Page 20 of Her Scot of Bygones (MacLeod Dragons #2)

–Lucas–

EAGER TO RELIVE the first time I lay with Hazel so long ago, I did what I had done back then and swept her up into my arms. Remembering the way, I ducked into a small tunnel beside the one we had been sitting in with Evan and made my way until we came to a cozy little alcove with a fire pit.

“How could I have ever forgotten this place?”

she said, emotion in her voice.

“We loved coming here even as kids because it was so unique…so comforting to me.”

“Aye, ‘twas,”

I agreed, surprised I had forgotten it too. Even though it provided no view, it was situated close enough to the ocean that we could hear the water rushing into a cave on the other side. It swooshed and lapped, sometimes crashing against the rock wall, creating all sorts of strange yet soothing sounds.

“Sometimes haunting sounds and sometimes wild,”

Hazel said, following my thoughts as I chanted several thick, plush furs onto the floor, somewhat close to the fire.

“But always different and unique, as exciting as they were comforting.”

“Much like our love.”

I didn’t bother slowly undressing her tonight, but chanted away our clothes because I was so desperate to feel her soft skin against mine again. Desperate to cherish every moment I could before she might be taken from me forever.

“Very much like our love,”

she agreed softly, allowing me to lay her back gently, much like I had our first time, only this go around, I didn’t awkwardly settle between her thighs but took my time enjoying her body first. Took my time revisiting all the precious spots I had last night, from her perfect wee shell-shaped ears to the tender arches of her delicate feet. I left no corner uncherished, not only because our time might be so limited, but because I couldn’t help myself.

Arching into every touch and groaning with a sensual womanly approval that drove me wild, she spread her legs and let me taste her until I’d had my fill, releasing several times, before she rolled me on my back and did the same to me.

While there was a sense of jealousy simmering somewhere inside us at the others we had lain with while we were apart, they felt more like a forgotten dream that faded away with our every touch. With every release we found, they grew further and further away as if they had never existed, and I knew she was as grateful as I for the sensation.

Grateful that those in between were now nothing but bygones.

When she eventually straddled me, braced her hands on my chest, and slowly sank onto me, my eyes nearly rolled back in my head at the incredible sensation of her hot, tight sheath taking me in. Making me hers. Nothing had ever felt so good as watching her ride me. Enjoy me.

She took me slowly at first, drawing out the sensations, taking her own pleasure while giving me so much in return. Sensing what I liked best, she rolled her hips, speeding up every so often until I was at my breaking point, and she knew it based on her small, knowing, sensual smile. She owned me completely with her every move, pulling me closer to the edge, until she lowered against me, encouraged me to grab her lush backside to take us over together. So I did, thrusting twice more before she gasped against my neck, trembled in my arms, and milked me.

That’s all it took for me to let go, too, trembling just as hard as I wrapped her in my arms and longed for the day she would never leave them. Longed for my seed to take root and finally create a life together.

We continued making love all night, drifting off in each other’s arms sometime in the wee hours of the morning. In fact, she had kept me so well satisfied I never felt her leave my arms until I woke to a delicious smell. Despite my fears about everything that lay ahead, I couldn’t help but smile as I sat up and watched her bustle around the pot she had manifested over our fire.

“How could I have ever forgotten that smell?”

I murmured, cherishing the sight of her.

“It doesnae seem like any magic could possibly be that powerful.”

“Good morning.”

She met my smile, her beauty taking my breath away all over again. Her flaming locks remained properly tousled, and her brilliant green eyes as soft and dewy as her skin.

“Or should I say afternoon?”

“Neither because it doesnae matter.”

I grabbed her hand in passing and pulled her onto my lap.

“We still have today.”

“Not all of it,”

she murmured as I dropped small kisses on her plush lips.

“We both know we can’t linger here much longer. We need to get back to MacLeod Castle and let everyone know what’s going on.”

More kisses.

“Then we have tonight.”

“And many more,”

I assured her, touching her here and there, eager to pick up where we had left off, but she gave me a look and shook her head despite the welcome scent of her arousal.

“If I leave that pot unattended, things won’t go well.”

