by Katy Baker
The memory of those words sent a shiver through her. She had no idea what they meant but they stirred something in her, something she hadn’t realized was there...
She pushed the thought away, refusing to dwell on it. Callum was with her, that’s all that mattered. Eventually, he pulled the horse to a halt.
The moon was just starting to rise and Sophie guessed it was somewhere near midnight. In the moonlight she saw an abandoned building rising in the gloom ahead. It looked like it might once have been a crofter’s cottage.
“This is one of the Order’s meeting places,” Callum explained. “We’ll be safe here. It’s...guarded.”
“Guarded?” Sophie asked. “By what?”
“By the power of the Seelie Fae. Rochford willnae be able to find us here.”
He nudged the horse towards the cottage, pulling up outside. Sophie slid gratefully to the ground, still clutching Rochford’s lock box to her chest.
Callum led the way inside. It was obvious that nobody had lived in the cottage for a long time. There was no furniture save a table with a wooden bench and a stack of firewood next to the fireplace. For all that though, it was freshly swept and after her ordeal in Rochford’s camp, to Sophie’s eyes it seemed like a palace.
She sank gratefully onto the bench and put the lock box down on the table. Callum crossed to the fireplace where he stacked some wood in the grate and coaxed a fire to life. Soon warmth was stealing through the room. Callum stood staring down into the flames. Then he turned to gaze at Sophie, firelight dancing in his eyes. They spoke at the same time.
“Callum, I—”
“Sophie, are ye—”
She couldn’t decipher the expression on his face, part-fear, part-relief, part something else. He hesitated then crossed the room to sit on the bench next to her and took her hands in his own. She curled her fingers through his, noticing that he winced in pain at the touch.
“Thank you for coming for me,” she said.
“Did ye think I wouldnae?”
“No. I knew you would try. But after he took us through that standing stone I didn’t know if you could follow.”
He watched her intently, firelight dancing in his hazel eyes. “I wouldnae have rested until I found a way. I would have died before I left ye in his hands. Lord help me, I should have killed him when I first met the bastard at Murdoch’s castle. I knew he was rotten from the moment I set eyes on him.”
“How did he do it?” she asked. “What was the power he used at the stones?” And what was that thing in my mind? she thought, but she didn’t ask this aloud.
“The Unseelie,” Callum answered. “He has sworn himself to them—and sold his soul in the process.”
A grimace rippled across his face and he looked away. Remembering his wince of pain, Sophie untangled her fingers from his and examined his palms. Both were covered in angry, blistered flesh.
She sucked a breath through her teeth. “What have you done?”
He waved a hand irritably, as if this was unimportant. “It was the only way I could follow ye. There is always a price to pay for the use of power. And I would pay that price ten times over for ye, lass.”
He was looking at her in that way again. That way that made her breath quicken and longing coil through her body. He’d come for her, through fire and pain, he’d come for her like he promised he always would.
“I don’t want you to get hurt because of me,” she said. “What if something happened to you?”
“Dinna worry, lass,” he replied. “Naught will happen to me. I willnae let Rochford come near ye—”
“That’s not what I mean.”
She scrubbed a hand through her hair. Why was this so hard? Why did the words catch in her throat and refuse to come out?
“I was terrified when I was in Rochford’s tent,” she said at last. “I thought I’d never been so scared in my life when that...thing...that Unseelie... spoke to me. But I was wrong. The most scared I’ve ever been is when I saw you fighting for your life against Rochford. It was when I thought I might lose you. And it wasn’t because I need you to protect me or to help me find Irene and go home. It was because...because...”
Callum went very still. “Why was it, lass?”
“It was because I love you.”
There. She’d said it and there was no taking it back.
Callum stared at her for a moment that seemed to last an eternity. There was no sound in the room other than the crackling of the fire and her breathing coming out in shallow gasps. Callum’s eyes slid closed. His chest rose and fell several times as he took long slow breaths. Then he opened his eyes again and she saw that something in them had changed. They shone.
