The Highlander's Vow (Loch Moigh #4) (13 page)

“There is that. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.” Once again the hollow ache rose up to engulf him. “I really don’t know.”

“Alrighty then. I guess we’ll be knocking off early to train.”

“I guess so. Starting tomorrow though. I already took a beating today. There isn’t a square inch of me that doesn’t ache.”

He was certain Sky had watched his very poor showing in the lists. Is that why she preferred he stay in Gordon Hollow? She probably didn’t think he’d last a day in 1443. Come to think of it, she might be right.

“So . . . back to my earlier question. Say the SCA did attempt a world takeover.” Andrew peered at him. “Which side would you be on?”

Struan huffed out a laugh, settled into his work, and the rest of the morning was spent weighing the pros and cons of an anachronistic takeover.

CHAPTER NINE

S
ky buckled herself into the seat of Struan’s truck, trying her best not to think about his kiss, or the way he’d snatched her from her horse and held her to him but a day ago. She already suffered enough torment—like worrying about whether or not her family was safe. She didn’t need to add to her list. Still, think about it she did, and she couldn’t seem to keep her eyes from him.

“Did you and Lindsay go shopping this morning?” Struan turned the key, and his truck roared to life.

“We did, and I now have a garment to wear when swimming.” If you could call such a wee scrap of cloth a garment. Her face heated just thinking about being garbed thus in front of Struan. “While we were in Warm Springs, Lindsay pointed out the DMV. She said that’s where one gets a license to drive.”

“That’s right.” Struan glanced at her before backing the truck out of the Gordons’ driveway.

“Might I get a license to drive whilst we’re there?”

“Um, not today.” He grinned. “That’s not how it works.”

The laugh lines at the corners of his eyes creased in a most charming manner. Struan was irresistible when he smiled and intriguing when brooding. He drew her in a way she’d never before experienced, and if she wasn’t careful, she was likely to lose her heart. “How does getting one’s license work then?”

“You have to take a class, study a manual, learn all the rules and laws first. Once you feel you’re ready, you take a written test, and if you pass, you get a permit. With a permit, you can learn to drive, so long as a licensed driver is in the vehicle with you. Once you’re very good at driving, then you have to pass another test—this one behind the wheel.”

“Och, ’tis a lengthy process.”

“Very.”

Still, she was likely to be in Gordon Hollow for some time to come, and the thought of learning how to drive excited her. “I wish to get a license to drive before I leave. Where might I find a manual, so that I can begin studying the laws and such?”

“Why?”

“So that I will have accomplished something whilst here.” Sky shrugged. “Something I can boast about to my brothers and sisters. They’ll be envious. Especially Owain. He’s the adventurous sort, and for once I’d like to best him.”

“Michael just got his license a few months ago. He probably still has his drivers’ manual and his notes from the class he took. I’m sure he’d be glad to pass all of it along to you. I’d be happy to teach you to drive, but I think we’ll borrow Lindsay’s car. It’s smaller and easier to manage than a truck.”

“I’d be most grateful to you. I’ll ask Michael for his manual once we’ve returned.” Anticipation brought a smile to her face. They reached the main road, and Struan turned away from Warm Springs. “Where are we going for this ID?” she asked.

“Lexington. In Warm Springs, everyone knows everyone, and I’m sure news that you’re staying with us has already circulated. I don’t want to draw attention, especially since we’re using Meghan McGladrey’s documents, when everyone will have heard your name is Sky.”

He shifted in his seat. “It’ll be early evening by the time we return. Do you want to stop for pizza?” His eyes met hers for an instant before returning to the road. “Pizza is similar to lasagna. Lots of melted cheese, tomato sauce, meat and vegetables. What do you think?”

“I enjoyed Lindsay’s lasagna very much. I’d like that.”
If we meet someone who appeals to us, we ask them out on a date, get to know them without chaperones hovering about
. That’s what Struan had told her when she’d asked if the Gordons would arrange a marriage for him. Had he just asked her out on a date? She didn’t want to ask, fearing he’d tell her ’twas just the circumstance and the hour of their return that compelled him to see that she was fed.

