Page 6 of Her Scot of Bygones
I wasn’t sure what to say because I felt cornered by the strange look of recognition in his eyes, as if figuring out who I was made perfect sense. Even though I shook my head, I couldn’t seem to push a denial past my lips.
But I would do everything in my power to protect Willow if he planned to go back for her.
“If you were there for Willow, you’re too late,” I lied. “After I fell asleep, she had friends pick her up to go out. She’ll be out all night.”
“Then it seems she drove herself,” he replied, surprising me. “As there was only one vehicle in the drive.”
His statement told me a few things. He was observant, knew the twenty-first century well enough to understand what a vehicle was, and it seemed Willowhaddriven, because there would have been two cars if she were still home.
“I guess she decided to meet up with her friends, then,” I said, hoping my voice sounded natural because it was odd and more than a little alarming that she might have gotten behind the wheel after drinking. She didn't do that sort of thing. While I could say as much and plead with Lucas to take me home, that would only lead him straight to my sister. So that wasn’t happening.
Whatever Willow was up to, she was safer staying away.
“It doesnae matter,” Lucas said, referring to Willow not being there. “Because ‘tis you I was looking for, Hazel, not yoursister.” He lowered his head in what appeared to be a gesture of respect, then met my eyes, his steady blue gaze as serious as his voice. “My deepest apologies that I didnae know your name straight away for ‘tis as familiar now on my tongue as your eyes are.”
I shook my head, wanting to say that was impossible, but found myself asking why instead. Worse still, my question came out far too whisper-soft, as if his being so familiar with me took my breath away. If I were to be honest with myself, it kind of did because he was…him,and I was…me. I wouldn’t call myself insecure, but I wasn’t the type men were drawn to because I wasn’t enigmatic or outgoing. Sure, I was friendly enough to run a business and nurturing by nature, but that didn’t seem to draw men in my era.
Certainly not men who looked like him.
Yet based on how he said he seemed to know me, it might not matter. Not when he shared the last thing I expected to hear.
CHAPTER FOUR
–Lucas–
IT WAS HARD to believe I called Hazel by any other name, let alone Willow. Yet, it was clear upon discovering her real name and finally feeling it on my tongue, it was a name I had voiced many times before. One I’d cherished every bit as much as I cherished gazing into her big, round, thickly lashed emerald-green eyes.
“Do you not remember our many dreams together?” I wondered, certain I had seen her countless times at various ages, however elusive the entirety of those dreams was. “Do you not remember me at all, Hazel?”
Shocked by my sense of familiarity with her, she stared at me for a long, drawn-out moment before shaking her head slowly. “I’m sorry, but no.”
I sensed her confusion with someone like me being drawn to her, and it baffled me. More than that, it spoke ill of the men from her era because she was the loveliest creature I had ever seen. Overly kind, too, I suspected, so it made little sense. Yet I was relieved because she belonged to me, whether she realized it yet or not. Surely, it was only a matter of time until she remembered our shared dreams. Only a matter of time before she recalled I was her fated mate because nothing had ever been more apparent.
“Please take me home, Lucas,” she went on, shaking her head and pleading with her eyes in a way I didn’t much like because it made me feel like a monster. “You know I don’tremember you, so please take me back,please,I’m begging you, or you can take me to Aspen.”
I noticed she still hadn’t touched the water I’d provided, and it bothered me because I knew she was thirsty. But I didn’t know how to get her to trust me enough to drink it.
“I cannae take you home and risk the Sutherlands breaking their word and seeking you out.” I gestured at the water. “ I will consider bringing you home to MacLeod Castle and Aspen. However, I need you to drink first. You’ve had too much whisky.”
“Home is twenty-first-century New Hampshire,” she clarified and frowned. “And I didn’t drink too much whisky.”
“You might think you didnae drink too much, but your inner beast thinks otherwise because is your thirst not growing stronger by the moment?” Sensing her dragon was trying to get her human half to trust me, I went on. “Either way, I suspect you can adjust the water accordingly with magic, if need be, so dinnae hesitate.” I shook my head. “I willnae be offended.” I rested a small blade beside her. “Keep this at the ready if you like.”
“Assuming it would do any good against you,” she murmured, her wary eyes taking in the weapons I had set aside, including the Viking blade. “How foolish do you think I am?”
“I dinnae think you’re foolish at all,” I assured, because I didn’t. If anything, I sensed her intelligence more by the moment as well as her survival instincts, however raw and unused. “I think you are frightened, and I’m sorry for that. Truly. But ‘twill wane the longer you’re with me because I willnae let anything happen to you, lass.” I shook my head. “Not ever.”
I meant it, too. Mere days ago, I could not have imagined saying such a thing, but I knew better now. I knew from the moment I met Aspen that someone who meant a great deal to her was drawing me ever closer. I wasn’t sure which sisterit was back then, but now I knew without question because I recognized Hazel’s brilliant eyes from dreams gone by and still remember her name on my lips.
“If you truly mean to protect me,” Hazel said, using her lovely eyes in a way that made my heart swell with the need to give her anything she desired, “then take me to Aspen, then back to the twenty-first century. Protect me where I feel safe.” Her gaze swept over my lair. “Just not here.”
“This is my dragon lair,” I said before I could stop myself, but my inner beast was taken aback that its fated mate wouldn’t adore it. I did my best to keep my dragon eyes from flaring again like they had when she awoke, but it wasn't easy. “A place no one can enter unless I allow it, so you are truly safe here, Hazel. Yet if you drink the water, I will risk taking you to Aspen, though I think ‘tis unwise.”
“Do I have your word?”
“Of course.”
“And how do I know your word can be trusted?”
