Highlander's Seduction (The Matheson Brothers Book 3) (8 page)

“Aye, please. I’ve waited over a thousand years for you. I almost cannae believe this moment is real, or that I might have allowed our bond to never be.” She palmed his face, brought his mouth back to hers and kissed him, until the taste of her swarmed his senses and he desired a whole lot more. He licked her tongue, the inside of her mouth and heat flared through him, from his fingertips to his toes. Keeping his passion in check with her right now would be a losing battle and it was just as well he didn’t have to. She’d agreed to their joining, desired it as much as he did.

More. He needed more. To feel her skin against his, her body wrapped around him, all skin on skin and nothing else. He tugged her bodice down, dipped his head and grazed his teeth over one nipple. Her full, warm breast taunted him to take more and he sucked the delectable bud deep inside his mouth and tickled the tip with his tongue.

“Oooh, that feels—oh, wait.” She moaned, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she latched on and shook him. “Amelia calls. The wind ripples with her need.”

“The wind what?” Desire hazed his mind.

“I must go.” She disappeared and he fell onto his face into the fur bedcovers.

“Cherub?” He shoved up and searched the room. She was gone, her scent barely lingering in the air. Well, that was fiercely frustrating. His bear rumbled his displeasure at the loss of his woman and his soul cried out for her return. This couldn’t happen again.

* * * *

Cherub fixed her bodice as she shimmered through the air toward the village. Amelia had called out to her, displacing the very air itself in her desperate need to make contact. That need had penetrated the fog in her head, just.

The moment she’d whisked in over the village, she breezed down and slid underneath Amelia’s door, took her true form and uncloaked. “Amelia? ’Tis Cherub. I’m here.”

“Thank goodness.” Amelia hurried toward her from a side room, hands clasped in her deep green skirts. “I wasnae sure if you’d hear my summons considering your mate’s recent arrival.”

“You knew Kirk was here?”

“I was in the forest picking berries for a blackberry pie when I sensed the ripple in the air that signified your match had been made. It has been years since my skill has ever arisen in that way, but the thread linking your soul to his was so strong it near knocked me right off my feet.” She hustled toward the trunk sitting under the narrow window overlooking the central village fire pit where two ample-chested women stood in aproned skirts tending to two large fire-blackened pots. “I cannae believe you’re mated to a shifter, but so happy I am that you are.”

“Our bond took me quite by surprise, particularly since he first sensed me five years ago and I never did.” She squeezed her friend’s arm. “Your call was urgent. Tell me what you need.”

“Aye, I worry over Joseph.” She picked up a pair of lad’s breeches where they sat atop the chest and handed them to her. “He should have returned from collecting herbs near the burn more than two hours ago. Olaf has searched and cannae find him, and ’tis so unlike my son to wander off without a trace. I cannae help but worry since the MacKenzie’s recent attack was such a short time ago. Gilleoin has additional patrols in this area, and we’ve heard of Nessa’s vision, but I needed to ask you if your bear would be able to track him for me? Gilleoin and Kenneth both rode through here an hour ago toward the tip of the loch and willnae be back for some time, otherwise I’d ask them to shift and search for him.”

“Of course. I’ll ask Kirk to search for Joseph. We’ll do so immediately.” She clasped Joseph’s breeches to her chest. “Where did you see Joseph last?”

“He entered the forest a little farther along the cliff-top trail. I watched him from the shoreline while speaking to one of the other village lasses. Where the rock sits beside the tallest pine tree. That is the place where you need to begin. From there, head toward the burn deep in the forest.” Amelia clutched a hand to her heart, her short brown locks bobbing on her shoulders. “I have a terrible feeling that willnae leave me. ’Tis as if he is now far away. I should never have allowed my skill to decline so greatly. I can take on mist form, but only for a few seconds at a time.”

