“I CANNAE TAKE THIS MUCH longer, lass…ye have to find a way to release me now that ye are in such danger!” Devin was beside himself as he paced at the barrier. “Ancient vampires, and out of all the wolf shifters ye had to come across, the Wellsly pack is the most powerful. Hawkeye has a reputation amongst Lycans and Shifters both. He holds the line and the wolves all respect him. If he threatened ye, he will back it up.”
For some time now I had been trying to calm him down after Jeremy brought him up to date on what had occurred, and then promptly left because of an appointment he had to attend.
Devin was in a state and would not be talked down.
“Devin, there is nothing we can do about all of this. We are already in it up to our eyeballs. Allora will come here eventually, and we have to find a way of stopping her. In the meantime, I am working on finding the spell to free you, I swear I am,” I told him.
“Nae, ye are doing everything but looking for the spell. What have ye done today to find the answer to m’problem? Eh, nae…lass. Ye go off to a Witching Wall—ye take on a Dark Warlock, and then a powerful Alpha Shifter. Ye have to stay put and figure out how to release me. I cannae stand here like a fool while ye are being attacked from all sides!”
He was right, and I felt a twinge of shame. I had gotten sidetracked.
I did need to free him, but I also had to find a way to keep Allora from entering MacLeod at will. As far as a Dark Warlock, well, that was about to be easily solved.
I opened the portal to Trinity with a thought and stepped through, totally aware and just a bit proud that my skills were becoming fine-tuned.
I scarcely had a moment to suck in air, or say a word, before Devin took me into his arms and held me, just held me like he would never let me go.
His voice was tortured against the side of my head as he bent to fold me into his embrace. “Bobbie lass, ye have nae notion of what I suffer on this side. I have a mind to keep ye here, chained if I must…if only to…”
“Don’t even think about doing something like that,” I cut in sharply, and pushed off him. I stepped away and wagged a finger. “You know me well enough to know how angry I would be and how I will escape, and when I do, I won’t come back…and I will no longer trust you.”
“Nae, lass…dinnae say that to me.” His voice was hoarse and I knew he was anguished.
“I won’t say it, as long as you don’t even think about trying to keep me against my will!”
I was upset. He was a dominant male, I und
erstood that. I knew the alpha in him was in agony because he felt helpless to keep me safe, and so I gave him some leeway—not much. I eyed him grimly so he would understand how upsetting this was for me.
His response was to pin me against the invisible barrier at my back. His lips took mine with desperation and I felt his vampire heart pulse against my heart, and my heart ached for him. I had to free him. This was tearing him apart.
His kiss took me to the wishing well of dreams. My dream? Oh, but there it was, laid out in Technicolor. I wanted him for all time. Yes, he was a vampire. What did that matter to me? It didn’t any longer. Yes, I was a witch and supposedly, at least from all I had heard, witches and vamps don’t work well together—like oil and water. That was the rule, but I have always believed in exceptions to the rule.
I somehow found the strength to push him off. It isn’t that he was forcing his kisses on me. He wasn’t, he doesn’t. That isn’t Devin’s style. He is all that is gentle and yet passionate in one fell swoop, but he would never force himself on me…or any woman.
Damn, but looking into his blue eyes with their deep amber centers, I was drawn to him in so many ways. Yes, to his sexy self…yes, to his alpha male…yes, to his protective aura, but no, I would not lose myself in him.
He immediately released me and waited, and I saw it all in that moment, saw how very much I loved him. For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
“What is it, lass?”
“Kissing me now…” I managed to say, “is not the answer to our problem.” I took hold of his big biceps and for a moment, my brain told me I was wrong and kissing him now was very much the answer. I had to force myself back on track.
“‘Tis the answer to mine.” He grinned like a boy.
I laughed, how could I not with him looking like that, but I wagged a finger. “Devin, Jeremy told you we met Beyland, and I have to give him something to stall him.”
“Aye, I know…coom with me to the cottage and I’ll give ye what ye need,” he said.
I eyed him suspiciously and said, “I am not staying.”
“Nae, nae if ye wish otherwise, lass,” he said, and took my hand to his lips. “Coom then.”
We passed through the jungle, the grassy fields, the woods, and arrived ten minutes later at the small clearing where his lovely cottage reposed. He hadn’t taken me there vampire speed, but had preferred to walk with me, holding my hand, talking as though everything was normal, as though we were normal…and it felt so good and right. Normal was something we would never have, but when we are together, we create our own projection of normal.
He stopped on the front porch and dropped my hand. “Do ye prefer to wait out here, lass, and I’ll fetch ye the first pages of m’notes?”
“No, I can come in, and if you have something to eat, you can feed me. I am starving,” I told him, and I was. I came straight to him without stopping to eat.