Hell Transporter (Between) (22 page)

“Ian and Sarah have gone away for the weekend, so we have the place to ourselves,
ma chèrie
.” Ian had made it clear that I wasn’t to be spending the night at the cottage, so it had been months since Aiden and I had truly been alone. My pulse quickened with excitement and I felt a blush creep up my cheeks as I envisioned Aiden’s naked body—mine, to do with what I chose, for a whole night.

Oh, yeah.

He laughed and squeezed my knee before shutting off the car. “I’m glad to see you’re as happy about it as I am, love.”

He led me into the house and quickly moved about the room, lighting candles and building up a fire, which crackled and popped as it came to life. I sat on the couch, watching him and thinking of the many times he’d built a fire at the cabin. Sometimes I still could not believe he was really here with me after all we’d been through.

Satisfied, he turned to me with a smile. “Ian and Sarah felt bad that they couldn’t be here for your birthday, but they left some gifts for ye.” He gestured to the dining table and a small collection of wrapped presents there.

“There are three boxes,” I observed.

“Aye, one of them is from me.”

I opened the largest one first, which turned out to be a bottle of very expensive whisky from Ian. “He said you’re of age in Scotland so you’d best learn what true quality tastes like.” That sounded like something Ian would say and I laughed, thinking of him and his easy smile. Aiden opened the bottle and poured us each a glass. The fire water burned down my throat and pooled in my chest, reminding me of that day in between when we’d been playing cards and I tried to drink Aiden under the table. It wasn’t possible, but I’d sure had fun trying.

Enjoying the light swimming sensation in my head, I pointed to the remaining presents on the table. “Which one should I open next?” He handed me the smallest box and I unwrapped it to reveal a pair of golden earrings with three green gems dangling from the stud.

“They’re not real emeralds, but I knew ye liked earbobs and they reminded me of ye,” he explained with a self-conscious shrug.

I kissed him before he could say anything else. “Thank you. I love them. This one must be from Sarah, then,” I said, tearing into the last gift. She’d bought the matching necklace for me: a trio of emerald-green stones, each one slightly larger than the last, dangling from a golden chain. “It’s beautiful,” I said and kissed him again. He smiled, but something in his eyes told me he was not done.

“I have one more thing, if ye don’t think me too daft and romantic.” Pink tinged his cheeks in a nervous blush and I laughed, intrigued. “Maybe you should have another drink,” he said, pouring more whisky into my glass. I giggled at him and obligingly took a swig of the potent amber liquid. He retrieved Ian’s guitar from the bedroom down the hall, then sat across from me with the instrument on his knee. His fingers plucked a sweet, lilting tune that made me sway in my seat. His voice was clear and light as he sang.

God stretched out His hand

Created heavens and the earth

He set the sun and moon aglow

Made the ocean, sea and firth

Creatures of every shape and size

Filled the water and the land

And when He saw that it was good

He gave it to one man

And Adam there was happy

I do not know how long

Naming all the animals

And singing nature’s song

But God, He knew the heart of man

He should not be alone

In Adam’s sleep, the greatest gift

A lassie from his bone

I’m much the same as Adam

God’s given me my Eve

A lass so kind and sweet and fair

My side she’ll never leave

God made the earth for Adam

The mountains and the moor

But ‘twas my bonnie Lindsey

That He made forever for

He gave me a shy smile when the song was finished and I held one hand to my lips, my eyes misting with tears.

“You wrote that for me?” I asked incredulously, swallowing hard against the lump in my throat. The song was cheesy and corny—just like the cabin where we’d said our vows—and I absolutely loved it.

“Aye, I did. Do ye like it?” he asked.

I don’t know if it was the alcohol in my system or the uncertain look on his face, but I was overcome with emotion and couldn’t speak, so I pulled him to me and kissed him in answer instead, wishing there was a way to show him how I felt. He startled as our lips met, and when I pulled back from the kiss, I could see he was choked up and a little bewildered.

He gave me a crooked smile and cleared his throat. “Sorry, I… well, you’ve a powerful emotion there and I felt it clear as day. I imagine that must have been what ‘twas like the night I was drinking whisky with your Da, aye?”

I cocked my head to one side, confused for a moment, and then I remembered the way his thoughts and feelings had rushed through me that night at the cabin before the skunk had sprayed him.

He stroked my hand, considering. “Actually, I’ve been thinking about that night, love and the things you told me.” He looked at me curiously and said, “I’ve a theory I’d like to test, if you’re amenable.” Intrigued, I murmured assent, and he continued, laying out the aspects of his hypothesis. “You know that we can send each other words and images, but I can’t tell what you’re thinking unless you want me to. Still, you felt my pain the first time I pricked my finger and I felt your emotion just now. You’ve had a bit to drink, like I had before with your Da that night.”

I shifted in my seat, waiting for him to get to the theory, since I knew all this.

“Well, I’m thinking that maybe the mind is normally closed off with something like a gate, and that we can choose to open it a wee bit, to communicate a thought or to send a picture. We keep it closed most of the time so we cannot read each other’s minds and we keep our feelings to ourselves. But when our defenses are down, either from pain or from spirits, the gate can swing open and let through more than we meant to show. And when that happens, ‘tis not just words or images that we share, but the fullness of our thoughts and feelings at that moment. Like we are one.”

I nodded, thinking it over. “But what about the hell transporter? It can manipulate my mind when I’m connected to you, and when I got inside its head, I lost myself completely.”

“What do you mean, ‘when I’m connected to you’?”

