She was tired of missing him, tired of going without and she broke away from their kiss to roughly grab him and guide him into her. With a delighted moan, she sank her weight downward, clutching his shoulders as he dug his hands into her hips, his eyes closed in ecstasy.
“Ye had the right idea, love,” he managed, unable to speak further as she moved atop him.
She let the heady flow of pleasure course through her as she took in his strong chest and flat, chiseled stomach, the rippling muscles of his arms as he held onto her, the way his big hands, scratched and cut as they were, touched her so gently.
She could hardly breathe under the weight of her love for him. Leaning forward, she kissed his shoulder and he grabbed her face in his hands, capturing her with his deep blue gaze.
He slid his fingers down between them, sending firebolts up through her body. She greedily never wanted it to end and fought against his expert touch, hoping to prolong it, wishing they could stay that way forever.
“Piper,” he gasped, and her name on his lips was her undoing.
She cried out as he held on tightly, thrusting hard into her before letting go and collapsing back onto the pillows. She followed him, resting her forehead against the side of his neck. His pulse beat fast and strong, and his chest rose and fell in time with hers as he ran his fingers up and down her spine. She kissed him under his jaw, and after a languorous moment of recovery, rolled bonelessly to his side.
Lachlan rolled over to face her, getting his arm under her head. With a frown, he paused and leaned up on his elbow, rummaging under her pillow. “What is this?” he asked, pulling out the ring box.
She could see he recognized it and felt embarrassed for forgetting she’d hidden it there, as well as embarrassed that she’d opened it at all. She started to explain again how she’d thought he was dead, but closed her mouth, feeling tears spring to her eyes at the lonely memories.
“Did ye no’ like the ring?” he asked, popping open the box.
Her finger itched to have it on, and she shook her head vigorously. “I love the ring,” she said. “I didn’t …” she shrugged. “I didn’t know what you meant by it. I only wore it in secret.” Her face flamed and she tried to roll over.
He grabbed her and smiled. “This is a muddle, aye?” He sat up, wincing in pain. “Ye know I love ye, but I shall say it anyway, since I like to. I love ye. I dinna know if it matters to ye that I am still legally married to your great-great-great—”
Piper put her hand on his chest to stop him. “Shut up,” she said. “Let’s pretend that never happened, okay?”
“Verra well.” He smirked and snapped the box shut, sliding it back under the pillows.
“Lachlan!”
His beautiful smile overtook his face and he plucked the ring from the box. He slid it onto her finger, then kissed her fingertips, turning her hand over to finally kiss her palm. “Will ye be mine?” he asked.
“I already am yours,” she told him.
He narrowed his eyes at her and leaned in close. “Will ye marry me, then?” he asked in his low rumble, inches from her mouth.
She tilted her head to kiss him, her heart full of so much joy, no evil could ever find room there.
“Yes,” she said.
***
Piper smoothed her modest one piece swimming suit and melted against Lachlan on the double hammock. He’d nearly had apoplexy when he saw what she would be wearing out onto the sand, and kept averting his face whenever a more scantily clad woman walked past.
She however, was more than happy with the black trunks that rested low on his hips and hugged his powerful thighs. Taking a moment to ogle him, she rested her hand on his bare, brawny chest, which was picking up a very nice golden suntan. Yes, coming to this secluded island paradise had been an excellent idea, though Lachlan had hated his first plane ride.
His ears popped incessantly and he turned quite green until about an hour into the flight, when she finally forced him to take a double dose of antihistamine with a triple whiskey and he passed out. She didn’t mind though, as it meant booking a cruise back to Britain. More time with Lachlan in swim trunks was always going to be fine by her.
Sam and Evie waved at them from the water’s edge, and Evie held up chubby little Magnus in his bright red sun hat. When they’d arrived back in their own time, Evie had been so stressed out, obsessing about a mysterious man she swore up and down was another time traveler, that Piper insisted she and Sam join them on their vacation.
“Perhaps one day we shall have a wee lad or lass of our own,” Lachlan rumbled contentedly as he idly waved back at them. He ran his hand over her stomach and gave her an angelic smile, a hint of the devil shining in his eyes.
She shivered with excited anticipation at that prospect. “That would be wonderful,” she said. “We can give him or her seventeen names like you have.”
He laughed. “Not so many as that. But I had a lot of uncles and my father wanted to try to get me an inheritance of some sort from one of them. Better luck to Quinn as the ones I was named for were no’ impressed by the ploy.”
He reached over and pushed against the trunk of a nearby palm tree, starting a soothing rocking motion. A warm breeze wafted across their bodies and he sighed, pulling her close. “I like it here better than I thought,” he said, nibbling on her earlobe. “I dinna think I have ever felt such hot weather.”
“Not in Scotland you haven’t,” she said. She sprawled her leg across him, careful of his fresh scars. “And you haven’t felt anything near hot until you come to Texas to meet my mom.”
