Midnight's Temptation

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Phelan couldn’t believe Aisley didn’t want to stay. He knew she had enjoyed their night together. The mere thought of her leaving left him anxious and … ill. He’d never experienced anything like it before. And he didn’t like it.

Gone was the contentment that had soothed him. Gone was the cheerful mood he had awoken with.

In their place was anger, unease, and sadness.

What was he doing? He’d never had to chase a woman before, not like he was with Aisley. He certainly never had to talk a woman into staying with him. Usually he was the one who left when they fell asleep.

He took a step back, ignoring the pounding rain. The desire from earlier hadn’t left him, but he refused to touch her, refused to let her know how much her words cut him.

Ever since he’d kissed her two months ago at the club he’d known she would change his life. He just hadn’t expected this.

He was done with her, finished trying to make her see him. Whatever had begun between them was over. If she wanted to leave, he wouldn’t stop her.

Phelan’s lips parted to tell her to leave when he paused and recalled how Aisley had opened up to him the night before. She’d told him of her child and her hardships. Why had she done that if what they shared was just a quick pleasure for them both?

She wouldn’t.

He blinked the rain from his lashes. “I’ll drop you off in the morning.”

“It would be better if I left now.”

“Since there is only my Ducati as transportation, and I doona feel like getting out, you’ll have to wait.”

He turned and walked away then before he gave in and pulled her into his arms. Aisley had been hurt badly. The scars from her past weren’t just physical, they were embedded deeply in her very being.

Since he wasn’t sure whether to give up on her or not, he wasn’t ready for her to leave. The rain gave him the perfect excuse to keep her with him a little longer.

Phelan turned back to the house and walked to the porch where he gathered his discarded clothes. A few minutes earlier he had been anticipating Aisley’s body in his arms again. And just like before, he was headed for a cold shower.

He didn’t look behind him to see if she followed. The keys to the Ducati were with him, and he seriously doubted if she would take off in such a storm.

Once inside, he chanced a look through the windows and spotted Aisley with her arms wrapped around her and her head hanging down.

Phelan continued into his room where he positioned himself to look out the window at her. “Come inside,” he urged her.

If she walked away now, he would let her leave for good. Or he would try. He had tasted her, knew her wonderful body and what it felt like to be inside her. Phelan wanted her again. This insatiable hunger for her alarmed him, but not enough to make him run.

“Trust me, Aisley,” he said.

When she started toward the house, he let out a sigh before he walked into the bathroom and turned on his cold shower.

MacLeod Castle

Larena stood in the dark with her arms crossed over her chest staring out one of the large windows in the bedchamber she shared with Fallon. Since neither she nor Fallon were Druids, they had no sense when the other left.

Yet, she’d known the moment he departed the castle.

She hadn’t gone looking to see who else left with him. She knew who the other culprits were. Larena was furious with her husband, but the melancholy that had taken her wouldn’t allow her to show it.

A glance at the digital clock on the bedside table showed it was 4:16 in the morning. Fallon had been gone for over five hours.

Her enhanced hearing picked up a scrape of a chair on the stones downstairs. They were back. How long would Fallon sit with his brothers and talk before he made his way up to their room?

A year ago Larena would have gone down to him and given them all an earful.

A year ago she would’ve confronted him the first night he left her bed without telling her where he was going.

A year ago she would have demanded to go with him.

She no longer knew the person she was. What confused her more each day was why none of the Druids were as upset about not being able to start families as she was.

Many times she evaluated her need. She wasn’t sure why the need to have children was so strong when she’d been—not exactly content, but understanding—about having to wait four centuries.

She could only surmise that after Declan’s demise, she had a year where she thought she and Fallon could begin their family.

Then the search for the spell to bind their gods had taken precedence. Now there was another drough to fight.

The door to the bedroom opened. She knew the sound of Fallon’s footfalls as well as she knew her own. He paused for just a moment before he closed the door and walked toward her.

“Baby, what are you doing out of bed?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

“How many more nights are you, Lucan, and Quinn going to search for Jason? How many more nights do you think can pass before the other Warriors learn what you three have been about?”

There was a soft sigh before Fallon said, “I doona know. How long have you known?”

“From that first night.”

“Why have you no’ said anything?”

She shrugged, since she had no response.

It didn’t surprise her when Fallon turned her to face him. His forehead was deeply furrowed as he looked at her. “You’re no’ angry.”

There was no need to answer, since his words weren’t a question.

“Why?”

She dropped her arms to her sides and wearily inhaled. “I don’t have an answer. I should. Something is wrong, Fallon. I’m not myself. It’s not just the fact we’re putting off having children again. It’s more. It’s as if part of me is missing.”

“For how long has this been going on?”

“Since I died this last time.”

He pulled her against him and rested his chin atop her head. “We’ll figure it out, love. I promise.”

“I fear there isn’t an answer. I should be yelling at you for searching for Jason on your own. Yet, I’m not. It’s like there’s some kind of … veil,” she said for lack of a better word, “that’s covering me. It’s dulling the world. I find no happiness, no laughter, no joy in life.”

“We need to talk to Charon then.” Fallon rubbed his hands up and down her back. “He died from the X90s as well before we could bring him back.”

She lifted her head to look into the deep green eyes of her husband. “The difference is he was brought back by healing magic. I wasn’t.”

“Then what brought you back to me?”

“I don’t know. I was dead. We both know that, though we’ve never spoken of it. You never asked what it was like.”

“Because I refuse to believe I truly lost you. You came back to me, so you couldna have been as dead as you think you were.”

She grinned and stepped out of his arms. “We had Jason to battle, so I allowed you to ignore the fact that I had truly died. Not come close as I have before, but died, Fallon. You know it. There was nothing the Druids could do to heal more, and no amount of Warrior blood reversed what the X90 did.”

“Stop,” he said and turned away.

Larena understood then that she had done wrong by letting Fallon ignore the truth. Everyone had. She’d been so happy to be back that she hadn’t wanted to question it.

However, that’s all she’d been able to do for the past several months. If she had been dead, just who had brought her back? And why?

“No,” she stated. “I’ll not stop now. We need to address this. All of us, not just you and me. If this happened to me, it could happen to one of the others. Charon might not have spoken to you about it, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”

Fallon raked a hand down his face and turned to lean against a chair. He propped his hands on the chair back and shook his head. “You know I’ll do anything for you.”

“I know.”

“What is it you need?”

“This damned depression is like mud. I’m knee-deep in it and can’t get out. I haven’t the will to fight it.”

“Then let me.”

Her heart fluttered as it always did when he looked at her with longing, love, and desire. A tear fell down her cheek. “I’m a Warrior. I should be able to do this on my own.”

“Warrior or no’, you’re my wife, Larena MacLeod. We stand together, fighting, loving, and living. I’ve faltered in my promise to you. I’ll no’ falter again.”

She let the thin straps of her silk gown fall down her shoulders. With just a little wiggle of her hips, the gown pooled at her feet.

“Then start by making love to me.”

Fallon straightened and yanked her against him. “I doona need to be told twice.”

They shared a smile before he kissed her, backing her to the bed as he did.