Free Midnight's Warrior by Donna Grant Page B

appreciate everything, but I need to get back.”
    “Of course.”
    “I hope you are no’ leaving on our account,” Charon said, his hand around a large mug of coffee.
    She met his probing stare. “Not at all. I do have a job to do.” With one last look at Ramsey, Tara left before she did decide to stay.
    The cold hit her instantly, and she crossed her arms over her chest and walked as fast as she could back to the castle. The first thing she was going to do was take a long, hot shower to warm up. Though thinking of Ramsey’s kiss was definitely helping her to withstand the cold.
    *   *   *
    Ramsey stood by the window and followed Tara with his eyes until she was inside the castle. He licked his lips, still tasting her upon them. He’d never tasted anything so wonderful, and he craved another kiss.
    One that would allow him to explore Tara at his leisure with his mouth and his hands. It had been a mistake to kiss her, but a mistake he wouldn’t reverse if he could.
    He looked down at his right arm where the tendrils of magic swarmed up to his shoulder. Somehow he’d managed to keep it hidden from Tara, but the longer he touched her, the more her magic would show.
    “She’s a damned fine-looking woman,” Charon said. “If we’d known we were interrupting, we wouldna have returned.”
    Ramsey shook his head and turned to his friends. “I’m glad you did. It doesna need to go further than it already did, which was much further than I ever intended.”
    Arran leaned back in the chair and regarded Ramsey. “Why no’? We’ve all had a hell of a life thanks to Deirdre. Why no’ take a sliver of happiness and enjoy it?”
    Ramsey held up his arm. “This is why. This is from touching her hair and briefly kissing her.”
    “What does it mean?” Charon asked.
    “Hell if I know. I know if I touch her skin, the magic is stronger and lasts far longer. Other than that, I have no answers.”
    Arran rose and gripped Ramsey’s arm where the white tendrils of magic swarmed. He pulled back almost instantly. “Shite! That is strong magic.”
    “This may have something to do with you being part Druid,” Charon said.
    Ramsey nodded. “Or the fact that one moment Tara’s magic is the strongest I’ve ever felt, and then the next, some of the weakest.”
    “When we walked in earlier, it felt strong to me,” Arran said.
    Charon scratched his neck, his brow furrowed deeply. “Aye, but when she came to see Ramsey yesterday and we hid in the bedroom, I could barely feel it.”
    “I’ve touched plenty of other Druids at MacLeod Castle and even before, and no’ one of them has made me have such a reaction,” Ramsey said.
    Arran shrugged and stabbed his fork into the stack of pancakes before dumping them on his plate. He straddled his chair and sank down in it as he reached for the syrup. “Maybe that’s why Declan wants her so badly.”
    “Maybe. But if her magic comes and goes so quickly, it’ll be a great risk he’s taking.” Ramsey speared four pancakes for himself before Charon and Arran ate them all.
    Charon stuffed a huge bite into his mouth and shrugged. “Maybe Declan knows something we do no’,” he said around his food.
    “I’ve already considered that,” Ramsey said as he turned the syrup upside down and coated his pancakes thoroughly before Arran snagged it out of his grip. “Tara is opening up to me, but it’s going slower than I’d like. We doona have the kind of time it will take to earn her trust.”
    Charon set down his fork. “You do realize whatever trust you earn from her will be shattered the moment she discovers what you are? She’ll think you tricked her, mate.”
    “I’m aware of that,” Ramsey said with a deep sigh. It was something that had bothered him since he’d first come to Dunnoth Tower. “I doona know another way.”
    “Tell her what you are, what we are,” Arran said.
    Ramsey halted his fork midway to his mouth and just stared at Arran. “She’d