“Then I shall enlighten you. The ‘power of three’ are the three brothers who stand in this very chamber. Together, with their chosen ones, they shall instill new blood into the clans and give your future people hope.” She moved toward Iain’s brothers. “Finlay, Kirk, I’m aware you feel the pull of the full moon toward your women, yet when you search for them you’re led to a place where you cannae find them. That is because they are here, in this time, and on the night of the next full moon, on June the fourteenth, the ones you desire shall no longer remain beyond your grasp.”
“If they’re here in this time then where exactly are they?” Finlay demanded.
“The vision I’ve received of them still remains hazy. I dinnae always see all, even though I wish it, although I am aware they hold a touch of fae blood as many of the villagers do.”
“You’re saying our mates await us at the village?”
“Possibly, or they may have traveled farther away. No’ all of those who are fae-blooded remain at the village.”
“What day have we arrived?” Finlay asked.
“’Tis June the first, the year of our Lord, twelve-hundred and ten, and you’ve arrived at a time when the MacKenzies are about to descend on us. Their intention is to destroy all that we are, to take our land and the lives of our people, possibly even your mated ones. I’m unsure.”
“The village falls on June the eleventh.” Isla stepped up to Nessa. “The full moon won’t have risen before then.”
“Aye, I’m aware of the difficulties that will cause.” Tears shimmered in Nessa’s eyes. “I give you all my word, that I will remain diligent and watchful. If I see aught more, I shall tell you.”
“We can’t allow the village to fall.” Isla shook her head at Nessa. “Too many innocent people will die.”
“I’ve pleaded with all those at the village to seek shelter here within these walls, or even to move deeper into the sanctuary of the forest, but they are convinced now they’ve heard my warning they can adequately prepare for an attack and ensure with the use of their skills that they’ll be saved.” She lowered her head. “I cannae fail my people and I will remain with them in the days ahead. On the morrow, with Gilleoin and Sorcha, I shall return to the village. Even Kenneth has pleaded with them. He holds the ability of death-warning. Of those who live but are soon to die, he receives a vision and with his skill can save those who perish unjustly afore their time. He travels to the village daily and walks amongst them, cautioning and imploring all.” She lifted her head. “When I saw your arrival earlier this eve, my vision was strong and provided me with a clear path of understanding. If we wish to win this coming war, then ’tis the ‘power of three’ that we shall need. The MacKenzies are coming and they are strong.”
Finlay growled under his breath. “I won’t allow the MacKenzies to slaughter my mate, nor will I allow them to take the lives of innocent people. Gilleoin.” He eyed the chief. “You have my sword-hand, however you need it.”
“As you have mine.” Kirk clasped Finlay’s shoulder with one hand and Iain’s with the other.
“And of course you have mine.” Iain would never allow his brothers to lose their mates. “If we battle, we do so together, as we always have.”
“Then I accept your offer with great thanks.” Gilleoin’s claws burst from his fingertips and lengthened. A fierce growl rumbled from him then he gritted his teeth. “We are the Mathesons, ‘Son of the Bear,’ and we will stand strong.”
* * * *
They would stand strong, and together as one. Isla too wouldn’t allow Finlay and Kirk to lose their mates, nor allow the villagers to lose their lives.
Gilleoin marched to the door, claws retracting. He opened it and called out to a maid sweeping the floors. “We have guests. Ensure they’re given food and whatever clothing they require. Unfortunately, they’ve lost all they traveled with.” To Iain, he said, “My people are trustworthy. They will never speak to any beyond our own of where you’ve truly come from.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“For now, we’ll eat and talk more, devise a plan of attack and whatever else is required to win this war. Nessa has seen we’ll need your aid, and I shall gladly accept it.” He glanced at Nessa. “See to Mistress Isla’s care. She still shivers and I willnae have her suffer a chest illness.”
“Of course.” Nessa cupped Isla’s elbow. “Come with me, my dear. I’ll have a chamber prepared for you. I also have a need to speak to you in private, if you dinnae mind.”
