Page 19 of The Shadow Path (Shadowlands #2)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

S he woke the next morning naked and curled into Duncan’s side. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so well. And she couldn’t remember ever waking up and feeling like she might have fallen into bed with a grizzly bear.

It wasn’t that Duncan was hairy. He had a completely average amount of hair.

He was just massive. Big arms. Muscular legs. Broad shoulders. He took up roughly two-thirds of the bed just by existing.

He must have already been awake, because his hand was running along her shoulder, lightly dragging up and down in soothing strokes beneath the linen sheets.

The light in his bedchamber was tinged with blue, and she heard a fire crackling.

“Why is your room so much warmer than mine?” she murmured and snuggled closer to his body.

“Privileges of being a nobody here. Smaller bedroom means it’s easier to heat.”

She smiled. “Is it nice kind of? Being a nobody here?”

His chest moved in silent laughter. “It is actually. Not a laird here. Not the boss. Not anything magical at all. I’m the mundane human here.”

Her warm hand spread over his muscled abdomen and drifted lower. “I don’t think there’s anything mundane about you.” Her fingers curled around his erection and squeezed lightly. “Mmmmm.”

“No.” He moved her hand away.

“Why not?” She pouted and looked up. “You didn’t come last night.”

“No, I did not.”

“If you think taking care of that would be a hardship for me, you are very much mistaken.” Her hand slid south again.

“Menace.” He laughed and grabbed her hand, weaving their fingers together.

“Why not?”

“Ahh.” He grinned. “You’ll think I’m a Neanderthal.”

“What? Why?” Her eyes went wide. “Do you not like it?”

Both eyebrows went up. “Strike that thought from your mind, Professor Morgan.”

“You have naughty teacher fantasies, don’t you?” she whispered.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Yes, I would. I have a tweed blazer and reading glasses, for your information.”

He grabbed her hand and placed it back on his even-harder cock. “You’re not helping.”

“But I could help.”

Duncan growled, rolled her to her back, and caged her under his massive body. “Fine. Neanderthal time. The first time I come with you” —he arched up, pressing his cock into the juncture of her thighs— “I want to be in you. See? Neanderthal.”

Hot. Something about that was so unbearably hot she wanted him even more. “Where do we find condoms here?”

“We don’t, because they don’t need them.” He laughed. “Ah, imagine that. No need for them. At all. It’s free love in the Shadowlands, darling. No pregnancy here. No diseases that can’t be cured by a potion.” He tapped a finger along her hip. “But you weren’t born here, and neither was I.”

Fuck.

“You know… I’m just putting this out there, but I brought coffee.”

“If you’re saying I came on this trip very unprepared, you do not have to remind me.” His eyes softened. “In my defense, I was trying to give you space.”

“I know. I appreciate that.” She rested her chin on his chest. “I don’t think I want space from you.”

Duncan’s eyes were soft. “I’m not going to ask.”

Carys frowned. “What?”

He blinked. “Sorry. Misspoke.”

“No.” She sat up. “Not going to ask what?”

Duncan sat up next to her, grabbing a wool blanket and throwing it around her shoulders. “Forget it, darling.”

“You know I’m not going to.” What was he doing? “Why are you being weird?”

“I’m not…” He scowled. “ Weird . What kind of thing is that to say after last night? Weird . The fuck, Carys?”

“You’re being weird. Talk to me.”

He threw his legs over the side of the bed. “We should get dressed, and you need to eat something. You barely ate any dinner last night. Don’t deny it—I noticed.”

“Duncan.”

“Fine!” He grabbed for his clothes. “I’m not going to ask if you still have feelings for Lachlan, okay? That’s what I was not going to ask, but then I had a slip of the tongue and now I’ve asked it and I’m an arse.”

Carys’s racing heart calmed as she watched him throw on his tunic and pull on his pants from the day before. “You’re not an arse.”

Duncan froze and looked up. “I’m not?”

“I can’t say I don’t have feelings for Lachlan, but… not like this.” Her cheeks went red. “They’re not like the feelings I have for you.”

The hunger and the craving? She’d never felt that with Lachlan. Not on this level. Not ever. Being with Lachlan was as easy and comfortable as slipping on a familiar pair of shoes.

Being with Duncan was like bashing your head against a brick wall before the brick wall hugged you, fucked you, then fed you a hearty snack.

“Oh.” His eyes narrowed. “Ever?”

“What?”

“You never felt like this about him?”

This was too messed up to even examine before coffee.

Carys crawled out of bed. “Do you know where my robe went?” Her feet hit the ground, and she immediately got goose bumps. “And where are my slippers?”

“Fine, we don’t have to have a conversation about this, but be aware that I am not backing off. Ever .” Duncan tossed one slipper across the bed. Then the next. “And if you suddenly get feelings for Lachlan again, I’m not stepping aside.” He pointed at a window for some reason. “That’s princely bullshit, and I told you, I’m only noble in very small quantities.”

“Trust me, I get the picture!” She found her dressing gown tangled in the blankets at the foot of the bed. “Now do you want coffee or not?”

She was storming toward the door when Duncan caught her around the waist, swung her close, and planted a kiss on her scowl. “Och, you’re bonny when you’re angry, lass, but you do know how to sweet-talk a man in the morning.”

Laura found them moments after they got back to Carys’s room and called for boiling water. “Hmm.” She narrowed her eyes and looked at Carys. Then at Duncan. Then back to Carys. “You two had sex.”

