by Ria Cantrell
The day was a bit overcast and an unseasonable cool front seemed to envelope the Keep. That meant more people would be seeking to see the inside of the Keep instead of strolling the vast grounds surrounding it. Kiera was kept busy well past lunchtime.
As Kiera grabbed a quick snack and headed back to see to the tour groups in mid-afternoon, she stopped dead in her tracks. There, leaning casually against the stone entryway, was none other than her sexy rogue ghost. He seemed to have a knowing grin on his face as he had his arms crossed over his broad chest. He couldn’t know about that dream, could he? Just the same, blush crept up her neck to stain her cheeks a deep rosy pink. Derek did not miss it. Instead he just merely said, “Good day, lass.”
She stammered, “Good day.”
The people waiting for their turn to see Castle Campbell thought she had greeted them and so they replied their hellos from the queue.
“Ye’ look lovely this fair day.”
She rolled her eyes, even though she had wanted him to like how she looked and said through clenched teeth, “Go away.”
Several of the tourists said, “Beg your pardon?”
“Oh, sorry, there was a bee buzzing around my head.”
“A bee am I now?”
Kiera ignored him. She realized the people could not see him, because surely his presence would have gotten a few comments or the attention of some of the young teenage girls in tow with their parents.
“Are ye’ still upset with me, Lass?”
Kiera glared at him, trying not to think about that amazing dream and mind-blowing orgasm. He could be so infuriating at times. She said, “Yes…uhmmm yes, well shall we begin the tour?”
Kiera turned her attention to the paying guests before her and she gave Derek the benefit of her back as she turned it on him to begin leading the tour of the keep. She ignored him still when he followed along. She tried not to look at him directly, but he was always at the corner of her eye as she talked about the many exhibits along the tour. He kept teasing her and saying things to her or asking questions, trying to make her answer him. He seemed to find amusement in flustering her. All the while, his smirk deepened at each roll of her eyes or dark glare she cast upon him. By God, she was beautiful. He really wanted to kiss her again. He enjoyed playfully teasing her. Goading her was almost as much fun as making love to her.
Kiera was quickly losing her patience with the erotic menace. She was not in the least bit amused by his antics and when she had the chance she would give him a piece of her mind. She led the group into the main hall and pointed out the many paintings that lined the wall. She told the group to take a few moments to look around and she ducked into a shadowed alcove. As she hoped, Derek followed her there. If he expected her to profess her passion for him, he was sadly disappointed. He would have thought that after her passionate release of the past night, she would have been in a better mood. She was getting quite annoyed with him and she was clearly not entertained by his participation in the tour. Again with teeth gritted, she said, “Stop following me. You are going to get me in trouble.”
Feigning innocence, he said, “Me? I am doin’ no such thing. I am intrigued at what ye’ have to say to these goodly folk.”
“You need to leave.”
With a disarming grin, he said, “Why, Lass? Am I distracting ye?”
Kiera whirled on him and said, “What? What did you say?”
“I meant am I makin’ ye’ uneasy?”
“Yes, uneasy. So, if you wouldn’t mind, could you please leave me alone so I can do my job properly?”
“Oh, Aye, I suppose I could leave ye’ alone, but alas, I am thoroughly enjoying myself listening to ye’ tell of the glory of the past of these hallowed halls. I think I shall stay and watch a while longer. Besides, since ye’ are convinced forthright of all my ills, I might as well live up to yer’ notions about me.”
“Live? You do not live…need I remind you? You are not living up to anything.”
“Nay, lass. Ye’ needn’t remind me of that,” he said with a resigned sadness in his voice. Kiera immediately regretted being so terse with him. Kiera was not trying to be cruel, but she just could not seem to restrain herself from beleaguering that point. Why was she so annoyed with him? She was almost trying to lash out so she would not have to admit that her previous night’s adventure would not soon be forgotten, even it had only been a dream.
