they would burn the bodies. He turned and looked at the castle. His home.
He was glad Deirdre had failed to capture Cara, but if he was honest with himself, he couldn’t stand to watch her and Lucan together for another moment. It brought home the fact that Quinn didn’t know what love was and likely never would. It also reminded him of his failure as a husband and father.
Time away was what he needed. Fallon had unleashed his god, something he hadn’t done since Deirdre had first awoken the monsters inside them. Fallon had set aside the wine and faced his greatest fears.
Quinn clenched his hands into fists. His rage was out of control and growing by the day. He knew he needed to control it, but he didn’t want to. It consumed him, sustained him.
He knew what he had to do. If he told Lucan and Fallon, they would only try to talk him out of it. He was the one who knew what was best for him. It was time the others realized that as well.
With one last look at his home, the only thing that remained of his clan and a life before he became a monster, Quinn turned and ran into the darkness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Cara woke to the delicious feel of Lucan’s mouth on her breasts. His hand massaged one nub, rolling a nipple between two fingers as his mouth suckled the other.
“About time you woke,” he mumbled against her skin.
She smiled and plunged her hands into his hair, not surprised to find herself naked. Lucan’s hot, hard body touched her skin to skin, his arousal pressed into her stomach. She opened her eyes to see they were in her chamber on the bed. Desire pulsed through her body, heating her blood and moistening her sex that throbbed with need. As much as she loved his hands and mouth on her, she needed him deep inside her.
“I want you inside me.”
He gave her a wicked grin that made her heart skip a beat. His eyes held a promise of pleasure that her body knew all too well.
Her eyes slid closed when he grasped his cock and rubbed the head against the swollen flesh of her sex. When he slid inside her, she sucked in a breath and wrapped her arms around him. Her back pulled, reminding her of her injuries, but the pleasure pouring through her dulled the pain.
“My Cara,” he whispered into her ear just before he sucked the lobe into his mouth.
His warm breath fanned her neck. She shivered. Lucan knew just where to touch her, just what to say, to bring her the most pleasure.
She tilted her hips until her legs wrapped around his waist. He groaned deep in his chest and pulled out until just the tip of him was inside her. She arched her back and tried to pull him down atop her. She needed to feel him—all of him.
And then he plunged deep inside her. His buttocks flexed with each thrust, fueling her desire. She ran her hands over the hard planes of his back and shoulders, loving the feel of the immortal Highland Warrior who was hers.
She moaned and cried out when he ground his hips against her, rubbing against her clitoris and sending pleasure like lightning through her.
“Open your eyes, love,” he said. “I want to see you when you peak.”
Cara’s body shook with the desire that wound tighter with each thrust of his hips. She was close, oh so close, to climaxing. She opened her eyes to see him staring at her with love in his sea green gaze for anyone to see.
The orgasm swept over her in a sudden blinding explosion. Lucan continued to rock against her, prolonging her pleasure. She clung to him, needing to hold on to him with the intensity of her climax.
He refused to break eye contact with her as he gave a final thrust that buried him to the root. His body stiffened as his warm seed filled her.
Cara held him tightly as he fell atop her. She loved the weight of him against her, the feel of his body along hers. It was erotic and arousing, even though she had just peaked. But it was always that way with Lucan.
He kissed the side of her neck before shifting and taking her lips in a searing kiss that told her of his deep passion. She touched his torc and the griffin head. She and Lucan were one, their souls melding together something that nothing could ever destroy.
Not even time.
“Good morn,” he whispered.
She looked at the window behind her but could see nothing with the tartan hanging over it. “Is it morning already?”
“Aye. I brought you up here once we finished removing the filth in the hall. You didn’t stir when I removed your clothes,” he added with a grin.
“I didn’t realize how tired I was.”
“You went through a lot. But it’s over now.”
She frowned. “I don’t know that it is. I think Deirdre will be back.”
He grunted and rolled to the side. He leaned up on his elbow to look down at Cara. “Or find some way to get us to do what she wants.”
“We need to find the scroll of names. Maybe then we can talk to the Warriors before she finds them.”
He traced a finger around one of Cara’s nipples, his smile spreading as the peak hardened. She squeezed her legs together as desire spiked from her breasts to her sex.
“Have you spoken with Quinn?” she asked to distract herself.
“Quinn? Nay. Should I have?”
She licked her lips and groaned when Lucan’s finger moved back and forth over her pert nipple. “Aye. He looked like he needed to talk last night.”
“I’ll find him this morning,” Lucan promised, and leaned down to close his mouth over the tiny nub.
A loud banging on the door jerked his head up. Cara rose up on her elbows as Lucan asked who it was.
“It’s Fallon. You need to come to the hall. Now.”
She exchanged a look with Lucan before they jumped out of bed and began to dress. He was ready before her but waited. Once she had her shoes on, she followed him out of the chamber to the great hall.
Her steps slowed when she saw Hayden, Ramsey, Logan, and Galen at the table, their expressions bleak.
“What is it?” Lucan demanded of Fallon.
Cara found Fallon standing before the hearth staring into the ashes, and she stopped on the last stair. His hands were on his hips, his head bowed with a frown that made her stomach clench.
“Fallon,” Lucan said.
Fallon ran a hand down his face and turned to his brother. “Quinn is gone.”
“Gone?”
Cara lowered herself to the stairs and wrapped her arms around her middle.
Fallon nodded. “He’s gone.”
“How do you know?” Lucan asked.
Cara’s throat closed when she heard the desolation and fear in Lucan’s voice. They had all thought Deirdre had lost, but now Cara wasn’t so sure.
Galen held out a rolled-up parchment. “This is how. I found it near the gate house.”
Lucan stared at the parchment. He didn’t want to know what was on it because he knew, somehow, that Deirdre had something to do with Quinn’s disappearance. Lucan glanced at Cara to see her dark eyes wide with sorrow.
He took the missive from Galen’s hand and unrolled it. Lucan’s stomach pitched and rolled as he read the words. He let the parchment drop to the floor. “Deirdre captured Quinn. Apparently, he left while we were cleaning. She set a trap for him. Quinn never saw it coming.”
Cara was on her feet and hurrying toward him. He opened his arms as she neared. The feel of her soft curves
