Lost in the Highlands, Volume Two

by Lorraine Beaumont

  His grin grew as I pulled him closer.

  “I believe you have.” In turn, I reached down with both hands and raked my nails across the smooth surface of his buttocks, pulling him even closer.

  “Och, lass ye are driving me ta distraction.” He seized her mouth once more at the same time he clenched his buttocks, driving home.

  As his kisses stole my breath, his lips silenced my moans of unbridled pleasure.

  Back and forth, we fought, thrashing our bodies against each other and then retreating, before repeating.

  Slicked with sweat, Gavin lost himself completely. Pumping harder, faster… giving over to the wild abandon that he had only felt with one other person in his life.

  I held on, meeting every thrust, savoring every moment I was with him, knowing that when it was over we would both have to face reality. And I would have to deal with the consequences of what I just managed to accomplish.

  The sun dipped lower in the sky and the birds began to make a good ruckus settling in the trees above for the evening.

  Neither noticed or cared. The only thing that mattered was what was happening at this very moment.

  Time had no meaning.

  Gavin lifted her leg higher, deepening his thrusts, pushing himself beyond the barriers that had constrained him until this very moment.

  Shaking with exertion, and sweating like a we had just run a marathon, his body tensed and so did mine as we both spiraled out of control and shattered against one another.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  HIGHLAND GAMES, WEST VIRGINIA

  The Festival - Present Day

  By the time we got dressed again and made our way back out of the woods, the moon was already rising in the sky and the meadow where the games were held earlier, almost empty of people.

  Gavin walked slowly looking around. “Where did all the people go, lass?” he asked, heading straight for the tent where the Highlanders had stood earlier.

  I gave him what I hoped to be an innocent look and shrugged. “They must have left.”

  He pulled up short. “Why would they do that? Didn’t ye say this was a festival that lasted for days?”

  “Yes,” I told him, hoping I wasn’t over playing my hand. “But it does close.”

  His brows creased. “Close?”

  “It means they went home for the night,” I said, then quickly added, “don’t worry, they will be back tomorrow.”

  He exhaled heavily and raked his hands over his face. “It’s just as well, I suppose,” he said, dropping his hands back to his sides. “Better ta have a fresh start in the morning, aye?”

  If I had it my way, we would not be coming back in the morning. “Yes, it’s probably better this way.” Sure, I knew what I was doing was underhanded, but it was better than the alternative. Because I knew if he met with the gypsy today, he may very well be heading back to his own time, forever. At least that was my reasoning when my nagging conscience started kicking in. “Let’s head back to the hotel.”

  He gave the now empty tent one last glance. “Aye, that seems like the thing ta do.”

  “We can get some food as well.” I knew Gavin was usually hungry and I could pretty much coax him away from just about anything with the mere mention of food.

  His eyes brightened. “Aye, that sounds good.” Turning, we both headed back towards the car in the open lot.

  As we walked back across the meadow, prickles rose on my skin and I felt like we were being watched.

  Slowly, as to not alert Gavin to what I was doing, I looked back over my shoulder. There was rather large Highlander watching us, and beside him was an older yet beautiful woman dressed in a long skirt, with a headscarf…she was a Gypsy.

  Ignoring the gooseflesh rising on my skin and my heart that started hammering against my ribs, I grabbed his hand, pulling him, as I hurried him along back to the car.

  Once there, I unlocked his door so he could get inside and as I walked around to my side. I looked back at the clearing on the hill where I had seen the Highlander and the Gypsy, but they were gone.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  HIGHLAND GAMES, WEST VIRGINIA

  The Hotel - Present Day

  The hotel where I rented a room was not too far away from the games, but it was on the lower part of the mountain so it took about thirty minutes to get down the twisting roads back to town.

  Gavin’s face was again, white as a sheet, and his hands were back on the dashboard in another death grip.

  “Nice view, isn’t it?”

  “I wouldn’t know because I have yet ta look at it.”

  “Oh, Gavin,” I laughed.

  Gavin cracked open one eye. “This is no laughing matter, lass,” he reprimanded. “This driving nonsense is no natural.”

  “I could say the same about riding horses.” I hated riding—that wasn’t natural.

  “Nay, lass.” He shut his eyes again. “A horse is a pleasure ta ride.”

  “To you maybe,” I said, glancing over at him. “Not to me.”

  “I don’t know what ta tell ye, lass. We will have ta agree ta disagree on this, aye?”

  “Fine.” Once we exited the gates, I made a left. There were rows of stores on either side of the thoroughfare and also fast food restaurants and nicer, sit down establishments. “Do you want to get room service for dinner or eat out?”

  “What is this room service ye speak of, lass?”

  “It means we can go back to the room we are staying in for the night and I’ll order some food from there like I do from home. They will bring it to our room.”

  “I’d prefer if we went back ta the room, then.”

  “All right. Room service it is.” At the light, I made a U-turn and headed back towards the hotel on the other side of the road. Pulling into the lot behind, I parked in the designated space and killed the engine. “We’re here.”

