At the door to her room Ami stopped and reconsidered. She thought about how it had felt when he’d raked down her body with his desire-filled eyes, how hard it had been to resist touching him when she’d gone into his room to see him sleeping. Was this really what she wanted?
With an unladylike snuff, she set her chin high and pulled open the door. Whether it was what she wanted or not, the truth was there. He didn’t care for her. One slip between the sheets and he’d turn into a dragon and fly away. Ami pushed away the heaviness in her heart that descended on her with each step down the stairs. She stopped when she saw the vase of flowers on the table in the middle of the grand hall. Roses, daisies, and stems of cranberries. The hall had been filled with the scent of love.
She looked up to see Kiernan and the man enter from the parlor where they had probably stopped to have pre-dinner drinks with her father. For a brief moment she wondered if it was too late to pretend she was feeling ill and retreat to her room. Probably so, especially since he was already walking toward her.
At some point between the time they had returned from the cave and now, he’d been transformed from an oddly dressed stranger to a man almost worthy of the king’s courts. Had it not been for the shadow of growth beginning to form on his face and the disheveled look of his still unruly hair, he could have easily passed for a knight. Or maybe even a prince.
Her mouth dry, she watched him approach, her cheeks flaming as he looked her up and down.
“My lady.” He executed a perfect bow and offered her his arm. “You look quite lovely this evening.”
With a single nod, she barely bent her knees before placing her hand on his sleeve. She recognized the garment he wore. Auley could only have hoped to ever look that good in it. Even with all his training, her brother’s biceps and chest didn’t strain against the material like Luke’s did. She squeezed and he tapped her side with his elbow, giving her a wink when she frowned up at him.
“Ass,” she mumbled into her free hand, covering it with a faked cough. Hadn’t that been what Mairi had called him?
Luke chuckled and pretended to look at himself over his shoulder. “Looks pretty nice in these pants, if I might say so myself.”
Rolling her eyes, Ami looked away, knowing there was no way she would be able to conceal the smile that lifted the corners of her mouth.
Ami’s father had slipped by them while they were talking and was already seated at the table when they entered the dining room. Her mother, she noted, was nowhere to be seen. As usual. She’d storm in momentarily, her cheeks flushed from her scurry, and her father would smile as if the moon had just hung the most beautiful star in the sky. It was disgusting… and completely romantic, all at the same time. Ami longed for someone to look at her like that.
Just inside the door, Ami stopped Luke with a gentle tug of his sleeve when he started to walk toward the table. The seating arrangements would be altered since they had guests. Most of the time she could figure it out by their ranking, but tonight… she cast a sideways glance at Luke. Where, exactly, did this man fit in.
“Luke, Ami,” Kiernan motioned them toward the other side of the table where he stood behind the chair next to her father’s left. He said something and pointed to the chair beside his indicating Luke should sit there. Since Ami’s brothers were filling the chairs to her father’s right, save for an empty one right next to him held for his wife, she guessed she would be sitting next to Luke. Her speculation was confirmed when he pulled out the chair and waited for her to slide in before pushing it forward. Right or wrong, it was where she was sitting now.
Two places further down than her on the other side of the table, she heard Auley clear his throat and she lifted her downturned eyes to look in his direction, wishing after that she hadn’t when he made several kissing motions with his mouth. Ami scrunched her nose at him and he chuckled. Grow up, she mouthed when he did it again.
Beneath the table, Luke’s hand found hers and gave it a squeeze, pulling her attention away from her pesky twin. When his palm slipped to her thigh, her eyes went wide and she quickly looked down, thankful some matter had drawn the men at the table into a discussion that fully drew their attention away from her and Luke.
She could feel the heat through her gown, and when his fingers began to move and the material whispered against her core, Ami thought she might forget how to breathe. She kept her eyes averted, fervently studying the empty plate and silverware on the table in front of her. Without her consent, her legs opened wider and she almost gasped when his fingers pressed more firmly to her, caressing her with a gentle, circular motion. She felt herself tremble.
