An Original Sin (32 page)

Leith allowed Fortune’s love to flow through him as she clasped his hand tightly in hers.

What had he ever done to deserve her—his wife, his lover, his strength? And how he’d needed her strength during the past year.

They’d both mourned the loss of Ganymede, although Leith thought the wee demon had probably found other innocent humans to torment.

He’d made peace with Hugh, even though Leith knew Glencoe would always stand as a silent ghost between them. Mayhap someday they would discuss it, but not now.

And Fortune? She seemed happy with her carvings and her plans for their castle.
God’s teeth, a castle
? But if she wanted a castle, he’d get her one. Even if it meant collecting favors from all who owed him. She already had some ideas for making it more comfortable. He hoped none of her ideas involved pushing buttons.

Lately he’d often look up to find her gaze on him. She would offer him a small, secret smile, and he’d wonder what mischief his beautiful vixen planned.

He raised his gaze to the midnight dark Highland sky, then closed his eyes as he savored the smells of home—the scent of woodsmoke, the land, the rising mist. Peace settled over him, peace he hadn’t felt for many long years.

She moved closer, snuggling against his side. He glanced down at her, a blue-eyed sprite wearing a red dress, the same dress she’d worn in another time, another world.

“I willna ask how ye made yer dress look so like the
other. It canna be the same one. ’Tis certain ye didna wear it the day we arrived, for I stripped every piece of clothing from ye before we made love in the heather.” He grinned at the memory, and she blushed.

“I…I thought
you
had someone make it as a surprise. I found it among my other clothes a few days ago.” She frowned as she puzzled over the dress.

“We’ll speak of the dress later. Ye should’ve worn something more to keep ye warm, love.” He wrapped his arms around her, sharing his heat, his protection.

She looked up at him with a love that humbled him. “I think it’s probably a sin to feel this wonderful. You’ve given me so much, Leith, and now I can give you—”

“ ’Tisn’t needed, lass.” He glanced at the surrounding hills silhouetted in darkness, drank in the silent Highland night. “Ye’ve given me what no other could: peace to accept what I couldna change, more happiness than I ever hoped for.”

He smiled. “Last year on this night, I swore ye’d wear yer red dress and dance again wi’ me. ’Tis time, Fortune.”

She slipped from his embrace, then flung her arms into the air. Her red dress floating above her knees as she whirled in a circle, Fortune hummed the Elvis tune the ice-cream truck had played that night. “I’m ready, Campbell,” she murmured as she returned to him.

They danced, as he’d promised her they would, beneath the dark Highland sky.

“You interrupted me a minute ago, and I had something important to tell you.”

“Hmm.” He lowered his head to kiss the side of her neck.

Reaching up, she pulled his hand down the length of her body, then stopped when his palm rested against her stomach. “By this time next year, we’ll be an odd number.”

Odd number
? For a moment he stared at her, perplexed; then his heart began to pound as understanding
dawned. “Ye’re wi’ child?” He didn’t wait for her to confirm his statement, but lifted her into the air and swung her around.

She laughed joyously as he finally returned her to her feet. “I’ve been thinking of names already. If it’s a boy we can name him Hugh, and a girl…a girl we could call Four-Two-O.”

“We’d better pray for a boy, then, because I couldna see a wee lass wi’ such a name.”

She made a mock moue of disappointment. “We could always name a boy Ganymede.”

“Ganymede Campbell. It doesna flow, lass.”

And as Leith laughingly swung her back into the dance, he caught a glimpse of the shadowy figure of a black cat, amber eyes glaring at him. The cat twitched its tail at him twice, then faded into the night.

Into the future.

Leith grinned. “There are some, of course, who would think Ganymede Campbell a fine Scottish name.”

MY WICKED VAMPIRE

ETERNAL CRAVING

ETERNAL PLEASURE

ONE BITE STAND

A TASTE OF DARKNESS

NIGHT BITES

NIGHT GAMES

PARADISE
(anthology)

SEDUCTION BY CHOCOLATE
(anthology)

UNWRAPPED
(anthology)

THE PLEASURE MASTER

FROM BOARDWALK WITH LOVE

MASTER OF ECSTASY