Page 64 of A Celtic Secret
THOUGH FRUSTRATED MADISONand Cian showed up when they did, it was probably for the best because Declán might have very well put off his kingly duties and people indefinitely. Rather, he would have taken Riona again and again right where they were in a castle stairwell where anyone could happen upon them.
She felt so good. Too good. He couldn’t get enough of her. Watching her fight had been pure magic. Arousing in new ways. Ways that made it impossible not to take her then and there. To feel the same rush he’d felt watching her battle, to the similar rush of being inside her.
“Hello?” Madison said sweetly enough from somewhere nearby that there was no doubt she knew what they were up to.
Riona cursed under her breath about annoying sisterly timing and readjusted herself while he did the same.
“Hey, sis,” Riona called out. “Be there in a minute.” She rolled her eyes at Declán, smiled, and mouthed, “Back to this later?”
He returned her smile and pulled her close for another long kiss.
One interrupted when Madison exclaimed, “Ah, there you are. We’ve been looking all over.” The corner of her mouth twitched in amusement as she and Cian rounded the corner. “Sort of.”
“Well, here we are.” Riona’s cheeks were rosy not only from their lovemaking but because of embarrassment as she tried to pat down curls that had grown extra wild against the castle wall. “What’s up?”
While Cian remained silent, Declán didn’t miss the bemused humor skirting his brother’s eyes. He understood why when Madison went on.
“There’s nothing reallyup.” Madison bit back a smile as she helped Riona try to tame curls that only seemed to get wilder by the moment. “Not anymore anyway, I take it?”
When Riona’s eyes rounded at her, Madison chuckled and shrugged. “Hey, like quite a few around here, we couldn’t help but watch you two fighting. Truly amazing.” She nodded in approval at Riona. “Your druidess warrior skills are top-notch, sis. Very impressive.”
“You watched us fighting?” Riona said weakly. Her cheeks grew rosier when she realized what else they might have seen. “Alongside how many people exactly?” Her eyes narrowed a little. “And for how long?”
“Well...” Madison bit the corner of her lip to keep from smiling too much and looked at Cian. “How many would you say? A few dozen or so?”
“At the very least,” Cian replied, clearly trying his best to keep amusement at bay as well. “’Twas a good-sized crowd that gathered.” He gestured behind them. “Just up a ways.” His brows perked when he looked at Declán. “I’m surprised you didn’t sense them, brother.”
“I don’t think you’re any more surprised than me,” Madison chastised. The two of them were obviously having fun with this. She grinned at Riona. “We druidesses tend to keep our men enthralled.”
“So did they....” Riona flinched and peeked in the direction of a now dispersed crowd. “See....”
“See you fight.” Madison nodded. “We all did.” Her grin only grew. “That is until you vanished into this stairwell, and mothers had to put their hands over their children’s ears.”
When Riona’s jaw dropped, Madison chuckled and shook her head. “Just kidding.” She kept chuckling. “They got them out of there the minute everyone figured out what you guys were up to.” She helped tie back Riona’s hair when it became clear it wouldn’t behave. “And before you feel too embarrassed, don’t. These people loved what they saw between you two yesterday, and that’s only tenfold today.” She glanced from Declán to Riona, honest to a fault. “I get the sense they’re unaccustomed to their king finding love and happiness and couldn’t be more pleased that he found it with an Unnamed One. Withyou, sis.”
“I hope so.” Riona frowned when she looked his way. “Because I’d hate for them to think I’m just...well....”
“What?” Madison asked. “Hopelessly in love with their king? Willing to defend him and his,your, people until your last dying breath?” She gestured at the mighty castle and curtain walls around it. “Because it’s safe to say all of this makes it clear exactly where you stand.”
“I guess it does.” Riona nodded. “Because I do feel that way.” She smiled softly at him. “On all fronts.”
“There you have it.” Madison linked arms and walked with Riona. “So why don’t the four of us visit with the warriors determined to defend the castle and start building momentum. Rally them to the cause.” She glanced back warily at the monstrous totem. “Because I suspect it’ll be quite the battle when it comes.”
Cian fell in beside Declán and said little at first as they followed the lasses. Rather, he got the sense his brother weighed his words. Tried to find a medium between what they would be mourning this eve as they said goodbye to Cian's fallen at the hands of Declán’s possessed warriors and what that totem meant for things to come.
“’Tis good ye’ll be mourning my lost warriors this eve,” Cian finally said. “I am thankful, despite how unsettled I remain.”
“Ye need not thank me, brother.” Declán spoke from the heart. “For they were my friends, too. Friends of my warriors and people.” He clenched his jaw, feeling his brother’s pain along with his own. “Each and every one.”
“I know,” Cian said, giving him more than he expected. “Moreover, as hard as it remains to deal with, having known Madison, having loved her as much as I do, Ireland’s future aside, I understand why you did what you did for Riona.” A frown settled on his brother’s face. “As much as I hate to admit it, I would have done the same formo dhraoia thousand times over if it meant keeping her safe.”
Declán wasn’t sure how to respond other than to nod and hope the forgiveness he felt inside his sibling was genuine. Cian had always been his closest friend, his confidant above all others, which had made what he’d done all that much harder.
“So we’ve settled that.” Cian glanced back at the totem. “Yet I fear much more sibling strife lies on the horizon. A divide betwixt us unknown kings that might be greater than anything we’ve faced thus far.”
He nodded in agreement. “All signs seem to point in that direction.”
They had little time to discuss it further as they joined not just Declán’s and Cian’s warriors but Aodh’s, who had remained behind when he went to intercept more. However discomforted by the situation, they understood the dynamics of what was happening. What Raghnall and, without a doubt, Siobhán were doing. That as much as their king might seem the enemy now, it was only because he was possessed.
