Page 54 of Cottage in the Mist (Time After Time #3)

“My great uncle never forgave my grandfather or father for bringing the wrath of Chattan down on him and the clan. When my grandfather died, my great uncle was forced to let my father take over Dunbrae, but he cut off any kind of support from Dunmaglass. And he showered favors upon Malcolm. He gave him a prosperous tract of Macgillivray land and helped him make a strategic marriage. He was, for all purposes, the favored son of the clan.”

“But it wasn’t enough for Malcolm,” Lily said. “He still wanted Dunbrae. And he wanted your father dead.”

“If what Frazier says is true, then that would seem the way of it.”

“Oh, God, Bram, I’m so sorry. What a horrible situation.”

He shrugged, the twist in his gut belying his dismissal of her words.

“I’ve never had any love for my uncle. And I know he has none for me.

But I ne’er believed he would do something like this.

When my mother died, it seemed that his vengeance had at long last been served, for my father was never the same again.

I truly believed that was the end of it. ”

“But instead, now you have to face him. To take back what rightfully belongs to your family.”

He rolled over to face her, grasping her hands in his. “Yours now, too. And one day our wee bairns.”

A soft smile tipped her lips. “You want children?”

“I do. And you?”

“Of course.” Her smile widened. “Lots and lots of them. I was an only child.”

“As was I.”

“And I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” A shadow chased across her face. “At least you had your cousins. I had no one.”

He squeezed her hands, then flipped her beneath him, relishing the press of his body against hers. “Well, now you have me. And if I have my way, we’ll be swimming in bairns before you know it.”

He bent his head and pressed his lips to hers, desire usurping thought.

As their tongues swirled together, tasting, tempting, teasing, Lily parted her legs, and Bram drove himself into her welcoming heat.

Together they established a rhythm and started to move in tandem, meeting each other thrust for thrust as together they climbed higher and higher.

Sensation winning out over thought. Emotion leaving little room for logic or fear.

There was nothing but the two of them, and the pleasure building between them.

He felt Lily reach the peak, her body spasming around him, her passage hot and tight.

He drove deep into her, losing himself in the sweet smell of her skin and her hair.

And then his mind exploded in white light.

He called her name, his body pumping life into hers, his ecstasy beyond anything he’d ever felt before.

Later, much later, he held her in his arms, her soft breathing signaling that she slept.

The silver of Lily’s ring was cool against his finger.

And in that moment, he felt as if anything was possible.

Magic—old magic—had brought them together.

Against all odds. God’s blood, against time itself.

And now that they were together, he’d not let anyone or anything tear them apart.

Lily opened her eyes to the sound of the rushing river. Overhead a green canopy of trees danced amidst a patchwork of dappled sunlight. She blinked, for a moment forgetting where she was, her mind struggling to make sense of her woodland bed. And then memory returned.

She was in Scotland and last night...

The enormity of the promises she’d made last night took her breath as she realized she was alone in the clearing, wrapped in nothing but her Mackintosh plaid.

Had she dreamed it then? Bram. The handfasting.

Had none of it happened? Automatically her hand rose to the silver chain around her neck, her fingers following the links to the hollow between her breasts. No ring.

It had been real then. But where was her husband? Surely after last night he wouldn’t have left her. She pushed aside the plaid, shivering in the cool morning air, realizing only belatedly that she was still naked.

“I see you’re awake.” William Macgowen stepped out from behind a tree and it was hard to tell who was more startled. Lily shrieked and grabbed for the plaid. William, red as a beet, ducked back behind the tree. “Ach, my lady, I beg yer pardon. I dinna realize… I mean… I never…”

“It’s all right William,” Lily said, her voice emerging in a croak as she hurriedly pulled on her leggings and shirt. “You can come out. I’m dressed now.”

The young man emerged, his cheeks still red, his eyes glued to the ground. “Bram went to meet with Iain and Alec. He was afeart to leave you alone and so asked me to watch o’er ye. But I dinna think he meant for me to take that so literally.”

“It’s okay, I promise.” She held up a placating hand. “We’ll just pretend it didn’t happen.”

“I thank you for that.” William almost bowed in his enthusiasm to put the episode behind them. “’Tis a great kindness. For I’m quite certain that Bram would no’ be pleased to think I’d been ogling his new wife.”

She smiled. So Bram had already shared their news. That certainly seemed to negate the notion that she’d imagined the whole thing. “He’d understand, but as it is there’s nothing to tell him.”

