Highlander's Kiss (12 page)

“Thank you, and I believe I need to make a stipulation that whenever you’re changing, you only do so while I’m in the room. I’d hate to think I might have missed out on seeing you like this.” He pulled her tight against his very hard and very hot body, where every one of those muscles she’d just admired from the window now lay in perfect reach. He’d already shed his tunic and it lay in a puddle of white on the floor, his trews riding low on his hips. She ran her hands over his corded back.

“I wish to make the same request.”

“I need to kiss you.” He stroked one hand over her bare bottom, swept the other around the back of her head then dipped her backward. “Except kissing will lead to so much more and right now time is ticking away.”

“There is always time for a kiss.”

“Then I’ll need to make that kiss count.” He licked her lower lip then sucked it into his mouth. “You taste so sweet.”

He kissed her deeper and a fierce heat swept through her, so wicked and wonderful it tightened her nipples and made her weep for him below. She moaned as a storm of need surged through her, as he covered her mouth with his and kissed her with such a soul-searing possession that had her arching into him for more.

Breathing hard, he pulled back, set her back on her feet then whipped her cream shirt over her head. He flapped out her violet riding skirt and knelt at her feet. “Step in.”

She did and he wriggled the heavy fabric up her legs and fastened the ties at her waist.

Rising, he brushed his big body against hers then held out her fitted jacket. “Arms in.”

“You are dressing me far faster than I ever thought possible.” She slid her arms into the sleeves and he fastened the jacket at the front then nabbed her leather boots and after slipping one on each of her feet, laced them up.

“Don’t expect me to dress you quite so quickly ever again. I’d love nothing more than to topple you into that bed right now and never let you get back out of it. There is a reason newlyweds always enjoy a long honeymoon, one which we’ve been denied of.”

“I too would like a honeymoon.” She pressed one hand to the heated warmth of his chest. “Do you need aid in dressing?”

“I need to wash up and shave first.” He strode to the side table and poured water from the jug into the basin. From the pile of cloths, he unfolded the topmost one, dipped it into the water and wiped his arms and chest.

“Here, allow me.” She snuck the cloth from his hands, stepped in behind him and stroked down the heavily muscled plane of his back until his golden skin gleamed. “May I shave you too?”

“I’d be a fool to say no and lose the touch of your hands on me.” He turned around, perched on the edge of the table and hands on her hips, tucked her in between his spread legs. The black leather molded his strong thighs and she snuggled into the V as she reached around him and picked up the bar of soap.

“Mother used to shave Father at times.” She angled his head to the left and inspected the sharp black stubble that had grown considerably overnight. “Father though preferred to grow a beard and ’twas one as golden in color as his hair, and rather ticklish too.”

“What made it ticklish?”

“When I was a child, he would rub his whiskered cheek against mine and make me laugh, Arabel too. Whenever he kissed my poor mother, she’d more often than not end up in a fit of giggles. Her laughter always soothed me. I long to hear it again.” Smoothly, she built a lather and smeared his jaw with the foamy bubbles then held out her hand. “Your dagger please.”

“Take care with that blade.” He slid his dirk free from his wrist sheath and passed it across. “I keep it fastidiously sharp.”

“Good. All the better to slice this stubble off with. I prefer you clean shaven so I can see your face and each of my marks on your neck.” She turned his cheek with one finger, held the blade nice and close to his skin and ran it in a smooth line down. With care, she drew the dirk along the next portion from his ear to his chin.

“You sound as territorial as I do, and when my stubble gets long enough, it softens.” He curled his fingers around her hips to keep her still. “I wouldn’t mind tickling you with it.” Softly sensual words that had heat flaring through her blood.

“Your words are getting me all hot and bothered.” She ran the blade right under his nose. “Dinnae move. I’ve no wish to cut your beautiful mouth, no’ when I’m in constant need of it.”

“You think my mouth is beautiful?”

