And he thinks to claim my female? Never!

"He'll be wanting the girl, Kel. Good money says he's hot on your trail. Have you been staying in the highlands and away from the towns?"

Kelvin snarled, inwardly cursing himself. His mind was on Thompson, hoping, praying he got to square off with the Fionn. "Let the little fuck catch me. I'll cut him from hip ta sternum, just like I did-"

"It's no' that simple, Kel. Alistair has no' returned from the States. The witch has revealed that he's been captured by the Campbell clan but we don't know where they're keeping him. I need ya ta get the human back here as soon as possible. We need some kind of leverage over them. Let's hope our cousin still lives."

Kelvin was seeing red. Alistair Kerr was a Wolverine Pookah; he'd never let himself get caught by the Fionns.

"About the prophecy. Ryo confirms that the girl has had a fate etched by the Dryads since birth. The details are vague, but she is foretold to come inta realm-defying powers. The Mystic must have known and that's why he concealed her. She could be dangerous. We need her in our keeping. But-"

"Christ, Ian, what?"

"There's also a curse involved that may affect you, too."

"What the bloody hell does that mean?" He palmed the back of his neck. He was cursed? Kelvin wanted to laugh.

"It means that fate is cruel. Somehow you've managed to steer this supposed 'powerful human' from her destined path. Which is why I need you ta get her here so we can figure this out. Ryo will no' tell me any more than that. She said you'd be in ta see her within the month with questions of your own." Of course she did. Eerie, witchy female.

"So you're telling me that this wee female in my keeping has a prophecy to possess 'realm-defying power' and she is cursed to what?"

"I do no' know. Again, Ryo said you'd come see her about it."

Well, that's just perfect.

"Has the human shown any signs of her powers?"

"No, none." Kelvin had seen Izel glow on occasion but wasn't certain that was magic. There was no need to divulge information on a whim. Kelvin needed hard evidence before telling Ian anything.

"Well, in any event, between the demons, the human, Alistair, and the Court of Contention ta worry about, we need ta be on our guard."

Kelvin dreaded every moment of the Court of Contention. Between demons storming soil and angels fighting off the gates of Hell, it was a dark ninety-six hours, which always resulted in a high death toll. Demons popping up early were extremely unsettling. Perhaps Izel and her unseen powers might prove to be useful after all.

"Ya need ta be careful. It's possible someone's gotten wind of the human and her supposed powers. We do no' know. She's no' just the offspring of a Campbell, but apparently her mother was Cualli de Quetzal."

Kelvin's throat went dry. The Aztec queen had been the last full-blooded mortal, and she'd died twenty-five years ago.

"The female you harbor has no' only Campbell blood, but ancient Aztec. Who knows what kind of power truly flows through her?" Ian let out a scratchy breath, and Kelvin could feel his animosity over the phone. "She's valuable, Kelvin, and we need her ta cooperate. If we have ta resort ta extreme measures to loosen her lips, then-"

"Jesus Christ, Ian!"

"What? What is going on with you? One of our cousins is missing. That chit you hold is the blood offspring of everything we hate. You think she will no' jump in as clan leader and finish what her grandfather and father started?" Ian's breath huffed wildly. "I never thought I'd see the day Kelvin Kerr spoke in defense of a Campbell."

"You do no' know what I'm-"

"Oh, I know, brother." Ian's tone was laced with so much disgust it could have sliced Kelvin's skin. "I know what the darkness brings. You forget, I am of the same kind. Do you no' think I struggle? Tell me, does the sight of this human erase the image of our mutilated father? Does her smile comfort you in knowing that you're betraying his memory?"

Kelvin squinted and swallowed back a foul taste.

"I didn't think so. Now, get her here and keep your eye focused on the goddamn prize." With that, the line went dead. Kelvin threw the phone across the room and it splintered into pieces. Keep his eye on the prize? He looked over his shoulder at the closed door to the bedroom.

He'd never heard Ian in such a rage. But his brother was right. Her clan, her kin, had taken so much from them.

For the first time, Kelvin almost laughed at the irony of the situation he found himself in. He felt loss because of what her clan had taken from him; however, Kelvin had done the same thing to her. So many deaths, so much hate. But where would it end? Would it ever end?

