doona believe it is Deirdre who is using the falcon.”
“Then who?” Galen asked.
“That is the question,” Quinn said thoughtfully.
Logan gave a quick nod before he turned on his heel and went back to the cottage he was repairing.
Beside Galen, Hayden sighed and said, “Logan willna be happy when he discovers we’re all watching him.”
“We watch each other,” Galen said. “In this world Deirdre has forced on us, we doona have another choice.”
Hayden grunted. “As Fallon says, we’re family.”
Galen glanced at the peregrine circling them. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the falcon and Logan’s need to uncover who was behind the magic controlling the bird just might be the tipping point that caused Logan to succumb to the darkness.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Reaghan couldn’t believe how fast the day had gone. She had spent it with the women of MacLeod Castle. Cara, Marcail, Larena, Sonya, and Isla had opened their small group to her, and Reaghan had never been so happy.
The one thing that dampened her day was when she learned that many of the Druids from her village had still refused to leave their chambers, and they were even considering departing the castle.
All because of the Warriors.
Reaghan climbed the stairs to her chamber. It had been Larena who showed her around the castle, though Reaghan was sure she would get lost many times before she learned her way through the maze of corridors and stairways.
She didn’t even question the fact that she knew she wouldn’t leave. Part of it was the friends she had made, part of it was Galen, but another part was that for the first time she could remember, she felt as if she were where she needed to be.
She turned the corner to the hallway that led to her room and slowed when she spotted Galen standing outside her chamber.
His hair was damp from a recent bath. He smiled, the welcome in his eyes shining brightly. “Did you enjoy your day?”
“Aye,” she said as she halted in front of him. “Have you been waiting for me?”
“I have. I didna want to disturb your time with the women.”
She opened the door and stepped into her room. “How did you know which chamber was mine?”
“I know your magic, Reaghan. I could find you anywhere.” He closed the door softly behind him.
Her heart hammered with anticipation as he barred the door, never taking his eyes from her. His sensual smile made her knees weak and her stomach flutter.
Desire had darkened his eyes. A shiver raced over her skin as she held her breath, anxiously awaiting the feel of his hands on her. She hadn’t realized just how much she wanted — nay, needed — Galen until that moment.
Whatever the future held for her, whatever her dreams revealed, she wanted Galen by her side.
He walked until he stood in front of her, their bodies just breaths from touching. His fingers trailed across her cheek and down her neck to her shoulder. “I’ve thought of nothing but you all day.”
“What did you think about?”
“This,” he said as he jerked her to him and slanted his mouth over hers.
He kissed her deeply, passionately. Thoroughly. Reaghan melted against him, returning his kiss with fervor. Her hands roamed over the hard plains of his chest corded with muscles. He held her tight against his body so she felt every breath, every beat of his heart.
Reaghan yanked at his saffron shirt, eager to have it gone so she could feel the heat of his skin. He pulled the shirt over his head and took her mouth in another fiery kiss.
“God’s blood, how I want you,” he murmured against her lips.
Reaghan ended the kiss and stepped out of his arms. Her heart broke when she saw the doubt in his blue eyes. It wasn’t until she began to undress that he realized she wasn’t rejecting him.
“I’ve been thinking of you all day as well,” she said. “I see you everywhere in this castle. I don’t know what tomorrow brings, and I don’t care. Not as long as I’m in your arms.”
He stripped off his kilt and boots and backed her to the bed. “I took you that first night on the ground when you deserved better. Now, I’ll have you on the bed.”
“Ah, Galen. On the ground or a bed. It matters not to me as long as I’m with you.”
Reaghan climbed onto the bed and held out her hand. She had little time to rejoice as he kissed her again, pressing her back onto the mattress.
He covered her with his body. The feel of him, the weight of him, left her dizzy and craving more. His hand trailed down her side and over her hip to her thigh. He palmed her thigh and bent her leg as he ground his arousal into her.
Reaghan moaned and tilted her head back as his lips left a trail of kisses down her neck to her chest. Her breasts ached, eager for his touch.
He cupped a breast and bent to take her nipple in his mouth. She slid her hands into his hair and sucked in a breath as his wicked tongue teased the tiny bud. Reaghan arched against him, each pull of his mouth on her nipple sending a wave of heat through her to her center.
She savored each delicious sensation that wound her tighter and tighter. Galen’s hands caressed and teased, touching her soul as well as her body. Desire consumed her in its fiery, needful blaze. She was falling. Floating. Drowning.
And she wanted more.
Reaghan cried out when he slid a finger inside her, slowly pumping that finger in and out. Her hips moved with him, seeking more of the pleasure he offered.
Her hands skimmed his back to his taut bottom that flexed beneath her fingers each time he ground against her. She wanted him inside her, filling her, stretching her.
Suddenly, he rose above her and flipped her onto her stomach. Galen lifted her hips until she was balanced on her hands and knees. She looked over her shoulder at him and saw the longing, the craving in his eyes.
He guided himself into her, and Reaghan’s head fell forward as he pushed deep, deeper into her. Her thoughts scattered when he began to thrust, leisurely at first then building faster, harder.
Her arms trembled from holding herself and from the desire that raced through her. Sweat glistened over their bodies, their labored breaths filling the quiet chamber.
He bent and kissed her shoulder. She cried out when he reached around her, his finger finding the small hidden nub nestled in her curls. His finger moved quickly back and forth over her clitoris, barely touching her as he brought her closer to her climax, closer to sharing another part of herself with him.
Galen hadn’t tried to fight the desperation that had driven him to Reaghan’s chamber. He had to touch her, kiss her. Claim her.
And God help him, with every arch of her back sending him deeper into her scalding wetness, he fell further under her spell.
Her sheath was tight as it drew him in, clamping around him firmly until his only thought was to see her peak, to hear her cry out, his name on her lips.
Galen’s lids were heavy, his breathing rasping in his throat as he continued to thrust inside her, bringing them ever closer to the precipice of pleasure.
He was beyond control, but from the moans coming from her and the way her body bucked against him, so was she. He heard his name on her lips, knew she was about to peak.
Galen thumbed her clitoris, drinking in every sigh, every cry, until his blood boiled and his own climax
