Heat, page 18
“Esther,” he mumbled before he seized her lips again.
The kiss was blazing hot as their desire sizzled and crackled between them. She couldn’t get close enough to him. The need, the hunger that howled within her for Nikolai was only fanned by his seductive touch.
When he turned and backed her into a room, all she could think about was having him inside her. The door slammed behind them as she fell back against it. They tore at each other’s clothes, yanking down pants to get free.
Then she was lifted in his arms, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist. In the next heartbeat, he was inside her.
They didn’t move. With her heart racing and their breaths loud, they looked into each other’s eyes. The longer she was with him, the more she felt she’d found her place.
“I’ve looked for you my entire life,” Nikolai whispered.
Her stomach fluttered at his confession.
“This,” he said as he pulled out before thrusting deep inside her, causing her to shudder in need. “Has bound us.”
There were no more words spoken as their bodies took over. The feel of his hard length filling her again and again soon brought her to the edge of oblivion.
It didn’t matter that they were in a bathroom in a pub or that anyone could hear them. All Esther cared about was the man in her arms. Their passion flared, and all too soon, they climaxed.
The cocoon of their passion held them for long minutes after as they remained locked in their embrace. She held him tightly. He was quickly becoming the center of her universe, and that terrified her more than the Druid did.
Because she felt her heart reaching out to him.
He was everything she wanted and more, but she was a spy. And she had family. Could she give all that up for Nikolai?
To be with the man who brought her to unimaginable heights and gave her incredible joy? And children? She hadn’t thought much about them, but as Nikolai’s mate, she would be giving that up, as well.
She told herself to stop such thoughts because he hadn’t spoken of love or asked her to be his mate. Yet, she couldn’t cease thinking about being in love. And the reason for that was because she’d already fallen for him.
Hard.
Banging on the door behind her jerked them both out of their thoughts.
“Hold on!” Nikolai yelled through the door as he set her feet on the ground.
They hurried to dress, kissing and laughing between each item. A few minutes later, they walked out of the bathroom and past the glaring man to find a table.
“I’ll be back,” Nikolai said as he strode out the door.
Esther chided herself because had she been more aware of things, she would’ve realized that he hadn’t brought his pad and pencil with him. But she’d been preoccupied with her thoughts. She walked to the bar and placed a drink order for herself and Nikolai. The bartender glanced at her as he began pouring a pint.
He set the glass before her and reached for the Scotch when he said, “I didn’t think I’d ever see you back in here again.”
Esther froze, her gaze jerking to him. “I’m sorry, what?”
“You don’t remember?” he asked as he replaced the bottle and pushed the tumbler of whisky toward her.
She gave a shake of her head as she saw Nikolai return out of the corner of her eye. In moments, he was beside her. Esther kept her gaze on the bartender. “When was this?”
“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug.
She leaned forward and caught his gaze as he turned away. “Try.”
“It was the end of December.”
Six weeks earlier. Esther motioned the guy closer. “I don’t remember the incident. Can you refresh my memory?”
The bartender glanced at Nikolai with narrowed eyes before he swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his narrow throat. “Yeah. Sure. There was this man who kept staring at you. For a while, you ignored it, but then you walked up to him and started talking.”
“What did he look like?” Nikolai asked.
The bartender scrunched up his angular face as he shrugged. “He didn’t look as if he belonged here. He was dressed too fancy, and he wouldn’t remove his coat.”
“What color was it?” Esther asked.
“Black. Long.”
She and Nikolai exchanged a look. Then she returned her gaze to the bartender. “Do you know what I said to him?”
“No,” the bartender replied. “But he wasn’t happy with whatever it was. He tried to get away, and I saw you pick his pocket.”
Yes, that sounded exactly like something she’d do. “What did I take? His wallet? Or mobile?”
“Mobile.”
“Then what happened?” Nikolai pressed.
The bartender pointed to a back corner. “There was a woman who had been here for a few hours. She kept to herself despite the men trying their luck with her. But as soon as you walked in,” he said with a nod to Esther, “she watched everything you did.”
Esther felt her heart jump with excitement. “What did she look like?”
“She was gorgeous,” the man said. “Long, black hair and the most amazing skin.”
Esther took out her mobile and showed the bartender the picture she’d shown Donal. “Like this?”
The bartender leaned down on his elbows and smiled as he looked at the drawing of the Druid. “Exactly like that. She has a face no man can forget.”
“Anything else you remember about her?” Nikolai asked.
The bartender wouldn’t stop looking at the picture until Esther put her mobile away. Then he blinked and cleared his throat as his gaze slid to Nikolai.
Nikolai raised an auburn brow and waited.
“She paid with cash, so I never got a name,” he admitted. “She didn’t speak except to ask for whisky. Irish whisky.”
Esther was finding it difficult to keep her smile hidden. Donal was Irish, as was Eireen. It wasn’t coincidence that the Druid had ordered Irish whisky.
“What happened after I stole the man’s phone?” Esther asked.
The bartender straightened and grabbed a towel that he began rubbing along the bar, his gaze lowered as if he were suddenly nervous. “She approached you.”
