Page 8

–Aspen–

FROM THE MOMENT Broderick saved me from plummeting to my death in the strange chamber with no wall, my heart had been hammering. If not from the near fall hundreds of feet into an angry, frothing ocean, then from how it felt being against his strong body when he wrapped me up in his arms. When he cupped my head tenderly, my shaking subsided swiftly, but not my overwhelming awareness of him, from his masculine scent to his warmth.

The longer I was against him, the more aware of him I became, and I struggled not to inhale deeply so I could pull in his scent even more. Especially when heat blew through me, and a sharp ache throbbed between my thighs. I was familiar enough with arousal, but this seemed so much more intense. Like I wanted to climb up his tall, muscular body and straddle him. The feeling was primal and tempting. Far different from anything I had experienced before.

When he stepped away from me sooner than I knew he wanted to, I got the feeling he was catching my scent in ways normal people could not. More than that, I sensed he was as close to acting on it as I had been. And something about that, combined with everything I already felt, made my vision haze red with my inner dragon again.

If all that wasn’t overwhelming enough, I felt him in a whole new way when I gazed at him through my dragon eyes. Like I looked beyond my imagination to who had been standing there all along. After that, flames curled over him, and the sword and my tattoo changed.

More so, he changed.

Whatever happened, he had felt Storm’s presence for a moment, then claimed it was as if he’d woken from a long sleep. As if he could see clearly now.

And he was looking right at me. Seeing me. Desiring me.

Honestly, it was hard to trust because the change came on so suddenly, but eventually, I agreed to dine with him, but under one condition.

“If there are other areas like this, that’s where I’d like to dine,”

I said, referring to the unusual chamber exposed to the elements in which we stood.

“The highest point possible.”

“’Tis a bad idea,”

he predictably said, given my near-leap to the ocean below, shaking his head.

“Not after what you almost did, not to mention outside threats that might be drawn to a lass like you.”

“Nevertheless, that’s my condition.”

He frowned, confused. “Why?”

“I don’t know.”

My gaze drifted to the stormy weather.

“I’m just drawn to it somehow...just like I was to the tapestries. I suppose it speaks to my inner beast? I’m not sure.”

“’Twould make sense as dragons tend to be drawn to such.”

He considered me before nodding once and holding out his elbow to me again.

“As long as you remain in my company and under my protection, I will honor your condition.”

“Then I’d be delighted to dine with you, Broderick.”

I slipped my arm into his, once again overly aware of his warmth and strength. The sheer size of him.

“So tell me what just happened, including how you got through a locked door to begin with,”

he said, locking the door behind us with a chant before leading me down yet another unfamiliar corridor.

“And I will tell you what led me to you.”

What led him to me? How curious. I could only imagine in this unusual castle.

“The door wasn’t locked,”

I replied.

“In fact, it was open, and that worried me because kids had been playing in the hallway.”

“It was open?”

he said gruffly, clearly not liking the sound of that.

“Yeah.”

I shrugged.

“While the kids were likely shifters, I still felt at their age, the weather had to be too dangerous to fly in.”

“’Twould have been,”

he agreed, frowning.

“What happened then?”

“I saw the dragon.”

I shivered at the memory of how real it had looked. How ferocious.

How magnificent.

“Whether an illusion or not, it seemed incredibly real and definitely not friendly.”

I shook my head.

“That’s where things get a little hazy. Not that I’m a coward, but I nearly ran to let someone know the castle was under attack because what do I know about fighting off a dragon? Especially such a big one. But then, something changed inside me, and I saw red. It’s a bit of a blur after that. All I recall is getting enraged at it for thinking it could snag up the kids who had wandered too close, and that was it.”

“What was it?”

“I...or whatever was surfacing in me, wasn’t going to stand for it, so I’m fairly certain I raced right at it, determined to stop it from hurting anyone.”

I shrugged again.

“Like I said, it was all a bit of a blur until you pulled me back.”

He stopped and looked at me incredulously.

“You thought to stop it from attacking? Truly?”

I nodded, confused by his reaction.

“I take it that’s not normal?”

“’Tis an illusion created by one of my dragon ancestors and powerful indeed,”

he revealed, looking at me in a whole new way.

“’Twould have been incredibly brave for a fully grown male dragon to face off with that illusion if it didn’t know better, never mind a twenty-first-century female who had never embraced her inner beast. It speaks to a verra courageous and protective nature.”

I blushed under his praise because even though I tried to be both of those things as a rule, he made it sound like I was a rarity. Special, somehow.

