“It seems I have been surprised many a time this afternoon for while I doona mind that ye are no a virgin, I doona wish to think of another man touching ye.”
His lips touched mine once again, and I sighed into his mouth as he pressed his hard length up against my abdomen. I opened myself to him, ready to be claimed again despite the unfamiliar ache in every muscle.
As he entered me, the door to the bedchamber flew open, and the expression on Orick’s face immediately brought a lump to my throat.
All I could see was the terror and fear in his eyes as he screamed in our direction.
“The lad’s gone. Cooper. He’s vanished!”
CHAPTER 26
I knew where he was. There was only one place Cooper would have gone—only one place he would have wandered without permission.
Adwen jumped off me in an instant, dressing as quickly as he could, panic in his every movement. I scrambled to cover myself but didn’t move from the bed, addressing Orick as calmly as I could.
“He found it, didn’t he? He was right. There’s a portal here.”
Orick nodded. As I looked at him, I thought he might cry. He was worried–terrified that Cooper had fallen prey to some horrid fate. Before I could speak up to comfort him, Adwen threw my robe onto the bed, shouting at Orick to step outside.
“Get out and let her dress, Orick. We will join ye promptly.”
Orick stepped outside right away. Once the door was closed, I stood from the bed and shrugged into the robe.
“How did ye know about the portal, lass? We dinna tell anyone. I dinna believe it possible when Cooper first mentioned it, but Orick found it after the snow. We should have told ye but I could see Cooper’s curiosity, and I know too well the trouble curious lads can get into. He must have found it, Jane. I knew it possible that he would, though he swore to me he wouldna go through it. Doona worry. We’ll get him back.”
“I know. I’m not worried.”
He continued on as if he’d not heard me. I realized then, listening to Adwen ramble incessantly while Orick paced the hallway loudly enough that I could hear him through the door, that I was far more equipped to handle this situation than these seventeenth century Highlanders. And I hated it.
I hated knowing that neither man, despite their numerous travels, was prepared for what they would see and experience. They wouldn’t allow me to travel through alone, and they weren’t likely to leave the other behind. It would be a group affair.
Their worry was understandable, but I didn’t share the sentiment. I knew that the incessantly nosy witch, Morna, wouldn’t let anything happen to my nephew. No matter how much I disliked her, I was certain of that—she’d saved his life more than once. Cooper would be fine—until I got to him, at least. Once I did, his impression of his fun-loving aunt was in serious danger of being altered forever.
*
After running to my own room to put on some real clothes, Adwen and I followed Orick to the outside stairwell. I don’t know what I’d expected, but I found the magical staircase to be far less impressive than I’d imagined it to be.
Morna liked flashy, painful, ridiculously nonsensical forms of time travel—like throwing a rock into a pond. This was far too simple—clearly, not her work.
I stared down into it with both men at my side.
“Is it still…active?”
“Aye.” Orick nodded, walking down the steps until he stood only two steps from the wall where the stairway ended. “From here ye can see the wall ripple if ye look closely. I’m so sorry, lass. I dinna know he knew of it. ’Tis difficult to find. I canna imagine how he managed to pull the door open, but he must have done so while I was counting for him to hide. When I opened my eyes, he stood at the stop of the stairwell, waiting for me to watch him run. He wanted me to see him pass through. Then he just ran down these steps and…” Orick paused and took the remaining two steps toward the stone wall. The moment his foot touched the last step, his shoulder bumped into the wall and he disappeared.
I let out a strangled gasp of surprise as Orick vanished, and I reached out an arm to keep Adwen from taking off at a full-sprint to follow him.
“Christ, Jane, do ye think he meant to do that?”
I shook my head. “No. I’d say not. Poor Orick. Adwen,” I pulled on his arm so that he faced me. “Is there any way you’ll let me go through alone to bring them back? Cooper is fine. Orick will be fine as well…with time. There’s really no need, and it’s not always easy—the shock of it all.”
He shook his head, taking my hand as he led me away from the stairwell and toward the castle. Seeing that I seemed to be relatively calm seemed to have slowed his panic. For that, at least, I was grateful.
“Ye are mad if ye think I’m staying here, Jane.”
I knew he wouldn’t agree, but I didn’t feel it right to at least not offer him the opportunity to sit out. Cooper was under my care. Neither Orick nor Adwen were responsible for him.