Coveted (7 page)

 Chapter Seven

A
iden stubbornly placed
one foot in front of the other, his mind screaming at him to turn back. She had
him so twisted in knots that he wasn’t sure if his instincts were warning him
of danger or if his need to be near her was making him stupid.

His damned wolf
remained silent, punishment for sending the woman away. His leg muscles
stretched and pulled as he climbed the bluffs. The position allowed him to
overlook the stretch of land in all directions. After so many days and nights
in a tiny cell, the vastness of it threatened to crush his chest. Wind whipped
around him, and he greedily inhaled, battling the unexpected, paralyzing fear
that left him out in the open and exposed, just waiting to pick him off.

Lost in his private
struggle, he only became aware of being followed when a twig snapped behind him.
He dropped to the ground, gritting his teeth when the action left him lightheaded.

His mouth watered at
the possibility of prey. His wolf inched forward, using Aiden’s eyes to study
their surroundings. The darkness sharpened into shades of gray. He lifted his
nose and cursed to find himself upwind.

Static charged the
air until every hair stood on end.

A large predator.

His body went rigid.

A branch stirred, more
of a shifting of shadows that gave away its position. Moving swiftly, low to
the ground, he vaulted over the vegetation and collided with his prey.

Human.

A soft grunt exploded
from the body as they slammed into the mud-slicked earth.

A soft, curvy body.

A snarl curled his
lips, and his fangs were at his attacker’s throat when the tang of citrus burst
over him. He instantly hardened with lust.

“You.” Aiden jerked
his chin up, shock rocketing through him at such a near miss. He quickly ducked
his head, struggling to contain his wolf. Only the beast didn’t want to be
contained, he wanted to nestle back into the cradle of her body and lay claim
to the prize he’d captured. The sight of her sprawled out beneath him taunted
him with the realization that if he’d been one second slower, she would have
died at his hands.

How the hell could
she have located him so quickly?

“You abandoned me to
go after them.” It was stupid, she’d just met the man, but the hurt of betrayal
thickened her voice.

“I had no choice.”

Shayla wanted to
throw up her hands in frustration. “You are in no condition to go traipsing off
alone.”

She knew it was a
mistake the instant she spoke.

He slowly turned to
face her, those green eyes of his seemed to glow, and she immediately
recognized her caveman. She forced herself to relax despite the tension she
felt thrumming through him. She’d almost swear he had no intention of letting
her go.

“If you don’t get off
of me soon, neither one of us is going to be able to extract me from the mud. It’s
sucking me under.” She didn’t care for the feeling one bit, reminding her a little
too much of the hungry castle they only managed to escape.

He grunted, rising like
a hulking shadow, menace still radiating from him. “I should leave you here.”

Shayla half-sat and tugged
on her pant leg to no avail. The mud had effectively cemented her in place. She
scraped a handful of it from her hair, then paused, hefting the small fistful,
and narrowed her eyes at the big bully.

“Don’t you dare.” It
was a command, his voice harsh in the silent night.

Temptation to fling
the mud made her grip tighten until the glop oozed between her fingers. The big,
brave man took a step back as if afraid of a little mud.

“I will leave you.”

Shayla hesitated, but
couldn’t detect any trace of a lie. “You already did that once. I’ll only find
you again. Promise we will go straight back. No more of this vengeance shit.”

Aiden appraised her
as if measuring the threat, and Shayla was very conscious of the picture she
presented, every inch of her covered in mud. Mischief danced in his eyes, his
hands hung loosely at his sides, almost playful, and Shayla gulped at the way
her heart gave a pathetic pitter-patter in response. His body went taut as if ready
to pounce if she so much as twitched.

Excitement thickened
the air between them.

Until the chill from
the mud slowly brought her back to reason. Goose bumps erupted all over her,
and she ducked her head. No, this couldn’t be happening.

She could not be
attracted to this rude barbarian.

She’d always preferred
her men a tad less earthy. At least from the same century. Men who valued her
intelligence, who didn’t boss her around like some helpless female he felt
indebted to protect.

Then why did her body
defy her by melting embarrassingly when he ventured a little too close.

She lifted her chin,
her gaze irresistibly drawn back to him. Despite the ragged, mud-splattered
clothing, he looked like he’d stepped through time, sword in hand, ready to defend
and take what he considered his.

Her.

Then her attention focused
on a slight movement in the darkness. A shape slowly took form, slinking toward
Aiden’s unprotected back. Fear closed her throat, and her shout of warning
emerged as a pathetic squeak.