“Sophie,” he breathed. “Did ye really just say that ye love me?”
“I really did,” she replied, surprised at how easily the words came now. Admitting it was like lifting a weight from her shoulders.
“Ye dinna know how I’ve dreamed of hearing ye say that,” Callum said, staring into her eyes. “Dinna ye realize that I love ye too? That I have loved ye since the first moment I met ye? Ye have become like the air to me, like the sun and the clouds. Lord help me, ye have been all I have thought about these past weeks. I canna get yer image out of my head—and I dinna wish to. I’ve fallen hard for ye lass, harder than I ever dreamed I would.” He cupped her face in his hands, ignoring the burns on his palms. “I love ye, Sophie MacCullough. I love ye to my bones.”
For a second Sophie stared at him, unable to quite comprehend his words. This strong, courageous, gorgeous man loved her. Callum Sutherland loved her. She could scarcely believe it.
Something inside her snapped. She grabbed the front of his plaid, yanked him closer, and kissed him savagely. It was all the invitation Callum needed. His hands slipped around her and he pulled her hard against him as he returned the kiss. His lips felt deliciously soft and warm against hers and his scent filled her nostrils with its intoxicating odor. His hair, as light and soft as a feather, brushed her cheek and tickled the skin of her neck.
A hot ache lit in her core and she heard herself moan, sagging further into Callum’s strong embrace. His arms held her tight, promising they would never let her go. His tongue pushed her lips apart, the delicate tip trailing along the inside of her lips before plunging its way inside to ravish her tongue.
Sophie tangled her fingers in his hair as the kiss deepened, becoming hard and deep, desperate with a passion that had been pent up for weeks and had finally found release.
She’d never been kissed like this before. Sure, she’d had boyfriends, but none of them evoked in her the all-consuming passion that Callum’s kiss did. It sent her wild. Fire raced along her nerves and the hot core of warmth blossomed into something that could only be quenched by his touch.
She didn’t know when they started tearing at each other’s clothes, only that suddenly he was yanking away her dress and then throwing off his plaid, pausing only long enough for his eyes to rove over her naked body, devouring her with his eyes, before he was kissing her again, taking her mouth hungrily, his strong hands sweeping up and down her back and sending tingles along her spine. His lips found her earlobe and began to nip at the delicate skin before traveling down her neck to lay kisses along her collarbone. With a gasp she leaned back as he kissed all the way down her chest and took one nipple into his mouth. His tongue licked and teased until Sophie groaned, her nipple hardening with pleasure.
With a deep, animal-like growl Callum lifted her off the bench and carried her across the room where he laid her gently by the fire. He followed her down, already kissing her again, already trailing lines of fire across her skin with his tongue.
Sophie arched her back, gasping as one of his hands slid across her belly and down between her legs. With expert care, his thumb found her sweet spot and began to massage with tiny, precise circles. Sophie groaned, screwing her eyes tight shut as daggers of electrifying sensation stabbed through her body. Heat built in the spot between her legs
, a deep, desperate ache. Sensing her need, Callum’s fingers moved lower, slipping inside her and working her gently, stoking the burning coals to life.
Sophie moaned. This was too much. Surely she would come apart. Surely she would lose herself in this man and the amazing things he was doing to her body. She couldn’t stand it. She had to have him.
Callum looked up and the raw, naked desire in his eyes almost floored her. He wanted her and she could tell he was quivering on the edge of control. His erection was huge and proud, attesting to his need for her but he held himself back, gave her pleasure, brought her to the brink.
She didn’t want him to hold back any longer. She wanted him to lose control. She wanted him to lose himself in her.
“Callum,” she whispered. “I want you inside me.”
