Hot Blooded (25 page)

She gave a tight nod. “Then what do you suggest? Me move in here?”

“I wouldna complain,” he said with a grin, hope flaring in his chest.

She smiled and gazed at him with longing. “I don't think I would either.”

Laith stilled, unsure if he heard her correctly. The longer he stared at her and her smile remained, the more he knew she meant her words. “You do know what you just said?”

“Yes.”

Things were getting much too serious between them at the moment, and if Laith didn't do something soon, he was going to ask her right then to be his mate. That was moving too quick for her. “It was my making you scream. That's all it took to get you to change your mind,” he said with a grin.

Her lips softened into the barest of smiles as she held his gaze with her deep brown ones. “I wish I knew what the cause was, because this scares me.”

“I know.” Laith leaned forward and reached across the table to hold her hand.

“You don't,” she insisted. “I lied to Sammi. I was in a relationship once. I was a year into University when I began dating this guy. We were together for ten months. He was nice, but I felt suffocated, stifled. He wanted me with him all the time, and it was too much. That's how I knew I wasn't the type of person who wanted to be in a relationship. That is … until you.”

Laith squeezed her hand. She was sharing a part of her past that he doubted she'd ever told another person. It proved once more that she was opening up to him. “I doona want to suffocate you, but I'll tell you that I want you with me all the time. I want to know you're safe, and the only way I can truly know that is to have you by my side. But it's more than that, Iona. I hunger for you.”

“You've been alive for how long?”

He shrugged. “Too many.”

“Thousands?”

Laith jerked his thumb upward.

“Millions?” she asked in a whisper.

“Does that make a difference?”

She gave a choked laugh. “I'm sure I'm not the first human you've wanted.”

“A man has needs, even a dragon. I willna lie about that. Right before Ulrik's woman betrayed him, I considered asking my lover to remain with me.”

Iona's dark eyes held his. “What happened?”

“I feared she might betray me. I knew then she couldn't be my mate.”

“Mate? Don't you mean wife?”

He shrugged. “We have a ceremony, aye, but we're mated. A Dragon King has but one true mate. When I began to question her, I knew she wasna the one. My mate I will never question.”

Iona swallowed, her gaze dropping to the table. “Is it this land that's changed me? Or is it my father's murder? I don't know if it's because I know the secret now or if I'm at a place in my life that I can let go of the things in my past.”

“Does it matter?”

“No,” she said with a chuckle as she looked at him. “It doesn't. I feel exposed, as if the walls I erected as a young girl were smashed. By you.”

Laith tugged her arm until she rose and came around the table. He pulled her down onto his lap. “I willna push you on any of this. I want you. I want what is developing between us to continue.”

“I can't believe I'm saying this, but I do as well.”

“That makes me infinitely happy.” He ran a finger down her cheek. He knew this could be all he ever got from Iona. He would never give up making her his, but for now, it was enough. “It's because I'm worried that I would like to bring someone to your place to help keep watch over you when I can't. He's a good man.”

“Man?” she asked with a lift of her brow.

“He's a Warrior.”

“The Warriors again? I think I'm ready to hear about them now.”

Laith opened a bag of crisps and offered one to Iona. Once she had it, he took another out and ate it. “The Warriors began as men, humans. They were part of the Celtic tribes when Rome invaded Britain. The Druids did their best to keep Rome out of Scotland, but they were losing.”

Iona took another chip. “This is where you tell me Caesar wrote history wrong?”

“Aye. One of many times.”

She shrugged one shoulder. “Tell me more.”

“The Druids have two sects. The
mies
are the Druids who use the magic from their birth. Then there are the
droughs
. They give their soul to Satan in exchange for black magic. The two sects didna interact, but with the fate of Scotland hanging in the balance, the
mies
realized they would need more than their magic to win against Rome. So they went to the
droughs
.”

“Wait,” Iona interjected. “Why didn't the Dragon Kings help?”

