Bound by Fire Read online

  He laughed. “I love you too.” He pulled her from the bed. “Come on, hussy of mine. Let’s take our seats.”

  “Can we talk once we take off?” Pepper asked.

  Connall nodded. “Of course.”

  “About everything?”

  “If you like.”

  She frowned. “Why do you sound apprehensive?”

  “Honestly?” He sighed. “I’m afraid you’ll run.”

  “Probably a good idea to tell me all your secrets when the doors are locked and we’re in the air, then.”

  He shook his head and chuckled. “Damn, I love you.”

  She grinned. “I love you too.”

  “Let’s buckle up.”

  He led her back to the main cabin where Sam and Kade were buckling up while the flight crew secured cabinet doors and discarded trash.

  “How’s Jonesy?” Sam asked.

  “He’s good,” Pepper said. “Max has magical powers.”

  “Good.” Sam glanced at Connall and then back at Pepper and smiled. “The crew turned two of the seats so we could sit and talk together.”

  “Fun,” Pepper said and sat in the seat across from Sam.

  Why do I feel like I’m out of the loop on a really big secret?

  Connall squeezed her hand. I’m sorry, love. You’ll know soon enough.

  Pepper nodded and tightened her seatbelt before taking Connall’s hand again, desperately needing his calming influence.

  “Attendants, prepare for takeoff,” the pilot’s voice came over the speaker.

  Pepper smiled at Sam, who was wrapped around Kade’s arm and taking deep breaths in an effort not to panic.

  Sam shook her head and Kade lifted her chin. “Let me in.”

  “Sam, you better do it before the engines start,” Pepper pointed out.

  Sam scowled. “Not helping.”

  Kade kissed her and Sam relaxed.

  Pepper gaped. “Wow, Sam. No valium needed, huh?”

  Sam laughed. “Nope. Kade’s the only drug I need.”

  The engines whirred to life and Pepper leaned against Connall as the plane began to taxi. She wasn’t afraid to fly, enjoyed it really, but she did get a little nervous during take-off. Connall kissed her temple and wove his fingers with hers.

  They’d been in the air for almost an hour when Connall unbuckled his belt and stood. “I’m going to steal Pepper away for a bit.”

  Pepper unbuckled as well.

  Sam gave Connall a concerned glance. “Now?”

  He nodded and grabbed Pepper’s hand. “I promised.”

  Sam grasped Pepper’s other hand. “I’m here if you have any questions.”

  “Thanks…I think,” Pepper said nervously.

  Connall gave her hand a gentle tug and led her down the aisle way back to the room they’d been in before takeoff. He opened the door and stood aside to let her precede him. Pepper chose to sit in the chair by the bed and bit her lip as Connall followed her inside and closed the door. “Should I be worried?” she asked.

  He smiled and sat on the edge of the mattress facing her. “How about we talk and then you can make that call?”

  Pepper nodded. “Okay.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this now?”

  She nodded again. “Definitely. And I want you to tell me everything.”

  “Everything?”

  “Yes.” She gripped the arms of the chair. “You mentioned fate or something.”

  “Aye. We are fated to be bound.”

  “Like tied up?”

  He shook his head. “The process starts with words.”

  “Words.”

  “Aye.”

  “Like?” she asked.

  “Þú verður mín að eilífu.”

  She felt the shiver she’d felt at the wedding. “You said that at the wedding, yes?”

  “Aye.”

  “What does it mean?”

  “It means, you will be mine forever.”

  Pepper raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? I’m that much of a given, am I?”

  “They are some of the first words we speak to our mates.”

  “What?”

  “You’re my mate, Pepper.”

  “Which means what, exactly?” She shifted in her seat. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Spit it out, Con. Really. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.

  “I’m not what you think I am,” he said.

  “Don’t you mean who?”

  “No,” he said. “I’m not human, Pepper.”

  “What?” She stood and then sat right back down.

  “I am Cauld Ane.”

  “Cauld Ane.”

  “Aye.”

  “Which means…what?”

  “It means that I live longer than humans and have certain…abilities that humans don’t have. It also means that when I met you, I was destined to love you forever.”

  Pepper took a deep breath. “How much longer?”

  “Answer or back story?”

  She pressed her lips together and then licked them. “Back story then answer.”

  “Iceland was under Norwegian rule until 1380. That’s when we came under the control of the Danish Crown. We were forced to give everything to Denmark, including our autonomy. The Danes didn’t see us as worth protecting, so they didn’t try to stop pirates from attacking our coastlines. In 1420, my father discovered that my mother was having an affair, and that Fiona was the product of that affair. He chose to use the attacks as an excuse to take my mother away from her lover, and we sailed here.”

  “In 1420.”

  He nodded. “I was born in 1413 and I sailed here with my family in 1420.”

  Pepper shook her head.

  “It’s true, love.”

  “I need Sam.” Pepper swallowed. “Can you get Sam for me?”

  Connall stood and stepped out of the room.

  Pepper sat shaking in the chair until Sam stepped inside. “Hey.”

  “Is it true?” Pepper asked.

  Sam sat on the bed and took her hands. “Yes.”

  “You don’t even know what I was going to ask.”