He growled in response, his eyes going dark. Then he positioned himself above her, hands to either side of her face and stared down at her for a long moment. Her senses were consumed by him. All she could see was his body poised above her, the contours of his scarred, muscled chest catching the firelight. All she could smell was his soft scent of sweat and arousal. All she could feel was the heat that came off him, shivering over her skin like an electric current.
She quivered, waiting. And then he did it. He pushed her thighs apart with his knees and lowered his hips onto hers. With a hard, deep thrust, he pushed into her, sliding so hard and so deep that Sophie cried out in mingled pain and ecstasy.
The pain lasted only a second but the ecstasy remained. Callum held himself still for a moment, buried deep inside her, and gazed down into her eyes. Then he began to move. He thrust into her, slowly at first, gently, making love to her with a slow, deliberate tempo.
But gradually, Callum’s pace increased. He began to move faster, harder, his lovemaking becoming forceful and vigorous. In response, Sophie’s nerves sang. Sensation rippled through her, spreading out from her core, from the place where she and Callum became one, and rushing through her blood in a heady, intoxicating sweep of adrenaline.
Dimly, she was aware that she’d wrapped her legs around his hips, that she was moving in time with him and that their bodies were coming together in a sweaty tangle over and over, but she had little attention to spare for anything other than the sensations that he was evoking in her body. She’d come alive in a way she’d never experienced, nor ever hoped to experience.
A burning flashed through her, building into a crescendo until suddenly it exploded, every nerve ending seemed to shrivel into flame as her climax sizzled through her, causing her to fling her head back and gasp Callum’s name at the ceiling.
She felt him shudder and he grunted and then jerked as he reached his own peak, holding himself still for an eternal moment, his sweaty skin hot against hers, until finally, he lifted his head and looked down at her.
The lust was fading from his eyes but it was not gone entirely. Instead, it simmered just below the surface, promising more of what they’d just experienced. He smiled at her, leaned down and kissed her again, softly this time, his lips gentle as they brushed hers. Then he rolled away from her, pulling her after him until she turned onto her side and lay against his body. He wrapped his arms around her and she rested her head on his broad chest, listening to the thumping of his heart just below her ear.
For a time, neither spoke and Sophie just lay there, enjoying the closeness. A deep lassitude filled her limbs, a contentment she’d never before experienced. For the first time in her life she felt whole. Outside these walls she knew there were all sorts of horrors awaiting them. Their problems had not gone away. Yet for this moment none of that seemed to matter. For this moment there was just her and Callum and that was enough.
He laid a kiss on the top of her head. “Ye dinna know how many times I’ve dreamed of doing that,” he murmured. “To my dishonor, images of what we just did have filled my head every night since I met ye.”
She raised her head. “And was it as good as you dreamed?”
He smiled. “My dreams couldnae even come close to the reality.”
She leaned forward and kissed him. His eyes slid closed, a groan escaping him. His arms circled her, crushing her against him and then he flipped her onto her back, one hand cupping her breast. Desire roared to life again and she realized she was helpless. She would always want this man. Always.
She reached down, trailed the tips of her fingers across Callum’s tight stomach and down between his legs where she found him hard and ready for her again. She moaned as he rolled atop her, taking her for the second time.
It was just as good as the first. And the third. And the fourth. They spent the night exploring each other’s bodies, getting to know every inch intimately and it was much, much later that Sophie finally fell into an exhausted sleep, wrapped in the safety of Callum’s arms.
Chapter 15
A shaft of light falling directly across Sophie’s face woke her the next morning. She rolled over, hoping to ignore it, but found a cold space where Callum had been. She blinked her eyes open. She was lying by the embers of the fire, wrapped in Callum’s cloak. Of the man himself, there was no sign.
She pushed herself into a sitting position, yawned and stretched her arms over her head. Her muscles ached from all that she and Callum had done last night but it was a pain she welcomed.
She grinned. She felt lighter, more alive than she ever had. Callum loved her. He loved her. And his attentions last night had shown her just how much.
