A Shift in the Air (19 page)

“
Ye’re welcome, lass.
Blessings be.”

***

Caitlin stumbled steps from
Grafton Street as the charm hit her in the chest.
No
.

Unlike in the hotel room, she couldn’t
hear Fergus, but his dark, oily charm still wormed through her,
invading her muscles, stealing her body’s will.

The urge to run, to head west, to find
a bus, a taxi, any means possible to get to him pressed down on
her. One foot, then the other, obeyed his command, and she fought
desperately to break his hold on her. How the hell could he wield
such power over her from a distance? Location charms didn’t require
proximity, but compulsion charms did. She’d never managed one under
half a mile. But…she sent out her own charm, weak, desperate, and
when she found him, the horror washed over her, raw and grating
against her skin.

Distance still separated
them, hours and hundreds of miles, but he’d strengthened beyond
anything she’d ever felt before. Another step, two, and she turned,
emerging from the side street and out into the sun. Her body
strained, every muscle taut with horror.
No.
Fight!

Crowds passed by, and
though she begged one strong-looking young man, “Help me,” he only
stared at her as if she spoke a foreign language and rushed away. A
Garda?
Trust no one
. Cade’s words chilled her almost as much as Fergus’s charm.
No, she had to do this herself.

I’m stronger now.
Repeating the words a second time, she fought him,
and with every step closer to the bus station, cracks opened in his
control. She grasped the leather pouch around her neck, tried to
draw strength from the stone, but failed. Snapping the cord, she
let the bag dangle from clenched fingers and sucked in deep
breaths, trying to strengthen her own resolve. Another turn and she
found herself at the banks of the River Liffey, with Ha’penny
Bridge a block away.
Liam.

A bus rumbled by, the deep vibrations
jarring her out of the fog of Fergus’s charm, and the feel of
Liam’s arms around her, pulling her against him, warmed
her.

Fight him.

Ha’penny Bridge stood watch, tall and
proud over the river. Families, lovers, and college students
wandered, rushed, and lingered, and the sunlight sparkled like
hundreds of precious jewels over the water.

Caitlin called upon her
element and stilled the air. The constant Dublin breeze fell away,
and she shook off the last vestiges of Fergus’s charm as she took
her first step onto the bridge. Fergus’s anger and surprise punched
her in the gut, and she doubled over with a hand on one of the
bridge supports, but he couldn’t have her. Whoever she’d been
before—weak, afraid, unable to fight—she’d found her strength now.
Whatever she’d done under his control, that guilt belonged
to
him,
not her.
She’d made a mistake, yes. A single, stupid mistake at sixteen that
she’d let twist the rest of her life into knots, binding her first
to him, then to Katerina. He’d controlled her body, and Katerina
wrapped Caitlin’s mind—even her heart—in chains, but now…the
bindings fell away as she tipped her head to the sky, smiling as a
cloud skated across the cerulean canvas. Free of the compulsion,
she banished Fergus to the dark recesses of her mind. Sun warmed
her back, and she took an easy breath as she trailed her fingers
along the padlocks that dotted the wrought iron rails stretching
their lengths to the heavens.

“
I have something for us,
luv.”

Liam held out his hand; an
old-fashioned padlock rested in his palm. On her first night in
Dublin, Caitlin had walked along Ha’penny Bridge, and the love
surrounding the span staggered her. She’d shared the memory with
him days ago, and the twinkle in his eye now pulled a giggle from
her lips.

The physical presence of
so many promises wrapped her in a warm blanket against the chill of
her past, and she gently plucked the heavy lock from Liam’s hand
and examined the scrawl on the back.

Liam and
Caitlin

“
I have the key.” He
offered his other hand, and the long antique key caught the
moonlight, glowing in the waxing moon.

“
Shall we?” she asked. He
nodded, turned the key in the lock, and wrapped his fingers around
hers. They closed the lock together, and with their hands still
joined, he brushed a tender kiss to her lips.

