“That’s wonderful!” I smiled at such happy news for Sydney. I would have to remember to congratulate her in the morning.
Gillian nodded in agreement. “Yes, it is. We are all very excited. Anyway, please do make yourself at home. I don’t want you to feel as if you have to stay cooped up in your room all night. Feel free to roam around the castle or the grounds. The moon is bright tonight. You should be able to see just fine, and the garden out back is lit anyway. Do you need anything?”
I shook my head. “No. Thank you so much for all of this.”
I was so sleepy I was certain I would fall asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. Instead, the moment I lay down, my mind started racing a million miles a minute.
Mom’s obsession with Dillon’s phone calls to me didn’t make sense, and now that I had a moment to myself, they were starting to worry me. A lot. Something was amiss about the entire situation. Come morning, I was intent on finding out exactly what it was.
*
“You two look exhausted.”
The journey from The Isle to Cagair Castle had been a miserable one. He and Paton rode hard, but with the rain and the mud, the journey had been slower than expected. When they rode up to the front door of the castle, they were beyond weary.
“Aye, ’twas wretched weather the whole way. Thank ye for waiting up for us.”
Sydney waved a dismissive hand as Callum came outside and gathered their horses.
“It was no trouble at all. Callum will see your horses to the stables. I’d originally planned for you to sleep in this century tonight, but both of you really look like you could use a nice hot shower. Wanna sleep in the twenty-first century?”
He wasn’t sure what a shower was, but anything described as nice and hot sounded too good to pass up.
“Every muscle in my body aches, and I doona know if I will ever be able to get warm again, so if ye think there is something in yer own time that can help us with that, I’ll sleep anywhere ye wish.”
Sydney laughed.
“You’ll love it. Let’s go.”
Chapter 11
For hours I lay in the massive, perfectly soft bed with my eyes wide open and my mind churning with worry. Why had my mother been so insistent that I answer Dillon’s phone calls? It wasn’t unusual for her to be pushy about things—especially the love lives of her daughters—but in this case, it didn’t make a lot of sense to me. She didn’t know Dillon that well. I met him long after she’d moved to Florida, and she’d only met him on her visits to Boston and for brief times during the first few months after the fire when she was there to care for me around the clock. She’d had way closer relationships with past boyfriends of mine. Why the sudden strong attachment to Dillon?
Had he called her and made her feel sorry for him? Had he somehow convinced her to try to plead his case to me? If so, he obviously hadn’t told her what he’d said to me. If my mother had heard that, she’d have driven across town to kick his ass herself, I was certain.
Mr. Crinkles meowed at the end of the bed and the sound reminded me to breathe. Crink, as I lovingly sometimes referred to him, was so good at picking up on my energy. He could tell when I was worked up. As I forced myself to take a deep breath, I realized how pointless my worries were. I was in Scotland. This time tomorrow, there would be hundreds of years between me and Dillon. So what if he’d called my mother? He was in the States, and I was here, and I soon wouldn’t have a phone for him to call.
“Thank you.” I sat up in the bed and leaned down to give Mr. Crinkles a quick snuggle as my worry slowly drifted away.
As my unnecessary panic came to an end, I was able to relax enough for my jet lag induced exhaustion to catch up with me, and it didn’t take long for my eyes to begin to close as I drifted off to sleep. Just as I reached the cusp of full-on unconsciousness, a sudden clanging began in the bathroom attached to my room, followed shortly by what I could only assume was Gaelic cursing.
Our escorts had arrived.
I waited for a moment before turning on the lights in the hopes that whatever trouble the man was having would end, but the unusual sounds only continued. Eventually, I decided that if I didn’t go to help him, he would wake up the whole castle.
Reaching over to the small lamp on the nightstand, I flipped on the switch and walked over to the door before attempting to address the man inside.
Knocking gently, I spoke to him. “Do you need some help?”
The clamoring stopped and a deep, accented, ridiculously sexy voice answered me. “Aye. I’d be much obliged if ye would show me how to work this, this…” He hesitated as if he were trying to remember the word shower.
As he finished, I heard his hand reach for the knob. I looked up at him as he came into view, and the light from the bathroom spilled into my own barely-lit room.
He was a good foot taller than me, and while he was lean, he had broad shoulders that showed how strong he was and made him look especially masculine. His hair was short, but had a little bit of length on top and I couldn’t help but think that the style of his hair was remarkably modern. Except for the filthy linen shirt and kilt, he didn’t look that out of place in this time.
I scanned him for longer than was probably appropriate before I actually looked up at his face. When I finally did, he was smiling. The beauty of him caused my breath to catch in my chest on an almost auditory level.
With most of his body now in the shadow of the doorway, I couldn’t quite make out the color of his eyes, but his smile was wide and bright and his nose, while larger in the middle from what I assumed was a past break, was endearing. It made what would’ve been an intimidatingly handsome face just a little more approachable. He even had a smattering of freckles on both cheeks that I could just make out in the semi-darkness that allowed me to immediately picture what he must’ve looked like as a boy.
“Ye must be Kate, lass. Ye and yer sister resemble one another greatly.”