“How?” Carys hissed. “How do you always know these things?”

Duncan frowned. “Christ, she’s good.”

“One, you’re both wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday, which in this place is not a dead giveaway, but two, there’s just this…” She waved a hand as she walked to the wardrobe where Carys hid her coffee. “There’s a thing.”

“Aye, well, let’s not talk about it, shall we?” Duncan lowered himself into a chair, and his expression was stormy.

“And I can see the blissful morning-after feelings are blooming like flowers in springtime.” Laura sat across from Duncan and placed three coffee packets on the table. “Hey, grouchy pants. Looks like we have to be friends now, so try smiling when I get you a coffee.”

Duncan smiled, but it was closer to gritting his teeth.

There was a tap at the door, and a maid wheeled in a cart with a steaming pot of water. Carys nearly leaped on it. She was pouring water into three coffee cups before anyone could say another cross word. “We’ve just had a complicated morning, that’s all.”

Laura shook her head. “Mornings after sex are always complicated, right? I mean, especially for you guys.”

The maid let out a small gasp, and Carys realized that news of her sex life was going to quickly spread across the castle. She looked at Duncan to find him staring back at her.

Without a word, the maid fled the room, shutting the door behind her.

“I do not care,” Duncan said carefully. “She can announce it at dinner if she likes. I would prefer that everyone in Briton knows that I’m fucking you. It might make life easier.”

Carys sank into her chair. “This is so… awesome.”

“Well,” Laura said, “you can’t say he’s not direct. I like that for you.” She stared at Duncan as she sipped her coffee.

“What?” he finally asked.

“I am noticing a certain… ease in my dear friend there.” She nodded at Carys. “You, not so much.” She pursed her lips, and then her eyes went wide. “Ohhhh.”

Carys knew the moment she realized what happened. “Laura?—”

“No condoms here.” She winced. “ Shit . And not exactly available at the corner store. Dude, that sucks, but speaking of sucking, there are other ways?—”

“I’ll take my breakfast in my room.” Duncan rose and started to walk away, but then he turned back and planted a hard kiss directly on Carys’s mouth. “Professor Morgan, I’ll see you later.”

“See me now.” She pointed at the chair. “I have an idea, and it involves both of you. And maybe Cadell, but maybe not.”

Duncan frowned, and Carys lifted the cover on the tray. “Also, hot breakfast is already here, and you need to watch me eat, don’t you?”

Duncan grabbed a plate from the tray, filled it with sausages and eggs, then set it in front of Carys before he sat down. “Eat.”

Laura smiled at him. “He’s such a nurturer. It warms my heart.”

“I think” —Carys sliced off half a fried egg— “we should go back to London, as in Brightlands London.”

Duncan blinked. “Seriously?”

Laura set her coffee down. “Okay, I can tell the sexual chemistry is very much alive right now, but going through a fae gate just to get condoms?—”

“And more coffee,” Duncan muttered.

Laura opened her mouth, then closed it. “Okay, you have a point.” She reached over and clinked her coffee cup against Duncan’s. “ Still , it seems a little excessive when there are world-changing magical tides turning at the moment.”

“We’re not going to get condoms and coffee,” Carys said. “I mean, we are definitely getting those things, but that’s not the main reason.”

“So what’s the main reason?” Laura reached across the table and grabbed for the scones. “If you’re out, I’m out.” She traded a serious look with Duncan. “For real. You got hurt yesterday, and there may be some kind of war brewing. I am not authorized to fight for any foreign entity, so?—”

“If you need to go back to California,” Carys said, “I get it. One hundred percent. You signed on to come to a coronation and a few fancy parties. Parties and coronation are done. But I did something a few days ago, and I’m starting to wonder whether it has way more implications than I realized.”

“The Crow Mother,” Duncan said.

“Aren’t you all a little bit curious what she’s been up to in London? I mean, other than sunbathing, of course.”

“No,” Laura said.

“Yes.” Duncan reached for a plate. “Yes. I’m worried too. Especially after yesterday.”

“First Dru comes back and they’re being all cryptic with each other, and then Orla’s fae mentions an offering—whatever the hell that means—and then fae gates start waking up and the forest god yesterday and?—”

“We get it, it’s been busy.” Laura’s face was grim. “What were you and Cadell talking about?”

“That the Crow Mother isn’t fae.” Carys kept her voice low. “That she can’t be. She showed me three faces when she trapped me in the forest by the river. Three faces. I met the mother when we struck the bargain. Nurturing mature woman in the cottage in the forest, right? Cauldrons bubbling. Happy to receive visitors and gifts.”

“And bargain for a year of your life or your firstborn child,” Laura said. “I remember the story.”

“Your firstborn child?” Duncan’s eyes went wide.

“Which obviously I did not trade,” Carys said.

“Very interesting that he focused on that one though,” Laura whispered. “Just saying.”

“She showed me the mother then.” Carys tried to ignore both of them. “But when she caught me alone in the forest, when Dru came and found me, right at the end, before she disappeared, I saw two others. A maiden and an old woman.”

“A three-faced fae?” Duncan asked. “Was it a glamour?”

“I don’t think so, and neither does Cadell.” Carys swallowed the lump in her throat. “I think the Crow Mother is a goddess. Maiden, mother, crone. Which means?—”

“You invited one of the old gods to Central London,” Duncan said. “And unlike the fae, gods do not lose their power in the Brightlands.”