Midnight's Temptation

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Aisley smoothed a lock of Phelan’s dark hair from his face. She was glad Phelan was talking, because then she wouldn’t have to think about the past. “You were just a child.”

“Aye. A child who was angry at my Da and my older brother. I walked away from the house to sulk, I suppose. It’s difficult to remember. When I looked up there was this woman with the mesmerizing ice-blue eyes.”

“What did she want?” Aisley asked.

He leaned back against the headboard, his hard muscles moving and bunching. “Me. I didna know that at the time. I doona believe she worked too hard to convince me to go with her. There is one thing I remember above all others. I didna look back. No’ once, Aisley.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself. How were you to know what she wanted?”

“That’s no’ the point, is it? I was angry. I agreed to leave with a woman I didna know. I didna even ask where we were going. It wasna until we reached the foot of Cairn Toul that I hesitated.”

Aisley didn’t want to know this. She already cared too much for Phelan, and the more she cared, the more she put her plan in jeopardy. If she learned more, her heart was going to be in serious danger.

She hadn’t meant to tell him so much about her baby. When she began, it all spilled out in a tumble. She told him things she had never shared with another soul, never wanted to share. They were her private tortures, her misery.

“Isla must have used magic, because the next thing I recall was being inside the mountain. That’s the first time I saw Deirdre.”

Aisley sat up and turned so that she faced Phelan. He laid his hand on her leg with one side of his mouth tilted upward. “You joke about meeting one of the most powerful Druids ever?”

“Never,” he said with vehemence. “That woman was the Devil’s daughter and deserves to endure her death a thousand times a day.”

Aisley ran her palm over his muscular stomach, remembering how his body had moved over hers, bringing her untold pleasure and unimaginable carnal indulgence. He was sin and sensuality, wickedness and sex.

He was everything she needed and wanted.

Everything Jason could use against her.

“Were you scared?” Aisley asked.

“Out of my mind frightened. She hadna even spoken, but I knew she was evil. Beautiful, but evil. It wasna her floor-length white hair that made my skin crawl. It was her white eyes. They seemed to see right into my soul. She smiled, then told Isla to take me away.

“I was foolish enough to try and run. One of Deirdre’s Warriors stopped me. After that, I knew there would be no escape. I followed Isla down a long corridor that led to a hidden door. From there we went down stairs that seemed to never end. The lower we went, the darker it became. She held a torch to help light our way, but that only made everything scarier.”

Aisley threaded her fingers with his. “Where was she leading you?”

“As far below Cairn Toul as they could. Deirdre had magical chains waiting for me. Isla clasped those manacles around my wrists. She wouldna look at me, but she told me the shackles would grow as I did so they wouldna chafe too badly.”

“She regretted bringing you,” Aisley said.

Phelan blew out a harsh breath. “It didna matter. I was there. She locked the manacles. Then left me in the dark. I was brought three meals a day, but the Druids sent to me were Deirdre’s slaves and never spoke. Every day Deirdre would have my blood drained from me, enough to fill a goblet. For almost twenty years I had only myself to talk to. Then the real hell began.”

“She released your god.”

He nodded slowly. “Inside me is Zelfor, the god of torment. No’ even being a Warrior got me released from that dungeon. Instead, she continued drinking my blood.”

“I don’t understand,” Aisley said in confusion. “Why would she want your blood? Did she drink all the Warriors’ blood?”

“Just mine,” he said wearily. “My blood can heal anything, beauty. The only thing it can no’ do is bring someone back from the dead.”

She thought of her baby, of how her infant daughter had suffered needlessly. Phelan could have saved her.

Aisley shoved aside such thoughts. That would lead to insanity. Her daughter was gone. The only good thing about that was Jason couldn’t harm her.

“And your power?” she asked.

Phelan stroked her hand with the back of his thumb. He said nothing as he looked into her eyes. Aisley turned her head when she saw something flare out of the corner of her eye.

There was a large fireplace with a giant blaze where the window used to be. A second later and the entire bedroom looked like something out of a medieval castle. She looked around in awe.

And then in a blink, it was gone.

Her head jerked to him. “You can change someone’s perception of reality?”

“Aye. It’s how I stayed sane. It’s also how I gained control over Zelfor.”

“What an amazing power.”

“It’s come in handy a few times,” he said with a grin.

She nodded. “I bet. Did Deirdre eventually let you go?”

“One of the MacLeods was taken by Deirdre. The other two brothers came for him. They brought other Warriors with them. Quinn met Marcail in that place since both were prisoners. Other Warriors who had befriended Quinn then joined in the battle. It wasna long before Deirdre was killed.”

Aisley rubbed her forehead in confusion. “I thought you said it was Laria who killed Deirdre?”

“I did. Deirdre was killed in this battle, but it was just her body that died, no’ her soul. Her magic was powerful enough that she regenerated her body.”

A shiver of dread snaked down Aisley’s back. Her thoughts instantly turned to Jason. It was a tangible fear she had that he would suddenly appear. Now, it seemed, she was right to worry.

