Page 82 of Desiring the Highland Laird
“Aye, they ken the stone is here, and they will be wanting it.”
Fear skipped through her, making her nerves jangle. “They’ll come for it again, won’t they?”
“Aye.” He gave her a pointed look. “I will protect ye with my life.”
Her knees nearly buckled. Roslyn had said Callum was fiercely loyal.
“Callum, I—”
“There is nothing left to say, lass,” he said, as though expecting her to object to the idea she needed protecting. “There is…one more thing Moira said.”
Her heart skipped. “What is that?”
He didn’t respond as he reached up. His hands smoothed over the sides of her face, cupping her chin, tipping it back as he took one more step toward her, closing the gap between them. Her heart pounded so hard, she thought it might beat right out of her chest.
“She said ye would do the same for me. Protect me.”
She blinked. She was unsure how she would be able to accomplish something like that. How would she protect a man like Callum? She was certainly no warrior goddess. She didn’t know how but she nodded.
“I will do what I need to do to protect you and the keystone.”
“Aye, lass, I dinnae doubt that.” A smile lifted the corner of his mouth.
Before she had a chance to respond, he kissed her. She melted into him, allowing him to wrap her in his arms and push her back toward the bed. The backs of her knees hit the mattress. Oh, she understood where this was going and she wasn’t going to stop it. She was going to allow herself to enjoy the moment and to fall into bed with the sexy Highlander.
She lifted her arms to wrap around him. As she did, the blanket fell from her shoulders. She tugged him closer until their bodies meshed with nothing more than a breath of linen between them. A moan escaped her throat as he continued to kiss her. Then his lips moved from hers and made a trail down the side of her neck. One hand tangled in the length of her hair, gently tugging her head back to give him more access.
She froze there, the sensation too much for her to handle.
“Callum?”
“Hmm?” His chest rumbled in a delicious vibration against her.
“I…” She didn’t know what she wanted to say and instead pressed her lips together.
Well, she did know but she was too shy and chicken to say it out loud. She was never the kind of girl to ask for what she wanted.
He pulled back, his gaze meeting hers. His blue gaze was so intense and so incredible that she never wanted to look away. She loved the depths of his eyes. She could fall into them as though they were the deep blue ocean.
“Do ye wish for me to stop?”
“No,” she said slowly.
“Something else, then?”
“You seem…different.”
He cupped her face in his hands. She relished the roughness of his palms. He pressed his forehead against hers.
“Mayhap I move too quickly, then,” he said.
“No!” she said on a breath. “No, you didn’t. I…I don’t know what my problem is.”
There was a long pause as he continued to hold her face. “I dinnae want to believe ye were who you said ye were. I dinnae want to believe anything my da said about destiny and prophecy was true. But the moment I picked ye up from the ground and held ye in my arms changed everything.”
A breath shuddered out of her. “The moment I landed here in the past changed everything for me, too.”
He pulled back, still cupping her face and looking deep into her eyes. “If ye were meant to be here as Moira said, then I dinnae think ye can return home, lass. But I can promise ye I will make sure ye are well cared for here. With me.”
