Highland Games (4 page)

“
For what? I don’t
understand this.” Piper pounded on his chest for emphasis, then had
to restrain herself from rubbing her hand. His pecs really were
“rock-hard.” Oh Lord, she rolled her eyes at herself for even
thinking such a stupid thought.

Colm smiled, and loosened his hold on
her shoulders. “I ken.” His fingers were rubbing her shoulders
lightly as he stared into her eyes.

That was it? A cryptic
little “I know?!” Hell with that. Piper tossed her shoulder-length
blonde hair and glared at Colm. “You
know
? That’s it? Explain yourself
buddy.”

“
I tried, but you ran
off,” he reminded her. Piper pursed her lips and stared. Colm
continued as if she weren’t glaring daggers at him. “I need you to
come with me, to my time, to my clan. You are important to the
survival of my clan.”

“
And if I
refuse?”

“
If you doona come back
with me, my clan will fall. The MacRobert will no longer rule as
chief, and I canna allow that.”

“
But I don’t get why you
need me.”

“‘
Tis all I
ken.”

“
That’s all? I need more
than that if I’m going to go anywhere with you.” Piper peered into
his eyes, looking for something, for
anything
that would prove him sane,
so she could see where this led, because his brand of crazy wasn’t
what she was looking for in life. From another time?
Puh-leez!

“
Trust me.” He made it
sound so simple, didn’t he? But it wasn’t simple. She could go with
this man and see where he led her, but the problem was that more
than likely he would lead her into the woods and kill her with that
big sword of his. She didn’t think he would, but with her luck, she
never knew.

Squaring her shoulders, Piper told
him, “I can’t.” Her answer was as simple as his, and yet, nothing
felt simple. His arms dropped from around her, leaving her cold on
an otherwise lovely spring day. His eyes shuttered, and he stepped
back from her. Piper instantly missed his strength, his embrace,
which made no sense. After all, she’d just met the man.

Forcing herself to do so, Piper turned
and walked away. And he let her go. She wasn’t deluded enough to
think that she’d escaped him. She knew if he’d wanted her badly
enough he’d have taken her. But she also knew that as gorgeous as
he was, and no matter that she felt she knew him, no one could time
travel. That was just crazy. She wandered towards the drink tent.
Grabbing herself a soda, she aimlessly walked. The Highland Games
no longer held any interest. Instead a pair of warm brown eyes
seemed to occupy her thoughts.

Chapter Four

Colm narrowed his eyes as he watched
Piper walk away from him. He didn’t like it. Not one bit. But he
was learning that she was different than the women from his time.
He would bide his time, watch over her tonight, and he would find a
way to convince her to go with him.

But first, he would have
to find new clothing. He didn’t stand out too much, but the men
here wore tailored kilts, not great plaids like his
breacan feile
. Keeping
Piper ever in his sight, Colm stepped close to a stall that sold
kilts of all colors. He couldn’t find one in his tartan, but he did
find one that looked close. It also had chains from one side to the
other, and he couldn’t figure out the purpose of the chains. They
seemed as if they were there merely for decoration, for surely they
would get in the way during battle? Such a strange, new time. He
slipped the kilt into the folds of his plaid, and walked over to
the stall’s proprietor, dropping two silver coins for the kilt. He
wasn’t sure if they would accept his coin, but in his time, those
coins were more than enough. He left it anyway, and slipped back
out of the stall. Changing out his clothing behind the tent, Colm
folded his items into his plaid. Satisfied with his bundle, he
tackled his new garments. His shirt gave him little trouble, but
his new kilt, on the other hand, had an intriguing fastener that
made a quiet zipping noise with every pull on the tab. Colm happily
fiddled with the new device for several moments. Once clothed, went
in search of Piper.