“I realized it only appears when you and I are connected: at the cabin, in the music room, in the woods. Every time it has shown up, you and I were communicating in our minds. The gate was open, so to speak.” He was silent for a long time, studying the wall like the answers were written there, behind the floral print wallpaper, inscribed in ancient Gaelic. I took another sip of whisky and waited for him to speak.

“Then what I was going to propose carries some risk. Perhaps we shouldn’t.” The disappointment in his voice was palpable.

Maybe it was the whisky, but I was feeling brave.

“What were you going to ask?”

He fixed me with a serious gaze and I met him unflinchingly. He tapped out a rhythm on his knee, apparently deciding whether or not to tell me.

I won.

“I want to know if we can connect that way on purpose, if we can open the gate fully and leave naught to be hidden from each other. Can we be joined in our minds the way our bodies can be joined as one?” He reached out and lightly stroked the side of my breast, a spark igniting in his eyes. “But it would be dangerous. I don’t know what might happen.” Self-restraint shuttered his eyes and he dropped his hand to his lap.

“Let’s do it,” I said, ignoring the butterflies in my stomach. I had nothing to hide and if the hell transporter decided to interfere, well, we had Ian’s rifle now. I was almost itching for a fight, for some chance to use this new power I’d discovered. He hesitated, weighing the risk. I grabbed his hand and jumped up. “Come on, I want to. How do we start?” He laughed then, a rich, rumbling sound that warmed me more than the whisky.

“All right, ye sassy wench. I swear that you never cease to amaze me.”

I beamed a thousand watts at his praise and pressed a kiss to his lips. He grabbed a blanket from the hallway and spread it out on the floor in front of the fire. He sat, beckoning with an outstretched hand for me to come join him.

“Close your eyes and just relax,
mo chridhe
. Feel the tension seeping out of your muscles. Think about how you send me a message with your mind, and then try to open the gate further so that I can feel your heart beat.” He held my hand and I took a deep breath, willing myself to relax. I concentrated on the sound of my own heart beating and emptied my mind of other distractions. The alcohol helped, as my head was already foggy and once I was aware of it, I found that I could tell when my mind was open to him. Piece by piece, I stripped away the barriers that kept my thoughts and emotions to myself, and allowed him in. It was a slightly heady feeling, something akin to floating, both extraordinarily freeing and scary at the same time.

He made a low, humming sound of satisfaction next to me, but I didn’t open my eyes, afraid to break the connection. And then he was there with me. The excitement of new discovery surged through my veins as I felt his thoughts and emotions join with my own. I concentrated on the feel of his hand in mine and it reminded me of the air in the realm where we’d met, and how the energy flowed like water between us.

I read his thoughts and knew he was going to kiss me before I felt his lips on mine. My heart raced in anticipation. Still, the touch of his mouth overloaded my senses and I jerked instinctively, severing the connection. His consciousness was stripped away from me as my mental gate swung closed. I shuddered from the intensity of the sudden break.

The corner of his mouth turned up in a boyish smile. “That was… intense, aye?”

I laughed nervously, awed by this newfound level of connection that we shared. “Sorry I broke off. I didn’t mean to. It was just…” I turned my palms up as the words to describe the experience escaped me.

“I know just what you mean. ‘Twas for me, too.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine and I closed my eyes, sinking into him.

The second time, it was easier to open my mind and his thoughts entwined with mine a moment later. The nervousness inside him pleased and surprised me, and I kissed him back more forcefully. I felt the movement of his tongue against mine, both by my mouth and his own—a strangely disconcerting and erotic sensation. I felt his smile in response to my assessment as his hand wandered over my shoulder and down my chest. The heat of his excitement flowed through my blood and pooled between my legs as his kisses became deeper.

I marveled at being the object of his desire, having never thought of myself in that way. In the honest depths of my mind, I visualized Mona in her tiny white bikini as the epitome of a desirable woman. Normally, I would have suppressed such a thought and tried to hide it from Aiden. But the vision of Mona flashed in between us and his body instantly reacted with a spark of primitive lust that crushed me. My heart imploded as my deepest fears were realized in that split second.

He wants her.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod.

With a wrenching twist, his mind and body yanked away from me as he slammed shut his mental gate. He stood up and began pacing the room, his face contorted with anger and frustration.

“Damn it, Lindsey! She means nothing to me! I’ve told you that, and still you don’t believe me. What will it take to get it through to you?”

Betrayal carved a black hole in my chest. My answer came out in a voice that was cold, dead, hollow. “It doesn’t matter whether I believe you or not, does it? I saw it myself and you know it.”

He slammed his fist down on the dining table and I flinched at the sound. “You flashed me an image of a nearly naked woman and my flesh responded. Aye, it’s true. But it wouldn’t matter if ‘twas Mona or the blessed Virgin Mary, I could no more keep my flesh from reacting to the sight of a naked woman than I could will my heart to stop beating in my chest. I am a man, Lindsey, and ‘tis just how God made us.”

“I understand. She’s—“ I couldn’t even get out the words. Beautiful? Sexy? Exotic? Everything a guy could want? An evil, wicked bitch that shouldn’t turn you on?

I wished the hell transporter would come and kill me in that moment.

I started to get up and Aiden came back, kneeling before me. He gripped my head in his hands and forced me to meet his eyes. Pain sliced through my heart again.

“You are the only woman that I love, and you are more beautiful than any other woman I’ve ever seen. I’ve told you as much over and over, and as many times as I’ve lain with you, you still do not believe me.” Hurt and exasperation etched hard lines into his face. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. His hands dropped to my arms and he shook me with the passion boiling in him.

“I will not stand it, Lindsey. Do you hear me? You will believe me this night, lass, and I will not stop until you do.”