Chapter 7

7

" H e wants you to do what?!" Lugh stood in the center of the training room, gawking at me. He wasn't the only one. Saoirse, Boudica, Warin, and Nero wore identical expressions. Even Uisnech looked shocked, and that was saying something. It took a lot to freak out the goblin.

I held up the glowing orb. "He wants me to drug you. After letting you catch me. Tonight."

Saoirse frowned. "He wants you to drug Lugh inside of the castle? He doesn't want you to try to draw him out?"

"Yep." I set the orb down on the table, desperate to get rid of the thing. "He thinks that if I drug the king, then I can get him to show me where he keeps his spear, and then leave the case unlocked. He has some magic thingy spell attached to the orb. When it goes off, he'll know."

Lugh pursed his lips. "And then he plans to seize the castle, taking the spear along with it, when I'm otherwise…engaged."

"Seems that way." I shrugged. "Although he didn't confirm his plans to attack the castle, I can't imagine what else he plans to do."

"He didn't want to share more of his plan with you." Warin frowned. "Just in case you blabbed to Lugh, I'm guessing. If you set off the Sapphire, he won't be the only one drugged by it."

I pressed my lips together. I really hadn't thought about that. I'd be hit by it, too.

"Okay," Lugh said, nodding before turning to Saoirse. "Get the extra defences into place. Wake anyone who has experience as a guard. We will fortify the castle and then set this thing off. When he attacks, we will be ready for him."

My eyebrows shot up to my hairline. "So you're going to go along with this?"

"It's the best way to stop him," Lugh said. "He will launch an attack eventually. If we do it when we're ready, we'll have the best chance of defeating him. This is actually a very positive development. You did well tonight, Moira."

I smiled and stood a little straighter.

He gave a few more commands to the crew, and then he led me out of the training room, across the courtyard, and into his palace. Inside, his quarters were just as messy as they'd always been. A new series of books had taken the place of the last ones. Several were open on the coffee table, surrounded by half-empty mugs of tea or coffee.

He held up the glowing orb. "You can wait outside with the door shut. I'll set this off by myself and stay here so that I don't do anything stupid while I'm drugged."

I frowned. "No, that's ridiculous. The Court needs you. I'll set the Sapphire off, and you can go take care of business."

I strode across the room and tried to grab the bomb from his hands, but he held it up in the air over his head, well out of my reach.

Scowling, I glared up at him. "Don't be so stubborn. You know it would be better if I were the one locked up tonight."

He let out a low chuckle. "That's rich coming from you, Moira. I don't think you, of all people, can lecture me on stubbornness."

Scowl deepening, I jumped up to try to grab the Sapphire from his hands. Instead of wrapping my hands around it, my knuckles knocked hard against the glass-like orb. It launched out of Lugh's hands, shattering in the middle of the floor.

We both stared at each other, eyes wide. In an instant, I was rushing toward the door.

Lugh's hand wrapped tightly around my arm as the misty blue gas filled the room. "Neither of us can leave now. We've both been compromised."

He didn't look particularly upset about it. In fact, a wicked glint in his eyes gave him away. I pulled away from him. "You're enjoying this far too much."

"I wasn't, actually. But the drugs are already making me feel a bit odd." He shook his head as his eyes went glassy. "This is one strong dose."

He wasn't lying. Already, I felt a tad unsteady on my feet. The room had begun to spin around me, and Lugh...well, I'd been annoyed at him a second ago, but that seemed silly now. I loved him. He was my mate. There was no reason to be angry.

In fact...

My arm stretched out toward him, my fingers snagging on the top button of his jeans. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I didn't care to think about it too hard. I just moved, giving in to an instinctual desire that I'd tried so hard to bury deep inside me.

Lugh cocked his head, a lopsided grin on his face. "What's this, then?"

"You know what this is," I said, slinking toward him. My fingers slid around his waistband, and then slipped up beneath his shirt. His muscles rippled against my touch, his skin hot beneath my hands.

It was if he were on fire. Hell, the heat in my head made me feel like I was on fire, too.

Maybe we both were.

"Moira," he murmured, watching me with intense, hooded eyes. "I thought you didn't want us to do this."

