Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

" A re ye all right?" Kaden still hadn't managed to make Elara talk. They had been riding for hours, with him refusing to stop at the first two villages they had come to, for he knew he had to put as much distance between them and Dylan's soldiers as was possible. "For God's sake, Elara." He turned his head to look at her behind him. "Ye havenae said a word for hours. Is yer head hurting? Or…" He trailed off, noting the anger with which she stared at him. "What did I do?"

"It doesnae matter." She shook her head, then grimaced a little. "Me neck hurts though. We should stop fer the night."

"Aye, we will." He nodded at the sun setting in the distance. "We'll make camp somewhere fer the night."

"Nae out here. They could find us."

"Ye're right." His eyes slid to the next village. "We'll find an inn tonight."

They fell silent once again, though Kaden found the quiet infuriating.

Considering what they had just been through, he wanted to talk about what they had discovered.

Annabella and Dylan arranged the arson attack. They're behind this all.

Yet Elara was clearly preferring silence.

"Are we nae going tae talk about what we have learned?" Kaden asked as he steered the horse off a mountain path, into the edge of a village. As it was so late, the streets were mostly quiet, the only sounds coming from an inn where people were drunkenly singing. "We ken what happened. We ken who killed our parents."

"I cannae believe ye were going tae marry a murderer," she spat.

"I didnae ken she was a murderer! And again, I didnae marry her. Have ye missed that bit?"

She didn't answer, though he could feel she was no longer holding onto him.

The question now is, how do we get justice fer our parents when the killers are a laird and lady?

He didn't ask the question aloud, seeing not much would come of it.

"We'll spend the night here." Kaden steered the horse into the stable. Elara stepped down and he followed. Together, they walked into the inn.

The moment they stepped inside, Kaden began to wonder if it had been a good idea.

The clothes they had stolen were both poor, and Elara's gown was particularly revealing. The look two men gave her as she entered made Kaden's gut curl. He reached out to her, his hand taking her waist possessively.

"What dae ye think ye are daeing?" she hissed under her breath as they walked together toward the bar to talk to the innkeeper.

"I am nae leaving ye alone tonight. We stand a better chance of surviving this together. So, guess what, that means another night of pretending tae be me wife."

"Oh joy," her thick irony was not lost on him.

"What am I missing?" he asked plainly, but whether she would have answered him or not, he didn't find out, for the innkeeper arrived at the moment. "A chamber fer the night fer me and me wife please."

"The name?" the innkeeper asked, taking out a book to write it down with a pencil.

"MacCallum." Kaden said Marcus' name on instinct. Not only did it afford him the opportunity to hide his identity, but it also meant that if Marcus did come looking for them in this area, he would have a way to track them.

"Payment?"

Kaden felt Elara flinch in the curve of his arm. They looked at one another, both dressed poorly.

Kaden glanced down at his hand, knowing exactly what he would have to give up. He loosened his father's ring from his right hand.

"Dinnae," Elara murmured, for his ears only.

"There is nay other way," Kaden confessed. He handed the ring over, watching as the innkeeper's eyes widened. He clearly knew from one glance it was worth a lot. "I take it that will buy us the chamber, food and drink, and a fresh horse fer tomorrow?"

"Aye, aye," the innkeeper said quickly, happily pocketing the ring. "Here's yer key."

Kaden felt Elara slip out of his arm. He sighed, frustrated, watching as she led the way up the stairs.

He had rather hoped they'd be able to find comfort in one another's company after discovering their parents' killers, but apparently not. He was left dealing with that darkness all on his own.

He followed her up the stairs and to their room. Once they were inside, he locked the door behind them. She ignored him still, turning to a basin of water and splashing her face, cleaning herself.

"Are ye intending tae talk tae me at all tonight?" he asked.

"Why bother speaking tae me? Ye got what ye wanted last night, didnae ye?" Her words made him flinch. She straightened up, gripping the side of the ball. "Ye care nothing fer me. Those were yer exact words, were they nae? Tae Annabella. Ye care nothing fer me."

"Elara –"

"I dinnae want tae hear it." She held her hands up. "I should have realized. I'm such a fool. I thought after everything that had happened –"

"Elara, are ye even going tae listen tae me?" He walked toward her, but she escaped across the room, and he was forced to following her like a cat.

"I just thought I wouldnae be another woman in yer bed. I thought it was something else, but after all, if ye care nothing fer me, then what is the point –"

"In the name of the wee man, Fire, I care too damn much!" He had to practically bellow the words to be heard above her rantings.

She stopped, turning to face him.

"I take it ye were awake on the floor? Listening in?" he asked quickly, and she nodded. "Could ye nae see what I was doing? Ye are already their target because ye are Cassian's sister. Imagine if they kenned that I was in love with ye as well." He threw the words at her, then stalked away, so angry that he couldn't look at her in that moment. "Imagine what they would dae tae ye, fer ye'd be completely their pawn, tae dae with as they liked. They'd have complete control over me and Cassian. It was the only thing I could think of tae say tae get ye out of there."

"Ye mean…" Her voice was small, but it was not enough to stop his own ranting now.

"I mean that the only way tae stay alive in such a sick game as this, is tae be unimportant. What else was I supposed tae dae?"

"Wait… ye said…" She crept toward him. His eyes slid back to her, involuntarily, his breathing fast. "Ye said ye loved me."

He shifted on his feet.

I did say that.

He hadn't thought of it like that, but apparently, his mouth was able to conjure the right word in that moment that he hadn't been able to find before. Yet, it all made sense. That was why what they had shared the night before had meant so much, how it had been unlike anything before, how he had been unable to stay away from her since the very beginning.

