Midnight's Seduction (17 page)

Her soft moan was his undoing. His cock hardened as her leg wound around his waist. Camdyn kissed her with all the abandon, all the need, he’d held back from her—and himself.

He kissed her as if there were no tomorrow. Because for them, there might not be.

He kissed her as if he’d waited his entire life to taste her. Because he had.

He kissed her as if he never wanted to kiss another woman.

Because he didn’t.

CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

Saffron knew the moment Camdyn’s lips touched hers that she was powerless to resist his temptation. His kissed coaxed, teased. Enticed.

His hard body pressed against hers, urging her passion higher, driving her need deeper. Even through her thick jacket she could feel the passion radiating from his body. She was drowning in it. And it felt blissful.

When his tongue slid between her lips, Saffron melted against him. She wanted to touch him, hold him, but Camdyn wouldn’t release her wrists.

With one hand he held her arms above her while he continued to ravish her mouth with need so strong it never entered her mind to turn him away. All she wanted was more of him and his kisses that made her weak all over.

She moaned when he tilted his head and deepened the kiss. He took, he demanded. He claimed.

He released her hands and slid his beneath her jacket and under her sweater to touch bare skin. Saffron lifted her leg to wrap around his waist and bring him closer, to have him against her.

The hard length of his arousal only heightened her own desires, which were quickly blazing out of control. It had been so long since her body had found release, so terribly long since she’d been in a man’s arms.

She wanted Camdyn. Yearned for him, craved him. His kisses were like a drug, an intoxication she couldn’t get enough of.

“By the saints, you taste so damned good,” he muttered and kissed her again.

Deeply. Intensely.

And Saffron was captivated.

She arched against him as his hand slid over her buttocks and rocked her against his rigid length. Her body pulsed with unquenched need as she felt herself grow damp. Need, forceful and urgent, slid over her like silk.

Her body wasn’t her own as she waited to feel more of Camdyn, hungered to touch him as he was touching her.

He held her still against the stone wall with his hard body while he kissed her to reckless abandon, wild need. His kiss took, it seized. And she was more than happy to give him everything he wanted.

She could only stand there, her body on fire, as his hands rubbed down her arms before dragging her against him.

Saffron plunged her hands into the cool strands of his coal-black hair and kissed him with all the desire, all the longing, within her.

His kiss turned insistent, almost desperate as the fires raged amid them. Saffron could feel the need tightening between her legs as he continued to rock against her.

And then he ended the kiss as suddenly as he began it.

Saffron blinked open her eyes as she fought to get her breathing back under control. For several moments they simply stared at each other, their ragged breaths the only sound to be heard.

She could only make out his silhouette in the darkness, and she longed to look into his eyes, to see if the passion she felt had been real.

“I need your help,” he finally said, his breathing harsh, his lips wet from their kisses.

Saffron lowered her leg and nodded though she couldn’t dispel the desire within her as easily as Camdyn could. She drew in a ragged breath, trying to calm her racing heart. “What do you need?”

“Deirdre is the one who collapsed the tunnel. I doona know how, but she did. She’s also using her magic against me so I can no’ put the earth back the way it was.”

Saffron adjusted her sweater and tried to step out of his arms, but he wouldn’t allow it. “And I made it worse by fighting you.”

“I doona blame you. But now that you are under control, your magic mixed with my power could overwhelm Deirdre’s black magic.”

“I doubt it,” Saffron muttered, but she was willing to try anything to get some space back, even if it was the narrow tunnels of the labyrinth. “What do I do?”

“Concentrate and focus your magic into me.”

She saw his head lower to hers, felt his warm breath on her skin. Her eyes drifted closed and her body moved toward him. Just before their lips touched again, he turned away. Saffron’s mouth parted as she licked her lips and took a deep breath.

Surprisingly, her magic was stronger than she had ever felt it as she called for it. It rushed through her body like a tidal wave, the force of it taking her breath.

Saffron channeled the magic toward Camdyn. She pictured it invading his skin and filling his body much like it did hers.

