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Scotland
1346
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THE MOMENT HE FELT fire consume Madison, he yanked her into his arms. Seconds later, the world shifted around them in a fiery inferno. Her blinding pain became his before it faded away along with the flames leaving them standing somewhere else.
“’Tis all right, lass,” he murmured, far more aware of her than he anticipated. How perfectly her trembling body fit against his. How protective he felt.
“What was that?” she whispered, holding onto him, her cheek pressed against his chest. “And how did you make it stop?”
“I dinnae know.” He took in their surroundings, surprised by where they’d ended up. With Ethyn along no less. “But we are home.”
Madison stilled, her body only trembling slightly now. She slowly peered around until she spied MacLeod Castle, and her eyes widened.
“Oh my God,” she murmured, taking in its rugged, proud contours. “It’s...we’re...” She blinked several times before her wide eyes met his. “Are we where I think we are?”
“Aye,” he confirmed. His gaze dropped to her lips. Bloody hell, he looked forward to tasting them. His cock fully agreed as it leapt against her. “You’ve arrived in fourteenth-century Scotland. Specifically, thirteen forty-six.”
She audibly swallowed and pushed her spectacles up her nose. Her sudden nervousness was either a result of his news or because she had become aware of his proximity. His lustful thoughts. Ones that became very creative in a matter of seconds. Starting with her dropping to her knees and making his homecoming memorable indeed. If that is, she had any idea what to do with that luscious mouth of hers.
“You are impossible,” she ground out, her nervousness gone in a flash, replaced with a feisty side he would never have guessed existed. If that weren’t entertaining enough, her inevitable need to argue with him against her better judgment made toying with her especially pleasurable. Her next statement only proved his point.
“And I know how to use my mouth just fine,” she blurted before said mouth snapped shut, and her cheeks burned red.
When she went to pull away, he instinctively held her tighter, not quite ready to let go.
“We shall see,” he said softly, positive she could use a little training when it came to intimacy. He was also sure she would be a quick learner. She wouldn’t be able to help herself if it meant finally releasing all her pent-up lust. The prude would be gone. In her place, a lass who would never hold him back from enjoying the opposite sex, because she understood how good it could be. How addicting.
“Pent-up what?” she cursed, scowling, trying to squirm out of his hold. Yet the scent of her arousal was unmistakable. “God, I need to get out of your head. It’s a foul place!”
“Let her go, Cray,” Ethyn warned, frowning.
By no means doing it because his cousin ordered him to, but because he’d much rather play cat and mouse with Madison, he finally released her. In the meantime, Ethyn shifted closer to her and shook his head at Cray. “You need to get your mind straight, Cousin.” He glanced at the castle. “What happened in New Hampshire before we traveled back in time? Why did you bring us here?”
“I didnae bring us here.” He looked at Madison, certain it had been her. “She did.”
“No, I didn’t.” She unclipped her hair, smoothed it then reclipped it. “How would I have done that?” She shook her head and absently straightened her Claddagh ring. “I have no idea how to use magic, let alone how to travel through time.” She pushed glasses up her nose that didn’t need pushing. “And even if I did, why would I bring us here to this castle? Your castle?”
He had been wondering the same thing. Not that he was complaining. There were several lasses here he regularly bedded that could hold him over until Madison paid her due. Surely she would appreciate that if it temporarily redirected his attention.
“As to what happened before we traveled,” she began only to trail off. Her eyes locked on the woodland in alarm.
He scanned the forest but sensed nothing that shouldn’t be there. “What is it?”
“There’s something out there watching us,” she whispered. “I’m sure of it.”
Was one of the evil brotherhood they faced lurking about? If so, how did she sense them when he and his cousin did not? He did, however, know his brother approached, no doubt having sensed their arrival. More specifically, her arrival. A female dragon. Moments later, Marek appeared. Frustratingly enough, Madison edged toward Ethyn, not Cray for protection. Which he supposed was okay seeing how she would eventually be with him.
Eventually being the key word.
Something she best well remember.
He made introductions, amused by her response to Marek when he nodded hello. His brother had a particular fierceness about him that notoriously set lasses on edge. Something that didn’t bother Marek, but then unlike Cray, he kept to a single woman rather than several. A MacLauchlin lass he traveled to see, making many wonder if a wedding alliance between the two clans hovered on the horizon. Especially considering the lass was Laird Keenan MacLauchlin’s sister.
“’Tis good to see you, Brother.” He clasped hands with Marek hand to elbow, realizing Madison wasn’t the only thing that drew him this way. “I get the sense you knew we were coming.”
“Aye,” Marek replied. “The fire blazed over the stone again only this time ‘twas a wee bit different.”
On Aidan and Chloe’s adventure, shimmering sunlight that looked like fire had dappled one of the points representing a standing stone on Tiernan’s new tattoo. Or magical compass as they called it. When the sunlit fiery blotch appeared, his brethren sensed Cray’s anger. More specifically, as they learned later, the precise moment Madison made her unwanted way into his mind.
He frowned at Marek, certain he was not going to like the answer. “How was the fire over the stone different this time?”
“’Twas two flames instead of one.” His gaze went to Madison, his expression unreadable. “Which makes sense given our new arrival.”
Her eyes narrowed as if she were trying to deduce what he might mean by that before her attention returned to the woodland. She frowned and squinted as if trying to see something more clearly. “It’s still out there...it’s still watching.”
Marek followed her line of sight, seemingly understanding. “You’ve exceptionally good senses if you know Ethyn’s wolf is here before he does.”
“Phelan?” His cousin eyed the forest with surprise. “That’s odd, considering I wasnae here yet.”