Laith handed her the bag of chips. “We watched over the fate of mankind, but we didna involve ourselves in their many wars.”

“Makes sense. I'm guessing the
droughs
had an answer?”

He nodded. “They used their black magic and called up long-forgotten gods from deep within Hell and asked the strongest warriors from each family to offer himself up. The gods took over their hosts and decimated Rome in a matter of weeks.”

“So that's why Rome really left?” Iona said with a surprised look.

“The plan was flawless, until the Druids tried to put the gods back into Hell. The gods refused to give up their hosts. The Warriors began to slaughter anyone and everyone they came across. The
mies
and
droughs
then combined their magic to bind the gods inside the men. The men woke with no memory of what they had done as Warriors.”

Iona raised a brow and eyed him. “That's not the end of the story. I know there's more.”

Laith ran a hand through his still damp hair. “The spell to bind the gods was written upon a scroll, as was the spell to unbind them. Supposedly the Druids came to an agreement to burn both so that the gods could never be able to take over their host again. The Druids also assumed the gods would die with their host. In fact, the gods traveled through the bloodlines to the most powerful warriors, waiting.”

“For?” Iona urged.

“There was a Druid, a
drough,
who craved more power than any
drough
before her. Her name was Deirdre, and she found the scroll to unbind the gods. This was centuries later, so she had no idea which families could have a god within their bloodline, but the scroll listed one clan—MacLeod.”

Iona's eyes went wide. “MacLeod? There hasn't been a MacLeod clan in hundreds of years.”

“Because Deirdre found the god. There were three brothers equal in every way. The god split itself into three so that each could have a piece of him. Eight hundred years ago Deirdre released the god within Fallon, Lucan, and Quinn. There was something a little different with this spell, however. It allowed the men to take control of the god if he were strong enough. The MacLeods were such men, and they were able to overcome the evil of their god. They also broke away from Deirdre.”

“There are just three Warriors?” Iona asked.

“No' hardly. Deirdre set out taking men she thought might house a god. Many were killed, and still many more had their gods unleashed. Some were able to fight and gain control, but most gave in and became her followers. The ones who got control eventually found the MacLeods and banded together, fighting Deirdre and any
drough
they came across who meant them harm.”

“That's … some story,” she said in awe. “Does it end there?”

“In some ways.” Laith fingered a strand of her damp hair. “The Warriors found
mies
who they fell in love with and married. Those Druids are some of the most powerful ever, and they were able to hide MacLeod Castle from the world as well as put a protection around it. Because while the Warriors are immortal, the Druids are no'.”

Iona grinned. “That protection allowed the Druids not to age, right?”

“Right. Some still live at MacLeod Castle, but after fighting three different
droughs,
we stepped in to aid them. In doing so, we used our magic to craft rings for the mortal Druids so they could go out into the world and live with their men instead of hiding in the castle.”

“Like you hide,” Iona said softly.

Laith hadn't ever thought of it that way. “I suppose.”

“The Warriors hide who they are in a castle with Druid magic. You hide who you are in a manor using dragon magic. How have none of you seen the correlation?”

Laith looked into her dark eyes. “I doona know. Perhaps we thought ourselves better, stronger, or any number of things. But I see the similarities.”

“Are the Warriors free?”

“In some ways. They still hide who they are.”

“And you want one of them to come here?”

Laith took her hand. “I do. You doona have to have him in the cottage with you, but he can keep an eye on you. His wife is one of the most powerful Druids I've ever known. She was forced to become
drough
to save her family, but since it was forced, her soul remained her own. The power of black magic combines with her pure magic to make her verra formidable.”

“What's this Warrior's name?”

“Hayden.” Laith left off his surname. He didn't want to do anything to keep Iona from agreeing to Hayden's presence. She had taken all he said stoically, but everyone had a breaking point.

The fact that Hayden was a long lost ancestor just might be that point.

