Distracted By The Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance (Highlander Forever Book 4)

by Rebecca Preston

  "I'm sorry," Liam said, sounding alarmed. "Kay, I'm so sorry — I had no idea you were so … you just seem like you're settling in, I thought…"

  She couldn't speak — she was too busy fighting the tears, and to no avail. They were pouring down her face, making her shoulders shake… and then Liam had his arms around her, pulling her into a warm embrace that was so comforting and so reassuring that she felt like her whole body was melting. She let herself go, just for a moment — let herself sob in his arms, her face against his broad chest… he held her close, murmuring soothing things into her ear that she realized with a start must have been in Gaelic — she couldn't understand a word of what he was saying. Nor did she care. It was so nice just to be held close like this… she couldn't remember the last time someone had touched her like this. A human someone, not an animal… and when her sobs finally began to taper off, she couldn't tell whether she felt better because of the catharsis of crying, or Liam's strong arms around her.

  He released her a little, letting her move back just enough for him to look down at her face. With a surprising gentleness, he reached one hand to her face, carefully brushing away an errant tear with the side of his thumb. She was acutely aware that they were alone together, that nobody knew that they were here, that he was closer to her than he'd ever been before… and from the look in his eyes, he was thinking the exact same thing too. Her heart was pounding … his face was getting closer, and closer… and then their lips brushed in a kiss that was so sweet, so gentle, that she almost thought that she'd imagined it. Only the smile on his face told her that it hadn't been a dream.

  Later that night, lying in bed, she revisited that moment over and over, a broad grin on her face in the darkness. Probably a terrible idea, all things considered… but God, kissing him had felt like magic. For the first time since she'd gotten there, she'd actually felt good. Not scared, confused, or out of place… but like she belonged there.

  What did that mean?

  Chapter 39

  She had a decent sleep, fraught with rather inappropriate dreams about Liam, and she woke the next day feeling cautiously optimistic. She and Liam had agreed to go for a daylight ride to the swamp — she'd never actually been to the wisps' habitat, and there might be something to learn from the place that the creatures lived. At the very least, it was a nice excuse to spend some time with him… and she had a feeling that if she spent another minute staring at those ancient books, she was going to lose her damn mind.

  They'd agreed to meet at the stables after breakfast, but he was nowhere to be seen. Kay wandered up and down the stalls idly, not wanting to get Shadow out of her stall any earlier than she needed to, especially if Liam had been delayed. She found herself down the end of the stable block, where the castle's blacksmith had a little anvil set up. For most of their smithing work, the people of the castle used the blacksmith who lived locally in the village, but it was useful to have a smith on site as well, for times — like the tremendous storm they'd had — that reaching the village wasn't a possibility.

  The blacksmith was whistling when she wandered by, and he gave her a brief smile as he looked up from his work. She greeted him cheerfully — like the grooms, he was one of the guys she'd gotten to know pretty well with all the time she'd been spending in the stables. He was a quiet man, more dedicated to his craft than to other people, but he always had a smile and a kind word for anyone who disturbed him.

  "What are you up to today?"

  "Dealing with the rust," he chuckled, gesturing to the pail in front of him. It was full of what looked like a tangle of rusted metal… but she recognized at least a few of the tools. "Got this pail from the smith in the village. He said it had been hidden under a table for months — the fault of his apprentice, it seems. Wouldn't have liked to be there for that particular conversation. Bet the lad's still smarting."

  Kay laughed, watching the man's work with idle curiosity. He was taking each tool then running over it with a file, scraping a considerable shower of rusted iron from each surface, collecting the filings in another pail that sat by the pail of tools. Once the rust had been removed, he rubbed oil into the tool, presumably to protect it from any more rust. There was something soothing about it, about watching the rusted tools be transformed into smooth, functional iron again.

  And there was something about the bucket of rusted filings that was catching her eye, making her frown… something interesting about it. Something that made her want to —

  "Kay! There you are."

