Dragon Knight's Ring (Order of the Dragon Knights Book 5) (24 page)

Earlier in the evening, he had spoken his desire along the corridor near her room. She had pulled him closer and whispered her own by demanding he seek her out in her chamber after everyone had gone to bed.

Swearing softly, he pushed away from the window. Yet, he caught movement through the trees. He noticed Skye, but seeing Meggie running as if the hounds of hell were behind her made his warrior instincts scream. Reaching for his sword, he ran out of her chamber and down the stairs, almost tearing the doors off their hinges in an effort to reach her.

“Get behind me!” he ordered.

Meggie ignored him and flung herself into his arms. He caught her with one arm. “Adam, oh Adam,” she sobbed.

“Sweet Brigid! What has happened?”

Meggie’s hands shook as she cupped his face. Her eyes roamed his features. “
Gabhaidh gach sruth a dh’ionnsaigh na h-aibhne, ’s gach abhann don chuan
.”

Dropping his sword, Adam collapsed with Meggie onto the ground. His voice shook with emotion. “Every stream runs into the river, and every river into the sea.”

“As does our love,” whispered Meggie. “I never got to finish this after ye spoke. It was to be our wedding night under the stars.”

“Och, my
leannan
, ye remember.”

“Aye. Every detail of my life. Every cherished moment with ye. And when I took my last breath. All of them.”

Adam buried his face in her hair, letting the tears of joy stream down his face as he crushed her to him. “Praise be to God,” he muttered.

“And to the Fae,” she responded in kind.

The happiness filled the black void in him that he sealed off many moons ago. Adam brought her to standing and then lifted and twirled her around. “My Meggie! We shall never be parted again. Ye are mine—forever.”

“Adam, Adam, Adam,” she rejoiced and then laughed in delight.

Slowly, he brought her down to the ground. His eyes roamed her face. “I love ye, Meggie. I pledge ye my troth, my love to ye always.”

“When we are old and gray, ye will still be my one true love,” she replied.

Adam kissed her passionately, sealing their vows to one another. The touch of his lips on hers sent a blazing heat through his body, and he wanted to fill Meggie with all he had to give her. Lifting her into his arms, she wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled his neck with kisses. His heart pounded fiercely inside his chest with each step he took.

When they reached her chambers, he stormed through and kicked the door behind them. With each kiss he gave her, she responded back with a fury that shocked him. Their tongues danced a mating ritual as old as time—plundering and fighting for control. Clothes were stripped from their bodies as hands sought to touch the places that were familiar once again.

The old and the new melding together. A kiss behind the ear. A feather-light touch across his aching balls. A caress over her breasts. Their lovemaking was one of urgency and acquaintance.

Adam trailed his fingers down her taut stomach to her curls, swallowing her moan with his mouth as his fingers dipped into her moist center. His body ached to fill her there, and he lifted her onto the bed and swiftly entered her in one powerful thrust. His guttural cry echoed within the chamber. She was hot around him, and his body screamed to empty his seed deep into her.

Meggie clutched his forearms arching up into him. “Need ye hard…to feel,” she pleaded.

His breathing came in gasps while he tried to control the raging beast of desire. Slowly he withdrew and then plunged back inside her. He leaned close to her ear. “This is what ye crave, Meggie. Slow and hard.”

“Ye…tease…and torment me with pleasure,” she gasped, raking her nails down his arm.

As he continued with his slow torture of her feminine curves, his body started to quake with the need to release. Cupping one breast, he pinched the pert nipple. “Give me everything Meggie.”

“I love ye, Adam.”

His heart soared at hearing her words. “Love ye forever,
leannan
,” he uttered hoarsely.

As she arched wildly under him, Adam covered her mouth with his, taking her screams into his own lungs. As he spilled his desire into her, stars burst before his eyes. His body and mind shattered into a million pieces of pure ecstasy.

They lay in each other’s arms for a long time, letting their breathing return to normal. Adam pulled the cover over their bodies and Meggie snuggled even more against him. When he felt the first trickle of water touch his skin, he lifted her chin with his finger.

“Why do ye weep?”

“Happiness and sadness, Adam.” She brushed a hand over her face, wiping away the tears. “All these emotions of lost years filling my mind and body are a bit daunting. And my heart aches at what we lost. Ye have missed the birth of our son.” She swallowed. “Plus, his first few years. Ye were
robbed
of this time.”

