HIGHLAND GAMES, WEST VIRGINIA
On the way - Present Day
A cloying dampness hung in the air as I stepped out of the hotel the following day. It had stopped raining but they skies were still gray and overcast. I didn’t mind it too much since it fit my mood. Gavin didn’t say more than three words to me this morning, even during breakfast, and I was starting to wonder if he was going to at all. With a to-go cup of coffee in my hand, I crossed the parking lot, and unlocked the trunk.
Gavin stopped and threw the bags inside a bit more forcefully than was warranted.
“What did that luggage ever do to you?” I joked, pulling my jacket closer to my body to ward off the chill in the air.
He gave her a sheepish look. “It slipped.”
“Hmm.” I doubted that but didn’t challenge him on it—apparently, we were both in foul moods.
Gavin walked over and waited on the other side of the car. He wasn’t looking forward to another ride in the metal beast, but there was nothing to be done about it now.
It was hard not to notice the dark circles under his eyes. I knew he wasn’t sleeping well, but I didn’t know why exactly because he was too stubborn to confide in me—or afraid to, my mind chided. “I guess we better get going.”
“Aye, we should.”
Another surge of irritation shot through me at his lackadaisical attitude and instead of walking over and unlocking his door first, I headed over to my side of the car, unlocked my door, and climbed inside.
Reaching over, I unlocked his door and then started the car.
Gavin opened the door and climbed inside. After he put on his seatbelt, he leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes. “I am ready.”
I turned and looked over at him—his expression made me nearly laugh but I squelched it back. “Here we go,” I said, putting the car in drive and pulling out of the parking lot. Immediately my stomach swirled and not in a good way. I felt sick at the prospect of leaving. Not because the hotel here was all that great but because it meant we getting closer to Gavin finding that damnable gypsy and returning, if he could, to his time, without me, or so he thought—I was still working on figuring that part out.
♦
It didn’t take nearly as long to get to the other hotel as it did to the first one. I only had to stop once to refuel and use the bathroom at one of the rest stops. As usual, when we stopped, after Gavin used the rest room he gathered up just about every free brochure on the surrounding sights and when his eyes weren’t shut, he was staring at the pictures.
“Did you find anything interesting,” I asked after about three hours into the drive.
“Aye.” He turned in the seat and flashed a brochure of the Natural Bridge and some caverns.
“Do you want to stop at them?”
“Nay, lass. He shook his head adamantly back and forth.”
“All righty then.” And that was the end of that. Afterwards he shut his eyes once more and did not open them again until I pulled into the back lot of the hotel.
“We are here,” I said, putting the car in park and killing the engine.
Gavin slowly released his death grip on the dash, and opened his eyes once more, all the while hoping this was the last time he would have to be in the metal beast. “How far away are the games?”
“We are pretty close. I saw the sign for the entrance before we turned.” I grabbed my purse out of the backseat. “You want to come with me while I check in or would you rather wait out in the car, again?”
“I think I will wait.”
“Suit yourself.” I doubted he would want to get out of the car but thought I would ask in the event he actually might change his mind for once. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
He merely nodded.
Opening the door, I climbed out. The air was just as chilly here as it was back in West Virginia. Zipping up my jacket, I headed across the parking lot to the hotel lobby. It wasn’t that fancy of a hotel and unfortunately, I doubted they would have room service but it was the closest hotel to the games. I saw a Domino’s Pizza just down the road a piece and figured if he wanted something to eat I could order it from there, or run down and pick it up myself, real fast.
Twenty minutes later, I had a room secured for four nights. The festival lasted for three days: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Tomorrow was the first day. Being selfish, I made a few wishes for foul weather again, but according to the clerk in the hotel, it wouldn’t be likely since they were apparently experiencing a drought—which was just my luck. The room I rented was on the second floor but it was accessible from a set of outside stairs to her left. And fortunately, per the desk clerk, the pizza place I spotted, did deliver here.
If I wasn’t in such a foul mood I might have taken a moment to appreciate the quiet beauty of the place. Leaves were already turning from summer green to shades of yellow, orange, and red. The air was crisp and fresh, a reminder that fall was just around the corner. Normally, I would have enjoyed all of those things but I couldn’t, because Gavin would probably be leaving and I still had no idea how I was going to go with him, if that was even possible at this juncture.
♦
Gavin set the luggage down on the floor of the hotel room. “Lass?”
“Yes,” I said, turning from shutting the door.
“Are ye angry with me?”
I frowned. “No,” I lied, sort of. I wasn’t exactly angry with him, but I was upset at the prospect of him leaving.
