Pulling out the brochure from her bag, she perused the games listed.
As Gavin watched the games, his mind drifted back into another memory...
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
LOCH MORAR, SCOTLAND
Sometime during the reign of King James
Gavin’s horse shifted under his weight as he gazed across the horizon. Gray, fat-bellied clouds moved slowly towards them as the wind picked up strength blowing inland from the Loch. Night was fast approaching and the air was already turning cold.
One by one, the men dismounted and brought their horses to the water’s edge for a drink.
Muir released the reins of his horse and walked along the rock laden embankment, picking up a sizeable stone. “Callum, if ye can throw this stone farther then me, I will give ye my second helpings at breakfast.”
“Och, Muir,” Callum grumbled. “I know what ye are doing?”
Muir gave Callum a look of innocence. “What do ye ken I am doing?”
“Ye are trying to trick me out of my second helpings for breakfast, that’s what.”
“Och, Callum, are ye afraid I can beat ye, then?”
Callum pressed his shoulders back and lifted his chin a notch. “Och, Muir, ye are the last person I would ever be afraid of.”
“I didn’t say ye would be afraid of me, only that ye would be afraid that I could beat ye at tossing this stone.”
As the two young men bickered amongst themselves, it didn’t go unnoticed to Gavin how frail his men looked. Even the ones that he didn’t know well. They were all skin and bone, their complexions pale with dark circles around their sunken eyes. Callum looked the worst of all, with Muir running a close second.
He wasn’t feeling too well himself. He felt like something was trying to gnaw its way out of his belly, and he also knew what it was…hunger.
If he didn’t find something substantial for them to eat soon, they would starve.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
HIGHLAND GAMES, WEST VIRGINIA
The Festival - Present Day
“It says here that is clachneart, or stone toss, and it’s one of the world’s most ancient tests of strength.”
The sound of her voice brought Gavin’s mind back to the present. “What did ye say?”
Paige lowered the brochure. “What’s wrong?” His face was really pale.
“Nothing, lass.”
“It doesn’t look like nothing.”
“I was just remembering something.”
Her heart picked up pace, just like it did every time he said he was ‘remembering’ something. She knew it was silly but she couldn’t help but wonder if he was remembering her, the girl Jillian. “What were you thinking about?”
“Muir and Callum."
“Oh.” She felt a wave of relief and then just as quickly a deep sadness settled on her because she still hadn’t found out what their fate was. “What about them?”
“This game,” he said, pointing towards two men tossing stones. “They liked ta play that at the Loch.”
“Who won?”
”Neither.”
“Why not?” she asked.
A sad smile drifted across his face. “Morgan got tired of listening ta them bicker and tossed them in the Loch.”
“Oh.” They didn’t talk much about Morgan. She thought his death bothered Gavin most of all. He often said Morgan was like a father to him. She couldn’t imagine how he must feel knowing that he wasn’t able to save him.
“Where do ye think her tent is at?”
A sinking feeling settled in her belly since she knew immediately who he was talking about. “I’m not sure.”
“Let’s go this way.” He stalked off towards a tent set off by itself.
Judging by the burly highlanders standing on either side of the tent opening, she was guessing this was the tent set up for the gypsy. Her feet dragged of their own accord the closer she got.
Gavin stopped a few feet away. “Wait here,” he said, his expression a combination of determination and wariness.
“What?” Paige ran over in front of him. “Why can’t I go with you?” She was afraid the woman would send him back somehow and she would never see him again.
He stopped and looked down at her, his eyes seemingly reflecting the apprehension she was feeling.
“I have ta go alone,” he implored, his deep voice faltering. “Ye know that.”
No, she didn’t know that. “Why?”
He exhaled. “Because I don’t know what she is going ta say.”
“All the more reason for me to go with you.”
He shook his head solemnly back and forth. “I think it would be best if ye waited outside.”
“Please.” She knew she was being selfish but couldn’t help herself.
He lifted his hand and touched her face. “I have enjoyed our time together, ye know that.”
