Highlander's Faerie (Highlander Heat Book 5) (6 page)

“I’ll never forget it.” Sweet memories stirred. The day they’d arrived at the park, Mum had popped the trunk, heaved out the tent and tipped it from its bag then stared at it in horror as she realized she’d left the setup instructions at home on the kitchen bench. So many poles, cords, and yards of canvas had spilled out, a jigsaw of pieces that had taken them hours and hours to sort through and put together. “Dad couldn’t make that trip and it was just us three girls.”

“We had the best time though.” Marie sat on the boulder Mary had vacated and tugged her down beside her. “Now it’s your turn. Tell me what you’ve been up to.”

“Well, I don’t quite know where to start.”

“At the beginning.”

“I spoke to Mum.”

“What?” Her sister’s eyebrows soared into her hairline. “You just can’t blurt something like that out. Are you serious?”

“Deadly serious. It appears time travel and visits from those in another realm are both entirely possible.” She heaved in a deep breath. Now her sister was back, it was time to confess the depth and truth behind her nightmares.

“Come on, spill. You can’t leave me dangling.” Marie gripped her hands. “We’ve never kept anything from each other, and we’re not starting now. What do you mean by you spoke to Mum?”

“I heard her voice and felt her presence, both while I was in the circle before I traveled here, and then again this morning, although I didn’t recall her presence in the circle at the time. It appears my nightmares have in fact been returning memories.”

“Start with when you were in the circle.” Marie jiggled her legs, clearly anxious to hear all.

“When I was waiting for you to complete your mission, I collapsed and bled from a wound on my neck that opened out of nowhere. As you suffered during the battle at the Rhinns, so did I, but in the future, or perhaps somewhere in between realms. Mum told me this morning that death came but couldn’t take me, not when the fae intervened. To ensure my survival the fae bound me to another here in the past and healed my wound. I must have been unconscious for parts of it since I only recall bits and pieces even now.”

“Who did the fae bind you to?”

“John. He now holds a piece of my soul and the fae have said I must keep him close. I cannot live if he doesn’t.”

“Oh my goodness.” She clutched her chest, her face paling.

“No, it’ll be all right. I’m certain of that.” She pulled Marie into her arms. “I’m alive now and here with you. That’s all that matters.”

“What else did Mum have to say?”

“That we hold fae in our blood and now we’re in this time and closer to the fae realm, it’s strengthened. Last night, I had two new visions and she told me to embrace and allow them to guide me. Dad’s with her, sis.” She touched the amulet at her neck. “Last night, the fae gave me a mission. I’m to wear Mary’s talisman so it will provide me with safe passage as I return to our MacLean kin on Mull. I’m to bring peace between the clans.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Her frown deepened. “Peace doesn’t come for some years and we’re supposed to be keeping history on course, not changing it. Are you sure that’s what you were told to do?”

“Yes. I haven’t mistaken the fae’s words, but maybe I’ll get more clarity on my mission once I arrive on Mull. John actually said the same as you.”

“Where’s John now since you’re supposed to be keeping him close?” Marie studied the warriors surrounding Archie.

“He sailed out earlier this morning. Last night during one of my dreams, I had a vision of a warrior abducting me from a bay a few miles north of here. John’s gone in search of him, and to remove the threat.”

Farther down the beach, Archie left his men and strode toward them, his brown hair wisped with blond, brushing his broad shoulders. Although not identical, he and John both shared similar physical features and the same towering height.

He halted before her and crossed his arms. “My men just informed me of the threat against you, Katherine.”

“John’s dealing with it.”

“As he should, but you two are sitting out here when it will be far safer if you’re both behind Dunyvaig’s walls. John would insist on it, and so do I.”

“I doubt any MacLean warrior will get through you or your guards, no matter where we sat.” A fact he couldn’t dispute.

“Aye, but a storm brews and I cannae protect you from its fury out here.”

“What storm?” Only a peek of gray cloud sat on the far horizon.

“The weather can change in an instant in the isles.” Archie motioned out to sea. “The waves grow higher and foamier and do you no’ feel the heaviness in the air?”

