Hidden Jewel (Heartfire Series) (48 page)

Verity

The colorful images of dream-speak still painted in vivid relief behind the closed lids of her eyes, a deep, hearty voice burring softly, melodiously, through the tunnels of her mind, held Ailill back, hovering just before the brink of awareness, the soft-spoken words bringing a genuine smile of pleasure to her sleeping lips; deep dimples creased her cheeks, the graven cleft of her chin paired with them adding a child-like cuteness to the relaxed curves of her smooth, young face. Her bare feet, small and delicate, shifted where they were stretched out before her, the metal bands around the two largest digits sparking in the Autumn sun, and she laughed softly, a breathy sound, causing a stir in the two dark haired men watching her from nearby. Exchanging a look of surprise, each drew closer, curious.

Her voice rose slightly above the usual whisper, the familiar Gaelic dialect spoken with such rapidity that it soon became impossible for either man, both as fluent in the tongue as Ailill, to follow any of what was said, except a very few words. She seemed to be very excited, however, by whatever was going on in her dream; her expression showed apparent pleasure, her smile lighting up her features so that she looked almost elfin; the way that the giant Tiernan had looked when he showed up in their dreams weeks before.

Their hearts dropped in unison, a terrible feeling of loss nearly drawing the hands of both Micah and Jacob up, to shake her awake; to shake some sense into the girl who had given herself so completely to them both in the past few days. The only time either had felt so complete since their arrival on Jewel Mountain. Wide-eyed, the brothers stared at each other, suddenly at the point of time which Ailill had so easily made them forget, suddenly as uncertain of their own future as they had been before she came home to be with them.

A look of such deep despair came over Micah's features that Jacob grasped his hand with painful force, reminding the man of how they had been raised, forcing his twin to remain stoic in the face of loss, even the inevitable loss of their own
leannan sith
.

"I canna hardly wait." Ailill's tone was pure joy, the smile on her face upon waking to find the still, solemn faces of her men before her was one of genuine happiness as it spread across her beautiful face and lit in her eyes.

Micah's heart melted at the sight. It was all he could do to keep from begging her to stay with him, like a toddler who has just found that his mother will be starting a new job and that he has to stay in daycare for eight long, lonely hours of the day. The mental picture that particular thought dredged up shocked the man back into himself and he tore his pained gaze away, forcing himself to look back at her.

"I fell asleep," Ailill said unnecessarily, a sleepy smile making both men smile in return, which brought a sigh unbidden to her lips. "You're so braw, so bonnie, my raven laddies and ah, I love ye so." Her eyes glowed softly with love, drawing each man to her side for a sweet kiss. Her heart thumped in warning and she pulled away, reluctantly pushing desire back because she had made a promise to herself and planned to keep it.
There will be no loving with these men, not until they are ready to face facts and finally return home with me,
silently reiterated.
And that's final.

"What can't you hardly wait for?" Jacob asked after a few moments.

Ailill looked blank, blinked in confusion, and turned a questioning gaze on Micah's face, startled by the wanting she saw there, the instant response within herself that left her breathless. The constant wanting in each man, in herself, was a force all it's own; a primitive need that usually caught her unawares, as it did now. With visible effort, she forced herself to turn back and focus on Jacob's questioning gaze. Shrugging in apology, Ailill smiled disconcertingly and held Micah at arms length, as she'd been doing for weeks.

"You were talkin', in your sleep," Jacob said in explanation.

"That isn't at all unusual, Jacob," she replied calmly. "What of it?"

Whenever her brows were raised in query two small white arches formed on the tanned skin of her forehead, parallel to the fine cinnamon wings of her brows. Watching those two lines deepen, Jacob leaned forward.

"You were talkin' in the Gaelic, darlin'.
That
is unusual. Then you said 'I canna hardly wait'."

Ailill giggled at his attempt to copy her own odd accent, earning a severe scowl.

"Who were you talkin' to in your dream and what can't you wait for, Ailill?"

"Och, Jacob, only my cousin, Declan. He but wished to tell me that he will be coming here for a visit. He couldn't wait to tell me, and I cannot wait to see him, later this week. It has been a great many long weeks since last we met on the field. I miss him," she stated simply.

Her grin was one of extreme satisfaction, bringing out a similar expression on both men's faces. As a thought struck him, though, Jacob's smile turned to a frown of concern. Shifting uneasily, he opened his mouth.

"Is he a...a ghost, Ailill?" Jacob looked truly worried.

Uttering a sharp laugh, Ailill stood, stepping carefully over Micah's long legs, and walked to the fireplace, placing a couple of thin wedges just so on the small fire she'd started earlier. It gave the old cabin a comfy hominess that she rather liked. "He is not," she answered, amused. "Declan is more alive than any of us."

Jacob stared at her hard, but Ailill would not meet his eye.

"I don't dream of only ghosts, Jacob," she said in clipped tones. "We share a...mphm...an ability, my cousins and I. We can meet each other in the land of dreams. It is how we stay in touch when we are apart. I have explained as much to you already." She turned to him, an odd gleam in her eyes. "I realize how unbelievable this might sound to you, but you must
try
to understand; you must try to believe in many things that are not easily explained. You have grown up with ordinary folk. I haven't. I cannot explain any of this very well; I haven't had to explain myself before. To anyone." Turning away from the two, Ailill muttered incomprehensibly into the fire, cheeks pinkening more than was natural merely from the flames before her.

