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Desperate to feel it, he snarled into the bite, plunging her up and down Harder harder As the stone cracked, she screa hi inside her with a broken yell against her skin,wave

She sagged against hi, "It&039;s so hot"

After-shudders Ar

He reluctantly released his bite, but he re to drive into her So he dragged her to the ground with him

Just before he took her on her hands and knees, she gazed back at the rock they&039;d broken with a fierce look

Cupping her waist and gripping her long hair, he bucked into her, roaring with pleasure as she ave themselves up to the beast within him

Chapter 40

What have I done?

When Lucia woke, her eyes opened wide - with realization She was lying in MacRieve&039;s arms, her back tucked into his chest, both of theods, he was still inside her

He roused then and gave a self-satisfied exhalation The sound was so utterly rated on her like nails on slate

Job well done, conquest is complete, I came, I saw, I conquered her

His an hardening again, she stifled a cry and shrugged out of his grasp, disentangling her body fro everywhere

Without a word, she rose, unsteadily sifting through the clothes she&039;d worn last night All ruined when he&039;d ripped the for underwear, shorts, and a T-shirt As she quickly dressed, she kept recalling that satisfied sound he&039;dhe&039;d wanted with her Fro I wanted She couldn&039;t be here, had to get away from him, away from the bow that had been a part of her for centuries

She was no longer an Archer Do I feel different? Dazed? Crazed?

I feel wrong

"Lousha?" MacRieve leapt up, snagging his jeans and stabbing his legs in theered toward the levees The statues along the cobble walk glared down

MacRieve hurried after her, shoving the bow in front of her face "You left this and your quiver, lass"

She wouldn&039;t look at it At him She couldn&039;t He&039;d done this to her Ruined her ability Noith no means to finally destroy Cruach, Lucia would be expected to sacrifice herself, to appease thatback in that foul lair? Without an arrow trained on his heart? At the idea, Lucia couldn&039;t catch her breath I can&039;t do that! Even now that I have nothing else to offer

Her neck burned, the pain seething, a constant reminder of her sins Can&039;t catch my breath

"Uh, I&039;ll hold the bow for now" He slung it over his shoulder "Love, talk to me Did I hurt you?" He scowled at himself "O&039; course I hurt you But how badly?"

She didn&039;t answer

"Where are you going?"

"H-hoed in front of her "What about the dieu the world and all that? We&039;re so close"

They&039;d never been farther away! "Nïx sent me down here for an arrow Because I&039;m I was" - her breath hitched - "an archer All that&039;s different now" Lucia couldn&039;t even stop Cruach fro with one of Skathi&039;s arrows "I have another job to do" And I&039;ll grow to hate you for it "This is where we part ways, MacRieve You go retrieve the dieumort" Hell, maybe that hy Nïx had sent him down here Maybe he was the one on the quest

"Lousha, it&039;s no&039; over yet"

"You have no idea what the repercussions froht will be No idea ill be expected of me now!"

"Nay, because you will no&039; bluidy tell ripped her forearave herself up to her outrage, to her need to bla his accent and low voice, she said, "Lousha, o&039; course the cuff ork That&039;s why I got it fro herself away from him, she screamed, "You shouldn&039;t have come for me! You should&039;ve let me do what I needed to"

She can&039;t even look at me

Maybe this was one feiven up her career for herin her eyes but bitterness? It was as if a piece of her had died

And he&039;d helped kill it

She was no longer a Skathian Thousand-year-old vows had been broken last night, and as she&039;d clearly told him, she hadn&039;t been ready for it She&039;d also warned hiainst her beliefs

When he reached for her again, she backed away "In the beginning, I asked for one year, and you ignored my wishes, dismissed them so easily"

"I know I fucked up" He scrubbed his palm over his face "Gods know this is all my fault But would it be so bad to be with ether - "

"You vowed to me that you wouldn&039;t hurt ht orth it!"

His eyes widened Permanently? "What did I do?"

"My archery, my ability, was based on the vows I took, you brute Now I&039; about?"

"I can&039;t shoot!" she cried "My talent is gone - forever I kept s closed And now, because of you, I will never shoot again It&039;s gone"

His own anger flared as the truth hit hiion&039;!" Finally, he was putting the puzzle together When some male - soht asyluoddess had given her the ability to shoot as no other

Practice hadn&039;t ood A deal with a devil

He narrowed his eyes "You dinna give a da The Archer, best in all the world"

"Didn&039;t give a damn? I lived nearlyNow I&039; in to my basest needs! I&039;d aspired before, was selfless Now I&039;ve committed my most selfish act in a thousand years"

"You should&039;ve told me as at stake!" He couldn&039;t remember the last time he&039;d been this infuriated

"When should I have? Maybe when you were going on about wo their careers for their men? I knew you&039;d react just as you are now, unable to comprehend why I would choose archery over sex with you"

"Why did you no&039; tell me? Why lie about this?"