“If Archie says a storm’s on its way, there’s one on the way, sis. Let’s go inside.” Marie’s belly gurgled and she laughed and rubbed it. “I’m also starving. Archie insisted we set sail at dawn and I didn’t get the chance to eat breakfast.”

“I would have fed you, but we ran out of time when you had other ideas than breaking your fast in mind.” Archie’s golden eyes glimmered as he extended his hand toward Marie and tugged her to her feet. “Come. The midday meal now awaits.”

“Great.” Marie reached back for her, nabbed her hand and hauled her up too. “Come on. I really am hungry.”

Teal skirts lifted, she walked beside Marie up the grassy rise as Archie kept guard at their back. A tingle of unease chased up her spine. John had promised to return by midday and though he only sought one man, she was suddenly anxious. Squeezing her sister’s arm, she said, “If you don’t mind, I might just see if I can spot John’s birlinn from the battlements. I’ll be inside soon.”

“That’s fine with me.” She glanced at Archie. “Is that okay with you?”

“Aye, that willnae be a problem.” He nodded then motioned the tower guard to lower the portcullis. The clunky sound of its chains reverberated throughout the keep as the metal grate lowered from within the stone-arched entrance gate.

“Make sure you come inside before it rains.” Marie slipped her arm through Archie’s and cuddled into his side as she walked into the keep.

Katherine trotted up the stairs to the battlements and gripped the thick stone crenellation. Past the bluff, the northern waterways remained clear. No birlinn and no John, or at least that she could see. The headland would provide an even better view.

A cool breeze blew over her and she shivered as the distant gray clouds thickened and covered the skies. If she wanted to get to the bluff, she’d have to sneak out since Archie had now secured the castle.

Hustling, she headed downstairs and skirted the curtain wall. The sentry guard paced the ramparts above and as he marched in the opposite direction, she snuck through the postern gate.

Into the forest, she dashed then followed the thin winding path to the headland. The wind whistled through and the autumn leaves lining the trail swirled in a whirlpool of russet and burnt orange at her feet.

Breathing hard, she finally stumbled onto the craggy bluff’s cliff-top point. The bay she’d been taken from should be just visible, yet still there was no sign of John’s birlinn. “Where are you?” she whispered into the wind.

Thunder boomed and the sea crashed hard against the jagged rock wall. Spray flew and drenched her. She slipped, made a grab for the cliff but only managed air. Screaming, she plunged toward the sea and hit the frigid water. Down she went, her breath lost at the hard impact. Her skirts dragged and the murky waves tossed her about. So deep.

What had she been thinking to stand so close to the edge? Goodness. She shouldn’t have left the castle without a guard. John would certainly be furious to hear she’d snuck out. Kicking, she strived to get to the surface.

Her back slammed into the cliff and black hazed her vision. She shoved the dark away, seized the cliff’s edge and held on with her life as the waves pounded into her from behind. No giving up. Along the rock face, several grooves appeared deep enough to use to pull herself up. Death wouldn’t take her, not again, not when she had everything to live for. All she had to do was scale this cliff and reach the top. Then sneak back into Dunyvaig before anyone realized what she’d done. Totally doable. Or it better damn well be doable. She didn’t want to consider the trouble she’d be in if John discovered what had happened.

Grunting, she heaved upward, intent on using whatever crack or ridge the rock offered. Determination spurred her on and as she passed the halfway mark, she clambered onto a thin ledge twenty feet from the top. Breathing hard, she flopped onto her back.

Above, the storm clouds continued to bubble and brew, whipping into a frenzy of vicious black. With frozen fingers and shaky legs, she gathered what strength she had and patted the rock above her head where a scraggly clump of bushes protruded from a crevice. Her hand sank through the brush and into a dark hole. Gasping, she scraped dirt and grit from around the edge and discovered a thin shaft leading inward. It appeared too small for her to fit into, unless she could scrape more of the dirt—

“Katherine!” At John’s fierce shout she almost fell off her precarious perch.

