by A. C. James
“Felicity, how are Darcy and Carina?”
“They’re fine. They were playing dress-up in the castle—Darcy’s idea, of course.” Felicity sighed. “They don’t know anything went wrong.”
“Good,” Sage said.
He had a protective urge to see his daughter and hold her in his arms.
“Sage, thank you,” Fallon said heavily.
He stood up from the bench and walked over to Sage and Maelíosa, putting a hand on Sage’s shoulder.
“Thank you for saving my daughter, and for helping my wife. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Of course,” Sage said. He pulled Maelíosa close and kissed her on the temple. “Wouldn’t have done a damn thing differently.”
“Except for checking the batteries on the walkie-walkies,” Maelíosa said.
There was a ripple of laughter among the crowd.
“I hate correcting you, babe, but it’s walkie-talkie,” Sage said.
“Oh, shut it,” Maelíosa said mildly.
Niall looked at Fallon, and coughed. “We should let Maelíosa and Cyn get some rest.”
“Aye,” Fallon said. “Let’s return to the castle and I’ll see about sending for some food.”
“I’ll be waiting for you,” Sage said softly, pulling away and kissing the tip of her nose.
“I know, love,” Maelíosa said. “I need you, too.”
Chapter Six
Maelíosa opened her eyes and stretched. Without a doubt, it was good to be back in her warm, lovely chamber. The awareness of Sage lying next to her prickled her skin, arousal swirling in her lower belly.
“You were out like a rock,” Sage said.
“Was I?”
Sage nodded. “Indeed.”
He grinned at her and pulled her close. The butterflies in her stomach swarmed. When their lips met, she melted against his chest.
“I can’t believe you carried me all that way,” Maelíosa said. “You were a hero. And I’m so heavy!”
Why did she have to go and blurt out her insecurities? It wasn’t often that she was reminded that she didn’t exactly match the physique of the other women in the clan. She donned leather leggings and wore a tunic, secure in her own skin most days. And she really didn’t give a shite who desired her or what men thought when she gave them an earful. Most stallions didn’t bother with her, and that was fine by her. She’d never been vulnerable, until Sage. He was the first man who didn’t care if she spoke her mind. He even found it sexy. Did she still find it hard to believe Sage wanted her?
“Shush,” Sage said.
He kissed her again, with more heat this time. Maelíosa pressed her body against his and moaned at the contact. Her mare was neighing and whinnying, pawing at the ground in delight.
“I missed you,” Maelíosa said softly.
Sage nudged her head backwards and planted a line of kisses down her neck. The sensation was incredible. Maelíosa groaned. Sage wrapped his arms around her and pressed her into the mattress. He pulled the sheet away from her hips and slid a hand between her legs, and she spread her thighs and raised her body up, eager for his touch.
“I missed you too, baby. And I love the way you feel,” Sage murmured in Maelíosa’s ear, his whisper hot against her skin.
Maelíosa was acutely aware of her mate pushing her down and climbing on top of her. Her need to reunite with him overpowered her. Sage nuzzled her neck and she arched her back, burying her head in the nest of pillows. His rough hands caressed her soft flesh, and she shuddered. Ever since she’d gotten back, she’d been sleeping naked again. The days were growing hotter outside, and the breeze against her damp skin felt good. She was bloody glad she was naked, now that his fingers had wandered between her thighs. His gentle-yet-rough touch landed on her most sensitive area. She ground her hips against his hand, trying to increase the contact.
Sage obliged by slipping a finger inside her. He stroked her slowly, making her want more. With each passing second her arousal grew, until she was soaking wet and lying in a pool of desire. A hot muskiness filled the room, and Maelíosa made hoarse little cries in the back of her throat. She wanted Sage, needed him, and she wrapped her fingers around the back of his neck, lowering him toward her body.
“I thought I was going to lose you, baby,” he murmured against her skin.
Maelíosa swallowed the lump in her throat. “Never.”