Piper was chatting with a group of
women dressed in the same type of blue breeches that she wore,
showcasing every curve on their bodies, but Colm had eyes only for
Piper. He watched the way she tossed her head, blonde hair catching
on the wind, floating and settling about her shoulders. He watched
the way she furrowed her brow, listening to her friend. He watched
her rub the back of her neck, and look around, knowing she was
being watched. Boldly, Colm waited for her to find him. When her
eyes met his, they widened slightly, and then narrowed in
suspicion. Deliberately she turned away from him and concentrated
on her friend. Colm smiled. It was a slow smile, the smile of a man
who loved to hunt, one who had just found his prey.

He would follow her, and
she would know he was there. He
wanted
her to know he was there. He
would change into his newly acquired kilt, and he would see how she
reacted to the more modern garb. He would do everything in his
power to convince her to come with him, and he would be patient. At
least, he would be as patient as he could afford to be with only a
day to make the woman trust him.

He had traveled to this new time
looking for one thing, one person. Piper. Now that he’d found her,
he refused to accept failure.

The one thing he needed, he could not
have? Again, nay. Colm didn’t always play by the rules, and
sometimes, if he wanted something bad enough, he took it. Just as
he would take her. Colm stood by the outer wall of Castle Blair. It
wasn’t the only thing that had changed-he wore a modern “t-shirt”
and “kilt.” He missed his plaid and leine, but he didn’t miss the
appreciative glances thrown his way by many a woman. All but the
one he needed. His gaze bored into her, but she stood apart from
the Games without turning his direction. Fate had granted him this
one woman, this one chance, and she didn’t want him? How could he
return to his clan without her? As a failure? He straightened up.
Nay. He’d take her back with him, if he had to abduct her as his
kinsman of old had done, he would. Colm strode towards
her.

Piper sneaked looks at Colm from
beneath her lashes. He stood, hands loose, ready for anything.
She’d never met a man who looked like him. Those beautiful brown
eyes were covered with shades, and he wore a super hot kilt with
chains, and he rocked it like a star. It should be a crime to look
like he did in a kilt. He stared down at the Games as if he owned
the place. Piper could almost believe he really was a warrior from
a cursed clan, but then he’d gone on to tell her that he was from
the 1700s. Yeah right.

She peeked at Malcolm again only to
see he’d started walking towards her. Well, walking was too tame a
word for him. He stalked her, like a predator. She gulped because
she knew she was his prey. Eyes wide, Piper backed away, but he
caught her, gripping the back of her neck. She had a feeling that
if he truly wanted her, there would be no escape.

“
You are mine, Piper. ‘Tis
fated, and I’ll no’ leave without you.”

Colm crushed his mouth to hers, his
tongue slipping between her lips to thrust inside. This kiss was
not gentle. This kiss was not sweet. This kiss was a claiming. He
plundered her mouth, no, he ravaged her mouth, no, he Goddamned
fucked her mouth. He laid siege to her senses with his tongue as
the weapon.

Piper felt her knees wobble. First
line of defense down. Her arms crept up to his biceps, gripping
hard. Second line of defense down. Her lips softened, and she
melted into him. He had breached her walls. She couldn’t even kiss
him back, he wouldn’t allow her to. She had to stand there and take
it. How frustratingly erotic.

Colm finished the assault of her
senses and gentled his touch, stroking her tongue with his,
pressing his lips to hers, and allowing her to join in the kiss.
Piper wanted to be angry. She wanted to pull back and bite his lip
hard in the process. Really, she did, but that man’s tongue should
be branded a lethal weapon and Piper was unable to work up her
earlier mad. Her lips were tingly, her breath mingled with his, and
she just couldn’t find any emotion inside but desire.

If Colm hadn’t pulled
away, with a gentle sweep of his tongue to the inside of her upper
lip, she wouldn’t have minded mounting him right there. Jeez what
was wrong with her? She never reacted like this to men. Especially
not men who were crazy and thought they could time travel.
Get it together girl
Piper scolded herself. Her thoughts were hazy as she blinked
up at him, and the look on his face was even more disorienting. His
gorgeous brown eyes had sparks of desire in them.
Whoa
, no one had ever
looked at her with so much lust. It was a heady feeling, that this
gorgeous hunk of man wanted her so badly. But then she remembered
that he was a total nutjob, and Piper landed back into reality with
a thud which jarred her so harshly it made her cranky.

