The MacLomain Series: A New Beginning Boxed Set (Books 1-4)
Page 105
Bryce squeezed Jessie’s hand in reassurance when she hesitated. She met his eyes briefly before she nodded, returned her gaze to the other’s and shocked them all.
“Fraser isn’t like you anymore,” she said softly. “His magic was taken from him, and he’s no longer a wizard.”
Chapter Nineteen
GUILT-RIDDEN, JESSIE FELT personally responsible for what had happened to Fraser, and she said as much. She owed them that at the least.
“As I told Bryce and now have confirmation,” she said. “The last warlock wasn’t just jealous of Bryce but of Fraser.”
“Because you might have been meant for him,” Adlin murmured, reflecting on the conversation they’d had aboard Angus’ ship.
Lindsay’s brows swept up. “What’s this?”
Slightly uncomfortable, Jessie glanced at Bryce and Conall before she filled everyone in on what she had shared with Bryce about some people having second loves.
“Och,” Conall muttered as he looked between Bryce and Lindsay. Yet a confident grin hovered on his lips as his eyes lingered on Lindsay’s. “’Tis good we got everything squared away betwixt us then, aye?”
Lindsay smiled in return. “I would say so.” Her eyes slid Bryce’s way, teasing before she winked at Conall. “Not to say dragons don’t hold their appeal.”
Meanwhile, Bryce had taken more immediate action and pulled Jessie onto his lap. His lips brushed hers before he offered Lindsay and Conall a grin, the fire in his eyes obvious. “Only a certain kind of wee lass can handle the likes of this dragon.”
“Wee,” Jessie muttered but couldn’t help smiling as well.
That is until her mind went back to his missing cousin.
“I’m so sorry about Fraser,” she murmured, frowning as she met their eyes. “If I could’ve stopped the warlock I would have.” She shook her head. “While I thought I had control, they managed things I never could’ve imagined.”
“’Tis not your fault, lass,” Grant said gently. “Never forget that.”
“Aye,” Adlin agreed before they all did. Everyone she needed to hear it from. Bryce, Graham, and Conall. But then there were others weren’t there? Fraser’s parents and sister, Blair. His aunts and uncles. His cousin, Rona who was as close to him as Conall.
“None of them will blame you either,” Grant said, easing her worries as he followed her thoughts “They will be as grateful as we are that he is alive and that you know what became of him. Everything else can be handled from there.” He nodded at them all, confident. “’Tis just a wee bit of time-traveling betwixt him and us then we’ll bring him home.”
She nodded though she wasn’t so sure about that last part.
“What is it, lass?” Bryce murmured, sensing her discontent.
“It’s...ah...well, it might be a bit more complicated than that,” she said softly.
Conall frowned. “How so?”
When she hesitated, wanting to make sure she said things in a way that didn’t offend anyone, Graham spoke instead. “’Tis as Kenna said and as we saw on the ghostly ship.” His gaze went to Christina before returning to Jessie. “He’s changed. He’s harder and colder. And as Kenna said to Christina, how he lives now might be beyond the scope of saving, aye?”
Jessie nodded and whispered, “Yes.”
“Och, nay.” Conall shook his head, refusing to believe it. “You cannae tell me if Fraser could come home to his kin, he would choose not to.”
“What of his magic, lass?” Grant murmured, his eyes on hers. “Now that the curse has lifted, should his magic not be returned?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Though I can tell you from what I sensed of him, he didn’t want it back. He didn’t want to be a wizard again.”
Another spell of stunned silence fell at those words. She could sense the storm of confusion and hurt they all felt. Not only was it impossible to comprehend that he might not want to come home, but to not want his magic back? How could that be? He was a MacLomain.
“Why would Fraser reach out to Christina as he did and help her out of our time loop if he didn’t still care?” Graham asked, hopeful. “And wouldnae him having done such imply he still possessed some kind of power?”
