“His girlfriend?” Max asked. “You mean the one who does tag team with the redhead?”
“Yep, that’s the one.”
“They were dating for months. No wonder he’s off his game.”
“So ridiculous,” muttered Tavish. “You know it’s all—”
“Shut up, Tavish!”
Cathy, Max, and Carwyn were staring in fascination at the spectacle on the screen. Tavish was reading an agricultural journal and rolling his eyes at his family. Carwyn had woken in the early afternoon and immediately decided to answer Brigid’s long-standing suspicion about professional wrestling. It was just the sort of ridiculous escape the girl needed.
The next match was cued up by the excited announcers with the American accents that Cathy imitated to everyone’s amusement. The three were watching the main event with such attention that Carwyn barely registered the soft footfalls that entered the room. They paused at the door. Came closer. Then a giggle came from the back of the room. He turned his head.
It was Brigid.
“You…” She snickered. “You really…” Her face fell and she burst into peals of laughter as her eyes darted between the television and the four vampires who sat in front of it.
Carwyn shot to his feet, the fight on the screen forgotten. She was laughing—really laughing—and he’d been right; she was glorious.
“You do watch it!” She gasped, clutching her stomach. “That’s the most… I can’t believe you’re actually watching it!” She burst into another round of laughter while she wiped bloody tears from her eyes with the edge of her shirt. “I mean, I didn’t really believe them when they told me. Why on earth would anyone…” She gasped again and her eyes met his. “A thousand years old? And you— why? It’s so ridiculous!”
“And fake!” Tavish called out, but he ignored him. Carwyn ignored everyone in the room except for the beautiful woman who laughed in front of him. Brigid’s face was lit with a fire within. Joy. She was overflowing with it. Pure, carefree…
“Oh, God,” he breathed out. “I love you.”
The crowd on the screen erupted in applause, but the laughter died on her face, overtaken by sheer panic. Brigid’s mouth dropped open, her eyes widened, her breath caught and held a second before she bolted from the silent room. The front door slammed a moment later.
Carwyn turned to see the shocked faces that were ignoring the final round on the screen.
“I said that out loud, didn’t I?”
Max nodded.
Tavish said, “That was far more amusing than professional wrestling.”
Cathy only shook her head. “Bit rusty on the wooing skills, aren’t we, Father?”
Max finally rose to his feet. “You idiot!” he hissed. “Go after her before she’s halfway to Glasgow.”
His heart was pounding when he sped from the room.
Smooth, Carwyn. ‘A bit rusty’ was an understatement.
He slipped off his shoes when he reached the door and stretched out with his senses. He felt a trail of her energy speeding away from the house and toward the dark trees where the deer often took shelter. He grinned and followed her.
“Brigid!”
He tracked her past the tree line. Along a narrow stream. She was fast; he’d give her that. But then, perhaps the shock of his confession had terrified her even more than a raging predator. For a moment, he slowed. Had he truly frightened her? Then he remembered the soft, trusting look in her eye the night before. The hunger. The glorious, long-awaited joy he’d only ever imagined lighting her face. He had to see it again. He loved her.
It was so glaringly obvious, he laughed. His possessive behavior around the little shit Murphy. The overwhelming desire for her, when so few women in a thousand years had even tempted him. The ache in his chest when he thought of her strength and determination.
He loved her.
Carwyn found her pacing in a clearing, as if readying for battle. Her head was down, her shoulders stiff, and her hands clenched.
“Brigid?”
She looked at him like a frightened animal caught in a trap.
“Brigid, I’m sorry. That wasn’t the way—”
“Is that what you meant?” she shouted. “Something ridiculous? Something to make me laugh?”
He stopped dead in his tracks. “No!”
“Because that ridiculous joke—”
“Was not a joke!” he roared.
She stopped pacing and glared at him. “Of course it was. You can’t love me.”
He stepped toward her. “Says who?”
