by Multiple
She opened the diary as Callum took the seat in front of his desk. After a few moments, she looked up and found him staring at her.
“Out. Go away. Shoo. I can’t get any work done with you looking at me.”
He sighed and stood, reaching across his desk. He grabbed her by the upper arms and pulled her across the desk. Without saying a word, he gave her a kiss that sent shivers running down her spine and curled her toes. Before she could respond, he sat her back down.
“Call if you need anything, love,” he said as he walked out the door.
It took her a second to get her brain to function. Her body was still humming.
“Damned man,” she said, but she said it with a smile.
* * * *
Several days later, Callum paced the library trying to keep his temper in check. He usually didn’t have a problem with impatience. But now, he was as frustrated as everyone else. The room vibrated with it. And it wasn’t just coming from him. Everyone was on edge, even Fletcher who claimed that he didn’t think it would work.
Anice growled. “I canna believe we can’t find anything.”
“I’ve been telling you for over two hundred years you need to learn patience, cuz,” Angus said. “We’ve only been at this for a few hours. Something will come of it.”
Anice shot him a nasty look and opened her mouth, but Callum wasn’t in the mood. “Enough. Maybe you need a break.”
“I will be right back.”
“Don’t threaten me,” Angus said. Anice gave him an obscene gesture, then left them alone.
Angus didn’t say anything for a few moments, allowing the silence to stretch out. Callum knew Angus was trying to figure out how to approach him.
Angus cleared his throat. “I take it now that your relationship with Phoebe has progressed?”
Callum glanced over his shoulder at Angus. “No recriminations?”
Angus shook his head. “Not now. You’re not hiding anything from her.”
Mostly. Callum turned around to look out the window again. The fact that he hadn’t told her he loved her wasn’t exactly hiding anything from her. “So that makes everything okay?”
“Not that it’s okay. I still cannot understand the attraction.”
He snorted. “To Phoebe? You’ve got to be joking.”
“No, I mean to you. With her high intellect, I’d wonder what the draw for her would be?”
He turned around to confront his cousin, but Angus was smiling.
“Sod off,” he said in passing. He needed to get back to work.
Angus chuckled. “Can’t stay away, can you?”
He stopped and glanced at his cousin. “What do you mean?”
“Most of us are antsy because it has been several days and we haven’t found anything.”
Callum shoved a hand through his hair. “We’re all in a piss poor mood.”
“Yes, but you can’t sit still. You have to be around Phoebe all the time.”
“Not in the mood, Angus.”
“Just remember, she’s not one of us.”
“Meaning?” he asked, knowing what Angus was going to say.
“She’s not here for eternity.”
“I thought you were behind solving the curse?”
He nodded. “But what does that mean? Will we continue to live? Will we die on the spot? We have no idea.”
He wanted to argue, but he knew better. Angus might believe in breaking the curse, but he was also pragmatic. Callum shoved opened the door and walked down the hall. He had been worried about Phoebe, about what their future held. It wasn’t like him to think in those terms. The future had always been so bleak. Until Phoebe. Having her in his bed had been heaven, a kind of fantasy he never expected.
As he neared his office, he noticed the door was open, and he heard Phoebe talking.
“Mother, I said I can’t break away right now.”
She must have had the speaker on her mobile, because he heard her mother’s response. “For your hobby? Really, Phoebe, I would think that a woman of thirty years of age would learn that hobbies are best left to others. Your mind isn’t best for these kinds of things.”
The snide tone didn’t sit well with him. Callum knew it was wrong, but he inched closer to get a better listen.
“I’ve made a commitment to the Lennons.”
Without missing a beat, her mother said, “Your commitment is to this family.”
There was a pause, and he wondered if Phoebe was mad or just ignoring her mother.
“What family would that be, Mother?” Phoebe asked. Her voice was cool, but there was an edge to it.
“I’m not sure I like that tone.”
Callum heard the smallest of sighs, and he stepped closer so he could see Phoebe. What he saw, he didn’t like. As always, there was the rush of emotion that always left him a little dizzy at the sight of her. The woman was under his skin, but after these past few days, there was more. Now, he wanted to protect her from anyone, even her bitch of a mother. He couldn't remember much about his own mother. She had died so many years ago. The one thing he could remember was her acceptance and her love. Apparently, Phoebe had gotten neither from her mother.
He saw the way her head was bowed as if so tired she could barely keep it up. True, he had been keeping her up at nights, and just that thought had his body reacting. He needed her as he needed the air. He didn't like it, not one bit, but he was helpless to fight against the spell she had cast on him.
"I didn't ask if you did mother. I agreed to do this work for the Lennons. Besides, I don’t want the position."
"You could be the head of the archeology department. The youngest ever appointed in Oxford's history."
"I don't want to teach."
"Don't be absurd,” her mother said, disdain dripping from her voice. “You've wanted this your entire life."
"I did not want it. You did."
"Simon and you had talked this over."
There was a pause. "And I told him what I told you. While I do not mind doing an occasional course here and there, I am not enamored with university life."
