“Why’s that?” she murmured.
He kept his accent thick. “Did ye not save me?”
“I owed ya one.” She gasped when he ran the soap around her breast then pinched her nipple in passing.
“Thank ye,” he whispered, paying just as much attention to the other breast.
“Think nothing of it,” she whispered and squeezed her thighs together when he abandoned her hip and started exploring.
“Wait,” she said softly. “I need to talk to you.” She half-heartedly shoved his other hand away and released a throaty groan when he kept fondling her breast. “And I can’t focus when you do that.”
“Then ‘twas probably unwise to invite me into yer bath, to begin with, lass.” Because he was no longer semi-erect and seconds away from finding a way to slip inside of her.
“Seriously, Niall.” She turned enough that her eyes met his. Beautiful cedar eyes that burned with the reflection of the fire. “Though I’m obviously not mad at you anymore over the whole erased memory thing, I want to know...”
When she trailed off, trying to find the right words, he took a guess. “You want to know my response to what you shared?”
She shrugged, and her expression grew guarded. “Yeah...maybe.”
There was no need to drag the moment out. He gave her a ready, truthful answer.
“I think you’re the bravest lass I’ve ever met.” He remained still so that she understood there was nothing sexual about what he said, about what he felt. “And I told you as much that night.”
“Why brave?”
“Because you faced everything in your young life with courage. You didnae let those who misunderstood you lessen your opinion of yourself. And you learned how to protect yourself.” He cupped her cheek. “Mayhap overly so.”
“Not much choice,” she murmured. “What about the other stuff I said?”
“What about it?” He arched his brows. “I dinnae care how old you were when you lost your virginity, and I think there’s nothing wrong with you taking off your clothes for money. ‘Tis a means to survive and nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Not everyone would agree.”
“I’m not everyone.” He brushed his thumb over her chin. “And neither are you.”
Her eyes held his. “It wasn’t always easy.”
Nicole spoke of her profession. “Nay, I cannae imagine it was.” His words grew whisper soft as he dusted a finger over her cheek. “Yet you remain so strong.”
“Heck, yeah,” she whispered.
Nicole searched his eyes for several long moments, and he prayed she would stay with him. Not pull away...
And she did. She stayed right with him.
“Sorry I threw rocks at you,” she said softly.
He kept stroking her cheek, words just as soft. “I had it coming.”
“Them,” she reminded. “There were quite a few rocks.”
“Aye.” He grinned. “You’ve got a good arm on you.”
“Yeah, I used to play a little softball.” She grinned as well, tension leaving her body as she settled against him. “I wasn’t half bad either.”
“I would think not.” He rubbed the soap between his hands then urged her to sit forward again so he could lather it into her hair. “Where did you learn CPR?”
Nicole hesitated a moment then spoke. “I was a lifeguard at one of the city pools for a while along with several other part-time jobs.” She moaned as he massaged her scalp. “That’s when a friend of mine saw me in a bathing suit and said I should start stripping. I could make a lot more money and work fewer hours.”
“How much were you working?”
“I have no idea.” She sighed as he continued scrubbing his fingers through her hair. “Sixty, seventy hours a week? Maybe more.”
“Doing what?”
“Everything.” She chuckled. “Bartending, waitressing, janitorial stuff, even sweeping up hair at the hairdressers. Anything to get the rent paid and afford some nice clothes on occasion.”
“You’re a survivor,” he murmured.
“I just did what I had to do.” She leaned her head back as he began rinsing her hair. “So there were definite perks to stripping. More sleep and...”
When she hesitated, he said, “And?”
“Well, it wasn’t half bad having a job where nobody knew when I was having issues with my hearing. It was hard managing through it at the others jobs,” she said. “But I’ve always loved dancing so if my hearing went I’d just keep on swaying my hips. The manager cued me when the song was over.”
“Then the people you worked for treated you well?”
