Highland Fires (4 page)

“It is good,” she said.

He gave her a nod and watched as she finished
her bowl. “I’m sorry I couldn’t provide more.”

“Don’t apologize. It was a very nice meal. I
thank you for sharing it with me,” she said with a smile.

Lugus rose and took her bowl. “You may take
my bed,” he said as he pointed to the left. “I plan to spend more
time working on the sword.”

“Thank you,” she said and turned toward the
bed.

He waited until she had pulled the cloth
closed over the doorway before he walked into his back chamber. For
long moments he stared into the kiln. When he had gathered as much
courage as he could, he inhaled deeply and closed his eyes.

Though he was mortal and considered a human,
the Fae ways had not left him. He called to his brother, Theron,
using the Fae language. When Theron didn’t answer or appear, Lugus
then called more urgently, letting Theron know that there was a Fae
trapped on Earth.

Still Theron didn’t answer.

Lugus sank onto his stool. He had been afraid
Theron would ignore any correspondence from him, which was why
Lugus hadn’t told Ahryn what he had planned. He didn’t want her
hopes dashed if he had failed. It was better if she thought he
didn’t care enough to try.

He stared at the metal he had started to form
into the shape of the sword. His work helped keep the ugly thoughts
out of his mind. He rose and grasped the metal and hammer as he
began to pound.

~ ~ ~

“You aren’t going to answer him?” Rufina
asked.

Theron squeezed his eyes closed and shook his
head as Lugus’ voice reverberated around their bedchamber like a
tolling bell. He leaned forward in the chair and with his elbows
braced on his legs, dropped his head into his hands. “You know I
cannot.”

“He hasn’t called to you or any other Fae in
the five years he has been on the Earth realm. He wouldn’t be
calling to you if it wasn’t important,” his wife said
earnestly.

“I cannot,” he repeated.

She rose and backed away from him.
“Regardless of where he is, he is still your brother and part of
this family.”

Theron sighed as he sat up and looked at his
beautiful queen. She had been intended for Lugus, who, as eldest,
had been in line for the throne. Theron thanked the heavens each
day that he had Rufina by his side.

“You know what he did,” Theron shouted over
the din of Lugus’ voice.

And just as suddenly as it had begun, it
stopped.

Theron looked around his chamber. “Why did he
stop?”

“Because he is a proud man who has suffered
more than any man, Fae or human, should. He has endured the
greatest of trials and conquered power that would have killed me or
you.”

“And nearly destroyed our realm and Earth,”
Theron pointed out.

Rufina sighed and shook her head sadly, her
long white blonde hair gently moving around her. “I think you have
made a mistake, my love.”

“I don’t think I have,” he said and prayed he
was correct. “If he hadn’t closed his mind off to us, we would be
able to decipher if his call was genuine or not.”

Rufina cocked up a perfectly arched brow.
“I’ve never known you to take the easy road, Theron. Why is it you
always do that with Lugus?”

“I don’t trust him.”

“Then go have a look in the village he lives
near. You will be able to find out all you need very quickly.”

Theron considered her suggestion but wasn’t
comfortable spying on his brother. Lugus had made him swear that he
would not interfere in his life on Earth even the smallest bit. He
had wanted to make it on his own, and as far as Theron knew, he
had.

But why the sudden call? Could he be in
trouble? If Theron knew his brother at all, he knew Lugus would
rather die than ask for help for himself. But if it involved
someone else, he just might send the call.

“Stop your worrying,” Rufina
said as she came to stand in front of him. “I’ve other things I
would like to occupy your mind with.”



Theron smiled. “And what might that be?”

“This,” she said and dropped her silver robe
to display her naked body.

He reached out and pulled her against him,
her breasts even with his face. “Ah, a feast,” he mumbled just
before he took a hard nipple into his mouth.

Chapter Four

No matter how Ahryn tried, she couldn’t
sleep. It wasn’t the banging of Lugus in his forge. It was the
knowledge that her last thread of hope had slipped through her
fingers. Because of her curiosity, she would be enslaved on Earth.
Forever.

