Midnight's Temptation

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Aisley waited for Phelan to question her. Instead, he ran the backs of his fingers along her cheek tenderly. His blue-gray eyes studied her solemnly.

“How do you feel?”

She took stock of her body and was amazed to find there wasn’t a twinge of pain anywhere. “Like nothing happened. Did I dream it?”

“Nay, beauty,” he said dejectedly.

That’s when she understood what he had done. “You used your blood to heal me.”

He gave a single nod. “It was Wallace. I doona know why he attacked you and no’ me, but I’ve put you in grave danger.”

“You don’t understand,” she said as she sat up, even as he tried to keep her lying down. Aisley pushed his hand away. There could be no more secrets. Phelan had to know everything. She couldn’t live with herself if he blamed himself for what was her fault.

“I do,” he said over her. “We need to head back to the hotel. I’ll call Fallon. He can teleport some Warriors and Druids here to protect you while the rest of us search out the Druids here for answers on the selmyr.”

Aisley rolled her eyes. Damn but Phelan was stubborn. “First, I’m not turning back. We’re here. And the Druids can help you defend against Wallace.”

Phelan got to his feet in one smooth movement. “Do you even know what happened to you? I saw it all, Aisley.”

“And I felt it.” As horrible as it was. She suppressed a shudder just thinking of the agony she’d endured for just a few minutes.

If that’s what Jason had in store for her, she was determined not to let him get close again.

Aisley climbed to her feet and stood in front of Phelan. “The part of my past I didn’t want to tell you. It’s time you knew. Everything.”

“What was that?” Phelan asked, his forehead furrowed as he narrowed his gaze over her shoulder.

In a blur of movement, he was gone, chasing after whatever he saw. Aisley retrieved her pack and his and started after him as fast as she could.

She lost sight of him when he went up and over one of the mountains. Carrying two packs made climbing difficult. She’d had no idea Phelan put so much stuff in his pack. It weighed twice as much as hers.

Aisley grunted as her thigh muscles screamed in protest from the strain as she trudged up the incline. The rips in her sleeve allowed the breeze to cool her heated skin, but it also reminded her that Jason was back.

And Phelan deserved the truth.

Even if she wasn’t ready to attack Jason herself.

Out here in the middle of the Cuillins was the perfect place to die. It was the home of her ancestors. It would be her final resting place. It was fitting, in a morbid sort of way.

She brushed hair out of her face that had come down from her ponytail. The ascent up the mountain was the most challenging climbing she’d ever done. As much as she hated to do it, she had to stop and rest.

Aisley gave herself five minutes. She used that time to relieve the weight of the packs from her shoulders and to drink as much water as she could.

Then she was back to climbing. She didn’t see another soul for the next forty-five minutes. Though she tried not to notice the time, she couldn’t help but wonder where Phelan was. What would make him leave her like that?

“Bugger it,” she ground out when her foot slipped for the third time on a bit of rock she was trying to get a foothold on.

The rock wasn’t big enough to take even the tip of her foot. She tried for a fourth time only to have her foot slide off again.

She was about to find another place to climb when a hand appeared in front of her face. Aisley looked up to find Phelan. She took his hand, and he effortlessly pulled her up beside him.

“I saw a Druid,” he said as way of explanation.

Aisley set down the packs and grabbed the water as she tried to get her breathing under control. She drank half a bottle before she lowered it and glared at him. “You could’ve told me that before you raced off.”

“Aye. I need to work on that. I’m used to being alone.”

“It’s courtesy,” she said, winded.

Phelan pointed to the valley below. “We need to go there.”

“Did you find the Druids?”

He smiled sheepishly. “No’ exactly.”

“Lead the way then.”

Phelan took his pack and tried to grab hers as well. Aisley jerked it out of his grip and reached for a bag of nuts she’d seen. She slid the pack onto her shoulders and tore open the package of cashews to munch on as they walked.