When their mouths met again, the kiss was slow, but passionate. She was reminded of the first time they kissed and how it had made her toes curl. Hell, that first kiss even tingled in her scalp. His tongue slid between her lips, tasting and exploring like they’d been separated for a lifetime. She guessed that’s how it was when you’d been through an experience that put your life at stake. Maelíosa gasped when he nibbled her lower lip. Her lashes fluttered against her cheek, and she surrendered to his mouth and the strong, capable fingers that were working their magic between her thighs. Maelíosa wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Baby, are you sure you feel up for this?” Sage asked.
Her smile was wicked and her arm that was snaked around his neck drifted lower. “If you don’t take these off and fuck me right now I am going to kill you,” Maelíosa said as she unzipped his pants.
Sage groaned.
SAGE KNEELED BETWEEN her thighs and slowly worshipped her body with kisses. His lips followed her jaw line, her neck, and then dropped to her chest. He kissed her breasts, taking a nipple in his mouth and sucking until she cried out. Her response was enough to send a jolt of lust through his body, so strong it threatened to bring him to his knees. Each time they made love, the attraction between them grew stronger and stronger. Not only was she beautiful; she was intelligent, strong, and determined. She went toe-to-toe with him on every level. No woman had ever done that before, and it was a major turn-on. As Sage sucked on her salty, delicate skin, his cock stiffened. He needed to be inside of her. He took his hand away from her labia and licked his fingers, savoring her feminine, musky taste. When he made eye contact with his beautiful mate, she actually flushed and tried to turn away. But he wasn’t about to let her.
“I love you, baby.” His voice was hoarse, and his heart was thudding in his chest. “I would’ve been lost without you. If something happened...”
He couldn’t finish, and Maelíosa didn’t want him to. Instead, she reached down and laced her fingers with his, wrapping her legs around his waist. Sage groaned—the heat of her sex scorched his skin. His cock prodded against her entrance, and Sage thrust inside of her, burying himself in her delicious, warm sex.
They stayed locked together for a moment, unmoving. Then Sage rocked his hips, pressing his flesh against hers. Their fire built in a slow, sensual rhythm—not at all frantic or desperate—and Sage took her wrists in his hands and gently pinned them above her head. When she was stretched out like that, she was so beautiful—her breasts rising and falling with each breath, her dusky nipples peaked toward the heavens. And fuck if she didn’t look like an angel. Sage leaned down and grazed a nipple with his teeth, bringing it into his mouth. Maelíosa whimpered. His own pleasure was mounting, and with each thrust he was one step closer to heaven on earth.
“Don’t stop,” she moaned.
Sage bucked against Maelíosa, pressing her hips into the bed with the force of his thrusts. They moved together, fitting neatly, like they were made for each other. He gritted his teeth and gripped her wrists hard. He couldn’t believe that he’d almost lost her. She writhed against him, pressing her breasts and taut nipples against his chest. His heart hammered in his chest as he glanced down into her beautiful brown eyes. He’d been with countless women in the service, and of course, there had been Angela. None of them compared to what he had with Maelíosa. The women who’d come before her were just sex. Nothing more.
Even without speaking, he knew that she was thinking the same thing. No one else mattered to her. Their mate bond had never been stronger. They moved together in the large bed,
grinding and gyrating. His muscles clenched, and he buried his face in her neck. Their skin was slippery with sweat, their hands moving everywhere, and the aroma of sex hung thick in the air. Sage breathed deep. He wanted to absorb the moment completely and drown in it. Sex was never like this. It had never been this passionate, this intimate. He was baring his soul to Maelíosa with each thrust into her perfect, generous body.
Maelíosa gritted her teeth and arched her back. So fucking beautiful. She turned her head to the side and kissed his forearm, which was pinning her wrists. Sage could tell she was close to the edge—her face was pink and flushed, her brown hair damp with sweat. She didn’t close her eyes. She met his with an intense stare, not even blinking, and her body tensed and convulsed with an orgasm that sent him spiraling toward his own release. Maelíosa opened her mouth and let out a long, low moan. Her muscles tightened around his cock, and he ground his body against hers, rubbing her clit with his muscular abdomen. Maelíosa shook and cried out. Finally, she broke free of his grip and wrapped her arms around his neck, her chest heaving.
