A Slip In Time (32 page)

When Rae turned her toward the fire’s warmth
and cradled her from behind, she objected, for she could not reach
him or pleasure him in any way, while his own hands roamed freely
over her and teased her most secret places.

“You do not play fair, my Highland lord.”
Her breaths came short and quick.

“Aye, ‘tis true.” He kissed the curve of her
neck, chuckling, but did not relent in his seduction. She quivered
beneath his possession and pleaded his name. Moments later, he
turned her to face him. Lowering her to the fur, he covered her and
set a slow, rhythmic pace.

“Better,
mo
cáran
?” He smiled, seeing her dark, passion-glazed
eyes.

Before the warming fire, they continued
their loveplay tasting, kissing, exploring. Julia suddenly bolted
against him, crying out as waves of ecstasy claimed her. Her
spasms triggered his own release, and he strove with her to
euphoric heights before plummeting back to earth. For long moments
afterward, they lay panting in each other’s arms.

“Rae, I’m sorry.” Julia gasped huge breaths.
“I couldn’t wait and it’s over so soon.”

“Dinna fret, love,” he said on a ragged
breath, smoothing long strands of hair from her flushed cheeks.
“Naught is o’er. We hae just begun. ‘Tis but a wee samplin’ o’ wha’
is tae come, for I intend tae love ye and treasure ye the whole
night through.”

Smiling, Rae rose and drew her to her
feet. Giving her a quick kiss, he caught her up in his arms and
started toward the bed. He took no more than two steps when he
halted abruptly.

Seeing the look on his face, Julia
followed his gaze to the bed where the bedhangings were changing
their colors, flashing from red to blue to red to blue. . . .
Together, they scanned the room and were stunned to find the
furnishings appearing and disappearing from both centuries — the
armoire, tables, and chairs from hers, the iron-bound trunk, tub,
and stool from his. The oaken doors of both times winked in and
out, as did the shutters and glass upon the windows.

“Can you see it all? Can you see into
the future?” Julia asked, her voice filled with awe.

“Aye,” Rae replied, incredulous. He
glanced to her, smiling even wider now. “‘Tis a most memorable
night tae love ye, I am thinkin’. One ne’er tae be
forgot.”

Testing the bed’s solidity, Rae laid
Julia on the bed and stretched out beside her. With their world in
flux about them, they renewed their lovemaking, sharing kisses,
long and sweet, while their hands wandered the hills and valleys of
their lover. Julia did not object as he introduced her to new
intimacies, took her to new heights. Beneath his loving tutoring,
she grew increasingly bold, surprising him, and delighting him
beyond expectation.

How deeply and desperately he loved
her. How he wished this night would never end, or that they had ten
thousand more. Allowing no dark thoughts to intrude upon their
happiness, he took Julia to the pinnacles of ecstasy again. And
again. And again.

As the moon watched from on high, they
loved through the night. Passionately, bittersweetly, leaving no
mysteries between them as night gave way to dawn. Consumed and
replete with love, they finally lay exhausted among the tousled
sheets and fell asleep in one another’s arms.

»«

The twitter of birds awakened Julia. Turning
on her pillow, she reached for Rae. Her hand touched the cool
pillow beside her. Opening her eyes she found him gone.

Ah, Love! could thou and I
with Fate conspire

To grasp this sorry Scheme
of Things entire,

Would not we shatter it to
bits — and then

Remould it nearer to the
Heart’s Desire!

A tear slid over Julia’s cheek,
tumbling to the page and staining the book’s fine paper. She
blotted the spot with her handkerchief, then rested back against
the fragment of wall where she sat in the shadow of the
keep.

Julia drew her gaze over the low
tangle of growth and outbursts of pink primroses, carpeting the
ground where the fifteenth-century hall once stood. She could
imagine the castlefolk moving there still. Imagine Rae.

She drew a deep breath, the chill air
searing her lungs. Returning her attention to the Rubaiyat, she
paged to the next verse.

