“I know,mo leath eile.”He wrapped her in his arms again and urged her to rest her head against his shoulder. Let her cry for the children they would never have. The experience of holding a child in her womb, then in her arms, for the first time.
Eventually, her tears faded, and she found a sense of peace. Well-being, she realized she had never truly found until now. Not until she found closure in his arms. Discovered happiness with him despite how sad the ending.
“Thank you for that,” she murmured and met his eyes. “For being okay with me how I am. What I will and won’t be able to offer you in whatever amount of time we have together.”
“’Tis me who should be thankful.” He dropped a small kiss on her mouth. Then another and another. “Because I feel more by the moment how much ye gave me in our last life.” He kissed her a little more deeply. “How much ye’ve given me in this one over the years.” His voice grew guttural. His renewed arousal inside her grew more apparent. “How much ye continue to give me.”
He started to go on, but she kissed him before he could. Kissed him so deeply passion roared up, and talking became the last thing either were capable of. Instead, they grew frenzied. Desperate as though they hadn’t just fulfilled each other. He chanted away the remainder of his clothes, wrapped the fur around her shoulders, then stood and walked until her back hit the stone wall.
This time he took control when he braced a hand above her head, hoisted her higher until her legs wrapped firmly around his waist, and thrust. Time and time again, driving her to peak over and over before he lowered her to a fur on the ground and moved even faster. Harder. Until he jerked against her and roared his release. That alone, his primal response, made her let go yet again in an orgasm that washed over her in waves.
Slow, easy waves that made her so relaxed, she was barely aware of him pulling her into his arms and covering her with another fur. Hardly aware she’d drifted off until she released an ear-piercing wail that snapped her awake.
Or so she thought she was awake until she realized the wail came from her in what had to be a dream. Better yet, a memory. Moreover, that she was inside a very pregnant body and clearly getting ready to give birth.
“Shh, lass, ‘tis all right.” A cool, comforting hand rested against her forehead. “’Twill be tempting, but ye must not embrace yer magic to ease the pain lest yer druid sisters sense it even from here.”
Shannon startled when she realized the soothing brogue belonged to none other than Liam’s brother, Adlin. Yet despite being inside her former self, she felt like she was on the outside looking in. Unable to speak to him as Shannon but still feel what her incarnate felt.
Know him as her incarnate had.
Not as Liam’s brother but as a wizard born of a druidess himself. A wizard who had come to her aid when she needed him most. Who had protected her and tucked her safely away through her pregnancy.
Not in her time, she realized, but in another era.
Then, even more came to her.
“She found out,” Shannon gasped, then roared when a labor pain hit her. Roared in fury. “Siobhán found out I was pregnant.”
“Aye, lass,” Adlin said gently.
She had no idea if he knew who she really was at the moment. But then, who was she? Her then or now? Because it all felt melded together somehow.
“’Tis why I hid ye here, remember?” Adlin went on. He shook his head and readied himself to help her give birth. “Whilst normally ‘tis best to stand through this, ye’ve little time.”
She had no chance to be embarrassed that he was getting ready to deliver her child because such a horrid pain gripped her, she thought her insides were being ripped out.
“Time to push,” Adlin coached. “Now, lass.” He shook his head. “Push and dinnae use magic. Not an ounce of it. Not yet. If ye do, it could verra well mean the end of what ye hold so dear.”
If not yet, then when?
“Why do I need to feel this,” she wailed, pushing instead of using magic when it felt so very tempting right now. “Seeing this memory from inside my twenty-first-century self wouldhave been just fine.” She clenched her teeth and kept pushing despite the searing pain. Wailed her next words. “Not a good feeling...not a good memory...”
“Push, lass,” he urged. Demanded. “Now.”
While everything inside her said “hell no,” Adlin had a way about him because she pushed for all she was worth. Pushed through the pain until she heard a tiny wail, and everything inside her went quiet.
She blinked in complete awe when Adlin grinned, cut the umbilical cord, swaddled the little creature that had come out of her in a plaid blanket, and handed him to her. “Congratulations, lass.” His eyes twinkled. “Ye have a wee son.”
The moment she and her son locked eyes, his wails stopped, and he went as still as her. Almost as if he understood exactly who he looked at. She’d thought she understood what love was until that moment. The sort of love she felt for her sisters. What she felt for Liam.
It turned out there was a third form.
Because the love she felt for her son at that moment was different. Profound in a whole new way. A connection unlike any other.
“Hello, there,” she whispered, marveling at his tiny hand when he squeezed her finger. “So strong already.”
She knew when she sensed Liam’s presence nearby but couldn’t see him that he was here. Close. Living this dream with her. Seeing their son for the first time with his crop of white blonde hair. Marveling at what they had created together. Loving him just as much.
