Chapter Eleven #2
He slowly rose, settling over her with his hands on either side of her shoulders, and his trim hips brushing against her sensitive inner thighs. But he remained still as he stared down at her with such a solemn expression that it made her breathless.
“What?” Had she done something wrong? Was she supposed to do more for him before they moved on to the main event? Did he think her selfish for begging him to finish the job?
“Legend says that the first joining for fated mates not only melds our souls but seals them with unimaginable joy.” He brushed a tender kiss to her forehead. “We become one once again. As we were always meant to be.”
“That’s a good thing—right?”
He studied her for what felt like forever. “Aye, m’love. Verra good. And a forever thing until death parts us, and we meet again in the next life.”
His meaning, his explanation, and his intentions became clear. He wanted to make sure she knew. That she understood. And even though the time-travel part terrified her, she wanted this. She wanted him. She might have doubts about everything else, but her needing him was unquestionable.
“I understand.” She touched his sides, pressing her palms tighter against him. An energy, a breathtaking warmth, pulsed from him to her with the steadiness of a heartbeat. “I want this.”
“Before we join, we should speak the oath.” He lowered himself to his forearms, the firmness of his weight gently pressing her beneath him in the most perfect way—except she was still achingly empty. “Say the words as I do, ye ken?”
She nodded and swallowed hard, her heart about to pound its way out of her chest.
“Heart of my heart,” he said, then waited.
“Heart of my heart,” she whispered.
“Soul of my soul.” He encouraged her with a faint smile.
“Soul of my soul.”
“We reunite, to never let go.” He pulled in a deep breath. Even in the shadows, his eyes gleamed with undeniable love.
She wet her lips. “We reunite, to never let go.”
He nodded. “Blood of my blood. Bone of my bone.”
“Blood of my blood. Bone of my bone.” An eerie tingling crackled around them like some strange static electricity.
“We two are now one,” he said. “Our halves are now whole.”
The hard hammering of her heart made her gasp for breath. “We two are now one. Our halves are now whole.”
Ever so slowly, he entered her, steadily pushing all the way to the barrier that she’d saved just for him. Then he paused, the almost painfully tight fullness strange, but oh so perfect.
“For the good of all, with harm to none,” he said, his voice husky and strained.
“For the good of all, with harm to none,” she repeated, even though speaking was next to impossible.
“So let it be spoken,” he said. “So let it be done.”
“So let it be spoken.” An indescribable energy thrummed within her, building ever stronger. “So let it be done.”
“So mote it be,” he growled as he thrust in deep and laid her virginity to rest with a brief sting. Then he withdrew and rocked into her again while keeping her gaze locked with his. “So mote it be.” He nodded for her to repeat it.
“So…mote…it be,” she managed to say before the force within her exploded with a blinding light that overwhelmed her. She screamed and clung to him, bucking beneath him as he hammered into her ever harder. Shuddering, she raked her nails down his back and shouted again, “So mote it be!”
Then he roared, arching back as he buried himself fully and stayed. His waves of spasms as he emptied shook through her, replenishing the energy and eerie light, stirring them to bring her to the pinnacle of another unbelievably strong orgasm.
“We are one!” he bellowed, shuddered again, then collapsed with his arms curled around her.
Still shivering with the delicious aftershocks, she cradled him close and slid her fingers into his hair. “Yes,” she said, still gasping for breath. “We are one.”
*
Curled around her as she slept on her side, Drummond lifted his head and resettled more comfortably among the pillows.
The wild disarray of Evie’s silky curls kept tickling his nose.
But aye, he loved it. He breathed in her intoxicating sweetness of roses and a woman well pleasured several times over.
A smile tickled its way across his mouth.
Every room smelled of their loving. Like wild animals, they’d marked their private suite well with their scent.
Dawn had arrived, yet the storm raged on, clattering and howling outside the window and blocking what little light the rising sun tried to share.
A dismal grayness prevailed, barely much brighter than the night.
Most of the candles in the room sputtered low.
Some had even snuffed themselves out. As much as he hated to consider it, the maids and lads bearing peat for the fires would have to be allowed admittance before too very much longer.
“How will Morganna ever get through this?” Evie asked, her voice rich and throaty with sleepiness.
