Hugging the squirming baby to her chest, Emma inhaled the intoxicating scent of the tot. Lavender mixed with the baby’s milky breath awakened an ancient longing from the depths of her womb. She swallowed hard, struggling against the magic of the baby’s fragrance and the instincts the warm bundletriggered. Rubbing her cheek against the child’s silky hair, Emma breathed in another delicious breath. She didn’t know if it was the moonlight, the weariness, or Torin’s proximity, but she couldn’t remember ever wanting a child of her own as badly as she wanted one now.
She longed to trust Torin. But how could she? She wasn’t blind. He detested every minute he spent trapped in this world. He would be gone as soon as possible, and she couldn’t convince herself to go with him. How could she ever leave everything she had ever known? Drawing in another shaking breath, she cradled the baby closer as she rose from the end of the bed. “Go to sleep, Torin. There is no sense in discussing this now.”
“We could have this, Emma.” His whisper echoed through the darkness; his brogue tinged with insistence.
Emma shook her head as she strolled to the window, turning so the baby could reach toward the glowing moon smiling down from the blue-black sky. “No, Torin. You are leaving as soon as we finish whatever it is that we’re supposed to do. Now, go to sleep. I’m too tired to argue about this now.”
He blew out a frustrated breath; his eyes snapped in the darkness. Jumping up from the bed, he stomped to the bedroom door, pausing after he yanked it open. “I canna sleep when ye willna see reason. I’ll be outside searching for guidance among the stars.”
“Find some for me too,” Emma whispered over the top of the baby’s head as the door closed with a quiet bang.
Chapter
Forty-Four
She had held the child as though it were her own, her eyes misting with unshed tears when the grateful family had finally eased the baby out of her arms. Emma had cared for the little one for seven days. It tookCu Siththat long to gather the royal Fae child’s scattered kin. The kelpies had decimated the baby’s clan and the surviving family members were few. But the faery hound had finally found them and brought them back to their offspring.
Now she stood staring out the window, her gaze rooted to the spot where the Fae had shimmered back into the mist. Torin’s heart swelled with renewed hope and aching love, the more he learned about this headstrong woman from this chaotic time, the more he decided life might be worth enjoying. Lore, he never thought he would ever experience such a knowing, such a certainty in his heart. Emma possessed his very soul. Clearing his throat, Torin lowered his voice. He hated intruding on her pain. “Ye know ye will see young Alaria again?”
Emma sniffed. She didn’t answer, just pressed her forehead against the pane of glass.
“She needed to be with her people, Emma. They will properly guide her as she matures.” Torin slid his arms around her tensedbody and propped his chin atop her shoulder. “That way, she will never experience the frustration of trying to discover her heritage. She’ll not suffer with the shocking discovery of the truth of her destiny—as you have.”
“I know,” Emma whispered, her voice quivering with raw emotion. “I’m just so used to always having someone to look out for…and now, she’s gone too.”
Maybe now was the time to convince her to travel with him to join his clan. Her acceptance of her fate and control of her powers had grown over the past few weeks. They would soon be able to face Arach and hopefully, reseal the portal. ThenCailleach na Mointeachwould grant him passage across the web of dimensions. Finally. He would be able to shed this world, freeing himself of the constant confusion as though shaking the dust from his plaid. But he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving this reality without Emma at his side. “Then say ye will stay with me forever, Emma. Ye can care for me. I need ye even more than that wee child did. I will always need ye, Emma,” he whispered against her velvety skin. He cuddled her back against his chest.
“I didn’t think you liked it here.” She shuddered with a despondent sigh, pulling out of his embrace to lean forward against the windowsill.
He tensed, missing the loss of her sweet warmth pressed against him. Had he been so transparent in his longing to leave this world? He thought he’d hidden his unhappiness better. Now that she sensed it, perhaps it best if he simply told her the truth. “I dinna belong here. Ye know that full well. This reality swarms with the chaos of man’s bending of the natural ways. But that doesna mean we canna be together.”
Stalling for time, he pulled in a fortifying breath, then his thoughts tumbled off his tongue. “Ye can travel with me across the dimensions. Say ye will come with me, Emma. Pass with me through the veil. We can be happy together in the simplicity ofthe higher level. We can even have our own family.” There. He had said it. Torin held his breath, waiting for her reaction.
She stood as though frozen, her forehead pressed against the window. Had she heard him? Or had her thoughts and emotions drowned him out? Then she stirred, looping a stray curl behind one ear, and ducking her head as she turned. His heart fell at the rejection shouting from her hooded expression. With a furrowed brow, she avoided his gaze, her lower lip caught between her teeth. The woman was about to break his heart. The silence between them screamed her refusal. He could not bear it. “Emma. Ye must not refuse me. Ye know we belong together.”
“I can’t do it, Torin. I’m sorry but I can’t abandon everything in this world. I don’t really understand exactly what you’re talking about, but it sounds too permanent…too unknown.” She shuffled her feet, her gaze locked on the floor as though something extremely interesting was about to spring up from the carpet. “What you suggest sounds as permanent as death.” She hugged herself farther away from him, drawing in a sobbing breath as she lifted her head and finally met his gaze. “I just can’t do it, Torin. I don’t belong wherever it is you’re headed for any more than you belong here.”
His body grew numb at her words. How could the woman turn her back on all they had become? “Then what are we to do, Emma? As soon as we are able to close the portal, I must leave this world.”
“I don’t know.” Emma turned back to the window, shutting him out as she stared out into the gathering dusk. “I honestly do not know.”
Chapter
Forty-Five
His deep breathing fell into a slow relaxed rhythm, barely stirring his warm comforting body pressed against her.Finally.Emma eased up on her side and peered down at him. She had thought he would never fall asleep. His determined cajoling for a promise to join him when he left this world had escalated into a frustrated rant. The only way she had succeeded in silencing him was when she threatened to leave the Isle of Lewis and never look back. When she shouted that threat, he had closed his mouth into a flat sullen line and not uttered another word.
Emma eased in a shaking breath. The warm scent of him fanned the smoldering fire in her belly and the growing ache in her heart. She never tired of wanting him. Torin satisfied every need she had ever dreamt of and a few she never knew existed. How was it that such a frustrating man could set her on fire with just a glance? With the barest of touches, she traced the tips of her fingers along the curves of his expansive chest. How could skin so velvety smooth cover such muscular hardness?
Strands of clouds as thin as worn cotton skittered across the face of the moon. The eerie white beam struggled through thewindow, casting a bluish glow across Torin’s skin. Emma leaned over, closing her eyes as she pressed her face against his smooth torso. How could she possibly leave everything she had ever loved and follow him into the unknown?
Inhaling the spicy scent of his body, she snuggled tighter against him. But how could she possibly let him go and never see him again? Easing her arm across his chest and stretching her leg across his thighs, she forced the worry to the back of her mind. Maybe she could find a way to get him to stay. There had to be something in this world that he would not be willing to let go.
Chapter
Forty-Six
“Imissed you so much!” Laynie knocked the breath out of Emma with a bone-cracking hug as she dove into Emma’s widespread arms. “Geez, you’re getting skinny. Have you been sick?” Laynie took a step back and squeezed inquisitive fingers up and down Emma’s arms. Her blue eyes narrowed into suspicious slits as she gave Emma a playful shake.
