Bound by Song (Cauld Ane Series, #4)

by Piper Davenport

  He smiled. “Trust me?”

  “With all my heart.”

  “You’re going to repeat after me.”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  Max kissed her quickly. “Ég gef þér allt sem ég er, allt sem ég vil vera og allt sem ég get verið.”

  She nodded. “Um, okay.”

  “Let’s try it. Ready?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ég gef þér allt ég, allt sem ég vil vera og allt sem ég er að verða,” he whispered.

  “Ég gef þér allt sem ég er, allt sem ég vil vera og allt sem ég get verið,” Grace said, with surprising ease. As she finished the last word, she felt unsteady on her feet and her vision blurred. She gripped Max’s shoulders. “I feel light-headed.”

  “I know, baby. It’s all part of the process,” he said, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist.

  “What does it mean?”

  “I give you everything I am, all I want to be, and all I can be. I’m yours forever. Our bond will never be broken. My love is absolute,” he said.

  “Wow, beautiful.”

  He nodded. “As are you.” He smiled down at her. “Ready?”

  She nodded.

  “I’ve got you.” He kissed her nose. “Okay, repeat after me. Ég er þinn að eilífu. Eining okkar mun aldrei bresta.”

  “Ég er þín að eilífu Eining okkar mun aldrei bresta,” Grace whispered. “The room’s spinning, Max.”

  “Just a bit longer.” He stroked her cheek. “Ást mín er alger.”

  “Ást mín er alger.” She gripped his waist. “Please tell me we’re almost done.”

  He nodded. “We have to say it together, but we can lie down for that.”

  “Okay.”

  Max helped her to the bed, stretching out beside her. He kissed her gently again and then nodded. “Together,” he instructed.

  “Always,” she said.

  “Ég gef þér allt sem ég er, allt sem ég vil vera og allt sem ég get verið.” Grace picked out the words from his mind, which helped her when she wasn’t sure. “Ég er þinn að eilífu. Eining okkar mun aldrei bresta. Ást mín er alger.”

  As they said the last word, Max kissed her and stroked her cheek. “You are perfect.”

  “You are too,” she whispered.

  Max grinned and kissed his way down her body, stopping at her panties, and taking the edge in his teeth. He ripped them from her hips and chucked the scrap of lace into the corner. Licking her bare pussy, he sucked gently on her clit, then moved back up her body, drawing a nipple into his mouth and biting gently as he pushed her cami from her body.

  Grace arched into him, sliding her hands into his hair as he gently bit down again on one nipple, then the other. Kissing his way back down her body, he knelt between her legs, and ran his tongue over her already slick folds. She shuddered as he ran his tongue over her clit again, then he slid a finger inside of her and she came apart.

  “That’s right, baby, come for me.”

  He focused back on her pussy, and her fingers weaved into his hair and she tugged gently as she ground her core against his mouth. “Max,” she breathed out. Unable to wait, he sat up, sliding his cock against her wetness, before slipping inside of her, stopping at her barrier. Grace whimpered, but their connection assured him it was with need, not pain.

  “It’s going to hurt a bit, love,” he warned.

  She nodded, and before she could change her mind, he surged into her, catching her cry with his mouth as he kissed her.

  I’m okay, Max.

  With a control he wasn’t sure he could hold on to, he paused for a few minutes, rolling her nipple between his fingers and waiting for her body to get used to his size. When her hips began to move, he took the cue and buried himself inside of her over and over again. He was overwhelmed with all of it, and he knew he was feeling what she was feeling. As her nipples tightened and her body took him deeper, her arousal swamped him, urging his burning hunger to find assuagement.

  When he felt her walls contract around him, he continued to slam into her...he just wasn’t ready to stop yet. He wanted more...needed more.

  Grace seemed to understand this, and despite the fact she’d cried out as she came, she wrapped her legs around his waist and took him even deeper, dragging her nails down his back as another climax built. The feeling of hers building as his was about to crest, was heady and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to stop.

  She cried out as they came together and Max rolled them onto their sides, keeping their connection.

  Grace stroked his face. “Wow.”

  “Aye, love.”

