The MacLomain Series: Later Years - a Scottish Time Travel Romance Boxed Set

by Sky Purington

  “Do what I expect of you,” she murmured. “Tell me the truth. I can handle it.”

  “Aye, lass.” Rònan put his hand over hers. “The markings became visible when I reached my full size, but they were there long before that. I felt the sting of them the first time I shifted when I was still a wee one.”

  Her eyes studied his. “I get the sense the sting was pretty bad.”

  When he hesitated, she gave him a pointed look. “I can take it, Rònan.”

  “I know you can.” She deserved to know. “While a dragon shifter feels the transition from human to dragon acutely the first time, there is a particular sting in the shoulder and arm region when we first develop our wings. ‘Tis those spots that somehow formed the design of my markings.”

  “Interesting,” she murmured and swallowed. “Will I develop similar tats, I mean markings, after I shift for the first time?”

  “I dinnae know. My Ma didnae but the Viking male dragons all have them,” he said. “I dinnae know if the Viking female dragons do.”

  “I already have a little bit of ink so more tats wouldn’t bother me,” she said. “Neither would the pain of shifting for that matter.”

  He searched her eyes. “Nay?”

  “No.” Erin shook her head. “I had a moment during the battle when my skin started to change...when I was starting to shift. Tosha told me to fight it because I wasn’t ready.” Her eyes narrowed slightly as she contemplated. “Potential pain doesn’t worry me.” Erin’s eyes stayed with his. “Becoming something else does. Something I thought I hated.”

  “But you dinnae anymore?” he said softly.

  “I don’t think so,” she murmured. “Between getting to know you and the Vikings then feeling that connection when you all shifted to protect me, I’m starting to wonder if my dislike wasn’t misplaced.”

  Rònan tilted up her chin, so her eyes stayed aligned with his and kept his voice gentle. “Though you dinnae need to share such now, I hope you’ll someday tell me why you had such dislike, to begin with.”

  He was pleased when she didn’t shove away but held his gaze. “Maybe. If and when I’m ready.”

  “Aye,” he whispered. “’Tis good that.”

  It took everything he had to pull his hand away and fight the need to take her, but he did. He might be more confused than ever about his emotions in regards to her, but he knew one thing...he wanted her beyond simple lust.

  He needed to truly know her. To keep her friendship.

  Not only that but he wanted her mind and heart.

  It was hard to know when exactly that had happened but it had.

  Erin, it seemed, had another plan entirely as thunder rumbled and she started to untie her dress, eyes never leaving his.

  “We dinnae need to,” he started, but she shook her head and said, “But we’re going to.”

  “Erin, I dinnae want you to think,” he began. The rest of his statement died on his lips as her dress fell. There was nothing more beautiful than Erin back dropped by an angry sea and black clouds flickering with lightning. Her hair was wild and her eyes brilliant.

  Then there was her body.

  Fire flared so hotly beneath his skin he wasn’t surprised when steam rose off of him.

  “You don’t want me to think what, Rònan?” she murmured, her eyes unusually sultry as she held his gaze.

  He couldn’t remember for the life of him what he didn’t want her to think as he tore off his plaid, closed the distance and lifted her onto the edge of the wall walk. Unable to voice another damn word, he spread her legs, dug his hand into her hair, tilted back her head and closed his lips over hers.

  Everything he had experienced when she kissed him in the Otherworld felt a thousand times more intense now. The heat and silkiness of her tongue against his. The softness of her skin as he wrapped an arm around her lower back and pressed close without taking her.

  Her arms wrapped around his waist as the kiss took on a life of its own. There was no way to know how much time passed as their tongues explored. In its own way, it was the most sensual thing he had ever experienced. How they held each other and simply kissed...not to say the kissing was simple. No, it was deep and profound and thorough.

  When icy rain started falling, he didn’t feel it any more than she did. Nothing touched them as their skin sizzled and they lost themselves in the feel of each other. Only when she grabbed his arse and groaned into his mouth, “Rònan,” did he realize how desperate she was for more.