"What'd you say, darlin'?" Jacob said, striding toward her.

A dark, inward look shone clearly in her eyes when Ailill raised her head at last, and she met their twin gaze with solemnity.

"I said...you can ask Declan, or perhaps even Tiernan, about it later this week. They can explain it better than I. Now. Tell me what you've learned on your rounds this morning, and I'll make you something to eat." Ignoring the looks of surprise on both Micah and Jacob's faces, Ailill busied herself with carving a good-sized slab of cold roast beef that Annie had sent over that morning into thin slices.

"Ailill," Micah began tentatively, hunkering down beside her on the fire warmed flagstones. "What's up with you? You seem...well, like you're hiding something; that ain't like you. Staring at her bowed head, Micah willed her to look at him; to be honest about herself, for once, and quit hiding her thoughts. She'd been so introspective, since her return last month. It totally ruined the mood, sometimes, he was thinking silently, trying not to get annoyed.

She glanced up at him, saw own his thoughts clearly, and sighed inwardly. A few hours, that was all she needed, and then she could
show
them what they wished to know; what they could not bring themselves to admit that they had already known for weeks. "I dinna take your meanin'," she muttered evasively, cringing behind the veil of her long, loose hair at doing so, knowing that both young men would easily see through her damnable glass face if she met either one's eyes. Lying did not come naturally to her, nor to anyone she knew, including the men beside her.

Eyes narrowed, Micah frowned at her. "Yeah, you do," he said coldly. "Don't start lyin' to me; to us. I won't put up with it for one goddamn minute, Ailill."

Eyes sparking bits of fire, Ailill's head snapped up. "Do
not
speak to me like that," she growled. "It is bad enough that you think you can use me as a damn sex toy any time you wish it. I never made any sort of vows to obey you, Micah, nor your twin. Therefore, I do not have to tell you everything that goes on in my mind just because you tell me to. Here." Picking up a wooden plate with a fresh made sandwich on it, Ailill plopped it into Micah's empty hands and turned aside.

Setting the plate on an upright log that they had been using as a table with a loud thump, Micah stood tall and straight, arms crossed over his chest, and glowered at her. "I
don't
think I can use you as a sex toy, Ailill. And I have never treated you like you were," he retorted in angry offense. "I ain't even touched you since you came back, excepting a few kisses. Y'all won't let me! So there. Never used you as a sex toy! Got it?"

"Aye, you most certainly have, Micah. As has Jacob, in his own way." Her gaze swept over to where Jacob stood, watching them with hooded eyes. "I am not an object, yet you'd use me as if I were not but a...mphm, a vibrator." Her eyes flashed knowingly. "Aye, I ken what that is; it was part of my own training, though I have never had the pleasure of using one, and I doubt that being forced into the arms of three lads will ever make me miss it. You're too demanding. I see in your eyes when you want me! Every hour of every day, and I feel smothered by it! There is more to me than sexual pleasure, but all you do is undress me with your eyes any time you look at me! I am only one wee lass and I am getting sick of it!"

In a flash, Micah was standing directly before her. Without preliminary, he picked her up and kissed her hard, a bruising kiss that stole her breath away even as her feet ceased flailing a foot and a half above the ground. "Is this what you mean?" he growled into her face. "Or is this?" Grasping her buttocks in a painful squeeze, he slid her up and down rapidly, the motion easily moving the kilted fabric around both of their waists up, the roughness of his demanding touch, his near-impalement shocking her into stillness. "Feel that?" he breathed harshly into her ear. "Feel what you do to me? What you've done to me every single day since the moment I laid eyes on you? And then y'all expect me not to want it?" Dropping her with a suddenness that sent a jolt through her knees from the impact of the hardwood under her feet, Micah yanked her arm downward, forcing her to her knees before him. The open hostility in his face was startling. Ailill stared up into glaring eyes, the deep blue blazing so brightly with jealousy that even Jacob stiffened in surprise a few feet away, the baby in a sling, sleeping through the growing argument in the comfort and warmth of her Da's arms, his heartbeat a natural lullaby.

"Ain't we good enough for ya now, Ailill?" Micah spat, taking a step toward her. Ailill quickly scooted back, keeping a careful distance of twelve inches between her head and his waist, and thrust out her chin belligerently, eyes narrowed. "Y'all gonna dump us, now that you're gonna be seein' your ex?"

"No, Micah, I wasn't planning on it," she answered quietly. "I've no idea if he'll even come here. He doesn't answer to Declan, after all. Are you going to be mean to me?"

Grinning wolfishly, Micah took another step. "Well now, there's a thought. I just might be." His eyes glinted in the sun. "Y'all are a little too pleased that you'll be seeing these strangers, darlin'," he drawled slowly, lazily. "Maybe you was wantin' to try out all the new things y'all learned from me on your ex.
Maybe
if y'all have more to offer the hulking giant, he'll want you back even more than he claims, and to hell with us. Hell, maybe you can keep all three of us under your thumb, or better yet, every man down in Willow Wisp. What a beloved leader you'll be when James passes on the leadership to you, his only
child
."