Page 63 of A Celtic Memory
“He isn't always old.” He pulled her up. “Sometimes, he’s young. ‘Tis just a matter of where in time he travels from...and which incarnation he is.”
“Incarnation,” she mouthed.
“Ta, he has two that I know of.” He removed his cloak. “One where he was only allowed to be with his true love but briefly. The other, where they live a long, loving life together.”
“Oh, wow.” Her brows shot up. “Reincarnation? Seriously?”
“’Tis a thing.”
He knew what she was going to say before she said it.
“Do you think we might have...lived another life together?”
“I cannot say.” He removed her cloak as well and cupped her cheek because he was happiest when he touched her. “What Icansay is I would love you no matter what. Ten lives. Two. Half a life. A few days.” He shook his head. “Time means nothing.”
“Safe to say I feel the same.” She pulled his lips down to hers and once again gave him the sort of kiss that made it hard to think. Her beautiful eyes were dewy when she pulled back. “Really, truly feel the same.” Just as aroused as him, she smiled and fanned herself. “I think you’re right about a swim, though.”
He kept smiling, wondering at how rarely he smiled before her. It was hard to remember how it felt to be so, not grim necessarily, but certainly not joyous.
“Now, the question is,isthis place really as private as I sensed it was?” She glanced around. “Or should you manifest me a bathing suit?” Her brows perked. “Or teach me how to do it myself?”
Properly rueful, he issued a contemplative frown. “’Twould be improper to continue using magic in such a religious spot.”
She grinned and narrowed her eyes. “Yet it’s okay to swim in the nude?”
“’Tis far more natural.” He offered a little shrug and pulled his tunic over his head. “And is that not how things should be in nature?” He yanked off his boots. “Nay, no more using magic.”
“Though it's safe to say this is very much a place of magic.” Madison eyed his upper half and licked her lips. She shouldered out of her dress and let it drop to the ground. “Magic of the gods.”
Her undergarments left little to the imagination, and his cock fully appreciated that. She was perfectly shaped from her slightly curvy hips to her slender waist and voluptuous enough bosom.
He lowered his trousers just enough for her to appreciate all the reasons for swimming nude and paused, pretending to think twice.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Madison shook her head and removed her undergarments. “It’s all or nothing at this point.” She turned and sauntered into the water, incredibly sexy despite her squeal at its chill. “C’mon, handsome. If we’re going to do this, let’s do it!”
Not needing to be told twice, he lost his trousers and strode in after her.
They enjoyed chatting and swimming for a while after that. He’d never enjoyed playful fun with a woman before—that he could remember anyway—like he did with Madison. She made him forget how dire things were as they splashed each other and laughed. Behaved in a way he hadn't been able to in years. For a brief moment in time, she afforded him a sense of freedom from his obligations, much like his brothers had here in his youth. An escape from sadness and anger.
He knew he should stay away, but eventually, he couldn’t help but pull her into his arms. Not when she looked so beautiful wet. When she tempted him with every smile. Every flash of bare, slick skin. He swore she glowed. Was convinced of it, actually.
And it called to not just the man but wizard in him.
“What is this?” he whispered, wondering if she cast him under a spell. “What are you doing to me,mo dhraoi?”
“And here I thought you were doing something to me,” she murmured before kissing him. When she wrapped her legs around him, he groaned at the feel of her and deepened the kiss. Lost himself as he so easily could with her. Welcomed her heat when she sank onto him. When she released a choppy breath and stared into his eyes in a whole new way.
He wasn’t sure why or how it was different.
Only that it was.
She quivered against him when he cupped her backside with one hand and dug his hand into her lush hair with the other. He didn’t move at first. Just relished the feel of her tight sheath. The love radiating from her eyes.
It was an exquisite moment where time seemed to stand still. Where they became something else. Something they forgot but so recently remembered. Love in its purest form. Love they had felt from the very beginning of something just beyond them.
“Cian,” she whispered. Her gaze roamed his face. Took him in.
“Madison,” he whispered back, doing the same. Feeling the same.
