by Donna Grant
“How did you gain control?”
“I doona know exactly. I’ve always been stubborn, so maybe it was that I never gave up, no matter how easy it would have been. I fought against him day after day, decade after decade.”
Saffron’s fingers leisurely traced designs upon Camdyn’s chest. “How long were you in Deirdre’s mountain?”
“A score and ten years.”
“Thirty years?” she echoed and looked up at him. “And how did you escape?”
Camdyn smiled then. “Deirdre liked to see us fight. We were immortal after all, and as long as we didna take each other’s heads, we could survive to fight another day. The Warrior I was supposed to fight had given in to his god fully. It took nothing to get him agitated enough that he began to slash his claws at those around him.
“I waited until everyone was trying to pull him off one of the Druids Deirdre used as slaves and then I ran. I had met Galen years before and he’d told me of a second exit that he knew of. I chanced everything on Galen’s word and ran for that exit.”
“And you found it.”
“I found it.” Camdyn looked at the ceiling, memories of that day assaulting him. “And I ran.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
Saffron ached for all that Camdyn had been through. His reservations about being close to anyone made perfect sense now that she knew he’d been an orphan.
At least she’d had the love of her father. It also put her life into perspective. Even with a mother that was a first-rate bitch, her life had been good. She’d been safe, clothed, fed, and loved. She’d been able to live a life she’d wanted for the most part.
“Once you left Cairn Toul, what did you do?”
As soon as the question left her mouth and she felt Camdyn tense, she knew it had been the wrong thing to ask. But she wanted to know all about his life.
“I wandered,” he answered blithely.
“If you don’t want to tell me, then just say so. But don’t lie,” she said, and sat up to turn away.
She found herself on her back with Camdyn leaning over her in the next heartbeat. His face was inches from hers and she felt his cock harden against her leg.
“Why do you want to know?”
“Why did you want to know what Declan did to me?” she answered with a question of her own.
Camdyn gave a slight shake of his head. “You doona want to know about my life.”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t wa—”
Her words were cut off as Camdyn kissed her. Fervently. Ravenously. Frantically.
In an instant her body came alive. His hands were everywhere, touching every part of her as he kissed her senseless, kissed her so that she forgot who she was. Forgot everything except the man touching her.
Saffron found herself flipped onto her stomach with Camdyn’s hands on her hips as he raised her so that she was on her knees. She had her hands beside her, ready to push up when he put a palm between her shoulder blades.
“Nay,” he whispered between kisses he rained upon her back.
She stayed as she was, her body ready and open for him. His hands glided down her back, over her bottom to the crease between her buttocks. He stopped short of touching her sex.
Saffron groaned at the need coursing through her. Once more his hand ran down her back and between her bottom, and this time, his fingers skimmed her curls.
She sucked in a gasp when there was a feather-light touch on her already swollen clitoris.
“Camdyn. Please,” she begged when he teased her twice more.
He leaned over her, his mouth next to her ear. “What do you want?”
“You. I want you.”
His teeth lightly scored her skin where her neck met her shoulder before he kissed it. “I want you screaming.”
At the rate he was going Saffron knew he’d get his wish. She’d never known her body could react like this, never knew a man could bring out her passion so diligently.
The engorged head of his arousal brushed against her sensitive sex. Saffron leaned her hips back for it, but Camdyn held her still.
He reached around and cupped a breast to gently massage it before pinching her nipple. Saffron gasped as her breasts swelled at his touch.
“Yes,” he whispered in her ear.
She could feel herself growing damp the more he teased and touched. Her sex throbbed, ached. She’d never been so close to release with so little touching.
Her breath hitched as he thumbed her turgid nipple and his cock slid along her sex. She rocked her hips back and was rewarded with a groan from him.
“Minx,” he muttered.
Saffron stilled, her fingers digging into the rumpled covers as the head of Camdyn’s cock filled her opening. His hands held her hips tightly so she couldn’t move no matter how hard she tried.
“By the saints, you’re wet,” Camdyn said.
Then slowly, inch by agonizing inch, he filled her.
She whimpered into the blankets as her passion rose the more he entered her. She wanted him hard and fast, and he was making her wait, prolonging her desire until she was in a fever pitch to have him.
When he was fully seated, he rotated his hips. Saffron moaned, wanting, needing more. She was exposed to him, her body at his mercy. And he was giving her more pleasure than she’d experienced in her life.
Slowly he pulled out of her until only the tip of him remained. And then he thrust deep.
Saffron cried out from the feel of him sliding inside her, deeper, harder than before. His fingers bit into her flesh as he pulled out again, this time holding still longer.
She wiggled her bottom trying to get him to thrust again. Instead, it was his fingers on her clit. Fondling, stroking, thumbing the little nub until Saffron’s entire body trembled from the need gripping her.
All the while Camdyn kept just the head of his rod inside her. But now he jerked his hips forward and plunged inside her.
Saffron screamed his name. He pumped furiously inside her, his thick cock stroking her higher and higher. The feel of his flesh slapping against the back of her legs only heightened her passion.
