Albion's Legacy (Sons Of Camelot Book 3)

by Sarah Luddington

  “I am. I stopped you leaving me. You must not give up on me, Holt.” His dark eyes would brook no disobedience on the subject.

  I tried anyway. “I am a liability, Galahad. I’m mortal, weak, a man of Camelot not of Albion.”

  He gripped the back of my neck and stared into my eyes. “You are the heart of me, Holt. I will not surrender you. I will never surrender you. I understand your place in my world even if you do not.”

  The moment of brotherhood shifted, as it did so often with Galahad, and he leaned in for a kiss. I responded. How could I deny him? His lips were soft, his tongue gentle and coaxing, as if he were afraid of breaking me. Tears tracked down my cheeks, I wanted this, I wanted him. The bonding washed through me, alive and healthy, a living thing tied to Albion. I allowed my soul to breathe in Galahad’s energy and he responded, the kiss deepening.

  I lay back and he covered my body in his weight, his thigh pressing against my groin causing me to groan. “I love you,” he whispered, his lips brushing mine, refusing to relinquish our physical contact.

  “Your sister is there asleep, just across the fire,” I pointed out. “Bad timing once again.” My hands were under his shirt though, stroking the taut muscles over his hips.

  “She’ll stay asleep, I promise you,” he murmured nuzzling my ear and eliciting a soft groan.

  “Do we have time?” I asked, arching my back into the weight of his chest as he pushed down against me, better able to seek those places he knew would force me to submit.

  He licked my ear and said, “No, but I’m so sick of being without you. Of trying to do the right thing. Of giving you and Severus time to get use to me... To us. I want you to myself. I want you to be mine, now and forever. I don’t want to share you. I don’t want to see you touching someone else. I know Severus is important to you and I know you need someone other than me but... Holt, I find myself unable to come to terms with sharing, now we are so close to the end I know I want you with me always.”

  He began working on that magic spot in my neck. His words were all the aphrodisiac I needed.

  I loved Severus but my feelings, needs, for Galahad were something else. Something living and breathing and sacred to us.

  I also didn’t want Morgan hearing us making love. “You’re too strong, Galahad. I can’t be quiet enough to preserve our dignity and give you what you want from me.”

  “She’ll remain unaware, trust me.” Galahad instantly understood my concerns.

  It was becoming increasingly difficult to think. I just wanted to yield to his desire. “What have you done?” I asked him, even as my fingers loosened his hose ties at the back.

  “She’s asleep, that’s all you need to know,” he said, pulling at his shirt and my blankets, preventing our separation in this dark place.

  Alright, I gave up caring about Morgan. If she wouldn’t know it didn’t matter how much noise I made while Galahad took what he needed from me.

  “Just reassure me Severus understands what’s happening,” I insisted. “I – we – owe him a great deal and I don’t want to hurt him even if he does want to leave me.”

  Galahad huffed and collapsed over my body. “Bloody hell, Holt, just give in would you? Severus is fine. He will always be fine with you and me, he’s fey. If he decides he needs some time off when this is over, then he’ll know we’ll be together. You are going to leave Camelot. I shall make it happen. I want you beside me.”

  “You need a queen,” I said, still unable to admit this was happening despite Galahad’s determination.

  “I have Morgan. She will be queen. You will be my consort, Holt. Just as Tancred keeps Fox safe, I shall protect you as time goes by.” The level of intensity threw me completely. I’d never seen him so positive, so grounded in his awareness of his own future and mine, so demanding.

  “Galahad...” I tried to lift his hips off mine to give us space to talk. We really needed to talk but...

  “No more words, Holt. Join with me, here in this darkest part of Albion. Join with me as I have communed with Morgan through the death of one of the oldest races of Albion. Join with me in more than just our bonding. Become one with me, become my consort and therefore Albion’s. You do not have to release Severus, but you do need to become mine, you are the only one I can love with my brutal honesty.” Galahad wasn’t going to capitulate to anything other than an affirmative answer and I didn’t want to give him anything else.

