Morna's Legacy 04 - Love Beyond Measure (24 page)

No matter what I thought of the man’s words, Eoghanan seemed unbothered by them, only nodding in the man’s direction as he pulled me toward the winding trail. “Aye, she is. Thank ye for everything. Ye’ll find yer payment,” he pointed to one of the packs hanging off the horse, “in there.”

I waited to speak until Tinley was out of sight, making sure to look down at my feet as I climbed so I wouldn’t step on the bottom of my dress. “If you’d warned me, I could have packed my pair of jeans.”

He chuckled but continued his trek upward. “No, ye wouldna have. The first time I saw ye in such things I couldna look anywhere but yer thighs and yer backside. I willna have another man see ye dressed in such a way.”

I paused for a moment to hike up the dress. “And are there people that would see me dressed in them wherever we are going? I assumed you’d be taking me somewhere a little more secluded.”

“Aye, ’tis secluded. I doona wish to see anyone but ye for many days still.”

*

We marched upward for the good part of an hour before I heard it—the loud rush of water so strong that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed the sound before. The trail must have wound up the cliffside more than I’d thought, otherwise I couldn’t imagine how the sound could have remained so well hidden. “Are we going to a waterfall? Is there a cabin near it that we are staying in or something?”

He slowed for the first time since we’d begun and smiled back at me with a smile that told me I’d still not quite figured it out. “No cabin.”

“A castle then? What? A river boat?”

His eyebrows pulled in. “A river boat? No, lass. Why doona ye just wait and see?”

“Patience was never my strong suit.”

“Aye, I can see that. But ’tis mine, so no matter how many questions ye ask, I willna say a word. There is no need for ye to ask anything else, for we are there. But first…”

He moved to stand behind me, cupping both hands over my eyes.

“I’ll trip if you make me walk like that. My arms are too full of my dress for me to even catch myself.”

“I’ll catch ye, just step forward and turn when I tell ye to.”

He didn’t remove his hands from my face until I could feel the spray of the water against my skin. “Now, ye may look.”

McMillan Castle

Bebop was sleeping, but Cooper could still see that his grandfather was worried. He could tell by the deep lines in his forehead and his wrinkled brow. Cooper knew how he felt. For some reason, he was worried, too.

He approached the chair where Bebop slept quietly, hoping he wouldn’t wake him up as he crawled carefully into his lap. He should’ve known better though. Bebop was always a light sleeper, and his light blue eyes flew open as soon as Cooper settled onto his lap.

“What? Oh good, it’s you, Coop. What’s my favorite grandson up to? I was just resting my eyes for a while.”

Cooper smiled, reaching up to try and stuff the puff of white hair that stuck out the side of his ear back inside. “I’m your
only
grandson, Bebop. And you can’t fool me. I know what it means when you say you’re resting your eyes—it means that you’re sleeping.”

Bebop reached up to swat his hand away. “Sleeping? No, I don’t sleep during the day.”

Cooper didn’t argue but nodded to let Bebop know that he knew he did.

“And just because you’re my only grandson doesn’t mean that you can’t be my favorite. What did you and your father do this morning?”

Cooper shifted on Bebop’s lap so that he could face him. “We rode with Ba-o into the village and helped him pick up a crib for the baby that’s coming. It’s really pretty, Bebop. He had some man who can do super cool things with a block of wood make it.”

“I should like to see it. Were you a big help?”

Cooper shrugged. He knew he was still too small to be much help to anybody. “I tried but, not really. Hey, can I ask you something, Bebop? What’s bothering you so much?”

“What do you mean, son? Nothing’s bothering me.”

Cooper shook his head. He knew grown-ups sometimes lied to him to protect him, but he didn’t like it. “That’s not true, Bebop. I’ve known you my whole life, and I know that you’re worried. Now, what’s it about?”

Cooper knew the moment Bebop would tell him, because his grandfather reached up to mess with his hair, chuckling slightly as he always did when Cooper surprised him.

