Seven Moons Back to the Highlands

by Deborah R Stigall

  Shaking his head in disbelief as he massaged the back of his neck, Caelan took a deep breath; then expelled it with a groan.

  “2007? How can I be dreaming of a maid from some place that doesna yet exist across the seas in the year 2007 when this is Scotland the year 1379?” He ran both his hands anxiously through his sandy hair. Filling his fingers with the strands, he yanked in irritation as he closed his eyes in disbelief.

  “The MacKay’s have always searched for their soul mates. They’ve ne’er settled for joining with anyone but their one true match for all time.”

  Moving to the table across the room, Emrys gently opened a heavy book, touching the timeworn pages with reverence.

  “Why do ye think yer line has nearly disappeared at times? If no’ for the benevolent hand of fate to bring the soul mates together the MacKay line would’ve died out long ago the hard headed males refuse to plant their seed with anyone other than the one woman who appears to them in their dreams?”

  “A fine lot of good it does me to learn my heart-mate lies in the future out of my reach forever.”

  Caelan crossed his arms over his chest, his frown deepening as he realized just how much he’d been hoping to finally find the woman of his dreams.

  “What do the fates do? Hope to torment me into simply taking a woman of this century for breeding? I canna even look at a lass without thinking of those damned purple eyes that peer into my very soul!”

  Shaking his head slowly, Emrys turned from the table, the ancient book held open in his arms as his keen eyes scanned the pages.

  “Dinna speak disrespectfully of the fates, M’laird. Ye’ll be needin’ their help I’m thinkin’.” Slowly turning another page, he paused, his crooked finger running lightly along the faded lines.

  Snorting, Caelan shook his head, turning back to the once more blank mirrors. He couldn’t get the memory of her out of his mind and those clothes she was wearing! That fine round arse of hers in those strange colored trews he was getting a painful rising at the mere thought of it! The way her breasts perked round and seductively in the tight white cloth of her shirt, he wiped the sweat from his upper lip with a groan.

  “How are the fates to help me?” he finally hissed, his hands cradling his throbbing head as his fingers returned to tangle in his hair.

  “Weeelllll,” Emrys hummed, tapping another page with a yellowed fingernail. “When traveling to the future ye usually need all the help ye can get.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Rachel Hawkins lifted the lid to the container of dog food, adeptly sidestepping both bouncing dogs as she filled the bowls to running over. “Take it easy there’s enough for everybody when are you two gonna learn that?”

  Smiling, she affectionately rubbed the backs of the dogs as they each dove enthusiastically into their bowls.

  Sidestepping the wagging tail of the lab, she made her way across the narrow kitchen to refill her coffee cup. Pausing at the sink, she took a sip her eyes staring out the window across the open fields.

  “I’m gonna enjoy these next couple of weeks off from work even if I have to disconnect the phone, the computer, stop the mail and toss my cell phone into the pond. Then the only way the bill collectors can find me is if they fly a plane over the house and drop notices.”

  Neither dog raised their heads or stopped their eating in response to her words; their tails just continued their rhythmic wagging of contentment marking time to the echo of their crunching.

  Smiling, Rachel turned to lean back against the cabinet, cradling the steaming cup of coffee in her hands. The past several months had been extremely hard the trials beginning when she’d walked in upon her husband and his extremely loud girlfriend in the midst of their mussing up the brand new satin sheets she’d just put on the bed that morning.

  Snorting gently to herself, Rachel still didn’t know what had made her angrier the fact that her husband was screwing around on her or the fact that they had the audacity to do it on her brand new set of sheets.

  Shaking her head, she took another sip of coffee as she slid wearily into the chair at the kitchen table.

  She never should’ve married David she’d never really loved him but he was a perfect escape from the well planned out college life and career her parents had been shoving down her throat since birth.

