“She is, if nothing else, a survivor,” Grant conceded. “I’ve never seen the likes of her.”
“’Tis telling, that,” Adlin remarked. “Because Grant has seen much.”
“So Lindsay worked her own brand of magic and managed not to get beaten or raped,” she said to Grant. “While you somehow remained unscathed and Bryce clearly got the crap kicked out of him.” She frowned. “Not that I mean that in a bad way. I’m glad they didn’t hurt you. I’m just confused.” She shook her head and sighed. “All of this is confusing.”
“We all became what they needed us to become,” Grant said softly. “What we needed to become until we got out of there.”
When Milly shook her head, baffled, Adlin took over.
“Och, you’re becoming as cryptic as I once was, Grant,” Adlin admonished before he explained in greater detail. “Grant became a traveling healer, Bryce the hated Scotsman and Lindsay, his stalwart protector because she was smart enough to be what the men in charge needed her to be. Cressingham adores to be worshiped and teased by beautiful women, and the Earl likes to appear stronger than he is by abusing lasses.”
Her eyes rounded. “So she was abused?”
“Nay, I dinnae think so.” Now there was amusement and likely even respect in his eyes. “I think she somehow played a part for him that made him feel more the man. Whatever it was, ‘twas a brilliant move because the Earl is known to have killed a lass or two in his time.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” She crossed her arms over her chest and eyed Grant. “So all three of you are okay? Even Bryce?”
“Aye,” Grant assured. “Laird MacLeod isnae so easy to topple.”
“I thought for sure we were going to find a few body parts missing based on my dream...or vision,” she said, wary. “But he’s not though, right? Down a body part or two?”
“Nay.” Grant shook his head as he stood. “I can assure you he’s as whole as he was before thanks to Lindsay.”
“So how did you guys manage to escape?” she asked. “Because it sounds like both Bryce and Linds were closely guarded.”
“Magic,” Grant said. “As your vision implied, whoever this warlock is, he wasnae there, so all I needed was Adlin to help me. I’m afraid Laird MacLeod is far too heavy for me to carry.”
Honestly, it said a lot for how well he had aged that Grant was able to carry Lindsay. Her friend was thin but still. Grant wasn’t a young man anymore.
“So who drugged her?” Milly frowned. “And was it really necessary?”
“’Twas not us,” Adlin said. “Grant surmises that Cressingham might have done it to finally get what he had been promised.” He shook his head. “’Twas unlikely the Earl because he prefers defiance from his lasses.”
“She will be all right, lass,” Grant said. “’Twas not an overly potent amount.” He frowned. “He wanted her somewhat awake.”
“Aye,” Adlin agreed. “Either way our timing was good because had the Earl realized she’d been drugged, he might have confronted Cressingham and had the whole camp on the lookout for trouble.”
“So you used magic to get them out of there?” She looked between them. “How exactly?”
“We put everyone to sleep.” Grant shrugged. “A rather easy trick really.”
“Aren’t they going to be alarmed when they awake to find Bryce and Linds gone?”
“Aye, I’m sure.” Adlin grinned. “But by that time ‘twill be far closer to the battle and their focus will be on other things.”
Her eyes rounded. “They’re going to sleep that long?”
“Some to be sure,” Grant said. “Our magic can be verra strong when combined.”
Milly had a feeling their magic could be pretty damn strong alone as well.
“So you see,” Adlin continued. “This makes it a wee bit easier to have an unknown battle south of the bridge.”
“Ah,” she murmured. “So it does.” Yet she wondered. “Richard Lundie was a known figure in the Battle of Stirling Bridge for trying to convince the Earl of this unknown battle you’re about to fight. Won’t it change things if he vanishes from history?”
“Dinnae worry about that, lass.” Adlin had a devious look in his eyes. “We’ll see that everything goes as it should.”
She could only imagine what that meant.
“I’m off to bed.” Grant yawned and headed for a small cot in the corner. “Such as it is.”
