Highland Games (3 page)

“
You have no honor!” Colm
spat as he advanced on Doug.

“
Yo, Dougie! You need help
with this guy?” Doug’s two friends joined in what was fast becoming
a brawl, and Colm studied them from beneath his lashes. As the
first one stepped up next to Doug, the second one lunged from the
side. Colm ducked and grabbed him by the back of his neck. He threw
him at the other friend and focused on Doug, who was backing up,
his eyes darting for an escape. It took every ounce of control Colm
had not to draw his sword and end it all right then. Instead, he
threw a left hook, anticipating Doug seeing it, and jabbed him in
the jaw with his right fist. It worked, as Doug was too busy
avoiding the left, he missed the right until it made contact with
his face. It took him to the ground, where Colm stood glaring down
at him, making sure he was smart enough to stay down. He was
shocked to feel Piper rush to his side. She was pressing ice to his
eye, and both cooing over his injury and scolding him for getting
hurt in the first place. Well, shite, if he’d known all he’d have
to do was take a punch to have her fawning over him, he’d have done
that sooner. Smiling to himself, he thought he’d never been happier
to wear a bruised eye.

* * * *

Piper had seen Doug sucker-punch
Malcolm and shrieked when his friends joined him. Then she realized
she had completely underestimated her new Scottish friend. Even
with an eye that was fast swelling and bruising, Malcolm was
amazing. He was all lethal grace and deadly calm. He went straight
for Doug, shoving his friends right out of his way. Watching Doug
fall to the ground was surprisingly satisfying for
Piper.

She asked the bartender to make her an
ice pack and jogged over to the fight. Malcolm stood, hands on his
hips, daring Doug to make a move. Even Piper could see the fury
that burned behind his previously warm brown eyes. Piper didn’t
even greet him, just pressed the ice pack to his black eye, and
thought how amazing it was that the shiner only made him look more
rugged and dangerous. Wait, stop that train of thought right in its
tracks. Piper needed another bad boy like she needed a hole in the
head. Her last “bad boy” boyfriend had been more of what she’d call
an asshole. Oh she’d come to her senses and broken up with him, but
when he left, he’d taken everything out of her apartment, and holy
crap, what kind of guy takes a chick’s makeup? That’s just being
cruel. Starting over had been hard, but she’d had Katie to help her
through everything. Katie was more than just her best friend; Katie
was the sister she’d never had.

Shaking herself back to the here and
now, Piper tried to ignore the half-naked sex god part of him, and
focus on his eye.

“
How does it
feel?”

Malcolm’s lips turned up slightly as
he grumbled, “It hurts.”

“
Poor thing. I saw that
jerk sucker-punch you.”

“
Aye. I think ‘tis
swelling. You should kiss it.”

The boyish grin he tossed at her had
Piper bursting out laughing. “You are such a flirt! Fine, if it’ll
make you feel better,” Piper leaned in and very gently brushed her
lips across his eye. “There. All better?” Piper realized she was
within kissing distance of his lips as well, yet couldn’t force
herself to move away. Wow, she wanted to kiss this man, bad boy or
not. The air felt heavy and hot between them, Malcolm’s breath
brushed her lips as he spoke.

“
Aye, all better.” Then
his lips pressed against hers, and the world tilted. Piper closed
her eyes, and leaned closer. But she saw glimpses of Malcolm
standing by a lake, Malcolm wielding a sword in a bloody battle,
Malcolm laughing with his friends. She couldn’t open her eyes and
she couldn’t stop seeing Malcolm. But she could feel his lips, oh
could she feel his lips. Solid and warm, pressing hers open, his
tongue slipping inside, tangling with hers. His arms slid around
her waist, one creeping up to hold her head still while his tongue
invaded the satin warmth of her mouth. The kiss was unlike any
she’d had before. None of the guys she’d kissed had affected her
like this, and for the life of her, Piper couldn’t recall any of
their kisses. Only Malcolm existed, both against her body, and in
her mind.

