by Diana Duncan
She sat cradling him, while he battled his personal demons. Rowan ground his teeth. Fighting real monsters was so much easier.
His heart flailed against his ribs. But in truth, there was no other choice. If he continued to live in denial, chose to reject potential agony…he also rejected all potential joy. Then the monsters won. Ceard won.
“Aye. I did bolt,” he finally croaked. “By trying to avoid my worst nightmare, I ended up living it. My interference brought about exactly what I feared most…an eternity without you.” The admission caused both searing shame and the cool balm of relief. “I left you sleeping that night and deserted you like a bloody sniveling coward. You trusted me and I betrayed you. Hurt you.” His jaw clenched until he thought bone would splinter. “Can you forgive me?”
Her Aillidh brightened. “I already have.”
“Since my family died, I— I’ve been…afraid to let myself need anyone.” Weight dropped from his shoulders as her compassionate gaze embraced him. “But I need you, Delaney.”
“We need each other.” Velvety lips brushed his forehead. “But I also need you to respect that I’m capable of taking care of myself.”
“You cannot ask me to stop protecting you. Never going to happen.”
“Not completely, I know. But you can’t treat me like a fragile damsel in distress and always charge to my rescue. If you’re obsessed with watching out for me, you aren’t guarding your own back.” She stroked his hair. “Rowan, you have to accept that you’re not responsible for me…or for that matter, the rest of the entire freaking universe.”
“I just trod that thorny path, did I not? And ended up pierced by my own sword. Pierced by my own pride and urge for control.” He grimaced. “I’m thinking a wise man might learn something from dying.”
Her smile kicked his pulse into high gear. “Neither of us has to stumble along the path alone. But you have to trust me as much as I trust you.”
“I trust you.”
“Really?” Delaney slipped out from under him, wadded the cloak to pillow his head. “We’ll see.” Her knees straddled his waist. Eyes dark, she leaned down, a waterfall of copper tresses tumbling around his face in a shimmering curtain. Firm, warm lips whispered over his. Sipping. Tasting. Silky sweet, her seeking tongue explored the hidden hollows of his mouth.
Her lush fragrance revived his deadened senses, caused his cock to leap to attention. Quivering with desire—and maddening weariness—he lifted his arms to hold her. Ready and willing, but hardly able. Scowling, he tensed. Dammit.
Delaney dusted kisses along his jawline. “Rowan, it’s all right.” Her breath teased his ear and the downy feathers on her dress tickled his skin, sending a shiver up his spine. “I’m here to help you.”
“I’m not accustomed to being passive.” He snarled. “Being…taken.”
She shifted, sat up with her legs on either side of his thighs to catch his gaze. “This time, you have to let me do all the work.”
Not like he had an option. Although he’d prefer a leisurely stroll over flaming coals.
“Seriously, as bad as burning coals?” She chuckled. “Hey, you never know…you might even enjoy yourself.” She reached behind her back to unfasten the dress and let it drop, then unbuckled the dagger holstered on her right thigh—leaving her bare except for her necklace and black lace-up boots.
Starving for her, he devoured the awesome sight. A possessive growl rumbled in his chest.
“The idea starting to grow on you?” Naughtiness gleamed in her smile. “Yeah, no undies came with this outfit. I don’t know who designed the ensemble, but I can see why an army might follow the woman wearing it.”
He palmed the sleek globes of Delaney’s bum, envisioned bending her over a boulder and burying himself inside her. The growl escaped his lips.
“Like that position, huh?” Sapphire irises sparkled with mischievous humor. “I suspect because it’s extremely male dominant.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Is that a complaint?”
“No, merely an observation. I also suspect not being-face-to-face might make it easier for you to hide your emotions.”
Damn, he’d hoped she hadn’t realized that he hadn’t truly shared all of himself since the first time they’d joined.
Sensual fingernails grazed his thighs, making his hard-on twitch. “While you’ve been a more than generous lover, yes, the mental fortress was quite obvious.”
