He walked into the room, and the movement caught her attention. She turned and gave him a smile.
“Cameron,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“You look very beautiful,” he said. “As beautiful as you have for thousands of years.”
She came toward him, her hips moving hypnotically under the yards of emerald silk. Her breasts swelled above the low-cut bodice, and he could not take his eyes from her.
“You called me,” she said. “I came to you.”
“You had no choice,” he snapped.
“I wanted no choice. We have been to the Between Times. I belong to you now.”
“Not yet,” he said, “not totally. But you will.”
Arleigh’s arms went around his neck, and she pressed against him. He could reach out and cup her breasts; his arm could encircle her waist; his hands could caress her smooth thighs and delight in the warm, wet pussy that invaded his dreams. Her mouth moved very close, and he wanted to kiss her. But suddenly that was not enough.
Flynn stared into her eyes, looking for her, trying to find any spark of the woman whom he craved, thirsted for, coveted with every fiber of his being. But something was missing in her eyes. He saw the beauty, the desire, the lust, the promise, but he could not find the Arleigh Donovan whom he had killed for.
Heart pounding, he pulled her roughly against him. His mouth crushed down on hers, and she responded. Her lips opened under his; her tongue met his with an avid greed that took his breath away. Her hands ran over his body and finally caught at his clothing, frantically pulling at his breeches. He felt her searching for his cock and heard her moan.
He tore away from her.
“Stop,” he said.
“We can’t stop,” she said. “I need you.”
“Not good enough,” he said.
“Cameron, we are to be together. You have whispered to me, sent for me. I am to be yours.”
She pulled at him again, her fingers gripping the cloth of his shirt. Her lips caught at the edge of his jaw, and he groaned, his mouth devouring hers once again. He led her to the bed and pushed her down onto the mattress. He fell against her softness. Eagerly, her legs rose and locked around his, her hips pushing against him. His lips moved from her mouth to her throat and grazed across the tops of her breasts. She whimpered against him.
He kissed her for what felt like an eternity. His hands could not get enough of her soft skin, the gentle curves of her body. He forced himself away from her once more. Each time it grew harder and harder to release her. He leaned on his elbow and looked at her once again. Her hair fanned about her; her small faced raised to his. Her eyes partially closed, and she breathed in small, irregular pants like a wounded animal, or a woman in the midst of fucking. His finger grazed her lips. Where was the woman he had dreamed of, wished for, wanted for four hundred years?
“Can you love me?” he asked.
“I do love you, Cameron.”
“Do you know how many women have said that to me?” he asked. His fingers combed through her hair. “Hundreds, thousands.”
“I am here now.”
“Do you want me?”
“Yes,” she said. “I want you always.”
“You are mine?”
“Forever,” she said.
“Do you know how long forever is?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said.
“It does to me,” Flynn said.
He moved away from her and sat on the edge of the bed. Her hands moved along his back, pulling at his shoulders.
“I need to think,” Flynn said.
“We have no time to think,” Arleigh said. “I want you. You want me. Take me to the Between Times so we can join.”
He stood up and looked down at her. She knelt on the bed. Her dress had come loose from one shoulder. He wanted to push her down and take her as he had in his fantasies every other day of his miserable existence. And here she was in the flesh. And he could not bear to touch her.
“Get undressed,” he snapped. “Get into bed. Wait for me.”
She moaned, but he did not turn around and look at her. He couldn’t.
Chapter 25
The girls walked with Ryder to the dock. Once he got to Cardew, he would deal with the consequences. He’d worry about that later. He could think about only one thing at a time. Right now, he tried to convince himself he had made the right choice. He wondered how he would keep Arleigh on the island, but, most of all, he wondered how he could live with her under the same roof and keep his cool.
Promising the girls to bring Arleigh home was one thing. Seeing her, smelling her, being near her seemed a whole different ball game. He had already proven to himself more than once that he failed at keeping his cool where Arleigh was concerned. She seemed able to inspire him to new heights of idiocy, but he worried most about hearing that name whispered in his ear. That scared him, and he didn’t know what would happen if she said it again.
The girls were in better spirits than when they had arrived. They chattered now about the delicious food they had been served. Apparently, Flynn’s chef was quite the epicurean and a far better cook than Arleigh could ever hope to be. Ryder didn’t doubt that at all. The clothes Flynn had acquired for them were the latest fashions, and the fabrics, imported from France, Ryder, France, apparently were to die for. They’d taken advantage of the magnificent horses stabled at Cardew Manor more than once by begging Master Flynn to take them riding.
Apparently Flynn, that ever loveable Mr. Perfect, had been spoiling Ryder’s girls. Flynn had the best, and the girls had clearly enjoyed the luxury at Cardew. They were delighted to regale him with everything Flynn owned. Ryder felt like a country bumpkin next to the cosmopolitan Flynn with his silk stockings and flamboyant cloaks, but he could live with that, because the girls had managed to survive their incarceration with mostly happy memories. Flynn had kept his promise to care for them.
Their exuberance filled him with his own memories. He could have been listening to his sisters discuss what they bought at the mall, the boys they liked, and the newborn kittens down the street.
