With a laugh she undid the zipper and wriggled out of them, yanking down part of the sheet that was still covering him.
He was glorious. Big and strong and muscled. The new knife wound wouldn’t be his only scar, and with an indrawn breath, she traced a scar that ran from his hip bone and up his other side, one across the front of his left thigh, and another on the outside of his right bicep. He had a scary looking one that started under his collar bone and ran across his shoulder. What kind of life did he live?
They’d been outside in the dark the only other time they’d been undressed together and she hadn’t seen any of this. She hadn’t seen and now all she wanted to do was take him in.
She felt like she was splintering, that the center of her that had frozen over since he’d left all those months ago was thawing. All that time spent trying to make everyone believe she was fine, happy even, she’d been nothing. It had started to scare her, the lack of feeling, the cold desolation. Now, as she took him in, and felt his warm, strong hands on her, she felt alive once more.
This. This was what she had been lacking. Everything else was false. She would never give him up again. She pushed the sheet completely off him and leaned closer, giving in to everything.
***
“Hello Sam,” she said, leisurely rolling over and untangling her legs from Lachlan’s.
He gave her a disappointed look for answering the phone, but she knew it would never stop if she didn’t. She kissed his shoulder and tried to become a solid again, sure that she had melted completely at some point during their passionate reunion.
“Can you tell me why my girlfriend has just boarded a transatlantic flight, when she should be getting ready to defend her thesis?” Sam demanded from the other end of the phone.
She sat up straight, all languor gone. “No, oh no. That isn’t what I wanted,” she said, wondering if she should hang up immediately and try to call Evie. “She’s already on a plane?” she asked.
“Yes, and she was crying, and I think she’s sick to boot,” Sam huffed and Piper girded herself mentally to not slip up and accidentally mention the pregnancy. “She thinks you’ve finally gone off the deep end and is frantic with worry. Have you finally gone off, Piper? Did you tell Evelyn that Lachlan’s back and then hang up on her? What would make you do something like that?”
Piper shrank back, pulling the sheet up over her as if she could protect herself from this deserved tirade. Lachlan was looking at her inquisitively and she shook her head at him. There was nothing he could do about this, unfortunately.
“I can’t believe she got on a plane,” Piper moaned. “I was going to call her back, I swear.”
“Well, you didn’t clear up your little practical joke in time and now she’s on her way. She’s never going to finish that bloody—”
“It wasn’t a practical joke. I would never! Lachlan really is back.” The silence from Sam’s end lasted so long, she checked to see if the call had been dropped. “Sam?” She held the phone up to Lachlan and told him to say something into it.
“It is I, Lachlan Ferguson,” he said stiffly, looking at the phone with distrust.
“Jesus Christ!” Sam exploded. “When did this happen? How did it happen?”
“I’ll explain it all. Look, I’ll explain it when Evie gets here. Two birds and all. Or call Mellie and ask her.” Piper glanced at the clock to see it was now late in the afternoon. Mellie would probably be eager to find out what she wanted to talk to her about. “Oh, crap. Mellie’s probably going to be back here soon. I have to go, Sam. Sorry.”
“Do not hang up,” he bellowed into the phone, almost rivalling Lachlan in intimidating voices. “I’m coming over,” he said more calmly. “I’ll be right there.”
“Well, we’re naked, but you’re certainly welcome,” she said, waving off Lachlan’s scandalized look.
“Oh, Jesus,” Sam groaned. “Fine. I’ll call you when Evelyn arrives.”
“He took that well,” Piper said, tossing her phone onto the bedside table and lying back down.
Her euphoric mood had mostly vanished, replaced with regret that she hadn’t called Evie and now she was on her way to Scotland. Even more regretfully, she dragged herself out of bed and started putting her clothes back on. Lachlan looked pained.
“I wish we could stay in bed forever, but Mellie’s going to be back soon. You really need some clothes.” Piper sighed. Stupid reality was back in force. “What is it, Lachlan? Why did you come back?” she asked.
