Redeeming Vows (13 page)

a son on yer own.”

“A lot of women manage,” Liz told her.

“Oh really? I hadn’t noticed.”

No, chances are Regina hadn’t noticed anything other than her life of privilege. Moving from her father’s home to Lord Brisbane’s wouldn’t be a hardship.

Although from the glances Regina sent toward her fiancé, Liz didn’t think she was all that excited about it.

Either luck or design moved Regina’s attention away from them and onto Tara, Duncan, and the others.

Todd found his way to Fin’s side. “You’re going to have to keep an eye on that one.”

Fin laughed. “Tell me about it.”

“Don’t worry, Todd. Fin has been dodging Regina since he was Simon’s age. He’s gotten rather good at it.”

Liz pulled away from Fin and stood beside Myra. “Maybe Fin likes the attention.”

Fin growled, causing them all to chuckle.

“Are you sure it’s okay that the others went to the beach?” Liz asked Fin.

“We can follow behind them if you like.”

“I’d love to.” Liz turned to Todd and Myra. “You guys should come too.”

Fin pushed toward Duncan and the others and gave their excuses.

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“Come on, Amber,” Simon yelled over the sound of the waves crashing along the cliff. The bluff darted out into the ocean all around them. The beach, if you could call it that, was smaller than any Simon had been to in his life. It looked nothing like the beaches in Orange County. From above, the ocean felt massive, but from down here, it was secluded.

But it was the ocean, and he had missed it almost as much as his mom had.

Laird Ian’s man stood far above them, watching.

He seemed a bit pissed for having to accompany them to the beach. But he was far enough away for the three of them to talk candidly, which none of them had had an opportunity to really do since they left home.

Amber lifted her dress so she wouldn’t trip and carried her shoes in her hand.

Cian stood beside him, watching the waves crash on the sand.

“Is this like your home?”

“No. Not at all. The sand is whiter, the ocean bluer. And it stretches for miles like this.” Simon pointed to the water’s edge. Simon sat in the sand, rolled up his pants and walked toward the sea.

“Shit. That’s cold.”

Cian laughed.

“You shouldn’t cuss,” Amber scolded.

“Oh, yeah. Come here and feel for yourself.”

Simon crooked his finger in her direction.

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Amber tilted her head to one side, tossed her slippers to the ground, and marched toward him. As soon as the water reached her toes, her eyes widened and her lower lip quivered.

“I told you it was freezing.”

“You said you used to swim in the ocean.”

“Yeah, well, it isn’t this cold back home.”

Cian’s feet were wet and all three of them danced around the crashing waves.

“Do you think you’ll ever go back?” Cian asked.

“If my mom has anything to say about it we will.”

“We need to find the stones before it’s even an option,” Amber reminded him.

“Do you think we’ll find them?” Simon asked her. If any of them could know what the future held, it would be Amber.

“I believe we’ll find them.”

“Have you had a vision, Amber?”

“Nay, simply a feeling.”

Simon looked up to Cian, who had been his mentor since he’d arrived in the sixteenth century. “I think I might hide them from my mom to keep her from making us leave.”

“Once found, it would be noticed should they go missing.”

“Yeah, well…I gotta do something. I’m not going back.” The thought of Mr. Price’s algebra class and all the meaningless hours playing video games just didn’t seem right anymore.

No longer interested in playing in the water, Simon sat in the sand away from the water’s edge.

“You don’t need to be so glum, Simon. We haven’t found them yet. Lizzy isn’t forcing you to leave today.” Amber patted his shoulder.

“By the time we find them, you may well be old enough to make the decision on your own,” Cian added. “Besides, Lizzy wouldn’t leave now even if we 108

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had the stones. Not with Grainna threatening all of us.” Simon tossed a rock into the water. “I know.”

“So, Simon, have you tried to change into something other than a bird?” Cian asked.

“No. Do you think I should try?”

“I would if I could do it.”