Though Jessie suspected that had more to do with the combined magic of her time loop and Conall and Lindsay’s time flux, she wouldn’t say as much. Better that they keep hope. So she merely shrugged in response. “I just don’t know.”
“Can you contact him, Jessie?” Adlin said. “As you did on Angus’ ship or mayhap in the fashion you did your grandmother?”
“I’m not sure.” She shook her head. “I didn’t summon him on the ship but suspect that happened because we were at the exact location on the North Sea that he was, though in different eras.” Yet she would not refuse them. “But I can certainly try.”
Everyone nodded as Conall said, “Please, lass. ‘Twould mean a lot.”
She nodded and pulled out her little book. “Of course, but we should try to find someplace quieter.”
Understanding fully, they followed her a short way into the woods. Now that her ring was ignited and her dragon had been returned, she no longer needed a fire to amplify her gift. As to light, the moon was quite bright so they could see their surroundings clearly.
“Here goes,” she murmured. She closed her eyes, visualized the man she had seen on the pirate ship, started sketching and chanted. Once she was done, she opened her eyes and waited. They all did, their eager eyes to the woodland around them.
Yet nothing happened.
No one came.
They waited a while before she shook her head. “I’m so sorry. He would have manifested by now if I was able to bring him here.”
They nodded, each and every one of them trying to keep the disappointment from their faces for her benefit. Because the truth of it was, if she, with all the power she had come into, couldn’t do it then nobody could.
“We will discuss this further on the morrow,” Grant said softly. “If nothing else, we’ll figure out who will travel through time to find him.”
In agreement, everyone headed off to do their own thing. When Bryce murmured in her ear that he only wanted to be alone with her, she couldn’t agree more. She had been eager to do that exact thing since the warlock was defeated. Because as far as she was concerned, they needed to make up for lost time.
Naturally, he followed her thought process and chuckled as he swept her up into his arms and headed for their tent. “’Twas but one eve without intimacy, my lass.”
“One eve too many in my opinion,” she muttered and smiled before she grew serious. “Though it was necessary, I am sorry for what I put you through yesterday and last night. It must have been difficult. I know it was for me.”
More than difficult actually. It had been pure torture doing that to him. Watching him suffer as he worried about her. Then sensing he was so close to taking his own life to save hers. Nothing had ever upset her more.
“It was verra difficult,” he conceded. “But you dinnae need to be sorry. ‘Twas for the greater good.” He perked his brows in resignation. “Though it does make me better appreciate the hell you’re capable of putting me through.”
“Well, don’t expect any more of that hell in this lifetime,” she murmured as he set her down in their tent. She trailed her fingers up beneath his tunic, whispering, “Just pleasure.”
“Aye then, lass,” he said huskily as fire flared in his eyes.
While she was used to being wildly aroused by him, something about seeing that fire this time caused a rush she hadn’t anticipated. A whole new kind of desperation to have him inside her. To feel the great pleasure he could bring.
“Our dragons are responding to one another,” he whispered as he bent over so she could pull his tunic over his head. He caught her lips with his before she could respond. As their tongues wrapped and fire lit their blood, both moaned.
It was all so different now. Every touch was amplified, from his kiss
es to the feel of his fingers as he ran them down the side of her neck. It was as if he left a blazing trail in his wake. One that sent delicious chills over her skin, countering the flames in a way that made her heart pound in anticipation.
Though they meant to take it slow, they began yanking off their clothes in a mad rush. They couldn’t touch each other enough. It was as though it were all brand new. But then in its own way, now that they were whole again, it was. Not just that but their connection was finally complete.
Well, almost.
If she understood things correctly, they would truly become their best after this coupling. The one that followed the gem igniting. It was hard to imagine what they shared getting any better yet as he lowered her to the bed and their lips met again, she sensed something coming.
Something greater than them both.
