She trembled at his touch and she put her hands under his shirt moving up and down from his waist to his chest, loving the feel of his tight muscles. She kneaded his chest and drew her nails down over his stomach. All the while their tongues danced back and forth in heated torment.
The feel and taste of his mouth was intoxicating. She grew hot and warmth pooled in her abdomen, slick wetness gushed from her pulsing insides and ran onto her thighs. He pushed her dress down past her hips where it hit the floor. He tore at the last bit of her corset and he threw it aside. Picking her up he placed her on the bed all the while gazing into her eyes. She moaned. “Please Ian remove those clothes at once. I want to feel your skin on mine. I want you inside, please. Now.”
He chuckled, “Not yet, sweetling. I will be tasting you first. She leaned back and spread her legs wide giving him full view of her glistening thighs. His gaze turned toward the heat of her. He ripped his shirt off, shucking his boots and when he pulled down his pants, he was raging hard and throbbing when he finally bounced free. He gently placed himself between her legs and leaned down.
With his hands under her hips he pulled her up to his mouth. With one long stroke of his tongue he licked over her nub nestled amongst the tiny red curls. She cried out and lifted her hips. His tongue probed the inside of her, in and out.
He chuckled and the vibration drove her wild. “Please Ian.” She moaned. His tongue darted in and out of his mouth barely stroking her, driving her insane. She clawed at his shoulders then pulling his hair. Thrashing her head back and forth she again pleaded with him. She was wound tight and she wanted more, wanted him inside.
Finally, he sucked fully onto her, nibbled and then licked. She pressed her thighs tight to his head to hold him there. She trembled and when he started sucking she screamed his name and came apart. It was a vicious orgasm and she thought she was going to pass out when softly she came floating back, she opened her eyes.
Sitting up, she threw Ian onto his back. “Your turn,” she said with a twinkle of devilment in her bright green eyes. She straddled him, but instead of climbing on top of him she leaned down and licked his pebbled nipples. He groaned and she knew she was doing something he liked. If she liked what he did, she figured he’d like what she was going to do. She wanted to drive him as mad as he drove her.
She loved the taste of him and she stroked his chest with her tongue working her way down. She brushed her breasts against his hard erection and it jerked beneath her. She sat back and looked at him. She grabbed around the middle of it and he groaned. Leaning over she took her tongue and tasted the tip where a bead of moisture clung. The salty taste aroused her.
When she dove down all the way around him her hot wet mouth was almost his undoing. She stroked him up and down with her mouth. Finally, he had to stop her. He wasn’t going to last like this and he wanted inside. “Enough Els, I canna take any more.” She sat back and looked at him with a grin.
“Don’t move,” she said, and climbed on top of him. She slowly guided him inside of her and they both moaned. Finding her rhythm, she began to increase her thrusts. Throwing back her head, Ian watched her, her wild red tresses bouncing around her shoulders and over her breasts. He reached up and placed her hair behind her, enjoying looking at her flushed face and bouncing breasts.
He’d never seen anything more beautiful. Her wild red hair in disarray, her parted lips, and little mews drove him wild. He grabbed her hips and he began to thrust up harder. She met his passion with her own.
Before they would end it right there, he flipped Elspeth to her back. “Look at me Els.” She gazed into his eyes. “I doona ken what the future holds, so tonight I’d like tae make you truly mine. Do you want tae mate? If not, we can wait. It’s just…”
“I thought you’d never ask. Of course, Ian, I want nothing more.”
He kissed her gently and started moving again. The little reprieve cooled them somewhat, but in seconds they were straining toward each other. She was so hot and wet he didn’t know if he could wait.
She moaned and thrashed her head back and forth, eyes wide. Then she felt it coming. When she bit her lip and her inner muscles tightened, he knew she was ready. Grabbing tight on her hips he thrust up hard and she screamed his name.
On her first contraction, he lost control, at the same time he bit her and drank heavy of her blood. Letting go and shouting her name, he buried himself and came with her. The orgasm lengthening and stronger than he ever felt before.