“One moment.” She eyed Iain. “Is that all right?”
“Of course. Warm yourself and I’ll be with you as soon as I’m able.” He brushed a kiss across her forehead. “Finlay and Kirk’s frustration rides them hard.”
“Then stay with them for as long as you need to. I understand.” She nodded at Nessa. “Lead the way.”
Nessa guided her around the perimeter of the great hall toward the stairwell then slowed as a maid walked toward her in a brown kirtle and a frilly white cap. “Effie, I need you to prepare a bath for Mistress Isla and be as quick as you can about it. She’s to have the burgundy chamber next to mine. Bring some gowns from my ambry, and a tray.”
“Aye, my lady.” The girl dashed upstairs.
“This way.” Nessa guided her up the winding stairs and along a dimly lit passageway. Up ahead, two lanky lads with their shirttails fluttering loose over their breeches heaved a tub through a doorway.
They entered the chamber and the lads shuffled out. Across the room, Effie knelt at the hearth, coaxing the sparks of a welcoming fire into life. She added a log and it crackled and caught alight. Rising, she dusted her hands against her aproned sides then bobbed her head and quietly closed the door behind her as she left.
“I can barely comprehend all that’s happened in such a short time.” Isla removed the tartan blanket she’d snuggled in, her clothes already half dry underneath, then laid it on the end of the four-poster bed with its rich burgundy velvet canopy and crossed to the fire. She rubbed her hands before the blazing warmth. This was real. They’d traveled through time to the past and now had a formidable mission ahead of them.
“Dinnae fear.” Nessa gripped her hands. “You hold great strength and courage. You wouldnae have been the one chosen along with your mate to bring Kenneth and Ivan’s lines together otherwise.”
“Thank you.”
“I speak only the truth.” She squeezed her fingers. “The words I needed to speak privately to you about. The portal. It couldnae have opened until you’d completed the bond as prophesized, and then of course, conceived a babe. That is the only true sign that proves the two lines had in fact fully merged.”
“Conceived a, ah—” She shook her head. “Fertility rates are down in our clans, and I’m only a day or two late at most. Are you sure?”
“You are the daughter of a seer. I would only ever speak the truth with you, just as your father would do the same. I’m sure you’re aware you must now take great care. ’Tis too dangerous for a woman who is with child to shift.”
“No shifting while pregnant. I’m aware.” She fluttered a hand over her belly as a strange surge of protectiveness welled within her. A precious new life grew and she was now responsible for it.
“Isla? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just received some unexpected news is all. I’ll tell you as soon as you’re finished down there.”
“Are you sure? I can sense your unease.”
“I’m positive.” She faced Nessa. “Thank you for telling me.”
“Your mate longs to have many babes with you. I’ve seen such.” Nessa wrapped her warm fingers around hers. “Your father too longs for grandchildren. Murdock is a wise seer, and while you are here, I shall watch over you and yours just as your father would wish it.”
“Thank you.”
A knock sounded and Nessa released her and bid the servants to enter.
Two maids and two lads hustled forward, each carrying a steaming pail of wa
Nessa oversaw the filling of the tub then added a few drops of scented vanilla oil. After the servants left, she shut the door and patted the chair in front of the table. “Come. There’s a warm meal and you must eat. Your babes will need to grow to full strength.”
“Babes? Hold on.” Surely she couldn’t mean she was expecting more than one child. “What do you mean by babes?”
A wide smile lifted her lips. “Multiple births run through both Gilleoin and Sorcha’s lines. Two or three babes can be birthed at once. ’Tis more difficult, but still it can and is done.”
“You need to be more specific. Are we talking two, or three babes?” She plopped onto the chair in front of the side table. Steam from the bowl of chunky seafood stew wafted around her. It smelt delicious and made her belly rumble.
“Eat first then I shall tell you.” Nessa sat beside her and passed her a slice of crusty bread.