Lachlan knitted his brow and pulled the sheet around him. He swung his legs to the floor and stood, somewhat shakily at first, but quickly steadied himself.
“I have much to tell ye, my love,” he said. “But first, I am fairly starved.”
Mellie was letting herself into the kitchen when they came downstairs, and she couldn’t take her eyes off of Lachlan, wrapped as he was in a bedsheet like a Greek god. She plopped a rumpled shopping bag onto the counter and shoved it over to him.
“I’ve not yet tried to salvage your kilt,” she said shyly. “I went round to the shops after class,” she told Piper, who was struggling to get some pork chops out of the freezer. “I hope they fit.”
“That was so sweet of you, Mellie,” Piper said.
Mellie took the pork chops out of her hand and replaced them in the freezer. She pointed to a barstool, and Piper took a seat, gratefully letting Mellie take over the preparation of the meal. Lachlan went into the pantry to change into his new clothes and Mellie immediately was abuzz.
“What’s happening? Do you know why he came back?” she asked in a loud stage whisper. “Oh, he’s handsomer than ever, is he not?”
“I don’t know any more than you do yet,” Piper whispered back, taking a knife and starting to chop the carrots Mellie placed on the counter.
“Has he only just woken up, then?” Mellie asked, glancing at the clock with a confused expression. “Poor man, he must have been really badly hurt.”
“Erm, well, yes, he’s only just gotten out of bed,” Piper said, which was strictly the truth.
They both turned and gaped when Lachlan came out of the pantry. He was now wearing a dark gray t-shirt that clung to his chest, showing off every rippling muscle. He’d awkwardly and unsuccessfully tried to tuck it into his jeans, which were hanging partly open and slung low on his trim hips. His powerful thighs strained against the heavy fabric. He looked miserable.
“I canna work these fastenings,” he said, looking embarrassed and disgruntled.
Piper glanced over at Mellie, who seemed about to drool on the vegetables they were chopping. He was a magnificent sight in modern day menswear and Piper’s brain started whirring into overdrive as to how she could manage to get him into a tailored suit. She hurried over to make Lachlan decent, before Mellie passed out.
“Oh my goodness,” she breathed as she shoved him back into the pantry and showed him how to work the zipper.
He seemed fascinated by it and waggled his eyebrows at the proximity of her hands.
“You look very nice, Lachlan.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You figured it out fine, didn’t you?” she accused.
He merely leaned over and kissed her soundly. She threaded her arms around his neck and almost forgot they were surrounded by bags of grain and various root vegetables. She broke away and pulled him out of the pantry, all his clothes properly in place and fastened. He was a sight to behold.
“I feel verra confined,” he complained. Mellie made a choking noise.
“Well, walk around a bit. They’ll stretch out,” Piper said.
Chapter 4
Pietro called goodnight as the last stable hand left for the evening, then he did one last round of all the horses, offering a pat on the nose or a small treat before he called it a day.
He worked from sunup to sundown. Piper paid him well, probably overpaid him, as she seemed to do most of her employees, but that wasn’t why he worked so hard. He loved being with the horses, being outdoors. The st
able workers who answered to him were all handpicked by him and he knew they were capable, so he rarely had to worry about anything going too terribly wrong.
As he locked up and headed out to his beat up old truck, he glanced up at the castle, noticing the lights were on in the kitchen. He briefly toyed with the idea of going up and poking his head in and saying goodnight. He knew if Mellie were there, something good would be in the oven, and Piper would inevitably ask him to stay for the meal, but he didn’t want to guilt her into spending time with him.
He liked Piper, but had a hard time figuring her out. While she bustled around with her plans and lists, she often seemed unsure of herself, even borderline apologetic sometimes. At first he’d put it down to inheritance guilt. It had to be rough going from being a regular jane on the street to being one of the richest people in Great Britain. It was probably why she overpaid everyone. He didn’t mind, as it made his goal of getting his own place that much more easily obtained.
