SHADOWLOVE--STALKERS

by Claudy Conn

  “Sit with me, Shawna…” he prompted gently.

  She wagged her body stubbornly. “I don’t think so.”

  Shawna heard his intake of air, and she stared up and into his green warm eyes. This man, whatever he might be, was getting to her. She wanted him on levels she didn’t know existed in her mind’s ladder!

  “Doona look at me like that, lass. It chases all thought, and right now, I need to think.”

  She tried to snap herself to attention and still did not sit. “Answer my questions, Chad.”

  “Sit, and I will give you as many answers as I can.”

  “In that case,” she offered as she stiffly took up a position on the couch, “I am sitting.”

  He sat beside her, took both her unwilling hands firmly into his and squeezed. “I am not the enemy here, Shawna…”

  Her eyes narrowed as she looked back at him. “No, you are not, and neither am I, so if you tell me some truths, maybe…maybe we can begin to trust one another.”

  “Shawna, you have to understand, lass…that I have kept m’secrets to m’self for a very long time.”

  She relented. “I understand that…because so have I.”

  “Aye and I understand that it isn’t easy to trust a man who stampedes into your life and appears to know everything about you, while you know nothing of him.” He was stroking her fingers while he spoke, and his touch sent tingling sensations up and down her arm.

  “That’s right,” she agreed. “Not easy.” Something was happening to her. She found herself thinking about things that had nothing to do with what he was…

  “So then, you need to know who it is I am—I understand that, because from here on out, you will need to trust me, because I won’t be letting you out of my sight, and I won’t be letting you stay here another night.”

  “Now listen to me—” Shawna began.

  He put up a finger. “No arguments. If I have to hogtie you, take you to Darby Gray, and lock you in a room on the unused upper floor, I will—mark me on that. I won’t be letting you stay here unless I stay here with you.”

  Again, she watched him as he eyed her authoritatively. He put up his hand to stall the rush of words she wanted to throw at him. “You’ll be staying at Darby Gray, or I’ll be staying here—and that, my sweet lass, is that.”

  He was a superior being who had already displayed his effectiveness in the precarious art of protecting her, a voice inside her head shouted loud and clear, but her own independent nature fought for control. “Well, in the first place, I make the decisions about where I stay or don’t stay and who stays with me and who doesn’t.”

  “Do ye now?” His tone told her in this instance she had very little choice. She supposed Chad MacFare had made up his mind on the subject. The truth was, she was inwardly relieved.

  His voice was low, his eyes were bright, and her gaze swept over his face and got stuck on his mouth, which was slightly parted. She knew she wanted him more than she could deny.

  “Och, lass, how much more convincing do you need to see you can’t take on this thing alone and then turn around and protect yourself against Pentim?”

  “I am not stupid. I know all that, but I am used to making my own decisions. I have to decide what the right course for me is.” She said the words, trying them on for size. They sounded right, but the notion of having him with her, protecting her as he had just moments ago, was taking over her mind as logic eventually always did.

  “And your decision, lass…?”

  She wasn’t fooled. He would hear her out, but in the end, she knew—she could see—he would not leave her to her own devices.

  “My decision is that I feel you are correct. I may need some help with this—this thing…it seems it wants to kill me, and tonight it seemed stronger than it had been before. Perhaps it is gaining power with time…”

  “Then up with you,” he said, getting to his feet. “We’re off for Darby.”

  “But…but, can we not stay here…”

  “Not tonight. Tomorrow we will return here, and together we will reinforce the wards to include the property and the building. Perhaps then we may spend some time here…as we will want to draw the thing to us, but not tonight. Tonight, we are for Darby.”

  “Yes, but first…I need some answers, Chad. That is why I agreed to sit here with you and hear you out. At the moment you have the advantage. You know—or think you know—who and what I am. You think you know what abilities I might possess, and that is fine…because it allows you to trust me. But, how can I trust you, when I don’t even know what you are…?” Her hand was in his, and she tugged him back onto the sofa. She was surprised when he sat and put her hand to his lips before he took a long breath.

