I let her set the pace, sat there silently until she was ready to get out of the vehicle, and only then did I follow.
I stayed close to her, curling my fingers into my palms so I didn’t reach out and touch her, didn’t take away from this moment where she explored and let her mind and emotions open up fully.
It was a wonderful thing to see, a wondrous thing to experience with her. And I couldn’t take my focus off her face.
Because although we were surrounded by the beauty that only nature could create, I was staring at perfection.
We walked in silence side by side for long moments as she took everything in. I watched her expression transform from happiness to sorrow to a deep melancholy.
Finally we made it to her childhood home. The small cottage was built against the side of a sprawling hill, the overhang covered with moss and flowers, the wood siding weathered, the glass of the windows foggy from age.
“I can’t believe they kept it here all these years.” Her voice was nothing but a whisper as she stared wide-eyed at the place she once called home.
I took a step back when she took one forward and watched as she lifted her hand to run her fingers over the curved doorknob, the metal weathered and oxidized.
She glanced over her shoulder at me, and there was so much rawness in her expression it was like a knife in my chest.
I gave her a reassuring smile and inclined my head for her to enter. And when the knob turned and her eyes widened that entering was as simple as that, a rush of emotion filled me.
I hadn’t told her yet, hadn’t told her the truth about the property and what it meant now.
She entered and a small gasp left her. I followed inside, the interior slightly illuminated from the filtering sunlight that came through the windows, dust particles floating in the air as we made our way deeper inside the cottage.
“It’s the same,” she said with this wonder in voice. “It looks exactly how it did when I lived here.” She looked over at me with wide eyes, her hands held out, her palms upward. “I don’t understand. How?” She glanced around again and started touching everything. The small bookshelf that lined one wall, the hand-carved dining room table, the wooden rocking chair that sat beside the hearth.
“After ye were taken, I went tae yer parents, explained everything, and told them what happened.”
She’d gone silent and still then, her hand covering her mouth as she listened to me confess.
“I was ashamed that I was unable tae protect ye. I wanted tae let them know how I failed ye—”
“You didn’t fail me,” she said right away.
I shook my head as my mind was carried back to the past, then I lifted my hand and scrubbed it over my face. I remembered that day I confronted her family as if it were yesterday. I remembered the pain in her father’s eyes, how her mother had cried, clutching at her mate.
“I expected them tae want tae kill me. I would no’ have fought back. I would’ve deserved it. But they humbled me, shocked me as they came and embraced me, wrapped their arms around me and said they believed that I would find ye again, bring ye home.”
“I made them a promise that I would find ye, that I would no’ stop until ye were safe.” I looked over at her again and saw she was crying. I was in front of her a second later, brushing away her tears and leaning down to kiss the crown of her head. “Ah, my soft-hearted lass.” I kissed every inch of her face until her crying lessened. “If it’s any consolation, yer parents passed naturally in the warmth of their bed within days of each other.”
She nodded and gave me a watery smile.
“After they passed and the property went up for sale, I outbid anyone who tried tae purchase it.”
“You… you bought my family’s property?”
I nodded and pulled her in close. She rested her head on my chest, and I closed my eyes at how perfect and right it felt to hold her like this.
“I bought it for ye, so ye had a place to come and remember and feel happy. It took me too long, but I made good on that promise to them, lass.” I pulled back and cupped her face. “Now I just have tae make things right between us, and show ye that ye’ll never have tae worry about yer safety again.”
I kissed her protest away, pulling her in closer and dragging my tongue along the seam of her mouth, urging her to open. And when she did, I plunged inside, my cock hardening, my wolf rising, and everything else fading away.
I found myself lifting her up until I could press her against the side of the hill. I didn’t want to be disrespectful and devour her inside her family’s home, but I also couldn’t stop myself right now.
“Odhran,” she moaned.
I broke the kiss to move my lips down her jaw, over her neck, and latch on to the soft skin where her throat and neck met. My canines throbbed, my mouth watered, and I sucked and licked at her skin, desperately wanting to sink my teeth into her and give her my mark.
I ground myself against her belly, loving that she gripped my biceps and dug her nails into my flesh, causing a sting of pain that had me grunting in pleasure. I sucked hard on her flesh, knowing if I couldn’t pierce her with my teeth at least I’d leave a bruise that would visibly show the world she was mine.