Page 52 of A Laird and a Gentleman

“Mariam, what is the—Dear God in Heaven!” He stared at her back, at the scars that traversed the length and width of her flesh. The passion that had moments before lingered in his gaze vanished. “Your father?”

Her heart thumping in her chest, she scrambled to her knees, hiding her damaged flesh from him. She nodded.

A curse rent the air. “I should have killed the man myself when I had the chance!” Angrily, he pushed his hands through his hair. “I should have known. All the signs were there, though you never actually said how terribly he treated you. And then I—” He broke off. “I hurt you more just now.”

“You did not hurt me.” She pulled the bed linens up to cover herself. “I wanted what we shared.” She reached out and traced her fingers down the length of his arm. The climax she’d experienced was barely complete, and yet a fresh hunger crept in to take its place. “I want you again even now.”

In the candlelight, his body was golden and hard and looked as though it had been sculpted by a generous God to be not only a warrior, but also her lover. And she wanted more. She wanted Cameron. “All we have is the next few hours. My scars were there long ago. Help me replace the memory of their creation with magic of our own. We have only the next few hours—”

“I swear on my soul no one will hurt you like that again.” He reached for her, wrapped her in his arms and simply held her. He waited with his cheek against her head until she finally relaxed into his arms and leaned back against him.

“Now you know all my secrets.”

At the words he tensed. “Mariam—there is something I must tell you. We are—”

She stretched up and kissed him fully on the mouth. “No more words,” she breathed against his lips. “Fill me again. Take me to places I could never have imagined.” With a groan, he settled her back against the mattress and entered her heat once more. He rocked against her, and she felt every stroking glide of his body light her from the inside as brightly as her own magic had done. The fast and furious rhythm stole her breath and shut down her mind until she and Cameron were lost in a sea of sensation and splendor.

Hours later, when they emerged from their sensual bonding, Mariam sat back against the headboard with a smile, while Cameron’s head rested in her lap. She had never felt so weak or so strong in her life. Every muscle ached, every inch of her body had been licked and kissed and touched and explored as though Cameron wanted to wash away her past and replace all the memories with new ones, tender ones, that would see her into the days ahead.

Cameron turned to stare up at her. “Judging by the afternoon light coming through the window I would say we are approaching the isle.”

“I can feel power inside me that wasn’t there before.” She stretched her hand out before her not noting any changes, but inside something was happening. “It’s bubbling up from inside me the closer we get.”

Cameron sat up and pulled her into his arms, caressing her back with his hands for a heartbeat before he stilled. “Mariam? What is happening?”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

His hand smoothed down her back, then up again. The flesh beneath felt almost smooth, unblemished. “Your scars are fading. It’s as though they are melting away.” Wonder lingered in his voice.

She put the back of her own hand against her back. She drew a breath and slowly released it. “Magic?” She shivered.

Cameron pulled the coverlet over her shoulders. “It can only be that.”

“There is so much I do not know about who I am,” she whispered, leaning her forehead against his chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat near her ear. “What else will I discover? What else will I become?”

He stroked her hair. “I will be beside you the whole time,” he promised with an urgency that sent another shiver though her. He would try to protect her, but how could he save her from something neither of them understood?

“If only my mother had left me more clues.”

“It matters not,” he said. “There is no going back. Together we will see this through.”

She knew he was right. There was no altering their course. She could feel herself changing. It wasn’t just the healing of her scars. There was something far more elemental happening to her.

For years she had tried to be just as everyone else. Ordinary. Unexceptional. Yet in the past few days since she’d broken her shell, she’d come to realize she was nothing of the sort.

She was magical. Different. Perhaps even special.

Mariam reached up and wrapped her fingers about the shell at her neck. It warmed beneath her touch, filling her with strength that hadn’t been there before. “Thank you for bringing me here.” For better or worse, in the hours ahead, she would finally know who and what she was.

“There is nowhere I would rather be than at your side.”

Mariam closed her eyes as the warmth from the shell blossomed inside her. She let it flow through her body as she closed her eyes.

Hours or perhaps minutes later, her eyes flew open and her heart pounded in terror as the remnants of a dream faded.

Death.

She came fully awake as a shudder went through her. It was only a dream. Cameron was next to her, breathing deeply, evenly, his arms still about her in a loose embrace.