Immortal Desires (Well of Souls) (16 page)

Chapter Thirty-One

Ian tried to puzzle out who might want to hurt Deanna. One of the villagers? It didn't seem likely but he had to consider it. Maybe the woman Deanna had mentioned; the one she called Fiona. Whoever it was, Ian would keep her safe until they found the intruder, even if he had to place a guard on her door. The stubborn woman would get herself killed from failing to listen to him.

He ground his teeth in frustration. She'd need to be taught a thing or two about who was in charge.

"Nobody's in this area." Tomas came up to him. Munro followed close behind and shook his head.

"All right. I want you to assign a guard to shadow Deanna at all times," Ian told Tomas who nodded and left to carry out his order.

"You dinna think she'll stay inside the keep?" Munro asked.

Ian snorted and rolled his eyes. "What do you think?"

"I think the lass has spirit." He grinned like a besotted lad over his first fancy.

Ian cocked his head, feeling a flush heat his skin. "Stay away from her. She's mine."

"Only if she wishes it." Munro smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "The lass isna going to bow to what anyone says. Mind your manners with that one." He walked away laughing, leaving Ian to stare after him.

That woman had hardened warriors eating out of her hand. Ian tried to still the blood thundering in his head as he stalked back to the keep.

Deanna rose from her meal as he entered the dining hall, ignoring him as she departed up the stairs. She managed to move gracefully even though she'd donned those strange boots of hers, the ones she'd first arrived in. Ian shook his head and stifled a laugh. No doubt, she had plans to kick him again.

***

Deanna paced across the wood floor of her room, tensing at each sound as she waited for Ian to follow her in here. Her boots made a racket, feeling heavy and stiff as she walked. She'd already become accustomed to the soft leather slippers.

After waiting several more minutes, she kicked the boots off. He hadn't followed her after all. Deanna sank onto the sofa, wondering why she felt dejected about that.

Soon the glow of the fire was the only light in the room and Deanna drowsed in front of it, mesmerized by the dancing flames. She didn't hear the door click open, nor the footsteps cross the room until someone stood behind her.

She knew it was Ian. Something about him heightened her awareness of his body when he was near. A slow warmth spread through her veins, charging her with a sexual heat that was impossible to hold back any longer. Deanna made up her mind and rose to face him.

He stood still, reading her movements as she rounded the sofa to face him, the color of his eyes sparking in the firelight. One eyebrow rose as she brought a hand up to his face, tracing her fingertips over his lips. She sighed as he kissed them but otherwise didn't move. Ian was giving her a choice.

"I want you," she simply stated as every part of her body sizzled with raw energy at being so near him.

"Choose carefully, lass. There's no going back." His hand slid down her neck and she shivered at the finality of his words.

"I know." Her voice caught as she whispered the words but it wasn't from fear. She'd never wanted anything more in her life than to feel him push inside of her.

Ian scooped her up into his arms before she could form a coherent thought and spread her across the bed. He knelt on the floor and pushed her skirts up around her hips, kissing the insides of her thighs in a slow, torturous pattern.

Deanna writhed, trying to pull him onto the bed with her. It was like attempting to move a large boulder. He chuckled as she moaned and moved his lips closer to the heat between her legs.

"I'm going to taste every inch of you first." His warm breath swept over her skin as his tongue flicked in a circular motion, causing her body to buck.

Deanna grabbed his hair in both fists and held on. Tremors built inside before exploding in cascades as she climaxed. Ian massaged her behind with his large hands, rocking her in place as his tongue lapped at her wetness.

"I want you inside me," Deanna managed to stutter between pants.

"All in good time," Ian replied, peeling her dress away from her body as he continued to spread kisses across her skin.

He palmed each breast and ran his teeth over her hard nipples, leaving Deanna moaning as he traveled down her belly, taking small nips. She tried to wrap her legs around him but Ian gave a low laugh and trapped her legs underneath him.

"Let me pleasure you, lass. I dinna want this to go quickly." He reached up and captured both of her wrists with one hand, holding her arms above her head as he slid his plaid off with the other.

Deanna squirmed under him, feeling his thick shaft rub against her hip in response. He groaned and brought his mouth down on hers in a crushing response. She took advantage of his distraction to slide one leg out from under him and wrap it around his hip. He trapped her other leg tighter, rubbing his cock over her belly in a slow tease.

Deanna sucked on his lower lip in a battle for supremacy. The muscles inside her ached to be stroked. He released her wrists and she grazed her fingernails down his back, watching him arch with feline grace.

"You are a temptress." He rubbed his erection back and forth but never quite entering until Deanna couldn't take it any longer and dug her nails into his butt like spurs.

With a groan, he buried himself deep inside in one stroke. She willed her muscles to relax and take him in. His eyes locked on hers as he began moving in and out, obviously trying to be gentle. Deanna didn't want gentle. She fevered for his touch, wanted him to turn her inside out.

"Fast and hard," she managed to say.

His body trembled, as if her words had unshackled the beast within. He grinned and moved her legs up over his shoulders, holding her tightly as they rocked in unison. Deanna cried out as he pushed her over the edge again, her inner muscles throbbing against his shaft.

"I canna hold back when you do that," Ian gasped and increased his thrusts, shuddering as he released inside of her.

He held still for a moment, eyes closed. She began to worry about what might be running through his head when he opened them again. His gaze bathed her in tenderness, a look of wonder in his eyes. Deanna thought she probably had the same expression on her face.

He brought her hand to his lips and spoke in Gaelic, the words filling her with warmth even though she didn't understand the meaning.

