Ignoring Thaetus, Septamus pushed Gearlach out of the way andstretched to get a better view. “It looks like she’s taking the hard way down to the caves. Did you tell her they were there?”
“Bloody hell!” Taggart slapped Septamus between his folded wings and stormed out of the kitchen. “I must stop her before she falls and breaks her stubborn wee neck. That woman is a challenge sent by the Fates themselves. She is punishment for all my sins.”
If Taroc NaMor was supposed to be hers, what better way to get to know it than by enjoying a little rock climbing? She loved exploring, hiking through wilderness nooks and crannies. Hopefully, the fresh Highland air would cleanse the disturbing morning from her mind.
Hannah paused in picking a foothold in the jagged black rocks jutting along the cliff’s edge and licked the salt spray from her lips. The wind whipped in from the sea, behaving like a bully trying to shove her off balance. She pushed tangled strands of hair out of her eyes. From this precarious vantage point, the churning, white-capped ocean stretched to the horizon. The waves crashed below, exploding on impact with sparkling fountains of frothy spume.
Gulls circled overhead, fluttering like white ribbons against the stormy blue of the sky. They keened out a warning to her. Someone approached across the ridge of the embankment. She shielded her eyes against the sun’s glare and her wind whipped hair, twisting to scan the cliff she had just edged across. Taggart was there, silhouetted against the sky. Great. He was the reason she came out here. Perhaps he hadn’t seen her yet.
Arms stretched for balance like a circus performer; she picked her way faster through the protruding clusters of rock. Centuries of wind and waves pounding against the volcanic land mass had honed the shores of the cliff to razor sharpness. In her haste, she slipped, scraping her shin but catching herself before she tumbled headlong into a deep fissure, yawning with inky blackness.
“Hannah!”
An irritated huff escaped her. So much for him not seeing her.She picked up a loose rock and aimed for the direction of his voice. Maybe she could fend him off like a stray dog. As she drew back to throw, she teetered and stumbled on the brittle stones.
He closed his hand over hers and curled an arm around her waist. “Now, that is not verra nice. Ye could put out my eye with such a sharp stone. Then how would I protect ye from all the evils of the worlds?”
She blinked and almost lost her footing again. How had he appeared at her side when just a moment ago, he stood at the top of the cliff? With a firm hold on his arm, she shoved away from his chest and peered down into the abyss below. The implications of a fall into that made her forget to breathe. If he hadn’t caught her?—.
Irritation along with a strong resistance to depend on anyone but herself surged through her. She wouldn’t have stumbled in the first place if he hadn’t appeared out of thin air. “How did you do that?” she demanded.
After a glance back up the cliff where he’d stood but a few seconds ago, she pinned him with a suspicious glare. “I thought you said your only magic was healing, not zapping across distances at super speeds.”
Taggart chuckled, pulling her closer while edging them to a more solid footing. “I never said healing was my only magic. I merely told ye I could heal.”
She tried to wet her lips, but her mouth had suddenly gone dry. The steady thump of his heartbeat tickled against her, making her uncomfortably warm. The need to be needed and wanted battled with her common sense. Irrationally, she wished he would hold her tighter. Logic kicked in, reminding her she did not want to go down that road ever again. She shoved away. “You can let me go now. I won’t throw the rock and I’m sure I have my balance.”
“Are ye certain?” He smoothed his hand up the middle of her back, tugging her closer as though she had spoken her needs.
Damn his eyes. She cursed their intense blue depths that shimmered like iridescent gemstones whenever he spoke. His hypnoticlook ordered her to let him in, mesmerizing her into accepting everything he said, whether or not it made sense.
The rock slipped out of her hand. She reached up and stroked the scratchiness of the dark stubble shadowing his jaw. “No.”
“No?” He trailed a hand to her cheek then laced his fingers deep into her hair.
“No. Don’t let me go,” she whispered against his mouth while leaning into him. A gust of wind shoved her closer, as though urging her to complete the kiss. The sea’s cool, refreshing spray peppered across them, but heat surged through her, flooding her with yearning. She deepened the kiss, reveling in it. He tasted of ale, fresh air, and the sea. She molded herself against the hard, muscular length of him. Heaven help her, she risked bursting into flames.
“Hannah.” He broke the connection. His breathing went ragged as he mouthed the corner of her mouth, hungering for another sample of those warm, supple lips. He curled his fingers deeper into her hair, a groan escaping him as he delved in for more. Her soft body tantalized him. The fragrance of his home world's orchids lingered in the silkiness of her curls. The aroma triggered visions of her sprawled across the perfumed pillows of her Draecna bed. This was madness.He deepened the kiss, sensing the need pulsing through her. Her desire called out to him. Urged him to give her more.
The caves. The mineral springs heating the nursery. He would take her to the seclusion of the caves. The tenets forbidding it could all be damned. He would have her. To Hades with the Guild of Barac’Nairn, his monstrous ancestry, and his past. She belonged to him.
He tore his mouth from hers, shuddering as he lifted his head. With her face framed in his hands, he traced a thumb across the irresistible fullness of her lips. “Do ye trust me?”
She answered with a nod, then hugged herself tighter against him, sliding her hands up his back under his leather coat.
“Close your eyes then,” he whispered. He couldn’t believe he dared risk this. But she had to knowbefore.He wanted her so badlyhis entire being ached, but he would not deceive her. Not his Hannah. They had danced around the truth long enough.
He tucked her head under his chin and cradled her to his chest. Merlin’s beard, he hoped she thought enough of him to stay. He prayed she wouldn’t run screaming back across the Atlantic. After a mighty inhale, he turned his thoughts within and removed the barriers blocking his Draecna form from the physical world. As the barricade came down, every fiber of his being burned as though acid coursed through his veins.
Every muscle and sinew tensed, he concentrated on not crushing her in his embrace as he changed. The metamorphosis to his natural form ripped through his tissues like lightning splitting the air. Bones crackled and snapped as wings erupted from his back and opened to the rising wind. He resettled his footing as the ledge started crumbling. It could no longer bear their weight.
She lifted her head, opened her eyes, and screamed.
His six foot four muscular body increased tenfold, sheathing itself in dark, iridescent scales that fell in place like armor. Wherever sunlight hit, he shimmered a mesmerizing purplish black. Retractable, razor-sharp claws extended from his fingers. He stretched his black, leathery wings, relieved with their return. Horns sprouted from his forehead, glistening like polished obsidian and tipped in silver.
“Hannah?”
She screamed again. Fear and disbelief flashed in her eyes.