  Gavin finally opened his eyes and released his death grip on the dash. “That was not as bad this time.” He unbuckled his seat belt.

  “You’ll get used to it.” I grabbed my bag out of the backseat.

  “Nay, lass.” He shook his head. “I will never get used ta riding in this beast o’ yours.”

  ♦

  Once we were back in the room, I ordered a bunch of different food that I thought Gavin would enjoy. New York Strip Steak, baking potatoes, Fettuccini Alfredo along with side salads, a bottle of wine and some chocolate mousse as well as apple pie. I was starving and knowing Gavin’s appetite, I knew he was too.

  “Lass?” Gavin stuck his head out of the bathroom. “I can no get this thing ta work properly.”

  “Just turn the handle.” I cradled the phone to my ear, trying to hear what the person on the other end was saying.

  “I already tried that.”

  I covered the phone. “Hold on.”

  “All right,” said the person taking her order on the phone.

  “No. Not you. Go ahead.”

  Gavin stepped out of the bathroom quickly, and slammed the door shut.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked Gavin, covering the phone again, as the order was repeated back.

  Gavin widened his eyes. “Too many mirrors in there. It’s no natural.”

  Sighing, I held up my finger for him to hold on a minute.

  He frowned. “Why are ye holding up yer finger at me, lass?”

  I turned my back on him for a moment. “Yes, that sounds about right. How long?”

  “Forty minutes,” the person said taking the order.

  “Great. Thanks.” I hung up the phone and turned back towards Gavin.

  He was scowling with his arms crossed over his chest.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “There’s no need ta turn yer back on me, lass. I was only asking ye a simple question.”

  “Gavin,” I said, trying hard not to laugh. “I was trying to listen to our order, not ignore you.”

  “Then why did ye hold yer finger up at me?”

  “It’s just means
to hold on for a minute.”

  “Well, why didn’t ye just say that?” Shaking his head, he crossed the room and sat on the bed.

  It was so easy to forget that Gavin was not from this time and was not accustomed to the smallest things that I took for granted. “I thought you wanted to take a shower.”

  He sighed. “And I already told ye before ye stuck yer finger up at me that I didn’t know how ta get it ta work.”

  “Right. I forgot.” Crossing the room, I tossed my hair up into a loose bun and stuck the pen in to keep the strands in place.

  “O’ course ye did,” Gavin grumbled under his breath.

  “Come on. I’ll turn it on for you now.” I walked inside the bathroom. The shower itself wasn’t anything elaborate but it did have a few too many sprayers and handles. Pulling back the plastic curtain, I turned on the water and tested it to make sure it wasn’t too hot. Once the water turned warm, I walked back out of the bathroom. “The shower is ready for you, my lord.” I swept my arm out and bowed like a dutiful servant.

  Gavin made a face and stood. Pulling off his shirt, he dropped it on the floor. Then his jeans followed and lastly, he removed his boxer briefs.

  As usual, when I saw him in any state of undress, my mouth dropped open at the sight.

  Gavin got really close and leaned down. “If ye don’t shut yer mouth, lass, something is bound ta fly into it.” And with that, he walked in the bathroom, and climbed in the shower.

  I finally shut my mouth.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  HIGHLAND GAMES, WEST VIRGINIA

  The Hotel- Present Day

  The meal arrived about forty minutes later. Gavin, having taken a shower was now lying on the bed in sweats and t-shirt, punching buttons continually on the remote. The erratic sound of stations switching every second or two was starting to give me a headache.

  Trying to ignore the noise and the roiling in my stomach, I set the food up on the linen cloth and pushed two chairs over to the table. I knew it was more than the television making me irritable or that hunger was making me feel sick, it was the fact that I still hadn’t figured out a way to keep Gavin from going back to the games tomorrow. And if I did accomplish that, which would be no small feat, what would he do when he found out that I had tricked him into not going to meet with the gypsy, again?

  ♦

  Gavin wasn’t really paying attention to the box with pictures but was instead watching the lass get dinner ready for them.

  She looked pretty with her hair pulled up away from her face like that. He would have said as much but didn’t want her to know he was watching her while she made a fuss over the table.

  It did not go unnoticed to Gavin, the strange warmth that would spread throughout his innards each time he watched her. Normally, he would have chalked it up to hunger but he knew it was more than that. He was falling hard for her, harder than he ever thought possible. But back in the recesses of his mind, the guilt he felt for the death of Jillian still crowded his heart and stopped him from saying anything about his feelings out loud.

  And even though he knew his time here was limited, he still could not confide his true feelings for his lass, not because he didn’t want to but because it wouldn’t be fair. To tell her how he felt meant she might hold on to some hope that someday he would return for her, which he had no intention of doing.

  ♦

  “Come and get it.”

  “Och, it’s about time,” he said, swinging his long legs off the bed and standing up. “I’m hungry enough ta eat a horse.”

  “Me too.” I pulled the metal lids off the plates and sat down in the chair opposite from Gavin.

  “Have ye eaten many horses, lass?” His blue-green gaze settled on her.

  “No. It’s just an expression.”

  “Not ta me.”

