My Highland Lover (13 page)

Aye, well. He would give her that. Although he readily admitted he enjoyed the way her lovely bosoms bounced as she hurried to keep up. He supposed he should be ashamed, but ’twould only be a lie to say he was. “I’ll walk a bit slower. Forgive me.”

Karma bounded past them, nose to the ground and tail in the air as he snuffled through the dried heather and sedge clustered about the hillside. Trulie smiled and waved a hand toward the happy dog. “That is why I wanted to walk to Tamhas’s croft. Karma’s a big dog. He’s kind of hemmed in down at the keep.”

Gray watched the great beast zigzagging his way up the hillside. He well understood how the dog felt. Oft times, he felt the same. He held out a hand to Trulie. His heart lightened as she took it without hesitation and fell in step beside him. How could a woman he’d only known so briefly make him feel as though he’d known her a lifetime?

Gray stole a glance down at Trulie, quietly chuckling as she batted her hair away from her face. Those silky curls had escaped their ribbons again, dark tendrils dancing in the wind. The creamy whiteness of her throat made him long to brush his lips against her softness. He sucked in a deep breath of the chilled air and walked slower, eyeing the tempting mounds of her bosoms rounding nicely above her tightly laced kirtle. The loose weave of her shawl gathered about her throat did nothing to hide the bounty.

Aye. At this rate, he’d need a cold blast of wind up his kilt to keep his cock at bay. The memory of the perfect weight of her across him came unbidden, the sweet soft feel of her curves when she’d first fallen from the sky. Aye, and now that he knew her, understood more about her, the wanting of her gnawed at him like a deep hunger.

“How many more wagonloads do you think it’ll take to move Tamhas down to the keep? Granny said he’s already filled the top level of the north tower.” Trulie gathered her skirts higher and climbed atop a rock shelf jutting out of the embankment. She shielded her eyes with one hand and squinted farther up the mountain. “Karma! Don’t get so far ahead of us. Come back here. Now.”

“I’ve told the old one this is the final trip we’ll make. He’d best gather and pack only what he canna live without. He shouldha moved down to the keep ages ago, but apparently the wishes of his cheiftain dinna carry near the weight as the wishes of his woman.” Gray motioned toward the edge of the woods. “There be yer great beast.”

The tip of Karma’s tail wagged a few inches above the thick tangle of grass adjoining the line of trees. Occasionally, the black tail would pause in its traveling wag above the dried grasses and quiver.

Trulie hopped down from the rock, gathered her skirts higher, and waded into the grass. “He needs to stay closer. It worries me when I can’t see him.”

“The lad will be fine.” Gray held out his hand. “Come. Stay to the path. This part of the land can be treacherous to those who dinna ken it.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about.” Trulie jabbed a pointing finger back to the edge of the trees. “Karma doesn’t know this place. He needs to stay with me.” She turned back toward the wood. “Karma! Come here.”

“Why do ye worry so? The lad will be fine.”

Trulie’s voice quivered as she stopped wallowing her way through the heavy grass and turned. “You don’t understand. I’m the eldest. Karma is more than just a dog.” She cast another worried glance up the hillside before turning back to Gray. “Karma has been with me ever since I can remember. Karma will be with me until my soul travels on. He’s a part of me. My guardian. My familiar. The eldest daughter of every time runner generation is gifted with an animal spirit guide.” Trulie hitched in a deep breath, gathered up her skirts, and started toward the woods. “I can’t lose him, Gray. I have to keep him safe.”

The emotions in Trulie’s voice stirred his heart even more than the eeriness of her words.
Guardian. Familiar.
A worried knowing filled his gut. The Sinclair women needed to stay well within the MacKenna lands. Superstition and belief in the old ways had long been held sacred by the MacKenna clan. The old magic was considered holy. The Sinclair women wouldna be so safe in other parts of Scotland.

“Come.” Gray waved her toward him. “We’ll follow the path to Tamhas’s dwelling. I feel certain that’s where the lad is headed. Ye ken he’s always gone ahead of us before and been waiting there when we arrived.”

An excited bark echoed from the wood, following by a deep baying howl. The sound traveled across the hillside, gradually growing fainter by the minute.

“Karma!” Trulie shouted and darted into the wood.

