Blood In Fire (Celtic Elementals Book 2) Page 19

  Her hands slid to his neck and shoulders as Aidan lifted his head. He moved back and lifted her hips with both hands, tearing the twisted dress down and off.

  Heather found herself naked in the grass beneath him.

  The sunlight glittered green and gold through the trees overhead. Aidan was still fully clothed, which turned her on even more. He moved down her body, pushing her thighs wide apart as he settled between them. Kissing the delicate skin over her hipbone, making her jump. His lips trailed over her, sucking along the inside of first one taut thigh and then the other until she was breathing in short, fast pants.

  She moaned as his head dropped and the anticipation of his mouth streaked through her, making her stomach tremble. Her fingers tangled in the long grass as his curls brushed against her skin. Then his tongue, hot and darting, dipped inside her. Not teasing and not light.

  He used his mouth as an exquisite weapon, devouring her until she was lost to the pleasure, writhing in his hands. He didn't tease so much as torment, until her body was bowing up off the grass, helplessly seeking more of him. And when she was right there, on the verge, he pulled back. Her clit popped lightly from his lips as Aidan lifted his head and looked up at her. Heather couldn't help but swear.

  She was so close to the edge, so ready to fall that she was shaking. There was an unmistakable glint of satisfaction in his gaze.

  "Fuck, Aidan…holy fuck…please!" Her legs coiled around his shoulders to keep him from moving away any further and he smiled.

  "There's the tone I was looking for. Say it again."

  She wanted to scream at him, but hadn't the breath. Her words came out in a choked whisper.

  "God, you absolute son of a bitching a—"

  He slid two fingers inside of her. Her throat closed as her desperate muscles tightened on the sweet invasion.

  "Bad idea, love. Insulting the man with his hands on the controls, so to speak." Aidan's voice was soft, his breath warm over her wet skin. His mouth so close, his fingers working in and out of her. But never as deep as she craved. Her back arched again.

  "Please." She had no room for anger now, only need. This desperate need for him. "Please, Aidan." Breathless and begging.

  "Ahhh, sounds like ye've found the proper motivation at last." His lips brushed her sex as he spoke, then his tongue swept out to press hard against her clit, his fingers twisted inside of her and everything fractured as she quite simply lost her mind.

  The orgasm ripped through her, sinking deep. Senseless and shaking, she barely registered Aidan's low groan against her flushed skin. She only felt the loss when he moved away, untangling her legs from his shoulders gently.

  His eyes bored into her as he got to his feet. He reached back and pulled his shirt over his head in one fluid motion. Her breath caught. Backlit by the sun, the rippled lines of his body were dark and powerful. She couldn't see the expression in his eyes as he thumbed open his jeans and shoved them down his lithe hips. He didn't bother to kick them all the way off, he just dropped to his knees between her spread legs.

  Aidan lifted her off the ground so easily it made her head spin. In one deft movement, he pulled her to him, one hand under her ass, the other winding her legs around him. Heather could see his eyes now and she shivered at the fierce possessiveness there.

  "Pleased with yourself, are you?" She said softly.

  He smiled and bumped his forehead against hers. "No' as much as ye are with me, I think." His breath quickened then, fast and warm against her face, as he lowered her. The tip of his cock eased open her soaked and swollen lips and she shuddered. Her eyes started to close as he pressed inside her. "Nae. Look at me, love. Look."

  With a moan, Heather did as he demanded. His eyes were so bright, they were nearly blinding. Her hands went to his face, her fingertips in his hair. She wanted to tell him how beautiful he was. Before she could form the words, he yanked her down hard and every conscious thought flew away.

  Everything blurred as they moved together. Sun and shadow became one and she couldn't tell which was which anymore.

  Only that it was all him and it was all beautiful.

  Ages later, when Heather had slipped her dress back on and brushed the grass from her limbs, Aidan heard her curse quietly as she moved the few steps to the brook.

  Aidan had been lying in the grass, staring at the clouds, content to be lost in thought as his body recovered, but he stirred at her voice.

  "What?"

