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“STAY PUT,” HE growled into Madison’s mind before he shoved her back into the recesses of their makeshift cave and scanned the woodland. He’d been so enraptured by her that he hadn't sensed the Sassenach sneaking up on them until it was almost too late.
By his count, there were four more behind him closing in fast.
Hoping he heard him, he warned his cousin telepathically that the enemy was here then engaged the first two when they appeared moments later. He should never have let himself get so distracted by Madison, but he’d been unquestionably drawn. Lured. Instantly addicted to the way she felt against him. Mesmerized by her response to him. The blazing heat betwixt her tempting thighs. Her wet, lush lips begged to be kissed, hungry for him in a way he hadn’t anticipated.
Driven by energy that should have had him taking Madison the way she needed to be taken, he clashed swords with one warrior while side-kicking another. Before his opponent gathered himself, Cray sliced his throat open then continued fighting the other, surprised by the concern in Madison’s telepathic voice when she warned him the others had arrived.
Ready for them, he whipped an ax, getting one in the throat before he engaged the other alongside the one he was already fighting. Typically, he’d be in his glory battling because he already knew how each opponent would die, but this time he felt uncharacteristic anxiety.
Not because of who he fought but because of Madison’s proximity.
What would happen to her if, by some stroke of extreme luck, his combatants defeated him? Could she defend herself? Or would she be at their mercy? Suddenly furious at what they might do to her, he didn’t bother executing them like he had planned but arched his Viking sword hard and lopped off both their heads at once.
Not surprisingly, Ethyn returned just in time for a very terrified Madison to flee into his arms. He understood that couldn’t have been easy for her to see, but it had to be done. He scowled at his cousin while he wiped off his blade, but didn’t demand that he let her go. He could feel her inner fear. How terrified she was. So he wanted her soothed whether or not it was by him.
Interestingly, his inner dragon flared in defiance, closer to the surface than it had been since this all began. Jealous and territorial in a way it’d never been before. She, in turn, made a whimpering sound that had nothing to do with what she’d just witnessed but how her inner dragon responded to his. Almost as if it were begging his dragon’s forgiveness for seeking another’s comfort. He could tell by the way she tensed in Ethyn’s arms that she had no idea what to make of that any more than he did.
“More are on the way,” Ethyn said, clearly reluctant to let go of Madison. “We should leave.”
“Aye.” Cray tensed when Ethyn’s wolf trotted by with its hackles raised. “What the bloody hell is Phelan doing here?”
Ethyn frowned. “I dinnae know.”
His cousin finally released Madison when she pulled away. She tensed as she watched the large black and cedar colored wolf vanish into the woodland. A wolf he was surprised had come so close to not one dragon but two.
“She isnae herself,” Ethyn added, still frowning after Phelan.
“She doesn’t seem it,” Madison murmured. Her gaze narrowed after the beastie in understanding. “She wants us to follow her, doesn’t she?”
Why did it almost seem like she sensed the wolf? Because she most certainly should not.
“Aye, she wants us to follow.” Ethyn went to pull Madison after him, but Cray grabbed her hand instead as they set out.
“I can walk just fine on my own,” she muttered but didn’t pull away. Rather, she involuntarily squeezed his hand, her thoughts confused and conflicted. She’d been worried about his welfare during the fighting, while at the same time angry at him for almost being caught unaware by the enemy. For taking such liberties with her at such an inappropriate time.
Liberties she had challenged him to take.
Aside from that, for the most part, her thoughts about him were similar to his about her. Frustration that they desired each other. Because she had desired him much more than she’d anticipated when he’d had her back against that rock. He had felt the tug of war in her mind. A short-lived battle that told him he could have taken her then and there.
She had been ready and willing.
Yet oddly, when he went to spread her thighs further, ready to hike her dress around her waist, he found he wanted her proposed kiss first. Not only that, but alarmingly enough, he did want the time to get to know her better. A proposal she had thought would drive him away and might still eventually. Until then, he still wanted it.
Just so long, he reasoned, as it happened very quickly.
Because while she discovered one thing with her back against the wall, he discovered another. Taking her wasn’t going to be like taking other lasses. Some might say he should already know that based on his parents and grandparents, but it was impossible to truly understand until a male dragon came together with a female dragon for the first time. Until he felt her inner beast dancing a sensual dance with his.
Tempting him like no other had.
Alarmed by that thought, he scowled, not wanting to discredit what he had felt for Maeve. The passion he’d felt in her arms. Not necessarily fiery but unforgettable if for no other reason than he’d had her only once before she got sick. He had finally felt what should have been his from the beginning.
Finally heard what should have been his moments before she succumbed to death.
“Bloody hell,” he cursed, raking his hand through his hair, fully aware by the hitch in Madison’s breath that she’d caught his deeply repressed thought. More than that, her inner dragon had taken full notice and though unsettled by it, mourned for him.
He shot Madison a warning look that she best never mention what she’d just discovered. It was not hers to share. Especially not hers to mourn over.
“How many Sassenach are back there?” he asked Ethyn telepathically, knowing it was best to keep quiet until they’d put more distance between themselves and the enemy. “And where are we exactly?”
“Verra near the English border.” Ethyn shook his head. “There’s a bloody army of Sassenach holding Berwick under siege.”
“Och,” he muttered, not surprised considering it looked to be around April. That meant Sir Alexander Seton was already defending Berwick-Upon-Tweed and likely starting to run low on supplies.
