by Grant, Donna
Cole.
Never in her life had she imagined making love could be so sensual, so erotic, so…wonderful. All she wanted was to spend days, no weeks, in bed with Cole, only rising to eat.
She smiled, laughing inwardly at her fanciful daydreams. A dreamer she wasn’t, at least until Cole. Now, that’s all she could find herself doing. Even as she delivered ale and plates of food, she kept thinking of the previous night.
As she returned to the kitchen for more food, she stopped to stretch her legs, which were a little sore from Cole’s lovemaking, when she spotted Benton coming towards her.
“You smile overmuch for a woman who wishes not to be here.” Something in his tone told Shannon that she best be careful with her answer.
“You asked me to act like a serving wench. I am but doing as I was told.” He leaned close to her and poked her in the shoulder with his meaty finger. “You don’t fool me. I will find out what has you in such a good humor.” A shudder of fear ran down her back as she watched Benton walk out of the tavern. She knew where he was headed. The castle. But for what purpose? Could her time here be at an end?
Grabbing more mugs of ale, Shannon walked around the dining room, listening for information Cole and Gabriel would need. For somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew something was going to happen tonight.
* * *
Cole could stay away from Shannon no longer. After the news Aimery had given them, Cole could think of nothing else but discovering if Shannon was indeed one of the women needed to end the evil.
He hurried to the tavern and found her scurrying from one table to the next.
Strands of her thick brunette hair fell around her face in disarray. He longed to reach up and smooth them away before kissing her plump lips.
The calm he had drawn from his training was fast dwindling. And when she raised her eyes and spotted him, the smile she gave him made him want to carry her up the stairs and make love to her until morning.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hello.” He had to tell himself to find a table before he did something foolish like bend her over his arm and kiss her breathless, staking his claim on her for all to see.
He sank into a chair at his favorite table. “You look tired.”
“I’m fine,” she said.
“Benton paid me a visit. He told me to leave.” Her glance fell away from his. “Are you?” she asked softly.
“Never,” he vowed. “I gave you my word, Shannon.” When she again looked at him, her honey brown eyes pooled with relief. “I’ve found out some more information for you.”
“Good. We’ll meet at midnight again.”
She shook her head. “It needs to be sooner.”
“All right. If you cannot find me, tell Gabriel.”
“And where are you going to be?”
He shrugged, not wanting to worry her. “Just know that you will be taken care of.”
Cole waited until she walked away before he blew out a breath. When he had parted company with Gabriel and Aimery, Gabriel had decided it was time for him to do some snooping on his own. Cole agreed. He had learned nothing in the few days he had walked among the village as a stranger. Mayhap Gabriel’s disguise was just what was needed.
Cole’s gaze found Shannon. She was a strong, beautiful woman, but everyone had their limits. He had no idea just how much more Shannon could handle, and if what he suspected was true, she was going to have the discovery of a lifetime.
His jaw clenched as he imagined what she had felt at discovering she was no longer in her time, and now a slave to a vicious ruler of a small village in England.
But she had survived it. She had survived weeks amid Benton’s nasty temper and meaty fists, with fear always lurking near her, wondering just why she was there.
And Cole couldn’t wait to take her away from it all.
However, if she was indeed one of the women they searched for, then she would be taken somewhere where the evil couldn’t reach her—and neither would Cole.
He shoved aside that thought and concentrated on formulating a plan to find out if Shannon bore the mark or not.
* * *
Shannon covertly watched Cole as she walked about the dining room. He seemed deep in thought, as though he had some great mystery to figure out. She just assumed the great mystery was what kind of creature lurked inside the castle.
The day flew by as if on the wings of a bird, and as night enveloped the small village, Shannon’s heart thumped with fear and anticipation. She had much to tell Cole, and she knew some of it would aid him and Gabriel in their quest.
She took her time cleaning the dining room, making sure she kept her eye on the windows to see if she spotted anyone.
“Finish in the morn, wench,” Benton boomed from behind her. “You’ve taken too long.”
Shannon gasped as Benton grabbed her arm and dragged her to her room. As she passed the stairs, she saw Cole watching them and silently prayed he wouldn’t do anything until Benton left.
Benton pushed her into her room and slammed the door closed. For a moment she feared he might try and lock the door, but instead, she heard his heavy footsteps walk away and then out the door.
Just as she was about to rise, she heard someone approach her door. Her first thought was the castle guards had come to get her, and she nearly started screaming.
Her gaze quickly scanned her small room and found the only weapon available to her—the water bowl. She dumped the water onto the floor and held the bowl over her head as she waited by the door.