Derek knew she was still piqued at him, but he once again thought that after her passionate dream session, she would not be so surly. He was quite sure she had enjoyed it completely. He, too had felt it was just what he needed, even if it had nearly drained him of whatever energy he could muster to appear to her now. He had not expected that to happen, but even so, he was glad for it, for in the land of dreams he was a whole man again and with that came all the sensations making love to her had offered. He had ventured to the tower after he had left her to be able to rest properly and gain back some of his energy. Despite her prickly demeanor, he smiled sweetly at her and he said, “I am surprised yer’ mood is so fowl. Did ye’ not sleep well, Lass?”
He was surprised, indeed. He had properly and fully made love to her and she had responded so beautifully. When he left her, she had been sated well and he was certain she would have been more amiable this day. Despite the draining on his energy, Derek was feeling more at peace with his world, to be certain. Not only that, he felt alive again; truly alive again. Perhaps even more alive than he had when had truly walked the earth as a man.
Kiera’s eyes snapped to his and she saw a teasing glint in them. Oh no, he could not possibly know about her dream, could he? She tried not to think about how her father had always told her that sometimes spirits of loved ones could visit in the mist of dreams and that it was not just a conjuring of the mind but an actual physical visit. Aye, dreams are the bridges between yer’ world and mine. Kiera tried to put that thought out of her head and she said, “As a matter of fact, no, I did not sleep well. Strange dreams had me tossing and turning all night.”
Ye’ more than tossed and turned, lass! “Oh, nay? Such a pity…I guess that explains yer’ sour mood this morn.”
“Look, why don’t you find something else to do?”
Throwing his hands up he said, “And just what do ye’ suggest I find to do? I mean, all I can do is walk these grounds, it seems” or make you cry out in passion in dreams… “and since ye’ are the only one who can see me, what harm can it do if I just observe the people of yer’ time? Besides, what better scenery to take in than yer’ beauty.”
Kiera rolled her eyes at his compliment. He was such a rake. While his words struck a chord inside of her, since she had dressed particularly in the hope of attracting him, she refused to give them any merit. He was a man who had lived without honor. Surely lies came easily to his lips and she had no reason to believe he told her the truth now. She could see that he enjoyed prodding her and Kiera thought it was to get back at her for casting judgment on him when she first learned about him.
The truth was, that if he had not found her beautiful before, after he had made love to her in her dreams, he was positively smitten with her. More than smitten, actually. He knew that she represented his salvation and that he could just be likening that to this strange feeling, but likening or not, Derek Campbell was falling in love with the bossy little wench. It was a new experience for him all together. Love, imagine that…well I’ll be fecked!
With an exasperated sigh, Kiera said, “Fine. Just be quiet. It is bad enough I have a ghost following me. Please don’t make me look like I am daft by talking to someone no one else can see.”
With a wicked grin, he said, “I am not makin’ any promises. After all, a murdering scoundrel’s promises mean nothing anyway, do they not?”
Now he was just toying with her and she was not amused at all. She did not like that he seemed to be able to read her thoughts. She also did not like that he looked at her with a familiarity that came from intimacy. No! She would not bel
ieve he had actually made love to her last night…even if she had had the most powerful orgasm of her life. She ground her heel into a pivot and she stalked away from him. To her embarrassment, there were several tourists just out of the alcove and no doubt they heard her talking to what appeared to be no one. They would think she was insane for sure, but she pulled herself together and acted like they had not just witnessed her having a full conversation with herself. She also ignored the laughter rising from her haunting companion.
Kiera stammered an apology and said, “Sorry, cell phone. So shall we continue?”
As Kiera guided the tour, Derek continued to taunt and tease her, asking her questions and adding commentaries on points of history he had actually lived through. All the while, he was grinning from ear to ear and Kiera thought she was going to explode. It would have probably normally been comical to her, but after last night’s explicit and erotic dream, she was not finding it very funny at all. She began embarking on a story of the legend of the Scourge of Scotland. She was making it up as she went along, extolling all the most horrible things she could think of and casting them on the legend of the Great Laird’s grandson.