"Oh, like the truth would have ht wouldn&039;t have happened if only I&039;d coood as done, events set into motion You caused this! I asked you for tiive it to ht But if she&039;d just told him why she couldn&039;t have sex Garreth exhaled He still would&039;ve done the sa, still would&039;ve trusted the cuff

"You forced oddarabbed me for a kiss"

"Because it was the best option in an iet, Valkyrie, that you screaht You canna tell me you dinna want me"

"I did - then! That doesn&039;t mean I can&039;t be sorry for my actions now It doesn&039;t ret," she snapped, her tone laced with resentht ofit back When he&039;d awakened, he&039;d been so relieved, believing she was finally his What a bluidy fool you are

For the last year, he&039;d thought about her every second, from the moment he woke to the second he drifted to sleep Even then he wasn&039;t free Any night that he&039;d slept, he&039;d drea the world, hunting together, eventually raising a braw pack of bairns "Filled with regret, then?"

What he&039;d considered a culmination - and a revelation - she believed was a mistake

Realization hit hiether - the most incredible one of his entire existence - then she never would He&039;d spend the next nine hundred years of his life chasing her

"You don&039;t knohat I&039;ve lost, MacRieve For the first time, I have no way to protect myself, no means to - "

"I will protect you"

Her fists clenched; lightning struck "I knew you&039;d say that!" she screamed "I knew you wouldn&039;t understand why that would be like a dagger to the chest"

His own fury ignited "You knew I&039;d say I&039;d protect you? And that vexes you? Should I have said that you&039;re shite out of luck and all on your own, but thanks for the hot fuck!"

She narrowed her eyes, gazing at hiust She&039;s never looked at h his hair "By the gods, you&039;re thefemale I&039;ve ever known! If you&039;ve lost your archery, then we&039;ll figure soet it back But we&039;ll do it together"

"We won&039;t have tiot no way to stop an apocalypse" She turned to go

"No, Lousha, doona turn your back on me" He moved in front of her "I will no&039; follow you!"

When she sidestepped hiritted teeth, she hissed, "Let me pass"

His crossed his arms over his chest "Nay, Valkyrie, I think you&039;ll be stayin&039; right - "

A slap cracked across his cheek

"Bluidy hell, woman! Have it your way! You&039;d rather beether? Then to hell with you! I&039;ve chased you over the world, protected you, offered everything I aer I&039;ve reached my end" He threw the bow and quiver at her feet "For once, you&039;re going to watchaway fro He hadn&039;t expected her to beg for him to return But he&039;d hoped

Five minutes passed, then ten, and still she didn&039;t run after hi to let this end Just like that

Crazed, cursing to hi tree trunks

I&039;ll leave her arse in the goddale! I&039;m done!

He would return to Kinevane, spend some real time with his brother and sister-in-law Help Lachlain acquire a o back to his clan, see his kinsa nymphs without cease

He reached the pile of rocks against one of the levee walls, began cli thoughts

How easy it would be if his feelings could turn to hate - as hers obviously had Hate would have to be less painful than this obsession with her To not feel this gnawing lack each minute of the day

Yet then he frowned Luciaas if she despised hiain and again He recalled her worry as he&039;d been preparing to swim to the Barão or when she&039;d been about to dive into the water after him Even her oords: "the more I like you, the less I want you to know my secrets"

At the top of the levee wall, unable to help hilanced back down In the far distance, he spied Lucia on her knees crying Exhaling a breath, he rubbed his aching chest He never could stand the sight of her tears

Damn that female! It seemed that when he&039;d told her he was done, he&039;d just been talking a big game Because the truth was

"She&039;s my lass," he muttered

For better or worse I could never leave her

His heart heavy with regret, he beganthe movement in the brush until it was too late

Chapter 41

Still in shock, unable to stop shuddering, Lucia stared at her bow as if she were staring at her severed arrow back

Sorrow suffused her, despair ripping at her I&039; that makes o fro the Archer to the Lykae&039;s Mate Now she wasn&039;t even that!

When MacRieve had left her, she&039;d sunk to the ground, putting her head in her hands to cry Twelve o, she&039;d predicted he would be the key to her ruin She&039;d been right

Is he really leaving me? Yes, he&039;dsex, and then she&039;d started attacking him

But she&039;d never been so furious, had never felt so used Because of him, she was altered forever, yet she couldn&039;t say the same about him He&039;d claimed her - had fulfilled at least that primal Lykae need - so it was possible that he could content himself with others now And since his brother had reclai the Dark Prince, a wo back to her life before MacRieve

And now I&039;ve lost him He&039;d warned her that one day he&039;d hit his limit Today, he had Reasonable, rational Lucia cried harder

What orse? Knowing that she&039;d lost hiht miss him more than her archery?

Suddenly her ears twitched She heard a curt yell, jerked her face up It sounded like MacRieve