“Well, she is.” Anna pouted, trying to remain serious and then she too laughed.
“I consider myself warned.” Skye assured her.
“She be devious to be sure.” Anna glanced at the open doorway then leaned forward to whisper. “I ken she be lookin at marriage to Aiden, an no simple hand-fasting will do.”
That sobered Skye up. “Marriage?”
“Aye.”
“And what does Aiden think about that?” Skye probed Anna.
“Who kens the thinkin of me brother’s mind? She be a bonnie lass,” Anna shrugged. “An would make an advantageous marriage, but no a very happy one.”
Skye didn’t understand why this conversation caused her stomach to twist in knots. It was only a simple kiss. Okay, not so simple and it was damn good, her womb still clenched in need when thinking about it and she could feel the flush rising up from her breasts as she remembered the way he had taken her into his arms.
Or had she leapt into them first?
She mentally shook herself away from those thoughts and concentrated on what Anna was saying.
“Her brother, Finley, is just as braw as can be, except for me Collin that is.” She winked at Skye. “I had me eye on him at one time, til I saw him beat his horse. He tried to sweet talk me after but I lost me interest, ye ken?”
“Absolutely.”
Anna snuggled down into her pillow. “The galla will be makin her way up here to pretend concern but I will act as if I be asleep.”
Skye stood and smiled. “I understand. I will see you tomorrow.”
She turned to leave and ran into a petite young woman just as she got to the door.
“Gabhaibh mo leisgeul.” The girl apologized, and then noticed that Skye wasn’t someone she knew and frowned. “Cò thusa?”
“My name is Skye.”
“Ye be the English girl I heard of.”
“That would be me.”
“Ye canna even speak proper Gaelic.” The girl sneered, looking her up and down as if she were a bad piece of meat.
“Riona, Skye is a very good friend of mine.”
They both turned, Skye surprised that Anna decided not to fake sleep, Riona surprised someone had witnessed her distain.
Having no way to explain her behavior, Riona chose to ignore the incident and brushed by Skye, her eyes wide and innocent.
“Och, Anna, I heard ye were up here an thought I would come to visit.”
Anna looked beseechingly at Skye as Riona made herself comfortable, so Skye returned to the room after giving Keir a shrug.
“Oh, doona let me keep ye, girl.” She waved Skye off. “Ye were headed out an I be sure Anna an I can get along fine on our own.”
Anna’s face turned down and Skye could see her sink in misery, causing Skye to chuckle. She waved at them as she headed back out.
“Enjoy your visit.”
They turned the corner and Skye caved into a real laugh, she turned her head over her shoulder towards Keir.
“Poor Anna.”
“Ye have no idea.”
Skye almost missed her step down, she was so shocked to hear him speak, but Keir caught hold of her arm and steadied her.
She smiled up to him. “Anna gave me a clue.”
“She was bein nice.”
That caused Skye to laugh even harder.
* * *
“I want ye to find out everthin about that English girl.” Riona whispered to her brother before they headed down for the evening meal.
“I have already found that she was captured at the boarder an thought to be an English spy.” Finley said as he sat watching his sister brush her hair.
“Why is she no in the doogun?”
“I doona ken the why of it since she couldna answer many of the questions asked of her by the council.”
Riona seemed lost in thought.
“Have ye seen her?”
“Aye.”
“I hear she is a truly bonny lass.”
That angered Riona. “She be fat, an tall like a lad. Very unbecomin in a woman.”
“Sounds to me as if ye be jealous.”
She waved the topic off. “What I want to ken is why be she here an why she has the run of the grounds with only a guard who trails her yet disna restrict her access.”
“Ye be vexed about her a bit much, no?”
She threw the brush down as she stood and turned on her brother, eyes flashing with anger.
“Tis wise to be knowledgeable about what one disna fully ken.” She leaned in closer and whispered fiercely. “We do not need anything to ruin our plans this time.”
They walked down the stairs and came across Aiden as he was entering the keep.
Riona smiled and glided over to greet him. “Tis wonderful to see ye, Aiden.”
Aiden watched as Riona approached, noticing the way her gown clung to her figure and found himself comparing her to Skye.
The woman’s straight blonde hair was always smooth and in place. Her perfectly clothed petite figure coming only to his chest made Aiden feel as if he could hurt her without thought, or worse, muss up the hours it probably took her to prepare.
Skye, on the other hand, had light brown curly hair that always looked sleep-tousled, making him itch to grab a handful as he pulled her towards him and a body curved in such a way as to make a man think of bedding her then keeping her by his side throughout the night. Skye’s height only added to his desires as he thought of her long legs wrapped around him when he took her.
“Aiden.” Riona chided.
Shaking himself of his thoughts, he centered his attention back on his guest, giving a brief nod to Finley. “I be sorry, Riona. What was it ye said?”
Wrapping her arm through his, she smiled becomingly, batting her lashes. “I asked if ye were headed to supper an, if so, mayhap ye could escort me.”
Smiling patiently, Aiden disengaged himself. “Nay, I need to clean up before headin to the evenin meal. Ye go ahead. Ye must be ready to eat after sech a long journey. I shall see ye soon.” He nodded again to Finley and left.
