Stirring Up Trouble: A Warlocks MacGregor Novella

by Michelle M. Pillow

  “Fight about this later. Your brother needs help, Angus.” Margareta MacGregor was a petite thing, but the way she looked up at her husband denoted who was in charge of that relationship.

  “What do ya want me to do?” Angus asked. “He is the dumbass who fell off the sled.”

  “You shot him!” Donna exclaimed. Were these people crazy or just stupid? “We need to get him to a hospital. Someone call an ambulance. Help me get him out of the snow. Now.”

  “Leave it to my Cait,” Murdoch interjected. He motioned to his wife.

  Donna frowned. What was Cait going to do? Bake a casserole? She looked like a 1950s magazine cover housewife.

  “What about her?” Iain eyed Donna.

  “What about me?” Donna demanded.

  “She called him Gus,” Margareta said. The others didn’t answer the strange observation.

  “It’s short for Fergus,” Donna mumbled absently, unsure why such a thing would be worth commenting on.

  “Are ya magick, lassie?” Angus crouched beside his brother to study her face. He slowly reached for her cheek. Donna wanted to pull away but couldn’t. Cool fingers touched her skin. His gaze stared directly into hers. It tingled where he touched her as if he physically tried to pull some truth out of her. “Did Fergus tell ya about us?”

  “There,” Margareta motioned to her face. “Her eyes.”

  Angus sighed and dropped his hand. “Aye. She has Fergus’s magick in her.”

  “Another inthrall like Lydia?” Iain asked.

  “Lydia Barratt, who married your brother?” Donna tried to follow what they were talking about. They didn’t answer her. She looked at the broken arm and then back to the family. What was going on here? “What’s an inthrall?”

  “Someone who can take our power,” Malina answered.

  “Malina,” Margareta scolded.

  “What, Ma? You’re going to make Niall and I erase her memory of this anyway.” Malina shrugged.

  “First things first.” Cait kneeled beside Fergus and placed her fingers on his arm. Donna stood and stepped away as the woman’s hands began to glow. A nearby evergreen made a strange creaking noise. The tree’s needles turned brown and started to rain gently onto the ground. The wound healed beneath Cait’s hands.

  “How…?” Donna shook her head. Cait placed her glowing fingers around Fergus’s neck. His eyelids fluttered as he awoke.

  “Ach, ya cheated! I call for another challenge,” Fergus protested, not really looking at anyone in particular.

  “Ya cannot call a challenge over an official challenge,” Angus denied.

  Fergus groaned. “How long did ya let me lie here, Cait? My arse is frozen to the ground.”

  Cait cleared her throat and looked up at Donna. Fergus followed the woman’s gaze. His smile fell some. “Donna?”

  “Gus,” she said, the word hardly audible. He pushed up from the ground, no longer injured. Cait kicked white snow over the bloodstain to hide it.

  He glanced around at his family. “How much did she see?”

  “She knows,” Angus said.

  “She’s shaking,” Cait observed. “Let’s get her inside. Iain, ya better check the border spells just in case. We don’t want any more locals wandering up here undetected.”

  “Aye,” Iain motioned to Rory. “Come help me.”

  “I’ll help too,” Malina stated, as if not wanting to be left out.

  Donna wasn’t sure what was happening. “What do I know?”

  “Magick is real,” Malina answered as she walked away.

  “Malina!” Margareta reprimanded.

  “We’re warlocks,” Malina added, clearly wishing to annoy her mother.

  “Warlocks?” Donna repeated.

  “Aye,” Fergus said. “What ya saw was just a little bit of magick. Nothing to be afraid of. It’s as natural as—”

  “Flying balls of light coming out of fingertips?” Donna inserted skeptically.

  Fergus gave a small smile. “That’s natural enough to us. Just like breathing is natural enough to ya. It’s nothing to be worried about.”

  “Get her inside,” Cait ordered Fergus.

  “Come, Donna.” Fergus took her by her arm and led her toward the house.

  “What did Malina mean when she said she was going to erase me?” Donna asked.