* * *

The terror in Shayla’s
eyes cut him to the core and any playfulness vanished. The loss staggered him.
He tensed, trying to pull back his wolf. The beast whined in confusion, not
wanting to retreat, not understanding the change. Aiden hunched his shoulders
to appear less of a threat, cursing himself for forgetting she was human, even
if it was for a second.

“I mean you no harm.”
His lips felt numb, making speech difficult.

“Behind you!”

In the second it took
for his brain to register her warning, a blow struck the back of his skull. He
nearly dropped to his knees as the world threatened to go dark. He staggered
and whirled to face the coward who’d sneaked up behind instead of issuing a
direct challenge.

But what did he
expect from a pathetic human.

The man’s shape was blurry
from the blow. Aiden shook his head to clear his vision and staggered like a
drunk when he took a step to face his attacker. As if sensing the weakness, the
man charged. Aiden sidestepped at the last moment and brought down his arm in a
hammer blow.

Instead of snapping
his neck as intended, the man thudded to the earth, quickly rolled, and came up
to his feet.

Behind him, he heard
Shayla struggling to free herself from the muck. He silently urged her to be
quiet. To remain stuck. No doubt she’d try to save him again.

He couldn’t risk her
being hurt.

His wolf growled in
agreement, surging toward the surface. There was no bulking up of muscles, no
half changing shapes. His wolf was too weak. But beast gave him everything he
had left to protect their woman.

Aiden didn’t wait for
his opponent to attack. He charged forward, slamming shoulder into the other
man’s gut. Air whooshed out of the guy with a heavy grunt, and Aiden managed to
shove them both a few feet further away from Shayla. Mud slicked up his
attacker’s body, making him hard to hold.

Aiden barely dodged
the fists, his body so clumsy he was only slightly faster than the human. The
attacker knew it, too, and drew a knife from his boot, flipping it over in a
hold that warned Aiden he knew how to fight.

A second man crested
the ridge carrying a torch and waving it in the air, the flames a signal to the
others that the prize had been located. Aiden understood what they meant to do.
They were going to drive him over the side of the cliff and collect his body.

The fall won’t kill
him, but his ability to heal had been compromised. He’d be too injured to
fight. He might as well kill himself and save them the trouble.

His chest tightened.
If anything happened to him, Shayla would be at their mercy. Claws burst from his
fingertips, slicing through flesh. Teeth elongated. The process exhausted his
wolf.

Aiden was on his own.

When the first man
charged him, Aiden dodged the wicked edge of the blade and slashed at his
attacker’s chest. The drag on his claws let him know he’d hit his mark.

The smell of blood thickened
the air, bright rivulets shimmered in the firelight where he’d managed to shred
the guy’s chest. Just a little deeper and Aiden could’ve dug out the heart.

The man shuddered,
his stance a little shaky, but he remained upright.

Aiden had to finish
him quickly before they realized how easily they could overpower him.

 Chapter Eight

S
hayla cursed the mud. The
harder she struggled, the deeper she sank, like some damned fly on a spider’s
web, waiting for the predator to finish her off. She bit her lip, helplessly watching
Aiden fight for his life. The ferocity of it was terrifying. Aiden moved like a
seasoned warrior, his controlled moves all sleek and deadly. The other guy
didn’t have the same intensity, his bulk wasn’t built for long fights. Instead,
he used his brute strength to inflict as much damage as possible in as short
amount of time.

Aiden should have the
edge, but his months in captivity left them more evenly matched than she’d like.
She bit her lip, twisting her body to the side, and heard a large pop as the
suction finally released its hold.

Panting, she
scrambled to her feet, weighed down by an extra thirty pounds of mud. She
waddled toward the fight when she spotted a second man edging toward Aiden’s
unprotected back.

She scanned the
ground, cursing her inability to see in the dark. No matter which way she
turned, she was greeted by a sea of mud, not a weapon in sight.

Fear crawled up her
throat. Her fate was tied to Aiden. It didn’t matter that she wouldn’t survive
on her own. The thought of Aiden being hurt, shoved back into prison, crushed
the air from her lungs.

Training took over.
Shayla crouched, eyes on her target as she smeared a fistful of mud over her
pale face. Once she was sure she could blend into the night, she scuttled toward
the second man, staying as close to the ground as possible. When she came
within ten feet from him, she picked up speed.

