Highland Fires (24 page)

Strong arms wrapped around her, but she
wanted nothing to do with them. They didn’t belong to Lugus, but
the more she tried to push them away, the harder they held on.

She didn’t have the strength to fight and
buried her face in the shoulder as she let the tears fall.

“Don’t give up on him,” Tane whispered in her
ear.

Ahryn raised her face to see it was Tane that
held her. “You knew.”

It wasn’t a question.

He sighed, his copper eyes full of sadness
and regret as he looked at her. “I did.”

“Will he come back?” Ahryn knew she shouldn’t
ask, but she had to know.

“That’s up to him.”

The back of her eyes prickled with unshed
tears at his words. “My love wasn’t strong enough.”

She felt Tane’s arms tighten around her as he
lifted her in his arms and stood.

“Your love had nothing to do with it,” Rufina
said from beside her. “In all the time I have known Lugus, I’ve
never seen him as protective of someone as he was of you.”

“Then why did he leave?” Ahryn asked, and
didn’t miss the look that passed between Aimery, Rufina and
Tane.

It was Aimery that finally answered. “Lugus
hasn’t escaped his demons.”

Demons that Lugus hadn’t wanted to share with
her. Demons that Rufina had asked her to leave alone until Lugus
was ready to tell her. Demons she would never know about.

For she knew what they weren’t telling
her.

Lugus wasn’t coming back.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Lugus gasped as the pain ripped through his
body. He tried to wrap his arms around his abdomen but with the
force of the portal wasn’t able to do more than think about it.

Just when he thought he might be splintered
in two, he landed with a bone jarring thud and the whooshing of the
portal ceased.

If he had thought the pain was unbearable
while still an immortal, it was near blinding as a mere man. He
tried to roll over and groaned as agony radiated from every inch of
his body. For several moments, he simply laid there and tried to
forget the pain that consumed him.

When the pain had dimmed to a constant, dull
ache, Lugus made himself open his eyes. Only blackness met his
gaze. A never-ending sea of darkness with no hope of a shred of
light or glimmer of happiness. He was stuck in the middle of his
one true fear.

How many nights had he slept with a candle
burning next to his bed? How many times had he shaken with terror
when the night surrounded him?

He had sworn to never return, to never be
without light again. And here he was. In the darkness.

Nothing survived on this realm for very long,
and he knew his time was short. He couldn’t wallow in self-pity, he
had to find Theron.

Slowly and with great effort, Lugus gained
his feet. The great emptiness he feared was already upon him, but
he shoved it aside and took a staggering step.

“Theron,” he bellowed. “Theron, I’m here.
I’ve come for you. Rufina needs you. Theron? Theron!”

~ ~ ~

Ahryn’s body came alive as Lugus’ hands moved
over her skin. She stretched, arching her back so her breast was
near his hand. A sigh escaped her when his hand cupped her breast
and squeezed.

“Lugus,” she whispered when his mouth closed
over her aching nipple, sending desire spiraling through her to
puddle at her sex.

She throbbed, needing to feel him inside her.
Only he could quench the yearning, but she knew he would make her
wait, bringing her past the point of want to a state of need that
left her a massive of quivering nerves.

His fingers parted her nether lips, baring
her to his gaze. Her sex clenched eagerly in anticipation. She
moaned deep in her throat as his fingers dipped inside of her and
then moved gently over her sex, skimming her button with the pad of
one finger.

She cried out, begging for more. But he
ignored her. His fingers continued their exploration of her sex,
dipping deep into her and smearing her juices over her throbbing
button. Her hands fisted in the covers as an intense wave of
pleasure swept through her.

Somehow she raised her head and watched as he
took his rod in his hand and brought it toward her. She spread her
legs and bit her lip, impatient to feel his hardness, his heat.

Instead of filling her, he
rubbed the head of his rod against her sex making her cry out. She
throbbed. She pulsed. She
needed.

