Page 13 of Her Scot of Bygones (MacLeod Dragons #2)

–Hazel–

OUTSIDE OF HOW I felt simply being near Lucas, I had never experienced anything so exciting as sword fighting, if for no other reason than it was so opposite of who I was. So far outside my skill set. I was a cook, baker, and barista for goodness’ sake, not a warrior.

Yet there I was in his mind, holding my own like a pro when he thought he would be teaching me. Instead, the more we battled, the more certain I was that he’d taught me these moves before. He had been as determined then as he was now that I knew how to defend myself.

It had been incredible. Exhilarating. A rush, until he came at me particularly hard, and my blade transformed into another.

More pointedly, his Viking sword became another sword entirely.

One I recognized right away, but from where? I couldn’t quite remember. All I knew was it had something to do with Evan Sutherland, and when Lucas snapped me out of his mental lesson and urged me to sheath the blade, I was sure he knew it too.

As predicted, despite the weather seeming fine earlier, thunder rumbled in the distance, and an icy wind grew stronger, so he slipped his arm around me to hold me steady, yet it was doing so much more, and I knew the timing wasn’t good. Not just because of the blade, but because it was a distraction neither of us needed right now. Despite being on MacLeod land, we were still vulnerable.

While being wary in the forest made sense, I couldn’t help but wonder when we arrived at our destination and he sent his horse back to the safety of MacLeod Castle, if Lucas arousing me right now were a distraction we especially didn’t need at the moment. After all, unlike the first time I arrived at his lair, it didn’t seem foreign and cold.

If anything, it felt the opposite.

“I know this place now,”

I managed hoarsely, shocked by the onslaught of emotions washing over me. I looked around, then locked eyes with Lucas.

“I know it well. In fact, I think I might have picked it because you can hear the rain and forest from here.”

I smiled at where the smoke from the fire got sucked upward.

“I would have liked that too, so we could build a fire, and I could cook.”

I could tell by the look in his eyes as he gazed at me that he was suddenly seeing things differently, too.

“You were here before,”

he said softly, gruffly, emotion thickening his brogue. He stood close enough to touch a lock of hair that curled over my shoulder, marveling at the feel of it.

“I remember yer hair.”

His gaze drifted to my eyes.

“And again, yer bonnie eyes…but they were younger eyes…more innocent.”

“How, though?”

I wondered, genuinely baffled.

“How could I have been here with you, and how do I know Evan, yet not remember any of it?”

It seemed mentioning Evan’s name broke the spell because Lucas pulled his hand away, and his features hardened.

“’Tis a good question. One I wish he weren’t part of.”

“Tell me what happened between you two.”

I might have heard the gist of it, but not the details. As if I had done it dozens of times before, I headed for a cauldron hanging over the fire and began chanting ingredients into it that felt right for this conversation.

Right for Lucas.

While being able to chant things into existence would have shocked me a few days ago, it seemed perfectly natural now. Back home, I typically grew herbs or ordered them online. Now here I was chanting away with a flair of dragon sight and a touch of witchcraft, making a sweet-smelling concoction that would not only suit Lucas but the chilly autumn night.

“Nay,”

Lucas began, not wanting to discuss Evan, yet he hesitated when I not only pleaded with my eyes in a way I knew he couldn’t refuse, but he caught the scent of what I was cooking.

“Please,”

I prompted, gesturing at the chairs in front of the fire, while handing him a cup of his favorite whisky I had chanted into existence.

“I need to understand…I think we both do.”

I chanted small pieces of cake onto wooden plates, then poured the creamy, sweet sauce made from magic in record time over them.

“And I think we need to do it together.”

His troubled gaze flickered from where he’d propped the Viking Turned Evan's Blade against the wall, back to me before he finally relented.

“Aye, lass, you’re probably right.”

He sat, settled his gaze on the fire, and sighed.

“We first met as wee things when I wandered onto Sutherland land without realizing it. Whilst our clans didnae particularly get on well, ‘tis safe to say things have escalated over the years. Not much, but enough to be wary when on each other’s territory.”

