chapter Twelve
Bahlin choked a bit and looked up at me, surprised. “Go on, then. Tell me what you’ve got.”
“I’m going to be an adult about this and call it, him, Maddox.” I shuddered. Sure I was. “He’s been missing for four days. We know that the only ones to know the case specifics were the High Council and the king and queen of the fae. Right?”
Bahlin nodded, crossing his feet at the ankles, one hand behind his head. He looked relaxed but his entire attention was focused on me.
I held up my pointer finger. “First is Sarenia. She wasn’t at the meeting, so she didn’t have specifics of the crime. As an Atlantean, Sarenia wouldn’t have had a reason to hire Maddox, assuming he was the killer’s proxy. She could have dragged me down to her sunken city and simply drowned me. No need to hire a shooter. She’s also over eleven thousand years old, as much as it boggles the mind. She’s had plenty of time to come up with better ways to commit murder than the obvious. Finally, I don’t believe she would have had her only child murdered, not for power, not for anything.”
Bahlin’s face went slack, and he looked confused. “Meyla is dead?”
I nodded, not considering he might have known her. Way to go, Niteclif. Nothing shows compassion like blurting out, “Hey your buddy’s dead.” I shook my head and opened my mouth to apologize—again.
“No. Go on.”
I hesitated, my mouth opening and closing like a guppy’s. “You’re sure?”
His answer was absolute silence and a hard stare that made me feel guilty.
“Right.” I cleared my throat and held up a second finger. “Imeena is a vampire. They are highly attracted to faerie blood, so she wouldn’t have wasted any of it if she’d killed Maddox. She would have ripped his throat out, yes, but she wouldn’t have discarded such a treat. Nor would she have left Maddox in the fridge. As a vampire she’s capable and willing of killing on her own without a proxy. She has all the tools she needs to kill me without hiring someone to shoot me.” Remembering her canines, I shuddered. “And she would have had access to me at night, when she could have really reached out to touch me, as a High Council member. Hell, she’s my employer. I would have come to her whenever she called. And I can’t reconcile her motive to kill these creatures.” I paused to catch my breath.
Bahlin’s eyes narrowed and he had developed a tic in his jaw. “Go on, luv, you’re obviously on to something.”
Third finger. “The king and queen of the fae may have asked Maddox to kill me. But if they’d had Maddox kill me it would have been an act of loyalty. He wouldn’t have run. He’s been with them for generations and was considered a member of the family. They wouldn’t have killed him but instead would have hidden him away from the Council’s reach inside the sithen. It would have been easy since the Council has to be granted access to enter. Say no and no one gets inside, so hide him there and he’s out of harm’s way. The only thing I can’t figure is where Tarrek’s disappearance fits in for them.
“Tarrek was abducted, so he couldn’t have done it.” I didn’t even hold up a finger for this one. I glared at Bahlin, daring him to argue with me.
“If you’re sure. But what about me?” he challenged me, forcing me to look closely at another suspect I didn’t want to consider.
“I’m sure. You didn’t do it either.”
“Why not?”
“You’ve had too many opportunities to kill me. And when you had the family tree in your hands, the date of death didn’t appear. From what I understand, if you were the killer and your intent was to off me, the date of death would have shown up. Right?”
“Depending on the probability of success, yes.” He leaned forward, sensing the rising tension in my voice. “So who did it?”
“Who’s left?” I whispered.
Bahlin took a deep breath, held it, then let it out on a long sigh. “Gretta and Hellion.”
“Gretta’s dead. I killed her,” I said softly, my pulse so hard in my throat I was sure Bahlin could see it jumping beneath my skin. “I killed her,” I repeated, “after Hellion ordered her to kill me. They were mates, and she was never supposed to die, Bahlin. He didn’t intend for it to happen. But Maddox had failed them. Remember, Gretta came after me with a sword, but it was too large for her to handle properly. She would have killed me if she’d been able to heft it over her head like she tried to do. But she couldn’t, and I stabbed her with the dirk when the sword fell behind her head and shoulders.” I closed my eyes momentarily and swallowed the bile that threatened. “Hellion now had an open reason to come after me, as well as a scapegoat for his crimes. He could kill me while claiming to avenge the murder of his mate and blame Gretta for killing the other beings, at least until he found a way to continue his efforts.
“And if together we figured out he killed Maddox and took his head, then it was all well and good because Maddox had been issued a death warrant by me just before we met. The king decreed it after Maddox was sentenced.”
