Page 14

Chapter Thirteen

A lec awoke to find himself hanging from bale hoist chains in the stable hayloft, where the MacBren’s men had strung him up after beating him unconscious. He glanced down to assure they hadn’t cut open his belly to drag out his guts, something they’d done to more than a few male vassals who defied them. His tunic hung in tatters, and he could see the deep reddish-purple bruises they’d left on his torso slowly turning yellow brown, but his hide appeared intact. Carefully he took in a breath, expecting to suffer the agony of splintered ribs, but it seemed his bones had already healed.

Olivia’s safe with Ava, and Darro shall take my place and command the men. If I stay alive until dawn, I may beg a chance again to parlay with the MacBren.

He didn’t worry about his chances at survival. He might be beaten again, and even tortured for the guards’ amusement, but they wouldn’t set fire to the hayloft to burn him. That would kill all of the horses they’d stabled inside, and the flames would easily spread to their encampment. He simply had to endure the night of torment that awaited him, something that was a very old talent of his.

At least nothing they did would surprise him.

In his boyhood his grandsire had always shackled and locked him in the barn for the night. Alec had begged him to leave him free, but the old man refused, saying that if he did he would run away. His grandsire didn’t know what happened to Alec while he was sleeping in the farmhouse. He ignored the signs he saw when he came out to release him.

Och, look at you. The old man always seemed pleased to see him scratched and bruised and battered, even when he hadn’t been the one to inflict the injuries. Mayhap the Gods shall do the work of making you a man for me.

Although Alec could hear nothing, his other senses grew acute after sunset. Seeing some chaff rise in a swirl in front of him made him tense and peer at the nearest window, but it remained empty. Then the scent of white lilies came to him, and he muffled a groan as a cloaked, hooded silhouette climbed up the hayloft stairs and came to stand in front of him. Burnished brown hair spilled out as she pushed back the hood.

“Go back.” He whispered the words unwillingly, for he wanted nothing more than to spend his last hours with Olivia.

She smiled and shook her head before she showed him a key, which she used to release his right wrist from the manacles, and then his left. He almost collapsed on her before he was able to steady his legs, and she quickly braced him against her as she led him over to sit atop a bale of hay. When she would have drawn back he pulled her into his arms and pressed her close, breathing in her scent and reveling in her softness.

Later he would find and throttle whoever let Olivia leave the stronghold to come to him. For now, he simply wanted to hold her.

Her hands stroked his shoulders and back, soothing him, but then she shifted so she could look into his eyes. From inside the cloak she produced a small roll of parchment, which she unrolled and held in the faint light for him to read.

You can blame me for Olivia’s visit, War Master. She already knew there were secret passages, and I knew she wouldn’t stop searching. The other clansmen couldn’t be spared, so I told her about the underground tunnel that opens in the back stall. I hope you both use it to return. Ava

Alec heaved a sigh of relief and started to get to his feet. Olivia’s expression changed, and she pushed him down before going to and peering over the edge of the hayloft platform. She hurried back, put a finger against her lips and pointed down, then held up three fingers. When he went to look, he saw three of the MacBren’s guards standing just outside the front entry.

But as he was about to back away, a shout must have come from the nearby tents. A man who had the look of a chieftain pointed to the guards and then at one of the temporary structures behind him. As they trotted over, Alec could see activity throughout the makeshift settlement. It looked as though preparations were being made for their departure.

Alec stood back. While the men didn’t appear to be interested in returning to the hayloft to torture him, he couldn’t take a chance of being seen. If they returned to take him hostage or retrieve something left in the stables, they would spot him and Olivia as they descended to the tunnel. If they were breaking camp, the safest thing would be to wait until they’d truly gone.

He pointed to Olivia and the space behind the hay bales, and she nodded and hid herself there. After watching the encampment for a few minutes to assure they did not come back, Alec joined her .

