HuntressUnleashed (5 page)

His sound of amusement was somewhere between a laugh and a
growl. “Do no’ run from me again, Caitrin.”

“After I saw what Delaney truly was, I thought you were…like
him.”

“Would rather die than sell my soul to dark wizardry. I’m
glad his scent is washed off your body.” He leaned down, scenting her deeply.
“I want to fuck ye, Caitrin. I need to be close to ye tonight.”

Taking the towel from around her shoulders, Eagan laid it
down in front of the fire. Light and shadow flickered across his nakedness, the
firelight burnishing his chestnut hair to a deep copper. As if in a dream,
Caitrin stepped forward.

Kneeling there, he skimmed his hands up her thighs, then
pinned her hips still as his tongue tasted her. Cait gasped, one hand flying to
the back of his head in an attempt to stave him off as he sought to delve
further.

“MacCulloch!”

His only answer was a long, slow thrust of his tongue. Involuntarily
she parted her legs further, grabbing his shoulder for support. Her legs
wobbled as he continued to lick her. As if sensing her imbalance, he slid his
hands further up, cupping her buttocks as he tilted her forward.

The pleasure was beyond what she’d ever experienced. She let
out an involuntary moan, too lost in sensation to continue resisting what he
offered. Through half-closed eyes she watched candlelight flickering across his
skin, admiring the bulge of his muscles. Then she was incapable of rational
thought, everything narrowing to this particular moment.

He drew her to the edge of orgasm, keeping her there until
she was barely supporting her own weight. Just as she thought she was going to
collapse, he eased her down onto the towel, his broad hands pinning her hips to
his mouth.

“Come for me, Caitrin.”

He bent, seeking her again, driving her insane with his
lips. Her hands returned to the back of his head—this time to
keep
him
there. Seconds later, she heard herself half screaming with the intensity of
release.

And he was there, his cock resting at her entrance as he
tried to compose himself. Eagan was practically thrumming with restraint,
biceps flexing as he held himself still. Why was he waiting?

“I want you now,” she whispered, bucking her hips to
emphasize her point. “I’m not afraid of the pain.”

“Slowly, lass.” Eagan eased forward, pausing as he met
resistance. “By Brighid, you’re tight.”

Inch by inch he continued until she was achingly full. His
green eyes were equal parts triumphant and tender as he stared down at her.
Wonderingly, she traced the line of hair leading from his chest past his
bellybutton, pausing to linger on a silvered scar near his rib cage.

His breath rasped as she continued to stroke his skin.
Without warning, he began to move. Slowly at first, then with quicker, surer
thrusts as her virginity fully gave way. His mouth moved to tease her breasts,
building her a second time. This time she welcomed the loss of control,
throwing her head back as he kissed her everywhere.

Just before she peaked, Eagan’s teeth pierced her shoulder.
Pain washed into pleasure as he thrust deep one last time, pulsing within her
as she cried out in ecstasy.

Eagan inhaled, smelling himself all over her body. She was
his
.
For the first time in his life, he wasn’t alone. Caitrin was by his side and
always would be. The mark of his canines in her shoulder branded her as his
mate.

He’d done it as gently as possible, shifting only his teeth
as he’d bitten. He brushed away the light smear of blood, kissing the spot. She
settled into his shoulder as he moved to lie beside her.

“You are too tall to fit in my bed, you know,” she said,
yawning.

“I am no’ going to let ye sleep alone,” he warned. “No’
after what ye did earlier.”

They ended up in the larger guest bed. Caitrin, exhausted,
watched as he draped himself around her. “Eagan?”

“Hmm?” Privately he was thrilled to hear his first name on
her tongue. Finally a glimmer of deeper trust from his Huntress.

“I do not feel any different.” She ran a quizzical finger
over his mark.

“I haven’t let ye walk yet.”

That startled a giggle out of her. He relished that rare
sound. At the same time he couldn’t help worrying about whether his mark would
Turn her. With so little werewolf blood, would the Huntress part of Caitrin
override their new bond?

Resolving to put those thoughts aside for the night, Eagan
wrapped his arms around Caitrin and closed his eyes. Sleep claimed him almost
instantaneously.

