Emily rolled her eyes.“Let me guess—it is the love between fated mates.”
Mairwen ignored the lass’s sarcasm.She would prove it to her soon enough.“I canna take ye to Jessa until ye believe and agree to give her time to see just how wonderful her new life could be.I am sure she’ll beg ye to help her find a way back, but ye must not do so.Not only does the Highland Veil need the connection between Jessa and Grant, but they need it as well.If one does not find one’s fated mate, a lifetime of dissatisfaction and, often enough, misery follows.Then their lives end, and the only hope for their souls is that they have better luck finding each other in the next incarnation.”
“How could living in the past be wonderful?”Frustration shouted from Emily as she held up a hand and counted on her fingers.“No conveniences like air conditioning, electricity, or even the unnecessary hygiene stuff, not to mention the necessary things.No proper medical care.No antibiotics or birth control.”She hopped up from her chair, unable to sit still.“And what about all those women who died in childbirth?And the babies?All the babies who died before they even reached their first birthday?That does not sound like a wonderful life to me.”She shook her head.“That sounds more like a death sentence that Jessa doesn’t deserve.”
“Are ye telling me there are no dangers in this time?No inconveniences?”
“I knew you would go there.”Emily flounced back into her chair with a disgruntled look.“I didn’t say this time wasn’t dangerous.It’s just a more comfortable kind of dangerousness.Dangers we’re trained to handle.”
Mairwen laughed.“Only because these dangers are what ye have sadly become accustomed to.If ye were from two hundred and forty years into the future, ye would think this century as crude, uncivilized, and horrifying to adapt to as the eighteenth century.”She tipped her chin higher, leaned forward, and laced her fingers together in front of her teacup.“Ye are a canny lass, and whether ye like it or not, ye are a part of this.Ye can help yer friend not only find the astounding love she was always meant to enjoy but also help protect this dangerous world and time that ye find so comfortable.So what will it be?As I said, I’ll not take ye to her until ye agree to my terms.”She angled a sterner look Emily’s way.“And dinna think to deceive me, lass.At the first sign of treachery, ye will not only find yerself snatched back to this time, but if it pleases me to do so, I can send yer conniving wee arse back to New Jersey.”She offered a curt nod.“Yet if ye comply and do as ye are told, Ishbel and I shall train ye in the ways of yer great-great-grandmother.I know ye can make her proud, if ye so choose.”
Emily shifted with a deep breath, then hissed it out between her teeth.“Fine.I agree to your terms.”Then she jabbed the air with a trembling finger.“But Jessa better be alive and well and headed for the biggest helping of happiness she has ever known.”
* * *
Last night,the sight of Jessa in her shift, with her hair all tousled and her curves teasing him through the material’s thin weave, had set him ablaze.But now, this morning, dressed as a fine Highland lady, Grant forgot to breathe as she hesitantly entered his solar, looking around as if newly born to his world and seeing it for the very first time.
He went to her, easing across the room with his hand extended.She was a skittish colt he wished to caress, to tame.Even more, he longed to be burned by her fire.At the very least, he wanted to know her better, so he might discover if the stirrings she ignited within him were more than simple lust for a beautiful woman.He needed to know if those stirrings were truly a connection ordained by Fate itself.
“Ye are pure loveliness,” he told her, awkwardly letting his hand fall to his side when she failed to take it.He shook off the sense of failure, knowing she had been so busy examining the room that she’d not noticed his offer.
“Thank you,” she said softly, almost as an afterthought.She meandered behind his desk and its messy scattering of ledgers, logbooks, and correspondence.The delicate furrow between her feathery brows deepened as her gaze flitted across the mound of work he’d not yet had time to address.All her color drained away, and she awkwardly staggered back into his chair.She was even more pale than last night when he had first found her in his bed.
He hurried to her.“What is it, lass?Are ye in pain?Shall I fetch Mrs.Robeson?”
With her stare still locked on his desk, she jerked a nod at the pile of work.“Those dates.On those receipts and letters and all those books.”
“Aye?”
“Why would you go to the trouble of writing the year 1785 on everything?Are you really that determined to play this off as the eighteenth century?”
It was then that he understood what ailed her.She still refused to believe she had traveled back in time.
“Thisisthe year 1785,” he told her with a gentleness he had never used with another.“I know ye dinna wish to believe it, and indeed it is a hard thing to swallow, but I swear it is true.I promise this is not some cruel jest brewed up by Mairwen or myself.”
She slowly shook her head.“It can’t be true.It cannot be.”She finally looked him in the eyes.“I had trouble surviving my own century.How in the blue blazes am I supposed to survive here in yours?”
And that was the crux of it.Grant studied her, trying to puzzle her out.Here was a woman used to taking care of herself, and from the way she behaved, neither family nor lover had helped her in her era.The idea of a man in her life other than himself sent an angry tightness through his chest, a fierce possessiveness that both shocked and shook him.He’d had bouts of jealousy before, but never one this strong.Something deep within, something as hot and churning as a boiling cauldron, goaded him to find out more about her, about whether she had ever thought she belonged to anyone else.
He took her hand and gently coaxed her.“Come.Sit over here at the table.They’ve brought us a fine breakfast, and Mrs.Robeson brewed ye an entire kettle of yer coffee.As ye enjoy a cup, ye can help me understand why yer future was so difficult.Did ye leave behind no family?No man who cared for ye?”
Moving stiffly, she followed where he led, clinging tightly to his hand, but remained silent.
He helped her sit, then poured her a cup of the hot drink she had requested.“Do ye take anything in it, lass?I’m not one to partake of coffee, so I dinna ken what ye might wish to mix into it to make it worth swallowing.”He flicked a hand at a ceramic pitcher on the table and a tall white cone standing on a plate beside it.“We’ve milk, and I can scrape the sugarloaf for ye if ye wish to sweeten it with sugar.Or there is honey as well.Just tell me how much ye need.”
“No, thank you,” she said, still sounding weak and lost.“I drink it black.”Staring at something only she could see, she took a sip, then shuddered and shied away from the cup before placing it back on the table.“Wow.Maybe I’ll add some milk, please.”
“Is it not to yer liking, then?Shall I order it sent away?”
“No, I’ll drink it, and I appreciate the efforts it took to get it to me.”She licked her lips, then ran her tongue across her teeth.“The milk should mellow it enough so it doesn’t dissolve the enamel off my teeth.”She forced a smile that looked more pained than pleased.“It’ll be fine.Really.”
He wouldn’t push her on it, but he’d be discussing the strength of the brew with Mrs.Robeson.Perhaps a bit more judicious use of the coffee beans was in order.It seemed the matron had ground too many for the inky black swill.He nodded at the many offerings on the table, an unusually large breakfast selection, since he seldom partook of anything more than a simple bowl of boiled oats.“We’ve scones, parritch, coddled eggs, blood sausage, and beans.Even some tatties and kippers.And Mrs.Robeson said she would send up some fried bread if that was to yer liking.”
Jessa leaned back in the chair and hugged her cup to her chest.“I’m good for right now, thank you.”Then she nodded at the food, not really frowning but not happy either.“Please don’t hold back on my account.I’m just not sure about eating anything just yet.”
“Ye should eat, lass.Keep up yer strength.”
She eyed him, a faint spark flickering in her eyes, and he was glad of it.Her fire needed to return.
