For a timeless moment, Lily hung suspended on a crest of exotic sensations, wrapped and filled with Kelan. Her body pulsed around him and pulled him with her over the edge. A guttural noise tore from his throat as his hot seed spent inside her, sending another shuddering wave throughout her entire body before she fell back in the cradle of his arm, utterly sated and boneless.
Kelan rolled onto his back, bringing her with so she sprawled over his chest. His arms folded her tightly to him, her heart racing against his chest, his breaths ragged against her cheek. He stroked her back. He murmured love words against her skin. His tenderness and heat cocooned and lulled her into a state of utter bliss.
Lily woke up wrapped in luxuriant warmth. Her sleep-riddled brain took in her surroundings and a cognizant cog turned. Last night…
The drapes Kelan had left open let in the sun instead of stars.
His room was a den of masculinity. Heavy furniture carved out of mahogany and stained a dark, cherry brown. The curtains were navy and gold, the same colour scheme as the bedding.
A large hand, slightly roughened with the faint ridges of criss-crossed scars, cupped her breast and kept the rest of her close. Suddenly her world was host to exhilarating sensations she’d never have imagined possible before last night and now she absorbed another new one; her blood purred as she stretched against the length of hard, warm, naked male.
“Morning, sweetling.” His husky murmur brushed below her ear. Another hand roamed over her body, a feather-light caress that tingled awareness in its path.
Lily rolled in his arms as languid desire swept over her. Her breath caught at the sheer magnificence of her husband. His eyes were the navy-black of a midnight summer sky. A night’s growth of beard shadowed his square jaw. The smile that graced all that brutal, exquisite beauty was a work of wicked art chiselled by the hand of a fallen angel.
He looked thoroughly awake, but not restless. Not that he’d ever portray such a common human failing.
Instead of the usual irritation, admiration filled her. “You’ve been awake for hours.”
His gaze drifted to her mouth. “I’m enjoying a morning in with my lovely wife before I depart.”
He’s still leaving today. Her heart kicked, like foolish hearts are wont to do. What did you expect? That one night of you would scramble his head and priorities? No, she hadn’t…but she’d hoped for one more day, perhaps one more night.
His arms looped around her, his fingers linked at the base of her spine. His mouth captured hers in an exploring kiss as he pushed a muscular thigh between her legs. Lily gave in to the swell of want and longing with a kittenish sigh. She’d always known it would come to this and she’d already decided to be content with what he could give. His morning lovemaking was thorough, unhurried, and left her absolutely replete with precious little to complain about.
It was another hour before Kelan left her to her bath with a kiss and a promise to have a breakfast tray sent up.
She pinned her hair up and sank neck-high into the brass-clawed porcelain tub. She dropped in a liberal amount of rose-scented oil to soothe the pleasurable ache from muscles she’d never known she had. A smile curled her lips as she rested her head back against the tub. She felt alive, beautiful and loved.
Physically loved, she added as a mental note. It wouldn’t do to confuse the two. Kelan had shown her so many surprising sides recently, but it would be dangerous to start thinking he’d ever truly let her inside.
When she finally made her way downstairs, she found Greyston on the portico out front. He leant against the pillar, one knee bent, drawing lazy circles on the stone tiles with the tip of his cane.
His hooded gaze lifted to her, a grin tucking up the corner of his mouth. “I was starting to think I’d be gone and back before you roused from your bed.”
She saw the carpetbag at his feet. He intended to take to the skies in search of Devon’s warship without delay. She pushed down a thread of disappointment. “You were waiting for me to say goodbye.”
“Actually, I’ve been waiting for those two to say their goodbyes.” He nudged his chin toward the driveway, where Ana and Neco stood talking beneath a fir sapling.
Ana brushed her hand across Neco’s jacket, as if to wipe away a fleck of flint. A gesture between comfortable acquaintances.
“They’ve become great friends.”
Greyston chuckled. “I’d say they’ve progressed far beyond that.”
