“What do you mean ‘our time?’ You didn’t, you know, take me back through time, or anything, right?” Did one get jet lag from time travel, because this was going to suck. Wait, no she couldn’t think like this because that would mean she was crazy. Oh God, she was crazy, wasn’t she?
Apparently she’d said that last part out loud, since Colm answered her, “Nay Piper, you’re no’ daft, nor are you dreaming. This is real, and the faster you can accept that it is real, the faster you can move on.”
“Move on? Are you kidding me? Just like that?” Piper snapped her fingers. “I’m supposed to move on?” At his nod, Piper felt annoyance take over her fear, squashing it into nothing. She pried herself off the headboard, and climbed to her knees on the bed, which almost put her at eye level with Colm, who was standing in front of her.
“Oh, gee, why didn’t I think of that? Yes, I’ll just,” another finger snap, “get over it. First of all, if time travel is real, I just went backwards in time over 200 years. Give me a minute to process that. Second of all, if you’re going to bring me to your time without permission, I’m allowed to be pissed. So back off,” she snarled. “And third? You don’t tell me to just ‘move on’ like that. At the risk of sounding like a five-year-old, you are not the boss of me!”
By now Piper was poking Colm in the chest and shouting. He captured her wayward finger and clasped it in his hands, gently enough that she could pull away if she wanted. She didn’t pull away, though. She was too fired up to notice.
“Piper, I only meant that you would be able to look around you, notice my home, my land, mayhap judge for yourself if you would like to stay.”
“Wait, do you mean I can go home if I don’t want to stay here?” Well, that took all the wind out of her sails.
“Aye.”
Piper looked into his eyes to see if he was lying, but she couldn’t tell. He sounded so earnest, so excited at the prospect of showing her his home, that she found herself wanting to believe him. She noticed that he was running his thumb across the knuckles of the hand she’d been poking him with, and couldn’t decide if he even knew he was doing it, or if he was trying to distract her. If it was the latter, it was working.
“I ken you doona believe I’m from a different time, so I thought it best if I showed you rather than continued to argue with you.”
Piper was quiet for a moment, taking it all in, before she answered him. “I think I know what you’re saying, but you have to understand that you can’t just make decisions for me. Bringing me here like that was wrong. I haven’t even wrapped my mind around the fact that I just time traveled so to even think about anything else is beyond me right now. Oh my God I just said it. I’ve time traveled.” Piper clapped her hands across her mouth, as if stopping the words would make them less true. “Shit. I’ve traveled through time,” she said from behind her hands. “What year did you say this is?”
“ ‘Tis the year of our Lord, seventeen hundred and ninety-three.”
“Do you have any tequila in this joint?”
* * * *
Colm was lucky that his laird had offered him the day to acquaint Piper with his home. She needed to see the manor and the lands. He was certain she would be interested, he’d seen the look upon her face at Atholl, as she’d reveled in the beauty. He felt a twinge at lying to her, after all, no one would let her go back to her time. Shrugging it off, he helped Piper up from the bed, from his bed, and looked down at her. The white linen shift he’d had her dressed in settled around her calves as she stood. She had lovely calves, he’d seen them in the vision Grissall had shown him. He lifted his eyes to hers and realized she’d asked him a question. Whether in jest or not, he didn’t know, but he answered her anyway.
“I’ve nay heard of ‘te-keelah’ however if it’s a drink you’re needin’ I’ve good whisky here.”
As she pulled a face, he laughed. “No’ a drinker of whisky, are we?”
“It’s fine, I should probably be drinking coffee instead. It looks close to dawn. Wait, you do have coffee, right? Because I swear if you offer me tea, I’m going to scream. This country and tea. Bleh.” Piper forced a mock shudder, and Colm smiled at her antics. He was surprised she was taking this all so well.
“The laird likes mead, but his son prefers coffee in the morn. I’m certain you’ll have a hot cup of coffee. In the meantime, I’ll send for Annie to help you dress.”
“I can dress myself, thank you very much. Speaking of, how did I end up in this nightgown?”