“Now bite me and drink my blood.” She instantly bit him taking them through another tumultuous orgasm. Instinct took over and she drank, completing the ritual. His thoughts rushed through her head, and he shared his feelings. Her thoughts rushed him and he felt her love for him. Together they truly united and became one. A tear melted from her eye.
Their closeness was on a level neither understood, but knew it was something that could never be broken. It was always this good with her, but this was special. He could not get enough. He collapsed on top of her tucking his face against her neck. “I love you,” she whispered to him.
He pushed the hair from her face. “I love you, too,” he whispered back.
Suddenly she cramped, then cramped again. She moaned then screamed out. Ian held her and brushed her hair back. He knew her body was making the necessary changes. She would become vampire. Fae had a different ritual, one that was not painful.
He would share that on their wedding night. That was a ritual, blissfully shared, and entwining their souls. She couldn’t become fae, you could only be born one, but the mating ritual would bind them together in the way of the fae. She broke out in a sweat and whispered his name.
“I’m here sweetling, I willna let you go.”
****
For an hour, she cramped, her bones were on fire, her skin prickled, she felt like she had the flu a hundred-fold. Then it died to an ache, then to a warmth. Her hearing was acute and she could hear tiny insects, her teeth lengthened, and she wanted blood. Ian leaned over her, exposing his neck.
“Here Els, you’ll need blood. I’ll feed you on and off all night, and by morning, you’ll be changed.” He pulled the covers over them and tucked her up against his side. “Rest while you can, you’ll wake hungry a few times, but the worst is over.”
Chapter 16
The next morning, Ian looked at Ator in the cave behind the waterfall. A few of the dragons had returned to their original caves in case he or Elspeth needed their help. They were going to walk to the castle, a half day’s journey. They had to go through the canyon of Mystic mountain, where men went and never came out. He shuddered at the thought.
But they could not take the chance that any scouting soldiers would spot them riding a dragon. It was the only way. “You ken,” he said, “you can change your mind and we can stop this nonsense now. I doona like this plan one bit. I doona want tae lose you, Els.”
“We’re here beside you Ian,” said Ator. “At your first call, we’ll be there, if you need us.”
Elspeth smiled and straightened. “You won’t lose me Ian. We can do this. I need answers as much as you do. After all my brother, well…whoever he is, I need to know. Maybe I can find out exactly what happened with my brother. I know he’s gone, but there are still so many questions. Just maybe Merlin is wrong, maybe they didn’t use my brother just replaced him. I need to know, Ian. The whole thing doesn’t feel right to me. I need these answers, and don’t ask me why, but there is something not right with this story. I can feel it in my bones.”
He frowned at the thought. Knowing Drakkor as he did, he knew the bairn would not have lived, but he could not tell her that. He wished there was a way to avoid having her find out the truth, but he knew her better, so he didn’t say anything.
She would not rest until she found out, and hopefully he’d be there to hold her when she did. He pushed his hand back through his hair, then down his face. So much to think about, so many dangers. He just hoped this insidious plan worked.
<
br /> “Weel, we best get started,” he said. “Ator will you take us to the edge of the valley? We’ll start from there and go past Mystic Mountain. I think we’re good to that point. No one will see us. Past that, though, there may be soldiers or scouts either looking for Elspeth or kings. Arthur was damn lucky, but some of the bastards got away. They’ll ken aboot him. Damn Kearals, damn Drakkor.”
Ator strode to the opening. “I’ll take you to the base of Mystic mountain. Come.” He turned his large head toward Ian, blue eyes serious. “It will work, Ian. Have faith in Merlin, in Elspeth, in us. We won’t let harm come to either of you even if we have to burn down Mystic Castle and all in it.”
“Thanks, Ator, you are a true friend. I’m ready.” He climbed aboard Ator. The female mates to the dragons were safely tucked away in their new homes in the Wesladus Veil. He wished Elspeth was there, tucked away in Pendragon Castle, in their new bedchamber, with him by her side. He thought about last night. It was the most beautiful night of his life. He wanted many more. He shook his head. “Come Els. We best be gettin’ on with it.”