She had removed her cloak and spread it over some loose straw, creating a bed for herself. She wore a gown in a bright red color, one he recognized as the piece she had been sewing. The cut seemed odd, as it had no sleeves, and a bodice that wrapped over her chebs instead of being laced up. Still, the vibrant red of the gown brought out the fiery tints in her hair and lent a rosy caste to her fair skin.

You should ever wear red, my lady, Alec thought.

He moved to stand by the bales and watch, but she came and took hold of his hand, tugging him back to the bed she’d made. If he asked what she wanted he might alert the guards to her presence, and he wouldn’t hear her answer anyway. Yet all became clear as she lay back on the cloak and held out her hand. Her expression appeared loving and beseeching at the same time, which made his heart twist.

She was offering herself to him.

Alec lay beside her and placed one hand on her belly while propping his head up with the other. She covered his fingers with her own before she began unwrapping the bodice of her red gown. Beneath it she wore a white garment that cupped her chebs as lovingly as a tender hand, and he dimly recalled Farlan calling such lingerie, the modern world name for female undergarments. He very much liked her lingerie, but he wished to see what lay beneath it .

Alec put his mouth close to her ear. “We mustnae make any sound, my dreòlan .”

Olivia nodded, turned her head and brushed her lips over his before she reached for something between her breasts. As she touched it the front of her lingerie separated as if cut in half, and her gaze caught his.

I’m yours, her eyes seemed to say as she brought his hand just above one mound but did not press his fingers to her flesh. You must decide if you’re mine.

Alec could detect the faint tremors in her belly, and how her thighs had tensed and yet parted as she watched his face. She desired him, and would give him anything he wanted, he suspected, but only if he wanted such from her. Somehow she had realized how important that would be for him. That was the one gift no female had ever offered him. His body wanted to make this decision for him with his muscles knotting and his cock so hard he wondered if he could even get inside her before he spilled.

In his heart he’d always known that Olivia was his. Now he would make himself hers.

O livia had to bite her lip to keep from making any sound as Alec put his hand on her breast, caressing it with his fingertips while he watched her face. Her nipple had tightened so much it hurt, and the stroking rub of his thumb back and forth over it only added to the torment. She arched her back, pushing her mound against his hand in hopes that he would do more and put an end to this hot, aching need.

Alec smiled a little and bent his head, holding her breast now as he covered her peak with his mouth and began to lick and tug on it.

He was going to take his time with her, Olivia realized, but she was too fascinated by the sight of his mouth on her body to urge him to do more. The way he used his tongue made all the longing inside her knot in her lower belly, and sent a gush of wetness between her thighs. Never in her limited experience had she ever been so aroused. If he kept sucking at her breast she might explode before he did anything more.

He turns me on so much, just this is enough for me.

It didn’t seem to be enough for him, for he rolled onto his back with her, plastering her on top of him while he kept licking and sucking, his hands tugging down her dress and bra. Once she was naked to the waist he brought her arms around his neck, standing up with her in one fluid movement. He toed off her slippers and then unlaced her skirts, releasing her from the delicious torture of his mouth to bend as he tugged off the last of her clothing.

Olivia stood naked in front of him, almost afraid of what he would think of her. She would never be as beautiful as he was, or have that flawless elegance he possessed in every muscle of his long, lean body. As he stripped off his tunic to reveal his broad chest and the sculpted perfection of his abs, her heart skipped a beat, and she began to sweat. He then took off his pants to show her the long, thick length of his penis, which made her so nervous she trembled with dread. Could she be enough for him, just as she was? Would he be satisfied with such an ordinary, average lover?

Remember how you were before you came to Dun Talamh.

Her body might have been healed and changed to what it should have been, but Olivia remained stunted on the inside, where no one could see. She’d spent the last ten years trying to be like everyone else while knowing full well that she never would be. She’d endured the stares and smarmy remarks so she might be perceived as a good sport—and yet she had hated every moment. She had made her way in a world that pitied her at best, and at worst saw her as a disgusting embarrassment .

