talk. He knew she still desired him, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t push him away. And it was that thought that stopped him from reaching out to her.
He unleashed his god and jumped to the castle before he could change his mind and kiss her.
Fallon cursed under his breath as he saw a handful of Warriors and several wyrran milling around the castle and the village. A large fire burned in the village, and he suspected it was a cottage.
Though he should get back to the cave, there was something in his chamber he wanted. He jumped to his chamber to find it not only empty, but undisturbed. Either the wyrran hadn’t made it to his chamber yet, or they hadn’t felt the need to destroy it.
“Unlikely,” he said.
Fallon strode to the largest of his chests and threw open the lid. He pushed aside his tunics until he found the smaller ornate chest within. He lifted the small box and held it in his hands, staring at it for long moments.
The last time he had looked inside had been over three hundred years ago. He had never thought to open it again, but as soon as he had met Larena, he had wanted to get back to the castle and find the coffer.
Fallon slowly opened the lid and looked at the piece of jewelry within. His stomach clenched at the thought of Larena wearing it. He knew in that instant how deep his feelings for her went.
He lifted the gold from its resting place and tucked it in the waist of his breeches. It took only a moment to put everything back as it was, and then Fallon jumped to the cave.
Larena wished she and Fallon were alone. She needed to tell him he had been right, that she had been scared. But not anymore. Not as long as she had him.
She wasn’t sure when she had stopped being frightened, only that the emotion that had been with her for years was suddenly gone.
Before Fallon had left, she’d thought he was going to kiss her. She’d seen the longing in his eyes, but he hadn’t. Her disappointment had been almost too much to bear. She hoped she hadn’t ruined things between them forever. She was ready to get on her knees and plead with him if that’s what it came to. She’d do anything as long as she could have him for her own.
Her hand lifted to touch the mark he had given her. His mark.
“Cara told me of your conversation,” Lucan said as he came to stand beside her.
Larena had expected to hear from Lucan eventually. She didn’t look at him, just kept her gaze on the sea below. “Have I lost Fallon?”
There was a long silence during which Larena thought he wouldn’t respond. Then Lucan sighed. “When we were growing up I used to watch my brother with women. They flocked to him because of who he was and the power that he would someday have as laird of our clan. He was always good to the women, but not once did I ever see him look at one as he does you. There is hunger and need and something even deeper in his gaze. Only for you.”
Larena’s heart raced, her hope growing. She turned to look at Lucan only to find him watching her.
“You cannot lose Fallon because he cares too much for you. If you want what he has to offer, tell him. He needs you.”
“And I need him,” she confessed. “I need him more than I thought possible.”
Lucan’s hand landed on her shoulder to give her a brotherly squeeze. “Both of you are strong individuals. Together, you can do great things.”
“Like you can with Cara?”
“Even more because of the man Fallon is. He’s a leader, Larena. He needs a strong woman by his side whom he can lean on.”
Larena placed her hand over his and smiled. “I’ll be that woman if he’ll have me.”
No sooner had Lucan walked back to Cara than Fallon reappeared in the cave. Larena listened as he told of the few Warriors and wyrran left wandering the castle and village. She glanced back at the sea and the waves rolling onto shore.
She didn’t want to wait to talk to Fallon but leaving the cave was chancy. However, it was a chance she was willing to take.
Her skin heated as it always did when she felt Fallon’s gaze on her. She gave him a smile over her shoulder before she dove out of the cave.
Fallon ran to the mouth of the cave and watched as Larena dove headfirst to the rocks below only to roll in a ball and land as softly as a cat crouched on her feet.
“God’s teeth,” Hayden murmured.
Someone whistled, and that’s when Fallon realized everyone had crowded around him. His blood heated and surged when Larena straightened and walked to the edge of the water, throwing off his tunic in the process.
“That’s one hell of a woman,” Logan said.
Galen, who stood next to Fallon, punched Fallon in the shoulder. “You’re one lucky bastard, MacLeod.”
Fallon chuckled. Then he met his brother’s gaze. “Aye, I am.”
He jumped from the cave, landing not far from Larena’s spot. She was already in the water when Fallon jerked off his boots and breeches. He laid the gold gently on top before he walked into the sea.
Larena stood looking at him, the waves rolling around her, lifting her up before releasing her once again. Fallon didn’t take his eyes off her as he moved through the water. He fought against the tide that tried to push him back to the beach.
It wasn’t until he stood before Larena that he allowed himself to breathe. There was so much to tell her, so much to say, he didn’t know where to begin.
“You were right.”
Her words surprised him. “About what?”
“I was scared. Everyone I have ever cared about left me. It would have been worse with you because you’re immortal.”
Fallon took her hands in his and pulled her against him. He rested his cheek on her forehead and just held her. “Don’t you understand? You have my heart and my soul, Larena. They are yours to do with as you want. I could never leave you.”
Her arms wound around him, holding him as if there were no tomorrow. She trembled, whether from the cool water or his words, he didn’t know.
He pulled away from her and looked into her beautiful eyes and knew the feeling within him was love. “I cannot promise that we won’t fight, that there won’t be days you won’t want to smash my head in. But I can promise that I will love you always and do my best to make you laugh at least once a day. I can promise that my life will be devoted to you and giving you everything you could want to make you happy.”
“There is only one thing I want.”
“Tell me. It’s yours.”
A tear fell from her eye to roll slowly down her cheek. “You, Fallon MacLeod. I want you.”
Emotion clogged his throat, making it difficult to speak. “I love you,” he whispered, just before he placed his lips on hers.
He drank in her heady taste, drowning in everything that was uniquely hers. Her hands delved into his hair, and he moaned in response.
The waves pushed her into him, rubbing her body against his in ways that only stoked the fire in his blood. He grasped her hips and held her above his hard, aching cock.
“Take me, Fallon. I’m yours. I’ll always be yours,” she murmured.
He lowered her until he was seated to the hilt. She leaned back into the water, her hair floating around her like a sea of gold.
Fallon groaned her name as she rotated her hips. Pleasure flooded him, turning his veins to molten lava. The sight of her luscious breasts with water floating around them and her nipples already hard was too much to take.
He leaned down and sucked a delicious bud in his mouth. Her nails raked his shoulders when he gently bit down on the hard peak and ran his tongue back and forth over the nub.
“Fallon,” she screamed, her back arching.
He wanted her too desperately to hold back the flow of his desire. As much as he longed to lick every inch of her, his body wouldn’t let him now.
