by Lilian Jade
Angus watched Kate snuggle into Hunter’s arms. There was such joy in their eyes. “Honest, lass?” Hunter said, looking completely in awe of the woman before him. “We’re gonna have a wee baby … you’re gifting me a new life …” he ran his hands through his hair, incredulous. “Really, lass?”
Kate’s smile widened as Hunter swept her off of her feet and kissed her. “Yes, Hunter. We really are going to have a baby.”
The room broke out in applause and cries of “Best wishes!” and “Congratulations!” Angus spotted Hannah. He knew that she had always wanted to be a mother. She mothered the lot of them like the hen she was. Angus made his way quietly over to her while all the focus of the room was still on Hunter and Kate.
He smiled and leaned in close, whispering in her ear, “See if Kate has a spare pregnancy test. You’ll be needing one.”
Hannah gasped out loud, looking at Angus as though he had made a miracle happen. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a big, tight hug, nearly knocking him off his feet. “Seriously, Angus?” she asked, with so much hope in her voice that it made his eyes water.
“Seriously, lass.” Angus laughed, hugging her back. “Go now. And take Kate with you.” Hannah ran over to Kate and pulled her out the door.
Angus shook his head at what had just taken place. Never in their years together had Kate and Hunter conceived a child. For them, hearing the news was like being granted the chance to visit God. Angus noticed Hunter’s sullen expression as Kate left the hall.
“What was that all about?” Occam asked, looking to Angus. Angus just smiled at his brother.
“You’ll see soon enough, brother,” Angus said, laughing. The laughter was bittersweet, however. Angus truly understood now what Lilith meant. She had to leave the keep. There was no way that Angus could allow all those other faes near their home again. So he decided that he would take the lass and together they would come up with a plan.
“I’m pregnant! I’m pregnant, Occam!” Hannah’s excited shouts rose over all the noise as she entered the room. There were a number of gasps, and then a shocked silence fell over everyone. “I don’t know how you knew, Angus, but I took the test three times with different brands and they all showed up positive. Occam … say something!” Hannah stood on the opposite side of the main hall, looking at her husband. Occam stood eerily still.
Angus watched his brother, whose eyes looked as if they were iced over. Did Occam have other ideas? Was it possible he did not want to be a father? But wasn’t that what they all wanted—after waiting so long to find the right woman—to build a family?
“Hannah,” Occam’s low voice was barely a whisper. “You aren’t jesting, are you?” He crept toward her, his gaze deadly serious.
“No, I’m not joking you silly goose. We can go buy more tests if that would make you feel better.” Hannah laughed as Occam marched over to her and cradled her head in his hands. He kissed her deeply.
“Oh, this calls for a dinner party!” shrieked Kate. “Someone call Connor and tell him of our good news!”
“I’m taking the lass from the house,” Angus announced in the midst of all their cheering. “It’s not safe if she stays, even more so now with the women pregnant. I don’t know how she knew, but she knew you two were with child. And before you all start, the lass knows things that haven’t happened yet. She told me that those faes won’t be back for a while. How long, I don’t know. But if you all see it the way I do, and the lass is right, she will be a danger to the women here.”
At the mention of his sisters being in possible danger, his brothers nearly snapped their heads off their shoulders as they all looked to him. “What do you mean a danger to our women?” said Duncan.
Angus sighed. He started to nervously pace the room, thinking of how to explain to his brothers. “If those faes break through our shields, they could kill any one of the women. Hell, maybe all of them. We won’t be able to keep them safe if all our bones are broken. We could end up powerless, immobile, helplessly watching while Kate, Hannah, Elle and Marissa are beaten to death or raped by those fae bastards.” Angus watched while his brothers quietly absorbed his words. He knew each one of them would do whatever it took to keep such a horrid scene from becoming reality.
“Angus is right,” Occam said. “I won’t have my Hannah killed. I won’t see the son or daughter she is carrying lost, either.” Angus knew how his brother felt about protecting their family. He would do the very same if he were in their shoes.