“Yeah, actually. They were all right, especially the other girls. They were super supportive and believe it or not treated me with more kindness than most.”
As he had the night she first opened up, Niall bit back emotion and pulled her against him again. He had never met another like her and knew he never would again. She might have thought she was special in all the wrong ways at points in her life, but he knew she was special in all the right ways.
Though it was always hard to know how Nicole might take things, his curiosity had been growing and growing since their time at the mountain. Since talk of it being a place that promoted fertility. So he led into the topic as evasively as he could manage. “You strike me as verra independent. Were you ever hoping to start a family of your own? Mayhap have a wee bairn or two? You didnae seem overly fond of the idea of becoming pregnant at the mountain.”
She hesitated but not for long. “Well, damn, Niall, I’d just slept with you for the first time, and things were still a little rocky between us.”
That almost sounded as if she was of a different mind now.
She kept talking before he could respond. “Actually, yeah, having a kid eventually wouldn’t be so bad. I wouldn’t mind giving them a better upbringing than I had.” He heard the smile in her voice. “I’d probably spoil ‘em rotten. Naturally, I’d make sure they appreciated things but...” She sighed. “I’d want them to have everything I didn’t. Especially a mom and dad.”
A sense of rightness blew through him at her words. He could easily imagine starting a family...with her.
“What about you?” she said so softly it was almost a whisper. He was surprised to see her grip tighten on the edge of the tub as if she was tense about his response.
But there was only one way to answer whether or not she wanted to hear it. Truthfully. “Aye. I do want wee ones.” When had that happened? Because children had been the furthest thing from his mind before he met her.
But not now.
Bloody hell, not now in the least.
Before he even realized what he was saying, he murmured, “I dinnae want ye to leave Scotland, lass. Stay here with me.”
He might not have intended to say it, but he meant it.
He wanted her. Here with him. Always.
When she stilled and remained silent, he brushed aside her hair and peppered light kisses along the side of her neck. “I would care for ye always,” he whispered between kisses. “And ye would be free to be exactly who ye are.”
Niall realized his poor wording a few seconds too late. Before he could correct himself, she pulled forward and started rinsing off. “Thanks but I can take care of myself.” She shot a look over her shoulder. “And I’m not sure if you realize it or not but there’s a pretty good chance that who I’ll be is a deaf girl trying to adjust to living in a silent world.”
Before she could get too huffy and bolt away, he pulled her back against him again, locked an arm firmly around her waist and spoke telepathically. He reminded her that his voice was within her mind. “Nay, lass, ‘twill never be a silent world so long as I’m alive. Ye can flee back to the twenty-first century, but I’ll always be with ye one way or another if ye need me. That willnae ever change.”
Giving her no chance to respond, he lifted her to a standing position, whipped her around and spoke aloud. “And what I meant to say was not ‘I wo
uld care for ye always’ but ‘I would care about ye always.’ I dinnae care if you go deaf, blind or any other ailment befalls you, I mean to remain your friend and more if you’ve the mind to let me. I willnae coddle you but support you, ye bloody stubborn lass.”
Again giving her no chance to respond, he cupped her cheeks and kissed her. Hard. Long. And damn thorough. If he couldn’t get through to her one way, then he would get through to her another. He needed her to understand that he had never been more serious. That he wanted her in ways unfamiliar to him. In ways that he refused to ignore any longer.
Their tongues tangled as she melted against him. Her mind brushed against his like wind rippling over the still sea. Soft and caressing until it became choppy with the arousal flaring within. Both groaned, hands stroking as they struggled to get closer.
When she pulled away, breath harsh, he was relieved to see not defiance but dewy lust in her eyes as she licked her swollen lips. “I can hear your thoughts. So many.” Her chest rose and fell. “But I’d really like to try out the one...”
Niall had no idea what she was talking about until she ran her hands down his sides then dropped to her knees. Bloody hell. His head fell back, and he groaned when she started doing things to him that had fire shooting up his spine far too quickly. Barely coherent, he wrapped his hand into her hair and stared down through half-mast eyes.
