Stone of Destiny Read online

  Her eyes glittered as she watched his movements, tracking him. Gavin felt the power building as he knelt between her legs, careful not to touch her. She would know that he held her fate; that she belonged to him. His claim lay before him, in the curve of her thighs as they rested in that vee of honeyed warmth. He let his tongue lay still along her nub, feeding off the vibrations of her surrender as she came and inciting him further in his quest to conquer.

  He prowled restlessly along the length of her body, kissing and nipping every lovely inch as Abbie grew wild and fought against her restraints. She sought to trap him within her as he stretched out to claim what was his, but she was unable to move her legs enough to do so. Gavin kissed her hard and she bit him, thrusting her hips up as she did so.

  Lust roared through his head and he took her then. Abbie met his demanding strokes with more of her own. He held her tight as her body shuddered through an endless climax and brought forth his own as well. After Gavin untied her, Abbie rolled him onto his back and picked up the length of silk. Her smile promised revenge.

  “It’s my turn now.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Abbie was glad for yesterday’s nap as she tried to wake up the following morning. She smiled in satisfaction. Gavin seemed a bit worn out too. His solution for that didn’t appeal to her though. He’d left the castle and jumped in the cold waters of the lake, arriving at the breakfast table still dripping. Scots were a hardy bunch, she’d give them that, but Abbie felt cold just looking at him.

  “I hope ye like kippers, Selkie.” Katherine handed him a plate of food and a towel.

  “What’s a Selkie?” Abbie was mystified as the comment drew laughs from the other occupants at the table.

  Gavin batted his long eyelashes at her. “A Selkie is a creature that can transform from a seal to human. It’s said that the male Selkies are verra handsome as men and have great seductive powers over women. Would you care to confirm that statement, lass?”

  Gaelic comments abounded, undoubtedly ribald, but Gavin kept his gaze transfixed on her. Ignoring him, Abbie turned to Katherine.

  “Would you please have hot water sent up for my bath? I’m sure that my Selkie friend here wouldn’t be interested.” Roars of laughter and approval met her comment.

  “Aye and I would, if you’re swimming in it.”

  As it turned out, Gavin didn’t have time to join her this morning, the day before the festival, so Abbie soaked in the tub while listening to the music of the pipes playing outside her window. The crowd out there was in high spirits as the day progressed, greeting new arrivals with a vitality that Abbie seldom witnessed in her own time. The enthusiasm was contagious and she dressed quickly, wanting to be a part of it all.

  Soon after Abbie walked outside Gavin spotted her and came striding over, excitement written upon his face. Taking her in his arms, he kissed her as if she’d been gone for weeks.

  “Good morning to you too.” Joy suffused Abbie as she stood cradled in this man’s arms. She couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

  “I've something for you.” Gavin removed a bundled piece of cloth from his sporran and handed it to her. Abbie unfolded it and stared at the beautiful silver bracelet in her hands. An unending Celtic design surrounded a Gaelic inscription:

  Abbie

  D' an dug m' anam gràdh

  Tro cheò na h-ùine

  “It’s absolutely gorgeous.” Tears came to her eyes at the realization that he’d taken the time to find such an exquisite gift for her.

  Gavin looked at her anxiously when he saw her tears. “Are you sure you’re pleased with it?”

  Abbie laughed. She guessed men were never sure of where they stood with a woman, no matter what century they came from.

  “I’m very pleased with it – and with you.”

  He relaxed as she kissed him, putting all of her pleasure into a form he could understand.

  “What does the Gaelic say?”

  A small smile played across his lips as Gavin looked at her. “Someday soon I will translate it for you, but not today. For now, come walk with me.”

  Their stroll crept along through the throng of people, with everyone stopping to greet the Laird. Several people addressed her as Lady and Abbie could hear the title of it in their tone and manner, which both pleased and frightened her. How could events move so quickly that they assumed she would marry the Laird when she’d been here less than two weeks?

  They stopped to watch a group of young boys, who couldn’t have been more than four or five, practicing their swordplay with long sticks. Gavin shouted encouragement to them with a big grin on his face. He would be a wonderful father, Abbie thought, and wondered if he felt the same emptiness that she did from being an only child.

  “I always wished that I had been born into a large family, with brothers and sisters to play with, instead of being an only child,” she told him.

  “Why didn’t your parents have more children? Was your mother ill?”

  “No. In my time it’s easy to prevent a pregnancy and I guess they only wanted one.” She remembered asking for a brother or sister as a small child and getting the answer that she was all they needed, but in truth she didn’t really know why they had stopped with her.

  The reading that Nikolai had performed on Abbie told Gavin that she would have several children of her own. He just didn’t know if they would be with him. A smile born of both hope and despair graced his lips.

  “I hope to have many children to cherish, sons to train as warriors and daughters to spoil and worry over,” he replied with a lump in his throat.

  One of the guards discreetly approached Gavin, delivering his news in a low voice.

  “Riders approaching from the south, milord. There seem to be only ten in number but they are coming fast.”