Below, he stood at the bow as he cruised toward her, savage fury etched on his face.

“Wait right there!” He tore off his belted plaid, tossed it to one of his men then sprang into the raging waters, boots and all.

Oh great. So much for sneaking back in.

Katherine clung to the ledge as John powered through the stormy waves toward her. He grasped the rock face and hauled himself up the cliff. Water sluiced down his body, plastered his white tunic to his chest and molded his black leather pants to his legs. The man looked incredible even though a fierce scowl darkened his face.

Swiftly, he climbed then clambered onto her ledge and crouched, his gaze moving over her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing on this cliff? And where the hell is your guard?”

“I—I—” She shivered from head to foot, so cold from her dunking. “I needed to know where you were. I’m sorry. I never intended to fall but only to keep a lookout from the cliff top.”

He shot a look upward then back down at the raging sea. Eyes wide, he bit out, “You fell? From the top?”

“Yes, and I was just making my way back up again when you found me.”

“I’ll kill whoever let you pass through the gates alone.”

“This is no one’s fault but my own. I snuck out the postern gate after Archie had secured the keep.” She motioned toward the vent she’d found. “There’s a shaft here, although it’s too small to wriggle through and I don’t know where it leads. The only way out, appears to be up.”

“Aye, I know of this vent. I found it when I was a lad.”

“How did you—hold on.” Was it possible this was the shaft that led to his sacred cavern? “You said you were scaling Islay’s cliffs when you discovered the underground cave? There’s no way to scale this cliff, unless you too fell from the top.”

“Aye, I recall the fall well.” He snaked one arm around her waist, lifted her to her feet and pinned her to the cliff with his body. To his men below, he yelled, “Once we reach the top, sail for Dunyvaig. We’ll return as soon as we’re able.” In her ear, he rasped, “I’ll give you a boost. There are enough ridges in the cliff to climb the rest of the way to the top. Take it slow and tread with care. I’ll be here, one step behind you.”

“And to think you just told me off for falling from this cliff when you did the same exact thing. Unbelievable.”

“Go, now, afore my heart leaps right out of my chest.” He popped a kiss on her brow. “I cannae stand to see you clinging to this wall.”

“You be careful too. It’s slippery, and the water’s rather cold. I don’t recommend another dunking.” She sucked in a deep breath and forced herself to move. Heaving upward, she clambered from one hand and foot-hold to the next.

John, like a shadow, trailed in her wake, his hand cupping her heel when needed and ensuring her footing remained firm.

After climbing past the scraggly bushes, she scrambled over the top and rolled onto the flat hard rock. On her back, she shoved clinging strands of wet hair from her face. “John?”

“I’m here.” With one hearty heave, he tumbled in beside her and pulled her into his arms. “You shall never leave the castle again without a guard. I want your word on that, Katherine.”

She pushed up onto one elbow and looked into his eyes. “Thank you for helping me.”

“Give. Me. Your. Word.”

The clouds opened and the rain beat down. Even though she was a wet, shabby mess, she smiled. “This isn’t how we were supposed to arrive at the cavern. You took me by way of the forest entrance, and in my dream the rain clouds loomed but hadn’t broken. This is all kinds of wrong.”

“What are you saying?”

“Your day was planned until I told you about my kidnapping. You were supposed to train with your men, return for the midday meal and then bring me here. I’ve changed the events of the future by telling you, and I shouldn’t have.” She wiped the rain streaming down her cheeks with her gown’s wet sleeve.

“You cannae expect each and every day to be as it should. There will be a variance simply because you are here.”

“The variance is greater because I spoke about my vision.”

Birds soared above then dipped and landed on the highest branches of the towering trees at the forest’s edge.

Fingers numb and chilled, she clasped the amulet swinging at her neck. “This has been a lesson well learned, that it’d pay for me not to speak of my future visions with you.”

“Nay, you will keep naught from me. I’ll never allow it.” He rolled her onto her back, and shielding her from the brunt of the pelting rain, narrowed his gaze. “I didnae find the MacLean warrior, nor even any sign of the skiff he uses to steal you away in. I need your word you’ll remain at Dunyvaig until he’s found. I’ve no wish to lock you in your chamber and bolt your door.”