“Annie helped me change your clothes. We couldna verra well have you go about in those strange trews you wore.”
“Trews? What are trews? You mean my jeans?”
Colm strode to the door and hollered to someone to fetch Annie. Surprisingly, quickly, a knock sounded at the door, and Annie, a petite redhead, entered the room. She went to a trunk, lifted the lid, and began pulling out several of the laird’s late wife’s gowns. She had been tall, so they hoped something would fit Piper.
Annie walked toward Piper only to have Piper back up quickly with fear in her eyes.
“Piper, lass, what is it?”
She pointed a shaking finger at the bundle of petticoats, “Oh no, I’m not wearing all that. I’m strictly a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal. You won’t get me into a princess dress.”
Colm exchanged a confused look with Annie, “Piper, it’s not from a princess, it’s from the laird’s wife.”
“But it’s got ruffles.” Piper spat the word as if ruffles were the worst thing that could happen to a person.
“Aye, are ruffles, bad?”
“They’re frilly and girly and I’m not either of those things. Cinderella, I ain’t.”
“Piper, I realize the gown is out-of-date, but it’s verra pretty from what I’ve been told. There are others in the English style as well, but I thought you’d prefer to wear the MacRobert colors. Besides, you must dress as the ladies do here.”
“But Annie isn’t wearing ruffles. Can’t I wear something like that?” she pleaded.
Annie blushed, and looked down. Colm said, “Annie isna a lady. And nay, you canna dress as a servant, not when you’re to be my,” Colm snapped his mouth shut quickly. Good God, he’d almost said “wife.” He could just imagine his fiery Piper’s reaction to that bit of news. He’d have to tread very carefully around her.
But luck was on his side since Piper was too caught up in the ruffles to notice his slip of the tongue. Annie had gotten Piper to place her stays on over her shift and was lacing her up.
“Oh, hey, this corset isn’t too tight at all. What goes next?”
“The petticoats, m’lady.”
“Oh, please, you don’t have to call me that. You can call me Piper.” Colm admired her trying to befriend Annie, but Annie was a timid lassie who would never call her lady by her given name.
Annie helped Piper into her petticoats. Thankfully there were no panniers with this style gown or he thought Piper might have a tantrum. Well, another tantrum. The skirt fit, hitting right at her ankles, but Colm had one more piece to add. Grabbing his great plaid, he draped it around her, sliding his arms around her waist to wrap her as a lady would wear an arasaid, the women’s version of the plaid. With each brush of his hands against her body, warmth spread through him, reminding him of how hot Piper could burn, of how hot he wanted her to burn. She must have sensed the change in him, because she stopped fussing with the “ruffles” and looked up. Her eyes dilated and she leaned in to his body, into his touch. But she shook it off and stepped back. Colm narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like that. What was she afraid of?
He offered her his arm and, with only a slight hesitation, Piper took it. He led her out into the hallway and took her through the keep. While not as impressive as Blair, the Perthshire castle, the more modern Scottish Baronial mansion was the seat of the Struan Robertsons, and his chief preferred it here, since his wife had died. His clan was still recovering from their losses at Culloden several decades past, so taki
ng Piper as his wife would only help cement relations with neighboring clans, and hopefully bring his clan back to their former prosperity. He still didn’t know what Grissall gained from this alliance, but as long as he kept Piper, he would be happy.
* * * *
Piper was enjoying the tour with Colm. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but the beautifully decorated and luxurious mansion wasn’t it. Her imagination must have taken her back to drab castles with nothing but tapestries. This light, open and sumptuously furnished manor was far more wonderful than anything she owned at home.
When Colm stopped in the library, she almost swooned. It was heaven on Earth. It wasn’t set up like any library she’d ever seen. It was very open and grand. The shelves were against the walls, and each book shelf was taller than she was. The antique couch and chairs, which were probably not antiques at all, but originals, were arranged in front of the fireplace, and Piper could easily see herself snuggling up in one reading her favorite book. Holy crap, if she stayed, she could read a Jane Austen book in Jane’s own century! If she stayed, Piper would make a point to hunt down Ms. Austen and get her book signed when it came out.
