Page 30 of The Irresistible Warrior
Declan threw back his head and roared, his climax more explosive than he had ever experienced and seeing the pleasure on his wife’s face as she shuddered against him, he knew then and there that they were meant to be.
He watched Aura. Seeing and sensing when her climax ebbed, he eased out of her and slipped off her to lie beside her, though curled his arm around her to bring her to rest against his side. She snuggled against him, and he smiled, feeling she was as satisfied and content as he was.
With a gentle lift of her chin for her to look at him, he asked, “Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
She smiled softly. “Nay. It was far more wonderful than I imagined it would be.” She chuckled. “And I might want to do it often.”
“And I will eagerly oblige you each and every time,” he said and kissed her gently.
“Your word on that?”
“Most definitely,” he said and kissed her again.
Declan pulled the blanket over them and held her close as she drifted off to sleep. He had never been happier than he was now, and he intended to let nothing get in the way of their happiness. They would have a good life together.
He closed his eyes, sleep poking at him, when the scent of the forest stung his nose. His eyes flew open, and he saw her.
The witch was there in the room with them.
CHAPTER 13
Declan’s warrior instincts kicked in before thought could form, his hand reaching for the sword beside his bed.
He never made it.
With a flick of the witch’s finger, the blade slid across the floor and out of reach, metal scraping against stone.
He shot to his feet, muscles coiled, stance braced, mindless of his nakedness, ready to fight what he couldn’t yet understand. Ready to protect his wife. He glanced at the bed to see that Aura still slept, then he suddenly feared that she hadn’t moved for another reason.
“What have you done to my wife?” he demanded, turning a furious glare on her.
The witch didn’t move or speak.
She stood in the corner of the room, her black cloak trailing like shadow-smoke, her eyes catching what little light flickered from the hearth. There was no menace in her posture, but no kindness either. She simply was… and that made her all the more unsettling.
“It’s not what I’ve done. It’s what you’ve done, you idiot,” she accused, anger sparking in her words.
“I wed Aura because I love her,” he shot back.
“Finally figured that out, did you?” she snarled. “But it isn’t love that makes you an idiot—it’s that you didn’t take time to think, just like you didn’t when you made your wish.”
“You twisted my words.”
“You spoke the words with no help from me,” the witch reminded.
“I asked for a life where I didn’t have to search for a woman.” He stepped forward, fists clenched. “I didn’t ask for a cursed trail of broken limps and fainting fits.”
“Nay,” she said, her voice like crackling embers. “You wished to be irresistible, even though women already found you so, and you got your wish.”
His jaw tensed. “It wasn’t what I meant.”
“Most speak without fully considering their words, too eager to get what they desire.”
“You trick people,” he accused.
The witch’s gaze turned sharp, her tone a touch more brittle. “I trick no one. I gave you what you asked for, what you desired. You and you alone tie the knot that binds you. But now you have done it again, not thinking before taking Aura to the ring of stones.”
His brow furrowed. “She insisted on going, made it clear it would be helpful for her to do so, and it made sense.”