I have been falling in love with her all this time.

"I dae," he said, his voice deep.

"Kaden, ye fool," she said, running toward him across the room.

"Fool? That's hardly the response I thought I'd – Elara!"

She had stepped up onto the bed that was between them, using it to jump at him. He hastened to catch her, her legs around his waist as she clashed her lips against his own.

The ferocity of that kiss was his undoing.

He no longer thought about the grief, the darkness of who had been behind their parents' murder, all he thought of was Elara.

"Dinnae stop," she pleaded between her kisses.

"I dinnae intend tae." He walked forward toward the bed, dropping her onto it and moving himself over her. He kissed her, as if his life depended on it, molding her body to his so he could feel every part of her curves through their clothes.

Within seconds, he was pulling at that gown, begging to get access to her. He barely noticed the fact that she was pulling at his clothes too, for she was so desperately trying to reach him.

He knelt up, pulling off the shirt he'd stolen from the washing line.

"Ye understand me now?" he asked, breathily, reaching down and pulling at the laces on her dress.

"Aye," she whispered, her voice just as labored by her breathing. "I… Kaden, I…" She halted, reaching up his stomach, that flaming tattoo, and to the center of his chest.

He halted, feeling what she meant, even though she didn't quite say the words.

She loves me too.

It made him move slower. He removed the gown from her, drawing it down her arms and legs, teasingly. She hadn't bothered stealing a corset, meaning he could go straight for the chemise, pulling that over her head too. When she was exposed, he kissed all the way up her right leg, even playfully nipping her on the inside of her thigh.

"Mine," he whispered possessively against her skin. "Ye are all I want, Elara."

She moaned, her back arching on the bed.

"Ye have me."

Nae yet.

A wild idea entered his mind, one put there as if by a bolt of lightning, but now it was there, he wasn't going to let go of it.

When we are wed, she will truly be mine.

He moved upward, his finger reaching for her core, his fingers sliding inside of her. Her legs parted instantly around his hips, her hands going to his chest as he braced himself above her with his other hand.

"I cannae bear the thought of another touching ye like this," he confessed. It ate him up inside, the thought of any other man there.

"I'm only yers, Kaden. Only yers," she promised him, her lips parting as she moaned again.

That sound was better than any whisky or mead he'd tasted in his life.

He kept moving his fingers, watching as the blush on her cheeks crept all the way down her neck and across her chest. He moved his lips up her stomach and then to her breasts, taking one between his lips and toying with it, even adoring it, with his tongue. The way she arched into him was powerful, making his length even harder beneath his trews.

Her hands were moving from his shoulders down to his trews.

"Please, Kaden," she begged. "I need ye. I…" There were other words on her lips, things she was finding hard to utter.

She loves me too, she just isnae ready tae say the words.

He realized he didn't need the words. He just needed this moment, the way she touched him, the way she looked at him – it was everything.

He reared up, releasing her and going for his trews. She reached forward, helping him to pull them down. When he was free of them, he bent down over her.

"Dinnae stop holding ontae me," he pleaded.

"I willnae," she promised, wrapping her arms around his chest and kissing him. He delved deeper into that kiss, exploring her as much as he possibly could as he lifted her leg and hooked it around his hip.

This time, he would go slower. Their first time had been full of the pent-up heat and passion they had both been caging in for days. Yet on this occasion, he wanted to make her writhe every second with drawn out pleasure.

He nudged her entrance, softly at first, just trying to stretch her and tease her. Her fingers grew firmer on his back, urging him on.

Slowly, he pushed inside of her, rocking his hips against hers. It was slow, even gentle, and those languid thrusts made her moan into his kiss. He drove his hands down into the bed on either side of her head, raising himself up just enough so they could each watch what they were doing.

Her fingers traced every part of his chest, spending a long time over his tattoo as he rocked into her.

"More," she begged him, "Kaden, please."

He increased the pace, but only a little, for he was getting what he so wanted. She writhed, her head flicking back and forth, her face contorted in complete pleasure. He reached down with one hand to their connection, finding a sensitive spot just above where he had entered her and rubbing it gently with the base of his thumb.

She gasped even more, her hands falling limp to the bed on either side of her. She was completely open to him, her body clearly enthralled by what they were doing.

It was what he had wanted so badly, for her to feel what he felt for her, when words were not enough.

"Hold on tight," he begged again, leaning down toward her. She reached up, clinging to his shoulders as he shifted his weight, further over her. It allowed him to make those thrusts longer and deeper, never quick, but enjoying and making the most of every long movement.

He cries grew louder.

"Kaden, I…"

"Say me name," he begged her, bending over her and burying his head in her neck.

"Kaden," she cried again, her body tightening around his length.

As she hit her climax, he did everything he could to fight finishing inside of her, despite the temptation. It was a thrill, completely electric the way she finished for him, gripping to him and moaning his name. Only when he was sure she had finished did he allow himself to go over the edge. He pumped into her a few more times, then retracted himself.

Before he could reach down though, her hand was there.

"Elara –"

She finished him off. Her hand pumped him enough that he released suddenly over the pair of them, straining to keep himself above her without capitulating his whole weight onto her. The feeling of her hand on him, the fact she had wanted to do it, was everything.

"Fire," he said his name for her as collapsed beside her on the bed. She was already climbing over him again. He adored the fact she didn't mind the mess they had made, but went to straddle him anyway, bending down to kiss him. "I'm sorry I couldnae keep ye safe today," he whispered to her between their kisses. His words made her kiss him harder. "But I will from now on, Elara. I'll give everything tae keep ye safe. Trust me."

She leaned back from their kisses momentarily.

"I dae."