Chapter 8
“BOATS, BOATS, BOATS. Can’t stay here,” she mumbled as panic took over. “Rory, come on. In the cave, before they reach the shore!”
“No, we have to stay here.” He gave each word heavy emphasis.
She yanked her arm from his grip. “Are you crazy? You saw what they did to those people. Let’s go.” She ran out of the circle toward the rocky cliffs.
He caught up, picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She swore and struggled to make him let her go.
One boat had reached the shore. Several men with torches climbed out onto the beach.
“Rory, they’re here.”
“I know.” He put her down onto her feet. “It’s daylight, Carolyn. This be an island, with practically no trees…nothing but rocks and grass. They will find us.”
He held her face between his hands and looked into her eyes. “We…can’t…leave…the stones.”
The note in his voice and the intensity in his cool blue eyes pushed aside any stubborn arguments. She nodded. He pulled her into his arms with a groan.
Over the sound of lapping waves, they heard oars banging against wooden boats.
Carolyn shook and held Rory tighter. Was this how it would end?
“Oh, King Nemed of the Sidhe, now would be a good time.” He stroked her hair as angry voices rose up from the beach.
“There be two more,” some man shouted. “Shall we set them to burn too?”
Rory shushed her when she tried to speak. He shook his head and smiled as if letting her know everything would be all right. She wasn’t convinced.
“No, no,” said a gray-haired man in monk’s clothing. “Latharn does not want them burned. We be saving these two for a sacrifice at the Abbey. Tie them to a stone for now.”
A young monk with wide brown eyes who looked to be about fourteen years old watched in apparent horror as four other monks used ropes to tie Carolyn and Rory to one large megalith. Was the boy afraid of her and Rory or afraid of what they would do to them?
Her heart threatened to pound through her chest. She wanted to scream, to fight, to run, but she noticed that Rory wasn’t fighting the men, so she didn’t either. What chance did they have against ten men with clubs and swords?
“Bring the chains and drag the other stones into the sea,” the older man ordered. “There’ll be ’nar more devil worshiping going on here.”
“Ow!” Carolyn jerked her hand when the monk tightened the cord. The monk ignored her.
The boy glanced over his shoulder at Carolyn. “What kind of sacrifice, Brother Orin?”
The old monk narrowed his eyes at Carolyn and Rory. “The merrow beast is destroying the newly built walls of the Abbey. Burying these two alive in the footers will banish the creature to the sea.”
The boy’s eyes widened, then nodded, stuffing his hands inside his robe.
These people were crazy. Carolyn twisted against her binds until her wrists were raw. She glanced at Rory.
He was smiling. Did he go mad?
Carolyn swung her attention to the sound of clattering metal. The monks had dropped the chains attached to the stones and stared in astonishment.
“It be the devil and his evil!” one monk shouted as he raised a club but backed away.
Silver sparks like fireflies danced around Rory’s head, swirled around her and Rory like a whirlwind. Then she heard a loud crack like a tree branch breaking in a storm as the ground beneath them dropped and they fell into darkness.
* * *
The scent of pine, damp bark and moss invaded her senses when she awoke. She opened her eyes and looked up through branches of massive trees and a night sky crowded with millions of twinkling stars. The tree trunk she lay next to was as wide as a truck and so were the surrounding ones. Giant redwoods? She froze, afraid to move, realizing she still wasn’t back in the Appalachians.
Too drained or dazed to grasp her predicament, she closed her eyes. She didn’t have the courage to look beyond this moment. Whether dream or reality, she decided not to think too hard, knowing she would panic. Her brain just couldn’t process everything. Was she going out of her mind?
“Mmmm. That feels so nice, Carolyn. Touch me lower,” Rory moaned in pleasure as his naked form curled against her length. She realized her hand was lazily stroking a man’s chest—Rory’s chest. His coarse hair tickled her palm.
Then she realized that she was naked too.
She sat up and covered her breasts and sex with her arms and hand. “We’re naked.” It was her body and Rory’s body, not the bodies of Allin and Bree.