Bahlin pushed himself up off the couch and stretched, my hormonal body, mind, and spirit admiring and coveting his body as he did. Hands locked behind his head, he walked to the pantry and retrieved two bottles of water before returning to sink down on the couch. He cracked the lid off his drink and tilted it toward me in salute. “How do you know for sure Hellion killed Maddox?”
“The sword marks on Maddox’s neck. The sword skidded off his chin with enough force to continue along the jaw and sever the head all the way to the spine. The spinal column was cut through surgically, ensuring that there were no bone pieces or meaty bits to get stuck to the killer’s clothes or hands. It was very clean. That has to take strength and skill with a blade. Next to you, Hellion is the largest, and likely strongest, man on the Council. Gretta couldn’t wield the sword against me. She didn’t have the strength to cut Maddox’s head off that cleanly, even if he held still and showed her where to swing and strike. That means it was a larger person’s sword, and if Hellion sent her to kill me, it’s only logical deduction that he’s our killer.”
“So Hellion is killing the other creatures?” Bahlin asked, his eyes sparking in the flames of the torches lit about the room.
“Yes, he is.” I didn’t want to say this. Not out loud. Because once I said it, it was real. And another man was going to be sentenced to death, though I thought he likely deserved it. But I was afraid that the man across from me would be the one to dole the sentence out, and I didn’t want to put him in harm’s way. But I didn’t know what else to do. He’d reached the conclusion with me. It was too late to stop justice’s forward momentum.
“Why, Maddy? Why is Hellion doing this?” he pressed, forcing me to say out loud what I had suspected of the killer since Gretta had come to my room to try to poison me then stab me.
“He’s stealing the strongest pieces of each immortal creature so he can morph them into himself. He wants to be immortal.”
Bahlin surged to his feet, pacing the small room. He seemed more raw here in the cave, more animalistic. “So that’s why you don’t think Tarrek is doing it? Because he’s immortal?”
“At the least you said he’d live for thousands of years, Bahlin. Possibly thousands upon thousands. What good is immortality if you already nearly have it? And power? He’s got it in spades.” I reached out and grabbed Bahlin’s arm as he stormed passed me for the fourth time. “I didn’t realize it until I met his parents and fully understood that he’s fae royalty. He will eventually command the light and dark sides of faerie. He can make his own magic in the sithen, really. What more does he need with others’ magic?”
Bahlin sank back into the sofa, resting his head in his hands. “Finish the thought, Maddy. Tell me why Hellion wants the collective power of the creatures he’s killed.”
I was about to drop the final brick for Hellion’s tomb. “As a wizard, he isn’t immortal. But he will be when he pushes all this power together, immortal creatures forced into a mortal man. How can he not be? And once he’s achieved that kind of power, he wants to take over the Council, which is why he needs me dead. You said it yourself, there’s no leader and without a Niteclif, chaos will reign unless the Council leads. Hellion is aiming to change that and become your leader.”
Time was immeasurable without the sun as a point of reference. Instead of walking to the front of the cave we sat together on the sofa, listening to the sounds of the earth around us: running water, the muted cry of gulls, the distant and subdued boom of surf. Bahlin was physically exhausted and when he pointed out how tired he was it was like someone threw a switch in me. I just crumbled. The sofa was a futon-style piece, but even open and laying across it diagonally it wasn’t long enough for me. No way would it fit Bahlin. After several minutes arguing with me, he convinced me to come to bed with him for the third time in roughly twenty-four hours. Protesting too loudly was silly, really, since we’d already done far more than simply sleep together. But I insisted on keeping my T-shirt and underwear on. Prudery, thy name is Niteclif.
Bahlin dug through a small bureau next to the bed and pulled out a pair of lounge pants when I flatly refused to sleep with him in the nude. He hadn’t packed any boxers, whether by oversight or planned seduction. It didn’t matter. No clothes, no sleep companion, no negotiation.
I made one major mistake in my calculations, though, and you’d think I’d have learned because I was a repeat offender in this area. I didn’t negotiate no cuddling. So the minute he crawled under the blankets he wrapped me up in his arms and spooned me close. I was about to drift off to sleep to the sounds of the shore when Bahlin tucked his head into my neck, picking up a thread of the earlier conversation I had hoped he’d leave alone. Because for all my pushing over the last few days, I suddenly didn’t want the answers I’d so seriously thought I needed.
