?”
He sighed and thought back to those long, lonely, dark-filled days. “I’m stubborn.”
“Do you think people can change?”
“Of course. I’ve seen it.”
Her tongue ran over her lips as she turned to look at him. “I’m not proud of my past or most of my decisions. I’ve not always done the right thing.”
“No one has. You can no’ expect to be perfect.”
“Others would disagree. Tell me more of the Fae,” she urged.
He let her change the subject. “It’s said the Dark Fae like to capture young girls. They’ll either terrorize and torture them, taking their innocence until nothing is left but a shell. Or they’ll kill them. The Dark Fae also like to tempt men.”
“Do I even want to know what they do to men?”
“The females use them for sex. They become slaves to the dark ones until their only way to survive is by sharing their bodies with the Fae.”
“And you want to get a closer look at these things?” she asked incredulously.
Phelan smiled. “Oh, aye. I do.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR
A prince. Phelan was a prince.
The words kept repeating over and over in Aisley’s head. She wanted to dismiss what Ravyn had said, but something inside Aisley hesitated.
There was a very real chance Ravyn was right and Phelan was descended from royalty. It would explain the innate self-assured attitude and his confidence.
“Want to go for a swim?” Phelan asked.
She choked on a laugh. “Are you serious?”
“Aye, beauty.” His eyes shone with a wicked light that made her blood quicken. “Are you afraid it’s too cold for you?”
“I’m Scottish, remember?”
He simply smiled at her response before he lifted a brow and took off his boots.
Aisley half expected him to be joking. As his second boot hit the rocks and he pulled off his shirt, she knew he was all too serious.
In a matter of seconds, he was naked. He winked at her before he ran the few steps to the edge of the water and dove in.
She gasped when she spotted the rocks, then let out a rough breath when he cleared them. “Insane. That’s what he is,” she mumbled to herself.
He surfaced and turned to look at her. Phelan jerked his head, sending his hair out of his face while he treaded water. There was no doubt she’d wanted to touch the water since she first saw it.
But Phelan’s explanation of the Dark Fae made her hesitate. She might be a Druid, but she had no idea how her magic would work in the Fae realm. Or if it would at all.
Her gaze locked with Phelan’s, and all thoughts vanished. Nothing mattered. Not Jason, not the Druids, not the Fae.
Only Phelan.
Aisley’s hands shook when she started to disrobe. It was her love of Phelan that frightened her the same time it gave her strength. She doubted anyone would understand it because she didn’t.
She pulled the ponytail holder from her hair and felt the thick weight of her hair fall against
her back. Phelan swam closer to the edge, waiting for her. He held his hand out to her, his blue-gray eyes darkened with yearning she understood all too well.
Aisley took his hand and allowed him to gently pull her into the water. The emerald-green liquid was cool against her heated skin, but not nearly as cold as the icy depths of most lochs.
“I’ve never known a woman like you.”
Aisley enjoyed the compliment, but she knew what kind of man Phelan was. “In all the centuries of your life you expect me to believe I’m one of a kind?”
“Aye.”
She swallowed. The truth of his words shone in his eyes. Aisley backed away from him, suddenly unsure of where he was going with the conversation. She knew what she felt, and though she craved for him to return her affections, Aisley could never allow him to love her.
“I’m not who you think I am.”
“Ah, but you are, beauty.”
She shook her head. “I’ve seen the worry in your eyes when I bring up the secrets of my past. You’re scared of what I’ll tell you.”
“Forget the past,” he said as he swam toward her. “The past is the past.”
“Easier said than done.” She didn’t push away when he reached for her and tugged her into his arms. “I didn’t tell you at first because I didn’t want to. Then I didn’t tell you because I knew what you would think of me.”
“And now I doona care.”
“You need to ca—”
He cut off her words by placing a finger over her lips. She was backed against rocks worn smooth by the water. Her heart raced, her blood burned.
And her body ached.
All for Phelan.
He could turn her into a wanton with simply a look. His blood might heal, but it was his touch that she considered life for he had made her feel something good and right again.
Aisley had forgotten what that was. She suffered, she endured, but not once had she ever been so cared for as she was in Phelan’s arms.
His fingers slid around her neck to cup the back of her head. The water moved sensuously between them. Aisley’s lips parted on a sigh when Phelan’s body glided along hers, rubbing against her nipples.
“So damned beautiful,” he murmured.
Blue-gray eyes stared at her from beneath thick black lashes. His large hand held her head steady while he lowered his face to hers.
Her eyes slid closed at the first brush of his lips. The kiss was slow, pleasing, and altogether romantic. Aisley had never had a single romantic thing done to her, and Phelan’s kiss took her aback.
He didn’t let her retreat. Instead, he deepened the kiss, demanding more. She didn’t hesitate to give him everything she was, even a part of her she’d been holding back—the smallest part of her that was still the little girl with big dreams for her future.
Aisley released her hold on herself. She gave him all that she had, including what was left of her soul. Phelan would never know he held her heart and soul in the palm of his hands. It was her gift to him—and herself.
His other hand splayed over her back, holding her tightly against him. It wasn’t until the waterfall fell over her head that she realized he had moved them.
She broke from the kiss and laughed while the water washed over her. A moment later he shifted them so the water fell like a curtain behind her.
“Behind the waterfall lies the door to the Fae. Shall we go?”
Aisley shook her head. “There have been too many interruptions for us today already. The Fae can wait.”
“Just what I wanted to hear,” he murmured before he kissed her again.