She knew without trying that she would never
convince Lugus to take her to a gateway between the worlds. She
didn’t even know if there was one close by. It was something all
Fae were taught to discover before ever visiting a realm, yet she
had let her own confidence hinder her.

With an arm slung across her forehead and the
other creasing her skirt, Ahryn found her mind wandering to Lugus.
She had bluffed her way into his cottage. All she remembered was
the whispers that he had been expelled from the Realm of the Fae
again. Again. That still baffled her. Once a Fae was expelled, he
was never allowed to return. So, how had he managed to return? And
just what had he done to be expelled from the realm a second
time?

Could he have something to do with the entire
imprisonment of the Fae realm?

She had seen his face as she spoke of the
destruction of the Death Dragons. Was it the pain of knowing the
city he had been born and raised in had nearly been destroyed? Or
was it the pain of someone who had been responsible?

Her mind raced with possibilities. Lugus
might be a man who liked his privacy, but he hadn’t turned her out.
Her instincts had never led her astray before, and she refused to
believe they had done so now.

She closed her eyes and envisioned Lugus as
he had been earlier--shirtless and sweaty as he pounded his hammer
into the metal, working it into a shape only he himself saw as his
muscles flexed and glistened in the fire’s glow.

Had it been any other situation, she would
have laughed at finally finding a man that interested her.

She sat up and ran her finger over the hated
bracelet. Lugus had tried every tool he had to unlock the bracelet
and nothing short of cutting her hand off would free her. If she
wasn’t such a coward, she would cut it off.

The rhythmic pounding of Lugus’ hammer lulled
her. She laid down and soon found her lids growing heavy.

~ ~ ~

His body was on fire. His need was so fierce
it consumed him. He needed to taste her, feel her silken flesh
beneath his hands. Her pale hair cascaded around him as she moved
to straddle his hips.

Lugus nearly spilled his seed right then.
How many nights had he dreamed of having her as she was now? How
many days had he plotted to have her as his own? Now she was
finally his.

And he would claim her.

He fisted his hands in her long hair and
brought her face closer to his. He wanted to look into her eyes as
he plunged his rod deep inside of her.

Her soft breasts pressed against his chest
and she moaned softly as she moved her hips against his hardness.
Lugus silently cursed. He had waited too long and planned too well
for anything to go wrong now. He had to stay in control.

He raised his eyes and stared into her Druid
green eyes as he moved his hips until the tip of him entered her.
She was hot and slick and he easily slid into her tight sheath.

Elation poured through him to finally claim
Moira as his own. He closed his eyes and reveled in the feel of her
around him. He began to move inside of her, pumping faster, harder.
He felt her clench around him as she screamed his name. Still he
thrust within her until he felt his own climax building.

His hands roamed down her sleek back to her
narrow waist. He opened his eyes for he wanted to stare into her
beautiful green eyes as he reached his own orgasm. Just as he was
about to spill his seed he found himself staring into mystical blue
eyes.

Fae eyes.

Lugus came awake with a start. With his heart
racing and his breathing ragged, he glanced around his forge. The
dream had been so real he could still feel and taste Moira. And it
had been Moira, at least to start with, but there was no denying
the face at the end had been Ahryn.

It had to be because she was in his home and
he had tried to contact Theron. At least that’s what he told
himself.

The fire still blazed in the forge, which
meant he had slept for only moments instead of hours. He rose and
walked to the small window in the forge and opened the shutters.
The rain still came down in a vicious pour, but the lightening had
moved on, though he could still hear the rumble of thunder over the
rain.

It was only hours from dawn. Lugus knew he
would get precious little work done on the sword, so he decided to
make his way to the cliff and wait out the sunrise in the rain. As
he turned away from the window, something on the water caught his
attention. He leaned forward and peered through the rain to see
four large boats coming toward his isle.

