In the distance, blue-gray mountains stretched across the rolling horizon like the glorious curves of an ancient giantess lounging on her side. Granny had said there was no beauty anywhere on earth like that of the Highlands. Kenna took in a deep breath of the clean cool breeze and lifted her arms toward the sun. Granny was right: the land of their ancestors was stunning.
Thudding footsteps came to a stop slightly behind her. She didn’t bother turning, just grinned. She already had this Colum Garrison all figured out. Mr. I-am-gift-to-all-women was probably still pouting because she hadn’t fluttered her eyelashes and fawned all over him when he had held out a muscular arm attached to a body that would’ve made a Greek god look like a stick figure.
Well, Mr. Muscle needed to learn up front that Kenna Sinclair never fawned. Of course, she didflutter. But she’d never let him know that.She rubbed her palms against the sides of her jeans and took off down the path again. Damn right, she had fluttered. What healthy,it is so past time to lose her virginity, girl wouldn’t flutter when faced with a man who looked as good as Colum Garrison? She had always been drawn to gingers, and this sexy cinnamon hunk could’ve stepped right out of a Viking legend. The mountain of a man was made to be climbed, then slid down like a fireman’s pole. She coughed to cover a nervous giggle. Time to get the flutter under control.
A glance back revealed that Colum the walking mountain had decided to move forward and was currently stomping down the path just a few steps back. Jaw locked and eyes narrowed, he looked as though he could bite through a piece of steel. She stopped walking. Maybe she should at least try to be a little more appreciative. After all, according to Granny, this time and place was now home, and she needed all the friends she could get. It was time to make peace. “Thank you for coming to meet me and also for carryingallmy bags. I know my arrival was a bit different. I really do appreciate your help.”
He graced her with a curt nod, then flexed a massive shoulder to resettle the bags higher on his back. He came to a stop beside Kenna and held out his arm again, this time with a stiff jerk that dared her not to take it. “Ye are most welcome, Lady Kenna. Here—on MacKenna land—we treat our women with respect and honor.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. Her lips almost cramped as she struggled to keep from smiling. He looked so determined.Apparently, she had seriously wounded his pride and now he felt she deserved a scolding. An uncontrollable shiver zipped up her back as she eyed the muscular arm. What harm could come from playing along and soothing Mr. Muscle’s ego?
“Thank you again.” She aimed her sweetest smile at his scowl as she slid her hand across his forearm. Upon touching him, a sharp tingle surged into her palm and flashed a deliciously hot sensation through her.
Colum’s eyes widened. He jerked and stared down at her hand, then quickly lifted his gaze to hers.
He must’ve felt it too. She wet her lips. How in the world had that happened? Had she accidentally released some residual energy from the jump? Kenna thought back. No. This was different. Never had she felt such a connection with anyone before. It was almost as though her heart and soul had jumped to attention and shouted, “Hey! He is the one.Don’t let go!”
Her gaze trailed up his arm and took in the rest of him. She wanted to touch him. All over. She wanted them both totingleuntil they exploded into sighing bits of ecstasy.
Blinking hard against the trance her starving libido had triggered, she shook herself. Get a grip.Time to use her head and keep her. Kenna pinched the bridge of her nose and scrubbed the inside corners of her eyes. Never known for her self-control, instinctually she knew this would not be easy.
She forced a smile and searched his face for a clue as to what to say. How much did he really know about the Sinclair women and all their abilities? Granted, he knew how they traveled through time, but was he aware of all the other little bells and whistlesincluded in the Sinclair package?
Temptation dared her to slip into his mind and look around. No. That would be wrong. She didn’t need to flip through his memories. At least not just yet. She shoved her still tingling hand into the tight back pocket of her jeans. “Uhm . . . did you say it wasn’t very much farther?”
Colum jerked again as though waking from a trance, then nodded toward a broad stand of trees just a few feet away. “Aye. MacKenna keep lies just beyond this wood.” He frowned down at his arm and motioned toward a bend in the dirt road. “Rua and Geal wait just beyond that turn. If ye be weary, we can ride the rest of the way.”
“Rua and Geal,” she repeated. “I assume those are horses?”
His tension seemed to relax. “Aye. Horses.”
“I don’t know how to ride a horse.” She eyed the roadway, chewing on her bottom lip. Apparently, between his wounded pride and the surprise of the breathtaking tingle when they had touched, Colum had completely forgotten that she had told him she couldn’t ride. “I think I mentioned that earlier. Or, at least, I meant to.” She didn’t want him to think she was taking a shot at him.
Colum waived her declaration away. “All ye need is a proper teacher. I shall have ye feeling as if ye’ve been astride all yer life.”
She didn’t doubt that a bit.With her lips clamped tightly shut, she held her breath through a hurried count to ten. Did the Highlands emit some strange mating chemical? Even before she had actually touched this man, she had been very muchawareof every nerve ending she possessed. At first, she had thought it was some weird aftereffect of jumping centuries. But now, following theuber-tingleshe’d just enjoyed, she knew better.
She mentally shook herself. Again. This was ridiculous. She wasn’t some schoolgirl panting after a boy. “My main concern is reaching the keep in one piece. I can’t wait to meet my new little nephew or niece.”
He squinted up at the sky and shielded his eyes. “Mother Sinclair said the babe would arrive before sunset. We best be on our way. Perhaps ye could bring comfort to yer sister while she struggles with the birth.”
Guilt crashed across her. Here she was fantasizing about riding a Highlander and her sister Trulie was fighting to bring a baby into the world. As they rounded the bend in the road, her heart fell at the size of the horse she was supposed to conquer in a matter of minutes.
The bigger horse, a reddish monster that could have rivaled a Clydesdale, peacefully swatted his coal black tail back and forth while he stripped leaves off a nearby bush. A smaller horse, almost blonde with a white mane and tail, amiably grazed alongside her much larger partner.
She stared at them. Even the small one was so tall she would need a stepladder to climb into the saddle. She glanced up at Colum. “You don’t have any smaller ones?”
He pointed at the blonde mare as the horse turned and whickered a friendly greeting. “Yon Geal there is tame as a newborn lamb. There is no finer horse in our stables for ye to learn to ride.”
Kenna glanced up at the position of the sun. A sense of urgency squeezed her. Trulie needed her; she felt her calling. “I don’t have time to learn today. Would your horse let me ride with you? I know how to hang on. I just don’t know how to steer one.”
Colum’s smile widened, and if Kenna didn’t know better she would have sworn his chest expanded to at least double its original massive size. “Aye, lass. I would be honored to have ye ride in front of me.”
He secured her bags across Geal’s saddle, then held out his hand. “Come, my lady. Rua and I will get ye to yer sister.”
Something about the way Colum saidCome, my ladymade time stand still and created a jelly-like weakness in her knees. His voice possessed a deep sensual echo that made her ache to hear those words whispered against her cheek, while he held her in the darkness.
The piercing cry of a hawk overhead broke the mesmerizing spell. Somewhere, deep in her consciousness, Kenna heard Trulie cry out as clearly as the hawk’s scream. Enough dawdling and daydreaming. Trulie needed her. Monster horses and drool-worthy warriors would have to wait. Kenna slid her hand into Colum’s. “I’m ready. Get me to Trulie.”
