The Winter Stone: One Legend, Three Enchanting Novellas

by Crosby, Tanya Anne

“Aye, she is the one.” He could not keep himself from finding her on the dance floor once more, following her every move.

  “I should thank her then.”

  That surprised Kieron. “Thank her?”

  “Aye, for she managed to make you strong as I never could, as all of Tavish’s thrashings never did. She turned you from a boy to a man that day, and you have had Tavish’s respect and given him good counsel ever since. You ken you will be his champion and advisor when he becomes chief, aye?”

  Kieron had the urge to deny it, but knew if he held the Winter Stone it would prove him a liar. “I ken it, and I will serve him and the clan to the best of my abilities.”

  “As you always do, love, as you always do.”

  They both drank in silence for a few minutes as Kieron let his gaze continue to follow Fia through the intricate circle dance. The dark-haired Annis spun past him, and he fought the urge to lock her away again for the harm she had nearly caused. Instead he counted the moments until the music would stop and he could claim Fia’s hand before she could avoid him, as she’d done so well this evening.

  “Does the lass ken?” His grandmum asked quietly, but still jerking Kieron out of his almost trance-like attention.

  “Ken what?”

  “How you feel about her.”

  “How I feel?”

  “Dinna play the dafty with me, Kieron. You are in love with her. How long?”

  “Since first I met her,” Kieron said without hesitation.

  Grandmum whistled through her teeth, drawing Kieron’s attention finally. Her sparse grey eyebrows were raised and the stunned expression in her eyes made Kieron laugh. It was rare he could surprise the old woman.

  “I ken I am a dafty, but ’tis true,” he said. “I have loved her since I first saw her sitting upon a stone at the edge of the meadow where Tavish and the other lads had chased me. She was tiny and golden with her pale hair and big blue eyes, and her laughter was like tinkling bells. I thought perhaps she was a fairy maid come to take me away. Or maybe I fell in love with her when she told me she was laughing at the rest of the lads.”

  “She is why you’ve never been much interested in the lassies here.”

  Kieron nodded. None had ever compared to Fia.

  “Did you ken she was at Kilmartin before you went there?”

  He nodded again.

  “Does she ken how you feel?” Grandmum asked again, her voice quieter and more serious now.

  “I have spoken of it.”

  “And the lass, does she feel the same?”

  Kieron nodded. “I believe she does, but she will not say.”

  “And if she did say? If she did love you, what then my laddie?”

  “I do not think ’twill change aught, even if she does share my feelings. She is determined that we cannot be together, not for a long time at least. I do not want to be without her, Grandmum. Not anymore.”

  “Och, lad. You get your way with most everyone here, often without them even knowing how you do it. Are you telling me you cannot convince a lass you love that marrying you would be the best thing she ever did?”

  “You are biased, Grandmum.”

  “Aye, but that does not make me wrong.” She laughed just as the music stopped. “Go get her, my laddie. If you really love her, and you believe she loves you, do not let her go.”

  Kieron almost toppled the bench and his grandmother in his rush to his feet. Fortunately the dance had brought Fia to his side of the crowded hall so he was able steady his grandmother and still reach Fia before anyone else claimed the next dance. He looked back at the table, ready to apologize for his abrupt abandonment, only to find the old woman grinning and tilting her head toward the door that led out to the deserted village. Kieron smiled and nodded.

  He needed to get Fia out of here, out of the crush of the clan and somewhere private. He needed to make sure she knew how he felt. He needed to know if she cared as deeply for him.

  “I need to talk to you, Fia,” he said. “Would you like to get some air?”

  Fia hesitated for a moment, then followed him as he led her through the throng and down the outer stairs into the village. When they were clear of the noise and the light of the torches that had been set up along the main path to the hallhouse, Kieron stopped and faced her. She stood a few feet away, almost as if she was afraid to get to close to him. His heart ached at the thought she might be afraid of him.

