“Fire, water, air and earth.” He mumbled the words, although they roared inside his mind, as if he’d spoken them many times before. “Has your fire been out of control since our arrival in this time?” The knowledge flittered at the edges of his mind, wispy and frail but still there.
“That’s right. During the storm we completed the bond, when we knew ’twas safe to do so.” She lit her fingers and flames danced on her fingertips. “Now the realignment has occurred, I no longer release heat for no reason, but I shall always be susceptible to losing control during moments of intimacy. That I can never control.”
“I see.” He reached for her hands and she doused her fire and threaded her fingers through his.
“You’ve told me many times that we are each other’s match, that we wouldnae have been mated otherwise. I believe, but in reaching this point, I took many precautions. To ensure your safety, I asked Isla to compel you and your brothers. She wouldn’t to begin with, no’ until I forced your hand and you too asked her to do so. I was to be no one to you, no more than another woman who resided here within this keep. No one of interest or importance. No one to draw too much of your curiosity. And should we have met, each instance would have been as if the first and all other times forgotten.”
“Well, that explains a damn lot. No wonder I can’t remember you, except you took a grave risk by your actions. Those who are mated work best together, not apart as you’ve forced us to be.” Frustration had reared and wouldn’t abate. She’d chosen to leave him, when mated pairs never did.
“There is more.” She slid her fingers from his and eased his shirt collar to one side. “You and your brothers cannae see it, but there is a mark here, one I placed on you a few days ago, a mark I—well, I bit you again during our joining.”
“You had all three of us compelled?” She’d gone to dire lengths. He swept her silky blond hair back from her neck and exposed two marks, one on each side of her neck, both gracing her creamy flesh. His marks. His claim. On his woman. Only he never remembered giving them to her. “I can see your marks.”
“You bit me last eve for the first time. You had no’ done so afore.” She cleared her throat, her cheeks flushing an even rosier hue.
“I want my memories back, to know everything that’s transpired between us.” He looked deep into her eyes and his pulse raced. She was the one who’d stolen his heart, and the one without question, who he’d hand it back to again and again. “And I mean desperately.”
“Isla cannae return lost memories, only remove her compelling command and ensure you dinnae lose any more.” She settled back in her chair, creating a distance—albeit a small one—he didn’t care for, not one little bit. “’Tis up to you though if you wish for her to do so. I forced your agreement the first time, and I shall no’ do so again.”
“Of course I wish the compelling command gone.” His mate clearly liked to take matters into her own hands, but he wouldn’t allow it a moment longer. Suspicion though shimmered through him. “Why wouldn’t I wish it?”
Arabel glanced at Isla and his brother’s mate dragged in a deep breath and stepped forward. “I’m aware of what’s been recorded in history, and the very last known fire-wielder to have ever lived, passed away during the battle at the village on June the eleventh. Which means you could still very well lose Arabel on that day, whether you wish it or not.”
Isla’s words sent a shockwave of cold blazing through his veins. There wasn’t a chance he’d lose his mate, not now he’d finally found her. He’d ensure her safety, keep her right here at the castle where she’d remain well away from any harm. No one was taking his mate from him again, not his woman with her decision to keep his memories from him, or a looming battle he and his brothers intended to change the outcome of. “Remove your compelling command, Isla.” He kept his gaze on Arabel. “I won’t forget my woman, not one more time.”
“Of course.” Isla began, her sweetly hypnotic words flowing over him. “Finlay, Iain, and Kirk, you’ll remain perfectly still and listen to me well. Finlay is mated to Arabel and all three of you are aware of it. You shall never forget this conversation we’ve had or her again. She is important to all of us. So too, the mark upon Finlay’s neck shall once again be seen. Do you hear and understand me?”
“Aye,” he and his brothers said.
“Good.” She clapped and he blinked the daze away. “Finlay, you may kiss your handfast wife.”
“What? My handfast wife?”
“Oh dear.” Arabel clasped a hand to her mouth.
“Hell, Arabel. What else have you forgotten to tell me?” He grasped her hips and lifted her onto his lap and mind to mind, whispered, “No more secrets, because there is no limit to what I’ll do to claim you.”
“So I’ve learnt.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re my warrior, my lover, the other half of my soul. I love you, Finlay.”