Chapter 41
Collum gazed at the woman sleeping in the king-sized bed. Her hair spread across the pillows in a wave of fire. He lost his breath looking at her. He adored the freckles sprinkling the edge of her nose. Admired her long limbs and muscled physique. Even in her sleep, the woman in the bed exuded strength, ferocity, and a lack of give-a-fuck. He laughed when he saw that she’d worn a torn, twisted sister T-shirt to bed.
She’s nobody’s princess but her own.
He and Mar turned, ready to fight, as the door behind them opened quietly and Domhall walked into the room. Just as quietly, he closed the door behind him before greeting them with, “Well, it's about time you two arrived.”
Collum pushed Mar behind him when Domhall quickly added, “Calm down, Collum, and wake up my granddaughter. Neeren will be here in a minute. His sensors will have picked up the intrusion by now and I'm sure Alex will want to dress before he crashes into her room with twenty soldiers.”
Behind them, Alex stirred, unconsciously recognizing the disturbance in her room. She called out to Collum in her sleep.
Domhall snorted. “It's always you apparently.”
Collum jumped to her bedside, rubbed the wayward hairs off her face. Her eyelids fluttered open. She reached for him and his heart exploded in his chest.
Behind them Mar coughed loudly. Collum scowled at her. Alex bolted awake, dropped her hand and scrambled into a sitting position.
“Collum? How did you get here?” She pulled the covers to her neck. “Domhall? Someone better tell me what’s going on and who the hell the dominatrix is.”
“Dominatrix?” Mar smirked. “I'll have you know I bought this outfit at Holt Renfrew. Love the nightgown by the way.”
Collum snarled, “For fuck’s sake, Mar, can you take it easy on her. She just woke up.” He grimaced at Alex. An apologetic smile on his face. “Hi, babe, you should get dressed now. That idiot brother of yours will be banging on your door soon. Ignore the witch in the corner. She's not so bad, I promise.”
Alex’s punch landed square in the middle of his chest and knocked him off the bed.
“Are you serious? You appear out of nowhere, in my room, in the middle of the night, after telling me to stay away from you, and that's the intro I get.”
“Actually, it’s five-thirty in the morning,” Mar quipped from the corner of the room. “Trust me, I've been up since four a.m. when the big guy there came rushing in to my room crying about how he'd screwed up and might have lost you, blah, blah, blah . . .”
“Shut up, Mar,” Collum bellowed.
On cue the banging at the door started.
Domhall rubbed his hands together. “Oh, this is gonna be such a good day.”
Neeren crashed through the door, half panther, half man and finally—finally, with a hair out of place.
Collum launched himself at the other man. Landed a punch squarely into Neeren's jaw. Smiled when he heard the crunching of fist on bone. Then growled when Neeren kicked him in the gut, knocking him into the couch by the window.
Domhall and Mar moved to the edge of the room. Alex shouted at him to stop beating up her brother while Mar settled into a corner to watch the show. Across the room, Domhall re-sealed the bedroom door, shutting out the guards that were running to help their king.
“He doesn't need your help,” he yelled through the closed door. “It's a sibling argument thing.”
Collum watched it all transpire from the corner of his eye. Absurd. This family was absurd. His punches landed like boulders on Neeren's face and chest. Neeren countered with kicks straight to his torso. Collum punched the man in the face. Smiled as blood spurted out his nose. Nearly laughed as Mar shouted across the room, “I hope you have good cleaning staff here. It's going to take extra strong cleaners to get the blood out of the rug. You and I should definitely grab a coffee with Baileys when we're done here.”
He almost lost it when he heard Alex reply, “Sure, it's not like we'll have anything else to do.” Instead, he pulled himself together and threw Neeren against the wall—smirked when the wall cracked.
“Hey, watch it,” Mar complained. “I'm trying to have a conversation here.”
Collum simply growled at her and landed four more solid blows directly to Neeren's face. Blows that dropped the man to his knees. He might have failed to beat Neeren the first time. It would never happen again.
Neeren raised his hands in surrender. “Enough. I'm not interested in getting knocked unconscious in my own home.” He swiped the blood from his bleeding lip and nose. “You've made your point. I won't get between you and Alex again.”
Collum flexed his fists, rasped out, “Tell your tribe out there to back the fuck off and leave us alone.”
