SAM RETURNED WEARING a comfortable pair of jeans and a white T-shirt covered by her hoodie. “I’m ready.”
“Let’s head out to the stables. You can determine whether or not Pepper will be satisfied with our horses.”
Sam laughed. “If it’s a horse, she’ll love it.”
The sun was having a hard time peeking through the dark grey clouds overhead, but the morning was still warmer than the previous few days. Kade took her hand and they strolled through the gardens at the back of the castle, stopping for several kisses, then heading toward the stables.
“I’m amazed at how everything is right here within the walls,” Sam mused.
“If you like, we can go for a ride this week outside the castle. Gunnach land is the best in the Highlands.”
Sam grinned. “From the lips of someone so totally unbiased.”
“Of course.”
“I’d love to go for a ride. It’s been a long time.” Sam pulled her hoodie off and tied it around her waist. “It’s turning into a beautiful day. I thought it rains all the time in Scotland.”
Kade grinned and took her hand again. “Give it a few minutes and it will.”
“It’s a good thing you’re here then. I forgot my new umbrella.”
Before Kade could comment, the rain started. Slow at first, but quickly turning into a downpour. “Come on, love, the stables aren’t far.”
Sam paced him as they made a run for the large building in the distance. By the time they made it inside, she was laughing hysterically and soaked to the bone. “You weren’t kidding.”
Kade wiped water from his face and hummed in appreciation. “Och, love. We need to do this more often.”
“How come?”
“You’ve become my wet T-shirt fantasy.”
Sam glanced down and groaned. Her lacy pink bra was stuck to the wet shirt that left nothing to the imagination. She crossed her arms over her chest. “I didn’t plan that very well, did I?”
“I’d say it was planned perfectly.” Kade pulled her arms away and leaned down to kiss her.
“You really are making me want to forget my manners, Kade Gunnach.”
“I have no problem with that,” he retorted. “Come on, we have towels in the tack room, and I’ll have someone come get us. Mum wants to meet with us before lunch. Then, I can show you everything I have on the history of my people.”
Sam followed him to the back of the barn and succumbed to another manner-forgetting moment.
* * *
Kade ushered Samantha into the library and smiled at his mother, who sat by the window drinking a cup of tea. He kissed her cheek and then held a chair for Samantha. His mother appeared unsettled; her hand shook as she lifted the teacup to her lips.
Samantha frowned. “I think maybe you two should talk privately.”
“No, dear,” Alice said. “Even if I say it to Kade alone, you would know immediately anyway.”
Kade sat in the seat next to Samantha and looped his arm around the back of her chair. “I suppose now’s as good a time as any, Mum.”
“I had an affair,” she said.
Kade’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”
Wow, way to ease you in.
Kade nodded.
“I think I should go,” Sam said, but Kade laid his hand on her shoulder.
“You had an affair?” he said quietly.
“Yes. I’m not proud of it. But there it is. I slept with someone other than your father, and Fiona was the result of that union.”
Sam gasped. “Really. This is private, Kade. I should give you two some space.”
“Stay,” he said as he rose to his feet and made his way to the middle of the room. “Explain, Mother.”
Samantha wanted to be sick. Kade had told her that his mother had a big secret she was going to reveal, but neither of them would have guessed it was something so shocking.
“You’re old enough now to know that love isn’t always black and white,” she said. “Your father and I were having difficulties…”
“You cheated on him because you were having “difficulties?” You didn’t raise us to be dishonest, so why would it be okay for you?” he snapped.
“Don’t think your father didn’t do the same thing, Kade.”
“We aren’t talking about his indiscretions, Mother, we’re talking about yours.” He crossed his arms. “Who was the other man?”
His mother shifted in her seat and cleared her throat. “That’s not really important.”
“It bloody well is!”
“I don’t know if you’d remember him.”
“It’s someone I knew?” he bellowed. “When did all this happen?”
“Just before we left Iceland.”
“How long before we left?”
“Just over a year.”
Kade clenched his fists at his sides. “Fiona was three months old when we left Iceland.”
“Já.” (Yes.)
“Who was he?”