She didn’t know what was happening, only that it was going to happen right there, in front of the men of her family. She grabbed his hand, but he held firm and she was remiss to stop him. Nothing had ever felt this good before. Help me, she thought.
I am.
The voice came through just before a flurry of yellow breezed through the door and everyone at the table began to rise.
Her mother had arrived.
Luke hadn’t intended to touch Ami beneath the table, but when his hand had brushed her thigh and she’d responded, something Kiernan had said had him instantly rock hard and he had to find out.
“What about the underwear?” he’d asked when Kiernan had brought him the clothing he was to wear to dinner. Kiernan had frowned for a minute before realization had hit and he’d told him undergarments were seldom worn. Luke had decided to keep on the ones he’d shown up with, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the idea of the crown jewels swinging free beneath unfamiliar clothes.
Even before he’d touched Ami, he’d easily imagined her naked beneath the silky gown. And he’d been right to think so. There was little barrier, the heat from her body radiating into his fingers, making him press harder, wishing for more. Had she not forcefully slipped away from him when those around them started to stand up, he was sure he’d have had no trouble making her climax. Would she have screamed out? At that moment, he wouldn’t have cared if she had screamed.
Dazed, he managed to tear his stare away from her and focused on the commotion across the table. The breath he sucked in when he did had him chocking on his own spit.
Staring at him as Lord Gairlich helped her into the chair next to his, an older version of Mairi covered her chest with her hand.
“My goodness, Kiernan. Perhaps you’d best give the poor man a good pat on the back.”
Kiernan chuckled as Luke waved off his attempt to help. Clearing his throat, Luke followed the others back into their seats.
“Lady Saundra McCollum,” Amileigh whispered from his left. “My mother.”
It wasn’t as if Luke had ever questioned her lineage, but if he might ever have had any doubt, that Mairi was a McCollum, he had none now. His nose crinkled as he looked down at his plate.
“Do you not care for venison?”
He glanced at Ami. “No, it’s fine. I was just thinking about the future.”
Luke couldn’t very well tell her what he was actually thinking about. Ever since Ami’s mother had sat down at the table, he’d been thinking about Mairi and wondering… since she was a McCollum, same as Amileigh, what if she was the product of one of their children? What if, or when rather, they finally did the big nasty, she got pregnant and had a baby… Then that baby had a baby followed by another baby… What if he’d managed to seduce Mairi and then found out she was his however many greats great granddaughter? The thought made him shudder. He was glad she’d always held her ground in her undying resolve that she would one day belong to his brother because if she hadn’t, he’d have been on her in a heartbeat. The thought made him a bit sick to his stomach.
But then she would have been the one to unlock his dragon and there would be no need for him to have gone back in time, so he couldn’t have been her ancestor. Right? He glanced sideways at Amileigh and felt that tingle behind the wall of his chest as he watched her pressing a piece of torn bread between her
lips. She turned to him, her mouth lifting slightly at the corners and he couldn’t help but return her smile. It wasn’t meant to be, he thought. Maybe it could have happened, but it didn’t, and Fate had seen fit to step in and defy time to bring him face to face with the one woman who could complete him. Mind, body, and dragon.
“So, Luke. Kiernan tells us you’re related. Do you hail from around here?”
With effort, Luke turned to look at the man sitting next to Lady Saundra. He looked from the man to his mother, noting how much more he looked like her than Amileigh did. Mairi was probably the offspring of one of the men sitting across from him some six hundred years down the line. He took a deep breath feeling somewhat better about himself, though he already knew what he knew, and that was that the woman sitting next to him was made by grace and magic especially for him. All he needed to do was to convince her.
Now, what was the question? Oh, yes. He nodded slowly wondering exactly how he was supposed to answer it.
Dinner progressed with more talk than Luke would have liked. The older brothers, he learned, fought for the King and had already seen way more action on battlefields than Luke cared to think about. Someone was always trying to seize control or take another’s lands, it seemed, and these men reveled in recounting the bloody escapades to see to it that didn’t happen. At least as much as they could before their mother quelled them. Luke laughed thinking how Mairi would have probably egged them on, throwing in a few stories of her own.
