Conquer the Highland Beast: The Vampire Dylan Macgregor (Hearts of Darkness) (8 page)

Relating the Past

“Evie didn’t miss the way I kept the broadsword draped over my shoulder or how I tossed and moaned during my sleep. Later, she asked me how I prevented Haruld from discovering the ring and the broadsword during his raid.”

Dylan summed up Evie’s side of the story, and incredibly, they’d finished off another bottle. While Dylan revealed his memories, Max remained stone cold sober. Between the vampire blood, the after effects of the berserker rage, and the horrors of Dylan’s background, the adrenaline rush kept Max from feeling the buzz of the alcohol. He couldn’t understand how Dylan could revisit
the horrid past without exposing his berserker rage.

“You okay, Dylan?”

“Aye, lad, but are you? I see yer keepin’ up with me and the whiskey, but perhaps this wasn’t a good time for this. Yer rage isn’t letting down.”

“I’m not fighting it. It’s the one way I could stomach your story.”

“Here comes the food, lad. Go ahead, relax a bit and eat.”

“I will if you tell me
what happened to you and Evie later? How did you manage? Where did you go?”

“Before Evie and I left the cave near the ravaged Benocght keep, we practiced blocking our thoughts so no one would discover our abilities.” Dylan pointed his fork at Max. “When we came across villages, we kept a low profile and didn’t stay long. It took a
verra long time to reach my cousin, Gareth’s keep—more’n a year. But I knew it was far enough away from Benocght and we’d be safe from Haruld and his men.”

“Who exactly was this cousin?”

“Gareth, the eldest son of my father’s brother was always an honorable man. He and his wife Aedithe had one son, Leif, who was a year or so older ’n me. When we arrived, all the kin of the keep took to our care as if we were one of their own.”

“And you believe I descended from either you or this Leif
Macgregor?”

“Aye. I believe either he or I was your ancestor. Over the years, I periodically sent a man to check on everyone.” Dylan drew his brows together into a frown. “He married Evie after I left—fulfilling a promise he’d made to me. He’d always been a big lad, but showed no evidence of the berserker. We fought beside one another often enough so I would have known. If you are of his line, the potential could have remained dormant all
this while—until Kyle was forced to turn you. Or you could be descended from me. I know of no others.”

“And lucky for me, I had the DNA, since death was my alternative.” Max put his glass on the table and poured himself another drink from the last open bottle. He sipped the single malt this time, savoring the age of the whiskey. “If you don’t mind telling me about the people and the ways of the time, I’d like to hear the rest.”

“Evie stayed behind most times when we’d go out raiding, but she didn’t like it. I would return, and she’d act like nothing was bothering her, but her mind kept shouting at me.” Dylan chuckled remembering the little lassie’s anger. “Stubborn little thing.”

Max raised his hand to the woman behind the bar. “I’ll order another bottle, go on…”

Dylan kicked back in his chair. “Back when I’d turned thirteen years, my natural size and gifts became more obvious to my cousin and his men. They helped me train for the day I would avenge the deaths of my family and friends. By that time, I was as physically developed as any twenty-year-old and the size of a modern day linebacker, but because of what I’d gone through after Benocght—the caring for myself and Evie for the year it took us to reach Gareth’s home—I had matured in the ways of the world as well.

“Then, when I turned sixteen, overly big and doubly experienced, Gareth and his men, realizing the significance of my size, took a knee declaring me their rightful chieftain.

“Leif was the one who dared ask me if the killing would make a difference.” Dylan dropped his head back and ran his hands up his face and then his fingers through his hair. “I was a cocky lad. I laughed at his question and realized, years later, he was the one who had the right of it.”

“Leif understood nothing would ever heal the wounds you suffered from losing your family.”

“Aye. But not me. I was full of myself. After the clansmen pledged their oath, the lassies were all in a tither, flirting with me and such, but only because I was the new young chieftain. Evie stayed bent out of shape for months. And by the time I turned eighteen, things between us grew more strained. Even Gareth suggested I take a break from bedding the older lasses and spend time with a few closer to my own age who I could court properly.”

“What about Evie?”

“I ignored her. Treated her as if she was invisible while all the older maids teased me for attention. The older widows,” he grinned, “couldn’t have been more ’n thirty years, taught me the ways of pleasin’ a woman. What with me being built and performing like a grown man, and bigger than most of the clansmen already, they fancied my attentions if you know what I mean? There was no way of them knowing my true age since I looked so much older than my years—”

“Oh, then you lucked out with this immortality thing.”

“Verra funny. I had truly inherited my grandfather’s berserker gene pool. I was more mature in every way—not like the other lads my own age.”

Max nodded at Dylan, understanding the concept of street smart applied to survival instincts.