“I won’t change the future now I’m aware of the d-dangers that l-lurk.” Teeth chattering, she cupped his cheeks. “I’m c-cold, really cold. Can we get out of here?”

“Aye, the cavern is close. We’ll stop and warm up afore we trek home.” He rose, slid his hands around her waist and set her on her feet.

She burrowed against his side and together they hurried into the woods until the darkness of the forest closed in around them. They tramped along a sodden trail then slowed as water gushed somewhere close by. “Is that the river?”

“The very one.” He withdrew his sword and slashed the thick vegetation blocking the thin leaf-strewn path before stepping through.

She stumbled after him and gasped. Water rushed over a stone ledge, streamed around thick boulders and flowed into a river completely concealed and surrounded by towering trees. “It’s all exactly as I saw it.”

“Let’s hurry. The storm worsens.” He glanced to the heavens where lightning slashed the sky in a frenzy of electric whites and yellows. With his hand at her back, he guided her toward the stone ledge. Between two cracks in the rock, slick with the water’s spray, he squeezed through.

She wriggled inside after him and scampered down the precariously wet tunnel carved of stone. “Thank you for sharing this place with me.”

“You and I are bound, Katherine. I’ll permit no secrets between us, a fact you will learn swiftly and well.” He leaped from the edge of the passageway and landed with a soft thump on the grainy white sand three feet below. Arms extended, he nodded. “Jump.”

She sprang into his arms and he swung her down beside him. Water lapped onto a small curved beach surrounded by black rocks glistening from the hot pool’s rising steam. “It’s so beautiful, John, and so much more vivid and real than my dream portrayed.”

He pointed upward at the craggy ceiling. “That’s the shaft that vents out over the cliffs.” A trickle of light beamed through a tiny cavity and washed over the pool’s glassy, darkened surface. “As a lad, I wriggled through only far enough to see what beckoned below.”

“I can’t believe you fell from the cliffs as I did. So much for not keeping any secrets, huh?” She brushed gritty sand from her teal skirts and a stringy cobweb from her arm.

“Nor can I believe you escaped the guardsmen’s watchful eye and ended up in the sea.” He removed his sword belt, propped it against a rock and divested himself of his wrist daggers. His dark brown hair wisped with golden ends lay slick on his shoulders as he crouched at the water’s edge and swirled a hand through. Waves rippled across the stillness.

“I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m sorry. It’s just that I can be a little sneaky, and now you’ve had fair warning.” She unlaced her gown’s front stays, dragged her arms out of the long, clingy sleeves then shimmied her teal skirts over her hips and onto the ground. She picked up the wet mess, wrung it out and laid it overtop one of the boulders at the rear of the cave to dry.

“Is everything still the same as you saw it in your dream?” John stared at her, so hungrily.

“So close as to almost be the same.” She rolled her sark’s clammy sleeves to the elbow, dipped her toes into the water then waded in. Her ankle-length white linen shift tangled around her legs as she lowered to her chest in the deliciously warm water. “I did though refrain last night from telling you about certain things.”

“As in…”

“This sark hinders me when I swim. In my time, women wear swimsuits and such.”

“And what is a swimsuit?” He perched on a rock and tugged off his boots.

“It’s a small suit of clothing one wears in the water that allows fluid movement.” She lifted her sark’s hem over her head and tossed it onto the sand where it hit with a resounding slap.

John’s hands stilled on the fastening of his white tunic’s ties. He lifted his gaze and ogled the mop of wet linen. “You unclothed yourself?”

“I’m wearing the equivalent of a two-piece swimsuit underneath. My bra and panties will do as a bikini. A girl can’t give up all her favorite pieces of clothing when she travels to the past. Anyway, it’s dark and I’m underneath the water. Just strip off and hop in.” She winked at him. “You do, with very little persuasion by the way.”