  As the fire started to die in the room, he pulled the covers around them and settled her firmly over his body. She kissed his chest then grinned up at him. “I’m gonna need to do that often.”

  “That can be arranged, love, but let’s give your body a bit to rest.”

  She nodded. She hadn’t expected the experience to be so incredible.

  “You didn’t?” Max asked as he pulled her onto his chest and kissed her.

  “No.” She giggled. “My mom sat me down and reminded me that the first time probably wouldn’t be very good—”

  “Reminded you?”

  “Yeah, we had ‘the talk’ when I was about nine.” She kissed his chest. “And so last night, she went over the bullet points again.”

  “Good mum.”

  Grace smiled. “Yes...a little nosier than I like, but overall, a really good mom.”

  “So, you’re pleased with me then?”

  Grace laughed. “Unbelievably so. All your practice paid off.”

  Max groaned. “Baby, don’t remind me.”

  “Too soon?” She licked her lips and smiled. “Sorry.”

  “You’re sorry?”

  “So very, very sorry.”

  He chuckled and pushed her onto her back. “Prove it.”

  Grace giggled as she craned her neck to give him better access and sighed as he ran his tongue across her pulse. She wasn’t prepared, however, for the pain that slammed into her stomach, and her forehead collided with his as she doubled over with a scream.

  “Shite,” he snapped, and scrambled from the bed.

  * * *

  “Baby, I’m getting Sam.” Max pulled on pants and a shirt and texted Samantha.

  Grace groaned as she pulled her knees up to her chest, squeezing her eyes shut.

  Within minutes, a knock came at the door and he opened it to let Samantha in. “It’s started?”

  “Aye,” he said.

  “Quicker than with me or Pepper.”

  He nodded, his heart racing.

  “It’s okay, Max. I promise. She’ll be fine.” Samantha squeezed his arm. “Now, lie down beside her and keep contact. You can ease some of her pain.”

  Max nodded and climbed onto the bed beside Grace, not entirely sure where to touch her. So far, other than one scream, she hadn’t made a sound, but her skin was red and she took quick, shallow breaths.

  “Baby, I’m going to put my hand on your hip.”

  Grace squeezed her eyes shut again and Max laid a shaky hand on her hip. She jerked away with a whimper, but he held firm.

  “Good, that’s good,” Samantha said. “Her pulse is slowing.”

  Max scooted closer to Grace, her back to his chest, and kissed her shoulder. “I’m here, baby. Just breathe.”

  “Grace, I’m going to take your temperature,” Sam said, and slipped a medical thermometer under her tongue. “Max, you should really take your shirt off. Skin to skin is best.”

  Max whispered to her in Gaelic in an effort to calm her as he broke contact and pulled off his shirt. He was grateful Sam had paper-like thermometers...God forbid, Grace were to bite through one with mercury in the tip. He resumed his position, keeping Grace close.

  Samantha took the reading and nodded. “Okay, she’s at about one hundred six. It’s time for the ice sheets. Look for the birthmark and see if it’s red. I’ll get Pepper, okay?�
�

  Max nodded and Sam left them alone.

  “Baby, this isn’t going to last long. I promise.” He took a second to check her right buttock for the birthmark that would mirror his. Shaped like a tiny paint splatter, it was there and now bright red.

  “Sing,” she rasped.

  “Really?”

  Yes, Max, please.

  Max quietly sang the song he’d been working on for her, and he smiled when she sighed and her body finally relaxed.

  I love you.

  “I love you more, sweetheart.”

  She let out a quiet snort. Um, I highly doubt that.

  The moment of levity didn’t last long. Her body contracted again and she cried out in pain. Max kissed her shoulder and tried to use his healing gift. Unfortunately, Samantha had informed him that he wouldn’t be able to take the pain fully away during Grace’s conversion. Her body had to go through the worst of it without his assistance; however, Max was determined to try.

  She relaxed in tiny increments, but Max didn’t let up until her panting turned into steady breathing. “Good girl,” he whispered.

  Patronizing as ever, she accused.

  He linked his fingers with hers. “Aye, love, I suppose I am.”

  Forgiven.