Her eyes widened on the couple. “As in a romantic attachment?”
“Why not?” A cynical edge flattened the usual honey timbre of his drawl. “The world would be perfect if we could all love with our heads instead of our hearts.”
Her gaze shot to him. “You don’t mean that.”
“I’m dead serious.” He cocked his head, looking at her a long moment with sober intensity. Then the suggestion of laughter crept over his expression, creased into the lines around his eyes and warmed the brown. “Then again, that would also be a downright bore. I’ve never been partial to perfection.”
She gave a small shake of her head, smiling. “Have I mentioned what an utter rogue you are?”
“Not to my knowledge.” He dragged the tip of his cane across the stone and tapped the toe of her boot. His grin turned devilish. “You did once say something about me being ‘an uncouth lout impersonating a gentleman,’ that I recall with particular fondness.”
She dislodged his cane with a light kick and laughed. “You’ve done nothing yet to change my mind.”
Some of the humour drained from his eyes. “I haven’t, have I?”
Her heart went out to him. She wanted him to be happy. Greyston would never stop running, but she wanted him to have someone who could run at his side.
“Do you think you’ll see Georgina again?” she asked him. “I do like her, very much.”
“So do I.” The hard angles of his jaw softened. “I have every intention of seeing Georgina Bonnington…” his words rumbled over warm honey, “…many, many times again.”
The pressure lifted from Lily’s chest and heart. “Then I do hope you’ll share and bring her for a visit. I’d love to get to know her better.”
Her attention flew across the courtyard as a blue-black Arabian galloped up the short drive of flat stones. Kelan glanced their way, but didn’t pause, riding straight for the stables.
She hadn’t known he’d left the castle.
Her eyes followed, hungry for every look before the drought. He’d be gone for weeks.
He swung down from the horse’s back and handed the reins to the stable lad who’d come running. They spoke a moment, and then he turned, pushing a hand through silky hair long enough to nestle in his collar. His eyes met hers as he crossed the courtyard, the unfastened black coat flapping open around his knee-high boots with the force of his powerful stride. Fawn leather wrapped strong thighs. He’d left the top button of his white linen shirt undone, careless of convention.
She’d once thought this lifetime had carved too much harshness into his face, but now she saw only ravished beauty in the hardened hollows and fierce shadows.
He inclined his head at Greyston in greeting as he climbed the steps. “I see you’re on your way.”
“No reason to delay,” Greyston said. “We’ll be stopping in at the end of each week, sooner if I find anything.”
Kelan came to stand beside her, a possessive arm circling her waist. “I’ll leave my itinerary with Lily. If anything comes up, you’ll know where to find me.” His head bent to her, his palm pressed to the flare of her hips. “I’ve sent for Liam to stay here in my absence. He should arrive by nightfall.”
Lily kept her smile in place. Longing ached in every bone. She already missed him. “Are you leaving right this minute?”
“No, not right this minute.” His gaze hooked hers, his smile not reaching the depths of arctic blue.
Lily sighed. He stood beside her in the flesh, but he’d already left her.
A few minut
es later, she waved goodbye to Greyston and turned. She could be just as blasé as her husband in this marriage. If she didn’t toughen up her— The arm wrapping her waist tugged her back into Kelan’s embrace.
His fingers brushed over her cheek and she tilted her head to blink up at him.
“I have something for you.” He released her to reach inside his jacket, and brought out a rapier thin sword, the hilt carved in silver and ivory detail, the blade no longer than fifteen inches.
“I had the town blacksmith melt down an iron-spiked ball and chain that hasn’t been used this side of the century.” He flicked his wrist and the sword extended, one segment sliding out from the previous one into a seamless blade twice the compacted length. “It’s Cairngorm ore, Lily.”
He flicked his wrist again to retract the blade before he offered her the hilt.
“Thank you.” She took the sword, turning the intricately designed hilt over in her palm. Her smile warmed the ache deep inside, his true gift remembering their training session in the ballroom and her wishes. “It’s absolutely lovely.”