The door slowly creaked open, and her heart thundered in her chest. Her arms shook, and her knees began to tremble. But she didn’t lose her grip on the water bowl.
As the door opened wider and she saw the shadow of a man move to step into her room, she knew it was now or never. Just as she was about to slam the water bowl against her intruder’s head, she spotted the unusual fabric the intruder wore.
It took all her might to stop the downward arc of her hands. She managed it, but also managed to throw herself off balance. Large, strong hands wrapped around her waist and steadied her as she quickly lowered the bowl.
“Expecting someone else?” Cole whispered in her ear.
Excitement replaced her fear as Shannon turned toward Cole’s muscular chest and dropped the water bowl. Her hands ran over his sculpted chest, and she sighed with pleasure.
“The material,” she said. “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt. It’s smoother than silk, looks sturdier than the thickest wool, yet it moves beneath my hand as if it’s alive.”
“Because I’m alive.”
She raised her gaze to him. “This,” she said as she again ran her hand over the fabric, “wasn’t made here.”
He shook his head in answer.
Shannon swallowed and licked her lips, unsure if she wanted to know just where the material was from. In the end, her curiosity got the better of her. “Where is it from?” It seemed Cole was as unsure of answering her as she had been of asking.
“Another realm.”
“Which
one?”
His eyes searched Shannon’s and his hands came up and cupped her head on either side. “Are you sure you want to know?”
“Yes.”
Chapter Fifteen
“The Realm of the Fae.”
Somehow, Shannon wasn’t surprised at Cole’s answer. “Then, they really do exist.”
He nodded. “Very much so. They raised me, trained me.”
“And they also lead the Shields.”
The smile that spread across his gorgeous face quickened her heartbeat. “Aye,” he answered. “They do. They are linked to this realm because they once dwelled here.
If anything should happen to Earth….”
“Then they would be destroyed as well,” she finished.
“Aye.”
“Why don’t they help more?”
“They c
annot. There are boundaries in which they must abide. They put the Shields together, arm us, inform us, and at times move us through time, but even that is pressing the limits of what they should do.”
“It doesn’t seem fair. If what I heard of the Fae is true, then if they could fight, the battle would be over quickly.”
“Exactly,” Cole said as his thumbs lightly rubbed her jaw. “It’s the very reason why this evil doesn’t attack the Fae on their realm.” Before she could ask him more, his lips came down on her, hot and demanding. It was just what Shannon needed. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she drowned in the sensuality that was Cole.
When they parted, both breathed heavily and there was no mistaking the desire that darkened Cole’s eyes. She smiled, loving how much he wanted her.
She knew they were about to make love again. Her heart soared, her body throbbed at the prospect of having Cole’s body on hers again.
He pulled her towards him, his eyes scorching in their intensity. His mouth was millimeters away, all she had to do was raise up on her tiptoes and she’d feel his sensuous lips on hers again.
Just as his lips touched hers, they heard it.
The castle guards had arrived.
“I’ve got to stop them,” Cole said as he raced to window.
She touched his shoulder just as he threw a leg out the window. “Please stay safe.”
He gave her a wide smile and a quick kiss. “Always. Now, stay inside, don’t look out the window.”
Cole prayed she would listen to him, but he feared her curiosity would get the better of her as it always did. He had his smaller axes in each hand as he ran from behind the tavern. Just as he expected, Gabriel was already in the fray and taking on two of the guards at once.
This time twenty guards had come to the village. While Gabriel fought, the others surrounded a hut and kicked in the door. Cole’s blood boiled to a rage when they dragged out a small boy no older than ten summers. When the father tried to stop the guards, he was rewarded by being knocked unconscious and hauled after the boy.
By the time Cole reached them, Gabriel had killed the two guards he fought and turned to more. One guard spotted Cole and raised his sword. Cole dove and rolled just as the sword sliced through the air. He came to his feet, pivoted, and buried his axe in the guard’s back.
The guard gave a small cry before he fell to the ground. Cole quickly kicked the guard off his axe and turned just as a sword came at his neck. Cole lunged back and felt the air as the blade sliced by him.
Cole twirled the axes beside him as he and the guard circled each other. Cole advanced on the guard, and while one axe went toward the guard’s side, the other went to his chest.
When the guard fell to the ground as blood pooled out of his wounds, Cole turned and saw Gabriel kill another guard. The rest of the guards had started toward the castle with the father and son.
“There isn’t a lot of time,” Cole said as they raced after the guards.
“You follow them,” Gabriel said as he sheathed his sword and reached for his bow. “I’ll meet up with you at the castle.” He gave a nod, and Gabriel disappeared into the forest. Though Gabriel was dangerous with a sword, he was inhuman with his bow.
