Worlds of Obsession (Celtic Otherworlds) (13 page)

Chapter 12

Bastien returned several hours later and found Liv curled up on a big, cushy couch, flipping through a magazine.  She looked up when he came into the room and smiled at him, melting his heart just a little.  Okay that was a lie.  She smiled at him and his damn heart jumped into his throat and his cock snapped to full attention so fast that he was surprised his brain still had enough blood to function.

“You’re back!  Did you get everything taken care of?”

“Yeah, I did.  Did Conan help you with getting some new things?”

Liv
felt the slight blush creep over her cheeks, and she looked at the ceiling.  “He did.  Oh… I made us some dinner.  Conan said it would be all right.  I… I thought you might be hungry when you got back.”

“You cooked for me?”
  Bastien had no idea why that thought of Liv cooking for him pleased him so much, but it did.  Maybe because he had been cooking for himself for so long, or eating straight out of a can.

“Well, it’s only pasta.  I wouldn’t really call that cooking.”

It was in his book.  “Thank you.  I’m starving, actually.”  Bastien followed her into the kitchen and watched as she set out two plates and two wine glasses on a small wooden table that sat against one wall.

“Did you know this place had an entire wine cellar downstairs?  I didn’t even know where to start… I hope you like red.
”

“Red is good”, he muttered absently
as they both sat down and Liv filled their plates from the big bowl of pasta between them.

Liv sat there for a moment, staring at her plate as she twirled her fork in the noodles.  She had been starving only a short time ago, but now she didn’t feel hungry at all.  It was probably the butterflies that had been swarming her stomach ever since Bastien walked into the room.  If she was around him much longer, she was going to end up wasting away to nothing.  But she had to ignore her crush on him for a moment because there were things she needed to know.  Important things.

She looked up from her plate and found him watching her intently as he chewed a bite of food.  Damn, the butterflies got even worse, and an electric shock of awareness zinged through her body, all the way to her toes.  She took a deep breath to steady herself.  “So are you going to tell me
now
why we’re here?” 

He looked back down at his plate and took another bite.  “I told you.  It’s for your own safety.”

“So you said.  But what I’m missing here is why I’m not safe in the first place.  Is it just because of the guy in the alley?  Are you in the mob or something Bastien?”

He stifled a laugh and reached for his wine.  “No, the mob has nothing on me bab
e, I could eat the mob for breakfast.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”
  She had to be persistent or she was never going to get any answers, obviously.

“I know.”

Liv stifled a yawn behind her hand.  He wasn’t going to answer her, and she was tired.

“You should get some sleep, you must be exhausted.”

She nodded.  “Yeah, I am.  I think the jet lag is finally catching up with me.  I think I’ve pretty much been running on adrenaline since I got here.  I’ll just clean up and then I’m going to bed.”

As she rose to clear the dishes, Bastien put a hand on her arm.  “No, leave them.  Conan will take care of it.”

She gave him a stubborn look.  “No way am I leaving this for Conan to do.  I can clean up my own messes.  I’m sure Conan has enough to do around here, all by himself.”

“He has help, sometimes, in the busy season.”
  Bastien got up and followed her to the sink, carrying the rest of the empty dishes.  It felt like such a normal thing to do… share a meal, clean up, get ready for bed.  So peaceful… so precious.  A pang of regret tightened his chest.  This was just a taste of what he had missed out on for all of those years, a normal life and a female to share it with.  Maybe he would have even had a family.  A real home…  But there was no use thinking about it now, and getting all mushy and sentimental.  If a small glimpse was all he could have, then he’d damn well take it and enjoy it, because he wasn’t going to get any happily-ever-afters. 

Liv
smiled at him as she handed him a dish towel.  “I’ll wash, you dry.”

Bastien took the towel and then the wet plate she handed him.  He was damn
lucky the other guys on his team weren’t here, because there was no way on earth he would ever live it down if they saw him taking part in something so… domestic.  But damned if he wasn’t enjoying himself more than he should be.  He leaned closer to Liv to accept another dripping plate, and once again caught her delicate, feminine scent.  His cock hardened immediately, as if it had been trained to some sort of fucking Pavlovian response. 
Ah, god!
  He suddenly didn’t want her to go to bed right away… he wanted to keep her with him, spend a little more time… hell, it just felt
good
to have her near, and he was a male starving for any feeling at all.  So when the last dish was dried and put away, and Liv took the towel from his hand and hung it up, Bastien went with his gut.

“Sit with me a while… there’s a bottle of ’78 merlot in that cellar that I’ve been waiting a long time to open.”

She cocked her head to the side and looked at him, her gaze burning him more than any fire ever could.  “Why now?”

His lips tilted up in a rueful smile
and he shrugged.  “Why not?”

