was work to be done, and he was doing no one any good just standing around.
Chapter Twenty-Five
When Larena left the cottage night had fallen. The women had agreed to take turns watching over Malcolm. Larena had taken the first watch, and Sonya had come to relieve her. Malcolm slept soundly, his chest rising and falling regularly, but Larena was still worried.
She wasn’t sure what Sonya had done or what kind of magic she had used, but whatever it was, it was healing Malcolm well.
Sonya had assured her she would send for Larena if Malcolm woke, but Larena expected him to sleep the night through. And so did Sonya by the way she readied for the night.
A shadow moved at the edge of the cottage and Larena caught a whiff of orangewood.
She walked to him, and when he opened his arms she didn’t hesitate to accept his embrace. She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
“If Broc hadn’t found him…”
“Don’t,” Fallon whispered. “Broc did find him, and Sonya has healed him as best she could.”
Larena nodded. “He will have many scars from the claw marks.”
“Did you see his hands? He fought back, Larena. Even though they were Warriors, he fought back.”
She blinked through the sudden rush of tears. “I thought once I left Edinburgh he would be all right.”
“I don’t think he was in Edinburgh. I told him if he ever needed anything that he was welcome here. I think he was on his way to the castle to see you.” His strong hands took hold of her shoulders and pulled her away from him. “There is something else.”
She couldn’t see his eyes because the moon was behind him, but she heard the concern in his voice and saw the frown that marred his forehead. “What is it?”
“If for some reason Malcolm isn’t able to use his arm as he should, he’s welcome to stay here. You know his clan willna take him as their laird if he isn’t whole.”
“You would open your home to him?”
“I would.”
She was stunned at his gesture. Fallon constantly amazed her. “Why?”
“Because he stood by your side when the rest of your family wouldn’t. Because he put his life in danger to help you. Because he was your friend, and because he trusted me to help you.”
“Fallon,” she whispered, her throat clogging with emotion.
His mouth descended on hers, cutting off anything else she might have wanted to say. When his lips moved over hers expertly, teasing and coaxing her, she touched her tongue to his. He groaned and crushed her to his hard chest.
Larena never wanted to leave his arms. In his embrace she felt as if nothing could ever harm her, that she was protected and … loved.
Love.
It was a word she didn’t say and never considered. Unless she thought of Fallon.
The last person who had loved her was her father, and he had been taken from her. Robena had cared for her and had been proud the goddess had chosen her, but Robena hadn’t loved her. Nay, Robena had a job to do, and that’s all that had mattered to the old Druid.
Love wasn’t an emotion Larena could allow herself to feel. It opened her up to the pain she never wanted to experience again. It was better to close herself off, and keep her distance.
Larena pushed such thoughts from her mind as Fallon deepened the kiss. His hands cupped her buttocks and held her as he ground his arousal against her.
All the breath left Larena’s body. She clung to Fallon’s thick shoulders and surrendered to the passion that unfurled low in her belly.
“My God, Larena,” Fallon whispered. He kissed down her neck and bent her backward over his arm. “I want you. I
She shuddered at his words then cried out when his teeth grazed her nipple through the tunic. Pleasure rippled through her like lightning. She lifted a leg and wrapped it around his waist.
The night air, filled with the smell of the sea, swirled around them. The moon and stars twinkled above while the water crashed against the cliffs. All around them death and destruction ruled, but in each other’s arms they could find serenity.
“I need you too, Fallon,” she confessed. “I need you desperately.”
Wordlessly, he lifted her until her legs wrapped around his waist, and then he carried her behind the cottages. He pressed her against the hut and ground his cock against her.
Larena moaned and moved her hips. She was grateful for the privacy since she knew other Warriors were keeping watch and she didn’t want them seeing the passion that was hers and Fallon’s alone.
“This would be easier if you were in a gown,” he growled.
Larena chuckled. “Just as it would be easier if you were in a kilt.”
“I’ll keep that in mind next time,” he murmured against her neck as he nuzzled her skin. “You have no idea what the sight of you in the breeches does to me.”
She reached between them and tugged his tunic up his chest, and then over his head. “Tell me.”
“It makes me want to mark you as mine.”
She trembled at his words. She wanted to be marked, and to be marked as his.
Their hands were frantic to rid themselves of the clothing that separated their bodies. Before the last piece of cloth hit the ground, they were in each other’s arms once more.
Larena plunged her fingers in Fallon’s dark locks as he lifted her once more. She wrapped her legs around his waist and moaned when his rod brushed against her sensitive sex.
“Please, Fallon,” she begged. She had to have him inside her. Only he could make her forget the world around them and make her feel as if they were the only two people on earth.
His hands gripped her hips, holding her above his cock. She didn’t look away when his gaze caught hers. Larena let herself drown in the exquisite green of his eyes.
He lowered her onto his shaft with one thrust. She tried to move her hips, but he held her steady. He filled her completely until the tip of him touched her womb. Only then did he allow her to move.
Larena locked her ankles together and buried her face in Fallon’s neck as his hips began to shift. Each thrust brought him closer, took him deeper … and touched her heart.
She didn’t know if it was seeing Malcolm dying before her eyes, but she felt raw, exposed, and she needed Fallon in ways that she couldn’t put into words.
He hadn’t asked questions. He had merely offered himself, as if he knew she would need him.
Larena kissed Fallon’s neck as her need rose with the quickening of his hips.
“Ah, God, Larena,” he ground out.
She kissed him again, letting her tongue trace along his skin. He moaned deep in his throat as his fingers dug into her hips.
Her hands shifted to his shoulders as she fought to hold onto him as her climax built. She gasped and sucked against his neck as her orgasm engulfed her.
Larena was blinded by the intensity, her body convulsing with the delicious waves of pleasure. Fallon continued to plunge inside her, drawing out her climax.
“You’re mine, Larena. Mine.”
She jerked, her mouth opening on a silent scream of bliss as his fangs sank into her neck and brought on another orgasm.
By the time she could open her eyes, Fallon was kissing the spot he had bitten. She knew without looking