Much later, he opened his eyes to see the first tendrils of
dawn creeping into the cottage. His arms were empty—he raised his head
abruptly, catching Caitrin in the act of sliding from bed. Several centuries of
bleak solitude reared up, nearly choking him.
No’ again. She could no’ be
leaving!

Flashing him a guilty look, Caitrin gestured toward the
chamber pot and his mingled terror and rage subsided, allowing him to breathe
once more. Composing himself, Eagan rose, padding to the kitchen. Stomach
growling, he lingered near the table, automatically peering out the window in
case danger was approaching.

“Has it been long since you lived…normally?” Caitrin asked
several minutes later. Clad in a white robe, she began rattling pots and pans.

“I lived out my first human lifetime in a castle near
Inverness,” he replied, kneeling to poke up the fire. “Had to pretend to grow
older, eventually fake my own death. After that I bounced from Pack to Pack, a
few months here or there, until it was time to return to my castle to live as
my own illegitimate grandson.”

Caitrin took a seat across from him as water boiled for the
porridge. “
Did
you have any illegitimate offspring?”

“Nay, lass.” He resisted the urge to laugh at her stormy
expression. “I thought I’d find my mate within the first few lifetimes.”

She reached out, lightly tracing the tip of his index
finger. Her wordless sympathy and support was worth more to him than anything
else. He continued his story, knowing she wanted to hear more.

“Eventually going back to Castle Lennox was impossible. By
that time, most of my family was dead so I set out travelling down into
England. Came back up here just before the Battle of Killiecrankie, hunting
Loners like Delaney who were using the unrest to mask their own violence. By
human standards I am wealthy, but money is no good if one can no’ spend it.”

Caitrin mulled that over. “That was before my time. Which
side did Delaney fight for?”

Eagan shrugged. “Human kings do no’ matter to those such as
Delaney. He would only have sought to be around death and destruction.”

“Why do werewolves turn Loner?” Caitrin rose, stirred oats
into a pot. “Delaney seems different than the few werewolves Da killed.”

“He
is
different,” Eagan said grimly. “Loners sell
their sanity for power. Killing gives them a rush, so they continue, growing
worse all the time, until their own death. Long time ago, Loners were rare
because their Pack sorted them out. Now Packs are too full o’ young males.”

“If Delaney is a Loner, would he have killed me right away?”

“Depends how far gone a Loner is. Heard tell of several who
veered off the path then came back after stumbling upon the right mate.” Eagan
shrugged. “Delaney sold his soul to that dark wizard. That’s what’s different
about him, lass. He’s immortal.”

“In exchange for what?” Caitrin frowned, ladling oatmeal
into bowls.

“I do no’ know.”

“Da said he hunted a dark witch once. She was using a selkie
to draw power from. They evaded him for the better part of a year. One day he
came upon the selkie, dead. The witch had used it up, drawing power to cover
her tracks.”

“Could be this wizard is doing something similar with
Delaney,” Eagan said. “Perhaps no’ quite the same. Delaney has aged but his
body still has strength under the illusion.”

“Do you think the wizard is using him to absorb magical
rebound? So he can work faster without having to rest and recover in between
each dark spell?”

“Aye, that would make sense,” Eagan said slowly. Dark magic
took a toll on those who used it. Every spell had a rebound—similar to the
recoil of a gun—that affected those who chose to cast it. Dark spells, those
that perverted the natural course of life, had the most effect. Eagan frowned.
Those tattoos holding Delaney together…

Evidently, Caitrin had come to the same conclusion. She sat
down across from him, her wee face scrunched in thought. “What if those runes
tattooed on Delaney’s body are able to absorb negative magic energy?”

“Aye, the runes he wears are powerful workings. It is
entirely possible that the wizard uses Delaney as a kind of filter. If the
wizard casts enough dark magic, having a hardy werewolf around would be
useful.” He resisted the urge to smile at her. She was going to make a fine
mate for an Alpha, with a mind like that.

“Dangerous for the tattooed werewolf,” Caitrin commented.