“You tempt me beyond my endurance.” He shucked his tunic, leaving his black leather pants on as he strode toward her. His wide chest held a smattering of hair, the same dark shade as his head. Thick biceps bulged as he dove in. Underneath the water, he swam then emerged a mere breath before her. “Aye, ’tis dark enough. I see naught.”

“Trust me. You’ve nothing to fear from my underwear. Let me show you.” She caught his hands, slid them around her waist. “As I told you in my dream, a bra has two pieces of fabric which cover a woman’s breasts and—”

“Oh hell.” He stretched his hands, spanned her bare skin more fully. “Your belly is exposed.”

“And my legs.” She eased his hands down her sides, over the thin silk edges of her pink panties and along her thighs. “But everything important is covered.”

“’Tis becoming far too difficult to keep my hands off you.”

“I like it when you touch me, and far too much.” She rested her cheek on his chest and allowed the heavy beat of his heart to soothe her. “All I know is I can’t allow what’s happened between us, this soul bond, to change your future. An affair is still on the table, although a very short one.”

“Katherine, when I sailed toward Dunyvaig, I sensed something was wrong. My chest throbbed and my soul ached. ’Twas as if I knew you needed me, just as I did this morn. Mayhap I need to show you exactly what I wish for, because that wish is for you.” The clear surface rippled as he backed her toward the pool’s rocky edge. Hands on her waist, he lifted her onto the ledge, heaved himself up beside her and tipped her onto her back. His gaze swept her body, his eyes gleaming molten gold in the near dark. “I want the right to touch you, as freely as any man does with his woman.”

“I’m not your woman.”

“Aye, you are, and I intend to prove it.” He swept his hands over her midriff, fingers brushing the undersides of her breasts. “Your skin is so soft, and this fabric you wear so sheer. It clings to you.”

“One night. How about we just enjoy this one night?” She couldn’t hold herself away from him any longer. Back arched, she released the hooks and peeled her bra away. Her nipples beaded, wet and shiny as steam swirled around her.

“Ah, my sweet imp, when it comes to you, I lose all reason.” He cupped her breasts and weighed them in his hands before easing them together. Slowly, he licked her nipple and the hot stroke of his tongue sent a bolt of heat straight to her core.

“You do the same to me.”

He swirled around the tip. “You taste divine.”

“If you missed it, I’m saying yes. Show me what it’s like to join as one.” He sucked her nipple deep into his mouth and a torrent of tingles raced through her. She grabbed his shoulders and clung. “Oh, that feels sooo good.”

“I ache for what you offer.” He thumbed her nipples, playing with them as he stared into her eyes. “But I need more than a moment of pleasure or a short affair.”

“Please, don’t ask any more than what I can give you.” She trailed a finger along the waistband of his leather pants and loosened the ties. “Let’s enjoy this time and not think about the future. Make love to me.”

“You make it impossible to say nay, but I do intend to prove you’re mine.” He gripped his waistband and shoved his leather pants down his thickly muscled legs and off. His cock bobbed free and brushed his belly, one very large cock with a plump head darkening to a delectable rosy color.

“Well, now at least I know exactly what you’ve been hiding under your kilt.”

“That you do, lass.” Chuckling, he knelt between her legs and his balls drew tighter and higher into the thatch of dark brown curls covering the apex of his groin. Gently, he tucked his leather pants under her, providing a soft cushioning against the rock. “Allow me to give you pleasure first.”

“I want to touch you too.”

“Aye, wherever you please.”

She traced the ridged bands of his stomach. Hard muscles honed to perfection made her mouth water. And his abs, they rippled as she brushed the head of his cock. Carefully, she fondled the tip and stroked to the root. “You feel so hard, yet your skin is smooth like velvet.”

“I wish for you to know all of my body, as I wish to know all of yours.” He skimmed his warm hands along her outer thighs and heat raced across the path he touched. He lifted her bottom and caressed her cheeks then slowly, he slid his fingers under the fabric of her panties and tugged them down. He puffed hotly against her belly as he whispered, “You’re my woman, my faerie.”

“I am, for tonight.” She’d take what he offered and cherish the memory forever.