Olivia swallowed a sob that tore at her throat, trying to free itself. How could she ever deserve a lover as beautiful as Alec?

He reached out, not to touch her breast but to hold her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. In his eyes she saw understanding and acceptance, even at this moment. Without words he seemed to be telling her that if she wanted to stop here and now, he would. Even as much as he wanted her in this moment, he would put his own needs aside so that she could have more time. She’d had friends, good friends at college who had included her despite her differences. Jack Riley had hired her and even taught her to defend herself. Yet no one had ever cared about her this much.

No one but Alec.

Olivia drew him back down to their makeshift bed, settling onto her back as he came on top of her. His skin rubbed against hers, warm and slightly damp, as if he were nervous, too. She’d never been with a man whose body suited hers, but thanks to the spell trap she’d been changed to be the perfect fit for him. Had the magic known they would end up lovers? Or was it completely random? She just wished she could stop shaking as he settled his hips between her thighs and gathered her up in his arms.

“Trust me, my wee wren,” he murmured against her ear, slowly stroking his shaft against the slickness of her sex. “I shall keep you safe.”

I love you.

He couldn’t read her thoughts, so thinking those three words was safe. Alec never had to know. For once she could keep a secret that wasn’t horrible; no matter what happened to them he would always be with her that way.

Olivia lifted her hips, catching the broad head of his cock between her folds so that on his next stroke he started to penetrate her. For a moment she held her breath, so excited now that she thought his coming into her would make her body convulse. The slow, delicious slide of his heavy shaft sent little shocks like tiny orgasms through her belly and bottom, and when she clenched around him Alec took in a sharp breath. She pressed a fingertip to his lips, and then kissed him as she slid her hands down the length of his back and curved them over his hips, urging him deeper.

His arms shook for a moment, and then he buried himself inside her, muffling his groan against her lips.

Being impaled by him, his weight pressing her into the cloak-covered straw and the dampness of his sweat mingling with hers made Olivia want to never move again. He lifted his mouth from hers and looked all over her face, his own taut with need and something else. Was he that surprised? Looking the way he did, Alec must have had hundreds if not thousands of lovers. She’d seen for herself how almost every woman at Dun Talamh ogled him, lust plain in their eyes. Yet she was almost certain this was all new to him.

Olivia silently mouthed, “I’m yours.”

Something in him seemed to snap, and he began kissing her eagerly and roughly, almost as awkward as a boy at first but then learning how to tease her with his tongue and little nips of his teeth. He pumped his cock inside her the entire time, deep and hard, his thrusts jolting her whole body. Because it was all so direct and uncomplicated it aroused her unbearably. As his body mastered hers she became convinced he’d never had sex with anyone before now.

How was it possible that Alec had been alive for almost a thousand years and never taken a lover?

Her confusion dwindled as he caressed her breasts and stroked the sides of her belly before he slid his hands under her bottom and lifted her up to go even deeper. In his eyes glowed the most beautiful heat and lust, making her tremble with anticipation. She could almost see into his thoughts now, too. He wanted her like this, so badly he was trying not to come so it would last longer. He wanted her to come for him before he did so he could have that, too. He wanted to fuck her again and again like this, until they both passed out from exhaustion and satiation.

It was so much more than she’d ever imagined, and when he gripped her bottom tightly that proved too much. Olivia shattered, her body bucking under his, her pussy so hot and wet she was melting all around him. That was when Alec drove so deep he knocked the breath out of her, and then buried his face against her throat and pumped her full of his cream.

I love you, Alec, she thought as she came back down. I will always love you.

His breath gusted over her slick skin as they both lay unmoving. Olivia thought she might cry for a few minutes, but slowly calmed. He was her lover now, and that made her happier than she had ever been in her life. She closed her eyes, savoring every last fading tremor. If they could work this out, and he wanted her after tonight, she might even be his forever.