“Aye. So be it then. And may I be the first to congratulate you.” This time he swept into a full and courtly bow. “’Tis no’ every day that we have a wedding while in route to a battle.”

She shivered at the mention of fighting. “They haven’t left, have they?” She didn’t really believe Bram would leave her again, but still she couldn’t stop herself from asking.

“Nay.” The young man shook his head. “They wouldna go without me. And Bram said he’d be back here directly with something to break yer fast.”

She nodded, relief making her giddy and slightly guilty.

If she and Bram were to make a go of it, she had to trust him.

Just as he had to trust her. Her head spun with the knowledge of how very far she’d come from that moment in Greenwich when she’d first heard of her parents’ deaths. She hoped they’d approve.

“But now that yer awake,” William was saying, his words pulling her from her tumbling thoughts, “I can take you to him if you like.”

“Yes, thank you. I’d like that. Just let me put on my boots.

” She sat down on a log, her back to William as she adjusted her belt and pulled on her boots.

Tendrils of mist still curled close to the banks of the stream, although the growing sunlight would soon disperse them as it continued to warm the ground.

She reached for her hair, quickly braiding the curly mass, securing it with a length of ribbon Katherine had given her at Duncreag. Behind her the bushes rustled. “There’s no need to keep hiding, William. I meant it when I said everything was fine. I’m completely decent now.”

“More’s the pity.”

She swung around, her stomach clenching as she recognized the voice.

Frazier Macbean stood only a foot or so away, a vicious looking knife in his hand. And flanking him on his left was an enormous man holding a claymore. A second man stood farther to the left, his eyes trained on the woods that separated them from the encampment.

Lily pushed to her feet, muscles tensing to run.

“There’s nowhere to go, my sweet,” Frazier crooned, the sound sending a shudder racing through her. “The river is too deep to try and cross it here. Ye’ll drown if you try.”

Visions of her parents filled her mind, bile rising in her throat as she held her ground. “How did you…” She trailed off, her mind spinning as she tried to find a way out.

“I had a little help. Ye dinna think I was in this alone, did you?”

She shook her head and then opened her mouth to scream, but Frazier was faster, one hand bringing the knife to her throat as the other covered her lips to prevent her crying out. “If ye dinna want to die here and now then I suggest ye hold yer tongue. Do ye ken what I’m saying?”

She nodded. And he released her, but kept one hand circled about her wrist. “There’s a good lass.”

“Where’s William?” she asked, her stomach churning with worry.

“My man has him.” Frazier’s smile held no humor. “And unless you want something more to happen to him, you’ll give me what I’ve come for.”

She shook her head, fear holding her tongue captive.

“The ring.” He held out an impatient hand. “Give me the ring.”

“I can’t,” she croaked. “I don’t have it.”

“Of course ye do.” He snarled and reached between her breasts to grab the chain, his eyes flashing when it yielded nothing but silver links. “What have ye done with it then?”

She lifted her chin, determined not to let this man get the better of her. “I gave it to my husband. Last night when we pledged ourselves to each other.”

The man with the claymore cursed. “We’ve the need to move, Frazier. We canna be sure they havena discovered that yer gone.”

“Only a moment more,” Frazier replied, stroking the edge of his knife as he watched her, his fingers still clamped about her wrist. “I’m afraid I dinna see that one coming. I’d assumed the boy would reject you because of your kin.”

“Well, he hasn’t. And if he finds you here, he’ll kill you. And then he’ll kill your master.” Again she lifted her chin, feigning a bravado she was far from feeling.

“I’d thought to bring Malcolm the ring. A token of my devotion.

But perhaps this new turn of events is even better.

” He took a step closer and she backed up, her heels at the edge of the river bank.

“I’ll bring him his nephew’s bride.” With a swiftness that belied his age, Frazier jerked her into his arms and called to his friends, “Kill the boy and help me with her.”

Lily fought like a wildcat, striking out with her free arms and her legs.

A knee landed squarely in Frazier’s groin and with satisfaction she heard the man grunt in pain.

But if she’d thought to stop him, she was wrong.

Frazier cursed and then brought the full force of his fist against her cheek and temple.

Red hot pain exploded through her head, white light obliterating the scene before her.

She fought to hold onto consciousness but the pain was too great, the light fading quickly as blackness invaded, flowing through her brain, obliterating her thoughts until it swallowed her whole.