Midnight's Surrender

Chapter Three

Rennie stirred the pot of soup, her attention on anything but the food. Dale had asked to take a shower. That’s where he’d been for the past thirty minutes, and her mind had been with him.

She could almost picture how he would look nude, and it caused her heart to pound. She couldn’t stop thinking of Dale, of the way he looked at her with such loneliness and … heat.

It made her stomach flutter just thinking about it. How long had it been since a man touched her with passion? Five years? Six?

Always the stupid visions would get in the way and ruin things. It got to the point that even if she wanted human contact, it was better for everyone if she didn’t.

But sometimes she longed to walk down the street and hold hands with a man, to have his arm wrap around her. She dreamed of waking up in the arms of a man, of having someone there she could lean on.

“It smells good.”

Rennie jumped and turned to find Dale in the doorway. He filled up the space with his broad shoulders and tall form. Her gaze landed on his face, and she sucked in a breath.

Where his beard had hidden him before, now he was clean-shaven. With the beard gone, she saw his strong jaw and square chin mixed with the hard angles of his face that made her all too aware of the man himself.

His eyes watched her carefully, and Rennie had the insane urge to run her hands through his damp, wavy locks before caressing over the hard sinew of his chest and shoulders.

How could a man look so damn good and she not be able to touch him? The unfairness of it all made her hate her magic.

He ran a hand over his clean-shaven jaw and gave her a lopsided grin. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been free of any facial hair.”

“It suits you. You have a face women would swoon over.”

“But no’ you?”

For a moment, Rennie couldn’t breathe. Surely he wasn’t interested in her. Yet, there was no denying she was attracted to him. He had a bad boy attitude, a look that spoke of danger and an untamed spirit.

It was the opposite of everything she was. And she found that more than appealing. “I didn’t say that.”

“Why are you alone?” he asked.

She looked away and concentrated on stirring the soup. “I told you.”

“You gave me an excuse. I find it hard to believe a woman like you doesna have a man.”

“I don’t.”

A woman like you. What does that mean, exactly?

Dale lifted his hands and rested them on the doorway as he openly watched her. Rennie fidgeted, unsure of how to act or what to say under such scrutiny.

“I don’t want to be alone,” she suddenly said, and then wondered why she had shared such an intimate desire with a stranger.

Dale’s head cocked to the side. “Then doona be.”

“You make it sound so easy,” she said and glanced at him. “Then someone touches me and gets a vision. They instinctively know it comes from me and it freaks them out. They want nothing to do with me. Or they get angry because I can’t tell them why they had the vision they did.”

“You were raised as a Druid, aye? Could none of them figure out how to help you?”

Rennie set down the spoon and put a lid over the pot before she sat at the small table. “My mother and aunt tried everything. About eight years ago my mother told me she suspected I was meant to give someone a vision, that it was my destiny.”

“If that’s the case, lass, how can you give someone a vision if you’re up here all alone?”

She glared at him before sighing. “Okay. So you have a point. I just hate the looks I get. Even out here where everyone lives by the legends and myths that surround Scotland and the isles.”

“Maybe it’s because they know you’re a Druid.”

Rennie folded her arms on the table and regarded him. He had been careful not to ask about his vision, but she wasn’t stupid. “You think I can tell you something about the vision you had. That’s why you’re here.”

For several seconds he simply stared at her before he gave a single nod. “You must understand that I need to know why I saw what I saw. It makes no sense.”

“And you need to understand that I can’t help you. I can never help with any of the visions people get. I don’t know why touching me makes people see things, and I don’t know how to shut it off.”

Dale hated how her voice was rising in panic. He hadn’t meant to upset her, but he’d figured his best position was honesty. Now he wasn’t so sure.

Rennie was by turns timid and fierce. He didn’t think the real Rennie had been released yet, and surprisingly enough, he wanted to see the person she kept hidden away.

“Your visions doona frighten me.”

Her brow furrowed before she looked away. “You would touch me again?”

The longing in her voice was nearly his undoing. Dale gripped the doorway to remain where he was. He waited until her eyes—a green so pale the color was barely there—lifted to his.

The grip upon his chest lessened a fraction. It was odd how being with the Druid helped to steady him. He couldn’t explain why, he just knew it for the truth it was.

It made him wish he had gotten to her months ago instead of trying to fight the pull her magic had over him.

“Aye,” he answered.

Her head nodded. “I see. You want to have another vision.”

Originally that was what he wanted. Now … now he wasn’t so sure. “Perhaps I enjoyed touching you.”

The surprise that flickered in her green eyes was nothing compared to the small, pleased smile that tugged at her lips. Dale couldn’t remember doing anything to make another happy. The emotions released within him were strange, but he quite liked them.

Dale dropped his hands and walked into the kitchen to squat before Rennie’s chair. He held out his hand and waited for her. She paused but a second before she placed her hand in his.

No visions assaulted him, but oddly that didn’t bother Dale. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand and smiled. “See? I doona mind touching you.”