  When she’d shamed the family by having the audacity to disappoint them and drop out of school for marriage, they’d disowned her and told her they’d only speak to her again when she finally came to her senses and stopped embarrassing them with her inconsiderate behavior.

  Unfortunately, two years into the escape marriage, a car accident had claimed both her parents forever silencing their voices to her no matter when she came to her senses to attempt to gain their unachievable approval.

  Now, three years after that, newly divorced and near financial ruin, Rachel was determined to turn her life around without the unattainable parental acceptance she’d always been denied definitely without a man who would only end up causing her pain and she was going to find a way to real happiness if it was the last thing she did.

  Nudged from her reverie by a cool wet nose poking her in the ribs, Rachel reached down to ruffle the velvety ears of the loyal lab.

  “I love you too, Maizy. You’re my special girl and I know you love me no matter what.”

  A high-pitched yip at her other side and frantic digging at her legs with his paws, let Rachel know in no uncertain terms that Sam was also in need of her attention.

  “Now Sam you know I love you too and you’re the only male I’ll ever trust again!”

  The demanding little dog cocked his head to one side, his huge terrier ears perked as he listened intently to every word that fell from Rachel’s lips.

  Gently pushing the dogs from her path, Rachel rose from her chair. Pulling the ledger book from its place stuffed between the row of cookbooks lining the yellowed countertop, Rachel flipped the worn book open to the section marked with a paper clip.

  “I’ve got to figure out a way to balance out these bills and bring in some more income or we’re going to find ourselves out of a place to live.” She bit her lower lip as she tapped the page with her finger, the numbers running into the negative column no matter how long she studied them.

  Her job at the steel mill barely helped her make ends meet. The slump in the market had quickly put a stop to any and all available over-time she might’ve been able to work in order to bail herself out of some of her debt. Even though her marriage had lasted a meager four years, David had ensured that he didn’t walk away from the relationship empty handed. Between lining up bed partners while Rachel was at work, David had methodically siphoned money out of all of their joint accounts into one’s only known and owned by him.

  In order to keep the small plot of land the death of her parents had left her with; Rachel had to obtain a mortgage to buy out what the court deemed was David’s half during the divorce settlement. According to the state of Kentucky, David was entitled to half of everything Rachel had no matter how big of a horse’s ass he turned out to be and unfortunately, she’d not been able to afford the kind of lawyer to convince the judge that David was a full size Clydesdale.

  David had also been kind enough to max out all of the credit cards; even topping out a few that Rachel wasn’t aware they’d had. Even though her lawyer had assured her that David would be held responsible for part of the debt, the fact that he’d managed to disappear from the face of the earth had left her with the creditors banging on her door. Since she was the only one they could find she was the one left holding the bag.

  Reaching for the phone, she quickly punched in the number to work with her thumb. She had to make this one call before she could attempt to put work at the back of her mind during her next two weeks off.

  “Hey Joel it’s Rachel.” Cradling the receiver between her cheek and shoulder, she stretched to open the drawer to fish out a pen. “Yes I’m on vacation but I was just calling to see if any overtim
e’s come up for the week that I come back.”

  Nervously chewing her lower lip, her eyes narrowed to a frown as she noticed another crack in the grout work surrounding the tile over the kitchen sink.

  “I know you’ve got to go by seniority but just keep in mind that I’ll take it if nobody else wants it okay?” Rachel sighed deeply as she covered her eyes with her hand, bending to lean her elbows on the weathered countertop. “Yeah I’ll try to keep my mind off work and enjoy my time off I know okay I’ll see you when I get back.” Punching the off button with her thumb, she tossed the phone to the counter with a sigh.

  Stretching to run her fingers through her tangled mass of curls, Rachel’s eyes fell on the garage standing just behind the house. Walking closer to the window, her brow creased with a frown as she folded her arms across her chest.

  “Maybe I could rent out the loft over the garage. All I’d have to do is clean the place up a bit and then it’d be livable.”

