Mated By The Demon Collections: Paranormal Romance Page 12

  ‘I was wearing a plaid skirt and cream coloured blouse...and I was watching you dance…’

  ‘And I was watching you dance…’ Kirk said.

  ‘And afterwards…we met by the castle keep…and you…’ Bridget stopped and blushed.

  Kirk took her in his arms again. ‘What did I do?’ he asked, the fire burning bright in his eyes again.

  ‘You kissed me…a lot…and you all but…’

  ‘Yes, I all but took you by the castle keep…and it was the first time we met and I had had too much to drink and desired you so much.’

  ‘So the memories come back, bit by bit?’ Bridget asked.

  ‘Well, to you, yes, they come back bit by bit. But for me – I’ve just been here since the day I was born, waiting for you.’

  ‘What?’ Bridget was aghast, ‘You knew all this while? Why didn’t you ever say something about it to me? Especially when we met for the first time?’

  Kirk’s expression was serious. ‘I wanted to be sure it really was you, so I didn’t tell you what I already knew – that you were Bridget Drummond. Besides, when we met, and even now, it feels just a wee bit strange, does it not? What with worlds and lifetimes separating us?’

  ‘So you knew the whole while?’ Bridget breathed, ‘If you’d told me it might have spared me some of the utter confusion I have been feeling.’

  ‘Like I said, I wanted to be absolutely certain it really was you. The Bridget Drummond I knew and loved.’

  ‘Did you summon me out of thin air or something?’

  Kirk laughed a bitter laugh. ‘I ached for you. I knew something was missing all my life until I consulted a seer and realized I had been reincarnated myself – and was looking for a lost love.’

  Bridget looked up at him again. ‘Did we…um…ever…’

  ‘Consummate our love?’ Kirk completed her question. ‘No, my dear, we didn’t ever get a chance to. We were kept apart when they found out about us – and you know the rest of the story.’

  ‘Us,’ Bridget intoned, ‘It sounds so strange to say.’

  Kirk began to look agitated. ‘I cannot allow myself to be distracted by anything right now – we are going to be attacked soon and I need to muster my clansmen.’

  ‘As I said, I can help.’

  ‘And so you shall,’ Kirk said. He pulled her into his arms again and kissed her – and Bridget felt a flame kindled deep within her as she fought the passion that his kiss evoked.’

  ‘Perhaps this kiss will keep you here long enough,’ he said releasing her.

  ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ Bridget said breathlessly.

  ‘Read the book when you have the time. When the sundered souls are reunited, they are bound closer as their love is renewed.’

  ‘Bound closer?’ Bridget asked, ‘Sorry if I seem completely ignorant.

  ‘That means very soon you will not…or cannot…return to where you came from.’ He looked concerned. ‘Would that distress you very much?’

  ‘I don’t know. I’m still trying to understand all of this. Could I come with you tonight?’

  ‘Only if you ride with me,’ Kirk said.

  ‘But if I want to help you I will have to go spying on the enemy before they attack.’

  ‘We have other people for that job,’ Kirk said firmly.

  ‘Please let me go too,’ Bridget begged. ‘Nobody but you can see me. Think what an advantage that would give you.’

  ‘Alright then,’ Kirk assented, ‘We could do with some help. The king’s soldiers come at us with weaponry that we cannot compete with. All we have are our trusty claymores and swords.’

  ‘Let me follow your spies and go deeper into the enemy camp.’

  ‘You would do that for me?’ Kirk asked.

  ‘I know what the highlanders suffered at the hands of the King’s army. I will do this for Scotland…and of course, for you.’

  CHAPTER III

  It was dusk when the spies set out on their horses and Kirk took Bridget on his horse as far as he could go without being spotted by the King’s army. Then she went on foot with the spies, leaving them at the periphery of the enemy camp and going right into a circle of redcoats who were discussing the impending attack.

  ‘We have successfully misled the clansmen that we will be striking tonight and they will ride to meet us here on the moors while our troops are already on the way to Skelbo castle and Drummond as well. Kill the clan chiefs and kill clan morale, is what I say,’ said one of the soldiers, ‘There will be bloodshed tonight for sure.’