“I do not want ta leave.”
A glimmer of hope unfurled inside of me. “Then why are we here?”
That pained look I had seen so often of late was back on his handsome face. And my glimmer of hope evaporated just as quickly as it began.
“Because I have ta leave. Ye know that.”
“Whatever, Gavin.” I threw the bag on the floor, venting my frustration.
“Och, lass. What did yer bag ever do ta ye?”
I knew he was trying to be funny but I wasn’t in a laughing mood. “Nothing.” I stomped my foot down for good measure and instantly wished I didn’t because it hurt.
Hobbling over to the chair, I sat down. “What do you want from me?”
He frowned. “I do not know.”
“Well, that’s great. I don’t know what you want from me either.”
Gavin made his way across the room and sat down in the chair opposite from hers. “I have enjoyed our time together, I want ye ta know that.”
“I have too.” My voice came out all whinny. I sounded pathetic.
“There, there, lass,” he said, reaching forward and patting her hand.
I jerked my hand away. “Stop that.”
He frowned. “Do I repulse ye now?”
“No. You don’t repulse me.” I shook my head, trying not to cry.
“Then why do ye not want me to touch ye?”
“Because you are leaving and you don’t want me to go with you and I don’t know what I am going to do when you are gone, that’s why.” My lip trembled and I bit it.
“Ye will be fine lass,” he said. “I am sure ye will meet someone wonderful and have a right happy life together.” Gavin was trying to be helpful but even as he said it, his heart tightened at the thought of her being with someone else.
“No. I won’t,” I sobbed. “I will be all alone like I was before I met you.”
“Lass, please, do not cry. I can no take it if ye cry.”
“Well, get used to it. I have a feeling I might be doing this for a few more days.”
“Mayhap ye should go back home and let me tend ta this gypsy business by myself.”
I gaped at him, not believing what he just said. “I’m not leaving.”
“Then instead of fighting, shouldn’t we make the best of our time together?”
He was right, of course, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to hit him. “Sure. I’ll just act like you aren’t going to leave me. How’s that?” I was being sarcastic, of course.
“That would be nice.”
“Argh!” I felt like pulling out my hair.
He frowned again. “There is no need ta vent yer anger on me, lass. Ye knew when ye pulled me through the mist with ye, that I would have ta go back ta my own time at some point.”
“No. I didn’t. I thought you would want to stay. There is nothing for you back there.”
“Callum is there and Muir, as well as Alec and Graham. I made the deal with the gypsy. If I am not there ta make amends, make good on my promise ta her and the King, they will seek retribution from my men, and they will be the ones that will have ta pay for my mistakes. Is that what ye want?”
Now that he put it that way, I immediately felt bad. “No. I don’t want them to have to pay for your mistakes.”
“Do ye now understand why I need ta leave?”
“Yes.” I sighed. I wished I didn’t understand why he needed to leave. But I did. Well, now I did, after he explained his reasoning behind it.
“Can we at least try ta enjoy what little time we have left with one another?”
My heart hurt—I was sad and angry—my emotions were all over the place. “Yes,” I agreed finally.
“Come here, lass.” He held out his arms.
Feeling like I was about to bawl my eyes out, I stood up and fell straight into his arms. Resting my head against his hardened chest, I reached up and wrapped my arms around him—never wanting to let go.
He smoothed his hand over her hair in gentle strokes. “We will see what the morrow brings, aye.”
I nodded, tightening my hold.
As usual, my mind was spinning different variables, trying to figure out a way for him not to go or for me to go with him. My body, of course, had other ideas. It was definitely a turn on to be sitting on Gavin’s lap. And from the hardened object pressing against my bottom, it would seem Gavin wasn’t immune either.
Wiggling my butt, I snuggled closer to him, inhaling his earthy scent, trying to memorize what he smelled like, how he felt in my arms. Each contour cut into his hardened chest and abdomen. The rounded curve of his buttocks, his sinewy back, his beautiful face—I wanted to inspect every inch of him—burn the images into my memory in the event that I couldn’t go with him—so I would have something to hold on to when he wasn’t with me any longer.
♦
Gavin was becoming uncomfortably hard. He couldn’t help himself with the way the lass was wiggling her bottom on his lap. He wanted nothing more than to take the lass in his arms and kiss her senseless but he didn’t know how she would feel about that since he could tell she was upset about him leaving on the morrow.
Tired of waiting for Gavin to make a move on, I decided that I would just have to get the ball rolling, so to speak, myself. With that thought in mind, I stood up and began taking off my clothes.
“Lass, what are ye doing?”
“I’m getting undressed.”