After fishing her toolbox out from under the kitchen sink, she selected her small pry bar and favorite hammer to convince the stubborn window to open. She wedged the pry bar under its edge and gently tapped and wiggled the lever until the sticking frame finally gave up and opened slightly. Once she slid the pane up the rest of the way, she propped it open with the stick of wood still in the sill from last summer. The faded curtains fluttered in the breeze as though the room inhaled a deep breath of the warm, refreshing air.
“What in the name of creation are ye doing now?” Caelan charged across the yard, heading toward the house.
Sam’s warning bark came too late. She’d been discovered. Rachel groaned. “More warning next time, Sam? Okay?”
Caelan hit the porch with a thud and nearly tore the dilapidated screen door off the hinges to get inside.
With the hammer and pry bar still in her hands, she stifled the urge to hide them behind her back. No. This was her house, and she had every right to open the windows if she wanted. She jutted her chin higher and braced herself for battle. “I’m opening the windows to air out the house. It’s a gorgeous day and warm enough to let in some fresh air.”
“Give me those tools. What I meant was why are ye out of bed? And ye ken good and well that was what I was asking!” He snatched the implements out of her hands and set them on the top shelf of a cabinet well out of reach of her five foot two-inch frame.
Or so he thinks, she thought smugly. Had the man never heard of stepladders, stools, or chairs? “I’m much better, and it’s time I got out of that bed. It’s the only way I’m going to get stronger. I appreciate everything you’ve done, but I’m fine now and can take care of myself.”
She fought to control the pitch of her voice as he stalked closer, towering over her with a face like thunder. “Besides, I have to go back to work on Monday. I don’t have any more vacation time left this year. The quicker I get back to my old self, the easier it’s going to be for me to return to work.”
A step back bumped her against the cabinet. She swallowed hard at finding herself cornered between it and Caelan. She tipped a nonchalant shrug. “I’m sure you need to get back to work too. I don’t w-want to be responsible for making you lose your job. Y-your rent money’s going to be a b-big help to m-me.”
Since when had she developed a freaking stutter? Teeth clenched; she glared up at him. Damn him for being so silent and making her stammer like some teenager caught out aftercurfew. “Will you please say something and stop looking at me like that?”
He narrowed one of his eyes to a critical squint, then nodded once as though coming to a final resolution of some internal struggle. He grabbed her by the shoulders, pulled her into his arms, and covered her mouth with his.
Caught off guard, she stood completely still, her hands resting on his chest. Mind reeling, the first coherent thought that made it through the wonderfully possessive storm overtaking her was that he had kissed her like this in her erotic dream.
After a long claiming kiss that threatened to make her knees give out from under her, he wrapped an arm around her waist and cradled the back of her head in his other hand. Tilting her back, he plundered her mouth even more, as if pouring his soul into her. He pulled her tighter against him, grunting in satisfaction as she reached up and tangled her fingers in his hair.
Desire and so much more flooded through her with a powerful energy unlike anything she’d ever experienced. It consumed her, surrounding her with fire and making her want—everything. With that one unbelievable kiss, he had filled her with the insatiable need to be taken right on the kitchen counter. Struggling for control, she pushed him back and pressed the back of her hand to her lips. Chest heaving, heart pounding, she gasped for breath and fought the urge to dive back for more.
“Ye will not dismiss me from your life,” he said soft and low in the deep rasping voice from her dream. “I am here to claim ye, and I mean to succeed. Ye may think ye’ve had your fill of men, but that was before ye met me.” He tipped her chin higher and narrowed his eyes, studying her with a fathomless gaze. “Ye will trust me. Ye will love me, and soon we two shall be one. I have matters I must attend to right now, but when I return, we will discuss this further. After I’ve prepared ye a nice bit of supper,we will relax and have the good long talk we’ve needed to have for some time now.”
Before she gathered her wits enough to speak, his mouth closed over hers again. This time, the kiss was a brief, gentle reminder of what could be if only she chose to allow it. Then he turned and was out the screen door with traitor Sam at his heels.
