Highlander's Seduction (The Matheson Brothers #3)

Once he cleared the bay, he tucked his oars away and raised the sail. The wind filled it with a hearty slap and with his feet braced wide along one side and the ropes in hand, he steered the skiff as it shot off like an arrow toward her.

Her fae senses reached out toward his and butterflies abounded in her belly. Kirk’s drive to reach the village was honed completely in on her, the one woman who was meant to be his, and the one woman she intended to deny him of. Finding his chosen one had consumed him these past five years, just as it had his two identical brothers who’d now found their mates. Although never once had she known that ’twas her Kirk searched for. If only she had, then she could have let him down far sooner and thus allowed him to move on and enjoy his life.

The wind plastered Kirk’s billowy white tunic against his muscled chest and sent the sword holstered at his side swaying. He would be here within a minute or two and there was naught more she could do now but anxiously await his arrival.

Over her shoulder, the need of those within the houses of stone and clay cloistered so tightly together called out to her and touched her very heart. Throughout the days and years to come, so many would need her aid and that knowledge firmed her stance. Their people couldn’t lose another time-walker, a fact she hoped her mate could accept.

With her decision made, she dissolved into a mist and became as one with the very air itself, the element she commanded. ’Twas best Kirk not have her image in his mind. If he did, then that would make their parting all the more harder.

Kirk steered his skiff toward land, lowered the sail as he neared the shore and jumped into the knee-deep water. He hauled his boat onto the beach and in snug black leather pants, marched toward her. He strode past her then stopped and swung about. With a determined slash to his lips and his nose to the air, he breathed deep and prowled back. In a wide circle, he moved, each of his steps drawing him closer and closer to her unseen position.

“Why can’t I see you, my elusive imp? I’m finally here in the right time and place and I should be able to.” He halted directly in front of her, lifted one hand and swept it in a wide arc.

His hand passed right through her, and her very soul shimmered with need.

“Where are you?” he whispered into the wind, raw pain in his voice.

Her heart ached with what could never be. A soul bound match was what she sought for others, believed in to the greatest degree. “I’m so sorry, Kirk. You have my sincerest apologies for withholding myself from you.” She allowed her voice to flow to him. Leaving him wondering about her wasn’t something she’d ever be able to do, not to the man her very soul had now been bound to. “You and I, and this mated bond that has formed between us, it cannae be.”

“You know my name?” He searched where she stood.

“I do, and that is because ’tis now emblazoned on my heart.”

“Why can’t I see you?”

“I’m a time-walker, one of only three who can command the very air itself. ’Tis my element and if I wish, so too I can become as one with it.”

“Why would you withhold yourself from me?”

“I…” She wavered in her stance and took form, although she remained fully cloaked and unseen. “You can touch me now if you wish.”

He swept one hand out, his fingers sliding through her locks then slowly, he brought his hand to his chest, his fist clenched around a long strand of her pale blond hair. “Thank you.”

“My name is Cherub. I am also the one who hears the whispers between souls who arena yet aligned so that I might bring them together across time, no matter where they might be.”

“You’re the Fae Angel of Love?” Surprise widened his eyes. “I’ve heard of you, or I should say the legend. Tales spoken of the Fae Angel of Love give our clan hope.”

“I’m more than just a tale. I was born to serve my people and have done so for over a thousand years.” She looked into his eyes and almost drowned in his stunning golden gaze. A shifter’s eyes, although there was more. They were rimmed with a glimmer of starburst yellow, adding a spark of heat that sent another bout of butterflies flittering about in her belly. “So many seek my aid, and my duty is to those of fae blood who walk this Earth.”