He’d tried casually flirting with her a few times, and while she hadn’t exactly reciprocated, she hadn’t flat out shut him down either. And when she’d acted so interested in his experience as a fighter pilot in the Middle East, he’d at first thought she was stroking his ego like so many other women, but it had turned out she genuinely found his rubbish interesting. It was kind of nice.
He hadn’t dated much since he’d been back from active duty. He had been gone from Scotland for nearly four years and it took a while to feel at home again.
There weren’t ever many new people in Castle on Hill, and trying to strike up a relationship with someone he used to know felt wrong somehow. The few dates he’d tried to go on with women he’d known his whole life had all awkwardly devolved into nostalgic recollections of their school years or gossiping about mutual friends.
When he’d pathetically tried to rekindle an old flame, it had gone so epically wrong that the villagers had dined on his humiliation for weeks. When his heart had stopped aching, he was just grateful to finally know that she was most definitely not the one.
The people from his past thought they still knew him, and in many ways they did, but he was also greatly changed. With Piper he had a fresh slate.
And it wasn’t only him who was making overtures. She came out and wanted to learn to ride, and maybe she really did want to learn to ride, but she stayed and chatted after the lessons, or brought him lunches for no reason other than Mellie always cooked enough for an army.
Just a month past she had come out with a bottle of wine and a shell-shocked look on her face. She’d handed him the bottle and the corkscrew and announced she’d come from giving away half her money.
“Ye did not,” he said, spreading a cleanish horse blanket over a tack box and gesturing for her to have a seat.
He uncorked the bottle, but she hadn’t remembered to bring out any glasses.
“I did,” she said, taking the bottle from him. With a sheepish glance around to make sure nobody else was in the stable, she took a swig straight from the bottle and handed it back to him. “It was too much. It was ridiculous for one person to have so much money.”
“Ye still have quite a lot, don’t ye?” he asked rhetorically.
Anyone who’d read a paper in the last six months knew about the American heiress.
She snorted a laugh and took another drink. “I made a room full of lawyers cry,” she said.
“That there would have been worth it,” he said with a laugh, taking another large swallow.
The wine was good but he had mostly not wanted her to get too drunk. She was a wee little thing and seemed on edge.
“They’ll get over it,” she sighed.
And as abruptly as she’d come into the stable, she got up and left, leaving the almost empty bottle with him. She’d politely thanked him for listening and only staggered the slightest bit on her way back up to the castle.
Ever since that strange bit of familiarity, it had been more of the same. Lessons, lunches, a bit of light flirting on his part. After all, as he always told her, if he saw a beautiful lass, he had to tell her she was beautiful. She would roll her eyes or poke him playfully in the shoulder.
If he ever got too close, though, she shied away like a skittish pony at the first sight of a saddle. Someone, some time had definitely broken her heart. He didn’t know if it was worth risking a nice friendship and a fantastic job to see if he could unbreak it.
As he made his way off the estate to head to his little cottage on the outskirts of the village, he saw that Mellie’s car was parked out in the front roundabout and his stomach growled. He eased off the gas pedal, wondering if he should go for it. Nah. Best head home where it was safe.
Chapter 5
Piper watched Lachlan savor the baked chicken Mellie had thrown together. Everything mundane like this dinner at the big wooden table drove it home that Lachlan was really and truly back with her. She still couldn’t completely believe it wasn’t just a perfect dream.
While she helped Mellie set the table, she had asked her if she’d consider living in while continuing to work around her school schedule.
The lanky teen had gone saucer-eyed and quickly accepted, gushing about what a dream come true it was for her to get to live at the castle.
Piper was happy to finally have it settled and glad she wouldn’t be all alone in the ramshackle behemoth anymore. She touched Lachlan’s arm for the thousandth time, reminding herself he was real and that he would be with her now, too.
After he pushed his plate away and thanked Mellie profusely for the meal, Piper cleared her throat. It was time for answers. Mellie looked afraid she would be sent away, and Piper turned to Lachlan to see if he wanted privacy.
