Darkest Highlander (30 page)

Deirdre and the wyrran had attacked the castle several times and destroyed the village twice. It was better to have the Druids where Deirdre couldn’t reach them as easily.

Sonya arrived at the back of the village and halted. There was a barrier created by Isla’s magic around the castle and village. To others outside the magical barrier, it appeared as if the land were bare, keeping the inhabitants safe from unwanted visitors.

It didn’t stop Deirdre. It did give the wyrran pause, and if other Warriors didn’t know about it, they wouldn’t proceed through.

Before, Broc had always been adamant about going with Sonya out of the barrier when she wanted to commune with the trees. She found it odd that no one was stopping her this time.

It could be that everyone knew there were no wyrran hidden in the forest. Sonya had been gone for several days. Many things could have changed during that time.

She put her hand out and felt the slight resistance to the shield. The feel of Isla’s powerful magic enveloped Sonya as she stepped through the invisible field.

Sonya let out a long sigh as she exited the barrier. The whispers of the trees surrounded her, wrapped her in their emotions.

She hurried to the first tree and laid her hand upon the rough bark. “How I’ve missed you.”

In answer, the trees swayed, their words mixing together as they all spoke at once.

Sonya laughed and walked deeper into the forest. This is what she had missed most when she thought her magic gone. This is what she had been craving since she realized her magic had returned. This is where her magic was the strongest, where she could find peace and restore her inner balance. Where she heard the music of her ancestors.

She closed her eyes as the trees swayed around her, welcoming her. They bent low to lovingly brush her with their limbs. She spread her arms out to her side and her head dropped back as she released her magic to merge with the trees.

Their words, whispered and gentle as leaves falling, reached her.

“
…
missed you, Sonnnnnnnyaaaaaa
…”

“
…
tried to tell the othersssss where to find you
…”

“
…
feared for you
…”

“
…
don’t leave us again
…”

A tear fell down her cheek as the weight of their worry for her settled around her.

“I’m sorry,” she told them. “My magic left me, or I thought it had.”

“
…
stay with ussssss
…”

“
…
we neeeeed you
…”

Long ago, when Druids had walked freely upon the land, there had been many who could speak to the trees. Through the years the number had diminished, and as far as the trees told Sonya, she was the last.

The trees needed her as much as she needed them. But what would happen once she was dead? Would there be another who could take her place?

Or would the special, spectacular words of the trees fade into the past?

*   *   *

Broc stood on a small outcropping halfway down the cliffs, watching the sea. He had wanted to be alone and as far away from Sonya as he could get, lest he be tempted to go to her.

He had taken one look at his bed and known he couldn’t sleep there. Not alone. Not without Sonya.

Broc blew out a breath and went down on his haunches. He leaned back against the cliff, the hard, jagged rock digging into his spine. There had been many kinds of pain he had experienced over the centuries, but the one in his chest far exceeded the others.

At least at MacLeod Castle he didn’t need to worry for Sonya’s safety. Even though he wasn’t near her, he could feel her magic. It had always been strong, but since the burial mound, it had grown more intense. Brilliant. Compelling.

No sooner had the thought gone through Broc’s mind than the link he felt with Sonya’s magic was gone, as if it were snapped in half.

Broc stood and unleashed his god as he jumped into the air. His wings took him up and over the cliffs. Broc soared around the castle, using his power to search for Sonya.

And just as he thought, she wasn’t there.

It took less than a heartbeat for his power to tell him she was outside Isla’s barrier in the trees. He let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding, his heart once again easing from its frantic beating.

Broc flew out of the shield and over the tops of the forest. He dropped to the ground behind Sonya and simply watched.

The trees swayed from side to side in a gentle rocking motion. Broc remembered when Sonya had allowed him to see the trees through her magic, had permitted him to hear their whispers. He hadn’t understood their words, but he had heard them.