“I’ll tell you, if I’d been as smart as you are when I was a child, I would have gotten in so much less trouble.” Bebop paused. “Or maybe more, hard to tell really. Would you believe me if I told you that you’re right when you say I’m worried, but what worries me the most is I don’t know why? Just a feeling…like something’s coming that I’m powerless to stop. Do you understand that?”

It was like Bebop took the words right out of his head. Cooper nodded and leaned into him. “I do understand. Do you want to know why?”

Bebop reached his arm around him to hug him tight. “Why?”

“Because I feel the same way, Bebop, and I don’t know why.”

*

Brendon Falls

As promised, there was no cabin, castle, or riverboat when I opened my eyes. Instead, I stood perilously close to the edge of the cliff, my feet standing on a small foot-worn trail that seemingly led behind the waterfall. I couldn’t see how anybody could make it behind the powerful rush of water without being swept into the water below.

“It’s beautiful.”

His hands slid from my eyes as he moved them down my arms and gathered them around me, pulling me close. “Aye, and so is what lies behind it.”

“Behind it?” Even if he and I could manage to follow the trail behind the falls, it would have been impossible for Tinley or anyone else to carry supplies and whatever else they’d left us along that path.

“Aye.” He crouched his head down next to mine while I looked nervously at the narrow, rocky trail.

“Well, you go right ahead, mister, because I’m not doing it.”

“Do heights frighten ye, Grace?”

“I would be an utter fool if that drop didn’t frighten me. Only an idiot would try to walk behind that rushing water.” I leaned into him so that he would take a step back. The view was beautiful, but I found myself ready to step away from the ledge.

“Aye, ye are verra right, lass. I wouldna allow ye to get inside the cave by way of the trail even if ye wished it. Do ye no remember when ye fell in me bedchamber at the inn? If ye canna walk across a room without meeting the floor, I doona wish to see ye try to manage that.”

I stepped back, pushing us both farther from the ledge. “I remember it very well, but I didn’t just fall. I was startled by the sight of you standing there naked.”

“Mmmm…”

It was a contented noise, as if the memory brought him great joy. I was sure it did. It was the first day any real flirtation had begun between us. “So, there’s a cave behind it, huh? And just how do we get back there?”

He stepped away and took my hand, winking back at me over his shoulder. “This way.”

We walked up a rocky staircase that I’d not noticed earlier. At the top, the steps turned downward, leading underneath the river feeding the waterfall. I found the engineering of it amazing, albeit utterly baffling. Without the use of modern tools, it seemed impossible that such a place could exist. “Who did this? It’s truly astonishing.”

He paused a few steps in front of me, answering over his shoulder. “No one knows. No many know of its existence now. ’Tis truly a place of magic.”

I didn’t doubt it. As we stepped into the cave itself, I couldn’t come up with any other explanation for the dwelling other than the use of magic from another like Morna. “Men didn’t create this.”

It wasn’t a question, and he understood my meaning. “I doona think so, either. ’Twas a question I meant to ask Morna. If she knew of the witch who created this place.”

“Perhaps it was Morna.” I moved about the room entirely awestruck by its beauty. The magic in the room was tangible.

Candles flickered from every corner of the stone room, highlighting the surprisingly large, round feather bed that sat against the back wall. It was draped in thick coverings, and looking at the warm, lush bed made me realize that I wasn’t cold. That in and of itself was enough to convince me of the magic that lingered in the room.

“This is…Eoghanan, I hardly know what to say.”

He smiled, leaning a hand against the wall opposite me. “Touch the stones, Grace. ’Tis the only way we could stay so close to the spray and remain warm.”

They were warm, almost hot to the touch, and I closed my eyes at the pleasant sensation. “Oh, that’s wonderful. I was just wondering at it actually. I wondered how it was that I wasn’t freezing in here, so close to the spray of the water.”