  Sam smiled. “It wouldn’t matter, Pepper. Connall would never lie to you, so the answer is the same. Whatever he’s told you is true.”

  “They’re immortal?”

  “Sort of. We will die eventu—”

  “We?”

  Sam nodded. “I’m Cauld Ane now.”

  Pepper pulled her hands out of Sam’s grip. “How?”

  “It happened when Kade bound me.”

  “Is that why you look different?”

  “I don’t know. Probably. I didn’t realize I looked different.”

  Pepper looked to where Connall stood with his arms crossed in the corner of the room. “Are you a vampire?”

  He shook his head.

  “Werewolf?”

  He shook his head again.

  She focused back on Sam. “Some kind of fairy?”

  Sam let out a quiet snort and Pepper glanced at Connall again. His expression was one of repugnance. Pepper smiled. “Okay, not a fairy.”

  “Can I leave you now?” Sam asked.

  Pepper nodded.

  “Everything he tells you will be the truth, Pep. You don’t need me, okay? You’ll know if he’s lying. I promise.” Sam stood to leave.

  Pepper took a deep breath and studied her friend. Sam never lied to her. Never. Even when she had to tell her something she knew Pepper wouldn’t want to hear. Pepper nodded and leaned back in the chair. Sam left the room and Connall sat back on the bed.

  Pepper licked her lips. She didn’t quite know what to think. She knew she trusted him, but wasn’t quite sure how much of this information she could process and stay sane. She was once again glad she’d insisted on him telling her everything only after they’d been in the air for a little while. She’d never been particularly interested in skydiving.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CONNALL HELD HIS hand out to her.
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  Pepper shook her head. “I don’t want to be calmed down, Con.”

  “I know, sweetheart. But if we’re connected, you won’t panic and you’ll also know I’m telling you the truth.”

  Pepper laid her palm over his and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

  “Why are you saying that you will bind me? Do I have a say in any of that?” she asked.

  “I can’t force you, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  Pepper shook her head again. “No. I know you would never force me. But what if I decide I don’t want you to bind me, or if I let you…bind me…what happens if we break up?”

  “If you don’t want to be bound, sweetheart, I won’t bind you. But once we are bound, we won’t break up.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because it would be impossible. Physically and emotionally, we will be connected on a level that defies the human realm, and there are certain things that happen within our bodies and souls to make it impossible for us to ‘break up.’ It’s a lifelong thing.”

  “What happens if you don’t love me anymore?”

  Connall took her other hand and kissed her palm. “It’ll never happen. Could never happen.”

  “Figuratively or literally?”

  He grinned. “Literally.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded.

  “How does, um, mating work?”

  “Twenty-five is the Ár mökunar, the mating year. It’s when our hearts turn to whoever our mates are, if they’re close.”

  “I just had my birthday,” she muttered.

  “I know. It’s why you were drawn to me.”

  “Pretty sure I would have been all over you anyway,” she said.

  He chuckled. “Maybe.”

  “This isn’t like a spell of some kind or a demon thing, is it?”

  “No. Iceland converted to Christianity in the tenth century. Our family and clan have been Christians for centuries. When we arrived in Scotland, we continued to practice our religion. Or at least my father’s warped version of it. Kade has made a lot of changes since my father died, and our clan has a much healthier view of our faith now.”

  “Does Cauld Ane mean something?”

  “Yes. It’s an old Scottish translation that roughly means ‘cold one.’” He stroked her palm with his thumb. “Our bodies are acclimated to the cold and the heat can harm us.”

  “Harm you, how?”

  “It can kill us.”

  She frowned. “But didn’t God make you immortal?”

  “No, as Sam said, we die eventually, just not as quickly as humans.”

  “But you can die from the heat?”

  “Yes. We have to stay out of weather that’s over twenty degrees Celsius. Sixty-eight Fahrenheit.”

  “How does the binding thing work?”

  “We have words that we speak to one another. Those words bind us spiritually and emotionally, and then we make love, which binds us physically.”

  “If you bind me, does that mean I will live for a long time, too?”

  “Yes.”

  “How will you make me like you?” Pepper asked.

  “It happens when we make love and it has to do with our Sæði…our semen.”

  “Of course it does.” Pepper rolled her eyes. “Semen seems to be responsible for a lot of big changes when it comes to women.”

  “True.” Connall chuckled. “We have a protein that human men don’t have. Kade has mentioned he’d like to do further research on exactly what it is, especially now that you and Sam have arrived. You’re the first humans in many years that a Cauld Ane has bonded with.”

  “What about sex? How do you stop the binding with every woman?”

  “Binding is more spiritual than physical, so there’s more involved than just the joining of bodies. I have never slept with a human…you’ll be the first. I don’t know what would happen if a Cauld Ane slept with a human who wasn’t their mate.”

  She swallowed. “How would I change exactly?”

  “Your body will go through a conversion of sorts. The human parts will change to work as the Cauld Ane parts do.”

  Pepper bit her lip. “Does it hurt?”

  “The change?”

  She nodded.

  Connall took a deep breath. “Yes.”

  “How bad?”

