Page 57 of The Last Kelpie

“Yes. God, yes. Don't stop.”

He thrust harder, hitting that spot again and again, every bump sending a thrill up my back. Áedán growled, his control starting to fray along with mine. His jaw clenched, his eyes darkened, and his breathing turned ragged. He was close. We both were.

“Touch yourself.” He shifted up onto his knees so he could see me. “I want to feel you squeeze me when you come.”

I wrapped my hand around myself and stroked in time with his thrusts. The pleasure built fast, overwhelming and inevitable. My toes curled, and my head lolled on the pillow. The primal need for release grabbed hold of me. I needed it even more than I needed Áedán inside me. I pumped my hand faster and shuddered when I caught him watching my glossy tip emerge from my fist. It sent me over, and I came with his name on my lips as my body clenched around him.

With my hand on my cock, my release arched up and hit Áedán's belly. He flinched and then came with a guttural cry, hands gripping my thighs to hold me to him as he arched forward. The movement lifted me further off the bed, and I pushed down on the mattress with my hands to steady myself. Áedán's hips locked, and his cool release rushed into me, reminding me that he was more than a man.

I watched Áedán climax in awe. With his back bowed and head thrown back, he looked like a sea god rising from the depths, primal magic flowing under his skin like water. Then he jerked violently, and his body flowed forward and down as he jerked his cock free. My legs fell from his shoulders and dropped out to the sides on the mattress. Áedán collapsed over me, breathing hard, and pressed his face to my neck.

We lay tangled together, sweat cooling on our skin, hearts gradually slowing. I could feel his spent shaft against my balls while mine was pressed between us.

“Do you feel real now?” I whispered.

Áedán lifted his head to look at me. His eyes were bright, almost glowing. “More than I ever have.”

He kissed me then, gentle and sweet. Then he rose from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. Áedán returned with a warm cloth and cleaned us both with tender efficiency. When he was done, he climbed back onto the bed, lay on his back, and pulled me into his side. Smiling, I turned onto my side and laid my head on his chest. I could hear his heartbeat, steady and strong, and feel the rise and fall of his breathing.

Outside, the loch whispered against the shore. Inside, we held each other and tried not to think about the impossible task ahead. About the villain rewriting myths. About the truth being buried under layers of lies. For now, this was enough. This moment. This truth between us.

Everything else could wait until morning.

Chapter Nineteen

I woke to find Áedán already awake, propped on an elbow, and watching me. His fingers traced idle patterns on my shoulder. Behind him, light came through the window, gray and soft, the kind of Scottish morning that promised rain.

“You were muttering in your sleep.” He leaned over to kiss me and pulled back only a few inches. “Something aboot publication dates.”

“I was not.”

“You were.” His mouth curved. “It was adorable.”

I groaned and pressed my face into his chest. “I'm sorry. I can't stop thinking about it.”

“I know.” Áedán stroked my hair. “It's all right.”

I leaned back and gave him a wincing look. Even now, lying naked beside him, my mind was already racing ahead to what I needed to do that day. Why couldn't this have been a routine preservation? We could have been one of those happy couples I'd seen at the estate. But no, my first assignment was with an incredible man who wasn't merely fading from being forgotten but was the victim of a methodical attack.

“An attack!” I sat up.

“What?” Áedán sat up as well.

“The first changes happened in 1940, over eighty years ago. Assuming the person doing this didn't begin at birth, that would make them around a hundred years old, probably older.”

He frowned, but then his expression went slack. “They're not human.”

“We need to find the earliest published book that contains the sentence about truth.”

“We already know when the changes settled, isn't that enough?”

“That will help, but I want to be sure that the changes settled with the addition of that sentence. Because if that's true, those words are the key to saving you.”

Áedán's hand stilled on my shoulder. “You're certain?”

“Ninety percent.” I shrugged. “Either way, it's another lead. Don't we have to follow it?”

He was quiet for a moment. “All right, but I don't know where to start.”