Stone Guardian

by Maeve Greyson

“I’m right beside ye, lass,” a deep voice echoed through the murky darkness of the truck. “I promised ye I’d always keep ye safe and here I am.”

  Strong hands gripped her by the upper arms and sloshed her across the seat. Emma kept her chin tucked and her eyes squeezed shut. Surely, this salvation wasn’t imagined. Please let it really be him. Please don’t be a hallucination.

  “I’m here, little Emma. Open your eyes and look at me. Yer going to be safe verra soon.”

  Emma kept her eyes shut and shook her head. “No. I don’t want to see the water. If I see the water, I’ll see them.” He didn’t understand. The gurgling water rang out with the cries of her drowning parents. Their pleading voices grew louder with every lurch of the truck. The swooshing current hissed and taunted her with suffocating memories waiting to be unleashed.

  A hard, wet chest pressed against her skin; a soaked T-shirt rubbed rough and clammy against her face. Arms of iron curled around her body, cradling her close against a solid heartbeat drumming beneath her cheek. Safe. The beating heart chanted beneath her jaw. You are safe. It repeated with a steady rhythm.

  Curling tighter inside his embrace, Emma nuzzled her face against the warmth of his throat. With a shuddering breath, she inhaled his familiar scent. Security. Trust. The strength of his touch and his tantalizing male spice stroked and calmed her. Her terror abated and the paralysis ebbed as she anchored her senses to Torin’s presence and wrenched herself out of the hysteria.

  Emma sank her fingers into the drenched cloth stuck to his body and yanked herself closer against him. She’d crawl inside his skin if she could. He offered refuge from the demons. “Don’t let me go,” she mouthed against his salty-sweet neck. “Please don’t let me go.”

  Scooping her out of the truck, Torin pressed his lips against her squinched-shut eyelids. “I’ll never let ye go, Emma. Never again. I promise.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Pale and shivering, she finally slept, curled in a pitiful ball beneath every plaid he’d been able to find in the snug little croft. Torin added another brick of peat to the fire and pulled the black iron lever toward the mark that she’d said would make the turf burn hotter.

  He’d nearly lost her to the vicious storm kelpies. He’d detected the sound of victorious laughter of the Blue Men of the Minch over the raging wind. Torin knotted a plaid between his hands. He twisted the material until it nearly ripped as he watched the orange flickering flames devour the freshly added fuel. He’d singe the kelpie’s wicked arses with a righteous blaze the next time their paths crossed. By all the powers of the goddess, he’d turn the heartless water demons into clouds of harmless steam.

  Torin lowered to his knees beside the couch, easing close enough to feel the warmth of her steady breathing brush against his skin. Her still damp hair curled in chaotic ringlets, tumbling across her shoulders. He wrapped a clinging tress around one finger and brought it to his lips.

  Never again. Torin drew a deep breath. He’d promised he’d never let her go. An eternity of responsibility echoed in those words and weighed heavy on his mind. He didn’t belong in this world. Too much of what he’d once known had changed. Too much lost. He’d never rest easy in this time. And whether Emma realized the truth or not, neither would she.

  Torin traced a finger down the velvet of her pale cheek, reveling in the relaxed peacefulness of her sleeping face. He had to convince her she belonged with him. Emma needed to realize her place.

  With the barest of touches, he eased his arm across her, nestling his head close inside the curve of her body and snuggled against her stomach. He pulled another plaid across his weary body and breathed in the sweetness of her scent as he closed his eyes. His. She belonged to him. That’s all either of them need ever know.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Warm, damp male. Her nose transmitted this information to her brain before she ever opened her eyes. Emma snuggled deeper into the soft folds of the plaid, curling her body closer around the softly snoring inferno pressed against her chest. She opened her eyes to an ebony mass of curls tucked beneath her chin.

  He couldn’t be comfortable in that position, sitting in the floor, propped against the couch with a protective arm curled around her. Emma tried wriggling an arm out from under the plaid but quickly discovered the weight of Torin’s arm had the blanket pinned. Sinking back into the over-stuffed cushions of the couch, she created enough of a gap to free her hand and sink her fingers into the silkiness of his hair. Tempting masculine musk steamed her senses, stirring a raging heat through her body. Emma might’ve been freezing when they’d first arrived home, but she wasn’t cold now.