“While the Great Laird was known for his honor and fairness, it is believed that his grandson, Derek Campbell single handedly brought dishonor to the clan.”
“It was not single handedly, lass.”
Kiera ignored him and continued. Her dramatic telling was laced with theatrical facial expressions of horror. “He became known as the Scourge of Scotland and was feared and hated by many.”
“Aye, that could be true, I suppose, although not exactly through all of Scotland, Lass.”
“But the truth of the matter was that he was a coward and a bounder. Mercenary, yes, but one that lacked honor or valor. Rather than show alliance to any one, he turned tail and dodged the fights he was sure he would get killed in. He only fought in battles where he could escape unscathed. He was believed to be hideous to look at, too.”
“Lass, ye’ dunna’ believe that. Even I know that is untrue.”
“Women found him odious and crass. It is hard to believe that a direct offspring of the Great Laird could be such a nightmare to the Campbell clan and to Scotland for that matter.”
That did it. He was silent. Kiera glanced at him and thought she would see him boiling into a fit of rage, but instead she saw such a look of sadness and regret, that it almost stopped her in her tracks. When one of the tourists asked if Derek Campbell had finally met his end in battle, Kiera stammered and said, “No.”
“Go ahead, Kiera. Tell them I fell out of a feckin’ tree while spying on my enemy, plotting my final dishonorable deed…ye’ canna’ stop now.”
Looking at him, Kiera felt the fight go out of her. She said, “No…he did not die in battle. No one is really sure what happened to him. He just disappeared one day, but it is believed that somehow he changed his vile ways and atoned for sins of his past. The history books do not tell us any more about him.”
Kiera turned to see if Derek had heard her final dissertation with the hope to make amends for possibly hurting his feelings but instead, she found he was gone. She quickly scanned the hall but he was nowhere to be seen. Kiera had a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. Despite his many faults, she should not have tried to humiliate him that way. After all, who was she to judge him? Hadn’t she made a mess of her own life? Grant it, she had not murdered anyone or been a traitor of sorts, but her own choices in life were not always wise. She realized the people were watching her and distractedly she said, “It is believed he still walks these halls, seeking redemption that never comes.”
Whatever her lack of concentration had conveyed, the tour erupted in applause for the dramatic effect. She nodded a small curtsey and said, “Feel free to walk around at your leisure to unlock the mysteries of Castle Campbell. I will be at the front desk, should you need any further assistance and remember to visit our gift shop before you leave to take a souvenir of your time here to remind you of your visit.”
Kiera knew she should make it back to the reception desk but she really needed to try to find Derek and apologize. What she had done was completely uncalled for. As bad luck would have it, that apology would have to wait because Gail Creighton, the manager of the gift shop approached her. She had gotten a call from one of her kids who had fallen ill and she had to leave. She asked Kiera to man the shop for the rest of the shift since the tours were done for the day. Sighing, Kiera agreed. Her duty was to see that the Keep ran efficiently and after her dramatic tale, she was certain many of the tourists would be clamoring for some trinket to remember the day by. She would have to try to find Derek later and apologize. For now, duty called and he would have to wait.
*****
Morag felt the shift immediately between the two people who she had deemed as her charges. As always she was determined to look after her own and although Derek was not directly her own, she had invested much into his redemption. The lass, Kiera, well, she was as much a part of her beloved MacCollums as Laird Caleb had been. In this time, clans did not hold the divisions or animosity that existed so many years before, but the future of both clans depended on this union. Morag could feel the energy garnered from intimate joining and she knew that somehow things had definitely begun to change. She set about to scry for insight into the matter. Morag raised her gnarled hands in supplication to the full moon that washed across the shadowed woods. As the beams of light touched her with its radiance, she cleansed herself in preparation. Murmuring her prayers and incantations, she emptied her mind of all that held her to the past and present. She would open herself up to what would be foretold but she had to cast charms of protection around her for if she allowed herself to become the vessel for the wisdom, she needed to guard herself from evil forces that lurked to thwart her.
