One Thousand Years to Forever (14 page)

Katherine smiled as she set the
sugar and cream on the tray. “No, never learned. You are talking to
a girl who pretty much was in the city all her life. The only time
I went anywhere was during the summer when I visited my Grannie.
The kids, they had more chances... ”

She watched as Colum started
pouring the water in the teapot then she heard footsteps. Colum was
at her side and a growl escaped his lips.

“
Colum!” She said shocked. “It’s
only Travis... ”

Travis made a wide circuit of them.
“It’s OK, Miss Katherine. He is going to be very protective of you
for some time... it’s normal within our race.”

Katherine felt Colum’s fingers dig
into her arm. Glancing down, she gently removed his hand. Turning,
she looked up into his eyes, she saw that they were red. She
touched his face as he eyed Travis like he was an enemy. “It’s OK,
Colum... he isn’t going to hurt me. You should know
that.”

Colum felt Katherine’s hand on his
back. He tried to clear his thoughts but it was hard.

“
It’s OK. I don’t think he is
going to come after me,” Travis said. He moved a bit further back
though, as he spoke. In reality nothing would stop Colum should he
indeed attack.

Colum tried to clear his vision but
it was difficult. He knew that she spoke the truth, but also knew
this was going to be his reality for a while. He took a deep
breath. “I will try but be patient. I am sorry, Travis. I think
it’s probably best if you stayed home for a few days... or at least
when Katherine is here in residence.”

Travis bowed. “Yes, Sir. As you
wish. If you like, I can take the meat out of the freezer for
dinner and you can prepare.”

Colum felt Katherine’s small hands
on his back, rubbing like he had done to her in the past. “No, I
think we will get take-out tonight. No need to worry. Maybe we will
stay at her home.”

Travis moved towards the door to
the common tunnel that branched out to Colum’s parents’ compound
and that of Travis’s home. The younger men lived either with Travis
or with Colum’s parents. Most were family.

“
Send me a message when the air is
clear... ”

Colum took a deep breath, looking
into Katherine’s eyes he saw sparks. “I will.”

Katherine waited for Travis to
disappear. Then she turned towards Colum. “What is going on? How
could you treat him like that? He is your butler, after
all.”

Colum knew it would take some time
for her to get used to their protective ways; protective and
possessive went hand in hand. “Let’s just say we are a bit
protective when we mate. It lasts for some time.”

“
Protective... I would say you
were a little more then that.” She turned and started to make her
way through the hall and then up the wide staircase. Sun filtered
through the rooms and the doors that were opened to the hallway.
She was almost to her room when she felt a light touch on her
shoulder. “Katherine, please, you must understand before you judge.
It’s for everyone’s good.”

Katherine stopped and turned
slightly. Seeing the small smile, she felt herself melt. “How am I
to be mad at someone who looks like you? You are built like
Goliath, smile like an angel, make love like the devil himself and
are braver and more valiant then anyone I’ve known... well, except
John.”

Colum wrapped his arm around her
and held the tray with his other. Letting kisses touch the top of
her head, he felt her surrender. “I promise to try... it’s not
easy. Travis is a male and you give off a certain scent being not
only of warm blood, but for mating.”

Katherine laughed and pulled him
into the bedroom. “Well, I haven’t had a baby in twelve years. I
don’t think that is an issue. Besides who said I wanted another
baby?”

Colum put the tray down and
gathered up his Kat. He kissed her nose and looked into her eyes.
“Let me explain. We may never have our own children. I will adopt
yours, though they will always keep their father’s name. When I say
for mating I mean until our scents have been firmly in place for a
time, you are fair game. Now, I know our men and Travis would never
come and try to claim you... normally. But because of the scent
your body is sending it out in waves, they respond without even
realizing it. I have claimed you and you are mine by right. We have
loved one another for centuries. I hope that this will be the time
I can truly claim you.”

Katherine reached up and touched
his face. Seeing the turmoil. “Why not now? Why not when we made
love?”

“
Never, it’s only in death...
”

“
But what if I live to be one
hundred, then what?”

Colum let his face dip to hers.
“Then I wait. But knowing who you are and how it’s been each and
every time, I don’t think it will be that long.”

Katherine felt a chill. She tried
to laugh it off. “So, you think I am going to die soon?”

Colum gathered her up in his arms.
“If you do, I will be right there, I promise. There is going to be
no slipping through my fingers or fangs again.” With that he gave
her a gentle nip.

Katherine stood at the bottom of
the tubing hill. She could see Colum and her children climbing the
hill one last time. When they had left his family compound she
could see that the whole area had been transformed into a winter
wonderland. This storm would go down in the record books for it’s
early arrival, and the amount of snow it dumped on the region.
Thank goodness it had been light and fluffy snow, or there would
have been a lot power outages.

She saw them finally at the top of
the hill; Colum on one side, with little John and then Pat, Olivia
and Sally on the other tubing slope. They started at the same time.
Colum building up speed since he was a great deal larger. She could
hear the squeals of delight coming from her kids as they came
flying down. Colum came flying past her in a woosh and then he hit
the snow drift fence. All the kids came flying past her with, “Hi
Mom!” They banged right into Colum and all she could hear was
giggles. She ran to her troupe and held out her hands as each child
took hers. All of them exclaiming at the same time how they wished
they could do it again.

“
Go see how much time, if any, you
guys have left. Maybe you can get one more time down the hill
before we go.” She sent them off and then turned her attention to
Colum. He sat on the tube with a rakish grin.

“
Come for a ride with me.” He said
in an exaggerated southern voice that sounded a great deal like
Rhett Butler.

She laughed and tried to do her
best to sound like Scarlett O’Hara. “Well, I do declare... I don’t
know if my maidenhood will be intact, or my reputation, with a
scoundrel the likes of you, Sir.”