Sage grunted. His own chest rose with heavy breaths, and he plunged as deeply as he could inside his mate, burying himself to the hilt. He was going to explode, and the ache growing in his balls was enough to make him growl like a madman. Maelíosa pulled him down for a kiss and sucked on his lower lip, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
Sage let out a cry of pleasure and threw his head back, slamming his body against Maelíosa. Her sex clenched around his shaft as his cock pulsed and twitched and gushed inside of her. Slowly, his breathing returned to normal. He cradled her in his arms, his face in her neck, and whispered her name, over and over, until he thought he might pass out.
“I love you,” he said quietly. “I love you so fucking much. You scared the shit out of me.”
She laughed.
He slid out of Maelíosa and flopped down on her chest. “I didn’t lose you.”
It was more of a reassurance to himself—an affirmation that she wasn’t going anywhere. He was surprised and dismayed to find tears welling up in his eyes. Blinking quickly so his mate wouldn’t see them, he glanced at her.
“I love you, too,” Maelíosa said.
There was a faraway look in her eyes and a lazy grin on her lips.
“What is it?” Sage rolled onto his stomach and propped himself up on his elbows. He pushed a sweaty lock of hair out of her eyes. “What were you going to say?”
Maelíosa licked her lips. “I wasn’t going to say anything. But when I was...well, after I was shot...I kept thinking about my mum.”
“I know. I could sense it through the mate bond,” Sage said softly. “But why? Were you worried that you were going to die?”
Maelíosa looked away. She pulled Sage close and buried her face in his neck. Sage could feel her breath against his skin.
“I’m not worried anymore.” Maelíosa swallowed, and Sage wrapped an arm around her naked shoulders, cuddling against her against his body. “But I couldn’t stand the thought of not being able to tell you I love you at least once.”
A small smile flickered across his face. “I already knew.”
Chapter Seven
Six months later
Cyn groaned and shifted uncomfortably. She was too large for the bed on which she lay, too unwieldy for the cramped hut where Ariel lived. “I can’t breathe. It hurts too damn much!”
“Keep breathing,” Felicity said, reaching up with a damp rag and wiping the sweat from Cyn’s forehead. “I know it hurts, but you have to keep trying.”
Cyn closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.
“Aye, just like that,” Ariel said. “In and out...”
She made a ridiculous sound like hee, hee, hooooo and Cyn wanted to punch her in the face. If Ariel wasn’t an old woman, she might have.
“I don’t want to breathe,” Cyn said miserably. “I just want this baby out of me! Kill me, kill me now.”
Felicity snorted. “You’re not dying. It just feels like it. Trust me, I know. I went through the same bloody thing.”
Cyn panted. “God, I just hope I don’t have bloody twins. Two babies. I couldn’t handle that!”
“Well, my dear, twins do run in the family,” Ariel pointed out.
“Shut it!” Cyn said.
Felicity rolled her eyes and offered Cyn her hand. “Squeeze.”
Cyn seized it and Felicity groaned loudly. “Not that hard, please.”
“Sorry, I’m sorry,” Cyn said in a strangled voice.
“Ariel, how much longer?” Felicity asked.
The pink-cheeked healer bustled around the tiny, smoky hut. “Not long now. Be patient, m’lady!”
“Auuuughhhh!” Cyn screamed. “It hurts! It bloody hurts!”
“Well it’s not going to feel like a bloody picnic. Squeeze my hand, and try to breathe each time you have a contraction,” Felicity said.
“It wasn’t this bad when you did it!” Cyn shrieked. “You were bloody fine! I feel like I’m pushing out a fucking watermelon.”
The door to the birthing chamber burst open and Maelíosa stood in the doorway. She must have heard Cyn shriek, because she sucked in air and her face paled. Cyn could understand that she’d be nervous considering how her mum died. She was perfectly fit, as though the incident with Only Human never happened. Looking at her now, one would never know she’d been on the brink of death only six months ago.
“Hush,” Ariel said mildly. She turned to Felicity. “Pardon me, m’lady. I need to check her temperature.” She scooted forward and put her hand on Cyn’s forehead.