She knew he felt it too. Their magic was compelled by it. Their inner dragons were flying toward it as though desperate to reveal its secret. She trembled as his eyes met hers and he cupped her cheek. His touch was incredibly tender and caring, at odds with the fire and the need to claim her that flared within his eyes.
What they drowned in now was love, lust and primal need all wrapped in one. A heady concoction that made their hearts race and their breathing choppy. For a moment, as their eyes held, they hovered on the edge between what they were and what they were about to become.
“My lass...my mate,” he whispered into her mind before he pressed forward and they finally came together the way they were meant to.
Her nerve endings sizzled and sparked, receptive to his every thrust. Every motion of his body. Every morph of his features as their passion began to build and his pleasure grew. Not only their flesh but their souls came together in a way that seemed to make every second a non-stop crescendo. Peak upon peak of endless bliss as they sailed closer and closer.
All sense of time and place vanished though it almost seemed the world swelled around them. Heat gathered, and steam rose, encasing them in a fog of desire beyond what mere humans could feel.
Everything hazed red as he drove her higher and higher. As her awareness expanded further within his mind, she felt how strongly he loved her. Love that had always been there but was stolen from them like so much else.
“I love you too,” she whispered.
Though she had already said it, now it meant so much more. It was all so much clearer.
And it pushed them to let go at the same time.
Where she went after that was indescribable. She didn’t just feel a mind-blowing rush of pleasure, but a sense of eternity. Togetherness that went far beyond time. That brought them back to one another again and again.
They stayed that way for a long time before they started all over again, addicted to the way they made each other feel. It wasn’t a night for sleep, but for love and passion. A love she knew would never fade.
Sometime in the early morning hours, they must have drifted off because Milly’s voice at the tent entrance awoke them.
“Are you two awake?” she called out. “It’s almost time to go home, and King Robert is waiting.”
Jessie had fallen asleep with her cheek resting on his chest.
“We’ll be right out,” Bryce rumbled, as he began caressing her back.
“Home,” she whispered, well aware that he had awoken ready for her again.
“Aye,” he murmured. “Our home.”
She could close her eyes and still see MacLeod Castle clearly. How it had felt being there. How she had wanted to stay.
“Now ye will,” he said, following her thoughts. His voice was hoarse with desire as he flipped her beneath him. “After all, yer its mistress now.”
That wasn’t said in question or hope but finality. He would not let her go. But then he knew full well she had absolutely no desire to leave nor would she ever.
Wherever he was, she belonged.
“We probably shouldn’t keep a king waiting...” she managed to get out before he thrust and took the words right out of her mouth.
“It’s been hours since I had ye,” he whispered. “So I willnae last long.”
She well understood as her passion grew as quickly as his. Yet when they found fulfillment, it was just as powerful. Just as consuming.
By the time they dressed and made it outside, the sun was just cresting the horizon. Mystical and enchanting, it splintered through the forest and lit pockets of fog drifting along the woodland floor. It was the perfect sort of morning for their fantastical adventure to come to an end.
All was very quiet as people slept off a rowdy night of celebration. It seemed the only person waiting to see them off was King Robert himself.
“It has been a true pleasure serving ye, King Robert,” Grant murmured, his eyes damp as they met Robert’s. “I cannae tell ye how much I will miss ye, old friend.” He shook his head. “It seems like just yesterday ye and William Wallace were wee ones and I was helping my son and his lot protect ye from yet more evil.”
“Aye,” Adlin agreed and was about to say more, but Jessie cut him off softly when lo and behold, she saw someone unexpected drifting closer. “Speaking of...”
When everyone looked at her in question, she offered a small smile as she drew an image in her little book. Though transparent, what they couldn’t see before materialized.
Sir William Wallace.
King Robert took a step back, his eyes wide. “It cannae be.”
“Och, of course, it can,” William exclaimed, grinning. “Do ye think we dinnae exist after we die?”
