in that she offered him … everything.
He felt it each time they made love. She readily, eagerly gave her body to him. But she’d given much more than that. He hadn’t wanted to admit it before. Even now it caused the carefully constructed wall around him to crack.
It was the realization she had freely opened her heart and soul to him that made his breath catch in his throat.
For the first time he wanted her to demand to spend more time with him instead of being content with whatever he gave her.
The thought of not having her in his life caused him to become restless and unsettled. He wasn’t ready for her to leave.
His mind raced with thoughts about how he could help his friends and still have time with Aisley. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to bring her to the castle. There was something he enjoyed about protecting her himself.
Though he was the first to admit he couldn’t do it all. There was only one man who he trusted enough to share his responsibility of Aisley with.
Charon.
Phelan pulled out his mobile and sent a quick text to Charon while Aisley was occupied with the dolphins. The band that had constricted his chest loosened once Charon responded to the text. Phelan knew Laura and Aisley would get along well. If Aisley wasn’t comfortable with going to MacLeod Castle then she could stay with Laura in Ferness.
Why hadn’t he thought of all of this sooner? Phelan was feeling rather proud of himself as they docked in Mallaig and started the drive to Inverness.
* * *
Aisley grew worried at how close she was to Wallace Mansion when Phelan drove into Inverness before lunch. Of course, she could be on the other side of the world and still be too close to the house.
Instead of finding a hotel, they grabbed a quick bite to eat before Phelan drove them to an Internet cafe to do a search on the Hunter bloodline. At least that’s what Phelan was looking up.
Aisley was searching for anything to do with a young prince that had gone missing in the sixteenth century. Records were sketchy from that time, but she knew if Ravyn was right and Phelan was truly a prince, there would be something about it.
She searched every major nation during that time but found nothing. Her eyes burned from staring at the screen for several hours. It wasn’t until she did another search to find what countries existed at that time that she broadened her search to include little-known countries.
And that’s when she got a hit.
Her fingers were shaking as she moved the cursor to click the first link. There, among the timeline of events for Saxony, was a small notation of the king’s brother taking his family out of the region.
There was nothing more, but Aisley couldn’t leave it at that. She did another search and found some obscure text mentioning that the people of Saxony were trying to kill certain members of the royal family because of something to do with their blood. Bathing in the royals’ blood could heal whatever a person suffered from.
Aisley sat back and looked across the table at Phelan who was gazing intently at his screen. It wasn’t enough to tell him. She had to have definite proof.
She took a deep breath and expanded her search. That’s when a dozen or so links popped up mentioning the legend of some Saxony royal family living in Scotland.
No matter how many of the links she checked, nothing mentioned anything more. She was about to give up when she saw a paragraph from a student who wrote a paper on the lost Saxony royals.
In it, the woman wrote that the family had been searching for their son who they suspected was kidnapped. No ransom was ever asked for, and no body was ever found.
Aisley knew she was reading about Phelan’s family. They had searched endlessly for him. He hadn’t been forgotten. She didn’t know where they had been headed, but they remained to look for him.
She knew firsthand what his blood could do. The healing properties of his blood had nothing to do with his god and everything to do with who he was.
How many other members of his family had the same blood? It obviously hadn’t extended to the king and his children. Only to the king’s brother. Or perhaps only Phelan.
Phelan looked up at her then. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” she lied. She wasn’t certain if he wanted to know what she found. Nor was she sure she could tell him how she learned he was a prince. It was something saved for another time.
“I found where the surname Hunter was changed to Johnson and MacDonald. After that, things get lost. It took too long for the common surname to take root within a family. If it had, things would be easier.”
“It’s a start.”
“No’ much of one.” He logged off and pushed back his chair. “I promised you a nice meal and the club I told you about.”
Aisley didn’t have to be prompted twice. She hurried to log off and stood. “Let’s go then.”
At the hotel she showered and changed into a silver sequined tank top and short black skirt. Phelan whistled when she walked out of the bathroom.
Her stomach was in knots. Not because of what she had discovered about Phelan and his family, but because she knew she was going to take on Jason and possibly die by Phelan’s hand that night.
“Ready?” he asked.
Aisley took his arm, noting the crisp button-down of the deepest burgundy and the black trousers. His long dark brown locks were combed away from his face and secured in a low queue at his neck.
He looked dark and dangerous. Aisley almost stopped them from leaving so she could have another night in his arms. But already she had held off the inevitable. The weight of her secret wouldn’t last another night.
The restaurant Phelan chose was but two blocks from the hotel. There was a small smile about his lips that looked boyish, as if they held a surprise he couldn’t wait to tell.
“What is it?” she asked with a laugh.
He halted them outside of the restaurant and looked around. “I’ve a surprise for you.”
“Really? What is it?”
“I invited Charon and Laura to meet us for dinner.”
Aisley’s stomach fell to her feet like lead. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t stop her entire body from shaking as realization set in. “No. I didn’t get a chance to tell you myself. Phelan, I’m a
“There they are,” he said over her as he waved.
Aisley turned to find Laura and Charon at the corner of the street staring at her as if she were the Devil himself.
CHAPTER
FORTY
Phelan didn’t understand the way Charon and Laura stared at Aisley, or why Aisley’s nails were sunk into his arm in a death grip. He looked at Aisley to see she was as pale as death, her chest heaving as she watched his friends.
It seemed to take forever before Charon and Laura started toward them. He wanted to reassure Aisley that she could trust Charon, but there was something in the way his friend looked at him that gave Phelan pause.
Unease snaked down his spine. There was recognition in Laura’s eyes as she looked at Aisley.
“Phelan,” Charon said.
Phelan nodded to his friend, then to Laura.
Laura, however, was looking at Aisley. “Hello, Aisley.”
Aisley swallowed twice before she managed a weak, “Hello.”
“You two know each other?” Phelan asked.
Aisley’s fawn-colored eyes were large and filled with tears. “I tried to tell you so many times. It’s why I asked