  I captured his mouth and he groaned in acknowledgement of my capitulation. When he could speak once more he whispered. “I promise you now, Holt, I shall never step back from this again. Never!”

  I believed him completely. Something was different, his hunger was desperate but not angry or scared. The weight of him made it hard to breathe with ease and the confines of his mass prevented me from moving far, the control was perfect, delicious.

  He ground me into the rock under my back and it brought forth a groan. “I need to be naked,” I gasped, requesting his help as he held the reins of our passion and the control over me. The blanket was finally ripped away from my groin and he struggled out of his hose and shirt, returning to me quickly, flesh hardly having time to cool.

  “I need more,” he growled, low in his throat. The great black cat I’d seen within him made each of his movement’s fluid and filled with a threat which could turn savage on the wrong word or gesture. It felt like being stalked and loved all at once.

  Between savage bites and kisses we struggled for domination and possession. Completely naked, the firelight dancing on our skin and in Galahad’s dark eyes, we embraced, we wrestled for control, and we rubbed against each other. Time vanished, I no longer thought about anything but the feel of Galahad’s long slim limbs tangled with mine. His muscular chest, taut stomach, and strong back, engulfing me, loving me, caressing me.

  “Galahad,” I managed to formulate. “It’s time, please. I need you.” The hard pressure of my cock made a constant throb permeate every fibre of my body.

  For an answer Galahad slid down my chest in one movement and his mouth captured my manhood.

  “Fuck!” I called out, my fists balling and my back arching. Galahad did something he’d never done for me before, he enjoyed himself. My lover took his time, teasing, playing, chuckling when he pushed me into crying out with need. I never wanted him to stop.

  He shifted and removed all stimulation, moving away from me. I opened my eyes in confusion. “What’s wrong?” The joy of moments before flipped into panic. Galahad smiled and my relief made me weak. “Gods, I thought you were going to stop.”

  “I just wanted to enjoy you,” he said. “I’ve never really enjoyed you, here in this world. Up here,” he tapped his head, “we’ve done it all but never in this world and before this ends, however it ends, I want to experience all of you. Every beautiful curve, line and scar.” He traced an old one down my thigh making me shiver in delight.

  “Are you sure you’re alright? This is all very... New,” I said. “You’ve tried to stop this repeatedly. Don’t get me wrong I’m overjoyed that you’ve decided you want me but...” He’d hurt me too brutally with words and actions in times past to make me surrender without query.

  He smiled sadly and I could see his understanding. “But I’ve dropped you like a hot stone too many times.” He sat back on his heels with his hands on the strong thighs. A large and beautiful erection made it hard for me to concentrate.

  “I wouldn’t put it quite like that.”

  “I would,” he admitted with painful honesty.

  “So? What’s brought this on?” I asked once again.

  “You were gravely injured. I lost you completely, I couldn’t feel you. Morgan and I poured all we had into pulling you back. During the process a few things became crystal clear. No one will be my equal other than you and I want an equal in my bed. It shouldn’t matter if you are male or female. It is you that’s important. There might be women in my future but you are the core of me. Severus might remain in The City, bu
t I will be the core of you. Love destroys all boundaries, Holt. I understand that now. Not only has your life been on the line too many times because of me, but so has your sanity.” In the flickering light of the fire I could see how scared he’d been and how alone.

  Before the bang on the head I’d thought none of them really needed me. I’d considered Galahad a force of nature capable of surviving anything but I now understood how wrong I was, and I also wondered if Severus had seen the same thing, which is why he’d left us alone down here in the dark of Albion’s heart.

  “Don’t ever think that, Holt. I need you,” he said, stealing the thoughts from my head. He lay down beside me and placed his head on my heart. “I will always need you.” He kissed my chest, then nipped me.