“Aye, as beautiful as your stunning shifter eyes.” She tapped his jaw shut and slid the blade along his neck. Done, she dabbed his skin with a cloth, cleared the last of the suds away then leaned in and rubbed her cheek against his. “Mmm, now that is nice and smooth.”

“You’ve done a better job than I ever could have. I’m far more used to shaving with an electric razor.” He took the blade from her and sheathed it.

“I have no’ seen an electric razor.”

“I’ll show you mine when we return to the future, whenever that happens to be.” He stroked her back, drew her closer and nuzzled her neck. Gently, he licked the mark he’d given her and a deep rumble vibrated in his chest. “My bear would love nothing more right now than to mark you again.”

She stretched her neck for him. “Either of you may mark me whenever you—”

He bit down and she gasped.

“—please.”

“Time to mount up.” Kirk’s order rumbled through the open window.

Tavish growled as he released her, nabbed his blue tunic from the bed then donned it and the tan rawhide trews she’d left out for him. He pulled his boots on, eased his war coat over his shoulders and lifted something from the pocket of his pants which beeped when he touched a knob on the side.

“What is that?” She brushed her hair and picked up her jeweled hairpins her parents had gifted her. The sapphire stones sparkled a vibrant blue, just as her mother’s eyes had when she’d first pinned them into her hair. With her broad-brimmed hat in hand, she plunked it on and tied the ribbons under her chin.

“This is my cell phone. I must have left it in the pocket of these pants by accident. Cherub would have packed it without knowing. These are interesting devices, but I’ll show this one to you later, when there’s more time.” He pressed the button on the side again, slipped it back inside his pocket, opened the door and motioned her through.

She joined him in the hallway and he set one hand at the small of her back as he steered her downstairs and outside into the courtyard. Next to her mare, he cupped his palms together and gave her a boost into her saddle.

She gripped the reins, a sudden mix of worry and fear rolling through her. The moment of their leaving had arrived, their coming mission the most important one she’d ever embark on. That knowledge both scared and thrilled her. “’Tis time,” she whispered to Tavish.

* * * *

“Aye, it’s time.” Tavish squeezed Julia’s thigh as he stood beside her atop her horse, her anxious thoughts pummeling through to him along their merged link. “I’m with you now, and I’ll always be right by your side.”

“Thank you.” She gripped the reins. “You need to mount up.”

The last thing he wanted to do was leave her side but he did as she’d bid and walked to his war horse. He nodded his thanks to the stable hand holding the lead and mounted. Reins in hand, he slapped his horse’s neck and rode beside Julia as they followed Kirk and Cherub and the rest of their armed party under the arched gate and into the forest. The cart rumbled in behind them, with another two warriors taking the rear.

High overhead, blue sky winked through the thick canopy and birds chirped from their nests. The wind rustled the leaves and scattered the pine-needles covering the well-worn forest path lined with low scrub.

Julia tucked her fluttering hat ribbons underneath the front of her violet riding jacket then lifted higher and snatched an amber leaf as it fluttered down. She slid it into her skirt pocket and softly smiled.

“Do you have a penchant for collecting leaves that I need to hear about?” Everything about her intrigued him.

“When I travel, I like to collect something on each trip to remind me of the moment. Memories stored and kept for a lifetime. The orchid you gave me is drying in my chamber and I’ll add it to my keepsake box once it has, right along with this leaf. Do you no’ store such keepsakes away?”

“In the future we take photographs to remind us of special moments.” He lugged his cell phone from his pocket and focused the camera lens at her. She looked glorious astride her mare, her violet skirts sweeping her horse’s sides and the lush green of the forest surrounding her. Her broad-brimmed hat, perched jauntily on the top of her head, dipped forward and backward as she moved with her horse’s gait. Golden locks rippled down her back and her beautiful blue gaze with those stunning sparks of gold rimming the edge, locked on him. “Smile for me, Julia, and I’ll capture the picture and show you.”

“A picture? As in what a painter would paint?” Frowning, she tilted her head to the side. “Of which you have no paints in hand or a canvas to capture such an image.”

