Bound by Song (Cauld Ane Series)

by Tracey Jane Jackson

  “Thank you,” she said. “So, can we revisit the cheating part? How am I supposed to believe that once we’re together, you can’t step out on me?”

  “Because I haven’t had sex with anyone since the moment I met you.”

  “What?” She narrowed her eyes. “Really?”

  He nodded. “I couldn’t…can’t. As soon as I knew who you were, I was done. So, even if you decided that you didn’t want me to bind you…which you can…I’d never be able to sleep with anyone else unless you died.”

  “So I can’t either?”

  He sighed. “This is where it’s a little different. Because you’re human, you aren’t subjected to the emotions I feel. So, right now, you could marry someone else and…” He shook his head, his face pinched in pain.

  Grace grasped his arm. The connection calming both of them. “So are you saying that I will have the ability to cheat…not that I would…but I could?”

  He shook his head. “Once I bind you, you’ll become Cauld Ane and you’ll feel as I do.”

  “What do you mean I’ll become Cauld Ane?”

  “Your body will go through a conversion, and you will be physically like me.”

  “So, this isn’t like in the movie Highlander, then? I won’t age while you stay young and gorgeous?”

  “No, you and I will age at the same rate. But you’ll also be forced to live within a few boundaries.”

  “Like?”

  “Like, you won’t be able to tolerate temperatures over sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit, which is why we take precautions during the warmer months.”

  “Is that why you asked me what my heater was set at?”

  “Aye. I have to be careful when I’m going into a new place, that it’s safe.”

  Grace frowned. “What happens if you went out during the summer?”

  “I would die.”

  She gasped. “What? Seriously?”

  He nodded. “There are very few things that will hurt us and only one thing that will kill us, and that’s heat.”

  “What things hurt you?”

  “Almonds, extract or the nut, and a drug called Red Fang. It’s a flower native to Iceland, but it’s grown all over the world now and used as a weapon on occasion.”

  “So, if I go through this conversion, I won’t be me anymore? Will I remember my family? Or my old self?”

  “No, nothing like that. You’ll still be you, sweetheart. Your body changes, but not your mind or your soul.” He squeezed her hand. “And you’ll take on some or all of my gifts.”

  “What do you mean, gifts?”

  “One of my gifts is the gift of healing.”

  Grace’s mouth dropped open. “I do hope your next words aren’t, ‘I’m related to Jesus of Nazareth.’”

  Max chuckled. “Not even close. But I can heal you and anyone related to me. And I can tell if someone, or something, is sick.”

  “You took my migraine away and then my flu. Can you heal yourself?”

  He nodded. “Once we reach ár mökunar, we can heal ourselves and members of our immediate family. I also have the gift of suggestion. I can make anyone…well, any human, outside of you…do what I want them to do.”

  “What do you mean, outside of me?”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You are…ah…immune to me in that regard.”

  She sat up on her knees and frowned. “Is that what you were doing at church? Trying to force me to go out with you by using ‘suggestion’? Is that why I felt all weird when you stared at me?”

  “What is the American saying, ‘I plead the fifth?’”

  Grace sighed. “Is that why Niall was laughing so hard?”

  “Aye,” Max grumbled. “He continued laughing, by the way. He loved that you bested me.”

  Grace shook her head. “That wasn’t really my intention, but I’m glad I have a choice. If I didn’t, I’d question everything. You get that, right?”

  “I do.” He grimaced. “I’m sorry for trying to manipulate you, love.”

  “I know, Max. I forgive you.” She bit her lip. “Are you really strong?”

  “What makes you ask that?”

  “Nothing. It’s silly.”

  “Tell me,” he pressed.

  “I saw you punch the car in the garage at the restaurant, and I could’ve sworn it moved.”

  He sighed. “It did.”

  She gasped. “Wow. Will I be that strong?”

  “Well, no, because you’re not a man.”

  “Are we adding sexist to your list of sins?” she joked.

  Max laughed. “No, not at all. I would love for you to be that strong, but the truth is, I have been Cauld Ane for a lot longer than you have, and most men have more muscle mass anyway, so you have two factors that mean you won’t be as strong as me. However, you will be stronger than any human…male or female.”

  “Well, that’s kind of cool.”

  “Aye.” He frowned. “Full disclosure, love. My power of suggestion is the reason I was able to join you in your dreams. I still can’t make you do anything you don’t want to, but it’s the reason we can be together in our sleep.”