Kiernan had fielded most of the questions aimed at him, for which Luke was extremely thankful. All he had to do was remember how Kiernan had worded things in a way that kept outright lies to a minimum. He supposed keeping secrets as long as he had that his great grandfather was a pro at it. Ami, he’d noticed, had remained mostly quiet, though every time he’d looked in her direction, she’d been fully engaged, listening and taking it all in. He’d been diligent not to touch her again, though he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t wanted to. But not there.
The idea of her crying out for him to take her to the height of passion for the first time, listening to her breathing while she arched her back and called out his name while she shattered around him… he almost groaned at the thought, knowing he didn’t want to share that moment with anyone. Having her was going to be the sweetest moment of his life and just might make losing the world he lived in completely worthwhile.
Luke blinked, shocked at his own admission, though he was even more shocked when he realized everyone was staring at him. Had he missed another question or said something out loud?
“Are you finished eating?”
“What?” Luke looked at Ami, confused by her question and she nodded her head in the direction of the servants waiting nearby. “Oh. Uhm, yes. Sorry.” He placed his single utensil at the top of his platter and sat back in his chair after dabbing his mouth with the cloth napkin. Almost immediately, the servants began to clear away the dishes.
Internally, Luke breathed a sigh of relief. The meal couldn’t end quickly enough for him, only he should have known better. No sooner had the plates been whisked away, then they were again replaced with others. What was this? The fourth or fifth time? He heard a soft chuckle to his left when he let out a low groan and covered his stomach. Feigning a frown, he looked at Ami and she bit her lower lip in a way that had his insides boiling almost as quickly as touching her had. How could anything so sweet be so sexy?
Before he could continue that train of thought, he noticed her eyes lighting up as she looked down the table where dishes of some sort of formed custard looking dessert surrounded in glazed fruit were being set in front of her parents and Kiernan.
“Dariolles, Lady Ami. Your favorite.” Kiernan leaned forward and looked past Luke. Ami’s smile told him Kiernan was correct. Luke wasn’t a huge fan of custard, but he’d try it. If she liked it, it couldn’t be all that bad.
The first bite when they were finally served had him considering a change in his assessment. When she laughed, he raised his brows.
“With the fruits,” she whispered. “Like this.” She scooped up one of the glistening strawberries, ran it through the sour tasting custard, and popped it into her mouth, licking the ends of her fingers before reaching for another one.
Luke was momentarily speechless, sure the blood rushing to his crotch was robbing his tongue of the ability to work. Breathe, he told himself as he watched her repeat the process with other fruits on her plate.
She stopped and stared at him, her cheeks reddening just before she reached forward and grabbed a small glazed cherry from his plate, scraping it through the custard and holding it out for him. Did she have any idea the innuendoes created by what she was doing? He doubted it, though instead of taking the delicate offering, he grabbed her hand and brought her fingers to his mouth, making sure his tongue grazed them before he sucked the cherry free from her grasp.
A chuckle, a cleared throat, a breathy oh, and an exasperated sigh from around them, had him letting go when she tugged away. Her cheeks flaming, she looked down, her hands clasped beneath the table in her lap. Luke looked up, and with a lopsided grin, he shrugged before grabbing another piece of fruit. Not nearly as good as the cherry, but he had to admit, it wasn’t half bad, especially after he took a big gulp of the sweet Malmsey wine that had replaced the earlier drink in his goblet.
When Lady Saundra stood, followed by the other women at the table, Luke almost sighed with relief and began to push his chair back as well. Ami’s hand on his shoulder stopped him and she shook her head slightly when he looked up at her. He wanted to groan when he realized the other men were still relaxed in their chairs.
“Gentlemen.” The lady of the house inclined her head to the prominent males at the table. “If you will excuse us.” She leaned over and kissed her husband’s cheek. “Not too much port, dear,” Luke heard her say before she straightened and led the other women from the room.
