As if he heard her very thoughts, a tall man merged in beside her. Iosbail didn’t need to look to know who it was.
Adlin.
Bruce’s eyes hardened slightly. Mildred didn’t dare look Adlin’s way.
Apparently Adlin didn’t feel the same because he leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Good to see you again, lass. It’s been far too long.”
Her body warmed not only because of the sound of his throaty whisper but by his very nearness… his heat.
Iosbail cleared her throat and said softly, “Shall we begin my laird?”
Bruce jerked his head yes. Iosbail and the man who must be his brother stepped forward so that they faced one another. Mildred almost cringed. Iosbail was lovely, refined, and proud, her counterpart however, leering, shifty-eyed, sleazy. It was an unnatural match by anyone’s standards.
As if he sensed her discomfort, Adlin moved closer, his presence the first tangible release from stress she’d felt since traveling back in time again. Yet even with him close, she continued to feel uneasy. Why was this happening? Did the clans need the tie this much?
Mildred watched as a scrap of tartan bound Iosbail and her betrothed wrists together. She listened as they spoke in a foreign language words that were obviously binding them together as man and wife. She bit her lip when the words were finished and the stranger pulled Iosbail into his arms for what appeared to be a very unpleasant kiss.
The crowd roared to life. Bruce nodded and a dry grin broke over his craggy face. Mildred fell back when the mass of people swarmed forward. Grateful, she let them surround her. Stinky folk or not, she didn’t want to be anywhere near what she’d just witnessed.
“Go get some fresh air.”
Though she knew Adlin had whispered in her ear, when she looked around he was nowhere to be found. But his words lingered as well as the suggestion. Fresh air would be wonderful. Mildred shoved through the crowd toward the door. From this point, it seemed a million miles away. Luckily, the people seemed too interested in moving toward the newly married couple.
And they were a bendy crowd.
Mildred spied the doors and gratefully exited the great hall into the cold air of the Scottish Highlands. Or should she say cool with a bite? Unlike a solid New Hampshire winter, the moisture and nip of the wind felt different, far more intentional and sea born.
It felt perfect.
The second she walked out the door she was a little freer than she’d been the whole time in the castle. It didn’t matter that she had no real sense of direction.
“But you do,” Adlin said. She didn’t hesitate when his hand lightly took her elbow. All she’d wanted since she’d arrived was a moment alone with him. As if she thought Bruce was still somehow staring her down she didn’t look Adlin’s way.
They didn’t go far.
When he veered off into the stalls, she followed. A few torches burned. Besides the meager light the stalls were empty of humans, only horses. They walked about halfway down before he pulled her into a dark stall. Positioning himself where light cut across half his face, he put his hands on her forearms and asked, “How have you been all these years?”
All these years? Mildred looked up into his beautiful, concerned face and didn’t know quite what to say. In fact, she was speechless.
Adlin’s large hand cupped her cheek. “I’m sorry that you left so quickly before. It’s hard to imagine you’re back again so many years later.” His tone faltered. “Why are you back, Mildred?”
Caught by the feel of his touch her lips parted, her jaw dropped, but no sound came out. Why did he seem so surprised? Adlin was Adlin. If he was the man whom her mother spoke of he was supposed to know everything. Wasn’t he?
As if he heard her thoughts a certain sort of understanding crossed over his features. His thumb gently caressed her cheek and he leaned close. “You’re here for a reason.” He pulled back slightly as though surprised by his own words. Uncertain, he asked, “When did you last see me?”
As hard as it was to say she whispered, “Yesterday. I saw you yesterday.”
A flicker of confusion crossed his face then vanished as though he were practiced at disguising shock. The moment became not one of romance but one of protection as he cupped her other cheek, leaned his forehead against hers and said briefly, “Please dinnae worry. I will figure this out.”
When he pulled away sharply and began pacing the horse stall, Mildred leaned against the wall, weak from the push and pull of this reality… of Adlin.
