Highlander's Castle

by Joanne Wadsworth

  He grunted. “No wandering farther than the meadow. I’ll keep an eye out.”

  “Come, Anne. The wildflowers await.” She tugged her over the stone walled bridge, murmuring, “’Tis a grand sight if you wish to see the men training. They battle hard.”

  “Where are they?”

  “Beyond the outbuildings near the shore where there is a goodly amount of flat land.”

  “I see.” A great cloud of dust rose from that direction. They followed the meandering trail scattered with rocks, passed children playing near the stables. Uphill, they climbed, and at the top, Anne raised a hand to her brow. Stunning. Dunscaith sat at the mouth of Loch Eishort, and the waters shimmered blue-green from this vantage point. James would certainly have favorable conditions as he sailed to Dunvegan Castle along the coast.

  “The Cuillin mountains look majestic today.” Mary plucked several flowers from within the lush green grass.

  “Yes.” The mountains rose majestically. Wispy clouds dotted the horizon, floating toward the home of her ancestors. She was descended from the direct MacLeod bloodline, and that had never been more obvious than when Annie had stood before her. Theirs surely was fairy blood, for such a wish to come true.

  Oh, but Dunvegan. How she’d love to visit the stronghold of her ancestors. She’d intended to go, determined to see it all by traveling the entire length of Skye.

  Now, in the most unique way, that wish had come true.

  “Mum, Dad, I wish you could be here,” she murmured.

  If only that were—oh my goodness. She was living in the past, and well before the time her parents had been taken.

  Would it be possible for her to alert them of the danger ahead?

  Her heartbeat raced. Why not?

  This could be the reason she’d come, and not simply because of Annie’s wish. Maybe she could leave her parents a message, one that warned them ahead of time of the fire that would take their lives.

  Only how could she do that? New Zealand was a long way away and she still had no idea what year she’d arrived in.

  “Anne, come and join me.”

  She spun and faced Mary. “I know this will sound strange, but indulge me. What year is it?”

  “Oh, Anne.” She laughed. “You are such a delight.”

  Delight aside, she had to know. “Do you believe the world is flat?”

  Her giggles continued. “Nay. Men have sailed far and wide and have no’ fallen off the sides. And there is the moon. Surely you’ve seen the roundness of it? Why would the Earth no’ be so?”

  “Rrright.” She slapped her forehead. The moon was round. Geez, where had she heard about people believing the world had been flat?

  So what time had she ended up in? From the brochure she’d read during her trip here, Dunscaith had been abandoned by the clan around sixteen-hundred and eighteen when the current chief had received a royal charter of the lands in the far north of Skye at Trotternish. Whatever time this was, it had to be prior to that.

  If only the chief’s name wasn’t Donald MacDonald. Every chief she could recall from this clan had been named such.

  “Are you going to help or stand there looking perplexed all afternoon?”

  “I’ll help.” She picked flowers until both their baskets overflowed. As they cut a path back to the castle she asked, “Has there been any word on the chief?”

  “Nay, but Fergus will find him.” Mary tugged on their linked arms, changed their course toward the dust cloud. “Pick up your pace, otherwise Alan will see us and bring our next adventure to a close.”

  “We’re going to watch the warriors?”

  “Aye, all that braw muscle needs appreciation, and at four and forty, I’m no’ too old to enjoy the display.”

  Her heart lightened at Mary’s words. “I would like to see Alex training.”

  “Oh, my Alex is very lucky to have found you.”

  “Hardly found, more like foisted upon.”

  She swatted her hand. “Shush, I shall hear no more talk of that.”

  They rounded the corner of the stables. Before the waters of the glistening loch, a hundred shirtless warriors wielded claymores in a battle of strength against one another.

  She searched through the half-naked men and found the very one she was after. Alex’s body was hard and packed with muscle, his shoulders and arms thick and strong. His chest held the finest smattering of hair, the same blond of his head. Below the plains of his glorious chest, his abs rippled, layer upon tight layer and all covered with a healthy sheen of sweat.