Excitement ripped through her as he pushed
the tip of his rod inside her. She moved her hips to take more of
him, but he held her still.

“Not yet,” he whispered and gave her a smile
that promised hours of pleasure.

Before she could beg him to fill her, his
fingers closed over her button and squeezed while his other hand
rolled a nipple between his thumb and forefinger.

With each caress, each squeeze, she was
becoming mindless with desire. She had no idea how long Lugus
teased her. Each time she came close to her climax, he would stop,
and each time she cried out for him to relieve her.

He would ignore her cries, concentrating
instead on bringing her body the most passionate pleasure she had
ever felt.

While he thumbed her nipples and button, she
felt him move within her. She arched her hips, silently begging for
more of him. That simple move sent her over the top as she exploded
in waves of pleasure.

Ahryn came awake, her body still tingling
from her dream. She buried her head in the pillow as tears
threatened again. It had only been a day without Lugus, but it felt
more like a lifetime.

Even in sleep she sought him, but her dreams
were more vivid, more heartbreaking. She rose from her bed and left
her room to wander the palace.

Queen Rufina had refused to let her leave the
palace, saying Ahryn needed them as much as they needed her as they
waited for the arrival of Lugus and Theron.

Except she knew only Theron would return.

Her feet were silent as she walked the dark
halls. To her surprise she found Tane standing in the moonlight in
the throne room. She walked to him and saw his eyes closed.
Deciding she wouldn’t intrude, she moved to turn away.

“There is no need for you to leave,” he
said.

Ahryn turned around to find him looking at
her. “Do you never sleep?”

He shrugged. “I sleep when my body needs it.
What brings you here?”

“Nothing,” she lied and turned to the balcony
doors. “It’s a beautiful night.”

“It will take him awhile to find Theron. The
darkness is like being blind.”

She swallowed and licked her lips as she
realized just how much Lugus hated the darkness. “He would wake
every morn and watch the sun rise.”

“He hates the darkness. The Realm of Shadows
has not a shred of light. No sound can be heard other than the vast
emptiness. Just a few moments on that realm will render a strong
man insane.”

“Oh, gods. I never understood until just now
why he loved the sunrises so much.”

“It takes great courage for a man to face his
fears the way Lugus has,” Tane said as he came to stand beside
her.

“Lugus is a great man. He
hasn’t deserved the life he has endured.”


Tane turned to face her. “He is a
great man, but it is the trials he has endured that have made him
the man he is today.”

“Tell me what he did that he doesn’t think he
can be forgiven for?”

For long moments Tane was quiet.

“Nay. Lugus should be the one to tell
you.”

She sighed. “Everyone tells me that, yet
Lugus won’t speak of it.”

“Do you give up on him so easily?”

She narrowed her gaze on Tane. “You know I
haven’t.”

“How strong is your love for
him?”


She turned
her head away. “What kind of question is that?”

“One that Lugus asks
himself. He fears what he will see in your eyes once you learn the
truth of him.”


Her
gaze swung back to Tane. “How dare you. You know nothing of the
depth of my feelings for Lugus.”


“True,” he conceded easily. “However,
let us do a little test.”

Ahryn all but rolled her eyes. She had come
for solitude, to sit in the place she had last seen Lugus, but she
knew that Tane wouldn’t allow her to leave just yet. So, she would
play along with his little game. For the moment.

“What test?”

He smiled, though it didn’t reach is copper
eyes. “Let’s say Lugus stole. Would you still love him?”

“Aye.”

“Would it matter why he stole?”

“What he did in his past doesn’t matter,” she
said, already tired of the game.

“But it does,” Tane replied softly.

Ahryn knew that somehow Tane was trying to
tell her something. “All right. If it does matter, then I would
want to hear from him why he stole.”

“Let us say he stole to retrieve something
that someone took from him, but while he was stealing, he knocked
over a prized sculpture, one that no amount of coin can fix.”

