Page 60 of The Finest Scottish Fate

Drummond didn’t flinch this time. He simply bowed his head. “Forgive me,” he said. The deep raspiness of his voice had lowered to a whisper. Still staring at the ground, he barely shook his head. “I am obsessed with ye—like a drunkard obsessed with drink. Never have I felt this way about another, and it’s shaken me to my bones.” Lifting his head, he trapped her in his gaze. “I need ye safe, Evie, and always by my side. Always.”

She had no words for what she saw in his eyes, for what she heard in his tone. Her heart full, she threw herself into his arms and clung to him as tightly as she could. “I’m here,” she whispered, but she still couldn’t help but wish that things were simpler—like no curses, legendary creatures, or time travel kind of simpler. “I’m here,” she said again, more to convince herself than Drummond.

A volley of fireballs flew past the entrance, exploding into the mountainside and sending a shower of steam skyward.

“He’s just showing off now,” Farbis said from deeper within the cave.

“Aye,” Jarrah agreed. “Since he rarely gets the chance to unleash his fire, he’ll not waste this opportunity for a wee bit of fun.”

Drummond hugged Evie tighter and blew out a heavy sigh. “What must we do to end all this?”

“Morganna said when they’re convinced our bond is too strong to be broken, they’ll leave.” A tinge of guilt washed across her. This—the terrible weather, the wolf-riding witches, the chaos—all this was her fault because of her doubts and fears. Somehow, they knew that—even though she and Drummond had spoken the binding vow and sealed it with a night of unbelievable sex—she still missed her century and wished there was a way to have it all. And even though she couldn’t imagine a life without Drummond, she’d never told him she loved him. She needed him more than she needed air to breathe, but logic, doubts, and twenty-first-century cynicism held her back, making her afraid to fully commit. What was wrong with her?

She snuggled deeper into his embrace, squeezing her eyes more tightly shut to escape her muddled thoughts and emotions. “I wonder how long we’ll be trapped here?”

“I dinna ken.” Drummond kissed the top of her head and sighed again. “We’ve supplies for a week.”

A week? No way could she camp in this cave for a week, and she doubted Jadrack had enough firepower to last that long either. She pulled away and stepped just outside the mouth of the cave. “There has to be something we can do.”

Jadrack slowly circled high above them like a carrion bird waiting for something to die. Truly impressed with his black scales and wings that gleamed with a rainbowlike iridescence, Evie couldn’t help but stare and wish she could somehow take a picture of his magnificence.

A series of soul-piercing howls jerked her focus to the ice witches lined up on the ridge of the smaller mountain across the narrow glen in front of the cave. The blue wolves were much larger than horses, maybe even as big as small elephants. Of course, that was probably her fear talking. The witches were the same frozen blue as the wolves. Their hair and robes flapped wildly in the wind, froze in place, then crackled free and flapped in the wind again. It was almost as though the hags and their mounts were made of ice, making Evie wonder if they’d melt with a direct hit of Jadrack’s fire. Surely if they would, he would’ve already done that rather than just holding them back.

“Come back inside, lass.” Drummond gently took her arm and tried to turn her. “’Tis unsafe out here. They look ready to eat ye.”

Something—a hunch, intuition, or maybe even just wishful thinking—made her dive into his arms and kiss him as though she might never get the chance to ever kiss him again. She poured everything she felt for him into it—all the need, the caring, and, yes, even the love that was tainted with all her doubts and fears. A tingling warmth, both within and without, crackled through them like wires refiring after missing an electrical charge for too long.

Drummond groaned and crushed her closer, responding with a hunger for more. “Ye are mine,” he growled, his mouth still on hers, then kissed her again with even more passion. “Always.”

She pulled away and smiled up at him. “Always,” she repeated softly.

“Well done,” Jadrack said. He stood nearby, once more cloaked in his human glamour. “Ye convinced them to leave ye be—for now.”

Without taking his arms from around her, Drummond turned and looked at the ridge where the Cailleachan Minions had been. His eyes narrowed, making his thoughtful expression even more pensive. “’Tis almost as though they become more brazen when we argue, then give up when they see we are once again united.”

“It would seem so.” Evie lifted her face to the sky as the clouds slowly cleared and gave way to the beauty of Scotland’s natural azure blue. “And the storm’s stopped. Does that mean they’ve decided we’re bonded, and they’re giving up?”

“Doubtful,” Farbis said as he joined them. “I’d lay odds this is their first retreat to regroup and plan their next plot. This was Beira’s chance. We’ve yet to see what the Fae have in store for ye. The closer we get to reaching the number of fated matches we need, the more stubborn they all become. The attacks on Craig Durness have grown fiercer as well.” He gave Evie a look that made her swallow hard. “As long as they sense doubt, they’ll not give up. Remember that.”

“Everyone has doubts,” she said in her defense. “There’s no couple in existence who hasn’t had a spat or two or had second thoughts.”

“That’s where ye are mistaken,” Jarrah said. “’Tis one thing to have disagreements, but another thing entirely to doubt the rightness of yer bond.” He leveled a hard gaze on her, one that bored its way into her soul. “As long as ye doubt yer bond, they will do their best to use that to their advantage.”

“Ye doubt us?” Drummond asked her with so much pain that it wrapped icy fingers around her heart and squeezed.

“It’s not that I doubt our bond. It’s that I doubt the circumstances surrounding it.” Sort of. But she didn’t add that part. Everyone was looking at her as if she were some sort of criminal. She cared about Drummond. Cherished him. Worried about his well-being. It was just… Would she feel the same if they hadn’t slept together? Was this a case of now that she’d finally had sex, she just didn’t want to give that up?

Damn, she was ashamed to admit that even to herself. How could she be so shallow?

She swallowed hard and mentally shook herself. No! This was not just a case of infatuation. She both wanted and needed Drummond in her life.

“I am your wife,” she said, but it sounded hollow even to her, “and I am here to stay.”

“We should get back afore the storm returns,” Jadrack said with a disappointed shake of his head. “For it will return. I hear it in her voice.”

“Aye, we should return immediately.” Drummond looked at her with a sadness that burned straight through her. “I hear it in her voice as well.”

Chapter Fifteen