“But you are now,” Marek reminded. “And it seems your beastie knew it ahead of time because she’s been skulking about for a few nights.”
“You have a wolf?” Incredulous, Madison glanced from the woodland to Ethyn. “Seriously?”
“Aye.” He grinned. “I found her abandoned when she was a pup and cared for her. Since then, she’s been my constant companion.”
“One we dragons would consider a tasty snack,” Cray pointed out. “So best that she make her way home.”
“That’s awful.” Madison shot Cray a look, all the while staying put beside Ethyn. “Tell me you’re joking. That you wouldn’t eat your cousin’s dog.”
“Wolf,” Ethyn clarified as Cray replied that he would if he had to.
“Dragons dinnae typically keep animals for just that reason,” he went on. “Horses are the exception for necessary reasons.”
She looked at Ethyn with compassion and swore if she were a dragon, she would never eat his poor dog.
“Wolf,” Ethyn corrected, grinning, clearly enjoying her attention.
Too soon, in his opinion. His cousin would have plenty of time for that later once Cray had his fill of her.
“Bloody hell, what are ye up to now, Brother?” Marek said into his mind, evidently following his thoughts easily enough now despite their repressed dragons and fluctuating magic. He was glad too, considering telepathy wasn’t a constant in all this.
“He’s up to no good,” Madison cut in, clearly surprising his brother with how readily she caught that. “I’m fairly certain he intends to rape me.”
He almost laughed at that. Did she truly think such? He would never rape a lass. They came to him willingly. More amusing still was that she felt the need to tell his brother her concerns the moment they met. Did she think Marek would save her? Protect her? Keep Cray away? He frowned, not so sure he liked where his thoughts were going. It was one thing dealing with Ethyn coming between him and Madison. His brother, a fellow dragon, another altogether.
Marek’s brows shot up. “That's quite an accusation, lass.”
He was right. It was. Yet it didn’t stop him from toying with her.
“Aye.” Cray winked at her. “She but fears the inevitable and ‘twill be the verra opposite of her being taken against her will.”
“Keep dreaming,” she muttered aloud, yet he didn’t miss the erotic images she tried to suppress, thinking them impossible and inappropriate. Nor did he miss her unique scent hitting the air.
No doubt catching the distracting scent as well, Marek cursed under his breath and refocused on what brought them here. “There arenae just two fires on Tiernan’s tattoo now, but something else as well.”
When Cray looked at him in question, he explained.
“Julie claims some of the ley-lines are now afire,” he revealed. “Ones she suspects connect you and Madison to the Irish Stonehenge.”
“You saw Julie?” Madison exclaimed. “Is she okay? Is Chloe with her?”
“Aye, they are with wee King David until the lines return Cray to his side.”
“So the ley-lines have that much control?” She cocked her head, considering that, not focusing on the fiery aspect but the count. “Did she mention how many fiery lines there were? If there was one extra?”
“Nay, but then how would she know if there was one extra if she doesnae know how many lines are part of your and Cray’s adventure?”
“You mean my and Ethyn’s adventure,” she corrected. “But you make a good point.” She unclipped, smoothed her hair, and reclipped it out of habit, he realized. “I’ll bet there is something to the count, though. Just like there was an extra possessed warrior on Chloe’s adventure.” She nudged her glasses up as if they had moved, yet another subconscious habit. “And possibly one extra standing stone missing at the Irish Stonehenge.”
He wondered if she realized that she’d drifted closer to Marek as she chatted. That her wariness of him had vanished. Marek, in turn, was very much aware. So said his watchful eyes. Like Cray, he wasn’t sure what to make of her warming to him so quickly. Then again, she was dragon. Nevertheless, it irked him more than her taking to Ethyn. At the same time, it pleased him because he and his brother were close.
He frowned as he thought about it. The root of his emotion.
“Och, nay,” he muttered aloud, figuring it out.
He liked his kin getting along with his lass.
His lass until he was finished with her, that is.
Thankfully, Madison didn’t seem to catch that thought. She was too caught up in counting things aloud, trying to solve the endless mysteries at play lately. For that matter, she was so wrapped up in theories, she paid him no mind but kept chatting with Marek as the two started toward the castle.
He scowled, both liking and disliking their instant camaraderie. How well she got along with Marek should be irrelevant. Unimportant. Because she wouldn’t be staying here. She was not a permanent fixture but entertainment in his bed until he’d had his fill.
Until her debt was repaid.
“I dinnae expect Phelan will get any closer to yer castle with so many dragons about,” Ethyn said. “So, I’ll go see to her then meet ye there.”
“Aye, then,” he muttered, striding after the other two. In truth, they seemed fast friends in record time. Was his brother set to have her then? Did he think her his Broun? If so, what to do about that? Marek was a formidable opponent. A fighter amongst fighters.
“What if I were set to have her?” Marek said into his mind, his tone not just curious but mayhap a wee challenging. “What if she is my Broun?”
Caught off guard by the unexpected question and possible unforeseen development, he pondered that, growing more unsettled by the moment. As a rule, his older brother had been the only one who could beat him in competitions over the years. But those battles hadn’t been over a lass. Women had never been a point of contention between them. Their fights had only ever been with sword or ax or whatever else they could put their hands on.
Which led to thoughts of Marek putting his hands on Madison.
Touching her like Cray intended to touch her. Which, as it happened, didn't arouse him in the least.
Rather, unexpected and far too territorial rage flared.
“I’d bloody well kill ye, Brother,” he vowed, shocked by how much he meant it. “Whether or not she is yer destined Broun.”
