“So you said I could explore the keep, right?” she asked him. “I found a couple of volumes on your island’s history in the library. And I’m fascinated by old castles.”
“Aye, but be careful. The family has tried to keep it well-maintained over the years, but it’s a huge task. There are areas that need renovation. The main tower is solid and its battlements are safe, but some of the sections along the western walls need reinforcing.”
“What about the dungeon? Has that been renovated?”
He gave her a long look, and then grinned. “No. What a good idea. I should look into bringing my dungeon up to contemporary standards.”
Did he mean...yes he did! She flushed. The hot Scot was getting hotter every minute.
“I also read something about a cavern under the keep. Is that safe for me to explore?”
His expression darkened as if a light had been switched off. “No. There are some old caves down there somewhere, but they flooded long ago. The passageways through the stone foundations are blocked off. Don’t go down there.” He seemed to realize that he had spoken sharply. “It’s dangerous,” he added. “Try to stay above the ground, Ms. Beaton.”
“Please call me Kate.” She looked around the table, grinning at everyone. “I’m not used to such formality. Please. Just Kate is fine.”
“Kate it is,” Ross agreed.
They had finished the main course and were waiting for Mrs. Dumfries to bring out the pudding when a young man Kate hadn’t met hurried into the dining room. “Sorry to bother you, sir, but Miz Macdonald from the village sent me to tell you Daisy’s in labor and squealing and carrying on in great distress. She can’t seem to give birth. Could you come and see if there’s anything wrong?”
“Of course,” said Ross, immediately getting up from the table.
Daisy? Who was Daisy? Did Ross have a woman in the village? A mistress?
“That old sow is getting a bit old for this,” he said. “Get my bag from my office, Jamie, and let’s see what we can do for her.” He smiled at Kate and added, “I hope you’ll excuse me for a little while. I need to attend to this. By the way, this is young Jamie Dumfries. Jamie, bid welcome to my guest, Kate Beaton.”
Jamie, an anxious-looking teenager, nodded to Kate. She smiled back and asked, “Who is Daisy?” She wondered if there was a village custom that the laird be present at all births.
“Daisy is a pig, Kate. And I am the local vet.”
He hurried out, leaving Kate staring after him in surprise. Ross Malloch was a veterinarian? She felt like a fool for not realizing that a modern man must have something more important to do all day than sit in his ancient keep and laird about the place.
A vet. Wow. With her natural empathy for animals, she had once dreamed of being a vet herself, but her lack of aptitude for chemistry, biology and mathematics had scuttled that dream.
Malloch hadn’t returned when Kate went to bed that night. She had wanted to wait up for this man, whom she found increasingly fascinating. But a curious lassitude set in after the big dinner. When she went up to her room to change into something more casual, she lay down for a quick nap, and didn’t awaken until morning.
Chapter Eight
Three days later, Kate climbed the circular staircase in the castle tower to survey the countryside. It was quite a climb, but the view from the battlements was magnificent. It was a clear day, and the sea pounded against the rocks of the island on three sides. On the fourth side was the causeway to the village.
Mallochbirn Village was a quiet place, even on market days. She had learned that only about 400 people lived there, and even fewer populated the cottages and farms on the rest of the Mallochbirn estate. According to Mrs. Dumfries, many young people of the village left for a few years to pursue their educations and careers in other parts of the country, but some of them eventually returned. “No one loves you like your family and friends,” she explained. “Besides, life is good here. Calm. Pleasant. Not stressful the way it is everywhere else in this cruel world.”
Kate was inclined to agree. She had felt unusually tranquil. The library was full of fascinating books and documents, and she had already discovered a great deal about her ancestors, the Buchanans and the Grahams. The Mallochbirn library possessed far more interesting documents than the parish record room.
Genealogical records revealed that she was distantly related to several of the other families in the area. She was making a list of the families in the village whom she wanted to visit, in order to compare notes on their histories.
She hadn’t actually made any visits, though. Perhaps she should do so today? She recalled that Hamish had told her that her car was parked over at the inn. She ought to go there and start it. She’d rented the car for a week, but she’d only used it for a couple of days, driving up into the Highlands.
She realized that she hadn’t left Mallochbirn Isle for three days. That was odd. But why leave? The castle still had some unexplored areas, and besides, the hot Scot was here. She really didn’t have the slightest inclination to go anywhere.
Maybe if Ross had to go out on another emergency veterinary call, she would ask if she could accompany him. Daisy the pig had been safely coaxed through her labor. She’d given birth to several fine piglets. Yesterday, when Ross had held his clinic in his office in what had originally been the castle stables, Kate had stopped by to watch. He quickly noted that she was a calming presence around the animals—mostly pets coming in for their shots—so he allowed her to help out. She was glad to do it.
Ross was gentle with the animals, and she could see that they responded well to him. Animals were good judges of people. They all seemed to adore Ross.
That evening was warm for June, and Kate wandered around the garden after dinner. The sky was clear and the moon was nearing full. For a change, there was little wind off the sea, so she didn’t need a sweater. The garden was in full bloom and the scents from the various flowers were lovely. Hamish had told her that many of the plants were blossoming earlier than usual this season.
