His body tensed and he dropped his hand. “What did ye just say ta me?”
“Oh, so now you’ll just what? Sacrifice yourself for them? They are already gone. If you stay to avenge them you will surely die.”
“Aye, mayhap but it would be for something worthy.”
“What could be more worthy than your own life?” she argued, feeling desperate.
“Lass, ye are,” he said softly, reaching up to lay his hand on her face.
Paige grabbed hold of his hand. “No.” She shook her head. “I won’t let you.”
“Ye do not have much choice in the matter.”
“I got you into this mess and I’m not going anywhere without you.”
“Shhh, lass,” he sighed, caressing her face with his thumb. “We don’t have much time.”
Face to face, eye to eye…they stared at one another in the darkness. She reached up to his face, feeling the hard angles of his jaw, his thick lashes, the sweeping curve of his brows, his nose, his lips… “I love you.”
“Aye, I know,” he breathed.
Holding her face in his hands, he leaned down and touched his lips to hers. The kiss was painstakingly sweet…a good-bye kiss.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
LOCH MORAR, SCOTLAND
Sometime during the reign of King James
A flickering torch light headed toward the entrance of the cave.
Gavin jerked away and pushed Paige behind him. “They are coming.”
“Who?” she asked, she was still reeling from his kiss.
“Och, lass, the men who want ye to die.”
“What?” She couldn’t believe it. Or rather, she didn’t want to believe it.
“Listen to me, lass,” Gavin said quickly. “I will create a diversion. When I do, ye need to run. Run like the hounds of hell are chasing ye.” He grabbed her arms and dragged her down into the water with him.
Paige gasped.
The water felt like ice.
“Lass,” he said, shaking her.
Her head rattled on her shoulders as water lapped higher on her legs, nearly touching her thighs.
“I don’t want to go out there.
“Och, lass, I know. But we don’t have much choice in the matter. If we stay we will drown. I think we should take our chances with the men. Mayhap I can talk some sense into Shamus if he is out there. He isn’t a bad man, just desperate.”
“That doesn’t sound very reassuring to me,” she told him. Desperate people make bad choices all the time. So what was stopping him from making another bad choice and feeding her to some monster? He didn’t know her, and he certainly didn’t owe her anything. To him she was just another witch—even though she wasn’t. But how did one go about making someone from the past see that?
“It will be all right.” Gavin took her freezing fingers into his own, squeezing them reassuringly.
♦
Muir and Callum climbed quickly over the rock-laden beach to the front of the cave along with Graham and Alec.
They had barely escaped death.
It was coming for them, or so Callum had thought when he woke to the God-awful noise of branches creaking in the early hours of the morning.
Feeling sick from too much drink he went to the door to relieve himself, and that is when he spotted the men…the ones he didn’t know, throwing ropes over the branches of the tree. Luckily, he had the wherewithal to pull Muir, as heavy as he was, off into a small room in the back. Head pounding, he went back for Graham and then Alec, but after that, it was too risky to get the other men.
Staying in the shadows, he waited for them to wake, holding his sword at the ready, while witnessing the foul deed Broderick was doing to the other men.
Och, he held his stomach. He was sure he going to be sick watching. Somehow, he had kept his food down. Broderick, the rotten traitor, pulled the last of the men from the hall; Callum then quickly roused Muir, Alec, and Graham. They were unsteady on their feet but Callum had spurred them along with dire warnings of what was to come if they didn’t move their arse’s a little faster.
“Muir, why is it so dark in here?” Callum asked, stumbling over the rocks blocking the entrance.
“Because it is dark,” Muir snapped.
“I know it is dark,” Callum interjected. “Think ye would be a wee bit kinder since I saved your arse not too long ago.”
“Och, Callum, why do ye keep reminding me.” Muir clutched his stomach. Whatever drug Broderick had given them was working its way through his innards.
“Muir, stop bickering with Callum and get on with it,” Alec said in a harsh whisper.
“See Muir,” Callum said. “At least Alec is grateful to me.”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t grateful…”
“Ye didn’t say ye were…”
“For the love of God, just be quiet,” Graham commanded.
“But…”
“He told ye to be quiet, Callum,” Muir added his two cents.
“Och, Muir, ye were talking as well,” Callum complained.
“Both of ye shut yer mouths before someone hears ye.” Alec pushed past them, holding the torch aloft inside the cave.
“Laird,” he called into the darkness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
LOCH MORAR, SCOTLAND
Sometime during the reign of King James
“Thank the blessed Saints above, they are alive!” Gavin made the sign of the cross over his chest.
Paige did too, just to be on the safe side.
Grabbing her hand, Gavin pulled her along through the rising tide towards the entrance where the men were waiting.
Once outside, Gavin stood off to her left, saying a few words to his men.
