Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
SELENE
Outside the restaurant, the night had cooled. The street lay silvered in patches where the moonlight reached between the buildings. Bren opened the passenger door for me and then claimed the space next to me moments later.
After how talkative he’d been during dinner, it surprised me that he said nothing as we drove toward the grove. I wished I could peer into his mind to see where his thoughts had drifted, but he was someone I was certain I’d never entirely understand.
Moonlight came through the windshield in pale bands as we left the town behind. The farther we drove, the more the world simplified. Fewer lights and fewer houses, replaced by more shadows and moonlight.
The hedgerows blurred past my window, and when a sliver of doubt crept in, I reminded myself I was simply going to see a beautiful place at the right time of night with the perfect guide.
Bren parked in the same general area as Clara had before. He came around just as I opened my door and extended his hand. I didn’t want to take it, but I did anyway.
He helped me from the car, and I stepped out into cool air that smelled immediately of damp earth and moss.
The rush of water greeted us, and though the darkness and the trees currently hid the river from view, I knew it was only steps away.
I tightened my coat around me to protect against the chilly breeze. “It feels different tonight.”
Bren closed the door with a soft click. “Does it, now?”
I glanced up. The full moon hung high and clear above the tree line, bright enough to outline the edges of the leaves and make the road behind us look like something from a dream. “It does. The moon was full the last time I was here with my friends, but…”
I allowed my words to trail off as I glanced around, trying to sense what was different. Other than that I was with Bren instead of Maeve and Clara. But that wouldn’t change what hovered in the air and seemed to carry an electrical charge. Or at least that’s what I told myself.
A light laugh escaped me, and I whispered in a humor-touched, conspiratorial voice. “Maybe the fairies are out. I suspect they would love playing hide and seek behind all the tree trunks, dancing across the mossy ground and darting beneath ferns as they did.”
Bren lifted his brows as though he found my claim highly entertaining. “I thought you were the serious type who didn’t believe in such things.”
I shrugged. “I don’t. Not really. But it’s fun to pretend.”
He gave me a knowing look, seeming to find my statement funny, and we began walking. When I turned right to head for the trail that ran alongside the waterfall, he grabbed my elbow and gestured with a jut of his chin toward the left. “We’ll be going this way.”
I lifted my gaze to him in question as he released me. “There’s another way to the grove?”
His lips curved into a soft smile. “My way.”
I teased him with a look. “You have your own personal path?”
“It’s my land. Why wouldn’t I?”
I was about to ask how he kept others from it, but he stepped onto what I thought would be a moss-covered, swampy surface, and I realized his boots didn’t sink into the ground as I’d expected they would. I took a tentative step, and my boots found solid footing too.
We moved along the path with him leading the way, our footsteps muffled by the soft earth. Branches arched overhead, letting through just enough moonlight to stripe the ground in shifting bars of silver. The air cooled as we went deeper, and the trees drew closer on either side.
I followed closely behind him, not wanting to step off the pathway only he could see. “How do you know where you’re going? I know this is your land, but the tree trunks all look the same. Are they marked in some way?”
He stopped so abruptly that I nearly ran into his back, and he turned to me. “It’s more a sense than a knowing. I feel it.”
I stared at him, unsure if he was teasing me, but my gut told me he was utterly sincere. These Irish people took their mystical beliefs so seriously that I could almost be convinced what they said was true.
I slowly shook my head. “But how?”
The man studied me for a long moment, long enough to make me uncomfortable. “I bet you could do it too, if you believed you could.”
I scoffed in jest. “Highly unlikely.”
He lifted a shoulder in an easy shrug. “If you’re ever open to trying, let me know. I might be able to guide you.”
His offer was so far-fetched that I could only laugh. “Okay, I will.”
Bren turned and continued to lead us through the trees, not once giving me any hint that he’d jested.
A hush so deep surrounded us, and it was as if the sounds of the world paused in reverence of the stunning emerald beauty. That I was in Ireland, a lush place so far from my home, was unfathomable.
Except…was it?
The scent of damp earth rising from the mossy ground didn’t feel foreign. In fact, it almost felt as if I’d come home. Like I belonged there.
Perhaps that sensation was only echoes from my ancestors that remained in my blood. It was the only thing that made even a semblance of sense.
That feeling magnified in ways I couldn’t explain as the grove of trees thinned. I couldn’t see much beyond Bren’s broad shoulders, but I instinctively knew we neared the clearing with the small waterfall that emptied into the large pond.
Moments later, Bren strode into the magical place I’d been before and moved aside, making room for me.
The clearing seemed to have been shaped by the moonlight as much as by the land itself.
I stepped farther into the open space, and the soft rush of water greeted me, the scent of honeysuckle mingling with the earthy smells.
The waterfall spilled in a narrow stream over dark rocks into the round pool below.
Mist drifted low over the land, blurring the edges, and a sudden, familiar feeling of deep longing drew me forward. I gasped softly at the power that literally seemed to float in the evening air.
“You said you dreamt of this place?” he asked, in a voice that was nearly a whisper.
I nodded slowly as I studied everything in closer detail this time.
My feet carried me past spikes of early purple orchids and clusters of lavender foxgloves to the edge of the pond. Large, smooth rocks surrounded the water, while a low spread of tiny white flowers filled in around them.
Damp mist from the waterfall kissed my skin as I widened my eyes, trying to take it all in. It was as if pure energy soaked into each of my cells. I had no doubt I could easily become addicted to this place.
Cool air touched my face and left me with a frisson of shivers. “Gods, it’s like I’ve stepped through a portal into another realm.”