The climax swept over her rapidly in a blinding flash of pleasure that sent her spiraling down a chasm of bliss. And just as he’d asked, Saffron screamed for him.
Her body still racked by the aftershocks of such an intense orgasm, Saffron heard the harsh sound of Camdyn’s breathing matching her rapid heartbeat.
He never slowed, just continued to thrust in and out of her channel, prolonging her pleasure. Until he gave a shout and she felt his seed pour into her.
Camdyn slumped over her, cheek to cheek. He was still inside her, still hard as her sheath clenched around him.
How had he been foolish enough to think that one taste of Saffron would release her hold on him? In fact, it had only tightened that hold.
Even now, he wanted her again.
He pulled out of her and rolled to his back. When he turned his head, their gazes clashed and she moved her hand to join his.
It was such an intimate and simple offering, but it made him realize she had shared her secrets with him. He needed to do the same, even if it killed him to do so.
He owed it to Saffron, to Allison, and even himself.
“I was married,” he said into the silence.
Her brow furrowed slightly, but she didn’t utter a word.
“It was after Deirdre unbound my god. I’d been wandering for almost twenty years when I came upon Allison. She was alone and the wheel of her cart had broken. So I helped her.”
Camdyn smiled at the memory. “There was an easy grace about Allison that drew me. After I fixed the wheel I offered to help with anything else. I stayed one night, then one night became a week, and then a month. Soon, we were lovers. I’d never been so happy.”
He looked at Saffron to find her watching him quietly, intently.
Camdyn shrugged. “I wanted her. I didna think of anything but that. Before I asked he
r to marry me, I told her—and showed her—what I was. She was frightened, but she didna run away.”
Saffron’s smile was small and sad.
“We married the next day. The next few years were some of my happiest. Until Allison began to age.”
“And you didn’t.”
Camdyn nodded. “I didna care that her hair turned white. But she did. She tried to get me to leave, but I wouldna. It was five years later that we had a terrible winter storm. I had gone out to hunt. Allison had left the cottage to get some firewood I’d stacked outside the house. I was gone longer than I had anticipated, and she’d run out of logs inside.
“I returned to find her lying in the snow. She didna know how long she’d been there. She’d slipped on some ice and hit her head. Her body was too weak to fight off the fever when it struck. I stayed by her day and night for a week as she fought to live. I was there, holding her, when she took her last breath.”
Saffron’s fingers tightened on his.
“She gave up in the end,” Camdyn said. “I saw it. I knew it. But I didna say a word to her. She hadna been happy in so long. How could I ask her to stay with me when she wanted to leave?”
Saffron pulled his hand to her lips and kissed it.
Camdyn couldn’t look away from her tawny eyes. Her skin glowed and her hair was disheveled. Her lips were swollen, and her skin still flushed from their lovemaking.
She was stunning. Mesmerizing. Beguiling.
And he wanted her again.
Without any words she rose up and straddled his hips before she leaned down and put her lips on his in a soft kiss. He slid a hand around her neck to cup the back of her head as he slanted his lips over hers and slipped his tongue between her lips. A moan rumbled from his chest when she reached between them and wrapped her slim fingers around his hard cock.
She lifted her hips and guided him inside her. Camdyn ended the kiss and opened his eyes to look at her.
Before she’d just been a female who tempted him. Then she’d become a woman who had suffered needlessly.
Now she was a Druid who had managed to find the last shreds of his soul and touch him.
His hands caressed down her sides to squeeze her buttocks as she gently rocked against him. They’d had passionate sex, and hard, fast sex. This was something new, something Camdyn wasn’t sure he could handle.
It was slow, seductive. And felt entirely too good.
It was also too dangerous.
He smiled when Saffron sat up, her hands resting on his chest and her hair wild about her shoulders. Back and forth she rocked her hips, pulling him deeper and deeper into all that was her.
Camdyn cupped her breasts and watched as her nipples hardened as he teased them. Her head fell back, a soft cry falling from her lips as he surged upward.
He closed his eyes at the sound of his name whispered with such pleasure.
It was impossible for him not to touch her. The more he ran his hands over her body the more she moaned. Her soft cries filled the chamber as their passion mounted once more.
“Camdyn,” she screamed as she peaked.
This time he didn’t hold back. As soon as her body clamped around his cock, he gave in to the release and followed her into paradise.
It washed over them, gripped them. Held them.
Bound them.
And when Saffron collapsed onto his chest and fell asleep, it never entered his mind to leave.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO
Declan didn’t bother to look up from signing papers at his desk when the knock sounded on his office door. “Enter!” he called out.
He set aside the papers and reached for another to look over all the legal speak his lawyers had added for the next property he was buying.
“What is it?” he asked Robbie as he glanced up and spotted his cousin standing in the doorway, Robbie’s hand still on the knob.
“You’re going to want to come to the front door.”
Declan sighed and tossed aside his pen as he leaned back in his chair. “The only thing that’s going to get me out of this chair is if Deirdre is here.”
Robbie’s smile was slow but broad. “You’re going to want to come to the front door, cousin.”