Riona huffed in her disappointment.
* * *
Skye settled into bed for the night, exhausted from the day’s events and very satisfied. She placed the candle on the small table and laid the spare Elizabeth had given her beside it, and then she concentrated.
“Come on, Sarah, be there.”
They had always been able to connect through Sarah’s powers no matter how far they were from each other as long as there was a flame.
She just didn’t know if it was possible with over six hundred years separating them.
Over an hour later, Skye was exhausted and the candle was half-gone. She rubbed her eyes and wiped away the hair from her face, sighing in frustration.
“Skye?”
Blinking her eyes back to focus, she sat up straight.
“Dammit, Skye, are you there? Answer me!”
Hearing the fear in Sarah’s voice made Skye smile.
“I’m here, Sarah. I was about to give up.”
A moment later, a portion of Sarah’s face came into view. “If it wasn’t for the baby kicking me awake I’d still be in bed. Geez, Skye, it’s got to be around oh dark thirty.”
“It probably is there.” Skye snorted.
Sarah squinted into the fire. “Couldn’t you find a bigger flame? Light a fire or something?”
“I’m lucky to have what I do, thank you very much.” Skye answered saucily.
“Where are you? Aunt Gladys and I have been searching for you for days!”
Skye harrumphed when Sarah mentioned their aunt. “Sweet Auntie sent me to the beginning of the fifteenth century, Sarah.”
“She what?”
“Yep, and you think I suck at casting spells.”
“Oh, my God, Skye.”
“Yeah—” Skye stopped when there was a knock at the door. “Shhh, Sarah, don’t say a thing until I come back.”
The door opened and Skye watched th
e guard come through. He stopped abruptly and looked around.
When he asked whom she was talking to, she smiled.
“Sorry. I have a tendency to talk out loud when I am trying to sort things out.”
He looked at her before checking her room to make sure she was alone then he nodded and left.
“Okay, Sarah, I’m back, but have to keep my voice down.”
“If you had a bigger flame I could see more.”
“Stop with the flame thing and come up with a spell to get me home.”
“Now that we know where you are, I’ll talk with Aunt Gladys and see what we can come up with.”
“No!” Skye whispered furiously. “She’s the one that got me here in the first place.”
“I’m sorry but I need her help, especially now with Doug . . .”
“What about Doug?”
Sara sighed heavily. “We don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? What about Doug?” Skye repeated frantically.
“He hasn’t been feeling well lately. The doctor doesn’t know what’s wrong with him either.”
“Doctor? You had to take him to the Doctor’s office? Dammit, Sarah, get me home.”
“I will, I promise. Aunt Gladys was visiting friends for a few days and will be back in a couple hours. Let us put our heads together and see what we come up with. Can you contact me tonight?”
“Tonight, my time or your time?”
“Oh, umm . . . what time is it there?”
“Oh geez, let me just take a look at my watch—well, lookie there.” She snapped at the flame. “It’s the fifteenth century for Christ sake, Sara. There are no watches here and I left home without mine.”
“Okay, okay; no need to get snappy.”
“Wanna make a bet? When’s the last time you used a cludgie?”
“Cludgie?”
“Yeah; cludgie . . . you know: medieval chamber pot.”
“. . . Sorry?”
Skye sighed, raking her hand through her curls. “No, I’m sorry. Please; just get me back to where I belong.”
“We will, I promise. I have a doctor’s appointment today and Aunt Gladys and I will come up with something after that. Contact me this time tomorrow, or as close as you can get, okay?”
“What’s the appointment for?”
“We decided to find out the sex of the baby.” Sarah grinned.
Skye smiled as well. “About time.”
When they ended their conversation, Skye undressed and got under the layers of skins, shivering in the cold.
She was worried.
Something was going on and she knew she had the power to fix it.
Chapter Six
Skye woke up when she thought she felt something tugging at her feet. Once again, it was dark and she swore she could hear rats scurrying on the floor.
Heart pounding in her chest, she quickly dressed before calling out to the guard.
When he opened the door, she had enough light to see and she tried to walk quickly out of the room without embarrassing herself.
Smiling up at him, she noticed it was the same guard from the previous night.
“I couldn’t sleep. Can we go to the kitchen?”
Having been through this before, he followed in silence, standing at the kitchen door as she made her way in.
The morning quickly flew with everyone seemingly more accepting of her. Even Glenys welcomed her with a kerchief for her hair. She spent the morning cutting vegetables and helping with the dough for bread and was surprised at the time when Glenys shooed her off.
Walking out of the kitchen, Skye met Keir with a smile.
“Stuck with me again, aye?” She asked, pleased to see him return her smile.
They were heading towards the stairs so she could join Elizabeth and Anna for breakfast when she saw the two dogs through the open door of a room.
“Seelie!” She cried out in happiness as she slipped inside before Keir could stop her.
Skye dropped to her knees before the animals, laughing as the male licked her chin, scruffing his fur.
“Hey, girl.” She softly patted the female and ran her hands over her body, noticing the chain that ran from a collar to an attachment on the side of the fireplace. “No rabies. How wonderful.”