  He stirred a bit, shifting his head to what must’ve been a more comfortable spot between her breasts. The rock hardness of his arm flexed then relaxed, his fingers spread between her shoulder blades as though he subconsciously checked to ensure he still held her.

  Emma combed her one free hand through his hair and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. Torin’s arm flexed again. This time his hand didn’t relax and his fingers stroked their way to the nape of her neck.

  Torin lifted his face to hers, seeking the sweetness of her mouth. The warm, wet welcome of her parted lips told him more than words ever could. Savoring the flavor of her delicious mouth, he nuzzled his way down the curve of her jaw. His mouth hungered for the silk of her throat. He longed to enjoy the creamy softness of her breasts. Torin inhaled, trapped in sensual delirium as he reveled in the heat of her need.

  Emma buried both hands in his hair, arching her back as she pressed her breasts to his face. Her petal-pink nipples tightened and strained toward him, begging for his mouth. He took a slow teasing taste of the luscious nubs, first licking around them in purposeful, tantalizing circles before suckling them into his mouth.

  Emma moaned. Her breath came in rapid short gasps as she kicked the plaid onto the floor. Torin raised his head, smiling down at her as he slid his arms beneath her body and lifted her off the couch. “Agreed. There’s much more room on the floor.”

  Lowering her beneath him, he slid a hand down the silk of her belly and found the delightful wet warmth waiting for him between her thighs. “Ah, lass. I’ve missed ye too,” he purred as he slid a finger inside her.

  Emma arched against the teasing rhythm of his hand, moaning as she pulled his head down to hers. Opening her mouth, she welcomed his tongue with greedy urgency, her appreciative purrs vibrating against his lips. She raked her nails down his back as he buried another finger in her depths. Torin ached to lose himself in the delights of her body but he needed her to yearn for him just as badly. With the ball of his thumb, he teased her swollen nub while gyrating his fingers deeper into her wetness with a tantalizing rhythm. Emma squirmed, climbing her legs around his body with desperate hungry thrusts.

  Placing a hand on either side of Torin’s face, Emma pushed him away with a gasp against his lips. “I’ve got to have you inside me, Torin. You’re driving me insane.”

  “Whatever ye wish, my lovely lass. I shall always do whatever ye wish.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  The silk of her curls tickled against his flank, hardening him in an instant. Torin inhaled a deep, controlled breath in through his nose and blew it out his mouth. No. He scolded his greedy cock. Emma needed sleep. He knew the stubbornness of the lass. The devoted woman would insist on going to the clinic as soon as the sun peeped over the horizon.

  Her head rested in the curve of his shoulder. An arm and a leg draped across his body. The scent of the passion they’d shared during the night hung heavy in the room. Swallowing hard, Torin stared at the darkened ceiling, straining to shift his thoughts to somewhere other than the luscious woman lying snuggled against his side.

  He couldn’t help it. Emma gave herself completely whenever they loved. She shared both body and soul. Torin connected with her in a way he’d never connected with another. Tightening his arm around her in a possessive embrace, Torin fought against the uncertainty nagging at
him like a disgruntled warrior. Would he be able to convince her to come with him? Could he convince her to choose a wondrous life in another reality and leave all this dratted chaos behind?

  “Are you ever going to go back to sleep?” Emma’s breath tickled across his chest as her voice echoed in the darkness.

  “Did I wake ye?”

  “No.” Emma burrowed closer, tightened her leg around him and tucked her arm alongside his chest. “Your breathing and heartbeat is faster when you’re awake. I woke up because I need to…well…pee.”

  Torin chuckled, kissing the top of her head. The woman didn’t have the guile to hide a thing. “Then why are ye still snuggled against my side if ye need to relieve yourself?”

  Her body rose and fell beneath his arm as Emma drew in a heavy sigh. “Because I don’t want to move. I feel nice and warm—and safe.”

  A satisfied glow filled his body. His heart swelled so much ’twas a wonder it didn’t explode within his chest. “Ye’ll always be safe when ye’re with me, Emma. I promise I’ll never let anything harm ye.”