  Things escalated quickly. From romance to brute passion with dizzying intensity. Galahad savaged at my chest hard enough to bruise but not to cut, with teeth and fingers, while I writhed and cried out in grateful pain under him. I found my arms over my head and his leather belt holding my wrists together. I knew the game better than to bring them down despite the hurt he inflicted. We might not have anything convenient to tie me too but the self-imposed control heightened my desire.

  When he’d finally driven himself into a frenzy of desire, Galahad took exactly what he wanted. No thought, no permissions, no tenderness, just brutal fucking. With Severus everything was soft and tender but this... This drove me to a pounding hard orgasm which hurt I wanted it so badly.

  Galahad cried out, cursing me and himself in the desperate final fight for physical completion. I’d never been used thus and it felt... It felt wonderful and terrible all at once.

  Within a heartbeat of his climax I felt my lover’s embrace gather me tight with a tenderness only true love can give.

  “Are you alright?” he whispered almost at once with breathlessness.

  I rolled onto my side and we lay in the firelight. “Yes. I’m alright.” I stroked the vivid scar down his cheek and gazed into the darkest eyes of any man alive.

  “I hurt you.” He stroked my flank, his fingers playing over the welts.

  “I let you,” I pointed out, my fingers stroking his neck and shoulder.

  “The pain... It’s alright?” he asked, half afraid of the answer despite his brave words of moments before.

  I smiled gently. “I’ve told you repeatedly, Galahad, I understand you and with time we will refine what you need. I love you, no barriers remember?”

  He smiled and kissed my bruised mouth with tenderness. I pulled him toward me, the moment so perfect, and the bonding flared open. An intense rush of energy bringing goosebumps out all over my skin and a small gasp escaping my control. To be in his arms forever is all I ever wanted from this world and the next.

  “I love you,” he murmured, nuzzling. The waves of love were in no doubt and I dropped all barriers raised to protect myself from Galahad. He groaned and clutched at me. “You’ve never let me in, not like this.” There were tears in his voice and I cradled his head as he pressed it against my shoulder.

  For a moment Galahad seemed to be made of glass he was so delicate. “Holt, I’m dying,” he confessed quietly, with broken words.

  I drew in a sharp breath, still holding his lips to my shoulder and neck. “I know, love, Rhea told us. I didn’t know you knew though.”

  “We’ve tied ourselves together more tightly than ever before. I didn’t realise until I began healing you. I could reach through the veil to pull you back because I’m so close to it myself. Your fate is sealed.” The words formed shapes of wet, hot breath on my skin and scars of sadness and loss on my heart.

  I kissed the short hair. “I know. I don’t mind, Galahad. If you falter and die I will be beside you as we meet your father together. I am overjoyed we finally have no secrets, no barriers, no unfulfilled wishes between us at the end.”

  “I am sorry,” he murmured.

  “I’m not, Galahad. Really.” I rubbed my cheek against his soft hair.

  “I want a future with you.” I heard his tears in the quiet words.

  I forced him to look up at me. “If anyone can defy this death threat, it’s you. We’ll have that future, Galahad. And if it’s not meant to be then that’s alright, I have been in love with you since the moment I first saw you and this will be just another step on our path together, beloved.” I wanted to use every tender word I could give so he would hear and feel the honesty of my commitment to him and through him to Albion.

  He smiled and we shared a small kiss. “Morgan’s waking.”

  I sighed in regret and began marshalling my forces. “Then I should get dressed.”

  We parted physically but I sensed the warm fur of his great black cat smoothing against my skin. Dressing with such a sensation rushing through me every time I moved proved complicated and I soon gave up with complex ties and laces, sitting on my arse with Galahad laughing at me.

  “Just pull it back a little would you?” I asked. “I can hardly feel my thumbs.”

  “As you wish, beloved,” he said, using the word for the first time. It warmed me even as in a heartbeat he washed away from me and I became a single being again. Morgan stirred just as I managed to tie my hose to my doublet.

  “What the bloody hell?” were the first words out of her mouth as she sat bolt upright and looked around her. The blue eyes narrowed. “What have you two been doing?”

