“Can we visit here again, Connor? You promised me….” She let her words fade and let him remember their talk about the grass and the sun and the sea breezes.
“We will find a new place, Moira. One of our own that no one can find, and then I will lay you down, strip off your clothes and…”
He whispered such wicked promises in her ear that her body shuddered and heated in anticipation and in memory of other times when he brought her such passion. Then, he stepped away and laughed as she stumbled. “But not here.”
She took the hand he offered, and they turned to the path that would take them back to the life they would live. Together. But, a woman stood there watching them.
“Go to her, Connor. Let her greet her son for the first time,” Moira said, releasing his hand and watching him approach the woman who had paid for her inability to love the Sith prince by losing her children.
He stopped a few feet away from Agnes, and Moira could tell they were speaking. She held her breath, waiting and waiting until he opened his arms to Agnes and she fell sobbing against his chest. Moira tried to control her own tears and gave them a few minutes of privacy to begin their bond as mother and son.
She wondered if the Sith, Connor’s father, would be angry that Agnes would find forgiveness from Connor. She could not see him, but she heard words, spoken in a language she did not understand, swirling softly around in the air, teasing her with his answer. Then the words surrounded her and were spoken in her tongue.
“Only the love of a human heart is stronger than the power of the Sith. ’Tis why I coveted it so much and sought it in the mortal world.”
Connor released his mother then and held out his hand to Moira and she rushed to join him. Agnes hugged her, and they cried as they walked back to the house.
They had much to do and time enough ahead of them to do it. The bairn would come in four months or so and change their lives again. Hope swelled in her heart, and the life she’d never allowed herself to think on now awaited her.
A man who loved her enough to die for her.
A child created out of that love.
A life filled with memories of loved ones.
And she walked toward that life, hand in hand, with the man she loved with her whole heart and soul.
Epilogue
Oidhche Shamhna (Samhain night)
“Are you certain, Moira?” he asked her again. Well, for the eighth time that day, if he told the truth. “Mayhap we should leave things as they are.”
“Aye, Connor, I am sure.” She reached up and touched his cheek softly as they watched the moon rise high in the sky and shine down its light on the meadow where he was born.
The air over the fairy hill had its own glow as midnight approached, and the force keeping the Sith within it weakened. Words and laughter floated around them, and she nodded at him to begin. He changed then, into the Seer, and she could feel waves pouring out from him as he spread his power out over the isle and the seas, searching once more for the brothers he’d lost those years ago.
From the things she’d discovered about Samhain, she knew this was the one day when Connor’s powers were at their strongest and the best time if he was going to find those he sought. And in this place, with the land of the Sith so close, she hoped he would succeed where he had failed before.
The bairn fussed in her arms, as though he felt it too as his father used his otherworldly powers this night. Holding Aidan close to her heart, she rocked him back to sleep.
Minutes passed, and then Connor shook his head.
“Nothing?” she asked.
“Only a stone keep and the sea,” he said, shaking his head. “And that could be anywhere in the isles or on any coast.” He let out a loud breath. “No matter how hard I push it out, I cannot find them.”
Laughter rang out then, and Moira saw the shimmering light over the fairy hill glow stronger now. The same Sith stepped out of it and walked toward them. She calmed her thoughts and brought to mind the name that Connor had taught her over these last months.
When the sounds swirled inside of her, she concentrated and plucked all the bits of sounds together. Then she spoke them out loud, calling out the name of the Sith. He stared at her, regarding her with that strange glow in his eyes, and then he bowed to her.
“What is your wish, human?” He walked closer until she thought he might touch her and then stopped. His glimmer floated around them in the air, like tiny fireflies of all colors and sounds. “But have a care, for only the foolish try to control the Sith.”
“Tell my husband of his brothers,” she said, her voice shaking as she spoke. Connor’s hand on her shoulder gave her courage.
“That is your command, woman?” the Sith asked. “You control far more power between you than he needs to answer that question.”
Startled, she glanced at Connor, who seemed to be conversing with the Sith without uttering a word. The knowing smile on his face told her he knew how to find them.
“So, is that your command?” the Sith repeated.
“Nay,” she shook her head. “That was my request. That you give him your blessing is my command.”
She lifted the blanket away and held the bairn up so the Sith could see him. “I would have Aidan know his father’s kin.”
The Sith reached out for her son and then stopped and shook his head. “You would trust him to me?”
“I would trust his father’s father to hold him and give him a blessing,” she said.
Though her words were bold, her stomach ached in tension now, for handing her child to the Sith could be dangerous. She could feel Connor’s strength and moved closer, holding her son, their son, out before her. The Sith took the bairn, who awoke and stared up at the creature who had the same green eyes as he did.
Moira fought the need to grab the babe back and waited for the Sith to know her son. But when he brought the child to him and smelled him, she laughed.