I turned to Bren, surprised to find him directly behind me. His dark gaze rested on me and not on the water. “Maybe you have.”
That time, I knew he wasn’t serious, but I played along. “Maybe so. It’s certainly a place I could linger for a long time. Maybe forever. I can see why you love to come here.”
He nodded once and said nothing.
The memory of his lips on mine surged upward with stunning strength, nearly stealing my breath. The attraction was harder to squash this time, but I managed. “It truly would have been a shame if I hadn’t come back.”
He pointed toward the falling water. “Watch the mist. It reacts differently here and sometimes puts on a show.”
I wrinkled my nose, not quite believing him as I faced forward.
Moonlight danced over the pale rocks rimming the basin, the stones worn smooth by centuries of falling water.
After a moment, the mist began to rise in slow spirals above the surface, not drifting the way mist should, but hovering, bending the light into shapes that formed and dissolved before I could catch them.
“What?” I said in an astonished whisper. “That’s not right.”
“Told you,” he said softly.
I kept my voice reverent, lest I disturb the ethereal forms. “Maeve never mentioned this. What causes it?”
“It’s a rare phenomenon. Some say the water holds light differently here.”
The timbre of his low voice crept through my veins, soft and alluring like a lover’s whisper. I knew I flirted with danger, knew our incredible surroundings weakened my defenses with every passing second. Still, I closed my eyes and breathed in the delicious moment.
A second later, I mentally shook myself and dragged up the reminder that my career was far more important than this one-sided seductive moment. I’d made that mistake with this man once. I wouldn’t again.
I glanced over my shoulder, confirming that he was far too close for comfort.
I couldn’t exactly run from the distracting man without making things awkward, so I used my words to create distance between us.
“You were lucky to find this place. It’s incredible.
I can’t wait to bring my friends back here after they arrive. ”
“Your friends?”
I clung to our new topic of discussion as if my life depended on it. “My co-workers, actually, but we’ve become friends.”
Bren studied me with an intensity that unnerved me. “The ladies from the pub, then.”
“Yes.”
I dragged my gaze away from him as I searched for something else to say. I spied a honeysuckle vine climbing a nearby tree and used it as an excuse to stroll away. When I reached it, I leaned in for a full breath. “We have this back home too, and it smells so good.”
I startled when he reached past me and plucked a blossom. I hadn’t realized he’d come so close again. I turned to him with a smile, and he surprised me when he tucked the honeysuckle into my hair. “There. Now you can keep it with you.”
Gods, was the man who wasn’t interested in me suddenly trying to seduce me? If so, I was in more danger than I’d realized.
I swallowed past the desire that had thickened my throat. “Thank you. It’s one of my favorite scents.”
Bren nodded, and this time he stepped away. He strolled closer to the pond and stood gazing as moonlight shimmered on the water. “Tell me about you, Selene. You mentioned there wasn’t enough of your heart left to guard.” He glanced up. “What does that mean?”
His question came from out of the blue and left me scrambling for an answer. “You remember that, do you?”
He held my gaze. “I do.”
An embarrassed laugh slipped from me. “I thought I was talking to a dream man, not you.”
He dipped his head in acknowledgment. “True. But I’d still like to know. Is it because your aunt and your mom died, or did someone break your heart?”
The genuine interest in his eyes tightened my chest. “Don’t we all have our hearts broken at some point in our lives?”
His chuckle was just as unexpected. “Now you’re the one deflecting.”
The comment lightened the mood just enough that I could breathe again. “Says the expert.” I lifted my shoulders in a slight shrug and looked away. “People make choices. Things don’t work out. You adjust and move on.”
“Sometimes that’s easier said than done.”
I returned my gaze to him in a flash, recognizing the hint of emotion in his voice. “It sounds like you’ve experienced the same.”
He nodded slowly. “As you said, we all do.” His gaze sharpened. “Does that mean you have no one special in your life?”
My snort was harsher than I intended. “No one, period. At least not back home. But I’ve made new friends here, and I have a job I love more than anything.”
I longed to ask him the same question, wondering if someone currently held his heart, but I recognized the dangerous ground I stood on. I strode closer to the pond, while still keeping a safe distance from him. “Do you have other family nearby?”
He shook his head, offering me a brief glimpse of deep longing. “I have friends as you do. Cormac.”
Empathy opened a forbidden pathway, but I couldn’t seem to close it again. “Is he the only one?” I asked softly.
His expression changed in an instant, a smile dashing away the vulnerability I swore I saw. “Of course not. If you haven’t already noticed, the people of Ireland are warm and welcoming. You saw how quickly Nora invited me to dinner, didn’t you?”
I wanted to say that wasn’t the same as close relationships, but I let it go.
We both turned our gazes back to the water, and I realized what I’d thought was a safe distance from him wasn’t. He was near enough that I swore I could feel his energy vibrating against mine in this impossible place.
Moonlight drifted across the stones as the waterfall cast its soft, endless sound into the dark. The light beneath the water moved again, shifting slow and deliberate, and the mist rose in one long pale ribbon before dissolving into the air.
I’d strolled right into a deeply foolish circumstance, leaving my heart in danger, but for the first time in a long time, I felt safe. Protected in a way I couldn’t explain.
Neither of us moved. The forest held the edges of the world at bay, and in the center of all the moonlit stillness falling upon us, something between us shifted. I felt the tug of him. The need to connect and lose myself in his touch.
He whispered my name, and it seemed to float on the breeze.
I turned to him, only to realize the look in his eyes was a trap. My better senses flared in alarm, but I couldn’t seem to move or glance away.
I wanted this.