“Dangerous for all o’ Scotland.” Eagan stirred his porridge oats.
“If word of this technique spreads, the entire world is at risk. Plenty o’ evil
witches and wizards on the Continent. The werelions and bears are populous
these days and there are wolf Packs across the sea as well.”

Despite their grim conversation, he watched her eat her
porridge with a sense of wonder—and relief. She was his now. Protected.
Cherished. If he had to run all the way to the ruins of Castle Lennox with her
draped across his shoulders to keep her safe, he would do just that.

“What do you think Delaney gets out of the deal?”

“Immortality is a power in its own right. When I spoke with
him a century ago he was jealous of all Alphas. He wanted a long lifespan, a
mate, a Pack of his own. Last I heard, he’d challenged his own Alpha and was
thrown out to fend for himself.”

“He is still nearby.” She frowned, concentrating. “I never
could feel the wizard. Da would have.”

Immediately, Eagan reached across the table, cupping her
chin with his hand. “Look at me, lass. Ye are no less a Huntress because of
your werewolf blood. It merely makes ye different.”

“But I could never bring myself to kill my prey. Da had to
do it for me every time.”

“How old was he before he made his first kill?”

That took her aback. “I…do not know. He was nearly
eighty-one when he died, but I never asked him much about his youth.”

“It is no shame that ye could no’ kill your catch, lass.
Your Da was working from a long lifetime of experience. I have no doubt ye
would have made a fine Huntress in your own right.”

Her blue eyes glowed at his praise. “Thank you.”

“There may be occasion for ye to use your tracking skills as
my mate,” Eagan warned. “If this dark wizardry continues to spread, our enemies
will only grow stronger.”

She nodded. “Eagan, will you begin to age now?”

“Aye, lass. I’ll grow old with ye on my cock.”

Caitrin sputtered, nearly spilling her tea. Her eyes
immediately sought the organ in question, finding it hard and ready. “I am not
quite certain how it fit inside me last night.”

“I can remind ye.”

She giggled again as he swept her into his arms, carrying
her to the couch in the sitting room. “It is well that we are so isolated here.
There’s only me to ogle you.”

He thrilled at the possessiveness her words implied.
Supporting her waist, he sat her atop him, leaning forward to kiss her. After
her robe slipped open, exposing her breasts, he paused to kiss those as well.

He vowed to concentrate only on pleasure for the moment,
although his thoughts swirled darkly.
What if my mark does no’ work? What if
she leaves me?

Caitrin trembled as cool air met her skin. He soothed her
with his warm hands, running them all over her body. He couldn’t get enough of
her. She was so responsive, so willing, even though her trust had been hard
earned.

When she was slick and ready for him, he lifted her thighs
and entered her. Closing his eyes as raw pleasure coursed through him, Eagan
kept his hands upon her thighs, guiding her in a rhythm that left them both
breathless.

This time he didn’t try to control himself. The feeling of
her wet tightness pulling against his cock was beyond good. Eagan let out a
harsh cry as he spent his seed deep within her, crushing her close.

Caitrin dropped her head to his shoulder as her werewolf
tightened one arm around her. His other hand went to her clit, stroking even as
he jerked in his own orgasm. The world exploded moments later. Caitrin muffled
her cry against his bare skin, tasting the salt on his heated body.

For a long while he held her close, content to remain inside
her. She drifted in her own thoughts, her mind whirling now that her body was
fed, rested and sated. He’d marked her last night; the spot was still tender.
Yet she felt no different. Eagan continued to emanate lust, and the bite hadn’t
Turned her.

Was it not supposed to trigger an immediate Change? She
sifted through her very limited werewolf knowledge. Da had been protecting her
all along, sheltering her from any contact with her grandfather’s people,
probably at her mother’s request.

And now she was mated to an Alpha.

Where would they go? What would happen to her croft, her
animals?

Damn, the sheep!

She sprang upright and away from Eagan, pulling her robe
back on. How could she have been so stupid? The barn was witchwarded against
predators—it would easily have given Delaney pause. But the pasture was
unguarded. Damn! The flock would have been safer roaming free in the hills.

Heedless of her unorthodox attire, she stomped into the
boots at the door, snatching up the sword for good measure. Only then did she
become aware that Eagan was speaking to her.