Page 11 of Her Scot of Bygones (MacLeod Dragons #2)

–Hazel–

IT WAS HARD to explain how I felt when I witnessed a vision of Evan Sutherland’s dragon and recalled how fond of him I had been as a little girl, other than my love for him was real. And it was love. I just didn’t know to what degree, and I certainly didn’t know how to be that transparent when I finally worked up the nerve to tell Lucas at dinner.

All I knew was we had to go back to Lucas’s secret lair and that tunnel.

Back to Sutherland land and the memories it held. Better yet, I suspected, back to Evan so we could figure out how our three lives intersected. Did I hope it would lead me back to Lucas? So much so, I was shocked by the sensation as my dragon eyes ignited when I told him, but there it was, and I couldn’t help but put my hand over his, not just in comfort, but because I wanted to touch him. Feel him. Let him know, no matter what happened, I was very much drawn to him.

Better still, I wanted him in ways I barely understood.

I had never been an overly sensual person and rarely intimate with men because few made me feel much of anything, but Lucas had in that unknown tunnel when he was so close, his front to my back, and his lips hovered near mine. It felt electrifying and exciting in a whole new way, igniting me from the inside out. I’d wanted his lips against mine so I could taste him.

Then I wanted so much more.

When Lucas looked at Broderick for permission to bring me back to his secret lair, and his chieftain nodded yes, I felt not just pride in him for not acting impulsively and stealing me away, as I knew he wanted to, but for doing things right this time. By not upsetting my sister and risking her babies. And by not taking me without my permission. If anything, he was being everything I needed him to be.

He was essentially being my fairytale Scot of Bygones.

“We will leave after we eat and travel back under the veil of darkness,”

Lucas said.

“Before the storm arrives.”

“What storm?”

I wondered.

“There’s barely a cloud in the sky.”

“But there will be,”

Aspen said, revealing how dragons could sense incoming weather. She grinned at me.

“It’s one of the many perks of being half dragon.”

Despite how impactful seeing that bronze dragon had been, it hadn’t frightened me like it might have even a few days ago. If anything, it intrigued, if not downright impressed me. Yet again, like so many things since traveling back in time, it seemed familiar. More than that, it warmed my heart in ways I hadn’t anticipated, and I knew I had loved it. Him. Evan.

And nothing felt more strange, given how drawn I was to Lucas.

That feeling only increased while everyone continued eating and chatting. Now that I had forgiven Lucas, thanks to Aspen, it was as if we were starting all over together, and it was impossible not to like him. Although we didn’t talk much one-on-one, he was courteous and thoughtful, describing each dish to me with an infectious smile I couldn’t get enough of. It didn’t hurt that it only made him more gorgeous and brought out not just his dimples but a merriness in his thickly lashed blue eyes that beguiled me.

In turn, I revealed I did, in fact, prefer some foods over others because I felt I could. Like another layer of my need to please, was peeled back just enough, I could confess I typically leaned toward comfort foods. Until tasting the meat served tonight, I usually liked breads and pastas, although I did really enjoy a well-made chicken parmigiana.

Setting aside the warm flushes Lucas tended to invoke every time he looked at me, it was safe to say, if nothing else, I could see us becoming good friends. It didn’t seem to matter that we were from such vastly different eras, and he was a warrior, and I, a cook. There was an easy camaraderie between us that made speaking to each other effortless and enjoyable, almost as if we had known each other for years.

After dinner, we went our separate ways but would meet again soon, somewhere discreet, so the clan wouldn’t see us leave. Aspen helped me pack a small satchel with what I might need for a few days and made sure I was truly ready.

“Are you sure this is the right course of action?”

she asked before we headed back downstairs. She searched my eyes.

“Though I know you’ll be safe with Lucas, this sounds like it’s also going to put you on Sutherland territory again.”

“I know,”

I replied, certain it would. I just didn’t know what time frame.

“But yes, I’m certain this is the right course of action, and the letter seemed to imply my curious nature was supposed to lead the way.”

“Right.”

Aspen narrowed her eyes.

“Though you’ve never really struck me as the curious type.”

“No,”

I said softly.

“I wouldn’t have because we met when we were older and I’d changed by then.”

I shook my head.

“Honestly, I had forgotten I was ever like that. It seems like eons ago.”

For the first time, I felt Lucas’s comforting presence in my mind without him being in the same room, and I liked it more than expected, given it was a delicate topic and private conversation. He wasn’t there long, but enough to keep old emotions from bubbling to the surface, and Aspen seemed to sense it.

“That’s his inner dragon comforting yours,”

she explained.

“And in turn, your human half as well.”

She offered me an equally comforting smile.

“I would have never thought it possible, given your different personalities, but I’m glad you and Lucas are connecting. I really am.”

The corner of her mouth curled up.

“And who knows, maybe you two will be good for each other. Rub off on one another.”

I didn’t need to ask what she meant because it was already happening. Lucas was acting less impulsively and thinking things through, and I was surprisingly eager to set out on another adventure and see where it led, when typically, I would play it safe and stick close to Aspen so I could keep an eye on her.

“Maybe we already are,”

I murmured as we headed back downstairs, but not before reminding her to drink the tea I recommended.

“I told Chara all the ingredients, and she promised she would have it made for you. It seems a lot of the ingredients are designed to keep baby dragons healthy.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”

Aspen smiled.

“Already your inner dragon is a good aunt, sensing what her unborn nephews will need.”