  I did a double take. “Wait…have you?”

  “Have I what?” His dark brows pulled together.

  “Eaten a horse?” I certainly hoped he didn’t but who knew what circumstances could lead him to do such a thing. Food, as I already knew from experience, was on the slim side in the past. At least it was at Greystone.

  “A time or two.”

  “You have?” I couldn’t keep the incredulity from my voice.

  His lips twitched. “Nay, lass. I was only teasing ye.”

  “Thank goodness.

  “This is a lot of food, lass.” He picked up a roll and pulled it apart.

  “Yeah, I know. I couldn’t decide what to get.”

  “I’m no complaining, it all looks good ta me.” He popped part of the roll in his mouth and began chewing. “It may be a long time before I have a meal this fine again.”

  It looked good to me as well, or it did, but the reminder of his intentions of leaving, made me suddenly lose my appetite.

  ♦

  After dinner was over, I pushed the cart full of empty dishes back into the hall. Once I finished, and shut the door again, I did inane tasks around the room, picking up wet towels from Gavin’s shower and straightening the chairs where we were seated for dinner. I was being a chicken, again, but I didn’t know how to broach the subject of the games tomorrow.

  Propped up on pillows, Gavin watched her from the bed, acting like he was dozing. But he was not. He was thinking about how he would tell the lass about his leaving if the opportunity presented itself. But he wasn’t sure how ta go about it—the situation reminded him of a festering scab he once had. He wasn’t sure if he should just rip it off so ta speak, by telling her the truth o’ the matter, or should he leave it be, say nothing, and let it keep festering? He didn’t know what ta do. Things were certainly more complicated in the future then they ever were in the past. At least that is the way it seemed ta him.

  After I strained my brain to the point that it was giving me a headache, and not able to find anything else to occupy my time, I finally crossed the room. The bed squeaked slightly as I sat down at the bottom.

  Gavin gave up his ruse and opened his eyes. “I was wondering when ye were going ta sit down.”

  “Did I wake you?”

  “Nay, lass, I was thinking.”

  “About?” My stomach whirled and I instantly wanted to kick myself for I knew the answer already.

  He exhaled heavily and raked his hands over his face.

  That wasn’t a good sign.

  “Lass,” he began. “I need to tell ye something…”

  The sickening feeling that I was getting used to was back, roiling inside my belly. “Yes.”

  “On the morrow, at the games.” He stopped and cleared his throat. “If I find the witch, err, gypsy, and she can send me back ta the past again, I can no take ye with me.”

  “What?” I gaped at him. Not because I didn’t already know that deep down, but I didn’t expect him to tell me that, at least not now. “Why?”

  “Lass, it is difficult enough ta leave, but it would be even harder for me ta do what needs ta be done with ye by my side.”

  “But, but…I can help.” Sure, that was a reach, but what else could I say? I know you’re right? Nope. Not going to happen.

  He shook his head solemnly. “It will be too risky.”

  “Pish posh.” I waved my hand dismissively. “What’s wrong with a bit of danger. I was actually thinking this very morning about how much I missed all the excitement in the past.”

  His brow hitched up a notch. “Were ye now?”

  “Yes. I was. And I miss the men.”

  “Which men?” He frowned.

  “Oh stop. Not like that. I miss Callum and Muir. They are barely old enough to fend for themselves.”

  “They are not that young, lass.”

  “Well, I know. Not in the big scheme of things, but they do need a guiding hand once in a while. To keep them out of mischief and such.” I was really reaching now.

  “And ye think I do not do that job well enough?”

  “Of course, you do, but a woman’s touch is needed around the castle.�
��

  “Lass,” he sighed. “Ye can no even cook.”

  “I can too. Just not well.”

  He chuckled. “Aye, I suppose ye are right about that.”

  “And I do clean.”

  “Aye, ye did that well enough.”

  “See, you do need me to come with you.”

  “I do no want ta put ye in any more danger then I already have.”

  “I already told you that I don’t care about that.”

  “I know ye do not, but I do.”

  “Please!” I resorted to begging.

  “Nay, lass.” His expression turned grim. “I can not.”

  “Well, it might not matter anyway.” I crossed my arms indignantly over my chest like a spoilt child that didn’t get its way.

  “Why would it no matter?”

  “Because it looks like rain and if it rains there won’t be any games tomorrow, so there,” I threw out my boldfaced lie, hoping like hell he would believe me.

  Gavin turned to look out the window. There wasn’t a cloud in sight. “It doesn’t look like rain ta me.”

  “Well, maybe not now,” I continued my lie. “But it is supposed to.”

  “How do ye know that?” He gave her a skeptical look.

  “The weatherman said as much.”

  “The weatherman?”

  “Yes, the weatherman.”

  “When did ye speak to this so-called weatherman? Ye were with me all day.”

  “I didn’t speak to him. It was on the news.”

  “The news?” His brow hitched up another notch.

  Of course, I didn’t even watch the news today, but Gavin didn’t know that. “It was on the television.”

  “I didn’t hear of anything like that when I was watching the picture box.”

  “It happened while you were in the shower.”