Worlds of Obsession (Celtic Otherworlds) (21 page)

***

“Bastien?  What’s wrong?”  Her state of languid post-coital bliss came crashing to a halt as she took in his expression.  Far from being pleased that he had gotten her into bed, he looked downright… angry.  She frowned slightly as she studied him.  “Did I do something wrong?”

             
He shook his head, his arms tightening their grip as he slid one muscular leg over hers, drawing her even closer, so that her cheek was pressed against the steely warmth of his chest and the scent of his skin enveloped her.  With any other man, she would have felt trapped and a little panicky at being held like this, so tightly that she could barely move, but with Bastien, she only felt safe and warm.

             
“You’re mine”, he growled, his arms pulling a little tighter.

             
She smiled, beginning to feel drunk with all of the power and musky scent wrapped around her.  “Am I, now?”  Again, so much for women’s lib… she
wanted
to be his.

             
“Yes.  I’m keeping you, Liv.  Here with me.  No other male will ever touch you again, or I will kill him with my bare hands.  Do you hear me?  Do you understand?”

             
“Mmmm hmmm…”  She pressed her lips against his skin, tasting him with her tongue, wondering if all male Demons got so possessive after sex.  He didn’t seem to notice that she wasn’t arguing, and this whole show of raw, primal maleness was really turning her on.  She wanted him again already, even though she could still feel his warm semen dripping down the inside of her thigh. 

For a second she had a
mental jolt of panic… they hadn’t used any birth control.  But then she remembered the whole thing about Demons only being able to have children with a biological mate, and she relaxed again.  Bastien had gone very still. 

             
“There was another man… before me.”  He said suddenly, completely ruining the blissful mood she was still luxuriating in.

             
Liv raised a brow, not sure where he was going with this.  “Well, yes… I’m twenty-six years old Bastien, and this isn’t exactly the dark ages anymore.  Woman don’t wait for marriage anymore.”

             
He reached to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, the fire flashing in his eyes in complete contrast to the tender gesture.  “Who was he?  Tell me who he was because I’m going to fucking kill him.  And then I’m going to make love to you until I am the only one you remember… the only one you will ever want again.”

             
Liv watched in bemusement as he scowled at her, staking his claim like some male beast, and god help her, she liked it.  Her most secret feminine side was practically purring at this display of raw masculinity, because it was sexy as hell.  She wasn’t about to give up the names of her past lovers though, because right now he looked like he really might actually kill them.  She stroked his cheek, and he automatically turned his face against her palm, as if he still craved her touch.  He had begged for her to touch him…

“It’s umm… no one you know, Bastien.  And
please calm down.  I’m here with you now, and everything else in in the past.  Besides, you must have had other lovers too.”

             
He looked taken aback for a moment as he thought about that, then the scowl returned full force.  “That’s different.”

             
“How exactly is it different?  If you ask me, we’re even.”

             
“It’s
very
different, because when a male mates with a female…”  He paused, not believing what he was about to say…
and he bonds to her, there will never be another for him.  He would kill for her, die for her, hand over his very soul for her keeping
…  Right now he was acting exactly like a mated male would.  The possessiveness, the depths of rage that anyone but him had touched her, or ever would again, the urge to take her again and again, and the desire to make her happy.  It was all there, warring within him, and suddenly he couldn’t breathe.  This wasn’t his mate here in his bed, that much he knew for certain.  When he met Karis all those years ago, he recognized her immediately as his, and even if there had ever been a doubt, the first time he kissed her, the mark had appeared on his chest, a biological reaction that proved their compatibility, and promised the possibility of children, a family…

Bastien rubbed at the place he knew the small circle to be
, almost imagining it was burning with accusation. 
Unfaithful, unworthy… 
He was supposed to have died long ago, sharing in the fate of the one he was bound to forever.  Instead… instead he was here in this bed with another, begging her to touch him and enjoying the most incredible sex of his life.  Hell, what had he
done
?

             
Bastien drew in a sharp breath and stood, grabbing his jeans and tugging them on.  He didn’t bother with a shirt, just turned and left the room as quickly as he could, heading straight for his car.  He was an asshole of the highest order, and Liv didn’t deserve the likes of him soiling her body or complicating her life.  He belonged alone, killing the bad guys, and wallowing in his own personal hell, because somehow he hadn’t been worthy enough to follow Karis to the realm of the afterlife.  And he had long suspected that it was his own role in her death that had put the black mark on his soul.  The problem was, now that he had just tasted heaven… his return to hell was going to be all the harder to bear.  Maybe he should just move to the Dark Plains of Anwnn and get it over with. 