I tipped back my head to look into his eyes. "Of course I want this. It's practically all I think about. But... "

"But the prophecy," he said with a sigh.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, scattering those dark thoughts away from me and into the bin. "Maybe it's time we forget about the prophecy."

He tucked his knuckles beneath my chin and pressed his hot lips against mine. I groaned against him as my core flickered with need. I'd spent so long pushing him away. Why the hell had I been doing that? He was unlike any male I'd met in my life, and the last thing I wanted to do was lose him because of my fear.

I needed him more than I needed air itself.

As his kiss deepened, I pressed up onto my toes and slid my fingers between the dark strands of his hair. He was wearing far too many clothes. Time to take care of that little problem. Smiling, I pulled back and ripped the soft material over his head, gut sparking from the sight of his well-muscled chest.

"I want you," I whispered, pressing my hands against his abs. "Don't think about the prophecy. Just think about me."

Eyes sparking, he wrapped his hands around my arse and yanked me up into his arms. My thighs wrapped around his hips. I pressed myself closer to him, relishing in how the magic sparked between our bodies.

Distantly, a tinny voice tried to warn me that I wasn't in my right mind, but I pushed it away. Sober Moira needed to chill out. She'd done bugger all to help the situation. A plan to reverse the prophecy was great and all, but it didn't truly matter in the end.

All that mattered was being with Lugh.

Lugh slammed my back against the wall, his hungry mouth caressing my neck. His dark power curled around my body, leaving a trail of sparks in its wake. With a gasp, I ground my core against his, desperate to be rid of the clothes that shielded us from each other.

Lugh pushed away from the wall and carried me into the bedroom. He shoved all the books off the bed, and then tossed me onto the soft mound of pillows. In an instant, he was on top of me, kissing me with such a ferocity that I no longer knew who I was.

Magic pulsed between us as we wrapped ourselves up in each other's arms. Between kisses, we shed our clothes. First, my shirt, tossed onto the floor. Then, my jeans, thrown against a lamp. And then his. As he crawled on top of me, arms and abs rippling, I wet my lips. He looked even better than I'd remembered.

I curled my finger and beckoned him toward me, a sly grin spreading across my face. I'd never felt more emboldened in my life, never more in control of what I was doing. A part of me knew it was the drugs, but it wasn't as though the Sapphire was making me play a part.

It had just removed all the barriers around my heart. I was finally doing exactly what I wanted to do. Fear could no longer control me .

"Lugh," I whispered just as his mouth drifted down my stomach. "I'm sorry."

Lugh paused, glancing up to meet my eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for, my love."

"I do," I said quickly, swallowing hard, speaking while I still had the courage to do so. "I hurt you. Hell, I hurt both of us. I ran when I should have stayed. You know I love you. More than I've ever loved anyone. And I don't want to run anymore. I want to be here, in this castle, and stay by your side."

A strange expression flickered across his face, his glassy eyes clearing for just a moment. "You're only saying this because of the Sapphire."

"Maybe so," I said. "But I mean it."

"And the prophecy? What about that?"

I reached out toward him, desperate to feel his touch once again. Now that I was speaking, I wished I hadn't said a word. It brought too much clarity to my thoughts. Instead of talking about our fears, I wanted to get lost in his touch.

"Nevermind the prophecy. We'll talk about that later."

My fingernails dug into his skin, and he shuddered.

"The Sapphire might dull my inhibitions, but it doesn't make me forget the past." Shaking his head, he pulled back slightly, frowning down at me.

My heart squeezed tight. After all this, was he truly going to pull away from me? "What are you saying?"

"As much as I want you," he growled, leaning down and nipping my ear, "I will not fuck you when you're drugged out of your mind. I can't forget what you've said. The sober Moira would never want me to take advantage of her like this, and so I won't. I will, however, kiss you until you can't breathe anymore."

It was a promise on his lips, one that made my toes curl. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. I didn't care about the prophecy. I didn't care what might happen next. I only cared about him.

His lips found my mouth once again, and I sighed with a deep kind of happiness I had never known until now. And he kept his promise. He kissed me until the world drifted away from us both.