  “He’s by far the tallest.” And Anne wanted every inch of that body back against hers.

  “Aye, my son could never be missed in a battle.”

  His powerful form was magnificent, and his command of the warriors he fought against a sight to behold.

  Alex thrust his enormous sword against his opponent’s as if it were an extension of his arm and not a monstrous piece of steel. Now, this was exactly how he’d come about every one of those bulging muscles.

  “I have to get closer.” She passed Mary her basket.

  “I’ll hold Alan off.”

  “Thank you. You make a wonderful friend.” Stepping forward, she focused on the man who’d made love to her so intensely throughout the night. He moved deftly, growing stronger with each strike of his claymore upon his opponent’s blade.

  The two men circled each other, as if waiting to pounce for the next attack. Alex raised his weapon and—

  “Lass, get back here now.” Alan tried to pass Mary who zigzagged in front of him.

  “Damn,” Alex swore, barely missing his challenger’s blow. His gaze speared toward her. “What are you doing out here?”

  She stared at his wide chest. Even the veins on his arms stood rigid and firm. “Sorry, the view was rather distracting.”

  “You could get hurt.” He marched toward her, caught her arm then led her to the rear of the stables where all was quiet. “Lass, you cannae look at me like that.”

  “Like what?” She touched his chest with her finger then swirled down over his wicked abs.

  “Like that.” He picked her up, kicked open the door of a side room, set her down and slammed the door shut. His eyes burned a molten hue even in the dark confines of the cramped room. “Up with your skirts.”

  “What?”

  “Up. With. Your.” His plaid rose at the front, and all of its own accord.

  “Oh, like that?”

  He backed her against the wall. “Aye, like that.”

  “That’s very clever.” She grinned and finished lifting the soft tartan. Since he’d removed his trews to train, his legs were bare underneath. His cock was hard and held a glistening drop on the end. “Do you ever tire?”

  “It appears, no’ with you.”

  “I think I can help.” She knelt and encircled her hand around his heavy shaft.

  “If you’re about to—”

  “Oh, I am.” She licked the head then swirled her tongue around it. Perfect. She opened her mouth and took as much of him in as she could. He tasted divine, salty and strong, and as she sucked, he groaned and rocked his hips.

  * * * *

  Alex couldn’t speak. She settled her soft lips around him then pulled him in as deep as she could take. She’d unman him if he permitted much more. “Mercy.”

  “I don’t think so.” She sucked even harder.

  “Nay, I want inside of you, no’ to come in your pretty mouth.” He pulled out. Hell, that had been the hardest thing he’d ever done. Yet harder still was his cock. He tumbled her to the floor, flipped her skirts then pulled her on top of him. “Ride me, and dinnae stop.”

  “Yes, sir.” She gasped as she moved up and down. “Ohh, yesss, sir.”

  “I’m going to lose my mind.”

  “I want you to lose more than that.” She arched her back as she picked up speed.

  The intensity of the moment shook him. Grasping her hips, he rocked them harder until her tight channel hugged hi
m all the way to his balls.

  “Alex, I’m—”

  “Let go. I’m right here with you.”

  “Oh, oh yes.” She cried out as she pulsed around him.

  With no choice, he came hard, shattering right along with her.

  “Ahh, wonderful,” she murmured then drooped on top of him.

  “More like magnificent.” He couldn’t move. ’Twas as if she’d drained his life’s blood, and not on the battlefield, but the dusty floor of the stables. She wielded such control over him. “Sorry, my sweet.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I didnae mean for that to happen again, to come inside you.”

  “It’s fine.” Her eyelashes fluttered up. “I have something inside me which prevents pregnancy. I meant it when I said there won’t be a child.”

  “And as I’ve told you, ’tis impossible.”

  “I know you did. Believe what you will, but I’ve no wish to lie to you.” She ran her thumb over his lower lip then leaned in and kissed him.