“Okay.”

Bastien suddenly felt almost giddy with relief.  He had won a short reprieve from his loneliness tonight. 

“Have a seat… I’ll get the wine.”

When he returned with the bottle and two glasses, she was curled up in the corner of one of the big sofas with her feet tucked under her.  When she saw him, she shifted in her seat and patted the place next to her with a sweet smile.  Bastien wasn’t sure it was a good idea to sit so close to her, but he found himself settling only a couple of feet away and putting the glasses down on the coffee table in front of them to pour the wine.  He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so nervous, and for the life of him, he didn’t understand it.  He handed a full glass to Liv and she raised it with a grin.

“To my adventures in Scotland.”  She took a long swallow of the wine, and Bastien followed suit.  “Mmmm… I’m no expert on wine, but even I can tell this is good.  Really good.  Thank you for sharing it with me.”

With a little smile, he topped up her glass.  “You’re welcome.”

“So are you going to tell me why exactly we’re here?”

“Eventually.”

Liv sighed and leaned back in the cushions.  No point in pushing the matter, because she was going to find out eventually, one way or another. 
The wine was going straight to her head, and though she wasn’t drunk by any means, she started feeling a little giddy, and definitely a little more uninhibited.  And she couldn’t keep her eyes off the gorgeous male beside her, who was sitting there all tense like he was afraid she might just decide to bite him.  She would, if he would only let her, but he didn’t seem to want her touch.  In fact, he actually stiffened every time she came near.  She inched a little closer, her body humming with the kind of desire you only ever read about in romance novels.  The kind that could actually make you forget all about rules and consequences.  She had never imagined desire like this could be real.  She wished with all her heart that Bastien would just turn and kiss her senseless. 

Instead he tensed
even more and subtlely moved ever so slightly away from her.  Hmm.  Well, maybe he just wasn’t attracted to her the way she was to him, though she couldn’t imagine how
this
kind of attraction could be completely one-sided.  Her eyes flicked surreptitiously to his lap, where a large bulge was obvious even through the tight denim of his jeans. He wanted her, all right, but maybe he didn’t
want
to want her...

She put her empty glass down on the table
with a sigh and stood up.  “Well, if you’re not going to talk to me and you’re not going to kiss me, then I’m going to bed.”  She thought she heard him drag in a little breath as she turned away, but unfortunately, he didn’t follow her.

Chapter 13

Minutes went by, and then hours, but Liv still couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning in the big, luxurious bed.  Since when did time move so damn slow?  Her body and her mind were both keyed up and racing.  Her mind, with everything that had happened over the last couple of days, and her body… well, her body just wanted Bastien, whether or not he was actually crazy, and whether or not he actually wanted
her
.  She felt restless and achy and she kept finding herself staring at the door, hoping he would come through it and… and what?  Be the alpha male that she knew he was, and do whatever he wanted with her body, that was what.  Hey, she could have fantasies, right?  But the fantasies just weren’t helping what had become a very real craving, and eventually she decided to head out for a little walk in the night air.  Her strange obsession with Bastien was occupying her whole mind, when she should really be thinking about other things.  Other things just didn’t seem very interesting right now…

Liv
tiptoed down the stairs and out a back door, closing it softly behind her.  She felt like a child, sneaking out when she had been grounded, but she didn’t have a reason to feel that way, did she?  Bastien hadn’t told her specifically to stay in the house.  Probably because if this was really an island, she wouldn’t be going too far anyway, unless she was going to swim.  The house faced the sea, and she looked to the east, expecting to see the mainland not too far away, but there was a mist hanging just above the water, obscuring the view.  Or maybe it was just too dark to see the shadow of the land above the glistening water. 

The full moon was so bright that
she could see everything around her, though it had no color, kind of like she was walking through an old black and white movie.  Glancing back once more at the house which was more like a castle, she set out along the shore, not intending to go very far before she turned back and tried to sleep again, because she really was tired. 

Just beyond
a narrow strip of sand was a tangled pile of rock which formed a small cliff, then lush green grass, almost like a lawn which extended well into the distance… funny, the mist didn’t seem to touch the island, because she could see a line of trees perhaps a mile away.  But then, maybe the moonlight was playing tricks on her eyes, and they were actually much closer than they seemed.  While she walked, she thought about him.  Bastien.  She couldn’t seem to help herself.  He was still a complete and utter mystery, and she desperately wanted to figure him out.  If she had believed in fate, she might have even wondered if she had been sent to Scotland to find him.  And then there was still the issue of the letter with the address in Glasgow, and she had no idea who was behind it.  But whatever the reason, she was here now, so she might as well enjoy the ride.  It was either that or freak out, and that certainly wasn’t going to get her anywhere.   

