Between (29 page)
Authors: Cyndi Tefft
In the morning, I stirred and blinked sleepily, but then smiled, seeing Aiden lying on his back asleep next to me. I’d never awakened to find him sleeping, and his peaceful face completely mesmerized me. His eyelashes were darker at the roots and blond at the tips, his nose straight and strong, his lips slightly parted as he slept. I watched the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest and could not keep from grinning. I was sticky and sore, and I smelled like a chimney, but I’d never been happier in my life. I started to hum a tune without even realizing it, and he woke up, smiling dreamily as he turned to me.
“
Madainn mhath, mo leannan.
That means ‘Good morning, my lover’ in Gaelic.”
I grinned at him and traced his bottom lip with my finger. “How do you say, ‘You were amazing last night’ in Gaelic?” He laughed heartily and provided the incredibly long and difficult translation for me, to which I just shrugged and replied,
“Peut être, je devrais rester avec le français.”
He chuckled and smoothed my hair.
“Oui, d’accord.
Maybe it would be best to learn one new language at a time. I’m happy to teach you both, though if you’d like. We have plenty of time now.” I traced the line of muscle in his bicep to his forearm and he chuckled to himself, a private smile flickering on his face. I raised an eyebrow in question, wondering what he was thinking.
“
I just realized that I’ve need of the privy and I haven’t felt that sensation in… well, three hundred years.”
I took him downstairs to the bathroom and explained the workings of the toilet. He was fascinated by the ‘marvelous contraption,’ which made me giggle. We took a shower together after he’d relieved himself and took turns washing one another. Aiden’s gaze lingered on the scars on my arm and on the side of my breast and I explained that they were from the car accident.
“
One of my broken ribs pierced a lung when the car crushed me. The lung collapsed so that I couldn’t really breathe and the doctors put a tube in right there,” I pointed to my side, “to save my life. The one on my arm is from the broken glass of the window, I think.”
“
I’m sorry, love,” he said as he traced the scars with his finger.
“
Don’t be. I wouldn’t have you if I didn’t have those. You were definitely worth it.” I kissed him briefly and turned off the water, then dried off with a towel and handed one to him. I put on my bathrobe and headed into the kitchen to start breakfast while he went upstairs to get dressed.
I was cheerfully dicing potatoes while the butter melted in the cast iron skillet when he came downstairs. Alison Krauss was singing “Now That I’ve Found You” on the stereo and I joined in when I felt his arms around my waist. Turning in his embrace, I smiled up at him, hardly able to believe he was here with me again. We swayed back and forth to the music in the little kitchen.
“
Taties and eggs sound okay for breakfast?” I asked and he broke into a grin.
“
Aye, my love. I can’t think of anything else I’d like more,” he said, then brought his lips to mine.
About the author
Cyndi Tefft lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest where the weather is overcast and rainy, much like the Highlands of Scotland. So she was right at home when she got the chance to visit Eilean Donan Castle in May 2010. A self-proclaimed Scot freak, she loved every bit about the trip to Scotland: the people, the kilts, the accents, the fish & chips, the haggis… well okay, not the haggis.
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Don't miss the exciting sequel to BETWEEN, coming soon!
Aiden MacRae has been given new life after being stuck transporting souls to heaven for the last three hundred years. He doesn't know the culture, the times or the slang, but there is one thing he does know: he didn't come forward alone.
The master of hell has other plans for the Scottish Highlander and has sent a transporter of his own to get the deed done. Will Lindsey be able to save him or get caught in the crossfire?