  She squealed as the water rushed over her feet. "It occurs to me that we have never once used a condom. I mean, I am on birth control, but seriously, I am not usually so st—"

  "There is nae need to worry about such things, no' with me." He cut her off, pushing himself up on his elbows to watch her. Whether she realized it or not, she hadn't worried about it precisely because he had not been worried about it. His psyche slipping into hers, not by design, though he admittedly hadn't bothered to stop it.

  "Why is that?"

  She looked up as she washed him from her thighs. Such a gorgeous sight, her standing in the river, with that white skirt tucked above her hips. The water glistening on the dusky satin of her skin. She smiled at him, her real smile and broke his heart a little.

  Nae. It was the question that did that, he chided himself, not her.

  Not her.

  He cleared his throat.

  "There is no human disease tha' can affect me, and naught I can pass to ye. As for the other…. Vampires canna have children, nobody. All life inside me is dead."

  She stilled, her eyes leaping to his face. "Is that so?"

  "Aye. We have other ways to procreate, as I am sure ye have heard." His voice was cold for the first time all day.

  She asked the question anyway. "And have you ever…ever done that? Made another—"

  "Nae." And hoped the look on his face told her plainly he never would. She stared at him, that little line of puzzlement creasing her forehead.

  "Has anyone ever asked you to?"

  "Aye." His answer was short as she stepped out of the water and blotted herself dry with her skirt before loosing it to billow around her legs in the breeze.

  She stepped nearer, her scent caught on that same breeze and wrapping him in its tantalizing essence. Her eyes were knowing. "I won't."

  "Sure of tha', are ye?" He looked up at her.

  "Very. I promise, Aidan. So relax. Simple curiosity, remember? I thought you said that was okay?"

  "It is."

  She laughed at him then, slipping her hand into his and pulling him up. Aidan let his tension at the subject go. The tendril of fear wouldn't vanish as easily. Had he gotten so uptight because he'd really been worried she was feeling him out on the subject….

  Or because for the first time ever the possibility was actually tempting?

  They went down to the lake. It was fun. Heather had brought a small lunch. Moiré's scones wrapped in cheesecloth. He skipped stones over the flat, glittering surface of the water for her amusement.

  "Holy shit, Aidan," she laughed as another one sailed out of sight. "I lost count at fifteen. How do you do that?"

  "A thousand or so years of practice, and a very strong arm. Ye try." He picked up a particularly smooth one and placed it in her hand. She curved her fingers around the warm, solid roundness of it, but shook her head as she slipped it into the pocket of her skirt.

  "No, I'd just embarrass myself."

  "Well, I am hoping I willna embarrass myself if I step out now. What say ye two, is the coast clear?" Ronan's voice, a rumble just behind the trees.

  "Aye, ye eejit. As ye well know, or ye wouldna have come so close. Get an eyeful earlier, did ye?"

  Heather's cheeks went red.

  Ronan chuckled as he stepped out into the light. "Donna look so horrified, lass. I didna see nothing. My ears are still good enough to warn me away when it isna wise to intrude." She returned his smile, before ducking her head.

  Aidan's lips quirked, then he stretched. "Time for the i
nterrogation, is it?"

  "Aye. How do ye feel?"

  "Fine as wine, and a good deal stronger."

  "Do ye notice any weakness t'all? Any difference in anything, Aidan? Psychic, physical…yer hunger?"

  Aidan's shoulders tensed, but he forced himself to relax. "Nae. Well, except…maybe a lightening? I donna how to explain it, but I felt it before, the first time. A floating feeling. Almost as if…as if I am no' quite as solid as normal. Weird, innit?"

  "Ye seem solid enough." Without warning, Ronan whipped his sword from his back and attacked.

  Aidan ducked under the swing, slipped to the right and hooked his foot behind Ronan's ankle. The big man went down with a whoosh, but rolled with the movement. In a blink of an eye, he was back on his feet.

  He spread his legs wide, lifting the sword in one hand and beckoning with the other. "Come on, then, try us."

  Aidan sighed as he moved lightly to Ronan's left.

  "Ye've a sword, a magical sword, mind and I've naught but me own two hands."