She gave him her hand for a hand up
but was pulled down instead. He caught her lips as she fell into
his lap on the tube. Kissing her deeply, reminding her of what had
happened and what would happen later. They kissed but were
interrupted by John who said they could have one more run with the
tubes. They were a tangle of bodies, everyone laughing as they
tried to get up as quickly as possible.

Sally was the first up. “Last one
up the hill is a rotten egg!” was her battle cry as she ran. She
started running after giving her brothers a push to keep them
down.

Everyone scrambled, including
Katherine and Colum who were up and running up the mountain. The
kids made a mad dash back up the trail trying to outrun the
grownups.

They all stood in stunned silence
when they arrived at the top, standing, watching the sunset behind
the mountain. The world had a brief moment of a warm glow. Then the
wind picked up, sending a gust of snow in the air swirling around
them.

Sally true to form was the first
one to break the silence. “Last one down does dishes tonight... ”
She jumped on her tube and headed down, followed by her
brothers.

Colum took Katherine’s hand “Come
on, dearest, I will give you a head start.”

“
No, I want to hold hands as we go
down.”

They sat and watched as the kids
cleared out of the way. Katherine looked over at Colum and was in
awe for a second as she thought about the man or beast who sat next
to her and was part of her life now, how her life had changed so
quickly.

“
Are you ready, Kat?”

She smiled at him. “As long as you
are with me.”

They took off and flew down the
hill.

Katherine felt the snow fly into
her face as she went flying down the slope. Even at her speed she
slipped behind Colum, his size carrying him much faster than her.
The kids were cheering her on as she came to a screeching halt.
Colum had hit the snow wall and had come sliding back to be
parallel with her.

Her cheeks were numb from the cold
but she felt her being warmed from the outpouring of love she felt
for this man who now stood in front of her and her children. She
hadn’t spoken the words yet but she felt them. It was a longing, a
lost and buried feeling that despite the snow and cold was blooming
like the flowers of spring.

“
Here, let me pull you
up.”

Katherine could see the kids
throwing snowballs next to her. She was getting hit by some of the
snow. She let him help her up and went flying into Colum’s arms.
She felt the strength of his arms, like bands of steel but warming
to her soul as he held her.

Colum had been feeling the ice melt
away from her heart. Slowly, but surely, she was becoming the Kat
he had known and loved all of these years, these past
centuries.

Katherine stood up on tiptoe and
caught Colum’s lips for a quick kiss. She felt them graze her
cheek. Looking up into his eyes she saw the love she felt. She was
still a little shy to voice how she felt, but she knew it was there
and that he felt it also.

“
Come on you two.” And “Eww, get a
room!” Could be heard from the kids.

Katherine heard that. Then a
snowball came whizzing towards her and Colum, though it hit just
his arm. She felt her head pushed to Colum’s chest.

“
Don’t start something you can’t
finish!” was Colum’s battle cry. A quick snowball fight ensued,
with squeals from Sally and “No fair!” and “I’m gonna white wash
you!” Then Pat was running after Colum, who was having the time of
his life. The boys were throwing as many hastily made snowballs as
they could before Colum could retaliate. Sally was helping
Katherine make more and then it was a battle royale. Katherine was
pelting Colum and the boys. It was the boys against the
girls.

Finally Colum stopped. “Cease fire
soldiers!” He held up his hand. Grabbing his phone he
answered.

He looked at Katherine as he
listened. “You’re sure it’s them?” he smiled at Katherine and
gathered her and Sally close. “We will be back at the compound in
ten minutes... ” Seeing Sally point to her friend. “Make that
twenty minutes...”

He clicked the call off. Looked at
Katherine and the kids. “Let’s drop off Olivia, then we need to
talk.” Colum moved them all towards the Rover. They all climbed in
and buckled up as he left the ski area. He listened to directions
to Olivia’s home as he drove. As they sat in front of Olivia’s
house, Sally reassured her that they would drop off the kitten
tomorrow after school.

Katherine stole a glance over at
Colum; his cheek muscle was twitching. She knew it wasn’t the time
to ask questions. Something had happened and she had a feeling she
knew what it was.

John knew something was up. Colum
had been quiet the whole ride into town. He had a feeling it had to
do with whomever was after his mother and was because of her speech
at his father’s funeral.

“
Colum, can I speak to you in
private when we get home?”

Colum looked in his rear view
mirror. “Sure, son. But we won’t be going to your house, it’s not
secure enough. So, you guys make up a list of what you want, and I
will have my men go get it. No one will be foolish enough to bother
them.”

Katherine let her hand rest on
Colum’s arm as he drove them back to his home. They came up to his
gate and she watched the kids, as they watched with opened mouthed
awe, the process he did to get them through the gate. This time
when they approached the garage, they went to the right. A larger
garage door opened and they drove into the blackness.

Katherine heard, “Wow, this is
sweet, just like a movie... ” from Pat. Sally was leaning forward.
Just as lights came on, they drove further down and then to the
right. The Rover stopped and a door opened in front of them. Out
walked Travis.

“
Colum, I am fine, you know
that.”

Colum quickly looked over at his
Kat. “I know, just be patient with me. Now, listen up everyone...
We are staying at my place. This is the underground portion of my
home. It would appear the people responsible for stalking your
home, and your and the girls’ visit to the mall, well, somehow they
have found your connection to me. So, in order to insure your
safety until we can completely eliminate this problem, you will be
staying here. Now, make up a list as large as you wish. We can also
make future trips. Once we get you settled in, I will have the
mother cat and her kittens brought to your room, Sally. You can be
the keeper of them for the time being.” Colum looked up in the
mirror and saw the anguish in John’s eyes.