A Shift in the Air (12 page)

“
I failed ya eleven years
ago. If I’d been stronger”—he stopped, cleared his throat, and held
out his hand. Unable to resist, needing his touch more than she
needed her next breath, she placed her palm in his and gasped as
electricity raced up her arm. “I won’t lose ya again. If ya don’t
love me, if ya don’t see a future with me, I’ll walk away as soon
as ye’re safe. But I am not letting that arsehole take one more
minute of your life from ya. Not when I can prevent it.”

“
I could make you
forget…”

“
No. Ya couldn’t.” Liam
pulled the cross-body bag over her head and tossed it onto the
sofa. Releasing her hand, he eased the rain jacket from her
shoulders. Against her thin blouse, her nipples tightened, and Liam
purred when he dropped his gaze. “Nothin’ could make me forget ya,
Caitlin Brannigan.”

Deft fingers made short work of the
tiny buttons, and the creamy fabric parted, exposing her breasts to
his hungry mouth. First one nipple, then the other, ached under his
ministrations, and his hands slid over her waist, holding her up
when her knees weakened.

She tipped her head back with a moan,
letting her blouse fall. The catch of her bra released with a flick
of his fingers, and the delicate material joined the small pile
around her.

“
Do ya want this, luv?” He
swirled his tongue around her nipple, then blew on the hard tip,
sending a jolt of need straight to her core.

Caitlin met his gaze and
nodded.

“
I need to hear ya. Tell me
what ya want.” He sank to his knees, fingers poised over the button
to her jeans.

“
You.” The single word
rasped over her desire, and she tilted her hips towards
him.

“
That’s not an answer.” He
grinned and flicked the button open. The zipper ticked in an
agonizingly slow trail. Her pants fell, and he held her steady
while she stepped out of them. A single finger slipped under her
panties. “Shite, ye’re so wet.”

“
Make love to me.” Tears
gathered in the corners of her eyes, and Caitlin’s knees buckled.
Liam eased her down so they knelt face-to-face, and she had to
force herself to breathe under the weight of his hungry gaze. “When
you’re here, I can believe everything will be okay.”

Liam wrapped both arms around her,
cupping her ass and tipping her slight weight against his body. “I
won’t let anything happen to ya, Caitlin. Promise me ya won’t run,
and I’ll stay. I’ll give ya everything ya want and more.
Please.”

She answered him with a searing kiss,
and as their tongues danced and she sunk her hands into his silky
locks, she believed.

The buttons on his shirt foiled her
still-frigid fingers. “Naked, now,” she demanded and clawed the
shirt up and over his head. His skin-tight undershirt drew an
appreciative mewl, and she undid his belt. Then he draped her on
the couch and tugged her knees so her ass slid down and she opened
to him.

“
Soon.” He shoved his pants
down to his thighs, revealing a bright blue pair of briefs, much
too small to contain his erection and then bent to press a teasing
kiss to the lace that covered her. Caitlin whimpered, bucking her
hips against his mouth, and earned a pinch to her nipple. “I intend
to make this last, luv.” He tipped his face to hers, and the
churning colors of his eyes captured her in a storm she didn’t want
to escape. “Caitlin.”

God, she loved how he said
her name. The drawn-out first syllable, the deep sigh on the
n
. A fresh wave of desire
tumbled her over the edge as he slipped a finger past the lace and
ground into the sensitive bundle of nerves that throbbed for him.
She writhed against the rough, well-worn fabric of the sofa and
panted, desperate, the low tones of her element mixing with the
grunts and growls and hums he made as he slid her panties down her
legs. He lapped at her essence, his tongue drawing patterns,
invading, demanding. Helpless against the onslaught of his searing
lips, his calloused fingers, the tickle of his hair against her
thighs, she set her element free, air cocooning them in a sensual
embrace.

Time stretched out into an endless
path before her, Liam taking her from one high to the next, never
letting her rest as he kissed, bit, and pinched. When she reeled
from the overwhelming intensity, he paused, massaged the knots from
her legs or her shoulders, or feathered almost chaste kisses over
her cheeks. “Ye’re stunning when ya come, luv,” he whispered as he
nuzzled the hollow of her collarbone. “Like a tornado—wild and
unafraid.”