Broc weaved through the trees as he walked around Sonya until he stood in front of her. He couldn’t take his eyes from her, couldn’t stop the pounding of his heart in his chest. Her magic engulfed him. Surrounded. Overwhelmed.

And he yearned for more.

Her magic was sensual and seductive, tempting and beguiling. She charmed him, lured him, captivated him.

Made him hunger. Crave. Yearn.

For her. All for her. Her touch, her kisses, and her beautiful body.

Sonya’s long curls lifted on the breeze created by the trees and her skirts swirled about her legs. But it was the pure, glorious smile upon her face that took his breath away.

Her head lifted, and she opened her eyes. Her gaze of amber flecks mixed with gold watched him. Curiosity and anticipation flashed in her depths.

Broc’s skin tingled with the feel of her magic. His gaze dropped to her mouth. He wanted to taste her again, to feel her tongue against his as he plundered her mouth.

He took a step toward her before he realized what he was doing. But once he had begun moving, he couldn’t stop. He closed the distance between them until their bodies were breaths apart.

“Broc,” she whispered, and searched his face.

There was so much that needed to be said, so many things he should tell her. But the only thing he wanted to do was take her in his arms and show her how much he needed her, how much he longed for her.

He jerked her against his chest and claimed her mouth. She opened for him, her tongue colliding against his in a frenzy that sent his already heated blood to boiling.

Need, wicked and crushing, surged through him. There was no turning away, no tearing his lips from hers. However wrong it was for them to be together, he had to have her.

Broc deepened the kiss. The passion, the fervor, of Sonya’s response sent him reeling. She was irresistible and all too enticing.

He reached between them and covered her breast with his hand. Her fingers dug into his neck as she arched against him, a low moan mixing with their ragged breaths.

The desire raging in him swelled each time he held her, touched her. Kissed her. It grew more difficult to keep his distance, and he found he didn’t want to.

He wanted Sonya as his own.

He knew he didn’t deserve her, shouldn’t crave to have her. But he did. God help him, he did. He was ready to forget the curse, forget everything as long as he could have her.

Broc ended the kiss and cupped Sonya’s face to make her look at him. “I want you.”

THIRTY-FOUR

Sonya looked into Broc’s dark brown eyes and smiled. “Take me. I’m yours.”

It seemed to be all the answer he needed. He jerked at her skirts as she reached to unfasten his breeches. Their fingers tangled, causing them to laugh and share another hot, lingering kiss.

The trees had told Sonya Broc was there long before she opened her eyes to find him in front of her. Even if the trees hadn’t told her, she would have known.

Her body knew when Broc was near. She might not have the power of a god, but when it came to Broc, she was attuned to him in a way she couldn’t deny or explain.

“I love your hair,” he said as he pulled her gown over her head and tossed it aside.

“My hair is a curse.”

He shook his head and jerked off his boots. “It’s beautiful. Just as you are.”

They removed the rest of their clothing and fell together on the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. Sonya sighed as Broc’s weight moved atop her. She ran her hands over his back and the muscles that bunched and moved beneath her fingers.

His mouth kissed down her throat and across her chest before his lips closed around a nipple. Sonya plunged her hands into his blond locks and cried out. He alternated between suckling the hard peak and swirling his tongue around it.

Sonya ground against him, seeking his arousal. She needed his hard, hot length inside her, needed to feel him thrust and fill her, to join their souls.

Her sex throbbed as her desire rose higher. Broc’s mouth and hands were everywhere, teasing her, tempting her. Their lips clashed with another scorching kiss.

Sonya burned for Broc. For his hands. His mouth. His body.

She pushed against his shoulder and rolled him onto his back as she straddled his hips. Sonya reached for his rod, but just before her hand closed around him, Broc had her on her back, pinned beneath him.

And then he was inside her.

Sonya cried out and wrapped her legs around his waist. He slid inside her deeper, stretching her. She rotated her hips, needing to feel the friction.

Broc buried his head in the crook of her neck and gripped her hip with one hand. He moaned long and low, the sound full of passion and need.