“Everything can be fixed,” she said softly as
she stared into copper eyes. “What did he do that cannot be fixed,
Tane?”

Tane looked away and inhaled deeply. “You
know he had to have done something terrible for Theron to strip him
of his immortality. Have you not thought of what that could
be?”

With one last parting look to her, Tane
turned on his heel and left.

Long after Tane had abandoned her, Ahryn
thought over his words. She thought of every awful thing Lugus
could have done, and regardless of what it was, nothing dissuaded
her from her love of him.

But would she ever be able to tell him
that?

~ ~ ~

Lugus had no idea how much time had passed.
An hour? A day? A year?

Already the madness was creeping in on him,
and he didn’t have the strength to keep it at bay. His voice was
hoarse from calling out to Theron repeatedly with no answer, and
even the water he brought with him didn’t soothe him.

For the most part, Lugus kept his eyes
closed. He found that if he left them opened, he strained into the
darkness and an ache would start at the base of his skull. Yet,
every so often he would forget and open his eyes.

The frustration at not being able to see even
an ounce of light, an outline of something was maddening. The
silence stretched out like eternity, draining him of hope.

If he wasn’t looking for Theron, he would lay
down and allow the realm to take his soul, ending the nightmare he
called a life.

Then he thought of Ahryn. She was the only
bright spot in life, the only thing that had given freely to him
without demanding something in return.

He could never tell her that he loved her,
could never subject her to the horrors he had done, or the vicious
looks the Fae were sure to cast her way. Instead, he hoped his
actions would tell her once she stopped hating him for leaving.

Despite his request to Aimery that he make
Ahryn leave, he was grateful that he had at last one night with
her. Her body had been more than he deserved, her cries and moans
of pleasure would echo for an eternity in his mind.

She was the only beacon he had.

“Theron,” he tried to shout only to feel
sharp needles of pain in his throat.

Lugus felt along his leg for the water
container and lifted it to his lips. He only drank a few drops,
leaving the rest for Theron when he found him.

The entire Fae kingdom was in his hands. It
would be so easy for him to return and take over as rightful heir
to the throne, but he couldn’t do that. Power no longer mattered to
him.

Righting his wrongs did.

He stopped walking and slowly sank to the
ground. He was so tired, his body felt weighted down, whereas he
could barely lift his hands.

“Theron,” he whispered as he laid back and
closed his eyes. He told himself he would only rest a moment.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lugus jerked awake and listened. He had sworn
he had heard his name as if whispered on the wind.

“Lugus
.”

There it was again, and it sounded
like...Ahryn. He smiled as he slowly sat up. Her sweet voice was
like music to his ears. He listened closer but heard
only--silence.

His head dropped into his hands. He was going
mad. Ahryn wasn’t here, and she wasn’t calling out to him. He was
failing Theron, Rufina and Ahryn.

He thought of the Draconian who had dared to
betray Theron and the Fae. If Lugus didn’t find Theron and return
him, he knew it was just the beginning of what the Draconian’s
would do to the Fae.

Lugus gritted his teeth and pushed himself
onto his knees. The pressure that held him down like a great weight
pushed harder. But Lugus refused to give up. With Ahryn’s shining
mystical blue eyes in his mind’s eye, he pushed himself up with a
roar.

The weight didn’t lesson, but it was enough
that he was on his feet. He pushed aside the fear of the darkness
and concentrated on Ahryn’s beautiful face. If she was his beckon
on Earth and the Fae realm, she would continue to guide him in the
pit of darkness.

Lugus continued to put one foot in front of
the other, periodically calling out to Theron. When the weight
became too unbearable, Lugus braced his hands against his knees and
tried to take in huge gulps of air. He feared if he sat or fell to
the ground that he would never rise again.

“Ahryn,” he whispered. “I don’t want to
fail.”

“Lugus.
”

His heart nearly stopped when he heard her
voice. He raised up and opened his eyes, straining into the
darkness.

“Ahryn?”