One arm snaked around her waist. Desire heated the chill from his gaze as he looked into her eyes.
He hadn’t left her, not quite yet.
His fingers grazed her jaw, his thumb beneath her chin, lifting her mouth to his as he slowly lowered his head.
He stilled before his lips touched hers, drinking her in a moment more. “I’ll miss you, too, sweetling.”
Before her brain could process the gruffly spoken words, his mouth crushed hers in a thorough, boneless kiss designed to last them for the long weeks he’d be gone.
ARROGANCE & APOCALYPSES
The riveting conclusion to the Dark Matters quartet.
Kelan McAllister’s life has never truly been his to live. Lily should never have been his love. His destiny was set in stone the day he swore that the demon plague would end on his watch.
When tragedy strikes, Lily and Greyston must go head to head with a King Demon, with horrific consequences. Kelan has turned her heart into a barren wasteland, Greyston’s relationship with Georgina Bonnington has been torn apart, and every day brings a fresh nightmare.
Hell Hath No Fury like a Demon Scorned
Demons lay waste to the Scottish lowlands and their master plan is more apocalyptic than Lily ever could have imagined. War is coming and to the victor goes the entire world.
ONE
Cragloden Castle sat approximately halfway up the leeward slope of a headland that dropped into the North Sea at the Tay basin. A tide of canvas now swept down that hillside, mostly a dull off-white. The hour was early, the grey dawn casting a pall that swallowed the occasional coloured stripes of the more daring tents. Winter marched closer and closer with each day, hastened by what felt like a never-ending series of squalls blown in from the ocean.
Lily pulled her wrap a little tighter over her night rail as she stood on the balcony, surveying the army her husband had amassed. Close to two hundred, by Armand’s last count. She wasn’t convinced this army was entirely necessary, but Kelan’s mind had been set after the assassination attempt on General Chen Xiucheng.
The demons had planted stolen documents on the General to make it look like he’d pilfered trade secrets during Queen Victoria’s Annual Trade Convention. The incident could easily have incited a full blown war with China, given the current explosive situation since the Opium Wars and the annexation of Hong Kong. And if Agares wanted the British forces engaged elsewhere, namely China, it must be because the King Demon intended to invade closer to home with a demon army.
But amongst the planted documents, Kelan had also intercepted China’s plans for a fleet of dirigible warships. He believed these plans were every bit as much a plant as the stolen documents. If brought to the attention of the Queen or Parliament, that would have been the perfect motivation to re-ignite The Duke of Harchings’ vision of establishing Britain’s own dirigible fleet, starting with his partially built prototype, the Gossamer.
Lily rather thought the completion of the Gossamer was the King Demon’s only motivation behind the thwarted assassination attempt
Hadn’t that been Agares’ grand scheme all along?
Two years in the making?
An aeronautical warship, large and solid and fully armed, to carry the demon across the channel so it could evade the long reach of the McAllisters on the European or Asian continent?
She stiffened as a pair of strong arms came around her from behind, but only for a moment and then she sank back into the embrace. Kelan had only returned yesterday after a long absence, but he’d spent most of the night adoring her body and this intimacy already felt familiar.
“Trouble sleeping?” Kelan said, his husky voice a breath of warmth at her neck.
She rolled her head along the hollow of his shoulder, tilting her chin to him, answering with a smile instead of words.
Sleeping wasn’t the problem.
Waking up beside her husband was.
Gazing upon his face, all that ravaged harshness softened in slumber, tugged mercilessly at her heart. She’d always thought of Kelan as some avenging angel, but somewhere along the way he’d become her dark angel and she was perched on the brink of falling in love. She could feel it in her bones.
She had wanted messy, unpredictable and passionate. But as much as Kelan loved her with his body, he had no space in his life for troublesome emotions. She knew him well enough by now to understand and accept the truth of that. And yet here she was, sinking so deep, she was bound to hit rock bottom any day.
