Highland Defiance - By Sky Purington Page 0,5
you feel that?”
“What?” But she already did. A cool wind blew through the forest and brushed her cheek. For the first time since she’d arrived, Mildred looked around. There existed no steel mill looming in the distance waiting for her to make parts for planes created for war. There existed no stream of people trudging into a plant determined to do their job.
Her friends and siblings had vanished.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Her eyes darted to the man beside her then back at the forest. “Yes, but I don’t understand.”
“Cannae you be happy with what is in front of you?”
She heard his accent and saw the forest and shook her head. “No, I can’t.”
“Too bad.” He jumped to his feet and held down his hand. “M’lady.”
Mildred looked up, still barely familiar with everything and shook her head. “No.”
He ignored her and pulled her to her feet. Stunned, she looked up…and up. It was then that she truly realized the stature of the man talking to her. With shoulders easily twice as wide as hers, a height at least eight inches taller and a frame rippled with muscles, he was overwhelming.
Her eyes drifted over his face. That face. One she’d dreamed of since she’d been a little girl. Perfectly proportioned, with a straight nose, square chin, and straight brows, it’d always been overly alluring.
And those eyes...like the clearest blue sky sharpened by sunlight.
“Well, what about my attire?”
Her eyes rounded. Yes, his attire was… amazing.
“You’re wearing a…” She glanced away and cinched her lips before looking at him again, brows up. “You’re wearing a skirt.” Mildred paused a minute to get her bearings in front of such a good looking fellow. But things must be said so she gathered her courage and looked him dead in the eye. “Are you aware that you wear a skirt?”
With a shocked look, he peered down and said, “It appears that I am!”
Mildred breathed deeply through her nostrils and nodded solemnly. “So I’m the first to tell you.”
He looked to the sky for guidance then into her eyes. “It seems you are.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that but honestly it’ll get you in trouble, even in my dream.”
“Even in your dream?” he asked.
“Yes.” She looked around. “You never know how things will work in my mind.” Mildred peered up at him and tried her best to keep her breathing even. “No matter how strong you look.”
He nodded in agreement. “I am verra strong.”
Mildred smiled. She couldn’t help herself. “Of course you are.”
“And you are verra young.”
Taken aback she said, “I just turned twenty. That’s not so young.”
His eyes suddenly searched hers. “I know you dinnae believe in men in skirts. Tell me then, do you believe in magic?”
Her nerve endings tingled. The forest seemed to shimmer. Of course she did. “Absolutely not.”
“Then how are you here?”
Mildred ignored the compelling scent of his skin and the direct look in his eyes and said, “I’m not here. Neither are you.”
He moved closer. She stepped back.
“Rest assured, I am here, as are you. Right here, right now. In Scotland.”
For a split second she tried to look to the sea as she had in her dream.
It was not there. Thump. Thump. Her heartbeat increased.
Mildred’s eyes returned to him. “It is a dream,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”
She swore that his eyes glowed bright blue for a second before he said, “Nay, ‘tis not a dream.”
As Mildred looked around at the forest she tried not to panic, tried to wake up. She whispered, “It is a dream. It has to be.”
His gaze seemed to freeze then slowly travel over her, as if he saw her for the first time. As if he savored every inch. “Nay, Mildred.”
Her eyes rounded as she tried to get a grip on reality. “I never told you my name. How did you know my name?”
Though his eyes continued to study hers, his deep voice cut through her misconstrued thoughts. “Because I am him.”
“Him who?” she whispered.
He gently took her hand. “So sorry that I didnae introduce myself before. I am Adlin, Chieftain of the MacLomain Clan. The lad from your dream. The one who will take you to your betrothed.”
Chapter Two
Cowal, Scotland
1050
Adlin was doing his best not to immediately wrap her up in his arms.
After all, he’d dreamt about Mildred for many years too.
Now, at last, she’d traveled back in time to him.
As foretold.
Arms across her chest, feet splayed, she shook her head. “I’m going nowhere until I wake up.”
With a purposefully heavy sigh, he leaned against a tree and