Luc went down on one knee beside her and yanked her hair viciously. Cara met his scarlet eyes with glazed ones.
"You warp every gift you've been granted," he hissed.
"Some gift," she mumbled.
He struck her across the face and shoved her onto her back. He crouched over her and his hands traveled over her bloody skin. His hands dug into a laceration. She managed to clip him on the jaw and ended up facedown in the sand with a broken arm twisted behind her. Luc's breath fanned her cheek as she spit out sand.
"You can't help yourself, can you?" Luc asked.
She didn't answer. She stayed motionless beneath him and watched the waves as they crashed on the shore. No matter what she did, she couldn't beat him. Helpless tears filled her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall.
"When I discover what demon was colossally stupid enough to give you a location to the Ancients prison, they will receive your punishment ten times over." Luc ran his tongue beneath her eyelid, capturing the moisture she refused to let fall. He hummed in satisfaction as if the taste of her pain was delicious. "Your days are numbered. I'm coming for you, Cara."
Cara jolted awake with Luc's whisper echoing in her ears. Her clothes clung to her, soaked with sweat. Her arms ached as if they were still pinned behind her. Cara shot up in bed and searched the dark shadows of the bedroom before she took a breath. Moonlight filtered through the window. She ran her hands over her face and body, but the blood and agony was gone.
She slid out of bed and dug through the pile of clothes Linnea brought this morning. When her calloused finger snagged on a nightgown, she snatched it out of the tangle of clothes and strode into the bathroom. She turned the water as hot as it could go and scrubbed off Luc's touch until her skin was raw.
She left the bathroom with the nightgown flowing around her legs and had to admit that she liked the feel of it against her skin. Small pleasures meant a lot to her since she didn't have much of them in life. She walked over to the window and looked out at the lake. Ireland was beautiful, no doubt about it. She pushed the window open and a cool breeze entered the room. She wished the outside world would leave her alone. Luc thought her curse was a
gift?
She wanted to rip him apart with her bare hands, but that was a fantasy she would never fulfill.
The bedroom door swung open and turquoise eyes pierced the darkness. Aodhan flipped on the light and she folded her arms across her chest.
"I locked the door," she said.
"Come eat."
Aodhan set a tray on a small table in the corner. She would have refused, but she caught a whiff of Linnea's stew. Aodhan was too big to sit in one of the two chairs at the table so he stood while she dug in.
"Much has changed since I was imprisoned," he said.
Cara put a spoonful of thick stew in her mouth and closed her eyes.
"Gael tells me that demons are more prevalent than they've ever been. It takes five witches to trap a demon and banish them from their puppet. They don't have the authority to send the spirit back to hell."
Cara grunted, but didn't comment. Witches weren't equipped to take on a demon. Witches magic was tied to one of the elements: fire, earth, air, and water. Demons weren't beings. They were spirits that couldn't be killed, only banished.
"I haven't received a response from Khan."
"We don't know if it's really him," Cara said with her eyes still closed, savoring her meal.
"It's him," Aodhan said.
"The witches couldn't tell you about him since they serve the Ancients?"
"There's a coven for each Ancient. Gael's the leader of the coven that serves me."
"How many are in this coven?" She tried to sound casual, but she wanted to know how many she'd have to deal with when she left.
"There's fifty in Doolin, but the coven is spread throughout Europe. There's nearly five hundred in Ireland alone."
Cara inwardly cursed. Usually covens were lucky to have three or five members. Five hundred? Shit, that was an army and they all served Aodhan. She'd never heard of a coven serving anyone. Her mom wasn't in a coven. They wanted nothing to do with her because of Cara, which left her open to predators.
"The witches said its common to have towns or whole cities infested with demons."
She lost her appetite. There was nothing like a side serving of demons to ruin a meal. "In the beginning I went for any demon I could find. I didn't make a dent in their population. Then, I got smart and started to go after Luc's generals."
"Which only goes to show how essential you are to my team."
"Team?"
Aodhan stood with his legs braced apart and hands clasped behind him. She couldn't help the way her eyes swept over every inch of him. He was delectable, no doubt about it. He had that smoldering thing going on and it made her mouth water. Aodhan wasn't pretty, far from it. At a glance, you knew he wasn't ornamental. Aodhan was built for war and he would triumph over Luc, she knew it in her bones.
"There's good and evil. If you're not on Luc's team, you're on mine."
She glared at him. "I know which team I'm on."
"Good. You can stay here and fight by my side."
She sidestepped that and dug into the stew again. "Does Linnea have magic? This stew is amazing."
"She's gone for the day. She'll be back around noon tomorrow."
"Mmm," Cara grunted.
"Did you tell her anything?"
"No," Cara said, completely focused on her stew.
"She's probably heard the legends."
"Well, it's kinda hard not to be suspicious when Gael made her search for a silver flower on a full moon night."
Aodhan shrugged. "It's tradition."
Cara scoffed. "She has to be special to cook and clean for you?"
He was quiet so long that Cara looked up in the midst of licking her spoon. She froze with her tongue on the metal. Aodhan's eyes were focused on her mouth. The spoon clattered to the table. She cleared her throat and pushed the tray away.
"So, what else did the witches say?" she asked.
"I want to talk about what happened in the dungeon."
She stacked her feet on a chair and tried to look nonchalant. "What about it?"
"I want you."
That bald statement made her want to leap on him, but she controlled herself. Barely. She tried to repel the sex dream she'd had in this room and closed her eyes against him. She'd been a voyeur during his sexcapades, which wasn't a good thing to remember right now. It made her body flush with need. She watched him screw several hundred women. That wasn't romantic so why did her hands ache to touch him? Because she was dumb, that's why.