Her enhanced Powers had her reading him as easily as a Grade One primer. That’s what you got when you hung out with a mythical goddess. “Bloody hell, I’ve missed you, luv.”
“I missed you too.” Arching like a cat, she dipped and slid her bare breasts up his torso to nip at his chin. “Are you honestly ready to put your complete faith in me?”
His reply was husky. “Aye.”
“I hope so,” she whispered. “Or we’re lost.”
Her questing lips roamed down his throat to lave studious attention on his nipples, inciting havoc in every molecule.
As her insistent tongue glided across his abs, down his stomach, delved into his navel, he lay trembling with helpless, raging hunger. He was more naked and exposed without his Power than without his clothing.
Delaney wasn’t just kissing him, she’d launched a gentle, steady assault on the bonds that had so long held him captive.
Fingers fisted in his palms, his back bowed…he resisted surrender.
“Relax,” she murmured against his damp skin. “Relinquish that iron hold on control once and for all.”
He bit the inside of his lip until he tasted blood. Combat was definitely easier.
“But not nearly as rewarding.” She rubbed a petal-soft cheek on his belly. “Just let it go, Rowan. Let me fight for us this time. I promise everything will be okay.”
The gentleness in her voice, the caring in her touch, unlocked the suffocating bands around his chest. He’d trusted her with his Powers. With his war.
With his life.
He could surrender his body.
Rowan’s heartbeat thrashed a primal tattoo as one by one, he forced constricted muscles to relax beneath her caress. The battle finally won, he opened his fists. “I put myself totally in your hands.”
She smiled up at him. “And I’m going to take very good care of you.” She ducked her head. One palm gripped his stiff shaft, the other cupped his sac, and her tongue fluttered across the tip of him.
He struggled to prop his weight on his forearms…just in time to see the erotic sight of his woman’s loving mouth sliding down over his cock.
She increased the tempo, deluging him with pleasure. Enveloped deep within the warm haven of her mouth, he groaned and dropped flat, letting her lead him wherever she wanted.
Delaney’s sweet fragrance dizzied him, her hair trailed silken flames across his stomach and thighs, while her mouth bewitched him. Possessed him. Owned him. Taking him to a place he’d never been before.
His pulse stumbled at the unexpected, unaccustomed intimacy. Nothing in his experience had even come close. He was humbled, overwhelmed, and at his most vulnerable ever. And it felt right.
Ragged breaths sawed in Rowan’s throat as regret and pain and sorrow ebbed away. Delaney’s tongue swirled in exquisite circles while her fingertips caressed him everywhere, stroking all over his body as if she couldn’t get enough of him.
He belonged with her. Belonged to her.
Liquid fire surged up his spine, pooled in his belly. Tension tingled, throbbed, swelled tight beneath his skin. Tighter still, every muscle shaking with imminent release.
Oh, God, so close. Tumbling toward the waterfall’s roaring edge.
Aye…right…
And she stopped.
Delaney’s warm mouth slid off him and cool, damp air taunted his sensitized nerve endings.
He hissed.
Her smile was pure female temptation. “We’ll get there, Enforcer.”
“I am right feckin’ there.”
“Almost.”
She once more straddled his waist. Her pupils were dark and dilated, her breathing rapid, her feminine curls drenched. Going down on him had obviously turned her on.
He drank in the sight of Delaney’s resplendently flushed face, taut, rosy nipples, the seductive curve of her hips poised over his rigid, aching cock, while she sat immobile above him, looking at him with wonder.
“Aye, and what are you waiting for? Are you going to make me regret leaving you in charge, wench?”
She giggled. “You can decide afterward.”
“Mind you…” Rowan gave her a devilish grin as he brushed his thumbs up her thighs, over her mound. Dipped them inside to lightly tease her swollen bud. “I’ll be fancying a bit of payback.”
“Mmm.” She wriggled beneath his caress. “I’m willing to chance it, if you are.”
“Get on with it then.”
“Impatient, much?”
Another growl escaped. “Want you much.”
Her grin widened. Watching him intently, she lowered herself inch by tantalizing inch, her tight, silky heat sheathing him to the hilt.