  So was he for that matter.

  “Not here,” he managed against her lips. “Not like this.”

  She pulled back a fraction, met his eyes and wrapped one leg around his waist. “Exactly like this, dragon.”

  Something about the way she said it, the way she dared as her skin grew dewy and her eyes started to turn, made him lose control. While somewhere in the back of his mind he was determined to make this a romantic experience, it suddenly became impossible. Growling, he grabbed her arse, pulled back enough then thrust hard.

  “Oh hell,” she cried out and wrapped her arms over his shoulders as she bit her lower lip.

  Rònan released a ragged breath when he realized what he had done. “I’m sorry,” he tried to say, but nothing came out as he lost himself in the feel of her tight heat.

  “It’s okay,” whispered through his mind as her nails dug into his shoulder blades. “You’re just,” she started before a quiver rippled through her. “You’re larger than what I’m used to...even if it’s possibly our second time.”

  “I’m sorry,” he managed aloud this time, voice ragged. “I wasnae thinking clearly.”

  But he didn’t need to fret because it wasn’t long before she responded.

  “Rònan,” she whispered close to his ear as she wrapped her other leg around him. “I don’t want you to think right now.” She nipped his earlobe. “Just move already.”

  When she pressed even closer and shifted her hips, he no longer had a choice.

  He moved.

  When he did, it was fast and full of so much need he soon lost himself yet again. Nobody felt like her and moved against him like she did though he seemingly had all the control. Thunder roared, and lightning flashed, but he was only aware of Erin. How her head fell back, and bliss overtook her features as his pace increased.

  There was something about that.

  The way she took such pleasure from the way they felt together.

  Rain fell harder. They were drenched. But they were so overheated that an arctic blast could have blown through and not only their lust but their dragons would have kept them warm. This was their element. Chill and nature. Rawness. A unique sense of vulnerability.

  Yet he knew better than her that they were half human.

  More than that, he knew in this form the only thing they could truly survive was fire.

  So when he carried her inside, he ignored her denial and brought her onto the bed. Rònan didn’t entirely realize what he was doing until he flipped her onto her knees on multiple pillows to suit the difference in their torsos, made her grab the headboard then slid back into her. Only then as she groaned and slammed a hand over the male dragon carving did he understand.

  He wanted her to see what the artwork really was.

  Them.

  Together.

  A new beginning.

  He gripped her hip and put a hand over the female dragon as he moved first harshly then slowly, pacing the passion that would seize them far too quickly if they let it. If they didn’t learn to control the dragon they might never get out of bed again. Lust might become their world.

  And he wanted more.

  Rònan wanted her to stay in this castle with him, to be his voice of reason, the voice of wisdom that would complement and aid his clan so well.

  He wanted her to be Lady of MacLeod Castle.

  “Oh, hell, Rònan,” she panted. “Too much information.”

  Damn. Erin could hear his every thought. Yet somehow it only increas
ed her arousal despite her negative response. She wanted to run from this but at the same time stay.

  His movements grew more intense, more driving, as a strange need overtook. One he had never felt before. A need to claim her as his own, not just as a wife but as a mate. This was not of the man’s making but the dragon within. Though it was something he would never do without speaking to her first, he could fantasize.

  So he spread her legs further and drove into her with more eagerness than he knew he was capable of. Sweat slicked their skin as passion exploded. She braced her hands more firmly and took him, crying out with pleasure.

  When her climax began, her limbs weakened. Wrapping one arm around her waist and the other across her chest, he pulled her back against him. One more thrust was all it took to send them both over the edge, and he roared as their bodies jerked against one another’s.

  There was no sweeter release to be had than this. Holding her close as they both let go. Cheek pressed against her hair, he closed his eyes and yet again lost himself in the feel of her. This place they could go that was untouchable and so very much theirs.

