Midnight's Seduction (32 page)

Quinn said, “I also lost a wife before Marcail came into my life. Maybe I can help him.”

“Camdyn is a stubborn one. The only one that will be able to change his mind and open his heart is Saffron,” Ian said.

Hayden nodded as he considered Ian’s words. “She’s certainly strong enough. We’ll need to keep a close eye on those two.”

“Especially since Laria has said Deirdre will target Saffron,” Quinn stated.

The three looked at each other, their faces grim.

*   *   *

Saffron ended her phone call with her bank and stretched her arms over her head before she fell back on her bed. The hours were crawling by as everyone waited anxiously for Deirdre to attack.

She had cleaned, she’d watched a movie, she’d listened to music, and she’d stared out the tower windows. And still it was only early evening.

The men were guarding the castle and keeping watch around the area. With night falling Broc was supposed to take to the skies and look for anyone approaching.

The mood in the castle had turned from strained to troubled when the only thing Sonya learned from the trees was that Deirdre and Declan had met at the Ring of Brodgar. Then they reiterated what the wind had already told Gwynn, that trouble was coming.

Saffron rolled her eyes. As if they needed to be warned of that. It was a given.

Yet, from the moment Sonya had told them about Declan and Deirdre meeting, Saffron’s stomach had been in knots. Declan had used considerable magic to pull Deirdre to their time. He’d never told her why, but she had heard the exhilaration in his voice when he had succeeded.

Declan didn’t give up on the things he wanted. He just pursued them harder. If Declan wanted Deirdre for something, then she suspected that he had made some kind of alliance with her.

She’d told the others that, and for several hours they had discussed what Declan and Deirdre could do together. Saffron’s mind had gone numb with all the things she had come up with. Added to that were the stories the Warriors had told of things Deirdre had done.

And it just made Saffron nauseous.

She’d been saved when the call she had placed earlier to Arthur had been returned. She wasn’t much help to everyone at the castle since her visions came on their own, but there was one thing she had that they could use. Money.

Saffron had transferred a million dollars into an account at the Bank of Scotland that was set up so that the MacLeods could access it at any time.

She’d bought an entire houseful of furniture that Lucan had designed and built. What house she planned to put it in she hadn’t decided yet.

The idea of staying in Scotland appealed to her in many ways. If she survived the battle, that is. Even if she didn’t find a house, the furniture would be placed in storage, with the key given to the MacLeods at the reading of her will.

Saffron swiped at her bangs and sat up. Her will had been something else she’d taken care of that day. It was revised and heading overnight through UPS to arrive at her bank in Edinburgh where she hoped she could convince Fallon to jump her tomorrow.

The quicker she got the papers signed, the quicker the will would go into effect.

She rose from the bed and glanced at the clock. It was time for her to help with dinner. She’d never enjoyed cooking, but being with the others and actually being able to help was something she found she did like.

But once she opened her door the delicious aroma that was unmistakably pizza reached her.

Saffron hurried to the stairs and descended into the great hall to find boxes and boxes of pizza. New York pizza, at that. There was a huge bucket filled with snow and packed with just about every brand of beer available.

“There you are,” Cara said. “We were just about to go looking for you.”

“What’s this?” she asked.

Gwynn shrugged sheepishly. “I wanted pizza.”

“And I didn’t want to cook anything,” Isla said.

Sonya laughed. “So I suggested Fallon use his power and get us some authentic New York pizza.”

“He wasn’t exactly happy with how many pizzas we ordered,” Reaghan said.

Larena picked a pepperoni from a slice and dropped it into her mouth. “It was all bluster. Trust me, he wanted this.”

“Aye, he did,” Marcail said with a laugh.

Dani opened another lid and inhaled the aroma. “I’m starving.”

“Eat,” Fallon said as he strode into the castle from the bailey. “The men will eat in shifts since we’re keeping guard so doona wait on us.”

