“I will be okay,” I assured her, unable to imagine it, but I knew that’s what she needed to hear, so I said it. Tried to mean it for her sake, even though I wouldneverbe okay again if she were with Dugal. I wouldneverbe okay if she weren’t right here in my arms. “You have my word, Ellie.” I cupped her cheek and gazed into her eyes. “But know this, ‘twillonlyever be ye I truly love. ‘Twillonlyever be ye I want life after life.”
Before she could respond with more words that tried to push me into another’s arms, someone I knew would never exist if it weren’t her, I closed my mouth over hers and kissed her with all the love I felt. All the love I would forever feel, and I knew she did the same, as our passionate, loving kiss turned hungrier.
So hungry, I welcomed her when she straddled me, and our kisses grew desperate. When she ground against me, needing more, I freed my rigid cock and groaned with approval as she sank onto it. Her hot, tight sheath felt beyond good, as did thesight of her eyes drifting in pleasure and the sound of her breath catching at the way I made her feel.
Running my hands up her slender thighs beneath her nightrail, I cupped my hands around her nicely shaped backside and relished the feel of her riding me. Stroking me. Making me hers all over again in the best way possible. At first, it was slow and loving, full of kisses and soft groans.
Cherishing every moment for as long as we could.
Then she moved faster, grinding and rolling her hips in a way that felt so damn good I knew I wouldn’t last much longer. Feeling the same, she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and buried her face in the crook of my neck, wanting to pull in my scent as she increased her pace even more. Understanding she needed to be as close as possible, I kept one hand on her arse and wrapped my arm around her lower back, holding her flush against me when she sank onto me one last time, and released a ragged groan against my neck.
Her body trembled, and her sheath clenched so tightly that she took me with her. Releasing the same rugged groan, I squeezed her backside, locking her in position, and let go, pouring my seed deep inside her. Seed that sadly wouldn’t take root, but at least we had this memory. This euphoric, intimate moment as she murmured how much she loved me. How much she would always love me.
Wrapping her up in my arms, I inhaled her sweet scent and murmured the same, never meaning anything so completely. Never feeling anything so entirely. It was hard to believe that mere days ago, I didn’t even know she existed. That my other half, in every sense of the word, was alive, silently loving me from afar.
Yet, as I held her and felt an overwhelming sense of love, I also sensed something shifting inside her that made me wary. Asif she emotionallyandphysically pulled away, even though I still held her in my arms, and I loathed it.
More than anything, though, I didn't trust it, and with good reason.
“Bloodyhell,” I exclaimed when one moment she was in my arms and the next, she was gone. “Nay, not like this, lass.Pleasenot like this.”
Having no need to adjust my clothing as she’d clearly done it for me before slipping away, I leapt to my feet and looked around in alarm, but terrifyingly enough, there was no sign of her.
Nor was there any sign of my Viking blade.
“Why, though?” I wondered, daring not to hope because one of the roles the blade had played in this pact was to telepathically keep us in touch with our lass on Sutherland territory. Yet in Ellie’s case, it made little sense given she could never be mine, so could it be we'd have our happy ending after all?
Unfortunately, as I soon found out, mayhap not.
Chapter Seventeen
–Ellie–
IWASN’T SURE what stirred me awake after hours of making love to Tavish in our cottage, other than it was important. When I realized the Viking sword was not where Tavish had rested it the night before, my heart sank because I sensed this meant our time together was dwindling. After I quietly dressed and slipped outside, I spied a gray wolf pup sitting near the cliff’s edge, watching me with a dagger in its mouth, and knew I was right.
The Viking sword had turned into a dagger, just as it did for my sisters before they ultimately made their way to Sutherland Castle.
Where I thought that might be good because it could mean there was hope for me, given the blade would allow me to communicate with Tavish and the MacLeods on Sutherland territory, the feeling was fleeting as I gazed into Blaze’s eyes. I wasn’t sure why, but it was.
He was taking the Viking blade, but it wasn’t meant for me.
Nonetheless, as our gazes held before he trotted off in a northerly direction, I knew it was nearly time to leave. So I sat on the bench and waited, knowing Tavish would sense I was gone from our bed and come to me without realizing the blade was gone. Then I continued fighting back sobs while myheart shattered into a million tiny pieces as I said my goodbyes, however subtly, and made love to him one last time, knowing I would have to hold onto these precious memories for the rest of my life.
And every moment wrapped up in his strong, safe arms was perfect, until I had no choice but to slip away. No choice but to chant myself into appropriate clothes for traveling. And no choice but to break both our hearts again. I gave him one last lingering look, so I could memorize everything about him, knowing it would have to sustain me for eternity, before turning away and following the same route as Blaze.
Yet I should have known better than to think I could slip away so easily.
Not when I had three powerful sisters.
“Did youreallythink we were going to let you leave without at least saying goodbye?” Aspen said when she and my sisters intercepted me on the woodland path, and my surroundings took on an enchanted vibrancy, shifting me into Willow’s Morrow.
Trying to stay strong, I managed a small, wobbly smile and shook my head. “I guess I thought it would be easier this way.”
“I don’t think any of this is easy,” Willow said, as teary-eyed and troubled as the other two. “There’sgotto be another way. We just need time to figure it out.”
“Yet there is no more time,” came a soft, feminine voice with a modern-day accent, before a lovely woman around our age appeared with auburn hair and emerald eyes like Hazel’s. Smiling warmly, she shocked us all. “Hello, my friends. I can’t tell you how happy I am to finally meet you in person.”
“It’syou, isn’t it, Storm?” I exclaimed, recognizing her even though we had never met, because who else could it be? Seeing her was like reuniting with an old friend, and I knew my sisters felt the same way. “It's really you.”