  “I cannae allow such a mistake again.” Never had he lost his thoughts as he did with her. “Mayhap we should abstain. I dinnae seem to be able to keep my promise as I—”

  She pressed her fingers over his mouth. “I don’t know how long I’ll be here, but while I am, I want to be your wife in all ways. I mean it.”

  “You’ll be here a year.”

  “Sometimes things happen outside of our control.”

  “You may have slipped out of MacLeod’s grasp, but you willnae slip out of mine.” He rolled them and stood. “We need to talk, and you will speak of how you arrived here unescorted. This time, I’ll have the truth.”

  * * * *

  After straightening her clothing, Anne walked inside the keep with Alex leading the way. Great. How could she make him believe her?

  “After you.” He opened his chamber door.

  She trudged inside. “I don’t know what to say that I haven’t already.”

  “We’re no’ leaving here until I have the truth.” He crossed to the side table under the window and poured water from the jug into the basin.

  “I’ve told you the truth, but you won’t believe me.”

  “Dinnae speak of coming from the future and I will.” He removed his plaid, soaked a cloth and washed his face and body until only the spicy scent of his soap lingered in the air. His wet skin gleamed and she itched to trace his golden skin. Too soon he covered himself with a clean shirt and trews, then tapped his foot. “I’m waiting. I’d never harm you.”

  “I know you wouldn’t.” To the unexplainable depths of her heart, the knowledge was clear in her mind. “All right. I’ll start with the Fairy Flag, the powerful talisman of the MacLeod clan. Have you heard of it?”

  “The MacLeods have fairy blood. That is the legend they tell. Apparently their Fairy Flag holds mystical powers.”

  “It does.” She rubbed her damp palms against her skirts. “The flag is hidden somewhere at Dunvegan in this time, but in the future it’s kept on display, or at least that’s what I’ve heard.”

  “In this time?” His brows slashed down. “No’ again.”

  “Ah, yes.” She drew in a deep breath to fortify herself. “I’m not Anne MacLeod, or at least I am, but not the Anne MacLeod you believe me to be. I live in the future, in the year two-thousand and fourteen.”

  “You’re speaking nonsense.” Arms crossed, he snapped, “I want the truth, no’ some fairy tale.”

  “It is the truth. I came here through a portal the night you returned from your search. I’d booked a tour to visit Dunscaith’s ruins, and I was clinging to the drawbridge’s ledge when the hole opened. James pulled me through, from my time to yours. I swear it’s the truth.”

  “You’d already been here a sennight. Stop with the lies.”

  “That was Annie who was here. I’m directly descended from her, and we look exactly alike. Annie is the one who first made the wish upon the Fairy—”

  “Nay, no more lies.” He ground his heel against the floor. “Give me the truth.”

  “In truth I live around the other side of the world, in a country as yet undiscovered.” Since she’d begun, she might as well lay out all the facts. “In the 1850s ships sailed from England, taking men, women and children to settle in the newly discovered land of New Zealand. That’s where my ancestors traveled to.”

  “Right, and somehow you sailed right back here again?”

  “No, in my time one can catch a plane. You board it and the machine takes off and flies across the sky.”

  He snorted. “You have a wild imagination.”

  “If only I did. I promise you, many amazing things happen in the future, and Annie traveled there. When she visited Dunvegan in the future and looked upon the Fairy Flag, she was transported back to the past. She ended up here a week before I did. That’s how she arrived unescorted, and I spoke to her. The night I arrived was the night she was pulled back.”

  “Pulled back to—” He shoved up his hand. “Cease. I’ve heard enough of this drivel and I shouldnae be encouraging you.”

  “You wanted the truth, Alex, and this is it. I don’t know how long I’ll be here. Annie disappeared before my eyes and I don’t know what caused her to go. The same could happen to me and there is nothing I can do about it.”

  He speared her a fierce look then stormed to the door. He stood, his hand on the doorknob as if he didn’t know whether he should stay or go. “I never want to hear you spout such rot again.”

  “I said you wouldn’t believe me, but it isn’t rot. I have no reason to lie to you.”

