Highland Shift (Highland Destiny: 1)

by LAURA HARNER

  “You saved his life today, you brought him back from the void. Can you bring him back from his despair? Will your story ease his heart?”

  Elena went to Faolan, sat on the edge of the bed, and took his large hand in her small ones. She lowered her shield, not all the way, but further so the others could sense her story, as well as hear it. With a sigh, she began.

  “I went to the doctor’s office, and met Gabhran MacLachlan. You were right, Brigid, he is powerful, but I sensed more. There were two sources of power, a duality about him, and a sense of impending struggle. I let him sense a little of my power and he responded right away. I am sure he is untrained. Or rather, he was untrained. I don’t know about now. He refused to give me any more information once I warned him about his power. I tried to get him to come with me, but he said I needed to return the following week and perhaps we could speak more of it then. He didn’t even confirm I was p…pregnant.” She swallowed hard and waited a moment before she could continue.

  “That night, I insisted Lilly and I go to a restaurant near his office, The Saucy Sorcerer. I realize now there must have been some type of enchantment on it that drew me in. Ordering felt like a tremendous burden and I finally asked the waiter if there were any unlisted specials. He acted as though I had won the grand prize. Other staff visited us throughout the meal and they fussed over us, or maybe it was just me. Lilly said they brought a special dessert, although I have no memory of that.

  “The next thing I knew, I was on the floor, tied back-to-back with Lilly. Worthington and Liam were there, and Worthington said he would have us killed as part of the ceremony. Later, Liam returned by himself and injected Lilly with something to make her sleep. He injected just a little into me, he said it was so I couldn’t invade his thoughts. He said I was powerful.”

  Faolan still wasn’t looking at her, but he hadn’t pulled his hand back. She knew the ending would be painful, but maybe this next part would make him angry. Anger would be preferable to the despair that poured from him.

  “Liam kissed my neck, and said he wished he could keep me for himself, but that I was to play an important role at Beltane.” Faolan’s hand jerked in hers. “He said I would be a sexual sacrifice, but that he would cast an enchantment so I would enjoy it, and then I would be a blood sacrifice. When he kissed my neck, he said I was carrying your child, that he could feel it. He said it would make my sacrifice that much more potent.”

  Faolan finally made eye contact with her, and she could sense his fury. Good, it’s a start. “Then he put me to sleep, and the next time I woke there was a ceremony and people were in the room. Almost everyone had on dark robes, but I figured out which one was Worthington and which was Symington. Gabhran was there too, but he wasn’t in a robe. I tried to call out to Gabhran, but my voice felt paralyzed. He heard me a couple of times with his mind, but kept getting drawn back into the ceremony.

  “Worthington said Gabhran was there to be inducted, and then he gave Symington a scepter called the Scepter of Entitlement to test Gabhran with. He said they were entering a new era of Druidry and he was presenting the Scepter to the Order.

  Earnan and Brigid gasped, and Faolan and Elena looked at them. “’Tis a powerful and ancient artifact. Go on Elena,” Earnan said.

  “Worthington handed the Scepter to the Master on behalf of the Order. He held it high in the air and Worthington called on the wind as part of the ceremony I think. Only it seemed the wind was much stronger than Symington had expected. Symington asked the Scepter to judge the worthy, or something like that, and then the wind turned dark. Tendrils crept through the room, tasting us,” she shivered.

  “I yelled at Gabhran not to look, and he must have heard me. The next thing I knew he was cutting us lose, and helping us escape. We almost made it out, and I felt the dark find him again. It passed right over me and I felt it slide into him. He fought it, somehow; he still got us out, even though I could feel the darkness entering him. We kind of pushed each other onto the street. He was trying to put us in his car, but the dark came with him. The dark liked him; it felt like… I don’t know, like it was home?”