“Did you see the picture of Tor and me on my oak dresser?”

“Oh, I did.” A glimmer of understanding flickered in her gaze. “Does that wee contraption take such an image?”

“It does. Want to see?”

“Aye, very much.” She grinned and he snapped the image, took a few more of her then turned around and snapped another of the cart as it bumped along the track behind them, its wooden planked base creaking with each roll of its wheels.

He took one of Tor too sitting astride his war horse then eased his mount closer to Julia’s and stretched out one arm to show her the picture of herself first.

“Oh my.” She snuck the cell phone from his hand and ogled it. “That is incredible. ’Tis as if I’m on a horse within this very tiny thing.” She touched the screen, sliding her thumb reverently over it, which made it flick to the next picture. Gasping, she continued to flick through the shots he’d taken, learning quickly how the mechanism worked. “Could you take a picture of the two of us with this?”

“Of course I can.” He’d treasure such a picture of the two of them.

“I would like such an image for my keepsake box, framed too, just like your picture of you and Tor.”

“I’ll make sure that happens, that we both have one.” He snuck his cell phone from her hand and with the two of them riding side by side, he held the camera out as far as he could and at just the right angle to catch them both within the same shot. Perfect. He stroked one finger over the delightful image. Julia’s exuberance shone through and his pleasure in the moment did as well. Grinning, he handed the device back to her. “Take a look.”

She did and a soft sigh escaped her. Cell phone clutched to her chest, she met his gaze, hers a touch watery and shining bright. “This image is one I shall always treasure. What else can this miraculous wee device do?”

“Not only does it take wonderful pictures, but the primary reason for it is so one can speak to another, anywhere within the country, or even around the other side of the world if needed.”

“Impossible.” Eyebrows soaring, her look incredulous, she gazed at his surrounding form, as if she was checking his aura.

He searched deep within her mind along their link, found she was. “
Am I telling the truth?
”

“
You’ve yet to speak a mistruth.
”

“
I’ll never speak a mistruth to you. You can see my every thought, know exactly what I’m thinking.
Do you think you can handle living in my time?
”

“
As long as you are there, I’m sure it’ll be one big, wonderful adventure.
” Smiling, she handed his phone back to him. “You must look after that device. Dinnae lose it.”

“I shall.” He powered it off and pocketed it.

Soon, the forest gave way to the rolling moors, the craggy hills of the Highlands rising high on their right, and the inner channel of Loch Alsh just visible beyond the fields to their left.

Julia pointed ahead at the fork in the pathway. “We take the left trail here. The right leads toward the road heading across the Highlands to Invergarry.”

Veering left, they rode through the rolling fields of heather awash with wildflowers. His very soul settled at being on this land, his mate so close, and his brother at his back. Trotting on, their traveling party rode alongside a fast-moving river that weaved through the lush green pasture. White-water streamed over wide boulders and flowed toward the inner channel of the loch only a few miles distant. His bear pushed under his skin, his need to shift rolling through him. Splashing through that river then lazing about in the sunshine on the grassy bank to dry off would be heavenly. Another time. Indulging his bear wasn’t possible right now.

As they left the grassy trail behind, they picked up their pace and rode along the sandy shore of the loch toward their land border with the MacKenzie. The sun dropped lower along the horizon, its golden rays flaring across the jewel blues of the water.

“There’s the encampment. We’ve made it just afore nightfall.” Julia pointed along the curve of the bay where tents dotted the edge of the forest running beside the mountainous border between them and their enemy.

As they passed the warrior on point watch, he sounded an alert, the horn trumpeting and sending word of their arrival to their clansmen up ahead. They rode on, past a large group of heavily armed warriors training right on the water’s edge. Shirtless, the men wielded swords in a fierce battle of strength against one another, while another thirty men swam toward a small island in the middle of the bay’s waterway, one that held a copse of trees and a wooden shack. As they swam back and reached the waist-depth water, they jogged into shore then swapped out with the battling warriors. They trained hard. Their enemy didn’t sit idle, and neither could they.