Free Immortal Desires (Well of Souls) by Laura Eno Page A

mystery?
    Deanna… It was a pretty name. He tried it on his tongue and the sound pleased him. Mayhap he should go up to her room and talk to her again.
    The whisky sloshed in the cup and he frowned into it, remembering what happened when he'd touched her earlier. He'd felt her heat as if it were his own, spreading desire through his blood. Nay, he couldn't afford to touch her again. Not until he knew who she was and what magic cursed her.
    ***
    "Did you find out where the lass came from?" Munro asked the next morning at breakfast.
    "Nay." Ian stabbed a piece of meat from his plate and avoided Munro's questioning look. He turned his head to glare at his mother when she laughed softly but she was speaking to Mairi and seemingly not paying attention to him.
    A sharp intake of breath from Munro directed his sight to the stairway, where Deanna floated down in a cloud of blue material. One of his mother's dresses but the lass wore it well. Tearing his eyes away, Ian attacked his food while the fool next to him rose from the table to escort her to a seat.
    "My beautiful lady, I am William Munro. Forgive my part in yesterday's bad manners."
    Ian choked as Munro lifted her fingers to his lips and kissed them. The lass smiled and Ian ground his teeth together.
    She slipped onto the bench opposite him and all Ian could see was the swell of her breasts, creamy skin rising from the blue bodice. Why did his mother think to dress her in that one?
    A hint of pink touched her cheeks as Ian slowly raised his eyes to meet her face. She didn't smile at him but that only emphasized the fullness of her lips—lips he wanted to run his tongue over as she panted…
    He pushed away from the table when he realized the room had gone silent with all eyes on the two of them, turning quickly to conceal his erection. "I'll be in the stables. Munro? Tomas?"
    Tomas scraped the bench along the floor but Munro waved him on. "I'll be there in a minute."
    Ian walked out, muttering in Gaelic about smitten fools. He thought he heard his mother's soft chuckle as he hit the door with unnecessary force but it was lost in Munro's deep bass asking the lass what she'd care to eat.

Chapter Seventeen
     
    Torn between irritation and relief at watching Ian stalk out of the room with Tomas trailing behind him, Deanna's attention was thankfully diverted by Munro. She gave the stocky man a grateful smile and he rewarded her with a wink.
    "Soul mates oft travel a rocky road to bliss."
    Soul mates? "What are you, a poet?"
    "I can be, lass, but nay, I feel the tension in the room. You two belong together." Munro stuffed another bannock in his mouth before rising from the table, his movements surprisingly graceful for such a stout man.
    Deanna floundered for what to do next when a young girl carried her plate over and slid into the seat next to her. "I'm Mairi," she said with a shy smile. Her dark hair and green eyes marked her as Ian's sister. "Are you really from the future? Will you be staying here with us?"
    Deanna swallowed the lump in her throat. "I guess so. I don't know how to get back home."
    "Did the Fae send you here?" The girl's nose wrinkled as she said it, making Deanna smile.
    "I don't think so. What's the Fae?"
    "Magical beings that cause trouble," the girl whispered, pausing to look around as if one might be listening to their conversation. She continued a bit louder. "There are nice ones too. I thought mayhap a nice one sent you back for my brother. He needs a wife."
    "Mairi! Enough." Isobel came over and tapped her daughter on the shoulder. "You have chores to do."
    "It's true," Mairi replied but jumped off of the bench at the same time. "The banns have already been posted for my marriage and he's still single."
    Deanna thought the girl sounded disgusted by that fact. "How old are you?"
    "I've sixteen summers," Mairi beamed at her. Deanna raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Life sure was different here.
    What had she been doing at sixteen? Mooning over