Fire Rising

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Sammi’s mouth went dry, her palms began to sweat, and her heart was pounding like a jackhammer in her chest. She stared at Tristan, her eyes soaking up every part of him.

Now, as he stood before her with his hair windblown and his chest bare, showing off the beautiful dragon tattoo while his dark eyes stared intently, heatedly at her, she wondered how she could have mistaken Ian for him.

He growled, a low, fierce rumble that was all dragon. Something inside her shivered and melted at the sound. She took a step toward him and wondered when she had stood.

Everything had come to a screeching halt when she noticed him. She forgot what Ian had said to make her laugh, forgot to worry about the Dark, forgot that she was angry at Tristan for tricking her—all because her body roiled with a dark, scorching passion she craved.

Her breasts swelled, her nipples tightened, and her sex clenched. No one else existed, no one else mattered. Sammi had to fist her hands not to touch him, to feel his warmth and his rigid muscles.

“You left.”

Two simple words, but they were filled with anger and hurt. She swallowed to wet her mouth and recalled the stab of pain she had felt when she realized what he had done. “You tricked me.”

He gave one shake of his head. “Never. You were in danger, and we were trying to help you without exposing you to our world and putting you in more peril.”

Put that way she felt like a complete fool. Had she overreacted? He’d still used his power to make her reveal the very thing she had fought so hard to keep secret, and he had done it without her ever even knowing it. She would still be ignorant of it, if it hadn’t been for Jane’s slip of the tongue.

His eyes silently beseeched her to trust him, and damn her weak heart, but she was giving in. Tristan had a way of making everything seem trivial while sheltering her from the raging storm of life in the process.

The silence stretched on as she debated whether to go to him as she longed to do or keep her distance. The thought of never knowing the taste of his kiss again, of never feeling his body against hers made her ill.

“Will you return with me?” he asked.

Everything hinged on her answer. She could feel it in her bones, and yet she didn’t have an immediate response. “Was the Dark attack real?”

“Verra.”

Rhys cleared his throat and dropped his hand from holding Tristan back. Sammi jerked as she glanced around, remembering they were surrounded by people.

“He’s no’ lying,” Rhys said. “The Dark could attack at any moment.”

Sammi bit her lip. “I didn’t know. I thought it was a ploy to get me to the manor as Jane wanted.”

There was movement behind her as Ian stood. She watched Tristan’s eyes shift over her shoulder. If she hadn’t been studying him she would never have seen the slight stiffening of his body.

She crossed the distance separating them to lend whatever support he might need. Sammi couldn’t imagine what Tristan was thinking, but the bland expression said what his lips would not.

“Dunc … Tristan,” Ian said with a hopeful, joyous light in his eyes. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

A man with long, almost black hair shouldered his way past Rhys and another man Sammi had just noticed to take the glass of whisky from Charon’s hand. He drained the scotch in one swallow. “It’s taken long enough to get the two of you together.”

“Phelan,” Charon said with a frown. Charon then looked at the two brothers. “The last time I saw the both of you together was in Cairn Toul. If it hadna been for Ian’s hair being shorn, I wouldna have been able to tell you two apart.”

Tristan had yet to utter a word. He was getting the look of a man who was trying to find his footing. Sammi slid her hand into his and interlocked their fingers.

When he squeezed her hand, she let out a relieved breath. She might not be happy with what he had done to her, but Tristan needed her right now.

She put her other hand on his arm. “I met Dani, Ian’s wife, in the store and she brought me here. They told me what happened and why you don’t remember him.”

To her surprise, Tristan turned his head to her. “Are you ready to leave?”

Sammi blinked. Apparently Tristan had nothing to say to Ian, which in a lot of ways she could understand. Yet, Ian stood a few feet away from a twin he had been trying to see.

“Don’t walk away,” she whispered.

“The Dark could be closing in. We should get back.”

He said it as if she hadn’t just asked him to face his brother. Sammi glanced at Rhys, who wore a glower of disapproval. She was searching for a way to stop Tristan when he turned on his heel and dragged her to the door.

It was only because he wasn’t expecting it that she was able to shove him around so that he hit a wall. She plastered her body to his and put her lips to his.

The kiss was meant to slow him, to stop him, but with one taste, the inferno inside her blazed. His arms wrapped around her, molding her to him as he ravaged her mouth like a starved man.

Sammi, for her part, was just as ravenous. She slid her hands into the silk of his hair and gripped the locks tightly. The passion, the soul-stirring need knocked her off her feet and kept her unbalanced, and yet she sought it out, yearning for more of it.

When he pulled back to end the kiss, she clung to him, not ready to stop the delicious desire coiling within.

“I can no’,” he said in a voice so low she barely heard it.

She didn’t need to ask to know he spoke of Ian. It was too hard for him, just as it had been difficult for her with Jane. Sammi understood all too well.

Tristan knew he was holding her too tightly, but he couldn’t seem to loosen his hold. Just having Sammi in his arms calmed the turbulence and turmoil of finding her gone.

“Then don’t.”

