the wondrous glory of the mountain. Her mountain.
She had spent the first six months exploring the deep, endless caves and tunnels, marking them to memory. The upper part of the mountain she took as her domain, transforming it into a palace worthy of a queen. The middle part was used as her great hall where the mountain opened up into a stunning cavern. The lower part with all its caves and tunnels was perfect for her dungeon, which she had put to use almost immediately with the MacLeod brothers.
It was too bad she no longer held them. With all her power in black magic and her Warriors, somehow the MacLeods managed to keep from being taken again. The brothers were to have been the most powerful, most persuasive, weapon in her army. And she would have them again. It was only a matter of time.
She left the stones and walked to the middle of her chamber where a bench waited for her before a small table with a mirror hung in the stones. The bench was a favorite of hers with its scrolled arms and lovely Celtic knot work carved into the wood.
Deirdre pulled her long white hair over one shoulder and sat. Only then did she release her hair to fall down her back and puddle on the floor. Her hair was her crowing glory. It had once been a marvelous golden color, but each time she dabbled in the black magic her color had faded, until all that was left was hair as white as snow.
She had gotten used to it. Her eyes, however, were a different matter. Men at one time had commented on the vivid blue of her eyes, but just as with her hair, there was only a hint of the blue that had once been. Her eyes startled everyone, and she found she quite liked it.
Her head cocked to the side and looked into the mirror as a wyrran came up behind her and used its claws to delicately comb her hair.
“Aye, my lovely,” Deirdre said. “Just what I wanted.”
She had made the wyrran out of necessity, but once she learned how devoted they were to her, she used it to her advantage. They were her children. At least until she had all the Warriors under her control.
Which brought her back to the MacLeods. If they ever suspected the truth, her tenuous hold would disappear. It was only fear of what she could do that held the MacLeods in check.
She was a powerful
The innocent girl from the MacClures would help to bring about that power, and once Deirdre had it the MacLeods wouldn’t be able to withstand her call. They, and the other Warriors, would be hers to control. Forever.
The wyrran peered over her shoulder, its round yellow eyes blinking up at her. It snarled, letting her know someone was coming.
“I heard him, my lovely,” she whispered to the wyrran. “Leave us.”
There was a hard knock on her door, followed by a muffled, “Mistress?”
“Enter,” she called.
She looked through the large oval mirror to find a Warrior, his royal blue skin signaling him as the holder of Ameren, the god of haunting.
“William,” she said, and rose to face her Warrior. She glanced behind him but didn’t see Caladh with his ash- colored skin, nor the form of a girl. Annoyance spiked through Deirdre, but she controlled it. “You are empty- handed?”
William bowed his head for a moment. “I am, mistress.”
“How could a slip of a girl get away from a dozen wyrran and two Warriors?” She kept her voice even as she used her magic to call on her weapon.
The ends of her hair that scraped her ankles when she stood lifted and flew at William to wrap around his balls.
“She had help.” William’s voice shook, his hands clutching Deirdre’s hair to try to stop the stranglehold.
Deirdre raised a brow. “Help? Who would dare to step in and help her?”
“The MacLeods.”
Surprise and excitement coursed through her. She eased her grip on William’s balls and used her hair to stroke his cock. Just as she expected, he hardened and lengthened through his breeches.
“The MacLeods?” she repeated. “Are you sure?” He nodded and licked his lips, his hands now caressing her hair. “Aye. I fought Quinn, then Lucan. I saw Fallon as well. There’s no mistake, mistress. It was the brothers.”
“At the village?”
“In their castle.”
Deirdre laughed. Of all the places. When they had first escaped her mountain, she had sent wyrran to MacLeod Castle to intercept the brothers, because where else would a Highlander go than back to his clan?
Yet the brothers hadn’t returned to their castle straightaway and had managed to continue to thwart her. And they fought against her. It didn’t bode well if the MacLeods had her little female. Deirdre needed Cara—more than she wanted to admit.
William’s stroking of her hair grew bolder. She eyed him as she looked at the bulge between his legs. It had been a while since she had taken a Warrior to her bed, though there was only one Warrior she really wanted, one Warrior who would give her the children she needed to carry on her kingdom. Until she had him back in her control again, she would take her pleasure where she could.
“Take off your clothes, William.”
He obeyed without question. Deirdre released him until he stood before her in all his royal blue glory. Her hair encircled his cock and she heard him moan.
“Were the MacLeods defending Cara?”
William’s eyes were closed, his breathing ragged. “Aye, mistress. Caladh smelled her magic in the dungeons and went after her.”
“You left him?”
“He’s a Warrior. Unlike the MacLeods he welcomed his god and the powers that came with him. Caladh is stronger than they are.”
Not if the three brothers fought as one, but she didn’t tell William that. She would wait a day for Caladh to return with Cara, if he escaped the MacLeods.
“I need my army, William,” she said as she walked to him and ran her hands over his thickly muscled chest.
He opened his eyes and nodded. “I know.”
“Will you lead them for me? Will you bring me Cara and the MacLeods?”
“Aye.”
She smiled and cupped his balls, rolling them in her hands. She brushed his rod with the back of her hand. “You are very hard.”
“I want you, mistress.”
“Do you?”
“Aye.”
She stepped back with her arms out to her sides and her hair hanging to the floor. “Then take me.”
William grabbed the neck of her black gown with his hands and with one yank ripped it from her body. She smiled when he gathered her up in his arms and strode to her bed across the room.
Desire made her breasts swell and her nipples harden while her sex grew damp. It had been years since William had shared her bed. She had forgotten how rough he could be, but she was looking forward to it.
He tossed her onto the bed. Deirdre laughed and opened her arms as he fell on top of her.
“No foreplay, William. I need you. Now.”
He guided the tip of his cock to her entrance and plunged inside her. She moaned and closed her eyes as she pictured her Warrior thrusting inside her instead of William.
It wouldn’t be long now. She would have him back where he belonged.
* * *
The return to the castle was in silence. Lucan had known bringing Cara to the village was a mistake, but she had said she needed to see it. He had seen the look of guilt in her gaze as she stared at the dead. Nay, she would