  “Don’t worry about that. I promise, none of them are going to do anything to ya,” he said.

  She wasn’t sure how they traveled so fast, but before she knew it they were in the front hall.

  Bright dots of light danced before her, and for a moment she thought it was magick. Her eyes focused, and she realized they were holiday lights on a fifteen-foot Christmas tree. It appeared as if someone had hired a professional decorator to stage the home. “That’s amazing decorating work. I would love to set up a photo shoot here. Everything you’ve done to restore this home is beautiful.”

  “The tree is Cait’s doing.” Fergus led her up the wide staircase to the second story.

  “She has a lot of skill.”

  “It takes her three seconds,” Fergus admitted. “She has my niece materialize the decorations from magazine pictures.” He stopped and opened a door. Light from the room shone over his form, drawing attention to his muscular body. “Should I not say such things to ya? I don’t want ya scared by talk of magick.”

  “Do I look scared?”

  “No, but I think most in your position would be.”

  “I don’t feel scared. I feel…” Donna looked him over, a little dazed. “You’re naked.”

  “Aye.” He opened the door wider to let her inside the room.

  Donna glanced in. “That’s a bedroom. You’re naked, and that’s a bedroom.”

  “Aye.” Fergus grinned.

  She let loose a long breath. “Good.”

  Chapter 6

  Fergus hadn’t expected Donna to kiss him. Mortals normally couldn’t handle learning about magick. The old witch trials were proof enough of that.

  The shock of female hands against his naked flesh made him forget reason. He wanted her terribly, was starved for intimate contact. The ache inside him unfurled from a place of longing and denial. His mind focused on the soft glide of her touch over his chest. He couldn’t have stopped her if he wanted to. The woman held him spellbound more so than pure magick ever could.

  The cold plastic of the camera body bumped into him, and the reality of it pulled him from his daze. Donna leaned back. Her heavy breath punctuated the air between them. She lifted the camera strap over her head and set the equipment on the floor. “Why are you in my head?”

  “I think…” Fergus didn’t really have an answer. “I think maybe ya are under a spell? Or ya absorbed my magick? That is why you’re not frightened by the knowledge of my clan.”

  “Or there is something very real between us. I don’t feel as if I should be frightened. I feel as if this is all meant to be happening.” Donna touched his face and trailed her finger over his lip. “I haven’t been able to think of anything else since you kissed me. I blew a photo shoot this morning because I was up all night baking you cookies. I honestly don’t know why I keep trying to bake. It’s like some strange urge overtakes me and I’m suddenly standing in front of the oven. Even now, there is something in me that wants to feed you.”

  “Do ya like me or are ya trying to kill me, lassie?” he teased.

  “I’m not sure. Kiss me again and we’ll find out.” Donna didn’t wait for him to obey her request. She pulled his face to hers and kissed him.

  Fergus let his magick roll out of him and over her. Though centuries had passed since he’d been with a woman, some instincts remained. In many ways, it was as if time had not progressed. The primal feelings were as real as the day he’d suppressed them. Donna’s kiss woke him up inside, feeding his hungry soul and arousing his dead heart.

  Her clothing melted from her body, pooling around her feet. She gave a small gasp as he ran his hands down her naked sides. Magick hea
ted his fingertips and small trails of blue light spread over her flesh. It tingled between them, connecting them. If their bodies pulled away from each other threads of light kept them joined.

  “I want to make love to ya,” he whispered.

  “I thought that is what you were doing,” she answered playfully.

  Still, Fergus needed to be respectful and honest. “I can’t marry ya, lass.”

  The words caused a flow of emotions inside him. He hated the honesty in them.

  “I respect that,” Donna said. “I didn’t think this was a proposal.”

  Marriage was the last thing on Donna’s mind though she could easily admit she didn’t really like hearing the statement. Her head swirled with a combination of desire and intrigue. She looked down to where his magick joined their chests and shoulders. It moved in pulsing threads of soft light between them. The sensation was like nothing she’d ever felt.

