Avenged by a Highland Laird

by Sky Purington

  6 August 1322

  JESSIE GASPED AS SHE was whipped through time against her will for the first time ever. Her chair vanished, and she thumped back against cold hard stone. By instinct, she murmured a chant, and a fire flared to life.

  “Bloody hell,” Bryce muttered from somewhere beyond the cave she found herself in. “Why does this sort of thing keep happening to me lately?”

  Her eyes swept around the small space and found Sven. Then her eyes locked on Christina and Graham.

  All she got out was, “We need to save him,” before she raced in the direction of Bryce’s voice. She followed a narrow stone hallway until it opened up to a raging waterfall. He was hanging, white-knuckled, on a cliff right beside it.

  “Don’t embrace your dragon, Bryce,” she yelled. “The waterfall will rip you apart if you do.”

  When his eyes met hers, she sensed he knew the truth of it.

  Yet that same waterfall was kicking off enough water pressure to put him under a great deal of strain. Though well-muscled and fueled with the aid of dragon magic, it was already testing his strength.

  The other three skidded to a halt beside her, their eyes wide as they took in Bryce’s precarious situation. When they started in his direction, determined to cross the thirty feet of sheer, bottomless space between them, she spun and roared, “Stop!”

  She chanted, and another fire sprang to life nearby. Not only did she manifest it for extra cloaking from a possible warlock but because it gave her strength when facing so much water.

  Her eyes went to Sven’s. “I need your strength and the magic of your dragon to throw me his way.” She shook her head. “But don’t shift.” Her eyes went to Graham. “I need your magic to make sure the waterfall gets me to him.” Her eyes went to Christina’s. “I need you to stand guard in case anyone sneaks up on us.”

  “My blade’s yours,” Christina assured.

  “Should I use my magic?” Graham asked. “Willnae the warlocks sense it?”

  “It’s unlikely,” she replied. “Between my fire and the rock surrounding us, it should be fine.”

  “Then mayhap I can just manipulate the water to get Bryce to safety,” he pointed out. “Though in his current state of agitation his fire might evaporate it beforehand.”

  “He is very close to embracing his dragon.” Sven leant credence to Graham's concern. “So using water alone to aid him would not be the wisest move right now.”

  “I need to get over there.” Jessie’s eyes shot to Bryce again as one hand slipped and he swung. Despite how hard she tried to fight it, fear for him tightened her chest. “Everyone please just do as I ask.”

  Sven nodded, meticulously decisive as he swung her up into his arms, spun hard and tossed her. Meanwhile, Graham began chanting and manipulated the water molecules coming off the waterfall to carry her the rest of the way. She landed on the small ledge above Bryce and got her bearings. The rock was slick and the area remarkably dangerous.

  Because of her disconnection from the warlocks and the fact she was facing so many previously repressed emotions, terror nearly froze her in place. Yet as her eyes fell to Bryce and she saw how close he was to death, that inner calm she had become so good at rose up. She could do this. She would do this. Determined, pulling forth her magic, she crouched and wrapped her hand around his wrist.

  “Trust me,” she said softly as she met his eyes. He wasn’t panicking, so that was helpful. Rather, he simply seemed frustrated. “When I say ‘let go,’ let go.”

  “Och,” he muttered, his brogue thick. “Ye ask a lot, lass.” He clenched his jaw, remembering what his mother had said. Something Jessie knew because she caught his thoughts. “But aye, I’ll trust ye...I havenae much choice.”

  “Not good enough.” She narrowed her eyes on his. “The only way I can save you is if you trust me...if you believe it.”

  He clutched the cliff and frowned, his eyes never leaving hers as he sensed the gravity of the situation. “How am I supposed to do that?”

  “As a whole, it’ll take some time,” she conceded. “But for now, look inside yourself and know I possess the power to save you.” Then she added for good measure though she wasn’t necessarily sure it was true. “Your mother’s magic possesses the power.”

