He finally found the strength to pull her up next to him, and rolled so they faced each other. He pushed the wet tangle of hair from her face and looked into those eyes he’d already come to cherish. Again he was assailed with the sense, so much stronger now that they’d admitted their feelings to one another, that he’d looked into these eyes for eons. “You said, earlier, that I’ve had you for centuries. What did you mean?”
She looked a bit surprised by the question, but smiled and settled herself a bit more comfortably in his arms. “How much do you know of the history of Rogues Hollow?”
Now he was surprised. “I know the three men who founded it left Scotland to escape the hangman’s noose for their crimes.”
“That much is true,” she said. “Your ancestor, Teague Morgan, was quite the scoundrel, as were his cohorts Iain Sinclair and Dougal Ramsay. He and Dougal’s sister. Lillith, were lovers. In fact, when he left, she was pregnant with his child.”
Tag’s eyebrows lifted. “Did he know?”
She nodded. “Oh yes. It’s said the two were fated, that it was quite the love match. Unfortunately they were from opposite sides of warring clans. And more unfortunate still, Teague lost Ballantrae to Dougal and Lillith’s brother.”
“In battle?”
She smiled. “In a game of cards.”
“What?”
“His father and brother had been killed fighting a battle alongside the MacKays, taking Ballantrae from the Sinclairs. The Ramsay chief then won it from Teague before the blood had dried on the fields, and promptly made it a dowry for his sister, Lillith, who he quickly betrothed to Calum Sinclair as a way to bind their clans together against further attacks from the MacKays and Morgans.”
“So why didn’t she leave with Teague?”
“An ocean crossing was no place for a pregnant woman. But Teague was facing the noose, as were her brother Dougal and Calum’s younger brother Iain.”
“What of Calum? And Lillith’s brother? They were clan chiefs, they couldn’t protect their own flesh and blood from the hangman?”
“I don’t think they wanted to. They didn’t trust Teague and it was well known the three were quite in cahoots, despite the battles raging amongst their clans. Lillith herself urged them to flee. She swore she’d follow when she was able, and bring Teague’s child to him.”
“Did she?”
Maura shook her head. “Calum got wind of the plan and kept her on a very short leash. Basically by keeping her pregnant with his own bairns.”
Tag’s eyes widened then as another realization struck him. “The Bible, the one in the cherrywood box.”
“Yes, that was hers. The son she bore to Teague didn’t survive his fifth year, according to the notes written in the Bible. So it went to her daughter, a daughter she had with Calum. The story goes that she passed it down to Carys, in the hopes that one day she’d carry it to Teague herself, or his own offspring, had he any.”
“Only Carys never made it to America.”
“No,” Maura said. “But it stayed in Sinclair hands, handed down in a tangled chain, from daughter to son, son to brother, sister to sister, generation to generation.” She met his gaze as she wove her fingers through his and held them to his heart. “Until it ended up with me.”
“Three centuries,” he said quietly and reached up to stroke her cheek. “A history forever entwined. Forever apart.”
“Until now.” Her smile was filled with contentment, her eyes glassy with emotion. “We finally brought them back together.”
Tag pulled her close, rolled so she was beneath him. And when he kissed her this time, he finally understood the promise he felt, the promise he was making. And he reveled in the rightness of it “Together,” he vowed. “Right where we belong.”
Catch Me If You Can Page 31