MacRieve (Immortals After Dark) (18 page)

At least she was loyal. Along with touch, sex, and food, Lykae revered loyalty. “If you give me a
sporting
chance to win you over, and I fail, then I’ll help you leave.”

Her gaze was on his lips when she murmured, “What would one day hurt?” Then she blinked up at him as if her own words had shocked her.

“Verra well.” This close, he could see her long lashes were tipped with the tiniest fringe of blond. “We start now.”

“Do one of those vows to the Lore first.”

He froze. How to word this? “If you truly give yourself up to this day, enjoying everything I have to give you”—
orgasms
—“and still want to leave, I will help you”—
for a total of two minutes before tossing you over my shoulder and dragging you back.

Having played soccer all her life, Chloe could recognize when another player was aiming to score. MacRieve planned on luring her to stay with sex! And it might work!

No, no, no.

Yes. Yes. Yes. She’d promised herself. And who better to lose her virginity with than a male like this? She could only imagine how experienced an immortal would be. She’d keep her heart closed off, sate some of these pressing urges, then be on her way tomorrow. “Okay, you have a deal.”

“Good.” He backed up, allowing her to hop off the desk. “I’ve something else to show you. My favorite spot on the entire property.” Well, his mood had certainly improved. His grin was about the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.

At the front entrance, when he opened the door for her, she said, “Why are your nails black?” She’d noticed last night.

“They’re claws.”

When he briefly flared them, she swallowed. “Any other anatomical differences between you and a standard-issue human?”

He bit his full bottom lip. “Aye, there’s a major one. It’s definitely something you’ve never seen before.”

“Oh, God, what?”

“Better if I just show you.” With a grave look, he started on the top button of his jeans.

Right when she was about to scream/faint/smile with delight, she realized he was janking her.

“MacRieve!” She swatted his hip, and he chuckled.

Now he was going to have a sense of humor on top of everything else?

“No other anatomical differences. Though you might term what you’ll find in my jeans
superhuman.
”

She knew he had to be kidding, but now he’d gotten her
thinking
about it.

They started down a new path. “As per the terms of our deal,” he continued, “you’re to give yourself up to this for a day, which means you should act like my mate.”

“What do mates do?”

“Hold my hand.” He took hers in his. “Look up at me adoringly.”

So
not a problem.

Though they’d barely passed anyone earlier, now more people were out. He’d initially tried to avoid them, but then MacRieve seemed to get caught up, introducing her as his mate with his shoulders back and his chin lifted.

His cockiness was breathtaking.

Everyone she met was kind to her, seeming just like regular folks. Well, except for the fact that they were uniformly good-looking. The women all looked the same age, and possessed an earthy type of sensuality. The males? She’d yet to see one that her team wouldn’t catcall from their bus.

They must be braver than normal as well. If any of them were freaked out by an immortal army gathering outside their gate, they didn’t show it.

After a while Chloe got used to MacRieve calling her
his.
She might even have liked it. What girl could resist the look of utter pride in his eyes?

She realized she was feeling excitement—and optimism—for the first time since this nightmare had begun. Her loneliness had ebbed until it had all but disappeared. She was in no immediate danger, she was uninjured, and her weeks-long dejection over her transition was lifting.

At least there were
some
high points to the Lore. Sexy Highlander high points . . .

When he squeezed her hand unexpectedly, she found herself grinning up at him. And he was already grinning down at her, like they were conspirators who’d pulled off some coup.

After they met yet another couple who gushed about how happy they were that she’d arrived, Chloe asked, “Why are they so friendly to me? You’d think they’d hate me like all the others out there.”

He began leading her toward a forest of cypresses, oaks, and pines. “You’re now a part of this pack. This is your clan too, Chloe. And anyone here would protect you with his or her life.”

“My clan? So I’m already part of the team?”

“Oh, aye, we’re always recruiting playmakers.” Though clouds were rolling in, he didn’t head back toward the lodge, just continued into the woods. “So how did you get started playing soccer?”

“I saw an Olympic match when I was five. After that, the game was all I could think about. When I was in college, I majored in soccer first.” Yes, she’d earned her degree, but only by the skin of her teeth. “Do you have a career?” Her eyes widened. “I didn’t even think to ask if you would miss work because of all this!”

That clearly amused him. “No nine-to-five for me, lass. I’m head of the Nova Scotia branch of the clan, and I serve my king however he needs me. But mainly, I’m a soldier. There have been no wars in some time, so I guess you could say I’ve been waiting for a new season to start.”

“Have you been in a lot of wars?”

“Oh, aye. I used to search them out, especially against vampires. They’re our natural enemies. But I will no longer seek out conflict.”

“No?”

“I’ve got a mate now. That changes everything.”

She stopped. “You seem very confident about winning me over today. What if I resist those charms of yours?”

He curled his finger under her chin. “If you’re feeling a fraction of what I’m feeling, then your pretty arse is
mine.
” His eyes narrowed with intent. With possessiveness.

She swallowed. Still no dread? Just anticipation. For the first time, she allowed herself to entertain a startling thought: what if she and MacRieve
were
fated?