His mother pressed her lips into a thin line. “Einar.”
“The blacksmith?”
“Já.”
Kade crossed his arms. “He wasn’t Cauld Ane.”
“I know.” She lowered her head. “He was human.”
“You gave up everything just so you could have it off with a human?”
Sam sat in stunned silence. Did she really just hear him say that?
His mother tsked. “Kadie, it’s not that simple.”
“How is it complicated?” he asked. “You were bound to my father and you had sex with a human. Sounds pretty simple to me.”
“I wasn’t,” Alice said.
“Excuse me?”
“I wasn’t bound to your father, Kade. He wasn’t my true mate.”
“Bloody hell!” Kade picked up a vase sitting on an end table and threw it against the wall.
Sam stood, but his mother held out her hand. “Don’t. He’s too angry, Samantha. Look at his eyes. He’s too strong now.”
Sam looked at Kade. His eyes burned red. Her heart raced as she gripped the back of a chair.
Kade? Honey. I need you to calm down.
He turned his head slowly toward her, his expression one of rage mixed with confusion.
Am I safe?
He stared straight through her, but managed a curt nod.
“He won’t hurt me.” She rushed to him and laid her shaking hands on his chest.
The flame receded and his eyes returned to their familiar blue. His body shuddered and then he wrapped his arms around her and took a deep breath. “Thank you.”
“Better?”
“I think so.” He linked his fingers with hers then turned to his mother. “Explain to me why you joined with someone who wasn’t your mate.”
“Our marriage had been arranged since we were born, combining the Haarde and Vilhjálmsson clans. It was a different time. My father didn’t have much regard for mating. He was only interested in what he could get out of a union between our two families. They wanted peace between the clans. They got it. For a time. It’s why we sailed here.”
“We sailed here because we didn’t want to be under Danish rule,” Kade pointed out.
“Not really. Your uncle had close ties to the Danish crown. We sailed here because of my indiscretion.”
“Were you bound with Einar?” Sam asked.
She shook her head. “I would not have had that power. Only men can bind their mates.”
Really?
I’ll explain later, Kade promised
He focused back on his mother. “Did you know of any human women bound to Cauld Ane?”
His mother nodded. “Yes. Not many, but there were a few. Since Samantha is human, your…” She cleared her throat and spoke to Sam. “Well, you will become Cauld Ane. You will be as we are, and you and Kade will age at the same rate. You will die together because your bodies are one, unless one of you is taken before their time.”
Sam sagged against Kade. This was a lot to take in. He squeezed her hand.
“Did you ever meet your true mate?” Kade asked his mother.
“No. But it doesn’t matter.” She sighed. “Your father may not have been my mate, but he was a jealous husband. He didn’t take kindly to his wife um… svindla á honum… and meant to put distance between me and Einar.”
“Cheating on him,” Kade explained to Sam.
“Ah.”
“I can’t imagine why he’d be upset, mother,” Kade droned.
“Kade,” Sam whispered.
“It’s all right, Samantha,” Mrs. Gunnach said. “He’s right. What I did was wrong and I’ve paid for it my whole life.”
“Why tell me now?” Kade asked.
“Because I believe Fiona’s issues may be a direct result of my sins.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s not fully Cauld Ane. She’s of mixed race, which might contribute to the danger to her health.”
“Shite,” Kade said as he dropped Samantha’s hand.
Sam laid her hand on his back, attempting to keep him calm, but she felt the anger pouring off him and didn’t know if she had any sway over him in this state.
“All this over a bloody human,” he snapped.
Kade’s mother lowered her head.
“I need some air,” he said, and ripped open the library door and stalked out.
Sam stood, stunned.
“Are you going to go after him?” Alice asked.
Sam glanced at her and then shook her head. “No, I don’t think I will. Will you excuse me, please?” She didn’t wait for a response. She headed out of the library and to her room.
After pacing the floor for several minutes, she pulled out her suitcase and threw it on the bed. She wasn’t going to stay where she wasn’t wanted. She threw a few clothes into her bag but quickly realized she didn’t have anywhere to go. She didn’t know where she was, and without Alasdair to call on, she had no way out.