"I don't know what the problem is. Ever since you found out about Simon’s little mistakes--"
"Mistakes? You’re calling them mistakes? I call that breaking the vows of marriage."
"I never knew you would be so bent on keeping those vows."
"So, you and father have an open marriage?"
"Don't be absurd, Phoebe. We married for love."
Callum curled his fingers into his palms and had to resist the urge to tell her mother off. He knew that Phoebe would be furious at him, and that was the only thing holding him back.
"I really must go now. I do not want the position, and don't bother me again about it."
Now it was her mother's turn to pause. Callum had the feeling that her mother wasn't used to this.
"I will call you next week."
"If you want. I'm not changing my mind. And, while you’re at it, why don't you take my name off the Ferguson dig? I think I'm going to take another few months off."
"Are you still entertaining the idea anyone in our field would care about your idiotic idea of chasing legends?"
"I really don't give a bloody hell what anyone thinks. I'm doing this for myself."
Without waiting for her mother to respond, she clicked the phone off.
"How much did you hear?" she asked without turning around.
He should have known she would know he was there. It was the same for him. "You're turning down a position for this."
She turned around and studied him.
"I guess in a way I am."
He shook his head. "It's your future, Phoebe. You shouldn't throw it away."
The moment he said the words, he wanted to call them back. He didn’t want her to leave, ever. He knew it wasn’t fair, but he wanted her by his side. For the first time in over two hundred years, he wanted a woman to be
his…forever.
"You heard about my husband?"
She had retreated behind a proper façade, and he didn't like it. He’d just realized that he loved the woman and she was pulling away from him. He knew it was out of embarrassment, but he was not going to stand for it.
"Yes."
Her shoulders slumped. "I kept it all out of the papers. With his connections to the royal family, there was always a reporter here or there trying to get a scoop."
"You knew your entire marriage?"
She shook her head. As if unable to stay still, she rose from her chair and went to the window to look out.
"I heard rumors, but I thought they were just that. Rumors. I didn't know until he was already sick. Then I was trapped."
"Trapped?"
“He was my husband, and he was given just months to live. While he might not have taken our vows seriously, I did. I could not leave him. I was tempted, especially when he realized I knew."
"Why was that?"
She sighed. It was one of the loneliest sounds he had ever heard.
"He was mad. At me, at the world, at fate." She turned to face Callum, the sadness easy to see in her eyes. Was she sad because she had lost a man to infidelity? Did she still love him? "He turned very bitter and took great pleasure in letting me know exactly why he cheated on me."
The bastard. It wasn't enough that he had cheated on a woman, but he’d spent the last few months of his life tearing her heart apart.
"It was partially my fault."
"What the bloody hell are you talking about? Why would you blame yourself?"
"I married him thinking I loved him. I was too young, too naive. But, once we married, I knew there was something missing. Love. We didn't love each other. I was infatuated for a while, but then I started to see him as he was. Petty, mean, and threatened."
"Threatened?"
"I came from a family of well-known scientists.”
“But you said he was related to the royal family.”
“While Simon was brilliant, his IQ was lower than mine. He felt inferior."
"Well he was."
She offered him a small smile. "True."
“Why did you stay?"
She shrugged. "I took vows. But my parents shamed me into it. I didn't have much of a backbone then. I did just about everything they wanted me to do. Years ago, that phone call you overheard would have convinced me to take the job. I would be packing right now."
"Your parents knew he had cheated on you but wanted you to stay there?"
She nodded. "Apparently everyone in my circle of acquaintances knew, but no one told me. And, my parents could not deal with the embarrassment of me leaving him to die on his own. So I did my duty. And I was thankful for it."
"Thankful?"
Her smile widened. "Listening to Simon bitch and moan for months on end convinced me that life was too short not to do what I wanted. By the time he died, I knew I wanted more out of life."
“Well, you got that and more with us.”
She chuckled. “That’s for sure. I guess I should get back to work.”
He knew she did have work to do. They were close to solving the curse, and any time off was just for sleeping…mainly. But, he kept seeing the way her head had bowed and her shoulders slumped when she’d been talking to her mother. He hated the sadness that still lingered in her eyes. A woman like Phoebe should only have happiness. Duty told him he should let her get back to her reading, but his soul only wanted to soothe her pain.
He stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. She came willingly. All her soft curves pressed against his as he brushed his lips over her temple. She raised her head and looked up at him. He wanted nothing more than to banish the ghosts that haunted her eyes, to pretend that this once they were just a man and a woman.
“Let me love you.”
For a moment, she said nothing. Everything in his soul told him to just take her. The need to comfort her, to show her just how he felt about her, was eating at him. But in this moment, he knew she had to make the decision.
She smiled, her face lighting up with happiness. His heart squeezed at the sight of it. He knew without a doubt she had not had much happiness in her life, and the fact that he had given it to her meant more to him than anything in his life.
"Yes."
