My Dark Highlander

by Badger, Nancy Lee

  “Aye. About my people?”

  She nodded, and slammed his nose. “Oops! Sorry.”

  “ ‘Tis fine, lass. Yer a wee thing, love.”

  At a couple inches shy of six feet, she’d never thought of herself as wee.

  “Many doono’ believe I can save our clan from the ravages forced on it by my sire and his mercenaries. Winter approaches. Starvation would turn all survivors against me, and I fear my sire plans to return come spring, to save them.”

  She turned slightly, gazing up at him. “Diabolical, yet smart. So, your castle is short on meat?”

  He nodded.

  “Rae could help you.”

  “How?”

  “He has a special way with animals. He could draw deer and wild boar close enough for your hunters to…dispatch.”

  He chuckled, and rolled off her, then stood beside her bed. She missed his heat, but the ability to take a deep breath was also nice.

  He glanced to the basin then back at her. “Any water left, love?”

  Rolling onto her back, she nodded and pointed to a clean cloth on the bench beside her old clothes. As he bathed, she raised one knee, and laid her palms flat on the bed, while she drank her fill of his naked back. His aura pulsed pale pink, the color of true love, and when he turned and his eyes blazed with heat, she sensed he would not leave until morning. She wasn’t upset. Far from it. He loved her, and there was no denying it. Auras don’t lie.

  Then why do I feel he is keeping something from me?

  ***

  Someone pounded on her door. As Gavin slipped his shirt over his head, Jenny wrapped the blanket tightly around her. She walked to the door, threw the bolt, and opened it a crack. A beautiful black-haired woman, with heavy breasts nearly spilling from her blood-red gown, raised her hand to knock again. When she saw it had opened, she stared past Jenny.

  “I have come to talk to ye, Gavin. ‘Tis verra’ important.”

  Jenny stepped back, opening the door wider, and the stranger rushed into the room, as if demons were on her heels.

  “Gavin! I have had a dream. ‘Tis horrible, but I must share it with ye. My potions foretold of yer journey back to Castle Ruadh, and I ran as fast as I…”

  The beautiful woman, out of breath, worried Jenny. Gavin stepped closer to her side, but remained silent.

  “Calm down. The danger has passed…excuse me,” Jenny said, “what’s your name?”

  Gavin stiffened beside her, then stared up at the ceiling, which was so strange, Jenny nearly laughed.

  “I be Lana Sinclair.”

  This gorgeous woman was Gavin’s lover? Lana was breathtaking, and had immediately latched onto Gavin’s wrist. When he didn’t shake her off, Jenny’s heart clenched inside her chest. Tears stung her eyes, but she would not crumple to her knees. She was stronger than the jealousy Gavin and his lover caused to surface.

  “Well, come right in, and tell us all about Angus Sinclair, Cinnie, the wolves…?”

  Lana glared at Jenny, then gazed lovingly into Gavin’s face. “How does this woman know what my dream foretold?”

  “Lana, we experienced everything Lady Morgan has mentioned. What else did yer dream show ye?” Gavin wrenched his wrist free.

  Lana looked from Gavin to Jenny, crossed her arms, and smiled. “Gavin, why are ye in this lass’ bedchamber?”

  Gavin glared down at her while Jenny’s cheeks burned. “ ‘Tis none of yer business, witch. Tell us yer dream.”

  Lana’s eyes widened, and Jenny worried she was choking. “Ye told her what I am?

  “Aye. Lady Morgan is also powerful, so give her yer respect.”

  “As ye have no’ done? Fine. I dreamed of Niall. He was in my bed, and then he was not. He flew like a dragon, and landed on the deck of a ship bound for Pentland Firth.”

  “A ship?”

  Lana walked around the room. She glanced at the tousled bed sheets, and the crumbled plaid on the floor.

  Wearing only his shirt, Gavin’s cheeks pinked.

  Why was he embarrassed in front of his lover? Then Jenny realized they’d made love. Two women, two lovers, was one too many women, in her opinion. The uneasy expression on his face proved he knew Lana intimately. As Lana sauntered around the small room, Jenny’s nails pricked her palms. Once Lana left the room, Jenny planned to leave, as well.

  Lana smiled at Jenny, then glared at Gavin. “I see I have interrupted yer fun, while yer brother suffers the wrath of pirates.”

