Recovering from her last release, she lay belly down, draped across my chest as I trailed my fingers down the soft curve of her spine. My heart leapt into my throat at her implication, and my brogue thickened with my emotion. “Does that mean ye will stay? That ye will become my wife?”
“We really need to work on your proposal skills,” she murmured, clearly still smiling. “And no, it doesn’t mean anything yet, except I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
We would see about that first part, but now wasn’t the time, given we had just found each other, not to mention the uncertainties we might face tomorrow when the king arrived. In no mood to think about it, let alone discuss it, I went to kiss her again, but the pattern she aimlessly doodled on my chest caught my attention.
“What is that you’re drawing, lass?”
“Just something I’ve seen lately,” she replied. “Hazel saw it first in her tea, and then soon after, I saw it carved in my aspen in front of the colonial.”
“’Tis not an aspen but an old oak,” I said, getting the oddest sensation after her revelation. “It has been there for hundreds of years, overseeing countless generations of time travelers.”
“That’s what everyone else sees, too, but not me.” She propped up on an elbow and met my eyes. “Why do you think that is? Of course, I’ve seen my aspen on and off over the years elsewhere, but this time, it stayed constant, and this time with the spiral carved into it.”
“Mayhap with good reason,” I said and proceeded to show her the last thing she expected.
Something that made all of this make sense.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
–Aspen–
THE LAST THING I expected Broderick to show me after I’d been doodling my spiral on his chest was the same spiral carved into a portion of his impressive dragon bed frame. One he claimed his inner beast had created years ago, but he now felt was likely a depiction of me in dragon form. While I liked that idea on several fronts, especially given the dragon was gorgeous, I wanted to understand what the symbol meant.
Why had his dragon put it there?
Why had it appeared in the trunk of my aspen and clearly helped me travel back in time?
“Back in time to me,” he said softly, catching my thoughts as I went to trace the one on the headboard like I had the one on the tree, but hesitated in case it was some sort of key that would whisk me through time again.
“Given its two locations thus far, mayhap ‘tis a portal betwixt you and me?” he went on. “A means to get back to me, no matter where you end up?”
“I hope so,” I said softly, getting a good feeling from his words, so maybe he was right. Or was I merely feeling what I hoped for? It was hard to know sometimes when it came to my gifts. Especially when it came to something I cared a great deal about, and Broderick definitely fell into that category ten times over.
Since the moment Storm’s spell lifted, and he finally saw the light, better yet,me, I had been beyond impressed with him. Far more than that, if I were to be honest. I could safely say I was no longer just crushing on my Scot of Yesteryear but totally in love with him.
I know that sounds crazy because of how fast it happened, but sometimes it’s just the way of things, especially when you’re half witch, half dragon. While most women would say he’s super hot, which he is, and a badass in bed, all are true, but the most important thing to me, he is and alwayswasmy best friend, and I justknewit bone-deep.Feltmyimmenseloveforhimfrom the inside out, like the deepest part or an extension of me. I wanted his scent all over me every waking moment for the rest of my life and his arms holding me. I wanted him to be the first thing I saw when I woke up and the last thing at the end of the day.
It was insane how strongly I felt, but there was no denying or changing it.
“So all you did was touch the spiral, and it brought you back to me?” he asked, fishing for details while nuzzling the side of my neck in a way he knew was arousing me for the umpteenth time.
“Yes,” I said breathlessly, letting my head fall back, giving him more access. “I was tracing it from the outside in.”
“Then ‘tis clearly a portal but not one you need to experiment with any time soon,” he murmured against my neck before his lips closed over mine again, and we didn't talk for several hours. Even though he’d assured me he wouldn’t get me pregnant unless we wanted it, I was mildly relieved I was on birth control and that dragons didn’t carry sexually transmitted diseases because we had gone way overboard in the risk department.
Not that I didn’t want children. I did, and with him for sure, but one thing at a time. Everything was happening quickly, and I still had a Scottish king, an enemy laird, and three sisters to worry about. But not quite yet, it seemed, as our kisses intensified, and we lost ourselves in each other all over again.
In truth, we lost ourselves so intensely we eventually drifted off to sleep and only stirred awake when a rap came at the door the following morning.
“What isit,Kenneth?” Broderick rumbled, partially aloud and partially telepathically, to his cousin. He nuzzled the side of my neck from our spooning position, more than ready for me again based on his erection.
“’Twill only be a matter of time before your scouts report the king is but an hour’s ride out,” Kenneth replied. “I, however, can report more.”
When I furrowed my brow at Broderick, he sighed and explained as he got out of bed. “’Tis in Kenneth’s nature to wander, and combined with his wizardly magic, he can see things others cannot. Astral project, for lack of a better way to put it. ‘Tis limited to a degree, but his talents have been useful on more than one occasion.”
Broderick wrapped a plaid around his waist, chanted me into a chemise-looking thing, and opened the door despite me still lounging in bed.
“Good day, lass,” Kenneth said with a grin, his gaze lingering on my undoubtedly disheveled state as I sat up in bed before his expression flattened under Broderick’s scowl.