A warm breath traveled down my neck, and I opened my eyes to find Eoghanan standing over me, his deep green eyes staring into mine. “Are you hungry, lass?”

My stomach seemed to growl on cue, and I laughed into his neck. “Very.”

We were both famished after days on the road and dined happily on an assortment of bread, ale, and meat pies made for us by Tinley’s wife—all of it delicious. By the time we’d had our fill, the sun began to dip down into the sky, casting a spectacle of light through the water and into the cave.

I stood from the small table where the food had been so beautifully laid out and ventured nearer the room’s edge, hesitantly extending a hand into the running water. Its force sent my hand flying down to my side, but I pulled it upward once again, enjoying the feeling of the water’s power running through my fingers, its spray splashing onto my face and body, getting my dress rather wet.

“I think it best ye remove yer dress, before ye soak it so through it willna dry for days.”

I laughed but stepped away, reaching behind to work my laces. “True, but if it takes days for my dress to dry, I suppose that also means that I’d be naked for days.”

His hands were grasping my arms in an instant. “Too true, lass.” He lifted me in the air, swinging me over his shoulder as he stepped into the spray, drenching us both in the cool water.

I gasped and floundered against him, my laughter drowned out by the water that covered us both. Once we were both dripping, he stepped back, setting me on my feet while he laughed deeply enough for the noise to reverberate off the stone.

“What did you do that for? I thought you didn’t like water—especially the sound of it falling.” I pulled all my hair around over one shoulder, ringing out some of the water.

He removed his kilt unabashedly, his chest still covered with water droplets as he watched me. “I doona like water, but this is a special place and ’tis too beautiful to dislike. Besides, I would be a damn fool no to stick ye into the waterfall after ye told me that doing so would leave ye naked for days. Do ye know how breathtaking ye are, Grace?”

Despite the cold, heavy dress now glued to my body, I warmed through instantly, blushing as I combed my blonde hair through with my fingers. “Not so breathtaking really, I imagine. You’re just partial. You have to say things like that now that I’m your wife.”

He crossed his arms while he shook his head, his own red hair dripping and shaggy once more. It grew quickly. Already he neared the need for another cut.

“No, Grace. I doona have to say any such thing to ye. I know plenty of lads who doona think their wives to be pretty and wouldna tell them so just because they were married.”

I frowned reactively. “Well, that’s quite sad.”

“’Tis verra true. I wouldna say it to ye if I dinna mean it, lass. I can scarcely breathe when I stand in front of ye, even dripping like a wet dog as ye are now.”

“The wet dog look is your doing. I was content to let the water touch my hands.”

“Aye, ’tis. Now, turn around and let me help ye out of yer dress so that we may let it dry.”

The laces were difficult to maneuver now that they were wet, but Eoghanan managed them nicely. Once all were untied, he spun me toward him, slowly peeling the heavy fabric off me as if it were a second skin. He paused as he pulled the dress over my breasts, bending down to pull one of my nipples deep into his mouth. The sudden exposure to air tightened them immediately, and the sharp bud flooded with sensation as his lips and tongue moved over it.

My hands moved to his hair, pulling him closer, a silent plea to continue. He rose to kiss me before resuming the work of removing my dress, stepping away once I was fully exposed to him.

“Are ye still too sore, lass?”

“Huh?” The question took a moment to process through my now lusty brain. I was so eager to join him in bed that any lingering soreness had slipped my mind.

“I’m asking ye if ye wish me no to touch ye. I doona wish to hurt ye if ye are still no feeling so well.”

One glance down at him told me that regardless of how sore I might be, his current state would have to be attended to.

“No.” I walked across the length of the room, passing him as I crawled slowly onto the bed, rolling onto my back once I reached the end. “I’m fine. Just take it more slowly this time.”

“Aye,” his voice was dry and cracked, his eyes hazy with lust as he moved across the room to join me. “We shall take our time with one another this night, so that we might do that soul reaching that I spoke of.”