Revenge and vows of destruction to the Campbell clan were the fuel that had kept Kelvin going all these years. Now, fate's twisted sense of fairness was seemingly nonexistent. He was not only bound to her, his enemy, but he defended her with the same breath he vowed her death.

Yet in all the visions and dreams over the past twenty-five years, Kelvin had never given a beautiful face to that of the Campbell McCall. Nevertheless here she was, the one he'd been after, the one he'd promised vengeance on, and all he could do was protect her.

Could he ever make Ian understand? Could he make anyone understand? His female, his one woman given to him by fate, had nearly died. Kelvin had never felt more helpless-never wanted something so much. He'd paced behind the healer, silently praying to the angels to take mercy on her.

He shouldn't want Izel the way he did. Shouldn't fear for her or care for her needs. But after the tenth call to the front desk, demanding women's clothing, comforts, and spoils of all kinds, he realized her needs were surpassing his own. Deep down, he wanted to provide for her, not destroy her. Shame enveloped him.

He ran a hand over his head. Nothing was as it should be. His honor was being questioned, and the only thing Kelvin could think about was Izel being betrothed to that sod Thompson. He wanted to bellow with jealousy. To have a beautiful creature like Izel just handed to him. To be of her kind, of her clan... maybe fate had in fact dealt him a nasty hand. Maybe he was cursed.

Rage was seeping from him. He needed to think, to get control. With the inky sky calling to him, he tore open the new boxes of clothing and dressed. Checking on Izel once more, he found her resting soundly, smiling in her sleep.

Kelvin shut the door, fearing that he was about to turn his back on everything he deemed important.

Chapter 17.

Izel felt as though she were embraced by a cloud. Soft silks surrounded her and she burrowed deeper beneath the comforter. Nuzzling her face against the sleekest material she'd ever felt, she lifted her groggy eyelids.

Totally encased by red and gold fabric, the smell of-meats, and chocolate?-wafted past her nose. She stretched her arms, inhaling a sharp breath. Her left bicep was sore, but surprisingly not unbearable. She examined the fresh, clean bandage, hazily remembering being wrapped in Kelvin's strong arms with the wind on her face. And then pain.

Running her fingertips over her chest, she winced, recalling a liquid fire searing her from the inside out. Through it all, drifting in and out of consciousness, she'd heard Kelvin's voice. Felt his presence.

Sitting up slowly, she looked around the extravagant dwelling. Where in the hell was she? Had the Pookah taken her to a frickin' palace? Her mouth gaped when she spotted a silver tray of decadent chocolates resting on the bedside table. All but lunging for the treats, she eagerly shoved a piece of milky cocoa into her mouth, her hungry stomach screaming with delight.

"Mmm," she moaned as the rich, creamy chocolate melted down her throat. She grabbed another. "Kelvin?" she called around a mouthful.

No answer.

Upon scanning the area, she noticed new clothing, boxes, bags, food, and other items scattered throughout the room. The Pookah had taken care of everything. He watched over her, saved her. A warm feeling bloomed in her chest.

Although she didn't always understand his moods or whatever inner conflict he seemed to be dealing with, she did know he cared for her on some level. Once again, when faced with the choice to take her or leave her, he'd chosen to fight for her.

She rose from the bed and wandered through what appeared to be a hotel room. If this was a hotel, it was the classiest place she'd ever seen. When she opened a door and saw the lavish bathroom with an oversized claw-foot tub, she squealed with glee. It took her all of ten seconds to strip and sink below the surface of hot water and sweet-smelling bubbles. Dunking under the steamy water, she grinned. When the Pookah did return, she'd be ready for him.

Running the grounds of the hotel didn't do much to quell Kelvin's angst. If anything, he was even more on edge. He replayed Ian's words, the abhorrence in his brother's voice. He slammed his fist against a large tree beside the walkway into the hotel. His father's memory was rotting away, just like his body, while he socialized with the enemy. Such a shameful excuse for a Kerr he turned out to be.

He inhaled deeply a few last breaths of evening air before reentering the hotel and returning to the penthouse, wherein said enemy awaited.

The night was doing a number on his instincts. So much disgust for his actions coursed through him. The more he thought about Izel, the more he wanted her. And the more he wanted her, the more he hated her, hated himself. He desperately wanted to blame her, needed to, but couldn't.