  "Oh, quit yer whining and—"

  Aidan attacked, going low and hard. His shoulder hit Ronan in the gut and the big man bit the dust again, flying over Aidan's back and landing on his own with a grunt.

  Once more, the former werewolf gained his feet quickly. In the second it took Aidan to turn, Ronan was facing him, his grey eyes narrowed. "Yer being easy on me, I can tell."

  "Well, ye are bloody human again, mate. I wouldna want to injury ye. Yer woman might take tha' sword to my throat again. Come to think of it, she got closer than ye ever will—"

  With a roar, Ronan lunged. Crafty this time, he thrust right, but when Aidan dodged, he got a huge fist coming from the left.

  Lights exploded and for the first time he stumbled. Shaking his head like a wet dog, Aidan glared at Ronan from under his curls. "Oy! Tha' is gonna cost ye."

  "Is it then? Trash talk is all well and good, bloodsucker, but canna ye back it?"

  A plume of dust was all that remained were Aidan had stood.

  Ronan blinked at it for a moment, then slumped when a hard forearm slipped round his neck and squeezed once, warningly.

  "And yer dead, Fitzpatrick."

  Ronan gave a grumpy shrug. "Aye. Get off then, ye'll still stink to me, ye know." His nose wrinkled as Aidan moved back around, his eyes dancing. How long had it been since he'd sparred under a blue sky over which white clouds floated like the sails of quiet ships?

  Then he realized he'd forgotten they had an audience. His head turned.

  Heather sat there on the lake shore, frozen. Her hand on her heart, her mouth open, staring at them both.

  "What the fuck was that?!" She finally managed to whisper. It had been terrifying, even when she had realized they were not in earnest.

  "Fun." Aidan said as Ronan grinned and tucked the sword away.

  "And educational." The big man added. "I reckon yer just as deadly in the sunshine, O'Neill. However light and fluffy ye feel." Ronan was frowning now, but Aidan didn't notice.

  She watched as he breathed deep and stretched up to his toes.

  "You look like a flower turning toward the sun." Heather's tone was amused, but Ronan howled at her words, distracted from his train of thought as he laughed until his face turned red.

  "Oy. I am n'ver forgetting tha' one, mate. Bloody flower, tha's ye!" He said when he got his breath back.

  Aidan scowled at him, but his heart wasn't in it. "Are we done then?"

  "I donna know. I donna know what I really am looking for here, to be honest. Or what I expect to do about it anyway." Ronan's face darkened again.

  Aidan shrugged.

  "'Tis only a dose left, if tha'. And no one else knows."

  "A few grains is all it takes for a good chemist to recreate the formula. And how do ye know no one else knows. Abha—"

  "Has no' come. And if he knew…Ronan, do ye honestly think he coulda resist?"

  "I didna think he could resist ye being back in Ireland, mate. I expected him to have our boundaries patrolled day and night. But here ye are. With him still in the bloody Reeks. No' a hint of anyone observing us, no' anywhere. And tha' bothers me."

  Ronan's eyes were steel grey in the light coming off the water.

  "I do nae know what he knows, or what he is playing at. And neither do ye. So donna underestimate him. He's a wily, twisted—"

  "I know what he is."

  "Aye. So mind what he would do, what lengths tha' bastard would go to, to have ye under his thumb along with tha' bloody potion. I donna think anything could stop him then, O'Neill. No' even the gods themselves."

  "I know." Aidan's voice was resigned as he reached into the pocket of his jacket. "Take it then."

  He extended the glass vial in his hand. Ronan and Heather both started.

  "There's nae point in having it tested, nae point in figuring out its limits. We know enough to know what must be done. It has to be destroyed. Ye knew it from the beginning. It was only knowing what it would mean to me tha' kept ye from doing yer damme duty in the first place, innit tha' the truth of it?"

  Ronan bowed his head. "Aye."

  "So take it now, ye sod. I had me day…well, a half and one. And since there are only hours of daylight left…canna we no' spend it arguing?"

