“I believe it should be longer, a few months here so I winna loop on anythin’. Nae risk. I want tae get ye tae a place where our lives arna a risk anymore. We should set a date so we daena have tae worry on each other. When would ye like me tae come home?”
“What about our anniversary? July 2nd, is that long enough?”
“Aye. I will be home on our anniversary, mo reul-iuil. I will tell ye all about it then.”
One by one I put my feet around his ass and playfully pulled his hips forward. “And I will welcome you home.”
“I ken ye will, because ye are a verra good wife.”
“How long are you staying now?”
“I thought I would come and talk tae ye and then I would go... I haena changed the time of the future — Roderick is nae vanquished, I do need tae go…”
I pulled his hips even closer. “But if you think about it, my love, you’re planning to go away for months and months, long months, and I won’t see you until July 2nd, that’s six months for me. We ought to spend a little time with each other, to tide us over until...”
He grinned. “Och, tis verra hard tae deny ye when ye are wearin’ this wee shirt and these wee undergarmies, tis an enticement.” He scooped my shirt off over my head and tossed it away. “Och, and now ye arna wearin’ a shirt. How am I tae control m’desire for ye?”
“And if you kiss me right here,” I pointed at the front of my throat, “I’ll be without my undergarmies too.”
“Like a magic.” He kissed me where I asked while I wriggled from my panties. I lay back pulling him onto me.
He was fully clothed but that was so freaking hot, pressing my hips against his wool kilt, running my hands down his fabric bound shoulders. He was kissing me, hot breaths and — I changed my mind, it would be a lot hotter without the kilt.
I pushed him off me, stood on the mattress, slid his shirt up off his arms, and flung it away.
He stood beside the bed, wrapped his arms around my hips, and held me, his head pressed against my chest. My arms holding his hair.
We had been playful, fast, and funny, but now— “Suddenly it’s real. You’re really going away?”
His forehead nodded up and down, an urgent pressing against my skin. I dropped down to the bed and pulled him with me, a slow crawl to a full wrap around each other. He pulled my thigh to his waist and we held each other as tightly as we could, an embrace that meant — I don’t want to let you go.
I whispered, “I will miss you.”
He nodded, clutching my face in his strong hands, he kissed me so deeply.
“Please come home.”
He stroked my hair back from my cheek. “Always.”
Something about the way he said it, as if he was memorizing the way my eyes looked into his, caused tears to well up and spill down my cheeks.
“I can’t believe we have to do this again.”
“Again and again. Always. I daena think we can ever stop coming back tae each other.”
“Yes, again, my love. Once more, but then that will be it, you regain your kingdom and then we are done. It’s what you promised in the beginning and you’ll have made good on it. After that we can be together.”
“Aye. Then I will return for you and ye will serve me a bowl of ice cream because I winna have it in such a long—”
“They have ice cream in the future.”
“Wheesht, I winna have it, daena confuse me, ice cream is only here.”
“Oh, I understand, go on.”
“And then you and I will go tae my kingdom. We will go see Lizbeth and Sean. We will go wherever and whenever we want, without worry, because I will be the king and you will be the queen.”
“I like the sound of that.”
He kissed my cheek. “I am sorry ye are crying.”
“I do sometimes, you know.”
“I do.”
His hand slowly glided down my body, around my ass, and up my thigh, while my hands began doing their own traveling on the planes and curves of his form, memorizing the geography of him, the bound shoulders, the tight arms. My tongue explored the soft interior of his mouth.
I tasted and licked while my gliding palms brought forth heat. His motions made me writhe and press along with his palm and to wriggle in anticipation as his fingers felt along my folds and curves and my interior places of heat and wet.