Paige suddenly felt like she might need to throw up. “I know.” Her lip trembled.
“Och, lass. Do no cry.”
“I can’t help it.” She sniffed back her tears.
“I will be back in a minute.”
“Promise?”
He battled with that word for a moment. How could he make a promise that he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to keep? “I will try,” he said finally.
Her resolve crumbled. She knew she had lost the battle before it had even started. Before he could take another step, Paige wrapped her arms around his waist. “I love you,” she told him and pressed her head to his chest.
He hugged her back, stroking her hair. “I know ye do.”
She tensed.
That was it?
No words of love, even though he might very well be gone in a few moments.
What the hell!
Paige pulled back enough to look at his handsome face, his resolve clearly etched in his expression, just like the night he was about to run into the water after the treasure instead of staying with her. Instead of letting him go, she pressed up on her toes and kissed him with everything she had.
It took a moment for him to respond but then he couldn’t help himself. He kissed her back. Delving his tongue into her mouth, tasting her sweet warmth.
If this was the last time he would see his lass, the one that somehow had broken down a piece of the wall surrounding his heart, he knew he would have to give her back some of what she had given him during his time here. Pulling her pliable body more firmly against his own, he deepened the kiss.
Before long, they were both panting, trying to reach the unattainable thing that was just out of their reach, just like every other time they were together.
Gavin broke from the kiss first. Breathing hard, he looked down at her flushed face with a heavy- lidded gaze. “Och, lass, what ye do ta me.”
Taking that as a good sign, Paige pressed back up on her toes, wrapping her arms more securely around his neck to kiss him again. She didn’t care that they had an audience or that she was making a spectacle of herself. If this was the last time she was going to see him, she wanted to leave a lasting impression, one that he would not soon forget. And, she was secretly hoping that she would get him in such a state that he no longer would want to even see the gypsy.
“Lass…” he began, stopping her advance abruptly, by pulling down her arms from his neck. He kept her hands in his. “We seem ta have an audience.”
“I don’t care.” And she didn’t. She would strip down naked in front of everyone here if it would mean that he would stay with her.
“I see the determination in yer eyes, lass, but it will no work.”
“Are you sure?” Boldly, she reached down and slid her hand over the bulge in the front of his jeans.
He breathed in a sharp intake of air and shut his eyes for a moment. “Och, ye win.” He reopened his eyes. “Let’s go over to that copse of trees so we may have a bit o’ privacy.”
Paige wasn’t going to argue.
He grabbed hold of her hand. Walking fast, he pulled h
er over into a small copse of trees until they were out of sight from prying eyes.
He stopped in front of a tree, leaning her back against it. “What do ye want,” he breathed, bracing his hands on either side of her body, leaning in close.
“You,” she said.
His eyes flickered with raw emotion. “Aye, I can see that ye do.” He took a breath, seemingly coming to some decision. “I want ye as well.”
“Then take me.”
“Here?” His brow lifted in surprise.
“Yes.”
“Are ye no afraid someone will see us?”
“I don’t care.” How could she, when this might very well be the last time she would be able to be with him.
A low feral growl emitted from deep in his throat as his mouth seized hers. His hands pulled at her shirt, sliding underneath until her breast filled his palm.
Paige gasped from the sensation, pressing back against the rough bark of the tree as she responded in kind. Shoving her hand down the front of his jeans, her fingers gripped his hardened length.
“Och, lass,” he murmured, kissing her neck, tasting her sweet flavor on his tongue.
The stubble of his beard rasped against the sensitive skin, adding delightful ripples of heat to the liquid fire that was already burning deep inside. “Oh, God, yes…”
He continued his assault, driving her wild as his tongue slid lower. Releasing him momentarily, she undid his jeans, and pushed them down around his ankles. His erection jutted upward, bouncing slightly from the action.
“Your turn,” he murmured, moving lower as his hands worked at the button and zipper on her jeans until they were loose. Then he pushed them down, over her hips. She stepped out of her jeans, kicking off her shoes in the process.
