“You’d have to come to find out.” He rose and dusted his hands against his jeans. She didn’t live in the city or the higher populated area surrounding it. At least he had another question answered. “How dangerous is your work?”
“I never leave on assignment without a team member, which is usually Daniel. Even though our clansmen are highly skilled, we never take the chance of losing one of our number.” She backed up and perched on the lid of his engraved wooden trunk at the end of his bed. A glorious smattering of freckles sprinkled across her cheeks and nose, made him itch to touch them, to move closer and trace each one.
“Are you warming up?”
“Aye, I am. Thank you.” She unzipped his jacket, folded and laid it beside her. “I didn’t even sense you close tonight, not even one hint of a warning.”
“You should never feel uneasy when you sense me close by.” Not liking the distance she’d created, he closed the gap between them and crouched at her feet. “Has your father aided you in eluding me all these years, being that he’s a seer?”
“No, I’ve managed to elude you all on my own. I also wasn’t paying a great deal of attention on you tonight, not when my mind was on my current case.” She lifted a hand, cupped his cheek. “Honestly, it’s been a burden running from you, and I know my father had hoped I’d soon one day stop.”
“Your father sounds like a man I’d like to meet.” As much as he’d detested her need to run, he’d also admired her ability to keep one step ahead of him. No more though. Now it was time for them to join together, to complete the bond—when she was ready—and merge their lives into one. All he’d ever anticipated was finding his chosen one, and for their clans to finally have some much needed hope. “We have so much to talk about.”
“We do.”
His mind reached out, brushed against hers and found a solid barrier. A barrier he didn’t care for. Pushing, trying to find a way in, he couldn’t halt his mind from demanding the merge that would invariably allow him a constant link of communication to the one woman who was always meant to be his.
“I can feel that.” She scrubbed a hand across her forehead and grimaced.
“I’m sorry. The need to forge a merged link with you is strong. Everything within me desires it, to be a part of you, to speak with you at ease, no matter where you are.” He hauled his mind back. The last thing he wanted to do was to harm or cause her any pain. He slid one hand around the back of her head and gently drew her forward until their foreheads touched. Her warm breath whispered across his cheeks and calmed a little of his mind’s need. “Has the pain receded?”
“It’s going.” She rubbed her forehead against his.
“Earlier you said you were your father’s eldest, his one and only. What of your mother?”
“She passed away not long after I was born. I was schooled right alongside Daniel and a few other close friends within clan walls, my father close by.”
“I’m sorry about your mother. That must have been terribly hard for you and your father to lose her so soon in life.” His parents were rarely apart, found any great length of distance separating them difficult, no matter their merged link. They were each other’s confidants, lovers, their one-and-only. A relationship he desired with all his heart. Her admittance also brought with it a great deal of understanding. She and her father must be tight.
“It’s never easy for one who is mated to lose their other half. Dad’s commitment to raising me though kept him from losing it. His clan also needed him, and we rely on his wise judgment and strength.” She looked deep into his eyes. “I’ve always felt torn, Iain. He’s given up so much to remain with me, and I’ve felt driven to give him the same commitment in return.”
“You harbor guilt?”
“Guilt, and love, and kin. They’re a powerful combination.”
“For the past five years, I’ve ached for what could be and for what’s always remained just beyond my grasp. But I want you to lay any guilt you feel aside. Going forward, we start fresh, with no recriminations or blame. There is only us, and how we intend to live our lives from this moment forth.” Being with her was all he’d longed for, and now the chance was here, he wasn’t about to lose her before he’d ever had the chance to know her. “Apart from your father, who’s your next closest?”
“Daniel.”
“Does he have a mate?” The man better have.
“Aye, and a wee son who is only six weeks old. Daniel holds the fae skill of telekinesis. With his mind alone, he can levitate objects or people.”
“Then I thank you for the warning.” He didn’t doubt that as close kin, Daniel would be as protective of Isla as her father would be.
“You’ll need the warning, although I’d never let Daniel hurt you.” She touched one fingertip to his chest then slid it between two of his shirt buttons and stroked his skin. “You’re very warm, almost too warm.”
“It’s been a few days since I last shifted. Being in the city prevented me from doing so and when I returned, I was busy preparing for the chase.”