Brigid held up a trembling finger. “The pope, for one. And… the church. And I’m fairly sure Father Jacob would have something to say… along with the pope.” Her hand fell, but the glare had turned back to panic as he approached her cautiously.
Carwyn tried to smother his smile. “So, I’m not allowed to love you… because it would anger the pope?”
The panic was growing as he drew closer. “Yes! You’re a priest.”
He lowered his voice to a soothing murmur. “I cheat at poker. And Mario Kart.”
“Still a priest.”
He came closer, but she backed away. Slowly. Carefully. “I watch professional wrestling and use bad language.”
She whispered, “Still a priest.”
“Let’s not even mention the Hawaiian shirts during mass,” he whispered.
Brigid swallowed and took a ragged breath. “Carw—”
“I want you,” he said roughly as her back met a tree. He pressed closer. “More than I have ever wanted any woman in a thousand years.”
Her chest heaved, and she lifted tortured eyes to his. “I can’t!”
Carwyn smiled and shook his head. “Silly Brigid. It’s not anything you can or can’t do. It’s me. I love you. You can argue with me, but it doesn’t change anything.”
He could hear her heart pounding. Smell the rush of her panicked blood.
She whispered, “It changes everything.”
“No.” He braced his arms on the tree behind her and gave into the desire that had eaten at him for months. He leaned down, letting his lips brush over her forehead. Soft. Stroke her temple. Hot. Relaxing her inch by inch with his touch. “I love you. That’s all.”
“You can’t love me, Carwyn. You can’t. This is… some infatuation.”
A low chuckle rumbled from his chest. “Infatuation. Yes.” Testing lips nipped at her cheek. The taste of her lingered on his lips, and he licked them. He felt her temperature rise and her amnis tentatively reach toward his. He held back a shudder. “Desire.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and her hips shifted slightly toward his.
He put his hand on her cheek. “But it’s more than that. And you know it.”
Another nip at her chin when she sighed. Her hands came up to rest lightly on his shoulders, and he could feel the pulse of her amnis through his clothes.
“Love, Brigid.” He trailed one finger from her collar up her neck, tilting her chin up until their eyes met. She was trembling beneath his touch. “I love you.”
“Why?” she whispered.
“Because you’re… you.”
“Ridiculous man,” she murmured a moment before her hands grasped his neck and brought his mouth down to meet hers.
Glorious.
Their mouths met in a bruising, hungry kiss that reached down and filled the aching hollow in the center of his chest. His heart pounded as he drew her closer, fumbling like a schoolboy for a moment before instinct took over. The few dalliances that had tempted him had been nothing like this. Brigid consumed him.
He braced his hand against the trunk of the oak as he felt the earth’s energy rush up his body to steady him. From his bare feet, up his spine, and down the thick arms that held her.
He had crushed boulders with these arms. Killed immortals older and more powerful than himself. Ripped the earth with his hands and rendered mountains at will. But Carwyn held something precious now, so he coaxed the earth beneath
him with a whisper. The ground beneath her rose up, pushing their bodies together as his other hand gripped the small of her back. She pulled away for a minute, her mouth flushed red, but he growled softly and pulled her back.
“Oh,” she breathed out. “The earth really does move.”
He kissed her again, and a low purr left her throat the same time she dug her fingers into the thick muscle at his shoulders. Carwyn felt the burning tips push against his skin and he reveled in the sensation as he pressed her closer.
Mark me.
Brand me.
Claim me.
Brigid’s hand tugged at his hair, tilting his neck back before she ran scorching lips down his neck till he felt the sharp point of her fangs slide across his skin. His own fangs grew long in his mouth.
Yes. Yes. Yes!
“I love you,” he groaned.
A soft moan answered him. “Oh…” she said. “This is wrong.”
He pulled her mouth back to his. “No, it’s not.”
“Going to hell,” she mumbled between kisses.
