Page 10

–Aspen–

IF I HAD learned nothing else over the years when it came to dating, it was that most men weren’t interested in a woman who made far more money than they did and who loved to live on the edge. That’s why I finally decided to skip the romance and go right to the sex just to satisfy my needs, then kept all the rest as friends.

Yet when Broderick, in all his painfully handsome medieval Highlander glory, looked at me with his mesmerizing green eyes and genuine interest, what I'd done for a living just poured right out of me.

“Let’s just say, despite my fanciful imagination born of Storm, I had a good head for numbers, people’s behavior, and economics, along with several other things, and was able to create an app with a special algorithm for stock investors, so on and so forth, and it took off.”

I sipped my whisky, noting that Broderick was right. It was very good and, in my opinion, would sell exceptionally well in the twenty-first century.

“That was my first job, anyway, before I sold it.”

“I’m impressed,”

he said, meaning it based on the way he looked at me. Thankfully, it wasn’t with resentment or discomfort at my success but genuine respect, telling me he knew enough about my era to follow what I was talking about.

“Go on,” he urged.

Relieved by his confidence and pride in me, I couldn’t help a small smile.

“I climbed a really big mountain.”

His smile met mine.

“Everest, then?”

“Twenty-nine thousand thirty-two whopping feet, and I loved every minute of it.”

“As you should.”

He winked.

“You’re a dragon, after all.”

And I felt it more by the moment, longing to fly to the peak I once stood upon with him by my side, no less.

“Then after mountain climbing?”

“I wanted to do something truly worthwhile, so I funded an outreach program for troubled youths born into rough areas in need of guidance because God knows I saw enough of them during my childhood.”

Biting back old emotions, I swallowed hard.

“I should have been one of them, but somehow, I got through it. A lot aren’t so lucky. Too many turn to drugs, gangs, prostitution, whatever it takes to get by.”

“’Twas verra kind of you, Aspen,”

Broderick said softly, the respect in his steady gaze only increasing.

“Then what?”

“My sisters, or should I say Ellie, finally convinced me to move to Salem, Massachusetts.”

I shrugged.

“Half of us couldn’t settle there permanently, but Willow and I got our own places, so we’d be there some of the time.”

“Why Salem?”

he wondered.

“And how did you end up connecting with your sisters, given they weren't in your life when you were young?”

“Ellie was already established in Salem and insisted it would be a good spot for us to live until the time was right. A place where we wouldn’t stand out like a sore thumb, especially if we had slip-ups of the magical sort.”

I perked my eyebrows at him.

“And I’ll give you one lucky guess who brought the four of us together to begin with.”

“Storm,”

he assumed, shaking his head again at how much the woman he had seemingly loved accomplished without him knowing. But then, in retrospect, time travel was handy like that if you knew what you were doing. Meaning Storm could and clearly had traveled to see each of us during various time frames to leave us those letters.

Broderick narrowed his eyes when the truth occurred to him.

“Should I assume they all believe they’ve a dashing hero somewhere in this era?”

“I don’t know that some of them would necessarily use the word dashing, but yes, Storm definitely implied that someone was waiting for us.”

I shook my head.

“Some shared more than others about who they were apparently destined for. But they all said he was a MacLeod.”

Curious, I tilted my head in question.

“So, is that possible? Are there three single men around our age who you could see ending up with a twenty-first-century woman?”

“’Tis hard to know.”

He appeared to give it some thought.

“There are plenty of MacLeod men wandering about who are unattached, including a couple who are close to me. ‘Tis impossible to know if any would desire being with a woman from the future, though ‘tis safe to say based on his actions that Lucas is not opposed.”

Shaking his head, he sighed.

“Though ‘twould not be easy for the lass he ended up with.”

“You worry about how impulsive he is,”

I murmured, sensing Broderick more by the moment.

“It’s hard to predict what he’ll do next.”

“Aye, and over the years, I’ve seen a lass or two suffer for it,”

he confirmed.

“He might be one of my best warriors, but like you, he’s a wee bit o’ a daredevil, only in this day and age, that can easily cost you your life. ‘Twould be more than a little stressful for the woman he ends up with.”

“Without a doubt,”

I agreed, hoping it wasn’t Hazel because she was the opposite of all those things. Worse yet, I had stressed her out enough with my own daring feats.

“I could not see my cousin Sloan being destined for one of them because he is promised to another.”

He flinched.

“As to my brother Tavish? ‘Tis hard to imagine. He lost a lass a few years back and has been much changed since. Darker somehow, often brooding rather than smiling.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

Yet his name was as familiar to me as the rest of them, and I said so.

“Why do you think that is?”

“I couldnae say other than it might merely be through your connection to me,”

he replied.

“They are not just kin but my closest friends and our clan’s most powerful dragons.”