The entire way down the mountain all Aisley could think about was spilling her secrets. She could be a coward and tell him as they walked. But she wanted to look him in the eye so she could gauge his reaction. It was how to start that was the problem. She couldn’t just blurt out that she was Jason’s cousin.

If she told him she was looking for a way to fight Jason, then Phelan would want to know how she knew him. It was all so damned convoluted.

More clouds rolled in to block the sun. It helped to lessen the heat, but fortunately, there was no more rain. The weather had changed so many times that Aisley wouldn’t be surprised if it began to snow.

They finally reached the valley. Bright green grass stretched in an endless sea before her, only broken by the occasional boulder that protruded from the ground.

Aisley turned in a slow circle looking at the valley, the mountain peaks against the white clouds, and the shadows those same clouds cast on the mountains.

Phelan’s hand brushed hers. His pull on her was so great she was incapable of ignoring him. Her eyes slid closed when his fingers brushed her jaw and gently turned her face to him.

His lips grazed hers in a whisper of a kiss. He murmured something in Gaelic she didn’t understand, and then he claimed her mouth.

Roughly, fiercely. Savagely.

Aisley’s body came alive under his touch. She moaned, answering the demand in his kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he molded her body against his.

His arousal was pressed against her stomach. Her hips rocked against him, wringing a groan from deep within him. He whispered her name as he kissed down her throat.

“I need you,” she said.

She dropped her head back while his mouth moved to her neck. His hand cupped her breast and squeezed. She knew it was wrong to make love to him right before she told him she was drough, but Aisley couldn’t help herself.

There was no denying her body—or Phelan.

“They’re watching,” he said.

“I don’t care. I need to feel you inside me.”

He dropped his head against hers. “As much as I want to lay you down and strip you while making love to you in this place, I’d rather no’ be watched while I do it.”

Aisley couldn’t help but grin. She plunged her fingers in his dark locks and held him. If only she had the magic to stop this moment in time.

The Druids who dared to control time paid a hefty price. Not only did Aisley fear the consequences of trying, but she didn’t have the magic for it—even with her black magic.

“Do you hear that?” Phelan asked and lifted his head.

Aisley listened carefully, but heard nothing. “No.”

He took her hand and pulled her after him as he walked deeper into the valley. They walked another ten minutes when she heard it.

“Water,” she said.

Phelan smiled. “A waterfall, if I’m correct.”

A laugh bubbled within her as he started running. She followed, their hands still linked. The sound of the water grew the closer they got to it until it was a deafening roar.

They came to a halt when they reached a cliff that dropped off into the most beautiful emerald-green water Aisley had ever seen.

The waterfall was below their feet coming from a stream to her right. The water tumbled over rocks before plummeting into emerald depths. Surrounding the water were sheer walls of rock and more boulders protruded in the water below.

“In all the times I’ve been here, I’ve never found it,” Phelan said.

Aisley glanced from the water to him. “Found what?”

“This is the Fairy Pool.”

“I’ve heard of this. It’s a tourist destination.”

Phelan squatted down and looked over the side to the water. “Nay, beauty. No’ this one. This is the real Fairy Pool.”

“Meaning?” she prodded.

His gaze lifted to hers. “You’ve magic. Do you think you’re the only one who has it?”

“Well…” Aisley trailed off because she didn’t want to admit she had thought that. Then she lifted her chin. “I knew there were Warriors.”

“Ah, but our gods were pulled from Hell by magic. We doona have magic.”

“You’re magical enough for the selmyr to want to eat you.”

Phelan chuckled. “True enough, beauty.”

“So, what other magical beings are walking about?”

He pointed to the water. “Why do you think they call this the Fairy Pool?”

“Surely not for fairies. They don’t exist.”

He didn’t argue with her, just smiled patiently.

“Tell me,” she urged.

“Scotland has many myths and legends about magic and magical beings. Druids were real. What makes you think none of the others are?”

