Chapter 7

“Bloody hell,  what am I seeing?” Anton bellowed.

“You know what you’re seeing,” Nora snapped over her shoulder while glowering at me.

It was at that moment that I fully understood the term, ‘If looks could kill.”   My dear friend was clearly furious with me.

I let out a small squeak while pushing at Killian’s chest.  If he was aware of the commotion about him, he made no indication of it while he continued to seek his second climax.  He must have been on the verge of it when Nora opened the door because after just a few more thrusts I could feel his release inside of me.

Shuddering with orgasmic satisfaction, his body collapsed against mine and I pushed all the harder.

“Killian,” I said in a harsh tone that was still kept low to avoid waking Lance while I aggressively slapped his shoulder. “Get off me, now.”

Eyes that always reminded me of a clear blue lake met mine.  He looked disoriented and bewildered.  Then, in a split second, clarity took over.  His head turned to look at Nora and Anton while he simultaneously pushed himself free of me.  With a swiftness that impressed me, he pulled his pants into place and fastened them.  Had I not known him to be a man of discipline who possessed a bit of magical abilities of which I’d yet to decipher completely, I would have thought him well practiced in the art of redressing after a rendezvous in the closet.  His shine was miniscule compared to Lance, Anton’s, and mine.  It took me quite a while to even be able to see it.  But, now that I could, it was easy to see that he’d pulled on it for assistance with maneuvering speed.

I could feel my face reddening as I did my best to slide off the shelf and adjust my robe over my all to exposed flesh.

“I don’t believe you two,” Nora snipped in a low and angry voice.  “Lance is just a few doors down.  Have you no shame?”

I looked past my dear friend who was rightfully outraged at my cousin who came from a different time and culture altogether.  Sure, he’d come to the future on occasion, but never long enough to adopt our way of thinking.

Who was I kidding?  It didn’t matter what century or culture I was in.  What Killian and I had just done was inexcusable.

My throat suddenly clogged with phlegm.  I had to clear it a few times before I was able to eke out a raspy, “I’m sorry.”

With her hands on her hips and her lips pursed, she said in a commanding tone, “Downstairs.  Both of you.”  Then, yanking Anton by his arm so hard that his head  jerked, she tugged him down the grand staircase.

Killian looked at me with sadness.  “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

I couldn’t look at him as I said with a firm tone,  “Go.  I’ll catch up with you.  I need to clean up.”

Grabbing a hand towel from a shelf, I pulled my robe aside and vigorously wiped at the abundance of sticky fluid that pooled in my crotch.

Killian reached for me, but I jerked away.  I needed him to leave and let me think about what just happened and what was going to happen because of it.  The guilt that my sexual desires had managed to hold at bay was in command of me full force.  I could barely tolerate myself, let alone my accomplice.

I used the ensuite bathroom in Killian’s room to shower.  I knew that they were waiting for me downstairs, but I felt the need to wash my entire body and I didn’t want to risk waking Lance by using the shower in our own ensuite bathroom. I would have preferred soaking in a hot bath, but his bathroom offered a shower only. 

Knowing that they were awaiting me downstairs, I took my time washing Killian from my body.  I dreaded facing them.  What was I going to say to them?  How could I explain why I’d done what I did with him?

Feeling slightly better after cleaning up, I slowly descended the stairs.  The angry and muffled conversation that drifted up to me grew louder and more coherent as I gradually headed for the bottom of the grand staircase.

Just as it had done when I’d joined them earlier, all conversation stopped as soon as I entered the room.  I looked from my best friend, to my cousin, to the man who I had to admit that I loved differently than I loved my husband, but love him I did.  Each wore a look of frustration.  Nora’s face still contained her disgust while Anton’s hinted on worry.  Killian’s was filled with rage.

“Sit down,” Nora commanded in a tone that sounded like a schoolteacher addressing a troublesome student.