“Why not try to be a fish.” Amber glanced at the ocean. “I wonder what it looks like under the water.”

Simon considered scales for a few minutes. The thought of a shark coming along and swallowing him in one bite forced the image from his mind. “No thanks. I’d have to become a whale and they don’t move very fast.”

“What about a wolf?”

“Maybe.”

“Or a horse?”

“That could be useful.”

Amber glanced up the side of the cliff. “We’ll have to find a way to be alone to try.”

“That may be a while. I don’t think we’re going to be left alone for some time,” Cian told them.

“Weddings like this go on for weeks. My father said there were going to be several gatherings to firm up our alliances.”

“Then we’ll have to try and sneak away.”

“Since when do you think like that, Amber? It isn’t like you.”

Amber brushed her long black hair away from her face. “I feel like Simon needs to reach higher than he has with his gift. He needs to know what he’s capable of.”

“If you feel strongly about this, we should tell the others and work together.”

She looked over her shoulder again. Simon followed her gaze. Walking down the cliff side was his mom, Fin, Myra, and Todd. The knight posted was gone. Even then, Simon didn’t know if he was 109

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ready to get naked and shift in front of Amber and Myra.

“Hey, sport,” his mom called out to him at the same time she stumbled. Fin caught her arm and kept her from falling. Instead of her normal scorn for Fin touching her, she actually said thanks. Maybe they were finally getting along. It seems like all they ever did was fight, mostly about him.

“Hey, guys.”

As soon as his mom reached the bottom, her shoes were off, her dress hiked, and she was walking toward the water.

“It’s really cold,” he warned her.

“How bad can it be? Ah, man!”

I told you!

Fin laughed when she jumped away from the water.

“It is freezing,” Todd exclaimed.

Myra squealed, just as Amber had. Todd kicked water toward her, causing her to giggle and kick back. “Watch it,” she warned.

Todd didn’t listen and kept teasing her. Before long, they were running after each other away from the others. When Todd caught up to Myra and started kissing her, Simon stopped staring.

“Too bad it isn’t warm enough to swim in,” his mom said.

“’Tis only fitting for fish.” Amber nudged Simon’s arm and nodded toward his mom.

“Speaking of fish…”

Liz stared over the water, not hearing him. Or so he thought.

“What about ’em?”

“Ah, well, Amber thinks maybe I should try and shift into something other than a bird.”

That got Fin’s attention before his mom managed to turn in his direction. “Not a fish.”

“I agree with Fin. Not a fish.”

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“I didn’t really mean I wanted to try to be a fish.

But maybe a horse or maybe a wolf.”

Fin glanced toward his mom, who stood staring back at him.

****

“We should have seen his desire to be something else coming.” Fin sat beside her.

“I guess a wolf is safer than a bird.”

“And if Amber feels he needs to practice other shapes, then he should probably try.”

Liz glanced over her shoulder, and noted the number of tents and people milling over the hillside.

“How are we going to get away from all these people?”

“Things will settle. It isn’t uncommon for small bands of people to wander off for a while during the festivities. For hunting.”

Liz thought back to when Myra and Todd left their side shortly after they found their way to the beach. People didn’t only hunt when they drifted away from the masses. Myra was getting lucky. As much as Liz was happy for her friend, she was a bit pent up herself. All by themselves, her eyes shifted to Fin. He stared at her, searching for her thoughts.

God, she hoped he wasn’t able to read every thought milling about in her head.

“I wonder where Todd and Myra wandered off to.” Liz’s cheeks grew warm. “I’m sure the honeymooners are making the most of some alone time.”

Asking Fin to keep his mouth shut after that one would have been asking for too much, and Liz 111

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knew it. “What of you, Lizzy. Would you like to make the most of some
alone time
?”

A quick burst of laughter caught her off guard.

“Oh, MacCoinnich, you really do need to work on your pickup lines.”

Fin had the nerve to actually look wounded by her mirth. “My pickup lines, as you call them, are fine.”

