War of Hearts (True Immortality 1)

“I need you.” Thea broke the kiss, panting, as she fumbled for his belt buckle. “I need you.”

“I need you. I love you,” he breathed harshly against her mouth, unzipping her jeans as she worked on his.

Thea pushed them down with her underwear, kicking off her boots so she could free her legs. As soon as they were, Conall grabbed her by the ass and lifted her up against the door. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and she felt him hot against her. Then he thrust in deep with a battle cry that excited the hell out of her.

Thea held on tight, groaning against his mouth as pleasure zinged down her spine and legs. Their eyes locked as he drove into her in powerful, primal glides.

“Ceannsaichidh an Fhìrinn,” he growled against her mouth.

He’d said that before, just before he shifted to wolf back in Germany. “What does that mean?” she gasped as he moved, faster, deeper, harder inside her.

“‘Truth conquers,’ Thea.” His wolf eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “And this is our truth.”

She loved that.

God, she loved him.

“Yes,” she agreed, her fingers biting into his shoulders as his hips thrust faster, more desperately.

He kissed her, swallowing her gasps as she masked his groans, and the tension built and built and built—

Thea froze as it split apart inside her, and she couldn’t contain her cry of release as she throbbed around Conall in delicious tugs. He came seconds later, his roar buried in her throat as he shuddered through his climax.

Surrounded by his scent, spice and earth, feeling his hot breath on her skin, her arms wrapped around his powerful shoulders while he was buried deep inside her, Thea never wanted to move. This was a kind of bliss, happiness, she hadn’t expected from life.

She would fight for it until her dying breath.

“I love you,” he murmured against her neck before lifting his head slowly to look deep into her eyes. That love was open and clear for the entire world to see. “There are no words for how much I love you, Thea Quinn.”

Gratitude and exultation flooded her as she clasped his face in her hands and whispered, “I don’t think there is a word for this much love. It’s too big.”

Pleased, he kissed her slowly, his grip on her almost bruising. When he finally pulled back, it was with obvious reluctance. His eyes turned molten when she let out a little gasp as he withdrew from her body.

“When we get home, we’re spending an entire week in bed. No. A month.”

Thea chuckled as they set themselves to right, unable to look away from each other as they dressed. She loved that to him, his home was already her home. Thea was excited to see the beautiful place he’d described to her so lovingly.

And then she remembered something else she had to apologize for. “Conall, I shouldn’t have asked you about changing me … knowing the risks involved.”

He clasped her face in his hands. “I would give you anything in the world, Thea love, I just … I cannae lose you. And certainly not by my own hand.”

“I know.” She sought to reassure him. She reached out to touch the scar on his neck from the silver blade. “Believe me, I realize now what I was asking. And I’m sorry that I did. We never have to talk about it again.”

At some point they would have to discuss Thea’s immortality and their inability to have children, but it was a discussion for later. For now, they just needed each other. Their bond gave them strength, and Thea needed all the strength in the world to finally face the man who had brutalized her so many years ago.They grabbed a quick bite to eat and then an exhausted Conall slumped down on one of the lounge chairs, his legs sprawled, while Thea sat on the seat next to him. He pulled Thea’s legs onto his lap, her feet dangling over the seat on his other side.

Her seat was next to the wall, so it meant she could recline.

“You should lie down,” she said. The book she’d stolen from Vik rested on her knees. She’d gotten some sleep in the car while Conall had none.

He patted her knee. “I can sleep anywhere.”

And true to his word, Conall closed his eyes, his head resting against the wall behind him. His breathing evened out quickly. Thea watched him sleep, her chest aching.

Hers.

He really was hers.

Wondering if she’d ever get used to the fierceness of her emotions, Thea reluctantly pulled her eyes from him and cracked open the book to a slightly yellowed page.

FAERIE

A Journal by Jerrik Mortensen

Oxford:

First Printed for Jerrik Mortensen

At Oxford University Press, Oxford

1963Jesus, Thea mused. She wondered who Jerrik had in his thrall to get his book published at Oxford University press in the seventeenth century. Someone with a rare first edition had gone on to have it printed again and somehow, Vik, the obsessive researcher, had gotten his mitts on one.