None of this made sense. Adlin was supposed to know how to fix this. Yet he seemed confused. With a heavy swallow, Mildred said, “Please just send me home. I don’t belong here.”
As though he’d been caught doing something he wasn’t allowed, Adlin stopped short and looked at her. In that single moment, she saw how much he cared. Perhaps not about her but by her set of circumstances. More than that, she saw remorse. As though he knew he couldn’t make the situation better.
Sudden rage filled her. “Don’t look at me like that! If you’re the man my mother spoke of, you can fix this in a minute. Are you not a wizard? A powerful one?”
Arms akimbo, eyes suddenly calm when he looked at her, Adlin said in a strange tone, “It seems, my lass, you are beyond even my control.”
Mildred shook her head. “No.” Then she nodded. “You can fix this.”
She ignored the fact that he gazed at her with his heart in his eyes. Yes, he was by far the best looking man she’d ever laid eyes on. But that meant nothing right now. He was supposed to be able to fix this. Not stand there helpless.
“Shh,” he whispered and came to her. He pulled her hands against his chest. “You are not alone.”
Mildred tried to pull away but he held tight. Angry she said, “Not alone. Are you crazed? Not even you understand this. Seems your sister does though. Why don’t you go talk to her and get this figured out so that I can get home.”
Adlin was strong and held her flailing arms in place all while towering over her with that same sad, confused look on his face. His grip only tightened enough to hold her in place. No more, no less. Eventually Mildred stopped trying to flail and looked up into his face.
As if he was waiting for her to calm he said, “Mildred, do you believe in Fate… in Destiny?”
“No I don’t. I believe a person controls their own fate. Nobody else controls it.”
He pulled her closer. “Would you believe me if I told you that you were wrong?”
Mildred found herself nodding and then shaking her head, mesmerized by his intense gaze. “I think you’d tell me just about anything to keep me calm right now.”
His eyes searched hers, his lips hinted at a smile. “And would that be so terrible?”
Caught in the rich, enticing depths of his eyes she said, “No.” Then the nagging feeling that she was being led astray by ‘everything Adlin’ resurfaced and she said, “Yes!”
Lord, he smelled good. Like spice and outdoors and something else.
He moved her back against the stall, shaking his head the whole time. “There is such a being as Fate. There is such a thing as Destiny.” His head lowered until their lips were within inches. “I never stopped thinking about you, Mildred. And now you’re back.” His lips came so close that the corner of his met the corner of hers. “Are you here for me?”
The touch of the corner of his lip made her suck in air. She should try to pull away, something. But the warmth of his breath, the protection, the pure need, made her turn her lips to his, to seek them.
When their lips came together it was as though they’d never been apart… as though their lips were made to fit together. She felt as though she was kissing a man for the first time. Both startled and intrigued she brought her hands to his shoulders. His skin was hard and on fire.
As his lips tilted over hers, her fingers curled, nails digging. Muscled, smooth, knowing, his tongue swung into her mouth. Eager, she met and swirled…relished. He tasted as good as he looked
, delicious. Hungry, she stood on tip-toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. She didn’t fight him when he wedged her thighs apart and pushed against her, his arousal thick and wanting against her innocent but eager core.
“Guess he lucked out.”
Startled, she froze.
Adlin made a gesture with his hand and deepened the kiss. Caught off guard, Mildred pulled back and frowned. Nothing had changed. She could still hear men talking right outside their stall.
“They can’t hear us,” Adlin said. Yet he didn’t pursue the kiss, almost as if he were afraid.
Bereft, absent almost, Mildred felt cool air rush between them.
“I don’t believe you,” she whispered.
Then she felt it, a slight electrical charge in the wall at her back. Pushing away, she fell conveniently against Adlin. His arms came around her, his chin rested on her head. Mildred’s eyes widened as she watched the stall illuminate in pale blue then fade.