  “I really don’t know how to respond to all of this.”

  “I know. It’s a lot to take in.” Max smiled and pulled her against his chest. “I do have something else to ask you…outside of a proposal.”

  “Oh, did you propose? I must have missed that part.”

  Max chuckled. “When I propose to you, it will be properly, and after I speak to your father.” He ran his thumb over her knuckles. “I have to return to Scotland after the D.C. show, and I’d like you to come with me.”

  “How long will you be gone?”

  “At least a month.”

  “Oh.” Her heart dropped. “Do you have to go back so soon?”

  “Aye, love. I have to attend the coronation of our new queen.”

  “You know a queen?”

  He chuckled. “Aye. Samantha is mate to the king, Kade, who is Connall’s brother.”

  “So your best friend’s a prince.”

  Max nodded.

  Grace sat up again and took a deep breath, then another.

  “Come here,” Max said, and pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms tightly around her. “I’ve got you, baby.”

  She laid her cheek against his chest, relishing the calm flowing through her. “All of this is so…I don’t know…weird, I guess.”

  “I know.”

  She sighed. “I do love you, though.”

  He gave her a gentle squeeze. “I know.”

  She smiled. “You are such a jackass.”

  Max laughed. “I know that too.”

  Grace sat up, balancing herself by grasping the back of the sofa. “What happens when two Cauld Ane people meet…ones who are mates?”

  “Well, if they’re of age, the man binds her and they live happily ever after, so to speak.”

  “But what about planning for a wedding and stuff? Is it just wham, bam, thank you ma’am?”

  “We don’t do weddings…well, let me back up. We haven’t done weddings in the past, although, when Kade met Samantha, he bound her and then they had a wedding here for the benefit of her family. Typically, we bind our mates, then the next day, the parson records it in our ancestral book, and we have a reception.” He smiled. “Pepper likened it to how they did it in Biblical times.”

  “That’s actually kind of cool.”

  “I think so.” He stroked her hair. “But we can do whatever you want to do, Grace. My only request is I’d like to bind you at home.”

  “Hold on there, skippy. I have yet to receive or accept a proposal, so you’re jumping the gun a bit, don’t you think?”

  He grinned. “Will you marry me?”

  “What happened to asking my father?”

  “I will. We’ll just flip-flop the order of the proposal.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Max.”

  “Look, if you want romance and roses, I’ll give you romance
and roses, but you’ve never struck me as the type who tolerates it.”

  She tried to bite back a smile, but failed. “Okay, maybe you know me a little.”

  “More than a little,” he said. Then he laughed, and held up the ring again. “So the question remains, love. Will you marry me?”

  She pushed his hand with the ring back to his lap. “Can I think about it?”

  He frowned. “What if I said you couldn’t?”

  “Silly question, I guess,” she conceded. “I just need a little time. I’m only now processing the fact that I love you, despite the crazy story you’ve told me. I need to know that I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do, not just that I’m gaga for you.”

  Max chuckled. “You’re gaga for me, eh? I suppose that’s a good start. You take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere. I wouldn’t even if I could.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Will you come to Scotland with me after the show?”

  “Yes, Max, I’d love to.” She raised an eyebrow. “Does your king live in a castle?”

  Max grinned. “Aye, lass. He does. A few times a year.”

  “Oooh, does that mean we can visit?”

  “Yes, sweetheart. We can visit. I’ve actually been invited to stay there during the coronation. I was going to decline, since my home is so close, but if you’d like to experience medieval living, I’ll accept.”

  “Um…yes, please.” She cocked her head. “Will they mind if I come?”

  “Baby, you are the most anticipated arrival next to Pepper’s baby. No, they won’t mind.”

  “What do you mean, anticipated?”

  “They were all at the concert the night I met you. Do you remember me pulling my friends onstage?”

  “Vaguely. I remember a woman coming on and singing with you, I think.”

  “That was Pepper.”

  Her eyes widened. “Oh.”

  “And Connall is the one who played guitar.”

  Grace let out a quiet whistle. “Wow, they were gorgeous. Are all Cauld Ane that beautiful?”

  Max laughed. “Well, I don’t know that I can speak to our entire people, but I will say that you’ll fit right in.”

  “Aw. You’re such a charmer.” She tapped his cheek. “Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

  “I think I’d like that in writing, love.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  Max grinned. “Anyway, the group knew the second we met that you were my mate.”