  Liam was behind her, hastening up the aisle with that gorgeous smile dancing in his eyes. She grinned as she turned, a blush rising to her cheeks — they hadn't exactly discussed the kiss they'd shared the night before, but she had a suspicion that it meant something to him as well as it did to her. He swept her into a hug, which surprised her, but with the blacksmith standing so close he seemed to think better of kissing her again. He cleared his throat, a rueful look on his face.

  "I'm afraid I'm going to have to postpone our ride today," he said, sounding legitimately apologetic. "The Laird and I got talking over breakfast — I mentioned the trip we're planning to take to the swamp, but he felt it was too dangerous while the wisps are out in such force."

  "It's broad daylight," Kay said blankly. "I thought they only came out at night?"

  "We're not sure," Liam said regretfully. "Which is why Donal's sending a group of armed guards over to investigate. We'll take iron weapons and fire… I'll be going along with them," he added, clearly catching her frowning at him. "I'm sorry, Kay. I'd suggest you come along too, but —"

  "But I don't know one end of a sword from another," she said irritably. Brendan had said as much when she'd offered, in a panic, to help with keeping watch for wisps — it was important to know how to fight when it came to these creatures. "Do you really think they might be coming out during the day? It would make sense, if they were getting desperate for more food…"

  "Aye. Honestly, I think this is a hunting mission that's more about making the men feel powerful than it is about doing much against the wisps. I'm hoping we can kill a few. I think it'll make the men feel better about their lost comrade."

  She sighed, thinking back to the grief that was still permeating the very walls of the castle. "Yeah, that makes sense. Alright. Well. Look after yourself, okay?" she said firmly, taking hold of his arm. "These things are powerful. I don't know whether the hypno-lights work during the day, but make sure you're careful." She frowned. "That being said… if you can bring back a dead one, that might be helpful for figuring out better ways to deal with them."

  "I'll do my best," Liam said firmly as they headed back down the row of stalls toward the courtyard. A grin spread across his face. "Is this how courting generally goes, where you're from? Do you ask your courtiers to bring you dead monsters as signs of their affection?"

  She couldn't help but laugh at that, blushing deeply as she looked up at him. "That's got nothing to do with it," she managed, wishing she was wittier.

  He tipped her a wink that made her heart flutter… and then he was gone, striding across the courtyard to where a group of guards were already assembled, grim-faced and clearly looking forward to a day of hunting.

  But she couldn't help but worry, just a little, as she watched them all ride out half an hour later. It seemed rather rash, charging right into the swamp where the wisps made their home. Sure, they were all armed with iron, and they were probably the most experienced men on the planet when it came to fighting supernatural creatures like the wisps… but still, she worried about them. Worried especially about Liam. What if he was hurt… or worse, lured away from the group by the wisps? She wished she'd spent more time with him, wished she'd told him more about how she felt… but she tried to steady herself, taking a few deep breaths. He knew how to handle himself. She knew that. She just had to trust that he and the other men would be able to take care of themselves and of one another.

  And with any luck, they'd learn something usef
ul about the wisps while they were doing it.

  Chapter 40

  She spent an anxious day, trying to make herself useful in the stables as a way of keeping her mind off things. The grooms were supportive and friendly, clearly excited about whatever secret plan they thought she must have for dealing with the wisps… she didn't have the heart to tell them that she was completely at a loss. All she had was a niggling obsession with the bucket of rust shavings that the blacksmith had been filling with what he was filing off the tools he was cleaning. That was iron, wasn't it? Rusted iron was still iron… Maggie wrinkled her nose with just as much distaste at rust as she did at clean iron. That meant … was there some way of weaponizing it?

  Because it seemed clear that the wisps were all but allergic to iron. Not a single horse had been so much as injured by the wisps… even when their riders had been lured by the lights, it had always been after they'd climbed down from the back of the horse. She knew horseshoes were all made of iron… could that have something to do with it? They were protected by the iron on their feet. In that case… was it possible to do something similar for the people of the area?