“Oh really? I guess that’s why the women are falling all over you here.” Liz made it a point to look around them. Several people milled about. Tents were everywhere and several merchants had set up shop between the village and Brisbane’s home in order to capitalize on the gathering of people.

Several women had eyed Fin, but none had gone out of their way to be by his side. However, she’d been by his side nearly the entire time they’d been there.

“If it’s women you want to see falling all over me, love, it can be arranged.”

“You know what your problem is, MacCoinnich?”

Liz stood and shook the grass from her gown. She slid her hand over her flat stomach before waving a finger in Fin’s direction.

“I have no problem.”

Ignoring his words, Liz kept going. “Your problem is the vibe you’re giving out.”

“What vibe is that?”

“You’re not exactly oozing with availability.” She waited a breath or two to see if he would rise to her bait. “I mean, I get what all that was about back there with Regina. The woman wasn’t exactly subtle.” And truth be told, Liz didn’t really want to see Fin get caught in the middle of a cat fight between Regina and her hubby to be. From the way she eyed Fin, the woman was already trying to figure out how to land Fin on the side, if that even happened in these times. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Fin, Regina is a bit of a hottie. I’ll have to give you 112

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kudos for not knocking boots with her all these years.”

Fin caught her meaning and blessed her with a double shot of dimples. “I’m humbled by your compliment.”

“Still, she isn’t standing here now, so there’s no reason not to let some of the single women here know you’re available.”

Fin glanced around with interest. “Who would you suggest?”

The smile on her lips started to wane. “Oh, I don’t know.”

He motioned toward a woman about Myra’s age who stood several feet away talking with an older man who was probably her father. “What of her?”

“Too young.” Liz quickly dismissed her. “How about the brunette to her right?” She knew he’d balk at her pick.

“I do like a woman with curves.”

“That many?” she shot at him.

“Perhaps you’re right. She is very much a woman.”

Liz placed a self-conscious hand to her slim hips.

Maybe slender was quite the
in thing
during the sixteenth century.

They walked past the crowd, discussing the merits of the women among them.

“How about her?”

“Not with that nose,” he replied.

Liz laughed, agreeing.

They neared the edge of the encampment and the last of the guests were securing their quarters for the evening. A very attractive woman slipped away from one of the tents, running after what looked to be a sibling. “What about her?”

“She’s blonde,” Fin said, almost as if it were a bad thing.

“What’s wrong with blondes?”

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Fin watched the retreating woman, cocked his head to the side, and frowned. “I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem right.”

“What’s wrong about them?”

Fin rounded his eyes to her and looked over the top of her head as if he’d just noticed for the first time that she had blonde hair. “I didn’t say there was anything wrong with blondes.”

“No, you said they didn’t seem right. So if they’re not right, they’re wrong. What’s wrong with blonde?” Liz had heard every blonde joke known to man, and did her best more times than not to blow away any stereotype one could label on her. So what was Fin getting at? Did he really have an aversion to blonde women?

That’s when she saw it. The smirk hiding behind the hard lines on Fin’s face.

“Someone is a mite defensive.”

“And someone’s being a jerk,” she said, pushing against his chest. And he’d had her going for longer than she’d like to give him credit. Maybe there was more blonde in her than she knew.

Fin caught her hand and held her still. “There is only one blonde I’m interested in, Elizabeth.”

His eyes glanced to her lips and back to her eyes. She stood still, unable to look away. Her breath caught in her chest. Part of her wanted to run away, tell him they were a bad idea. A mistake with a capital M. Another part of her wanted to jump into his lap and lick him up one side and down the other.

Fin stepped closer. His free hand reached into her tresses and held the back of her head.

“This is a bad idea, MacCoinnich.” But the words weren’t convincing, even to her ears. And how had her hand managed to snake around his waist without her knowing it?

“I used to think so, too.”

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His hard torso leaned into her, his lips mere inches from hers.

“Maybe we should stop.” She tilted her head up toward his and licked her lips.