It’s crazy that I had to come to the fifteenth century to meet someone like him, she thought. But I’d do it again in a heart beat.
Her stomach clenched. What would happen when it was time for her to go home? How could she bear to return to the twenty-first century and leave him behind?
She refused to think about it. She would not allow such thoughts to spoil whatever time with Callum she had left. She climbed to her feet and walked around picking up her clothes that had been tossed hastily to the floor last night. She was just tying up the last of the laces on her dress when the door opened and Callum walked in.
His handsome face broke into a grin when he saw her. He dropped the sack he was carrying, rushed across the room and grabbed her around the waist, pressing his lips against hers and kissing her until she was a little breathless.
“Wow,” she said when he finally released her. “That’s a greeting I could get used to.”
“And the sight of ye beside me when I wake up every morning is something I could get used to,” he replied.
His arms were tight around her waist, desire burning in his eyes. Sophie’s legs went weak. She knew if he kissed her again they would soon be tearing each other’s clothes off and she suddenly wanted him to do just that.
But Callum reluctantly released her and retrieved the sack he’d dropped by the door. Placing it on the table, he opened it to reveal a loaf of bread, some butter and cheese.
“There’s a croft a mile to the east,” he explained. “The farmer was happy to sell me a few supplies. I scouted the area too and found no sign of Rochford or his men.”
The mention of the man’s name dampened Sophie’s mood. She seated herself on the bench.
From the weakness of the gray light coming in through the windows, she guessed it was some time just after dawn and from the look of the sky visible through the window, it looked gray and overcast. They ate in silence and Sophie couldn’t help watching Callum. She couldn’t keep her eyes off him. Every movement he made mesmerized her.
Is this what it’s like to be in love? she thought. To barely be able to breathe for the emotions coursing through you? To be so fascinated by someone that you can hardly think of anything else? To feel like you’ve been sleeping your whole life and you’ve just woken and seen a sunrise for the first time?
Callum finished his breakfast and leaned his hands on the table. “I reckon it’s time we saw what’s in that, dinna ye?” he asked, nodding at the lock box which still sat on the table where Sophie had placed it last
night. “Ye’ve gone to some lengths to bring it with ye.”
Sophie nodded. “It’s got a special place in my heart seeing as I used it to knock Rochford senseless,” she said with a smile. “And Rochford keeps documents inside.”
Callum raised an eyebrow. “Does he indeed?”
He knelt by the lock box and examined the lock. Then he drew his dagger and inserted the tip into the keyhole, wiggling it around with a look of immense concentration on his face. There was a ‘snick’ and the lock popped open.
Sophie raised her eyebrows. “Well, who would have thought a laird would make such a good thief?”
“What can I say?” he replied with a grin. “I’m a man of many talents.”
Sophie joined him by the lock box as he opened the lid. Sure enough, it was stuffed with rolled parchments. Callum took one out and began reading.
“Payment records for his men,” he said, sounding a little disappointed.
“Hang on,” Sophie said. “Look at this.” She’d taken out another of the parchments and rolled it out on her lap. This one was most definitely not a list of payments. It was a map. She held it out to Callum who took it, examining it closely.
“Do you recognize anything?” Sophie asked.
He shook his head. “It looks old if the style of writing is aught to go by. I dinna know what it shows...” He trailed of suddenly.
“What is it?”
He glanced at her and then tapped a spot on the map. “I’ve seen this before only I didnae recognize it at first.”
Sophie leaned closer. The spot he indicated seemed to show high ground that cut away sharply. “What is it?”
“An escarpment,” Callum replied. “Where the chalk upland meets the bedrock of the lowlands. The only place I know that has such a feature lies on Murdoch and Elspeth’s lands.”
Sophie’s eyes widened in sudden understanding. “Rochford’s brother was going to marry Catherine, their daughter.”
“Aye,” Callum said grimly. “And was insisting on a useless piece of land as part of her dowry—land that he is still trying to get his hands on.”