“Marcus,” he whispered as he closed the
shutters and hurried to his room to wake Ahryn.

Only she wasn’t there.

Lugus stared at the empty bed before he
walked to it and felt the covers. It was still warm, so she hadn’t
gone far. He ran back to his forge and grabbed his favorite sword
and several daggers as he raced from the back of the cottage. She
had told him she had come to the island with a boat of her own.
Since it wasn’t docked with his, she must have landed at the back
of the isle behind the cliff where the water was the most
dangerous.

He lengthened his strides as he raced from
the cottage to the small, nearly hidden, path that led around the
cliff all the while placing the daggers and sword on his body. The
rain had already plastered his clothes to his body and his hair to
his face, but he never slowed.

His foot slipped on the small rocks that
lined the isle as he worked his way around the cliff. The rocks bit
and cut into his hands as he walked around the tight corner. And
then he saw her.

The wind hampered her ability to move as it
pulled and yanked at her thick, heavy skirts. But it was just the
advantage he needed to catch up with her.

To his utter shock, he saw her trying in vain
to push her small skiff out into the turbulent waters. She was
trying to leave without Marcus finding her, which meant she must
have seen the boats just as he had. Since she hadn’t bothered to
tell him, he knew she was leaving to protect him.

Which left him with one choice.

“What are you doing?” he asked as he stopped
beside her.

She jerked around, and the wind whipped her
hair into her eyes. She clawed at the long length and stared aghast
at him. “How did you know where I was?”

“It’s my isle. Now answer me,” he demanded
over the rain and wind.

She glanced away. “I saw them coming. There
is nothing more you can do for me. I had already decided to leave
this morning anyway. Marcus arriving earlier just spurred me to
move more quickly.”

“Where do you think you will go?”

She shrugged. “I have to find a gateway. I
can’t do that if Marcus has me chained to him.”

Lugus looked over his shoulder. They had a
little time before Marcus and his men found the trail around the
cliff. He turned back to Ahryn. “We have to move quickly.”

“We?” she asked, trying to hide the hope in
her eyes.

“Aye, now come on.”

He waded out into the water and then turned
to find her still pushing the skiff. “Ahryn,” he called.

She raised her gaze to him. “Aren’t we using
the skiff?”

“They’ll catch us. We need to go
undetected.”

She looked at the turbulent sea and slowly
made her way to him. “I won’t make it with this heavy gown.”

Lugus pulled a dagger from his waist and
reached for the neck of her gown. He heard her gasp as he sliced
open her gown and pulled it from her body. Without looking at her,
he turned and hid the ruined gown between two rocks before
sheathing the dagger. When he turned back around Ahryn was already
neck deep in the water.

He dove into the water and quickly caught up
with her. The current was swift and strong, and Lugus knew they
would have to swim hard and fast to get to the shores of Scotland
without Marcus finding them.

They were half way to the mainland when he
turned to look over his shoulder to check on Ahryn. She had gotten
farther and farther behind him, and he could see that she was fast
losing what little strength she had. With a curse, Lugus turned
around and swam to her. He had just reached her when she went under
the water.

He dove under after her and brought her to
the surface. He held her back against his chest as he swam
backwards to the shore.

“Lugus,” he heard her say over the rain.

And then he saw it. His home, all his
belongings and everything he had called his, was ablaze. He quickly
looked away and swam even harder to the shore. His time there had
ended. He would have to find another place to make his home. If he
survived the swim to the mainland.

Ahryn began to shake in his arms. The cold
sea water had finally penetrated her Fae skin. He had to get her
out of the water soon. He had no idea how long they had been
swimming, but it seemed the mainland had not gotten any closer. His
worry then grew that he wouldn’t be able to make it to shore. He
had only swum the distance three times, and those times had not
been in the middle of a storm.

When his feet finally struck the bottom he
got a surge of renewed strength that managed to get them both to
shore. He pulled Ahryn out of the water onto the rocky shore and
collapsed on top of her to give her some of his heat.