“Bonnie lass,” another man responded. “I’d take her for a ride, I would.”
Mildred stilled in fear. Adlin held her face against his chest and stroked her hair. The gesture was comforting and she relaxed against him. She knew what was happening around them didn’t feel right… still.
This was Adlin.
He was safe.
As if to test her resolve the air started to crackle around her.
“Time for you to go,” Adlin said abruptly.
Before she knew it, Mildred was standing in the hay-lined stall between doors. The men who walked by them turned and smiled then continued on their way as if they didn’t remember walking through the barn. She shook her head and turned back only to find it empty.
Panicked, she stuck her head into the stall and looked around, “Adlin, they’re gone. Please, where are you?” Mildred paused, waited, and then began to shake. “You didn’t leave. That much magic is too much for me.”
No response.
Mildred entered, heart thumping.
But there was nothing.
Nobody.
As if Adlin had never been there.
She leaned against the stall wall and licked her lips, still tasted him. Mildred closed her eyes and hung her head. Was he still here somewhere or would it be several years before they saw one another again? What sort of bitter time warp had she been thrust into? Because it was terribly cruel.
Now her heart was invested.
Because of a mere kiss.
Chapter Five
Adlin stalked through the forest, frustrated and aroused. How had he lived this long and not felt this way for a woman?
So many years had passed since he’d last seen her and though he knew her being here was inevitable, it still caught him off guard…that he could still want her so very much. With a low growl, he spun and walked in the opposite direction. Before he gave it too much thought, his eyes reached through the night and saw her walking toward the castle.
He should let her go. Whatever this was between them couldn’t be. He should let her go. Even as he turned away, Adlin slowed. Unfamiliar pressure squeezed his chest. How much time might pass before he saw her again? Years? Decades?
Not this time.
Stopping in the shadows he turned back and whispered into the wind, called her to him. He watched her stop and turn. Though she couldn’t see him, Mildred walked in his direction.
It was dangerous using magic like this around the MacLeods. Bruce knew magic and if Adlin wasn’t careful, he’d ruin everything he and Iosbail had worked so hard to achieve. Everything Iosbail had sacrificed so much for.
Nobody would follow Mildred into the dark woods, nobody without magi that is. And those without magi would never see her walking into the woods to begin with. Adlin was very good at what he did, with or without the help of the gods.
Mildred slowed within feet of him and confusion passed over her delicate features. Adlin released the magic and took her hand.
“Come,” he whispered.
Though he sensed a brief flicker of hesitation, she followed his lead. “Where did you go? One minute you were in the stall then you were gone. What’s happening here, Adlin?”
Instead of responding, he pulled her after him. What was happening here? Simple. He’d turned coward. Run from something he knew would change his life then decided against it. The truth of the matter was sometimes a man grew tired of playing it safe, even if he risked everything.
“This way,” he said softly and led her down a path that cut between two walls of mountain, twin cliffs. The way became rocky and uneven but he led her with sure foot. After all, he’d walked this path a thousand times in his dreams. Eventually, the walls narrowed then widened and a small, secluded nook of beach unraveled through the moonlit night.
“Ohhh,” Mildred murmured, her eyes wide.
Adlin couldn’t help but stare. Not at the glorious and angry Scottish sea but at the way the wind blew thick hair around her slim shoulders and down her narrow back. The full moon swelled overhead, dusting flecks of silver over the fine slopes of her all-too-familiar features.
She was absolutely breathtaking.
With a quick movement of his wrist, he summoned a fur cloak and wrapped it over her shoulders.
Her eyes flickered from the water to his face. “Why did you bring me here?”
What a loaded question. And one he intended to answer in full. “Because I owe you many answers, Mildred.” He brought a fur cloak over his own shoulders. “And I owe you memories.”
Startled by his honesty, she pulled her cloak tighter around her neck. “That sounds rather ominous.”