“Isla, gravely wounded, came down to my dungeon and released me.”

Aisley set aside thoughts of Jason for the moment. “She did regret bringing you to Deirdre. How long were you in Cairn Toul?”

“I doona know exactly. Fifty years? A hundred? It matters no’. I couldna remember my parents or where they lived. I couldna even recall their faces or names.”

She leaned forward to cup his face. “You couldn’t keep the memories and fight your god for control. It was one or the other. Besides, you were just a small child. How could you remember everything?”

“I doona know what it means to have a family. I have one person I call friend. One. I’ve never had any kind of relationship.”

“I can’t remember the last time I had a true friend.”

He flashed a boyish grin. “Looks like we’re two of a kind.”

“That we are. What happened after you left Cairn Toul?”

“I wandered. Endlessly. I walked the entire breadth and width of Scotland several times over. I learned about coin and how to count it. I learned to read and write. I learned how to make love to a woman. I learned … everything.”

Aisley couldn’t believe all he overcame. She had taken for granted the things she learned from her parents while growing up.

Phelan had nothing but a dark prison and himself to talk to. Yet, he survived. He was strong and stubborn. He could endure anything.

She knew he wouldn’t have fallen for Jason’s false promises.

“What?” he asked.

She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “I’m thinking that I’m in awe of you. I’m not sure many could have come out of what you did sane, much less in control of their god.”

“I focused on one thing.”

“Which was?”

“Killing droughs.”

Aisley’s stomach fell to her feet like lead. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest as she tried to focus on Phelan’s face.

She knew he would be the one to kill her, but after they had made such sweet love, she had allowed herself to believe things might turn out differently.

Phelan had just put it all into perspective once more.

“At first it was all Druids,” he went on, unaware of her thoughts. “Then I learned there was a difference. My focus shifted to droughs.”

“Do you kill all droughs?”

“Aye.”

He answered without hesitation. How then did he not realize she was the very thing he set out to kill? Didn’t he feel it in her magic?

“Doona feel sorry for them,” he said. “They’re evil, beauty. They give their soul to Satan.”

“I know.” She shifted to the side and heard him release a curse. “What is it?”

His finger ran over the jagged scar on her left side. “What’s this?”

“A lesson,” she answered and tried to hide it.

But Phelan pushed her hands aside. “From who?”

Aisley looked away from his probing eyes. “Someone from my family.”

“And the lesson?” Phelan bit out.

“That I learn my place.”

He sighed. When he spoke again, his voice was soft. “This is more of your secrets you doona want to share.”

Aisley couldn’t look at him. If she did she was liable to tell him everything. He would kill her on the spot as soon as she said Jason’s name. She knew how he loved his home, and to taint it with her death seemed too cruel.

“It is.”

“I willna push. Tell me when you’re ready.”

“I will tell you,” she promised.

His finger traced the wound. “Did you no’ get this seen to properly?”

“I wasn’t allowed. I stitched it myself as best I could.”

He grasped her chin and gently turned her head back to him. “You’re one hell of a woman, beauty.”

For the second time her eyes welled up with tears. “I’m just a person who has done unspeakable things.”

“So have I. As I said earlier, we’re a pair.”

She didn’t stop him when he pulled her onto his chest. Aisley liked the feel of his body next to hers and the sound of his heart beating beneath her ear.

If things were different, she could see a life with Phelan. Not even the prospect of his immortality and her mortality bothered her.

She’d known Phelan was bad news the moment she spotted him while dancing at the club months ago. It was the way he watched her with his compelling eyes filled with desire and longing.

“No running,” he whispered in the darkness as if he knew she might be contemplating it.

“No running,” she repeated.

There will be no more running. Ever.

Phelan promised to protect her. And he would. He didn’t know it yet, but he would be the person to set her free.

She closed her eyes and snuggled against his chest. Freedom. She’d forgotten what that was like until Phelan. He had shown her another world.

It was beautiful and tragic at the same time because she was only getting a taste of it. Just as she only had a taste of being a mother.

All of this was punishment for her past sins. She knew that now. She accepted it.

Of course that was easy to do in the arms of a handsome Warrior who knew exactly how to touch to bring about the most exquisite pleasure.

Phelan’s hand caressed her back, lulling her to sleep. She tried to fight it. Sleep isn’t what she wanted. She wanted to live each minute to the fullest for the next few hours.

He kissed her forehead and whispered something she couldn’t make out in her foggy brain. In the next heartbeat, she was asleep.

* * *

Phelan stared at the ceiling as he held Aisley in his arms. Every time he thought of getting up, he found a reason to stay. His usual habits weren’t in play around Aisley for some reason.

And he stopped caring.

He thought of the jagged scar on her side and seethed with rage. Who would do that to her? More importantly, why? He would find out the story. He’d discover who dared to mark her.

Then he’d killed the bastard.

Slowly.