King's Highlander

by Jessi Gage

  “I will keep your secret, Goddess,” Riggs said reverently. Still holding her hand, he lifted it and kissed it. The gesture was so obviously one of worship that Magnus felt no jealousy. Only pride in his knight.

  “I agree with Anya,” Magnus said. “The women shall remain here. If magic brought them, I trust there is a purpose in it. Riggs, gather the other knights and tell them the women have been found. Let them know magic brought them here, but keep Danu’s identity a secret. We march in the morning, as planned, but a century of men will remain with the women here at camp. Once we have cleared a safe passage through the caves, the century will move the women there. They’ll be safe in the caves while we continue on to the fortress. We’ll collect them when we return as victors, with our children in tow.”

  “Yes, Sire.” Riggs made to leave, but Magnus stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

  “You and Anya shall sleep in your own bed tonight. You’ll have privacy away from the others there.”

  A lopsided smile lit Riggs’s features. “My thanks, Sire.”

  “And we,” he said to Danu as Riggs departed, “Shall have privacy as well.” This time, he would ensure they were not interrupted. Perhaps the moonstone would help, because there was absolutely nothing he needed more than to finally bed his goddess. “Long awaited privacy.”

  Chapter 26

  Danu craved Magnus with a ferocity she had never known for any other lover. His promised privacy could not come too soon. Unfortunately, they must wait, for Anya was still with them while Riggs ran his errands.

  The lamp on the floor gave light, but it did precious little to dispel the cold. She and Anya had left their cloaks behind in Glendall, so it was with gratitude she accepted the heavy fur Magnus draped over her shoulders as he led her to the maps. He placed a fur around Anya as well and graced her with a kiss on the cheek. “I am glad you are well,” he said before returning to Danu’s side.

  Arm snug around her waist, he bent over the maps and pointed out their location. The map showed a range of mountains covering the northern third of Larna. Their camp was in the foothills of a mountain called Mammoth, named, Magnus informed her, for the way its rounded back called to mind the four-footed, tusked beasts that roamed the northern lands across the Eastern Sea. On the other side of the mountain the map showed the fortress, where they suspected the children had gone based on Duff’s information.

  How strange it was, looking at her creation from this perspective. She’d woven this landscape together eons ago and filled it with creatures great and small before introducing her precious wolfkind to the realm. She’d walked these mountains as their maker and caretaker, appreciating their wild beauty and bothered by not an ounce of fear. Looking at maps, however, made her feel small.

  No longer could she view her entire realm as though from above. Her human eyes and mind could examine only one aspect of her creation at a time. With the map, she could view a large area, but only in sketched lines that hardly did justice to the grandeur they were perched amidst. Furthermore, she could not affect any of it. She could not warm the weather to speed their journey or push up obstacles to hinder the enemy. A sense of powerlessness left her chilled, and she pressed against Magnus’s warm side.

  Her king was mortal as well, but there was nothing weak about him. Like her now, he could not view his kingdom from above. He could address only one problem at a time. But he did not grow overwhelmed. He simply did his best. How she admired him! How his quiet competence strengthened her spirit!

  Her king slid a second map from underneath the first. This one showed the interior of the mountain, which was riddled with a complex system of connecting caves, like the tunnels formed by her hard-working ants.

  “Years ago, the caves were mapped out,” he explained. “The Larnians fear them. They claim the surviving rejects from Jilken’s breeding experiments live there and that they are fierce and territorial. But our spies searched the caves thoroughly and found them completely abandoned. Thanks to these passages, we were able to push into Saroc from the north as well as from the east. If not for these maps, our victory might not have been so easily secured.”

  Danu recalled Hyrk’s fury when Magnus’s army had defeated Bantus’s two decades ago. He’d stormed into the dungeon shouting about Magnus stealing Larna’s women and ruining everything. His anger had not lasted long, however, before he began crowing about a new plan, the one that had recently been foiled by Magnus, Anya, and Riggs. That was one thing Magnus must understand about Hyrk. He never gave up.