  His eyes held hers for a moment longer before he nodded. Thankfully, he meant it. Enough so that when she chanted, and he was forced to let go, she drew on the earth, air, and water to swing him up beside her. Both fell back against the rock wall, breathing heavily. Him because of the strength he had exerted, her because of the magic.

  “Bloody hell,” he muttered and looked at her, clearly shaken. “Thank you.”

  “And thank you for not embracing your dragon,” she replied. “I don’t think I could’ve helped you if you had.”

  He nodded as he eyed their surroundings. “So what are we to do now, lass? We’re trapped, are we not?”

  She frowned. “Yes.”

  His brows shot up as his eyes whipped back to her. “Yes? That’s it? Have you not a plan beyond this?”

  “No.” She shrugged. “I only thought to save you.”

  And that was the truth. She had been so terrified for him that she had formulated a plan to save him and that was it. She blinked several times at the enormity of that. Not once since the tender age of ten had she done anything unless it was well thought out from start to finish.

  Now here she stood, with a mere two feet between her and a sheer drop and had no clue what to do next.

  “How can we help?” Sven called out, clearly catching on that she hadn’t thought this all the way through. “How do we get you back?”

  Bryce perked a brow at her. “I dinnae see any way out of this without Sven or I embracing our dragon.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “It’s too dangerous. Not only because of the waterfall but because I’m not sure how well the rock will mask you from the warlocks if you embrace your dragons fully.”

  “Aye, then,” he murmured, eying her with a look she couldn’t quite pinpoint.

  “I’m sorry,” she said out of instinct. “I should have thought this through better.”

  “Nay,” he replied. “Had you, I might’ve given up on you being a mere mortal.”

  Surprised by his response, she realized what it was she couldn’t pinpoint about his look.

  It was a flicker of humor.

  “You find this amusing, then?” she asked, truly curious. “Us moments away from death because I didn’t think things through?”

  “Aye, I guess I do find it a wee bit amusing.” His eyes never left hers as they balanced precariously. His next words were unexpected and made her heart skip a few beats. “But know this, if you lost your balance at this point, I would embrace my dragon, and I would save you.”

  Their eyes held as that sunk in.

  “Because you know I can save Scotland,” she finally said.

  “Aye,” he replied, a strange new appreciation in his eyes. “At the verra least.”

  “Jessie,” Christina yelled over the waterfall, breaking into the strange yet intimate connection they had just made. “Are you listening to me, Jessica?”

  Startled by the use of her full name and the urgency in her friend’s voice, her eyes returned to Christina, Graham, and Sven.

  “People are coming, Cousin,” Graham said into Bryce’s mind, but she caught it. “We’re going to hide until we know if they’re friend or foe. If you can, do the same.”

  “Bloody hell,” Bryce muttered as he looked left then right.

  “I heard what Graham said.” Jessie gazed around as well. “I think if we can sidle behind the waterfall, we might be able to hide as well. I sense there’s some extra space back there.”

  He eyed the roaring wall of water beside him dubiously then looked at her again. “And how do you intend we do that, lass?”

  “Let me around you,” she replied. “I can get us through the water.”

  “How do you know that’s not a warlo
ck heading our way and won’t sense your magic?”

  Though they seemed to have crossed several barriers in the last few minutes, she knew her next words would wipe all that away. “Because I know these warlocks.” She kept her eyes on his just as Erin had asked her to. His mother might not be here, but she would show the strength Erin hoped to see in her. “I know my warlocks, Bryce.”

  She didn’t miss the flash of disappointment in his eyes before he managed a small nod and held out his hand. “Aye then, lass, step around me...Ma would want me to work with you for the sake of our country.”

  Jessie clenched her teeth, disappointed that the small bridge they had built was so swiftly knocked down. That he was so quick to dislike her again. But that wasn’t to be worried about right now.

  Well aware time was running out, she carefully turned, so she was facing the wall, took his hand, and began moving. Step by step, she made her way along the ledge to the point where they would have to share a space.