Ah, Moon of my Delight who
know’st no wane,

The Moon of Heav’n is
rising once again:

How oft hereafter rising shall she look

Through this same Garden
after me — in vain!

Julia closed the book and held it against
her heart. Bowing her head, she sobbed brokenly.

At length, her tears spent for a time,
Julia roamed Dunraven’s grounds, then walked along the burn where
Rae had once held her in his arms and kissed her with tender
passion.

Slowly, painfully, Julia made her way
back to the castle and climbed the many steps to her chamber. She
lingered awhile in the Long Gallery, studying the portraits in
vain, seeking some resemblance there to Rae that she already knew
did not exist.

“Cousin! I’ve found you at
last!”

Recognizing Emmaline’s voice, Julia
turned to find her rushing forward from the far end of the
gallery, all decorum tossed aside. Emmaline hugged Julia swiftly
then grasped Julia’s hands in her own.

“Please, cousin. I must speak with
you.”

“Yes, of course we can
speak—”

Emmaline drew Julia down with her onto
one of the small settees that lined the gallery wall.

“I need your advice, cousin. Advice
about love.”

“Love? I don’t know how I might
advise—”

“You know better than anyone what it
means to grow up in a house filled with love. Your parents owned a
great love, and sacrificed all for it. Oh, Julia, I find myself in
a like situation to your mother’s.”

“Emmaline, what are you
saying?”

“I am in love, Julia. In love with a
man of whom my parents will never approve. He holds no rank or
station of import, no properties. His title is not even hereditary
as was your father’s. Oh, but, Julia, he is a good man, a fine,
decent man, and I love him with all my heart as he does
me.”

Emmaline released Julia’s hands and
sat back, breathless by her outpouring. Julia found herself
breathless as well, still trying to absorb her cousin’s
revelations.

“My parents will think me
mad, no doubt. If they knew of him, they’d lock me away, I’m sure
of it.” Emmaline leaned forward again, her look sober yet animated.
“But, cousin, I am not blind. I can see the way of our class
—
the aristocratic
marriages, so often hollow, loveless matches that lead to
adulterous liaisons for both husbands and wives. Julia, I am no
fool. I know my mother stayed behind in England to be with her
lover, and that my father has his mistresses, several of them. And
look at Aunt Sybil and Rokeby. But that is not what I wish for my
life. I’d rather live simply with a man I love and with one who
loves me as well.”

Emmaline grasped Julia’s hands once
more. “What should I do, cousin? I know what my heart tells me, but
I also know love has a habit of sweeping all sense aside. I do love
him so. I value him above all the titles and wealth the world can
hold. What shall I do?’

As Julia looked into her cousin’s
eyes, she saw the immensity of that love mirrored there, so like
her own for Rae. Suddenly, all the anguish of Julia’s own loss
welled up and engulfed her heart. She could scarce find her voice
to speak.

“Oh, Emmaline, if you are
fortunate enough in this life to find
love
— true
love — then seize it with both
hands and never, ever let it go.”

Tears of joy sprang to Emmaline’s eyes
and she threw her arms about Julia, squeezing her tightly. “Thank
you, dearest cousin. Thank you. I must go now. He is waiting, and
we must be discreet.”

Julia watched Emmaline as she rustled down
the gallery and disappeared from sight.

She sat for a moment, amazed.
Remembering back to their journey to Dunraven, she recalled
Emmaline’s comments on the train. Julia suspected then her cousin
being enamored of someone. But Emmaline had seemingly conquered
many hearts among the Braxton circle and, though she could usually
be found surrounded by any number of men, she never showed
favoritism to any one of them in particular.

Discreet.
Goodness. Emmaline was certainly that. Even now,
Julia found herself wondering who had captured her cousin’s
heart

Feeling her own loss, Julia rose from the
settee and headed toward the chamber, heavy of heart. A dull ache
began to pulse at the sides of her head. Pushing open the door, she
paused on the portal as the throbbing increased and spread over her
crown.