Chapter 22

             
And here we go again
… Liv frowned at the closed door where Bastien had just disappeared like a pack of rabid wolves were on his trail.  The guy had some major issues, that was for sure, and while she felt it in her gut that he would be back, it was damned annoying (not to mention a bit humiliating), to have a guy run out on you after sex.  Especially after what had been the most incredible sex… well, possibly in the history of the universe.  She fought off the urge to follow him and find out what was eating at him, but from the haunted look in his eyes, she figured it was best to give him a little time to work things out on his own.  The certain knowledge that he wouldn’t be able to stay away for long grounded her, and she guessed maybe it had something to do with her new abilities as a Fae.  And yeah, she should use this time alone to see what else she could find out about her past.  She climbed out of the bed and headed for the shower, determined to take the search for her identity into her own hands.  Still toweling her hair, which looked lighter in color than it had just yesterday, she picked up her cell and dialed Gran, not really expecting an answer, but hey, it was a place to start.  If any of this was actually true, and the evidence was really piling up, then Gran had to know
something
.

“Hello?”

              Liv jumped in surprise and shifted the phone to her other ear.  “Gran?  Is that you?  Wow, I haven’t heard your voice in months.  Where are you right now?”

             
“Liv… it’s so nice of you to call.  I’m in… um… Siberia right now love, so I might lose signal at any time.”

             
“Siberia?  Really?  Look Gran… I have a question for you, about my parents.  I’m in Scotland, and I was told that…”  Liv could have sworn the sudden static on the cell line was her grandmother blowing into the phone.

             
“Liv?  Liv, I can’t hear you dear… listen I’ll call you back when I have a better signal.  Bye now!”

             
Rolling her eyes, Liv pressed the ‘end’ button on her phone and frowned at it.  Gran knew something, all right.  And no way was she actually in Siberia, either.

***

              Yup, he should have just gone straight to the Dark Plains.  Bastien stepped out of the water portal and looked up at the glass castle looming in front of him.  It was, in effect, the center-point of Anwnn, and served as a meeting place and politically neutral territory, among other things.  If he didn’t hurry, he was going to be late for the meeting, although he was finding it pretty hard to muster any enthusiasm for Guild business right now.  He had taken two days off and gone to ground, so to speak.  Actually, he’d gone to his place in Anwnn, figuring he could use some alone time to sort things out.  He knew he’d treated Liv badly, and owed her the mother of all apologies, but he also knew that right now he wasn’t exactly thinking straight.  He was afraid that if he saw her, he’d cave again, and she didn’t deserve that kind of shit from him.  She was good and had a pure heart, and she deserved a real mate that would love her completely and unconditionally, not some bastard whose heart already belonged to someone else, and still he couldn’t keep it in his pants.  Yeah, he felt like a complete and total asshole right about now, not just because of what had happened, but because he wanted to march right back there and make it happen again.  And again after that.  He had spent the last two nights wide awake, staring at the ceiling,
yet again
, even though he must have finished off at least two bottles of his favorite single malt scotch.  There was no more in the house, or he definitely would have gone for three. 

             
“Bastien!  Wait up!”  He turned around at his brother’s voice, and gave him what he hoped was a smile.  Seig, who was
always
late, had just come through the portal and was jogging to catch up to him.  “Hey Bro… whoa, shit, you look awful.  What the fuck happened to you man?”

             
“Nice to see you too, Seig.”  They reached the glass door and Bastien pulled it open, waving his brother through first.  He couldn’t wait to get this damn meeting over and go back to wallowing in… whatever it was he had been busy wallowing in.  Self-pity seemed kind of like an understatement.

             
But Seig wasn’t one to let things go easily.  “Seriously… you look like shit.  You need to tell me what’s going on.”

             
“We’re going to be late for the meeting.  And there’s nothing going on.  If you don’t like the way I look, then don’t fucking look at me.”

             
Instead of backing down, Seig just came on stronger.  It was one of the things he both loved and hated about his brother.  “All right bro, here’s what’s going to happen.  We’re going to that meeting, and then we’re going back to your place and we’re going to talk.”

             
Shit.  Of everyone he could have run into, it just had to be his older brother.  Seig was over-protective to begin with, but he was like a damned one-male inquisition if he thought he was on to something.  Bastien sighed in resignation and found his way to the meeting chamber, where most of the other Guild members were already seated.  These meetings were held once a month as a kind of update on overall-progress and new threats.  Usually Bastien enjoyed them.  His team was consistently high-up in the overall rankings, and he was proud to be a part of that.  He also looked forward to learning the next month’s list of targets and new patrol areas, even though he would most likely be stationed in Glasgow for the next few years.  The city was a hot-spot for Dark Sidhe activity, probably because of the number of portals located in the River Clyde, several of which were only a few dimensions away from the Droch Fhola realms.  Yup, Glasgow had the highest homicide rate in the UK again this year, and it wasn’t entirely due to human criminals.  Most Vampire related deaths went unsolved and were chalked up to gang activity or random attacks.  Yeah, ‘cause most gang-bangers drained all the blood out of their victims and didn’t bother stealing wallets or jewelry.  Sometimes Bastien still couldn’t believe how blind humans could be when they wanted to, but it was damned lucky for the Sidhe that they were.