  With a satisfied sigh, Emma kissed his side then slid out from under his arm. Rising from the plaid spread in front of the hearth, she cursed under her breath as she bumped into a table in the darkness.

  Torin chuckled again. Fiery-tongued wench. Rolling to his side, he slid open the grate to stare into the orange glow of the shimmering coals. When she returned, he’d give her a gentle nudge; remind her she’d promised to listen with an open mind when he explained the mysteries awaiting her touch. They’d never be able to cross the veils to join what remained of his clan until she opened herself to the magic and together, they defeated Arach.

  A disembodied glow floated across the room toward him. The halo of a flickering candle illuminated Emma’s face. “I didn’t want to run over that stupid table again and I can’t find a flashlight.” Setting the plate holding the sputtering candle on the table, Emma dropped to her knees and crawled toward him.

  Torin caught his breath. His body roared to attention at the sight of Emma coming toward him on all fours. “Feel better?” His voice rasped, catching in his throat as he looked up into her face.

  “Much.” Emma snuggled up against him, nuzzling into the dip of his shoulder like a kitten burrowing against its mother. “Torin?”

  “Aye?” How in the hell did she expect him to be able to speak when she pressed those breasts against his side?

  “How did you know where to find me?”

  “Where to find you?” Torin hedged. Her hardened nipples tickled into his ribs, reminding him of their delectable sweetness when he took them in his mouth.

  “When I left the clinic,” Emma prompted, tracing her fingertips along the muscles of his chest.

  “I canna do this,” Torin groaned as he rolled Emma over and pinned her beneath him. Pressing his forehead against hers, he sank himself into her body. “I canna carry on a conversation when ye’re tempting me with your charms.”

  Arching into him, Emma smiled into his eyes as she raked her nails down his back and pulled him deeper into the embrace of her thighs. “Then I guess we’ll talk later.” Grinding her hips hard into his, she gasped out her next instructions. “Yes—definitely—talk later. For now, just shut up and move.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “I was concerned when Moira said they’d found the truck abandoned in the center of the flooded gully.” His dark blue gaze lasered through her when Alex looked up from behind the check-in desk.

  Self-consciousness heated her cheeks. Emma felt like a schoolgirl caught out with the wrong boy after curfew. Brushing the back of her hand across her flaming face, Emma avoided Alex’s penetrating stare. Why should she feel like she’d been dishonest? She’d never promised Alex anything more than an attempted truce. And all he’d ever asked of her was friendship. How she lived her life outside of the clinic was none of anyone’s business. “The rutted out road washed away before I realized it. I had no idea flood waters could rise so fast.”

  “Saints be praised! Yer all right.” Moira rushed out from behind the door to the storage closet and crushed Emma against her buxom, lavender-scented bosom. “We thought for sure ye’d washed out to sea when we couldn’t find ye anywhere near the truck.”

  Peeling herself out of Moira’s pillowed embrace, Emma grabbed the fretting woman’s fluttering hands. “I’m fine, Moira. I’m all right and I’m so sorry about Alfred’s truck. I promise I’ll pay for all the repairs.”

  “Pshaw!” Moira huffed, squeezing both Emma’s hands as though fearing Emma might evaporate into thin air. “The important thing is yer alive and well. Many a wretched soul has drowned when that passage overflows from the heavy rains.”

  Remembering the roaring ferocity of the water, Emma struggled to slow her hammering heart before it pounded out of her chest. A weak smile trembled at the corners of her mouth while Emma inhaled a calming breath. “Luckily for me, my friend Torin came along. If not for him, I probably would’ve drowned.”

  “Torin.” Alex spit the name as if it was a curse. “The man from the pub? The one ye threatened to kill if he showed up at your croft again?”

  Emma snapped around at the heated edge to Alex’s tone, growing uneasy at the sudden irritation firing from his eyes. Choosing her words with selective care, Emma did her best not to over-think his reaction. Alex was just concerned about the clinic’s investment. It would be expensive to set up another grant to secure a pediatrician from overseas.

  “Ye threatened to kill a man?” Moira whispered, her eyes rounding in wide-eyed surprise behind her pearlized spectacles.