Esther wasn’t in the mood to dig for answers, especially when he’d been so forthcoming with replies before. “And?”
The bartender flicked the towel on his shoulder. “She came up behind you and put her hands on your head.”
Esther’s skin began to tingle as the image filled her mind.
“Did you hear what she said?” Nikolai asked.
“She whispered.” The bartender’s gaze skated around the bar as if looking for the Druid. “After she spoke, she took the mobile from your hand and walked out.”
Esther licked her lips. “What did I do?”
“You returned to your table where you picked a fight with the waitress and broke two chairs.”
She was only vaguely aware of Nikolai speaking to the bartender and money being exchanged before he took her arm and led her out of the pub. After he’d opened the SUV door and helped her inside, he pulled her against him and held her.
Esther closed her eyes, letting him comfort her.
“We found where you first met the Druid,” he whispered. “It’s another thread to pull.”
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “We’re going to yank this one.”
Nikolai smiled and nodded. “Aye. We are.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Despite his dragon magic and the fact that he was a King, Nikolai was powerless to help Esther. And it infuriated him.
After discovering exactly when and where she’d encountered the Druid, he returned them to the flat. She was busy mapping out her location based on his drawings and what memories those sketches jarred.
It wasn’t much to go on, but she needed to occupy her mind. Which is just where Nikolai wanted her while he spoke with Ryder. Before he got the chance to open his mental link, he heard ringing coming from his duffel.
He glanced at Esther, but she was too absorbed in her work to hear anything. He walked to his bag and unzipped it to find his mobile and Ryder’s name on the screen. Nikolai accepted the call and put the phone to his ear.
“Aye?” he answered.
“We need to talk,” Ryder said.
Nikolai frowned, wondering why Ryder would use a human device to communicate. Not to mention the fact that he was on speaker. “About?”
“My sister,” replied an angry male voice in a British accent.
Nikolai had known it would only be a matter of time before Henry discovered what was going on, but he’d hoped it would be later rather than sooner.
Ryder hurried to say, “Before you say anything, Nikolai, Henry came to me.”
“What happened?” Nikolai asked.
There was a sigh, and then Henry said, “A dream.”
“What kind of dream?” Nikolai pressed.
“I was searching through some of Esther’s belongings, hoping I might find something to help her recall her lost memories. I didn’t expect to discover anything.”
Nikolai looked at Esther. “But you did.”
“A small notebook. It was folded within a shirt.”
“What was in the notebook?”
Henry hesitated, the silence lengthening before he replied, “One word, written over and over again.”
Nikolai had a suspicion he knew what it was, but still he asked, “What was the word?”
“TruthSeeker.”
“Not two separate words?” Nikolai queried.
It was Ryder who said, “Just one word. And that changed everything.”
“How?” Nikolai hated having to pry the information out of them. Why couldn’t they just tell him?
Henry’s voice grew louder as if he’d moved closer to the mobile. “Reading that word triggered something. In my dream, Esther and I stood together. She looked at me and said, ‘TruthSeeker.’ And I replied, ‘JusticeBringer.’ As odd as that was, it wasn’t what woke me in a cold sweat.”
“What did?” Nikolai was beginning to think that he should return to Dreagan immediately. Whatever was going on with Esther and Henry, being away from the safe haven of Dreagan wasn’t a good idea with all the enemies the Dragon Kings had.
“We were chasing the Druid.”
Henry’s words were like a punch to the gut. Nikolai swallowed. “That brought you to Ryder.”
“I told him everything,” Ryder replied.
“Why doesn’t Esther want me to know any of this?” Henry demanded.
Nikolai propped his back against the foyer wall as he watched Esther lean over the coffee table as her gaze moved from one paper to another. “She wanted to figure things out herself first.”
“Well,” Ryder said. “When Henry showed me the notebook, I revised my search. All this time, I had been putting TruthSeeker as two words. When I amended the search, I found something.”
“A link to the Druids?” Nikolai asked hopefully.
There was a bang as if Ryder slammed his hand on one of the tables in the computer room. “Precisely. And Isla was right. That line of Druids was wiped from existence.”
“Then why does my sister believe she’s the TruthSeeker, and why am I dreaming about being the JusticeBringer?” Henry asked.
Ryder gave a loud sigh. “I’m working that out.”
“Well, you two were no’ the only ones to learn something,” Nikolai said. “The coasters led us to The Porterhouse, where we encountered Donal Cleary, the owner.”
As he spoke, Nikolai heard Ryder typing. A second later, Ryder said, “Donal Cleary from Dublin. He owns several pubs in Ireland as well as London. He’s unmarried with no children.”
No doubt there were more facts, but they could wait. Nikolai continued, “There were Druids as well as Fae in the pub. Donal, it seems, has knowledge of the supernatural beings in this realm, including us. He uses information from his ancestors in the way of carvings throughout the establishment to keep the humans from falling under the power of the Fae.”
“That’s a dose of information,” Ryder said.
“I’m no’ finished. We spoke with Donal at length. He remembered Esther. In my drawings, there is always a man following her. Donal confirmed it, but he said it appeared as if Esther knew about it when she was there.”
