Smiling, she straightened his collar and on her toes, pressed her lips to the mark she’d given him last night, right where his neck and shoulder met. One lick and nip settled her deep inside, or at least for the moment. “Your bear is beautiful, if one can call a bear so.”
“He’s calmed down, and with only one pat and a kiss on the forehead from you, but right now I’ll need to keep my hands busy to keep from reaching for you.” At the side table, he strapped on his sword belt and dagger then poured water from the jug into the basin and lathered the soap.
Outside, a thick layer of gray cloud swept across the sky and she gripped the stone windowsill. The wind breezing through the open window whipped her blond hair about her face and plastered her silk bodice to her chest. The sea swelled and white-capped waves rolled into shore. “Another storm is brewing.”
“Hell, I hope so.” Grinning, he smeared bubbles across his jaw. “You’ve explained that you ran from me yesterday and I chased you to the cove, but what happened during the time between then and when Isla first compelled me.”
“Three days passed during that time and I assuaged my need for you by watching you train. I missed you terribly, to the point where I was bathing in the pool three times a day just to settle my flaring heat. Never have I lost control as I have since your arrival, and glad I am the elements have realigned.”
“I barely got any sleep during those days, not when a nameless, faceless woman kept tormenting me in my dreams.” He smeared bubbles over his jaw then angled the looking glass to the right position. From the sheath on the inside of his wrist, he slid his dagger free and ran the blade from his ear to his chin. “There were also fleeting images of a pool of water rippling under a moonlit sky, and I knew something had happened there, something important, but I just couldn’t hold onto the memory. Then when I awoke in the cavern, it was from a dream where I’d been chasing a lass with long blond locks and vivid red skirts. Everything about you called to me, even though I’d been compelled to forget you. You tore my heart in two with your leaving. I ached, so deep in my soul I could barely breathe through the pain.”
“I’m so sorry.” She crossed to him, unable to handle the distance between them, even though only a few short feet. “So sorry.”
“I didn’t tell you to upset you, but so you understood how deep my feelings for you ran even under compulsion, how deep they will always run.” He propped his butt on the side table then held out his blade for her to take. “Although you could make it all up to me. I’m terrible at shaving myself, always nicking my skin.”
“In the future, you use an electric shaver.” She accepted the blade, eager to have all forgiven and forgotten between them. “You told me they’re a device which plugs into a power source called electricity, and when that is turned on, the shaver has sharp metal rotating heads that slice the stubble off at the root. No soap and blade is necessary.”
“That’s right. When did I speak of electric shavers?” Hands on her waist, fingers warm and wide, he tugged her into the gap made in the V of his spread legs.
“When I shaved you the first time, the morning after you shared my bed, right here in this very spot.” She tapped his jaw shut and shaved the bristles around his lips, swiftly and precisely, until his skin was smooth. Gently, she dabbed his skin dry with the cloth and kissed his chin. “There, all done.”
“I think not. You missed my mouth by an inch.” He took the dagger from her and sheathed it. “I need to kiss you, and you appear to have cooled sufficiently.”
“Most sufficiently, and I crave your—” He covered her mouth with his and claimed his kiss, a delicious and sensual twining of their tongues and breath. “More,” she whispered against his lips.
A chilling horn shrilled outside with one long and eerie blast. Finlay broke their kiss and bounded to the window and wedged sideways out to get a better look.
“That’s the alert from the point watchman.” She snuck in under his arm. Out in the bay, fisherman pulled in their nets as the skies grew darker and the waves rolled in heavier and higher. “One blast means an unknown vessel approaches the castle, and a second sounds if an attack is imminent.”
“We’ve still another two days until the MacKenzie burns the village to the ground. June the eleventh, at the stroke of midnight. That is the day and the hour he comes.”
“There’s been no second—”
The horn trumpeted again and a chill raced down her spine. “My grandmother would have warned us. Very little passes her by.”
“Maybe there wasn’t time. Our arrival in the past has already caused a change in events with our mated bond taking form. Anything is possible.” He gripped her arms, his gaze intent. “You’re to stay here within the safety of this castle. Find Isla and remain with her. She too isn’t allowed to go anywhere near the battlefield. I won’t lose you.”