Page 31 of The Story of his Highland Bride
Jackson strode over and sank right down to his knees, cupping her face in his hands as he leaned in and kissed her. It was a fierce, desperate kiss, but not of the same hunger she’d felt from him before. It was even more desperate than that and, after half a second of shock, she kissed him back, sinking into the passion of his lips and the feel of him, tight against her.
Gradually, his mouth slowed, and with his head hanging low, he drew away from her: a firework extinguished as quickly as it had been lit.
“What’s the matter?” Eloise looped her arms around his neck, not yet willing to let him go.
He gave a small, sad shake of his head. “I’ve put ye in real danger, Eloise,” he growled, tracing his fingertips down her arm. “I dinnae have much of a choice, but I threatened someone that I likely shouldn’ae have done. Aye, we’ve butted heads before, but never like this.”
“The priest?”
Jackson nodded. “He’s heard rumors about ye, and I daenae think it’ll be long before he tries to come for ye. Of course, I’ll protect ye with everythin’ I have, but… it’s nae safe for ye here anymore. I’m sorry, Eloise.” He paused. “As soon as the snow eases and some of it melts off the roads, I think… I think—” He trailed off, a muscle twitching in his jaw. He couldn’t say what he wanted, or needed, to say; Eloise could see that.
“You think I need to go back to where I came from?” She finished the sentence for him, her heart heavy.
“What ye are, as mad as it is, looks like witchery to someone like him, and I would rather send ye back through a cursed stone than have him steal ye away and try to burn ye.” Jackson’s voice was thick with frustration. “He’s sly, that wretch, and Iwouldn’ae be surprised if he has people in me castle, whisperin’ messages to him.”
Eloise forced a smile, not wanting to make this harder for either of them. “Then, let’s hope it’s as easy for me to get back as it was to get here. I don’t know how the stones work, but maybe they’ll… recognize me or something.”
“We’ll find someone who kens of the stones. Old Joan will ken of someone, though we’ll have to be careful how we ask,” Jackson said sadly, pulling her closer to him as he added, “Just ken this, it’s nae what I want. I thought, despite yer threats to keep fleein’, that we’d have longer.”
She stroked a lock of hair off his forehead. “I know. It’s just… bad luck.”
She thought of the few friends who’d likely be searching for her, back in her time, and the job she had waiting for her. There wasn’t much else, in truth, but she compelled her mind to believe that that was enough to return to. She didn’t want to worry anyone, and she really did like the comforts of 2016, but adapting to 1701 hadn’t been as difficult as she’d thought.
If it wasn’t for the witch-burning thing, maybe I’d stay longer…but it seemed that had been taken off the table, and out of their hands.
“Were ye readin’ about me family?” Jackson’s eyes clocked the piles of books that formed their own mystical ring around her.
She nodded shyly. “I had some tea with yer grandmaither, and she told me where I could find your history. I was curious, and wanted to… I don’t know, create some kind of picture in my head of who they were and what they were like. Your parents, I mean. I hope you don’t mind?”
“I… daenae mind at all,” he replied, his gaze brimming with something like bittersweet joy. “Can I ask ye to do somethin’ for me?”
Eloise tilted her head to one side. “That depends. What is it you want me to do?”
“Pretend that none of this has happened, just until mornin’. Just stay in here with me, where it’s warm and safe, and pretend ye daenae ever have to leave,” he said, dancing a tingling line down her spine with his fingertips.
She pressed her lips to his neck and whispered, “I think I can manage that.”
17
Whether it was seeing Lennox and Jane riding back to the castle together, with Jane held tightly in Lennox’s arms, or if it was the threat of Father Hepburn that still left a sour taste in Jackson’s mouth, he did not know, but his only thought had been of Eloise on his return from the village. He had known what he would have to say to her, for her own safety, but that had not made it any easier to speak aloud.
When did it change?He could not recall a moment, exactly, but it amused him and troubled him in equal measure that he had gone from wanting her to leave, to refusing to allow her to leave, to now wanting her to stay with him, but her not being able to. It was a strange, cruel twist of fate. One he could not let himself think about, when she was right in front of him, for who knew how much longer.
“Kiss me,” Eloise told him, gazing up into his eyes.
He smiled and dipped his head, catching her mouth with his. Grasping her to him, he kissed her as if it really was their last night together, crushing his lips to hers with a feverish desire. It was a little peculiar to be surrounded by the stories of his family, while he kissed the woman he longed for, but there was a charm in it, too. The notion that she had wanted to know more about those he had lost had not failed to move him, though he knew it would make it even more difficult to let go of her, when the time came.
“When did this happen?” He could not help but ask, as he took a breath between kisses.
She paused, frowning. “What do you mean?”
“This. Us. Me wantin’ ye to stay a while, and ye seemin’ to want the same,” he replied, kissing her again, grazing his lips to hers until he could barely contain his need for her.
She drew her kisses away from his mouth, fluttering them down the side of his neck and along his jaw. “I’m as stumped as you are.” Her voice carried a note of laughter that chased away his remaining sorrow. “I was certain I’d be on my way through the woods by now, but then… you inspired me, and you listened to me, and you showed an interest in what I was doing. You can’t understand how much that means to me. I can’t explain how… different you are, and how welcome that difference is.”
“Ye’re speakin’ in tongues again,” he teased, though he more or less understood what she was saying.
She chuckled and brought her lips back to his. “No, my dear Jackson,thisis speaking in tongues, and I think you’ll understand this.”