“I’ll find him and bring him home. Dinnae fear.” Her heart ached for her friend and her declining skill. Taking on mist form was essential for a time-walker if they wished to hold onto its restorative healing power. Immortal they were, but they could still suffer an injury and only their ability to move into mist allowed for that full healing. “You must strengthen your ability and I’ll aid you, until you can hold your mist form as you used to.”

“Aye, and I will gladly accept your aid, but first, find Joseph for me.” Tears pooled in Amelia’s soulful brown eyes. “Be careful as you travel.”

“I shall.” She hugged Amelia, melted away and sped back to the castle. Through her open window, she slipped through then shimmered into form before Kirk. “I’m so sorry to have left you as abruptly as I did.”

“It’s all right. I understand.” Kirk tugged his tunic over his head, his sword once again belted at his side. His golden gaze moved over her, as if he reassured himself she was well. “What’s happened?”

“Amelia asked her son, Joseph, to collect some herbs in the forest near the burn and he has no’ returned. Gilleoin and Kenneth have ridden to the watch-point and so she called out to me for aid. Joseph is only nine. Could you track him for her with your shifter senses? We need to find him and bring him home.”

“Of course.” He eyed the breeches in her hands. “I take it those are his?”

“Aye, and we are about to travel, with all speed toward the cliff-top trail where he entered the forest. I’ll extend my cloaking to cover you.” She seized his hand, cloaked them both and whisked them through the open window, a tight fit for two in full cloaked form but she still managed it.

A minute later, she landed along the cliff-top trail and uncloaked them.

“Whoa.” Kirk swayed then found his feet. “That was incredibly fast.”

“There was no time for delay. Undress, as quickly as you can.” The wind rushed up the cliff and whisked over them, bringing with it the salty scent of the sea.

“Woman,” he grumbled as he set his sword belt and tunic on the top of a craggy stone next to a towering pine then removed his boots. “I hope you realize I’m now undressing for entirely the wrong reason.”

“Aye, but you have my most heartfelt thanks for doing so. I promise to make this all up to you, just as soon as I can.”

“Your people come first, that I understand, although I’ll be counting down the minutes until you can in fact make things up to me. That’s one promise I won’t let you relinquish.” He loosened the ties of his tan pants, grasped his waistband and shoved the leather to the forest floor.

Oh, how she wished that moment was right now. All man and hungry bear, he shifted in a sizzling display of crackling energy and searing light. His big bear prowled toward her and she stepped back and knocked her back against a wide trunk.

He rose up onto his hind legs, slapped his paws down on the rough bark either side of her head then ever so gently, rubbed his furry cheek against hers.

“Here are Joseph’s breeches.” She pressed them into his muzzle and he lugged in a deep breath. “Find him, my mate, and I’ll forever be in your debt.”

A rumble escaped his throat then he dropped down onto all fours and lumbered into the forest. Sniffing, he tracked Joseph’s scent.

She scooped up his belongings and followed him along the leaf-strewn trail edged with low brush. She jumped trailing tree roots while overhead, birds twittered from high in the dense canopy and all around, small creatures scurried through the undergrowth at the presence of a predator in their midst. Kirk padded toward the burn, just as Joseph would have and going by the heavy mark of tracks along the busy pathway, so too had many others.

Suddenly, he halted then veered off the trail. He weaved in and around scraggly bushes until they left the thickness of the forest behind and a half hour later emerged before a large clearing dotted with tiny yellow flowers and lavender bushes. This area was so very far from the burn. Kirk plodded in a slow circle, buried his muzzle in the ground then shifted. On his knees in a flattened area of grass and dirt, he carefully separated the trampled stalks and plucked a small swatch of plaid from within free. ’Twas MacKenzie plaid.

She crouched next to him and tried heartily to keep her curious gaze on his find and not his gloriously naked body. Seeing him shift in the dark of night wasn’t one bit the same as watching him do so under the midday sun’s brilliant blaze.

“Joseph’s scent is all over this strip of tartan.” He traced a small, muddy footprint in the dirt. “It looks as if he’s stomped it into the ground with his bare foot.”

“He detests the MacKenzies, just as we all do.”