What if she’d dreaded being with another—because she’d been waiting for this Lykae to come into her life?

Taking her hand back in his, he started deeper into the woods. When they reached a river, he said, “Almost there. It’s just past the opposite bank.”

She gazed around for a bridge—

He pulled her into his arms, and leapt over the water.

In midair, she screeched,
“What are you doing?”

When he landed, as easily as if he’d hopped from one step to the next instead of twenty feet across the water, he kept his arm under her ass, their faces close. “Ach, even your freckles are sexy.”

Her heart skipped a beat.

After long moments, he released her. “We’re here.”

She turned away from him to get her bearings—and found an idyllic scene. In a clearing, a smaller rivulet wound through swaying grasses. Atop a slight rise to her left, a majestic tree rained white blossoms over a field of clover. The sky above was opaque. A warm drizzle had just begun to fall.

“We call this place the glade. Decades ago, when the Lykae first settled here, that tree was planted from seed. It’s a sera cherry tree, from a different realm. They live for thousands of years.”

“There are truly other realms?”

He nodded. “Most of the time, they’re just cubbyholes in our landscape. You reach them through portals.”

How much she could learn from him. Too bad she had to leave him. “It’s beautiful, MacRieve. Thanks for bringing me here.”

He frowned. “You never need to say thanks to me again.”

“Why not?”

“Because it pleases me to do nice things for you. Makes me feel . . . good.” As he cupped her elbow and started for cover, she thought she heard him mutter, “For once.”

Beneath the boughs of the cherry tree, she asked, “So other than holding your hand and looking adoringly at you, what else does matehood entail?”
Any weird mating rituals?

He brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “It means that I will protect you and provide for you. I’ll give you anything you’ve ever wanted. I doona have a career, but I’ve money to spoil you. I crave to.”

His words were brimming with his typical confidence. Yet she sensed an underlying . . . nervousness?

He drew in even closer, again looking like he was going to kiss her. The mere idea sent her awakening into overdrive. Her face flushed, her nipples hardening. She stared at his lips, imagining how they would feel on hers, how they’d taste. Up close, she could see the bottom one had the faintest crease in the middle. She wanted to lick it.

“You’ve pointed out a lot of pros,” she said absently. “So what’s the downside?”

SEVENTEEN

Downside?
I canna bed you, even though you dearly need me to.

When Chloe had gone soft with desire in the security room, it’d taken every ounce of Will’s self-control not to tup her on the desk. Even now the delectable scent of her arousal filled his senses.

“I’ve got to control myself with you. If my beast rose, I could hurt you.” What would be a teeth-clattering rush for a Lorean female would be bone-crushing for Chloe. “You’re verra . . . mortal.”

“What would make it rise?”

“If you were in danger. Or if I bedded you. That’s why I canna take you today. Even though I think you would receive me.”

Her cheeks bloomed with color and her gaze darted away:
bingo.
He nearly groaned with loss.
Why can I no’ be right?

Earlier, when Chloe had said she’d been completely committed to sports, he’d grown more convinced that she was innocent. He had wanted to howl with satisfaction that he would be the one to introduce her to lovemaking.

Then he’d reminded himself,
You doona make love. Doona even know how to.

Now, as then, misgivings swamped him. His plan to give her release, while remaining detached and in control, seemed impossible.

“I don’t understand,” she said.

“If I get too excited, it surfaces. It takes me over completely.”

“What’s that like?”

A crutch. “I’m still there, yet everything feels altered. It’s kind of like a drug. Though I’d experience pleasure and I’d remember anything that occurred between us, I would have zero control over its actions.”

“Actions?”

“It’d want to take you hard, Chloe.”

Her breath hitched, but she didn’t glance away. In fact, he saw
interest
in her vivid gaze. That look heated his blood, hardening his cock until it throbbed, waking the beast he warned of.

Will leaned down to say at her ear, “It’d want you on your hands and knees as it fucked you from behind.”

She bit her lip, almost quelling a soft whimper.

The sound made his shaft pulse. She was getting aroused by his talk? “Ah, lass, you’re needful, are you no’?” The wind began to comb the tree, loosing petals like snowfall.

She didn’t seem to notice them. “Yes . . . needful.”

He laid his hand on her cheek. It shook as he cupped her face. “You doona know how much I want to pleasure you.” This was his mate, and from the scent of her, he’d find her nice and wet. But he was too screwed up to see to her?

His gaze narrowed with realization. His beast should be nigh risen now. It roared inside him; it seethed.

It remained caged.

His Instinct spoke, pinging his mind, jolting his body. . . .

—
Your female aches. Tend to her.
—

The Instinct was infallible. And it was telling him to touch Chloe. “Do you ache?”

She gazed up at him, nodding helplessly.

“What color are my eyes? Are they blue?”

She shook her head. “Flickering a little.”

He knew he couldn’t claim her, but mayhap it
was
possible to tend to her. “If I said I’d ease your ache, would you let me? Just that and nothing more?” He captured her hand, raising her wrist to his lips. A grazing kiss across her rapid pulse-point made her gasp. Then he used her arm to draw her closer, so he could run his lips up her neck.

She sighed, “Yes.”