  He chuckled. “Thank you.”

  “We have the sheets,” Samantha said.

  Max hadn’t heard anyone enter the room.

  “You should carry her to the chair,” Pepper suggested. “As long as you keep contact, Grace will feel better.”

  Max kept his hand on Grace’s hip as he sat up and then lifted her into his arms. Her cry broke his heart, but he knew he had to get her into the coolness of the sheets or she would be more miserable than she already was.

  He sat in one of the chairs by the window and kissed Grace’s forehead as she stiffened in his arms. He hadn’t noticed she’d bit through her lip and the blood now ran down her chin. He kissed her gently, healing the wound, relaxing when Grace sighed.

  She wasn’t relaxed for long, as her body stiffened again. “Sick,” she rasped.

  Samantha moved with lightning speed, placing a bowl under Grace’s chin just in time. “If you move her onto the floor, I think it helps to be on all fours during this part,” Samantha suggested.

  Max nodded and waited until Grace had calmed. Keeping the bed sheet wrapped around her for modesty, he lowered her to the ground.

  You can go, Max.

  I’m not going anywhere.

  Baby, this is gross. You really don’t need to see this.

  “No.”

  “What’s wrong?” Sam asked.

  “Sorry,” Max replied. “Grace is trying to get me to leave.”

  “I get it,” Pepper said. “This part’s the worst.”

  Grace groaned and pulled the bowl closer. Max stayed connected, his hand on her back, praying for the pain to be over soon.

  Sam knelt beside Grace. “Sorry, Grace, I have to look in the bowl.”

  Grace grimaced as she rolled to her side.

  Sam smiled gently. “No blood yet. Sorry, honey, this is going to go on for a little while longer.”

  Please don’t see this, Max.

  Max stroked her back. I’m not going anywhere, love.

  Twenty minutes later, Grace was in the bed of ice and finally drifting off to sleep. Max stretched out beside her in an effort to watch her closely.

  “Max, she did great,” Samantha said. “Amazing, in fact. My conversion and Pepper’s lasted for hours. Grace’s barely lasted one. I’ll be noting that in the record.”

  Max nodded, although he continued to watch Grace. “I hope all your poking and prodding’s worth it.”

  Samantha had taken Grace’s blood before the conversion and would take more when everything was over. Ever the researcher, she was tracking what happened to the body during a Cauld Ane change in an effort to understand it better. She had also discovered that some of the data she’d gathered from herself and Pepper had some overlapping benefits to her new medical trial.

  “It will be, Max. I promise,” Samantha assured him. “For now, she should sleep. You both should.”

  “We’ll clean up here and leave you guys alone,” Pepper said. “Call us if anything changes, okay?”

  “I will,” he said. “Thank you.”

  The ladies left and Max lay his head on the pillow, still facing Grace. She smiled, although, her eyes were still closed. “You’re staring.”

  Max chuckled. “I can’t help it. You’re beautiful.”

  “I’m tired.”

  “Sleep, baby.”

  “I don’t want to miss anything.”

  “Are you in pain?”

  “Nope. I just feel super sleepy. Like I’ve had just enough wine to be entirely relaxed, but not quite enough to be drunk.”

  “Well, that’s very specific.”

  She smiled again. “I’m all about specificity.”

  “Can I hold you?”

  She nodded. “My body feels like rubber, so you’ll have to move me where you want me.”

  Max laughed as he gathered her in his arms. “Oh, baby. A different day and a different situation, I would have been all over that.”

  Grace giggled, her eyes still closed. “Hmm-mm, don’t I know it. Sex kitten blow-up doll.”

  Max gave her a gentle squeeze. “Sleep.”

  She did.

  TWO MORNINGS LATER, Grace woke feeling noticeably different. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she didn’t have a headache, even one she considered “manageable.” She was also naked, a state of dress that was alien to her, especially when sleeping.

  “Good morning,” Max said, and kissed her shoulder.

  “Hi.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  She rolled over to face him. “Better than I ever have...in my life.”

  He grinned. “You’re welcome.”

  Grace giggled and Max grasped her around her waist and pulled her on top of him. “Payback time.”