  “He was just leaving,” Jenny said, gritting her teeth, to keep from spewing half a dozen curses at the witch.

  Gavin ignored her, and spoke to his mistress. “Pirates? How can ye be sure?”

  “One of the captain’s men, William Barney, visits me when his ship enters our waters. He goes by Barnacle Bill, and runs with the pirate, Blair MacIan. Niall is on their ship.”

  Jenny gasped. “Dear Lord! Gavin, I am so sorry.”

  “Ye believe her?”

  “I see auras. Who am I to scoff at premonitions? And remember what Dorcas said. ‘Look beyond the shore, dark Highlander.’ We had no idea what she meant, then, but now…”

  “He could be at sea, on a pirate’s ship,” Gavin whispered.

  Lana smiled, then turned and clasped Gavin’s hand. “Please, look for him. I love the man, I doono’ know why.” Lana flew past Jenny, and out the door.

  “Now I’m confused,” Jenny said, as she closed the door behind Lana. “Dorcas told me about Lana. She said Lana hoped to have Angus Sinclair as a father-by-marriage. I assumed she meant…”

  “Me?” He chuckled. “Lana might accept me, if I was the true laird, but she wants Niall. Is this why ye wish not to stay here, in this time?”

  “Well, I have a life back in New England. I would miss my friends, and my job. I love helping animals…” Excuses. Those were simply excuses.

  “I love you. Please stay?”

  ***

  Jenny’s disheveled hair covered half her face, yet Gavin could read the concern in her eyes as she dropped the blanket on the bed, then tossed her ripped chemise on, over her head.

  “I vow that once we are wed, ye shall have beautiful clothes. Clothing ye deserve.”

  Jenny did not smile. She shivered, and he turned to build up the fire in the hearth. When he bumped into the bedside table, the small stone Dorcas had given him, fell to the floor.

  “Are you going to tell me about that little rock?”

  “Later. Come to bed.”

  She bit her bottom lip, and looked toward the bed. When a long, deep sigh escaped her beautiful mouth, he was worried she planned to follow Lana right out the door. However, when she walked up to him, and circled his neck with her lovely arms, hope filled him, causing a smile to pull at his hungry lips. Testing her feelings, he pressed his mouth to hers, and prayed she wanted him as much as he needed her.

  The kiss deepened, and his body responded. She pressed against his hardening length, giving him her silent answer. When he released her lips, and gathered the hem of her tattered chemise, then slid it up and off, she winked up at him.

  “Fair is fair.” Grabbing his shirt, she shoved it skyward. It soon joined her garment on the cool floor. They stared at each other. The candle flame still flickered, but the fire in the grate had burned low. Shadows danced along the curves and valleys of her loveliness, and his man part grew painfully rigid. When her hands slipped around his neck, and she brushed her breasts along his chest, desire pulsed from his groin to his toes and back again.

  “I should be mad at you,” she whispered, “but my assumptions about Lana were wrong. I admit that it made me a little crazy, but I’m over it. Unless…”

  His left eyebrow rose as he wondered what bothered her. They had much to discuss, but not now.

  “When the morning comes, we shall talk. Ye and I have tonight, aye?”

  She nodded, and he embraced her, pulling her tightly against him. The warmth of her silky skin heated his flesh wherever they touched, and his blood bur
ned, deep in his veins. Her flowery scent was soothing as well as erotic, pushing him to slake his lust with one swift thrust.

  Nay, she is a delicate flower bud in need of gentle coaxing in order to bloom.

  Though he knew her as a strong woman, a woman who had faced adversity and possible death and had come out the victor, he wanted her beneath him. His mouth connected with her bruised lips, and the knowledge that he was the cause of those swollen lips stirred him on. His tongue swept inside her mouth, and she opened wide for the intrusion. When her tongue danced with his, he groaned at the pleasure that spiraled down, to his aching loins.

  He picked her up, then laid her on the bed. Joining her, he covered them with the bedclothes, pushing away the chilled night air. Kissing and touching, they learned each other’s dips and pleasure centers, and his need to claim her as his rose, hot and rock-hard.

  When he rolled on top of her, she spread her legs, then raised her ankles and cupped his backside. His erection slid inside her slick folds, and his thrusts, well matched by her rising hips, made him groan.

