Kiss of the Highlander

Page 108

“You will come back, love me, then we’ll get down to figuring out who plans to abduct you, because we still have a big problem, you know,” Gwen corrected him as a chill of concern marred her dreamy contentment. She was so elated to have her Drustan back, had been so lost in their lovemaking that the danger he was in had completely slipped her mind. She pulled the coverlet about her waist and sat cross-legged, facing him. “Who abducted you, Drustan? Do you remember anything at all?”
His silvery eyes darkened. “I told you all I could recall about the abduction in your century. I never glimpsed my abductors. By the time I neared the clearing, whatever drug they’d given me had rendered me nearly unconscious. I couldn’t even open my eyes. I heard voices but couldn’t identify them.”
“Then the first order on the agenda is that I will personally prepare all your food and drink for the next month,” Gwen announced.
He arched a brow. “I doona think I care to let you out of my bed that long.”
“There’s no way you’re drinking or eating a thing that hasn’t either been prepared by me or sampled by someone first.”
“There’s an idea,” he mused. “After all, ’twas only a drug, not a poison. Our guards have been known to serve such a function in times of danger.”
“I asked Silvan who might wish to harm you. He said you have no enemies. Can you think of anyone?”
Drustan pondered her question. “Nay. The only possibility I can think of is if someone thought to steal our lore, but that still doesn’t explain why someone would enchant me. Why wouldn’t they have killed me? Why make me slumber?” He shook his head. “I thought that once I got back here, I would see some hint of the threat. But still I can’t imagine who it might be.”
“Well, when the message comes, you won’t go. We can send the guards to the clearing. What day were you abducted?”
“The seventeenth day of August. A fortnight after Dageus was…” He trailed off, his concern etched on his face.
“Go now,” she urged. He looked so worried. “We can talk about it more when you return. Go bring your brother home. Silvan and I will put our heads together and list some possible suspects while you’re gone, then when you and Dageus return, we’ll figure it out.”
“I doona wish to leave you.”
Gwen sighed. She didn’t want him leaving her either. She’d only just gotten him back again. But she knew that if she had a brother, and if her brother had died in some other reality, she’d need to be there to make certain he didn’t die this time. She couldn’t bear it if anything went wrong. Drustan needed to be there, and he needed her to encourage him to go.
“You must,” she insisted. “I can’t ride well enough yet, and I’d slow you down. You might not make it in time if you take me.”
Raking a hand through his hair, he slipped from the bed, looking impossibly torn. His gaze swept over her; her skin flushed from lovemaking, lips swollen from kisses. She sat cross-legged amid the violet velvet coverlets, a creamy goddess rising from a purple sea. “A lovelier vision I’ve ne’er seen,” he said huskily.
Gwen beamed at her magnificent Highlander.
“I’ll be back, lass. I’d bid you doona move a muscle so I could find you looking just the same, but I fear it will be four or five days before I return.”
“It might take me four or five days to start walking right again,” she said, blushing.
He flashed her a grin of pure male satisfaction, dressed swiftly, kissed her a dozen times, then slipped from the chamber.
Then poked his head back in. “I love you, Gwen.”
Gwen fell back on the bed, sighing dreamily. Love. Gwen Cassidy had a heart and was loved.
“Say it,” he said anxiously.
She laughed delightedly. “I love you too, Drustan.” His neediness about hearing the words was adorable. Her Highland hunk had such a charming vulnerability.
He smiled brilliantly and was gone.
In Drustan’s absence, Gwen, Silvan, and Nell listed potential suspects: all the occupants of the castle, certain questionable personages from the village of Balanoch, Drustan’s ex-betrotheds, and several neighboring clans. After much discussion, each was ticked off for lack of a possible motive.
“Is it possible the Campbell had anything to do with it?” Gwen asked. “Because they killed Dageus in the other reality,” she clarified.
Silvan shook his head. “I doona see those two events being related, m’dear. Colin Campbell has ne’er come against us, and his holdings are vast enough that even now he has difficulty protecting his territory. Besides, there’s the issue of enchantment. ’Twould take another Druid or a witch to do such a thing. The Campbell have no such arts.”