* * * *

In a dark cave, an old woman cackled
and laughed until she had no breath. Bringing the two souls
together was not selfless, not by any means. It was incidental. The
MacRobert lad was correct in assuming that doing so suited her
needs. Forcing the visions into the lassie’s mind was harder than
it used to be, as she was growing weaker. This lassie would help
restore her powers, and Grissall would live longer, aye, she would
keep living long after all others passed into the next life.
Grissall had long ago sold her soul for her powers, and she had no
desire to die the true death. There would be no heaven or hell for
one such as she.

Chapter Three

Piper was reluctant for
the kiss to end, but from the images in her mind, she felt both
freaked out and as if she knew Malcolm very well. In fact, she now
knew he preferred to be called Colm instead of his full name. She
knew his best friend was a man named Caelen, and yet with
everything she now knew about him, she felt that there was one
really large piece of himself that he’d kept hidden. Blinking her
eyes a couple times, until he came back into focus, Piper looked up
at him-she looked
up
at him. That was a first!

“
How did you do that?” My
goodness, was that
her
breathy voice?

“
The kiss? Would you care
for another demonstration?” Colm leaned down to steal another, but
Piper placed her fingers over his lips before they touched
hers.

“
No, the pictures, the
visions. How did you do that?”

“
What visions?” Malcolm
had gone from gentle to fierce in an instant. Instead of
frightening her, Piper felt a little thrill of excitement run down
her spine. She was an idiot to be attracted to him, instead of
running for the hills. Yet, her instincts weren’t shouting to run,
they were insisting she stay locked in his arms. Besides, she was
really enjoying his fingers in her hair.

“
You know, the ones of
you.”

“
You saw visions of me
while we kissed?” Colm’s voice deepened, “Was I
undressed?”

“
What? No, no, it wasn’t
like that. It was really weird. And I’m officially freaked out. Not
that I wasn’t before because, really that is strange, but now that
I know that you didn’t like, I don’t know, do it, I’m totally
freaking out and…”

Colm kissed Piper to stop her
babbling, but while this kiss was just as smoldering as the last
one, there were no visions. None. Piper opened her eyes to look at
him before once again losing herself in his kiss. Damn, the man
could kiss, but she didn’t think what she’d seen had just been her
overactive imagination. She wasn’t that creative. Once Colm pulled
back, she lifted her lashes and just looked at him. She took in the
high cheekbones, the slightly crooked nose, square chin, and the
beautiful brown eyes. But she didn’t feel like she was seeing him
for the first time, quite the opposite. Piper felt that she knew
each of those features as well as her own. Whatever “visions” she’d
gotten had been detailed, no doubt, but the fact remained, how on
earth had she seen all those aspects of his life?

“
Did you see any visions
of me then?”

“
Nope, isn’t that
odd?”

“
Then I’ll just have to
kiss you again.”

Piper could feel his erection growing
against her belly, and instead of fear that she was making out with
a stranger at the Highland Games, she was gripping the back of his
neck and pressing herself up against that erection, rubbing a bit,
and moaning into his mouth. God she was such a slut. But at the
moment, Piper found it really hard to care.

It wasn’t until Colm broke free from
the kiss that Piper came back to earth with a thud. Looking around
the Games, Piper felt slightly embarrassed at the way she’d been
kissing a total stranger in the middle of a public place. The only
people watching her though, were Doug and his buddies. Piper tried
to step back, but Colm held on tight, pressing his forehead against
hers.

“
A moment, please, love.”
He was breathing hard, great heaving breaths.

It took Piper a minute to figure out
why he wanted her to stay in front of him for a moment. Her eyes
widened, and she had to bite her lip so she wouldn’t
laugh.

Eventually, Colm stepped back and
smiled at Piper. “That was unexpected.”

“
Yeah, you can say that
again.” Piper expelled a long breath and looked back at Colm, her
worries forgotten, or ignored. “Want to grab a bite?”