“Aye, but what about Devlin and the oath we made?” Hunter said. “I say that the lass stay. I won’t have her out there on her own. And we would have a better chance if she stayed.”
“I agree with Hunter,” Kate chimed in. “Look what she did to all the others like her—she killed them like they were mere, pestering flies. And remember what she did to you two? How quickly she healed you both? I vote she stay.”
Angus knew that Hunter and Kate would want her to stay. He did too. But he knew better than that. “Kate, love, I know that you want her to stay here. But the truth is that she can’t; and she certainly won’t allow it. Why do you think I took so long upstairs? I was arguing with her, trying to tell her that she would be safer here than outside our walls. But she’ll have none of it. I’ll have to go with her to keep her safe.” Angus was gearing up to say more, but he stopped when he heard the doors being thrown open.
“Oh, no you will not, Angus McClain. I will not have any of you trying to defend me. Why don’t you be clever like Occam, here? I will not be responsible for anyone’s blood on my hands, and you most defiantly will not be coming with me.” Lilith’s midnight-black eyes glistened like daggers. Her chest heaved as she spoke.
“I will so be going with you if you want to leave this keep. I am not breaking the oath that I made to your pa.” Her hands fisted as if she wanted to hit him. Maybe he should tell her to go ahead and strike him if it would make her happy. But he thought better of it.
“To hell with your oath, Angus. If your brothers value their wives, then I’m going. Are you forgetting that these aren’t humans you’re dealing with?” Her facial features twisted in disgust as she spat out the very words he didn’t want to hear. “We’re fae, not human. You think that your energy can keep them out? Well it can’t. They were just playing with you, like a dog with its bone.” Angus could see the girl starting to shake.
“Angus, I don’t think you should go pushing her. Something’s happening … can’t you feel it?” Occam’s voice was heavy with warning. Angus could feel it, too. The room pulsated with magic. Angus wasn’t sure the lass realized it.
“Lilith … Lilith, I’m sorry. I don’t want you to think that I’m stopping you from leaving, I just want to protect you.” Angus shivered as he uttered her name. It felt erotic and almost holy. Calling her by name gave him a sense of being loved. He felt tingles coursing through his entire body.
“Angus, the room just heated up a notch,” Kate said. And she was right, too.
“Lilith, please, I only want to protect you. Please, Lilith, allow me to protect you.” Angus was shocked to the very core as he and all his family watched the lass. Her clothing was gone in an instant, and she was again glowing from head to toe, stark naked, her hair flowing over her breast, moving as if caught in a midsummer night’s breeze. Her bare mound was covered in a light, glittery, gold dust, and her tribal tattoos shimmered a bright, violet color as she chanted in that same tongue he had heard her speak that very morning. Angus could see the panicked look on his brothers’ faces. They stepped in front of their wives, trying to shield them with their own bodies.
“Be at ease, Angus Locksley McClain, earl of this castle. My name is Li’o’well’e’lith, and you must listen as I donna have much time. The longer I stay within these walls, the more danger will come unto ye. If yer to follow Lilith, know that she canna protect ye outside these walls. That is why she leaves. Know ye that Lilith and I are one person—she just has na harnessed her full energy. But there wi
ll come a time when she does, and all our kind that has harmed her will pay greatly.
I have filled these walls with a magic that neither yer kind nor mine has ever seen before. Ye will be safe for many a day—no one would ever penetrate such energy. This be my gift to ye, Kate, for helping Lilith. And to ye, Angus, know that Lilith needs to be elsewhere if ye plan on keeping yer family safe. Just because my kind canna enter, does not mean they won’t make ye come out by telepathic means. Take her somewhere safe. Until we will meet again. Oh, and Angus, do ye all know what ye are? Ye don’t look quite as ye seem.”
Angus frowned down at her, not quite sure when he had lost his tongue. He thought it best if he just listened. The being before them didn’t seem like she wanted to hurt any of them, but then again, he didn’t know her as well as he would have liked. But none of that was going to keep him from letting his Lilith leave the keep by herself. What Angus really wanted to know was why this … this creature was speaking through his fae.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. As I have said, Angus Locksley McClain, Earl of this keep, Lilith and I are one. She is still learning to control herself. One day she will know this, but fer now she needs yer help as was set forth in the oath ye made with her grandfather to keep her safe. Angus, I will come again.”