I obediently moved to the nearest easy chair and lowered myself onto its thick cushioned seat.  The firmness of the tapestry covered furniture grade foam wrapped in batting felt welcoming and almost comforting as I waited for my dear friend to read me the riot act.

Not only did Nora not look at me, but she said nothing as she slowly paced the room.  Killian and Anton had helped themselves to brandy and were leaning against the wall while tipping back their glasses as if they needed its support. 

Silence filled the room for so long that I grew fidgety.

It was Killian who finally broke it. 

“You don’t need to go back with him,” he growled from the opposite side of the room. “I’m not ashamed of our love.  Stay with me.  We were happy.  We can be happy again.”

“Times are not the same,” Nora interrupted as she paced the floor in front of me.  “Too much has happened to expect things to go back as they were.  You’re a smart man, Killian.  You know better.”

“All I know is that I love this woman and I’m not going to give her up without a fight,” he stubbornly replied.

“’Tis probably a good thing that she leaves with her husband,” Anton said with a voice the hinted of understanding and compassion.

“I don’t know if I want to go back there,” I complained.

“Do you wish to stay with Killian and let Lance return alone?” Anton asked with surprise.

“Yes. No,” I blurted out.  “I don’t know.  I don’t want to go back and I don’t want Lance to go back either.”

Anton took a deep breath before speaking. “There is something I did not tell you, lass.  ‘Tis nay just the family fortune that Lance must protect.  ‘Tis your parent’s wellbeing at stake.”

“My parents?” I repeated with confusion.  “I’m not following you.”

Nora looked at Anton and smiled.  “She means she doesn’t understand.”

Anton nodded and gave her a wink.  “I gathered as much.”  Turning to me, he said with a tone filled with remorse, “I am sure you ken that your mother and father are one of the first of our kind to found the society.  Because of this, their magic is strong and desirable.  During your time in servitude to that dark lord, your wicked brother-in-law made a deal with him that he would deliver your parents to him in exchange for you and him.  It seems he intended your release so that he could take you away and live happily ever after.”

“As if that could ever happen,” Nora spat.

“Does Lance know this?” I asked.

Anton shook his head.  “He kens that the family fortune on your side and on his has been offered up in exchange for your releases, but he does not ken that your parents are also a part of the deal.”

“So, when I escaped, I messed up this deal?” I mused with dismay.

“I ken so, lass,” Anton replied.

“Now, Marduke will probably want both the family fortune and all of us,” I grumbled.

“’Tis difficult to say,” Anton replied.

I gave a questioning look in Killian’s direction.  How could he ask me to stay when so much was at stake?

As if he read my thoughts, he firmly protested, “I had no idea.  Nothing of this was said to me.  It’s the first I’m hearing it.”

“It changes things,” I said in a soft, defeated tone.  Then, suddenly remembering what I’d just been caught doing, I added, “I doubt Lance will want anything to do with me once he finds out about what I just did.”

“We have no intention of telling him,” Nora firmly said.

Anton nodded.  “If you agree to return with him, I will say nay of this to him.”  He looked directly at Killian.  “’Twill be a secret among friends.”

As I watched Killian lock eyes with Anton it struck me that they truly were friends.  It must have been difficult for my cousin to have to make a choice between Lance and Killian.  He was bonded to both in one way or another and he cared for them both.

“I’m sorry to have put you in this position,” I said to Anton.  “I wasn’t thinking.”

“You regret making love to me?” Killian blurted out without thinking.

I looked at him and scowled.  “I regret that my cousin has been put in the position of having to keep such a secret from his longtime friend and cousin by law.”

“’Tis a burden I can bear,” Anton assured me, “as long as you go back and help to sort this out.”

“How can we sort it out?” I asked with dismay. “I’ve been around Marduke enough to know the depth of his power and his evilness.  We’re no match for him.”

“Did you nay escape him?” Anton haughtily asked.  “You are the only one who knows him well enough to help your parents escape him as well.”

I nodded, but said nothing.  I knew too little of the situation to present an argument for or against what was being expected of me.