A deep moan rippled from his throat. “Ah…Delaney.”
Still holding his gaze, she brought her body down until she lay full-length against him. She entwined the fingers of both hands with his, fully, intimately joining them.
He brushed aside her hair and pressed his lips to the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder, reveling in the tremors that rippled through her. “My bonny lass,” he murmured against her soft skin.
She recaptured his mouth, took him under, long and slow.
When their mouths finally parted, they were both panting. “Trust me with everything, Rowan.” Her voice was liquid with tenderness. “Not just your body.”
His heart staggered as he whispered against her mouth. “I can do that.”
As she began to move, his hips rose to meet her strong, measured thrusts. Their unique bond encircled him, exerting immense pressure. His temples throbbed as Delaney sought entrance to his mind.
Let me into your head, Rowan.
He yielded to the pressure.
Good. Now your heart.
Aye, my love.
His heart that stumbled for her, beat for her. And her alone. He allowed her in where no one had ever before touched him.
The connection between them roared wide open. Sensation doubled, then quadrupled, her pleasure echoing as clear and sharp inside him as his own.
His hips pistoned upward, wanting, craving completion. Needing to become one with her. Delaney’s inner muscles clenched, hot, wet friction riding him into the maelstrom. Gold, green, and silver energy sparked and crackled, pebbling him with goosebumps and raising the hairs on his skin as she whipped their united Powers into a frenzied vortex.
She built the pressure. Ramped up the Power.
Higher. Harder. Stronger.
Rowan’s body quaked violently, his pumping lungs gasping for air, his emotions raw and unfettered.
If he wasn’t already dead, this would’ve killed him.
He squeezed her hands, her fingers curled tightly with his. Those small, delicate hands clinging so fiercely to him held his very essence. Held everything he was.
His gaze locked with hers. “I am yours, Delaney Morgan,” he gasped. “Body, heart, and soul.”
Rowan gave himself up completely to her possession. Gave her access to his most intimate thoughts, deepest feelings.
Laid bare his soul.
Gazes linked, bodies linked, minds linked, he let Delaney’s golden light illuminate every dark, secret corner inside him.
His warrior goddess’ smile was as fierce as her grip on his hands as she fully opened herself to him. “And I’m yours, Rowan MacLachlan.”
Her eyes blazed cerulean flames, and blinding lightning strobed from her Aillidh. She drove down hard and fast on his body at the same time she thrust the full force of their merged Powers inside him. Her unconditional love cocooned him, rolled over him, through him—intense wave after wave. Filling every empty void. Flooding him with ecstasy.
He exploded in a cataclysmic crash of heat and brilliant light, his ringing ears dimly aware of her crying out his name. Her climax ricocheted inside him and triggered another riptide of pleasure, which he torpedoed back to her.
They soared higher yet, crested together a third time.
Then a fourth.
After the fifth reverberation, everything went black.
When he eventually swam to the surface, Delaney was sprawled atop him, limbs boneless, skin damp, hair tousled. He swallowed around the dryness in his mouth, the thickness in his throat. Tried to speak.
Only a croak emerged.
He swallowed again. “Delaney?” he rasped.
No response.
“Sweetheart?” His pulse thundered in his ears as he smoothed her disheveled tresses, rubbed a palm down her limp spine.
“Hmm,” she mumbled.
“Okay?” he managed.
She stirred. Slowly lifted her head. Blue eyes blurry, her lips tilted in a wobbly smile. “Never better. You? You look…stunned.”
“Have been. With a million volts.” Not to mention shattering a record for continual orgasms. He stared at her Aillidh. Raised the shaking fingers he’d tangled in her hair and stared at his palm. “Shag me!”
She grinned. “What, again? Already?”
“Delaney? What did you do?”
“I gave you back your Powers, Enforcer.”
He turned his hand over, flipped it back again. His skin was still translucent, but his silver-green Mage Aillidh belonged to him again, brighter than ever. Delaney’s striking gold Aillidh gleamed around her, undiminished. Energy and Power surfed through his veins, humming with vitality. Growing more potent every second. “How did you fully recharge me without depleting yourself?”
