The Capture of Highland Desire (The Mac Coinnach Brothers) (20 page)

He collapsed down on top of her, sweating and trying to catch his breath, and
nuzzled his face into her neck, breathing in her sweet scent.  After a moment her gathered her in his arms and rolled to his side, bringing her with him.

“I dinna even have words, lass.  But I can tell ye that I could get used to this.  Addicted, even.  In fact, I think I already am.”
  He leaned close to take her lips in a passionate kiss.  “I can feel it.  I will need ye like this forever.”  Dare he say those words?  He had never said them to any woman before, and in truth he never thought he would.  But everything was different now. 
He
was different.  He had found his mate when he wasn’t even looking for her, and she had turned his world upside down.  He was filled till he ached with feelings for her, and he knew exactly what those feelings were.

He caught her gaze and held it, willing her to see truth of his words. 
“I love ye, Allia mine.”

She caught a little breath of surprise and her eyes widened just a little.  Then her gaze warmed and a little smile pulled at her lips.  She reached out to tuck a lock of his hair behind his ear.

“I love you too, Eian Mac Coinnach.”  She gave him a coy little smile.  “Even against my better judgment.”

“
Och, I’m glad ye have such poor judgment, lass.”

              The next morning, Eian dragged himself away from his mate to train with the men of Lochain.  He didn’t want to leave her side; could have easily spent the entire day making love to her in every way imaginable, but he had promised to be at the practice session, and he needed to keep his skills sharp.  Especially now that he had something so worth protecting.  Still, never again would he chide his brother for being late to training.  Bren should have
told
him being mated was like this… not that Eian would have believed him.

Soon the clang of metal hitting metal rang through the practice yard
as sword hit sword, giant claymores wielded like wooden toys by men whose bodies were hewn by years of hard training and battle. Though Eian fought more rounds than anyone else, at the end he remained undefeated.  Not surprising, since the Mac Coinnachs were known throughout the highlands for their unparalleled skill with a sword, not to mention their superior speed and grace.  Grabbing a cloth to wipe the sweat and dust from his face, Eian paused in mid-stride when he saw Allia in the distance, walking and laughing with another woman as they headed for the gardens together, each carrying a basket.  His stomach did that now-familiar little flip and he was sorely tempted to go after her and take her away for a tumble in the grass by the loch, even before he cleaned himself up.  He watched her for several moments, trying to convince himself that he could wait until later to have her again.  He didn’t notice that one of the men he had been training with was standing beside him until he spoke.  God, he had it bad…

             
“She’s lovely.  Ye’re a lucky man.”

             
Eian nodded with a proud smile.  “Aye.  And I ken it well.”

             
He was about to turn and walk away, eager to wash up and then find Allia, when the man spoke again, staying him.  “The laird has been trying for some time to arrange a good marriage for her, but rumor has it he has had much difficulty, considering her history.  What a blessing for the clan that ye have claimed her as yer own.  We all owe ye a debt of gratitude, for seeing past what others would no’.”

             
Eian swung his head around to look at the other warrior, who was perhaps in his late thirties, yet still in his prime; still, Eian had beat him handily earlier when they had fought.  What on earth was the man talking about?  Perhaps it was common knowledge around Lochain exactly where Allia had been all of these years, but why would where she had grown up affect her marriage prospects?  A shiver of unease ran through him.  “What do ye mean by that?” he demanded.

             
The other man looked surprised.  “Ye do ken who the lass’s father is?”

             
“Her father?”  Allia had told him that her mother had died when she was young.  He had never thought to ask about her father, he had just assumed her sire was gone as well, since she was ward of her uncle.

             
“Aye, ye must have heard the story, folks still speak of it even now.  The lass’s mother didna just die, she was murdered.  By her own husband’s hand.  It was said that he wanted a son, to follow him in his dark ways.  The girl was hidden all of these years to save her from her own father.  Sad, really.  Poor lass.  No’ as if one can choose who their sire is, that’s what I say.”

             
Eian had gone motionless. 
Dark ways?  No… no it couldn’t be
.  But somehow he knew.  It was.  He could almost feel his whole world crumbling down around him.  Everything stopped as he realized the nightmare he didn’t even know about had come true.  Finally, he managed to ask in a low voice, “Who is her father?”

             
The warrior shook his head, as if feeling sorry for anyone born to such a fate.  “Och, ‘tis Mored MacReeve.  Poor lass…”

Chapter 11

              Eian felt all of the blood drain from his face even as his heartbeat pounded loudly in his ears. 
No!  Oh
god
no…
How could the woman he wanted above all others be the daughter of his family’s sworn enemy?  The one who had nearly killed his brother Drust and would not hesitate to wipe out the entire Mac Coinnach clan and all of their allies?   Not just an enemy, but an evil, twisted bastard who would stop at nothing to wield more dark power and hurt innocent people.  How could such evil and darkness spawn something so beautiful and good?  If this was true, then Allia was nothing like her sire… nothing… in fact she was the complete opposite of Mored.  She would never even consider hurting others.  Unless… unless he had been fooled…