  She followed his finger as it traced a route through the mountain from one side to the other. “That is the way you will go tomorrow?” she asked.

  “Yes. And here is where you and Anya will remain.” He touched a place near the center of the mountain. It was a small cavern not far from a larger one marked, Spring of all Seasons. “The spring will serve as our temporary base. Medics will be ready to receive any wounded, though I’m hoping for a quick and painless recovery of the children.”

  Danu doubted any plan where Hyrk was concerned would come off quickly and without pain. She darted a look to Anya and found her brow furrowed. Her friend feared the same.

  “So,” Anya said. “You suppose the children will come willingly when you march up to the fortress?” Doubt laced her voice.

  “Of course,” Magnus said. “They are Maranners. They do not belong in Larna.”

  Danu petted his beard, feeling all at once tender toward him and quite annoyed at his optimism. “Have you forgotten, my king, that they came here of their own free will?”

  His lips pulled into a frown. “We do not know that.”

  She smiled gently to soften the fact she was questioning him. “We would do well to assume it. There were no signs of a struggle at the schoolyard, were there?”

  “No. There were not,” he admitted, his brow creased in thought.

  “Hyrk is a master at deception. He will have poisoned them against you.” She desperately needed him to understand about Hyrk. They could not underestimate him. “Unless you want a fight on your hands, you must consider how you shall win back their loyalty.”

  “No one will raise a sword to any child,” he vowed. “My men will not fight.”

  “Then you will lose some of your men,” she stated. Magnus frowned, but she pressed on. “You must prepare for the children to resist. They have been here a week now, having the means to return home but choosing not to do so.”

  His eyes darted over the map, not seeing it, she ascertained, but rather turning over her words in thought. Lines bracketed his eyes and his mouth, making him appear weary. When had he last slept?

  At last, he said, “How can I plan what to say to them when I do not know the lies Hyrk may have told them?”

  “That I do not know. Let us rest for tonight. Perhaps the answers will come to you while you sleep.”

  Magnus raised a doubtful eyebrow.

  “Och, I would listen to her if I were you,” Anya said. “You need rest if you’re to lead your men out tomorrow.”

  Magnus scowled at the map. “I’ll rest when the children have been found.”

  “Stubborn man,” Anya muttered.

  Riggs came into the tent. “Everything has been seen to,” he told Magnus as he tucked Anya against his side. “Unless you need anything else, I would very much like to retire with my lifemate.”

  Magnus nodded absently, eyes roving over the map with the sharp focus of a falcon. “Go on. Rest well.”

  Finally, they were alone. But Magnus seemed to have forgotten his earlier promise. His furrowed brow and darting eyes meant his mind was busy. He did not appear remotely interested in the privacy they found themselves in possession of. She did not blame him. Her king had much on his mind.

  Still, Anya was right. Magnus needed rest, and Danu knew just how to lure him away from his maps.

  Going to the furs, she began removing her clothing. Once she was nude, she said, “I am cold, Magnus. Come make me warm.”
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br />   His body did not shift, but his head turned, as if to glance her way between bouts of stringent concentration. When he caught sight of her, everything about him stilled.

  His shoulders straightened. His eyes took on the dark hunger of a predator. Then he was stalking toward her, maps forgotten.

  Inwardly, she smiled.

  “What happened to the fur I gave you?” His voice slid over her skin like warm velvet.

  It lay on the bed with the others, and she knelt on it, legs slightly spread. “I seem to have lost it.”

  His gaze fell to her sex, then caressed up her stomach to her breasts. His pupils expanded. “You are chilled.”

  Her stomach tightened pleasantly when he licked his lips, as if he planned to warm her stiff nipples with his mouth.

  She cupped her breasts. They were larger and heavier than the ones she was used to. The nipples were a shade lighter, a rosy peach that reminded her of cloudberries just shy of ripening. “Will you share your warmth with me?”