“And me, Maddy? How long do you think I’ll live?” he asked quietly. “Is there any last reason you can find to not trust me. Truth, remember?”
I rolled over to face him and propped myself up on my arm, looking down at him. His hair was spread over the pillow like burnished foam in the light of the one torch I’d insisted he leave burning. I stared at him, the vestiges of sleep held off for a moment longer.
“I’ve asked you plenty of times how old you were, but you’ve never seen fit to answer me. I can only imagine you have some valid reason for not wanting me to know. But it does cast a shadow of doubt on you, Bahlin. Why not be honest with me about your age, or your longevity? Or even try to be more forthcoming about your species. And it bugs me how your sister is always referring to something she’s seen regarding me that you don’t want me to know. What is it? Do I end up with Tarrek after all this?” I half joked. He didn’t answer, and I swallowed hard. “Bahlin? What has Brylanna seen?”
He draped an arm over his eyes, refusing to remove it when I tugged. “I won’t answer what Brylanna has seen. Her visions are subjective. And I don’t answer your questions about me as a dragon, Maddy, because I’m afraid it will be one more reason for you to step away from me. Besides, it’s a bit insulting. Have you realized that you never ask me questions about me as a man?”
My mouth hung slightly open, and I knew he was right. I was more focused on the dragon than the man who constantly mastered him.
Bahlin continued without pausing for my internal revelation. “You’ve been looking for reasons not to come back to my bed, and you’ve already contemplated turning away from the Niteclif oath to get away from all things mythological. And this was all accomplished within a short day’s time. Why would I add to your resolution?” He rolled into me and wrapped his free arm around my waist, pressing his chin to the crown of my head. “I don’t want to risk you running, Maddy. I felt that if I could make Tarrek a bit more monstrous than I was then I’d stand a better chance with you myself.”
I gently pulled away from him and sat on the edge of the bed, but that wasn’t enough distance for me to think. I slipped my feet into my Nikes and walked slowly to one of the dark tunnels leading off the cavern. I didn’t know what to say. He was right. His little metamorphosis earlier had been a great act of trust on his behalf, but it had put him even further into the monster column for me, no matter what I tried to tell myself. I hugged my arms around my middle and shivered. How much was too much monster?
I got cold quickly, so I quietly returned to the bed. I crawled under the covers and pushed at his shoulder to make him roll over flat on his back. I laid my head on his chest without a word, and he wrapped his arms around me gently. Breathing deeply, I smiled. Bahlin, I thought to myself. There were so many positive attributes I could tie to that one name: loyal, trustworthy, charming, sexy as hell, amazing lover, protector, friend. But could I call him a man? No, I couldn’t. He’d warned me himself that he was, first and foremost, a dragon. And I wasn’t sure if that one word was more important than all the positive attributes I could assign to him in one lifetime. I fell asleep with my head on his chest and the sound of his heartbeat in my ear. It kept the dreams at bay.
For the second time, I’d gone to bed with Bahlin only to awake and find him gone. I sat up and saw him sitting at the cave’s entrance tunnel. He had his knees bent and his forearms resting on them, and he was flipping what looked like a gold coin. He paused and turned to look over his shoulder at me. I ran my fingers through my bed-head and settled the covers around my hips.
“I’ve been thinking about our next step,” he said.
“How long have you been up?”
“A couple of hours.” He grinned and turned back toward the entrance. “You’re a cover hog.”
I had no idea if he was joking or not, but I was cocooned comfortably in the blankets.
“So what’s the next step?” I asked. Bahlin quirked a brow at me and didn’t answer me so I said, “Er, maybe I should ask instead if you have any suggestions.”
He turned so he was facing me and propped himself on his elbows, stretching his legs out in front of him. Still wearing nothing more than his lounge pants, his abdominal muscles collectively tightened and knotted, emphasizing his cobblestone abs and hard physique. I tried, unsuccessfully, not to drool.
“Want me to come back over there?” he asked, standing up and brushing the dirt and rocks from his hands, his muscles bunching and releasing as he moved, captivating me like a snake does a small bird. I wanted to feel him move under my hands. I wanted to knead those muscles when they were tense. I wanted to get a grip on my hormones before this got out of control again.
“I, uh, okay.” Very suave, that’s me.
He walked toward me, predatory grace in motion. “You know what I want, Maddy?”