“They can’t have you. You’re mine.” He nipped at her lower lip, drawing a tiny bead of blood that he licked away and swallowed greedily. “Sweet,” he gasped. He sank to his knees in front of her, the taste of her blood rushing to his head like a drug.
More, more, more!
Carwyn wrapped his arms around her hips and pressed his face to her soft breast. “So sweet, Brigid.”
Her hands skimmed over his shoulders as he closed his eyes and pressed her closer.
“I love you,” he whispered again. “How did I not see it before?”
Her heart was pounding. He could hear it. Her temperature was rising. The aching grew in his chest. His groin. The need for her was roaring through him. Take. Drink. Possess. Carwyn wanted every inch of her. Her body and her heart.
A primal knowledge reared its head. Mate. Here was his mate. She was his, and he… he was utterly and completely hers. Their energy crashed together as her hands dug into his neck, and he couldn’t stop the slight wince when her skin met his.
She drew her hands back bracing them against the tree, and the bark blackened beneath her palms. Brigid stared at him in horror, and he tried to hold onto her.
“I did it again.”
He shook his head. “No, Brigid. Don’t. I’m fi—”
“I did it again!” she cried, the tears flooding her eyes. She dashed them away, and her hot fingers sizzled against her own skin. Carwyn tried to grab her hands, but she twisted out of his embrace and sped through the trees.
“Brigid!”
She didn’t turn back. Carwyn turned and slumped against the trunk of the scalded oak tree, confused, aching, and alone.
Chapter Twenty
Scotland
July 2011
Brigid tossed the small throwing knife into the air, watching it flip in the low light as she lay in bed and the fire she had started crackled in the grate. Madoc snored by the door as she catalogued her accomplishments for the previous month:
Finally rounded up the sheep faster than the dog. Check.
Learned how to bake bread with Max. Check.
Burned off Tavish’s eyebrows. Double check.
Lusted after a priest. Triple check?
Kissed a priest in the most mind-numbingly intense encounter she’d ever had with a man.
Burned a priest while engaged in previously mentioned mind-numbing kissing.
Ran away from priest after kissing and burning.
She should really stop counting checks.
Brigid sighed. Going to hell wasn’t even a question anymore.
She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed.
Dear God, I’m not sure if the kissing and the lusting and the burning is a mortal sin. Even worse, I can’t really bring myself to feel repentant about the kissing and the lusting bits, so it probably doesn’t matter anyway.
I can’t, God, because Carwyn saying that he loves me was the most illogical, ridiculous, gorgeous thing that’s ever happened in my entire life. And I’m a ragged mess. And I don’t deserve a bit of it. I don’t really know what to do about it at all, except avoid him like I’ve been doing for the past week. But…
If any of this is part of some strange plan for me or him or maybe even some future idea of us… please don’t let me mess it up.
Or send me to hell if I blow myself up.
Amen.
Brigid sighed and opened her eyes.
He loved her? Stupid man. Stupid, gorgeous, wonderful man. She wanted to cry just thinking about it. The crazy wrestling program. Brigid had never laughed so hard. The memory alone wanted to make her giggle. Then his face and the soft look in his eyes.
“I love you.”
And she ran away. Because Carwyn loving her was completely illogical. It had to have been a joke. A prank like the ones he was always pulling. But then, then he ran after her.
He ran after her!
And then he said it again. And again.
And then…
Brigid remembered the shiver of his lips as they stroked along her forehead. Testing. Tasting. Soft and hesitant. His hands had been almost reverent when they touched her the first time. Even a little awkward.
Then… not. Nope. Not awkward at all. Apparently, there were some things one really didn’t forget even after a thousand years. Brigid groaned in frustration and threw the knife into the opposite wall, where it stuck.
She was going to hell. And she wasn’t walking, she was running, because she felt her fangs descend at the thought of Carwyn’s mouth. The earthy spice of his scent when she ran her fangs along his neck. What would his blood taste like? She bit her lip. Carwyn had touched her before. Embraced her even. But the twisting, curling flood of his energy as it poured from his lips and ignited her senses had brought the fire to her skin.