“Aye,” Ethyn confirmed, catching his concern. “As history tells it, England’s King Edward has joined Balliol. Trenches are being dug to cut off the water supply to the city.”
That meant they were also cutting off any hope of getting supplies or any communications to Berwick. Which also meant, like history said, that Archibald Douglas hadn’t taken swift, decisive action when he still had time but had been busy gathering an army.
Therefore, Regent Andrew Murray was still north of their current position.
“Have you had any contact with our kin here, Cousin?” Cray finally said aloud, confident they were far enough away from trouble now. Luckily his mother and grandmother had seen Madison into good, sturdy boots, but they would need to find supplies and horses soon.
“Nay, all is quiet.” Ethyn shook his head, his eyes watchful as his wolf continued leading the way. “Why do you think we lost all that time when we traveled to the future? I was under the impression that wouldnae happen again.”
“As was I.”
When Madison looked at him in confusion, he explained that, for the most part, before this all started, time went by faster here than in the future. As if time were trying to catch up with itself.
“It all has to do with the extra one,” Madison murmured. She stopped short and frowned at them as though they might have the answer. “Granted, I obsess easily enough, but why am I so stuck on one extra of something...or someone.”
“I’d like to know the answer to that as well,” he muttered, having been plagued with her concern about this for some time. Yet now, standing here, he sensed her concern in a whole new way. As though it were his concern as well.
More so, that she was right.
“Someone,” he said softly, sure she was onto something with that.
“Who doesn’t belong,” she whispered, only to be interrupted by Phelan howling.
“We must keep on,” Ethyn urged. “Until ‘tis safer.”
“Aye.” Cray took Madison’s hand again when she pulled it away. Times were far too dangerous, and it was best he had her in hand if they had to move fast.
“In hand?” she muttered, catching his thoughts far too easily now. He had been under the impression more intimacy was necessary before such was possible.
But then that would only hold true if she were his destined Broun. Something Ethyn clearly wasn’t convinced of as he frowned at their adjoined hands then met Madison’s eyes, wondering if he should step in. Cray glared at his cousin, daring him.
She shook her head at Ethyn, evidently letting him know all was well before her eyes turned to the forest ahead. “Your wolf is impressive. She’s huge.”
“Aye.” There was no missing the fondness in his cousin’s voice. “She’s strong too.”
“I can only imagine.”
“What is she doing here?” Cray shook his head. “If I didnae know better, I’d say she traveled with us via the ley-line this time.”
“Aye.” Ethyn nodded. “She did, but I dinnae know why except mayhap to protect us.”
“You mean protect you,” Madison said softly, sounding quite sure. “Because she’s not here for us.” She narrowed her eyes, apparently sensing something as she glanced at Cray. “I felt her aversion to me. To us both.”
She was coming into her dragon senses quickly indeed.
“Aye, as I said before, wolves dinnae much like dragons,” Cray replied. “’Tis smart of them, really.”
She shook her head. “I would never hurt an animal like that.”
“You might not,” he agreed. “But your inner dragon is another matter.” When she looked doubtful, he shrugged. “You will see what I mean the first time you embrace your dragon. ‘Tis impossible to explain otherwise.”
It was also impossible to believe she had gone her whole life without shifting.
“Maybe.” She was clearly not convinced she had something inside her that would harm the beastie. “But wolves are fast, and did you see the size of Phelan? Surely she could outrun or even stand up to a dragon.”
Both Cray and Ethyn shook their heads.
“’Tis clear you know nothing about what you are, lass.” Cray chuckled. “A wolf cannae outrun a dragon never mind stand up to one.”
“Fight one, nay,” Ethyn countered, coming to Phelan’s defense. “But wolves are smart and get into areas dragons cannae.”
“Aye.” Cray snorted. “Until we claw our way in or shred where they hide with our teeth.”
“That’s awful,” Madison muttered.
“But true,” he returned.
“We’d have to be pretty big.”
“We are.” He had never been so eager to see a dragon as he was hers. Not after finally seeing her smoky blue dragon eyes in all their glory. Would she be shiny black like her hair or bluish-gray like her eyes? Shorter and compact or long and slender like her human body? “Males are typically larger than females.”
He noticed that while she had not fiddled with her hair bindings since they left his castle, she often went to push up glasses that were no longer there. Just as she did now while casting him a curious look. One that, despite how much she tried to hide it, didn’t disguise her lingering desire. Her sweet scent had been strong back there and clung to her now, reminding him just how much she wanted what he could offer.
What he would offer.
“You just can’t do it, can you?” she murmured into his mind, not needing to look at him. They both knew she referred to his endless lustful thoughts. How he couldn't stop thinking them.
“And you know full well why,” he reminded. “’Twill get better once we see through our agreement.”
“Right.” She shook her head, still not glancing his way. “A kiss, then you get to know me better.” She frowned. “Normally, that would be the other way around, you know?”
“A kiss, then I get to know you better, then we lay together,” he corrected, amused that she had omitted that last part.
She stopped short, amazed, and spoke aloud. “Wow, did you just say you would get to know me better? Rather than arrogantly thinking it should be the other way around?”
He supposed he had, but what difference did it make?
“You know full well what difference it makes.” She had the nerve to smirk. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re starting to think more like a decent guy now rather than a pompous jerk.”
He was about to respond but hesitated when he sensed something ahead.
Bracing for another ley-line to whip them away, he didn’t give her a choice this time but pulled her against him only to realize they weren’t traveling after all.
Rather someone had traveled to them.
Or so it seemed at first.
