First Thirst (Craving 1)

I had been putting on a brave face, but deep inside I was worried sick. No one wants an ancient and fully charged female vamp on their tail. I sure didn’t, and I wanted to free Devin. I said softly, “I am so sorry I haven’t found my grandmother’s portal spell to free you yet. You should have been able to use that portal with me…I thought I could pull you out with me.”

“Nae yer fault, lass, and what ye have accomplished gives me hope, nae dashes it. Ye found a way to create a portal and ye did it with ease. Ye’ll find what ye need to free me. I know it. I have given the matter a great deal of thought in the last few hours. It isn’t a spell keeping me here. Nae. Yer grandmother used a portal, aye, a specific portal that Allora would nae be able to duplicate. She dinnae spell it to keep me here on this side. Nae. She believed once Allora was gone from Scotland, she would return and open the portal to free me. Work on that premise. Go into yer head and find yer grandmother’s style. Find her way of thinking. What I think ye need is to figure out yer grandmother’s way of it…something peculiar to her nature.”

Here was the problem. I had never known my grandmother. I didn’t know her quirks, her likes and dislikes. I wanted to cry.

He must have seen the tears forming in my eyes even before they started to spill because his voice caressed me. “Bobbie.” He put his large palm up to the transparent shield and I put mine up as well. “Before ye do anything else, ye and Jeremy must do the Druid Blood Ward around the outside and inside perimeter of the castle. Perhaps it will slow her down at least.”

“I will, Devin. I will do that with Jeremy as soon as he returns from his appointment. Then I will find my grandmother’s spell and free you. I promise.”

“I know ye will, Bobbie lass, I know ye will.”

~ Fourteen ~

JEREMY FOUND AND CARRIED piles upon piles of notebooks in his arms as he stampeded into the library, calling out that he found them. He dumped them into my waiting arms and said, “Take them to him. Go, go now, Bobbie. I am late and have to run, and will be back as soon as I can.”

I hesitated for only a moment as I looked at Devin waiting on the other side.

Danger! my brain shouted.

You are crossing over into an ocean of uncertainties, but I knew just what I was doing and knew I had to.

The anticipation of being with Devin MacLeod filled me. I have been thinking about him, about his kiss, about his touch, and here I was going to him.

I chastised myself. I was only crossing over to give him his notes. I wouldn’t be there long enough for a kiss.

I wanted him to kiss me again and wondered if he wanted to.

Damn, hot damn, I wanted more than kissing. Why was my libido so out of control?

Jeremy broke into my thoughts, “Bobbie…what is it? Why aren’t you going through?”

“I…” What could I say? I had to create the portal. I had to go through, and yet I couldn’t move.

I reasoned with myself. I had a mission. Get the notebooks to him, get back and work on a spell that would open my grandmother’s portal. But I couldn’t move, and then Devin’s voice caressed me.

“Coom to me, lass…”

His voice was low and hungry. His voice stroked and feathered over my nerve-endings. His words, those simple deeply accented words made my knees weak. At that moment, looking at him, into him, it was as though no one else in the world existed.

I whispered the word that would allow me to go to him. “Ramabien.”

At my back, Jeremy exclaimed excitedly, “Egad! I have never been able to create a portal to another realm. Once, I created one between my office and my home…but this?”

The silver sliver was wider this time when it appeared and as it grew wider still, I put my hand inside. I hugged the notebooks to me and stepped through.

I, however, hadn’t gotten any better at portal landings. I tripped as I tried to find firm ground. Notebooks flew and flopped out of my hold, scattering around us. I was about to go on my face and tried to recover my balance, but teetered precariously.

Devin caught and steadied me with speed and ease.

Our eyes met and held. All I could think was ‘blue’, his eyes were so blue, but in their recesses, reminding me what he was—red flames danced.

That should have dissipated any desire I had for him. It didn’t. Instead, it drew me to him.

I looked at my black boots.

He said, “As fascinatingly in fashion they must be, I would prefer ye look at me.”

My head flew up and I met his intense gaze, but immediately moved away as I bent and began picking up the notebooks.