Page 70 of Leila’s Legacy

Leila’s muscles tensed with the warning of her impending release. Niall growled and increased his speed, rubbing that place between her legs that made her unwind. She clutched him and let herself fall over the edge of pleasure, crying out as the waves and waves of bliss crashed over her.

Niall drove deep into her and held her against him with a powerful groan. All at once, they sagged into the chair together, clutching each other and staring into each other’s eyes.

“I canna believe ye’re here with me.” Niall swept a length of hair from her face. “I thought I’d no’ ever see ye again and yet here ye are, taking me on a chair in the middle of a cottage buried in the woods.”

“Good thing ‘tis a strong chair,” Leila teased.

Niall’s brows lifted. “Aye, ‘tis. We should move to the bed though.” He shifted his back and gave an exaggerated grimace that made her laugh.

Leila eased off of him. “But I’m not tired anymore.”

Niall stood and stepped out of his trews. “Me neither, lass.” He grinned and brushed his hand down her shoulder, nudging her kirtle to the floor. His mouth whispered over where his hands had been.

“I think Death got what he wanted, mo chridhe,” Niall murmured against her skin.

A little chill trickled down Leila’s spine. “Why do you say that?”

“Yer shoulder.” He leaned back and ran his thumb over the spot where Death had left his mark. “The spots are gone.”

Leila arched her shoulder forward and glanced down at it in disbelief. Niall was correct. Death’s mark was gone. She ran her fingers over the area and found only warm, smooth flesh.

Had she been released then? Or would he be coming to find her still?

Mayhap she would dream of it that night, for it was evening when she had most of her visions. Most nights went by with at least one vision in her sleep. They were not always large or impactful, but they were there, nonetheless.

She frowned slightly.

“What is it?” Niall asked.

“I didn’t see anything when I slept earlier.”

“No visions?”

She nodded.

“Does that displease ye?” he asked.

His question took her aback. Did it displease her? She’d spent a lifetime despising her visions, hating the terror they infused her with, the cryptic delivery, and how different it made her from her sisters.

And yet, it’d been part of her entire life, as much a piece of her as her hands or her heart.

“I’m not certain,” Leila said quietly.

“Mayhap it was simply because of how tired ye were,” Niall suggested. “What ye’d been through.”

“Mayhap.” Leila nodded. But there was a strange hollowness inside her that said otherwise.

“We’d best get ye to bed then, so ye can see.” The corner of Niall’s lip lifted in a slow, sensual grin. “Ye’ll need yer rest.”

“Will I?” Her grin matched his.

“Aye, Brodie and his sister, Bonnie, will arrive on the morrow.” He led her to the bed and pulled her under the covers with him. She lay on her back, looking up at him as he braced himself on his elbow and traced the line of her jaw with his fingertip. She closed her eyes against the sweet sensation of his touch gliding over her.

“Then we will all travel to Werrick Castle,” he said.

Her eyes flew open. “Werrick,” she whispered.

Niall winked. “Ye’re going home.”