Robert blinked several times before he sort of jerked his head no before yes then relented. “I suppose after everything I’ve seen since knowing the MacLomains, I’ve learned that anything is possible.”
“Aye.” Grant smiled at William. “’Tis verra good to see ye again, old friend.”
William nodded, still grinning at everyone before his smile faded and pride took its place as his eyes met Robert’s. “Since I’ve passed on, I’ve been by yer side in every battle, my King. And though I doubted it possible years ago, ye’ve made me verra proud and served our country well.”
Robert nodded, his eyes warm as they stayed with William’s. “As did ye, my friend. Because if not for yer inspiration and yer great love for the freedom of our beloved Scotland, I might never have come this far.”
“Och, nay, ye wouldnae have,” William agreed then winked. “But ye did, and ye did so far beyond what I ever hoped.” His eyes turned to Adlin and Grant. “Yet we should remain grateful to friends who made sure we met young so that when our time came to lead and work together, ‘twas a little less trying.”
“Aye,” Robert agreed, eying them fondly before he gave William a dubious look. “Because I dinnae think there would have been much hope for our comradery without it.”
“’Twould have been bloody difficult,” William concurred, his eyes with Robert’s again. “But all that is behind us and Scotland has more hope now than it would have had otherwise.”
“Aye.” Robert’s eyes swept over everyone. “We thank ye for all yer help. May God always keep ye close.”
There wasn’t a dry eye as they said their final goodbyes. It had been a long road filled with uncertainty, but because of such courageous men, Scotland would go on. But then it had taken a wee bit of magic too. Jessie’s eyes went to her friends and their men. And plenty of love.
As it would be told centuries later, many thought they saw William Wallace’s ghost haunting certain famous battle grounds. Often at the heels of King Robert the Bruce. The wildest tale, of course, was that they were seen walking through the woodland in the wee morning hours after the Battle of Byland Moor chatting like long-lost friends. But then rumors turned to folklore, and nothing is ever certain.
Except, she thought, as they whipped through time a few minutes later, her future with Bryce. As the off-setting sensation of time-travel faded, her eyes locked on MacLeod Castle, then went to the North Sea raging beside it.
That’s when she realized she might just be able to make the future even clearer.
She might be able to reach out to Fraser after all.
Chapter Twenty
THEY HAD NO SOONER appeared on MacLeod Castle’s drawbridge, when they were met by a flood of kin and his well-wishing clan. The day was as bright and sunny as their faces as everyone greeted one another. It appeared Adlin and Grant had telepathically caught everybody up on what happened and planned a grand celebration to celebrate the survival of Scotland’s history.
His parents and grandfather greeted them first, beaming and happy to learn that he and Jessie had found true love. And, naturally, that she was a fellow dragon.
“Ye look much better, Ma,” he said, noting that the color had returned to her cheeks.
His mother perked an amused brow at Jessie. “You didn’t tell him?”
She shook her head and smiled. “I thought I’d let you.”
When Bryce looked at his mother in question, she grinned. “Though I didn’t think it was possible my dragon magic has returned. I can shift again.”
Relieved to hear it, his eyes went to Jessie. “When the curse lifted then?”
“Around about,” she replied. “Specifically, after your mother’s dragon magic broke the last tether between you and the warlock.”
“Och, ‘tis verra good.” He hugged his mother, smiling, before embracing his father as well.
“I’m happy for ye both,” his grandfather said, embracing Jessie then Bryce. “I knew ye two were meant to be.” He looked at Jessie with pride. “And just as I suspected, yer as powerful as my Torra ever was.”
“Thank you,” she replied softly as her eyes went to his mother. “Your dragon made all the difference, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Though he knew she had been thankful for his mother’s sacrifice from the beginning, now that Jessie was dragon, she truly understood the enormity of it. What his mother had been willing to give up.
“Think nothing of it.” Ma’s eyes flickered from Bryce to Jessie. “When you have children you’ll understand. Not even our inner dragons are as important.”