As enticing and exciting as that was, that meant that she was considering staying in this time. And how scary was that? Very. The mere thought of leaving everything she had was intensely frightening. She may not have had the best life going, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that it was her life and she should have a say in her own life. The thought of leaving behind everything that was familiar, especially indoor plumbing was starting to freak her out. Piper’s breathing increased and she suddenly felt faint. Plopping gracelessly down in a delicate chair, she put her head in her hands.
Colm’s strong hands and deep voice were right there. He didn’t ask her what was wrong, he just murmured soothing phrases in her ear. She had no idea what they meant, but she could tell he was trying to comfort her. And wasn’t that a trip? No guy had ever really comforted her.
It was as if Colm knew what she needed better than she did. Right now, she wanted to curl up in his embrace and cry. That was huge for Piper, she wasn’t a crier. But today, she figured, it was allowed. She’d freaking traveled time! Who knew this was possible? Did NASA have this kind of capability? Oh God, this was totally impossible. Yet, here she was. But Colm had said she could go back, right? What if they tried to date? This might work, freaky as it was.
Lifting her head, Piper met his worried gaze. “Look, I like you. A lot. But I’ve never lived with a guy before, so moving in with you is huge, let alone moving into your time. There has to be a way we can just, I don’t know, visit each other to see if we even get along. I mean, what if I move here, and we break up? I don’t want to be stuck here forever. Or if I went back to my time, would the same amount of time have passed? How did you come to my time, anyway? Was it a gateway that we can use?”
Colm cut off her babbling with a very gentle finger against her lips. “Nay, Piper. It doesna work in that fashion. You have to decide now. The witch doesna have enough power to send you through again.”
“She has enough to send me back, if I don’t want to stay, though, right?”
A heartbeat passed before he answered. “Aye.”
Did he pause? Piper searched his eyes but could find no lie there. Either he was an accomplished liar, or she really could choose to go home. But the question niggling at the back of her head was, Did she really want to go back? She didn’t have anything special waiting for her, other than Katie. She would miss Katie, but was that reason enough to go back? Piper was leaning more and more towards staying. How many people would ever have this chance? She was always impulsive, and yet she couldn’t make a decision here. Which was probably a good thing, as this was one of the most important decisions she would ever make.
“Do I have to decide now?”
His shoulders slumped slightly as he released his breath. Had he been holding his breath over her answer?
“Nay, Piper, no’ now, but soon.”
Colm took her hand and pulled her to her feet, her skirts swishing around her ankles. Piper hated to admit that she actually liked wearing the ruffled gown, and as soon as no one was looking she planned on spinning in circles to see how far the dress would flare. Maybe she was more girly than she wanted to admit. With a bit of a smile on her face at that thought, Piper let Colm lead her out to the garden through beautiful French doors that were flanked on either side by floor-to-ceiling bookcases.
Touring the beautiful lands that surrounded the manor, Colm surprised Piper with a waterfall. She was pretty sure the series of falls was dammed in her time. The slivery water was clearer than any she’d ever seen. With the sunlight causing bright sparkles to dance on top of the waves, Piper was caught anew at how beautiful the land here was. Realizing that it was pollution-free, Piper bent down to take a sip of the water. It was crisp and cold, and if she could bottle it, she could sell it to make a fortune in her own time. Amazing, simply amazing. She sat on the edge of the pool, and stared out at the babbling water.
“I’m scared.”
Colm was right there, kneeling beside her, understanding her. He’d quickly become her rock, her one steady thing in a crazy adventure.
“I ken. ‘Tis a muckle frightening to be taken from all that is familiar.”