  When she looked into his eyes, she didn’t fear him. She was apprehensive of the unknown, of a world of magick and warlocks, but she didn’t fear him. Ever since she was a girl, she’d believed in the unseen, had daydreamed of fairies dancing along fence posts, and trolls living at the bottom of the old well. Until now, she hadn’t had any proof, but she’d always felt there was more to the world than science could explain.

  As to sex, she was hardly a prude. She had felt the pull of him from that very first moment, a magnetic force that had drawn her to his home, and then to him. A logical mind could analyze what was happening. A fearful heart could find reason to run. Donna couldn’t think logically, and her heart was not filled with fear.

  Touching him felt right as if the joining of flesh was what the universe wanted. A dormant piece of herself awoke in a rush of adrenaline. Kissing him was like jumping off a cliff. Touching him was like being beneath a magickal waterfall. Her heart beat a hard rhythm.

  Donna took his hand and led him to the bed. She could feel the desire in him as if it were her own. He wanted her but was holding back.

  “I want this,” she whispered between kisses. “I want you.”

  In that instant, his hands went from hesitant to bold. She made a small sound of surprise as he lifted her up and tossed her on the bed. Within seconds, he was climbing over her. The firm mattress molded along her back as she was pressed into its depths. The glide of flesh against flesh, aided by his powers, cocooned her in pleasure. Nothing outside of this moment mattered. Fragmented thoughts filtered through her mind—the flash of her camera, the sound of a horse’s hooves, the clang of metal, a distant shout. Some of the images made little sense, and she could only assume they somehow came from him.

  A deep ache filled her with longing until they were both desperately trying to join. She needed him and felt his need for her. Strands of blue and gold moved over his pupils as he stared into her eyes. It seemed a very long moment before he brought his arousal to brush against her. Seconds ticked by like minutes.

  “I want to savor ya,” he whispered.

  “You think too much, Gus,” she answered.

  “Aye, so I’ve been told.”

  Donna pushed his shoulder and forced him onto his back. She straddled his waist, bringing his erection against her sex. Unlike him, she did not slowly savor the moment. She took it hard and fast, fulfilling the desperation growing inside her.

  Donna impaled herself on his shaft. He groaned, grabbing her hips to keep her moving on top of him. The magick trails left their skin, floating above them like Northern Lights along the bedroom ceiling. The rhythm of their bodies continued, the movement undulating the current of the lights like waves on the ocean surface.

  Color reflected over his handsome face and muscled chest. He skimmed his hands over her breasts and hips, touching as much as he could reach. She rocked faster, the pleasure building. Donna pressed her hands to his chest, steadying herself as she leaned in for another kiss. He slipped his tongue past her lips, triggering their release. She came hard, tensing and jerking with uncompromising force.

  She collapsed onto the bed next to him as the tremors subsided. The lights over them began to fade. “I think I can get used to this magick thing, Gus.”

  “What makes ya call me that, lass?”

  “Gus?” She chuckled. “I’m not sure. You just seem like a Gus to me. Do you mind?”

  “No, call me whatever ya like.”

  Chapter 7

  Donna’s mind drifted with thoughts as she lay between wake and sleep. Fergus kept her locked in his naked embrace, his muscles tightening anytime she moved as if he was worried she would leave him. Sexual release had brought deep relaxation. Her active mind quieted. Her bones felt like liquid encased in sedated muscles.

  “What is a challenge on a challenge, and why can’t you make one?” she asked.

  “Ya just learned there is magick in the world, and that is the question ya have for me?” Fergus skimmed his fingers over her hip.

  Donna chuckled. “Yeah.”

  “The MacGregor games have been going on for a long while now. Sporting events are whatever the terrain and weather allow. There are very few rules, but if ya use magick and it goes awry, a side challenge is wagered before everyone can continue on with the game. If ya don’t do it, ya do not advance. I will not explain the point system to ya, but there is an enchanted scroll where the tally is kept. When the games started nearly three hundred years ago, we had no limit on the number of official side challenges as they related to the game, until side challenges became side challenges, which became more side challenges. The main game was never played, and the points could not advance. So about two hundred years ago, Cait decreed no more than one level of official side challenges. Unofficial wagers can be issued at any time by any MacGregor and are more or less like challenges.”