“There was less and less time for me to spend with Evie. With training and traipsing off in search of Haruld, or selling my sword arm to the highest bidder to raise funds for the keep, Evie feared she’d grow into an old maid waiting for me to notice. And with good reason. Not that I hadn’t noticed, all right. She’d become a fine woman, and though it bothered me, all the other lads had noticed as well. Yet, I knew none would risk my wrath. Gareth’s son, Leif included. But although he did nothing to push himself on her for a verra long while, he befriended her, providing her with the attention I didn’t. Finally, his attentions pushed me to act. Thinking back, I should have allowed things to take their natural course with them. He would have been the better choice for her. But damn, I was selfish and couldn’t let her go.”

“I think I’m one person who can fully understand your feelings. It took me too long to realize I was the wrong man for Shelby and, no matter what we were to each other, we didn’t have the same bond she had with Kyle.” Max nodded and lifted the bottle to pour.

“Aye, yer right.” Dylan waved him off. “No thanks, I’m fine for the moment.”

“Go ahead with your story. It’s getting very interesting.”

“Yes, very. It was Beltane and Evie was supposed to be waiting for me to fetch her from the festivities early—before things got out of hand. But as usual I let my duties interfere with her needs and arrived later than I expected.”

Dylan allowed Max to see Evie’s e
xperience through his thoughts.

Beltane

The Beltane fires were already lit, and Evie felt a longing she could not explain. This yearning came over her more and more often of late, making her particularly uncomfortable around Dylan, and for some unknown reason also, around Leif. Butterflies took wing within her belly when either man spoke to her, and heat melted her insides.

Perhaps that was the problem—they had both become
men
, treated as such by Gareth, and pursued by the lassies. All the while she wasn’t looking, or at least not paying attention, her best friends had changed.

Suddenly, her body noticed what her mind couldn’t absorb, and she found herself responding to Leif and Dylan as a woman. Her insides g
rew hot and anxious around them. What she fought when awake, she indulged in her sleep. Deep within her soul, she sensed a desire for something she couldn’t quite identify and dare not ask Aidthe, nor anyone. What she could do was eavesdrop on the kitchen maids and hear what they had to say about their own experiences. She heard plenty. Yet still the details escaped her. Desperation had Evie considering extreme measures. She wasn’t beyond having a look into their thoughts if she had to.

The idea anyone would see into her thoughts made her thankful
she and Dylan practiced blocking them from each other and others. She would have been horrified if Dylan could read the depravity of the things she imagined, or the dreams she’d begun experiencing.

Drums pounded, reminding her of the celebration. The dancers began the traditional pairing prior to their lusty interludes in the forest. Before she could escape the festivities at the bonfire, and hoping none would search her out, Leif appeared at her side—his voice quiet and huskier than usual.

“Evie, lass, what are ye doing alone out here in the dark?” He took her hand in his and walked her farther away from the light of the bonfire. “The night is dangerous for an unattached lass amongst this drunken lot.”

He didn’t appear to be in his cups. Though the smell of drink was strong on his breath, he seemed quite in control. When she looked more closely, his heavy lidded eyes shone with an emotion she didn’t recognize. At first, she relaxed beside him even though she was unable to identify his strange behavior. Then he moved closer, took a strand of her hair, and wrapped it around his fingers. He gently stroked it as he watched her reaction, and his actions told her what her mind kept denying.

Leif tugged on her hair as he often had over the years, but this felt different, especially when he lowered his head and delivered a devilish slow smile. She suddenly realized he was interested in her in a womanly way, and since she was already aroused by her own naughty imaginings that thought made her heart skip a beat or two.

He was tall, almost as tall as Dylan was and slightly fairer. Never mind she’d shared the keep with him since the day they arrived; tonight his appearance beside her with the firelight dancing across his handsome features, forced her to consider him with a new vision.

Leif’s casual flirtation made her feel desirable. Paralyzed and unable to take her eyes off Dylan’s handsome cousin, she saw the desire in the young man and returned those feelings for the first time.

Evie was both flattered and uncomfortable. No one else had ever shown an interest in her like that—not with Dylan scowling at any young lad who even glanced in her direction. Though he never claimed he was interested in her, himself, Dylan guarded her like a dog around a bone with everyone except Leif. Because there’d been an unspoken understanding between those two to defend her honor
like the family she’d lost, Dylan trusted Leif to care for her. Until now, Leif had always been kind and patient, teaching her their ways, riding, planting, and hunting—never crossing that unspoken line.

Her breath caught in her chest when he stepped even closer and suggested, “How about we leap the bonfire together, Evie?” He cupped her chin in his hands and tilted her face up so she had to meet his gaze.

Trapped she rolled her eyes. “Yer teasin’ me now, Leif Macgregor!”

He shook his head, and his expression turned more serious as his focus remained on her mouth. “If I haven’t made myself clear…allow me. I want you. Do you not feel my love for you?”

His body pressed against hers, and curious about the sensations he caused, she didn’t move. Aye, it was a pleasant thrill to have his leathery scent so close and his heated body touching hers lightly.

Out of the forest beyond her, she sensed the feeling of weary sadness and let it wash over her—quickly there and quickly gone. Thoughts of Dylan filled her mind—how they’d always been there for each other, and how he needed her. Who would keep his nightmares at bay if she loved someone else?

Leif brushed her lower lips with the tip of his finger. “I would handfast to ye when yer ready…if there be no one else.”