  “You’re no’ from the future.”

  “I am. In my time we have machines which do almost everything. Man no longer travels by horse, but within large steel contraptions that roll on wheels. Man has even taken one of those planes I spoke of, specially outfitted for space, and landed on the moon.”

  “Enough.” He shook with fury.

  “We have medications which prevent so many diseases and death. Women rarely die in childbirth and people live to eighty, ninety, even one hundred years of age.”

  “I cannae listen to any more of this. You’re to remain here until I return.” He yanked open the door and slammed it behind him. His booted footsteps clomped down the passageway.

  Ooo-kay, that went well.

  This time was so backward. He had no right to demand she remain here, only for the life of her, she wasn’t game enough to open that door and step out.

  She crossed to his corner desk. In the top drawer, she found paper, a quill and ink. Lovely. She sat in his chair and penned precise instructions for her parents to ensure they were never taken from her by the fire. The fire report had said the blaze had begun in their bedroom due to an electrical fault with their heater.

  She listed the date and gave as much information as she could about her trip to the past, the very one Alex had not believed her of. But her parents had to. At the end of the note, she signed her name then blew on the ink until it dried. After folding it in three, she tucked it into an envelope and sealed it with red wax and the MacDonald stamp.

  Now, she had to get this to the MacLeod stronghold. Dunvegan had never fallen to another clan, and it was the one place in the future where someone might ensure her letter was kept safely locked away. Her parents had to receive this note, and before they perished. Surely they’d believe her.

  Her heart throbbed and sank like a stone in her chest. She wanted more time with Alex, but if she was pulled back to her own time before she’d had a chance to deliver this letter then she’d never forgive herself.

  * * * *

  Cursing, Alex marched into the great hall. Dunscaith would never fall into ruin. Anne could not possibly have come from the future, and all those things she’d spouted couldn’t even conceivably occur.

  “What has that dark look on your face, my son?” His mother wandered around the trestle tables, placing bowls of arranged flowers in the center of each one. Other than her, the
room was clear, still he couldn’t repeat his wife’s words. They might turn his mother against her. Although, Mother had been here as he had not.

  “’Tis naught. Have you noticed a difference in Anne since the night she escaped?”

  She halted then fidgeted with a bowl. “While you were gone, she was amenable, but neither of you had spent much time with each other. I feared she was uncertain, so before your handfast, we spoke. All was well afterward.”

  “She did no’ appear different?”

  Water sloshed from the next bowl as she placed it on the table. Her gaze jumped to his. “Pray tell what you mean by different?”

  He had to be careful he didn’t raise her suspicions. “I only meant by her disposition.”

  “Oh, then aye, but she is a MacLeod among so many MacDonalds. Her earlier wariness while you were away was expected.” She took the last bowl and walked to the stairs. “I must finish seeing to the flowers. The chambers need brightening. I’ll see you at the evening meal.”

  “You will.” He had already lost much of his afternoon, and the loch awaited.

  Outside, converged at the edge of the shore, his men stripped off their shirts and rolled their trews to their knees. He did the same then dove into the loch and led the way. They swam several miles along the coast as part of their daily training. Swimming such distances was imperative since they fought on both land and sea. It ensured they were at their fittest. Any possible weakness could certainly lead to death, and a warrior’s life was already short enough.

  As dark descended, he slogged out of the water, pulled his shirt on and a dry pairs of trews left by one the maids. Dressed, he tramped to the keep. His men followed, their hungry rumblings heard by the maids who rushed to fill the tables with hot and hearty dishes of food and their tankards with ale.

  With his clan assembled in the great hall, he took his place at the dais and turned to Alan at his right. “Do you have aught to report?”

  “Your lady has kept to your chamber since ye left.”

  Good. At least she had not defied his order. He removed the dirk strapped to his thigh, stabbed a wedge of beef and ate it from the tip.

  “Good evening, Alex.” His mother swished by and took her seat. “Where is Anne?”