Paige leaned to the left, trying to listen but the howling wind carried it away. Giving up, she bent over and pulled off both of her shoes. Sand and debris settled in the bottom of each. She shook one out and then the other. Hating to do it, but knowing she couldn’t very well walk on the rocks she put her sopping shoes back on her feet and stood back up. She turned to see what Gavin and the men were doing and that is when she saw the four men running up the steep rocky incline away from them. “Where are they going?”
“Ta see what we are up against and try to find some more weapons.” He slid the sword Callum gave him into the side of his belt and then shoved a short-handled knife down into his boot from Muir… the only weapons they had.
“Shouldn’t we be going with them?”
“Nay. We would only slow them down.” He lied. He didn’t bother telling the lass the truth that he was sending his remaining men on a fool’s errand knowing full well they wouldn’t be back in time. But that was fine by him. At least this way he could save four of his men, something he had failed to do with the others. He thought about Morgan and his stomach twisted. He had failed his friend and he would never forgive himself.
“I would not…” she started but then thought about how wet her clothing was. “ Well,” she said. “I get why I might slow them down,” she admitted. “But what about you?”
She shivered as the wind picked up more strength and pushed against them.
He gave her a curious look. “Lass, I took quite a beating from Broderick and his men.” That was true enough, he thought, taking a shuddering breath.
“Laird…”
“Och, lass, I told ye not ta call me that,” he snapped as a pained expression crossed his face.
“Gavin, then,” she said, quickly, feeling terrible once again. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how he felt. Knowing what happened to his men. “What are we going to do?”
He stared off into the distance, and she could tell by the resolute expression on his handsome face that her time here was running short.
In the cave, Gavin told her of the mist and that he wanted her to leave. To go back home, where she belonged, he had said.
But what if she didn’t want to go home now? What if she wanted to stay? Sure, it hadn’t turned out to be the vacat
ion she thought it would be, but there were definite perks to this timeframe too. There was no competition to speak of. At home, women were in abundance and it was hard enough to get a man and harder still, to keep them. She had learned that hard lesson many times over.
So needless to say, being here, where she was pretty much the only woman to speak of, she was rather enjoying the attention, not to mention the other perks of being in the past. Sure, she missed, sweatpants, movies and food, but on a whole this wasn’t so bad.
And now, she had to leave because of some stupid treasure that probably didn’t even exist. The men hanging from the tree pushed into her thoughts and she pushed them right back out. She couldn’t think of them right now or she would surely lose what little self-control she still had.
And even though she was putting up a brave front, she couldn’t stop herself from trembling. As she looked over at Gavin, she couldn’t help but notice how calm he seemed. It was not a good sign. It was as though he had resigned himself to his fate before the battle had even begun.
“See lass, the moon is full, just as I knew it would be.” He reached out and wrapped his arm securely around her shoulders.
The full moon he spoke of was shining down on his face, illuminating his resolute expression with an eerie glow.
Paige pressed her head against his shoulder knowing no matter how far she traveled, she would never be able to forget him. A deep sadness settled on her, squeezing against her chest and once again, she had a hard time taking the slightest bit of air into her lungs. Wrapping her arms more securely around his waist…she waited for the inevitable to come.
♦
Gavin didn’t move much and she couldn’t help but wonder if he was in more pain then he let on. His expression was resolute as he stared off across the glassy surface of the Loch as the mist slowly crept closer.
Lifting his hand, he smoothed it over her hair and then kissed the top of her head. She snuggled deeper into his arms, coming to a decision. If the mist came for her, she was going to make sure he went with her. Now all she had to do was figure out how.
“Gavin…” He looked down at her.
“You know I love you, right?”
“Aye, I can see that you do.” His expression did not change but his body tensed against hers.
A slow churn started in her belly, twisting, and clenching, waiting for him to say something back but he stayed silent.
Gavin knew he should say something. Tell her he loved her too but he couldn’t bring himself to utter those words. Not now at least. His mind chided him, if not now than when? He knew he may not get another opportunity but found himself not able to say the words aloud he had sworn he would never say to another, ever again. The problem, as it always was, in matters such as this, his heart had other ideas and he found he may have to break the promise he made so long ago to another. As he looked down into the face of the woman who had become his friend, and then his lover, he realized that even though he did indeed love her, he may have to let her go, except even as he thought it, he didn’t want to. He didn’t think he could, so instead of saying anything, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers for what would surely be the last time.
The kiss he gave her was meant to be gentle, sweet… a reminder of how he felt about her, to tell her without words. But he found that wasn’t enough. His kiss became more insistent. It was deeper, more urgent. He held onto her as though she was his lifeline, using all the pent up emotion he was feeling.
As she kissed him back, she had an awful feeling he was not kissing her because he was overcome with love for her as she was for him, but instead because this would be the last time.
CHAPTER THIRTY
LOCH MORAR, SCOTLAND
Sometime during the reign of King James
A darkened shadow slid over them and Paige knew their time had finally run out.
Gavin spun around so swiftly she almost toppled to the ground.