Piper snapped at Colm, “Hey, hands to
yourself.”

Colm didn’t look fazed at all. In
fact, the jerk smiled at her, his fingers roaming freely across her
back, and farther down until each of his hands cupped a cheek. He
slowly lifted her to her toes and ground his not unimpressive
erection against her core, looking as if he relished her gasp. A
gasp of outrage, really, it was outrage. It definitely wasn’t
molten hot desire she was feeling at all.

Gritting her teeth, Piper tried once
more to force her body to separate from his. But Colm held fast,
his fingers digging into her jeans, molding her to his form. “I’m
no’ finished with you yet, lassie.” His mouth descended once more,
his tongue pressed into her mouth, meeting with no resistance since
her jaw had dropped at his statement. He took her lips and branded
it his. Amazed that he could own her so quickly, she kissed him
back. Already on her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around his neck
and tangled her tongue with his. The catcalls and hollering
registered a second after Colm’s assault on her senses ended, and
she blushed, looking at the crowd they’d drawn. This time when
Piper pulled away, Colm let her go, but his eyes never left her
face. “You’re mine. Ye ken it as well as I.”

Piper refused to admit what her body
was telling her. She shook her head. “No.” Was that her voice
sounding so breathless? “I belong to no man.”

Colm gazed at her for a long while,
his eyes boring into hers. Finally he said, very softly, “Then
mayhap I belong to you.”

And he walked away.

* * * *

Turning his back to Piper was harder
than he’d thought it would be. Colm had watched her all afternoon,
and he couldn’t help himself anymore. She called to him in a way
he’d never felt before. It was a primal need that he felt down to
his bones. For a man who hadn’t wanted to go on this mission, he
was finding it was fast becoming much more personal than he’d ever
expected. This went far beyond pleasing his laird, or gaining a
wife, or even following Grissall’s cryptic instructions. He was in
over his head with this twenty-first century lass, yet he was
loving every minute spent wooing her. She presented a challenge,
his Piper did. He hadn’t felt this alive in years, and she kept him
on his toes, never quite doing what he expected. It intrigued him,
and he relished the thought of what his next step would be. He
wanted to watch over her, letting her out of his sight wasn’t an
option. However, he knew she would have to want him as much as he
wanted her, if he were to succeed in wooing her. And he would
succeed.

He walked to the edge of
the Games, to where he’d stashed his plaid and
leine,
and turned back. Colm could
see Piper, and she was watching him. That was good. He would stay
here until it was time to take her, for Piper would go with him,
whether she wanted to or not, but he hoped she would want to. He
very much hoped she would want to go with him.

Now Colm had to figure out how best to
steal her away. He wanted to grab her at night, when there would be
less eyes upon them. But he was unsure how to physically take her.
Certainly, he could render her unconscious, but he didn’t think
she’d take too kindly to that. Mayhap he could still convince her
to come back with him? As he thought of several plans, discarding
them almost instantly as most involved taking her against her will,
the pendant that lay against his chest began to warm. He yanked it
out from his shirt, holding it away from his skin. Grissall’s voice
echoed in his head. She must be using the pendant to communicate
with him. If he didn’t need the blasted thing to return home, he’d
have tossed it into the loch.

“
Ye must bring her back.
Your clan willnae survive beyond this generation if ye
doona.”

“
Aye, so you’ve said. But
why is she so important? What can you gain from her?” That was what
bothered him the most about this whole mission; he felt Grissall
might hurt Piper, although she’d implied she wouldn’t. “I willna
allow you to harm her, ye ken?”

Grissall didn’t answer him. Snorting
at his own foolishness, Malcolm continued to devise a plan. He was
surprised when Grissall’s voice sounded once more inside his head.
“She needs to be returned. Her life is here, with ye, Malcolm
MacRobert. She’ll nay be harmed by me. My use for her is merely to
bring her back.”