  “Aye then, because I need you to trust me implicitly…I’ll tell you this…” He hesitated and then dove in. “Shawna lass, you ask what I am, but will you believe me when I tell you that I am an immortal?”

  She felt her eyes widen and her eyebrows arch. “An immortal…like the old TV series…The Highlander?”

  “Not quite, but something like that.”

  “Are there others—other immortals out there trying to kill you to get your powers…like in the series?”

  He laughed and chucked her chin. “No…though there was a villain a long time ago who slaughtered many of us before my ancestor, my grandmother’s ‘real’ mother, was able to destroy him.”

  “Real mother?” Shawna was surprised into interjecting.

  “Yes, she didn’t know it for most of her early years, but the MacFares adopted her. At any rate, apparently age can be a wearing thing, and the bad guy in the story finally lost it. He had wanted to rule the earth and savagely killed those immortals who tried to stop him, my great-grandfather included.” He paused and allowed his words to sink in before he sighed and continued. “M’grandmother’s mother, my great-grandmother, tracked him with our family sword, Dragar. Each immortal has a ‘death sword’, a weapon that can kill other immortals, you see. That death weapon is imprinted by blood to the family. She brought him to ground in Killarney, Ireland, but before she was able to sever his evil head from his body, he stabbed her with his own sword—also a death sword—and the wound he inflicted, would not, did not, heal. She came home to Scotland, wrapped up her month-old daughter, and went to her dear human friends the MacFares. She asked them the favor of raising her child as their own, and keeping her—my grandmother—safe. They were childless and took on m’grandmother’s care with great love. M’great-grandmother died at the MacFares, at peace in the knowledge that they would care for her.” Chad sighed heavily. “Sounds too fantastic to be true—but it is, I promise you, every word.”

  “No more fantastic than me being half vamp, half human.” Shawna whispered as much to herself as to him. He had told her the truth. He had shared with her, something he had never shared with anyone ever before. She was suddenly consumed with emotion, and before she realized what she was doing, she dove into his arms. It was as though the weight of the world had been lifted and he was the one doing the lifting. She really wasn’t alone.

  He held onto her as though he never wanted to let go. He bent and folded her against his rock-hard body. She wanted to melt into him, be a part of him. Her mind was lost to the need, a need stronger than logic—the need to belong not to a man, but with this man.

  The thing, the ‘entity’, was definitely a demon called out of hell by someone playing with the dark arts. A demon such as this electric killing monster couldn’t have gotten out of its prison without help. That thought needed exploring, but not at the moment. At that moment all she could think about was the way she felt…

  He had wielded her into position and lowered his head so that his mouth found hers with easy skill. His tongue felt like velvet sliding, caressing, and engaging hers to respond.

  At that moment, after watching him stand up to and taking on a force greater than any other she had ever encountered, just to keep her safe, she was drawn to him in a way she had
never thought possible.

  She wanted his kisses, his touch, more than she wanted anything else. Caution and logic had no place inside her mind.

  His fingers traveled over her, and even with her clothes separating his touch from her skin, she felt a wave of erotic shivers swim through her body. He teased another kiss out of the first, and all she knew was that she wanted to get lost in his arms. His touch took every romantic fantasy she had ever had, collected them into one titillating dream, and enveloped her into its center. She had a savage need to have more of him—a need she had never experienced before.

  Then without warning he showered her with a splash of cold water as he took her shoulders and roughly set her away.

  Startled, she looked into his eyes and saw dark conflict and hot desire. She felt a wave of confusion and ran her hand up his sculptured chest. He took her fingers, kissed them, and started up as though in retreat.

  She grabbed for his hand and stalled him. He looked tortured, and his voice came at her low and primal as he growled, “Och, no, lass—not here…not now…I canna do that to you.”

