A Highlander of Her Own

by Melissa Mayhue

  He slid his hand down her arm, catching her delicate fingers in his grasp.

  His decision was made.

  “You’ll come to Dun Ard with us. Both of you. I’ll have it no other way.”

  It only seemed right Catriona should have a place in his home. She’d already found a place in his heart.

  Twenty-seven

  Some great kick-ass heroine she’d turned out to be. And puking all over the guy she had a thing for? Oh yeah, that was some attractive come-on.

  No wonder he’d sent her packing back to Dun Ard with Alycie and her brothers.

  Still, she had played a part in saving his butt. And Steafan’s.

  And even the barfing incident couldn’t be laid wholly at her feet. After all, it wasn’t every day she watched some guy die. Especially not when she had a hand in that death.

  Literally.

  The memory sent a shiver down her body and she shifted her weight on the horse she rode.

  After MacNab’s death, his men had scattered. According to Caden, the man had been claiming to be the laird of some local clan. With him gone, the outlaws who had banded together under his leadership feared having to face the legitimate clansmen.

  Dair and Alycie had patched up Steafan’s wounds as best they could, but getting him back to Dun Ard and Rosalyn’s care was apparently his only hope of survival.

  Alycie had mentioned taking him to Iona to recuperate if he survived the journey to Dun Ard, but what they’d do with him if he made it back home, Ellie didn’t know. Or much care. Since she’d learned he was responsible for Caden’s capture, she was finding it hard to be too sympathetic.

  “Karma gets you every time,” she muttered.

  “What’s that?” Dair looked back over his shoulder to where she pulled up the rear of their little group.

  “Nothing.” Ellie shook her head and looked away, knowing Steafan’s brother probably wouldn’t appreciate her sentiment.

  They’d ridden for a couple of hours, though their pace was slow and torturous thanks to Steafan’s condition.

  Caden, meanwhile, had left them at the bottom of the mountain, heading off in the opposite direction.

  Alone.

  He’d grabbed her reins as she started to follow him.

  “But I want to go with you,” she’d told him.

  “Yer to go back to Dun Ard and stay there. Dair will watch over you on the journey. You have work to do there, aye?”

  “Work? You mean the sheep? I explained to your mother how to prepare the soak. She and Drew can handle it just fine. I’m coming with you.”

  He’d gone all he-man on her then, growling about how he’d have Dair tie her to her horse and carry her home that way if she didn’t do as she was told. Frankly, after the day she’d just had, it pissed her off, so she’d ripped her reins from his grasp and turned her back on him.

  Which was, of course, exactly what the big jerk had wanted.

  She could see that now. She’d played right into his hands and missed her opportunity to do what she thought was best.

  You alpha female. Your decision. Go to him if you want. Baby walked beside her, turning his head to stare up at her.

  “I can’t,” she whispered, but considered the idea even as she spoke. “I wouldn’t have any idea how to find him.”

  Scent fresh. Baby can find.

  “I…” She bit off the word that came so automatically to her lips. She was so tired of the can’ts in her life.

  I can’t do anything about Ray. I can’t figure out what to do to get home. I can’t follow Caden.

  Well, why not? Why couldn’t she?

  Hey, she’d just killed a guy today, hadn’t she? Never mind the fact that he was trying to kill her or that she hadn’t actually done anything but hold the weapon that had done the deed. She’d been there. Right there in the thick of it, doing things that before today she would have sworn she couldn’t do.

  If she could do that, she could do anything.

  “Are you sure you can find him?”

  Waves of reassurance flowed back at her in response to her question.

  “Okay, then. That’s it.” Decision made, she pulled her reins, turning her horse to head back the direction from which she’d just come.

  “And what do you think yer doing back there, missy?” Dair brought his own mount to a halt.

  “What I should have done to start with.”

  “Wait.” Dair trotted his animal back to her side. He pulled something out of the sporran at his waist and held his hand out to her. “You’ll want this.”

  She took Sallie’s little jeweled dagger and fastened the belt around her middle. “Thank you. For this and for not trying to talk me out of going.”

  He snorted his disbelief. “As if I could change yer mind. I saw the shape upon yer breast when we prepared to go into that keep today. It’s a rose, aye? The Faerie mark, if I’m no mistaken. To my mind, that makes you more than a match for our Caden.” He grinned and pulled his horse around, rejoining his brother and sister.

  Ellie watched them moving steadily away before pressing her heels to her own mount’s sides.

  “Okay, Baby. Do your stuff.”

  She could do this, even though she worried a bit about traveling alone out here. Still, she was no city girl. For someone who’d spent as much time alone on the land as she had, riding by herself for a few hours wouldn’t be too scary.

  Not nearly as scary as worrying about what Caden would do when she showed up.

  The silver was exactly where he’d left it, lodged into the rocks at the bank of the river.

  Caden had taken it from its hiding place and started forward only to realize he didn’t want to face that section of forest this close to dark.

  Not after the day he’d had.

  He was too tired to face those memories. Both physically and mentally. He’d needed to hold off passing that way until he had a night’s rest and a full stomach. So he’d backtracked a mile or so to a place where the river veered from the path, forming a secluded spot perfect for camping the night.