“Nay, I’m too young this Beltane.” She shook her head and tried to step back, but he held her gently in place. He ran his thumb across her lips, and the breath she held came out in a gasp. His touch ignited a fire within her she’d never felt before.

“You are of age, lass. Your blush betrays you. I can sense yer body longs to be fulfilled.” Leif chuckled. “But if you are not ready for a commitment, what say ye, we sneak off for one practice kiss, then?”

Her insides trembled. The heat from his body and the sheer size of the young man overwhelmed her. She wanted… Aye, she wanted something, damn her eyes. She needed what she suspected Leif could supply.
But did she dare? She wasn’t sure if it should be him. Yet how would she ever discover what the hot, aching desire inside her was all about, if she didn’t test it?

The drink still flowed and the smoke smelled almost bewitching—
an aphrodisiac of sorts. The festivities around them had already begun to turn into an orgy, and though the young lads at the keep were bonny enough, she’d rejected their attentions in favor of Dylan. Until now, it had always been only Dylan.

He was her heart’s desire, wasn’t he? If so, why was she considering Leif’s offer?

What should she do? The yearning in her waxed strong and grew stronger with the smoke, but she was not certain what it meant.

Evie glanced around. She wouldn’t be missed since she’d not been keeping company with anyone. Every maid was aware there were plenty of interested lads who wouldn’t mind using Beltane magic as an excuse. Unlike Leif, anothe
r wouldn’t be askin’ permission. He’d be takin’, whether she was ready and willing or not. Leif might be a safe step into untested waters. Besides, she had to get away from the fires.

No! Best she
wait until she knew her own mind better. Having stayed for the feast was more than enough risk for one night. She stepped back and stared up at him beneath lowered lashes, sizing up the bonny lad and analyzing her options. “Not tonight, Leif. Perhaps another time.”

He gave her a lopsided grin. “I’ll not give up so easily.”

“I hope not,” she said and realized she meant it.

Something about the way he looked at her caused her to rethink her decision, and a bold thought licked within her mind. Perhaps she risked making her move because of the smoke from the fires, or perhaps it was the hungry need in the young man’s eyes. She took his hand and tugged him down a path away from the smoke and noise.
And when they were well out of sight, Evie stood on her tiptoes, wrapped her arms around Leif’s neck, and pressed her body against his.

Oh, the feeling of having his torso pressed against hers made flames sear through her body the same way the bonfires reached into the air. The hard planes of him tensed when she gave him an innocent kiss on the cheek, and then before he could react, she dropped her arms and her gaze. He reached for her, but she stepped back avoiding his grasp and made her escape into the forest.

Of course, he followed. Evie would have been disappointed if he hadn’t. Although Leif chased after her, she eluded him— taking her secret path until she came to her favorite hiding place.

Out of breath, she collapsed to the forest floor and reflected on her emotional turmoil. The spot she chose was full of fairy vine—the scent of the flowers, fragrant and comforting for Evie. She lifted her hand to her hair, haphazardly weaving the green fairy vine with the fragrant belled passionflowers through the thick strand.

Everything had happened so quickly. All in one moment, Leif was left standing, open mouthed and empty handed as she ran. The memory of the scent of his skin and the sound of his voice teased at her core. In addition, she recalled the way she felt as his need pressed against her stomach. It meant nothing. On Beltane, lust was all around, dancin’ in the night air on fairy wings. If Evie was going to make a life-altering decision this night, then it would be with the man she had convinced herself she awaited all these years.

While in the shadows at the edge of the faery forest, she sat thinking of Dylan, and as always the longing began. He should have been back from the search before dusk. The raiding parties ventured out all the time with little to no evidence
of where Haruld had made off. Yet, Dylan followed those rumors like a madman on a quest.

E
arly on, when he’d needed someone less obvious to gather information, he took her with him. Those raids happened less and less often these last few years. No longer a child, Evie drew too much unwanted attention. It didn’t matter. So far, every lead had been a dead end. It was as if Haruld and his men had disappeared from Scotia.

Even if Dylan was late returning from the hunt, his was the company she considered on this or any night—until now. Suddenly, the memory of Leif’s heavy lidded eyes and his hot gaze flashed back at her and her insides heated, again.

No. Another part in the back of her mind reminded her she belonged to Dylan. Didn’t she? Whenever Dylan was absent, she missed him. Whenever he was around, she couldn’t seem to keep her eyes from straying over his muscled frame. And his hands, though rough and scarred from training and battles, were long fingered and gentle when he took her hand or touched her hair. He would push her stray curls from her face or offer her a hand up onto his horse, and then hold her in front of him as he had always done.

Recently, having him at her back made her stomach feel all fluttery, and she dreamed of having his arms about her. Arms that once encircled her every night in sleep, now made her ache with strange
longings. His touch heated her blood in such disturbing ways she often lost her train of thought.

However, she’d kissed Leif, and the memory of his heated look unnerved her. The taste of his skin lingered on her lips, and his gentl
e nature squeezed at her heart.