Her shoulder hit him
right behind the knees. She flew under his body, skidding over the slick earth,
while her assailant landed on his back with a heavy thud.

Already greased,
Shayla came unglued first. Flames sputtered in the mud, and she crawled toward
the torch.

The slim man cursed,
twisting about, stuck as she had been not so long ago. When he rolled to his
side, they came face to face with the torch between them.

Each of them froze,
staring at each other.

Hatred contorted his
face, fear became bitter on her tongue, and any reaming doubt he wanted her
dead vanished. They both dove forward. She had a few feet advantage, but he
moved faster.

Her fingers curled
around the base of the torch, and she grunted at the weight. When he reached to
take it from her, she quickly fell back, swinging it like a baseball bat.

Wood connected.

She caught him across
the face, the heavy thunk reverberating up her arm, and her stomach lurched
alarmingly at the juicy impact.

He fell and didn’t
move.

The sickening sounds
of flesh striking flesh caused her to whirl. She lifted the torch to see both
Aiden and his attacker grappling for purchase. His determination to protect her
at any cost glinted in his eyes, and her heart bottomed out of her chest.

Then he just stopped
fighting.

A lump formed in her
throat, and she lunged forward, struggling to stay on her feet. “Aiden, no!”

Instead of replying, Aiden
bared his teeth, and the bear of a man charged. Aiden grunted at the impact and
wrapped his arms around his attacker.

Then they were
falling backwards.

“No!”

Heart in her throat,
Shayla sprang toward the ridge and dropped to her knees. She nearly skidded
over the edge, tossing her weight backwards at the last possible second. Her
knees met open air when she finally came to a full stop. She waved the torch
over the rim, hoping for any sign of Aiden.

“Damn it, are you
trying to make me fall?”

Shayla nearly dropped
the torch when she spotted Aiden’s face inches from the flames, struggling to
maintain his hold on the slick rocks. The low grumble to his voice, after she thought
she’d lost him, sent a surge of adrenaline scorching her every nerve ending.

“I should let you
hang there for scaring me like that. What the hell were you thinking?” Not
waiting for a reply, she dropped the torch and grabbed the back of his shirt to
help him up.

By the time he was back
on solid ground, they were both panting. Stretched out beside him, Shayla
groaned. “You really know how to show a girl a good time.”

He didn’t move,
didn’t reply, and that alarmed her more than if he’d yelled. Something wasn’t
right. She slowly sat, her skin prickling painfully. She rubbed her arms and
mud flaked off in layers. “Aiden?”

“Are you injured?”

She shivered at the
rough quality of his voice, the low tone almost inaudible. “I’m fine. Not even
a scratch. How badly are you hurt?”

She swallowed hard, her
fingers shaking pathetically as she reached for him, dreading what she’d find. When
his hand latched onto her wrist, she jumped, her eyes flashing toward his.

“The guy you hit is
still alive. We need to leave before he regains consciousness.” So saying, he stood
in a slow, measured way that hinted at great pain, not even pretending to
answer her question. As though one touch would shatter him. She clenched her
hands, not sure what to do with herself.

She opened her mouth to
demand to see his injuries, then closed it without speaking a word. Neither of
them had a choice. They had to get out of there. Injured was better than dead.

He swayed, and Shayla
fumbled to pick up her bag and torch before wrapping his arm across her
shoulder. He sucked in a sharp breath, and her resolve hardened. “When we reach
your border, we’re stopping so I can take a look at your wounds.”

Instead of replying,
Aiden took a stubborn step forward. That he didn’t refuse sent a chill of worry
burrowing into her gut. “Tell me how you came to be trapped in a dungeon.”

There had to be a
reason that made sense. He didn’t have anything to do with the missing people.
He was no fugitive. The men chasing them were definitely not police. He might
be a Neanderthal, but he’d made sure she was safe.

Something didn’t add
up.

“I tried to help the
wrong people.”

The clipped reply
said the discussion was over. Stubborn man. They traveled another few minutes
in silence, the next question burning the tip of her tongue.

“You’re going to
burst if you don’t ask, aren’t you?”

A snort escaped.
“Probably. I mean, they’re trying to kill me, too. Don’t you think I deserve to
know why?”

Tension radiated from
him. “How did you find the castle?”

The question caught
Shayla off-guard. “I came to Scotland for a job. I was to meet with my client
tomorrow. I arrived a few days early to do a little sightseeing. My grandfather
told me tales of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the faerie people, when I was a little
girl. I wanted to see the land he described.”

“And the castle?”