There was a sexy loving-ness in our moves — not of play and flirt, but of caress and love, of deep and familiar and desire with solace and melancholy in the aching spots and small whispers, not of words but of the moans, that meant, you and I my love, and yes and aye —
and as he entered me with a sigh, and we pushed and pulled, together and apart, again and again, whispers and caresses, slow and tantalizing with the friction, we stayed wrapped, tight, not a space between us, but still I pressed more, deeper, wanting, closer — I arched to meet him and felt waves rising through me, oh god oh god oh god, his breath caught as he felt my rhythms and joined me. His mouth pressed against my temple, his hips thrust against me, and I held on as he pushed and pushed and pushed again, my nose pressed to his skin, breathing him in, exhaling him away, and with a rush he was finished.
I was feeling that glorious press, as the weight of him pushed me down, settled me, held me within his gravity.
“I love you.”
“I ken ye do mo reul-iuil, ye bear me with a strength and patience that I strive tae deserve.”
“You do deserve, you deserve so much more than—”
“Than ye? Than Archie? Than a kingdom? Nae, my love, but I will strive for it. I will gain ye back, this is the first step.” He rolled off me and stared up at our ceiling fan, slowly twisting.
“You will need tae go tae your appointment for your grandmother’s last will and testament. I am sorry I winna be here for ye.”
“That’s okay, I can do this.”
“Good.” He turned his head toward mine, his taut neck stretching to his collarbone, strength and power at his weakest point, his throat. I sat up to lean over and kiss him there.
He said, “If I daena leave now I might never and then we winna have any hope tae rescue Archie, tae set a new course—”
“I know.” I nodded.
I remembered, “Hey guess what? When Lady Mairead took you, you didn’t have this...” I pulled his sporran from the bedside drawer. “It has the shark tooth I gave you yesterday morning, for protection, and there’s a photo and yeah, I’m glad you came back for it.”
“Thank ye, twill be verra protective.” He began dressing in his kilt.
“No shower first?”
“Nae,” he joked, “I winna shower the whole time I am gone, so I will carry yer scent with me.”
I rolled my eyes with a laugh. “That is disgusting and romantic and also, no one will be able to stand getting close to you, so it might be another protective shield, perfect, do that. But if someone says, a month from now, ‘Ew, what’s that smell?’ do not say, ‘My wife’ or I’ll... I don’t know what I will do, but don’t test me.”
He grinned. “I winna want tae be on your bad side, I only want tae be on yer inside.”
I grinned. “I like what you did there.” I crawled off the bed and went to my drawer for some clothes.
Forty-four - Magnus
We emerged from the bedroom just in time for breakfast. Quentin had alerted the rest of the house tae the fact that I was home and nae longer a diversion in the future. They asked what happened and I said, “I am loopin’. It has only been a few weeks of time, but...”
Emma was givin’ Ben a strawberry. “I thought you weren’t to loop? Why would you?”
“King Roderick sent soldiers and grabbed Ben, I fought them off and got him back, twas a moment there...” I shook my head and patted Ben on the back, rememberin’ his cries in m’arms. He had been so scared. “...they took Archie and Kaitlyn.”
Chef Zach and Emma exchanged a look.
Chef Zach said, “Okay then, good. Sounds like a do-ov
er is a good idea. What are we going to do differently?”
I reached intae the bowl of strawberries and dipped one through whipped cream “You are goin’ tae carry on with yer days, keepin’ each other safe. I am leavin’ tae go tae the future and fight for my kingdom, so I can keep us all protected.”
I joked, “I hae already told ye this three times.”
Chef Zach laughed. “Well, I can be a bit of a stoner, I don’t remember what you told me a month from now. So this is our last meal together for a while?”
“Och, aye.” I sat on a barstool and Kaitlyn put her arm around my shoulders.
A few minutes later Hayley and James came intae the kitchen. James said, “Morning Magnus, we were on an errand for you this morning. Aren’t you supposed to be in the future distracting someone while we steal some stuff?”
“Och, you were goin’ as well, Master James?”
“Hell yeah, of course I’m going. I can’t freaking wait, this time travel thing sounds epic — now we don’t get to go?”
Kaitlyn said, “Not this time, but I promise Magnus and I will take you somewhere soon.”
