“Lachlan, you can’t touch her like that, and we’re out in the open.” A firm, feminine voice broke through his haze. “You two have mating fever. This isn’t the time or the place. Take a step back and let me get Bronwyn someplace safe.”
Shim heard the growl coming from his own throat. He felt a little feral. The blood, the heat, the closeness of his Bron. He suddenly realized he didn’t want anyone else around. He wanted Bron. It was past time to take her. She fucking belonged to him. She’d been promised to him since the moment of her birth, and he wouldn’t allow one more thing to come between them.
Lach’s huge dark eyes focused on their mate. “Bronwyn.” Lach touched her hair before letting his hands float, skimming across her skin, pausing at the vein in her neck. “She’s alive.”
Shim nodded, ignoring the fact that a crowd seemed to be gathering.
“Our sister is here. Gillian’s alive.” Lach said the words, but he was wholly focused on Bron.
“Shim, please think for a second.” Gillian had moved in closer, delicately moving around the bodies of the fallen. “You can’t take her here.”
“She is ours.” Lach spoke around the fangs in his mouth. “We’ll take her where we want to. She belongs to us.”
Yes, his brother was definitely feeling the fever, and now some of Gillian’s words were breaking through. Bron was hurt. Bron wasn’t even conscious. Did they intend to push her skirts up right here on the battlefield, the dead all around them?
It would prove once and for all what animals they were. Yes, when her brothers discovered how they had treated Bronwyn, they would be welcomed with open arms.
Lach’s face was in her hair, breathing in her scent, letting it flow around him. Lach growled a little, his hand moving to her breast. If Shim didn’t stop him, the fever would take control, and there would be no stopping the warrior half. The dead all around them proved Lach was capable of giving in to the beast that lay inside their soul.
“Please, Shim. I understand the fever, but Bronwyn will not. As far as I can tell, she doesn’t even know you’re real.” Gillian took another cautious step forward. “Please. If you give in to the fever, you’ll take her with not an ounce of thought to her. She’s a virgin. I made sure of it. I’ve protected her for thirteen years because I knew she was your mate. Trust me. Take her back to the tower. Give her and yourselves some privacy.”
Bron’s eyes fluttered open. Shim stopped, terrified that the next sound would be Bronwyn’s scream. Brown eyes looked at him. She seemed unfocused, shaky. Her hand came, brushing his chin. “My Shim?”
His heart leapt. “Yours.”
“Lach?”
Lach kissed her forehead. “Is here now, love.”
“What is wrong with your eyes?” She tried to sit up.
Before Shim could explain, she doubled over, her knees coming up and a low wail moving from her mouth. Pain was etched on her face, her hands stiffening into fists.
“Please make it stop. Why won’t it stop?”
Shim looked to his sister. “What is wrong with her? I can’t feel her. I should be able to feel her. We’re bonded, but there is nothing connecting us now.”
His sister seemed to be treating them like dangerous predators. She moved forward slowly, holding her hands out to show she had no weapons. Even though she moved cautiously, Shim found himself clutching Bron tighter, and Lach bared his fangs.
“I am not taking her from you. Damn it. Calm down both of you. You’re scaring the entire village, and we seem to need them as you did not bring an army with you.” Gillian stood in front of them.
“They left the army behind.” The phooka had moved from his perch on the roof to the pole that had held Bron. He hung there, his claws sunk deep. “Though I wouldn’t call it an army exactly. More like a little squadron.”
“And they brought along a little devil.” Gillian frowned at the phooka before turning her gaze back to her brothers. “Do you not know what that is? It’s a trickster. Did he trick you away from father’s men?”
Bronwyn was moaning softly, tears squeezing from her eyes. Shim wasn’t in the mood to hear about his choice of vehicle. “Tell me what is wrong with our mate.”
Gillian got to one knee. “Bronwyn. Bronwyn, did they give you anything?”
Bron bit her bottom lip and forced herself to nod. Her mouth opened as though she was trying to speak, but her body convulsed again.
Even Lach seemed to come out of his fever long enough to be worried. “What is wrong? What did they give her?”
Gillian ignored them both, putting a hand to Bron’s forehead and feeling it. “She’s burning up. I suspect they gave her something to quiet her, but it wouldn’t explain why she’s in such pain.”
Shim leaned over, looking into her face. Such pain. “Tell me how to help you, a chumann.”
One hand came to his head, her fingers soft on his hair. “Kiss me.”
Her mouth came up, touching his, lips pressed to lips. Shim felt like he was falling into a dark well and Bron was the only spark of light. Her soft moan had his cock leaping in his pants. An aching want suffused his body with desire. His heart sped up, and a horrible pain began in his cock.
He needed. He fucking needed her.
“Damn it.” Gillian stood and turned back to talk to someone. Shim didn’t care. He knew what she needed now. Her body was calling to him. That bright, shimmering line that connected them was starting to come back.
“It hurts, Shim. She’s hurting so much.” Lach felt the connection, too, their minds opening to each other now that Bron was awake again, but the connection was marred by her pain, her outrageous need.
Gillian stepped forward again. “Pick her up, Shim. We need to get her inside. We have no way of knowing until we do a count if you killed everyone you should have. Reymon has a house close by. He’s willing to give it to you for the time being. I’ll keep watch for this squad of men who I have to hope will be smart enough to follow you.”
Through his haze, Shim managed to get up and haul Bron with him, her slight weight nothing against his strength. She clutched at him, her eyes fevered with desire. She pushed at his shirt, trying to get her hands on his skin. Shim couldn’t help it. He needed her so badly. She was the fever in his blood now. He kissed her, his tongue plunging deep.
He needed to get her away from here. He had to protect her, and he couldn’t take her here. It was too open. He didn’t want eyes on them. This was his bonding time.
But if he didn’t get inside her soon, he might burn down the village around him. Already he could feel the need to unleash his power. He would lose control if he didn’t satisfy Bron’s desire.
Lach was at his side as he began to move toward the small house Gillian pointed to. The door opened, and a woman pointed them to a back room. The house was a storefront. Candles and herbs covered the shelves. The man named Reymon gestured them through to narrow stairs.
“Our bedroom is small, but sturdy. ’Tis an honor to host your first night, Your Highnesses.” Reymon nodded. “We’ve hoped for this for so long. The Unseelie will finally come.”
Shim didn’t want to think about the man’s enigmatic words. He wanted to take off his wife’s clothes and be with her finally. She mewled and twitched in his arms. Lach went up the stairs first, checking the bedroom and finally turning.
“Leave us, sister.” Lach nodded toward Gillian who stood in the doorway.
Gillian took a deep breath as Shim set Bron on the bed. She curled into his body.
“Take her. Make her yours,” Gillian said. “Bond fully with her so there can be no question from the Seelies that she belongs to our clan. Impregnate her if you can. And do it quickly. We need to be gone from this plane by the morning. I’m going to go and clean up the mess the warrior half left. And brothers, it is good to see you and to see just how powerful you’ve become. When the time is right and we unite the tribes, you will be the true Kings of the Fae. I honor you, brothers, and the woman who will bring the Unseelie into true power.”