Massaging her temples, Julia crossed
the room past the armoire and table, directing her steps in a
straight line for the great Flemish bed. There, she cast herself
upon the mattress and rested a moment. Gratefully, the pain
subsided as quickly as it had arrived. Rolling onto her back, she
looked up to the canopy stretched overhead. Blue. How she longed
for it to transform to red.

A sound caught her ear, that of a deep voice
clearing itself. Shoving upward, Julia glanced toward the
fireplace. There, in one of the green velvet chairs, sat Rae
Mackinnon, smiling in earnest.

Languid from their lovemaking, Julia
pressed a kiss to Rae’s chest, then to his throat and jaw, moving
upward until she lay partially atop him. Smiling, she traced her
finger over his lips.

“Sae ye missed me did ye, lass?” Rae
levered open one eye and gazed at Julia.

“Desperately.” She spread several
kisses across his cheek. “Even now I fear—”

“Sh-h-h now. Ye mustna be thinkin’
troublin’ thoughts when my lovin’ is still warm upon ye.” He hiked
his brow. “Ye are still warm are ye no’? Or d’ye need warmin’ all
o’er again?”

He drew her fully atop him, staying
the words poised on her lips with a lavish kiss. When their mouths
parted, they both seized upon the air for breath.

Julia brushed her fingertips through
his dark hair. “I shall always need your loving, Rae.”

“As I you.”
He placed a kiss between her breasts.

“Of course, I was
thinking—”

“Ye do too much thinkin’,
I am thinkin’.”
He possessed her breast, taking her
into his mouth and rousing her desire.

Her fingers pressed into his shoulders as
her whole being surged beneath his fresh seduction.

“D-did you wish to see some new parts
. . . of the castle that is? I could take you to meet Lord Muir
and—”

“And?” His tongue worked
magic on her other breast,
circling, laving,
tantalizing her to distraction.

“A-and . . . to meet . . . his friends.”

“We’ll see them all in guid
time,
mo cáran.
” He guided
her hips back and claimed her.
“
For now Time is ours, and we, one
another’s.”

She caught his rhythm, matched it with her
own, their bodies moving in perfect harmony. Fiery sensations
splintered through her, drawing a small moan from her throat. As
their passions built, they melded as one in a timeless union of
body, heart, and soul.

A half an hour later, sated, they
still lay entangled.

Julia smiled contentedly as she scanned the
canopy overhead. Blue. How miraculous that Rae should be lying
beside her with the bed hangings glowing blue. Another thought
struck her, and her smile grew.

“Och, I see yer thinkin’ again.” Rae
lifted himself on his elbow and kissed a lock of her hair. “‘Tis
no’ a guid sign by yer look, for me a’ least.”

“Actually, it isn’t.” She turned her
smile to him, unable to suppress the impish twinkle she felt
dancing in her eyes. “I believe you’ll find your clothes have
disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” Rae rolled from her and
rose to search the floor where they had both hastily disrobed and
dropped their clothes.

Julia sat up in bed. “Yes, as mine did
and anything else I brought between times. They all vanished back
to this century whenever I laid them down or they lost contact with
me.”

“I do remember yer using yer gown as a
pillow on several occasions.” Rae stood grinning, his shirt in
hand. “Sorry tae disappoint ye, my heart, but my clothes are here,
all o’ them. My dirk, too. ‘Twould seem the time slip works
somewhat differently, commin’ forward, in tae yer
future.”

Surprise stole through Julia. Her
smile quickly returned. “At least now you needn’t leave the chamber
wrapped in a sheet, or less!”

Rae tossed her a look as he pulled on his
shirt and began the task of pleating his plaid.

Climbing from the bed, Julia went to the
armoire and drew open the doors. She glanced back in time to see
him lay his belt on the floor and position his tartan atop it,
lengthwise. Stretching out atop it himself, he crossed the
unpleated edges of the fabric across his middle and buckled it in
place.