“Obviously I’m going to need the fortification.” She dipped the bread and took a hearty bite. Warmth raced to her belly and calmed her anxiety. “I’m ready.”
“There shall be two. Both your sons shall be tangled together and neither older than the other when they are delivered.” She raised a brow. “In the future, I’ve seen that babes can be delivered in a way that remains impossible in this time.”
“You mean by caesarean?”
“Aye, that is it.” She smiled. “That is how you must deliver them once you’ve returned, for there is a reason why they must enter the world as one. They shall, one day far into the future, lead together. They are both seers, and their need to merge the clans will be their greatest desire, just as it shall be yours and Iain’s. Allow your father to aid in their guidance, to teach them all they need to know of their skill.” She crossed to the tub, knelt and swirled her hand through the water. “This is the perfect heat. Come and have your bath.”
“I’d love one.” She shed Iain’s shirt, her blouse then shucked her jeans and stepped into the tub. She lowered into the water, dunked her head and when she emerged, accepted the bar of soap Nessa passed her. She lathered and worked the vanilla scented suds gently through her hair.
At the side table next to the basin and jug, Nessa picked up a brush and knelt at the edge of the tub. “Dip and rinse and I’ll untangle your hair for you. ’Tis been whipped into a mighty mess by the portal’s strength.”
“Thank you. I’d appreciate the help.” She went down and popped back up.
Nessa carefully separated her hair into sections then brushed each one.
She relaxed back, resting her head against the wooden rim as she palmed her belly. She stroked in a slow circle as so many emotions swelled inside her. Love, need, desire. She’d give her children what she’d never had, a mother to look after and care for them throughout all of their days.
“I’ve finished.” Nessa rose. “There is still much to be done this eve and I must return to the chief’s solar.” She passed her a cloth then enveloped her hair in another and rubbed. “Will ye be all right on your own?”
“Of course.” She stood, stepped out of the tub and wrapped herself in the cloth. “I understand why you must go.”
“Aye, I imagine you do. A seer has little idle time.” Nessa crossed to the engraved wooden trunk underneath the narrow window, foraged through it then plucked out an ankle-length nightgown and handed it to her.
She tugged the white linen shift over her head as a knock sounded.
“That’ll be the maids.” Nessa opened the door and allowed the lads and maids from earlier to clear everything away. Once done, Nessa kissed her cheek. “I shall see you in the morn, my dear. If you have need of me though, my chamber is right across the passageway from yours.”
“Thank you.” She closed the door behind Nessa with a soft snick, perched on the corner chair before the fire and brushed her hair until it gleamed a silky rich brown. She was here in the past and she’d make sure she used this time gifted to her to do all she could to save the fae villagers. They were her kin just as greatly as Gilleoin’s people were.
With her hair dry, she set the brush down on the side table, heaved the thick fur covers on top of the bed back and climbed in.
So much had happened so quickly her head still spun.
Rolling to her side, she burrowed into the soft mattress. “I miss you.”
“I’m coming now. Finlay and Kirk have chosen to sleep on pallets in the great hall amongst the other warriors rather than accept a chamber above-stairs. They’re too restless and may need to escape outside with more ease during the night to shift. Which is our chamber?”
“Second floor, third door on your left. Have you eaten?”
“I have.” He opened the door, stepped inside and after he closed it, slid the bolt across. With a bundle of clothes in his hands, he walked to the trunk. Still shirtless and his upper body glistening in the firelight, he folded his clothes inside and closed the lid. “Are you warm?”
“Very.” She shoved the covers back and shuffled across to make room for him.
“What did Nessa wish to speak to you about?” He toed off his boots, unstrapped his sword and propped it within easy reach against the bedside table then set his wrist daggers on the top next to a flickering candle.
“She, ah…” Goodness, every inch of his sculpted body rippled with muscle, his shoulders and arms so wide and strong. Her fingers itched to touch his chest, to glide down and stroke over every one of his contoured abs.