“It takes a wee bit longer to ken if she will be gettin rabies, lass.”
Skye swung around to see Aiden standing in front of a desk.
“Oh.” Damn but her body reacted quickly to his presence. “I . . . uhh . . . didn’t know you were in here.”
“Tis me study.” He replied raising a brow.
She looked around at the furnishings and blushed. “I see.”
She petted both the dogs and got to her feet, wondering how she had not noticed the scent of him when she entered. He smelled of leather and earth, mixed with something wild.
It called out to a part of her she never knew existed.
Like dinner the night before, Skye tried hard not to look at him, afraid she would give away how much he affected her.
“I’m sorry, I saw the dogs and I—I just wanted to check on them.” She stepped towards the door. “I shouldn’t have just barged in here. I’ll go.”
“Be ye afraid?”
“Wh-what??”
“Be ye afraid?” He asked in a low velvet voice, far too sexy for Skye’s piece of mind.
“When I kissed ye yester eve,” He took a step towards her. “I be wonderin if ye was tryin to flee or if ye came into me arms freely.”
Her womb clenched as she thought about the kiss, heat suffused her face as her breasts tingled at the memory. Skye tried to say something but found herself staring at his perfectly full mouth and promptly forgot what it was he wanted from her.
He watched as her eyes darkened and the emotions play over her features, so easy to read, and struggled to keep a smile from curving his lips.
“Och, but the feel of ye in me arms, lass, the way yer tresses curled about me hand as I pulled ye closer.”
Aiden’s voice mesmerized her. Another step and her heart rate increased.
She tried to hide her trembling hands behind her but when she felt the gown stretching over her sensitive breasts, she clasped them in front instead.
So tuned to his words and the arousal of her own body, she didn’t hear the door close softly behind her.
“I can still feel yer body against mine. Me staff pressed against yer belly.”
Skye barely swallowed a whimper, biting her lip as she felt the moisture on her thighs.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was shocked at how intensely she craved his touch, wanted everything that was primal about this man to master her.
He took another step towards her, his gaze darkening. “Do ye ken how much I wanted to cup yer breast with me hand?”
Aiden lifted a hand towards her as if to do as he said only to stop in midair.
Seeing that large callused palm reaching out to catch her breast caused it to tighten in need. Unable to stop herself she took the final step, her hand reaching out to cover his and draw it against the swollen mound, moaning as his mouth covered hers, his other hand slipping behind her back to press her body into his.
Her hands grabbed his shirt, pulling him impossibly closer to her as she opened her mouth to his tongue, needing it all. Her hands wandering eagerly over his hardness, whimpering when she couldn’t get any closer. She had no idea he had turned them until she felt the back of her thighs against the desk.
Aiden pulled away and she clutched his muscled shoulders. “No, no. Please don’t stop this time.”
“Nay, lass, no this time.”
He sucked at her lower lip as he pulled her skirt up, wanting her skin bared to his touch, clenching his teeth against the urge to rip the cloth from her body and feast upon her skin, making her surrender to him.
When he had her dress around her waist, he lifted her up to sit on the desk before spreading her legs apart with his knee, his hand slidin
g up her inner thigh.
Skye sighed, her body arching as his fingers found her lips.
“Och, ye be wet.”
“Please, it hurts.”
Grinding the ache in her pelvis against him, she cried out when he slipped a finger inside.
“Yes!”
Her body shook as arcs of electricity coursed through her veins, liquid heat spreading in waves of pleasure from where his fingers took possession of her, and she rocked against him.
Wanting desperately to feel him, she reached between their locked bodies, moaning in need, cupping him through his pants, his hard length making her unbelievably wetter as she imagined taking him inside her.
“Not enough. Please, Aiden, more.”
The way she begged and pressed herself against him as she keened was making him loose control.
Aiden gritted his teeth as he spoke. “Ye be so tight. Do ye ken what ye be doin to me?”
Moaning, she tightened her hold on his shaft.
“I only ken what you be doing to me.” She sighed as she unconsciously mimicked his brogue.
When he inserted another finger, she cried out as she felt her juices coating his fingers.
“Oh, my God, Aiden, you’re killing me!”
Suddenly, he pulled away and Skye gasped at the loss.
“Ai-” she stopped when she heard the noise too.
Someone was arguing on the other side of the door.
“Oh, my God.” She scurried off the desk as he held himself rigid.
Straightening herself, Skye stood shocked for a moment trying to understand why she lost all sense of reasoning when this man was near.
Taking a deep breath, she walked to the door wondering if she should be embarrassed at her behavior or accept the fact that she was highly attracted to this man.
As she reached for the handle, she turned, her body still trembling from his touch.
“Well, I’m not sure if you still think I am scared, but if you have any more concerns, I am sure we can try figuring it out again.”
She winked then turned the lever and walked smack dab into the last person she wanted to see.
“Dhut!” Riona snarled.
“Yep; it’s me.” Plastering a smile on her face, Skye walked away.
Half way up the stairs, Skye paused with her finger tapping her chin in mock thought as she looked at her blond guard.
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