As she traced the lines and curves of
the weathered metal, her phone buzzed in her pocket.

I miss you. Are you
safe?

She missed him, too. The haze between
fear and love thinned, and now…accepting that she could love him,
she had to see him.

Yes. I’ll be back
soon.

With one last glance down at the
promise they’d made to one another so many years ago, she turned
and ran.

Chapter Fifteen

Caitlin paused outside the
hotel room door. The keycard slipped from her fingers. Nerves
almost had her turning around and heading down to the hotel bar for
a shot of whiskey. What if Fergus intruded again?
No
. If he tried, she’d
fight him.

The door lock turned green as she
withdrew the card, and she slipped into the suite. Steam from a
recent shower and Liam’s spicy, delicious scent filled the room; he
leaned against the window, staring out over the manicured lawns
behind the hotel.

“
Liam.”

He stole her breath with his churning
eyes, the damp locks that brushed the towel around his bare
shoulders. “I was worried.”

Caitlin slid her arms around his
waist, stifling a momentary flash of panic at the memory of him
pressed against her with Fergus in her head. “I’m sorry. But…I
needed some time.”

“
I don’t want ya alone with
Fergus so close. What if he compelled ya and took ya away? I don’t
know what I’d do if I lost ya.”

Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment,
she rested her cheek against his chest. “He tried.”

Liam stepped back so quickly Caitlin
fought not to lose her balance. “What?”

Needing his touch, she closed the
sudden distance between them and wrapped her hands around his arms.
“He called to me. But after a few blocks, I broke free. I fought
him.”

“
Caitlin, shite. What did
he do to ya?” The beast glowed in his eyes, though she couldn’t
tell if anger or fear caused the sudden change.

“
He tries to control my
body. Only my body. Never my mind. He never had to, because I felt
so guilty over what I’d done that I didn’t think I deserved to be
free. I’d hurt so many people. But…I didn’t choose to do so. He
made me. Even Katerina—I understand now.”

“
Understand
what?”

“
What Katerina did to me.
Why I hurt Maggie, why I helped Mara. Katerina used my element to
infuse the crystal so I’d
want
to follow her. I thought I’d made the choice, but
I didn’t. Not really. The only choice I made was trusting her.
Fergus never gave me any choice. He took so much of my element that
I never had a chance. Until now.”

“
What’s so different
now?”

“
I am. Which is why I can’t
let him ruin what…we have. I can fight him.”

Liam tipped her chin up. “Ye’re
shaking, luv.”

”
I let him come between us
this morning, and I’m sorry for that.” She slipped a finger through
one of the belt loops on his jeans and tugged him towards the
bedroom. Slowly, she guided him to the bed, but he didn’t let her
tug him down, instead running his hands down her back and pulling
her against him. With his gaze locked on hers, she tried to banish
Fergus from her mind. He didn’t belong here. “I won’t let that
happen again.”

Liam cupped her ass, and she shivered.
She could do this. She could show him how much she loved
him.

Caitlin sunk her hands into his hair,
savoring the silky strands between her fingers. The control allowed
her easy access to those firm lips, and she rose up on her toes,
slanting her mouth over his. His low rumbling moan accompanied the
dance of his tongue along hers. Liam slid an arm around her back,
but she pulled away. “No. This is for me.”

Trailing the backs of her fingers
along his jaw, the faint rasp of stubble tickling her skin, she
licked her lips. A teasing kiss at the corner of his mouth, another
to his shoulder, his nipple, and he pawed at the button on her
jeans.

“
Naked, luv.
Now.”

Two quick steps back took her out of
his reach, and she pulled the green sweater over her head, then
toed off her boots and jeans. “No touching. Take off your
pants.”

His cock strained against his briefs,
and she couldn’t help her smile as she admired him, all coiled
strength and ferocious desire. Flames danced in his green eyes, as
bright as the sun.