“It’s all right with me if the lass stays,” he said.
Mellie let out an audible sigh of relief, then her eyes widened.
“Piper, what about the amulet?” she asked. “Did you not have your protection pendant on you when you left?” she said to Lachlan.
“She’s right.” Piper stood up, ready to run to the library, wanting to kick herself for having forgotten something so important.
Lachlan reached over and placed his hand on her arm. “Ye needn’t worry. I dinna need it anymore.”
“But how?” she asked, scooting closer to him so that their legs touched under the table.
Mellie sat across from them, leaning over the table as if to get the story out faster.
“It’s a long story, my love, and I feel a bit of a twinge in my side. Might we sit somewhere else?”
Piper sprang up from her seat, nearly falling backwards over the bench in her haste to help him up. Mellie also ran around to ease under his other shoulder. He laughed at their distress.
“Ye’re clucking about me like wee mother hens. It makes my heart glad, I’ll no’ lie.”
“We’re happy you’re back, Lachlan,” Piper said as they made their way to one of the sitting rooms.
Mellie vigorously bobbed her head up and down in agreement.
They helped him onto the velvet settee and he looked around the room. Piper hadn’t changed it much since the first time he’d been here and she hoped it didn’t cause him bad memories.
The first time he’d been here he’d been accused of murdering a villager and had already begun suffering from the time travel illness.
“Is this okay?” she asked worriedly, plumping a pillow by his uninjured side and pushing an ottoman over so he could put up his feet if he liked.
“It’s good, aye. Thank ye, both.”
They both clasped their hands in front of them and gazed at him with silly grins on their faces and he laughed at them some more.
“Ye must stop treating me like I’m some kind of king,” he said. “My head will grow too big even for this place.”
Mellie pulled over an armchair and Piper squeezed onto the couch with Lachlan and he finally started his tale.
He pressed his knuckles into his closed eyes and then with a long breath, he nodded
.
“When I first returned, I was knocked out, and wasna in the barn at all, but behind it. Duncan’s body tumbled off in the bushes and I had to go looking for the bastard.”
When Lachlan found the murderer Brian Duncan’s corpse, he started to haul it off into the woods, sure he could meet up with his men and tell a story of how he was able to escape.
“The tower was ablaze, and everyone from the castle was scurrying about trying to put out the fire,” he said.
Piper shuddered, trying not to think about Sam and Evie having been in that very tower fire. If she had waited even a moment longer to do the spell to return Lachlan to his own time, they might have died in the eighteenth century. Lachlan took her hand and she smiled gratefully up at him, nodding for him to continue.
With everyone preoccupied with trying to save the tower, Lachlan was able to get deep into the woods, where he stowed Brian’s corpse behind a fallen tree. He went to the edge of the Glen land and soon met up with his men, who had been patrolling each night in hopes that he would show up.
“My men thought I had escaped on my own without their help, y’see?” Lachlan said. “They didna know I was catapulted to the future, and were beginning to wonder why I had no’ shown up yet. They were no’ happy that it took so long for me to get back, but when I told them I’d captured the blackguard Brian Duncan, they were pleased enough with me.”
The next day, Lachlan and his men retrieved the corpse and returned with it to Castle Glen. Everyone for miles around had been on high alert for the evil mass murderer and even though Lachlan himself had very recently been held prisoner by the Glens for cattle rustling, he was now hailed as a hero.
Known all over the Highlands for their hospitality and rich feasts, the Glens ordered a celebration in Lachlan’s honor, and clans from all around were sent invitations to the estate.
“That was all well and good, but it meant I couldna leave for home, and risk insulting them, and no offense my love, but yer people are quite easily insulted. And they were still no’ past their anger over my cousin breaking some daft betrothal, where the girl had mostly dreamed it all up in her head to begin with.”
Reunited (Book 2 of Lost Highlander series) Page 3