  “With pleasure.” Grace straddled his hips and leaned down to kiss him, moving her lips across his jaw and down to his throat.

  Max slid a hand between their bodies, and ran a finger gently across her wetness. She gasped, sitting up and dropping her head back. “Mmmm.”

  “You’re so wet,” he said.

  She panted, rocking against his hand. “You make me that way.”

  His thumb pressed into her clit and she hummed as he worked her body. When she lifted up, he guided himself inside of her.

  “Shite,” he breathed.

  Grace lifted up again, lowering herself, relishing the feeling of his girth stretching her.

  “Soaked,” he whispered. “Beautiful.”

  She leaned back, bracing her hands on his thighs for leverage so she could move more freely and rode him.

  “Fuck, baby,” he said.

  Grace dropped her head back and moved faster. Her orgasm hit her fast and hard and she found herself falling across Max, her breath coming in short bursts.

  “Babe.” Max wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck.

  “Sorry that was so quick.”

  Max chuckled. “We’re not done, love.”

  “Oh, I know.” She separated herself from him and kissed his chest. “Your turn.” Grace slid further down his body and wrapped her lips around his cock.

  “Baby,” he whispered as his fingers wove into her hair.

  Grace closed her eyes and focused on the task at hand. She loved his body and couldn’t wait to taste every inch...but for now, she’d focus on his cock. When Max gripped her hair and his body locked, she could feel he was close, so she added her hand to speed up the process.

  “Now,” he hissed, letting out a quiet grunt as he climaxed.

  She stretched out beside him again and snuggled close. He wrapped his arm around her, slipping his fingers into her hair and kissing her forehead. “Gorgeous, baby.”

  “That was fun.”

  “Aye
, love.” Max chuckled.

  She couldn’t help but laugh. Her life had changed so much in the space of a very short time.

  “Not just yours, love,” Max said, and leaned over her to kiss her.

  “So very true.”

  “We should shower and head next door. Sam wants to talk with us before we head over to the hospital.”

  Grace sat up. “Is she worried?”

  “I don’t think so. If she were, I’d imagine, she would have come by.” Max climbed off the bed and headed to the bathroom.

  Grace heard the water start and then Max leaned into the room. “Are you joining me?”

  “Um, duh.”

  Grace was grateful they didn’t have to rush. By the time they dressed and arrived at Kade and Samantha’s apartment, they still had over an hour before they were due at the hospital.

  Samantha ushered them into the living room where Connall and Pepper were focused on a game of chess.

  “King me,” Pepper said.

  “Baby, this isn’t checkers,” Connall said. “There’s no such thing as ‘kinging.’”

  Pepper wrinkled her nose. “Are you sure?”

  “Aye, love.” Connall chuckled. “Besides, I’m just a lowly prince...I can’t king you.”

  Pepper giggled. “Oh, funny.”

  Kade strolled in and stared at the board for a second before moving Pepper’s bishop. “Checkmate, Con.”

  “Does that mean I won?” Pepper asked.

  “Aye, you won.” Connall shook his head at his brother. “There’s just no loyalty anymore.”

  Kade laughed and shook Max’s hand and then hugged Grace. “You look well, lass.”

  Grace nodded. “I feel amazing.”

  “Can I get you anything?” Samantha offered.

  Grace and Max both shook their heads.

  “Well, have a seat,” Samantha said. “I have something to tell you, and it’s somewhat delicate.”

  “That’s our cue, love,” Connall said. “Let’s check on Callum.”

  Pepper nodded and rose to her feet. Once the couple left the room, Grace gripped Max’s hand, admittedly a little nervous now that they were here.

  “I discovered something not long ago, that I believe applies to you as well, Grace,” Samantha said. “Dalton, my brother, played a bit of a trick on me and cut open his finger to see if I could heal him. Since Kade was the first Cauld Ane to bind a human in a very long time, we had no idea what would happen. What we found out is that even though he’s still human, I am able to heal him.” Kade squeezed Samantha’s knee and she smiled at him before facing Grace again. “I am led to believe that now that you are Cauld Ane, you’ll be able to heal Maggie.”