“So what exactly do you think you can do about Flynn?” he asked. “And about Arleigh?”
“We’re going to use our boxes!” Corliss said.
“Boxes?” Ryder asked. An uncomfortable sensation growled in the pit of his stomach. “Wooden boxes with initials?”
Three little faces snapped toward him. He thought of three boxes at home. Over the years, his sisters had filled theirs with a motley collection of fibers and herbs, stones and shells. He didn’t know what they did with their wooden boxes, and he had never asked. It was enough to know that Faith, Hope, and Charity could read his mind, coerce people into doing things they might not otherwise do, and occasionally tinker with the weather. He had never wanted to know how powerful they might be, but suddenly it seemed important.
“What do you have in your boxes?” Ryder asked.
“Odds and ends,” Fiana said. “Nothing of any value.”
“Our charms,” Hannah said.
“And our treasures,” Corliss said.
“Girls,” Fiana said. “Ryder doesn’t care about such things.”
“Oh, Ryder cares a great deal about such things,” he said, “and I’m wondering now why I didn’t care before. What are you planning to do?”
“Magic!” Corliss said.
“For Master Flynn,” Hannah said.
Fiana looked disgusted and rolled her eyes.
“Not a good idea,” he said.
“We know what we’re doing,” Hannah said. “We do it all the time. We use things like this.”
She reached into the pocket of her cloak and pulled out a chunk of obsidian the size of Rhode Island. Ryder took it from her palm and hefted it in his hand. “Where did you get this?”
“I have always had it. It goes out and it comes back. It has always been mine.”
“But my sister Hope has a piece of obsidian that looks ex
actly like this.”
“Because it’s always been mine,” Hannah insisted.
“It’s magic,” Corliss said. “We don’t know how it works, it just works.”
Ryder glanced at Fiana. She ignored him, staring calmly toward the river. Oh, his sisters always tried to have their little secrets, but eventually they confessed. He knew how to do make them do it, and he also knew how to get this one’s attention.
“Well,” he said, “if none of you know how the magic works, you should probably leave it alone. It might be dangerous.”
“I know how it works,” Fiana snapped. “As long as one of us knows, we’re safe.”
It was the same reaction he would have gotten from Faith. Ryder’s brow shot up. “Care to explain it to me?”
She huffed. “I’m not very good at explaining things. Hannah, tell him.”
Hannah knelt down and scooped her hand into the dirt. Her fingers moved across the grains delicately, reverently. Her smile vanished, and she put her on serious face. Ryder had seen it before on Hope’s face. The look said: Listen up. I’m going to say it once. If you don’t understand, you’re out of luck.
“The elementals control the entire world around us,” Hannah said. “They are creatures of the earth, air, fire, and water. My sisters and I represent earth, fire, and air. You and Arleigh are water. The elementals also control the forces in the world that transect the ordinals of the earth. My sisters and I represent north, south, and east. You and Arleigh are west. We opened a rift to bring you here by requesting help from our elementals at our ordinals, because we needed the energy, the grounding, the opening of space.
“When the earth is in perfect balance, harmony spreads across the earth, uniting every living creature, every rock in the field, every blade of grass. We shifted the balance a little, and the energy released, opening the rift, and—“
He held up his hand. “Stop, Hannah, I don’t understand it. How old are you?”
“Ten,” she said.
“And you get all this?”
“Aye,” Hannah said. “I understand how the earth is. I feel it.”
Ryder ran his fingers through the dirt on her palm. “Just like Hope. She’s studying environmental science. Ever think of becoming a scientist?”
Hannah laughed. “Your sister may need science where she lives, but I’m a witch, Ryder, I don’t need science.”
“So this harmony,” he said, glancing at Fiana, “what do you do to work your magic?”
“I stir it,” Fiana said. “The disruption causes a channel, and the energy I send out follows the channel and creates a new reality. It can be very tricky, because disturbing the balance too much can cause severe consequences. That is why we always ask permission and seek the aid of the elementals.”
“How do you know these things?”
“I just do,” Fiana said. “I am perfectly capable of performing magic. I managed to bring you here, didn’t I?’
“Indeed you did,” he said. “Does all the power belong to you?”
“No,” Fiana said. “We all have power, but only I seem able to do the stirring.”
Ryder nodded. “You’re the center that holds it together.And this power appeared out of the blue? How did you know you had it?”
Fiana laughed. “We’ve always had it because we have always been.”
“And now you’re thinking of stirring things up for Flynn.”
“Master Flynn has asked me to do something for him. I can hardly refuse. I think his need is the only thing keeping us out of the goal. He threatened every hour to turn us over to the authorities if I change my mind. If I don’t do it, he’ll take us away again.”
“Liking him more every day,” Ryder said.
“Because he needs something from us, we are safe,” Fiana said. “And we hold some power over him.”
“What does he want you to do?”
“Something easy,” Fiana said. “Something I’ve done before. I need you to trust that I’ve made the right decision.”
He cocked his head and studied her. She was one tough little cookie.
“I do trust you. I’ve a feeling you’ve been perfecting your powers for centuries. Did your father make these boxes?” Their little heads nodded. “Stephen was a nice guy, right?”