“What are you doing here?”

The man’s voice seemed to come out of nowhere, and Liv spun around, startled, not only by the voice, but that she had already wandered so far from the house.  She could barely make out its towering form in the distance.  “Excuse me?”

“I said, what are you doing here?”

Liv turned again, because now whoever it was seemed to be behind her.  And there he was, standing where she was pretty sure no one had been just a moment before.  A young man, no more than twenty by the looks of him, but stunningly handsome, so much so that her mouth actually dropped open.  She quickly snapped it shut again.  He was dressed in low-slung jeans and a form-fitting white tee that showed off a slim but muscular physique.  His cropped blond hair accentuated dark eyes framed by thick lashes.  His full mouth was curled up at one corner as he watched her slowly look him over while he waited for her answer.  He knew he was gorgeous, damn him, and he was enjoying the effect he had on her.  “Um… someone brought me… wait,
where
are we exactly?”  Maybe he would tell her what island she was actually on, then she could look it up later and find out who owned the small castle she was currently staying in.

He ignored her question, taking a few graceful steps forward and tilting his head slightly to the side. 
“Who brought you?”

“
Um… Bastien?”  Shit, she
still
didn’t even know his last name.  She kept forgetting to ask.

He laughed, visibly relaxing
, and making Liv realize she hadn’t noticed the tension he’d been holding before.  “Oh, well… that’s all right then.  We don’t get many strangers here, unless they have reason to hide.”  His smile faded and his gaze seemed to intensify.  “Do you have reason to hide, lass?”

“I… I don’t know.
  Bastien said I’d be safe here, so I’m guessing I do.  Damned if he’ll tell me why, though.”  She nearly slapped her hand over her mouth.  Why the hell was she divulging so much information to a complete stranger?

The man nodded sagely
, a small smile still touching his too-perfect lips.  “Ah… he’s hiding you then, for certain.  Don’t worry, Avalon is as good a hiding spot as any, what with all the magical shields, and the fact that it moves around so much, of course.”

“Avalon?
  Is that the name of this island?”  Wait a minute.  Liv had studied her map of Scotland, as well as a more detailed map of the Glasgow area on the way over.  There wasn’t any Avalon island off the west coast, she would have remembered because she’d always loved the story of King Arthur.  The man had to be pulling her leg.  She narrowed her eyes at him.  “Avalon, really?  As in King Arthur’s Avalon?”

He was looking at her now as if she might not have all her ducks in a row, and he spoke with exaggerated patience. 
“King Arthur isn’t here right now, and this isn’t an island, it’s a realm.”

Okaaay
.  Liv took an automatic step backwards.  Perhaps there was a lunatic asylum around that had recently closed down and let all of the former patients roam free?  Right now, it seemed as good an explanation as any.  “I see...  But… King Arthur comes here… sometimes?” she asked carefully.

The man shrugged. 
“Of course he does.  Not very often though.  Mostly just when he needs a little break.  He’s really busy, you know.”

This was going to go down as one of the stranger conversations she had ever had. 
“Are you a… Fomoirian too?” 
Could be a mass-delusion…

The man now threw back his head and laughed out loud. 
“Heavens, no!  Not that there’s anything wrong with it, if you’re into that sort of thing.  No, I’m a full-blooded Elf, on both sides of the family.  My name is Cyr.  And you…. I’m guessing you’re Fae?”

Liv
realized she was gaping at him, and quickly snapped her mouth shut.  She shook her head.  “No, I’m… human,”

He frowned at her. 
“No, not human.  Definitely not human.”
              He was kind of scaring her now, so maybe she should just play along until she could get out of here.  The man was looking at her now with renewed interest, and she had no idea how mentally disturbed he was.  He could be dangerous.  “Um… how do you know?  That I’m not… human?”

“Well for one thing, we wouldn’t be standing here having this conversation right now, because you wouldn’t be able to see me.”

“Humans can’t see you?”

“No, humans can’t see Elven kind unless we choose them to.  Demons like your Bastien are
always visible in their human form… as are Fae.  How is it you don’t know this… or are you playing a game with me?”

This was getting stranger by the second, and
Liv began calculating her chances of making it back to the house if she turned right now and ran.  At least she was used to Bastien’s brand of crazy.  She took another casual step back.  “Bastien is a Demon?”