“For good reason, although for this MacKenzie plaid to be here, so too a MacKenzie must have as well. I’ll keep following Joseph’s scent and see where it leads.” He passed her the tartan. “Don’t lose that, and try not to handle it too much.”

“I’ll keep it safe.” She pocketed it and stood.

He rose and towered over her, bringing her nose smack up against his hard chest as he did.

“I—ah—” Oh goodness. He was far too close and the breeze swirled with his deliciously warm and spicy scent.

“All will be well. We’ll find him.” Gently, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, stepped back and shifted. Black silky fur sprouted where there had been beautiful golden skin and his bear lumbered around her, brushed against her legs and nose to the ground, he continued across the meadow to the far side where the forest once again rose high.

She followed then halted as he did at the tree line. Several fresh track marks, both from horse and man, marred the ground and the sooty remains of a recently doused fire sat within a roughly-made stone fire pit. Kirk stuffed his muzzle into Joseph’s breeches which she still held then trod around the area in ever-widening circles. He halted, let out a fierce roar that sent her pulse skittering right out of alignment before he shifted in a burst of brilliant light.

Fury darkened his face as he strode toward her. “This is the place where Joseph’s scent disappears, and at a good guess, I’d say whoever was here on horseback took him with them. MacKenzies have made camp on Matheson land and damn well gotten away with it.”

“What do we do?”

“They’ve left, not heading toward the village but back the way they’ve come.” He pointed toward the MacKenzie’s lair that lay some distance across rugged terrain and the inner channel of the loch to the northeast. “They’ve gotten what they wanted.”

“Nessa saw in a vision that the MacKenzie was after a woman from the fae village, not a lad.” She bunched her arms tighter around his clothing and weapons in hand.

“You told me Joseph holds the skill of foreknowledge. He’s aware of events before they occur, correct?”

“Aye, but he would’ve told Amelia or Olaf of the trespassers had he seen them in a vision. He’s so young, wouldnae have gone off on his own without leaving word with someone.”

“Yet he clearly veered off the trail and came directly here. He had to have seen something to make him suddenly change course. Although why the MacKenzie warriors would grab him instead of the woman they’re after is a mystery.” He laid his hands on her arms, stroked slowly up and down. “Would Joseph have told them what particular skill he held?”

“He may have if he wished to protect his village kin. His protective urges are strong for one so young, and his is a sought after skill.” Anxiously, she stepped back and paced the grass as a hawk swept the air currents high above. “Although no matter why he was taken, the MacKenzies have him and I need to get him back.”

“Not just
I
”—he held out his hands for his clothes and weapons—“but
we
.
We
need to find him and return him to his parents. You’re not alone anymore, Cherub. You have me, and my brothers as well if you wish. There isn’t anything any of us wouldn’t do to aid you.”

“I’m sorry. I misspoke.” She passed his clothing to him, reached up on her toes and kissed his chin. “
We
it is. Thank you, my tempting bear.”

“You’re the tempting one.” He juggled his belongings into one arm and with his free hand, wrapped it around her waist and drew her closer. Smiling, he rubbed his body against hers, his delicious scent encasing her. “I hope you don’t mind. The need to ensure you hold my scent is strong.”

“I dinnae mind in the least.” She slid her fingers into his silky hair, his armful of clothes and weapons now squished between. With her palm firm around the back of his head, she brought his mouth to hers. She kissed him then whispered against his lips, “Be careful and dinnae allow that sword to slice off anything I might find useful later on.”

“Never, and you are such a tease.” He chuckled and kissed her back, his laughter reaching right inside her heart. Soon, they’d complete the bond and naught would ever keep them apart again, not even her earlier resolve to forego all that should be. How she’d even believed that might be possible dumbfounded her. She, the Fae Angel of Love, should have known better.

“I cannae wait,” she murmured as his arousal poked her in the belly, “to join with you in all ways. Thank you for being my mate, and for dealing with my earlier uncertainties as well.”