Their legs tangled beneath the water. Aisley’s arms wrapped around him while the muscles in his back shifted beneath her palms.
He was seduction, persuasion, and temptation. He was desire, excitement, and decadence. All rolled into one mouth-watering, heart-racing, gorgeous package no one could resist. Least of all her.
His hand moved between their bodies. She moaned when he slid a finger inside her before teasing her clitoris in small, rapid circles.
Her breathing became ragged, but every time she tried to wrap her legs around him he wouldn’t let her.
“No’ yet, beauty,” he whispered between kisses.
That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Her body wanted release. Every kiss they shared, every touch throughout the day had been like a slow, tantalizing enticement.
They’d made love fast and frenzied. They’d made love savagely. But they had never tread where they were headed. The unhurried caresses, the languid kisses were taking Aisley to a place she feared she’d lose herself in.
A place where she forgot who—and what—she was.
When she clamped a hand around his wrist and met his gaze, Aisley knew she couldn’t deny him anything he wanted. Even if what he wanted broke her.
There was no exchange of words. There was no need. The hunger, the passion between them was enough.
Aisley delved her fingers into his wet hair and kissed him. This time when he swam through the water, he took her to a large, flat boulder that was half submerged in the emerald depths.
She found herself placed carefully on the stone so that only her lower legs hung in the water. He leaned up over her before he bent to kiss first one nipple and then the other.
Her fingers dug into his sides as she tried to bring his lower half out of the water. But he had different ideas.
He moved one of her legs onto his shoulder. Her hands fell away to grip the rock while he shifted down her body. A second later and her other leg was propped on his shoulder as well.
Aisley’s sex clenched when his head lowered toward her thighs. He held her hips in his steely grip, glanced at her with his beautiful blue-gray eyes, and then licked her.
Her back arched off the boulder.
Phelan couldn’t take his eyes off Aisley. It wasn’t just her beauty or her magnificent body. It was her passion. She left him breathless with need and aching for more. It didn’t matter how many times he had her, it was never enough.
That thought should give him pause. The things that would have had him on his Ducati for the next bed partner just a few months ago is what kept him next to Aisley.
She knew what he was and wasn’t trying to change him. Her acceptance for everything he was staggered him. Phelan assumed he’d walk the earth until the end of time and never find such a woman.
How wrong he’d been.
Satisfaction coursed through him when her moans filled the air. She looked like a goddess splayed out on the boulder with the light fading in the sky and the emerald waters of the pool lapping at her skin.
He loved the taste of her, but he craved more. Phelan rose out of the water and leaned over her. Aisley’s fawn-colored eyes opened. Her pupils were dilated as she looked at him. Immediately her hands were on him, urging him over her.
Phelan filled her with one thrust. Her nails raked down his back while she quivered beneath him. He briefly closed his eyes and savored the feel of being surrounded by her hot, tight walls.
It was the closest thing to heaven he’d ever found. He looked down as he slowly pulled out of her. Her lips parted, her chest heaved while she waited for him to fill her again.
He set up a leisurely rhythm to prolong their pleasure. There was no way he would allow this to be over quickly.
Aisley’s skin tingled everywhere he touched her. She was coming apart at the seams, waiting for Phelan to take her to paradise.
His thick arousal thrust into her again and again, stretching her, filling her. He rotated his hips as he drove inside her causing a cry to burst from her.
Her hands roamed over his back, feeling the muscles move and constrict with him. She wrapped her legs around him and sighed when he slid deeper.
He moaned and thrust harder. She saw his arms shake as he held himself over her and watched their bodies meeting. Aisley lowered her gaze just as his thick rod pushed into her. The sight ratcheted her desire by several degrees.
&nbs
p; As if sensing her heightened need, he bent and scraped his teeth over her hard nipple. Aisley lifted her hips to meet his next thrust.
She felt the water rise around them, but she was too caught up in Phelan to care. His hips pumped faster, harder. Her body was his. All she could do was hold onto him.
The climax was explosive when it claimed her. Aisley screamed Phelan’s name while a luminous light engulfed them.
He gave a final thrust and buried his head in her neck as his seed filled her. Aisley held him tightly while the pleasure wrapped around them, enveloping them.
Surrounding them.
When Phelan was able to lift his head, he knew something profound had happened. Aisley hadn’t just touched his body as no other, she had touched his heart as well.
He knew in that instant that there was nothing in this world—or any other—that would tear her from his arms.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE
Phelan might have wanted to see the Fairy Pool to find the Fae, but he found all he ever wanted in Aisley’s arms. She was as limp as a rag doll when he lifted her from the water and carried her into the cave.
After he lay her down, he stretched out beside her and pulled a blanket over them so she wouldn’t get chilled. The fire blazed on her other side. It was then he spotted food that hadn’t been there earlier.
She rolled toward him with a sigh and rested her head upon his chest. It seemed so natural that he would wrap his arm around her.
“What are you thinking?” she asked after a moment.
Phelan grinned and played with the damp strands of her hair. “You have no’ asked me to wear a condom. Are you using a spell to prevent getting with child?” When she didn’t immediately answer, Phelan looked at her. “Aisley?”
“I didn’t finish telling you everything about what happened after I had my daughter.”
By the tone of her voice, he inwardly steeled himself for more bad news. Phelan was having a hard time imagining anyone as wonderful as Aisley suffering so much. “You doona have to say.”
“It’s all right,” she said without looking at him. She drew patterns on his chest with her finger. “I want to. I need to.”