“Aye, lass. And you be touching me like that for a half hour and nearly driving me mad.”
“Where are our clothes?” She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. “And where are we?”
Rory chuckled as he stretched his legs out and rested his arms behind his head. Carolyn felt a tug in her belly. His position showed off his chest and arm muscles. “Our clothes may be back at the Druid’s Circle, I should think.” He gave her a crooked grin. “I don’t know this place.”
“And why aren’t we at the Druid’s Circle?”
“I don’t claim to know how the ley lines or the Sidhe work. Just what is. Make the best of it,” he said softly. “The Sidhe will return us when they’re ready.”
“What do you mean, when they’re ready?”
“If you trespass or violate their sacred grounds, they have ways to punish you.”
“This is punishment?”
“Trust me, they have punishments much worse than this.”
She couldn’t image worse. And didn’t want to try.
She didn’t dare look to see if he was aroused, although she expected he was. A shiver raced through her body and then lust and frustration mixed together until she was drowning in lust and ached to have him inside her.
Whether she was beginning to have feelings of love or pure lust for Rory, she didn’t know, and she didn’t care. Making love might give her some sense of control in this crazy situation.
“How long do you think they’ll keep us?”
He shrugged. “The Sidhe are a strange folk. They are vindictive, but they rarely allow harm to come to humans. We should be safe until they feel we’ve paid our judgment.”
“How do you know we’re safe?”
“I understand the Sidhe. They’ve placed us in a faery circle.” He pointed to a ring of ferns and white star-like flowers. Soft moss provided a cushioned ground cover. “We’re safe as long as we stay in this circle”
“Great.” She wasn’t comforted. Their fate was at the mercy of some mystical creatures with a temper.
“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to,” he said huskily and was as effective as an intimate caress. “Lie beside me. I’ve already seen you naked and you be so beautiful.”
Sighing, she relaxed. At least they were safe for the moment. She breathed in the smell of cedar and earth and his musky scent. A cool breeze tossed a few strands of his hair over his face. His lips parted slightly, and she bent over and kissed him, then she stretched out next to him.
“Ah, that’s it.” He drew her into his arms and stroked her hair.
For now, she was warm, safe and his body felt hard and hot. Desire surged in her chest and spread out and down toward her pussy. His forefinger played at her mouth. She parted her lips and licked his finger with the tip of her tongue.
Groaning, he braced himself on one elbow, leaned over and took her mouth with his. His lips were hot and moist, his tongue forceful and urgent.
His sensual mouth and tongue blazed a seductive trail down her neck to her breasts. So good, so warm, so very good. That was all she would think about now. A heated rush of pure lust, a torturous need, grabbed hold, and she rolled against him, arching her back, giving him better access to her breasts.
He tugged on her sensitive peaks with his mouth, rubbing the tips with his tongue, making her pussy ache and throb.
“Yes,” he murmured as his fingers also pinched her nipples, making them hard and even more sensitive.
“Ohhh. Nice,” she whispered as his lips captured hers and he pulled her against hard, muscular nakedness.
His blue eyes stared at her with intensity and hunger, heat and need. Her heart tumbled in her chest.
“No dream, just us here, between worlds.” His hand slid down to her belly and stopped above her mound.
She raised her hips, urging him on. “Don’t tease me. Feel me.”
He laughed low in his throat. “Not yet.” His fingers stroked her thighs, not closer to her more intimate parts. “I told you the Druid’s Circle wasn’t safe,” he said.
“Yes, you did,” she whispered. “I didn’t listen.”
“Ah, lass. I’m so glad you didn’t. At least this time.”
“I like an adventure, but not quite like this. And the Druid’s Circle isn’t yours, or your forest.” She challenged him playfully.
“Oh, but it is my forest, love, until the Sidhe tell me otherwise. I’m their guardian.”
She ignored that and decided to explore what lay beneath her hands. Digging her fingers into the muscles on his back, she drew him toward her, and pressed her mound against his hardened shaft. She groaned. How was this happening? “Rory, is this real?”
