“But ye saw her with her dogs and with the other creatures of the woods. The lass seems sensitive to beasts. What about the scene with her grandmother ye called forward?” Caelan leaned back and stretched out his long legs and folded his hands behindhis head. “And she lives out in the country. Seems to have an affinity with the land. Surely, that will help us in our cause.”
“Before we cross through the portal into her time, we might try sending her a few weesuggestionsinto her dreams.” Emrys narrowed his eyes and tugged on his beard, a sure sign he was plotting.
“And what about the Fates not allowing any trickery? The choice must be of the lass’s own free will—remember?” Caelan leaned forward with interest, propping his elbows on his knees. If the old one knew of a way to get around the Fates, well then, who was he to argue?
“I saidsuggestions.Not trickery. We’ll merely send ye into her dreams. We’ve already seen that she longs to visit Scotland. A night with ye would merely add a bit ofrealnessto what she might have if she accepts your invitation.”
Emrys nodded and stroked his beard even faster. “That way too, when ye show up on her doorstep, ye’ll not be a complete stranger, and when the time comes to reveal the truth to her, ye’ll have a bit of proof. Ye can tell her of your time in her dreams, and she’ll be convinced because ye know of it.”
“Ye can send me into her dream plane? I’ll be there? Able to do anything?” Caelan sat straighter, eager to get on with the idea and make it so. His own dreams had become sheer torment, Rachel always dancing just out of his reach. If he could visit her dreams and hold her in his arms, he would ensure she’d remember him upon waking.
Emrys cleared his throat and peered down his long nose at Caelan. “Aye, I can send ye, but only the once. So ye’d best make it unforgettable.”
Caelan couldn’t resist a smile. “Send me, old man. I promise ye the lass will find the dreamunforgettable.”
He appearedover the crest of the hill, striding forward with an alluring power that made her heart pound harder at the sight of him. She had finally found him. The warrior she needed for…for what? She shook her head, uncertain of the answer. But it didn’t matter what she needed him for—she simply needed him. The surety of his smile made her smile back at him. He held out his hand and nodded.
She started to run to him but paused to soak in the sight of him, admiring this amazing man before her. He had to be well over six and a half feet tall and not an ounce of fat clung to his muscular build. Never had she seen shoulders so broad or abs so…so climbable. She swallowed hard and wet her lips. The vision of him was about to make her drool. And those eyes of his. A vibrant green more brilliant than any emerald. Hair the color of golden grass rippling in a fall breeze. All that marred his ruggedly handsome face was a small scar that passed through his left eyebrow. But she decided she liked that—it made him even more desirable.
Then somehow, he was right in front of her, and their clothes were gone. She reached out and touched his chest, going breathless at the hardness of his muscles. He eased her into his arms and gently lowered her to the mossy ground, nuzzling below her ear. She breathed him in. He smelled so good. Pine forests. Wildness. A man wanting to satisfy her.
She smoothed her hands down his muscular back, tracing the ripples of his muscles as he tightened his embrace. A quiet moan escaped her as his mouth traveled down her throat, across her collarbone, and then lower. He pulled her nipple into his mouth and gently sucked.
His powerful hands and skillful mouth and tongue knew every sweet spot she needed touched. She arched against him, aching for his impressive hardness to fill her. She had searched for him for so very long. “I need you,” she whispered while wrapping her legs around him.
He claimed her mouth, probing with his tongue, and rocking against her, teasing her with what he would eventually give her.
She tightened her legs around him and arched again, trying to convince him to drive into her. She couldn’t remember wanting so badly to be taken or feeling as though she was going to die if he didn’t hurry and fill her.
“Not yet,” he whispered as he barely lifted his head to trace a fiery line down her torso with his tongue.
She filled her fists with his hair, melting against him as he worked his way lower.
“I need you to take me. Please take me.” She bucked against him, her whole being on fire, as volatile as molten lava ready to erupt. She gasped as he claimed her with his mouth, his tongue teasing as he slid his fingers inside her.
Pure, raw sensation took her over as he drove her past all reason. Pulling his head even harder against her, she screamed as he carried her to the edge of bliss and pushed her into an explosive orgasm, keeping her there until she thought she would die and didn’t care if she did.
Then, ever so slowly, with nips and swirls of his teasing tongue, he licked his way back up her body and covered her mouth with his once more. Now he tasted of her, smelled of their excitement, and made her ache all over again. His thumbs teased her nipples back to yearning hardness as he slowly settled between her legs.
With his hands on either side of her face, he stared into her eyes as he slowly slid his full length inside her until there wasno end to him or beginning to her. They were fully joined as one—completely forged together.
He slowly withdrew, then dove back in as deep as he could go. “Now ye are mine until time is forgotten. I claim ye forevermore.”
She found herself unable to breathe. This was not just sex. This was a sacred binding that you read about in legends. She held his gaze with hers and matched his thrusts with her own.“I am forever yours,” she answered, the words somehow drawn from her, spoken from the heart as if she had waited all her life to say them.
As he drove into her, she tangled her fingers in his hair and held on tight, trying to hold off her orgasm as long as possible.
“Nay, my love,” he growled. “Give over and find your pleasure.”
She came harder than she had ever come in her life. A scream tore from her throat.
Her warrior buried himself fully and roared, trembling as he emptied inside her.
Suspended in time, his tender kiss first touched her forehead, then brushed her temple. “Open your eyes, my dear one.”
She forced open her heavy eyelids and smiled up at him. All she wanted to do was sleep in his arms.
“Dinna be afraid when I come for ye, Rachel. Our love is fated to be. Dinna be afraid when I come to your door.”