Sliding a single finger under the seam
of his briefs, then two, then three, his cock twitched against her
hand. She rained kisses over his chest, grinding her hips against
him. Only two scraps of material separated them, and arousal soaked
her panties in the space of a single breath when he swept her
against him in a searing kiss, demanding all of her.

She gave him everything for a moment,
then broke the kiss with a teasing smile. “I thought I told you no
touching?”

“
We’re too close to the
moon, Caitlin. I can’t keep my hands off ya.”

“
Yes. You can.”

Inch by agonizing inch, she slid his
briefs lower, freeing his cock. She grabbed a pillow from the bed
and tugged him over to a chair, pushing him down as she sank to her
knees. With her gaze locked on his, she wrapped cool fingers around
his length. The first tentative stroke of her tongue pulled a groan
from his throat, and he balled his fists in the blanket. As her
free hand cupped his balls and she took him deeper, hollowing out
her cheeks and surrounding him with the heat of her mouth, he
panted. “Please, luv. Shite. Let me—”

Her fingers dug into his thigh in a
subtle rebuke. She ran her tongue along the underside of his cock,
and he thrust his hips forward. Adjusting, she took him deeper.
Another hum—almost a keening—and he tightened his hand in her hair,
holding her against him as he came.

When his tremors subsided, his glassy
eyes took her in, and he brushed a thumb over her swollen lips.
“The moon rises in two days,” he said, pulling her up and wrapping
her in a warm embrace. “Ya have no idea how much I want ya. Every
minute.”

“
So take me.”

Her nipples pebbled against his chest.
When he was done with her mouth, he nibbled along her jaw, down her
neck, and closed his teeth over the tender flesh above her
collarbone. “My turn.”

Liam swapped their positions, easing
her into the chair and spreading her thighs. He caged her, kissing
her breathless. On his knees, he tugged her forward until her ass
hung half-off the chair. His hand splayed over her belly as he bent
and nuzzled her. “Ya smell like the wind. Like the sweetest
flower.”

“
Liam. Please…”

“
Please what?”

“
I need you.” She tilted
her hips to give him better access and then tightened her thighs
when his tongue slipped between her folds. Pleasure buffeted her
core in endless waves, and he wrapped his hands around her hips,
holding her still as she tried to writhe and rock closer, desperate
for more of him.

When he reached up to pinch a nipple
as he scraped his teeth along her sensitive nub, she soared,
screaming his name as her world went white, and sensation replaced
conscious thought.

He held her as she trembled and then
gathered her against his chest. Carrying her to the bed, he laid
her down and smoothed her hair away from her face.

“
I’m not done with ya yet,
luv. Don’t move.”

“
I don’t think I can,” she
managed.

Liam rummaged through his suitcase for
a condom and threw it on the bed next to her. Then he turned back
and retrieved a second, and a third.

“
You have a very high
opinion of yourself,” she said with a chuckle as he joined her. A
lock of her hair appeared to fascinate him for a moment, and he
leaned in to brush a tender, almost chaste kiss to her
cheek.

“
Ye’re my mate. My
wolf…he’s claimed ya already. We’ve two days until the moon, and
this”—he tipped his head back and stared up at the ceiling—“might
be the last time I can touch ya until moonset.”

“
Why? Because you’ll mate
with me if you do?” She cupped his cheek, trying to hide her
smile.

She’d never seen his eyes so dark. The
green, flecked with gold, deepened and churned, the colors swirling
in pools of molten need. “Yeah.”

“
What if I want
that?”

Shock stole his breath. Caitlin
stroked her hand down to his chest, up and over the tattoo on his
shoulder, and traced the date he’d inked on his skin—the memory of
her ‘death,’ a constant reminder of his love. Older now, wiser, and
yes, both sadder, the connection between them had grown from a
tenuous thread to a strong, complex tether, not unlike the braid on
the cuff she wore.