“How do I know you?” Winded, she kept up with his long strides, her hair now free of its bindings. “Because I do. I’m certain of it.”
“Nay,” he muttered, then cursed, realizing he hadn’t disguised his brogue as intended. But his emotions were high, so it could not be helped. “Ye dinnae know me, lass.”
“I’m certain I do, though.” She jogged alongside him. Her reddish blonde locks whipped about as she struggled to keep her fur-lined hood on. “You know Tiernan, don’t you? Because you sound like him...kind of.” He heard the confusion in her voice. “At least how he had sounded in my...oh my God,” she whispered. “How he sounded in my dream!”
“I dinnae ken—”
“My dream.” She stopped short even though he kept going. “I dreamt about Tiernan and Julie and a Stonehenge and a guy on the other side of the rock.”
He strode faster, needing to get away from her. To put distance between them.
At least until she spoke again.
“And Maeve,” she whispered. “I dreamt of Maeve.”
He stopped short and hung his head. While he hoped he heard her wrong, he knew he had not. It was just as Julie had told him. Worse yet, pulling him ever closer to what Maeve had once told him.
“Do ye not think ye will be destined for a great love across time like yer da and grand-da?”
This was it. This was what he swore he would do to protect his kin and country. This was what it would take to get to the root of the evil suppressing Scotland’s magic in his era. Thirteen forty-six. Now was not the time to be a coward. He must turn and face this, yet remember where his heart lay. He could do this without giving into temptation. Anything he might feel for this woman was just that.
Temptation.
Not real.
Not like it had been with Maeve.
So he inhaled deeply, turned back, and behaved as his da and grand-da would expect. He forced his feet forward, closed the distance, and kissed the back of Chloe's delicate hand. He tried to avoid truly seeing her even as he looked at her, but it was impossible.
She was toothere.
All around him somehow.
Her name came so easily he swore he’d said it a thousand times before.
“Hello, Chloe.” His gaze rose to her face after he kissed her hand. “I am Laird Aidan Hamilton.”
The moment their eyes connected once more, he knew this would be the greatest trial of his life. While her face was utterly lovely, it was, yet again, her lively eyes that ensnared him. More round than almond shaped, with long, thick lashes tinged with strawberry, they were brimming with an abundance of life and wonder.
Curiosity.
So much curiosity, it was a miracle she remained silent when he sensed she had no less than ten questions hovering on the tip of her tongue. She blinked several times, wide-eyed, stunned if he didn’t know better before she finally spoke and, as he suspected, had much to say.
“I know that name...I know your name.” She cocked her head, looking him up and down. While there might have been some admiration in her perusal, her curiosity overrode anything remotely romantic. “Why do I know your name?”
She had given up on her hood, and her heavy curls danced in the wind.
Chloe walked around him as he had so recently walked around a standing stone in his dreams, eyeing him over before she stopped short. “You’re him, aren’t you? The guy from my dreams?” She hesitated, clearly trying to recall something before it came to her, and her eyes rounded even more. “I saw Tiernan and Julie in a dream...at a Stonehenge...and they mentioned Aidan.” Her eyes met his. “You!”
When Scotland’s magic had begun waning, and they went to wee King David’s aid, the dreams had come. Not just of Chloe but perhaps even Maeve. While he should leave it be, he could not help himself.
“What do you know of my lass?” He tilted his head in question, wishing he could read her mind. That he could see and hear everything she had experienced with his beloved. “What do you know of Maeve?”
For a second, he swore pain flashed in her eyes before her expression smoothed, and she spoke with a warmth he did not expect. With compassion he did not anticipate considering they were words that didn’t work in her favor.
“I have a message from her,” Chloe said softly. “She loves you too and waits in the beyond...” For a flash, it seemed the trees behind her sparkled, but it must have been a play on light. “Maeve waits for you in the afterlife where you two can finally be together for all time.”
