Page 8 of Loched in Love

I know as soon as she opens her pretty blue gaze again, I’ll be wrapped around her finger, or anywhere else she wants me. Whatever she needs me to be, I’ll be, because nothing else matters but her happiness.

“We’ll be right here if you need us,” Whitley says.

I glance back and find I’m now the only male in the room, while the womenfolk have smiles stretched across their faces.

“Could you try to act like you’re doing something else, or at least try to not look so bloody eager?” I ask them.

They all begin nodding. Aubrey picks up her phone while Whitley starts cleaning that side of the library, but Bernadette just arches a brow at me and pulls a small bag of popcorn from under the table.

“Where did you get that?”

“I made it,” Whitley says with a shrug.

“Fine. Just give me a moment,” I say, as sweat materializes in my palms and I begin to feel greatly exposed.

My gaze swivels back to the couch, landing squarely on the soft curve of the unconscious woman’s cheek. My heart stutters in my chest. Fear of what’ll happen if I kiss her and she doesn’t wake suddenly slams into me like a ton of bricks, and I kneel down by my new mate’s side to try and kiss her awake.

“She’ll wake up. But if she doesn’t, don’t worry. I’ll make them call another witch, even if I have to chew someone’s limb off to make them do it,” Whitley says.

I take a deep shuddering breath and shove down my emotions as deep as I can. She doesn’t need me acting as a scared lad.

I caress the soft strands of her silky blonde hair, feeling the warmth radiating from her skin.

If she does awaken, she’ll need me to be there for her, not bawling like a babe in need of its mother. “Please wake up, my flower,” I whisper against her lips, closing the distance between us to touch my mouth to hers.

My gaze shuts as I pray to the gods with all of my being that this works.

Bright lights swim behind my closed eyelids, and time seems to slow to a stop, the rest of the world disappearing as I kiss her. Tingles start at my mouth, and I open my gaze to see a bright blueish green light floating between us.

The spell is broken.

I break the kiss and pull away, watching as her lashes flutter before opening.

A rightness centers in my chest, and I stare in awe of this lady. I may not know her name yet, but her eyes are the very color of my loch, and I know without a doubt, she’s mine.

“Who… who are you?” she asks, her gaze darting over me.

“I’m—”

I swallow, suddenly ill at ease with outright telling her exactly who and what I am, as nervousness rises within my middle, chewing at my insides with abandon. I can’t tell her now, but soon.

“I’m the pool boy,” I blurt, heat rising at the back of my neck at the bald-face lie.

The beautiful lass’s brows knit together, her expression twisting into that of confusion before she yawns abruptly, obviously zapped of energy.

“What? No, you can’t—,” she whispers, her gaze drooping hard with fatigue as she falls into a deep, but restorative sleep.

A deep snore lets out from her, and my cheeks begin to hurt from the breadth of my smile. The Lady of the Lake’s spell so long ago rendered me asleep for longer than most human lifespans, and there’s no doubt the young lass is exhausted. Breaking spells isn’t the easiest thing to do, I well know it.

I sweep the straw-colored hair from her face when another soft rattle starts from her nostrils.

“What just happened?” Bernadette says, breaking the silence of the room.

“She’s asleep. After I found myself trapped inside the moat, I fell into a deep rest for more than a century. She’s fine, just needs some rest,” I tell her, trying to answer her question as much as remind myself.

“Okay, good. Well now that that’s over with,” she replies sarcastically.

“Her name is Elena Pierson according to the papers I found in the pocket of her bag. And after having a quick look, it turns out Miss Elena left out yesterday morning for Europe from Boston. She’s got three biology degrees, and has written a few articles on aquatic life in her field of study, specifically aquatic entomology. Graduated top of her class apparently, and I found tickets to see a dolphin exhibit in Inverness, ” Doyle says, settling her bag at my feet by the couch.