  “Did you just say Cait is over two hundred years old?” That piece of knowledge caused Donna’s relaxed body to awaken fully, and she sat up on the bed. Being naked in front of him didn’t bother her. The movement caused the covers to slide down his chest.

  “She is not that young, but I’ll be sure to tell her ya think so. Women seem to enjoy the idea of their youth.” Fergus wrapped his fingers around her forearm to keep her from moving farther away from him.

  Donna accepted his answer. The breadth of his family, of history and time, made her feel very small. “And how old are you?”

  “My nephews would say I was born at the dawn of time.”

  “So…” She studied his handsome face. He looked mid-thirties, possibly forties at the oldest. “What? You’re like a thousand?”

  “Och, no.” Fergus laughed. “A little over seven.”

  “Seven hundred?”

  He nodded.

  She continued to stare, waiting for him to make some kind of indication he was joking. He did not. Donna hummed softly. “So I guess that would make us a May-December romance?” She gave a small laugh. “More like a BC-AD romance.”

  He arched a brow.

  “BC-AD. Before Christ-Anno Domini?” She clarified. “As in dates. Like the year 456 BC.”

  “Oh, I understood, lass, but it was cute to watch ya mind work as ya tried to explain it.” Fergus chuckled. He reached a finger to trace the bottom curve of her breast.

  “You could at least pretend I’m funny.” Donna hit him lightly on the leg. “So what other kinds of challenges do you issue?”

  “Ya saw naked sledding. There’s naked rafting, boxing, caber tossing, haggis tossing, brother hurling, shinty, curling, pub crawling, cheese rolling, levitation…” He chuckled. “Though, as I said, a MacGregor challenge can be called anytime inspiration strikes a family member. The last wager was a cake eating competition that involved males against females. The men won.”

  “That hardly seems fair,” Donna observed. “I’ve only seen three females, and there’s what? Like a hundred of you MacGregor males living here?”

  “We are a large family, to be sure, though not quite a full hundred. The clan likes to stick together. It’s saf
er that way. I like this house. It’s big enough that if my nephews and nieces finally marry, they can being their partners here.”

  “Your brothers are married. Why aren’t you?” She knew the question was a little prying, but that didn’t stop her from asking it.

  “Raibeart is not married,” Fergus said.

  “Who?”

  “My oldest brother.”

  Donna studied his face. She ran her hand up the center of his chest and then back down again to rest on his stomach. “You said you couldn’t marry me.” Suddenly feeling very exposed, she pulled the bedding to cover her naked body. “It’s because you already have a wife, isn’t it?” She moved away from him, taking the covers with her as she stood by the bed. “That’s it, isn’t it? The reason you were surly toward me. You didn’t want to be attracted to me because you’re married.”

  Fergus didn’t speak.

  “What’s her name?” Donna felt a little sick. She believed in the sanctity of relationships and had never been with a married man.

  “Elspeth,” he whispered.

  Elspeth.

  The single word kicked her in the gut.

  Donna couldn’t look at him. All the happiness from the moments before drained out of her limbs to leave her tense. Her chest ached, a stabbing, sharp pain that did not lessen with deep breaths. “Where is she?”

  “I buried her along the border of England and Scotland in the winter of 1591.”

  Donna closed her eyes. The fact she wasn’t the other woman should make her feel better, but in reality, what he said was much worse. She would have a chance against a living woman, but a ghost he’d been holding on to for hundreds of years? No. There was no competing against that kind of memory. The fact he still said he was married meant his heart was trapped.

  “Tell me about her?” Donna whispered. Why was she torturing herself? The ache grew worse. She found she couldn’t move. She merely stood wrapped in the bedding that smelled of him.

  “She was lovely, untarnished. One of those souls that instantly knew the right thing to do no matter how hard it was. She was always smiling. She loved the kitchen. Everyone loved it when she cooked. People would make excuses to come by the house during meal times. No matter how little she had for her pot, she would always share it.”