Children of the Moon 04 - Dragon's Moon

don’t have to tell me. I can see for myself.” She flicked her gaze to where his kilt revealed the extent of his lack of mastery over his own desires.
    “Ignore it.”
    She laughed, the sound not humorous so much as absolutely disbelieving. “That is your answer to protecting my virtue, ignoring these feelings?”
    “Aye. We have no choice.” Not if she wanted to leave his room still untouched.
    He finished mending the bone in her arm and knew the time had come to focus on her ribs. They had to be giving her a great deal of discomfort, mottled with discoloration the way they were.
    He laid the amber stone between her breasts and then both hands on her, one on either side of her rib cage.
    A small puff of air escaped her lips. “Oh.”
    Two of the bones beneath his hands were broken almost all the way through and one had a hairline crack. It was a miracle she had not broken them completely and punctured a lung on her journey to the Sinclair holding.
    He let the Chrechte power flow through him into her, not stopping even when he felt the exhaustion building inside him.
    Something else was building as well and it was making his cock leak a steady stream of pre-come.
    When he finished, he did not immediately remove his hands. He could not. The need to move them up a few inches and cup her perfectly rounded breasts was toostrong. He feared if he moved his hands at all, that was where they would go.
    “I can breathe without pain,” she said in wonder. “Thank you.”
    “You are welcome.”
    “There are no healers like you among my father’s pack.”
    “Without the Faolchú Chridhe , how can the Faol call upon their gifts?” he asked, though it was obvious they did not need it to confer the ability to procreate their Chrechte heritage.
    Or there would be no wolf shifters left in the Highlands, and though their numbers were far smaller than the humans, they were ten times greater than the Éan.
    Mairi took a deep breath for the first time without a wince of pain. “It must be found.”
    “You believe it will give you a wolf.” ’Twas a nigh impossible claim to even consider.
    Her expression said she did not find it so. Passionate belief and hope glimmered in her blue gaze. “I do.”
    “How can the Faolchú Chridhe give this to you?” Though perhaps, he of all Chrechte, should believe in the chance.
    Had he not been given a second chance at his Chrechte gifts by the Clach Gealach Gra and its keepers? Still, for a human to be given a wolf, even one with Chrechte blood, seemed too fantastic a possibility for belief.
    “With Ciara’s help. She can draw the power of the Chrechte through the stone.”
    “Why?”
    “What do you mean? She is keeper of the stone.”
    “You mistake my meaning. Why do you want this?” And then he answered his own question. “You still seek the approval of a man who beat you unto death?”
    “No,” Mairi said with deep vehemence. “But if I had a wolf and he tried to beat me again, I could rip his throat out.”
    She was small. She was fragile. She was human. But Lais thought if she had been Faol, she would have done just that.
    “You are a fierce little thing.”
    “For a human.”
    “For a Chrechte.”
    She smiled. “Thank you.”
    “The wolves’ sacred stone must be found, if for no other reason than to stop Ciara’s dreams,” he agreed. “A body can live only so long on such little bites of sleep.”
    “She has fought her calling.” Mairi sounded confused by that fact.
    “Aye.”
    “I wonder why.”
    He did not know and right now, could not work up an interest in the answer. He was far too focused on the beautiful woman before him. Bruises still marred her lovely skin, but the more serious ones were showing the effects of his healing.
    He could not repair everything, so he left the wounds that had no risk of permanent damage to heal on their own. There was one last wound that needed his touch. A large boot sized mark on her left hip.
    His examination the night before had revealed another damaged bone beneath it. It had to be healed, or she risked a true break from something as simple as tripping over a rock in her path.
    But he could not yet trust his hands to move from where they rested on her ribs.
    He was not the only one affected, either. The pulse in Mairi’s neck fluttered, her breathing so shallow her chest barely rose and fell, her mouth opened as if tasting their desire on the air like he was.
    “No.” He meant it to sound firm, to let her