Chapter 26
CHAPTER 26
“What is this place?” Adeline gaped at the incredible room.
It was similar to the old healer’s chambers, in that it resembled a wine cellar, with vaulted ceilings and no windows. But while the healer’s room was filled with jars of herbs and tonics, this room was covered in books. Rows and rows of them, lining every wall. A secret library that he hadn’t told her about, leaving her to scrounge around for reading material in his study.
A roaring fire burned in the fireplace, filling the space with a cozy heat. Huge cushions and furs littered the floor in front of the fireplace, so inviting she almost flung herself down and wrapped herself in them. But, a split second later, it was the sight of a large four-poster bed, tucked away in an arched corner at the side of the room, that caught her full attention.
“Forgive me for bringing my 21 st -century customs into the past, but I think you’re supposed to ask a woman if you can take her to your bedroom before you just Tarzan her here,” Adeline said, her heart fluttering. She was in dangerous territory.
Logan set her down. “I cannae let ye out of me sight, so ye’re goin’ to spend the night here.”
“Again, I think you’re supposed to ask if I’m cool with that.”
He gazed down into her eyes. “Are ye?”
“I… don’t mind,” she replied hesitantly. “I won’t stay if you’re going to be angry at me, though.”
He arched an eyebrow. “I’m nae angry with ye.”
“Have you seen your face?”
He laughed softly. “Do ye have any idea what ye did to me tonight? Do ye have any notion of what went through me mind when we couldnae find ye?” He shook his head. “I thought ye’d gone, lass. I thought… ye’d gone because I walked away when ye were askin’ me to stay. Nay, I thought ye were lookin’ for a reason to stay, and because I couldnae give ye one, ye left.”
“I wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye,” she told him, moving closer despite everything she’d promised not to do. “To be honest, I thought that’s what I’d done, but not on purpose.”
He frowned down at her, bringing his hands up to cradle her face. “What do ye mean?”
“I lied to you before,” she said hesitantly, conscious of not ruining the moment. “A tiny white lie. I did speak to that ‘seer’ that your brother mentioned, but I swear I didn’t know that was what she was. She was just a weird, old woman to me, who happened to give me a gift and happened to tell me that it was my way back to my time.”
He dropped his hands from her face. “So, ye have found a way to return?”
“Sort of.” She swallowed thickly. “It’s like having a key, but not knowing where the lock is. Does that make sense?”
He cleared his throat, tension rippling across his face. “What did she give ye?”
“Something like a snow globe.” She took a nervous breath. “I touched it in the old healer’s chambers. All of the candles went out, and… I fainted. When I woke up, I thought I was back where I came from… and when I tell you that it crushed me, I’m not exaggerating. I wasn’t ready to go back, not at that moment.”
His eyes flashed with something like pain. “Are ye sayin’ that ye’re ready now?”
“No, but… I am going to have to go back at some point. There’s no running away from it. I’ve got people who need to know what happened to me,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “If I could call them, it might be different, but I can’t. And I won’t let my sister think she’s alone in my world. She doesn’t have any other family, just me.”
“When?”
Adeline shook her head and took hold of his hands. “It’s not as simple as that. I can’t give you a certain date or a time. I still don’t know how to actually get the key to work.” She exhaled shakily. “But I think it might be in five days’ time, give or take.”
“Five days?” Logan’s eyes burned with a fire that wasn’t quite anger, but something like it.
Adeline nodded. “I want to wait until I know how all of those people are doing. If they get better, then we’ll know it was the water that was tainted. It could be a naturally caused pollution, like a dead animal decomposing in the springs, or a crack in the bedrock letting seawater into the freshwater. Or it could be deliberate. Poison or waste or… This isn’t exactly the romantic conversation I’d pictured.”
An awkward laugh burst out of her throat. The way he was looking at her wasn’t exactly the romantic gaze she’d imagined either. She wished she could go back to being carried into his bedroom, leaving out all of the details of her departure until after they’d said a proper goodbye. But it was too late now.
“Five days?” he repeated coldly.
She sighed, squeezing his hands. “What do you want me to say? I can’t stay here, Logan.”
“Then perhaps ye ought to return to yer chambers,” he said quietly. “I wanted to keep ye near me so ye wouldnae disappear again, but if ye intend to leave soon anyway, I daenae need to be so watchful.”
He withdrew his hands from hers and stepped back, allowing her to go.
She stayed put. “Before I leave, I want to do one last thing.” She walked toward him once more, pressing her palms to his chest. “And I’d rather do it now, just in case there’s another accident with the key to getting back to my time. Let’s say goodbye properly now, while we have the chance.”
Gripping his shirt with one hand, she ran her other hand up the back of his neck, pulling his head down. In one swift move, she rose up on tiptoe and crushed her lips against his, kissing him like it really was the last chance they had.
Logan resisted her kiss for half a second before his arms scooped her up against him. His mouth pushed against hers, hard and hot, his hands rediscovering her curves with a fierce possessiveness. It was like he was trying to keep pulling her closer, but there was no gap left between them.
Spurred on by his intensity, she pulled him to her as if they were in a passionate battle. She grabbed fistfuls of his shirt as she kissed him with everything she had, she raked her fingernails down his muscled back, she slipped her hand over his swell bulge, coaxing a rumbling growl from the back of his throat. Her tongue brushed against his, her hands exploring him the way he’d explored her, savoring every explosive second.
This time, she planned on sharing the pleasure.
With his arms around her, he walked her backward until they came to the haphazard spread of blankets and cushions, bathed in the glow of the firelight. There, he traced his fingertip down from her lips, marking a tingling line along her throat, between her breasts, and down the flat line of her stomach. With his other hand, he gathered up her skirts, pinning them to her hips. Meanwhile, his caressing hand skimmed up the inside of her thigh, until his hand cupped her heat, bringing back a wave of delicious memories.
But before he touched her, before he gave her what she wanted, he brought his lips to her ear and whispered, “This is yer last chance if ye want me to stop. Yer last chance to stick to the rules.”
“Screw the rules,” she gasped as he slipped his fingers inside her.