Shadow Highlander

TWENTY-EIGHT

Reaghan couldn’t believe how fast the day had gone. She had spent it with the women of MacLeod Castle. Cara, Marcail, Larena, Sonya, and Isla had opened their small group to her, and Reaghan had never been so happy.

The one thing that dampened her day was when she learned that many of the Druids from her village had still refused to leave their chambers, and they were even considering departing the castle.

All because of the Warriors.

Reaghan climbed the stairs to her chamber. It had been Larena who showed her around the castle, though Reaghan was sure she would get lost many times before she learned her way through the maze of corridors and stairways.

She didn’t even question the fact that she knew she wouldn’t leave. Part of it was the friends she had made, part of it was Galen, but another part was that for the first time she could remember, she felt as if she were where she needed to be.

She turned the corner to the hallway that led to her room and slowed when she spotted Galen standing outside her chamber.

His hair was damp from a recent bath. He smiled, the welcome in his eyes shining brightly. “Did you enjoy your day?”

“Aye,” she said as she halted in front of him. “Have you been waiting for me?”

“I have. I didna want to disturb your time with the women.”

She opened the door and stepped into her room. “How did you know which chamber was mine?”

“I know your magic, Reaghan. I could find you anywhere.” He closed the door softly behind him.

Her heart hammered with anticipation as he barred the door, never taking his eyes from her. His sensual smile made her knees weak and her stomach flutter.

Desire had darkened his eyes. A shiver raced over her skin as she held her breath, anxiously awaiting the feel of his hands on her. She hadn’t realized just how much she wanted — nay, needed — Galen until that moment.

Whatever the future held for her, whatever her dreams revealed, she wanted Galen by her side.

He walked until he stood in front of her, their bodies just breaths from touching. His fingers trailed across her cheek and down her neck to her shoulder. “I’ve thought of nothing but you all day.”

“What did you think about?”

“This,” he said as he jerked her to him and slanted his mouth over hers.

He kissed her deeply, passionately. Thoroughly. Reaghan melted against him, returning his kiss with fervor. Her hands roamed over the hard plains of his chest corded with muscles. He held her tight against his body so she felt every breath, every beat of his heart.

Reaghan yanked at his saffron shirt, eager to have it gone so she could feel the heat of his skin. He pulled the shirt over his head and took her mouth in another fiery kiss.

“God’s blood, how I want you,” he murmured against her lips.

Reaghan ended the kiss and stepped out of his arms. Her heart broke when she saw the doubt in his blue eyes. It wasn’t until she began to undress that he realized she wasn’t rejecting him.

“I’ve been thinking of you all day as well,” she said. “I see you everywhere in this castle. I don’t know what tomorrow brings, and I don’t care. Not as long as I’m in your arms.”

He stripped off his kilt and boots and backed her to the bed. “I took you that first night on the ground when you deserved better. Now, I’ll have you on the bed.”

“Ah, Galen. On the ground or a bed. It matters not to me as long as I’m with you.”

Reaghan climbed onto the bed and held out her hand. She had little time to rejoice as he kissed her again, pressing her back onto the mattress.

He covered her with his body. The feel of him, the weight of him, left her dizzy and craving more. His hand trailed down her side and over her hip to her thigh. He palmed her thigh and bent her leg as he ground his arousal into her.

Reaghan moaned and tilted her head back as his lips left a trail of kisses down her neck to her chest. Her breasts ached, eager for his touch.

He cupped a breast and bent to take her nipple in his mouth. She slid her hands into his hair and sucked in a breath as his wicked tongue teased the tiny bud. Reaghan arched against him, each pull of his mouth on her nipple sending a wave of heat through her to her center.

She savored each delicious sensation that wound her tighter and tighter. Galen’s hands caressed and teased, touching her soul as well as her body. Desire consumed her in its fiery, needful blaze. She was falling. Floating. Drowning.

And she wanted more.

Reaghan cried out when he slid a finger inside her, slowly pumping that finger in and out. Her hips moved with him, seeking more of the pleasure he offered.

Her hands skimmed his back to his taut bottom that flexed beneath her fingers each time he ground against her. She wanted him inside her, filling her, stretching her.

Suddenly, he rose above her and flipped her onto her stomach. Galen lifted her hips until she was balanced on her hands and knees. She looked over her shoulder at him and saw the longing, the craving in his eyes.

He guided himself into her, and Reaghan’s head fell forward as he pushed deep, deeper into her. Her thoughts scattered when he began to thrust, leisurely at first then building faster, harder.

Her arms trembled from holding herself and from the desire that raced through her. Sweat glistened over their bodies, their labored breaths filling the quiet chamber.

He bent and kissed her shoulder. She cried out when he reached around her, his finger finding the small hidden nub nestled in her curls. His finger moved quickly back and forth over her clitoris, barely touching her as he brought her closer to her climax, closer to sharing another part of herself with him.

Galen hadn’t tried to fight the desperation that had driven him to Reaghan’s chamber. He had to touch her, kiss her. Claim her.