  “Then we shall meet them well away from here.” The grin on his face bespoke a man born to the fight, whether for war or for sport. Abbie realized she would have to shed a few twenty-first century values in order to fully integrate into this society, but she was willing.

  Gavin grabbed her by the arms, branding her with a deep kiss and then took off toward the stables. Only a couple of minutes passed before Abbie counted ten men riding down the hill. She turned toward the castle to go find Katherine and a bit of reassurance.

  ***

  “Nae worries, lass. They’ll be back in time for supper.” Katherine led her out into the garden and sat down. It was peaceful out here, away from the crowd.

  Abbie smiled at her. “I knew you’d say something to make me feel better. I’m still trying to figure out what a normal routine is here.”

  “When ye have the answer to that, please do share it with me,” Katherine said and laughed. “And what is this around yer wrist?”

  Abbie showed the silver bracelet to her. “Gavin gave it to me this morning.”

  “That is beautiful, Abbie…and how prophetic.” She marveled at the poet in Gavin: Abbie…whom my soul loved…through the mists of time.

  “What does the Gaelic mean?”

  Katherine smiled at her. “If Gavin didna translate it for ye then it’s not for me to do so. The Laird will tell ye at a time of his choosing.”

  “Hm…all right. He told me he would tell me soon, but not today. Patience isn’t one of my strong points though.”

  “While yer learning to be patient, ye can help me get dinner on the table. By suppertime things are apt to be lively around here. Like as not, if the lads dinna fight those riders they’ll be bringing them back with them and that’s more mouths to feed.”

  Shortly after dinner came the word that twenty riders approached the castle, bearing out Katherine’s claim that they would be arriving as guests. Abbie tried for nonchalance while she waited, without much success. Her window faced the wrong direction to see any approach from the valley, but she saw them as they headed toward the stables and hurried downstairs to greet Gavin. Two men walked back with him; one was Thomas and the other a stranger.r />
  Gavin brought them into the main hall, where a cluster of people gathered to find out who had ridden back.

  “I would like to introduce Alec, the Matheson captain of the guard. I have invited them to spend Lughnasadh with us.”

  Gavin gave Abbie a swift look that she couldn’t interpret. He continued to introduce individual members of his clan, at last coming to her.

  “This is Abbie. She is distantly related to my mother’s clan in France.”

  Alec bowed to her and spoke in flawless French. “Je suis heureux de vous rencontrer.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Gavin went rigid and Katherine, who was standing behind him, rolled her eyes toward the heavens, no doubt seeking help out of this situation.

  Abbie fumed. Just who did Gavin think he was, making up a cover story without consulting her first? She could understand not wanting to mention the whole time travel thing, but to place her from some other country without even telling her? He had a lot of explaining to do. She smiled at Gavin, enjoying his discomfiture.

  “Le plaisir est le mien.” Abbie responded back to the man, in equally flawless French. She almost laughed at the comical look on Gavin’s face, but sobered when he seemed so relieved. That didn’t mean she wasn’t still angry though.

  Supper wouldn’t be for another couple of hours yet so Alec went out to the barracks to check on his guards. Katherine took Abbie’s hand, smiling at her.

  “What a pleasant surprise that ye speak French – and how fortunate for us.” The light danced in her eyes as she spoke. She laughed as she left the room, having seen the fire in Abbie’s own gaze.

  Walking up the stairs, Abbie entered the bedroom with Gavin close behind. She turned on him the moment he closed the door.

  “How dare you make up a story about my origins without consulting me first!” Abbie paced in front of the fire, fury threatening to consume her.

  Gavin was unapologetic. “I told you before, lass, my word is law here. I will make the decisions on what is best for my people in order to keep them safe. You had the chance then to tell me that you didna accept those conditions. If memory serves me, you agreed to abide by my rulings.”

  “What if I hadn’t spoken French?” Abbie had the satisfaction of seeing his smugness slip a notch.

  “I will admit I was caught off guard by Alec knowing French.” Gavin looked chagrined. “Having lived there myself for a time, it was the first thing that came to mind as a reasonable explanation for your appearance. Lasses dinna just travel around unescorted and you dinna sound English. How else was I to explain you?”

  “I understand, but I would have liked to be asked for my opinion first. I’ve never been to France and we would have had trouble if he’d asked me anything about where I came from.”

  “I'm sorry for putting you in that position.”

  He held out his arms and Abbie moved closer, letting go of her anger. He'd been perfectly logical in his choice, she realized, and they did need to come up with a background for her. After all, she could be accused of witchcraft or something equally ridiculous, like consorting with the Fae.

  Thinking about them, she grew still. The Fae were real. It was their interference that had placed her in this situation to begin with.

  “Fine, I’m from France, but you’d better teach me everything about the village I supposedly came from.”

  “Aye, I can do that.”

  Gavin kissed her until she completely relented, melting against his body in total surrender.

  “That’s not fair,” she murmured. This man was intoxicating, winning arguments by kissing her until she forgot what she was saying.

  “I told you before, I dinna intend to be fair.” He slid his hands down to her behind, giving it a playful squeeze.

  Abbie could feel his lips move in a smile as he said those words. Two can play that game she thought and grazed his hard member with her fingertips. He groaned in response to her touch, reaching down and freeing his kilt while continuing to kiss her.