Mar stepped out of the shadows and pronounced, “Wow that was intense. Is anybody else as turned on as I am?”
Domhall burst out laughing. “Come on, kids. Let's go find some coffee and icepacks.”
Mar reached for Domhall’s hand and together they walked past the other three in the room. Collum glowered at her. Glowered at them both. They were bloody ridiculous.
Before they could open the door, Neeren pushed in front of them. “I do not think it would be a good idea for you to open this door before me.”
Collum knew what was coming. He almost pitied the other man. Almost.
Mar shot back, “Watch it. Do you know how hard it is to get cat blood out of suede?”
Neeren’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”
“Si, se excusa. I've had a long night and I could use some coffee amigo, so unless you’re opening the door to take us to the kitchen, get out of the way.”
Collum laughed under his breath as Neeren sputtered helplessly and Mar pushed him aside to open the door to the group of waiting soldiers.
“Hi, boys, say can one of you handsome devils show me where the kitchen is.” She pushed her breasts out a little higher. “I'm, like, super thirsty.”
The well-trained unit, completely lost their cool and stumbled over themselves to lead her to the kitchen.
Collum burst into booming laughter.
Neeren and Domhall followed Mar and the soldiers. Neeren still sputtered. Domhall patted his back, saying, “It’s okay, son. Happens to the best of us.”
Collum assured them he and Alex would be along right away before shutting the door and turning to his woman.
~ ~ ~
“You came.”
“I told you I would.”
“How did you do it?”
“Well, Mar had a lot to do with that. She's actually more of a sorceress than a witch, and a damn fine one.”
“She’s off her rocker.”
“Oh, babe, you have no idea. She’s going to give your brother a run for his money while we’re here.”
“I think it might be good for him. The more I see here, the more I think he needs someone around to mess up his perfectly ordered world.”
Collum picked her up and carried her to a lone couch left standing by the window. He pushed broken glass off the seat and deposited them both on the cushion. He fingered her T-shirt, ran his hands over her waist. “I’m sorry.”
“How did you get here. Why now, Collum? I thought you told me to stay away from you. You were mean to me.”
He pulled her on to his lap. “I was. I didn't mean a word of it. Unbelievably, I discovered I don't function well when I think of you choosing someone else over me.”
“I wasn't choosing another person over you. I was asking for time to figure out who I am.”
“I know who you are, Alex. You are fire and life, and you are mine.”
“I'm my own person, Collum. You need to remember that. Not all of my decisions will automatically be the same as yours and you can't stomp off in a temper tantrum whenever I disagree with you.”
“I know. This thing between us messes with my sanity.”
She stroked his arm. “I’m not all that sane about it either.”
He held her chin with his hand. “Alex, I gave up hope of ever finding my mate. But you're it. You’re her. Can you get behind that with me?”
“Tell me you are sorry again. And that you’ll never speak to me that way again.”
“I’m sorry. Never again.” His eyes burned into hers.
"You’re such a romantic.” She pulled him closer and pushed her hands up under his shirt. “I missed you."
He growled in the back of his throat as he matched her touch and slid his hand up under her shirt to rub her stomach. His thumb gently pressed at the soft flesh of her breast. His black eyes scored hers, telling her everything he didn't know how to say, before he bent down to softly kiss her lips a thousand times over. Tiny, gentle love kisses. He kissed the corners of her mouth. Kissed her nose and her chin. Each of her eyelids. He kissed the top of her head and her neck, and then he kissed her heartbeat.
“This is what I offer you, Alex. A very wise young woman told me I needed to be honest with you before it was too late. I offer you my soul. It is yours if you want it.”
The way she stared at him, he almost didn't finish, but he knew if they hoped to make it, he'd have to be honest about every part of their lives.
“I also offer you this truth . . . When you came to me last night I used the power of the dragon to call you to me. When I claimed you, I bit you. Do you remember that?”
Her face heated. “Of course, I do. I asked you to.”
“I also ingested some of your blood, Alex. For a dragon that is a ritual bonding.” He took a deep breath. Steadied himself for the storm. “In the eyes of my kind, we are well and truly mated.”
She pushed his hands off her body, “Pardon me?”
He steeled himself. “Taking your blood is also what allowed me to find you here. It is the blood of the Parthen that opens the portal to this island.”