  His brogue, thick and husky, swept through her senses. She felt chilled, now that he was apart from her. She could still feel the delicious warmth of his breath at her ear; she wished he would take her back into his arms. Almost dazed, she repeated stupidly, “You canna…?”

  Her mind was shutting down and allowing her body to take over. She tugged him back down on the sofa beside her. She reached up and stroked his dark blond shadow beard with her delicate fingers and then went to his waves of tawny locks of hair.

  “No…” he grumbled on a dark note, and this time he pulled out of her hold and stood up. Stiffly, he turned and walked a step away from her. “Do ye think I would take advantage of ye when ye be vulnerable? Is that what ye think of me?”

  She could see the resolution in the set of his shoulders and his stance, and all she could think at that moment was…he didn’t want her! It was her first clear thought, and it repeated itself until she understood. He doesn’t want you, Shawna…

  She was flooded with the sudden heat of embarrassment. She felt the blush ride her body and land in her cheeks. She felt infiltrated with humiliation. He had said no to her.

  He had tasted her and found her lacking. She wanted to hide, but she held up her head and attempted an unconcerned bluster. “Fine,” she snapped and then got to her feet.

  His grin was devilish, but he did not reply to this. Instead he said authoritatively, “Pack some clothes, Shawna. We have to leave.”

  “No.” She felt ridiculously contrary at that moment. No matter what he would have asked—say a glass of water—she would have said no.

  “No? Och then, you’ll come as you are.”

  “I am not going anywhere with you.”

  “Are ye not? I told you a secret about meself, lass…I trusted ye to learn what no other on earth save m’grandmother and father know, and ye say me nay?” He shook his head. “Right then, with or without yer things, ye will come with me.”

  His deep, beautiful voice always slipped into an ancient brogue, it seemed to her from another time—well, yeah, he’d said immortal!

  She found his voice had more power over her than his words. She recalled her grandmother saying to her once when she had come back from a school dance without her date, Shawna dear, there isn’t a boy out there for you, because you have a man in mind and won’t be satisfied until you find him.

  Well, evidently she had found him, the man amongst all men…but he obviously didn’t feel the same way.

  It was so much more than rejection. It was more than wanting what she couldn’t have—it was the realization that she did want. She wanted someone…more than anything…more than anyone else in the world, and apparently all he wanted was to keep her safe so that he could use her as bait for Pentim Rawley.

  Embarrassment was the least of her blues, although her cheeks were still bright red as she yelled, “Your bait…is now safe and sound. You sent off the monster, and now I will be fine. You can go anytime you wish.”

  He made a low, grumbling sound and reached for her hand. She slipped out of his tentative hold, and just as she was feeling her sad victory, he astonished her. Her hand firmly in his grasp, something happened to the air all around her.

  Everything in her cottage vanished. Damn, she thought, either her cottage had vanished, or somehow she had fainted. She wasn’t unconscious though, and she hadn’t lost time, or at least she didn’t think so, and Chad was still with her, but they were somewhere outside in the cold, open darkness—no landscape—no stars—just darkness.

  She knew he was with her because he held her hand, but she couldn’t see him because a swirling fog enveloped them. Then suddenly the mist and fog cleared and she saw a flash of night sky. That sky was filled with stars…and she seemed to be a part of the galaxy. She reached out to touch one of the stars she was certain was right there at her fingertips, and whoosh, they were standing in the bedroom suite she had occupied just the other night at Darby Gray!

  “What the hell?” she whispered as much to herself as to him.

  He released her hand and said quietly. “It is called shifting.”

  “Shifting…” Shawna repeated as her mind clicked off the word and tried to prepare a reference. “Wait…I know about shifting. It’s in the ancient texts my grams showed me. The Fae use shifting to get around.” Her eyes opened wide with a sudden thought. “Are you Fae—Tuatha Dé Danaan?”