“Yes, it’s real.” His lips rubbed against her moist mouth, parting her lips with his tongue and thrust inside. Then he slowly kissed down her throat toward her breasts.
“Rory. I want you. I want this.”
“Hmmm. You’re an evil one.” He slipped his hand between her legs to taunt her. She writhed with his delicate teasing exploration. She throbbed and ached for more.
“Ah. Beautiful, lass.” For a second, he touched her swollen bud, then returned to her thighs. She let out a small cry. The exquisite sensations made her hot and wet. She had to have more, had to pleasure him, feel him. She reached between his legs and took him into her hand, stroking his thick shaft.
She heard the sharp intake of breath. He groaned and flung one leg between hers, straddling her thigh.
“I smell your desire, Carolyn. I want to bury myself inside you.”
“I can’t take much more.” A jolt of sexual electricity ignited every nerve ending. Her inner muscles clenched, aching to be filled. And with the way she felt now, the slightest touch to her swollen center would send her over the edge.
Her gaze swung up to the tree tops and another jolt of fear reminded her of their predicament. Were they trapped there? What if the Sidhe wouldn’t let them leave? “Rory…”
“Shhh…” He crushed his mouth to hers. His hands roamed her hips, stomach and breasts.
Her fears dissolved as hot breath and warm wet tongue teased around her nipple, then stiffened between the gentle tug of his teeth.
“I have to have you now,” she demanded.
A low laugh escaped his lips while he teased her ear. “I can tell. Let me see how much.” He slid his hand between her thighs, used his fingers to separate her folds and slid a finger inside. “Ah, you’re already slick.”
She cried out and raised her hips. “Oh God, Rory.”
“Yes, lass.” The thumb rubbed her clit and she rocked to the rhythm. “I want to taste you.”
He slid down her body. His mouth and tongue masterfully played with her most intimate places while his finger probed for her sensitive internal spot. Her body trembled, and she gripped his shoulders. He raised his head a moment. Their eyes met. “You okay, love?”
She hesitated. “No, I’m not. But I’m trying not to think beyond this moment, so don’t stop.”
He nodded. “You’re safe as long as we’re together. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Okay. I believe you.”
He continued to pleasure her with his mouth. She gazed at his long dark hair falling over her stomach, his shoulders, then glanced up through the trees.
The evergreen trees were the size of skyscrapers, not anything like those in the Appalachian Mountains. The warm air felt like in early spring and smelled like damp cedar, not cool air of fall or the smell of dried leaves. She sat up and tore her gaze away. No, don’t think. Panic spiraled in her chest to a point where she could barely breathe.
“Easy, lass.” Rory stroked her cheek. “We’re fine. Close your eyes and let me make you forget everything.”
The only thing she trusted was Rory. At least she had no reason not to trust him. She forced a smile, closed her eyes and slipped into his arms. He spread her legs then his hand teased her pussy, a finger slipped between her folds and plunged into her slick channel. Oh, she wanted him bad, wanted the feel of his cock inside her. He shifted position and pleasured her with his mouth and tongue. Her body ignited, so close to a climax. He took her to the edge then backed off. She easily forgot about their predicament and just enjoyed how he played her body, bringing her closer and closer to a glorious release. She had to come, and she had to come now. She rocked her hips, encouraging him to be more aggressive, and he complied without her saying a word.
This time there was no turning back. “Oh, my God. Yes, yes!” She arched her back as her body plummeted over the edge as her orgasm coursed through her body.
“Yes, lass, yes.”
While her body still quaked, she gripped his shoulders and pulled him to her. “Take me, now. Make love to me.”
He knelt beside her, brushing his hair back, while one hand rested on her leg. He swore. “No, lass.”
“What?” She sat up.
“We can’t make love. The Sidhe are tempting me, trying to trick me. If we make love before the eve of Samhain, I can’t break the curse. I want you, but I can’t have you. Not yet.”
She pushed him away and stood. “What kind of game—”
“No! Don’t leave the faery circle.” Rory shouted as he tried to grab her.
The ground vibrated, silvery sparks danced around them. Then the trees flipped upside down and faded into darkness.