And God help him, with every arch of her back sending him deeper into her scalding wetness, he fell further under her spell.

Her sheath was tight as it drew him in, clamping around him firmly until his only thought was to see her peak, to hear her cry out, his name on her lips.

Galen’s lids were heavy, his breathing rasping in his throat as he continued to thrust inside her, bringing them ever closer to the precipice of pleasure.

He was beyond control, but from the moans coming from her and the way her body bucked against him, so was she. He heard his name on her lips, knew she was about to peak.

Galen thumbed her clitoris, drinking in every sigh, every cry, until his blood boiled and his own climax threatened.

And then she came apart. Her body shuddered and her walls clamped down on his cock. The roar in his blood grew as the contractions of her sheath took him over the edge.

He plunged deep and let his release take him.

His body jerked with the force of the orgasm. He threw back his head and shouted with the power of it, the sheer intensity.

As the orgasm subsided, Galen wrapped his arms around Reaghan, and still inside her, he fell to his side, taking her with him. He buried his face in her neck and inhaled her rosemary scent while fulfillment and contentment wrapped them in its web.

He placed his hand over her heart and felt its rapid, erratic beating. Galen let his eyes drift close. Holding Reaghan against him, he felt as if everything were, right.

Perfect.

As if fate had aligned them together. But Galen knew how quickly life could be snatched away from him. It had happened before. It could happen again.

The thought of Deirdre getting her hands on Reaghan made his fury rise, but also his fear. Reaghan was precious to him. Not just because she held some secret from Deirdre, but because of who she was. His attraction to her might have begun because he couldn’t read her mind, but it had gone far beyond that.

Galen didn’t want to take a closer look at his feelings for her. All he knew was that he wanted her, needed her. Yearned for her.

Reaghan’s smile, her sweet laughter had brought a light into his life he hadn’t known he was missing. He had seen how close Hayden had been to losing himself to his god, how close Logan now was.

Would he also find the darkness taking him if something should happen to Reaghan?

Galen knew the answer. He had come close once before when he had used his power to control another’s mind. He didn’t even want to think about it. But the coming days couldn’t be ignored. Deirdre would see to that. If only they had managed to kill Deirdre the first time. Had they known her black magic was so powerful, maybe they could have been better prepared.

It wasn’t just Deirdre’s coming attack. There was also Reaghan’s spell. He wished he knew exactly what she had done to herself. The why of it was obvious — she was hiding from Deirdre.

But was she just hiding herself or was she hiding something else, some secret? That was the question. And one that was likely never to be answered.

Galen had seen how Reaghan studied the castle that morning. He had wanted to ask her if what she saw was the same as her vision, but he hadn’t wanted to speak of it. He’d been selfish and wanted Reaghan to only think of him and their time together.

Yet he knew they would both have to face her memories soon. How much she could recall without harming herself was what really worried Galen.

“What makes you fret so?” Reaghan asked.

Galen squeezed her. “I’m wondering if I should have someone stand guard in case Mairi tries to come through the door.”

Reaghan’s laughter shook her body. “I haven’t seen Mairi since we arrived. The only Druid who has come down from her chamber is Fiona, and I think that’s because of Braden.”

“You haven’t spoken to the others?”

“Nay. Cara says they overheard a few of them speak of leaving. The others won’t come down because of you.”

He frowned, wondering what he had done to the Druids other than save them. “Me?”

“Not you specifically, but ‘you’ meaning all the Warriors. They are fearful.”

“I was afraid of that.”

She frowned and softly caressed his arms. “I’m sorry, Galen. None of you deserve to be treated this way. I will speak with them.”

“Doona worry about it. We want them to stay because they know we will protect them, and because Deirdre is searching for any and all Druids. There aren’t many of you left.”

“I know.”

It was the acceptance in her voice that gave him pause. “Are you frightened here?”

“Nay.” She turned in his arms until she faced him. “I don’t know how to explain it, but it feels as if I’m supposed to be here.”

“Your magic is telling you that, I suppose. Whatever the reason, I hope you stay. If Mairi wants to leave, she will try to talk you into going with her.”

“I won’t. As I told you, I want to help fight Deirdre.”

Galen ran the back of his fingers down the side of her face, marveling at her satiny skin. “It is verra important to her that you stay with them.”

She scooted closer to him and rested her head on his chest. “I wish I could remember the spell and why I did it. I feel as though it’s important, as if something hinges on my remembering.”

“The past sometimes is better left buried.”

“Is that what you wish you could do with your memories?”

Galen let his fingers glide over her back as he thought of the day the wyrran came for him, the day he lost his family. And of the day he had ruled another’s mind. “Sometimes.”

“And others?”

“Other times those memories of my family help keep me steady.”

She inhaled deeply and fisted her hand on his chest. “I don’t have those kinds of memories.”

“Maybe no’, but you’re making new ones.”

“I am, aren’t I?”

He rolled her onto her back and kissed her. “I’ll give you all the memories you could want.”