Aisley looked at the water. It looked so inviting. She turned on her heel and began looking for a way down to the water.

It didn’t take her long to discover a narrow trail that was nearly covered by the tall grass. Aisley was about to take her first step when Phelan’s arm wrapped around her waist.

“Hold on, beauty,” he said just before he jumped off the side.

Aisley’s gasp caught in her throat as the air whooshed around her. Phelan landed softly before he let her feet touch the flat stone he stood upon.

“You come in handy,” she said with a laugh.

His blue-gray eyes dropped to her lips. Heat filled Aisley as her breasts swelled and her nipples hardened. Her body ached for his. The hunger filling her was primal, unadulterated.

Raw.

Before they could kiss again, Phelan’s head snapped up. Aisley looked to where he was staring to find an older man with a gray beard hanging to his chest and penetrating black eyes.

“What do you want here, Warrior?” the man demanded.

Phelan moved so that she stood behind him. She leaned to see around his shoulder and get a better look at the old man. His shoulders were slightly bent, and he held a large walking stick in his right hand.

Gray hair was pulled back in a neat queue at the base of his neck. He wore a plain, dark green military-like jacket over a tan shirt. Black pants and boots completed his outfit.

Phelan let out a slow breath. “We’re looking for you, actually.”

“Why?”

“We’ve found information that the Druids of Skye could help contain the selmyr.”

At the mention of the creatures, Aisley saw the old man’s body give a slight jerk. So they knew what the selmyr were. Maybe Phelan had been right in wanting to come here.

“Who are you?” the man asked.

“Phelan Stewart. I bring a Druid descended from your line—Aisley. And your name?”

The old man’s gaze came to rest on Aisley. She refused to look away. Why should an old man cower her when Jason hadn’t been able to? Somehow she stood her ground.

“Corann,” the man answered. “You’ve found us, but whether we help or no’ remains to be seen, Warrior.”

Phelan squeezed her hand and started to follow Corann when he walked away. Aisley hesitated a moment wondering why Corann had looked at her so strangely.

“Don’t do it,” came a female voice behind her.

Aisley turned to see the same vivid blue eyes from earlier staring at her. Up close she could tell the Druid was only in her early twenties. “Don’t do what?”

“Tell Phelan your secret.”

“He needs to know,” Aisley whispered. She scrunched her face as she looked at the woman before her. “Who are you? And how did you know?”

“I’m Ravyn. I know because the wind told me.”

“Then you understand he has to be told. He has a right.”

Sadness came over Ravyn’s face. “I know, but you can’t do it here. If you do, Phelan will kill you as you’ve guessed. Then we’d have to kill him for harming you.”

“I don’t understand.” Aisley rubbed the back of her neck where a dull pain had begun. “You know I’m drough. I’m connected to Jason Wallace. I can stop my cousin, if I give in to the evil. And then my death is the answer.”

“Perhaps. But you’ll not tell Phelan on Skye. Not if you want our help with the selmyr.”

It was blackmail plain and simple. Yet, Aisley accepted Ravyn’s threat. After all, Aisley wasn’t ready to tell Phelan anything and spoil what they had.

Aisley turned to look at Phelan and Corann. Phelan stood head and shoulders above those around him. He commanded attention with his good looks and the self-assured way he held himself.

He could have been a great lord or even a powerful ruler had Deirdre not taken him. But it didn’t matter what century Phelan was in. He was a man others took notice of and respected.

“You love him,” Ravyn stated. “But you must wait to share your secret. Phelan is needed.”

“I know he’s needed. He’s important in the fight against evil. To harm him just because he’d be doing the right thing in killing me is absurd.”

Aisley had heard enough. She started after Phelan only to feel Ravyn move up behind her. Her voice, when it reached Aisley, was barely above a whisper. The wind swept through her hair at the exact moment, sending a tingling along her skin.

“He’s a prince.”