Luke followed Ami out with his eyes, sure he probably looked like a puppy that had just had its favorite bone taken away. When Kiernan chuckled, he looked his way, though the other man said nothing. He watched as Kiernan waved his hand, passing on the boxed cigars Gairlich was offering to him. He did the same, noticing only the oldest of the sons was offered what had to be viewed as an expensive treat, though they were all given snifters of port that nearly took his breath away when he took his first drink.
Damn, he thought. At this rate, he’d be passed out before his head even hit the pillows, or worse yet, unable to find his way down the hall once all the lights were out so that he could again sample the castle owner’s sweetest treat.
Chapter 9
Luke had been right about the drink. He speculated later that its purpose was just that… to help aid the men of the house to sleep. He was terribly disappointed when he awakened the next morning only to realize they hadn’t even lasted five minutes in the drawing room before Kiernan had made some excuse about him being weary from his travels and he’d dragged a bleary-eyed Luke along to their rooms. Sleep, he’d told him at the door. Luke had nodded with no intent to do so. His mind and his body wanted Amileigh. She’d been conspicuously absent from the drawing room when they got there and the first thing he intended to do was to find out why.
Sometimes the best intentions die as just that… intentions. He’d sat on the edge of the bed to remove the uncomfortable shoes that had been loaned to him, his eyes growing heavier with each blink. Closing them for a few minutes suddenly seemed like a good idea. He’d nodded. He could sleep for a bit and then go and find her. That was definitely a much better plan.
Only he’d awakened to daylight streaming in through the small window and his head felt as if a freight train had rolled through it. He groaned and rolled over, wishing he hadn’t. When a knock sounded on the door, he sat up and grabbed his head, his feet just hitting the floor as Kiernan burst through the door.
“Ah, Luke! I feared the drink might have been too much for you last night when I realized the f
amily had pulled out the better wine.”
Luke glared at him with a single uncovered eye. “It was that crap we had at the end.” The thought of the port mixed with the smell of the cigar smoke made his stomach churn. “Where’s the nearest bathroom?” he grumbled, uncovering both eyes when Kiernan didn’t answer?
“Crap?” was all Kiernan said.
Luke shrugged, his face scrunched as if he’d smelled the stuff. “Crap,” he said. “You know… badass stuff. Body excrements.” He paused for a second and added bluntly. “Shit.”
Kiernan just stared at him and if Luke hadn’t felt so bad, he might have laughed. One thing was certain, he perplexed the man.
Turning on his heel, Kiernan marched to the door, pausing just before he left. “If it be a bath you’re wanting, you’ll have to wait. You’ll get nothing like that until well after the noonday meal. Pointing to a screen in the corner of the room, he raised a brow. “Chamber pot and wash basin for… everything else.” Just before he closed the door with a bit too much fervor, he glanced back at Luke. “I’ve already requested to have something sent up for your head. There are fresh clothes on the chair and Auley will escort you to the training fields once you’re ready.” He left without giving Luke a chance to speak.
Training fields? Luke pushed away from the side of the bed, weaving his way toward the wooden screen in the corner, praying the room would quit spinning. If that man thought he was going to make some kind of a medieval fighter out of him, he’d better think again.
Four hours later, an exhausted Luke raised his sword for the last time. At first he’d been given a wooden practice sword that felt and handled, to his surprise, much like its metal counterpart. He’d traded up from that to a diamond-shaped battle sword, and then to a longsword that made him want to sing about Excalibur. His training ended with a much shorter dagger.
When they were finished, Kiernan told him to slip the dagger into his boot. Luke had raised a brow but done so anyway. Anything to get them to let him take a break, especially since it felt like his arms were going to fall off completely if he tried to raise them again. Nothing he had ever done in his life had remotely prepared him for this. He looked at the others—Amileigh’s brothers and other men that lived at or near the castle. Good Lord, they must have been ripped under the loose-fitting shirts they wore, because the majority of them had been at it since before he had arrived and they hardly looked like they were breaking a sweat. Auley sat off to the side, an older man tending to a cut that had sliced right through the cloth of his shirt. He smiled up at Luke as he and Kiernan started to walk away.
On Wings of Time (Lochlainn Guardians Book 1) Page 9