  She went on, very quickly now, her voice a whisper, “Anyway, I heard a growl, I tried to turn and lost my balance, I fell, I heard a gunshot, and I woke up in the hospital. The doctor took out my breathing tube, and I wanted to ask questions but I couldn’t, all I could do was sleep. The next time I woke up, she told me my husband and I had been mugged and we’d both been shot. She said you had been killed trying to save me, and I lost our baby because I lost so much blood.”

  Elena had been trying to keep her shield low enough to sense them, but high enough to protect herself. The shield crashed down around her with those words. Her tenuous grip on control slipped and she wailed, “You were dead, I’d lost our baby, I couldn’t sense you anymore, I wanted to die!”

  And she did what she’d wanted to do since the moment she realized he was alive, she buried her face against his chest and sobbed. Such was the power of her emotion that it threatened to carry all of them away on a wave of grief.

  Brigid quickly came to Elena’s side, worried that the strength of her feelings was too much for Faolan in his condition. She spoke urgently “Elena, you must pull it back, it’s too much, you’re hurting Faolan. He’s not recovered enough yet. Elena, pull it back!”

  Wave after wave crashed through Elena, each bringing its own tide of emotion. Her anger at Faolan for not trusting their love was blazing, searing into her, flames scarring her soul. A sense of blood-thirsty revenge for Liam, for tasting her soul without permission, for all he would do to her, for the obsessive love she knew he felt. Betrayal stabbed at her heart, Lilly and Red, people she had felt would come to be the parents she’d never had, and the knowledge they would always choose Faolan over her.

  Finally, her rage settled where it belonged, on herself. If she hadn’t insisted on sending Red back, on staying one more night in Edinburgh, ongoing to that restaurant. If she hadn’t fallen over when she did, her baby would still be alive, physical proof that Faolan had once loved her, that she had been lovable.

  *

  Faolan brushed Brigid’s hands aside and took Elena in his arms, pulling her fully onto his lap so that he could cradle her, rock her while she cried. He looked over Elena’s head at Earnan, and said one word. “Go.” They did, locking the door behind them.

  Faolan held Elena against his chest, and mourned with her. He felt her white-hot anger at him, and winced. Could she ever forgive him? Would he forgive himself? Och, Red, and Lilly had raged at him, swore at him for leaving Elena. He’d used the Druid compulsion to make them listen, they hadna wanted to leave her. It was only his promise they could return as wolves to watch over her that made them finally agree. He swore an oath to kill Liam, if he hadn’t already died. He’d touched Elena, wanted her, would have sacrificed her. Aye, he and Worthington were dead men.

  As Elena wept, a raw power hit Faolan with the force of a nuclear shockwave. The energy that exploded from Elena pushed outward, rippling through the air. The solid objects around him began to shimmer, as though the force of her rage was changing their molecular structure. She was incensed, placing the blame for the loss of their baby on herself, as proof of her unworthiness.

  Christ, what was she? His mind was assaulted, nay his very cells were contracting with the force of her fury. The edges of his vision began to darken, a roaring in his ears told him he would be conscious only a minute longer.

  With great effort, as though he were moving his arms against hurricane force winds, he placed his hands on Elena’s face. He had but moments of willful determination left before his mind was forced to blackness by the strength of her emotions. He gasped her name with his last breath.

  “Elena MacGailtry.”

  *

  Elena heard her name from very far away, as though from a dream. She fought the turmoil she suddenly felt around her. Dear God, what’s happening, who’s attacking us? She raised her shield quickly aro
und both of them. As soon as her shield rose, she felt the turmoil cease. Whatever the threat, it had retreated; they would be safe for now.

  She turned her face to Faolan and saw his face had turned gray, he was barely conscious. She tried to jump from his lap, to make him lie down, but he only held her more tightly to him.

  “Kiss me, lass,” he gasped.

  “Faolan, what happened? You need t—”

  “Kiss me now!”

  His hands were still pressed to her cheeks and he turned her head up for access to her mouth, and pressed his lips lightly to hers. He kissed her gently, almost lazily, as if they had all the time in the world. Or as if he were nearly unconscious.