  Eventually, Rònan leaned back on his calves but didn’t let go of her. No, he relished every moment of his body floating down from where she had taken him. More than that, he enjoyed the long-lasting remnants of her release. A letting go that only ended when her breathing slowed and she slumbered.

  Careful to handle her gently, he laid her down. Though tempted to leave her nude, he had heard her thoughts back at the Viking fortress. He knew she slept in clothing to protect herself. So until she truly felt safe, he would not take that from her. Though he wasn’t entirely sure how she would take it, he grabbed his tunic and put it on her. It was something that Nicole did with Niall’s tunics, and he found it...nice.

  He wanted that same sense of ‘nice’ with Erin.

  He wanted another way to wrap himself around her...to get closer.

  As an afterthought, he grabbed her lighter from her boot—aye, he knew she hid it there—and slipped it into her pocket. He understood that it was another form of safety.

  Rònan sighed as he gazed at her. Gone were the days of trying to get a lass out of her clothes. Now it seemed it was best to clothe a lass he truly wanted to keep in his bed...or this bed...maybe someday their bed? Well aware that Erin might not want him nude either, he wrapped his plaid before he lay down and pulled her close, her back to his front. No need for a blanket despite the cold. They ran too damn hot.

  How bloody nice it was to be with a lass who preferred a good nip to the air.

  Though he only meant to wrap his arm around her waist, his hand slid up beneath the tunic and rested on her stomach. Small and smooth, her abdominal muscles were well defined. She clearly took good care of herself. But having learned of Erin’s training in her military and how well she fought, that was no surprise. What was a surprise was the other feeling touching her stomach invoked.

  Wee bairns and what it might feel like if his was growing inside of her.

  Rònan almost frowned at the thought but didn’t. Mostly because he could think of no one better suited to carry his child than Erin. His heart slammed into his throat. Was he thinking this because of Niall and Nicole’s pregnancy? Nay, somehow he knew he wasn’t. While right now might not be the best time, he had no doubt that the lass in his arms would be...what? The best choice to house his bairn? Nay, that seemed cold and indifferent.

  He inhaled the scent of her hair and pulled her even closer.

  If anything, he would be privileged to share a wee bairn with Erin.

  Honored.

  Not yet of course. Not until things had been worked through and the wee King was safe. He knew she wasn’t taking anything that would inhibit his seed from taking root. It wouldn’t matter anyway as he was half dragon and could control conception. Still, he wondered...why had Erin not mentioned their ‘unprotected sex’ as Nicole had called it with Niall. Was she not worried about becoming pregnant? Either way, Rònan intended to speak with her about it soon. Not his recent revelation but her thoughts on bairns in general.

  Wee bairns...his own...

  His heart quickened at the thought. The rightness of it...them. How there might not be one but two, twins like him and his sister. Maybe two boys...or two girls. The last thought he had before drifting off was of two girls running around his castle with their raven curls, big purple eyes, and defiant attitudes. Wee dragon shifters that knew how to keep their Da on his toes.

  “Dad, is that you?”

  At first, Rònan couldn’t understand why his wee one was using twenty-first-century terminology to address him and shook his head as he chased his daughter around a corner.

  “Oh my God, Dad?” Erin cried.

  Ripped from his dream, Rònan shot up in bed. Somehow Erin had already made it to the wall walk without him knowing. Though it was clearly late morning, the day was gray and leaden. While tempted to cry out her name and run to her, he sensed something indefinably powerful fluctuating around her. So he got out of bed slowly and moved her way. He prayed to every god listening that whatever was around her didn’t sense him.

  “Dad?” She leapt onto the wall walk. “Don’t go!”

  True terror set in when she flung out her arms and shook her head. “I’m right here!”

  Maybe stealth wasn’t the best answer.

  “So am I Erin,” he cried as he raced toward her. “’Tis Rònan, lass.”

  This time, he was too late.

  She went over.

  Darkness swooped toward her so fast even his dragon eyes barely caught it.

  But they did catch something.

  Light fighting the darkness.

