When a heavy silence fell, I went to speak, at the very least to offer my condolences for the loss of her mother, but she went on, clearly in no mood to linger on either topic.
“Despite initially hating how often I moved as a kid, the older I got, the more I liked it…craved it.” Her gaze returned to me. “Stormy fairytales aside, it always felt like I was looking for something. Not a guy to save me by any means, but…somewhere that finally felt like home.”
It was hard to imagine because I had always been lucky enough to call this castle and land my home. To call the MacLeods my home. I could hardly grasp not having had that family unit as a bairn, never mind not having my kin and fellow dragons as I grew older.
“As to my friends,” she went on, “they’ve always been relatively successful thrill-seekers like me. They much prefer spending their money on big ventures like climbing Mt. Everest, deep-water submarine exploration, hikes through the Amazon, or even, of late, civilian flights into outer space.” Gone were the shadows of her youth. Instead, a new light entered her eyes. One full of hope and excitement. “I’ll be honest. I was hoping to go to Mars, but I’ll probably be too old by the time the first civilian flight heads that way.”
Not to mention, nowhere near the twenty-first century if I had my way.
More and more intrigued by her, I cocked my head because I hadn’t sensed any of this in her thoughts. Likely because her inner beast wanted her to share it with me.
“So you found success despite your difficult youth?” I prompted, familiar enough with the twenty-first century because of Storm and my time visiting there, however briefly over the years, to know Aspen’s adventures were not cheap, and I sensed she had done at least a few of the things she'd mentioned.
She eyed me momentarily, hesitating as if she didn’t want to answer before she replied, surprising me yet again with the woman destined to be my fated mate. Impressing me, to be sure.
More than that?
I realized she would rule well beside me because my clan would respect her every bit as much as I did.
CHAPTER NINE
–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. Itwasvery good and, in my opinion, would sellexceptionally 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’dbe 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 clearlyhadtraveled 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?”
