Dragon Knight's Ring (Order of the Dragon Knights Book 5) by Mary Morgan Page A

walking away from the man who mystified her.
    ****
    Adam refused to turn around. He waited until he could no longer hear her footsteps. It had taken all of his control not to crush her to his chest when his fingers touched her skin. His mind and body screamed to turn around, take her into his arms, and plunder her with kisses of joyful reunion. But nae, this was not the Meggie he knew. She was a changed woman. Fear and distrust radiated in her eyes. His Meggie feared naught. “God’s blood, what had happened to her?”
    Raking a hand through his hair, he glanced around. All looked to be the same, yet, it was not. He realized the moment she spoke the year the Fae had intruded. There could be no other account, and he pounded his fist into his palm. “Blast them! Why could ye not save her? Nae, ye sent her here—without her memories!” he shouted, scaring a deer from the nearby trees.
    Ciar nudged him from behind, and Adam let out a long sigh. “Aye, I should not be so angry. She lives. But she kens naught of us, my friend.” He placed a hand on the animal’s head and peered back up into the sky, trying to catch a glimpse of the silver beastie Meggie called an airplane. “Did ye ever fathom we would travel this far—into another realm of time? And now I shall be working for her .”
    Adam moved away from Ciar and picked up some more rocks. “I must thank ye for keeping silent, too. We must be gentle in guiding her back to us, Ciar.” He tossed the rock and watched it ripple across the water. “By all that’s holy, I will do all to make her mine again. The love is there, only hidden.” He stood back and smiled. “I will have faith. God and the saints are on my side. If the Fae interfere this time, I vow to destroy them.”
    Slowly making his way back through the trees with Ciar following, Adam glanced once more at the peaceful place. The light shimmered across the water and for a brief moment, memories of the past came unbidden to him.
    “Kiss me here, Adam. Where the faeries dance and whisper of love.”
    Adam traced a path across Meggie’s lower lip with his thumb. “If I kiss ye, I will want more.”
    “Did ye think I would want only one?” She gasped as he cupped her breast with his other hand.
    “Nae, my bonny leannan. Your passion—your fire shows in your eyes. Deep, dark, rich in the color of the lavender wands I pluck daily for ye.”
    She swallowed. “How many kisses will ye grant me?”
    “Until I strip the gown from your body,” he countered. Not giving her time to reply, Adam took her mouth in savage intensity, drawing the breath from her body and into his.
    Slowly making his way on foot back to the castle, Adam shook off the shadows of the past. “I will make ye remember, Meggie. This is my pledge to ye—for us.”
    When he approached the castle, he shook his head in dismay. A castle should always have a guard posted. Walking through the gate, he could see a man staring at him from the north tower. Could this be Meggie’s kin? The man nodded in greeting, and Adam gave him a curt nod before departing to the stables. Another person in Meggie’s life he must deal with and this bothered him immensely. How many more must I encounter? Her own brothers were infuriating enough.
    “Aye, the MacKay brothers were as irritating as a hoard of wasps,” he uttered half out loud, as he entered the stables. Leading Ciar to his stall, he was surprised to find fresh food and water for the horse. Stripping the saddle and blanket from Ciar, Adam then gathered some clean straw and brushed down the animal.
    “I see you have returned. What brings you back? Was there no tavern nearby? Could you not find a tree to sleep under?”
    Adam peered over his shoulder to see Lucas leaning against the stall, arms crossed over his chest, and giving him a look his MacKay ancestors would be proud of—fierce. “I have returned at the request of Meggie.”
    Lucas’s eyes darkened like angry thunderclouds. “What did you