Somehow—she couldn’t
remember how—they made it to the bed, and Caitlin stripped off
Liam’s briefs, freeing his erection for her hungry mouth. “My
turn,” she said with a grin and ran her tongue along his length. He
tasted of the sea, and she drank him in, kissing the span of a deep
scar on his ribs, which brought a chuckle as she found a ticklish
spot on her strong, sexy wolf. He groaned when she laid a trail of
kisses down the
v
of his abs, and he thrust his hips towards her as she scraped
her teeth against the tender skin of his inner thigh.

“
Stop teasin’ me, Caitlin,”
he growled when she placed a gentle kiss on the tip of his cock, so
she took him deeper. She hollowed her cheeks, and a string of
passionate Gaelic flowed from his lips. Too soon, he flipped her
onto her back and caged her with his arms. “Enough.”

Her pout drew a kiss, his lips
parting, his tongue sliding along hers. Fluttering breezes cooled
her overheated skin. Liam palmed her breast, flicking the hard
nipple with his thumb, his other hand between her thighs, two
fingers scissoring inside her, and her body threatened to come off
the bed with her release.

A lingering kiss to her brow, a hand
in her hair, and a rustle of foil, and he nudged at her
entrance.

“
Please,” she begged,
grabbing his ass to urge him deeper. When he finally, blessedly,
seated himself inside her—with her leg thrown over his hip, his
arms tight around her back—she focused on his eyes, seeing the
truth she’d thrown away all those years ago.

Love.

Each thrust speared her with more
force than the last. Clawing at his shoulder and pulling his hair,
she moaned his name, and as he clamped his mouth down on hers, she
screamed into him as she came apart, taking him with
her.

***

“
So what happens now?” she
asked, her head resting on his chest. The steady thrum of his
heartbeat calmed her enough to risk the question.

“
Now? Ya talk to me. I’ve
questions. Why’d ya try to kill yerself? What happened in Mexico?
How did Fergus track ya down in Dublin? How can we stop him? What
do ya need in Oregon?” He raised his head to catch her eye. “I
could continue.”

“
What else is there? My
shoe size? Birthmarks? Childhood secrets?” She ached to break the
tension that settled over them, but he shook his head, the
seriousness of his gaze silencing her.

“
Those too. I want to know
everythin’ about ya, luv. All the secrets ya wouldn’t share when we
dated years ago. But there’ll be time for that once Fergus no
longer has a hold on ya, yeah?”

She tried to pull away, but he held
tight, drawing her arm over his chest to tuck her hand behind his
neck. Caitlin couldn’t help her longing sigh as all of her spent
and deliciously sore muscles trembled with the movement. How could
she tell him they’d be lucky to survive?

“
Caitlin?”

She pressed a kiss to the edge of his
tattoo, to the tops of the craggy cliffs that stretched towards his
collarbone. “He found me in Belfast, less than a day after I left
you. I hadn’t seen him in more than three years. He’d changed so
much. His eyes.” She inhaled Liam’s scent, and he worked a knot out
of her neck with strong, slow strokes along the muscles.

“
Catie, why did ya leave?”
The sweet, singsong tone skittered down her spine. She preferred
his voice when he yelled. The pain from his fists paled compared to
the fear inspired by his contained rage. She backed into the dirty
stone wall, trying to muster her element, but his hand shot out and
tightened around her neck.

“
I needed ya. Three years I
spent locked away in that hellhole, drugged out of my mind. Ya put
me there, yeah? Threw away the key?”

“
No,” she gasped. “You
disappeared. I waited…months…I thought ya died that night…fell into
the sea. Please. Don’t punish me. I’ll come back with
ya.”

“
Bitch!” He threw her down,
and her head slammed into the cobblestones. Dazed, she didn’t
resist when he slung her over his shoulder and carried her to his
car, parked in shadow a few feet away. “Ye’re goin’ to pay for yer
mistakes. And then ye’re going to help me find my book.”

