The Magic of Highland Dragons (18 page)

Then she was being pulled against a hot wall of steel as Bren dragged her roughly back into his arms. She could feel his heart pounding as hard and fast as her own must be.
This is it then, my destiny
.
My new life.
She sighed as a wave of relief washed over her, through her. She forgot everything else. She didn’t have to fight him anymore, and she didn’t have to fight herself, either.

“Ye are
mine
”, he barely bit out between clenched teeth before his mouth fell to hers. Her lips parted with a little gasp, and in an instant his tongue met with hers, the taste of him intoxicating, the heat of his mouth drawing her closer as a strange and unknown emotion welled up inside. All of the wildness in her, the primal need, rose to the surface, and she kissed him back, hard, completely lost in the moment. She
was
his, she knew that now. And he was hers. Her hands reached up to skim his back, feeling the power and strength of each taut muscle, and it felt so good. His mouth moved to her neck, kissing, nibbling, finding the spot just behind her ear that made her dig her nails into his back in growing restlessness. Now that she had finally given in to what had always been inevitable, she couldn’t seem to be close enough to him. He gave a low groan and thrust his hips into hers.

“Ah, god, Faith”, he breathed. “I canna believe what ye do to me. I canna begin to say how good ye feel in my arms. How much I need to be inside ye… I’ll die if I canna be inside ye…”

He kissed her again, hard and hot and deep, and his hand grasped her breast, perhaps a bit too roughly, but he was quickly moving beyond any ability to be gentle. He was losing control and he knew it, but he was helpless to pull himself away. She tasted so good, felt so good. Damn it, he was going to take her right here on the ground and there was nothing that could stop him. He had waited far too long already. His cock was rock hard, straining against his clothing, needing desperately to be inside her. He was moving with pure mindless instinct now, like a rutting beast. All rational thought could come later, after he fulfilled this violent need to mate with his woman.
Mine
.
Mine! God, all mine
. He began to lower her to the ground, needed to cover her with his body… needed to…

Bren suddenly froze. He felt the dark power seeping towards them even through the thick haze of lust fogging his mind. It was close, coming closer by the second. He lifted his head abruptly, tuning his senses, leaving Faith panting unsteadily in his arms.
Damn
, but Mored had bad timing! Or good, depending whose side you were on.

Faith felt his every one of his muscles tense. He had gone perfectly still, his eyes focused on the murky and darkening forest behind them.

“What is it, what’s wrong?”

Bren cursed under his breath. “We need to get out of here. Now!”

He pulled her up from her knees in one smooth motion, hauling her to his side, just as she heard the hoof beats bearing down on them. She heard the hoof beats, but she couldn’t see a horse.

They ran, with Bren pulling her along so quickly she wasn’t sure if her feet even touched the ground. Still the rider followed, heard and not seen, and Faith had the presence of mind to wonder just where they were running to, because there was no way they were going faster than a galloping horse. It would overtake them in no time at all. Looking up, she could see the castle just ahead, torches burning in the near-dusk. Then one of the torches seemed to be behind them. She turned her head slightly to see what looked to be a ball of fire hurtling at them. She opened her mouth to scream, terror gripping her… and then she was flying through the air as Bren grabbed her up and dove forward, rolling to shield her from harm. She tensed, waiting for the flames, for the slash of hooves, but they never came. Instead she heard Bren let out a breath.

“That was too damned close.” He looked her over, running his hands along her trembling limbs. “Are ye all right?”

She could only nod before he had turned his attention towards a group of men running towards them, his brothers at the front. He stood abruptly, and she scrambled to her feet behind him.

“What the hell, Drust? How did they get so close? Where were the guardians? What happened to the wards? Why were we no’ warned?”

His brother squinted out toward the wood, now eerily quiet. “I dinna ken, something’s not right.”

“My horse”, Bren commanded. One of the men ran to do his bidding. Bren looked to Eian, his mouth drawing into a stern line.

“Take Faith back to the castle. Keep her safe, with yer verra life, Eian. I think it is her they are after. I am trusting ye with my woman. Her life is yer life.”

Eian stepped forward, his face unusually solemn, eyes questioning, and Bren pushed Faith gently towards his brother, whose arms came around to steady her. Bren stepped back and turned away, but not before Eian had caught the look of warning on his face. He had claimed Faith as his own, and any man who dared touch her would die. Eian smiled to himself. This was a good thing. A very good thing. He gave Faith his arm, having to drag her a little to start her moving towards the keep, but he was intent on his task. She turned to look back at Bren, who was swinging up onto his horse, the last rays of the setting sun behind him, his long, thick hair blowing back in the wind. He looked like the warrior that he was, beautiful and invincible. His men fell in behind them and as one they turned to ride, to hunt their enemy and to make things right.

Bren turned back once to see Faith go, strong emotion tightening his chest. Rage, at the danger they had been in when they should have been safe. Pride, that such a woman belonged to him. And jealousy, just at seeing his brother touch her. A new and uncomfortable feeling. Never before had he cared so much about a woman that he wanted to be the only one to possess her. The only one to touch her. It was true that in the past he and his brothers had even shared women occasionally, as easily as they might share a flask of whiskey or a loaf of bread. But this woman, she belonged to him and him alone. He would never share. The ring had brought her to him, after all. And he had a certain sorcerer to thank, if Dirc ever found the courage to come home again after what he’d done. And if Bren was able to swallow his pride.

Faith was silent on the short walk back to the castle. Eian didn’t speak either, just walked close to her side. When they reached the door, he gently took her arm and led her inside, past several curious gazes, and straight to the study. A cozy fire was already burning, though the night wasn’t particularly chilly. Faith collapsed on the small sofa near the hearth and tucked her legs up under her. Eian latched the door, poured them each a cup of wine from the jug on the table, and sank down into the ornately carved and upholstered chair across from her.

