“Her clothes are strange,” Albie murmured on the other side of the bed. We stood on either side of her, and he looked as dumbstruck as I felt.
And he was right about her garments, which were unlike anything I’d seen. Her top was some kind of…weave. I touched the sleeve, which was soft and stretchy. The material molded to her breasts like someone had made it for her.
“Why is she wearing trews?” Albie asked, his eyes on the unusual blue fabric that hugged her long legs. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “They’re awfully tight.”
“Aye, they are,” I said gruffly, my cock just as tight. Gods, I’d been hard since I scented her. “Her speech was strange, too.”
“Foreign?” he asked, his brow furrowing.
“Aye. Well, no.” I scratched my jaw. “To be honest, I don’t ken. I couldn’t place her accent.”
Albie looked at me, worry in his eyes. “Where did you find her?”
“By the auld stones. She’d wandered into a scuffle between the Camerons and Mackenzies.”
“How many did you kill?”
“All of them.”
Albie didn’t look surprised. He reached out a trembling hand and stroked the woman’s hair back from her brow. “She’s perfect, Tavish,” he whispered. “The gods favor us.” He looked up at me, tears shining in his soft brown eyes. “They’ve spared us.”
My heart squeezed. I was around the bed in three strides. Albie stepped into my arms even as I reached for him. He rested his cheek on my shoulder, and I kissed the top of his head.
“Aye, my love,” I said, breathing in the scent of parchment that always clung to him. “They have.”
We’d both lived with the specter of madness hanging over us. As our females had withered and died, our men had succumbed to rage and despair. Albie and I had been lucky, but we’d waited for sorrow or fury to strike—and then drag us into death. For centuries, we’d waited and worried.
But we didn’t have to worry anymore.
I pulled back and straightened Albie’s spectacles, which had gone crooked. “She didn’t seem overly enthusiastic about our bond.”
Albie looked at the woman, and the worried expression returned to his eyes. “She must be sick. The Curse—” He broke off with a strangled sound. “I’ll fetch my herbal. There must be something that can help her.”
He started toward the door, but I caught his wrist. “If books could help our women, they would have already done so.”
Albie tugged against my grip. “I have to try.” His voice rose, edging toward panic. “I have to?—”
“Easy, darling.” Cupping his jaw, I feathered my thumb over his cheekbone. “Go get your book. I’ll be right here with her until you return.”
He nodded jerkily, then rushed from the room.
I turned back to the woman.Ourwoman. Our mate, fated and precious beyond measure. By some miracle, we’d found a female dragon.
I drank her in, my attention drawn over and over to the strange trews. Maybe the humans had already touched her. They’d taken her gown, leaving her in the odd clothing. Rage flared hot under my breastbone. My fingers curled into fists, and my dragon itched to return to the crofter’s hut and collect the bodies.
I’d pay a necromancer to raise them so I could kill them all over again.
My heart sped up, and I dragged in a deep breath to calm myself. The woman’s scent drifted around me. Flowers and lemon and something sweet like the hard candies Albie kept in our pantry.Evening primrose.That was the scent. The little flowers thrived in even the harshest conditions, blooming on dunes and roadsides.
The fury subsided, and I knew my eyes were wide as I stared at the woman. Because she’d soothed my beast, easing the fury before it could compel me to do something rash. A new emotion swelled my chest.
Hope.She’d given me hope, and I didn’t even know her name. But my dragon knewher. That was all that mattered.
Albie returned, his herbal clutched in both hands. He sat on the edge of the bed and began flipping through the pages, his brow furrowed in concentration. Sunlight from the window played over his wavy blond hair, turning the thick mass into spun gold.
I took the woman’s wrist and pressed two fingers to her pulse. It beat strong and steady beneath her skin. I checked her arms, her neck, searching for signs of bleeding.
Nothing.