He kissed his beloved wife’s temptingly bare shoulder, curled tighter around her, and cupped her breast in his hand.
“She is Unseelie, m’love. Weather is nothing to her.
” He nuzzled his face deeper into her hair, not caring that it tickled.
“Rest,” he whispered. “It brings me peace when ye sleep in my arms.”
“I’m afraid she won’t come back since we’re together now.” The depth of her fretful sigh shifted her against him. “She promised to help me acclimate. I’ll be lost without her.”
“She said she would return as soon as she had gathered those who could help protect ye. Ye must give her time to build her forces.” He tried not to clench his teeth, praying Morganna would not go back on her word.
His mother had often spoken of the fickleness of the Fae, whether they were those of the Light or the Dark.
He kissed Evie’s shoulder again, relishing the warm, sweet softness of her skin. “Sleep,” he whispered, even though his cock thought otherwise. The hardness of his rising made him ache to return to where he belonged. He fondled her breast, gently rolling her nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
She wiggled her delectable arse back against him. “How can I sleep when you’re encouraging me to stay awake?”
Unable to resist, he reached down between them and guided himself back inside her slippery wetness.
“I dinna wish to be rude and encourage ye overmuch.” Then he slid his hand around, down between her legs, and stroked the nubbin of her womanhood, matching the slow rhythm of his deliberate thrusts.
“Lore A’mighty, love, I’ll never get enough of ye. ”
Grinding back against him, she hugged his arms tighter around her. “Faster and harder, if you please.”
He righted her to her hands and knees in front of him and rocked into her with savage abandon.
She met him thrust for thrust, swaying back against him, taking as fiercely as he gave. Knotting the bedclothes in her fists, she bucked and arched, then threw back her head and stayed, shuddering and clenching around him.
Even though he fought for self-control, he couldn’t withstand this power she held over him.
A grumbling roar escaped him as he hammered harder, then exploded, spilling himself inside her once again.
With a hand splayed on the small of her back, he locked his legs to keep from collapsing on top of her.
“Lore A’mighty, woman. Ye’ve drained me of my strength. ”
“Likewise,” she said with a purring giggle. “Roll to the left. I haven’t got the energy to stay like this either.”
He did, and they returned to their curled position of earlier, fitting together like a pair of spoons. His heart swelled with such an utter sense of completeness that an overwhelming depth of joy claimed him.
With a deep, hitching yawn, Evie hugged his arms tighter around her. “When we’re like this, I feel safe,” she said with a quietness that gave him pause. “I feel like I didn’t mess up.”
“Mess up?”
“Make the wrong choice about giving up my century for yours.”
His heart grew heavy. “But when we are not like this, ye regret being here. With me.”
“I don’t regret you,” she hurried to say, hugging him tighter still. “I regret what it might cost because of all the dangers.”
“Every time has dangers, lass. If ye live in constant fear, ye dinna live at all.” He gently turned her to face him. “I beg ye, dinna live in regret. We belong this way, m’love. Together forever. Till the end of this life and beyond.”
She stared into his eyes for a long while.
Silent. Unblinking. Then she tenderly touched his cheek.
“I need you to understand that it’s going to take me some time to adjust and come to terms with…
everything. Imagine if our situations were reversed, and you were the one dropped into an entirely different world. ”
“Are ye telling me our bond was not worth the cost?” He nearly choked on the words, but he had to ask, had to know the answer.
A heavy sigh escaped her. “I’m telling you I need time to get used to everything here.
That’s all. None of my second thoughts has anything to do with you.
I promise.” She patted his chest, then turned back onto her side and curled up, snuggling back against him.
“Go to sleep. I’m sure we’ll have to get up before too long.
Your people will need to see you about whatever decisions a Scottish earl makes.
” She sighed again. “I just hope Morganna makes it back before too long. I’m not sure I can get dressed by myself and do it correctly.
I may need your help with all those laces I can’t reach. ”
“Mrs. Farris can assign ye a lady’s maid to see to yer personal needs. ’Tis only right that ye have one. After all, ye are a countess and the wife of the future chief.”
When she didn’t comment, he grew concerned. “Evie?”
“I want Morganna.” Then she huffed. “I know I sound like a spoiled brat, but I already know her. She’s my friend.”