He leaned up and kissed her as he began to thrust his hips. Each stroke of his tongue matched that of his cock. It sent her spiraling all too quickly, her orgasm building fast.

Sonya tried to pull back, to delay that glorious moment, but Broc wouldn’t let her. He demanded she give all of herself. Since she could never deny him, she rose up to meet him each time he plunged within her.

His tempo quickened until he rose up on his hands. He thrust fast and hard, driving deeper each time. All Sonya could do was hold on to him as he took her to the edge of pleasure before she tipped over the side.

The climax was swift and powerful as it swept her up in its bliss, threw her into the stars, their light blinding her as her body clutched around him.

Dimly she heard Broc shout her name, felt him thrust deep enough to touch her womb once, twice, three times before a shudder ran through him. Sonya pulled him down to her and wrapped her arms around him. She held him as his seed poured inside her.

Tightening the bond between them.

*   *   *

Deirdre reached MacLeod Castle just as dawn broke the sky. Though she couldn’t see through the shield of Isla’s magic, Deirdre knew the castle. She had gazed at the gray stone of the castle many times, a castle she had watched burn.

That day so many centuries ago had been one of celebration. She’d had the three MacLeod brothers. Everything she had ever wanted would soon be hers. Or so she had thought.

Ever since the brothers had escaped, she had been trying to lure them to her side. When that hadn’t worked, she decided she would force them. That hadn’t worked, either.

Not even holding Quinn in Cairn Toul had been to her advantage as she had thought it would be. She had been overconfident. And it had cost her all she had amassed through the centuries.

She was starting over, and though it irked her, she had learned her lesson.

Her wyrran were loyal. They had proven effective in finding and bringing Druids to her. They had even captured several men who had housed gods.

But when it came to battling those at MacLeod Castle, the duty was best left to her.

She could walk into the castle now and kill everyone. But what fun would that be? She wanted them to suffer, wanted them to realize it was futile to fight her. She wanted to see all hope stripped from them piece by piece.

Her new plan was already in motion. She had thought to begin with Broc, but just as she had assumed, there was another who could gain access to the burial mound and the second artifact. Her new army of Warriors would begin with Malcolm. She had plans for every Warrior in the castle.

No one would escape her wrath this time.

Deirdre lifted the hood of her cloak over her head and moved toward the lovers who lay in naked splendor amid the forest.

It seemed that each of the Warriors who came to MacLeod Castle found themselves a Druid. In order to lure these powerful Druids, Deirdre merely had to turn their Warriors. It wouldn’t prove too difficult. They were men, after all.

Animals scattered from her path and birds that had awoken with the new day quieted as she neared. Men never paid attention to animals. If they did, they would know she was coming and prepare.

Deirdre halted ten paces from Broc and his flame-haired lover. Deirdre could sense her
mie
magic. Was she the healer Deirdre had heard about?

A moment later the
mie’s
eyes flew open and she sat up. “Who are you?”

Deirdre smiled and glanced at a still slumbering Broc. Her face was hidden by her hood, so the Druid didn’t realize the predatory gaze that was locked on her. “I’m here to deliver a warning.”

“What kind of warning?” The Druid put her hand on a tree to help her rise. Her long hair fell over her shoulders to cover her breasts.

“No one is safe with the MacLeods.”

“No one is safe anywhere as long as Deirdre is alive.”

Deirdre cocked her head to the side. “No truer words have been spoken. Heed my warning, Druid. Everyone has been marked.” Then she turned and walked away.

“Wait. Who are you?”

Deirdre chuckled as she continued on. Aye, this plan was going to be truly wonderful to watch unfold. Not to mention the glee she would feel as each of the Warriors and Druids succumbed to her.

And they would succumb.

Sonya stared after the cloaked and hooded woman as she faded into the trees. The warning echoed in her mind, growing louder and louder each time. She forgot her nakedness and ran after the woman. Sonya wanted to know who the woman was, but she also wanted to know how everyone was marked.