Taking in an embarrassingly shaky breath, I nodded as I tried to act like the grown woman I was. “Yes, I’m Kate. You’re…” I paused as I scanned through the portrait I’d seen of The Eight during my research. “Maddock?”
He grinned again and something in my stomach turned over. “Aye. How did ye know that?”
“I’ve read quite a lot about you. I did some research once I knew Laurel was there. In one of the books, there’s a portrait of all of you, and your names were below.”
“Ah.”
There was a brief moment of awkward silence and my mind starting screaming at me to just do something. I reacted by thrusting out my left hand so he could shake it.
“It’s nice to meet you, Maddock.”
He turned his head as he looked down at my hand and chuckled softly. “Ye too, Kate.” Taking my hand, he raised it to his lips and gently brushed them against my knuckles. My stomach clenched and I grew hot all over.
“Um…how about I get this shower started for you?”
“Please, lass. I canna wait to see how it works.”
He stepped aside so I could enter the bathroom, and my shoulder brushed against his chest as I passed him.
“Did Sydney not offer to help you? I’m surprised.”
I could feel the heat of him as he turned and took a step toward me.
“Ach, she did, but the lass was verra tired from waiting up for us, and Paton needed her help as well, so I told her I could manage on my own. I never dreamed ’twould be so difficult to manage.”
I turned and looked around the bathroom to see if he’d laid any clothes out. I imagined he hadn’t. “Do you have anything else to wear after you get out of the shower?”
He scrunched up his nose. “I dinna think of it. No, lass, I doona have a thing.”
I gently touched the side of his arm to scoot him over so I could get to the cabinet behind him. “Well, those are too dirty to put back on. I think I saw a robe in here that should fit you. There are towels, too.”
He didn’t say anything, and I co
uld see by his expression that he was just watching to see what I meant by all of that.
I grabbed the towel and twisted my arm behind me to hand it to him.
“To dry off with. You can hang it on the hook beside the shower.”
When he took it from my hand, I reached for the robe and shook it out before me. It was plenty big for him.
“And you can put this on afterwards if you want something to sleep in.”
He laughed as he took the robe from my hand. “I doona sleep in anything, lass. Not unless I’m outdoors. Even then, I prefer to do so only if ’tis so cold I canna stand it.”
Images of what he might look like naked flashed through my mind, and I quickly stepped around him again to reach into the bathtub-shower combo.
“You were probably closer to getting this to work than you think. You have to turn on both knobs and adjust them until it gets to the temperature you want.”
“The hot water comes right away?” His voice sounded astounded.
I turned on the water and let it warm. “Pretty quickly, yes. How hot would you like it?”
“Hot, lass. I doona know if I’ve ever been so excited before.”
I smiled as the water began to run hot and I turned around and slammed my face right into his chest. I’d not realized that he’d leaned in so close to watch what I was doing.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
He reached up to grip both my arms as he steadied me. “No need to apologize, lass. I should’ve said I was behind ye. I wanted to see how ye worked the water.”
“Why don’t you feel that and see if it’s warm enough for you? If it’s too hot, let me know, and I’ll cool it down a bit.”
He didn’t give me time to move out of the way before he leaned in and reached around me.
Our faces were inches from each other, and I smiled as his eyes widened as he placed his hand beneath the faucet.
“’Tis perfect.”
“Good. You see that little knob sticking up above the faucet?”
He nodded.
“Pull that up, and the water will come out of that head at the top.”
He did as I instructed and let out a gasp as the water began to fall behind my back.
“I may stay beneath it all night.”
I laughed and reluctantly scooted to the side to step away from him. “I’ll leave you to it then.”
I made it to the door when he called back to me. “Kate?”
I twisted and had to suppress my own gasp of delight. In the seconds it had taken me to walk toward my bedroom, he’d removed his shirt in his haste to get into the shower. He was every bit as perfect looking as I’d imagined him. Every muscle strong and sculpted.
“Yes?”
“Thank ye.”
I smiled and swallowed the needy lump that had suddenly risen in my throat.
“You’re welcome. Enjoy that. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I cast my eyes to the ceiling as I walked into my room and closed the bathroom door between us.
Shit. This man was trouble. Trouble that was already making me feel way more than I was comfortable with.
Chapter 12
Thank Brighid for his kilt. The thick fabric was all that had hidden his excitement from Kate’s view. The moment she’d turned into him, bumping against his chest, the smell of her, fresh and flowery, had wafted up toward his nose, making him yearn for her. It had been all he could do not to pull her against him right there and press his mouth to hers.
God, she was beautiful. He’d never doubted she would be pretty, but she was more stunning than he had imagined. She was shorter and more petite than her sister, and her hair was even more blonde than Laurel’s. Her hair had been pulled up messily into a knot on the top of her head, and he couldn’t help but wonder just how long it would drop down her back if he pulled it from its hold.
Her night clothes were unlike any he’d ever seen before. She wore breaches that went up between her thighs, and the thin, shiny fabric was so short he could see every last bit of her legs. And the top—ach, the top—it clung to her, emphasizing the fullness of her breasts. Her nipples had been hard beneath the fabric, as clear to him as his hardness would’ve been to her if not for the saving grace of his kilt.