Icy fingers of dread ran down his spine as
Eian leaned slowly back against the cold stone behind him, his eyes on the ground at his feet, but not seeing it.  The last few days had certainly seemed too good to be true, but did that mean they were?  Was it all a ruse? The beautiful daughter of his enemy sent to lure the unsuspecting younger brother of the Mac Coinnach chief?  Now that he thought about it, it made perfect sense.  His chest squeezed tight and he felt like he might vomit.  Everything that had been so right just moments ago was now so very wrong.  And just what would he have done for her?  Would he have betrayed his own family to be with her?  Probably.  But then, he must have been under a powerful spell, to feel as strongly as he did about her.  He should have known he would never have fallen that hard, or that fast, without some sort of magical intervention. 
She made me believe I had found my mate
… He had known all along that being a mated man was just not in his nature, hadn’t he?  And Leon… was he in on the whole thing?  He was Allia’s uncle on her mother’s side, so perhaps he was unaware… no, he was aware.  The other warrior had just said as much.  Had even thanked Eian for taking her off the clan’s hands.  As his horrified mind raced through all of the possibilities, he heard a voice and looked up at the man who was still standing there, watching him with a look of growing concern.

             
The warrior looked quite nervous that he had said something wrong.  “Are ye no’ well, man?  Ye did ken the story, did ye no’?  Certainly the laird would no’ have…”

“If
ye’ll excuse me”, Eian interrupted absently, “I have some things to do.”

             
He walked away with ground-eating strides, not really knowing where he was headed.  The strange numbness he had felt at first was quickly giving way to gut-wrenching pain, and he moved faster and faster, as if he could outrun it.   

He ended up in the hills, right in front of the cave where he had found that damned charm.  Now that he thought about it, Allia had probably dropped it in there for him to find
, perhaps even on the very morning.  Perhaps the damn thing was even the source of the spell he was under.  Anger flowed through him, hot and thick.  But it couldn’t wash away the burning ache in his chest, the emptiness and hurt that threatened to turn him inside out.  Even knowing who she was, daughter of a man bent on harnessing the power of dark magic, he still wanted her, badly.  His heart ached for her even now. 
Must still be under the damned spell
.  And a very powerful spell it was; it had to be, because he and his brothers were strong enough not to be susceptible to most magical trickery.  He hadn’t even sensed it, hadn’t even had a chance to fight.  Only a very talented spell-caster could have fooled him so thoroughly, even down to the magic of the mating.  It had all felt so real, so right. How in the name of all that was holy could he have been so blind?  He fell to his knees, burying his head in his hands and trying to think.

He would have to go and find someone who could break the enchantment, then he would be able to see things clearly again.  Bren could do it, but Eian didn’t really want to go crawling home to his brother and admit the enemy had used his greatest weakness to get one over on him.  He did still have his pride, after all.  Or what little was left of it now.  No, he couldn’t go to Bren. 

He would travel north instead, a
long the coast and past the Torridon hills, to find his great uncle, Alisdair.  The man was somewhat of a hermit, living alone and honing his Druid skills and knowledge by communing with the natural world instead of his fellow men, but he was also a powerful wizard who would be able to remove any and all taint from his mind.  He wasn’t so sure about how his heart would fare… or his body, which craved her even now.  Or what would be left of it all after he admitted to being tricked by his enemy.

He would have to travel on foot.  The mountain passes were too high and rugged for any horse
. Even Dair.  And he had to leave now, before he could be cast with another spell or tricked in some other way when he was already reeling from the shock of it all.  He wouldn’t be able to confront Allia until he was free of her hold.  It was too dangerous, because he could just be sucked right back in.

Heading back to the keep, he slipped into the kitchens to gather supplies, and then set out for the north.  He did not look back, and he did not say goodbye.  He knew that if he so much as looked on Allia’s face, he might lose himself again and st
ay with her despite everything.  Och, the sooner he was out from under this damn spell, the better!  Only… it had been bliss, and he was deeply grieved to know that not only was it not real, but that he would never actually feel that way again.  He didn’t have a mate, after all.

The trek through the mountains was arduous, but Eian didn’t care.  He needed the physical exertion to dull his constant thoughts, and the undeniable urge to turn around and go back to Lochain.  It took every ounce of his will to keep moving forward.  The dark magic would not win, he told himself.  He was stronger, and he would prevail.  And then he would make Mored pay for using his own
damned lust against him.  Make him pay because he had almost fallen for it.  No, he
had
fallen for it, and now he was handfasted to the daughter of his worst enemy.  He would take care of that little detail when he returned, and Leon would be made to account for his actions.  God, he wished his heart didn’t ache so!

The nights were the worst.  He lay out in the open, under the stars, and slept little, if at all.  He knew now what it was to be heartbroken, and as hard as he tried to conjure up enough rage to cut Allia out of his heart, it was not enough. 
Even though they had been together only a short time, he missed her as if she had been a part of him for his whole life.  He was empty and aching and desperately miserable. 

Finally, he ar
rived at his great uncle’s home on the other side of the mountains, near the shore of a shimmering highland sea loch.  He found Alisdair in the cave that he had fashioned into a home.  Eian had been to this place several times before with one or the other of his brothers when they had needed advice or instruction after their father’s death, but Eian still couldn’t quite believe the man actually lived in a cave.  Even if it
was
well-furnished and comfortable.  He stood in the entrance, shifting his weight from foot to foot, waiting impatiently to be acknowledged by his uncle.  Alisdair was bent over a small table towards the back of the chamber, scribbling something down on a piece of parchment.  When he was finished, he carefully put the quill down and turned around, folding his arms over the plaid draped loosely across his chest, and regarding Eian with a critical eye.

“Come in
, then lad.  Och, but ye look terrible!  What have ye done to yerself?”