by Donna Grant
“I hate to admit it, but Jason Wallace is verra intelligent,” Constantine said. “He wanted your men and Druids divided. Divided, your attention is split, thereby you willna see his true intentions.”
Charon pointed to the amber dragon they had been watching. “The dragons are our only chance.”
“I can no’ watch innocents die!” Fallon shouted.
“And Aiden?” Charon asked. “What will you tell Quinn or Marcail? That their son’s life mattered less than everyone else’s.”
Fallon’s skin turned the black of his god as he took the step separating him and Charon and got in his face. “You know that isna true.”
The deep threat in his voice didn’t deter Charon. “The only way to stop Wallace from getting to Aiden and Britt is to lure him here. We kill him, then his magic is gone. Whatever he’s done in Edinburgh will stop.”
“So you think.” Fallon whirled around, but didn’t tamp down his god. He paced a few steps away before he faced Charon again. “You didna want to be a part of us. You chose to live in Ferness instead of MacLeod Castle. Yet, you’re asking me to trust you now.”
“You didna have a problem trusting me before when you needed another Warrior.” Charon didn’t hide the fury bubbling inside him. He had expected this from Fallon, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
Fallon peeled back his lips to show his fangs as he sneered. “And how many times did you watch us battle evil while you did nothing?”
“How many times did you lift a bottle instead of helping your brothers?” Charon taunted.
Fallon launched himself at Charon, but suddenly Banan and Hal were between them. Charon wanted to shove Hal away from him. Instead, he took a step back.
“Our chance is now, Fallon. Make a decision,” Charon stated.
Constantine released an exaggerated breath. “He’s right, Fallon, and you know it. There’s nothing you can do about the outbreak. You can save your nephew and an innocent woman who just might be the answer to the Warriors’ problem with drough blood.”
Fallon instantly tamped down his god and ran a hand through his hair. When he looked at Charon, there was remorse in his green eyes. “I never liked having to choose who lived and who died. Let’s get to the details of your plan before Wallace, the bastard, reaches Aiden.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Aisley sat in the front seat of the Jaguar as Dale drove. She was careful to keep her face passive since Jason and Mindy were in the backseat.
Even now, Aisley could feel Jason’s eyes on her. The five raised gnashes along his left cheek emphasized his eyes even more, making him look more sinister—if that was possible. He was always watching her, as if he knew the dark, desperate thoughts she had in the early hours before dawn.
He should know that they were just thoughts. She would never—could never—leave him. He had ensured that.
“Why do they continue to run?” Mindy asked in her whiny voice that grated on Aisley’s nerves.
Jason chuckled. “Ah, but you would run, too, love. It’s human nature.”
“They’re Warriors.”
Aisley rolled her eyes and gripped the door to keep from telling Mindy just what a stupid ninny she was.
“They may have a god inside them, but they’re human,” Jason replied in a voice used for very small children or the mentally impaired.
It made Aisley grin. When Dale glanced at her while battling his own smile, she couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up. Aisley quickly covered it with a cough.
They had been driving for a few hours, and she was ready to get out of the car. Being in such a confined space with Mindy was giving her hives. Several times, they had pulled over so Jason could go off by himself and do some spell.
The fact that he didn’t want anyone to see him caused suspicion to well up within Aisley. Not that it did her any good. She may hate Jason with a passion, but it did nothing to ease her position.
She was well and truly fucked.
“We’re close,” Jason said, triumph clear in his voice. “Verra close.”
Aisley rested her hands palm down on her legs. How many more times would she go into battle with Jason and live? She had been wounded already, and if it hadn’t been for Dale, she was sure she’d be dead.
In some ways, she welcomed death. It would get her away from Jason. Yet, her soul was promised to Satan. As awful as her life was on earth, she was sure it wouldn’t get any better once she was in Hell. Or would it?
It made her wonder if that was why Deirdre prolonged her life by killing other Druids. The power Aisley had wanted and needed when Jason found her had been too alluring to turn away.
At the time, she hadn’t thought her life could get any worse. Living on the streets, starving, with the thought of selling her body just to have food ever-present in her mind.
Then Jason found her. He’d given her food and shelter. He had somehow known of the meager magic she possessed and promised her the world.
Fool that she was, she believed him. Hook, line, and sinker.
There was no doubt she deserved what was coming to her. She could have turned away during the ceremony and refused to become drough. Jason would have killed her on the spot, but that would have been preferable to what she was now.
“Stop,” Jason told Dale.
Aisley withdrew from her musings when Dale pulled the car off the road next to a large farm. She looked at Dale, only to see him shrug.
Jason slapped the back of Aisley’s seat. “They’re here. Somewhere on this land, Aiden and Britt are here. They’ve no’ moved in some time.”
“They think they’re safe,” Dale said as he peered out the window. “Shall I have a look around?”
“No’ yet. We’ll wait on the others to catch up to us.”
Aisley saw the lights in the distance. “Surely Aiden wouldn’t have gone to the house.”
