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“They can. They will. Listen to me, please.” I’m pleading but he’s not listening. The lust for battle burns on his face as clear as if it’s the sun in the sky. “You have to believe me.”
“Believe what, lass? That you do nae think myself and my clan can fight a war? That we’d rather run from a fight than to face it?”
“No, that’s not it. Damn it, Duncan. Listen.”
“Bah, I am sorry for my mistreatment of ya, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to drop my balls and run from a fight. What kind of man would I be for ya then? You’re too fine a woman to have a coward for a husband.”
A husband? Too fine? Oh, my god. Is he thinking that far ahead? Is he proposing?
I grit my teeth and push that aside. It won’t matter in the slightest if I don’t change the future. Unbidden and unwanted, the memory of seeing him die plays in my mind's eye, smashing the happier thoughts.
“It’s not about being a coward,” I shout. “I told you, I went to the fae lands.”
“And what of it? Did they magically show you the future? Did they give you some strange vision or sight that lets you know what you cannae possibly—”
“Yes!”
He stops mid-sentence, his mouth hanging slack.
“Yes, I did. I have seen the future and it’s bad. So bad I don’t care if you call me a witch. I don’t care because, damn it, I can’t lose you. I care too much about you. I don’t want you or any of the clan to die.”
He stares as my heart thumps like a rabbit. It’s beating so fast, I can’t count the number of beats. Anticipation makes my skin crawl, the hairs on my arms stand on end, and the back of my neck itches. I want him to speak. I need him to say something. Anything. At long last, he opens his mouth and I swear it’s in slow motion.
“You care about me?” he asks, breaking the silence.
“Of course I do, you big oaf,” I say with a sob.
I can’t hold back the tears that burst forth, trailing hot streaks down my cheeks. I rub the rough stubble of his beard and trace the line of his jaw.
“Ya care about me…” he mutters, trailing off.
Then he grabs me with strong arms and crushes me into his embrace. His mouth smashes onto mine with bruising force and our teeth click together but the pain is inconsequential. The pent-up emotions and fears uncork, exploding out like a shaken champagne bottle.
He kisses me with an intensity and a passion that I’ve never felt in my life. It feels different than any kiss I’ve known. Different than even those we’ve already shared. It’s not only physical, so much more than our lips simply moving together. The us that is more than our bodies are moving together. As if we’re coming into a wonderful synchronicity.
It's a claim too. Animalistic. Primal. A kiss that is marking what he claims as his but that goes both ways. I’m also claiming him. He’s mine. I’m choosing him and I know, in my heart of hearts, that this is what is supposed to be.
This is why it feels like I’ve known him longer than I have. In some way, we’re shedding skins, revealing truths that I don’t fully comprehend. I know, on some deep level, that this is what must be. What has always been and what will always be.
He breaks the kiss and we hold each other, staring into one another's eyes with unbridled wonder. Understanding each other in new ways and yet still seeing more mysteries in each other to be explored. He trails the fingers of one hand across my cheek and I turn into his touch, kissing his palm.
“Tell me,” he says at last. “Tell me everything.”
I do. Or the best I can of it. I hold back the power I gathered while facing Caill because I don’t understand it myself. I don’t think I could put it into words if I tried and if I managed, it’d clearly mark me as a witch. Right now, I’m as much a victim as the protagonist which suits the situation fine. He asks questions as I relay the story, pulling out odd things to put attention on but I answer them all to the best of my ability until at last I’ve told him all of it.
“And you’re nae telling tales?” he asks at last.
“No,” I say, shaking my head.
“You’re really from the future?”
“I am.”
He shakes his head. “And you came here to… what?”
“I don’t know.”
He inhales deeply then lets it out in a long, heavy sigh.