Nay, she’d rather imagine he’d asked her for a date, and that she appealed to him enough that he wished to spend more time with her. After all, once she returned home, she planned to convince her father to allow her to remain unwed. This might be her only chance to experience how men and women in this century courted. Her pulse quickened as she recalled the feel of Struan’s lips against hers, his tongue plunging so intimately into her mouth. If only he would kiss her again.

The rest of their journey was spent in companionable silence, broken only by small talk about the view, the weather and Struan’s family. He didn’t bring up yesterday’s kiss, so neither did she.

Sky studied his strong profile, the way the muscles in his forearms moved as he handled the massive truck so competently. She’d always longed for the breathless, heart-fluttering sensations Struan elicited, and now that she’d felt them firsthand, it only made things worse. Her heart was engaged. ’Twas unlikely she’d ever experience the same again once she returned to her own time—without Struan.

Was it wrong to want to experience a man’s touch just once? Not any man’s, but Struan’s. He was the only man who had ever set her heart racing or caused this aching longing within. Her face flushed at the thought, and she turned to stare out the window lest he wonder at the cause.

Struan pulled his truck to the side of the road in front of a red brick building with white columns in front. “This is it.” He reached to the backseat for the folder holding the documents Katherine had given her. “Don’t forget. You’re Meghan McGladrey. I guess we should start calling you that all the time now.”

“’Twould be easier to continue calling me Sky and claim ’tis a sobriquet.”

“Sure, but while we’re here to get your ID, it’s Meghan, and don’t say any more than you have to.” His blue eyes sparkled with amusement. “When you try to speak like Americans, it sounds more like a speech impediment than it does an accent.”

Sky lifted her chin. “There is naught amiss . . . nothing wrong with my American accent.”

“If you say so.” He laughed as he climbed out of the truck and came around to her side.

He helped her to step to the ground, and she followed him along the paved pathway to the building and in through heavy glass doors. Struan led her to the space designated as the DMV. He took a scrap of paper from some sort of dispenser before ushering her toward a counter holding various forms.

“Here’s an application for a state ID.” He handed her a sheet of paper.

He stood next to her, close enough that she could detect his masculine scent and feel his warmth. Distracted by his nearness, she took the pen he offered and began filling out the information she’d studied from what the McGladreys had written down for her. Struan completed the lines where it called for her local address. Folder and application in hand, she took a seat and awaited her turn.

Struan sat next to her, leaned close and whispered, “Nervous?”

His breath against her skin caused a shiver of pleasure, and again she recalled his kiss. “No, not really,” she replied in her best modern-day speech.

“That’s the spirit, princess.”

A number was called out by an older, silver-haired woman behind a different counter, and Struan rose. “That’s us. I’ll do most of the talking.” They approached together. “My girlfriend has recently moved to Virginia and needs a picture ID.” He took the application and documents from her and gave them to the clerk.

The clerk behind the counter studied the documents and Sky’s application.

What if she could tell Sky wasn’t Meghan McGladrey? “My wallet was stolen,” she added, using the story she and Lindsay had concocted just in case. “And since I live here now, it makes sense to get a Virginia ID, rather than replace the one from Minnesota.” Struan looked askance at her. She looked back, forcing a smile.

“Step around the counter to the camera.” The woman gestured, her expression disinterested.

Sky did as she was told, her nerves calming. She hadn’t been challenged or questioned. Her picture was taken, and then the woman told them the cost, and Struan handed her the paper currency to pay the fee.

The woman glanced at Sky. “It will take a week to ten days for your ID to arrive in the mail.”

“Thanks,” Struan said, taking the receipt and the copy of her application. He tucked them into the folder with the other documents as he led her back outside to his truck. “You lost your wallet, eh?”

“Lindsay suggested the tale in case I was asked why I didn’t already have a picture ID.”

“Ah, I see.” One side of his mouth turned up. “Hungry?”

“I am.” She studied his handsome features and manly form. Aye, she hungered all right, but for more than food. She hungered for the experiences her lot in life had thus far denied her. What would her father say if he learned she wished to lie with Struan, to give herself to a man who would never be her husband, simply because he sent her blood rushing?