Adlin dragged his eyes from hers and looked out over the darkened North Sea. “Ours has been an unscheduled and much welcome interlude to what has been a very long life for me.”
“Obviously I don’t understand.” Mildred’s voice softened, “But as incredible as it seems, I now know that Iosbail is…” She cleared her voice, and continued. “A very distant relative of mine, frighteningly distant in fact.”
Adlin nodded but didn’t meet her eyes. Not quite yet. “Aye, she is. Iosbail has seen much in her life.”
“And you are her brother,” Mildred whispered. “What does that mean exactly?”
Instead of answering he asked, “How old were you when you first started dreaming about me, Mildred?”
“Young. Too young.”
“Tell me about your dream… nightmare.”
“You really don’t already know?”
Adlin turned to her but didn’t touch. “I know that you were on a cliff and being led by very bad men. I know that you eventually felt no fear.”
“What do you mean eventually? I never felt fear.”
“But you did, Mildred. You just don’t remember. That’s what it is when a child’s dreams become a woman’s. They change. Become something else.”
Her lower lip curled in and she shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“So young,” Adlin whispered and touched her cheek. “But have lived so many more memories than your age should allow.”
When her brows lowered in confusion he continued. “We’ve shared many dreams together, Mildred. However, your mind will only focus on the cliff. It’s plagued you for far too long, made you unable to see all the rest.”
She turned her cheek from his touch. “That sounds incredibly scary.”
Adlin sighed and pulled her to a nearby rock. “Sit with me.” When she hesitated he said, “Please.”
Mildred slowly sat. “I’m so overwhelmed.”
“I know. While my words will not likely help that, lass, I intend to give you answers. Help you cope a little. Let me begin by telling you that though this is the second time we’ve met in reality you traveled further back in time. The year is no longer 1050 but 1006.”
She blinked rapidly. “Oh my goodness!”
“Aye,” Adlin said. “I know ‘tis confusing. Time-travel is very much that way. And while the date is earlier I still remember you from the first ti
me you traveled, my future, rather than now. ‘Tis the way of all things magi.”
She frowned. “So when you meet me for the first time in 1050 you won’t remember having seen me now?”
Adlin liked her quick wit. “Oddly enough, now that you’ve traveled to this time I most likely will. It’s somewhat a one-time-experience, if that makes sense.”
“Barely,” she murmured.
“I wish I could explain it better but things in my world dinnae often make sense to mortals.”
“Mortals,” Mildred mouthed silently, as if she was trying to taste the word on her tongue. Yet, the lass had a certain admirable resilience and acceptance about her that made her able to see things clearer than most. “That’d be me I suppose. But I must be some amazing sort of mortal to be caught up in this.”
Though she appeared unable to carry on with her train of thought at first, she speedily regrouped and quite logically said, “So I really did end up traveling back to the wrong time, that’s what you and Iosbail had meant.”
He nodded. “Aye. But that is the very least of it. I need you to listen and ken. I need you to know who I really am.”
She nodded but said nothing.
So he continued. “As you might have guessed, I’m much older than I look. Though born in Ireland to a king and a Druidess over five hundred years ago I never saw the land but was immediately sent to Scotland to be the first of the MacLomain Clan. My blood is that of the Vikings, my soul that of the Scots. With my ability to harness powerful magic came also the unexplainable inability to age beyond my mid-twenties.”
Mildred’s eyes were round as saucers. Her mouth hung open.
Adlin continued. “I have spent my life building my clan. By doing that I have fathered a few but ensured my clan intermarried with many. It has been my life’s goal to make Clan MacLomain into what is fast becoming the most powerful clan in Scotland. I’ve done this for several reasons, the most important being for their very safety in such a tumultuous time and land.”
Sliding his hand into hers, Adlin offered her comfort via both physical touch and magic. His touch would only sooth her nerves. He let silence rule while she gathered her thoughts.
Highland Defiance (The MacLomain Series- Early Years) Page 7