  “Do you want the detail or the general outline?” Galahad asked, handing her a cup of milk.

  She pulled a face as she examined the contents. “I’d rather have a brandy.”

  “Drink, you’ll need your strength,” her brother informed her.

  “Seriously, boys, what have you been doing? The air feels like it’s full of lightning I can’t see. And why was I asleep?” She stared accusingly at her brother. “What did you do to me?”

  “What makes you think I did anything?” Galahad asked, all innocence.

  Her expression darkened into one I knew well, a storm was brewing. “My fault,” I said to distract her.

  That piercing gaze swung my way and I wish I’d kept my mouth shut.

  “We... Um...” I felt my manhood quake. “We needed some alone time.”

  “So you ordered him to knock me out?” she asked, the threat in her voice very real.

  “No,” I protested, then realised she’d think it Galahad’s fault. “Well, um... Sorry?” I tried.

  “I don’t have a better nature, Holt, it’s no good appealing to it.” She rose and crossed the makeshift camp to me. “But I’m really glad to see you alive, awake and in one piece.” Her expression softened and suddenly I found a nineteen year old sibling in my arms. I kissed her head, it smelt of roses and lavender, I was engulfed in a sense of family which I never had with my real sister.

  “It’s good to hear,” I said.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  We doused the fire, taking torches with us and left everything but our weapons in the camp. The last thing we wanted to do was carry extra weight on what could be a short trip. Morgan suggested she continue using her light balls but Galahad ordered her to save what strength she had for the coming fight.

  “Where are we going and how are we to find the way?” I asked, picking my way through the rubble from the Aillén.

  “I can lead us,” Morgan said.

  I glanced at Galahad. A nonchalant shrug was my answer. “She spent some time with Quilliam and if she says she knows the way, she knows. I think the Brownies are trusting Morgan with a sense they have of this place that goes beyond the usual fey magic.”

  “Is that true?” I asked her.

  She looked over her shoulder at me and winked. “Secret.”

  “If you are leaving yourself vulnerable –”

  “I’m not vulnerable, Holt. I’m fine and it’s better than endangering Severus and Quilliam to whatever else The Lady has released. But from now on, you really have to be more careful. We can’t afford to lose you and we can’t afford the time it tak
es to heal you.”

  I looked at Galahad and his fingers entwined with mine briefly. “He will be,” Galahad murmured, his expression soft and peaceful, an expression just for me. I remembered how he protected me after our fight with the Mer-King but this was different, he wasn’t protecting me because I was fragile, he protected me because he loved me as his equal. It felt very different.

  “We go this way,” Morgan said, walking into a tunnel entrance on our right. We’d moved around the body of the Aillén and I guessed we’d begun walking down a parallel tunnel. I felt warmed by Galahad’s presence beside me, though I did wonder what else we’d be facing down in the darkness of Albion’s heart. The ancient world held secrets none of us knew about, and dragons seemed to be the least dreadful.

  As a single unit we walked through the thickening darkness. When we’d first entered these tunnels I’d felt them to be no different to the streets above. Now, however, the walls were closer, the roof lower and everything darker. Could darkness hold different qualities? As a warrior I knew the truth of that question, yes, darkness could hold many different qualities, some of which would haunt you for years. We now walked through that kind of darkness, a haunting pitch black that the torches struggled to push against.

  Silence wrapped her thin arms around us, smothering all the words I wanted to share to break the hold darkness kept locked around our small family. We were alone, and every step took us away from those we loved and into a danger we knew would be more dreadful than any we’d faced.

  “You aren’t the only one who is scared,” Galahad forced out in a whisper.

  I glanced at him and could see the truth of it in his eyes. They were haunted. We were not likely to come out of this alive and despite all we’d faced together the reality of death had never felt as real as it did now.

  “Maybe we should sing one of father’s drunken ballads,” Morgan suggested. She managed to speak normally but it was defiance and the effort showed.