“Grant,” Milly said. “Quick question.”
“Aye, lass,” he said without looking back, almost as if he knew what she was going to ask.
“About what Lindsay said earlier...who’s taken her heart?”
“Do you want to tell her or should I, Adlin?” Grant said, still not looking back.
“I will,” Adlin said softly as he took Milly’s hand and met her eyes. “According to her, Lindsay did have a ring on when she traveled back in time but removed it so others wouldn’t see the expensive gem at its center.” A strange sense of anxiety made her heart thud harder as his eyes stayed with hers. “Though groggy, she claimed upon meeting me that the gem was the verra shade of my eyes and that I now held her heart.”
Chapter Fourteen
MILLY REMAINED SO SILENT as they found their way to a chamber on the top floor of the narrow castle, that he knew she wasn’t taking the news of Lindsay’s ring well. Thankfully, Blair and Aðísla had packed several extra furs, so they had plenty to keep them warm. Confident that Milly’s ring was beginning to mask the enemy’s magic, Grant had provided halfway decent cots for all but said no more fires should be lit. It was too risky.
“So what does this mean, Adlin?” Milly stood at a window and stared out at the dark tree tops blowing in the wind. “That you and Linds are meant to be together?”
“Nay.” He shook his head, spun her and pulled her against him. “I am meant for no one but you, Milly. You hold my heart. ‘Twill never belong to another.”
“Funny, until you told me about Lindsay’s gem...” She shook her head, turned in his arms and stared out the window again. “I just didn’t realize how comfortable I’d gotten with the idea of us.” Her chuckle sounded strained. “For Christ sake, I only just met you a few days ago, and I’ve not only slept with you but let news like this...”
When she trailed off this time, she didn’t continue.
So he did.
“Let news like this what, Milly?” He cupped her shoulders, pulled her back against him and murmured in her ear. “Affect you too much? Make you realize that you dinnae want to lose me? That there’s something betwixt us far more powerful than the whims of an undecided gem?”
“Just one gem is undecided,” she said, her voice a little too calm for his taste. “Not the other apparently.”
“I hear your gem is really not all that undecided,” he said softly. “Conall tells me that it matches my eyes now and Graham sees the same.”
What Graham also told him and would not be shared with Milly was that Conall had lied and Graham supported him because it was for the greater good. The gem still glowed their eye colors as far as they could see, but Conall felt it was better for Milly to think otherwise. Again, Adlin was grateful for Conall’s quick thinking because it kept her stronger and hopeful when she needed it most. And any Scotsman worth half his grain knew that simple hope was powerful in its own right.
“So what if they see the gem matching your eyes now,” she said softly. “We still don’t.”
“Mayhap not.” He braced his hands on either side of her on the sill and rested his head beside hers. “But I dinnae care anymore. Your ring is influenced by another’s magic hence ‘tis no true symbol of our love. Not in the least.”
“But it helped me so it can’t be all that bad,” she said. “It led everyone to you earlier when you crossed the river.”
“What do you mean?”
When she told him about the dancing light that came off of her ring, he felt a strange surge of hope. “Our magic is pushing past the darkness so
mehow...our love.”
“Love,” she whispered and shook her head. “Not so sure about that...”
She didn’t get another word out before he whipped her around and cupped her cheeks. “Aye, Milly, love. ‘Tis what we shared in another life and what is happening betwixt us now.”
Her eyes searched his, raw with emotion as her lower lip trembled slightly and she whispered, “Why am I afraid of it, Adlin? Right down to my core in places I didn’t know existed I’m frightened. Of you. Us. Losing something I didn’t even know I wanted.” She released a ragged breath. “And what scares me the most is how fast it’s happening. I mean seriously fast. That can’t be right.” She shook her head. “This can’t be right...”