“Isla?”
“Huh?”
Grinning, he eased one hand onto the bed and leaned over her. “When you look at me like that, little bear”—he trailed one finger down the white cotton between her covered breasts—“I just want to devour you.”
“Aye, please do. I wish to be devoured.” She pressed her palm against his chest and embraced his heat. Everything within her both swelled for more and settled with that one simple touch. “True peace only comes when you’re close. I’m lost otherwise.”
“The same goes for me. You’re my life, all that I’ll ever need or desire. When you disappeared within that vortex, I experienced a moment of sheer panic I never wish to live through again.” His eyes heated to a fiery golden hue. “You’re my mate, the only woman I wish to share my life with. I love you, and living without you is no longer possible.”
“I love you too.” She’d never survive without him.
“Isla, I have something very important to ask you, and preferably before you make me lose all thought as you usually do when I slide into bed with you.” He licked her lower lip, his voice whisper soft. “I need to bind us together in every possible way. I want you not just as my mate, but as my wife. Will you do me the great honor of marrying me?”
She looked deep into his eyes, her heartbeat racing at the desire burning in his own. “There’s no other for me, only you, and I long to be your wife.” Happiness surged and bubbled inside her. She grasped his arms and dragged him down on top of her.
“I will love no one as much as I love you.” He slid her hair over her shoulder, played with the ties at her neck then slowly slid the bow free and eased one hand inside the folds of her shift and cupped her breast.
A wave of pleasure rippled thought her and she wrapped one arm around his neck and drew him closer still. His mouth, so sensuously soft was a temptation she couldn’t resist and no longer intended to. “Kiss me.”
“Aye, I need to kiss you.” He kissed her, his tongue sweeping over hers then delving deep.
A surge of desire flooded her and an ache pulsed between her thighs.
“You smell incredible.” He scented the air, a low growl rumbling from his throat. “Like vanilla and spice and something very, very nice. It’s heady, an essence I’ve never caught the aroma of before.”
Males could scent when their mate was at her most fertile as well as any change when they conceived. It had always been that way, from the very beginning.
“It calls to the very heart of me, as if you’re—” He took another deep breath in, wriggled down the bed and lifted the hem of her nightgown. With both his knees between hers, he nudged her legs even wider then glided one hand along her inner thigh then over the crease of her groin. He stopped, held his position, his fingers smoothing over the flatness of her belly. Slowly, he lowered his head and with a soft sigh, nuzzled and kissed her right where he’d touched. “You’re carrying my cub.”
She sank her fingers into his gloriously silky hair and smiled. “That would be cubs. Nessa has seen we’re to have two sons, both seers. They’ll be tangled together at birth, neither older than the other as they emerge into this world. That’s what she needed to speak to me about. The vortex opened because I’d conceived, the only way to be sure the two lines had merged. That set the prophecy in motion.”
“I can’t believe you’re expecting.” A sensual grin lifted his lips and lit his beautiful eyes. “Our sons will be greatly loved, by us and all of our kin. What else did she share?”
“That one day they shall lead together, their need to merge the clans their greatest desire, just as it shall be ours. She also said to allow my father to aid in their guidance, to teach them all they needed to know of their skill.” She rose up on one elbow, pushed him onto his back then slung one leg over and straddled his legs. Oh, he was hard, very hard, his cock tenting his kilt. “I am becoming very quickly distracted by you.”
“As I get with you.” He palmed the back of her head and drew her mouth down to his. He kissed her, long and slowly, and just as she needed until she was an achy, hungry mess.
Rubbing against him, she sank her mind deeper into his. “Never let me go.”
“Never. You are mine, throughout all time.”
* * * *
Iain wanted Isla with a thirst he’d never known before. He’d longed for her from the very beginning and he’d long for her until the end of his days. Still, he should slow things down, and he would if her soft little moans weren’t driving every thought from his head. Kissing her, delving into the honey recesses of her mouth had his cock pounding for release.
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