  Rònan leapt onto the wall walk and shifted to a dragon, determined to save her as she fell. The only problem? He raced toward nothing but ocean. She was nowhere to be seen.

  Roaring in rage, he searched and searched. No sign of her. Erin was truly gone. No pain was greater as he flew over the ocean and used his heightened vision to see beneath the dark water. He had failed to protect her even as he held her close. Erin was gone, taken by evil. The sea sizzled beneath him as rage and sadness seized him. It took several moments before he realized his dragon tears had caused the watery disruption.

  “Highland dragon,” Bjorn roared into his mind. “Come back now.”

  It had been ages since he heard the secret frequency on which Bjorn spoke to him. One that the Viking King taught all those with his blood. A frequency no one could hear but his own kind.

  Hope spiked as he flew back. Rònan had a split second to shift and land before Tait yanked him into Erin’s chamber. Meanwhile, Bjorn murmured a chant and sealed off the wall walk with magic.

  Then he had another short second to see his Ma and Grant enter before Bjorn whipped him around, slammed him against a wall and slapped a scrap of plaid against his chest. “This was left on your bed, Highlander. What does it mean?”

  About to roar back in rage, his eyes were ensnared by the plaid, and he instead murmured in disbelief, “It means we need to get to Castle Stewart fast.”

  His eyes rose to Grant’s across the room, and his uncle spoke what he was thinking.

  “Not in this era. We need to travel through time again.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Scotland

  Near Stewart Castle

  1228

  “DAD?” ERIN SAID OVER and over, confused and so sad she could barely see straight. “Where’d you go?”

  Everything was black. She couldn’t see a damn thing.

  “Shh, it’s okay,” came a feminine voice as a soft hand slipped into hers. “Your vision will clear in a few seconds, okay? Trust me. Divine intervention does this every time.”

  Divine intervention? Wonderful. Add that to the list of screwed up happenings in her life lately. Though tempted to lash out, she didn’t. Instead, she felt contentment when she slipped her hand into a pocket and found her lighter. Yet it was sliding her hand into a pocket not quite w
here it should be. What was she wearing?

  “Are you all right?” A cool hand met her cheek. “Can you see me now?”

  After several blinks, a woman slowly came into focus. Blond and beautiful, her lips curled into a small smile. “My name is Treasa, and you’re safe.” She looked over her shoulder. “She can see now.”

  Erin’s eyes swept over her surroundings. A forest. But it had changed from what she saw earlier. The trees were no longer barren but green and vibrant. It was a different time of year.

  When a man crouched beside Treasa, Erin’s heart jolted. She knew his face. “No,” she cried, tears coming to her eyes as she shook her head and tried to back away. “Not you again.”

  Before she could slide her hand into her pocket again, he seized it and shook his head. His voice was remarkably gentle. “I know you have a lighter in there.” His blue eyes comforted. “I also know you dinnae mean to use it. You dinnae need to fear me, lass. I mean you no harm.”

  “The hell you don’t,” Erin whispered. She still remembered his face flickering through the flames of her worst childhood memory.

  “But mine wasnae the only face, aye?” the man murmured, his eyes unwavering as he evidently read her mind. Whatever he was doing with his steady gaze was definitely relaxing her.

  “There was another face in the flames,” he said softly. “One you saw again recently.”

  She was about to respond when the man stood and spun moments before Rònan, her Viking posse, the horses and surprisingly enough, Darach arrived. Erin had never been so relieved to see them. Equal relief was in Rònan’s eyes when they locked on her.

  “Watch out. This guy’s big trouble, Rònan,” she whispered into his mind.

  “Nay, lass,” he replied. “Have no fear.”

  Her eyes widened when Rònan strode her way then pulled her into his arms.

  “Och, lass, you gave me a good scare,” Rònan murmured.

  He held her so tightly she finally had to say, “Getting short on breath, Hon.”

  “I’m sorry.” Rònan loosened his grip and eyed her. “How do you feel? Can you stand on your own?”