“Oh, no,” Jason said as he opened the car door and stepped out. “They’re attempting to hide.”
Mindy scooted along the seat and got out beside Jason. “Don’t forget they have two Warriors with them.”
“Who doona stand a chance against me,” Jason said, and put an arm around her. “You should know that.”
“I do. Just want you to be cautious, lover.”
Aisley rolled her eyes again. The two of them made her physically sick.
Suddenly, Dale’s large hand came to rest atop hers. “I’ve got a bad feeling,” he whispered.
“Me, too,” she agreed while nodding her head. “They kept on the run. Why stay in the same place now?”
“It’s a trap.”
Aisley flattened her lips as her gaze roamed the rows of wheat in front of the headlights of the car. “Yes. A trap.”
* * *
By the time Charon and the Kings finished explaining the plan to Fallon, it was late into the night. Fallon didn’t have all the answers about the Dragon Kings, but for now he would leave it alone.
Charon had no doubt Fallon would be back after the battle.
After the battle. He hoped there was a time after the battle. Both Con and Fallon liked his plan, the question was—would it succeed?
“You can no’ see Laura worrying so,” Guy said as he caught up with Charon on the stairs.
Charon paused, a hand on the banister and one foot on the step above. “I know.”
“We’ve all agreed it’s a good plan. It’ll succeed.”
“You’ve no’ battled Druids.”
Guy shrugged nonchalantly and grinned. “You’ve never battled dragons.”
“You said the humans were able to kill dragons.”
Guy’s smile disappeared instantly. “Dragons aye, but no’ Dragon Kings. All dragons have magic, but they could be killed.”
“And you can no’?”
“There is much you doona know. Suffice it to say, a drough’s magic willna kill us.”
“It can halt us in our tracks, though.”
Guy shrugged one shoulder. “I ag
ree it willna be an easy battle. Whatever you did or said to get Con’s attention, I’m glad of it. With us on your side, the scales have now tipped in your direction.”
“Which scares the hell out of me,” Charon confessed as he looked away. “We thought things were done. After killing both Deirdre and Declan, it should’ve been over.”
“It’s never over.”
Guy’s tone, harsh and low, brought Charon’s gaze back to him. There was something in Guy’s eyes that let him know as powerful as the Kings were, they weren’t without enemies.
“You’ll get periods of peace,” Guy continued. “But remember, it’s never over. Enjoy those times of peace and prepare for the next periods of hell.”
“What are you fighting?”
Guy glanced down at the stairs. “One of our own. People who want to expose us as shifters. And others of us fight the unending march of time.”
“How old are you?”
“We’ve been here since the beginning of time. The exact number I couldna give you, because I lost track. We all have.”
And Charon thought his life had been long. There were times he hadn’t believed he could get through another day. How did the Kings do it?
“Go to your woman,” Guy said as he walked past him and clasped him on the shoulder.
His woman. Charon wanted to think of Laura that way, but could he? Did he dare? He’d made love to her. He’d kissed her repeatedly.
There was no doubt he couldn’t keep his hands from her. The fact she was a Druid should have made things easier. But it didn’t.
He ought to let her go. He should get her far away from Scotland so she would never be touched by the same type of evil that seemed to breed here.
Yet, he couldn’t.
Charon took the stairs three at a time until he reached the landing and strode down the hallway to the room given to Laura.
He placed his hand on the doorknob, but hesitated instead of turning it. Music drifted to him through the door. With his enhanced senses, he heard Rihanna’s voice singing a fast melody.
So as not to startle Laura, Charon slowly turned the knob and opened the door. Only to find her sleeping in the overstuffed chair next to a table laid out with food.
He smiled as he closed the door softly behind him before he took the glass of wine dangling from her fingers. Charon had been dreaming of making love to her, but there was no way he was going to wake her after all she’d been through.
Charon set the half-empty wineglass on the table and walked into the bathroom to strip off his clothes. He could use a long hot shower, especially when he knew what was coming.
Wallace wouldn’t attack that night, and neither would the selmyr, thanks to the dragons. So they had a slight reprieve. And he intended to make the most of it.
* * *
Laura came awake to the sound of the shower mixed in with the music from her iPhone. She stretched and yawned as she glanced at the table to find everything just as she had left it while trying to stay awake.
She turned and looked out the window to see the sky was beginning to lighten, but this far north in the summer, that could be deceiving. A quick check on her phone told her it was just after two in the morning.
Laura rose from the chair and smiled when she saw the steam rolling out of the bathroom. Charon had pushed the door to, but hadn’t closed it.
While he finished with his shower, Laura filled two glasses of red wine and snagged a cube of cheese to pop into her mouth.
Next, she removed her jeans, shirt, bra, and panties. She folded them neatly in a pile to set atop the dresser before she grabbed Charon’s discarded button-down.
She lifted it to her nose and inhaled the scent that was all his—sandalwood. When she heard the water cut off, she hastily slid her arms into the sleeves of the shirt and buttoned two of the buttons below her breasts. Leaving just enough of a gap to show cleavage.