Piper had decided to tell her mother the truth about her eighteenth century origins, about the conflict with Daria, about how she’d met Lachlan and all the things they’d been through. She hoped her mom would take it well and be able to forgive Rose. Or at least understand her better.
Piper herself struggled with moving on from her grandmother’s betrayal. She had to believe it came from a place of grief, driven to desperation by all the years she’d been tormented by Daria. Poor Rose hadn’t had her husband or a true friend to help her fight, and she hadn’t trusted her family, so ended up alone. Piper was determined to do things differently.
She still felt Daria’s power deep within her, but the malevolent anger was gone. Right before they left for this trip, Piper had gone into the crypt and stood in front of Daria’s tomb for a long time. She’d wondered if her witchy ancestor was really in there now, or if the crows had picked her carcass apart where Lachlan had left her. Or if she was still traipsing around in some other time, wreaking havoc.
Standing in front of the tomb, Piper hadn’t felt any fear, and if she wasn’t sure she’d vanquished Daria completely, what was left of her was no longer a threat. She was glad Evie had been right about that, had confidence in her when she didn’t have any in herself.
Lachlan tipped her chin up and kissed her. He tasted like pineapple and coconut, having developed a fondness for all things tropical. She licked her lips and kissed him again.
“Ye seem verra far away, my love,” he said with a sweet smile.
Piper shook her head. “No, I’m right here with you,” she said, wrapping her arms around him. “Always.”
The end.
Epilogue
It was late when the car service dropped them off at the castle, and though Piper’s muscles already missed the regular stream of deep tissue massages and yoga classes on their two week cruise, she was happy to be home. Lachlan was fairly bursting at the seams to be back. He’d enjoyed the cruise, especially the food, but Scotland was his home. It was in his blood, cold, wet weather and all.
With a wide grin, he hoisted her over his shoulder, picked up a suitcase in each hand and headed for the door. She was a mess of giggles and tangled hair when he put her down on the back stoop, rapping twice on the door when they saw a light still shone in the kitchen.
Piper grabbed him around the neck and hauled his head down to her for a kiss. He wrapped his arms arou
nd her and pulled her close, nuzzling his face in her neck.
“I’m so glad to be home,” she said, buzzing with the prospect of their new life together.
A massive to-do list started forming in her mind, with Evie and Sam’s wedding taking up the top spots, but she pushed it away, wanting to savor the freedom from responsibility a little longer.
“I can see your mind already filling,” he laughed. “Shall we run away from here and live on that island?”
“You’d hate that after a while,” she said.
He took her hand, touching the ruby ring on her finger. “Wherever ye are, that is where I want to be.”
She beamed at him, unable to resist another kiss as she glimpsed Mel through the kitchen window, heading for the door. “Too late,” she sighed.
Mellie opened the door for them, looking oddly suspicious. She nervously helped them with their bags, then stood wringing her hands while they took off their coats. Piper couldn’t understand her jumpiness and felt a twinge of concern. In her relaxed, post vacation mood, nothing could have upset her, not even if another secret passage had collapsed. Well, she seriously hoped another one hadn’t collapsed.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, waving away the offer of tea until she knew what was wrong.
“Ah, there’s something I must tell you,” she said, looking ill.
“What is it, Mel?” she asked. “Dear lord, we didn’t lose a tourist, did we?” She kept certain areas firmly off limits to the tour, but had a deep dread that someone would wander off to get lost in one of those damn secret passages. She really needed to block them all off before they could collapse on a tourist.
Mellie looked past Piper to Lachlan, biting her lip apologetically. “Don’t be angry, please,” she begged. “I didn’t know what else to do.” Mellie swallowed hard and then called, “You’d better come out now.”
“What is going on?” Piper asked, looking around and beginning to feel distinctly uneasy. So much for two weeks on the open seas.
The pantry door creaked slowly open and a hand crept around it, attached to a shyly smiling blonde girl who wore a long blue gown covered by an oversized sweater. The smile disappeared when she saw Lachlan. Piper turned to him, shocked to see all the color had drained from his face.
He grabbed one of the barstools and shook his head, swearing under his breath. “No, no, no. This canna be happening.” He swore again, more distinctly this time, causing the girl to falter in her steps.
“Hello, Lachlan,” she said hopefully. “I pray ye willna kill me.”
Lachlan stared at her, his face clouded with dismay. He seemed to make up his mind and covered the distance to her, enveloping her in a rough hug before he took her by the arm and pulled her over to Piper.
Piper looked from one to the other, completely befuddled. Lachlan closed his eyes, keeping a firm hand on the girl.
“Allow me to introduce ye to my sister,” he said. “Catriona.”
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What’s next? Quinn Ferguson has to chaperone his sister during her first London season. Wonder how that turns out?
Reckoning (Book 4 of Lost Highlander series) Page 17