As he moved deeperinto the woods, Caelan tilted his head to better track the low murmuring chant carried to him on the wind. Emrys was up to something, and he meant to find out what. While he had immersed himself in Rachel’s care and healing, the old druid had made himself scarce. It was never a good thing when the man could not be found or was too quiet for too long. It always meant the ancient one was meddling with something better left alone.
He crossed the mossy ground in silence, then raised a finger to his lips and motioned for Sam to sit. Emrys and the yellow lab sat at the edge of the pond. That could mean but one thing. The old druid was scrying into the mists again, attempting to discover…something. A thick cluster of young cedars sprouting around a mound of loose limestone shale provided ample cover as Caelan crept forward until he was on his stomach. He cocked his head to one side to catch every single one of the seer’s words.
“Maizy, there be difficult times ahead.” Emrys rocked back and forth the slightest bit as he stared down into the water and rubbed the lab’s velvety ears. The dog watched him with an adoring gaze and thumped the ground with her tail.
“He is not a patient man,” the old druid continued, “and he canna understand the women of this time. He thinks he can tellher how it will be, and then it will be done. The daft idiot nay realizes that his Rachel’s beauty has not gone unnoticed.”
Caelan slowly closed his hands into fists, digging into the mossy thin layer of dirt covering the limestone mound. He would kill any man who dared touch his Rachel. She was his soulmate, and he’d traveled through time to join with her heart, mind, and soul. He clenched his teeth, wondering what information Emrys had failed to share.
The druid barely stirred the water’s surface with the tip of his staff. He snorted out a grunt as the reflection of a dark-haired man shimmered across the pond. “That one will be a problem and cause our Rachel a great deal of pain. Some things never change with the passing of the centuries. Powerful men can either be instruments of great good or weapons of cruelty and unhappiness.”
Caelan stretched to see the image of the man appearing on the rippling pond. He committed to memory the cruel face, and the lies held in the cold blue eyes. He would remember that ruthless mouth and jutting chin with no problem. The next time he saw that man, he would stop the bastard before he ever got to Rachel and caused her harm.
Rachel trudgeddown the driveway in silence, her mind whirling into overdrive at all the jumbled thoughts and emotions churning through her. With her worries blinding her, she didn’t even notice the family of raccoons scurrying across the road until she almost tripped over the last one that lagged back and stared up at her. Usually, completely in tune with nature, her latest confrontation with Caelan had pushed all else from her awareness.
She barely touched her lips, shivering as she remembered the taste of him, the insistent yet gentle demand of his mouth on hers. With a bewildered shake of her head, she shoved her hands back in her pockets and scuffed the toes of her shoes through the loose gravel.
Where had he come from? How could she dream about him, and then suddenly he was there? Granny never mentioned anything about summoning someone with dreams. Of course, she’d lost Granny at the age of seven. Much too young to discuss an erotic dream powerful enough to summon the lover to your doorstep the next day.
What had Caelan meant by saying she was going to love him? She pulled in a shaking breath and rubbed her knuckles up and down her breastbone. Did she love him? She barely knew him. A tiny voice inside laughed at that argument. Since when did love go by a standard timetable?
“I think I do love him,” she whispered to the trees. But that wasn’t the point here, now, was it? What had he meant when he said he wouldn’t go back to Scotland empty handed, and the two of them would be one? Who talked like that other than the heroes in her romance novels?
He stirred feelings deep within her she’d never experienced before. Yes. She did love him. But was this actual love? How could she be sure? She’d never really thought she was capable ofgenuine loveafter her dysfunctional childhood and the disastrous marriage that had only been a way to piss off her parents and get out of college—kind of a two for one. She’d always thought of herself as broken when it came to love. After all, what kind of person married somebody just to spite their parents?
Lust was a major factor with Caelan. That was a given. But there was more here than just the physical urge to rip off his clothes and run her hands and mouth over every wonderfulacre of him. She grudgingly admitted she looked forward to him walking into the room just so she could watch the play of his muscles as they flexed with his every move. The sound of his voice alone made her heart skip a beat with every lovely Scottish roll of his r’s.