He groaned as he bent to give her a hungry kiss, trying his best to let her know the feelings he had locked up inside of himself for so long. He picked her up and carried her to the couch.
"Callum, the door."
It was then that he realized he had left the door open. He rushed over to close and lock it and went back to her. He couldn't bear being away from her touch for too long. But he wanted to go slow, wanted to be sure to savor the moment. He had been waiting for her for centuries. He hadn't known it, but he knew now she was the one to make him complete.
His hands were shaking when he undid her blouse. It was delicate fabric and the need to tear it from her body just about took over every good intention. He leaned down to take her mouth slowly, drawing out the pleasure of the hot, wet kiss.
She moaned against his tongue then sucked it gently. His cock jumped. Lord, the woman was still dressed and she was about to undo him with a sweet gesture.
He pulled back, knowing he was about to lose himself. He couldn't. It was too important that this woman, this wonderfully special woman, was everything that was good in his life. He tugged off her shirt then undid her bra. Kissing her skin, he savored the taste of her.
He pulled off her pantyhose and panties, leaving her bare. She lay on his couch, the weak winter sun coasting over her flesh, and he sat there staring at her. He couldn't help it. He had never in his life seen something so beautiful.
In the next instant, he kissed his way down her body to her sex. Without pausing, he spread her legs and took her. Tasting her always left him slightly heady. Sassy, sweet, and so totally made for him. Over and over he assaulted her, taking the tiny bundle of nerves between his teeth. She came apart, screaming his name as she shuddered through her release.
He had wanted to draw it out, but with the taste of her passion on his tongue, he couldn't wait. He stood and undid his pants. He pulled her up and then sat down, putting her on top of his lap. She rose to her knees then wrapped her hand around his cock. She gave it one hard tug, two...
"Phoebe, by all that is holy, take me in."
She offered him a smile and slowly sank onto his shaft. Her tight passage clung to him as she moved over him, slowly, measured. Soon, her movements increased. He leaned his head back and groaned. His orgasm was approaching, but it shimmered just out of his reach.
She bent her head and kissed him, her mouth devouring his.
"Callum, look at me."
She whispered the words against his mouth.
He did as ordered and found her watching him. Her hair had started to fall down. She gyrated her hips, and he groaned. Her inner muscles tightened on his cock.
"Come for me, Callum."
Hearing her husky voice, filled with love, he lost himself. He thrust up into her, and his orgasm took over. She followed along, her orgasm seemingly being spurred on by his.
Moments later, she collapsed on top of him with a sigh of contentment. This is what he wanted, for the rest of his life. The thought gave him pause. There was no living together for the rest of his life, but dammit, he wanted it with her. He wanted to watch her grow old. And more than anything, that scared the hell out of him. He knew that one day she would die, and he would be left alone to mourn.
She raised her head and looked down at him. "Thank you."
"The feeling is mutual."
She shook her head, her expression very serious. "You make me feel sexy, lovable. I have never had that in my life."
He knew without a doubt now she was telling the truth. His throat closed up. No one in his life had said something so raw or so truthful to him before. He opened
his mouth to tell her just how he felt, but there was pounding on the door.
"Callum, open up," Angus said from the other side of the door.
"Bugger off. I’m busy," he said. Phoebe giggled and snuggled closer.
There was a pause then a chuckle that he knew was Fletcher.
"I hate to interrupt, cuz, but we might have just found one of the stones, the diamond. And, it is right here in Edinburgh."
Chapter Thirteen
Phoebe tried to repair her hair as the cousins took their seats around the room. She would probably never quit blushing. Lord, she had never been so embarrassed in her life. It wouldn't have been so bad if Callum hadn't been strutting around and acting like he owned her. He stood behind her chair, his hand on the back of it, as if daring one of his cousins to say a word.
She cleared her throat. "You said you found something."
"Yes. We found the diamond. It was fairly easy to track, so I hope that all of them are like this. Of course, it only switched hands once from what I could find."
"You found actual records?" Callum asked.
Angus shrugged. "In a way. All I had to do was know that the McWaltons were in possession of the sword years ago."
“How did they gain possession over it?" she asked, feeling slightly sick. She had broken ties with McWalton, but it didn't mean that she didn't feel guilty. More than once, she had been on the verge of telling Callum when they had been interrupted, She knew it made her a coward, but there was a chance that he would never find out. She hoped.
Angus deferred to Callum. She turned to face him and felt that familiar yearning build within her. God, she was in deep, and it was starting to scare her. At some point, the truth had to come out.
"Our grandfather was killed shortly after he sent us away. Our clan fled to safety and the McWaltons took possession of our castle for a bit. By the time they left, there was nothing of worth left. They had to have stolen the sword. Everyone in the Highlands knew about it. When the Bruce leaves you something, it tends to garner attention."
She nodded. "How did you get it back?"
"Bought it. The McWaltons have had a run of bad luck for the last two centuries. They sold off a lot of their treasures. So, I tracked it down to an antiquity dealer in London. All the jewels were missing."