“He smells human,” the Sith said, disdainfully. He closed his eyes and touched the babe’s head to his, and then he smiled. “But he is Sith.”
Connor’s father turned toward the moon and then faced the fairy hill as he spoke in that other language and laid his hand on her son. The air around them swirled, and the moon grew brighter as he held the child up and called out his name in Sith. The name that would give someone power over him. The name that was his Sith blessing.
“He is gifted,” the Sith said, as he handed the bairn back to her.
“Gifted?” she asked. “I did not ask you for that.” Now fearing what this would mean to her son she turned to her husband. “Connor?”
“’Tis well, love. Gifted, but not cursed.”
The Sith laughed, and then her son laughed, too.
“Go home, for you have much to do this night before the moon sets.”
Apparently Samhain was the time of greater power, and now Connor must know how to use it. Moira nodded at the Sith and began to turn away when he faded. Words spun in the air around them as he went. Another name floated waiting to be heard. Connor smiled as he heard. “My name,” he said.
“Send him to me in his seventh year, and I will train him.” the Sith said.
Moira shook her head, for she was not certain she wanted to lose her son to the Sith. Connor gathered her close and shook his head. “As his father, I will train him in his gift when the time comes.”
He hurried them back to the house, and Moira fed the babe and wrapped him tightly and placed him in his cradle. Agnes had followed her into the small room and offered to sit with him until he slept.
“Go now, Moira. Connor awaits you.”
Moira could feel him—she could feel the pull of his blood within her and the heat of his passion when she opened the door to their room. She’d barely closed it when he pressed against her and began undressing her.
“I need you, wife,” he whispered, kissing her neck and then her face as he turned her and tore off her shift. “I need you,” he repeated, pressing the l
ength of him against her stomach and rocking into her. His mouth moved down over her skin to kiss the sensitive tips of her breasts and then down and down until he knelt before her. When his mouth touched the curls on her mons, she arched and trembled so much she thought she would fall.
Connor leaned her back against the door and lifted one of her legs over his shoulder. The cool air of the chamber, for the autumn winds blew now through the opened window, touched her between her legs and chilled her before he used the heat of his mouth and the touch of his hands to make her throb and shiver.
She thought she would scream as her arousal flowed through her and her wetness met his tongue. He licked and sucked the aching folds until she dropped her head back and could do nothing but feel his desire as it grew stronger and stronger.
He moved slowly then, soothing rather than inflaming, and then he stepped away and stood between her legs. Lifting her hips, he placed her on his erect manhood and helped her to slide down him, taking every thick inch of him within her. She gasped at it; the friction there caused the muscle to spasm around his length, making it difficult to breathe or think, so she did neither. When he was fully sheathed, he carried her to their bed and laid her there.
“Moira,” he whispered in that way that made her blood heat.
Climbing higher between her legs, he used the bed beneath her to steady her body as he claimed her again. Thrusting deep, he drove her to madness as her body became his to move, to touch, to fill, and to satisfy. The moment began, and she felt the ripples of pleasure moving through her as he brought her to her peak. He took her hands in his and spread them out at her sides then.
“Moira, look at me.” He compelled her to open her eyes, and she saw that his were changing, from green to that glowing color as his power filled him. He thrust in once more and then withdrew. She opened wider and waited for him to take her completely. As her muscles contracted and her body wept its release, his seed flowed into her even as the heat of his power did, and Moira watched as he lifted her and they flew.
She could not tell if it was the present or the past, but the sky was bright now as they passed over the sea going north. Endless miles and then a tall, stone keep and a chamber. She could see the man’s face, so like Connor’s, and he looked at them as they paused there.
“Duncan,” they said together with their one voice.
Then they were flying, north again as the air turned bitterly cold and the Norse isles came into view. Again, they did not recognize the isle or the town, but they kept moving until they reached the sea and followed the edge to a place where the sea caves opened. The man stood at the cave’s entrance and watched as they passed. His resemblance to Connor and Duncan was uncanny.
“Gavin,” they said.
They laughed out their joy, as they were no longer flying but back within themselves as her body clenched around his flesh and wrung out those final moments of pleasure from him.
They remained joined for some minutes until their breathing calmed and Moira could think on what they’d just done. Together.
“Your father told you how to do that?” she asked, remembering the shared unspoken words that had passed between them earlier.
“Nay, love,” he said kissing her mouth one last time before he left her to lay at her side. “He only reminded me that my powers are stronger on the day of my birth.”
“Samhain?”
“Aye, Samhain. Then I remembered that our joining gave me the power to call the vision from within, and I thought I would try it again.”
She laughed then and touched his face. “It worked.”
“Duncan and Gavin,” he repeated.
“Could you tell if we were seeing them in the present or the past?” she asked.
He rolled then, tucking her beneath him and settling between her legs once more. “I could not,” he said as he slid his prick inside her gently. “But…” he began to thrust deeper and retreat and again.