As she approached the tall hedges marking the outer boundaries of the maze, she ran into Ross, who rounded the hedgerow from the other direction. They both stopped. She felt that instant pull of attraction that always struck when they encountered one another. He was so tall and commanding. So purely and compellingly male. She could easily imagine him stripped of his casual elegance and clad instead in rough leather and a kilt. The warrior of Mallochbirn, barely civilized and ready to leap into battle.
She wasn’t accustomed to men like Ross Malloch. She had never encountered his like. Although he was able to mask his elemental nature with courtesy and fine manners, he could not hide it entirely. In London or Boston or New York, at a party or a club, he would have set the women on fire and the men on edge as he prowled among them, seeking out and marking his prey.
“Lovely evening,” she said, giving him a big smile. He always warmed to her smiles.
“Aye, it is that. Taking a turn about the garden?”
Mischievously she said, “I was about to enter the maze.”
“Better take a snack. That maze is fiendish. You’ll be wandering in there all night.”
Since she still had the map of the maze firmly in mind, she countered, “Race you to the center?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You clearly possess a reckless desire for adventure. Do I look like someone who’s likely to get lost in his own maze?”
“All things are possible,” she said breezily. “I think I deserve a head start, though, don’t you? At least a couple of minutes.” As she passed him, she allowed her hand to brush his arm. He gave her a roguish smile. His eyes were merry, his mouth had an agreeable curl to it, and his black hair was shining in the moonlight. And there was something in his aura—or in the aura generated between them—a sensual force that tugged at her. She had felt a hint of it as soon as they’d met, and since then it had built relentlessly.
“You’ll probably beat me,” she sai
d. “But in the unlikely event that I win, what do I get as a prize?”
“What would you like?”
A thought came to mind, and she voiced it without considering why she was asking. “I want to hear about your sea dragon. The whole story, I mean. And I want to visit that old cavern beneath the castle. I know you said it was unsafe, but perhaps you could accompany me?”
He looked surprised. And somewhat alarmed. “Those old caverns are dangerous, but I’ll be happy to tell you about the Zrakon.”
“I found an old book in your library that claimed that something in the cavern was the key to the mystery of Mallochbirn.” She paused, adding, “You could show me your dungeon on the way.”
“I don’t actually have a dungeon,” he said, but she had caught the flare of desire in his eyes. “I mean, it’s just an old chamber, where they used to do god only knows what.”
“No whips? No chains? I’m disappointed,” she teased.
For a moment, she thought he was going to seize her, kiss her, maybe even throw her down on the ground and sensually assault her. She felt an intently focused desire that sent a bolt of fire down her spine. He leaned a bit toward her, sending another thrill surging through her. It left her brains scrambled and her innards churning, because the thought of his seizing her made her wet.
“Suppose I’m the one who solves the maze puzzle first?” he said. “Would you like to hear what I want?”
“I think I can guess,” she laughed.
“I want you. Naked and spread out for me. The heart of the maze would be a nice spot for it. It’s grassy, cozy and sheltered.”
She could feel her pulse pounding in her throat. Naked and spread out for me. Whew! The appeal of losing had just zoomed upward.
“Done. But don’t get your hopes up. I’m good at mazes.”
With that, she darted through the narrow opening in the hedgerows, and set off quickly down one of the paths that opened up before her, hoping she would indeed remember the twists and turns to come. It was dark. She hadn’t expected to find her way through at night, and she wondered if she could.
“Two minutes,” he called to her. “Then I’m coming in after you.”
“You’ll never catch me, m’laird. See you in the heart of the maze.”
“You’re going to regret this, Kate. One minute.”
“Hey, no speeding up time!”
“Fine, I won’t cheat. But you’ll soon be wandering helplessly in there.”
“Ha. We shall see.”
Ross did not attempt to hurry through the maze. Although it had been years since he had last tried to reach the center, the maze was tricky and he doubted a newcomer would easily solve it. He quickly found that he didn’t remember it as well as he thought he did. He followed several frustratingly false trails, one of which led him deep into the maze before dead-ending. He would have become lost were it not for his excellent sense of direction. He was good at this sort of puzzle. Although he could not discern in advance which paths through the maze were false, he could retrace his steps without error and test new paths without becoming confused.
“Are you lost yet?” Kate called. Her voice had a flirtatious lilt that he was coming to love.
“I’m not sure. Are you?”
“I made a wrong turn or two, but I’m making good progress now, I think.”
“It’s damnably dark.”
“Look up. The stars are out, the moon is nearly full, and the night is warm and beautiful.”
“Agreed. Did you know that when you’re in the maze, sheltered on all sides by the hedgerows, the stars shine more brightly here than anywhere else?”
“I gather that you are very fond of your island.”
“I am indeed. But I’m beginning to fear that I might be doomed to wander these hedgy pathways forever.”
“Take heart—I will come to your rescue before I allow you to suffer that fate.”
He smiled. Nothing was going to prevent him from reaching her.