  Ronan reached out finally and Aidan dropped the vial in his palm. Their eyes met for one second, but Aidan turned away. Heather had stood up, hoping her eyes didn't give away too much of her thoughts as she studied him. She could feel her lips trembling.

  She firmed them and took his hand. "To the rest of the day then?"

  "Aye. And to no cars, mind? I'd like to see the sunset this time."

  Heather snorted. Her gaze moved over Aidan's shoulder and caught sight of Ronan's face. There were tears in the big man's eyes as he tucked the vial out of sight. She blinked and quickly put her arms round Aidan's neck when he would have turned around at her expression.

  "Are you sure? I do need to get the Jag out of impound and work it all out with the rental company. You could enjoy the day like a normal person, running errands and stuck in queue—"

  Aidan lifted her into the air. "Fuck tha'. I have a better idea." There was no mistaking that tone.

  "And I think it's a good idea if I make meself scarce." Ronan mumbled dryly.

  "Aye, Fitzpatrick, I think tha' is damme fine idea inded." Aidan spun her round until she squealed and everything dark twirled away.

  For the moment.

  Chapter 12

  It was much later that night, when the family were due to be back at any moment, that Heather found herself alone in the kitchen.

  Aidan had taken her again at the lakeshore. Then once more, right after a glorious sunset that had seemed to put in a special effort, just for him. At least that was what she chose to think. Purple velvet and gold satin had creased the clouds like a rich cloak unfurling as night came down.

  They hadn't talked much after that.

  She had let him soak up everything and tried not to intrude, though he never seemed to resent her presence, even when they weren't having sex. He seemed to want her close far more than was usual for him.

  It was true that Aidan was a physical man, even in Istanbul he liked to have his hands on her, not only in private but on the street, in the cafés. The difference in Istanbul was that while his touches had not been disrespectful or cheap, they had been…careless.

  Filling a need, no more.

  Today had been different. He reached for her often; her hand, her face, her hips, her hair, with fingers that held a sweetness that hadn't been there before. More than that, he had sought something more than just physical pleasure from her for the first time. Comfort, perhaps.

  And maybe today he had touched her so often simply out of a need for assurance. A way to prove to himself that what he was experiencing was not a dream.

  Was that all it was though? Was this on its way to becoming something more?

  She fiddled with a tea cup, trying hard not to l
isten to the echo of Moiré's words in her head. Setting the cup down, Heather gripped the edge of the sink hard.

  She heard footsteps behind her. Twisting her head, she let out a slow breath when she saw Ronan. The big man gazed back, unsmiling, as he leaned a hip against the table. Heather turned to face him, hoisting herself onto the counter with a tired sigh.

  "Long day?" He said idly.

  Not long enough, she thought. All she said aloud was, "Maybe a little."

  "'Twil n'ver happen again." There was something deeper in his words, something that made her throat tighten up.

  "I know that."

  Ronan leaned his head back, looking up at the exposed wooden beams of the plaster ceiling. "I like ye. Ye know tha', I hope?"

  She blinked. "Well…good. I like you, too. I can't pretend I wasn't inclined to, not at first—"

  "Because ye were worried about yer friend." He continued to look up, away from her.

  "Yes, I was. But you…you two are right together. You fit."

  Ronan nodded slowly. "Aye." He lowered his head, looking at her with such sadness in those grey eyes it made her heart clench. "But ye and Aidan…ye donna fit, Heather. Ye canna. He canna. I'm sorry, but ye need to see it. Ye need to stop this, because I donna think he can."

  She stared at the big man, an urge to scream and fly at him and make him take those words back almost overwhelmed her, but she kept control. Heather forced herself to reply carefully, even as her heart raced.

  “You all act as if he’s so fragile. He’s not. He’s…he’s…” but her voice failed her, as all the words she had for what Aidan was becoming to her seemed suddenly much too private to share.

  Ronan saved her from continuing. “Nae, he’s no’ weak. I dinna mean tha', lass. Only tha'…

  "Aidan has always had a soft heart, understand? He's just spent several lifetimes concealing it. Because he canna bear it, lass. He had to put what he was away, tuck it down so far he could forget it was even there. 'Twas the only way for him to survive.