  Little sounds, coming from Jenny, stirred him on. She mewed like a well-fed cat, while her fingers swept through his hair. His heart swelled as he realized this was perfection. A woman who loved him, the woman he loved, joined in carnal bliss.

  When her breath caught, he kissed her deeply, sharing his very breath with her. When her body trembled, and her inner channel clutched him as she came, he released his pent-up desire, filling her with one last, satisfying stroke.

  Then…he fell.

  ***

  Hours later, sunlight streamed through the open window, as Gavin pulled on his boots, and stood. With the stone clasped in his palm, heat radiated from the small magical gem.

  “Now will you tell me about that pretty little stone?” Her slumber-filled voice washed over him, threatening to turn his man parts to stone.

  He tossed his shirt over his head, and it hung halfway down his thighs. He sighed, worried that the truth would send her fleeing from the room. “Dorcas Swann told me ‘Use this when all looks black. ‘Tis powerful magic,’ and I forgot about it.”

  “Do you mean you could have used that stone to go home? I could have remained with my job, and friends?”

  Gavin’s heart clenched. Was she still upset he had brought her here? Since she meant the world to him, he could not lie. “Aye, ‘twas a possibility.”

  “Then, I’m glad you forgot you had it.”

  Before his body and mind could react to her statement, a clamor rose from the hall. Raised voices made Gavin jump to his feet. Sexually sated, he was groggy from a lack of sleep, but the shouts and footsteps that pounded on the stairs gained his immediate attention.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Jenny asked.

  He grabbed his sword and threw the bolt on the bedchamber door.

  “You’re going to check on that noise without getting fully dressed?” Jenny asked. She sat up, and slid one foot to the floor.

  “Stay abed, love. Let me check on the disturbance, and I shall return to ye, soon.”

  Ignoring his wishes, she stood, pulling the horrid chemise over her head, and he groaned as it shimmied down, covering her curves. Gritting his teeth, he swore that once they were wed, he would lavish her with silk gowns and finely woven plaids. Whether he remained as laird to his people, or left his homeland to live a new life by her side, he would make her the happiest of women.

  His dreams would only come to fruition, if she agreed to remain at his side, as his wife. Gavin glanced at her, only to see a big smile filling her face. Her smile brightened the room, and his heart clenched with hope. “Yer happy I brought ye here?”

  She glanced around the bedchamber, her brow wrinkling at the question. “Here? To this room? Mmm, yes, I am happy. Last night was--”

  “Nay, lass, I speak of my bringing ye to Scotland, to the past.”

  “Aye,” she mimicked, “I am very happy.”

  “Then marry me, and make me the happiest man on earth.”

  “Gavin! I don’t know what to say.”

  “How sweet. Too bad ye shall not marry my flesh and blood.” Angus Sinclair pushed the partially open window curtain aside, and jumped to the floor. With a twist of his wrist, the unlocked oak door slammed shut, and the bolt slid into place.

  “Not again” Jenny cried. She rushed toward the door, but Gavin knew the bolt would not move.

  “How did ye get…?” Gavin glanced from Sinclair’s raised hand, to the window. The snap of flapping wings, made him step closer.

  “No’ too close, my son. ‘Tis powerful magic, I bring to yer doorstep.”

  Gavin’s rage filled him as he raised the sword that he had laid beside the bed, and the answer to his question appeared the moment flames from a dragon’s open maw shot through the window, missing him by no more than a hand’s breadth. When the bed burst into flame, Jenny screamed. Gavin knew she was safe for now, on the far side of the room, but when his sword flew from his hand, and slammed tip-first into the oak door, terror filled him.

  Gavin crouched. Unarmed, his mind filled with concern for Jenny’s safety. The sword narrowly missed her, and she had screamed again.

  “Get down, love.”

  Jenny slid to the floor, and hid behind the chair. The heavy wood would not protect her, if the dragon attacked again.

  Returning his gaze to his sire, he was met by the older man’s maniacal glower.

  He has gone mad!

  “If ye doono’ kneel before me, I shall kill yer beloved whore. I conjured the beast, using magic. I have gotten verra’ good at sorcery, since last we met. Doono’ task me, son. Kneel!”