The sound of unsheathed metal rang out in the air with chilling clarity.
“Lad, drop yer weapon,” a burly man called from the top of the hill.
“Get Muir’s dirk,” he said over his shoulder.
“What?”
“Lass, the knife in my boot,” he said.
“Oh.” Paige reached down and pulled out his knife. Standing back up, she pressed herself against his back. “Who is that?”
“A backstabbing, greedy wretch,” he scathed. Using his body, he blocked her against the men lined up on the hilltop. “Och, Shamus what have ye done?”
“Sorry lad, but ye know I need the coin for my family.”
“But at what cost?” he asked.
“Drop yer sword,” Broderick yelled.
Gavin tensed and tightened his hold on his sword. Ignoring Broderick, he lifted his arm. “Shamus, it does not have ta be this way.”
More men stepped forward, making a semi-circle. It was the two of them against them all.
There was nothing behind them but a body of water and the frigid wind pushing against their backs as though it was trying to make them fall prey to their attempts at butchering them for the monster tucked down deep inside the waters of the Loch.
Although, if truth were to be told, no one had yet to lay eyes on such a beast and Paige doubted at this juncture that they ever would. So why should she be sacrificed for this ever elusive and what she considered to be an imaginary beast, was still beyond reason to her. But here they stood nonetheless, with a mere dirk in her hand and a broadsword in Gavin’s as he stood to defend her from her execution, or what she preferred to call it, her untimely demise, against the rest.
Paige knew they were outnumbered and that they would surely die, or at the very least, she would die, and for what? A treasure no one had ever laid eyes on that was hidden in a cave who knew where, with a creature that only had a thirst for young maidens, namely her, which she highly doubted would be the case.
Come on.
Why in the world would the monster be interested in eating her?
Maybe, she could see being a decent candidate when she first arrived. She was plumper, but she had lost a good bit of weight since then. Now she was far from being a filling meal. Certainly, that fat man standing to the left of the hill that was a good head taller and much broader…surely, he would be the better choice for the aforementioned creature/monster of the Loch to munch on. She said as much to Gavin, “Why don’t they feed that guy over there to the damn monster?”
Gavin cut his eyes in her direction, and then over to the man. “He is not a maiden.”
“Well, if you want to get technical about it, neither am I. You saw to that yourself,” she whispered hotly. Of course, that wasn’t altogether true either since she was far from being a maiden, in the pure sense (as in virginal) long before she even came to this time but she opted not to mention that particular detail.
“Aye, I did see to that, many times,” he admonished proudly.
“Yes, you did,” she readily agreed and even though this was not the time nor the place, her body heated involuntarily at the thought of being with him, wrapped in his strong arms as he made love to her. Not once, or twice, but three times, in one night.
“Lass, pay attention,” he instructed, angling his body so he blocked her once again.
Her mind came back from yet another stirring recollection, which was too soon if you asked her. Seriously? Come on. If she was going to go, she at least wanted to be thinking of something pleasurable when it happened.
“Shamus, the lass is no longer a virgin,” Gavin called over the din.
“The monster won’t know.”
That did it.
“If the monster doesn’t know if I’m a virgin, why in the hell don’t you feed it the old tubby over there, in my stead?” she yelled, pointing a shaking finger at the aforementioned tubby man.
All eyes turned in the direction of the man she offered up.
“She makes a good argument, Shamus,” one of the men in the front said.
“Lass, what are ye doing?” Gavin asked.
“I’m instilling a reasonable doubt.”
“This is no trial, lass.”
“Isn’t it?” she asked. “It sure seems that way to me.”
“They do not care, lass.”
If the truth were to be told, she didn’t either. She only wanted to get them thinking, confuse them, or at the very least draw their attention away and in this instance, she had remarkably accomplished her feat. None of the men were actually looking at them any longer. The mist that Gavin said would come, the one that could take her back to her time, was in fact, at this very instant, heading right for them, gaining momentum from the wind pushing it from the Loch. Reaching over, she grabbed the back of Gavin’s shirt and tugged.
“Lass, what?” he said over his shoulder, sounding annoyed which immediately irked her again.
Paige angled her head and motioned towards the water with a tilt of her chin.
Gavin’s eyes widened as he finally caught her meaning. Well, at least she hoped he did. She tightened her fingers around his shirt, about to pull him with her into the frigid water and swim to the mist if the need arose.
Although, if possible, she would prefer to take a pass on getting in the water again since she still remembered how cold it was. And if they did not get to the mist quickly they would surely die of hyperthermia before they even reached it. And she would rather not chance that.
An eerie sloshing noise cut through the din of the men, accompanied by a bubbling, gurgling sound. Every head that had been turned in the other direction were instantly riveted on Paige and Gavin, once again.
Somehow, she had somehow missed her opportunity to save them. She blew it. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid, Paige, she berated herself.
Lost in the Highlands, Volume One Page 29