He grunted, his body stiff. The groan that rumbled from deep within him had nothing to do with pain. “Shite.”

She smiled at his reaction, but that soon faded as she felt something push against her magic.

“It’s Deirdre,” Camdyn said, his voice low and clipped.

Saffron knew how powerful black magic was. She had experienced it firsthand for three years. She had been pulled from that hell, and there was no way she was going to die buried beneath tons of earth and rock.

She put her hands in the middle of Camdyn’s back as she closed her eyes. The drums and chanting filled her ears as if they had been waiting for her.

All Saffron wanted to do was go to them, but she held herself in check. She could feel her magic strengthening, but it was nothing compared to when she had been staring at the fire. When she found herself forgetting Camdyn and listening only to the chanting, she stopped it immediately.

It wasn’t just her and Camdyn who were trapped. The others could be as well. And regardless of her fears, she needed to step up and do what she could to fight Deirdre.

“Saffron,” Camdyn murmured, his voice rough with desire.

Her stomach flipped at the sound of his voice, the way her name was like a caress upon his lips. No one had ever said her name like that before, and she knew no one would again.

Saffron heard something moving around them, but she didn’t open her eyes. Not yet.

“I’m getting it,” he said.

She smiled and took a step closer to him. The feel of his heat, his hard muscles beneath her palm, sent her heart pounding. There was no fear in her now. She knew Camdyn would keep her safe. He’d already proven it by preventing them from being crushed.

Even when she had flipped out, he had gotten her under control while still keeping them safe. She couldn’t imagine how much power it took to keep all that weight from falling on top of them.

Just thinking about it made a chill rush down her spine. Declan would enjoy it if he knew that he had made her afraid of being underground. And she hated that.

“Almost,” Camdyn gritted out. “Doona let go of your magic.”

“Never,” she whispered, and tightened her grip on him.

His body quivered beneath her hands, but whether it was from the task of fighting against Deirdre or her magic, Saffron didn’t know.

She heard their names being shouted frantically. “Camdyn.”

“I hear them,” he said.

Saffron turned her head to the side, but all she saw was darkness. She could hear the others as if they were getting closer. And then suddenly, she saw a ray of light break through the rock.

“I told them you both were still alive,” Hayden said as he looked between two rocks.

Saffron had never felt so happy to see light again. Being in the dark had reminded her of when she was blind, and though it was something she had gotten used to, now that she had once again taken in the amazing array of colors in the world, she couldn’t imagine not seeing them again.

Camdyn gave a massive heave and Saffron looked up to see the top of the tunnel shift back into place. Hayden jumped back as the earth blocking them also returned to where it had been.

Saffron dropped her hands as Camdyn turned to face her. She could see he wanted to say something, but before he could they were swarmed by the others.

“It was Deirdre,” Camdyn said.

Broc’s lips flattened. “Aye. We know. She didna break through the ground and see us, however.”

“We’ve wasted enough time here,” Fallon called out. “Sonya has already healed those who were injured. Are either of you hurt?”

“No,” Saffron said and glanced at Camdyn.

Fallon gave her a quick smile. “Let’s move on then.”

Saffron thought that a brilliant idea until she looked at the spot where Camdyn had kissed her as if there were no tomorrow, as if his very being had gone into that kiss.

She allowed Dani and Gwynn to pull her with them as they began to walk. Camdyn had retrieved the sword he had dropped and was soon back up at the front leading them. And she found she wanted to be with him.

Regardless of the dangers.

Camdyn had gotten her out of Declan’s prison when no one else could have. He had brought her out of her trance when no one else could have.

And he had calmed her when she knew no one else could have after the cave-in.

Her gaze was on the back of his head as he shook it from side to side, clearing his black locks of debris. She bit back a smile as he pulled his long hair back from his face and tied a strip of leather around it at the base of his neck.

A queue she’d heard him call it.

Yet, strands of his hair fell around his face to curl lightly. Again and again he raked them back from his face, but those locks of hair were determined to fall as they would.

“Are you all right?” Dani asked her.