  “I do not think we have aught to say to each other, Kieron,” she said.

  He could see the tension that pulled her shoulders up, and pinched her face. She started to turn away and he reached out and caught her wrist. He didn’t know what to say to her, but he knew what he felt, what she felt, when they touched. He pulled her slowly into his arms, pleased when she reluctantly let him. He kissed her, coaxing her mouth to soften beneath his, hoping she would kiss him back, even if it were for the last time. Suddenly, she rose up onto her toes, deepening the kiss he’d started, and holding onto him with a ferocity he would never have expected. His heart fluttered, skipping a beat, then doubling its effort as she threaded her fingers into his hair and tilted her sweet mouth, opening for him with a need so fierce it would not be denied. He could not help but run his hands over her back and down to her backside, pressing her against him until he could barely think. She shivered, and he could not tell if it was from the passion that exploded between them, or because she was cold, but either way, they could not stay out here. He scooped her up, never breaking the kiss, and carried her to the tiny cottage that she and Annis were to have shared.

  When they were inside, he let her slide down him until her feet touched the floor. He trailed kisses over her cheek and down to the hollow behind her ear, then down the pale column of her neck. He ran his hand up her side, letting his thumb just skim along the side of her breast. She turned just slightly, allowing his hand to cup her breast, as she gave a low satisfied moan. She leaned against him, creating an exquisite pressure along the length of his erection where she trapped it between their bodies.

  He reached down and cupped her bottom, pulling her closer still, as she found his mouth with hers and kissed him again.

  He stopped.

  He stopped his hands where he caressed her backside.

  He stopped their kiss.

  He realized his breath came hard and fast as if he’d been running. He set her just far enough away to create a little space between them so he could try to form the words that needed to be spoken. He looked her directly in her amazingly big blue eyes and almost lost his ability to speak. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to calm his heartbeat.

  “I need to say something, Fia. I dinna want you to think…”

  “What is it?” she asked, her voice breathy as if she, too, was having a hard time slowing her heart.

  “I need to say…” He closed his eyes again, steadying himself lest he get lost in her gaze and the sweetness of her breath upon his face, lest he divest her of her clothes and make her his this very moment. He took another long shuddering breath.

  “Whatever it is, Kieron, just say it.”

  He opened his eyes and ran a thumb over her cheek. “I love you.”

  The most wistful smile he had ever seen spread over her heart-shaped face as if his words saddened her. “I know.” And now it was she who closed her eyes and took a long, slow breath. “I am sorry I did not tell you earlier today.” She lifted her chin and gazed up at him. “I thought it would be easier to leave you if I did not say the words, but even the few hours when I kept myself away from you this afternoon proved to me that it was too late. I love you, too,” she said, laying a hand on his chest just as she had when she slept in his lap. “I always will.”

  “Oh, thank God,” he said, pulling her into a kiss that was more fierce than loving, more claiming than coaxing by both of them.

  Chapter Eight

  Fia was nervous and happier than she could ever remember being. Kieron loved her and she loved him. The
man made her body hum in a way she’d never experienced before just by saying her name, or looking at her, but now…this…now she was on fire and the only thing she knew was that Kieron fanned the flames higher and hotter with every touch of his lips, every caress of his hands.

  “We should stop,” he said, raining kisses down her neck and back up to that sensitive spot behind her ear that she had not known was there.

  “Aye.” She leaned her head to the side. “Aye,” she said again on a sigh of pure pleasure. Neither of them ceased their explorations of each other.

  Fia slid her hands up his arms, as he cupped her breasts in his hands, running his thumbs over the peaked nipples. She pressed into his hands, wondering what it would feel like to have his skin against hers. Kieron growled and Fia could not help but laugh, delighted that she inspired such a fierce response in her Highlander.

  “You laugh at me, my lady?” He threaded his fingers into her hair and kissed her before she could answer. Heat gathered within her, low and needy, with every stroke of his tongue against hers.