He had never seen anything so beautiful.
Mayhap this was his perfect afterlife instead.
But even a perfect potential afterlife could be interrupted.
“What’s taking ye both so long,” Rònan called as he appeared at the top of the stairs and started walking down the hallway.
“Get the bloody hell out of here,” Niall roared.
Rònan stopped short, and his brows shot up when his eyes locked on them.
“Now,” Niall growled as Nicole pulled away and kept her face averted.
“Och, ye bloody lucky bastard,” Rònan muttered and spun away. He strode back the way he came, tossing over his shoulder, “The King has summoned ye both so hurry up.”
Elbow braced on the side of the basin, Nicole had a hand over her mouth as she shook her head and chuckled. At least someone found humor in all this. Not him. He would rather put a blade to Rònan’s neck for stealing away what was bound to be one of the best moments of his life.
“Bloody bastard, my arse,” he muttered as she climbed out of the tub. “Piss poor timing.”
Sinking down, he made quick work of bathing as she toweled off. Watching her didn’t help his already raging arousal so by the time he set to drying off as well he was fighting a foul mood.
“Cheer up, sweetie,” Nicole said as she worked at the sashes on her dress. “The day’s not over yet.”
Niall growled under his breath as he wrapped the Sinclair plaid around his waist and went over to her. “Let me help.”
Nicole allowed him to finish tying her laces and eyed him with a smile.
“You appear far too pleased that we were interrupted,” he grumbled.
“Naw, I wish we weren’t.” She shrugged. “I guess I’m just in a good mood is all.”
His eyes met hers, and his frustration started to fizzle away. “Aye?”
“Yeah,” she murmured, looking at him in a whole new way. “Not sure why.”
Only then did Niall realize what was different. There was no wariness remaining in her eyes when she looked at him. Strength and challenge, yes, but that was just Nicole. Who she was. The heart of her. No, what he saw now was...acceptance. Of him. Her. Them.
Any aggravation he’d felt faded away entirely as a surge of hope made his chest tighten yet again. He wanted to say so much at that moment but had no desire to say the wrong thing and scare her away. So he showed her instead by pulling her close, wrapping a hand behind her neck and kissing her. Not hard and fast like before but slow and easy. Aye, they may have been summoned by the King of Scotland, but his heart was too busy being summoned by something else altogether.
“I was told to escort ye down, so I’m waiting,” Rònan called up the few scant stairs he likely went down.
Nicole grinned and murmured against Niall’s lips. “I guess we’re outta time, Brute.”
“So it seems,” he whispered but kissed her some more before pulling away. Yet he could not help eying the massive bed as he yanked on a tunic and continued wrapping his plaid. “We should be on that and nowhere else.”
“Soon enough.” She slid on shoes, muttering, “Man, I miss a decent pair of heels.”
Niall smiled as he plunked down on the bed and started to pull on boots. He remembered well the impractical shoes she had shown up in. Or at least the one shoe. But he thought it best to keep her mind off of the twenty-first century and potentially leaving him for as long as possible. “I think Rònan is jealous.”
“Jealous.” Nicole took a small sip from a mug perched on the table. “Of us?”
“Aye. I think he has a thing for you.”
“I think he has a thing for all women.” She shook her head. “But maybe not for long.”
Niall kept lacing up his boots. “What makes you say that?”
“Well...”
When she paused, he looked up and arched a brow in question.
“Can you keep a secret?”
“I think we both know I can and far too well.”
“Right.” But she didn’t seem phased by the reminder. Instead, she plopped down next to him. “Back when I was in that dank place they brought Rònan, he was suffering through a fever and thought I was some chick with white hair. He was totally into me...well, her.”