  “Remove your clothes for me, Abbie.”

  Instead of complying, she knelt down and swirled her tongue around the head of his velvet shaft. His fingers wove into her curls, flexing slightly as he fought for control.

  “I need you naked now, lass.” His want of her went beyond all reason. The vixen held a power over him that he couldn’t hope to control. In his deepest thoughts, he admitted that she would always hold dominion over him.

  Abbie relented, wanting to be rid of her clothing as much as he wished it to be gone. She gave Gavin a wicked smile of her own as she undressed for him, watching the unbridled passion come to the forefront of his warrior’s stance as fire flashed in those golden eyes.

  He tenderly caressed her breasts, laying gentle kisses on each, completely at odds with the powerful urge he fought to restrain – to drop her right here and take her swiftly. The she-devil laughed low in her throat, aware of the struggle within him. She took the decision away from him by kneeling before the fire on all fours, glancing back over her shoulder with a look of invitation in her eyes and wetting her lips in a timeless fashion of enticement.

  That was all it took to incite Gavin beyond any thought of tender love making, as he dropped and took her from behind. Her excited cries rang in his ears as he held her hips, driving his cock into her sweet warmth, the slickness of her desire enveloping him as she came in a rush.

  Tucking one hand beneath her, Gavin fondled her while stroking her sweet spots from the inside, causing Abbie to quickly cascade again in a glorious heat.

  “I claim you as mine, Abbie. You belong only to me from now until the end of time.”

  His Gaelic was unknown to her, but Abbie felt the import of his words anyway. The sensual impact of his voice heightened as Gavin released his life’s essence within her.

  They lay sprawled for a time before the fire, relaxing in each other’s arms. The smells of roasting meat from somewhere finally roused them into action when Gavin’s stomach protested his neglect.

  “As I missed dinner, I’d better get to supper.” Kissing Abbie thoroughly, thoughts of food began to recede as he grew hard again.

  She laughed, fighting for release. “Stop kissing me like that or we’ll never see another meal.”

  “Then I will wither away in your arms, but die a happy man.” Gavin continued to plant kisses on her throat until his stomach growled again. Resigning himself to the inevitable, he helped her up and they quickly dressed.

  Alec joined them for supper and Abbie found him to be a very pleasant man. He didn’t ask anything about her background, instead spending much of his time discussing the festival competitions with Thomas and Gavin.

  “Care to press a friendly wager on the foot race, that one of my men will reach the top before yours?” Alec turned a hard stare towards Gavin. “Excepting the Laird here, of course.”

  Thomas smiled. Everybody knew how fast Gavin was. It would be foolish to bet against him. But Alec didn’t know that several of the MacKenzie guards were almost as swift, including himself.

  “Aye, a bottle of whiskey will settle it.”

  Katherine cocked her head at Abbie while the men continued their conversation and she followed the older woman into the kitchen.

  “Did the Laird happen to mention to ye why they came storming up the hill?” Their arrival was a bit disconcerting, considering recent events, but Alec seemed friendly enough.

  “No, I didn’t get a chance to ask yet but I’m curious too. There was the matter of my suddenly becoming a Frenchwoman to deal with first.”

  Katherine snorted. “And ye played the part just fine. Here, take these cheeses back in with ye.” She handed Abbie a plate and they walked back in the room where the hungry horde waited to be fed.

  Much later, after everyone else had retired for the evening, Abbie got the chance to ask that question. “Why did Matheson send his guard here?”

  “Och, he was just replying formally to dissolving the contract, nothing to wor
ry about.”

  “Katherine seemed a little concerned about their haste to get here.”

  “There’s nae mystery about that part. They didna want to miss the celebration.” His grin banished any doubts she might have had, in a way that no words ever could.

  “Come to bed, lass. Tomorrow will be a busy day, but I dinna intend to miss out on the pleasures of your body now.”

  Abbie happily agreed.

  ***

  “Leave the mortals to fight amongst themselves. They aren’t worth our notice.” Midir tasted the skin on her delicate throat, sending shivers of delight coursing through Shilanna.

  No mortal could ever hope to compare with a Fae in the art of sexual pleasure, and yet… Shilanna’s mood abruptly turned dark as she thought of the man’s dismissal of her from his bed.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Shouts of excitement drifted through the air in the early morning hour as Abbie woke up. Gavin still lay beside her, stretching out his hand to pull her closer to him.

  “Is the Laird going to miss his own celebration?” Abbie playfully stroked his erection, rolling out of bed as he made a grab for her.

  “You dinna want to be so heartless to me, lass. I will make you pay for it.”

  “Promises, promises.”

  She turned her back on him for just a moment to retrieve her shift from the peg when she suddenly found herself pressed to the wall by the hot body of her splendid highlander.

  “You are fast, aren’t you?” She hadn’t known it was even possible to move that quickly, or that silently. The man moved with the grace of a panther.

  “Aye, I can be fast…or slow…or anything else you desire.” His seductive voice delivered the erotic words in her ear, where they traveled straight down between her thighs.