  “I don’t know, love. You’ll need to ask Sam. But she was in a bad way for several hours.”

  “Hours…not days or weeks?”

  “Aye.”

  “After I change, what happens?” Her eyes widened. “Please don’t tell me I won’t be able to go out in the sun. That’s a deal breaker for me.”

  Connall smiled. “You’ll be able to bask in the sun all day long, if you so desire, you just won’t be able to be in it if the temperature is over twenty degrees.”

  Pepper stood and paced. “How strict is that rule?”

  “Strict.”

  “So seventy’s off-limits?”

  Connall nodded. “Yes.”

  She cocked her head. “What would happen if I went outside in the summer?”

  Connall leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. “If the weather is over sixty-eight, you won’t be going outside, Pepper.”

  “It can’t be that bad, truly.”

  “Your body will grow tired, but not like you’ve ever felt before. You’ll find it difficult to move. You’ll pass out, but not before you feel the pain of your body shutting down. Your body swells, your veins come to the surface of your skin, and you develop welts. You will become unrecognizable. If any of that takes place and you’re not in some form of a freezer or ice bath within minutes, you’ll die. And it’s a painful death.” His hands shook as he ran them through his hair.

  She sat in the chair again and took several deep breaths.

  Connall leaned forward and slid his hands up her thighs. “What are you thinking?”

  “This from the man who can read my mind?”

  “I’m making an effort not to, love. Tell me.”

  She pressed her lips into a thin line. “The Olympics.”

  “What about them?”

  “The equestrian events are in the summer.”

  He sighed. “Aye.”

  “Which means, wherever they’re located will more than likely be over sixty-eight degrees.”

  He nodded.

  She blinked back tears.

  “There’s no rush, sweetheart. We can wait as long as you need. You can go to the trials, and we can go from there.”

  “The Olympics are years away, Con.”

  “I’m aware of that.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “You’re saying you’re willing to wait for me to go to trials, go to the Olympics if I make the team, compete, and then bind me?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  Pepper shook her head. “Con.”

  He dropped his head onto her lap and she threaded her fingers through his hair.

  “I would do anything for you,” he said. “I’d wait forever if that’s what you needed.”

  She stroked his cheek as he sat up. “I love you.”

  He smiled and pulled her from the chair into his lap. “I love you too.”

  “What else will I have to avoid? Anything?”

  “Almonds, particularly anything that contains the concentrated extract, will slow you down.”

  “Oh! That’s why Sam couldn’t have her mother’s cookies all of a sudden. I thought that was weird.” She grinned. “Almonds aren’t really my weakness. I’m not happy about the sun thing, but if you were to add wine to the list, we’d have to part company immediately.”

  He chuckled. “If wine wasn’t allowed, I’d choose to die quickly.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Iceland has a native flower that’s extremely dangerous to the Cauld Ane. I would have said you’d never see it, but we’ve discovered it has made its way to the States and Scotland.”

  “What’s it called?”
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  “Red Fang. In Iceland, we call it Villandi Fegurð.”

  “What does it do?”

  “The thorn paralyzes us. Unfortunately, keeping your distance isn’t quite enough. It can be ground into a powder and used in food and drink. The affects aren’t permanent, but they are enough to incapacitate us.”

  “Is there a cure?”

  He nodded. “There’s an antidote. We all carry it with us, but if you’re alone, it won’t help.”

  “When am I’m ever alone?” she grumbled.

  Connall smiled gently. “Feeling smothered?”

  “Not yet. I just happen to know myself quite well, and I need my down time. I used to take Jonesy out for hours alone and I haven’t done that in a while.” He stiffened and Pepper sighed. “And I won’t. I promise. But when all of ‘this’ wears off, I’m gonna need time alone.”

  “This?”

  “My need to be wherever you are twenty-four/seven. I’m a little disgusted with myself, to be honest.”

  “Okay, sweetheart, we’ll figure something out. If this wears off.” He kissed her. “Does this mean you’ll marry me?”

  Pepper shrugged. “I don’t know...you haven’t actually asked.”

  “When I ask, will you say yes?”

  “We’ve known each other for less than a week, Con.”

  “Yep. You’re right.” He pushed her off his lap and onto the bed. “And your point?”

  She reached up and stroked his chest. “I have no idea what my point is.”

  He laughed. “Exactly.”

  “You said Cauld Ane have abilities humans don’t have. What abilities?”

  “Right back to the point at hand, eh?” He stretched out on his side and cupped his head in his hand.

  “Absolutely.” Pepper mirrored his actions.

  “We don’t all have the same abilities. Healing is my strongest one. The same with Kade. However, I focused on animals because I can communicate with them. It’s the reason I became a vet.”

  “You can talk to animals?” she asked suspiciously. “Like Dr. Doolittle?”

  “Sort of. I can calm them, and when I want them to do something specific, I can project an image in my mind and they seem to understand.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If I wanted Jonesy to clear a jump, for instance, I’d lay my hand on him and imagine him jumping it. Then he would jump it. With or without a rider.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Aye. It’s how I got Jonesy into the trailer. Max can do the same. It’s why he was able to keep Jonesy from jumping from the container as it was being lifted onto the plane.”