After she was sufficiently shielded, with circle cast, she allowed the visions to come. She was not entranced to the point of oblivion, so her ancient lips murmured requests and incantations to open her mind in order to continue to aid both Derek Campbell and Kiera Callum. She had seen so much in her many years so nothing could shock or surprise her anymore. She felt the coupling of the two in spirit as well as body. Somehow, Derek had learned how to bridge the Spirit and Physical plains. But more than that, she felt the union of both their hearts. The girl was going to fight it vehemently and oddly Derek would not. No, he had already acknowledged that love blossomed in a heart that had been walled in stone for more centuries than he had dared to live. With visions passing before her mind’s eye in great speed, Morag saw the future. Love would find its place. It would not come without a price.
Chapter 26
Kiera had tried to find Derek to make amends, but he was once again keeping himself hidden. She knew she had hurt his feelings. She did not imagine that spirits could have feelings, but in her heart she knew that Derek did. She had swept the grounds and castle looking for him, but he was not around. Either he was hiding, or he was keeping himself hidden. Either way, it would now have to wait because her friends would be arriving later this evening and she wanted to make sure their accommodations were set in place. She busied herself with tasks to keep her mind occupied and focused on their visit. In truth, she was looking for a bit of respite with their company. She had felt a bit isolated and lonely, despite her usually ever-present guest. Tonight, she would sit with friends to eat and have a few drinks. She had enjoyed their company many a night while she stayed in Italy. She tried to put Derek out of her mind at least for the night. It was not like he could really go anywhere. He would be back, no doubt when he was done brooding or whatever it was ghosts did when their feelings get hurt.
After her last tour, Kiera made her way to the village to meet her friends at the train station. She did not really want to run into Morag or Gavin for that matter because she did not want to admit that she was failing miserably in the aid of Derek. She knew that she had no choice but to see them, in order to have her three friends dropped
off at the Keep for the weekend. She thought about avoiding the issue if she could, but somehow she knew that both Gavin and Morag would see right through her false façade. Still, she would not broach the subject if at all possible. In truth, she really did not know what to say. Yes, she found Derek sexy beyond her wildest fantasies; and Lord knows she did not want to think too long about that dream the other night, but she had succeeded in pissing him off to the point of him being missing for the past three days. She just could not admit her failure so soon.
As Kiera found herself waiting on the train platform, lost in thoughts, none other than the Great Laird of Campbell himself touched her elbow. Startled, she nearly toppled right over the edge of the platform. If it was not for Gavin’s quick and strong grip, she would have done just that. She felt his strength as he pulled her away from the precarious perch and she wondered what type of man he must have been when he ruled the Campbell clan. Her eyes met his, only to look away. She just could not admit she had failed.
Gavin smiled knowingly and said, “Lass, no one said it was going to be an easy task. Give it time.”
“But how?”
“There are many benefits, I suppose, to being a Guardian at times. There now, are ye’ quite alright? I thought I was going to lose ye’.”
“Oh, I am quite fine. You just startled me.”
“Ye’ were so lost in thoughts.”
“Well, as you have guessed, I am not doing very well with your grandson. I think I may have hurt his feelings. I wanted to apologize, but I have not been able to find him.”
Gavin nodded, pensively. “He is used to bein’ alone, lass. Solitude has become not only his prison but his sanctuary. He is not used to barin’ his soul to anyone, much less a beautiful lass.”
Kiera blushed. She had never felt more beautiful in her life than when Derek had made love to her in her dreams. In a way, she was glad it had only been a dream, because that sort of passion could burn out in a hurry. It could also ruin a girl for the rest of her life, because that sort of love making was only so strong in dreams. Wasn’t it? If she were to dwell on it, a girl would never be able to find satisfaction with any lover if it had to be compared to an erotic encounter in a dream. Schooling her thoughts as best she could, she changed the subject. She said, “Would you be so kind as to drive some of my friends back to the Keep with me? They have made reservations for the weekend and want to do some sight-seeing as well as visit with me.”