Without another word Declan rose and followed Robbie to the front door. Declan’s heart was pounding with excitement at finally having Deirdre come to him. He knew it had only been a matter of time and now …
His train of thought ground to a halt as he found a man on his front steps, not Deirdre.
Declan looked at Robbie. “What is this?”
“Wait,” Robbie cautioned and held up a hand. “Trust me.”
Declan swiveled his head back to the man. “Who are you?”
“I’m Toby, and I’m here on behalf of my mistress, Deirdre,” the man answered, though his eyes had the vacant look of someone whose mind was under the control of another.
Declan crossed his arms over his chest. He’d rather have had Deirdre come to him, but the fact she had sent one of her slaves got his attention. “And what does Deirdre want?”
“A meeting,” Toby replied.
“She knows where I live.”
Toby smiled. “She wants to meet on neutral ground. Somewhere private. And only you.”
“Is she going to come alone as well?”
Toby gave a slow nod. “Yes.”
Declan might not have wyrran as Deirdre did, or even a Warrior. But what he did have was mercenaries with X90s and bullets filled with drough blood that would fell a Warrior instantly.
He had wanted Deirdre to come to him begging for his help, but he should have known she’d be too prideful for that. The fact she wanted to meet him could very well get him everything he wanted.
“Where? And when?” he demanded of Toby.
“Noon tomorrow at the Ring of Brodgar.”
Declan dropped his arms and slammed the door in Toby’s face before he turned on his heel. He smiled at Robbie. “I told you she would come to me.”
“Careful, cousin. She hasna asked for your help yet.”
“Ah, but she will.”
“Are you going alone?” Robbie asked.
Declan shrugged and clapped Robbie on the shoulder. “For the most part.”
* * *
Saffron woke, but she didn’t open her eyes. She inwardly smiled as she listened to Camdyn’s heartbeat in her ear. His breathing was even, steady.
She opened her eyes and glanced at the window. It was still dark, but with the gray of approaching dawn. Since she’d been eager to see her first dawn in over three years, Saffron slowly moved out of Camdyn’s arms. She walked barefoot to the window, thankful for the rugs she had bought that helped to keep the cold away from her feet.
With her fingertips on the cool glass, Saffron watched the sun peek over the horizon. The reddish-gold hue reflecting on the water was an amazing sight. But it was nothing compared to the color explosion in the sky.
Saffron blinked away the tears that filled her eyes as she stared at the clouds drenched in color from deep red to purple to the brightest pink.
It wasn’t until she had her eyesight taken from her that she’d realized she’d taken so many things for granted. Like watching a sunrise. There had been many times she’d stayed up all night looking at the stars and had seen the sun crest the horizon.
She’d always thought it beautiful, but now it was even more so.
The smile on her face would last for weeks, she was sure. After an amazing night with Camdyn, and then finally getting to see her sunrise, nothing could dampen her day.
She looked over her shoulder to see Camdyn still asleep. Her body was sore from their lovemaking, but it was a wonderful feeling. No one had held her as Camdyn had. No one could come close now or ever. Of that she was sure.
Her gaze returned to the magnificent sunrise. She watched the way the sea moved, displacing the rainbow of colors. Suddenly, familiar arms wrapped around her from behind.
“It’s beau
tiful,” Camdyn murmured near her ear.
Saffron smiled as he nuzzled her neck. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You didna.”
She licked her lips as the worry that had filled her mind right before she went to sleep came again. “Camdyn, we didn’t use protection last night.”
“Protection?”
“To prevent pregnancy. I know from listening to the others that none of the Warriors carry diseases, but—”
His whiskers gently scraped along her cheek as he smiled. “Cara and Sonya have been making brews to keep everyone from getting with child since Sonya came here. It is given to every Druid every month unless they specifically ask no’ to have it.”
Saffron frowned. “I didn’t know they did that.”
He shrugged. “There’s naught for you to worry over. I’m going to get us something to eat.”
“Sounds great,” she said, and turned in his arms to smile up at him. “I’m going to get in the shower.”
Camdyn watched the way her hips moved sensuously from side to side as she sauntered naked away from him. He’d known the moment she left the bed.
To his surprise, he’d actually slept. He hadn’t expected that since he rarely did more than doze for a few hours at a time.
Maybe it had been because he’d finally given his body the release it needed. He refused to think it could have anything to do with holding Saffron.
She paused at the door to the bathroom and looked over her shoulder to give him a smile. As soon as she disappeared into the bathroom and he heard the shower turn on, Camdyn jerked on his pants and shirt and headed for the door.
He yanked open the door and stepped into the hallway, softly closing the door behind him. There, he paused and leaned back against Saffron’s door.
His eyes squeezed tight, he knew he was in trouble. The night had been everything he could have imagined and more. Holding Saffron, caressing her, kissing her. She was etched into his mind, branded into his soul.
He ran a hand down his face and let out a soft sigh as he opened his eyes. He’d wanted to avoid this very thing, but it seemed when it came to Saffron he was at her mercy.
What he needed to do was return to his cottage and forget the way her body had felt sliding against his, forget the way it felt to be buried deep inside her.