  Suddenly, he was on the furs with her. His hands gripped her hips, and his mouth was on her right breast. Before he’d latched onto her with the heat of a forge, he’d gasped, “Always.”

  Her arms encircled his head, fingers combing through locks the color of rain-drenched wheat. His hair was slick against his head with natural oils and the weight of the helm he wore while riding. Beneath her fingertips, his scalp was warm and reassuring. He rumbled appreciatively at her petting, the vibration tickling her nipple.

  Then he pulled on her, taking her flesh deeper into his hot mouth.

  She gasped. Carnal heat lanced through her. She couldn’t decide whether these sensations were completely novel or if it had been so long she’d simply forgotten what it was like to be in such harmony with a lover. One thing she knew for certain was that she needed her king this night.

  Releasing his head, her hands traversed his neck and chest, snagging and loosening shirt laces on their journey to his belt. Slowly, she unclothed him, a challenge considering the nearly-debilitating pleasure he bestowed.

  So focused was her king on laving one breast and then the other that she had to fist her hand in his hair and tug him away to lift his tunic over his head. The moment the fabric cleared his head he was back, lunging like a ravenous newborn desperate for milk.

  “So smooth,” he muttered, the words garbled because of his mouthful. “Hairless. Cool. Mmmm.” He treated her like a delicacy. And to him, this human body would be. It made her proud to be utterly unique compared to other lovers he’d taken.

  “So sweet,” he whispered, and he inched down her body. His hands parted her legs, making his destination clear. She spread for him, anticipating a repeat of the sensations from the night before. Before the interruption that had set Magnus and his men on a course for war.

  I will give him this respite, and I will take my pleasure. Then I can return to my true form without regret.

  She committed memory for each decadent swipe of his tongue and each resulting dart of ecstasy. Seona, if she was wise, would be the recipient of these sensations from tomorrow forward. But tonight, Magnus was hers. His pleasure was hers to bestow. She would not leave him wanting.

  Entwining her fingers in his hair, she attempted to tug him upward. She longed to join with him, to at last provide a heated home for his erect cock. She’d longed to sate him since their interlude last night, when she’d reached her peak and had not been able to reciprocate. But her king did not wish to cooperate.

  He grunted a denial, pushed her legs wider and intensified his efforts.

  Her head pressed back into the furs. Pleasurable heat built like a fire devouring kindling and beginning to lick at heavy logs.

  Oh, his licking! His sucking at her sensitive pearl. His probing into her depths with his tongue.

  Oh. Ohhhh. Just there!

  The fire swelled, searing every inch of her like a glorious explosion.

  The furs beneath her felt like a floating cloud as she came down from the height her lover had so sweetly sent her to. Stars danced in her vision when she opened her eyes. Her body lay limp, legs splayed ungracefully.

  Magnus moved over her, lifted one of her legs around his hip, and entered her.

  Golden gaze reverent on hers, he slid home in her ready sex. She welcomed him with arms around his shoulders and fingers clinging to his back.

  The fullness of their joining was more than the coming together of body with body. Rather, she felt wrapped with a sense of completion that penetrated her heart, mind, and spirit. This mortal man somehow filled up places within her she hadn’t known were empty.

  As if sensing her joy, her moonstone warmed between her heaving chest and his. Together, they moved not to chase pleasure but in obedience to a primal urge. Their bodies mated, and they looked into each other’s eyes. She would remember what she witnessed in those golden depths for all eternity.

  He loves me.

  Her body danced with her king’s, and she crested once more, this time with a deep, resounding burst of ecstasy. Her cry mingled with his shout of completion, but the waves of pleasure did not recede. Their lovemaking continued as did the joy of their mutual pinnacle. The fullness he caused inside her swelled as if he’d somehow grown larger within her. The carnal peak went on and on, blinding her, deafening her, obliterating all thought except one: Mine.