Cole kept to the shadows, and though the three guards in the back kept looking over their shoulders, they never saw him coming. He aimed one of the small axes and let it fly. It struck the guard on the right. As the guard fell dead, the others gave a warning shout to the rest.
Cole ran to the fallen guard, knelt, and retrieved his axe. The guards had formed one tight huddle, but that didn’t deter Cole.
He flexed his hands on the handles of his axes, took his aim, and let both loose.
They landed with deadly accuracy in two guards.
Cole reached for his double headed axe and rose to his feet. The castle gate came into view, and he had to do everything in his power to stop them from bringing the boy and his father to their deaths.
Seven guards stopped their retreat and turned to face him while the four holding father and son continued toward the gate. Cole stopped half way toward the guards and waited. It didn’t take them long to attack him.
He turned around, gaining momentum in his swing, and sliced the throat of one guard before embedding his axe in the chest of another. He yanked his axe out just in time to duck a swing at his own head.
One guard aimed a crossbow at him, but before Cole could move out of the way or strike him, the guard fell to his side, an arrow sticking out of his back.
Cole smiled, ever thankful for Gabriel’s aim, and turned to the other five guards.
They circled around him, waiting to attack. Suddenly, two of them dropped to the ground, their open eyes staring unseeing at the sky.
With a wide swing, Cole sliced open the chests of two guards as the last ran off towards the guards holding father and son. He didn’t get far before Gabriel’s arrow landed in his heart.
The last four guards half drug, half carried father and son to the gate as they realized they were the only guards remaining.
Cole ran after them, grabbing his two smaller axes on the way. The guards were nearly to the gate. He quickly sheathed the two small axes as he ran toward the gate. As he neared, he spotted Gabriel off to the side of the castle. If Cole failed, Gabriel would not.
He saw Gabriel ready his bow, and Cole quickly knelt, unsheathed his dagger, and let it fly the same time Gabriel released his bow. Cole’s blade landed in a guard that held the boy, while Gabriel’s arrow hit a guard holding the father.
Cole stood, smiling. With the boy struggling, the one guard couldn’t hold him, and with the father unconscious, his guard couldn’t drag him.
They would have to choose. Father or son.
When the guard holding the boy cuffed him viciously across the face and the boy went flying to the ground, Cole’s smile vanished as he palmed an axe in each hand. He knew Gabriel would reach the boy, so Cole sprinted the last distance between him and the guards.
They weren’t expecting him.
He sliced one on the back of the knee with his axe, and when the other turned toward him, he elbowed him in the face. Both guards fell to the ground.
Cole spotted more guards leaning over the gatehouse, readying their bows. They needed to hide and quickly. He lifted the father on his shoulders and raced to the trees.
He had nearly made it when he felt a searing pain in his shoulder. His shoulder spasmed, and he nearly dropped the father but held on in time to make it to the trees.
Gabriel was waiting for him, but Cole wouldn’t stop.
“We have to find a safe place. They’ll be looking for us,” he said as he hurried past Gabriel who held the boy in his arms.
He had no idea how long they walked or when Gabriel had moved ahead of him.
All Cole knew was that his shoulder was on fire and he was quickly losing strength.
When he stumbled and fell to his knees, Gabriel called a halt.
“We’re stopping. Here. Now.”
“Nay,” Cole said.
“Don’t be foolish,” Gabriel snapped. “If they are tracking us, they’ll find us as slow as we’ve gone.” He laid the boy on the ground and then turned to help Cole lower the father.
Cole slowly got to his feet, now unable to move his left shoulder at all. He tried to squeeze his right hand, but even that didn’t obey him.
“Where are you hurt?” Gabriel asked.
“Tend to the father and son first.”
Gabriel stood in front of Cole, his face a mask of anger in the moonlight. “Where are you injured?” he asked again.
“My shoulder,” Cole finally answered.
He waited as Gabriel moved to his back. “How bad is it?” he asked.
Silence.
“Gabriel.”
“We need to move somewhere safer.”
Cole didn’t like Gabriel’s tone or the fact he wouldn’t answer his question on
how bad the wound was. He turned to his friend. “Gabriel.” He waited until Gabriel turned to look at him before he continued.
“Take out the arrow.”
“Nay.”
“Why
not.”
Gabriel glanced at the ground and took a deep breath. “There is poison on the arrow, Cole. I don’t know what kind yet, and I cannot take the chance of treating you now. We need to get somewhere safe.”
The problem was, there was no where safe.