  Emma stifled the urge to roll her eyes. Moira took everything too literally. “I didn’t mean it when I said I was going to strangle him—and both Alex and Torin knew that.”

  “Ye seemed fairly certain ye wanted nothing to do with the man when ye stomped your way out of the pub,” Alex challenged with an accusing frown.

  Aggravation tightened her jaw. Disbelief stoked the flames of irritation flowing through her veins. What the hell was wrong with him? He was behaving like an alpha dog protecting his trees from somebody else’s piss. “Look, Alex. All I know is Torin saved my life. He showed up when I needed him the most. Why are you so hostile this morning? I thought we’d called a truce.”

  Alex straightened behind the counter, a non-committal mask shuttered over his face as though someone had flipped a switch. “I am not hostile. I was merely concerned for the future of the clinic. I don’t appreciate our investment endangered. If we lost ye, we dinna have the funds to lure another pediatrician to the Isle.”

  “Well, that makes me feel so much better.” Emma snatched her white lab coat off the hook and yanked it on. What a nice guy. No wonder the man was still single. There couldn’t be a heart beating inside his chest. He must’ve come equipped with nothing more than a calculator. “I’m sorry I worried you about your investment. But life tends to be dangerous sometimes and we can’t always control what crosses our path.”

  His mouth tightened into an accusing sneer as Alex knotted his hands atop the counter. “Aye, Dr. Maxwell. I agree ye couldna help the storm washing away your path but ye have definite choices when it comes to the company ye keep.”

  “Look. I don’t know who you think you are but you have no right lecturing me about choosing my friends. We may have called a truce the other day but if you keep up this line of conversation, the cease fire is over.” Emma straightened her collar with an irritated yank then jammed both fists into her pockets. She was in no mood for some territorial male, especially one with a confused idea of ownership.

  “Moira, will ye talk some sense into her?” Alex barked out the words as though shouting life-saving orders during triage. “I canna deal with the woman!” Clearing the countertop of the stacks of files, he stomped down the hall to his office and slammed the door.

  “I think he needs to be medicated.” Emma stared down the hallway at the dark-blue door separating them from the sullen docto
r. “What the hell is his problem? Was he that worried about the possibility of funding another doctor?”

  “Are all American women as dense as you?” Repositioning her fleshy support-hose encased legs, Moira grunted as she stooped to gather the scattered files.

  “Moira!” Emma couldn’t believe Moira’s scolding tone. The ever-patient always-smiling grandmother never raised her voice to anyone but Alfred. Was everyone in a lousy mood today?

  Red-faced and huffing, Moira straightened, hugging the armload of papers to her chest. “Can ye no’ tell that he likes ye? Have ye never seen jealousy before?”

  “Jealousy? How can he be jealous? We barely made it to speaking terms before the cease fire ended.”

  Jerking her chin down with a decisive nod, Moira fixed Emma with a tight-lipped scowl. “Aye. Jealousy. I told ye from the verra beginning that Dr. Mac would find ye a tempting lass.” Pointing a handful of files first toward the closed office door down the hall and then back to the center of Emma’s chest, Moira’s voice pitched slightly higher as her temper fueled her words. “And even an inexperienced woman such as yourself should know that no man likes for anything to be taken right out from under his nose…whether he’s laid claim to it or not!”

  Emma shifted her gaze from Moira’s frustrated face to the dark-blue door at the end of the hall. Doubt weighed heavy in the pit of her stomach, unfurling its claws into a raging beast of uneasiness churning into her chest. She didn’t need or want Dr. Alex Mackenzie’s interest. Life was complicated enough right now just trying to sort out her existence with Torin. She needed to nip this conversation in the bud before it went any further. “I hope you’re mistaken, Moira, because I don’t believe in getting involved with co-workers. Many a medical facility has suffered when staffers have become more interested in chasing each other than doing the job at hand.”

  The color faded a bit from Moira’s cheeks as she tapped the edge of the papers on the counter. With a disgruntled shrug, she pursed her lips while stacking the files into a tidy pile. “I’m verra sorry to hear that, Dr. Emma. I think ye’re missing a fine opportunity to get to know a verra special man.”