Angus wasn’t finished asking his questions, even though he hadn’t said any of them out loud to begin with … he still needed to know why she had screamed like a banshee, and how it was able to affect the faes. How was it that it hadn’t destroyed Angus and his family?
“It is a gift, Angus. She does not know she has it, let alone how to use it.” A small frown slowly marred her beautiful features. “When did she use it on ye lot?”
Angus noticed the startled expression on the otherworldly woman’s face. Slowly she looked around the expanse of the room, eyeing each of his family members. “Last night,” he told her. “And then again when she attacked the others of her kind.” It was too bizarre, talking to Lilith as if she were two people. He watched as a smile spread across her face, a smile he was sure stopped his heart.
“I see … the first time was because she was scared. It should of killed ye if ye were all mere humans, but ye na. Delvaka, known to ye as Devlin, has given ye all very, very great gifts. I donna agree, however, on the way ye handled the situation when Lilith awoke. Never let it happen again, or I will take yer head.”
Angus watched as the fae walked toward him. She collapsed suddenly, he barely caught Lilith’s body in his arms before she fell to the floor. He looked around for something to cover her with. Occam pulled a woolly throw off of the couch opposite him and covered his Lilith with it. Angus nodded his thanks to his brother, but did not move. He was stunned over their little visit with Lilith’s otherworldly self. He had never seen anything like this in all his days. And he had seen a lot.
“Well. That was intriguing,” said Hannah softly.
“Aye,” followed Marissa and Duncan in perfect unison.
“Well I for one think that she is the most exquisite being I have ever laid eyes on,” Kate said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Don’t you agree, Angus? Whatever her grandfather was trying to find out about her, it must have been a rocky road.” Kate was always one to observe every situation from every possible angle.
I wonder if Devlin had affected her in some way, Angus thought.
“I think that her pa was on a truly complicated mission,” Kate continued. “What we read from the lass’s book about him traveling through time to figure his own granddaughter out is a little disturbing.”
Angus heard an obnoxious snort. He turned to see Occam eyeing him oddly. “Well, spit it out brother,” said Angus, arching his brows at Occam.
“What is disturbing,” Occam said, “is what she said about us not being human. What do you think she meant by that? That Devlin’s powers have changed our very … genetics?”
Angus pondered Occam’s words. “I believe that is exactly what she meant.”
If she was right, how much of himself was still human, and how much of himself had been lost to a tainted bloodline? He winced at the thought. Is that what he thought of Lilith, that she was tainted goods? Aye … nay … he didn’t know how he felt! But what he did know was that he needed to protect her.
Angus froze in place as he felt something warm sliding over his right nipple through the thin material of his dress-shirt. Looking down, Angus realized that Lilith’s mouth was partially open, her luscious, full lips touching the fabric just over his nipple. She blew out another breath of hot air, causing his erect nipple to harden even more. As if reading his mind, her lips happened to close then, over his sensitive nipple, the traction of the fabric and her lips causing Angus to let out a strangled gasp.
“Angus, are you okay?” Hannah asked, cutting into his moment of pure, hidden pleasure. “Your injuries are still healing—maybe you should take Lilith upstairs to rest for a bit while we find somewhere safe for the two of you to hide out. We all know that this is about what she wants. Lilith needs to figure it out for herself. We will be here to help. You know that”
Angus couldn’t help feeling like a youngling with a prize in his hands. The way this woman made him feel was so amazing—he couldn’t wait to kiss her again. Angus smiled down at Hannah. She was right and he knew it. He and Lilith would figure it out together. And he would stick by her side no matter what happened. “I will gather our things while she sleeps, and when we are ready to leave, we will make a quick stop at her hotel to reclaim her things.” With that, Angus left the hall.
