opened it, she found Marcail instead.
“Good morn,” the Druid said with a pleasant smile.
Reaghan returned the smile and opened the door wider. “Good morn to you as well.”
“I thought I might escort you to the great hall if you’re ready.”
Reaghan’s heart thumped wildly in her chest, her thoughts on Galen. “Aye.”
As she followed Marcail out of the chamber and down to the great hall, Reaghan could only think of Galen. As she stepped off the stairs into the great hall, her gaze clashed with cobalt eyes that stole her breath. A slow sensual smile pulled at his lips while his gaze deepened with unmistakable desire.
“Sit anywhere you can find a place,” Marcail said.
It was then Reaghan noticed that few of the Druids from her village were at the table. “Where are my people?”
“They fear the Warriors. I think it will take some time.”
Reaghan waved at Braden who sat between Logan and his mother. “My fellow Druids need to be reminded it was Warriors who saved their lives. They are caught in their ways and refuse to bend or acknowledge that not everything is as it seems.”
Marcail’s unusual turquoise eyes widened a fraction. “I agree. These Warriors are good men fighting to keep our world safe from evil. However, enough of such talk. Please find a seat.”
Once again Reaghan’s gaze was caught in Galen’s. He nodded to her, and she was powerless to resist his call. She walked to the empty seat beside him.
He held out a hand to assist her as she climbed over the bench. “You look well.”
“And smell better. A bath does wonders to restore me,” she replied with a smile.
“How did you sleep?”
She filled her goblet with milk and reached for a piece of cheese and freshly baked bread. “Very well. Are you glad to be back?”
“It is home,” he said, and pushed aside his empty trencher. “I’m always pleased to return. I thought I might show you around the castle today.”
“The others don’t need you?”
Galen grinned. “They can do without me for a little while. How would you like to see the sea?”
“Truly? I know it from the images I see in my dreams, but I would love to feel it for myself. When can we go?”
“As soon as you are ready.”
Reaghan wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to be alone with Galen. “I can eat later.”
“Nay,” he said, and covered her hand with his. His thumb caressed the back of her hand. “The sea isna going anywhere, and neither am I. Eat, Reaghan.”
As she lifted the bread to her mouth, she happened to notice how the others around the table stared at her. There were so many Warriors. If she hadn’t gotten to know Galen and Logan, she could see how she might feel afraid of these men.
“Forgive our gawking,” said a man with a vicious scar running down his face. “Galen is usually eating so much he has no time for speech.”
Laughter filled the hall, and Reaghan glanced over to find Galen shaking his head as he smiled.
“Eating?” she asked.
“Doona pay Malcolm a bit of attention,” Galen said, his gaze indifferent and his voice heavy with nonchalance. “He lies.”
“Lies?” repeated a Warrior with honey-colored eyes and hair of the deepest brown. “Cara makes a special loaf of bread just for you so the rest of us can eat in peace.”
Logan chuckled, an easiness about him Reaghan hadn’t seen before. “Arran speaks the truth, I’m afraid, Reaghan. Galen’s stomach is never full. He sneaks into the kitchens throughout the day to steal food.”
Reaghan basked in the glow of companionship she found at the MacLeod table. Galen took their teasing with a smile and a shrug; clearly the jesting was done in love and friendship.
It was obvious everyone adored Galen, and he adored them. He hadn’t been lying when he called this place home.
“Should I worry about my food?” she asked Galen with a teasing smile.
Laughter erupted again as Galen stole a piece of bread from her trencher and popped it into his mouth with a wink.
Fallon shook his head from his spot at the head of the table. “Reaghan, I believe you will fit in well with this brood.”
She was pleased with Fallon’s words, and hoped she would be able to find a place at MacLeod Castle. A place where, perhaps, her memories weren’t taken from her every ten years. A place where she could stand beside Galen and fight Deirdre.
The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to be a part of the battle against Deirdre. Her power had grown too strong, and it was time more joined in to take a stand.
“As I said before, I doona take from ladies. Only rogues like you lot.” Galen replaced the bread he had taken from her trencher, his eyes shining with mirth.
Reaghan hurried to finish her meal as the conversation turned to rebuilding the destroyed cottages in the nearby village. She listened curiously, but her mind was on spending the day with Galen.
As soon as she swallowed her last bite of food, Galen took her hand. “Ready?”
“I should help clean,” she said.
Isla shook her head and waved Reaghan to the door. “Go enjoy the day.”
Reaghan waited until she and Galen were in the bailey before she said, “Everyone is so pleasant.”
“They are good people.”
“It’s no wonder you call this home. It’s not only beautiful, but there is so much magic that surrounds the castle. Despite the differences between all the Warriors, you are all a family.”
“Every Warrior here had their families and their lives taken from them by Deirdre. Most of us spent years locked in her dungeons. We’re the lucky ones who managed to escape, yet for all of that, we were alone. We were trying to survive in a world that doesna know of us, and canna know of us.”
He paused as they passed through the newly built gate. The evidence of what had befallen the MacLeod clan still could be seen by the burn marks on the rocks of the castle.
“I cannot tell you how long I searched for the MacLeods,” Galen continued. “All of us knew they were the key to destroying Deirdre, and when I finally found Lucan, they were hesitant to trust anyone. Yet they opened their castle to us, and offered all of us who had wandered the land a home.”
“I’m glad the MacLeods are fighting Deirdre.”
Galen nodded. “And we are lucky Fallon is leading us.”
Reaghan forgot what she was going to say when she spotted the sea. She quickened her pace and reached the edge of the cliff just as a gust of wind hit her. She inhaled the sea wind full of salt and the beckoning call to explore.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Galen asked.
“Wildly so. What I’ve seen in my dreams does not compare.”
“Nay, nothing could.”
She felt Galen’s gaze on her and turned her head to him. Her hair whipped in the wind and tangled around Galen. He chuckled deep and low in his chest as he pulled her against him.
“Reaghan,” he whispered before his mouth descended on hers.
She sank into the kiss, losing herself in all that was Galen. He enticed, he teased, he captivated. She wound her arms around his neck and offered him everything she had — her heart and her soul.
She had feared his desire would wane, but his fiery kiss told her different. She tasted his yearning, felt his desire, and breathed in his unleashed passion.
Reaghan dove into the wanton desire that raged through her body. His hot, demanding kiss didn’t allow her to think of anything but the hunger that built within her, the unrelenting passion that devoured them both.
He pressed her tightly against him, holding her prisoner to his kiss, as the heat of his body surrounded her. There was a promise in his kiss, a promise of much more to come. The desire they had tasted on the edge of Loch