  Musing aloud, Rachel mentally tallied up what extra furniture she could remember seeing in the attic and just what it would take to turn the loft into a “rentable” apartment.

  “Come on guys.”

  Grabbing her ball cap off the peg by the door, she motioned for the dogs as she pulled her hair through the back of the cap. Sam and Maizy immediately crowded to her side, their ears at attention for this latest adventure.

  “We’ve got some work to do my friends or we’re gonna be living out of the pickup truck.”

  Grabbing a notepad and pen from the table by the door, Rachel headed outside with her loyal friends; determined to turn the loft into a money-making venture.

  )O(

  “The future is filled with total madness!” Caelan tossed the latest magazine he’d been studying into the pile of reading material littering the floor by the hearth. In an attempt to prepare Caelan for their journey into the future, Emrys had summoned books and magazines from 2007 through the Mirrors of Time. Now Caelan sat in the midst of the pile, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “Why in Brid’s name would the woman even contemplate not returning to the past with me? Her world is total chaos!”

  “Be that as it may” Emrys peered at Caelan over the book he held in his hands. “It’s the only chaos she’s e’er known and to her it’s as normal as this day and time is to you.”

  Closing the book, he pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes dry and scratchy from all the reading. He hadn’t studied this much material since his initiation and that had been over five hundred years ago. Emrys had been to the future many times on his own but he’d never gone as far forward as he was planning on taking Caelan. His trips had also been brief, short forages searching for knowledge or lore to ensure the tapestry of time and space remained intact.

  “And ye say the continuum will only allow us to stay for the passing of seven moons? That’s the time I have to win her and convince her she belongs with me?” Caelan nudged the pile of books with the toe of his boot, bending to fish out one of the papers he’d yet to read.

  “Aye ye’ve got until midnight on the night of the seventh full moon to convince the lass the two of ye are meant to be one and to convince her to come with ye willingly into the past.”

  Stretching Emrys popped his back and neck, his old bones groaning in protest at being bent to reading for such a long time.

  “She must come with ye willingly she must know the entire truth and that she can ne’er return or she willna be allowed to remain in this time with ye.”

  “From what I’ve seen of her life and the age in which she lives we should be back here and have our first child well on its way by the seventh moon!” Caelan smiled smugly to himself, the thought of finally possessing the lass of his heart swelling his chest with joy.

  “Dinna be so cocky, my arrogant laird. Ye’ve seen that she’s been mistreated and doesna trust men in any way. What makes ye think she’s goin’ ta be fallin’ right into your arms as soon as ye show yourself at her door?” Emrys wagged a crooked finger in warning, his brows drawn together in stern reproof.

  “Surely, she’ll feel it as soon as she sees me how could she not know that I’m the mate she’s meant to be with?”

  Frowning Caelan rubbed his chin. The thought of Rachel rejecting him hadn’t even crossed his mind. It wasn’t that Caelan was a vain man it was just the fact that when all of his ancestors before him had found their heart mates hadn’t the women immediately known as well?

  What if Rachel didn’t trust him? What if she didn’t want to have anything to do with him? How was he going to explain to her that he was her eternal match traveling across time and space to join with her and return her to Scotland to be his own?

  “That all depends on how sensitive the lass is to the ways.”

  Emrys shook his head slowly as he walked stiffly about the room.

  “The future has numbed people to the energies that flow through the universe the legends and lore have been forgotten and replaced with mind-numbing rhetoric and science.” Rubbing his back, he bowed his chest, working the stiffness from between his shoulders.

  “Verra few can still see through the mists of time. Hardly anyone can sense the mysteries that lie just within their reach. It willna be easy to convince Rachel to believe the truth if she’s been as tainted to the ways as most folk of her time have been.”

  “But ye saw her with her dogs and with the other creatures of the woods the lass seems to be sensitive to beasts and ye saw her with her grandmother.”