  “Aye, I laugh at you,” she whispered against his lips as she unfastened the pin at his shoulder, then pulled his belt free. His plaid fell to the floor and his desire for her was hidden only by his tunic.

  Shyness and curiosity warred within her. She wanted to see all of him, wanted to run her hands over his skin, wanted him to touch her in the same way, but before she could act on her desires he was loosening her gown and slipping it down her arms, to puddle at her feet, leaving her clad only in her kirtle. He lifted her into his arms again, and in three long strides laid her on the bed in the corner of the single room.

  The mattress dipped as he stretched out beside her, rolling her toward him so they faced each other. He ran a hand down her side, over her hip, and back up, skimming over her breast with the lightest of touches. Shyly she reached out and mirrored his caress, sliding her hand down his side, but she did not trail her way back up as he had. She hesitated for a moment, then slid her hand between their bodies. He closed his eyes and a low throaty groan escaped him as she ran her hand over him. The heat and hardness of his desire stole her breath and pushed everything out of her mind except Kieron. Her Kieron. Instinct took over as she hooked her leg over his hip and pressed herself to him.

  He slid his hand up her thigh, under her kirtle and cupped her bottom, pulling her harder against him, moving against her slowly, seducing her senses and her body until she was a haze of need, a maelstrom of desire. She pulled at his tunic, needing to touch him, needing his skin against hers as she’d never needed anything before. Quickly, he pulled the tunic over his head, then sat her up to divest her of her kirtle. They sat there, breathing hard, just looking at each other.

  “You are so lovely, my Fia,” he whispered as he reached out to run the backs of his fingers over her breast and down her belly, stopping just as he reached the apex of her thighs.

  “And you are the brawest man I have ever seen,” she said, mesmerized by his touch.

  He pressed her back and settled himself between her thighs, kissing her and moving against her until she thought she might die from wanting him.

  “Kieron, please,” she whispered. She knew what must happen next, though only from the gossip of other lasses newly bedded, but she had not understood the desire that fueled such couplings. The need to join with him, the desire to share this ultimate intimacy with the man she loved with all her heart, had her writhing beneath him. “Please, love.”

  Kieron stilled and looked her in the eyes, his own filled with more tenderness than she ever thought possible, and as he kept her gaze locked with his, he slowly filled her, pausing as they both felt the tug of resistance. “’Twill hurt, love, but only for a moment.”

  She nodded and he retreated, then surged into her. She gasped, but more from the incredible feeling of being one with him than from the swift flash of pain.

  He stilled. “Are you all right?” His tone was worried but she could only smile up at him and hook her leg over his hip again as she tried to get even closer.

  “That is not all there is to this, is it?” She smiled at him and let her instincts guide her movements.

  He groaned, and kissed her, then began to move with her, into her, over and over, driving her up into heights she had never known, spinning, flying, until they both cried out their joy.

  Annis watched as Kieron pulled Fia from the hall and as soon as she could, she slipped away from the gathering. Imagine, a ceilidh to celebrate Fia healing the chief. She’d probably done nothing more than let the man heal on his own, but as usual, Fia was deemed remarkable though Annis could never understand why.

  Annis stood in the shadow at the top of the outer stair, letting her eyes adjust to the night, but she could not see Fia or Kieron anywhere. She started down the stair, fuming that she had been shut away in that tiny dank cottage while the scrawny, fey Fia could do no wrong. It was bad enough that Fia always got whatever she wanted, with the entire MacLachlan clan doting over her every whim just because she was orphaned, as if that were something unusual. But now she’d managed the same feat with the MacAlisters, so much so that Kieron could look at no one but Fia, and men and women alike smiled fondly at her while scowling at Annis.

  And why did they scowl? She had not harmed the chief. She had only failed to mention that the willow was destroyed and Fia treated her as if she had committed some terrible crime. Just once, she would like to see Fia brought low, she would like Fia to learn what it was like to have everyone look at her like she was nothing special, just another lass amongst many.