  Bridget turned and fled – retracing her steps till she reached Kirk, concealed in a thicket, and told him what she had heard.

  ‘We will beat them at their own game,’ Kirk said grimly, galloping back to Skelbo castle. He sent word out to all the clans to guard their bastions and arrayed the Sutherland clansmen around Skelbo and across the moor. Bridget positioned herself on the castle battlements and waited for the King’s army to strike. She was unprepared for what she saw that night – the fury of the clansmen and the sheer bloodthirstiness of the soldiers. The clansmen knew the moors well and lay in ambush, doing what they did best, and those of the King’s army who weren’t killed or severely wounded, scattered and fled.

  The redcoats were relentless however, returning the next day and the next, and all the while Bridget was successful in penetrating their camps and learning of their moves well ahead of each proposed strike.

  She rode back with Kirk after a skirmish on the moors and they entered Skelbo castle together.

  ‘I wonder if, back in my world, I am lying in a comatose state somewhere.’

  ‘It must be unsettling for you,’ Kirk said, taking her hand.

  ‘It’s disturbing when I come to and try to make people believe that I have been in this amazing place with you. They think I’ve been dreaming or that my mind is playing tricks on me.’

  Kirk squeezed her hand comfortingly. ‘Why don’t you stay back here with me?’

  ‘I could wake up any moment and I will be back there,’ Bridget said, ‘And it makes me feel terribly uncertain about everything. I have been here for almost four days and I am wondering when I will suddenly be called back.’ She turned desperately to Kirk. ‘What should I do?’

  ‘Is there anyone to go back for?’

  ‘Well, there is my friend Allie,’ Bridget said.

  ‘Would you miss her greatly if you were not to see her again?’

  ‘I don’t know. She has been the only one there for me since I lost everyone else whom I love.’

  Kirk put his arms around Bridget and kissed the top of her head. ‘No matter what happens, Bridget, I’m here for you,’ he said. Bridget turned her face up to his, searching his eyes for answers to all the questions in her mind. ‘I’m so confused,’ she whispered, reaching up to touch his cheek, tracing the outline of his jaw and resisting the urge to touch his mouth. He bent down, his lips seeking hers, and she melted into the kiss, feeling the heat surge through her body, rendering her helpless in his arms.

  ‘I don’t want you to leave, Bridget.’

  ‘That isn’t in my hands, Kirk.’

  ‘Marry me!’ he exclaimed, catching Bridget completely off guard.

  Bridget wriggled out of his arms and stood back. ‘Why do you want me to marry you?’

  ‘Because it was meant to be,’ Kirk said.

  ‘You barely know me,’ Bridget replied.

  ‘I have known you. Doesn’t that count?’ He took both her hands in his. ‘Don’t you feel anything for me at all? Have the last four days meant nothing?’

  ‘Four days is all we’ve had, Kirk,’ Bridget said.

  ‘We will have more. And we had a whole lifetime before that. If we don’t get together now, we will forever be two tormented souls looking for each other.’

  ‘So in order to set our souls to rest forever, you recommend us getting together?’ Bridget was hoping for something more romantic. His kisses spoke volumes but she wanted to hear just how he felt a
bout her.

  ‘Yes. It’s one decision that you have to make, for both of us.’

  ‘I need to think,’ Bridget said, ‘A bath would be good,’ she continued reflectively, realizing to her horror that she hadn’t taken a bath in several days.

  ‘Please do. I also need to wash.’

  ‘Not together, though,’ Bridget said cautiously.

  ‘No. I wasn’t suggesting any such community activity,’ Kirk said wryly, ‘Skelbo Castle actually has more than one bathroom, you know. I will have the servants bring up some hot water.’

  Bridget climbed the stairs to the rooms upstairs, finding the bathroom to the rear of the wing, and waited while a servant filled a heavy porcelain tub. She lay back in the water, pondering her current situation and wondering what decision she should arrive at. When the water began to lose heat, Bridget stepped out, suddenly realizing she had no change of clothes, when a hand, with a robe dangling from a finger, appeared around the door.