“But?” she said as he moved within her again.
“The moon has not set, and there is time to try again.”
She pulled his head down to kiss him and waited for him to thrust again. When he did and the change came into his eyes, she whispered against his mouth.
“Call forth your visions, Seer,” she commanded, using the name his father had called him. “Call forth your visions.”
And like a storm, their passion surrounded them as their love made his power go farther and wider and clearer in search of his kin. When he found the answers they sought and lay replete in each other’s embrace, the truth they discovered was more important than any vision could reveal.
For they knew now that the love of a human heart was stronger than any power of the Sith.
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“Lyraka is different.”
Roan crossed his legs. “I’ve heard that crap before.”
“She’s not full-blooded Nerakian. Her father is an Earthling.”
He raised an eyebrow. Okay, Joe had his attention. “I didn’t know there were any half breeds old enough to train, but it makes sense they would mate. The ones I’ve run across make no bones that they like a good roll in the hay.”
“Now you’re being crude,” Joe admonished.
“Just stating facts. Chocolate and sex are the only things they seem to care about.”
“That’s not true and you know it.”
Yeah, he did, but he’d been in a particularly foul mood since Joe told Roan that he wanted him to stay at the training center a little longer. Now Joe was giving him this new assignment. Roan wanted to get back into field work and out of training. He was starting to feel trapped, and that didn’t set well with him.
A leg injury he’d sustained a few months ago had kept him on the sidelines. The doc still wouldn’t release him for full duty even though Roan felt fine. He had a feeling Joe was behind some of it.
“Train her, and I’ll get you the release you’ve been wanting,” Joe said.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“She must mean a lot to you. Is she that good?”
“You can’t imagine.” Joe handed Roan a manila envelope. “This is everything I have on her. I know it’s not much, but read it tonight.”
Roan was still skeptical, but believed Joe when he said he would get him the release. Hell, he’d do just about anything to get back to active duty. He didn’t believe there wasn’t more to training this chick, though. “What’s the catch? There has to be something wrong with her.”
Joe shrugged, a little too casually, if you asked Roan.
“Like I said, her abilities are different, stronger than the average Nerakian, but she needs to learn discipline and control.”
She was half Nerakian and half Earthling, how strong could they be? He assumed she was a warrior so he wouldn’t have to actually do that much. A few weeks of his time and he’d be back getting his hands dirty. He could handle that.
“Okay, it’s a deal. When do I get to meet her?” He’d known Joe for quite a few years. At one time, Joe had been a kick-ass agent, but when the elite force was formed, Joe had taken over recruiting people who had the potential to be the best of the best. Roan knew it took a lot to impress Joe. So yeah, he was curious.
Joe beamed. “You get to meet her right now.” He pushed a button on his intercom. “Go get Lyraka and ask her to come in.”
A few minutes passed before the door opened. Roan didn’t move from his chair. Nerakian women were beautiful, but it hadn’t taken him long to realize they had strange ideas about things.
And they took everything literally. He didn’t have that much patience when it came to explaining every little detail. Women from Earth were more to his liking. They knew the score. He slowly turned in his chair, expecting to see a beautiful woman.
There were very few times in his life he’d ever felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him. This just happened to be one of them
. She didn’t look like most Nerakians. Each one’s appearance was different. Warriors were darker: dark hair, dark eyes, dark clothes. Healers had long blond hair and usually wore green flowing robes, and man, were they a pain in the ass. He’d only met one, but that one had been more than enough. Each Nerakian had a different look that immediately said what their role on Nerak had been.
But this woman was different. God, was she different. His heart had already begun to pound, and the palms of his hands to sweat just looking at her. She was a walking, talking billboard of every man’s sexual fantasy—him included.
How the hell was he going to train her?
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He stilled in the act of scrubbing the day’s sweat from his face and waited to see if Cady had something to say, or if she’d only come for the facilities because she couldn’t wait. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable if she had.
But she didn’t say or do anything. Best he could tell, she was standing unmoving just inside the door. And since his clothes were in a pile somewhere near her feet and his towel on the edge of the sink, he needed her to do whatever it was she’d come to do and get out.
So he nudged her. “First my truck, and now my shower. Is nothing sacred?”
“Sorry,” he heard her mutter. “The TV wasn’t working.”
What the hell? “You came to get me to fix the TV? Did you try calling the front desk first?”
“No. I mean, the TV works fine. It just wasn’t…working. As a distraction.” She groaned beneath her breath, the sound giving off an emotion he hadn’t heard before. “I needed a distraction.”
She had dozens of channels broadcasting more distracting crap than a person could need in a lifetime. She wasn’t making any sense. And he wasn’t exactly comfortable here with the situation.
“You’re looking for a distraction? In here? Where I’m bare-as-the-day-I-was-born naked? Cady, Cady, Cady.” He clicked his tongue. “You devil.”
A Storm of Passion Page 23