“Lass!” Gray loped up the hillside, dodging and leaping over tangled clumps of matted heather. How the hell could the woman move so fast? This wasna the place for her to wander alone. Gray crashed through a tangle of saplings and fought deeper into the woods.

“D-dammit!” A cursing shriek followed by splashing water came from just up ahead. Karma’s steady bark echoed through the woods as though he were shouting instructions to his mistress.

Even before he’d shoved his way through the thick underbrush, Gray knew exactly what had happened. He had hunted these hills many a time and cooled his body in the spring-fed pool just up ahead. An unwary traveler could easily be deceived by the grade and lay of the land. If they didna keep to the steep side of the path and carefully set each step, the unknowing discovered too late the loose shale paving the slight walkway. The unseen trap would quickly shift and send them tumbling into the deepest end of the pool.

Louder splashing and echoing curse words hurried Gray farther down the path. If he remembered correctly, an overhang of stone should be just up ahead. Depending on how high the level of the pool had risen from the most recent storms, he should be able to reach the lass from there.

“Karma! Get help!” Trulie’s gasps for breath spiked her irritation into each word.

Gray pushed through a tangled mass of carpet willows and came to an abrupt halt.

The huge black bear of a dog sat at the edge of the wide plate of limestone. The stone shelf hung several feet above the rippling surface of the pool. Ears perked, head cocked to one side, the great beast’s enormous tail swept slowly back and forth atop the rock as he stared down at the water.

“D-dammit, Karma. Would you please go get Gray or Granny or somebody? I’m freezing my assets off and I can’t make it up the bank. The rocks are too steep here and I can’t get past all that brush on the shallow end.”

Gray couldn’t help but chuckle. Her assets. Aye. He had admired them every time Mistress Trulie walked away from him. More splashing sounded, followed by a very feminine growl of frustration. Gray halted at the edge of the stone as Karma turned and faced him.

“Easy, lad.” Gray kept his voice low as he moved up beside the dog. “I mean yer mistress no harm. I only mean to pull her from the water.”

Karma’s long pink tongue lolled out of one side of his mouth, between several large, sharp-looking teeth. If Gray didna ken the animal better, he’d swear the beast was actually smiling. Gray nodded to the dog and lowered himself to his hands and knees.

Trulie’s pale face bobbed just above the black surface of the pool. Her wide eyes flickered with growing panic. With fingers outspread, the pallor of her hands reflected beneath the spreading ripples like shining fish skimming near the surface. Her long, dark hair shimmered like polished ebony, slicked down against the sides of her face and floating across the top of the water like rich, black ribbons.

Gray stretched out his hand and motioned her forward. “Here, lass. Come. Take m’hand.”

The top of the pool bubbled and foamed as Trulie flailed closer to the rock shelf. She grunted and lunged upward for Gray’s hand.

“Get lower. I can’t reach you.” Trulie sputtered and gasped as she sank back into the water. “You’re going to have to get down on your belly and hang farther over the water.” Trulie’s blue-tinged lips trembled as her teeth started to chatter.

Gray flopped down on his stomach and stretched out over the pool. He had to get the woman out of the water fast. The cold was beginning to take its toll. She would surely drown if he didna reach her soon. Locking the toes of his boots into the dips and bumps in the rock, Gray held out both hands. “Now, lass. Take m’hands.”

Trulie took in a noisy deep breath and pushed herself upward, missing Gray’s fingertips by a whisper. When she fell back into the water this time, she submerged completely.

Karma stood at attention. He dug and pawed at the front of the stone while barking down at the water. His ears perked forward toward the spot where his mistress had disappeared and his tail no longer wagged.

“Enough of this,” Gray growled as he jumped to his feet, stripped away his plaid, and peeled off his knee-length léine. The cold Highland air against his flesh strengthened his resolve. He’d be damned if he allowed the lass to drown and saddle him with her grandmother. Gray dove headfirst into the freezing water. Opening his eyes to liquid blackness, his fingers brushed against Trulie as she struggled to rise to the surface. He rose up behind her, hooked an arm around her torso and pulled her back against his chest. No wonder the lass could hardly stay afloat. Her heavy layers of clothing made a verra effective anchor.

He pushed them both back up to the blessed air. “I have ye now,” he huffed against her chilled face as her head fell back against his shoulder.

Trulie coughed and closed her eyes, her arms floating limp atop the water. “Good. Because I am entirely too tired to swim anymore.”