“Very nice,” Fiana said. “Patient, loving, kind. We’ve known many like him. Most Caindale men are the same. You are one of the exceptions.”
“Because I’m not a real Kendall. I’m adopted. All my life I tried to be like my dad, because he was a good man. I thought I had done a pretty good job, but I’ve discovered since being here that I’m no Prince Charming. I’ve done things and said things I’m ashamed to admit.”
“We all do bad things,” Hannah said.
“Arleigh will forgive you, Ryder,” Fiana said.
“Doubtful, kid,” Ryder said. “If you knew what I’d done—”
“I do know what you’ve done,” Fiana said.
He took Fiana’s arm and pulled her away from the other girls. He glanced at Hannah and Corliss. “Run and get Jack Kensington for me.”
When they ran across the field, he studied the girl in front of him. His discomfort level rose to an all-time high. He rubbed his hand across the new growth of beard and stared at her hard. She gazed at him coolly, and Faith’s constant impatience with him suddenly snapped to the surface on the face of this girl. Had Faith been this domineering so young? He couldn’t remember, but probably. Fiana put her hands on her hips.
“I’m practically a woman, Ryder,” she said curtly. “I am of marriageable age. I know the way of the world, of men and women. Get on with it.”
He looked at her doubtfully while she waited impatiently for him to determine her scope of knowledge. A kid here in 1639 seemed a little different than home. This girl had lost so much she probably did know the way of the world. He didn’t seem to have much choice. He had to get this off his chest, and there were no therapists in Jamestown.
“Well, then, okay. I almost, I practically, it was the closest to rape I ever want to get.”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t that at all.”
“No?” Ryder asked. “What would you call it, then? I shoved her. I threatened her. More importantly, I didn’t ask, and she didn’t offer. I’m bigger. I’m stronger. I’m supposed to protect women, not force them to do things they don’t want to do.”
“You never forced her,” Fiana said. “What she initially felt was linked to the enchantment, but she should have killed you before she allowed you to touch her. Her eyes should have been for Flynn only. And yet she saw you.”
“But she said his name,” he groaned.
“Arleigh may not have had control of the body,” Fiana said, “but she had control of the heart.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because I just know,” Fiana said.
She gave him that unfathomable look he recognized. The kid did know the way of the world, and she knew the exact thing she needed to say. How did these girls seem to know him so well? A surprised look flashed on Fiana’s face, and she laughed.
“We are one,” Fiana said. “I told you that already.”
“You are indeed.”
Chapter 26
No river sickness this time. It amazed him what riding with a skilled man could do. Ryder jumped out of the boat as Jack tied it to the dock. Cardew loomed ahead like a fortress in the middle of a meadow. He wondered what he had gotten himself into.
“Okay, Jack, I should be only a few minutes, but if I’m not out soon, send in the Marines, or maybe a vampire slayer. I’m not sure what kind of help I’ll need, but send it.”
Jack Kensington smiled and winked. “Aye, sir, I’ll see if I can locate the Slayer, though I wouldna be countin’ on it. She’s usually busy with her own problems, and I’ve heard she’s in Prussia.” When Ryder’s jaw dropped, Jack laughed. “Go get the little faery lass.”
He strode toward the gates and let himself in. He stood in the
main hall and looked around, but the hall loomed eerily silent, and with the door closed and the sunlight shut out, the room became dark and gloomy. It kept getting better and better. His heart hammered in his chest. He wished he had a SWAT team.
He hustled from room to room, opening and slamming doors. He careened through the dining room, the parlor where he had first met the girls, and found what he thought might be Flynn’s study. But he couldn’t locate Arleigh or Flynn. Panic nearly overwhelmed him. He might never find her in this stone monstrosity. He went out into the foyer and cupped his hand around his mouth.
“Flynn!”
The roar of his voice echoed through the room and up the staircase. He waited a moment and called again. Finally, preparing himself for an all-out search and rescue, he heard the creak of a footstep on the staircase. Each step brought him closer and closer to the edge he feared he might step over. His fists clenched against his sides, slimy with perspiration. His blood pounded through his head, and he fought to keep himself from racing up the stairs and pounding the Highlander to within an inch of his life. Hell, he thought he even might take that extra inch.
Flynn took his good old time. No need to hurry when immortal. Each creak of the staircase echoed in Ryder’s head. He was a teacher, for Christ’s sake. How he had gotten himself into this impossible scenario? He had been transported into an actual fairy tale. He wished he had paid more attention to the Disney movies. Animated villains wove through his head, creating a colorful montage of evil. He could see all their faces. He desperately tried to think of all the ways they had been defeated. There had to be some truth in there somewhere. He could not believe he had been shoved through a curtain in time and found himself in an R-rated Disney movie.
Flynn finally rounded the bend in the staircase and walked casually down the stairs as though he were meeting a business acquaintance. But this was no business meeting. He wore a dressing gown of dark blue silk, and his hand threaded through dark disheveled bed-hair. Ryder’s jaw cracked.
“Kendall,” Flynn said.
Carlton, Amber - Trinity Magic (Siren Publishing Romance) Page 28