  He put up his hands. “Have I not told you what I am? Did you not listen, lass?” He lowered his voice. “Immortal here, not Fae.”

  “So not connected to the Fae?”

  “No connection.”

  “But you have the power to shift—move through portals… Can you move through time?”

  “Not one minute. If I could, there would have been a great many things I would have changed, and that might have been catastrophic.”

  “Hmmm…I quite see that. However, Chad MacFare, you brought me here without permission. Now, take me back.”

  “Lass, make up your mind to this. It is the safest place for you.”

  “At least take me back so that I can get my stuff. I need my things,” she said with resignation.

  “I know, and I will be right back with them.”

  “You don’t know what I want—need.”

  “Oh, I think I have an idea…” he returned and the glint was in his green eyes.

  She eyed him speculatively. “Take me with you…shifting style, and I’ll pick out what I want.”

  “I’ll just go and get some things for tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll travel in the normal fashion and bring back whatever else you need.”

  He turned from her, and in that moment, desperation, emotion, confusion drove her to shout out, “CHAD!”

  He turned, a frown furrowing his brow. “What is it, lass?”

  As an answer she dove into his arms and kissed him.

  ~ Seventeen ~

  JUST BEFORE SHE kissed him, he had been thinking, Her closeness is driving me batty! Och, but her scent has taken m’senses in her small, lovely hands. For days she is all I can think of…and the hard-on I’ve been carrying around is threatening to take over m’mind.

  Shawna…her name makes me shake inside. Shawna…how can I protect you when all I can think about is taking you in m’arms and in m’bed?

  He had every intention of taking her to his bed…but not just then, not when she was open and vulnerable, scared and in doubt and in need…

  That woona be right, he had told himself.

  And then she was in his arms and kissing him as though her life depended on him, and it did. He shouldn’t take her—but her kiss had inflamed him beyond thought. He could not remember ever feeling quite that way. He could not recall ever wanting quite as much as he did now, and he knew, without a doubt, that he had never needed a woman the way he needed Shawna.

  This was all new to him. He was used to being in control—of his m
ind, his emotions, and his actions regarding both. But when she was near—bloody hell, even when she wasn’t—she took over somewhere in his brain, translated a foreign language to his heart, and made him hers. He knew it, but had not wanted to admit it to himself, let alone to her.

  Now, he was lost to her kiss, and his response was all encompassing. His tongue made love to her. Erotic desire was entwined with feelings he had never before had for a woman, and it was devastating to the man who had never before given his heart. He reacted to her kiss with the primal possession of a feral beast, taking what was his.

  His hands caressed her body, and before he knew what he was doing, he was flinging off his leather jacket, lifting up her sweater, undoing her bra…

  Och, her full, luscious breasts…nothing to their like, he almost said out loud, and then did whisper in her ear, “Beauty, ah but, lass, you are a beauty I no can live without.”

  She was melting into him, giving herself freely, and he knew himself lost to her. He had her clothes off easily, deftly, and he stepped just as quickly out of his own.

  His passion got the better of him and he almost lowered her to the floor. Some part of his brain still functioned though, and instead he gathered her up cradle-like in his arms and carried her to the bed. There he laid her against the quilt and pillows and stood, his huge dick dancing a tune that screamed her name.

  Her eyes were molten silver, and she stared at him, whispering, “Chad…”

  Her bent to her, came down beside her, and hushed whatever it was she was going to say with his kisses. She was like a beautiful wild thing just unleashed. Her responses to him drove him wild with blind desire as he parted from her luscious mouth and started a series of kisses down the length of her neck. He fondled her breast and then suckled at her delicious nipple as his hand traced a line of fire down to her inner thigh.

  * * *

  She felt herself succumb to his magic—and it was magic. He did things to her body she had never dreamt possible. His kisses drove off any logical thought, and she felt herself turn into the savage that had been caged, always caged inside of her. She discovered a sudden thirst…