“Now that’s where ye’re wrong,”

I murmured huskily, running my lips down the side of her soft neck.

“Leave it be and I promise things will go verra well indeed.”

Despite groaning with pleasure as I continued seducing her, I sensed tenseness in her I hadn’t upon waking and steered her eyes to mine, frowning.

“What is it, Hazel?”

“I don’t know,”

she said softly, the distress in her voice obvious now.

“I just sense it’s time to go, but I wanted you to eat first, so I made one of your favorite stews.”

While tempted to tell her I would much prefer making love one last time, and knew she would too, I also saw she needed to comfort me with food more than anything else right now. She wanted this time together to be a perfect memory in every way possible.

So I let her go, dressed, and joined her closer to the fire for the best stew I had ever tasted…until I remembered that I’d enjoyed it many times in our youth, and smiled at her after groaning with pleasure at its flavor.

“I will have to stay active indeed with your cooking. ‘Tis truly exceptional.”

I winked at her.

“May it, like everything else you cook for me over the years ahead, cast me under a spell and keep me in your bed endlessly.”

The corner of her mouth curled up with womanly confidence.

“Oh, I don’t think a spell will be necessary for that.”

No truer words were spoken, and I said so before we had to leave. But not before I swung a fur cloak around her shoulders, kissed her one last time, and swept my gaze over the intimate cave before cupping her cheek and meeting her eyes.

“We but say goodbye to this place for now because we will return together often.”

“I’ll hold you to that,”

she murmured, giving me one more soft kiss before we left.

“I noticed Evan never mentioned how he knew this area was hidden by MacLomain magic,”

she said as we made our way back to the small forest and the hazel tree.

“And I can’t seem to remember anything about it in my memories of this place.”

She glanced at me.

“Could it have to do with Adlin MacLomain seeing how he seems to have his hands in everything ?”

I wasn’t surprised she asked, given Adlin was there in the twenty-first century when she and her sisters moved into the colonial, forever a presence in time travelers' lives, it seemed.

“I couldnae say,”

I replied.

“Though ‘tis known the MacLomains have hidden territories scattered throughout Scotland thanks to Adlin, so it could verra well be. One way or another, even before the Hamiltons, MacLomain wizards roamed this land, so anything is possible.”

After that, we filled our journey to MacLeod Castle with old memories, both of us desperate to make these moments stretch.

“So your clan always thought you were roaming around the countryside in your youth, a restless adventurer at heart,”

she mused at one point.

“Yet all the while, you were sneaking off to spend time with me, or oftentimes both Evan and me.”

She shook her head.

“It’s amazing, given how close you MacLeod dragons are, that even though they knew you and Evan were friends, they never sensed the rest of it.”

“Aye,”

I agreed, squeezing her hand as MacLeod Castle loomed through the woodland.

“Yet ‘twas clearly for the greater good, given how far the three of us have come. After all, Evan’s secret is still safe from the Sutherlands, and you’re back in my arms.”

“I am,”

she murmured, her voice not quite right, her gaze lingering on the castle.

“We are…but…”

“But what?”

I frowned from her to the castle, somehow not surprised when wee Flame melted out of the woodland to join us. He had a way of showing up when he was needed.

“What is it, Hazel?”

“I’m not sure.”

She crouched and greeted the wolf, narrowing her eyes at the castle.

“Something feels off.”

I was about to ask what before I sensed it too and reached out to Broderick telepathically, only to be met with a stern warning from my chieftain in a tone that made my blood run cold.

“Come back now, Lucas,”

he said.

“Both of you.”

Although tempted to do the opposite because I didn’t like the sound of Broderick's voice and feared for Hazel, she gave me no choice when she continued walking.

“They’re threatening to hurt Willow,”

she said, her voice a little shaky as Flame fell in beside her as if he’d been traveling with us the whole time.

“Something bad happened, and she’s in danger.”

I strode after her, and while tempted to take her hand as we approached the castle, I knew better. Our romance was a secret for now. Or at least I thought so, yet Broderick was ordering us to walk into the courtyard together rather than enter more discreetly.

Soon enough, we learned why, and it wasn’t good.

In fact, it was as bad as it could possibly get.