"You've been locked up for centuries," she said hoarsely. "Abstinence isn't your strong suit. I know you need to get laid so I'll watch your email and let you know if we get a reply back from Khan."
"Cara."
"Yeah?" She inspected her nails.
Large hands pulled her out of the chair. She kicked Aodhan in the shin before he sat on the bed and held her between his thighs. When his hands settled on her hips, she clenched her teeth to hold back a moan. He said nothing, just stared at her and she finally lifted her head and glared.
"What?!"
"We need to get something straight," he said.
"Get what straight?"
"I've had women..."
"Legions."
He squeezed her to shush her. "
Many
women. I could go to the village and get laid right now."
"So, why don't you?"
"I don't want them. I want you."
"I'm not available."
He tilted his head to the side and she saw the dragon watching her.
"I can smell your arousal."
Cara was mortified and pissed. She leaned into Aodhan, hands sliding around his sides and pressed herself against. She had the satisfaction of feeling his body turn to steel.
"Look's like you're aroused too," she said.
Aodhan's eyes burned. "This isn't just sex."
"Feels like it," she said, swimming in his scent. Damn, no wonder women couldn't resist him. He drew her like a magnet. She wanted to rip off his shirt and claim him.
Aodhan sank a hand into her hair. "You told me not to leave you. You cried for me."
The memory of Aodhan's warm blood pooling around her feet broke through the lust. She tried to push away, but Aodhan kept her caged beneath his thighs.
"You didn't leave me," he said.
"I don't want to talk about this." She remembered every moment of it and her heart ached even though he sat right in front of her, alive and powerful.
"You cried for me. You held me, Cara."
"Stop."
"If you feel nothing for me, why stay?"
She dug her hands into his shirt because she needed the contact. He wasn't dead. Was it her blood that saved him? Her throat constricted as she remembered the fear and panic.
"I just want to go home," she said in a toneless voice.
His hand tightened in her hair and he drew her closer until her belly pressed against the hardness between his thighs. "You don't have to fight alone. I'm here."
That hit her straight in the gut. She fought alone for so long. Her heart yearned for him. It would only be a matter of time before someone sensed what Aodhan hadn't put together yet. The dragon was the only friend she'd ever had and she couldn't leave him. Not yet.
Cara stared into his grim face, slid her hands into his hair and kissed him. As she slanted her mouth over his, Aodhan didn't move a muscle. Cara lifted her nightgown so she could straddle his lap. If her days were numbered, she could indulge herself, right? Her life wasn't measured in years, but breaths. Luc was coming for her. If she was getting a one-way ticket to hell and torture, she deserved one night of bliss. She didn't want to think about demons or her impending death. She'd had one too many dreams about a warrior who was a wet dream come true. It was time to make it a reality.
Aodhan's hands settled on her bare thighs and gripped. "You're sure about this?"
Cara nibbled on his rock hard jaw. "No, but if you're good, I'll die happy."
She wanted Aodhan to wipe away Luc's touch. Aodhan fisted a hand in her hair and pulled her mouth off his skin. The dragon looked down at her and for some reason that made her smile.
"
If
I'm good?" he growled.
"You might be rusty," she said innocently.
She saw him smile a moment before he dropped back, taking her with him. She straddled his chest and before she could catch her breath, he shoved her up with his hands beneath her thighs. He didn't stop until she knelt over his head. She tried to back away, but he cupped her bottom and kept her in place. With one tug, he ripped off her underwear and slid his tongue between her splayed thighs. Cara shrieked and clamped her thighs around his head. Aodhan didn't mind. His chuckle reverberated through her.
Put your hands on the headboard
, he ordered.
The telepathic connection combined with his tongue inside of her was almost overwhelmingly intimate. She couldn't think so, for the first time in her life, she obeyed. She gripped the headboard and couldn't stop her hips from swiveling against his mouth.
You taste beautiful.
She hung her head and panted as he took all of her weight, hands tugging her against his mouth. She quivered as he devoured her. She tried to lift and get away from him, but the hands on her hips kept her in place.
"Aodhan," she gasped as he tickled her clit with his tongue.
Come for me.
Can't
, she replied, voice tortured.
You will.
Aodhan suckled and she convulsed over him. She ground her body down on him and screamed. When she came to, she was flat on her back and Aodhan was still beneath her nightgown, lapping up her pleasure. She was overly sensitive and tried to squirm away. Aodhan's hands flexed on her thighs and his head rose. She stared at him through heavy eyelids and saw that his eyes were hungry and glowing.
"Aodhan," she whispered.
She had only a moment of warning before his hands ripped her nightgown from neck to calf. He tore it as easily as if it was made of paper. He tugged off his clothes and her ruined nightgown and lay beside her, hands exploring the curves of her body.
"You're beautiful," he said.
Her mouth curved. She'd never been this relaxed in her life. "I feel like it at the moment."
His hand splayed on her lower stomach. "You are."
She turned her head and looked at him. "I had a dream about you and I in this room."
Aodhan's hand massaged her breast and brushed over her nipple. "Hmm."
She jerked, but didn't stop him as his hand rejuvenated her sated body. "And another by the lake."
"I liked the last one the most. We were in this bed."
Her mouth dropped open and she stared at the big grin on his face. "That was
real
?"
"I can dream walk too."
"You
jerk
!"
She tried to swing at his face. He chuckled and pinned both of her wrists in one hand. When he tried to kiss her, she bit his lower lip savagely. His laughter filled the room. He thrust one heavy thigh overs her and buried his face in her hair. She could feel his cock pulsing against her leg and her mouth went dry.