Laura looked at herself in the mirror hanging on the back of the door and smiled. She couldn’t have imagined being so bold a week ago, but then she hadn’t tasted Charon’s kisses or known the exquisite pleasure being in his arms could give her.
It wasn’t her magic that gave her the courage to be so daring. It was the all-consuming, overwhelming desire for Charon that did it.
He had turned her into the woman she had only dreamed she could be.
She’d always known she would do a lot for Charon, but she hadn’t realized to what extremes she would go to until recently. Instead of frightening her, it felt amazing. Freeing.
Laura leaned back against the wall next to the window and watched as Charon came out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped precariously low around his hips.
Droplets of water dripped from the ends of his long, dark hair to his shoulders, where the beads traveled either down his back or over the muscled planes of his chest.
God, he was a gorgeous man. She didn’t understand why he wanted her, but it was enough that he did.
He stopped short when he glanced at the chair she had been in and found it empty. In the next instant, his gaze swiveled to her. The dark chocolate depths of his eyes heated as they landed on her.
“How did it go?” she asked.
With a wicked twinkle in his eye, he reached for a glass of wine. “Thanks to your interference, perfectly.”
“You’re not angry with me for barging in?”
“I’m glad you did. I needed to calm down. You helped with that.”
Laura crossed an ankle over the other and hid a smile when she saw Charon’s gaze lower to her legs. “Is everything in place?”
“Aye. Fallon is probably still here talking to Con, but I wanted to see you.”
“See me?” she asked coyly.
Charon lifted the glass to his lips and drank deeply of the burgundy wine. “Oh, aye.”
“So do you believe I’m not working with Jason?”
His forehead creased as he set aside his wine. “Laura, please understand I—”
“I do,” she interrupted him. “I understand everything. I just want to be sure that you trust me.”
“Aye,” he said softly.
She wasn’t sure if he meant it or not. In time, she would prove her loyalty to him. For now, he said he trusted her. That was enough.
“Good,” she said and pushed off the wall to walk to him. “I think we’ve wasted enough of our time talking.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Laura put her hand against his chest and gave him a push. She knew he allowed her to do it, just as he allowed himself to fall back into the chair she had occupied a few moments earlier.
“Is there something you want with me?” Charon asked with one side of his mouth lifted in a devilish grin.
“Me? Not at all.” She moved to stand between his legs. “I just figured with all the kisses you’ve given me, you might be in some … need.”
“Need?” he repeated, choking on the word. “You could say that, lass.”
She ran her fingers through his wet hair. “I wouldn’t be doing my duty as your personal assistant if I didn’t help you out.”
“I do pay you rather handsomely to take care of all my needs.”
“Exactly,” she said, and let her hand trail down the side of his face to the hard line of his jaw.
He snagged her hand in one of his and brought it to his mouth. There, he spread her fingers and placed a kiss on her palm. “What need are you going to take care of tonight?”
“The one that burns you. The one I can see when you look at me.”
“Is it that obvious?” he asked, still holding on to her hand.
She nodded. “To me it is, but then I’m looking for it.”
“Are you?”
The lighthearted mood had somehow altered, grown more serious. Laura knew that sometime very soon, she would have to face the feelings churning within her. She feared they went far deeper than she knew.
Loving Charon, however, was a risky move. One she wasn’t sure she was
brave enough to chance.
“Laura,” he whispered. His dark gaze was intense as it held hers.
She pulled her hand from his and reached down to pull open his towel. The sight of him full aroused and hard made her blood burn through her veins.
“You’re the most handsome man I’ve ever seen,” she confessed before she straddled his legs.
Charon’s hands were instantly on her bare legs. He moved them up her thighs, shoving the hem of his shirt higher as he did. “If you want to talk beauty, I’m looking at it.”
Her breath hitched when his thumbs grazed the curls of her sex. To feel the wonderful heat of him so close was driving her mad. The seductive lust, the soul-wrenching yearning she had to once more be in his arms was too inviting to ignore.
For two years, she’d been content to work beside him, to be the one he turned to when he needed something in his business. She never expected to call him friend, yet it had happened.
Lover was one name she certainly never dared to even dream.
With one yank of his hands, Charon jerked her shirt open, sending the two buttons flying across the room before he pulled her down. Her chest was heaving as she watched him gaze so lovingly at her breasts.
And then he cupped them in his hands.
Laura’s eyes slid closed and her head dropped back. Her breasts swelled, aching for more. She rocked her hips forward as Charon’s thumbs teased her nipples into hard little points.
Desire filled her, encircled her.
Claimed her.
And when his hot mouth closed over a turgid peak, Laura cried out from the sheer pleasure of it. With one hand on her back, he licked and laved her nipple with his tongue.
Laura’s body was no longer her own. It was Charon’s to do with as he pleased. She arched her back to thrust out her breast as she wrapped her arms around his head.
He moved from one breast to the other, wringing more cries from her until she was a shuddering mass of need.