Mayhap she would seduce Struan before returning to her own time. Smiling at the ridiculous notion, she climbed into the truck and buckled up for the journey back to Warm Springs. What did she ken of seduction?

“What are you smiling about?” Struan asked as he pulled his truck away from the curb.

“The prospect of pizza.” Her smile grew. How shocked he would be if he learned of her desire to have her way with him.

By the time they’d finished their meal in the tiny restaurant and started out for Gordon Hollow, daylight was fading fast, and so was she. With the warm box of pizza leftovers on her lap, she struggled not to yawn. “I am most grateful for your help today, and for the pizza.” She patted the box.

“You are most welcome.”

All too soon he pulled into the Gordons’ driveway and shut off the truck. He turned to face her, placing his arm across the back of her seat. “I promised to take you to a hot spring.”

“Aye?” Another date? Her breath went shallow at the thought.

“Aye.” His eyes sparkled in that beguiling way he had. “Tomorrow is Friday, and I’m leaving to work at the fair, but once I’m back, we’ll visit a nearby hot spring.”

“Am I no’ to return to the fair with you?”

“There’s really nothing for you to do there. Here you can ride, swim, explore . . . whatever you wish. You’d be bored to tears in New York, but it’s up to you. Talk to Ma and Lindsay. See what they think.”

She nodded, oddly stricken at the thought of being separated from her knight.

“Sky, about that kiss yesterday . . .”

“Aye?” she said to the box in her lap.

“I . . . it was . . .” He heaved a sigh that settled into the space between them. “If I had it all to do over, our first kiss would not have been so . . .”

“So impassioned? Rash?” She raised her gaze to his. He’d said
our first kiss
, as if he intended for there to be more. She sensed his uncertainty, and somehow she found his vulnerability bolstered her courage.

“Aye. That,” he muttered, his tone tinged with self-deprecation. “I apologize.”

“There’s no need. You said if you had it to do over . . .” She could hardly believe her own daring. “How
would
you have kissed me for the first time?”

He undid his seat belt, leaned close and undid hers. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, Struan moved closer still. “I would have been far more gentle.” His knuckles skimmed her cheek, and he tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear. “Mayhap just a brush of my lips across yours, my lady. Like this.” His mouth touched hers for a brief instant, before he moved away.

’Twas all she could do to keep herself from following. “But . . . I rather liked the way you kissed me the first time,” she whispered. With just that brief touch, sensations had streaked through her, lighting every nerve as if they were torches he alone could set aflame.

Struan chuckled low in his throat. He trailed kisses across her cheek and down the side of her neck, sending glowing embers of heat cascading through her. She sighed and tilted her head, encouraging him to continue. He took the lobe of her ear between his teeth and applied pressure, and a bolt of desire shot like an arrow to the very center of her core.

A rumbling came from deep in his chest, almost like a cat’s purr, and once again Struan sought her mouth. This time his kiss was insistent, possessive. He held her face with both hands, deepening his assault upon her senses, demanding entrance. Gladly she opened to him, and he drew her tightly against his chest. She threaded her fingers into his thick hair, marveling at how soft it was against her skin.

Never had she imagined kissing could be so sensational, so inciting. She didn’t want it to end. Sky ran her hands over his shoulders and down his arms, seeking bare skin. Sliding her hands up his short sleeves, she reveled over the feel of the bunched muscles of his upper arms and powerful shoulders. More. She needed more. What would it be like to feel his warmth and hardness against her from head to foot? A throbbing ache burgeoned deep within her, and she lost herself to overwhelming desire.

Sky could feel the pounding of his heart against hers. Lord help her, she wanted him, and if she were to be truthful with herself, she wanted more than a brief seduction with Struan. If she allowed herself the luxury, she could easily fall in love with him. Och, best not. ’Twould break her heart for certes when the time came to leave him.

Struan ended the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers. Several moments passed in silence as they both struggled to regain their composure. “You’re going to be the death of me, lass,” he murmured.