  She met his pale golden eyes and tried to ignore the flustered way they made her feel. “Are you ready for me to pass?”

  “I am,” he lied.

  She could tell by his guarded expression he was nowhere near ready. Not because he was a coward but because he was aware of his effect on her. More so, how much he liked it. His wariness had nothing to do with plummeting to their death but allowing her close enough that she could pass. Close enough that he would feel the heat of her skin.

  So a bridge might have been knocked down, but something else was taking its place. She worked to steady her breathing at the quickly escalating attraction between them. Now was most certainly not the time.

  Yet she had known this would likely happen, didn’t she? That it would be unavoidable. At least for her. How else could it be considering the secrets she still kept? Secrets she was foolish enough to have thought she could keep from him for his own safety. But then she had very little real-life practice when it came to attraction. Especially the sort she felt being so close to Bryce. He was the real thing and far more than she anticipated.

  However, now definitely wasn’t the time for a chat about deep dark secrets that would only upset him further.

  They needed to keep moving.

  Though tempted to close her eyes so she didn’t drown in those piercing golden orbs of his again, she kept them open and made her move. With her hand braced on the left side of his waist, she began moving along the front of him. She was halfway across and directly in front of him when he touched the side of her waist, lowered his lips close to her ear and whispered, “Dinnae move, lass.”

  His words floated through her mind. “There is a stranger standing across the way.”

  “I feel him,” she responded as her eyes rose to his. “He doesn’t see us yet.”

  Though she thought it was her breath that caught when they’re eyes met, it might have been his. Alarmed by the impact of being this close, she nearly teetered back, but his arm slipped around and pulled her even closer.

  Unable to breathe at all now, she didn’t look away. She couldn’t if she wanted to. “Let me go, and I’ll hide us without him knowing.”

  Unmistakable heat gathered in his eyes. Heat and lust he warred to contain, but she saw it...then she felt it as his arm tightened. The pale gold flecks in his thickly lashed eyes only grew brighter with curiosity. While she could tell herself that he simply wondered how she would get them out of this, she knew better. His curiosity was entirely focused on the strong chemistry between them.

  Despite the waterfall’s intense spray and the fact an enemy could very well be staring at them right now, she was human enough to get caught up in what was happening between them. How erotic it felt to finally be pressed against his long, hard body.

  To finally lay her hands on the physical form of someone she had known for so long.

  “No,” she whispered, suddenly frightened as heat swept through her and pooled below. “Not now. Not yet.” She swallowed hard and shook her head, suddenly lost in memories. No matter how real this might be, she had long trained herself that she couldn’t trust lustful feelings when it came to him. That she should not indulge in them. “Let me go. Please.”

  Though her response could simply be that of a woman choosing to reject what flared between them, he seemed to sense there was more to it. His arousal turned to protectiveness as his brow furrowed in determination and his grip tightened ever-so-slightly. She couldn’t help but wonder if he was inherently responding to her past. To those moments he was so much a part of without ever knowing.

  “Just tell me what to do to get us out of sight,” he whispered.

  Grateful he was focused on anything but her now, she whispered, “Fling me toward the waterfall and don’t let go.”

  His turbulent eyes held hers, well aware that it sounded like she was asking him to fling her to her death. Yet that couldn’t be the case because she had already proven she would do whatever it took to protect him.

  And if she went down, so did he.

  He clenched his jaw and held her eyes a moment longer before he nodded and did as asked. Murmuring a chant, she fueled them with a combination of his dragon magic, the power of the waterfall and the wind it created.

  Seconds later, though there was a moment of discomfort as the water crashed over them, they were on the other side in an area no bigger than a small bedroom. If that wasn’t daunting enough, the temperature was frigid with an icy wall of roaring water on one side and cold rock on the other. Though she murmured a chant to dry them, it did little to help.

  “I shouldn’t light a fire,” she said into his mind, rubbing her hands together. “It might be detected.”