Darkness swept her away, leaving her to stand alone in the hayloft.

The greenish-yellow light told Olivia it was day, but when she turned around Alec was nowhere in sight. The stables had changed as well; the horse stalls had disappeared and so had all the tack. There wasn’t any hay in the loft, but enormous bales of oats and barley had been stacked along the walls. Bits of grain covered the slate-covered floor below the loft platform. A young, fair-haired girl hurried up the steps and walked right through Olivia, as if she were a ghost. The yellow, brown and purple plaid she’d wrapped around herself looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite remember where she’d seen it. Beneath the tartan her fine golden silk gown fluttered around her as she went to the window to peer out before tugging down the shutter.

“He shall never think to look for me here,” the girl said as she twisted her hands together. She paced back and forth in front of the window, her steps jittery, and then stopped and gazed directly at Olivia. “Oh, no. He’s come.”

“Who’s come here?” she asked, but the young woman had rushed back to the window. “What’s happening to you? Please, let me help.”

Tears rolled down the girl’s face as she backed away. “Oh, Gods, that you should save me by permitting such madness.”

Before the girl could lift the shutter a wave of glittering red light swept through the stables like a lethal tidal wave. After it vanished the young woman looked down at herself as a glowing white light enveloped her skirts and crept up her body. A moment later she turned completely white, as if her flesh had been transformed into snow .

Not snow, Olivia thought as she smelled the change in the air. Salt.

Olivia couldn’t help reaching out to her, but before her hand touched the girl, her frozen body crumbled, scattering huge chunks of salt all over the hayloft’s planked floor.

The girl appeared again, this time at her side, but she now appeared as semi-transparent as Olivia.

“What happened to her?” she asked. “I mean, you?”

“It didnae hurt, if that’s what you reckon. ’Twas as if I’d been set free from a trap I didnae ken had caught me.” She looked at her, her big brown eyes filled with sympathy. “’Twas the same for you when your màthair died, aye?”

“Yes. No.” Fear streaked through Olivia. “Are you the one who shoved me into the pit?”

“Och, no, lass. I’m but the first one that demented fack murdered in his war with the McKeran, killed just after I took refuge in their old threshing barn.” The girl’s mouth took on a bitter turn as she regarded the tiny bits of herself scattered on the platform. “I tried and tried to pick up the pieces and put myself back together, but never could I manage it.”

“If you were able to do that, how can you be dead?” Olivia asked cautiously .

“I’m no’ alive, either. I’m between.” The girl gestured around them. “Since the day he cast the curse, my power, ’tis strongest here, but no one ever comes. ’Tis why I made the MacBren stay, so I might bring you and Alec here.”

Something about the girl seemed tragic, and also oddly familiar. Olivia sensed that she meant no harm, but didn’t entirely trust her, either. “How do you know the war master?”

“I ken everyone at Dun Talamh. The stinky bastart didnae guess that I’d come here, or that the curse he cast on the clan, ’twould destroy my flesh.” She lifted one opaque hand and regarded it sadly. “He drove my spirit to seek a new body. ’Tis how I became between, lass.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand,” she said.

“In time you shall,” the girl promised. “I need you to remember what I’ve said, and all you’ve seen when you awaken. Use me to destroy the matriarch, and that shall end them all. ’Tis up in the oldest watch tower. After, tell Alec, Lady Ava and Tasgall everything from the dream. Can you do thus for me?”

“I don’t even know if Alec and I can get back to the stronghold,” she said. “What do you mean by the matriarch?”

“The first that came with you into the trap.” The girl beckoned for her to come to the window and lifted the shutter to point toward the watch tower. “It sits on a sill there, making more.” She then glanced down at the MacBren’s encampment. “That stubborn old fool shall soon leave with his brutes, and no’ return until just before summer. I pray the clan succeeds in breaking the curse before then, for many shall perish.”

“Can you explain everything a little more? I really don’t understand you,” Olivia begged.