Henry interrupted then. “If I’m on a mission and know I’m being trailed, I’ll sometimes lead them on a merry chase to see if I can get information. Esther could’ve been doing the same thing.”
“I believe she was,” Nikolai said. “I’ll get to that in a moment. Esther showed Donal a picture of the sketch I did of the Druid. Donal said she looked like a woman he’d been in love with.”
There was a smile in Ryder’s voice as he said, “Well, now. I like this. Give me something to search, Nikki.”
Nikolai grimaced at the nickname but ignored it. “Donal said the woman’s name was Eireen. She was a Druid but had been hiding it from her family. She and Donal intended to run away together, but her family had other ideas for her. One day, Eireen’s sisters came for her, and Donal never saw her again. He searched himself, as well as contacted the authorities. He also hired a private investigator, but no trace of her was ever found.”
“If the Druid looks like this Eireen, then they’re most likely related,” Henry said.
“I’m doing a search,” Ryder mumbled.
Nikolai then moved on to the next story. He relayed the incident at the pub with the bartender and everything the mortal had imparted about the Druid and her encounter with Esther.
There was a long stretch of silence before Henry erupted with a barrage of curses. Nikolai understood his exasperation and anger because he felt the emotions, as well.
“How is Esther?” Ryder asked.
Nikolai hadn’t taken his gaze from her. “She’s strong. She’ll get through this and find the answers.”
“It feels like all we’re getting is just enough to bring a deluge of additional questions,” Henry said.
Nikolai pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger as he briefly closed his eyes. “Aye.”
“You should bring her back,” Henry declared.
Before Nikolai could reply, Ryder said, “Esther needs to be where the answers are. Her going from pub to pub is what has given her—and us—these clues. Bringing her back to Dreagan will get us nothing.”
“You can find the answers right here, doing all the tricks you do on the computers,” Henry argued.
Nikolai understood where Henry was coming from. Henry wanted to protect his sister, and right now, he felt helpless. And that was clouding his judgment.
“We need to find the Druid’s name,” Nikolai said. “Ryder—”
“Already looking for Eireen,” he interrupted. “It would make things go quicker if I had her surname, but I’ll find her. As soon as I know anything, I’ll contact you.”
Nikolai blew out a breath. “Henry, about your parents. Is there any way you and Esther are adopted?”
“None,” he replied. “I’ll get you papers to prove it.”
A moment later, the sound of a door slamming echoed through the connection. Ryder blew out a loud breath. “I doona know what to think about all of this.”
“You’re no’ the only one.”
“How are Esther and Henry the TruthSeeker and JusticeBringer?”
If only Nikolai had the answer. “Henry intends to bring you birth certificates, but we both know those can be forged.”
“Doona worry. Kinsey is looking into that. I’ve got her set up elsewhere. She’s digging deep into the Norths, as well. If there’s anything to find, Kinsey will uncover it.”
“Ryder, I need your skills on this. I realize you’re still looking for Ulrik as well as Mikkel, but I need to help Esther. She’s … my mate.”
“I’ll be damned,” Ryder said, a grin in his voice. “I’m happy for you, brother.”
“I’ll rejoice once she gets her memories returned, and we discover everything we can about this TruthSeeker.”
“You know I willna let you down. I’ll find what we seek,” Ryder promised.
Nikolai ended the call and tossed the mobile into his bag. He kept coming back to Esther’s and Henry’s connection to the Druids. If they had magic, there was a chance that it had been bound. But with the dream Esther had about E2, something should’ve manifested by now.
He wished he could talk to the Ancients himself and question them to see if the titles Esther and Henry claimed were for Druids only. The designations had connections to magic, but when it came to that, things had a way of changing and evolving to fit the current atmosphere.
But it was all speculation on his part. He wouldn’t share any of this with Esther until he had more information, and it wasn’t as if the Ancients would talk to him. He wasn’t a Druid. Hell, they didn’t even talk to all the Druids, only a select few.
If only he could give Esther some kind of relief. And then he realized he could. It was a chance—a huge one. But he was willing to take it.
Nikolai opened his mental link and said, “Ulrik. I know you can hear me. I need your help.”
He waited for Ulrik to reply. When minutes ticked by with no word, Nikolai tried again. “The woman I’ve claimed as my mate is suffering, and I believe you have the means to aid her. I’ve no right to ask for your help, but I am.”
Once more, there was silence.
Nikolai had known what would probably happen, but he had to try. No matter how close he and Ulrik were, when it counted the most, he’d let his friend down. Now, when he needed Ulrik, he was learning just how deep the ripples of such a blow could go.
“Hungry?” Nikolai asked Esther.
She gave a nod but said nothing. He walked from the flat to find some food. Three blocks away was a pub with the amazing fish and chips he’d been craving. He was returning to Esther with the bag of food in hand and his mind circling the new facts he’d uncovered when his gaze locked on a figure leaning against the side of a building.
Nikolai halted, unsure if he was seeing what he wanted to see or what was actually there. He took a step forward as the man pushed away and came to stand in the light of the streetlamp.