  She raised the subject with the blacksmith while she was taking a break from mucking out stalls, but Oliver only shook his head.

  "Iron's in rather short supply in this area, I'm afraid," he said softly. "It's in high demand for horse shoes and for weapons as it is… and what with the Fae causing trouble every other month, people are desperate to hang onto any amount of it. You'll see it in the village — pieces of iron nailed up on every available surface. Even Father Caleb has a few cold iron crucifixes about the place. Kind of doubling up on protection," he said with a chuckle. "But no — I can't see any way to distribute a piece of iron to every man, woman and child around."

  "Shame," she said softly. "Anything that would protect people would be useful…"

  "From what I've heard, I don't know that simply having a token on you would help. The creatures simply hypnotize you into dropping it. Didn't the castle guard who was lost have an iron dirk sitting in his lap when he was taken?" The blacksmith set aside the tool he was polishing and drew another from the bucket of still-rusted tools, sighing heavily. "Exterminating the pests seems the only option."

  "Which we need iron for," Kay sighed. It seemed impossible. Still, she waited with bated breath for Liam and the rest of the guards to get back from their hunting trip. Maybe they'd bring some new information for her to work through.

  And return they did… just before sunset, looking a great deal more bedraggled than they had when they'd set off. Kay headed out to meet them as soon as she saw them coming along the bridge to the castle, her eyes widening with excitement to see them… but as soon as she reached the courtyard, she could tell something was wrong. The group was disconsolate, ragged — and as the men came into view, she realized that half of them were sporting injuries.

  Liam dropped down off his horse and staggered a little — she was so relieved to see him that she rushed to his side, but her relief was quickly replaced by a new kind of worry when she looked at him properly. His left arm was hanging by his side, alarmingly limp, and as she looked at him, she could see that he was covered in scratches and bites, for all the world as though he'd been attacked by something with needle-sharp claws...

  "Your arm," she said, automatically dropping into triage mode as she looked him over. "What's wrong with it? Did you break it? Dislocate it?" She was already trying to figure out how to pop a human shoulder back into place. She knew how to do it for a range of animal species, and the skeletal structure wasn't really so different in the end — but he was shaking his head.

  "Not broken, not dislocated. Wisp sting. I can't move it," he admitted — and now she looked at it, she saw that it had been put into a makeshift sling.

  "It's paralyzed?" she said, staring up into his face with horror.

  He nodded, looking worried — and she took a deep breath, reminding herself that what was important was how the patient was feeling, not how worried she was. So she forced herself to smile at him. "That's okay. I know there are some stings and bites that cause temporary numbing and paralysis. It generally wears off after a while — how are you feeling otherwise?"

  "Fine," he said, shrugging. "All things considered, I'm doing okay. We all are. There are… there are a lot more of them than we thought," he said bleakly.

  "Injuries?"

  "This old fool's the worst of us," Brendan broke in, striding up beside the two of them with a mixture of mirth and worry on his face. "He took the brunt of the attack. Just scrapes and bruises, the rest of us — but we didn't do much damage to them, I'm ashamed to say."

  "At least everyone made it back safe," Kay said, shrugging.

  Brendan nodded, the sadness in his face never far from the surface. It was clear that he'd taken the loss of his guard extremely hard.

  "Aye, that we did."

  "Liam, let me clean your wounds for you? You're going to have a hell of a time doing it one-handed." Besides, she thought to herself, she wouldn't mind an excuse to spend a little more time with him… after all, they had a few things to figure out about the nature of their relationship, especially with their date today having been cancelled. Still, she couldn't feel especially romantic about cleaning a man's wounds as they headed inside, headed for Liam's quarters. She stopped a servant on their way up, requesting hot water and clean washcloths to be brought up to his chambers, and the servant nodded, clearly very curious about what had been going on.

  "The guards have been fighting the wisps," she offered, and the servant smiled brightly, clearly pleased by that. She didn't have the heart to mention that the fight hadn't exactly gone well.