A wiry smile crossed
to her lips. “Rain. I wanted to avoid the rain.” She gave a little chuckle. “Actually,
I could’ve sworn I heard a trapped animal, but it must have been the wind
howling. There was no sign of it when the ground caved. I guess I should’ve
heeded the warning and stayed away, huh?”

 Aiden stumbled,
barely catching himself before falling flat on his face. “You what?”

Shayla shook her head,
feeling foolish for even having mentioned it. “I heard a howl from a trapped
animal, but I couldn’t find hide nor hair of the beastie. My curiosity kept me
from being in a warm toasty bed right now.”

She glanced up at him
and stopped dead. “You don’t look so good.”

Aiden took a few more
steps, neatly removing himself from her arms. Her fingers curled into fists to
keep from reaching for him. “Are we far enough on your land to stop and check
your wounds?”

He whirled, his eyes
glittering ominously in the darkness. “How did you know we’re on my land?”

The menace in his voice
dried the spit out of her mouth. An urge to flee flooded her system, and she had
to struggle to remain still. “About five minutes ago, your whole body relaxed.
You inhaled, as if relishing the smell of home.”

He continued to stare
at her for another few heartbeats. “A woman in trouble asked for my help. It
was a trap, and Nora betrayed me.”

Shayla swallowed hard,
unable to curb the ugly twist of jealousy at the soft way he spoke another
woman’s name. “And you landed in a dungeon.”

He gave a curt nod.

“I can understand
that. I guess.” It made sense, but Shayla was also sure there was a great deal
more to the story. It smarted that he didn’t trust her when she was forced to
rely on him. She accepted the olive branch, but she recognized the shimmer in
his eyes, the same one that she’d seen from the beginning.

Suspicion, not fever.

Hurt swamped her.
She’d never felt more alone and vulnerable. And for the first time since they’d
met, she didn’t want to be anywhere near him.

“I’m not getting any
warmer standing in the cold. You said your men would come for us. We’re in no
shape to go any further.” The torch had burned down to the stub, the flame only
a glowing ember. “Let’s make camp and look at those wounds.”

She turned away,
searching for a dry spot. It looked like they had a choice between cold mud or
damp stone. She dropped her bag, kneeling to rummage inside. She withdrew a
nearly empty bottle of water and a half-eaten row of crackers.

Her mouth watered,
but she held out her cache to him. “Here.”

Of their own volition,
his eyes dropped to the food she held out so casually. Saliva pooled in his
mouth, and it was all he could do not to fall on her like a ravenous beast.
Though he knew she had no idea that serving him food was an old mating ritual,
his beast was more than willing to accept the offer and all its implications.

He carefully seated
himself some distance from her, partially to prove to himself that he had some
restraint, and reached out for the food, hating the way his fingers shook. When
she didn’t flinch, he considered it a small victory. He lifted the first cracker.
The dunking in the ocean had rendered the little treat nothing more than soggy mush.
Despite the stale smell, he shoved it into his mouth, nearly biting his own
fingers, studying Shayla over his meal.

Things about her
didn’t make any sense.

She’d heard him howl from
miles away, something only his pack could’ve heard…or a mate. Mud covered her
from head to toe. He shouldn’t have found her adorable, but there was no
denying his attraction. The longer he remained in her company, the more it
intensified. It took all his willpower to resist the compulsion to touch her
one last time before she discovered the truth.

That she was his
prisoner.

The next stack of
three crackers disappeared the same way. He hadn’t been aware he was making any
noise until he saw her gazing at him, then quickly away. She silently held out a
water bottle.

Her pity dried out
his mouth more effectively than the crackers. Heat spread up his face, and he
dropped his gaze. He snatched the water, conscious of the quantity, and
carefully took a single sip before handing it back.

There were two crackers
left. It took a physical effort to hand them back.

Shayla glanced up briefly
then shook her head. “Finish them. You need them more than I do.”

Her wiry smile made
his heart skip a beat, and he quickly shoved in the last mouthful as his gaze
roved down her curvy form. “You’re built like a woman should be, just few
pounds shy of perfection.”

Shayla gave a startled
laugh. “You are the only one who thinks so.” She looked up, and saw him staring
at her with a hunger that wouldn’t be appeased with food. Her laughter trailed
off into an awkward silence.

She had no idea what
to make of him. One second he practically throwing himself over a cliff to get
away from her, then, when he didn’t think she was looking, he watched her with
eyes that stripped her naked.