She stepped up on Ator’s wing and climbed in front of him. He knew her thoughts mirrored his. They were quiet.
Ator soared high and Ian enjoyed the ride and view. He thought Ator did it on purpose. He let go of the spike and wrapped his arms around Elspeth. “I love you,” he whispered in her ear inhaling her sent of Jasmine and woman. She cupped his arms with hers and leaned against him. They were high enough they would not be seen. Then Ator flew up and circled a couple of times then over the top of Mystic Mountain and toward the valley below. Landing toward the back where no one would see them.
“Thank you Ator,” he said as he climbed down. He took Elspeth’s hand and helped her off. He didn’t let go of it as they watched Ator take flight and disappear over the mountain top. They started walking. As they walked a narrow path between boulders and cliff edges of Mystic Mountain, he studied his surroundings.
The trees were getting their spring leaves, they twinkled from the breeze in the bright sunlight. Some deciduous trees were covered in spring blooms of white and some held large red blooms, some just had colorful leaves, and there were a lot of conifers. For being a cursed mountain, it was beautiful.
There were all kinds of trees. Birch, Alder, English Oak, Ash, Hazel, and Rowan to name a few. He noticed the Rowan had red berries from the year before, and there were spring flowers growing along the sides. He noticed Bluebell, Bramble, Dog rose, Foxglove, and the deadly Nightshade, blooming along the mountain side. Bright yellow, blue, and red flowers dotted here and there.
Higher up, the pines were thick, thinning the higher up he looked until his eyes reached the snow caps. Lodgepole Pine, Sitka Spruce, Douglas-fir, and Western Hemlock were among the ones he noticed. How could such a beautiful mountain turn man to stone?
Soon they came to an area where men and women stood frozen in time. Granite, they were all turned to granite. He looked in amazement at the different statues. As he looked higher he noticed something odd and he stopped.
“Els, what are those statues of?” He looked at what appeared strategically placed creatures of granite. They weren’t huge, but rounded, with pointed ears and long spiked tails. They had elf like faces. He pointed toward one. “Do you ken what that is? It’s a statue of a creature I’ve never seen afore and I’ve been around for eight hundred years.”
“They are said to be the guardians of Mystic Mountain. The myth says when a person touches the mountain they come alive and turn them to stone. It takes but one touch from the creatures and any living thing becomes stone. No one is excluded. They are called garg…gar…gargoyles. That’s it gargoyles. But it’s a myth that has been handed down through generations.
“Maybe they once lived and were turned to stone as the others were. Some say they were placed there as a warning. There are many stories. You know how myths go. They are probably here for some unknown reason. Someone probably made the statues to scare people away. I think they’re kind of cute myself. It would be fun to see what one would look like if it were actually alive.”
“I think they’re ugly little statues. Whoever thought to make one had a vivid imagination.” He chuckled. “Damn ugly if you ask me. I wouldn’t want tae meet one of those little devils, they probably stink, and eat little bairns.”
“Ian!” said Elspeth with a giggle slapping his arm. “You have such an imagination. If they were alive they would probably be friendly, cute little creatures.”
“Bah! Cute my arse! Stone devils are more like it.” He laughed. “Let’s get out of here as quickly as possible. It’s too eerily quiet and I think their eyes are following us.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Ian.” Laughed Elspeth. “Statues can’t see.”
He swung Elspeth around and kissed her. “You are so bonnie when you laugh. I could stay right here forever and listen tae you. Will you sing for me, Elspeth, as we walk? I love your voice. It’s so quiet here. It’s like everything is dead. You notice that? Listen…no sounds. No birds, lil critters, insects. It’s nae natural.”
Elspeth stopped and they listened. “You’re right it’s like everything knows this mountain is cursed.
“Yes, I’ll sing. What would you like to hear?”
“Do you ken any old Scottish ballads?”