  Liam's chambers surprised her — they were large and airy, and neatly kept. Somehow, she'd been expecting a messy bachelor pad like her ex boyfriend's… but this place was very pleasant to be in. She sat Liam down at his table and gently eased the armor away from his body, clicking her tongue at just how many scratches and bites she was finding. With a fire crackling in the hearth, the room was warm enough for him to unclothe his top half completely, and she tried to maintain professional decorum as her eyes tried to roam across his torso…

  Who said there weren't any perks to playing nurse?

  Chapter 41

  It wasn't long before a couple of servants brought the hot water she'd requested, and she set about cleaning up Liam's wounds. She started with the cuts and scrapes, cleaning dried blood and dirt away from them carefully, all too aware of how unpleasant an infection could get. Unprompted, one of the servants had also brought a little pot of what looked like salve… she sniffed at it, unsure of the ingredients and a little wary until Liam chuckled.

  "That's one of Maggie's. A recipe she kindly shared with the herbalists here. Not magic, but close to. Plants that help healing, so she said. Burns a little, but the men swear by it for scrapes and cuts."

  She nodded, thoughtful. There were all kinds of plants and herbs that had analgesic as well as antiseptic properties… she wouldn't be surprised if this recipe of Maggie's had a little of both in it, if it did such a good job of easing pain and keeping wounds clean. Working carefully — she'd made sure to wash her hands before she started tending to Liam's wounds — she put the salve on each cut and scrape and bite mark, grinning as he suppressed the urge to wince.

  "My mother used to put iodine on all our grazes." She chuckled. "Stung like hell and looked ridiculous. I always tried to hide it from her when I got hurt, but she always knew."

  Those injuries dealt with, she turned to the thing that was worrying her most — Liam's limp arm. She gave it a cursory inspection, lifting and maneuvering it to make sure that nothing was broken or dislocated. Sure enough, it was working just fine… aside from the fact that he couldn't move it. Kay bit her lip, reaching out with one fingertip to tickle the palm of his hands — and then she saw it. A minute curl of his fingers. Just enough to reassure her that the paralysis wasn't permanent… and Liam seemed
relieved when she explained it to him.

  "I mean, it's a good sign that you've got some feeling in it, too." Liam had explained that the arm felt numb and tingly, but he was still aware of pressure and sensation in the limb, if in a muted way.

  "It's feeling different from when I got back, too," he said thoughtfully. "I think the sensation's coming back, just very slowly."

  "That's good news. And as much as it's a terrible way to find anything out… well, it does give us some useful information about the wisps. We know they have a paralyzing sting. That's probably how they were able to immobilize their prey before… well. Skeletonizing it."

  Liam shuddered, and she took his hand in hers — his right hand, the one that wasn't numb, and he squeezed her hand with a smile. "Awful creatures," he said softly. "Like great insects, buzzing about in the air. So quick — almost impossible to hit with a sword or a dirk, no matter how hard we tried."

  "We'll figure something out," Kay promised him, a frown lingering on her face. "I promise." But he was still holding her hand… and she was acutely aware that they were alone together again, that they had a lot of unspoken tension still remaining to be worked out, that he was shirtless and incredibly handsome and that her body had been screaming at her basically since she'd seen him climbing down off that horse that she wanted a little more of what they'd started the night before in the stables…

  This time, when he kissed her, it was a lot less gentle… not rough, but certainly forceful, a dormant passion that felt like it swept her legs out from under her even though she was sitting down. Before she knew it, she'd closed the gap between them, moving in close to him where he was sitting by the table, her hands on his bare shoulders as their kiss deepened. Before she knew it, he'd risen to his feet, and she was on tiptoes before him, his hand on her waist… and she uttered a squeak of surprise when he lifted her up, carrying her effortlessly toward the bed despite having to do it one-armed. Torn between desperate, frantic desire that was pounding in her chest and her concern for him, she hesitated as he lowered her to the bed… and seeming to sense it, he broke away a little, his eyes attentive even though they were clouded with lust…