He looked confused for a second, but
Colm tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, motioning for her
to lead the way, so Piper walked towards the tent that smelled like
BBQ and burgers. Hopefully it wouldn’t be anything gross like
Haggis on a stick.

“
Piper, do you mind if we
talk for a wee?”

She looked up at him and he looked so
serious. “Of course not. What’s up?”

Colm looked skyward for a moment as if
really looking for what was up, but he focused on Piper again and
said, “I’ve got to tell you something that may worry you, but I
need you to listen to me, to trust me, all right?”

Piper nodded, wondering what he was
going on about. But Colm continued, “I’m no’ like these men here.”
Well, duh. Piper could see that. He may not have been the only man
carrying a sword, but he was the only one who looked natural
carrying one. He could be on a horse wielding that huge sword of
his and leading men into battle. The rest of the men looked like
re-enactors or guys dressed up for a Renaissance Faire like she’d
been to back home. But not Colm. He looked real. Authentic. And so
damn sexy. She sighed, not realizing it had been out loud until he
raised his eyebrows at her. Busted.

She gave him a sheepish grin and
shrugged.

Luckily, he didn’t press her. Instead
he went on with his story about how he was different than other
men.

“
I doona come from this
time.” Colm paused, “I’m from several centuries before this time,
actually. I need you to come back to my time with me."

Piper was nodding along when his words
hit her. “Huh?”

“
I’m from the year of our
Lord seventeen hundred ninety-three, Piper. I’m no’ from
here.”

“
Right, and I’m the Queen
of England.”

“
I’m telling the truth to
you, Piper. Trust me.”

“
Sorry buddy, but I’ve
known you for like an hour, so that’s a big NO on the trust issue.
But thanks anyway. Hey look, I see my friends, so I’m just gonna
go, okay? Good luck with that whole time travel thing.
Bye!”

Piper turned to hurry away to anywhere
with a crowd of people but Colm gripped her upper arm tightly and
turned her back to him.

“
I’m no’ finished,
Piper.”

“
Oh, you’re finished. I
don’t need this right now, okay? So if you’ll just let go of my
arm,” Piper tried prying his fingers off of her arm, but they
wouldn’t budge.

“
Piper, I need you to come
with me. Look into your heart. You said you saw visions of me?
Trust those, if no’ my words. Trust yourself.”

He looked so earnest, Piper actually
wanted to believe him. At least until she remembered that he was
nuts. “Yeah, see, I have this personal rule about not trusting men
who say they’re from another time, so you can see how you would fit
right into that category. Again, thanks, but I’m going to have to
pass.”

Strong fingers gripped her chin, and
turned her to face him. His lips hovered above hers, but instead of
kissing her, Colm spoke. “I fear danger has found us, and I canna
help you unless you let me. I need you, Piper. Doona
go.”

This time, when his lips pressed
against hers, it was sweet, it was soft. His lips teased hers open
and his tongue glided in and out of her mouth, dancing against
hers. His mouth was sin incarnate. Even though she had wanted to
slip away from him not moments ago, she found her tongue joining
his in the dance. While their tongues made love, her thoughts left
her completely. Piper could only feel, and what she felt was desire
stronger than any she’d ever known.

The desire flared through her and
Piper felt that if she gave in to it, it would burn through her,
leaving her incinerated. Her instincts of self-preservation kicked
in and Piper tore herself from Colm with a small cry. Piper was
scared so she did the only thing her mind could think of, she
turned and ran.

Colm wasn’t far behind her and even
with Piper’s long legs, he caught her quickly. His strong hands
turned her by the shoulders and hauled her up against his strong
body.

“
If you run, I will find
you. Do you understand me? You canna escape me. I will always come
after you.”

Piper, eyes wide and breathing hard,
could barely gasp out, “But, why?”

“
I need you.” He said it
so simply, yet it held a wealth of meaning. A meaning she did not
understand.