Using both hands, she yanked his shirt over his head and took in the impressive sight of his torso. She caressed him from shoulder to waist, loving the sound of his quickening breaths when she got close to his crotch.
“You’re playing with fire, Druid,” he warned.
But that was exactly where she wanted to be.
It wasn’t until she reached for the button of his jeans that he reacted. In a split second, he had her on her back on the ground as he leaned over her.
“This is what you want to do after talking to the ancients?” he asked in a low, seductive tone.
Rennie swallowed as she shook her head. “This is only about you, about us. You make me want this. All I can think of is you and how you feel against me, inside me.”
There was a low growl that rumbled from his chest. “You doona know what you’re saying.”
“I know exactly what I’m saying. I want you. I want what’s between us. I want to push whatever this is to the limits and see just how far it will go.”
His forehead furrowed. “It could be wonderful, but it could also destroy us.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
She gave a shove to his shoulder and rolled him onto his back so that she straddled him. Rennie knew he allowed her that control, but his strength was one of the many reasons she was drawn to him. “I’d rather you stop talking,” she said as she rotated her hips, grinding against his hard rod.
His hands gripped her hips, but he didn’t halt her. “What did the ancient’s say?”
“Why did you look like you were in pain when I saw you?” she asked instead.
The corners of his eyes crinkled. “Do you really need to ask?”
“Yes. Say the words, Warrior,” she whispered.
His gaze grew serious as he stared. “Your magic. I’ve never felt such peace or happiness mixed with an irresistible yearning to claim you all rolled into one.”
Rennie saw the uncertainty in his gaze, and it broke her heart. She lay atop him, resting her head on his chest. “The ancients said I couldn’t leave until I embraced who I was. They said I had a destiny.”
“What destiny?” His hands wrapped around her, holding her firmly against him.
“I don’t know. They wouldn’t say.” She briefly thought about keeping what they had said about him to herself, but she wanted Dale to know. “They knew you were here.”
His large hands rubbed her back in slow circles. “I gather they were no’ happy.”
“I told them you no longer fought for evil, and they said you would have a choice to make soon.”
Dale’s silence stretched into minutes. “I willna ever side with evil again. No’ after I’ve tasted you.”
Dale was thankful when Rennie drifted off to sleep. It had taken every ounce of his considerable control not to strip her and take her once more.
Her magic had grown threefold since they had been in the chamber, and the longer they remained, the more it grew. He had no doubt that what the ancients had told her was true—she did have a destiny.
What gave him pause was their mention of him. They said he would have a choice, and it didn’t take much to determine that choice would be between good or evil.
Dale knew he was done with evil, but it was never so easy. Malevolent forces had a way of working things to their advantage, leaving a person with very few options. In his gut, Dale knew he would be put in such a position. How soon, and how it would involve Rennie, he couldn’t begin to fathom.
As he lay there, he could feel tiny vibrations in the earth. They were so minute that they were barely discernible, yet they wouldn’t be ignored.
Dale turned his head and looked at the fire. It appeared the flames would last for many days. As he looked into the fire, he spotted something white darting in and around the flames.
He paid closer attention and noticed the white ribbons of smoke were coming from beneath the fire pit and curling up to the flames where they intermingled.
His enhanced hearing picked up whispers of disembodied voices. Normally he would have been uneasy, but Dale knew this was a holy place for a Druid—and only
He glanced at Rennie to find she was still asleep, unfazed by the ribbons of magic or the voices. What intrigued him was the fact he was being allowed to witness it.
“I’ll help Rennie,” he whispered to the chamber at large. “I doona know what her destiny is, but I’ll help.”
The voices quieted for a heartbeat before they picked up again, this time louder. Still, Dale couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Carefully, he rolled onto his side while holding Rennie. Once she was on her back, he released her and got to his feet. Dale walked around the chamber hoping to better understand the voices.
And then he caught one word: solstice.
“I’ll be damned,” he murmured as he realized the winter solstice was upon them. It was an important Celtic holiday that Druids followed closely.
If Harriet was getting antsy to buy the land, then it had something to do with the winter solstice. How, Dale didn’t know. Yet.
The voices seemed to gather around him, and he was cautious to remain still. As he stood quietly, the voices became clearer and clearer until he could make out what they were saying.
“I’m here for Rennie.” The fact it was now the solstice put him on high alert.
Why him, then? Dale was curious, but it would have to wait. “How do I keep Rennie safe?”
Dale stopped short of rolling his eyes. First the ancients, and now the voices. He already knew Rennie had a destiny. “Are you the ancients?”
At least he’d gotten one answer. “What is her destiny?”
Dale rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “Are you preventing her from leaving?”
“Harriet,” Dale ground out. “She wants the land.”
Dale turned to the entrance as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. He moved swiftly to stand near the tunnel, blocking whoever was coming from seeing Rennie sleeping.
He just hoped the same magic that was keeping Rennie inside the chamber would keep whoever was coming out. And when he caught sight of the red hair, he knew instantly it was Harriet.
She stopped just short of stepping into the chamber. Her gaze fastened on him and she quirked an eyebrow. “Well, just who are you?”
“No’ someone you want to mess with.”
“No, you’ve got it wrong, sweetheart. I’m not someone you want to mess with,” she said smugly.
Dale shook his head. All
Her eyes widened a fraction before she composed herself. “How do you know what I am?”
“Because your magic makes me want to be sick there is so much evil running through you. You cleverly hide the scars on your wrist well enough. And your Demon’s Kiss? Where is it?”
“With me, of course,” she said and looked him up and down. “Who are you?”
Dale kept silent.
“Rennie’s watchdog, are you?” Harriet said with a sneer. “She might come from a family of Druids, but if you want the real magic, you should side with me.”
“Never,” he said adamantly.