She sipped the wine, then took a shaky breath and looked straight at him, a small and slightly desperate smile curving her lips. “Should I even venture to ask what is going on?”

Eian let out a long breath. “Dark wizard.”

“Oh, of course”, Faith replied without humor. “Eian, what are you talking about? Who or what was after us?”

“Mored. He and his followers are the biggest threat to the Mac Coinnach clan. He has always wanted to destroy us, because he is ever hungry for more power. And we have more than anyone.” He paused at the baffled look on Faith’s face. Had Bren told her nothing at all? Evidently not. His lips twisted in amusement. His brother most likely had other, more urgent matters on his mind.

“Ye see, all wizards are born with the ability to use the power of the earth. Most use it for good only. There are a few that dinna, and the harm they do is felt by many.”

Faith’s eyes were wide in awe of the implications. She had known there was something… not quite normal about this place. “They can use the power of the earth? How?”

Eian shrugged. “It’s a trait passed down through families, just like hair color or temperament, I suppose. It runs strong in some, others are born with only limited abilities.”

Faith felt her heart almost stop beating as she recalled the strange things that happened around Bren, things she had tried to brush off as just her imagination. She was almost afraid to ask, especially now that she suspected, no… knew, that she was the mate he had long been searching for.

She swallowed nervously. “Bren?”

Eian gave her a wry smile and nodded. “Aye, one of the verra strongest.”

She went silent, sinking slowly back into the sofa, trying to take everything in. It was a damn good thing she had such a strong constitution, because this had been one hell of a week.

Eian was watching her, as if waiting to see if she would balk, or perhaps declare that magic was of the devil. She imagined the Mac Coinnachs would get that a lot, especially from people who didn’t know how good and honorable the brothers were. No wonder they were so secretive about everything.

“Lass, I ken it may be hard to accept, when ye were no’ raised to ken it as part of the world ye live in. But though Bren has the power within him to do many things others canna, he does no’, unless it’s necessary. He doesna use his magic without cause, because he is wise enough to ken that power breeds more power, and a single man can only wield so much, before it begins to wield him in turn.”

“Is that what happened to Mored? Is that how one becomes a dark wizard?”

“Aye. Though I believe there was always a seed of evil in his soul, a seed that now grows out of control. It is Bren’s quest to keep it from going further.”

“But why not stop it completely? Why not just kill him?”

Eian frowned and shook his head a little. “It’s no’ so simple. Killing one man will no’ stop the evil he has begun. It is the balance that is important. Without evil, there can be no good, and the other way ‘round.” He stopped and grinned. “Listen to me lass, I’m beginning to sound like old Dirc!” He laughed, rising from his chair. “It’s getting late, I’ll take ye up to yer chamber so ye can get some rest.” He went to the door and held it open for her. But she had one more question, well, for tonight anyway, and a burning need to know the answer.

“Eian”, she called softly before she lost her courage.

He turned back into the room. “Aye Lass?”

Her hand went to the cord around her throat. “Earlier, Bren followed me out to the meadow, and… he saw this”, she pulled the ring out from under her clothing and held it up for him to see. “And he… well, he said that I belong to him. Did he mean because of this ring?”

Eian stared at her, dumbfounded for a moment, then broke into a broad grin. “Aye. Aye! It worked, praise the Saints, it worked!”

Faith regarded him dubiously. He obviously knew more about all this than she had ever suspected. “What worked Eian? Did you know about this ring? Do you know how I got here?”

“Aye. Well, I dinna ken exactly, but I ken that the ring must have brought ye. Dirc asked me to steal it for him from under Bren’s nose, and I agreed. Against my better judgment, mind ye, because he wanted to send it to find Bren’s true mate. And I kenned Bren would have my head for such a thing. But Dirc must have done something right, because ye are here now. How did ye find the ring lass?”

She ignored his last question, because her mind was racing with the answers she had been wanting since she got here. “I knew it was the ring! God, I knew it from the moment I put it on and everything went dark. Then I woke up in the heather, Eian. All alone in the dark of night.”

He looked at her, curious now. “But where did ye come from?”

She shook her head slowly, as if to say he wasn’t going to believe her. “From America, and the 21
^st
century.”

His jaw dropped open. “God almighty. Bloody hell… I didna ken.” Eian scrubbed his hands over his face in disbelief. “Ye must have been terrified. I’m sorry, lass. I didna ken.”

“It’s all right.” She brushed off her whole previous ordeal with a flick of her hand. “I’m all right… but what I don’t understand is… if I haven’t actually been
born
yet, in this time, how could I be fated to be Bren’s mate? It doesn’t make sense. Or at least it makes less sense to me than everything else that’s happened so far.”

Eian shook his head. “I dinna ken the answer, but I do ken that ye belong to Bren, and he to ye. That much a fool could see.”

***

She climbed the winding stone steps with Eian following close behind until they reached the third floor, and then stepped up into the narrow corridor. At its end, the moon hung perfectly framed in the single window, casting light in one long beam across the stone floor. She stopped and stared at it for a moment, struck by the simple beauty. How could she
not
believe this place held magic? She took one last look at that enchanting sight before opening the door to her room. Not really hers, but the place where she slept, anyway. Eian went in behind her, lighting several candles and checking every corner and both windows before leaving. Mathilde and Fiona were already sound asleep on the bed. The other girls had not come up yet.

“I’ll be outside the door”, he told her. “Just call if ye need anything at all.”

She smiled. “Thank you. Eian?”