  “Aye,” he agreed.

  “You’re hurt,” she murmured, shivering as she inspected the wound on his elbow caused by the jagged rock he had been hanging from.

  “’Tis but a scratch that will heal with my dragon’s magic,” he muttered, watching her closely. Either because of what happened moments before between them or perhaps due to her severe shivering.

  “You can’t embrace your dragon magic yet though,” she reminded through chattering teeth. “And scratches can get infected.”

  “Och, enough, lass,” he finally murmured before he pulled her into his arms, and protected her from the waterfall, his words a deep rumble, “’Tis foolish not to warm each other with body heat.”

  That was debatable considering how quickly they aroused one another, but she was too cold to argue so she gave in and rested her cheek against his chest. While she knew his intentions were honorable, she tensed a little in his arms. Though safer than she had been moments before, she’d never felt more vulnerable. He dwarfed her in size and strength and for the first time since she opened her grandfather’s book, she felt powerless.

  Could she strike him with magic if she had to? Yes. Could she kill him in under a minute? Yes. Would she after all Erin had done for her? Unlikely. She squeezed her eyes shut at her own thoughts. Not unlikely but no. She wouldn’t hurt him. She couldn’t. Not ever.

  Yet she remained on edge and cautious. She was in brand new territory and out of control. Two things she had never experienced before. While some of what she felt was still related to being separated from the warlocks, the rest had more to do with Bryce. While she thought she knew him and was fully prepared for this adventure, she was wrong. She thought she would be able to manage her reaction to him, but that wasn’t the case in the least.

  As a matter of fact, she couldn’t seem to manage any of this

  There was no sense of direction here. No planning, plotting or strategizing. And that suddenly terrified her. Spontaneity was not her strong point and was that not the very definition of an adventure? That, it seemed, might be at the root of why she felt so vulnerable with Bryce. He was part of this unknown reality she had just entered. This free fall of unstable, heart pounding moments.

  “I willnae hurt ye,” he murmured into her mind, his brogue especially thick. “Ye have my word, lass
.”

  No, she thought, he would not hurt her. She knew that. But she would hurt him, and that bothered her greatly. She supposed she had never worried about it because she was determined things wouldn’t get this far. That she would be able to avoid him and keep him out of all the darkness that had been her world. Yet deep down she had always wanted this for selfish reasons, hadn’t she?

  “I know you won’t hurt me,” she finally responded, and left it at that. Soon they would have to talk more. She would have to tell him things. But not quite yet. Not here like this.

  Neither said a word for several minutes as he held her. Meanwhile, she tried to sense what was happening beyond the waterfall but had no luck. Her focus was too skewed. Her ability to concentrate non-existent. She could only see, smell and feel him. His spicy scent and warm protective body. The way he seemed to only pull her closer and engulf her in an unexplainable way. A comforting way that was completely foreign to her.

  There was something else too. A difference in him.

  As Bryce had said before they crossed under the waterfall, he would risk his life for her now. Because that’s precisely what he would have done if she fell. He would have embraced his dragon and likely faced death for the sole purpose of breaking her fall.

  So something had changed. Perhaps his mother’s words, or perhaps something more. Whatever it was, he was with her now in a way he wasn’t before. Not in a sense that could ignite the ring but one step closer.

  She ground her jaw and fought emotion. What would it be like to simply fall in love with a man without fear? To desire him without constantly worrying about what that might mean? She had no idea because she had never been allowed to. Nothing had been allowed but the very opposite of what she felt now.

  Detachment. Control. Power.

  That had been her life up until this point...until this very moment.

  She trembled against him, her heart pounding before she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. So deeply that all her worries and fears faded away. For a moment in time, she felt normal. How she imagined a woman was supposed to feel when she was in the arms of a man she had been pining for the majority of her life. Like a woman at the beginning of a romance that had been just out of reach for so long. Or was it in some strange way the epic conclusion of a romance? She just didn’t know anymore.