  A familiar voice drifted to her from somewhere past the last of the torches. A door opened, and closed again. Annis’s blood sped as she moved from shadow to shadow, sure now, at last, she would discover Fia in a less than perfect light.

  At long last she would have something to hold over Fia, something that would take the light from her eyes and the smile from her lips should Elena and Symon learn of it. Something that would make Fia do whatever Annis wanted for a long time to come.

  Fia lay with her head on Kieron’s chest, running her fingers lightly over his skin, remembering what they had done, what they had shared, until need began to build in her again. This was exactly where she wanted to be, in Kieron’s arms. Never had she felt so happy, so loved, so sure of what she wanted her future to hold.

  But she could not turn her back on her family. She owed them everything, and until Kieron had walked into the bailey at Kilmartin Castle she had never imagined that her place with them might not be enough.

  Guilt clawed into her heart. She loved her life at Kilmartin Castle. She had a family she loved, and who loved her. She had a calling with her herb lore, and had learned so much by working with Elena as her helper. She was comfortable there, but now she could see that she was lonely there, as well. Her heart had been lonely for the one person she was meant to share her life with only she hadn’t known it.

  She knew it now.

  Just the thought of returning to her life at Kilmartin hollowed out her heart.

  She would give anything to stay here with Kieron, to wed with him, to make a family with him. She knew she would be welcome here, not only because Kieron loved her, but because she could take her place as their healer, too.

  But it was impossible, as impossible for him to come with her as for her to stay here.

  Nay, this was the time they had and maybe, when Mairi was fully trained and Elena was safely done having bairns, maybe then, if Kieron had not married already, maybe then, they could be together.

  “Did you hear something?” Kieron asked, his voice rumbling in his chest against her ear.

  “Nay,” she said, but she could not be certain she would have noticed anything while she was spiraling down into loneliness and misery.

  “’Twas probably just a dog snuffling around outside for something to eat,” he said, pulling her more tightly to him. “We should return to the ceilidh before anyone comes in search of us.”

/>   Fia sighed and let herself enjoy the slow beat of his heart against her cheek for a few more minutes.

  When she knew she could not put off returning to the hallhouse any longer she slipped out of his warm embrace and shivered in the chill air of the dark cottage. “’Tis time the chief returned to his chamber. I’ll not have him making himself ill again when I must return to Kilmartin.” Her kirtle lay in a heap next to the bed. She grabbed it and slid it over her head. “I cannot delay going back.” She tried to keep her voice light, but she was certain he could hear the strain in it. “Elena’s time grows near and she’ll need me.” Fia barely contained a sob as she searched for her gown, finding it near the door.

  Kieron had his tunic on now but grabbed her before she could tie the laces on her gown. “Let me,” he said, taking the ribbons from her hands and tying them carefully, if a little lopsidedly. When he finished, he pulled her back into his arms and laid his cheek against the crown of her head making her feel tiny and protected in the arms of her warrior, her friend, her love.

  “I do not ken how, but we will find a way to be together, love,” Kieron said. “I cannot bear the thought of being parted from you again.”

  “But you are needed here and I am needed there,” she said, blinking rapidly. She refused to cry over something that could not be changed.

  “Aye, ’tis true, but there must be a way.” He ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek, then kissed her sweetly. “I love you, Fia, and I will find a way for us to be together.”

  Fia pressed a kiss into his palm. “I love you, too,” she said but dared not hold onto hope that he would be successful.

  Chapter Nine

  Fia lay awake in the same bed she had shared with Kieron just a few hours earlier, his scent surrounding her as firmly as his arms had. As tired as she was after more than a sennight caring for the chief, Kieron’s scent in her bed kept her awake, reminding her of every caress, every whispered word they had shared there. Annis slept like a stone on a pallet across the small chamber. Oddly, she had not complained at all when Fia refused to share the bed with her.