He didn’t allow another foolish word to come out of her mouth but closed his lips over hers. If he could not convince her with words, then he would bloody well show her with touch. So he deepened the kiss and began stroking her everywhere. Affectionate but loving touches that grew more aggressive as he untied her dress, freed her breasts and dropped to his knees in worship. Bloody hell, she was well formed, and he made sure she knew it as he kissed, stroked and enjoyed everything she had to offer from the waist up until he finally suckled an erect nipple.
When she flung her head back, groaned in pleasure and her knees buckled, he swung her into his arms and brought her to the cot. This time he took things at a leisurely pace and removed her clothing, appreciating every inch of flesh revealed.
“Bloody hell, yer beautiful,” he murmured against her skin as he peppered kisses down her stomach and worked at getting his own clothing off. He didn’t want material between them anymore. He needed to feel her soft skin against his. Hold her like he hadn’t in a lifetime. To see the pleasure on her face and hear it in her voice when he made her feel like nobody else could.
“Adlin,” she groaned. Before she got too lost in his touch, she decided to take matters into her own hands quite literally when she grabbed his cock and began stroking.
“Lie back,” she urged.
Not one to argue when she was making him feel so good, he did as she asked and tossed aside his shirt. It didn’t matter in the least that his breeches were around his ankles and his boots remained on. Though he might make the argument that this was one of those moments a tartan might come in handy.
Nonetheless, he was always up for a good adventure and grinned as she tried to remain graceful on a cot that was too narrow and ill-made. Though it was a wobbly good time for sure, a chuckle died on his lips as her mouth began doing things to his cock that he didn’t recall she knew how to do the last lifetime around.
And here she thought she didn’t know magic.
Bloody hell.
His mouth fell open as he watched and felt her do things to his manhood that had him digging his hands into her hair and grunting with approval. She had these full sensual lips...and this way with her tongue...and he was so damned close.
But he wanted something else right now.
The intimacy of pressing into her, gazing into her eyes and letting her see how much he cared. How much he loved her. So he flipped her beneath him, readied her with a loving gaze then thrust...only to thump down and be wrapped up in a cocoon of bedding.
“What the bloody...” he started to say only to realize Milly was laughing and they were wrapped up in a flimsy mattress. It seemed the cot’s ropes could not support their weight and they were stuck in its small wooden frame. Most lasses might be alarmed by the situation but not her. No, her merry eyes met his as she continued laughing. “Too bad spring mattresses haven’t been invented yet. You wouldn’t lack the spring you need right now.” She snorted through her laughter. “No pun intended.”
Even as he struggled to keep his weight off of her and break free of the awkward cage, he couldn’t help but laugh too. What made all of this far more difficult was that he still had his damn breeches around his ankles. So this was going to take some maneuvering. Or—he glanced from side to side—some brute finesse she wouldn’t see coming.
So he kept his weight off her with one hand and kissed the laughter right out of her. Locked right where he wanted her, he smacked one side of the wooden frame until it gave way. Then he rolled, flipping her and the mattress over him, then she was beneath him again once they were free of the cumbersome contraption.
Though she yelped, chuckled and mumbled something about him getting splinters in his ass, he got her mind right back where he wanted it when he resumed kissing her. Slow, deep, passionately, he kissed her long and hard as he finally got his damn boots and breeches off.
Annoying clothing, however, became the last thing on his mind when she spread her legs and they finally came together the way they were meant to. As he, at last, felt her skin against his and pressed into her welcoming heat. Though he meant to stare into her eyes and show her all he felt, make sure she understood how much he loved her and no one else, he wasn’t nearly so controlled.
No, when they came together this time, it was as if something brand new combusted between them, and he lost all sense of reasonable thought. All he could do was kiss and taste her as he moved faster and faster. Their bodies slickened with sweat as he clasped her wrist beside her head with one hand and stroked her cheek with the other as their lips hovered inches from each other.
Her breath was as harsh as his, her trembling as obvious.
They might not have the power of a gem behind them, but they had something untouchable, all theirs, as they moved against each other. As they struggled yet enjoyed every second of the sensual mountain they were climbing.