  When Gavin’s palm heated, as if the stone in his hand had awakened, he prayed that Dorcas was right. Just in case, he mouthed a short, deadly spell, and tossed the stone at Angus Sinclair.

  EPILOGUE

  Jenny crossed her ankles, and clasped her hands in her lap. An uneaten trencher of roasted meat sat on the table in front of her, with a tankard of cider to the side. After she and Gavin had escaped the fire that the dragon had caused, which had consumed their room, Lady Fia Mackenzie had whisked her into another room, and had loaned her a pretty gown. The yellow linen, trimmed with white lace, was exquisite. Beneath it, she wore a silk chemise against her sensitive skin. Gavin’s whiskers had rubbed her raw in several places, but she wasn’t complaining. Shivering, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms.

  Their lovemaking had given her a night to remember, the unexpected visits by Lana and Angus Sinclair, notwithstanding. The terror she’d felt during the dragon’s attack had abated, but she couldn’t eat, remembering Gavin’s sword flying across the room, piercing the oak door near her head. The meat-filled bridies, and roasted hunks of venison smelled heavenly, but too much had happened. She couldn’t even sip the apple cider, or chance a bite of seasoned cooked carrots.

  She shivered, again. Men’s voices grew louder, as they squabbled over who should do what, and what they should do next. Gavin glanced at her, and he must have seen the dismay on her face, and how her upper teeth had latched onto her lower lip. When her shoulders tensed, he smiled. She breathed easier, knowing he was near.

  Before resuming their discussion of the problem at hand, Gavin gazed intently at her.

  “Jenny, do ye have thoughts to share with Marcus and the rest?”

  “Aye, I would entertain any idea about where we go from here,” Marcus said. When told a dragon had set fire to his castle, even though quickly extinguished by Gavin, the laird had been less than pleased. Angus Sinclair and his pet disappeared in a wave of water. Dorcas must have included within the stone, the ability to eliminate a danger, by any means possible.

  “I believe we have won the battle, but not the war,” Jenny said.

  The men around the table, including Bull, Jake, and Rae, nodded.

  “Rae,” she continued, “do you still plan to return to my world?”

  He nodded. The bandage on his neck was glaringly whi
te, against the tanned skin of the farmer, who had become a good friend.

  “You could find Denise, and get a job at the clinic.”

  “To work with animals is a blessing, and Denise will show me the correct way. I believe my ability shall assist me.”

  “Is there no’ another female ye wish to see again?” Gavin asked, as his right eyebrow raised.

  Rae smiled. “Aye, Wynda Sinkler is a beauty. I wish to see her, once more.”

  Jenny chuckled. “Denise will be disappointed. You have a place to live, right?”

  “Aye, behind the clinic.”

  Marcus lifted his tankard of ale, and downed the heady brew, but uttered no further comments.

  Jenny’s senses had improved, after her night of lovemaking with Gavin Sinclair. The air smelled fresh, with a lingering fragrance of the ash in the unlit fireplace, and the leather and wool the men wore with ease and dignity.

  She smiled at the muted colors that were more realistic than the flashy kilts at the modern-day games. She knew what Gavin hid beneath his.

  Marcus swallowed, and a servant girl filled his cup from a large pitcher. The young woman reminded her of Cinnie.

  “What about Cinnie, the woman in your dungeon?” Jenny asked.

  “She escaped!” Marcus slammed the mug, spilling half its contents onto the oak table. A servant rushed to his side, mopping up the foamy liquid.

  “Uh, oh.” Jenny had a feeling she knew how Cinnie got out, but said nothing until another horrible thought arose. “What about Dorcas? If Cinnie was the one who poisoned her, and she’s free, we need to warn her.”

  “I shall do that, lass,” Rae said.

  “Great.” Jenny figured that the Highland games were still going on in the future, or would be. It was hard to wrap her head around time-traveling. The important thing was that if Rae planned to pursue a relationship with Wynda Sinkler, he could also help Dorcas.

  “Lairds,” Jaden-Tog said with a soft voice, and stood three-feet high with his shoulders back, reminding her of a garden gnome. The sorrow in his eyes was hard to miss.

  “My daughter is under the control of the renegade, Angus Sinclair. Allow me to fight the man, and perhaps she can be saved.”