“
What book?” Liam asked
when she swiped at her tear-stained cheeks. His voice reverberated
in his chest, deep and comforting, and she tried to force the fear
away long enough to take a deep breath.

“
An ancient primer on
working with the four elements. Two exist, one for each set of
opposing elements. Earth and air, fire and water. Fergus wants
both, so he can absorb all four elements. He’s convinced he’ll
reclaim his balance and be the most powerful elemental in the
world. He’s probably right about the latter. I’ve little hope that
anything will release the chains of his insanity, but I have to
try.”

“
Why? Stay here with me
where ye’re safe.”

Could she tell him the real reason?
“Fergus lost his hold on reality after he took my element. His
insanity, the people he’s killed, the people he… made me help him
kill.”

Under her, Liam tensed.
“Who?”

She squeezed her eyes shut, unwilling
to see the anguish in his voice reflected in his gaze. “After my
air, he wanted fire. A young girl—no more than eighteen—met him on
one of his benders in Shannon. He compelled her and brought her
back to Lahinch, where he ‘convinced’ me—with his charm—to
accompany them up to the cliffs late at night, in the middle of a
storm.” Wiping away a tear that escaped her tightly shuttered lids,
she forced a deep breath. “We formed a circle, the three of us, and
he tried the same charm he’d used to take my element. But that
charm worked for air, not fire. The terrified girl screamed bloody
murder when her element fought him. Thunder deafened me, and a
crack of lightning landed in the center of our circle, bright white
and so hot. I think I passed out. When I came to, Fergus had
disappeared. The girl…the lightning killed her.” She sucked in
another breath and prayed she hadn’t just ruined the budding
tenderness between them.

Silence, broken only by water pipes
pinging in the wall and bass beats from one of her neighbors,
filled the room, pressing down on them. His calloused fingers
twitched at her low back and drew patterns on her skin, calming her
frantic heartbeat.

“
Ya didn’t kill the girl,
Caitlin. Ya don’t have to sacrifice your own life to atone for his
sins.”

“
If I don’t take back my
element, he’ll keep killing. Those deaths would be on me because I
chose to hide here—with you—rather than stop him.”

“
Why did ya go to Mara and
not me?”

“
If the books exist and
Fergus hasn’t found them yet, the elders in Oregon might know where
they are. I need one of the books to break the charm, but that’s
not the only reason. Mara’s sick. She carries two elements…just
like Fergus. I’ve caused her enough pain. Her, Cade, your entire
pack. I need to make things right. If I can sever the connection
Fergus and I share and take back my element, perhaps I can use the
same charm to help Mara free herself from Katerina’s fire. But to
do either of those things, I have to go to Oregon.”

“
Then I’ll go with
ya.”

“
I can’t ask—“

“
Ya don’t have to. I lost
ya once because ya didn’t trust me. I won’t lose ya
again.”

Caitlin shifted away, sitting up
against the wall at the head of the bed and pulling blankets over
her breasts. She needed the space—even a few inches—to confess her
failings.

“
When we arrived back in
Lahinch, I tried to fight him, but he used my element against me.”
Her voice cracked, and she held up her hand when Liam reached for
her. “No. I have to get through this.

“
Jealousy ate away at
him—every time I smiled at another man or said hello, even passing
by on the street, he assumed I’d taken a lover. You can only
imagine his obsession with me after three years. You might not
remember, but we fooled around a day before I left you. I had
a…mark on my neck.” Caitlin pulled her knees up and hugged herself
tightly. “He beat me bloody and demanded that I tell him who
defiled me. I don’t know how I resisted him. I’d never been able to
do so before, but after a week, the angry, violent man disappeared,
and he turned sweet again. Apologized to me, brought me flowers,
released the charms he’d layered, one on top of another, like
suffocating blankets, and left as if nothing had happened. The
hospital put him on meds. I think they helped, but still, his
episodes came and went with the wind or the tides or the pull of
the moon. If he used his element—or mine—for anything, he’d lose
control, and the insanity would claim him for a day, a week,
longer.”