Saffron smiled, her gaze still on Camdyn. “I am.”

“We thought you’d be freaking the hell out,” Gwynn said, her voice thick from her worry.

“Oh, I did.” Saffron was embarrassed to think of just what she looked like.

Gwynn’s head swiveled to her. “But … you’re calm now.”

Saffron shrugged. “Camdyn calmed me.”

“Ah,” Dani said, a smile in her voice.

But Saffron didn’t care. She battled through her terror, been kissed like never before, and helped to achieve a small victory over Deirdre.

All with Camdyn.

He turned a corner, and just before he walked out of sight, he looked at her. Their eyes caught, held. Saffron missed a step as her body hummed with the answering desire she had seen in Camdyn’s dark gaze.

Without a word, she walked away from her friends, meandering through the others until she stood beside Camdyn.

“You shouldna be here,” he muttered angrily.

She raised a brow to look at him. “And who else will protect me from the very thing I fear most?”

He let out a loud sigh. “You are better away from me.”

“Maybe, but I’d rather not stake my life on it tonight.”

Camdyn came to a halt and stared hard at her. “Which way then?”

Saffron ran a hand through her hair and grimaced when she felt the dirt there. She leaned her head to the side and ruffled her hair to get out as much as she could while she looked to the left. Then she switched sides and repeated it as she looked to the right.

“The left smells funny. I say we go right.”

A hint of a smile appeared on his lips before he turned away from her to start down the right-hand corridor. It was short, and he had just reached the corner where it only allowed him to go left when Saffron started after him.

She heard a loud crack ahead of her. Without thought to her own safety, she began running toward Camdyn even as the others tried to hold her back.

Camdyn let out a loud curse before she heard what sounded like claws sliding down rocks.

The Warriors tried to get around her, but the tunnel was too narrow. Saffron twisted away from Quinn and rushed to the corner where she slid to a halt when she saw the floor missing.

“Camdyn!” she bellowed as she fell to her knees and looked over the edge of the broken floor.

She found him dangling from one hand, his claws caught in the rock. Her heart plummeted to her feet as she realized how easily he could have dropped. She peered below him, but all she saw was darkness. There was no way to know when the hole ended. Or even if it did.

Saffron leaned over the edge to help.

“Have you lost your mind?” Camdyn demanded calmly. “Get back so I can jump up.”

She rolled her eyes, but stood to find the other Warriors behind her. Some were openly smiling at her exchange with Camdyn.

Before she could explain why she had rushed to him, Camdyn landed beside her and gripped her shoulders to turn her to face him.

His mouth opened, but he clamped his shut as a muscle in his jaw ticked repeatedly.

Saffron cleared her throat. “So, the left corridor then?”

CHAPTER

NINETEEN

Deirdre’s rage knew no bounds. She lashed out with her hair at anyone standing close to her, including her precious wyrran.

When a lock wrapped around Malcolm’s neck and squeezed, the maroon Warrior simply raised a blond brow at her. “Killing me wouldna be in your best interest. Especially since I’m your last Warrior.”

As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. She released her hold on him and threw back her head to shout her anger at the heavens.

She had heard and felt the ground move beneath her. She knew there had been a cave-in, but why couldn’t she get below the surface?

It was bad enough she couldn’t get close to the stone circles because of
mie
magic, but now she couldn’t even get below the ground where the MacLeods were to reach Laria before they did.

“
Mie
magic shouldn’t be able to stop me,” she said when she’d gotten control of her rage. She looked at Malcolm. “Do you know what I’ve done to have the black magic inside me? Do you know what I’ve had to sacrifice?”

“And how many innocents you’ve killed?” Malcolm retorted.

There was something in his tone that caused her eyes to narrow on him. “Do you feel sorry for those innocents?”

“Nay. Nor do I feel sorry for you. You chose this path, Deirdre. Doona try to make it seem like this was forced on you. You were the one who pushed it on Isla.”

Deirdre spat at the mention of Isla. “That bitch will pay for betraying me. Everyone who has betrayed me will get their comeuppance.”