She was completely naked from the waist down, and her bare bottom rubbed back against the bark of the tree as he braced one hand behind her back as a buffer and used his other hand to lift her leg.
Gavin, positioned himself between the warmth of her thighs and with one swift thrust, he was buried to the hilt. “Och, ye feel good.”
Dizzy with want…his hard length withdrew slightly; then slammed back into her body with force.
Paige gasped as her lower back scraped against the tree.
“Are ye all right?” he murmured huskily.
“I’m fine.” It was probably only a scratch anyway, and well worth the momentary pain it caused.
“I do not want to hurt ye,” he pushed back and began withdrawing from her body.
She held fast. “Don’t stop,” she begged.
A glint entered his eyes as he smiled down at her. “Och, I’ve turned ye into an insatiable wench.”
His grin grew as she pulled him closer and impaled herself once more.
“I believe you have.” In turn, she reached down with both of her hands and raked her 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 her breath, his lips silenced her moans of unbridled pleasure.
Back and forth they fought, thrashing their 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.
Paige held on, meeting every thrust, savoring every moment she was with him, knowing that when it was over they would both have to face reality. And she would have to deal with the consequences of what she 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 seemed to notice or care. 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 they had just run a marathon, his body tensed and so did hers as they both spiraled out of control and shattered against one another.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
HIGHLAND GAMES, WEST VIRGINIA
The Festival - Present Day
By the time they got dressed again and made their 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.
Paige gave him what she hoped to be an innocent look and shrugged. “They must have left.”
He pulled up short and looked at her. “Why would they do that? Didn’t ye say this was a festival that lasted for days?”
“Yes,” she told him, hoping she wasn’t over playing her hand. “But it does close.”
His brows creased. “Close?”
“It means they went home for the night,” she 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 she had it her way, they would not be coming back in the morning. “Yes, it’s probably better this way.” Sure, she knew what she was doing was underhanded, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. If he met with the gypsy today, he may very well be heading back to his own time, forever. At least that was her reasoning when her 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.” She knew Gavin was usually hungry and she could pretty much coax him away from just about anything with the mere mention of food.
His eyes brightened. “Aye, that sounds good.” Turning they both headed back towards her car in the open lot.
As they walked back across the meadow, prickles rose on her skin and she felt like they were being watched.
Slowly, as to not alert Gavin to what she was doing, Paige looked back over her shoulder. There was rather large Highlander watching them, and beside him was an older yet beautiful woman dressed in a long skirt, with a head scarf…she was a Gypsy.
Ignoring the gooseflesh rising on her skin and her heart that started hammering against her ribs, Paige grabbed his hand, pulling him, as she hurried him along back to her car.
Once there, she unlocked his door so he could get inside and as she walked around to her side, she looked back at the clearing on the hill where she had seen the Highlander and the Gypsy, but they were gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY
HIGHLAND GAMES, WEST VIRGINIA
The Hotel- Present Day
The hotel where they had 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.” She 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.” She hated riding—that wasn’t natural.
“Nay, lass.” He shut his eyes again. “A horse is a pleasure ta ride.”
“To you maybe,” she 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 they exited the gates, she m
ade 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 were 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, she made a U-turn and headed back towards the hotel on the other side of the road. Pulling into the lot behind, she parked in her designated space and killed the engine. “We’re here.”
Gavin finally opened his eyes and released his death grip on the dash. “That wasn’t as bad this time.” He unbuckled his seat belt.
“You’ll get used to it.” She grabbed her bag out of the backseat.
“Nay, lass.” He shook his head. “I will never get used ta riding in this beast o’ yours.”
♦
Once they were back in the room, Paige ordered a bunch of different food that she 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 alamode. She was starving and knowing Gavin’s appetite, she knew he was too.
“Lass?” Gavin stuck his head out of the bathroom. “I can’t get this thing ta work properly.”
“Just turn the handle,” she told him, cradling the phone to her ear.
“I already tried that.”
She 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?” she asked Gavin, covering the phone again, as her order was repeated back.
Lost in the Highlands, Volume Two Page 24