“Because you are,”

he said softly, surprising me when he clearly caught my thoughts. Something I learned dragons could do the closer they got to other dragons or even those without dragon blood who possessed magic.

“And I would say my ancestral magic wanted me to know how special you are,”

he went on.

“All of us to know. Most especially your inner beast so she might make her way to the surface and do what comes naturally to her.”

“Protect?”

“At the verra least, as ‘twas a spell of protection,”

he said as we resumed walking.

“So what if you hadn’t come along?”

I wondered.

“Seems like I wouldn’t have lived to pass the test.”

“I tend to think your inner witch saw to that side of things.”

We went down hall after hall, and he told me how my ghost had led him to me.

“You wore a red dress, just as you did in a vision I had before your arrival.”

I stopped short.

“Seriously?”

“Aye.”

He cocked his head.

“I take it that means something to you?”

“My father requested I wear a red dress to his funeral.”

I eyed my tattoo and tried to make sense of all the odd coincidences.

“And now it’s the same color as the gem and these dragon wings.”

I looked at him again.

“Do you think it’s all connected somehow?”

“I would say so.”

We continued walking before he led me up a set of stairs.

“And I dinnae doubt we will soon learn how.”

His gaze grew serious.

“I’m sorry for the loss of your father, lass. That could not have been easy.”

“Easier than you might imagine,”

I muttered, flinching when I realized how callous that sounded.

“My father left when I was young, so we’ve never been close.”

I left it at that, thankful he didn’t ask any more questions because right now, my father was the last person I wanted to talk about. Instead, I wanted to take everything in because every moment with Broderick made the awe of being in this castle in this era feel like it should have from the beginning. Unbelievable. Glorious. Far better than any research or even my imagination could have painted it.

And it only got better the higher we went.

I knew the castle was on a cliff but damn. When we entered another chamber missing a wall, I got a taste of just how high. As if Broderick prepared ahead of time and likely did with telepathy via his servants or magic, given I sensed he was as powerful as his mother, an intimate setting awaited us.

Or at least I found it intimate.

Others might consider it inclement and hazardous.

A fire crackled on a hearth carved into one stone wall, and a small wooden table was set with a single thick candle, plates of succulent meat, seasoned vegetables, and a few pitchers and mugs. Like the last chamber, there were no other furnishings or tapestries, likely due to exposure to the elements. With what sounded like a bagpipe trilling on the wind, thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed over the sea, making for an outstanding backdrop. One which drew me that way, not in confrontation this time, but because it thrilled me, filling me with a sense of excitement I hadn’t felt back home.

“Yer draw to it will only get stronger if ye’re anything like me,”

Broderick rumbled, catching me off guard when he came up behind me and draped a warm fur cloak around my shoulders that smelled deliciously like him.

“And I feel more and more that ye are.”

While I meant to say something properly flirtatious, I had never been the flirting type. Willow was much better at it. If anything, I usually befriended guys rather than dated them, so I was pitiful at this. Grasping at straws, I did my best.

“I noticed you sometimes say ye and other times you. What’s up with that?”

I cringed at how unflirtatious that sounded, but I was genuinely curious.

“’Tis something MacLeod men have long done for time travelers.”

He stood beside me, a bemused expression on his face.

“A means to make them feel more comfortable.”

“It does,”

I agreed.

“Or at least easier to understand.”

Narrowing my eyes, I couldn’t help but meet his small smile.

“What’s so amusing?”

“You.”

His smile only grew, making him that much hotter.

“Your thoughts...they are...”

He seemed to search for the right word.

“Refreshing.”

He winked.

“I have never been all that attracted to flirtatious women, so I urge you to simply be you.” He shook his head.

“Never be anything but that with me.”

“I think this whole mind-reading thing is going to take some getting used to,”

I murmured, not nearly as embarrassed as I should have been that he was catching such personal thoughts.

“How do I block my thoughts from people anyway?”

“Why would you want to?”

“Because I value my privacy.”

“Even from me?”

“Especially from you.”

His gaze wasn’t troubled as it lingered on me, but compassionate.

“The more your dragon surfaces, the more you will learn to block your thoughts.”

He shrugged a shoulder.

“Though I suspect I will soon be the last person you wish to block them from.”

That same rush of anticipation I had become so familiar with blew through me again.

“And why is that?”

His answer didn’t just surprise me but made staying afoot as difficult as it had been after I nearly plummeted to my death.