A few minutes later, he heard her cry out in triumph. “I’m here at last! In the center. I have defeated you, Ross.”
He was astonished. How the hell did she do that? Shit! “Seriously? How do you know it’s the center?”
“Well, it’s round, there’s a Pan fountain flowing, and an old stone bench.”
“Damn.”
She laughed. “Do you need assistance yet?”
“Not likely. It’s just a case of eliminating various possibilities.”
“You could spend the entire night doing that.”
“I would never keep a lady waiting so long.”
She laughed.
Now that she was in one place instead of moving through the maze, finding her was an easy matter. He permitted himself the luxury of focusing his senses upon her. It was like unfastening a floodgate—she flowed to him like water, her scents, varied and full of sweet, feminine mysteries; and, even more exciting, her sounds—from the tiny almost imperceptible rustlings of her garments, to the in-out movements of her breath and the slow, steady beating of her blood.
With these perceptions to draw him, it was only a few minutes before he silently rounded the last turn and saw her sitting on the low marble bench in the heart of the maze. Her head was thrown back, and she was gazing at the sky. Moonlight silvered her fine features and made her hair shimmer. She looked almost ethereal—an unearthly creature lurking there.
His lips twisted. He had conquered the maze, hunting her to the heart of it with the single-minded efficiency of the dragon of Mallochbirn, and his blood was up. The urge to swoop down upon her and bend her to his will blazed through his body. It would happen anyway, sooner or later. He would have this woman. She was his.
He made no sound, but her own senses must be acute, since she turned to meet his gaze. She appeared startled, and then she smiled. “Bravo! Still, I did get here first, so you will have to pay your forfeit. I want to hear about the sea dragon whose existence you keep denying.”
“You might regret such a wish,” he said, sitting down beside her on the bench. He did not touch her, but he could feel her body’s warmth. Fearing that such proximity might destroy what little self-control he was able to command, he bobbed up again, and paced back and forth in front of her instead. “But if you insist, I’ll tell you a tale of my ancestors and their sacred duties here.”
She gave her full-bodied, amiable laugh. “I’m a great admirer of folktales, as you know.”
“We do have a dragon. You heard about him in the village the other night. He’s called the Zrakon. Would you like to know where he came from?”
“I’d love to.”
“It is said that in ancient times this island was a sacred place of pagan veneration and worship.”
“And human sacrifice, I suppose?”
“Naturally. Along with wild orgies.”
“We mustn’t forget those.”
“The veil between the worlds is fragile here, and beings like the Zrakon can go back and forth.”
“Back and forth to where?”
“To a place of magic and mysticism. At one time, before human memory, there was only one world. All creatures, magical and ordinary, dwelt there. But a cataclysm caused a deep rift in creation, resulting in two separate worlds.”
“And magical creatures were consigned to the other realm?”
“Aye. But from earliest times there have been reports of dragons, sea serpents, mermaids, fairies, large predatory birds and other strange creatures in the mountains and seas around Mallochbirn.”
“Ah.” Her eyes were sparkling.
He paused in front of her. “Deep in the heart of the oldest part of Mallochbirn—that would be the cavern, I suppose—is a place where the barrier between the worlds is thin. The original keep was built to guard this rift. In every generation, the laird must vow to protect the barrier. In return, he is granted some special powers. In due time, after mating and producing children, he turns his sacred responsibility over to his heir.”
“From forbidden incursions. Now that the two worlds have separated, they must be kept apart. There is no magic to speak of in our world. It must be kept out.”
“Surely a little magic can be permitted to enter our world. Everybody needs a touch of magic.”
He couldn’t help himself. He reached out and brushed a silky lock of her hair with his fingertips. “Even a touch of magic can be dangerous.”
She blinked, her inky lashes briefly curtaining her eyes. “You’re speaking as if magic were real.”
“What makes you think it isn’t?”
“I wish it were! I’d love to see the fantastic creatures that pass through this barrier. Your sea dragon, in particular.”
“That might be arranged.” He smiled. “I am, as you know, the current Laird of Mallochbirn.”
Her eyes were very bright. “And you have mystical powers.”
“So I’m told.”
She tilted her head and studied him more closely than she ever had before. With his heightened senses, Ross perceived that she was assessing him on many different levels. He thought he felt a faint brush against his mental walls. He rebuffed it automatically, then wished he hadn’t. He knew what it was like to be open to her, and he enjoyed it.
“I would dearly like to meet your Zrakon. Can you summon him through the mystical barrier for me?”
“That might be dangerous.”
“Shall we try your powers on something smaller? I hear rustling in the hedgerow there—it’s probably a mouse. Can you command its will enough to lure it out of hiding?”
“You like mice?” he asked, eyebrows raised.
“I like every sort of animal.”
Her challenge was not entirely casual, he suspected. She had been able to form a link with the Zrakon. The only other person who could do that was his twin, with whom he shared identical DNA.
Ross focused, reaching out with his mind. She was right—there was a mouse nearby. The fact that she could perceive it was telling. Most humans would not have known it was there.
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