Without turning her gaze from the water, Piper nodded. “The weird thing is that I don’t really think it was all that familiar. I never felt like I had a home. I never felt like I fit in anywhere. That’s why I surf. I love the peace. There’s no confusion, no one judging me. Now that I’m here?” Piper watched a bird dart from the sky and dive to the waves, coming up with a wriggling fish. The thing was, it didn’t feel scary, knowing she’d been transported back in time. It felt right. Something inside her had clicked and Piper felt home. “I don’t feel out of place. It’s similar to how I feel out on the waves.”
“You feel at peace?” Colm’s voice was low, soft, as if he were afraid a loud noise might spook Piper.
“Ha, no. I’m still too scared to feel peaceful. But, I do feel like I could be at peace here.” Piper turned finally to meet Colm’s eyes. “With you.”
Colm’s lips were on hers before she finished the sentence.
Chapter Six
He hadn’t actually expected Piper to agree to stay so soon. Pressing his lips against hers, he slid his tongue along the lush pillow of her lower lip before nipping it. Colm had to force himself to go slowly, not wanting to rush her, but the small, feminine sounds Piper was making in the back of her throat were spurring him on. Unable to fight it, he framed her face with his hands, cupping her cheeks gently, wanting her to feel she could pull away if she so desired. Colm intended to make sure the only desire she felt was for him.
He nibbled her mouth gently before slipping his tongue between her slightly parted lips. This time he stroked her tongue with no intention to go any further. He wanted to kiss her until she couldn’t think beyond the next swipe of his tongue. She would be writhing beneath him from naught but a kiss, before he allowed himself to explore her body. Her tongue had joined his in the dance, and his cock was getting harder than the steel of the sword she’d handled yester morn. Beneath his fingers he could feel her heartbeat increase, pulsing against him. Colm shifted from his kneeling position to press Piper to her back, sliding one hand behind her head, and the other to hold his weight off her.
Many times he’d been too large for the lassies. He was one of the tallest men in the clan, and laying with a woman who barely came to his chest had never held much appeal to him. When he tupped a woman, he preferred someone who could handle him his strength, his size. Piper was indeed that woman, and yet he found himself holding back, gentling his touch, tempering his strength. She was long and lean and solid muscle, yet still he couldn’t bear to drop his full weight on to her.
Piper took the decision out of his hands as she slid her hands up his chest, over his shoulders and yanked him down. Her thighs cradled his hips and his
erection pressed against her. There were too many layers of clothing between them, though, and he wished for her to be back in those tight-fitting blue trews. Colm was fairly certain he could have those off her in less time than it would take him to unlace her stays. This was why so many men just tossed skirts up and pushed kilts aside. But not now, not with her. She was more, so much more, than a simple release. This was Piper.
* * * *
Piper was nearly mindless with desire. This man had brought her to the edge with nothing but a kiss. Piper writhed against him, trying to feel that large erection, but there were too damn many skirts between them, including his. She spread her legs just a bit wider, hoping he’d take the hint, but instead of grabbing her gown and yanking it up, he ground his hips against hers.
“Please,” she finally gasped.
“No,” he said, sounding so calm, damn him. Colm went back to nibbling her lower lip.
“What do you mean, ‘no’?” Piper demanded. How could he say no when he was driving her insane with need?
“I mean no’ yet. Now stop talking.”
He feathered light kisses down her jaw line, to her neck, and sucked on her pulse. She didn’t think he’d left a mark, but Piper realized she wouldn’t mind if he did, which was strange, since she hated hickeys. His hands finally released her face to trail after his lips. They skimmed down the sides of her neck, made sensitive by his beard stubble and lips. His fingers crept along her collar bones, slipping along the edge of her bodice, but never doing more than that. When his hands finally met in the middle of her bodice, Colm slid a finger in her modest cleavage. Pressing under her stays, he found her nipple and pinched lightly. Piper nearly bucked him off her, the sensation was so intense.
A masculine grunt of approval came from Colm as he slid his other hand down her stomach, to stop between her legs. Pressing the heel of his hand against her, Piper felt the skirts rub her just the right way, and with one slow, hard circle of his hand, Piper came. Her back arched, her head dropped back, and her hips nearly lifted off the ground.
Highland Games Page 4