  ‘I’m not stealing a look at your nakedness, so have no fear, Bridget. I’m merely here because I realized you do not have a change of clothes. This is one of my robes. I’m sorry not to have anything else. I will have someone wash and press your clothes and maybe tomorrow I could have something brought around from the seamstress nearby, though it might raise suspicion.

  Bridget tiptoed towards the door, her arms crossed across her chest and took the robe from Kirk’s outstretched hand. ‘Thank you, that is very thoughtful of you Kirk,’ she said.

  ‘Remember, I have seen your body,’ Kirk said chuckling, and Bridget blushed, hurriedly throwing the robe over her and wrapping it about herself.

  ‘This is a rather large garment,’ she observed.

  ‘I’m sorry, I have no women’s garments here. You could try on a shirt of mine if you like.’

  ‘That’s alright,’ Bridget said, emerging from the bathroom with the robe flowing down below her ankles.

  Kirk chuckled again. He had taken a bath as well and his skin gleamed in the golden light from a single lamp above the door. He was dressed in a kilt and shirt and looked as if he was ready to go out rather than stay in and go to sleep. ‘My robe suits you though,’ he smiled, and began to roll the sleeves above her wrists. Bridget had wound her hair into a topknot to take a bath and Kirk unpinned it and arranged her tresses about her shoulders, stroking her hair as he did so. Bridget saw the fire in his eyes again. She wanted him to kiss her and yet didn’t, because with each kiss it was becoming harder and harder to resist the inevitable. He nudged the robe off her shoulders and admired the curve of her neck, tracing it with his forefinger.

  ‘I remember,’ Kirk said, and Bridget turned pink, assailed by her own memories, emerging from the mists of a past lifetime.

  Bridget drew the robe more securely around her and walked down the corridor beside Kirk. They stopped in front of her bedroom door and Kirk took her into his arms again. ‘Our time together is uncertain and brief it would seem. We do not know when you might be recalled to your world, so please Bridget, think about what I asked of you.’

  Bridget kept her eyes on her feet – uncertain of her emotions and how they would play out. ‘Yes of course,’ she murmured incoherently, and made a dive for the door, but Kirk held her firmly against him and whispered into her ear as he pinned his lips to her neck. ‘I cannot let you go this time. I don’t reveal much of what I feel – it’s who I am…but I am telling you Bridget that I cannot let you go.’

  ‘I will think about it Kirk…about marrying you. The thought is at once appealing and frightening. My life will be in constant danger if I remain here.’

  ‘And if you go back, you will be taken to a medical facility for an assessment which you do not find appealing. Which would you prefer Bridget?’ He sought her lips and his kiss left her in no doubt as to what he wanted.

  ‘I can’t…not now…not like this, please Kirk.’

  This time she successfully dived into the room and closed the door firmly behind her. But as she lay down, she was afraid to fall asleep, lest she awake with the doctor and Allie peering into her face with anxious eyes. In a trice she had her mind made up and she opened the door again, only to find Kirk still standing outside. He grabbed her hungrily but she pushed at his chest to draw his attention to what she was saying.

  ‘I will marry you, Kirk.’

  He sighed deeply and kissed her again, pulling her against him so she could feel the heat of his body blaze through the fabric of the robe.

  ‘Let us seek a priest without delay,’ he said, but as the words were out, they both looked at each other, and the truth was difficult for Bridget to accept.

  ‘The priest will not be able to see me,’ Bridget said, her spirits plummeting.

  ‘Unless we cleave to each other,’ Kirk said and this time he didn’t tease her.

  ‘Cleave, huh?’ Bridget said dryly.

  ‘I will not disrespect you, Bridget. We shall, here and now, pledge our troth to each other and after we have…become one…we shall seek out a priest and have a proper ceremony.’

  Kirk slipped his hand into his sporran and pulled out a ring. Bridget caught her breath when she saw it. ‘That belonged to your grandmother!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘See? You do have memories!’

  ‘Only after I came here. Before that I only had a strange affinity for all things Scottish, and came to visit the first chance I got.’

  Kirk went down on one knee and took Bridget’s left hand in both of his. He turned it over very carefully and planted a kiss on her palm. ‘Bridget Drummond, will you marry me?’