Before he could respond, she frowned. “Speaking of that scuzzy otherworld, how the heck did you get there? I’ve been so wrapped up in saving your life then...” Her eyes drifted down to his groin. “Other things, that I totally spaced it.” Her eyes shot to his. “You’re sure Robert’s okay? And Conall? Did he die? Because he was seriously getting his ass whipped.”
“Aye. They’re all fine. You saved everyone, lass. At least for now.” He pulled her to her feet. “As to how I got there, I imagine that’s why the King summoned me so you will soon hear.”
“Niall.” She stopped him when he tried to pull her after him. “Tell me now, please.”
Caught by the concerned look in her eyes, he cocked his head. “Why?”
He was surprised by her honesty.
“Because I’m in a super foreign place and I’m...scared.” She swallowed. “That was rough stuff with Brae and her evil sidekick.”
That took a lot for her to admit and he knew it.
The King of Scotland was just going to have to wait a few more minutes.
So he pulled her back down onto the bed and explained the best way he knew how, knowing full well the information might just push her away entirely. “’Twas Kjar who helped me...then Fionn Mac Cumhail.”
When she looked at him in confusion, he continued. “You and Rònan were brought to the Celtic Otherworld. At least a corner of it. But the Otherworld regardless.”
“Yeah, I sorta figured.”
He pulled her hand onto his lap, bracing himself for the impact of his words. “Nicole, you’ve been gone for three fortnights as time passes here...or in my era.”
“Three fortnights?” she whispered.
“A month and a half as you would say it.”
“Fuc-fudge, no,” she murmured, eyes growing wider. “You’re screwing with me, right?”
“Nay,” he murmured. “The Vikings sent us on our way, and the wee Bruce remains at the Mother Oak with all of the Next Generation, Fionn, and Kjar to protect him.”
“Kjar too?” she asked, relief in her eyes.
“Aye.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “That’s good. He’s with the best of the best.” Then her eyes met his. “And Heidrek and little Tait are safe?”
“Aye,” he assured. “Nothing will get by the Viking King and his brothers.”
“Except Brae Stewart
!” she pointed out. “Why the hell was Tait even there to begin with when Naðr said all dragon-shifter kids were at the fortress?”
“Because ‘twould have been unwise to put all of their bloodline in one place,” Niall said. “Kjar was with Tait, and that was enough for not only Naðr but the wee one’s Da, Kol.”
“So how did Brae end up there?” Nicole kept frowning. “And how did you end up in the Celtic Otherworld?”
“We still dinnae ken how Brae arrived there, but I do know how I got to you.”
“How?”
Niall rallied himself for her reaction. While it had meant everything to him, it might make her run away as fast as she could.
Not meaning to, his brogue thickened with his emotions. “Ye had to love, lass.”
“Love?” she murmured. Her eyes tore from his, and she stared at the floor, whispering, “I remember that. I remember your voice in my mind. I thought it had to mean loving you, but then I realized it could mean Robert.”
That worked for him, so he tried to pull his hand away before she got too close...before she heard the thoughts he tried to repress.
Her hands clamped tightly around his, and she blinked several times before her eyes shot to his. “Oh my God.”
He might have tried to block her, but something had changed.
They were too connected now.
She knew.
“You sat in that oak in the mountain day after day trying to...communicate with me?” Her eyes grew moist. “Find me?”
Lying to her would be pointless. So he did not.
“Aye,” he whispered. Try as he might, he couldn’t push the memories away. All the long hours fearing for her life. Terrified that she was dead. The endless guilt he felt because he had not stopped her. Had not kept her safe. He had failed, and she was gone. With her, a part of him he never knew existed.
“How did you finally make contact?” Her brows drew down. “How was it that I finally heard you?”
Niall tried to speak, but the words died on his lips.
“Love,” Rònan said softly from the doorway. “Ye finally realized that ye loved him as much as he loved ye and the ring heard it.”
The MacLomain Series: Later Years - a Scottish Time Travel Romance Boxed Set Page 47