He sighed. “We both were,
leannan
.”

She shook her head. “’Tis not fair.”

Adam wiped away a lone tear. “I have learned from my travels that life can be verra cruel. Someone once told me, it is what ye make of those cruelties that define the man…or woman.”

“Where did ye hear that one?”

“From a priest.”

Resting her head on his chest, she gazed into his eyes. “Ye have changed, Adam.”

“On the night ye died, I woke the next day to a cruel and bitter world. Six months afterwards, I left Scotland with the Templars on a Crusade to the Holy Land.”

Meggie’s eyes grew wide. “Sweet Mother Danu! Whatever for?”

Frowning, he replied, “Because I was looking for a way to seek redemption. To make amends for what happened. I believed my heathen ways required cleansing.”

Meggie arched a brow. “Truly? And did ye find this cleansing?”

“Sadly, it never happened. The Crusades were just as evil.”

“I am sorry,” she uttered softly.

Brushing away a lone curl from her face, he asked, “Ye do not judge me?”

“Never. ’Tis not my place to criticize, especially after all ye have gone through. Ye were seeking to banish the evil and find some goodness.”

“My love for ye never stopped, Meggie. Nor my grief.”

She bent her head. “I fear ye were the one with more pain.”

“How so?” he asked softly.

Lifting her head, he could see the tears misting her eyes. “I had no pain of loss. Everything that happened to me—us, vanished. But ye carried it daily for almost three years.”

“I would have it no other way, Meggie. The loss of seeing the one ye love die before your eyes is brutal. It ripped apart my body and mind. I would gladly bear the burden, if it meant keeping ye from doing so.”

“Well ye did, and more.”

Adam noticed the ring on her finger, and grasped her hand. “Ye are wearing my ring.” Shock infused his words.

“I was standing on the edge of the loch with Skye. Feeling joyful, I placed it on my finger and like magic—well it was magic, my memories returned. Of course, the Great Dragon appeared, along with the Fae.”

He kissed the ring on her finger. “To think it only took ye to place the ring on your finger for the memories to return.” He shook his head sadly.

Meggie held her hand up, gazing at the ring. “It does not matter. I am whole once again.” She glanced at him. “’Tis a beauty, Adam.”

Taking her hand within his, he brought it to his chest. “The ring was given to me by my mother many moons ago.”

“I do not understand. Ye are the youngest. Should it not have been given to the oldest who would be laird?”

“Nae. My mother’s wish was for me to have her ring. There were other items passed down from our father, but she was detailed in her account that I was to be given this ring.” Adam rubbed his thumb over the red stone. “Strange, but I never saw her wear the ring in all of her days.”

“What was her family’s name?”

“O’Brien,” he replied mystified.

“Oh my!” Meggie started to laugh.

Adam scowled at her. “I dinnae find my mother’s name a cause for jest.”

She slapped playfully at his chest. “I’m not making fun of her name, only the humor of this situation.” Sitting fully, Meggie grabbed part of the cover and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Explain,” ordered Adam, trying not to gaze at the view she was presenting to him.

“Your ancestors have been trying to make a claim to the ownership of the Dragon Knights’ relics and they may have been partially right. The O’Briens were one of the first clans to be made Dragon Knights. Our family, the MacKays, did not come into possession of the relics for a few hundred years. I believe this ring signifies that your family was once a powerful clan,” Meggie concluded.

“Not only am I now a Dragon Knight, but I have learned that my family had a connection all along.” Adam shook his head in obvious disbelief,

Meggie scooted nearer to him. “Is this a bad thing to be a Dragon Knight? Maybe ye were one before that horrible…” She paused unable to continue.

Adam shuddered, recalling the night she died. Drawing her to him, he leaned against the pillows. “On the night ye died, the bloodlines were divided, so I ken there was a reason I was made a Dragon Knight and ye were taken to this time—” He waved his hand outward. “This place.”

Wrapping her arms around his waist, Adam inhaled her scent. She filled his being, soothing the wound that had never fully healed. “Perhaps the Fae deemed we should have a second chance.”

His laugh was bitter. “They could have healed ye and not cursed your brothers.”