Their climaxes hovered just out of reach as their kissing became more intense, as the need they felt for one another became near violent. The push and pull of their bodies. The love that was in every thrust, every grind.
“Adlin,” she half whimpered, half demanded as they got close, closer. He lowered his body until they nearly touched from head to toe. Until her overly sensitive skin felt every centimeter of him against her. Until tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes, her lips fell open, and her eyes drifted shut.
Nothing was more stunning.
Nothing else was worth waiting for.
When she arched and released a ragged cry, he pressed deep and let go. There was no greater satisfaction than watching and feeling her caught in a state of rigid limbo as he throbbed within her. As he filled her with his seed and hoped that this life might give them their first child. That they could finally have that.
He held himself in her for a long time before he rolled to his side and brought her with him. Her eyes were dewy, and her cheeks flushed as her gaze stayed with his. They remained that way until they drifted off.
Staring into each other’s eyes.
Basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking.
It was something they had little time for in their last life. At least not until the end on the bench outside of her ranch. That, of course, had not been sexual but it had been the same sort of deep connection. It was that, her, that he could see so clearly in Milly’s eyes now. In the way she was gazing at him. As though she was on the verge of remembering.
As though she was desperate to.
“Never for a moment think my heart could belong to anyone but you,” he whispered. “It isnae possible, lass. It wasnae then, and willnae be in all the futures ahead of us.”
She gave no response, but the pain that was in her eyes before had vanished. Lindsay was no longer a concern. In fact, as Milly brushed her lips across his, he would say they were past letting the gem dictate them at all.
Now he could only hope they found the power they needed without the ring.
“Tell me about the time we spent together as children in this life,” she murmured. “How often you visited my dreams.”
“’Twas often enough,” he said softly, smiling as he remembered the numerous times. “And ‘twas not just when you were a child.”
“Oh, really.” There was a twinkle in her eyes. “Did you give me m
y first real kiss then?”
“Actually, I did.” He touched her cheek. Though tempted to say it was something she would eventually remember, he no longer knew that for certain. “But ‘twas only in a dream. Nothing like the one I gave you on my horse.”
“And we talked a lot?” she murmured. “In my dreams?”
“Aye.” He smiled. “We played as bairns then talked as young adults then mayhap a wee more as we got older.”
Her eyes widened. “Did you take advantage of me, Adlin MacLomain?”
“Aye.” He grinned. “As often as you’d let me.”
Milly’s eyes remained wistful as her smile grew softer. “I hope I remember it all someday. All the moments we shared in this life...even if only in my dreams.” She twisted her ring until the gem was palm side and she didn’t have to look at it. “With or without this.”
“Aye, lass.” He pulled her closer, recalling some particularly passionate dreams they had shared. “If, for some reason you dinnae, I will tell you all about them once this is over.”
When he flipped her beneath him and closed his lips over hers again, all talk faded and half the night passed before they dozed off.
Well aware they were not only on English soil but near a threat far more powerful than Cressingham and the Earl, he didn’t sleep long and was up early. He joined his mentor outside the castle as the sun crested the horizon. Not surprisingly, Grant had a troubled look on his face as he gazed south.
“There are few left capable of manipulating our magic like this warlock did,” Adlin said as he sat on the rock beside him. “Have ye any suspicions then?”
“My suspicions can only go so far as to what drove him,” Grant said softly. “Or, as I strongly suspect, them.”
“Aye,” Adlin murmured, thinking the same. “If they were somehow part of making these rings, then ‘tis safe to assume they will spread out their power betwixt all rings. All battles ahead.”
Grant nodded. “I would expect no less.”
Adlin sighed. “’Twas such a simple plan.”
“Aye,” Grant murmured. “But then ‘tis rare that things tend to stay simple.”
The MacLomain Series: A New Beginning Boxed Set (Books 1-4) Page 19