“Yes, my da was Scottish and he loved tae sing.” Elspeth laughed remembering her da and heritage.
“You speak my tongue! Elspeth. What, or should I say who, changed your speech?”
“Mother Thomas used to smack my mouth if I spoke my Da’s tongue. Said it wasn’t proper for a young English lady. I soon learned, and it’s a habit I now have. Do you ken the song Ae Fond Kiss? It was one of me Da’s favorites.” Elspeth broke out in an old Scottish love song.
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever!
Ae fareweel, and then forever!
Deep in heart—wrung tears I’ll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I’ll wage thee.
Who shall say that Fortune grieves him,
While the star of hope, she leaves him?
Me, nae cheerfu twinkle lights me,
Dark despair around be nights me.
~*~
I’ll ne’er blame my partial fancy:
Naething could resist my Nancy!
But to see her was to love her
Love but her and love for ever.
Had we never lov’d so kindly.
Had we never lov’d so blindly,
Never met—or never parted
We had ne’er been broken hearted.
~*~
Fare—thee—weel, though first and fairest!
Fare—the—weel, though best and dearest!
Thine be Ilka, joy and treasure.
Peace, Enjoyment, Love, and Pleasure!
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever!
Ae fareweel, alas, forever!
Deep in heart—wrung tears I’ll pledge thee.
Warring sighs and groans I’ll wage thee…
Near the end of the song they had stopped walking, and as the last of the note died away in the canyon, he turned away to keep from tearing up. To hear a Scottish ballad sung in such a beautiful voice in the canyon, and by his beloved, Ian felt like he died and went to heaven.
“I love you, Els.”
“I love you too.” She took his hand and they continued walking in silence.
Time slipped away and before they knew it they were at the river. They could see the castle up ahead. It was early afternoon, and the sun still shone brightly. “Weel, we’re almost there. You ready Els?” he asked as he pulled a rope from the pocket of his tartan.
She nodded and held out her hands. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
He tied her hands together loosely, leaving a long end which he held onto. Just like they had planned. She was after all his prisoner. He still did not like it, but time to act his part. He dressed in red and black colors so he wasn’t wearing McGregor colors.
&
nbsp; He was using the name Heralth MacPherson, a name Merlin made up. There were MacPherson’s about but they were so far away Merlin didn’t think anyone would know. They crossed the bridge and came to the castle gates.
“Who goes there?” a booming voice shouted from the parapet.
“Heralth MacPherson! I bring you a prisoner! Elspeth McLellan the traitor to the king you’re looking for!”
“Open the gates!”
****
Elspeth was nervous. The memory of the look in King Rulm’s eyes still haunted her. She had to stay strong and face him. Two guards approached to escort them to the castle. One guard shouted for another to alert the king. They were led down the path that Elspeth had used every day. Somehow the joy she’d felt before shattered.
People stopped to stare. She glanced at people she knew, some she’d healed. Most glanced away when she looked at them. She couldn’t blame them. How would she feel if the tables were turned and she was watching a believed traitor being led to their death?
She wanted to cry, but instead held her head high and hoped no one would notice her shaking. They were being led up the stone stairs to the castle and when she reached the doors she thought about bolting.
Ian picked it up and whispered. “A little late for that. Stay strong. I’m with you. I willna let anythin’ happen tae you.”
She tilted her head as if to say okay. She swallowed hard and put her hands to her stomach to help relieve the knot in it. They were led through the double doors where King Rulm sat on the throne. Athdar was standing beside him, a look of contempt on his face.
King Rulm sat on his throne upon the dais, speaking to Athdar. He quit speaking and looked up when they entered. Surprise and a look of triumph passed over his face when he saw her. He motioned for the guards to bring them forward. The court was packed with people and the guards had to weave in and out to get to the front.
“What have we here? Elspeth McLellan, and who might you be?” he asked Ian with an evil stare.
“My name is Heralth MacPherson, and I am here with a prisoner whom you’ve been looking for.”
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