The orgasm helped relax my tightened muscles and readied me for him as he sought his entry. He moved slowly, gently as he promised, never closing his eyes, never changing his rhythm as he waited patiently for me to match him.
I’d thought his words earlier, about what lovemaking could be, lovely. It seemed a nice idea—to think that you could know and love someone so completely that such an act could expose the most sacred part of yourself to that person. But until the sensation built within me, I’d not known if it was truly possible.
It frightened me, the sense of complete connection, simple understanding, and unwavering commitment. As he held onto the side of my face, brushing his thumb over my cheek as he always did to comfort me, I knew that it frightened him, too. What rose within us both paled in comparison to any climax.
In his eyes, I could see what I meant to him—the love, adoration, and respect he held for me. Unwillingly, it brought tears to my eyes and quickly he kissed them away.
I imagined us to be much like the water in the river above the waterfall, the unexplainable feeling of exhilaration and terror reaching an immeasurable level as we neared the point of falling, of rolling off the cliff’s edge.
Our breathing escalated such that it was all I could hear, the sound of the rushing water muted by the noise of our own ragged breath. From somewhere beneath the heart-pounding fog, Eoghanan’s voice called out to me, pleading with me to open the eyes I’d not realized I’d closed.
“Doona close yer eyes, Grace. Doona close, them. I need to see ye.”
As I opened my eyes, we crashed upon the metaphorical rocks of our lovemaking. We gripped each other as we gasped and trembled, never closing our eyes nor tearing our gaze from the other. Both of us entirely exposed, we found the best parts of ourselves within the soul of the other.
Chapter 42
McMillan Castle
The slip of the poison had been far too easy—into the man’s drinking water to settle into his stomach overnight. She’d at least hoped for a challenge, but the end result would be the same. The boy’s father would fall ill and lose consciousness for most of the day, allowing her plenty of time to take the lad away before Eoghanan and his new wife returned this evening.
Jinty sat back from her place amongst the trees watching the sunrise in the distance. The boy and his father would do what they did every day after their morning meal—come to sit by the pond. Only this time, they wouldn’t be alone. She would be waiting for the poison to go into effect.
*
Whatever had worried him and Bebop over the last few days was coming for them today. Cooper didn’t know why or what would happen, but he knew it just as sure as he knew he’d love dinosaurs every day of his whole life. There was no other reason why he would have dreamed of the stone.
Everybody thought he couldn’t keep secrets, but it was one of the things Cooper was best at. He’d not told Mom that E-o could travel through time or that Morna was a witch when he’d promised them he wouldn’t. He’d not told Mom about the time Dad lost him at the city park after he promised Dad he wouldn’t. And he’d not told anyone about the story Morna had told him and the promise she’d made him the day he’d thrown the black stone into the pond.
He could remember everything she’d said when she’d pulled him aside during their tour of the castle.
“Cooper,” she’d said to him. “I know that ye took me traveling stones and what ye mean to do with them. Ye are a fine lad, and I trust ye to make the decision ye believe ye must, but I need ye to remember something verra important. Can ye do that for me?”
He loved when grown-ups entrusted him with important tasks. He’d nodded as he answered her. “Of course, I’ll remember. I don’t forget anything.”
“I believe that, lad. Now, this red one here, keep it tucked safely in yer jeans if ye decide to throw the black ones. Yer parents will do all they can to keep ye safe, but sometimes there are things in this world that no one can protect us from. But, ye are luckier than most, lad, for ye have a verra kind and powerful witch watching after ye.”
He’d laughed then. He knew that Morna spoke about herself.
“I’ll be watching from afar, but I canna keep eyes on ye every moment. Should ye need me, throw this rock into the pond, and I’ll come for ye. I have no returned to me own time since I left it, but for ye, child, I’ll come running.”
That was weeks ago now, but the morning after his dream, right after breakfast he went straight to where he’d last left the rock; his worry still weighing heavily on his little mind. He pulled apart the plastic shell of one of his dinosaur eggs, glancing down at the rock inside. Lifting the shiny, red stone out of its home, he tucked it away just as Dad called to him from the hallway so that they could spend some time at the pond.
Despite all his baby teeth that remained, Cooper had a strong feeling that after today no one would be able to call him a baby. Something bad was coming to the castle and, if he could remember to throw the stone at just the right time, perhaps he could be a hero.
*