The women promptly ignored Fallon. Only when Galen, Quinn, and Ian walked in did Reaghan, Marcail, and Dani get their food. Saffron watched the couples as they interacted. The ease with which they touched, the secret smiles they shared, the soft words whispered only between them.

It made her realize just how much she wanted a relationship like theirs. For the longest time she hadn’t believed there could be such a thing except in books and movies.

Yet the couples at MacLeod Castle had changed her views long before she got her sight back. She might not have been able to see the shared intimacy before now, but she had heard it in their voices when they spoke to each other.

Maybe it was that longing that drew her to Camdyn. He hadn’t wanted her, or she hadn’t thought he wanted her. Until the previous night. What had changed? And did she really want to know why he had come to her?

She hadn’t gotten to speak to Camdyn because he’d been on guard, but even if she had, she wouldn’t have known what to say. Her past relationships had all been complete failures. Either because of the men, or because she hadn’t been willing to give herself completely to them. Because she hadn’t trusted them.

But she did trust Camdyn. Of that she was sure. Would that be enough to allow herself to open up to him, to see if there was more between them than incredible sex?

Saffron bit her lip and reached for a beer and a slice of pepperoni and sausage pizza. She didn’t have anyone to wait for. Oh, she could wait for Camdyn, but they hadn’t talked about the future. And she had gotten the feeling he wasn’t interested in a future with her.

The here and now was what mattered to him.

And maybe it should for her as well. Who knew what tomorrow would bring, or when Deirdre would attack. The only thing Saffron was sure of was that when the battle between Laria and Deirdre did occur, all hell would break loose.

With Declan now aligned with Deirdre, there was no doubt in Saffron’s mind that Declan would come for her.

There was no way she would go back to his prison, no way she would allow him to get close enough to put another of his spells upon her.

But Declan wouldn’t give up. He would come for her again and again. Saffron would fight again and again. Only one of them would win, and she knew it wouldn’t be her.

She sank onto one of the benches around the table and bit into the pizza. It had been four years since she’d tasted New York pizza. She’d had a layover in New York before her flight out to London and she’d made sure to eat a slice.

It brought back memories of the girl she had been then. A girl full of naïve dreams, uncaring if she traveled alone or not. A girl who thought the worst that could happen to her was being robbed.

A girl who couldn’t outrun her fate.

She’d always thought of herself as a strong person, but she hadn’t really had to reach for that strength until she’d been in Declan’s prison.

How she survived that, she’d never know. But she had, and it made her look at life differently.

Made her look at
her
life differently.

She didn’t want to be alone anymore. She wanted someone beside her, someone who made her knees weak when he looked at her. Someone who could make her forget her own name when he kissed her.

Someone who made love to her as if she were the only woman for him.

Someone like Camdyn.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-SEVEN

Camdyn managed to stay out of the castle and away from Saffron until midnight. That’s when his shift guarding was over. He wanted to stay, but Fallon was adamant about each of them having a rest.

Camdyn walked into the great hall and looked at the few pizza boxes still on the table. He’d never eaten pizza, and though he wanted to try it, his thoughts were on something else.

Some
one
else, actually.

Saffron.

All he had to do was close his eyes and he could pinpoint exactly where she was in the castle just by the feel of her magic. Her magic that affected him alone. Magic that made him want to bury himself deep inside her.

He’d always had control over himself and his god, but that control was rapidly unraveling as he recalled the feel of Saffron’s silky skin beneath his palms and her hot, wet sheath pulsing around his cock as she peaked.

No matter how many times he told himself he had to stay away, he couldn’t.

Camdyn turned to the stairs, taking them three at a time as he climbed to the top and paused. She was walking the corridors. Alone. Her magic calling to him, whispering to him.

Beckoning to him.

He groaned, his body reacting instantly. Camdyn leaned back against the wall and let his claws lengthen from his fingers to dig into the stones.

The desire, the longing. The yearning.

It was too much.

Sculel demanded he make Saffron his, insisted that Saffron succumb to the passion. And for once Camdyn was in complete agreement with his god.