“Hmm,”

I murmured, unable to shake the feeling they tied into Storm’s letters somehow.

“It’ll be interesting to see.”

“No doubt ‘twill.”

He cocked his head in thought.

“Though ‘tis odd ‘tis all MacLeods. For generations, women have traveled back from the verra house you just bought, but they have been destined for mates from not just this clan but the MacLomains and Hamiltons.”

“Adlin mentioned something along those lines,”

I recalled.

“He theorized it likely meant you MacLeods were at the heart of the trouble that might be coming this time and needed all the fated mate help you could get.”

“I should have known he would make an appearance somehow.”

He shook his head, bemused.

“Adlin cannae seem to help himself.”

“Should I assume he was there when you helped your Irish friends?”

I was surprised by how much the jealousy and envy I’d felt had faded the more Broderick and I talked and spent time together.

“Should I assume he was there when you helped Storm?”

“He was,”

Broderick confirmed.

“In fact, he was there when I received the sword and when I left Ireland, but something tells me, since you and your sisters met him so recently, he wasn't there long afterward.”

“So he can be trusted,”

I deduced, even though I already knew the answer.

“Verra much so.”

He offered me a comforting smile.

“If not for him, things might have gone verra different for Storm and her cousins, and I suspect the same will hold true for you and your sisters.”

While tempted to ask him more about what happened to Storm in medieval Ireland and his time with her in general, now wasn’t the moment for it. Instead, I wanted to get to know him better and see how much of what Storm had written proved true.

It turned out over the next several hours, as I discovered by the thrilling backdrop of thunder, lightning, and candlelight as we ate, drank, and chatted, she had been right about everything. He was witty and intelligent, not to mention interesting. Better still, he had an unexpected sense of humor. Laughter came easily to him, and while he grew serious on occasion, he tended to smile often, and I couldn’t get enough of it. Enough of him.

He struck me as the sort I would never grow bored of, and that was huge for me if I was destined to be with him. Even if I weren’t, I would want to be around him. After a few too many sips of whisky, I spoke before I could stop myself, but I truly wanted to know.

“Honestly, I’m shocked you held out for Storm all this time. There had to have been other women along the way. A need to marry and produce heirs because that’s a thing in this era, isn’t it?”

“’Tis always good to have wee bairns,”

he conceded, seeming to weigh his words carefully.

“I would be lying if I said I didnae see to my needs over the years, but nay, until I knew if Storm could be mine, I refused to take a mate. ‘Twould not have been fair to them.”

He surprised me when he reached across and took my hand, where it rested on the table, capturing me with his eyes when his inner dragon flared.

“Now I see clearly that she put herself in the way so I would not have to hurt another because I have swiftly realized there isnae anything I’m incapable of doing to be with you, Aspen. Even break another's heart.”

Although just as fast and bold as his declaration that I would soon become his wife, his words didn’t shock me nearly as much as they would have hours ago. If anything, they felt right. As if every last word he uttered belonged to me. He belonged to me, and I was only just remembering it now. He had never been a figment of my imagination but a living, breathing piece of my heart. My very soul.

I know. Way to rush things. But in my defense, I had been mildly crushing on him for longer than I could remember and knew damn well, whether I would admit it or not, I had steered clear of serious relationships because of him. Sure, guys were generally intimidated by me, but there had been a few who had the confidence to be with me if I'd let them.

“I cannae tell you how relieved I am that you didnae,”

Broderick said softly, following my thoughts as he wrapped his fingers with mine, causing a sensual warmth to roll through me.

“That you waited for me in your own way.”

Where most women might simply enjoy the intimate, romantic moment, savoring it, I wasn’t most women. I was bolder, wanting to experience every last bit of its potential, so I left my seat and made my way around the small table without ever losing eye contact. Seeming to understand what I wanted and clearly wanting the same, he pulled me onto his lap, then let me remain in control when I knew he wanted to do the opposite. Or should I say his inner beast wanted to because his dragon was an alpha and wanted to dominate.

“Soon,”

I murmured, surprisingly eager for it when my tastes were usually the other way around.

“But not yet.”

Liking the feel of his heat and strength beneath me a great deal, I traced my fingers along his strong jaw before closing my lips over his, as eager to taste him as I had been to feel him against me again. To soak up whatever this was that he made me feel for as long as I could.

And it only intensified when our lips met.

Or should I say exploded into a roaring inferno because it went from a soft, explorative kiss to a hungry, passionate one as quickly as our desire for each other had earlier. I had been on some extreme adventures that gave me one hell of a rush, but they had nothing on what a simple kiss from him could make me feel. Then again, there was nothing simple about it as I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders, and he wrapped his arms around my waist, and we lost ourselves in a tangle of tongues and groans.

For that matter, we lost ourselves so intensely that we never heard who approached, nor could we ever have anticipated what they would reveal.