  The broth simmering over his fire smelled heavenly, though it was no more than water, herbs and some dried meat. And it tasted even better than it smelled after the diet of molded bread crusts he’d been given over the past several days.

  Dair had divided out the provisions he carried, giving half to Caden before they had parted ways this afternoon. The cheese was nearly gone before he’d traveled an hour down the road.

  Thinking of that parting, Caden lost what appetite he still had. Ellie had been furious with him. Her eyes had sparked with her anger and it had torn him up to have it directed at him even though her anger had been his goal.

  He would have much rather held her in his arms as he’d done after she’d been so ill, stroking her silky black curls away from her face. He’d have chosen to keep her by his side to protect her himself if it had been possible. To tell her of his dreams while he’d been held in that rat-infested hole. Dreams of her that had helped him escape in sleep. To see those beautiful green eyes light with something other than anger when she’d looked at him last.

  But none of that was possible.

  He wouldn’t risk having her face again what she had this day. Or worse. Her anger was a small price to pay to know she was headed toward the relative safety of Dun Ard.

  Besides, she belonged to his brother. He had no right to be dreaming of her, much less telling her about those fantasies.

  He stood and wiped his hands on his shirt, wrinkling his face in disgust. He smelled like a tavern drunk after a bad night.

  And with the thoughts of what he’d put Ellie through this day on his mind, it wasn’t like he was going to be able to drift off to sleep anyway.

  Instead he headed for the river. It wouldn’t be as good as his bathhouse, but at least he’d smell a sight better.

  Thank God for the full moon.

  Ellie hadn’t counted on traveling in the dark when Baby had said he could find Caden.
She’d remember to be more specific in the questions she asked before jumping to make decisions next time.

  “How much longer?”

  Close now. Smell food.

  Caden must have set up camp for the night.

  Ellie’s stomach did that funny little nerve dance she’d been experiencing off and on since she’d made the decision to follow him. They were close. That meant she didn’t have long to prepare what to say to him, but so far she hadn’t made much progress on that. Her thoughts continued to work in a circle she didn’t like.

  She knew he wasn’t going to be happy that she’d come after him. But with him was where she felt she should be, so she’d better make up her mind about what she was going to do. About why she was even here looking for Caden.

  About why she felt the need to be at his side.

  Her heart did a double beat as she considered the big question she’d worked so hard to ignore.

  What if Rosalyn was right, that she’d been sent here to find that one special man she’d wished for? She’d certainly tried to explain her being here in other ways—saving the sheep, saving Caden.

  And yet here she was, still stuck in the Middle Ages, following some overpowering gut feeling to find the man who’d tried to send her away.

  Which brought her back to the question: What if Rosalyn was right?

  Couldn’t be. That path was too scary. It had to be something else entirely. Something so bizarre that it had the power to toss her through seven hundred years couldn’t possibly boil down to simply hooking up with some guy, could it?

  But if—and it was a big if—if it did…could Caden be that man?

  A deep breath shuddered through her body at the thought. If he was, following her path tonight should give her the answer she needed.

  It should also send her home. Home to the life she knew. Home to deal with the stepfather who was even this very minute stealing her beloved ranch.

  She physically shook the idea away even as Caden’s face danced through her mind.

  It couldn’t be Caden. Not someone she’d have no chance of spending her life with. Besides, surely the one person in the whole of time who completed her, her own Prince Charming, couldn’t possibly be someone who could make her so insanely angry on such a regular basis.

  No, Caden was her friend, the one person she’d trusted with her secret. The one person who’d trusted her with his life.

  Yeah. That was it. Her friend.

  The friend who was going to be plenty pissed when she showed up.

  And that brought her thoughts back full circle to where she had started and no closer to what she was going to say or do when she found Caden. After all, he’d already rejected her once today. What would she do if he sent her away again?

  Baby’s snort of derision rolled through her mind, jolting her like a slap to the face.

  “Exactly. What’s wrong with my brain?”

  She was looking at this all wrong. Caden couldn’t send her anywhere she didn’t want to go. She had made up her mind she was going to go where it felt right and the only place that felt right for her now was with Caden.

  Unfortunately having made that decision and knowing she’d have to tell him about that decision didn’t help the nervous stomach one bit. In fact, the circle her mind traveled felt more like a fast-moving spiral at the moment, leaving her with mental motion sickness but not a single concrete answer.

  Baby lifted his nose, scenting the air again before veering from the path and into the trees.

  Ellie’s cheeks puffed as she blew out a breath and stiffened her resolve. “Okay. I’m the alpha female. I can do whatever I want.” Maybe if she said it enough, she’d convince herself.

  A few yards into the trees, Ellie spotted the campsite. Caden’s fire burned low, the kettle hanging over it bubbling away. Obviously the source of the food Baby had smelled.

  All sat in readiness…except no Caden anywhere.

  Baby dropped by the fire, his head on his paws, asleep almost before he stopped moving.

  The thought dog tired ran through Ellie’s mind, bringing a smile to her face as she climbed down off her mount and walked him over to where Caden’s horse was tethered.