  When their bodies at last settled into the furs, still joined, sweaty, and spent, Magnus gathered her close and kissed her over and over again.

  So intense had the pleasure been that sleep claimed her almost immediately. Before she succumbed, she managed to command her king to sleep as well. Whether he listened or not, she did not remain awake to see.

  When morning sent muted light past the tent flaps, Danu was pleased to find Magnus at her side with soft snores sawing from his open mouth. “Good king,” she praised in a whisper. He had needed rest, and it made her proud that she had helped him attain it.

  Too soon, activity outside the tent roused him. The instant his eyes opened, they fixed on her. His sensual grin had her melting into his arms, heedless of the slickness coating her thighs. She welcomed his seed on her skin, luxuriated in it. Its presence meant he was so virile he had overflowed her channel. She greedily accepted his kiss and would have pushed for more if it was not clear his men were awake and arming themselves for battle.

  Jangling gear and shouts to the ready made it impossible to deny that this moment was to be her last with her king.

  Not enough time. I need more. So much more.

  His brow furrowed as he stroked her cheek. “Do not fret, my beloved. I will return to you soon.”

  It was a pretty lie. He would return, but Seona would be in this body instead of her. Duff had given his word to see it done.

  Of course, her return to her true form depended on Magnus besting Hyrk. In a corner of her selfish heart, she hoped Hyrk would not show himself, that Magnus and his men would find the children and convince them to come home without the demigod’s interference.

  But she knew Hyrk better than that. He wanted to rule her realm. He wanted her sealed in his dungeon. To accomplish his aim, he would persist until every last wolfkind soul true to her had perished. Or until he met his end.

  “When I return,” Magnus said, oblivious to her musings, “I will have the children with me.” Determination lined his brow as he rose from bed and began dressing.

  She stood to help, taking this last opportunity to appreciate his well-honed physique. Hands gliding over his shoulders, she smoothed the linen of his shirt and fastened the laces.

  While she worked, he watched her with gentle eyes.

  She loved how well he wore his age. He was a man late in his prime and at his peak of power. From his lean muscles to the white hairs dusting his temples to the fine lines around his eyes, experience and wisdom cloaked him.

  “You are stunning,” she said.

  “Not nearly as stunning as you, My Goddess.” Taking her hands, he kissed her fi
ngertips. “You were right last night. I needed you.”

  She sighed, wishing to fall back with him on the bed furs. But it was time to let him go.

  Clearing her throat, she said, “Hyrk will not let you simply walk away with the children. You know this, do you not?”

  He nodded. “I am prepared to fight. He is powerful, but I have an army. We are well-prepared and will not return until he is destroyed.”

  “You must either convince every last child to hate him or you must destroy his relic.”

  “I will do both, to ensure he never harms you again,” he said fiercely.

  She could not help fearing for him. For his army. True, Hyrk was a single demigod, but he was smart and ruthless. He would have a plan, and she feared he would trick the children into helping. The children were the one thing he could use against Magnus and which Magnus could not harm.

  An idea struck her. Her hands went to the back of her neck. “You’ll take this,” she said. “I believe it will provide precisely what you need precisely when you need it.” She removed the necklace holding her moonstone and reached to fasten it around his neck.

  He stopped her with a gentle hand. “No. It is yours. I gave it to you.”

  “And I am allowing you to borrow it.”

  “I cannot. You said this is your moonstone. Your power.” His eyes were large and golden, concerned, loving, generous.

  “Exactly, my love. I cannot go with you in any other way, not in this mortal body. You must take this. It will help you when you need it most.” It would help him be strong and to see through Hyrk’s plans. It would help him know what to say to the children.

  A sigh came from his parted lips. His hand on her wrist loosened. He allowed her to finish fastening the necklace.

  “Bring it back to me safe and sound.” She did not make it a request. And she did not dwell on the fact that once she had it again, she and Seona would be together and they would be sent back to their true forms.

  “Yes, My Goddess.”