  Caelan sat back in the chair, stretching his long legs in front of him as he folded his hands behind his head. “And she lives out in the country; she seems to have an affinity with the land. Surely, that will help us in our cause.”

  “Before we cross through the portal into her time we might try sendin’ her a few wee suggestions into her dreams.”

  Emrys’ eyes narrowed as he tugged at his beard, his natural indicator that he was definitely in plotting mode.

  “I thought ye said the fates wouldna allow any manipulation? That the choice must be of the lass’s own free will?” Caelan quickly sat on the edge of his chair, resting his elbows on his knees as he folded his hands.

  “I said suggestions not manipulation of the lass. We’ll merely introduce ye into her dreams. We’ve already seen in her dreams that she’s had a longing to visit Scotland. It would merely be adding a bit of authenticity to her dreams if we were to give her a bit of a preview of what she could have if she but chooses to accept.”

  A slow smile crept upon Emrys’ face, as he stroked his beard even more. “That way when ye show up on her doorstep ye’ll not be a complete stranger to her eyes and when the time comes to reveal the truth to her ye’ll have a bit of proof if ye can tell her of your time in her dreams.”

  “Ye can send me into Rachel’s dream plane? I’ll actually be there with her be able to touch her?”

  Caelan straightened in his chair with interest, the idea immediately appealing to him. His own dreams had become a torment to him, Rachel always dancing just out of his reach. If he could visit her dream plane actually hold her in his arms he could ensure she’d remember him upon waking.

  Clearing his throat, as he clearly read his laird’s mind, Emrys peered down his long nose at Caelan.

  “Aye I can send ye but only the one time so ye’d best make it unforgettable.”

  A smug grin curling his sensuous lips, Caelan’s eyes narrowed at the prospect at hand. “You just send me, old man, and I guarantee the lass will find the dream unforgettable.”

  )O(

  He gently lowered her to the mossy ground as he nuzzled the velvety skin just below her ear. She smelled of heather and slowly awakening lust and the taste of her skin made him shiver in anticipation. He’d been waiting forever to be able to claim her and now he finally held her beneath him.

  She smoothed her hands across his muscular back, her fingertips lightly tracing paths of fire across his tingling skin. A quiet moan escaped from between her
lips as his mouth searched lower to finally claim the aching nipple throbbing for his touch.

  His strong hands skillfully stroked and massaged her body, finding all the sweet spots he had spent months dreaming of touching. His own groan of pleasure escaped from between his lips as she pressed a teasing leg up against his straining shaft.

  He raised his head to reclaim her mouth, probing the delicious depths with his tongue. He stretched the full length of his body against hers, his manhood straining to dive into her heated core.

  She wrapped her legs around his torso, arching her body to encase him with her aching need. She couldn’t remember wanting so badly to be taken or feeling as though she was going to go mad if he didn’t hurry and fill her completely.

  “Not yet,” he whispered as he barely raised his head to trace a line down her belly with his fiery hot tongue.

  She filled her fists with his hair, melting her body against his as she guided his mouth even lower.

  “I need you to take me please take me.” She panted as she strained and bucked against his body, her whole being as hot as molten lava ready to erupt. She gasped as he chuckled and claimed her with his mouth, his tongue suckling and teasing her throbbing bud of pleasure as his fingers slid into her hot slippery depths.

  Her head fell back and her mind filled with nothing but pure raw emotion as his fingers and tongue drove her past all reason. Pulling his head even harder against her wet aching mound, she screamed as he took her to the dizzying pinnacle of climactic need and then tantalizingly pushed her over the edge.

  Slowly, with nips and swirls of his teasing tongue, he made his way back up her body to finally cover her mouth with his. His thumbs teased her nipples back to pulsating hardness as he slowly settled his body between her legs.

  His hands on either side of her face, he stared into the purple depths of her eyes as he painstakingly slid the full length of his shaft inside her until there was no end to himself or beginning to her they were just fully joined as one.