“Great Goddess!” Meggie sat back on her knees. “My brothers were cursed?”

“Aye,” he retorted with a scowl. “Their relics were taken and their names banished from the hallowed halls of the Fae.”

“Nae,” she sobbed out.

“Dinnae worry,
leannan
.” Bringing her back into his arms, he stroked his hand down her back. “All your brothers have walked the path of redemption and are back at Urquhart. Furthermore, they have taken wives, and from all accounts are verra happy. ’Tis the claim of what my own brothers have told me.”

“I miss them, Adam. I should be with them. Yet, they would most likely try and keep us apart.”

Adam sighed. “They have gone through much and are now allied with my brothers. There is much ye have yet to hear.”

“Oh my stars!” Meggie burst out laughing. “Friends with the
MacFhearguis
clan. That is something I wished to have seen.” She lifted her head and in a more somber tone said, “Ye do realize we are speaking of men that have been dead for centuries.”

A hollow ache for his family long gone now resided inside of Adam. Had he not seen them only last month—alive and well? He must find a way to honor his brothers. Perchance he could restore Castle Leomhann. Glancing down at Meggie, he smiled. “Let me tell ye as much as I can about your brothers and their wives, though I do ken one other who can share more with ye.”

Meggie blinked. “Do tell.”

“Conn MacRoich. Fenian warrior for the Fae.”

“Ye move in fascinating circles, my love.”

Kissing her lips, Adam spoke for the next few hours, explaining in detail everything he knew about Meggie’s brothers, and in addition, the evil that plagued Scotland. She sat and listened, with the exception of a question now and then. Adam knew she needed to hear her brothers were doing well. That Urquhart was thriving. Every so often, she would smile and glance away as if recalling something about them.

When he had finished telling her all that he knew, the room had taken on a chill, and the first rays of dawn were slipping in through the windows. Meggie had curled up next to him, and he cradled her close. He wished to stay like this forever. However, the threat of evil still loomed over them here in this time. Adam had left out that one last part. He wanted both of them to meet with Conn, since Meggie would most likely have more questions than he had answers.

“Ye are thinking too much. Ye need to rest,” she murmured.

Adam chuckled softly. “Ye ken me well,
leannan
.”

“Always have.”

Kissing the top of her head, he said, “We should dress and seek out Archie.”

“Ye mean Eoghan,” she corrected. “Bard for the Fae. The man—ahem, I mean the Fae did always love his books.”

When she lifted her head, her cheeks were flushed, and Adam fought the desire to make love to her again. “Don’t forget the ancient scrolls, too.”

“Ancient! By the hounds of Cuchulainn!” Meggie bolted from Adam’s arms. Searching for her clothes, she tossed Adam’s to him. “We have nae time to waste.”

His gaze grew troubled. “What’s troubles ye?”

Meggie placed her hands on her hips. “We have to make a trip out to Urquhart.”

“Now? ’Tis only early morn.”

She waved him off. “We must. First, I’ll make arrangements for Jamie, and ye can tend to the animals. Besides, it’s perfect. The tourists will be long gone by the time we get there. I have to get the book.”

“Ye make no sense.”

“The Book of Awakening—
my
book! I never left it in Urquhart Castle. Since it’s from the Fae, I always placed it inside the sacred oak tree outside of the castle. It’s protected by Fae magic, but I fear after all these hundreds of years, the book could have been lost, or worse, destroyed. Even though no one other than the Fae or myself can read the language, I won’t rest until it’s in my hands. The knowledge of the Fae, their arrival here, and ancient text are all written within that book. Furthermore, I need the Staff of Knowledge that keeps it protected, too. Both are there.”

Adam shoved aside the covers and stood. “Must we travel by that ugly loud beast?”

Stepping closer to him, Meggie wrapped her arms around his waist. “’Tis called a jeep. And yes, since we will get there faster than if we took our horses. Have ye not said ye feared naught, Adam MacFhearguis?” she teased while trailing her fingers across his chest.

“Ye are a wanton lass, Meggie MacKay.” He breathed the words against her cheek as his erection grew. Meggie shivered under his touch. “Since ye will force me to ride in said beast, I will have my way with ye one more time.”

Her husky laughter filled the chamber, as Adam made good on his word.

Chapter Twenty-Three