A Change of Season

The temperature had dropped when the sun had gone down and Moira figured that because of the night they’d all shared together, they wouldn’t think her forward if she suggested they all sleep together to conserve warmth. Perhaps even Dain might swallow his revulsion and sleep by her side for the entire night. She threw the pillows to the head of the bed a little more forcefully than she’d intended at the thought. A tendril of her hair came loose from its coiffeur and she blew it angrily out of her eyes.

“All right?” asked Dain, coming in with an armful of wood.

“Fine,” she said softly as she hooked the tendril behind her ear. She watched him with hungry eyes as he dropped the load near the hearth and started to break the kindling. She wanted him so much it made her chest hurt. “I’ll get the flatbread I’ve got in my saddlebags,” she said and went for the door.

Dain stood and caught her arm as she passed. She looked down at it and then up into his eyes, her lips parted. Dear, sweet Goddess! His slightest touch made her needy.

“Killian caught a wild hare and is preparing it for the spit.”

“The bread can accompany—”

He pulled her toward him and kissed her, cutting off the rest of her sentence. “Moira,” he breathed. He set his forehead against hers. “You frightened me this morning. I was afraid when I felt you’d left the castle on your own.”

Her eyes widened. “You felt?”

He nodded. “Perhaps it’s….”

“A bit of your magick.”

“Or maybe it’s a connection you and I share. We do share one, you and I, but you must know that, that—”

She leaned up and kissed him. Tears choked her eyes and throat. “I know,” she whispered brokenly. Grief welled up inside her. “Please don’t say it out loud.” Then she whirled and left the cabin.

She practically ran to her mare. Hurriedly, she fought to get the saddlebag open and sought within for the flatbread. She freed it and stood looking down at the small leather-bound package. Then tears clouded her vision and she leaned against the horse, letting a couple of them fall. They splashed into the leather and she watched with clouded vision as they rolled off to the ground.

Behind her, she heard the cabin door open and close. Then it whined open once more. “Moira?” Killian asked. “Are you all right?”

Quickly, she wiped her eyes on the backs of the sleeves of her coat. “I’m fine.” She offered a smile. “Just a bit tired, I guess.”

She heard his footfalls on the ground and soon felt his body heat beside her. He reached out, turned her and pulled her up against him. Moira closed her eyes as the urge to really sob came over her. She tried her best to choke back her sadness and felt tears burn her eyes. She grasped the leather-bound package in one hand and balled her other fist against the front of Killian’s heavy coat so tightly her nails bit into her palm.

Killian wrapped his arms around her and kissed the crown of her head. “You don’t seem fine to me,” he murmured.

She let out a small, strangled sounding laugh. Unable to speak for a moment, too afraid her body would betray her and send her into a sobbing fit, she simply relaxed into Killian’s strong, warm body, absorbing the comfort he offered her.

How badly it hurt to want something so much and be denied it. Never had she wanted the love of another more than she wanted Dain’s love. It felt like a part of her soul was withering away into nothingness to see that resigned look in his eyes, to hear from his own lips that he could never love her back.

She swallowed hard and cleared her throat, having finally mastered her emotion. “I-I’ll be fine.” She pulled away from a little, discreetly wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. “It’s true that right now I don’t feel that way, but I will be fine…eventually.”

Killian looked down at her doubtfully, then bent his head and took her mouth in a long, sensual kiss. Their lips and tongues meshed and mated and Moira could taste the salt of her tears.

When her knees felt weak and pleasure thrummed up her spine, he released her. He stepped toward the cabin and motioned to her with one hand. The expression in his eyes told her that he didn’t believe her. “Come. The night is cloudless and the temperature is dropping rapidly. It’s getting far too cold to stay outside. We’ve both fires going within and the rabbit I caught is roasting.”

“What of the horses?”

“There’s an outbuilding a small distance away, a small stable. I’m going to take them there now and bed them down for the night.”

She walked into the cabin. The small area was already growing warm. She went about the business of dusting off the table and locating the plates and utensils while Dain and Killian cared for the horses.

After they’d eaten, Dain retired to the bed and she and Killian sat up a while longer, talking in low voices near the fire. Finally, she also retired and slid under the blankets near Dain. For a moment she allowed herself the fantasy that this was their cabin, where they lived together in love, that this was just one night like any other—the routine of a mated couple.

Dain turned toward her and wrapped her in his embrace. He inhaled the scent of her hair and found the edge of her nightdress, smoothing his palms up her body as though he simply had to touch her skin.

She felt Killian slide in at her back. Together, wordlessly, he and Dain pulled the gown over her head. She ended up sandwiched between the two of them nude. Her breath started to come faster.

In silence, their hands massaged her body, rubbing over her back, her breasts, and her buttocks. Her hands roamed, too, bumping into theirs. She ran her fingers over their chests and unbuttoned their shirts and trews.

“But,” she gasped as Killian sucked her nipple into his mouth. “We need our rest,” she finished in a rush.

Dain pulled her beneath him and growled, “Damn the rest, we want you.”