  Elena leaned away from his kisses and examined his face carefully. Some of the color had returned, but there were lines of pain etched around his mouth. She realized Brigid had been speaking to her before she left the room, telling her to pull them back. It was her own feelings that had caused the storm. No matter how upset she was, she would never intentionally hurt Faolan. He needed to heal; they needed to talk.

  She felt stronger now, different. A force within her had awakened; it was both exhilarating and frightening. It was the light, only changed, more potent. She tentatively placed her hand against Faolan’s chest, and sent a small pulse of energy. He inhaled audibly, shivering against the heat of her hand.

  “Elena,” and then his lips were on hers, insistent, hungry. His fingers traced her jaw line, and he put his thumbs on either side of her mouth, opening her lips wider. His tongue thrust in, only to be met by hers, he plunged and plundered, claiming her.

  She felt him stiffen beneath her, and she squirmed against his erection, causing a moan to escape. With an unexpected swiftness, she was on her back and he was pressing himself to her side, his fingers lacing into her tangle of hair, and holding her head so that his mouth could move to her neck.

  “Faolan,” she sighed, unsure if this was a dream, and unwilling to wake if it was.

  He traced her neck with his velvet tongue, planting open-mouthed kisses below her ear, along her collarbone. He returned to ply her mouth with more kisses, running his tongue along her teeth, the roof of her mouth, her lips.

  “I need you, Elena, my only love. I want you. Och, I know we didna finish talking, but we have talked enough for the now. Let me love you, I need to taste you, hold your desire against my tongue. I want to feel you come against my lips and around my fingers. And then my love, I will fill you, take you the way I need you.”

  “Yes,” was all she could manage, as the fire built low in her belly, and aching, empty muscles clenched in anticipation.

  He helped her undress, not slow or gentle, but frantic to feel her skin against his. She sat on the bed, her black hair, curling down her back and over her shoulders, hiding her breasts from his view. He pushed her back, and cupped her breasts in his hands, pushing them together, and buried his face in the cleavage. His tongue raked over her nipples, he nibbled and kissed every inch of first one breast, and then the other.

  She arched her back, pushing the breast he was kissing against his mouth, pulled his head close, “Harder, Faolan, harder.”

  With a groan, Faolan pulled her nipple into his mouth, taking the whole areola and more into his mouth, sucking and kneading with his hands. He switched to the other breast, and she pressed her head back into the pillow and arched her back even further, pulled his head tighter against her breast, seeking the pain with the pleasure. He bit down, and her moan told him she was nearly ready to come.

  “Och, not yet Elena, my love. You must wait for your pleasure until I am ready to give it to you.” He left her breasts, and ran his tongue slowly down her stomach. He pushed her legs apart and he poised between them in perfect position to give her what she wanted.

  “Please, Faolan, now.”

  “Oh, ‘tis asking you are doing now? You must be punished for seeking your pleasure while I was unable to join you.” He licked and nibbled her thighs.

  “Wh…what?”

  He continued to lick and nip all around her thighs and lower belly, but never quite reaching that spot where he knew she wanted him. “Do you think I doona’ realize that you woke me with your mouth? I was having a most explicit fantasy of you, a wet dream as they call it. I could feel your sweet lips, your hot mouth. You pulled me in deeper, sliding your hand along in rhythm, and you clutched my sac in your wee hand.”

  Elena arched her back again, and thrust her hips toward his mouth, “Please.”

  “Nay, lass, you need to know, ‘twas one of the most beautiful moments. I am only sorry I was not believing ‘twas real, else I’d have turned you over and returned the favor. “Tis what I am going to do now.

  “Yes,” she panted, her hands went to his head and again she tried to position him between her thighs, but he laughed.

  “I know you, lass, you will come the minute I put my lips to you, which is hardly a sufficient torture. So I will do it a second time, only much more slowly than this first time, and I willna let you come until I believe you have been punished enough.”

  She started to move her hand to between her legs, gasping, “Been months, can’t wait.”

