“What else did she say?” His face had gone very still, and he was keeping his voice carefully controlled, but Brighid could hear the pain in his words.

“She said she was happy, and that she had fulfilled her destiny.” Brighid managed a weak, half smile. “Her scars were gone, Cu.”

He bowed his head and she could see the tears that fell, glistening, onto the blue and green of his kilt.

“She didn’t talk with me for very long. She just made me give her my oath, and then she was gone.”

“Your oath?” He raised his head and wiped at his cheeks with the back of his hand.

“She made me swear that I would keep an open mind to the impossible,” Brighid’s voice had dropped almost to a whisper.

A single tear made its way down Cuchulainn’s face. “So she knew about us.”

The Huntress nodded. “And she approved. She said that she was leaving you to me, freely and without any hesitation.” Brighid’s laugh sounded choked. “It was the night we were at Guardian Castle. I thought she was talking about your soul retrieval. It was only yesterday that I realized she knew I loved you, even before I knew it myself.”

“And when did you know it?”

“The first time I kissed you.” Gently she brushed the tear from his cheek. “I’m not her, Cu. I’m not as good as she was, not as kind, not as compassionate. But I’m loyal and I’m faithful. And I do love you.”

“Brenna’s gone,” he said through a throat thickened with emotion. “I didn’t handfast with you because I wanted you to be like her.”

“Why did you, Cu?”

He took her hand and kissed it. “Because you hold a piece of my soul, my beautiful Huntress. And to be whole, I need to be near you.”

He kissed her with the salt of tears mixed with the intoxicating taste of man. She drank him in and wondered if she would ever be able to get enough of him.

“I dreamed of you last night,” he said as his mouth moved to the hollow of her neck.

“I dreamed of you, too,” she said, busying her hands with untying the lacings of his shirt.

“I came to you in the fog,” he said.

She paused, fingers still at the lacings of his shirt. “And you were naked.”

He lifted his lips from her skin and met her eyes. “A woman’s voice told you to speak what was in your heart.”

“And I told you that I wanted you. All of you.” Her hand touched his face. “It was more than a dream.”

“Yes.”

“The woman’s voice. I think it was the Goddess,” she said.

He smiled. “I think you’re right.”

“I want to see you again. Like you were last night.”

“Naked?”

She nodded. “I’m no silly young virgin. I won’t pretend that I haven’t had my share of centaur lovers, but I’ve never seen a naked man before. Not this close. Not like this. I mean, except for last night in my…our dream.” She drew in a deep breath. “I want to see you.”

“Harrumph,” he grunted.

She raised one brow at him. “Are you being shy, or do you not want to be naked with me?”

“Neither,” he said. “I’m just…” He hesitated, and then ran his hand through his hair and gave her a little chagrined smile. “This is new to me, too. I’ve had lovers before, you know that, plenty of them. But none of them have been centaurs. I’m not sure-”

He broke off when she pressed her fingers against his lips. “How about we both stop thinking so much.”

The smile that lit his face transformed him from hesitant lover to rakish young warrior. “Makes sense. Love has little to do with thinking anyway.”

Still smiling, Cuchulainn stood and with a quick, practiced movement he unwrapped the kilt from around his waist and pulled it away so that he stood before her, naked.

Brighid swallowed. Her eyes moved down from his face to the broad width of his chest, which was handsome and familiar-normal. He could easily have been a centaur male. In his torso he carried a centaur’s power and grace. But he wasn’t a centaur, she told herself, he wasn’t and he would never be. Get used to it. Accept him for what he is, as he clearly accepted her. She held her breath and let her eyes drop.

His legs were long and muscular. She’d seen quite a bit of them before, of course. He wore a kilt often and that left them bare from his knees down. But she’d never before seen his thighs or the muscular ridges that covered his buttocks and dipped fluidly in at his waist. And she’d never seen his naked manhood.

“I wish you’d say something,” Cu said.

She let her breath out in a puff. “It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.”

“Well that’s certainly flattering,” he said.

She reached out and caught his wrist. “I’m really not very good at this,” she sighed. “What I’m trying to say is that you aren’t as scary as I thought you would be. Naked, I mean.”

“Scary? You’re scared of me?”

“A little. I just wasn’t completely sure what to expect. Last night it was all sensation and heat. Nothing was very clear.” Her eyes dropped back to below his waist. “Tonight everything is very clear.”

“And that makes you afraid of me,” he said, shifting her grip so he could lace his fingers with hers.

“Now that you’re here, in the flesh, in front of me, I don’t think fear is the right word for what I’m feeling.” Hesitantly, she touched his thigh and let her fingers play over the thickness of his muscle as she watched his body stir and react.

“What is the right word for what you’re feeling?” His voice sounded strained.

She glided her hand up so that it smoothed over his tight, flat stomach. “Fascination…” she breathed. “Your body fascinates me. It has for a long time, much longer than I was willing to admit to myself.” When she took his hard length in her hands he gasped and her eyes flew to his. “If you want me to stop you’ll have to tell me.”

“I don’t want you to stop,” he rasped.

She didn’t want to stop. That her touch, just the smallest flick of her tongue or stroke of her hand, could effect him so profoundly made her feel powerful and passionate. It was something that went beyond centaur or woman. Exploring Cuchulainn’s body made her revel in her own femininity. She stroked his amazing, fascinating length of hardness sheathed in skin the texture of silk. When she brought him to climax with her hands, and later with her mouth, she found a different kind of passion than she’d experienced with centaur lovers. She knew the joy of her lover’s pleasure, and she reveled in how his satisfaction touched the very core of her being.

That night they slept dreamlessly, hands linked together, bodies pressed so close that in the darkness it was hard to tell where man and woman ended and centaur began.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

When the bay stumbled for the third time Cuchulainn pulled him up. Brighid had to watch her own stride. Her overtaxed muscles felt alarmingly loose, and she was afraid she had little more control over herself than the poor horses had over their equine limbs. She concentrated on gradually changing her gait and stopping more slowly so that she wouldn’t embarrass herself by collapsing in a heap. Drawing in careful, controlled breaths she circled back to where Cu stood next to the trembling horse.

“He can’t go any farther. He’s game-he’ll try, but it’ll kill him. I’m going to leave him here. He’ll rest and then eventually find his way to McNamara Castle. Or maybe one of the small farmhouses will take him in,” Cu said.

Brighid wiped sweat from her face. “The buckskin is in better shape, and we should find a place to camp soon.”

“It’s true, he isn’t at the point of collapse yet, but I think it would be wise if we slowed some.”

“Agreed,” she said, careful to keep the relief from her voice. She didn’t want Cuchulainn to know just how close she was to collapsing herself.

Brighid looked around them as Cu unsaddled the exhausted horse. They’d pushed hard since dawn, choosing to avoid McNamara Castle and the luxuries it could afford them. Instead they’d saved time by cutting across fertile farmland and angling into the well-kept forest on the south side of the Calman River, which had led them-finally-into the Blue Tors. Now as night fell Brighid was surrounded by reminders of why the tors were named so. The gentle rolling hills were covered with ancient trees whose thick leaves appeared a smoky blue-green in the waning light. Like Cu’s eyes, she thought. Let’s hope that’s a good omen.