“Jamie, thank you.”
“For what?” He was unsure for what she was thanking him.
“When I first came, you said something that stuck with me. You said it in that beautiful language of yours, but what you meant wasblood warms to blood.”
“Aye…” he said slowly.
She tipped her head back to look up at him, her eyes bright and clear. “You were right. Family is everything. And they’re all I have left.”
“Och, lass. I dinnae think they’re all ye have left.” His voice was low and soft as he tilted his head down toward hers. His lips were a breath away from hers. If there were ever a time to tell her he loved her, now was it. Still, he hesitated.
She blinked owlish eyes at him, feigning ignorance. He spied the throbbing pulse in her neck and felt the jolt of her heart. “Who else do I have then?”
“Ye have my brothers and me.”
And then he kissed her. His mouth landed on hers in a soft, sweet kiss. He didn’t care that they stood in the middle of the bailey for all to see. He didn’t care if everyone knew he wanted her in his arms for all time. He wanted them to know she was his and he’d never let her go.
His kiss was gentle at first, tasting her sweet lips that he had trouble forgetting. Then he moved his mouth over hers, devouring her softness. Her arms slid around his waist as they stood there, the north wind whipping about them and her hair fluttering around her head. She, like Chloe, had refused to braid her hair.
His hand slid up to those snarled tresses, his fingers tangling in the locks and then fisting them as he gently tugged her head back, breaking the kiss. A breath shuddered out of her as he trailed kisses down the long column of her throat. He pressed one long and slow kiss against that beating pulse. Smug satisfaction eased through him. He liked he was the one to do that to her. He realized then that this was not the time or the place to be kissing her, wanting her, seducing her.
Brianna Sinclair had ensorcelled him, forever changing him. He wanted to whisk her into his arms, take her to his chamber, and ravish her from head to toe.
In the distance, a rumbling that sounded like a war drum. She sucked in a quick breath and nudged out of his arms. The magical moment they shared suddenly shattered.
“What was that?” she asked.
A shout went up from the watchtower. Moments later, one of the guards ran down the steep steps and hurried across the bailey. He skidded to a halt when he saw Jamie.
“Where is the laird?” he asked, breathless.
“In the keep.” Jamie nodded to the building behind them. “What is it?”
Before he answered, a war horn blared through the late afternoon air. Brianna stiffened, moving closer if that were even possible. Jamie tightened his arms around her. In the not too far distance, the thunder of hooves sounded, becoming louder and louder.
He understood then what was about to happen as the guard hurried awayto find Callum.
“Jamie?” Her voice shook. She shivered against him.
Without a word, he took her by the hand and headed for the stone steps at the wall. His limp hindered him as he tried to hurry, but he ignored the pain slashing through him. At the top of the wall, he paused. Brianna halted next to him, her breath see-sawing in and out as she tried to catch it.
Before them, there was a gap in space, similar to when the air had cracked open and Brianna had come through from the future. Through that hole men on horseback galloped through. Sitting to the left of the opening, holding his glowing great axe and dressed in full armor, was Rory MacDonald. Hundreds of his men poured through the portal he’d created. Foot soldiers pushed a trebuchet. Others carried a battering ram ready to do damage.
For all Callum’s preparations, they were not prepared for an attack of this magnitude.
“My God,” she breathed. “What…what is that?”
“That…” he said, his voice low as he tried to quell the fear, “is the MacDonald army. We’re about to be under siege.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The declaration theywere under siege made her face pale as she clutched him closer. She was a modern woman. She would not be prepared for what was to come. He had to send her away to safety.
He turned to her, gripping her by the arms. He saw the fear behind those wintery eyes.
“Yer piece of the stone…do ye have it?” he asked.
She nodded. “I have it in my pocket, but Jamie—”