  He actually growled as he pushed her hand aside, “Mine.” Then he pressed his lips to her hard nub and she shuddered beneath him, coming, but feeling empty as her muscles contracted around nothing. He barely let her recover before he began his delicious torture, his fingers gliding, his tongue lapping, he brought her to the edge repeatedly, before backing off. She was strung tight, but so was he, his muscles ached from the effort of restraining himself.

  “Sit up a bit, lass,” and he placed a second pillow under her shoulders. Soon, I am going to give you your release, lass, but then I am going to fill you. I am going to fuck you; I am going to take what I need.”

  He pumped his fingers, and flicked her with his tongue, and the sight of his mouth placed so intimately was intoxicating. He removed his fingers and she whimpered a little, which caused him to laugh against her in a most interesting place. He looked up at her and their gazes locked, as his tongue lapped at her wetness. He pushed his long fingers back inside her hot tunnel, pumping fast and closed his mouth over her clitoris and kissed hard. She threw her head back as muscles clenched around his fingers, and her orgasm swept over her.

  Elena was still shuddering when he drove his cock inside, stretching her, filling her. She gasped with the feel of him, she’d forgotten how large he was, and little huffs of breath escaped with each thrust. Then he went quite still.

  “Faolan, are you okay?” Elena asked, frantic that he had hurt himself. He was just recovering from a very serious injury. What was she thinking?

  “Aye,” he said through clenched teeth. “Doona’ move, lass.”

  Elena realized he wasn’t in pain, or at least not in pain from his wounds. The knowledge that she did this to him, brought him to the brink of losing his self-control was heady. She held very still waiting for him to get his control back.

  He cupped her face in his hands, his cock buried deep inside her. “Elena, my love, I will spend my life making up for these last few months. It seems we have much to forgive, from each other and from ourselves.”

  “I forgi—”

  “Nay, lass, not now,” he interrupted. “These are feelings deep within us that will take time to heal. Any words of forgiveness spoken now wouldna heal the heart.”

  Elena knew he was right, and as much as she longed to take him in her arms and declare all forgiven, she knew they each harbored deep emotional scars that could only be healed by time and love.

  He kissed her slowly, possessively, until she rocked her hips beneath him in a silent plea. His hips moved languidly, in shallow, circular motion that brought new intense feelings, bringing her close to the edge again.

  “Elena, my love, tell me that this willna be the last time we make love, that you willna ever leave me,” his voice broke on the question.

  They’d made promises before, could th
e promises last this time? He hadn’t even heard the rest of her story yet. She had questions for him. Elena hesitated, hedged in her answer, “This will not be the last time we make love.”

  He buried his face in her hair, but not before she’d seen the sheen of tears in his tawny eyes.

  Her own eyes filled with tears, and she wrapped her legs around him, her body responding despite her emotions. His rocking brought her ever closer to the edge, “I’m so close, come with me, Faolan.”

  He continued with the short, quick strokes, circling his hips, his breathing fast. He lifted himself on his hands to gaze into her face, she looked back, her face filled with love. Her lips parted on a sigh, and she felt her climax build from the inside, slowly, rolling over her, one gentle spasm giving away to another.

  “Now,” she sighed.

  Chapter Forty-six

  The six of them were to meet in the drawing room after breakfast the next morning. Elena was uncomfortable and had again pulled her shield up tightly around herself. She stood at the window and looked out, not turning when she sensed others entering the room. When Faolan entered, he walked behind her, slipped his arms around her, and kissed the top of her head. His face lingered in her hair, feeling the silk caress his face.

  “I’ll be on the couch should you care to sit next to me, lass,” he gave her a squeeze and went to sit.

  Of all the things she knew she faced this day, facing Lilly was by far the hardest. Elena simply didn’t know how to feel. She’d loved Lilly like a mother; they shared the last normal week of Elena’s life. They’d laughed and talked. They’d dreamed of the baby. Elena had feared for Lilly’s life when they’d been tied in that chamber. She would have done anything, bargained with the devil to secure Lilly’s freedom. So much had been lies.