“I listened to my instincts. Passion strengthens Power, right? Especially ours.” She embraced him in a fervent hug. “Or maybe it comes with the goddess package. Most importantly, you’re not defenseless anymore.”
He frowned. “You do realize that goddess or no, you cannot resurrect me to earth? I’m not embodied like you are.”
“Yes. But I’m gambling there’s someone here who can.”
“The Morrigan.”
“I figure she owes me one for saddling me with the whole ‘living sword’ deal.”
“I very much doubt that a goddess takes debt markers.”
She angled her chin up. “If she can’t, or won’t, return you, I’ll stay. At least we’ll be together.”
“The Abyss is no place for you. You cannot survive here for long. And what of your other obligations?” he asked gently.
“They’ve been fighting centuries without me, they can do it a while longer.” When he started to object, she shook her head. “It’s not open for debate.”
He sighed. At least Ceard was dead, and Balor temporarily trapped in the Abyss. Archer would track and free his cousins and they’d pick up the battle on earth. Re-imbued with his Powers, Rowan would join the fight on this plane.
Rowan—or Morrigan—would convince Delaney of the necessity to leave him and carry on the life she was meant to have. Fulfill her destiny.
His heart fisted. Then he’d never see her again.
Wrapping his arms around her, he rolled her beneath him. For now, she was his. And he’d treasure every precious second.
Her throaty hum vibrated against his chest. “You are feeling better.”
“Shall I show you how much?” He nipped a teasing path down her neck to her breast, swiped his tongue across a pebbled nipple.
Arching, she moaned. “I’d love to, however—”
“Aye, I ken. A wee bit of wishful thinking, lass.” The war business was a giant pain in the arse. He sighed again. Kissed her belly before pushing himself to his feet. “We need to be going. Although your wards muted our Power clash, such a tremendous surge won’t go unmissed.” He offered his hand. When she placed her fingers in
his, he tugged her upright.
Delaney picked up the cloak and passed it to him. “Here, improv something to wear.” She strapped on her thigh holster, then pointed to the dagger within. “Use this to cut it up if necessary.”
As she combed unsteady fingers through her jumbled tresses, the sight of her limber, alabaster beauty, naked except for necklace, dagger and boots, smote him.
“Rowan?”
He blinked. “Eh…nay, lass. The cloak is enchanted to conceal you. I won’t be taking it from you. And certainly will not be cutting it to bits.”
Delaney shook her head. “Take it and do whatever you need to. You can’t roam around exposed. I’ve seen things happen to other captives while I’ve been here. Horrible things. There are monsters who want…” She cleared the quiver from her voice. “But I don’t have to tell you that.”
During their lovemaking, he’d been inside her head and heart and soul when she’d been inside his. She’d seen the horror of what had nearly happened before she’d rescued him. And he’d felt the terror and desperation she’d experienced in the past month but refused to show.
She donned her feathered dress, and he arranged the borrowed cloak into a loose, makeshift kilt that draped one shoulder and wrapped his waist like the ancient Highland plaids. While he admired Delaney’s gutsiness, sooner or later, she’d need to lance the recent feelings she’d squelched, or they’d ambush her.
He should know.
He glanced over to see her—regrettably—dressed. “You got your necklace back. The ravens brought it, did they?”
“Yes.”
“I might have guessed. The cheeky gits mugged me and confiscated it right after I left your flat. I thought they were returning it to Morrigan.”
“Rule Number One bites you in that gorgeous ass yet again.”
In truth, he’d been heartsick at the loss of his last link to Delaney.
Rowan followed her rapid progress through the cave, paused for her to inactivate the wards. Outside, he studied the desolate landscape. “I assume you have a plan. You take point.”
The happiness radiating from her as she spun to face him made his pulse dance.
He arched a brow. “Lass, your Power is superior in this realm, therefore, ‘tis logical for you to lead. I gave my word. I will only offer protection when you need it…”