“Yet still allies, however strained for the sake of king and country,”

I said softly, sitting in the other chair.

“Until Aspen traveled back and the pact ignited, only making things more tense.”

“To say the least.”

He sipped his whisky and grunted with approval at its bold, smoky flavor.

“So ‘tis unfortunate to know the friendship Evan and I once shared is coming back to haunt me.”

I could understand his angst, but for some reason, I didn’t feel the same. Not like he did, and it made no sense given it might land me with the Sutherlands. That is, of course, unless Evan and I were in love, and I was finding comfort in the inevitable.

“Go on,”

I urged, encouraging Lucas to eat because I knew it would comfort him.

“How did a woman break you two apart? Seems like a silly reason to ruin a friendship.”

“Yet it did…she did.”

Lucas scowled at his cake but complied and took a bite, his eyes drifting a little at the sweet taste.

“Bloody hell, lass,”

he groaned with approval after swallowing.

“What is this?”

“Something I think might have been one of your favorites.”

I listed off the ingredients, all of which could be found right here in the Scottish Highlands.

“I added a little something extra this time to soothe your nerves.”

“’Tis a liquor of some sort as you would call it in your era, aye?”

“That’s right.”

I smiled.

“It isn’t strong…just soothing.”

As it were, I would be the last person to give someone alcohol without their knowledge, considering my mother and her struggle with addiction, but I suspected my inner beast had prompted me to, so I did.

“’Tis verra good, lass.”

A small smile curled his mouth despite the topic.

“I will have to be careful and battle often, or I may not be as fit as I am now, should I indulge in your cooking.”

My heart leapt a little, and a blush warmed my cheeks not just at his praise but the implication he intended we be together always.

“Because I do,”

he murmured, catching my thoughts. His expression grew serious again.

“I dinnae know how yet, if things dinnae go well with Evan, but I verra much do want ye if ye’ll have me.”

I’ll admit it was on the tip of my tongue to say yes, but I hesitated because the truth was, we didn’t know what was heading our way. Better yet, who, and I worried about hurting either of them. It was strange feeling that way, given I’d never even met Evan, and he might be destined to take me away from Lucas, but I did.

“Tell me what happened between you and Evan,”

I prompted, delicately redirecting the conversation for now.

“Who was the girl?”

He took another bite of cake and seemed to mull over how to tell me.

“’Twas Laird Dugal Sutherland’s wife, Lilias, before they married.”

“Lilias,”

I exclaimed, caught off guard by that.

“You mean the woman who helped Aspen when she was at Sutherland Castle?”

I arched my eyebrows.

“My so called half sister, whom I just found out about?”

“Aye,”

he confirmed.

“We were all verra young, but still. She and I had struck up a friendship, and he knew I wanted to court her, bedamned the tension betwixt our clans, yet he pursued her anyway. And he didnae stop until…”

“Until what?”

I prompted when he trailed off, and his brow furrowed as if he were confused by something.

“For the life of me, I cannae remember how it ended betwixt the three of us.”

He frowned at me and shook his head.

“I swore I did, but now ‘tis just not there anymore.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“How is that possible?”

“I couldn’t say.”

I lowered the piece of cake I was about to bite into, surprised I’d eaten almost as much as he had, wondering if my dragon was up to something mystical.

“Did you tell your kin? Maybe you could connect with them telepathically and find out?”

“I already did, and Broderick said I never did,”

he replied.

“I only claimed Evan had stolen her from me, and that was it. Our friendship was over. But, I never provided details.”

“Hmm.”

I tried to think what that might mean, but became distracted by a strange warmth fanning out from my stomach as if the liquor might have been more potent than I thought. It almost felt like a comforting glow washing through me as my gaze remained on Lucas. A glow that seemed to prompt me to murmur.

“Maybe because you never really knew the details.”

Seeming to sense what I was experiencing, or maybe even experiencing the same thing, his gaze drifted to mine and lingered.

“Mayhap I didnae.”

Almost as if it took both of us to acknowledge that, something incredible happened. Something that was going to change my world forever, whether I ended up with the enemy or not.