  “Hey, boy.” She stroked her hand down his horse’s neck. “Where’s Caden, huh?”

  Water.

  Unlike the reedy “voice” of the dogs, the horse’s thoughts felt deep and reverberated through her mind. The communication was much more clipped and succinct than the dogs’ way of speaking, too. All in all, not a very satisfying, or informative, conversation experience.

  Ellie stood very still and listened. In the quiet she picked out the sounds of the river nearby. Perhaps that was what the horse meant by its cryptic one-word answer?

  Only one way to find out.

  She followed the sound, making her way through the new growth of foliage and old underbrush, once again thankful for the full moon that filtered through the branches of the trees.

  Just ahead, she could see a glimmer of water.

  She pushed past a large bush and stopped at the edge of an enormous flat boulder overlooking a spot where the river turned sharply, forming a pool in the corner of the bend. The water here seemed all the more placid when compared to the flow of the river along side it.

  And there, in this idyllic spot, she found the man she sought.

  Caden stood in the center of the pool, water streaming down his bare chest in rivulets, glistening in the moonlight like trails of liquid diamonds leading down into the little waves that lapped at his waist.

  What was hidden beneath the water Ellie could only imagine. And she certainly had a well-developed imagination.

  Her hand flew to her chest as if trying to hold her rapidly beating heart where it belonged.

  Just a friend?

  What the hell had she been thinking?

  Caden had fought them at first. Fought the memories of Ellie’s soft lips against his, her gentle hands on his back, her body hot against his skin, driving him mad with need.

  But now, alone in the pool, he weakened as he always did when he thought of her.

  He plunged under the water, only half wanting the images in his mind to go away. Then he rose, letting the night’s cool breeze drive the water from his body and Ellie from his thoughts.

  But the waves didn’t cooperate. Instead they caressed his skin like silky fingers trailing around his middle, adding to the fantasy building in his imagination, stoking the fire in his loins he’d hoped to extinguish.

  Caden opened his eyes on a groan, only to find the object of his fantasy poised on the boulder at the edge of his pool, one hand over her heart.

  Not possible. The moonlight and his imagination conspired against him. He’d sent Ellie with Dair, back to the safety of Dun Ard. Back to wait for her future husband. His brother.

  The figure on the shore might be illusion, but the pain he felt at that thought was very real.

  What he wouldn’t give to have things be different.

  “Hey!” she called, and all doubt was erased. “You coming out of there anytime soon?”

  The thrill of having her so near warred with his anger at the risk she took in coming. “What are you doing here?”

  Indecision danced across her delicate features for only a moment. “You shouldn’t travel alone. You need me.”

  He needed her all right, but he’d wager not in the way she was thinking. “I’ve no a need for companions on this journey. I’m fine on my own.”

  “Right. You’ve done such a bang-up job of it so far.”

  Though he might not understand her words, he had a pretty clear idea of her intent. He wouldn’t be pulled into arguing with her. “You’ve traveled alone?”

  “Yep. Just me. And now here I am with you.”

  Anger was quickly winning the battle over his emotions. When next he saw Dair, he’d have to teach the young warrior a thing or two about doing as he was told. What had the man been thinking to allow Ellie to roam about the count
ryside unprotected?

  “First thing tomorrow, we get you back to Alasdair and on yer way to Dun Ard.” It would cost him another day’s delay, but how could he do otherwise? The look in her eyes after MacNab’s death would haunt him all his days. He never wanted her to go through such as she had in that keep this morning.

  “Just you hold on for a minute, Caden MacAlister. We have to talk about this.”

  Her hands rested on her hips in that particularly bossy stance he’d come to expect from her. It made no difference.

  “There’ll be no talking on the subject. My mind’s made up.”

  He watched as countless emotions slid across her face so quickly he couldn’t decipher them, all ending in a smile that gave him more than a little concern.

  “Made up, is it? Well, then, I guess I’ll just have to see what I can do to unmake it, won’t I?”

  He began to shake his head, but any response caught in his throat as she lifted her hands to the laces on her overdress and slowly untied them, letting the dress slide into a tumble at her feet.

  The moonlight shone through the soft white linen of her shift, making it transparent, outlining the soft curves underneath. At the very least, he fancied he could see them. Perhaps it was no more than imagination and wishful thinking.

  “What in the name of the Fae do you think yer doing?” he managed to croak out.

  In answer she kicked off her slippers before grasping the hem of her shift and lifting. Up and over her head and off to the side it billowed and floated down, as if time and motion had slowed.

  Caden swallowed against the dry throat that threatened to choke him, unable to tear his eyes from the vision standing on the boulder. Her bare skin glowed as if a stray moonbeam shone only for her.

  For a heartbeat, he felt as if he’d somehow slipped through the curtain separating the Mortal World from the Realm of Fae. Slipped to the other side, where he’d stumbled upon the Faerie Queen herself at the edge of an enchanted pool.

  He turned his back on her and scrubbed at his face, knowing that image of beauty would be burned into his mind forever, taunting him with the knowledge of what was just out of his reach.