He’d expected her to argue the point in staying and talking to Ian, not to give him a pass. Tristan looked into her blue eyes and was drowning in the pale light.

Images filled his mind, memories pulled up from a deep crevice, of him and Ian. They stood side by side fighting, laughing, and living.

Tristan lowered his forehead to rest against Sammi’s. The memories incessantly slammed into him on a playback so that he lived the same battle, the same fight in a mountain again and again.

Blood coated both him and Ian. He looked down to see his hands and the pale blue skin and claws he recognized. They slashed flesh and beheaded small yellow creatures that he knew were Deirdre’s creation called wyrrn.

He saw Ian battling another Warrior as a second snuck up behind him. Tristan hadn’t hesitated. He had let out a roar and attacked.

Sammi’s hands caressed his face as she moved aside his hair. Her touch was cool against his heated flesh, and he dug his fingers into her back.

The sounds, smells, and sights of those memories were as clear as if he were in the middle of it. He lifted his head and met Ian’s gaze.

The twin he wanted to deny stood watching him. They were identical down to the small mole on the left side of their necks. Beside Ian stood a woman with silvery blond hair and bright green eyes.

That was Ian’s wife, Dani. Was it coincidence that both he and Ian had women with male names? It had to be. Right?

Fallon gave a shake of his head. “I thought when you came to the castle that you were ready to see Ian.”

Tristan thought he had been. Then he saw Ian and knew he wasn’t remotely ready.

“It doesna matter,” Ian said as he dropped his gaze. “We need to get Sammi back to Dreagan before the Dark show up.”

Phelan elbowed Charon. “It’s been awhile since we battled anything evil.”

A brunette with moss green eyes shot Phelan a withering look. “After what you told me and Charon about fighting the Dark in Ireland?”

“Now, Laura,” Charon said as he pulled her against him and nuzzled her neck. “You know we Warriors need battle to appease our gods. Besides, we’ll just be helping the Kings if they need it.”

Laura gave him a droll look before spearing Phelan with another hard look. “Have you told Aisley yet?”

“I’ll handle my wife,” Phelan murmured.

Rhys laughed, the sound loud and booming. “Oh, I’d like to see that. The Phoenix will have something to say, no doubt.”

Phelan’s forehead crinkled in a frown. “My wife understands my need to kill something evil.”

Tristan noticed that Ian had yet to say anything. Dani was whispering something in his ear while he rubbed a hand up and down her back. Their love was strong, a bond unbreakable after all they had endured to give their hearts to each other.

He looked down at Sammi to find her eyes on him and full of worry. He understood her worry. “You doubt our night together was real.”

“Yes.”

“It was.” He wound a lock of her wavy, sandy hair around his finger. “I think the kiss we just shared proved that when it comes to you, I have no control. I see you, I want you, and I have to have you.”

“Lust. It’s a powerful emotion.”

“That it is.” She seemed content to stay in his arms, and he was in no hurry to move.

Her tongue peeked out to lick her lips. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to take you back to Dreagan while we hunt the group of Dark who are trying to take you.”

“That’s not what I meant,” she said with a lift of one brow.

He knew, but he wasn’t ready to talk about Ian. That was a subject he needed more time to think on. Seeing Ian was a blow, but it was also like coming home.

“How do you know they’re coming for me?”

Tristan ran his thumb over her lips. “Ulrik told me. He said he would call off the attack if I joined him.”

“Ulrik? Is that who is behind all of this? Who is he?”

“He’s a Dragon King who had his magic taken away by Con and can no longer shift. He wants revenge.”

Her nails lightly scratched his scalp. “Apparently. This could be a trap for you or any of the Kings.”

He had already considered as much, but he could endure whatever the Dark had in store for him far more than Sammi could. “I’m sure it is.”

“And you’re still going to go?” she asked in surprise as she paused in her caress.

“I must.”

“If you stop the Dark Ones this time, will it be over?”

Tristan had kept the truth from her, and it had made her run. It was time to stop lying to and evading her. “It’s doubtful.”

“I won’t stay in that mountain the rest of my life.”

“I willna let you.”

Tristan had been thinking of how he was going to stop the Dark, and he knew there were only two ways. He could join Ulrik or he could let himself be taken by the Dark Ones.

Neither option was optimal, but neither was keeping someone as vibrant and beautiful as Sammi hidden away just to keep her safe.

“What are you planning?” Sammi asked suspiciously.

The entire room grew quiet as they waited for him to respond. He smoothed his hands down her hair and gently set her away from him. “Rhys, take Sammi to Jane and Banan.”

“Tristan,” Sammi said in a low voice.

He then looked to Phelan and Charon. “With the other Kings in the air scouting for the Dark, having someone on the ground with the woman at Dreagan will be helpful.”

“Consider it done,” Phelan agreed.

Tristan then turned to Fallon. “If you would be willing, I’d like for you to jump me to Perth.”

Rhys let out a string of curses as he began to understand the plan.

Next, Tristan looked to Ian. “I’ve no right to ask…”

“Ask,” Ian said with a firm nod.

Sammi forced him to look at her. “What are you doing?”

“I’m ending this.”