The man rolled his eyes at her in disbelief. 
“You came here with him and you don’t even know what he is?”  He raised his chin to sniff the air.  “I can smell Demon a mile away… is there something wrong with your senses?”  He looked at her and shook his head.  “You need to be careful around Demons, lass.  They are notoriously… shall we say,
lusty
.  Insatiable, in fact.  Or maybe that’s why you’re with him… are you fucking the Demon?”  His smile grew broader and he stepped closer, igniting a spark of fear low in her belly.  “Elven kind are much better in bed, lass, in fact our skill in pleasuring a female is legendary.  What we lack in the brute force of a Demon, we make up for in skill, ten times over.  I can show you, if you like.  I can make you forget all about your Demon…”  Suddenly he stopped and his gaze lifted to something behind her.  “Well, speak of the son of the devil, here he is now.”

Liv
looked around to see Bastien striding towards them wearing only a pair of low-slung jeans, looking large and dangerous.  Even from here, she could see that his face was tight with rage.  When he reached them, he came to a halt and folded his arms across his solid chest, his mouth set in a grim line over his clenched jaw.  God, he was beautiful…

Cyr was
obviously not intimidated by the clearly aggressive stance, and Liv wondered if maybe the “elf” wasn’t very bright, because Bastien looked
exactly
as if he was trying to decide which of Cyr’s limbs to tear off first. 

Cyr gave him an oily smile. 
“Have you come looking for your female, Demon?  I’ve tried to keep her entertained while you weren’t here.  You should really keep a better eye on her though.  Beautiful, innocent females are hard to come by and are quite likely to be snatched up by another male, you know, if you let them wander off.”

Bastien’s nostrils flared wider, but he stood his ground. 
“She’s not… my female.”

Cyr blew a puff of air through his lips. 
“Uh huh… that’s why you look so terribly jealous, Demon.  She’s either yours already, or you want her to be.  You haven’t put your mark on her though, so she’s fair game.”

“I’m not jealous
… Elf!”  Bastien roared at him.

“No?  You won’t mind then, if I g
ive the lady a farewell kiss…” With a challenging look, he leaned in and captured Liv’s face in his hands.  Before she could protest, he crushed his lips against hers with an almost theatrical moan, then released her and grinned at Bastien, who looked like he just might commit murder if he wasn’t too angry to even move. 

“That’s enough!”
he bit out through a clenched jaw.  “I don’t want to have to kill you, especially here.”

“I thought you weren’t jealous”, Cyr taunted,
clearly pushing his luck, but enjoying it.
              “I’m not.  The female doesn’t want your kiss. 
T’har cos nam sha shee’aina
.”

“Perhaps not… but I would take stock if I were you, Demon.  It won’t be long before some other male steals her away.
 
Dro’ ben odeain bar’ saccah
.”

Bastien didn’t answer, but grabbed
Liv’s arm and dragged her back toward the house.  His expression was thunderous and his grip was far too tight.  She tripped along beside him, trying to keep up with his much longer strides, but he didn’t seem to notice.  Not her, not anything at all.  But as soon as the door closed behind them, he rounded on her, hands fisted at his sides and chest heaving as if he were trying to control his temper enough to speak to her. 

Liv wasn’t afraid, because she knew on some
instinctive level that he would never hurt her, at least not physically.  And her mind was still grappling with the fact that Bastien had spoken a different language back there, and even though she knew she had never heard it before, it had sounded hauntingly familiar.  “What did you say to him back there?  What language was that, Bastien?”

He ignored her question all together
, but he finally managed to bite out a few words.  “You should have stayed in the house, damn it.”

“I
don’t like to be stuck indoors, I couldn’t sleep, and besides, you didn’t tell me
not
to go out.”

He scowled at her. 
“Then I
should
have.  I thought you were smart enough to stay put.  That Elf could have hurt you!  Elves are
dangerous
, Liv, and you can’t believe a word they say!”

Liv could almost feel the blood draining from her face. 
What if… just what if… “Bastien… what is the name of this island?”

“Avalon.  Why?”

“Cyr… says it remains hidden from humans.”  She was still trying to deal with the fact that the two men had called each other ‘Demon’ and ‘Elf’.  Code names… maybe?  Or not.  Oh, god…

He turned and looked down at her, studying her face
, almost as if he was wondering how much he should tell her.  “It does.”

“That’s silly
”, she said, testing him, but she could hear the waver in her own voice.  “It’s just an island, and I can see it fine.”

Bastien cleared his throat
, studying her.  “It’s a realm, not an island.  And you can see it because you’re
not human
.”

Not human?
  Okay, he caught her off guard for a second there.  She relaxed again.  “Of course I’m human… wait, I don’t even know why I’m arguing with you, because you’re obviously crazy.”  She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.  “All right, I’ve had enough!  Whoever or whatever you are… I want to go home now.  We’re going to get on your jet-ski motorcycle thing and you’re going to take me right back to the mainland.  It’s been fun, but this little adventure is
over
.”  She started walking towards the door at a fast clip, and Bastien sighed and fell in beside her, passing her by at the last moment and turning to block the door with his large frame.