“Soon you shall.” The girl’s body grew even more transparent. “Farewell, lass.”

A moment later she found herself perched on an outer wall at the top of one of the castle’s tall towers, where the wind blew with a biting cold edge. Across from her stood Alec, a hood shadowing his impossibly handsome face. Snowflakes speckled his long dark hair, and when he held out his hand she saw his bloodied fingers were twisted and broken.

Dinnae fear me, lass, he said, his beautiful eyes glowing like jewels in the shadow of the hood. For we’re the same, I vow.

Although Olivia wanted to run to him, something had frozen her body, making it impossible for her to move. The beetles must have found them. What happened to you?

He pointed down at an old barn outside the castle’s outermost wall, where a towering, heavyset old man stood holding a heavy coiled black rope. My lady màthair ran away and left me with him.

The ice paralyzing her suddenly melted away, and she jumped down from the wall and hurried to him, putting herself in front of him so he couldn’t see the man with the whip anymore. The tower changed into a yard of dirt in front of an old, decrepit barn. All around them fields filled with golden grain stretched as far as she could see.

The heavyset old man approached them, uncoiling the black rope he held, which in reality was a whip. Get away from that eejit.

I won’t let him hurt you, Olivia promised Alec.

He died long ago. When she glanced up at him his sculpted mouth formed a smile so sad tears spilled over her lashes in response. Don’t cry, lass.

Get away from that boy, you little tramp. Mae came out of the barn to stand next to the big old man, a padlock in her fist, her eyes burning with that contempt for Olivia that seemed to take bites out of her flesh. Get away from him or you’ll have punishment for a month this time.

Alec took her into his arms and turned her so she couldn’t see her aunt. Ever and always you’ll be safe with me, my dreòlan.

The way his hands moved against her arms made Olivia painfully aware of how close they were. Mae would have strangled her if she’d ever found out what she was thinking right now. Then he released her, and she was alone again. She turned to see a much younger, thinner Alec carrying two enormous bales of hay out of the old barn, his back bowed with strain.

Olivia rushed to take one of the bales. Let me help you.

’Tisnae for you to do, lass. He dropped the bales and took hold of her hand. They’re coming as soon as my grandsire retires for the night. You must hide when they do. Hide in my chamber and open the door for no one.

He looked calm, and yet a terrible sorrow shadowed his eyes. I don’t understand.

Alec cupped the back of her neck with his hand. I cannae shield you from them when they come.

You don’t have to. This close to him she could have simply turned her head and brushed her lips over his, but she settled for lacing her fingers through his. Why don’t you come with me?

He chains me every night, and then they come, my dreòlan.

Olivia opened her eyes to see Alec looming over her, his expression worried. It was day again now, as greenish-yellow light filled the stables, and a cool breeze came in through the open window. She smiled at him, and then muffled a groan as she tried to sit up and her well-loved body protested .

“I have got to train you to sleep in a regular bed,” she said without thinking, and then covered her mouth with her hand and looked over at the open doors below.

“The danger, ’tis over now. The MacBren and his lot departed at dawn,” Alec told her as he supported her with one arm. “Only we cannot return to the stronghold.”

She stiffened. “Why not?”

He helped her up and, after she’d dressed, he guided her down the stairs and out of the stables. The castle rose in front of them, immense as ever, but most of it now lay trapped within a thick layer of the same glassy white substance that had encased the frozen maids. From some of the window slits dozens of ice beetles poured out, flying to other parts of Dun Talamh or crawling down to another opening, leaving tiny snow tracks in their wake.

“’Tis near overrun now,” Alec said softly. “And I’ve no’ a clue how we may destroy the creatures.”

Olivia didn’t, either, but she wasn’t prepared to give up yet. “We’ll figure it out. First let’s get inside before they seal off the last of the arches.”

Before they left she bent down and gathered a handful of the salt from the floor where the fair-haired girl had fallen.