Iona laced her fingers with his. “I admit, I'd feel better with someone there. It's just so strange being alone.”

“I'll call Hayden then.”

“What about his wife?”

“Isla?” Laith asked. “She'll come with him. If that's all right?”

“Of course. A wife shouldn't be separated from her husband.”

“Iona,” Sammi said in surprise as she walked into the kitchen. “I didn't know you were here.”

Laith reluctantly rose, setting Iona on her feet as he spotted Tristan. “Sammi, could you stay with Iona while I make a call?”

“Sure,” Sammi said and took his chair.

Laith winked at Iona before he walked out of the kitchen with Tristan on his heels. Once they were out of earshot, he turned to Tristan. “I think it's time Iona meets her ancestor.”

“Hayden?” Tristan asked with a frown. “Why now?”

“A feeling. It may be for nothing, but—”

“No need to say more,” Tristan interrupted while pulling out a mobile phone from his pocket. “I'll call him now.”

Laith stopped Tristan before he could dial. “I'd like to talk to Hayden first. Iona doesna know who he is.”

Tristan nodded and placed the call. They didn't have long to wait before Hayden agreed to come. “We'll meet in Con's office,” Tristan said and ended the call.

Laith and Tristan took the stairs three at a time to the second level where Con's office was. By the time they walked inside, Hayden lounged in one of the chairs with Fallon MacLeod in the other.

“Damn, but you're fast,” Tristan said with a smile.

The Dragon Kings might be able to shift and fly, but Fallon could teleport like the Fae, which made things easy for the Warrior and anyone around him.

The four greeted each other before Fallon looked around Con's office with his dark green eyes. “Where is Con?”

“Lately, who knows?” Tristan said tightly. “He's been gone more than he's been here, and he doesna tell us anything.”

Laith closed the door. “I wanted to talk to Hayden before we went downstairs.”

“About?” Hayden asked with his nearly black gaze locked on him. Hayden's blond hair was pulled back in a queue, the color an exact match to Iona's.

“There's a woman I'd like you to help protect.”

Hayden chuckled. “A King asking me to help protect a woman? Why do you need my help?”

Laith exchanged a look with Tristan. “Her name is Iona Campbell.”

That erased Hayden's cocky grin. He sat up straighter in the chair. “You think because she's a Campbell that I'll say aye?”

“We think you'll say aye because she looks like you,” Tristan said.

Hayden scrubbed a hand down his face, his gaze lowering to the floor.

Laith walked to the front of Con's desk and leaned back against it so he could look Hayden in the face. “Her father was murdered recently, and we think someone might be after her.”

“Why?” Fallon demanded.

Laith sighed loudly. “Con wouldna want you to know this, and honestly, I doona either, but perhaps it'll allow you to see the urgency in this. The Campbells have been guarding an entrance into Dreagan that no' even our magic can stop. A doorway that your father guarded, Hayden.”

“What doorway?” Hayden asked indignantly. “I never knew of such a place.”

“The place where we killed the woman who betrayed Ulrik,” Laith replied.

 

CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE

Iona was wiping her eyes from laughing so hard at the joke Sammi told her when she spotted Laith out of the corner of her eye. She turned to him, still chuckling over the joke. “Hey,” she called.

He entered the kitchen followed by Tristan, but there were two more men with him. She shot Laith a questioning look, but then her gaze was snagged by the last man, who entered and openly stared at her.

The man's dark gaze held a bit of shock. He was taller than the others, even Laith, and held himself like a man who wasn't afraid of anything. Much like any of the Dragon Kings she had met, but there was something different about him. She thought it might be because he looked a little like her father.

“Iona,” Laith said from beside her. “I'd like to introduce you to Fallon MacLeod.”

The other man stepped forward. He had a nice smile, long dark hair, the most unusual dark green eyes she'd ever seen, and a gold torc with boars' heads around his neck. That's when she grasped what name Laith had said.