  CHAPTER IV

  ‘We’ve found her!’ Bridget heard Allie shouting and heard the muffled sounds of bodies crawling across the floor. There were people with torches snaking down the long passage where she lay spread-eagled. With a speed that surprised her, Bridget rolled over onto her stomach and began to crawl forward as fast as she could. ‘Kirk! Oh Kirk!’ she cried out, realizing she was back in Drummond Castle and that Allie had brought people to look for her. She moved faster than ever, staying out of the beams of the torches as far as she could, when suddenly she found herself in a glen with the hills rising up on either side. ‘Kirk!’ she cried, even louder. She turned back, relieved to see that she was no longer being pursued, but fully aware that if she was found there lying comatose, she would be woken up again. She dived for cover by the bushes, when she saw a group of soldiers riding to the stream that ran part of the way through the glen, just in case she was visible to them.

  ‘They are off their guard again,’ one soldier said, ‘we will strike now and take them down. It’s time we brought them to their knees once for all.’

  ‘Yes, we need to make them realize they no longer hold sway over the clans and that we control them in every way. Let’s get the Sutherland chief first.’

  Bridget’s heart beat like a drum in her ears. She waited for the soldiers to ride away before she crept out of her hiding place. She did not know where she was or how to reach Kirk in Skelbo Castle, but fear of being discovered in the passage in Drummond castle and recalled to her world, gave her a new fearlessness. She followed the soldiers’ path and found that they had stopped again as another group of armed men joined their ranks. Bridget looked around for their horses and saw them tethered to trees along the banks. She didn’t know how to distinguish a mare from a stallion and hoped she had made the right choice when she mounted the first horse that she reached, and spurred it forward. She looked down at herself, glad to see she was clad in the skirt and blouse that she had worn for the tour of Drummond Castle, and not Kirk’s robe. She heard a soldier shout out and try to chase after the horse, and was grateful for the fact that they couldn’t see her and that they probably assumed that the horse had bolted for reasons unknown.

  Bridget held on tight to the reins and rode forward, looking for something familiar. She didn’t know her way so there was nothing she could rely on, and only hoped that her mount would take her somewhere close to Skelbo C
astle. For some reason the passage from Drummond had not taken her directly to her destination this time.

  Bridget kept the horse at a gallop, her spirits sagging as the light began to fade. They neared a hamlet and saw wood fires burning before thatched houses, and Bridget hoped that the soldiers wouldn’t reach there before she had a chance to warn someone that the redcoats were on the way to wreak havoc. She rode through the hamlet, and wished that 18th Century Scotland had road signs, because there was nothing that indicated the direction she should take to Skelbo Castle. It would be nothing short of a miracle if she found Kirk before she was recalled to her world, and before the King’s soldiers attacked. She rode from one hamlet to another as nightfall crept in and people looked at the horse with no rider galloping past them and took it as a sign of danger in the offing. Within minutes messengers were sent to all the clan chiefs to prepare for battle.

  Kirk was lying in a chair thinking of Bridget and wondering where she was. Some time had lapsed since she had been whipped away as he was proposing to her and he kept wondering why he hadn’t done it earlier that evening, or why he hadn’t taken her when she had emerged from her bath looking lovelier than ever. He heard a pounding on the door and the hurried footsteps of a servant springing forward to draw the bolts.

  ‘My laird!’ a messenger came flying into the room. ‘There is danger! A lone horse was seeing galloping through the neighbouring hamlets and redcoats have subsequently been sighted advancing in this direction.’

  ‘They will burn down the hamlets!’ Kirk cried in despair.

  ‘No my laird, the Drummond and Gordon clans have sent their men to defend the hamlets and they stand prepared.’

  ‘Call out all our clansmen!’ Kirk said, rushing from the room and hailing the horsemen in the courtyard. ‘Go quickly!’ He turned to the messenger, a thought nagging at him. ‘Where is this horse with no rider? It went through two hamlets, you said, but where did it go after that?’

  ‘We do not know my laird,’ the messenger said, as Kirk armed himself with sword and claymore and swung himself up onto a horse.