  “How?”

  “There’s a charge in the air. It’s not really something I can describe, but suffice it to say, there was no doubt who you were. And I have a feeling Niall’s been updating them hourly on my progress of finding you.”

  She fiddled with a loose piece of thread on one of the pillows. “Will they like me, do you think?”

  “They will love you. How could they not?” He smiled. “You ‘manage’ me.”

  “Call you on your crap, you mean?”

  “That too.”

  She settled herself back against his chest and they sat silently for several minutes as Grace processed everything Max had told her.

  Is it too soon?

  No. When you know, you know.

  She smiled against his chest. You’re probably biased, though.

  Regardless. I’m still right.

  With a gasp, Grace sat up again. “That is so weird.”

  “It is a bit surreal, eh?”

  She nodded. “You have to promise no more dreams.”

  He shook his head. “No way. Because we can meet there while we sleep.”

  “Okay, fine, but no more sexy ones. Good lord, I blushed all day because of you.”

  “Sorry, love.” Max laughed. “I thought you’d never go to sleep, though. Do you typically stay up that late?”

  “I’m a night owl, but working means I have to force myself to go to bed early. Except on my birthday. It’s my and Charlotte’s tradition.”

  “Ah, makes sense. Well, how about we make the subject choices together in the moment as we dream? Unless, of course, you let me bind you and we can start playing in person.”

  She gripped his chin with a groan. “You are a ridiculous person.”

  “Maybe.” He kissed her and smiled. “Or I could just be eager to start our life together.”

  She nodded, dropping her head.

  “Hey? What’s the matter?” he asked.

  “Um…how would you feel about premarital counseling?”

  “What is that?”

  “It’s something everyone I know does before they get married. We would meet with my pastor and discuss our future marriage. He’d help us figure out if we should get married.”

  “Seriously?” he asked, appearing horrified.

  She bit her lip and nodded.

  “What if your pastor says we shouldn’t get married?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  He closed his eyes briefly and sighed. “I suppose if it’s something you want, then we’ll do it.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.” He shifted her so she was back on the sofa and stood. “This is all about you, Grace. I’m at your mercy and disposal. Which doesn’t mean, if I think it’s a bad idea, I won’t object, but if you feel more comfortable about sitting with your pastor before we make our union official, then I’ll allow it.”

  “Well, thank you very much, oh wise and mighty one,” she droned.

  He shook his head and grabbed the wine. “More?”

  “Yes. I think I’m gonna need it.”

  He poured and then sat next to her again. “Baby, I’m not trying to be difficult. I honestly don’t see how a human can give insight into a Cauld Ane union. It’s not something we can share with him, so it’s not like he can speak into that part of our lives.”

  “That’s true. Well, then is there a Cauld Ane pastor you’d feel more comfortable with?”

  He nearly spit out his wine. “No. I haven’t been to church in several hundred years.”

  She frowned. “Right.”

  “We’ll talk to Connall when we get home. He may have some ideas.” Max smiled. “And if he doesn’t, Pepper probably will.”

  Grace nodded and sipped her wine.

  Max kissed her palm. “I’m sorry, Grace.”

  “For what?”

  “For not being more prepared for you.”

  Grace snorted. “Because I was so prepared for you.”

  Max chuckled. “I guess we’re even, eh?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say that. I’m obviously the far more open-minded one, since I’m being so very much more patient with you.”

  Max narrowed his eyes. “Oh, really?”

  She nodded. “For instance, I don’t growl at you when you do something I don’t like.”

  “No, you do more of the high-pitched Pterodactyl squawk.”

  Grace gasped. “Excuse me?”

  Before she could react, Max was stretched out on top of her, his hand at her waist.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded.

  He grinned. “Whatever do you mean, sweetheart?”

  “Max,” she warned, but it was to no avail.

  He dug his fingers gently into her side and Grace let out a squeal of laughter. The torture continued for several seconds, just until Grace had a window of opportunity and turned the tides on him. He barked with laughter but managed to grab her hands again and pin them above her head.

  She blinked up at him. His eyes were dark with desire and her heart raced as she saw the promise of things she probably had no idea existed in those sea blue depths.

  He smiled slowly and then covered her mouth with his, keeping her hands still pinned above her head. Grace sighed, squirming under him as he projected sexy images into her mind. She couldn’t stop a whimper as the need to go further made her head spin.