Page 6 of Her Scot of the Morrow
“And now one of the two of you will be destined for a Sutherland,” Sloan rumbled, saying you instead of ye as these medieval Scots tended to do to make it easier for us to understand. His troubled gaze lingered on me before sliding to Ellie. “Do you know which MacLeod you might be destined to encounter, as that seems to be a common thread?”
It may have seemed like a logical enough question, but I didn’t miss the turbulence rolling off his inner beast despite how calm he seemed. I might not have embraced my dragon yet, but I’d always been able to sense his, even though he never shifted in front of me. I had wanted him to, and he’d been willing, but for some reason, he wasn’t able to within the Morrow, and I’d never been able to step outside of it.
We assumed it was because the Morrow was more mystical than our everyday surroundings, enhancing them subtly. We had also hoped, in our naive and innocent way, that I would be free of it once we married and would at last be able to see medieval Scotland and MacLeod Castle, as it truly was.
Unfortunately, that day never came, and I didn’t have to remind myself why.
“I think my MacLeod has lingered too long in the hereafter,” Ellie said softly, pulling me back to the here and now as she answered Sloan’s question about which MacLeod she thought she might be destined to encounter, her answer cryptic to say the least. “I believe the bigger focus right now should be on you two and your Morrow and how much time you think you can get out of it as the night passes at Sutherland Castle.”
“I agree.” Adlin's knowing gaze went from me to Sloan. “’Twould be wise to take that extra time and use it well.”
“How so?” I downed half my whisky rather than sipping it, needing the calm it could offer. “Sloan’s marrying anotherwoman, and I’ve made it clear if that falls through, he shouldn't look my way.”
“It willnae fall through,” he muttered, his steady gaze rarely leaving mine, and it was unnerving.Hewas unnerving because I couldn’t seem to get my footing around him. There was too much of him, and I only became more aware of it with each passing moment.
“And if itdoesfall through,” he went on, his voice taunting in a way it shouldn’t be, given his situation, “then ‘twill be our dragons' decision as I always said it would be, aye, lass?”
“If I recall correctly, you also said you didn’t care if your dragon rejected mine or vice versa, you would marry me anyway,” I reminded, glaring at him as I tossed back the rest of my whisky. “So, I wouldn’t hang much hope on our dragons being the deciding factor because you said yourself we need not always heed them.”
I could tell by the flare of his pupils he was going to say something that would only frustrate me more, but Adlin interjected first.
“Dragons aside, ‘tis best to borrow as much time as possible,” Adlin counseled. “To try and learn what may make your mark, or tattoo, appear, Willow, because there seems to always be a trigger.”
“Right,” Ellie agreed. “The same trigger that makes the mark appear on the Sutherland, who might be destined for you, which means trying to figure out your situation before that happens. After all, unlike Aspen and Hazel, once you're out of the Morrow, you’ll be right there at Sutherland Castle with no time to figure out much of anything before Elspet finds some unsavory way to force you to shift.”
“Hard to imagine I’ll ever break free of the Morrow or that Elspet can accomplish forcing me to shift,” I muttered, refilling my glass. “I’ll admit I used to believe I was half dragon like ourfather, but these days if it’s inside me it’s buried pretty deep. Too deep, I'd say.”
“Which means you need to reacquaint yourself with it,” Adlin advised, his gaze again going between me and Sloan. “And I assume you first accepted you might be half dragon when you traveled via the willow tree and Morrow back to Sloan? When you two spent time together?”
“’Tis,” Sloan said roughly, sharing the last thing I expected.
More so, what it had led to.
CHAPTER FOUR
–Sloan–
IKNEW I shouldn’t mention what happened between Willow and me all those years ago, but if it helped her dragon surface prior to going to Sutherland Castle so she didn’t end up Elspet and Dugal’s victim, then I would do it.
Better yet, she needed to know just how close she came to shifting.
“Whether you wish to remember it or not, your skin sheened with your inner dragon the first time we kissed.” Although tempted to down my whisky as fast as Willow did, I sipped, lest the memory of that precious moment get the better of me. “So ‘tis safe to say being with me might draw your inner beast to the surface again sooner rather than later, giving you a better chance of shifting if Elspet continues being the tyrant she undoubtedly is.”
While I shouldn’t be the one to coax Willow’s inner dragon out again, given I was promised to another, I could not stop a rush of anticipation even if I tried. The thought of seeing her soft flesh shimmer in the same striking, dark amber as her eyes was too compelling. And I longed for her to gaze back at me through dragon eyes that were every bit as impactful.
Yet even that paled in comparison to the feel of our lips touching for the first time. The heady sensation of kissing not just any lass for the first time, buther. Willow. To this day, it was the most incredible experience of my life, and I’d desperately longed for so much more. All of her. To take her innocence and fill her with our wee bairns.
To make her my wife and keep her in my arms always.
Willow’s cheeks flushed, and she downed her second whisky in one long swig at my sharing the memory of our kiss, either because I did it in front of Adlin and Ellie, or because she was as affected by the memory as I was. I leaned toward the latter based on the sweet scent she put off. One I couldn’t help but inhale deeply because I knew it was for me.Us. The intense way we used to make each other feel.
Rather than comment on our kiss, she cleared her throat and redirected the conversation back to the subject at hand. At least her take on it. And it was by no means flattering.
“So, I’m supposed to hide Sloan away in the Morrow, despite him having a fiancée, so he can draw my dragon back to the surface by doing what?” She cocked her head at me and frowned. “Cheating on a woman who doesn’t deserve it? Because it sort of sounds like that’s what needs to happen if we’re to assume another kiss is going to have the same effect.” She narrowed her eyes. “Which isnevergoing to happen by the way.”
“Somehow I doubt she would consider that being unfaithful, given ye’re a dragon,” I replied dryly, my brogue thickening with my heightened emotions, causing me to down my whisky after all. “But then, ye would know that if ye didnae drive me from yer mind all those years ago.”
When strained silence fell, and her confused gaze lingered on me, Adlin stood and offered Ellie a warm if not merry smile. “Why dinnae we enjoy some of Hazel’s delicious cooking and give these two a moment to catch up? Then, we’ll figure out how much time you can spend in the Morrow without the Sutherlands being the wiser.”