“Breakfast?” Hells bells he made me nervous. I wasn’t some simpering virgin, but he made me feel like it.
“Not so much, unless you’re on the menu, love.” He’d reached the edge of the bed. He grinned wickedly and stripped his pants off before getting back into bed.
“Hey. Put the drawers back on, buddy.” I scooted to the opposite edge of the bed. “We’ve got to plan our next move.”
Bahlin stretched, hands clasped, arms arched behind his back, and his back arched. It was a good stretch. “I’ve got it covered. But we’ve got hours to kill before we can leave the cave. I can only cloak myself with darkness, daylight won’t work.” He reached over to stroke a hand down my neck and across my breastbone, stopping just above my heart. “Do you remember what I told you?”
I trembled at the memory, locking my elbows at my sides to keep from wrapping my arms around myself in comfort. A fine bead of sweat popped up on my upper lip and my scalp prickled, and all from his earlier promise. “You said that one day we’d have hours uninterrupted to spend together in bed.”
“That day’s come earlier than I thought, Maddy.”
I scooted farther away from him, close enough to the edge of the mattress I was in real danger of falling off. “I don’t know, Bahlin. I’ve always been so cautious with, well, with sex. And you make me feel reckless and out of control, and I…I don’t know, Bahlin.” My heart almost needed life support just thinking about the possibilities. I knew what he was capable of, and a screaming orgasm delivered as a wake-up call didn’t sound like a bad idea. But my prudery was a stubborn beast and I couldn’t give in without at least some semblance of a fight, no matter how badly I wanted to. This way I couldn’t hold myself entirely responsible for it if things went south. Irresponsible, yes. But at least the only one I was attempting to fool was me. I was sure that to everyone else my idiocy was as transparent as plastic cling-wrap and probably equally as dicey to handle without ending up with a wadded up mess.
Bahlin rolled toward me and pulled me into his arms, sliding his hands over my ass, under my T-shirt and up my bare back. His fingers kneaded my tense muscles and I allowed myself to relax when he didn’t press any further than that.
“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me yet. Take off your shirt, mo chrid,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss me. His lips were hot to the touch. He slanted his mouth over mine and rubbed gently, licking my lower lip and nibbling on it as an effective means of coercion. I leaned in to the kiss, responding and opening to him and our tongues touched, gently at first. He took the kiss deeper, pulling me into his chest, gripping my thigh and drawing it up over his hip. I gasped into his mouth and he smiled, undulating his hips against me. His erection was enormous, searing my skin through my underwear. I jerked at the contact and he grunted, rubbing even more firmly against me. I wondered if it was possible to spontaneously combust during early foreplay.
Bahlin reached down between us and grabbed the hem of my T-shirt. “Maddy, please, take it off. I want to touch your skin. I want to suckle your breasts and feast on your shoulders. I want to nibble your belly button…” His voice was muffled against my skin, his tongue licking out to touch between the words as he worked his way from my ear to my collarbone and back, ending by laying little kisses all over my neck and jaw. I clung to him, terrified to truly let go. My internal man vs. monster debate wasn’t nearly settled, but I wanted him nearly as badly as the pleasure I knew he could give me. To hell with it, I thought. I deserve whatever happiness I can carve out of this life. I’ll pick up the debate later, after I sweep up the remnants of my shredded morals.
I grabbed the bottom of my T-shirt and pulled it up over my head, quickly laying back down in Bahlin’s arms.
“Love me, Bay,” I whispered into the hollow of his neck. “Make love to me.”
Bahlin sighed deeply and said, “With pleasure, my love. With pleasure.” He kissed his way down the front of my body, his lips soft but insistent in their exploration. He gently suckled my breast, plucking at the beaded nipple with his teeth. He sucked hard, garroting the skin behind the nipple and biting down, dancing on the border of pleasure and pain. I arched my back and moaned, begging with my actions for what my mind couldn’t articulate. Pain hadn’t ever held any fascination for me, even in my limited experience. But what Bahlin did to me made me cry out for more, begging with my body for his attention. He repeated the same pleasure with the other breast, leaving the swollen and distended nipples a deep, dusky red. Then he kissed his way down my ribs, licking and sucking at my belly button, making me laugh. When he reached the band of my underwear he ran his tongue under the edge, licking my hipbones and tickling my lower belly. I whimpered and grabbed his head, pushing him lower. I needed him.
