Shoulder the Skye (Skye Druids #2)(34)
Author: Donna Grant

 

“You’re trapped in this house, though. As beautiful as it is, it’s still a prison,” he argued.

 

She tried to keep her mouth shut, to hold that remaining secret, but her lips parted on their own, and the words spilled out. “I’m not just protecting myself.”

 

Elias blinked in confusion. Then his face smoothed as the truth came to him. “Beth’s here.”

 

“Aye.”

 

His brows snapped together. “I looked through the manor.”

 

“You could pry up every board, and you still wouldn’t find her.”

 

His gaze sharpened, interest clear in his eyes. “You’ve hidden her.”

 

“I have.”

 

“Will you show me?”

 

She knew she shouldn’t. Bronwyn didn’t understand this sudden need to share everything with a man she barely knew, but he had come to her aid twice. He and his friends had saved her life. For the first time in years, she wasn’t alone.

 

And it felt so good.

 

Whether he stayed or left would be up to Elias. Bronwyn motioned him to follow as she stepped out of the parlor. He pulled the door closed behind him, his gaze meeting hers. He fell into step beside her as they walked the corridor to the staircase.

 

He remained at her side as they climbed to the second floor. Bronwyn fought against the chill as she turned to the left and meandered down the hallway until she reached the second to last door on the right. She had put off coming up here for too long. Maybe it was fitting that Elias was with her.

 

She faced the door and put one hand on the knob before turning it slowly. A click echoed through the quiet of the house. She pushed the door. It swung wide, revealing a normal bedchamber with covered furniture.

 

Bronwyn felt the tingle of her magic at the doorway. She surreptitiously glanced at Elias, who stood behind her and slightly to the right. Magic sizzled beneath her skin and pooled in her palms. The heady feel of it made her sway. From her earliest memories, magic had always been there, like a comforting friend.

 

She lifted her hand and placed her open palm against the invisible layer of enchantment that stood at the threshold. Bronwyn closed her eyes, soaking in the rapture of the magic. It flooded her, swirled through and around her, before caressing her.

 

“Nochd, reveal.”

 

Then she opened her eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

 

 

 

 

 

Elias’s breath caught when the air became charged. His skin tingled, the hairs on his arms standing on end. His eyes couldn’t make out the magic, but he experienced the sheer potency of Bronwyn’s power crackling around him.

 

It was tantalizing, captivating.

 

Seductive.

 

His body responded instantly. He didn’t fight the rising tide of desire that assailed him. Instead, he embraced it. His blood sang through him, hot and eager. His balls tightened. His cock hardened. Elias fisted his hands from the onslaught of need so intense it was inescapable.

 

His gaze slid to Bronwyn. She stood with her eyes open and her lips parted. Her pleasure was made evident by her shallow breaths. He’d been around formidable Druids before, but never someone who had such command, such authority. The wanton desire that flooded him threatened to rob him of thought.

 

A strange vibration began when she uttered the Gaelic command. He stood in shock as the air at the doorway began to flicker and then swirl. And at the center of it, Bronwyn’s hand. Elias couldn’t look away from the wide branches of the vortex. The current began leisurely but soon increased in speed until the sections merged and it became one spinning maelstrom.

 

Bronwyn dropped her hand to her side. The opening was no bigger than her palm, but he was able to see into the center of the quagmire. It was no longer the bedroom from before. He couldn’t clearly make out what was there, but he knew he was looking at someplace different.

 

The gap began to widen, bit by bit. As it did, the vortex started to slow. Elias felt Bronwyn’s gaze on him, but he couldn’t look away from what was happening. He’d never seen anything like it before. Finally, the spinning halted, taking with it the unfathomable desire and leaving an empty doorway.

 

All thoughts of pleasure were shoved aside when his gaze landed on a platform draped in purple fabric so dark it was nearly black. On it lay a woman with dark hair who appeared to be sleeping. The air around her was gray, the vaporous atmosphere thick as it coiled and curled as if alive.

 

“My secret,” Bronwyn said.

 

It took him a second to find his voice. “Where is she?”

 

Instead of answering, Bronwyn raised her hand once more. “Falach, conceal.”

 

Everything he’d just witnessed reversed until he once more looked into the empty bedroom, causing him to battle between shock and the raging hunger to claim Bronwyn’s body with his. Elias stepped forward and put his hand through the opening, but he felt nothing. The charge around him vanished, and with it the sultry magic that had held him captive.

 

He turned to Bronwyn, only to find the space empty. He whipped his head around and saw her retreating back. “Wait.”

 

She halted but didn’t turn.

 

“What did I just see?” he asked as he glanced once more into the bedroom before starting toward her.

 

“My ability.”

 

She said it with such desolation that he said nothing more until he reached her. Elias moved in front of her to see her face. She met his gaze, but she didn’t have the same openness as before. Her walls had gone back up. He wanted to touch her, but he feared if he did, he would want more—or worse, she would wrench away from him. He didn’t know what would be worse at the moment. So, he forced his desire to the side. “Thank you.”

 

She jerked in surprise, confusion marring her features. “What?”

 

“Thank you for showing me. It’ll stay between us.”

 

Bronwyn eyed him suspiciously. “Even from the Knights?”

 

“We doona tell each other everything. We all have our secrets. You have my word. I know that may no’ mean much to you, but I’ll hold to it.”

 

She swallowed, looking uncertain and vulnerable. “I don’t know why I told you any of this. I certainly don’t know why I showed you Beth.”

 

He could see her bewilderment. For the second time, he fought not to reach for her, to offer comfort…maybe more. The attraction was becoming harder to ignore even before her magic had turned him on. “Your secrets are safe with me.”