“ANY USE?” MAELÍOSA asked. She stepped closer and took the rag from Felicity’s hand, pressing it to Cyn’s forehead once the healer had stepped out of the way. “You look wretched. Is it really that bad?”
Cyn opened her mouth and a shriek of pain filled the cottage. “It bloody hurts!”
Maelíosa gritted her teeth. “Can’t you do anything about the pain?” she asked the healer.
Ariel shook her head.
Maelíosa winced as Cyn struggled and cried beneath her hands. “She looks bloody miserable.”
“You’d look bloody miserable too,” Cyn said.
Ariel clucked her tongue and bustled back toward the fire. “Aye, if things go on like this, I can give her a poultice. But she can’t have anything too strong. That would make it impossible to push.”
“She won’t remember this,” Felicity said smoothly as she took Cyn’s hand in hers and squeezed. “It’ll be a thing of the past as soon as the wee one is born, trust me.”
“I can hear you,” Cyn informed them, sounding both peeved and exhausted. “And I’m right bloody here. You don’t have to whisper over my head like I’m not.”
Maelíosa grinned. Except for the drunken shagging, she had more in common with Cyn than she’d thought. Cyn had moxie, and the woman could hold her liquor. She’d cut her some slack, considering she was in labour. Cyn frowned, then let out a wail of pain. Felicity squeezed her hand again.
“And I’m not going to forget this,” Cyn said, huffing and puffing. “This is worse than the time Nathan tried to take me dancing!”
Felicity snorted. “He was a rotten dancer. Beastly man. He didn’t deserve the sympathy that he got, that’s for sure. I worry that he’ll be back someday. Fallon showed him compassion, but I’m not sure that he should have.”
Maelíosa scowled at the mention of the human and she was about to agree with Felicity, but all thoughts of Nathan were pushed out of her head as Cyn let out another painful shriek.
“It’ll be over soon,” Maelíosa said. “We’ll be right here.”
“WHERE’S FALLON?” CYN asked.
Maelíosa rolled her eyes. “Da is outside, bolting around. ‘Tis like he never had a babby before!”
“I’d gladly trade places with him,” Cyn whimpered. “This hurts so bloody much. Is this punishment for being such a tart before?”
Maelíosa and Felicity laug
hed.
“No,” Felicity said, rolling her eyes. “Trust me. If it was, it wouldn’t have hurt me at all.”
Cyn stretched on the bed, pain wracking her body. She groaned and shifted, spreading her legs and arching her back as though it would do any good. It was like her belly was being squeezed in a vice. She grunted softly as another sharp contraction hit her.
“I feel like I’ve got to take the biggest—”
“Cyn!” Felicity scolded. “That’s no way to be talking right now. You’re almost through it, keep at it. It’ll all be over soon.”
“She’s right, m’lady,” Ariel said. “I want you to take a deep breath, and then push like you’ve never pushed before.”
Honestly, Cyn didn’t think she had the strength to push. Her labour had been long and hard—ironically just like what had landed her in this predicament.
Ariel stepped between her gaping legs and leaned close, bracing herself with one hand on each of Cyn’s knees. “We’re almost there! The babby’s coming! Can you sit up a little, m’lady?”
Cyn struggled to raise her torso off the bed, but everything in her body ached so badly that she could barely move. Her breath was stuck in her throat, and she coughed. Nausea roiled in her stomach. She turned her head to the side, vomiting onto the floor.
“It hurts,” Cyn cried. “Please, please make it stop!”
“One more push, m’lady, come now,” Ariel said. “Come on, you can do it!”
“You’re almost there,” Felicity said.
Ariel pointed between Cyn’s legs. “I can see the head. One more push...”
Cyn let out a powerful wail and pushed with all of her might. The pain surged through her body. She closed her eyes and bore down as hard as she could, clamping her hand on Felicity’s. A loud cry filled the room.
Ariel smiled. “You’ve done it! It’s a beautiful wee lass!”
Cyn gasped. “She’s got gunk all over her.”
Ariel laughed. The healer wiped her baby off with a towel, and then carefully handed her over to Cyn.