“Open yer damn eyes,” Gray barked as he shook her. Now was nay the time for the woman to give up. Not when he nearly had her saved.

Trulie’s dark lashes fluttered against her pale cheeks, then her eyes slowly opened. In a breathless voice, weak and rasping, Trulie nodded toward the rock ledge looming up ahead. “If you’re gonna save me from drowning or freezing to death, I wish you’d hurry up and do it. I am really tired of being cold and I have never liked swimming.”

Aye, lass. I’ll warm ye.
Those firm breasts currently caught beneath his arm deserved his undivided attention. A violent shiver shook Trulie in his arms, triggering immediate remorse. What the hell was wrong with him? The woman was about to freeze to death and he had bed play on his mind?

“It’s now or never, Gray,” Trulie whispered as she went limp against him.

“As ye wish, headstrong woman.” Gray sucked in a deep breath then ducked beneath the surface. He settled his shoulder under the shapely behind he’d admired every time Trulie walked away. Pushing off from a submerged boulder, Gray launched himself upward. The force of his thrust shot Trulie up out of the water and toward Karma.

Trulie flopped across the rock with a heavy splat. Her top half landed well up on the stone but her rear and legs still dangled off the edge. Gray lunged upward, hooked the ledge beneath his arms and shouted to the dog standing at Trulie’s head. “Grab her, lad. Help me get her up the rest of the way.”

Karma crouched over Trulie’s upper body, buried his muzzle in the depths of her tangled hair and bit into her clothes. Gray cupped Trulie’s bottom in his palm and nodded toward the waiting canine. “Now, lad.”

In one great yanking lunge by both man and beast, Trulie slid to the safe middle portion of the ledge.

Gray hung on to the side of the rock, adrenalin pounding through every fiber. His flesh hummed with energy. The worst was done. Now all he had to do was get her dry and warm. In one great push, he heaved himself up the rest of the way and landed on the rock beside Trulie.

“Good job, MacKenna,” Trulie mumbled as her head fell to the side. Her face was too pale. Her skin too blue. Gray pushed the soaked curls away from Trulie’s clammy face. He had to get her out of those clothes. If he didna get her dry and warm, Trulie Sinclair would ne’er jump through time again.

Gray reached for the pile of clothing he had shed before diving into the water. He sorted through the items until his fingers closed around the bone handle of his dirk. Crouching beside Trulie, he ignored the freezing wind stinging his bare arse.

Shoving Trulie’s wet hair to the side, Gray hooked the well-honed blade under the back collar of her dress and split the garment down to the hem. With shaking hands, he peeled away the heavy layers of soaked clothing.
Lore, the lass’s skin is white and smooth as finely polished ivory.
Gray swallowed hard against a dry mouth. He reached out and barely touched his fingertips to Trulie’s glistening back.
So verra soft. And so verra cold.
Gray shook himself out of the trance. He rolled Trulie out of her clothes and curled her up into his arms.
Lore, ’tis like cradling silk-covered ice.

Gray held her tight against his chest and roughly rubbed up and down her back. Thank the heavens for the frigid air. He’d play hell controlling his damnable cock if no’ for the freezing cold. The icy softness of Trulie’s curves burned into Gray’s flesh as though he embraced molten steel.

Struggling to hold Trulie’s limp form upright, Gray managed to work his thick woven léine over her head. He paused after yanking the heavy cloth down over her petite form. Gray held his breath and barely stroked the back of his hand along the smoothness of Trulie’s jaw.
Ye must live.
Lore, he’d give anythin’ if the lass would just open her eyes.

Trulie wilted back into his arms. Gray pressed his head against her chest, searching for a heartbeat.
There.
’Twas faint and rapid, but at least the spark of life had no’ yet gone out. Gray grabbed his plaid and bundled the lengths of cloth around her. The heavy wool of his colors would shield her from the bitter wind.

Trulie’s head rolled against his shoulder as Gray stood with her in his arms.
Ye must live
. Gray closed his eyes and sent up a prayer.
Dinna let her die.

“Come, beast. We must get her to a fire.” Gray shoved through the tangle of willows and overgrown sedge. Carefully, settling one soggy-booted foot at a time on the treacherous shale, he made his way to the safety of the higher path. Karma shot past him, a dark streak racing up the path toward the clearing. Gray prayed Karma would somehow raise the alarm.