“I want you. More than I have ever wanted any woman in a thousand years.”
She pressed her palms to her eyes and tried not to cry in frustration. Nothing about her was worth waiting a thousand years for! She was prickly and defensive. Damaged and carrying more scars inside than the ones she’d branded Carwyn with. She wasn’t even all that pretty. Her nose was pinched and her lips were too thin. Her elbows were bony and her eyes—which she had once thought were her best feature—were completely inhuman. Whisky brown that looked like they had charred along the edges. They were a perfect metaphor for everything she had become.
Strange. Unnatural. Frightening.
“You can argue with me, but it doesn’t change anything.”
Brigid shook her head and pulled the flowered scarf he had given her from beneath her pillow. She draped the bright silk over her eyes and looked up into the brilliant color before she closed them. The memories assaulted her. His lips pressing against hers. Soft, then harder. The power of his amnis when it touched her own in passion. Carefully banked desire held back on a razor-thin leash. His massive hands holding her so gently. The earth itself pushing her into his arms.
“Ridiculous man,” she whispered. “Don’t you know? It does change everything.” Unrequited desire was one thing. But this?
There was a knock at the door.
“Brigid?” It was Cathy. “Tavish and Max took him to town for the night, so you can come out of hiding.”
Brigid opened the door with narrowed eyes. “I’m not hiding.”
“Of course you are. Let’s go down to the lake.”
Cathy turned and walked down the hall. Brigid peeked out, but she couldn’t hear anyone around the house. There was a television playing in the study and a faint human heartbeat. It was probably Cathy’s driver and assistant who was back living on the grounds when they weren’t in Edinburgh. Brigid wouldn’t feed from him, but her fangs descended automatically at the smell.
“Cathy,” she called. “I’m going to grab some dinner before we start practice.”
“No, you’re not!” She heard a faint reply. “Hunger is part of what we’re doing tonight, so do
n’t eat.”
“Heinous cow…” Brigid muttered, stomping out the front door before she sped down to the lake, the dog racing after her. Cathy was already waiting, and Max was with her.
Brigid halted. “I thought you said they were gone!”
Max smiled. “I sent them a bit ahead. I’ll follow in just a minute, but we needed to give a demonstration first.”
“What?” Brigid asked. Max was a great friend, but he never helped with her lessons. He was an earth vampire.
An earth vampire who reached over, grabbed his wife, and started kissing her very enthusiastically. Right in front of Brigid.
“Well then…” She cleared her throat and said, “Do I really need to be here for this?”
Cathy finally broke away from Max’s mouth and grinned. “Yes, you do. And more importantly, Max had to be here for this.”
Max gave Cathy one last kiss, then strode over with a smile. He held up his hands and said, “You don’t have to say anything. I just want you to look.” He stood in front of Brigid and turned his neck to the side. Brigid wanted to look away in embarrassment, but her curiosity overwhelmed the awkwardness when Max loosened his collar and spread it for her eyes. “Just look, Brigid.”
There was a slight reddening where Cathy’s fingers had been holding him, but no burns. As passionate as she knew their relationship was, Max bore no visible scars from his lover. Brigid didn’t say anything, just turned her face away and nodded. Max walked back to Cathy gave her a quick kiss before he sped over the hills and out of sight.
Cathy said, “Being a fire vampire is tough. We have to have mountains of self-control. We’re always seen as a threat, and we’re targeted because of it.”
“I know.”
“Some of us—” She stepped closer. “—spend our whole lives alone.”
Cathy didn’t talk about her past. Brigid knew she was far older than Max, but didn’t know by how much.
“Hundreds of years… an eternity.” Then she smiled. “But sometimes, we find the right person.”
The longing almost overwhelmed her. “I’m happy for you, Cathy. For you and Max, both.”