Shehadknown that. But did it make it right?
“Aye, lass, it does.” He tilted her chin until their eyes aligned. “Because had you not gone through with it, everything might be different. We might not be here now. You would forever be a faery, and I a husk of what I once was.” He shook his head. “Though Maeve and Cray would have found love for a time, she still would have died. Or, if by chance she never got sick and lived, what of Cray’s destined Broun? Because one way or another, there’s no denying the draw betwixt MacLomain’s and their destined Brouns.”
“Unless,” she replied, knowing it was false even as she said it, “Cray’s like Tiernan and not destined for a Broun.”
“I think we both know that’s not true.” The corner of his mouth curled up, and a dimple appeared. “Though I cannae begin to imagine how things will go betwixt Madison and Cray considering the state in which she already has him.”
She couldn’t help a small smile, well aware he was trying to cheer her up. Something he had always been very good at. He smiled in return, somehow making her whole world bright and sunny again.
“You used to smile like this all the time,” she murmured, touching the corner of his mouth. “I didn’t know until just now how much I missed it.”
Though she was overwhelmed by everything she’d remembered, she was also thankful her memories were back. More so, that by some twist of fate, or transmigration of the soul, the Claddagh ring, or even Étaín herself, they had found each other again.
They had been given another chance to live a normal life together.
“Aye,” he murmured, following her thoughts. “And everything it entails.”
Before she could respond, his lips were on hers again, hungry in a way that told her he wanted it all. Not just marriage but children. Something they had talked about between her discovering he loved her and sleeping together for the first and last time. They had wondered what their offspring would look like. Would their daughter have Chloe’s reddish-blonde hair? Their son his father’s turquoise eyes?
As their kisses grew more passionate, and he pressed her back against the door, they once again wondered the same. Her appearance wasn’t all that different, and yet again, there was nothing to stop her from getting pregnant. A fact that seemed to fuel them as he tossed aside his plaid and yanked her dress up.
Desperate, he hoisted her against the door, urged her to wrap her legs around him, then filled her with one powerful thrust. She half gasped, half cried out in pleasure at the intrusion. At the sharp thrill that lanced her core.
He didn’t take her gently but hard.
Deep.
Again and again.
He rotated his hips enough to wring blazing sensation from her, hitting every spot just right. Bliss ravaged his features. His sweat-slicked muscles flexed as he braced a hand against the door, and clutched her ass with the other.
The way he worked his hips now, sort of half thrusting half rotating, while grinding against her clit, drove her pleasure to a near breaking point. Yet just before she climaxed, he slowed, keeping her perched on the edge. Desperate for more. Panting. Needy. Her flesh hypersensitive. Her body in limbo, craving his next move. A thrust that proved well worth the wait when he slammed into her hard enough to drive her up the door and catapult her over the edge into an orgasm for the ages.
Her body locked up, and her toes curled. She dug her nails into his back, bit her lower lip hard, and tried not to scream. Seconds later, everything let go in a euphoric full-body release of trembling, her inner muscles clenching and unclenching.
With her until the end, he finally let go too, releasing a ragged groan as he throbbed deep inside her. Though tremors rippled through his strong body, he never let go but held her in place, issuing a deep rumble of approval when she milked him.
Eventually, he lowered her, and his lips found hers in a kiss so tender it nearly made her weep. His love for her was all wrapped up in it. His heart was in his eyes when he looked at her. Though he didn’t voice it, she knew their time together, both in previous lives, and this one had culminated in a great love between them.
A love that was old and new all at once.
A love that, based on the way he filled the tub and warmed the water with a flick of a wrist, seemed to be aiding his magic. Which brought her mind back to all things mystical. Strangely, though the stone in her ring had shined the color of his eyes earlier, it had returned to a simple gem.
“Is that normal?” she asked, enjoying the way he watched her boldly now as she undressed. How he even helped her bathe. “I know the stone can fluctuate in color at the beginning, but I was under the impression once it shined so brightly, it would stay that way.”
“From what I’ve heard, it can vary,” he replied. “Though I get the sense ‘twill be part of us closing off our particular Stonehenge.”
“I think you’re right,” she murmured, sensing that as well. More specifically, remembering something. “We’ve been there before...Brodgar Stonehenge, in your current life.” She met his eyes, surprised by the revelation. “Do you remember?”
“I do.” His expression grew unsettled. “My parents were visiting an allied clan in the Orkney’s, and I wandered that way.”
“Because of me.” She became equally unsettled as she thought about it. “I was drawn to it, curious, and you followed me.” She shook her head. “We didn’t go far. It was just through the woods. But you gave your parents a fright.”
“Because I was only seven winters old.”
Their eyes met in concern, wondering how this tied in with everything because surely it must.
After all, something life-altering had happened that day.