***

Seig followed him into the living room and shut the door, looking around in disgust. 
Dirty dishes covered nearly every horizontal surface, and clothes were carelessly slung just about everywhere else.  He’d been in frat houses that looked better.  “Shit man, when was the last time you bothered to clean up after yourself?”

Bastien
glared at him pointedly.  “I wasn’t expecting company.”

“Well, you have it now.  Start talking, little brother.”

              Bastien crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Seig, who promptly punched him in the gut so that he fell backwards onto the couch.  “Fuck, Seig!  What was that for?”

             
“I want to know what’s going on with you Bastien, and I really don’t think you want me to get Father involved.  Erath told me you’ve been acting weird ever since you saved some Fae chick and brought her home.”

             
Bastien’s face drained of some of its color, because their father was one of the last things he wanted to deal with right now, and Seig knew it.  “Damn you…  She’s just a female, okay?”

             
Seig’s interest was obviously peaked, and he sat down next to Bastien as if they were about to have a long talk.  “What about the female?”

             
Bastien sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face, then looked at his brother petulantly. “The one that’s driving me crazy.  I haven’t wanted a woman in two hundred years, Seig, and now all of a sudden… I do.”  He looked down at his hands and said hesitantly, “I can… function… with her.  Completely.”

             
Seig’s eyes opened wider.  It was unheard of that any mated male could survive the death of his female for so long, and in that, Bastien had long been considered a fluke.  Or maybe just really stubborn.  But to regain sexual ability after so long… that was unheard of.  It was the way Fomorian biology worked, once a male recognized his mate, he not only became fertile for the first time, but his body only responded to hers.  It was a complex chemical reaction that no one had really figured out yet, not that many Fomoiri spent their time trying.  They were a race of warriors, not scientists.  “You’re telling me you… had sex?”

             
“Yeah.”

             
“And you… came?  Like for real?”

             
Bastien looked down at his feet.  “Yeah.”

             
Seig slapped his hand to his forehead.  “Okay… now I’m confused.  Why are you upset?”

             
Bastien’s head snapped up to look at his brother incredulously.  “Don’t you see?  I was unfaithful to my mate!  After all this time, I lost control.  I dishonored her memory.”  He turned and drove a fist into the back of the couch, tearing through the fabric and leaving a rather large hole.

             
“Bastien, your mate is gone”, Seig said gently, trying hard to ignore the fact that his brother had just ruined a perfectly good sofa, which he himself had helped squeeze through a portal into this realm with no small amount of effort.  “And up until now, you didn’t
need
control.  Tell me, where did you meet this female?  Who is she?”

             
“She was attacked in an alley by a Droch Fhola.  I killed it, but when I went to wipe her memory, I couldn’t.  I thought she was human, but later I found out that she’s Fae.  She didn’t know that, though.  She had grown up thinking she was human.”  He sighed and shoved both hands through his hair.  “Basically, from the very beginning, I’ve had a hell of a time keeping my hands off her.”

             
Seig sat back and rubbed his chin thoughtfully for several long moments before he said cautiously, “Do you think maybe she’s your second chance, Bastien?”

             
“No one gets seconds chances, not in this.”

             
“Maybe because they just don’t survive long enough to earn them.  Maybe you have.  It’s something to think about.  No one knows how these things work… maybe after a long time the mating bond just…wears off or something.”

Bastien’s thoughts wouldn’t stop swirling around in his head, but one thing his brother had said made it through the layers of guilt and hurt.  What if he was given a second chance?  Could he really afford to throw it away because of something that happened two hundred years ago? 
Karis had been beautiful, gentle, smart and kind.  Liv was all that and more.  She was smart and adventurous, and she made him feel alive.  More than that, she made him want to experience everything anew.  When he was with her, he was… happy, even when he was trying damned hard not to be. 

When he thought of
Liv, not only did his cock rise (that had become just a given), but his chest swelled with something warm and tight.  He wasn’t sure, but he thought it might be… love.  Or at least the beginnings of it.  He had wanted Karis, adored her even, but had he ever really loved her?  There hadn’t been time, though he was sure he would have fallen for her just as hard and fast, because the two females that had captured his heart two hundred years apart were very much alike.  A second chance.  Maybe it truly was… The thing was, he couldn’t afford for it not to be.

“Seig, help me clean this place up.  And I’m going to need a new couch.”

              His brother tried hard to hide a grin of relief and amusement.  “Are you fucking kidding me, Bastien?  I’ll help you clean up, and you’ll owe me one, but there’s no way I’m carrying another couch over.”

             
“Well then, when you spend the night, you’ll have to sleep on the floor.”