Mistress Hayley said, “But I got in all my gear! I got a couple of days off work. You were creating a diversion and I was going to go steal a bunch of vessels. I’m freaking wearing cargo pants, Mags, I don’t wear those for just anyone. This was going to be a big heroic moment.” She sighed.
I went tae the pantry and pulled a bottle of water from the shelf and said, “Master Quentin, could ye take me for a drive?”
Then I said, “Could ye accompany us, Mistress Hayley? I need tae speak tae ye in private.”
We parked the Mustang on the south end and Mistress Hayley followed me out ontae the beach.
“What’s happening, Mags? You don’t usually need to talk to me privately.”
I hesitated, watchin’ her. “I have been in conversation with ye, a month in the future, and ye have asked me tae do somethin’ for ye.” I passed her the bottle of water. “Could ye put this in a pocket?”
“This is so mysterious. What, is it a surprise?”
“Aye.”
I took out a vessel.
“Wait, am I going on a... what are you doing?”
“You went with Kaitlyn tae steal the vessels. You were verra heroic actually and I thank ye for it, but on yer way home ye had an accident—”
She squinted her eyes. “What are you up to?”
“I am tellin’ ye.” I grinned. “You went tae the year 1704. Now I have messed up the timeline and you have asked me tae help ye redo it.”
“So I accidentally go to the past and... wait, how long?”
“Nae long. A day. Probably. I canna tell ye. Twill mess it up.”
Her eyes went wide.
I twisted the ends of the vessel and checked tae make sure the numbers were right.
“Magnus Campbell, are you kidnapping me, am I being people trafficked? You’re coming for me? What could this be? You didn’t put me in a dress, where am I going? Should I be pissed off? I feel like I should be pissed.”
“Nae, daena be angry, I am doin’ this under orders from yerself.”
I handed her the buzzing vessel. The wind rose around us, the storm clouds rising and roiling.
She clutched the vessel to her chest. Her hair whipping all around.
I said, “You are the one that is lost, stay put I will come get ye.”
She yelled, “Promise this is going to be good?”
“I promise. Twas verra brave of ye tae do, but ye told me ye would do it again. Oh, and if any Campbell men ask, ye are married, daena forget.”
“Okay!” She clamped her eyes shut.
I shielded my eyes from the whipping sand and backed away from the point in the storm that was a fury of wind and lightning. I made it tae the car, climbed inside and turned tae look through the glass.
The storm was wild and dark and I couldna see anyone within it anymore, but where Hayley had been was a shadow, a darkness, an echo of herself, fadin’ and then gone.
Forty-five - Magnus
They were all waitin’ when Quentin and I returned.
“What did you do?” asked Kaitlyn, as I opened the door.
“Mistress Hayley asked me tae help her repeat somethin’ that happened tae her. It involves Fraoch.”
“Wait — what? Fraoch?”
“Aye. I will go and retrieve her after a month has passed, and she will be here tomorrow. You will need tae listen tae her on her feelings for Fraoch, they are verra strong feelings.”
“What the — what?”
“Tis all I can tell ye. She likes him.” I grinned.
Kaitlyn said, “This is not, I don’t know — what? He is missing a tooth, he’s all cocky and such a fricking guy.”
I shrugged. “Mistress Hayley will see him in a verra different way.”
The rest of us gathered around the table for a final mornin’ meal, full of laughter. I teased them on the story of Hayley and Fraoch, not givin’ away too much, only tellin’ bits of it.
I dinna want tae tell them anythin’ about the future in case I changed the present. Twas complicated tae know what had happened, to have knowledge that others dinna have, Lady Mairead had warned me.
Our conversation turned to that last moment in Savannah when General Reyes ambushed us. I said, “I need tae ken all that happened when ye escaped to my Safe House in the year 2382.”
Kaitlyn asked, “When we got there, or right before we left? You don’t want to be there at the same time, right?”
“Nae, I want tae ken the final moments afore ye left.”