Could her mere smile make him forget his vengeance? Could her lush body suppress the worst of his hatred for her kind? He gritted his teeth. If anyone could, she could. His female. She had been made for him alone. To soothe and sate him. And he had been made to protect and cherish her.

But at what cost?

Betraying his clan, his father-and for what? A measly few decades with a mortal? His breath hitched. He hadn't even thought of that detail before. She was mortal! Fate truly was cruel. He knew what he should do. What was expected of him. A thousand years of war and hate, centuries of vengeance, couldn't and shouldn't be extinguished by a few days with a woman.

But she wasn't just any woman; she was his woman. The same woman he craved more than life itself. He knew, bone deep, if he could only be inside her, he'd finally feel complete. The truth of such an instinct was stronger than any hate he'd ever harbored. He needed her, but his clan needed him.

Was it cowardly to force his hand on fate the way it'd been forced on him? Take Izel, make love to her before the Solstice, and relinquish her? The choice would be out of his hands after that. But could he live with the consequences?

He'd have to.

Unlocking the penthouse door, Kelvin went immediately to the bedroom. His stomach hit the floor when he found the bed empty. Flooded with alarm, he scoured the room, throwing open the bathroom door.

The blood left his head and swelled his shaft at the sight he walked in on...

Izel, naked, in the bathtub.

His jaw slackened and he ran a palm over his open mouth. Christ almighty. Her olive skin was damp, flushed with a rosy warm hue, and her emerald eyes burned bright against the soft glow of the room. The lass was radiant. Bubbles concealed her from the shoulders down; Kelvin had never loathed anything more than those damn suds presently impairing his vision.

"I've been waiting for you," she purred. His eyes were rapt on her and the palm over his mouth slid down his neck.

"I see you're feeling better, then?"

She smiled and sat up slightly, but those sodding bubbles were still covering her. "Thanks to you." Her voice was sultry, seductive. Kelvin didn't realize he had closed in on her until he was leaning over the tub. He searched his brain, trying to dig up any kind of abhorrent thoughts for this lovely creature before him, but came up empty. "It's big enough for two, you know." Her pink lips parted into a bewitching smile.

Without hesitation, Kelvin tugged off his boots. He clasped the neck of his shirt, looking down at his female, and stilled. Her eyes were so expressive. She looked at him with such trust. Her emotions went beyond the arousal he scented. She gazed up at him, offering her entire self. Kelvin couldn't have planned it better. Couldn't have asked for a more perfect setup. He could take her now, and by the morning light, put this, her, behind him.

But his hand fell from his collar, arms going limp at his sides.

She stood. My God. It was hardly fair for one woman to possess so much beauty. Drops of oiled water slid down her sleek curves. He licked his lips, watching a bead trace from her delicate neck, down her breast, and dangle off her hard nipple.

"Fuck me," he whispered absently, watching her flat belly dip and flex, as if the sound of his voice stoked her desire.

Under his intense stare, she squeezed her thighs together, her lips parting on shallow breaths. "Kelvin," she murmured, tilting her head and gazing at him from beneath those thick lashes of hers.

Her lips were crimson and appeared to be deepening in color by the second, as if enticing him. Her mouth-he was drawn to it. He couldn't look away. It was lush. Perfect.

His woman was before him, trembling for her man's touch. Instinct roared in his ears to claim what was his. He fisted his hands at his sides.

"I'm sorry, lass. I can no'."

Izel's mouth fell open while she searched Kelvin's face. He was denying her? These last days it had been she who'd slammed on the brakes, but now she was all but begging for him and he declined? "What have I done?"

His expression turned pained. "Nothing. I just... I just can no' be with you like this." The words he spoke were such a contradiction to his actions. Izel may not know much about physical intimacy, but she did know that this Pookah was burning to touch her. She saw it in the way he looked at her, the way his whole body loomed over her. Whatever his struggle was, whatever he couldn't let go of, she refused to accept.

For goodness' sake, she had almost died! Again! She may not love Kelvin yet. Wait-yet? When had she started thinking of loving the Pookah as a matter of when, versus a matter of if?

Maybe when I saw him bleed and fight for me.