“Patience,” he admonished, hooking his thumbs under the edge of my panties and tugging at the satin. I lifted my hips to help him, and it seemed that my participation was the trigger he’d been waiting for me to pull. He pushed my legs apart and dove for my center, his sole focus loving me with joyful abandon. His skill was alarming, pushing me with force toward a fast, hard peak. I threw myself back against the bed and cried out. Bahlin immediately stopped, leaving me right on the precipice of release.
“Bahlin,” I panted, “you son of a bitch. Finish me.” I didn’t even recognize my deep, throaty voice.
“I want to be inside you when you reach your pinnacle, Maddy.” He kissed and bit his way back to my mouth and, grabbing me around the waste, pulled me on top of him. I straddled his bare hips, rubbing my cleft along the ridge of his penis. He was like molten silk, and I groaned. Bahlin hissed, involuntarily jerking his hips up to meet me in motion. I devoured his mouth, and he ate at mine, the kisses bruising. But neither of us took the final step of consummation, instead drawing the pleasure out to dance precariously with pain, the ache evolving to burning need, primal and base. We tormented each other endlessly with Bahlin pushing my boundaries and experiences beyond simple definition.
Bahlin rolled me back over and bit my neck, rolling my pounding pulse around his tongue.
“I can’t wait any longer,” he panted, and he drove into me in one long, hard thrust.
I screamed, scoring his back with my nails and lifting my hips to meet his relentless invasion. He stretched me to the point I felt I’d split in two and I groaned, only his thorough prep work saving it from hurting like hell. Beyond the physical connection it felt so good, so right, to be loved by this man. He reached between us and rubbed my * in hard little circles, never relenting in his aggressive lovemaking, his balls slapping my ass as he rammed his way through my tight channel. The sound was so incredibly erotic. I moaned, feeling the orgasm just beyond my reach, coming closer with each thrust and every manipulation.
“Maddy, I’m close, I’m close,” he said, the muscles and tendons in his neck standing out in relief as he strained to prolong the pleasure. He pinched the hood of my * hard and it was all I needed. I went over the edge of the abyss, yelling his name into the void of the cavern. He fell over seconds later, the echoes of his shouts mingling with mine until we were one voice.
I lay there beneath him, sweating and panting, finally understanding why the French called orgasm the little death. I couldn’t move. Nothing was responding to my commands to get out from under Bahlin. So I laid there, relearning how to breathe. His heart began to resume a normal pace and he rolled to the side, cuddling me up to him.
“Don’t say anything, Maddy,” he said softly. “I don’t want you to say anything.”
“About what?” I asked sleepily. I couldn’t figure out why people wanted a cigarette after sex. This was way the hell better than any nicotine buzz I’d ever had. In fact, if Bahlin could keep up his success rate at doling out climaxes, I could probably swear off cigarettes for life.
“Tha gaol agam ort,” he whispered.
I slipped back to the surface of thought, unsure what to say or do. “What did you say?” I asked softly.
“It’s Gaelic.” He shrugged, burying his face in my hair.
“Say it again.” He did, and I repeated it to him. “Did I say it right?”
His voice was harsh with emotion. “You said it perfectly, my love.”
“What does it mean?”
“I love you.”
I stiffened, and he held me tighter. I started to pull away and he said, “I meant it. Don’t say anything that might ruin this moment. I want to remember the first time I told you I loved you with affection, not frustration.”
“Do I annoy you so badly?” I asked, refusing to turn to look at him, refusing to address his surety that I would love him back.
“No, not annoy. But you have tried to tell me how I feel and don’t feel. You need to simply accept that my love is what it is, Madeleine Dylis Niteclif. I love you. I’ve never felt this way about anyone in my long life, and I’ve never given the words to anyone, freely or otherwise.” He tightened his arms around me.
“Bay, I wasn’t sure what I was saying…”
“Shut up, Maddy.” Bahlin sighed, and I smiled. I didn’t want to ruin this, either.
“I want the words from you one day, mo chrid, but I want them freely. I’m willing to wait out your indecision until you see reason and understand we’re meant to be together.” He ran his hand up and down my front in lazy strokes and I felt myself begin to respond. My nipples pebbled, and my belly tightened under his touch. “This is only a part of what I want from you, Maddy.”
“Well,” I said, “you promised me hours upon hours in bed. Better put your money where your mouth is.”
He rolled over, pulling me around to face him. “Oh, pet, you have sealed your fate.”
Let’s just say the man didn’t make idle threats.