Cole.
She pulled out her cell phone and dialed his number.
“Hey, Sam. Everything okay?” he asked when he answered.
“Hi, Cole. Um, I kind of need a favor.”
“I’m forgiven, then?”
Sam bit her lip. “Yes… if you promise not to try anything again.”
“What do you need?”
“Do you know where the Gunnach Castle is?”
“The what?”
Sam groaned. “Don’t play dumb, okay?”
Pause.
“Yeah. I know where it is,” he said.
“Could you come get me?”
“Sam? What’s going on?”
“I can’t tell you. I just need to get back to the city.”
“What about your boyfriend?”
Sam squeezed her eyes shut. “Forget it. I knew this was a bad idea.”
“Wait. I’m sorry. Yes, I can come and get you. Give me thirty minutes.”
“Thirty minutes? Where are you?” she asked.
“Let’s just say I’m not far.”
Sam sighed. “I should have guessed.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“Thanks,” she said and hung up.
She took a deep breath and continued with her packing. She felt quite philosophical about the whole thing, really. She didn’t want to be with someone who didn’t want her… it didn’t really matter why. Right?
Right.
“Sam?”
* * *
Sam turned to find Kade standing in the doorway. He looked tired, but still, oh so gorgeous.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m going back to the city, then I think I should go home.” She tugged open a drawer and pulled out a stack of shirts.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
She clenched her jaw and set her shirts in the suitcase.
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“Oh, I heard you. I’m just not impressed.”
“Sweetheart, I’m sorry if I scared you. But you must know I’d never hurt you.”
She snorted. “Of course I know that, despite the fact that I’m a lowly human.”
“Samantha.”
“What, Kade? You have an aversion to Cauld Ane and human interaction, so I’m going to make the difficulty easy for you. I’m going home.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Do I? Your mother slept with a human and you’re disgusted by it. You shouldn’t be with someone so much less worthy than a Cauld Ane woman, and I won’t be with someone who doesn’t love me completely.”
“I’m disgusted with the fact she cheated on my father!” he snapped. “It wouldn’t have mattered if the man was human or Cauld Ane.”
“But that’s not what you said!” Sam jabbed a finger at him. “You were so frustrated and angry, you said what you really feel in your heart and I can’t compete with that.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry if I said anything in there that led you to believe I think you’re anything less than perfect. I obviously let my anger get the best of me.”
“I appreciate your apology.” She opened another drawer and pulled out a stack of clothes.
Kade took her T-shirts from her suitcase and set them back into the bureau.
“Stop it, Kade. I’m still leaving.”
“No, you’re not. I’m not taking you anywhere until we work this out.”
She shrugged. “I don’t need you to take me anywhere.”
“You’re going to walk?”
“No.”
He frowned. “What did you do?”
She shrugged and dropped more clothes into the suitcase.
“Samantha?” he pressed.
“Cole’s picking me up in twenty minutes.”
He dropped her clothes in the open drawer. “Like hell he is.”
“This is never going to work, Kade. I have accepted that. I think you should too.”
He grasped her hand and pulled the clothes from her grip. “I’m not bloody well accepting anything that has you leaving. Now, stop this nonsense so we can talk.”
She shook her head and stared at her feet. “No.”
He lifted her chin and frowned. “Sweetheart, tell me what’s really going on.”
“I just think we have everything against us and it’s better to cut it off now. If we keep going, it’ll hurt more.” Kade stared at her and it took her a minute to realize what he was doing. She stepped away from him. “Stop reading my mind.”
“Our children are going to be fine, Samantha.”
“Stop it.” Her resolve crumbled and she felt the prick of tears. “Besides, we’re not having children, so it’s a moot point.”
He held his hand out to her. “Come here.”
“No.”
He took a deep breath and closed the distance between them. “When we decide to have children, and we will, they will be perfectly healthy.”
“But Fiona’s not. She’s dying.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “She’s not dying, love. She just has to be careful. Much like a diabetic has to take their insulin or someone with a bee allergy has to make sure they carry an EpiPen.”
She tried to pull away from his touch. “Stop making me feel better.”
“Call Cole and tell him not to come.”