Just recalling the sight of his muscled body taking hits for her made any "unappealing" aspects of his nature disappear. Whenever this change of heart had happened was irrelevant. She might only get one shot with him, but one time was better than nothing.

Her whole body called to him in a way that was rendering her senseless. And if she wanted the millennium-old Battle Chief of the Kerr clan, she'd have to play against whatever he was struggling with. She'd have to up the ante and play a little dirty.

"Fine." She stood and flicked her wet hair off her shoulder, exposing the rest of her wet skin to him. Bathwater lapped around her calves. "I don't really need to see your castle," she shrugged. "Your services are replaceable. I'm sure I can find another being to escort me to the airport and back home where I belong."

His eyes narrowed and a muscle in his jaw ticked. Just when she thought she'd poked him enough to make him give in, he scoffed. "Easily replaceable."

"Oh, aye," she mocked. "Seems I'm pretty popular. I'm sure I could walk downstairs and find a man more than willing."

"Watch your tongue, female."

Izel shuddered. His tone was a warning. But she was getting under his skin. He wanted her; she just had to push a little further.

Jutting her chin up and harnessing more courage than she had ever known she could, she licked her lips. "What? You don't like me talking of other men?" She traced a finger between her breasts. "Does the thought of them touching me-"

"Woman! You'll mind your mouth, else I'll make ya regret those words." He was breathing hard. His muscled chest heaved. She was literally jabbing at a sleeping beast. A wiser person would stop, but nothing about him made her want to be wise.

"Make me regret my words, huh?" Pursing her lips, she looked him in the eye. "That's pretty big talk, coming from a man who never follows through with his threats."

He growled and clasped her nape in his large palm. Only a knee-high wall of porcelain separated them. The water swished along the bottom of her knees. Kelvin yanked her face inches from his. "You goad me on purpose." He wrapped her hair around his fist, his snarling lips hovering over hers. "Human, you have no idea what you've awakened."

He crushed her lips with his and she moaned around his heated tongue plunging inside her mouth. Reaching around, he palmed her sex from behind and she gasped at the feel of his hot fingers teasing her slick flesh.

When she stepped back, he followed, as if unwilling to allow any kind of space between their bodies. Still fully clothed, Kelvin stepped into the bath with her. He instantly sank to his knees, bringing her down and into the water with him. Pushing her back against the cool wall of the tub, he wedged his hips between her parted thighs.

"Yes. Yes," she beseeched between kisses. This was what she had wanted. Kelvin, uninhibited, with all his intensity. His mouth was urgent, angry, as he plundered hers, as if to punish her.

Yes, punish me!

She nipped his bottom lip and laced her fingers through his hair. A guttural sound came from his chest as he grazed his tongue, his teeth, down the column of her neck.

"You never speak of other males," he barked softly, gripping her hip. He jerked her against his body, her sex hitting his jeans-clad erection. She gasped, a shock of pleasure pulsing through her. "Do you hear me, female?" He thrust against her, running that thick shaft over the most sensitive part of her.

"Y-yes," she nodded on a breathless cry. As if rewarding her, he hung his head and ran his tongue along the swell of her breast. With one hand clasping her thigh around his waist, the other cupped her breast to his eager mouth. He pulled her hard nipple between his lips and her head lolled, neck resting against the edge of the tub.

Water swished and sloshed around them and every caress was intensified by the hot liquid rushing over her skin. She yanked the button on his jeans, pulling and shoving on the material, desperate to rid him of it and feel his hard shaft against her flesh. Finally she wrenched his wet pants down on his hips and his erection sprang free.

She took him into her hand and he groaned against her breast. Angling her hips, she placed his shaft at her entrance. The slick crown nudged at her.

His head snapped up and he went motionless. He stared into her eyes and gripped her hips in both hands. She tried to move, wriggling so she could take him into her body, but he held her still.

His blue eyes were blazing. A certain agony masked his features. He looked at her like he was desperate for peace, as if she somehow held the key. She would give him anything, anything to ease him. Never taking his gaze from her face, he flexed his hips against her. His hard shaft slipped along the wet folds of her sex, grinding against her clitoris. "Ah." Her hands shot to his shoulders, fisting his damp shirt, holding on for dear life.

He rocked against her, never entering her, but sliding his shaft along her hot flesh, over and over. "Kel, please! Yes." Tremors climbed her spine.