It took a moment for him to collect himself after she closed the door separating them. As he unpinned his kilt and allowed it to drop to the floor, he couldn’t resist the urge to press his hand to himself to relieve the pressure of his wanting.
His breath shaky from both his sudden need of the woman he’d just met and his excitement from the impending shower, he stepped beneath the hot spray and groaned.
It felt so good. The pressure beat against his back; the heat melted the knots in his muscles. Dirt ran off him, discoloring the water dripping off his body.
He turned toward the spray, reveling in the feeling of it pounding against his trail-weathered cheeks. He sighed and closed his eyes. As images of Kate in her scandalous night clothes danced beneath his lids, he reached one hand down beneath the warm spray to remedy what she’d done to him.
*
After leaving Maddock to shower, once again, I couldn’t sleep. Visions of him running his soapy hands up and down his body, smiling as he enjoyed the sensation of spraying water for the first time, flooded my mind. It made me hot and horny, and I sincerely wanted nothing more than to join him in that shower.
It was a ridiculous thought, but I allowed myself to enjoy the fantasy guilt-free. Any straight woman under the age of ninety—possibly even past that—would’ve had the same thoughts after seeing that man bare chested.
When the sound of the shower stopped, I listened to him rummage around the bathroom, smiling as I pictured him exploring and oohing and aahing at all of the surprising things he’d never seen before.
I hit my head on the headboard when there was a sudden soft knock on the door between us.
I all but jumped from the bed as I rushed toward the door. When I reached it, I placed my mouth up against it so he could hear me.
“Do you need some more help?”
He opened the door quickly, and I almost fell into him again but recovered and righted myself as I stumbled away from him.
“No, lass. ’Tis only…” He paused and pointed toward the lamp on the nightstand. “I could see the light from beneath the door and I wondered if ye were still awake. I doona think I can sleep. If ye canna as well, I thought we could keep each other company.”
He shrugged inside the plush robe he was wrapped in as if he was slightly self-conscious that I would turn him away.
I smiled. “Sure. Come on in. You can tell me all about what my sister’s been up to since she arrived there. I’ve haven’t been able to talk to her nearly as much as I would like to.”
His shoulders relaxed as he stepped into the room. Mr. Crinkles stood up on the bed and watched him carefully. Maddock saw him right away, and when his first reaction was to smile at the sight of my beloved companion, I immediately liked him a little bit more.
“Is the creature a he or a she, lass?”
I moved to the bed to pick him up before carrying him over to Maddock so they could meet one another.
“A he. Maddock, meet Mr. Crinkles.” I looked down at Crink. “Mr. Crinkles, meet Maddock.”
Hesitantly, Maddock reached for him, and I handed him over. If Mr. Crinkles didn’t like him, he’d let it be known quickly. Luckily, Maddock was covered in terry cloth from his neck down to the mid-length of his calf so Mr. Crinkles couldn’t do too much damage if he decided to swat at him.
Crink melted into Maddock’s arms and began to purr much like he’d done with Morna.
“Did you spell him or something? He had the same reaction with the witch, Morna.”
Maddock smiled and rubbed the top of Mr. Crinkles’ head. “No, lass, I wouldna dare, but I’m not surprised that he’s taken to me. All animals are sensitive to magic, cats more so than many. He can sense it, and in some way feels connected to it.”<
br />
It didn’t surprise me to hear it. Mr. Crinkles had always seemed a little magical to me. He had, after all, saved my life that night so many months ago.
Content that my cat wasn’t going to scratch Maddock’s eyes out, I looked around the room for a place for us to settle in. It was a very large room, but aside from the bed, there was only one other place to sit—a large chair in the far corner of the room. It looked like it weighed about eight hundred pounds.
“Why don’t you bring him back over to the bed? We can sit there and visit.”
He raised his brows in surprise. “Ye are inviting me to yer bed, lass?”
I chuckled nervously—God how I wanted to—as I turned my back toward him and walked over to the bed. I crawled up onto the mattress, propped up the pillows against the headboard and sat down cross-legged on top of the covers.
“I’m inviting you to sit on top of my bed.”
He winked at me and set Mr. Crinkles down on the bed. “I jest, lass. Can I ask ye something?”
I shrugged. “Of course, but only if you sit down.”
He hesitated then sat down on the edge and leaned over to lay across the bed and rested his face into the palm of his hand.
“If I sit as ye are, ye might see enough of me to give ye nightmares.”
I laughed and swallowed the words that first came to my mind: Or wet dreams.
“Okay, what’s your question?”
“Why would ye want to leave here? Why would anyone want to leave this time? Ye have pleasures and wonders here I couldna dream of, and all I’ve truly seen is the shower.”
“When your need for a fresh start outweighs your need for convenience, it’s an easy decision to make.”
The honest confession slipped out before I could stop it, and I immediately tensed after spilling the words. They were the truth, but they made it clear I wasn’t happy here, and I never liked anyone to know that I wasn’t truly happy.
I could tell by Maddock’s guarded gaze that he’d noticed my face shift. Whether it was out of politeness or disinterest, he didn’t press me further, and for that, I was grateful.
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