“I think it might be too late. He left almost half an hour ago.”
Kade’s cell phone rang. “Eymundur? Aye. Hmm, should we let him in?”
“Kade,” Sam droned. “Don’t be difficult.”
“Yes, lower the gate. Thank you, Eymundur.” He hung up and slipped his phone in his pocket. “Time to meet your other boyfriend.”
Sam shook her head. “Oh, you’re funny.”
“You and I have a lot to talk about, eh?”
She shrugged. “I guess.”
“No leaving until everything’s resolved, okay? I have a few things planned for us this weekend, and I don’t want my foot-in-mouth disease to ruin anything.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “How could I refuse?”
He stroked her cheek and kissed her quickly. “I love you, Samantha, you must know that.”
She nodded. “I do. You just scare me sometimes.”
“I’ll try to be less scary. Just don’t run. Please.”
“I won’t run.” She smiled. “But you have to stop hating us humans.”
“Och, Samantha, I don’t. I’m sorry. I was angry and lashed out.”
“Forgiven.”
He kissed her again, then linked his fingers with hers and led her from the room. They arrived in the main hall, where Cole stood speaking with one of the maids. She was obviously taken with him and Cole seemed to like the attention. Sam felt Kade’s hold tighten, and she glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow.
You failed to mention his charm.
She grinned. Did I? How remiss of me.
Kade released her hand and wrapped an arm firmly around her shoulders.
Sam raised an eyebrow. You saw him at the park the day I was attacked, don’t you remember?
Honestly, I was more concerned about you. I didn’t remember him being competition.
Kade. He’s not. He’s a friend. She pulled away and headed toward Cole. “Hi, Cole.”
He grinned. “Hey, Sam.”
The maid glanced at Kade and then lowered her head and scurried out of sight.
Cole hugged Sam and as soon as she broke the hug, she found herself pulled back against Kade. “It’s good to see you again, Agent Drake,” Kade said.
A flicker of surprise crossed his face, but he didn’t attempt pretense. “So you know who I am.”
“We do,” Kade said.
Cole shifted from one foot to the other and then nodded. “Are you ready to go, Sam?”
Kade patted Samantha’s hip. “She’s not going anywhere. However, I’d love it if you’d stay so we can chat.”
Cole frowned. “Sam called me.”
Sam groaned. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have.”
He crossed his arms and glanced at Kade and then back at her. “If you don’t feel safe, I’ll take you out of here right now.”
She realized what Cole must be thinking. Firmly settled against Kade, who looked like a warrior of old, she must appear to be some kind of hostage.
Kade, seriously? If you keep doing that, he’s going to get the impression you’re holding me against my will.
Doing what?
She disengaged herself from Kade and pushed him gently away. “Sorry, Cole. Kade and I had a disagreement, and I kind of made a snap judgment. It was unfair of me to call you, but you really are welcome to stay if you’d like.”
He stepped closer to her. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Definitely. Whatever you might think about him, Cole, Kade would never hurt me, and I’m not one who’d stick around if he did.”
“Okay. I can stay for a bit. I have a little time.”
Sam glanced at Kade. Are you going to be nice?
Kade rolled his eyes. I’m always nice, love.
“It’s almost time for lunch, Cole. Join us?” Sam asked.
He shrugged. “Sure.”
Kade tapped his ear. “That has to be somewhere else.”
Sam frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Cole pulled out a small ear bud and held it in his palm.
Sam turned to Kade. “How did you know?”
Kade put his finger to his lips.
Sam scowled at Cole and stepped back to Kade, a firm indication as to whose side she was on. He wrapped an arm around her waist and waited for Cole to make a decision.
Cole dropped the ear bud in the vase of flowers on the table.
“Anything else?” Kade asked.
“Nope, that was it,” Cole said.
Two men Sam didn’t recognize appeared out of nowhere and flanked her and Kade. Kade waved them toward Cole. “You won’t mind if we check, will you?”
Sam waved her hands in the air. “This all too James Bond for me. You two have your pissing contest and I’ll meet you in the sunroom.” She left them and headed toward her new favorite place to be.