How does one separate your heart from a body that has been thoroughly sated in love, ravished in adoration? Perhaps she should ask Kelan for advice in the matter!
Kelan’s attention had already drifted from her. Concentration narrowed his navy blue eyes as he looked over his army. “It’s not enough.”
A knot twisted in her stomach. “You need more men?”
“Probably, but I’m not prepared to sacrifice more than this,” he murmured. “I need a miracle.”
“Sacrifice?” She spun out of the warmth enfolding her, pursing her lips as she tilted her head back to meet his gaze.
Kelan took a step back. “Don’t do this, Lily.”
He’d pulled on a pair of cotton trousers and nothing else. The pall of the grey dawn had no grip on his sun-brushed skin, every inch of his lean torso rippled with muscle. His hair hung to his shoulders, black and silky and in exact accordance with his character. She had no doubt Kelan’s heart was a dark, tormented place, and yet his touch was silken and draped her in pure pleasure.
Even now, with a sense of foreboding crawling up her spine, her skin tingled and flames licked her veins as she watched him slipping away from her, slipping away from the hours he’d devoted to her pleasure in bed.
The hardness crept into the hollows of his jaw, sharpened his cheekbones to lethal blades. An icy chill invaded the depths of his gaze…and he still stood right before her but he was long gone.
He tipped his head at her. “Each one of my men knows what they volunteered for.”
“How could they possibly know?” she said in heated contrast to his collected, cool-as-a-sleeping-glacier demeanour.
The men trooped through the castle day and night to practice on Armand’s Strobe machine in the ballroom. They believed they were preparing for battle against an empire with enhanced technology, an army that could be firing death bolts instead of bullets.
Lily shook her head at him. “They have no idea they’re going to war with demons.”
“They know the odds of ever returning home from this fight.” He turned from her in an unhurried stride through the French doors that led from the balcony to their bedroom.
It took Lily a minute to recover from the shock, then she tore after him.
“And what are they?” she demanded, sliding to an abrupt halt at the sight of Kelan’s naked backside as he changed his cotton trousers for supple leather. She swallowed, ignored the blus
h riding her cheeks and set her eyes on the massive bed. Even the ruffled satin sheets and memories of last night were better than a naked Kelan. “What are those odds?”
He reached into his wardrobe before turning to meet her gaze, shrugging a white shirt over broad shoulders as he did so. “They’ve said their goodbyes to loved ones.”
A hot lump formed in her throat. Dear Lord, nearly two hundred men, and he didn’t even flinch. “No matter how cold and unmoving I know you to be, you always find a new level to surprise me with.”
“What has you so enraged?” A brittle grin cracked his jaw. “It cannot be the lost lives you’re already counting since you’re so vehemently opposed to the possibility of war.”
“I don’t need an actual war,” she shot back. “Your attitude is more than enough! You collect and spend lives without a blink of hesitation. You’ve been gone for weeks on end doing what? Recruiting men that you’ve already condemned to die in your mind. Sometimes… Sometimes I think you forget that saving human lives is what this fight is supposed to be about.”
“You think I want any single one of those men to die?” He advanced on her with calm, measured steps. His face was a dramatic sculpture, chiselled to a rugged, devastating beauty and entirely barren of any emotion.
“The more I get to know you…” She swallowed past another hot lump.
Her throat was on fire, but she wouldn’t hedge around the full truth. This was Kelan, her husband, her lover. Their bodies were united, if naught else, and she hadn’t gone into this affair blindfolded.
“The more intimately I get to know you,” she corrected, “the less I seem to know what you think or want.”
He stopped a breath away from her, brought his hand up to tuck a stray curl behind her ear.
“I never imagined the day would come when I’d be enthralled by any woman, let alone my wife.” His voice softened huskily and some warmth chased the arctic depths from his gaze. “Perhaps it is the fire in your spirit. You’re a compelling force of nature, Lily, set to strike when one least expects it.”
The Dark Matters Quartet Page 68