She explained, “Hammond was commanding your army. Roderick was attacking. Lady Mairead was there...”
Kaitlyn looked like she was attemptin’ tae remember. “It was a while ago, so much has happened since. It was scary, Roderick’s forces were at the walls. I sent Quentin and Beaty home because Beaty was sick—”
Madame Emma said, “Ben and I came home then, too.”
Kaitlyn said, “Right. Then Hayley, Zach, Lady Mairead, and I went to the guest wing looking for Bella and...” Her brow furrowed. “We went to get Archie, to get him to safety, Magnus, but someone had already gotten Bella and Archie out of the house.”
She clapped her hand to her mouth. “We’re there, but you might also be there, this all might be one big loop. You need to be so so so careful that I don’t see you, that none of us sees you.”
She added, “But also, check for Archie, if he’s there... maybe you’re...” Her eyes went distant. “Just be careful. This is treading really close to being a dangerous time loop.”
“I will be careful, but I should go.”
I took a few of the guns, a helmet, and bulletproof vest, from the supplies they gathered for their trip to get the vessels. I put on my favorite pair of boots.
I asked Kaitlyn, “What weather was it?”
“Cold in the morning, rainy.”
Quentin drove us tae the public access at the south end again, Kaitlyn accompanied me to the beach. “I’m not crying as much as I might have expected.”
“Aye ye are being verra strong for me, I appreciate it.”
Her chin trembled, tears filled her eyes. “Now I feel like an ass for crying.”
I shook m’head. “I appreciated ye are strong for me, I also appreciate that ye weep for me goin’ away. Both are needed and I thank ye for them.”
She leaned on the rail of the boardwalk. “When I think of all the times I have tried to keep you here, with me, together, and now you're telling me you have to go and I’m just...” She sighed.
“You are acceptin’ of it, because ye are tired of battlin’. I see it in your eyes.” I brushed my thumb down her cheek, dryin’ a tear that was slidin’ down her soft skin. “Tis okay tae be tired of the struggle. I prayed tae God for an answer and I found strength through his answer. I ken what has tae be done, and I will take it upon my own shoulders. Twill be okay, ye daena need tae be strong tae protect me. I wil
l do this.”
“I am, I’m so tired. I just want you to be safe and all of us to...”
“I ken, ye want peace and quiet. You deserve it, mo reul-iuil. I will make it happen for ye...”
I pulled her forward to my chest and held her tight. I kissed her hair. “I winna be gone for long.”
“Our anniversary?”
“Aye. I will be home then.”
“I’m going to watch you go...”
I backed down the deck.
She remained, smilin’ on me, leaned against the railin’, a bit of sun on the tips of her hair, whipping across her face in the breeze.
She pulled a long strand loose from her lips. “I will see you soon, Highlander, be safe, stay alive.”
I backed down the steps. “I love ye, mo reul-iuil. I will stay alive, this is nae the end of our story.”
My feet on the sand, I strode over the dunes to the beach, and looked down on my vessel.
I set it tae take me tae the year 2382. The wind rose above me.
I looked back on her for one last time. She waved. I nodded. And then I jumped.
Forty-six - Magnus
I landed in a spot about four miles beyond the Safe House. The spot had been chosen as the get away point and I had wondered if Colonel Hammond would have his eyes on it, but there was nae one tae meet me.
I lumbered tae my feet as soon as I was able, strapped my small bag tae my shoulder, set my helmet on, and began the long walk tae the Safe House.
When I neared the house, there were soldiers surroundin’ it, helicopters on the lawn, tanks and armored vehicles ridin’ the edges, and drones filled the air. Farther in the distance I could see the front line of my army fightin’ Roderick’s men — too close tae the safe house. A missile landed just tae the north, distant, but there were people inside the house. They were in danger.
I picked up my pace and as I came tae the Safe House held my hands in the air — lights blared on, blindin’ me.
Again My Love (Kaitlyn and the Highlander Book 9) Page 20