I bit back emotion because I had a feeling she was right, and it meant a lot knowing my inner beast would help in that way when I seemingly had no control over it.

As planned, we didn’t go out the front but a different, more discreet way, so no one saw me leaving. Broderick trusted his clan but wanted to err on the side of caution until we understood what was going on between me, Evan, and Lucas. That meant we would travel a rather treacherous, unique route.

“Really?”

I exclaimed. Lucas and I stood with Aspen and Broderick, eyeing the path down the cliff on the backside of the castle that appeared to vanish into the rock.

“That’s our only option?”

“’Tis the best route if we want to be discreet.”

Lucas looked at me with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

“Dinnae worry, lass. I’ll catch you if you fall.”

“Which won’t happen,”

Aspen assured, rolling her eyes at Lucas. She embraced me and held on tight.

“Take care, sis, and remember we can speak telepathically now, so don’t hesitate to reach out if you guys need help or if you just want to talk. I’m always here.”

She pulled back, glancing from Broderick to me.

“We both are.”

Her gaze narrowed on Lucas.

“You better protect her with your life.”

“Of course, m’lady,”

he swore, sounding particularly serious before clasping arms with Broderick, hand to elbow, and nodding once with reassurance.

“I will keep ye abreast every step of the way, m’laird.”

“No Flame?”

I wondered, looking around for the wolf pup.

“I was under the impression he’d be joining us.”

“Flame tends to go when and where he’s needed most,”

Broderick divulged.

“So I imagine he’ll join you when the time is right.”

Although disappointed he wasn't coming now because I liked the little guy, I sensed Broderick was right. Flame would be there when we needed him.

“I look forward to seeing him again soon, then.”

We said our final goodbyes before setting off down the single-file path. Ever the hero, Lucas made me walk in front of him in case I slipped. Although I wasn't athletic, I worked out often enough that it wasn’t too bad, and I managed well until we reached the hole, and things got a little tricky.

“Just take my hand, lass,”

Lucas said.

“Then step where I step.”

So I did without hesitation, trusting him completely. I trusted him more than I had ever trusted anyone, including my sisters. In fact, when he helped me down a steep rock with a sheer drop that led to an uneven tunnel path, sidled by another drop straight down into a cave full of churning ocean water, I knew without a doubt he would never let me fall.

“And I would not,”

he assured, catching my thought. He pointed out a crude railing embedded in the wall and met my eyes, his gaze just as serious as his voice again.

“As I told your sister, I will protect you with my life, so dinnae fear what lies ahead because I willnae let harm come to you.”

That same familiar, sensual warmth rolled through me as his eyes lingered on mine before he urged me to hold the railing and follow in his footsteps.

“’Twill not be an overly long journey to the forest below,”

he said as my dragon sight kicked in, which was a good thing. Moonlight sliced down through cracks here and there, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

“’Tis good you dinnae fear heights,”

he commented, clearly catching it in my thoughts.

“Otherwise, this might have gone poorly.”

“No, that would be Ellie.”

I wondered how all this would go for her.

“She’s deathly afraid of heights.”

“Och,”

he muttered.

“’Tis unfortunate for a dragon. What of Willow?”

“Complete opposite.”

I tried to focus on the smell of the chilly sea salt and brine gusting across my face rather than his delicious, masculine scent, but it was impossible and made focusing difficult.

“The higher the better for her, and a good thing given she’s a pilot.”

“Now that makes more sense for a dragon,”

he replied.

“Though I imagine her inner beast hates every minute of it.”

“Why?”

I would have thought the opposite.

“I’d think her dragon would love being up in the clouds.”

“Without spreading its wings?”

he said, a frown evident in his voice as we made our way down a path that grew slicker by the moment.

“I imagine it would feel trapped and out of control. ‘Tis hard to think of a worse fate.”

I never looked at it like that, but until a week ago, I didn’t believe my father when he’d claimed he was half dragon and so were we, so I hadn’t had an awful lot of time to mull it over. Now I was, and I couldn’t help but frown as well.

“What would that do to a person?”

I wondered.

“To their human side anyway.”

“’Tis hard to know, but I suspect it would cause a lot of inner turmoil.”

“Like anger,”

I assumed, thinking about Willow’s temper.

When I felt him hesitate to answer because he didn’t want to worry me, I prompted him to go on.

“It’s okay. Please. I want to know.”

Not just that, but I knew Willow would be traveling back in time as well.

“What else could it do to our human half without us realizing?”

“Honestly? I think it would lend fear to her inner beast, because it may feel so out of control,”

he replied.

“If she had embraced her dragon, I doubt that fear would be there because it trusted her human half to control the plane, but without that crucial connection, ‘twould be like clipping a dragon’s wings, shoving it in a metal cylinder and whipping it across the sky.”

He shook his head.

“I cannae imagine a worse sensation. ‘Twould undoubtedly turn me against my human half.”

“Interesting,”

I murmured, looking at Willow in a whole new light. Did she feel her dragon’s distress when she flew? If so, why keep flying? I became so consumed with worry I missed a step and nearly slipped, but Lucas’s hand covered mine on the railing, and I calmed instantly, feeling safe in a way I never had before.

“’Tis alright, lass,”

he said softly, his voice steady and dependable.

“Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and know I’m here for you.”

His voice roughened with emotion.

“I will always be here for you.”

I knew he meant it, too. Better still, he meant it whether he would have to let me go or not, and that meant so much more than he realized. More than I realized, for that matter. To the point, I told him I was okay and to keep going.

Then I told him so much more than I had intended to.