in her sweet scent. Let me love her. Marry her. Create a child with her. Our son.
Soul mates, we were.
And now Fate was trying to rip her from me—had done so, in fact.
Kicking harder, arms pulling me deeper in a routine as familiar as my wife’s face, I touched the bottom, before shooting back to the top, lungs burning for a breath of air. Finally, I burst upon the surface, taking that much-needed gulp, flicking wet hair from my face.
The mountain that housed the stone circle jutted upward before me, the castle was at my back. Trees swayed in the breeze and the moon lit a path to the very top, to the glen, where I’d made love to my wife not an hour before.
I could still see her rising over me. Eyes hooded with desire, teeth biting her lower lip, creamy skin glowing with perspiration.
“Where are ye, Emma? When will ye come back to me?”
I smoothed away the water that dripped into my eyes. There had only been a few times in my life that I felt emotional enough to be brought to tears, and knowing for certain now, that Emma was no longer here, that brought me to my knees. I shuddered. ’Twas time to head back to shore. To take the boat back to Castle Gealach. To speak with Ewan about what I knew now to be a certainty.
She was in another time. Another world that I couldn’t reach. A place I’d never been, nor could fathom. Aye, she’d told me stories of her world. Of the modernizations I couldn’t comprehend. The values, the politics. None of it seemed real, most of it I couldn’t imagine. How had she survived in a world like that? How had any of them?
’Twas a miracle the earth still existed with the weapons she said they used. The way they could travel by air from one place to the next, a speed at which I could barely grasp.
We lived so much more simply here. And yet, infinitely more complicated.
I pulled my arms through the water, rotating my shoulders, twisting from side to side, legs kicking powerfully. Every stroke, every kick, was me pounding Fate into bloody submission. At least, for my own sanity.
When I reached the shore, dripping wet, I didn’t bother to dress. I simply yanked the boat back into the water, and hopped in. By the time I reached the shore, I was dry enough to put on my breeches.
Ewan approached from out of the dark. His feet silent on the grass and sand.
I glanced at him, his face tight as he watched me.
“She is gone,” Ewan said, not asking, but knowing.
“Aye.” Admitting it was painful, as though I were realizing it all over again for the first time. “But she’ll be coming back. I’m going to make damn sure of it.”
Ewan nodded, his support a great comfort to me. Emma was his sister. The man would want her back almost as much as I did.
“Did ye see her?” he asked.
“Aye.” I raked my hand through my wet hair.
Ewan tugged my boat up further onto the shore. “The glen has magic. Shona and I went back to modern day when we were together by the stone.”
I knew this story. I’d heard it a dozen times. When the six of us, Emma, me, Ewan, Shona, Moira and Rory, were together, we often talked about time travel. I was the only one of the six who’d not yet traveled, or “journeyed” as Rory liked to say. I didn’t feel left out by that fact, quite the contrary. I was blessed to still be here. Or at least, that was what I’d always thought until now.
Och, what I wouldn’t give to scoop up Saor and blend in with the mist, walking out of it into the arms of Emma in whatever world she was in. I’d brave that mad modern realm, if I could only be with her.
“If there is one thing we’ve learned, my laird, ’tis that ye’ll see her again.”
I frowned. “But that could be years, and there is no guarantee.” Rory had been missing for nearly five years by the time he’d returned. Ewan had come to the Highlands as a boy, and not returned to modern times until just the past year, and only for a few short hours at that.
“I canna live without her,” I
Soul mates, we were.
And now Fate was trying to rip her from me—had done so, in fact.
Kicking harder, arms pulling me deeper in a routine as familiar as my wife’s face, I touched the bottom, before shooting back to the top, lungs burning for a breath of air. Finally, I burst upon the surface, taking that much-needed gulp, flicking wet hair from my face.
The mountain that housed the stone circle jutted upward before me, the castle was at my back. Trees swayed in the breeze and the moon lit a path to the very top, to the glen, where I’d made love to my wife not an hour before.
I could still see her rising over me. Eyes hooded with desire, teeth biting her lower lip, creamy skin glowing with perspiration.
“Where are ye, Emma? When will ye come back to me?”
I smoothed away the water that dripped into my eyes. There had only been a few times in my life that I felt emotional enough to be brought to tears, and knowing for certain now, that Emma was no longer here, that brought me to my knees. I shuddered. ’Twas time to head back to shore. To take the boat back to Castle Gealach. To speak with Ewan about what I knew now to be a certainty.
She was in another time. Another world that I couldn’t reach. A place I’d never been, nor could fathom. Aye, she’d told me stories of her world. Of the modernizations I couldn’t comprehend. The values, the politics. None of it seemed real, most of it I couldn’t imagine. How had she survived in a world like that? How had any of them?
’Twas a miracle the earth still existed with the weapons she said they used. The way they could travel by air from one place to the next, a speed at which I could barely grasp.
We lived so much more simply here. And yet, infinitely more complicated.
I pulled my arms through the water, rotating my shoulders, twisting from side to side, legs kicking powerfully. Every stroke, every kick, was me pounding Fate into bloody submission. At least, for my own sanity.
When I reached the shore, dripping wet, I didn’t bother to dress. I simply yanked the boat back into the water, and hopped in. By the time I reached the shore, I was dry enough to put on my breeches.
Ewan approached from out of the dark. His feet silent on the grass and sand.
I glanced at him, his face tight as he watched me.
“She is gone,” Ewan said, not asking, but knowing.
“Aye.” Admitting it was painful, as though I were realizing it all over again for the first time. “But she’ll be coming back. I’m going to make damn sure of it.”
Ewan nodded, his support a great comfort to me. Emma was his sister. The man would want her back almost as much as I did.
“Did ye see her?” he asked.
“Aye.” I raked my hand through my wet hair.
Ewan tugged my boat up further onto the shore. “The glen has magic. Shona and I went back to modern day when we were together by the stone.”
I knew this story. I’d heard it a dozen times. When the six of us, Emma, me, Ewan, Shona, Moira and Rory, were together, we often talked about time travel. I was the only one of the six who’d not yet traveled, or “journeyed” as Rory liked to say. I didn’t feel left out by that fact, quite the contrary. I was blessed to still be here. Or at least, that was what I’d always thought until now.
Och, what I wouldn’t give to scoop up Saor and blend in with the mist, walking out of it into the arms of Emma in whatever world she was in. I’d brave that mad modern realm, if I could only be with her.
“If there is one thing we’ve learned, my laird, ’tis that ye’ll see her again.”
I frowned. “But that could be years, and there is no guarantee.” Rory had been missing for nearly five years by the time he’d returned. Ewan had come to the Highlands as a boy, and not returned to modern times until just the past year, and only for a few short hours at that.
“I canna live without her,” I
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