Lilith woke just as Angus was about to place her on his bed. What was this? How was it that she was sleeping? The last thing she remembered was arguing with Angus about letting her leave by herself. Did he … was it possible he had knocked her out to keep her from leaving? Hell no, Lilith thought to herself. She would not allow this. “Put me down now!” Lilith growled out. Angus looked down at her with a stunned expression on his face.
“As you wish.” Lilith didn’t let her gaze drop as Angus lowered her to the bed. She watched as he stepped back, gazing down at her with that heated look she both hated and loved seeing on his face. She still couldn’t believe the way her body always seemed to react so intensely to his every move, or just the mere glimpse of him; the way it seemed to tingle whenever he was near. Lilith began to squirm under his scrutinizing gaze.
“Do you mind? St-stop looking at me like that,” she stuttered, still holding his stare.
“Like what?” he asked.
By the spark in his eye, Lilith knew that he knew exactly what look she was referring to. But she decided to go ahead and tell him anyway. “Like you want to eat me up.” That’s when his look changed to a more primitive, primal, animalistic glare—as if he was marking her body and soul. She felt it deep down to her very core. She also felt her nipples peak at the desire in his eyes.
“And if I do, will you stop me?” he said in a serious, husky whisper.
Oh my God, Lilith thought. Did he … would he do such a thing if she allowed him to? Maybe that was just his plan to keep her there. “Is that how you get what you want? Seduce me to keep me from leaving? Because if so, it won’t work, do you hear me?” Suddenly, Angus was leaning over her and placing a hand on either side of her head. Lilith panicked. Damn it, too close. Too close! Lilith thought to herself.
“Nay, lass. My plan is to take you somewhere safe. And until then, I may well decide to kiss every inch of you and take you any way I can get you,” he practically purred.
He slowly lowered his head, his eyes so hypnotic that Lilith couldn’t take her gaze off of his, as if they were both speaking to each other in a silent agreement. Angus lightly brushed his lips over hers, slowly teasing them to part for him. His tongue traced the width of her full, pink lips before he dipped in for the assault to parlay her tongue. He tasted sweet yet musky, but altogether delicious, like nothing she had ever experienced before. Every time she kissed him, he seemed to taste a little different, a little yummi
er, more animalistic, more exotic. It was something Lilith knew she would never get sick of tasting.
She nipped at his bottom lip, then suckled on it, as if to ease the slight pain she’d caused. Angus moaned deep in this throat in response, and intensified the kiss even more. Lilith did the only thing she could, and that was to accept the brutal, hungry kiss. She pulled him even closer, wrapping her arms around his neck so tight she was sure that she would cut off Angus’s air supply.
But all thoughts were lost when he spread her legs apart with his knees, placing himself between her thighs. Lilith gasped, a gasp that was cut off when Angus sealed his lips tightly over hers, kissing her thoroughly and more desperately as he slid his hands up the length of both her thighs and back down again, until he had her ankles braced and locked around the base of his back. Lilith moaned endlessly as she ground herself up against him.
And just as quickly as it all started, he was gone from her grasp. Snapping open her eyes, Lilith found Angus standing ramrod straight beside the bed, his eyes so dark that they whirled with unsated hunger. Lilith felt so cold, so lost without him by her side.
“What did I do?” she whispered, not understanding what had caused him to step away from her embrace. Angus must have seen the hurt in her eyes, for he pulled her up off the bed and held her in his arms.
“You did nothing. And to be quite honest, I don’t think I would have stopped if I didn’t know we had more important things to attend to.” Angus placed a quick kiss on her forehead. Just as he released her, there was a knock at the door.
“Angus, I have a change of clothes here for Lilith. I’ll just leave them by the door,” came Elle’s sweet, high-pitched voice.
The knock at the door startled Lilith out of her Angus-induced haze. She looked to him, and without making a move to cover herself, Lilly walked stark naked across the room, making sure to give him an eyeful, as she opened the door and bent down slowly to pick up the items left for her. Lilith walked back towards Angus, grinning mischievously. By the hungry, regretful look on his face, Lilith was certain she was making him pay for getting her so hot and flustered before abruptly leaving her cold.