Something irrevocable had happened tonight, Deanna mused after they'd made love a second time in front of the fire. Her feelings went far beyond having great sex. She'd never believed the tales before, people who swore they loved their soul mates at first glance…but what if they were true?

She fell asleep in Ian's arms still pondering that question.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Boulder, May 2012

Ian tipped his face up to the morning sun, stopping along the mountain trail to savor the latest memory he'd received. Deanna had given herself to him. The thought filled Ian with a quiet joy. He wished again that he could see through to the end of his mortal life and how having Deanna by his side would affect the outcome, but the Gods must have their reasons for not allowing it.

Each curve of her body, each touch and word spoken—all burned in his mind as if stamped with a brand of hot iron, guaranteeing that time wouldn't dull the experience for him. Her kiss still feathered across his lips, leaving a ghostly imprint behind. Even in memory, the experience was more vivid than the way they'd touched in dreams before she left. Ian raised his fingers to his mouth and smiled, even as his loins ached to spill his seed inside her. He loved Deanna, though his mortal self didn't comprehend that yet. In time, he would understand what a treasure he held.

Ian froze on the path—not by choice but as an unseen force gripped him in its power. A man appeared before him just as his limbs were released back to his own command again. The stranger wore modern clothes such as he did—jeans, t-shirt and hiking boots—but had the air of a highlander about him. He also looked familiar.

One item caught Ian's attention that changed everything he might have thought about the man. A sword hung from his waist…and the markings on it were Conrí.

Ian shifted into a fighting stance, even as he read the other's magic. The man held up his hands in a placating gesture.

"I'm no here to fight. I only wished to introduce myself. The name is Donell." He stared at Ian with a certain respect, not in challenge.

"Why should you wish to know me? I have aligned myself with the Aeneas. You are Conrí." Confusion washed over Ian as he read Donell's magic. The man was a Druid, like himself. He also looked like Ian's uncle, his father's younger brother. "Are we clan?"

Donell smiled and shrugged, his mouth held in a lopsided grin. Now he looked like Alec, Ian's only brother. A pang of sorrow lanced through his heart to see that boyish expression again.

"Mayhap. I'm here to ask why you align yourself against Lugh. Come join us, clansman. You're on the wrong side." Donell's voice held a note of entreaty, as if he really cared about Ian.

Uncertainty swelled in Ian's thoughts and he struggled to banish the feeling. Was it possible he was acting against the God he'd always followed?

He shook his head and bared his teeth at the stranger before him, determined not to let the other see the conflict roiling about in his head. "I believe you have that backwards. Why dinna you join me and learn the truth?"

Donell flexed his hand on the hilt of his sword but didn't draw it. "Then I believe we are at an impasse, ancestor of mine. Dinna say I no warned you."

He disappeared from the path, leaving Ian to puzzle over his meaning of ancestor. A distant cousin perhaps? Donell reeked of Druid magic but twisted and dark—a serpent coiling about his spine, ready to strike. Nothing remained of the power to heal the land, like the gift from Brìghde that Ian possessed.

Perhaps he wasn't clan after all. Whoever he was, Ian felt sure they'd meet again. The Conrí had groomed Donell to be a counterweight to Ian's unique magic. The only question that remained was when they might use Donell to strike.

Ian continued his hike, no longer seeing the beautiful memories from five hundred years in the past. His thoughts filled with battles still to come. Which side would prove victorious? In the end, did it really matter? The Gods could destroy them all.

***

Highlands, May 1505

Deanna floated down the stairs the next morning in a fog of happiness. She'd dressed quickly, anxious to see Ian again. He'd already disappeared from her bed when she awoke this morning from the short nap they'd finally succumbed to.

Mairi ran over as Deanna entered the dining hall, her eyes moist with tears. "I'm sorry you canna be at my wedding. I'll miss you, sister."

"What are you talking about? Of course, I'll be there." Deanna took the girl's hands and held them. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"But Ian says you canna go. It's too dangerous with someone trying to kill you." Mairi held her chin up high even though her bottom lip trembled. "I agree. I'd no forgive myself if something happened to you just because I wanted your company."

Ian makes love to me all night, then decides he can tell me what to do?
That wasn't how things worked. "Don't worry. I'm going to your wedding whether Ian likes it or not."

Mairi's mouth dropped into an O as she stared at Deanna's face, then a sly smile crossed her lips. She leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "I can see why Ian is taken with you. You're verra unusual, to be crossing the Laird's orders."

Deanna watched Mairi skip off again, glad that she amused someone around here. Now to go fight with that thick-headed Scot…

She found him in the stables. He gave her a wide smile which faltered as she bore down on him.

"You look angry. Did you no like waking up alone?" He stroked her cheek and Deanna bit her lip against the sensuous tremor running straight between her legs.

"I'm going to the wedding." She crossed her arms over her chest and watched his eyes dip to her breasts before coming back up to focus on her face.

"Nay. I willna allow it. Someone means to harm you and I must keep you safe." His eyes narrowed at her, fully expecting her to comply.

"I'm going. Besides, wouldn't I be safer with you?" Deanna saw him hesitate for a fraction of a second but it was enough to press her point. "If I stayed here, you wouldn't know if something happened to me."

"No. Guards will be watching the keep. You'll be safe here."

Deanna poked him in the chest with her finger, all pretense at being reasonable gone in a flash of temper. "I'm going because Mairi wants me there. Deal with it." She marched back out of the stables, furious with his possessive attitude. What right did he have to tell her what to do?

Chapter Thirty-Three

Munro's voice carried through the hall as Ian entered the keep. "Our Lady Deanna may be a Cameron but she's no related to those at Achnashellach. She's much too good for the likes of them."