The pulse beating at the base of her neck was erratic. The desire flaring in her eyes was potent. His own passion couldn’t be contained, not this close to her. With one tug he could have her in his arms, he could lean down and take her lips.

“Don’t tease.”

“Teasing?” Is that what she thought he was doing? Dale stood and pulled her up with him. “You think I’m teasing you?”

She nodded quickly. “You know why I live alone. You know what happens when others touch me. And look at you. You’re a man women fight over.”

“Aye, I know what happens when people touch you, but I’m no’ having a vision.” She thought he was good looking? That was a nice surprise, and one he wanted to take advantage of. He pulled her a fraction closer.

She went willingly, as if she didn’t know what he was doing. Just how long had it been since she had been in a man’s arms? And what kind of men were on Coll that didn’t see the amazing woman she was?

“I can’t make you have a vision.”

Her voice was low, a husky whisper that made Dale’s balls tighten with need. “Did it no’ occur to you that I might want more from you than a vision?”

“What do you want?”

Dale lowered his head and kissed her. He meant it to be a quick kiss, but as he began to pull back, she leaned up for more.

The desire that filled him was instantaneous and wild. He’d never felt anything so compelling, gripping.

Captivating.

Even as he wanted to give into the raging need, he made himself pull back. He reluctantly ended the kiss, but he couldn’t release Rennie. Her body trembled in his arms as she clung to him.

How long had he watched the couples from MacLeod Castle and yearned to have a woman of his own? How many times had he wondered how it would feel to have someone look at him with love and devotion?

“Why did you stop?” she asked.

Dale made a sound at the back of his throat. His body was asking him the same thing. For once he was going to do the right thing. “I doona want to take advantage of you.”

“Liar.”

He looked into her eyes and became lost. He was falling, tumbling. Plunging.

It was her compassion, her gentleness that had transfixed him.

With a smile she had mesmerized, charmed.

Fascinated.

No longer did he want to lie about who he was or what he had done. If there was a way to wash the sins away, he would do it in a heartbeat.

How could he, who had lived and breathed evil for so long, dare to be in the presence of someone as pure and good as Rennie? He should walk away that instant.

But the invisible ties that had drawn him to her had been fused. He knew in that instant that he would never be able to walk away from her.

“My past prevents me from taking what I want,” he finally said.

She licked her lips, bringing his attention to them. “What is it you want?”

“You. I want you.” Dale stepped away from her then, knowing if he didn’t, he would kiss her again.

Rennie stared at him a second before she turned and checked on the soup, and then keeping her back to him she asked, “Will you tell me of your past?”

“I’m no’ sure you really want to know.”

Rennie served two bowls and set them on the table with bread. Then she handed a bottle of wine to Dale as she got out the glasses. Dale opened the wine and poured it before he sat.

“I can no’ remember the last time I had a home-cooked meal and ate at a table.” He lifted the spoon to his mouth and savored the rich flavors. “Verra good, lass.”

Rennie shrugged, but he saw her smile before she ducked her head. “Are you afraid of what I’ll think of your past?”

“Aye.” He knew exactly how she would respond, and he wouldn’t fault her for it. “But I’m in your house accepting your hospitality. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

“Then tell me of your past. All of it,” she urged.

While they ate, he told her of his family and how his mother had been the most wonderful woman he knew. He told her of entering the military and having an outstanding career. It had been his intention to continue with the military when his mother died.

“I was lost after that. I got out of the military and fell in with a rough crowd. It wasna until two years later that Jason Wallace found me.”

“Who is Jason Wallace?”

“A drough. He unbound my god, and I found myself working for him. His power was immense. I saw him kill indiscriminately, and he made it clear that if I tried to leave he would kill me.”

Rennie pushed aside her empty bowl. “Did you stay for fear of being killed?”

“That and Aisley. She was Jason’s cousin, but he had tortured her when she tried to leave. She was also drough, but Jason had the help of the Devil to increase his magic. No one stood a chance against him.”

“So you helped Aisley,” Rennie said. “You must have cared for her.”

Dale finished his wine and gently set aside the glass. “I did, though I knew she didna feel the same. Jason wanted to rule the world, Rennie. He was in a war with the Warriors and Druids of MacLeod Castle.”

“A war?” she asked with a shudder. “The Warriors and Druids banded together?”

“They were husbands and wives. Each Warrior had taken a Druid as his own, and the combination of all of them was enough to keep Jason from winning. But Jason wouldna relent. They led us into a trap several months ago with beings called the selmyr.”

“What are they?”

“They are ancient creatures that were accidentally released and who fed off of magic—namely Druids.”

Rennie sat back, her eyes wide. “Where are they now?”

“Gone. But during the battle they were attacking us. I forfeited my life so Aisley could have hers.”

Rennie raised a dark brow. “Your life doesn’t look so forfeited now,” she said with a grin.

“I should’ve died that day. I wanted to die.”