Camdyn straightened when he felt her move closer to him. His gaze moved to the next set of stairs leading to the level above him. As silent as the shadows, Camdyn walked to the steps and waited.

Saffron hated when she couldn’t sleep and had decided a walk around the castle might help. She was returning to her room when she was suddenly yanked off the stairs and against a chest she knew all too well.

“Camdyn,” she whispered just before he pressed her against the wall and kissed her.

He swept his tongue into her mouth and claimed her with a kiss full of fire. And hunger. Just one touch from him and her body ignited, ready and waiting for him.

She clung to him, returning his kiss with all the need inside her. He tilted his head and deepened the kiss, a low moan rumbling from his chest.

Saffron’s slipper fell off her foot when his hand slipped behind her knee and pulled her leg up to his waist. She eagerly followed his direction. Wanting, needing him with an intensity that shook her to her very core.

She’d never felt anything remotely close to this with anyone else, and it scared her. But not even that hint of foreboding could make her leave his arms.

“I need you,” he whispered between kisses.

“Take me. I’m yours.”

As if he’d been waiting for her approval, he swung her up in his arms and strode toward her room.

“My slippers,” she hissed as the second dropped to the floor.

“Leave them. I’ll get them later.”

He nudged open her door, and with his shoulder, closed it behind them. Saffron next found herself standing. Camdyn’s dark eyes were filled with a potency that held her spellbound. He lifted a hand and his claws lengthened from his fingertips.

Saffron pulled in a shuddering breath as her arousal grew. She licked her lips when he placed one of his razor-sharp claws on her bare breast above the neckline to her jammie top.

“Do you fear me?”

His voice, all dark and husky, sent a thrill rushing over her, through her. “No,” she answered without hesitation.

With the barest of movements he split her top down the middle. Saffron glanced down at her torso, and just as she expected he hadn’t touched her skin.

She barely noticed his claws were gone when his hands gently, seductively pushed her top over her shoulders so it fell from her arms and fluttered to the floor.

“Lovely,” he muttered, and fell to his knees before her.

Saffron closed her eyes and dropped her head back when he cupped her breasts and kissed the inside of each one. Her fingers slid into his glossy black locks.

Her breasts swelled, eager for his touch. His hot, wet tongue flicked over a nipple before he suckled it deep within his mouth.

She cried out and gripped his head tighter. His hands roamed over her back and buttocks, touching and caressing. He gave a light nip on her turgid nipple and her knees buckled from the spike of pleasure.

His arms tightened around her, supporting her as he moved his mouth to her other breast. Where he repeated his teasing until her legs could no longer support her.

In an instant he stood, lifting her so that her legs wrapped around his waist. He turned them so that her back was to the wall. She whispered his name as he ground his thick rod against her aching flesh.

He kissed down her neck, leaving a trail of heat in his wake. He paused when he reached her ear where he sucked the lobe into his mouth and gave it a quick nip.

Saffron heard a rip and then felt cool air on her lower body. She smiled when she saw him toss aside the bottoms to her jammies.

The smile faded when she realized she was naked, but Camdyn was not. She clawed at his T-shirt, inching it up as they kissed. Somehow she managed to get it tangled about his arms when he tried to pull it off without letting her go.

She giggled, and a moment later his deep laughter joined hers before he ripped off the shirt and discarded it. Their eyes met, clashed, and the laughter died as the passion flared once more.

With his hands cupping her bottom, she worked desperately to unbutton his jeans and get them over his hips while he kicked them off his legs.

And then they were flesh to flesh.

Camdyn’s world had narrowed to include just him and Saffron. Nothing else existed. Nothing else mattered.

The way her body responded so quickly and heatedly to his touch left him aching for more. No matter how much he touched her, no matter how many times he kissed her, it was never enough.

And God help him, but he feared an eternity would never be enough.

He raised her by the hips so that she hovered above his cock. Her lids lifted and her tawny gaze found his. Slowly he lowered her until the blunt head of his cock touched her entrance.