“WOW,” SYDNEY EXCLAIMED with a low whistle as they drove through wrought-iron gates and down a long drive. “All of this is yours?”
“Aye, love.”
The train ride had been breathtaking. Well, it had been breathtaking for as long as she’d managed to stay awake, but a full belly and strong arms to hold her had her falling asleep shortly after breakfast. Thane had awakened her right before they pulled into the station, so she only got a brief look at the passing scenery and then they were pulling into the depot.
Thane’s home came into view and it was like something out of a medieval movie, the white stone house that looked more like a mansion sitting on acreage that rivaled a king’s fiefdom.
“It’s a Scots Baronial property,” he said. “I built it in 1760 and refurbished it a few years ago.”
“You built it?”
“Aye, lass.”
“Just how old are you?” she whispered.
He smiled. “Two hundred and eighty-five.”
“Shut up.”
Thane chuckled. “I know it’s a lot to take in.”
“Ya think?”
The car pulled up to the front door and Thane took Sydney’s hand, leading her inside. “I have about a hundred-twenty-five acres which we can explore this weekend. I’m not sure if you ride, but I have horses and we can take them out whenever you like.”
Sydney nodded as she took in the space. “I love horses.”
Thane’s home had five bedrooms, four bathrooms, something he called a reception hall, but it was more of a room with historic furniture inside, drawing room, kitchen, family room, library... she kind of zoned out as he kept listing rooms. She knew it would take some time to explore the entire house, not to mention the property.
There was apparently a cottage somewhere as well, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and all the necessities of a separate home.
“Sweetheart?”
“Hmm?” Thane squeezed her hand and she came back to the present. “Oh, sorry. I’m trying to take it all in. What did I miss?”
He grinned. “Nothing, love. Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”
“I’m going to get lost,” she said as he led her upstairs.
“No, you won’t. If you do, just let me know.” He tapped his temple.
“Or, you could just stay glued to my side at all times.”
“That works too.” He pushed open a large mahogany door and stepped back for her to precede him inside.
A king-sized wrought-iron bed sat to the right as she walked into the room, a fireplace was centered on the wall opposite the bed, and two high-backed chairs created a reading area facing a large picture window overlooking the grounds. She could see the cottage and a large white barn off in the distance.
“Thane, this is incredible,” she said, and smiled over at him.
“I’m glad you like it. You have your own bathroom and a closet through that door there.” He pointed to the door next to the fireplace. “I’m right next door, so I’m close if you need me in the middle of the night.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist. “You’ll scare away my bad dreams?”
“You have bad dreams?”
“Not often, to be honest.” She glanced up at him. “I don’t typically sleep much.”
He tugged gently on her ponytail. “I will scare away anything that might frighten you.”
Sydney giggled. “My true knight in shining armor.”
“Always.” He smiled, leaning down to kiss her.
As he deepened the kiss, a flash of light then a loud boom of thunder sounded, and Sydney broke their connection with a grin. “Wow, you rocked my world, honey. Literally.”
“Just wait,” he promised, and walked to the window just as rain pelted the glass. “So much for exploring.”
“I’m up for cozy make-out time with wine as well, you know. Especially if it involves answers to all these weird questions... oh, and more world rocking.”
He faced her and crossed his arms. “The answers could take all night.”
She shrugged. “I’m okay with that.”
Thane held out his hand and Sydney took it, following him downstairs and into the library. And it was literally a library. The room was larger than most master bedrooms and had bookshelves that covered three of the four walls, all loaded with a majority of hardback books. The dark mahogany wood and overstuffed furniture, perfect to relax and read on, made her feel like Hemingway would have loved it here. She did too. It was gorgeous.
Thane released her and pushed open a bookshelf to reveal a private room.
“Oh my god, you have a Scooby Doo room!”
Thane chuckled and waved her to follow. “This I added in the 1800s when I redesigned the library.”
“It’s so cool.” Sydney stepped inside. This room was a third the size of the library and somewhat bare. A couple of bookshelves held books that looked a lot older than Thane, and there was a large table in the middle covered with papers. It appeared to be a research room of some sort.
He pulled a heavy book off a shelf and set it in the middle of the table. “This is my family history as far back as we began recording such things.”
Sydney ran her fingers over the soft leather. “Wow, it’s beautiful.”
“It’s mostly written in Icelandic,” he said, and opened the book to about two-thirds in. “But here is where my entries begin in English.”
Sydney flipped back a little bit and pointed to a number. “What does this say?”
“This talks of when my parents immigrated to Scotland with the king’s family in 1420.”
“Your parents did?”
“Aye, lass.”
“Are they still alive?”
He nodded.
“Seriously?” Her mouth gaped open.
“Aye. They live not far from here.”
“Are you close?”
“Very.”
She bit her lip. “Do they know about me?”
Thane chuckled. “Aye, lass, they do. They attempted to finagle a dinner out of me for this weekend, but I put them off.”
“You don’t need to do that on my account.”
“I wanted to give you time to understand everything.”
Sydney smiled. “Well, you better get to explaining. I want to meet the people who made you.”
He grinned and kissed her quickly. “Okay. I will give you the bullet points that pertain to us specifically and you can ask questions as they arise. Sound good?”
“Sounds perfect.”
“When you walked into the interview room at the hotel, I knew you were my mate.”
“Your mate? How?”
“Twenty-five is the ár mökun, the mating year. It’s when our hearts turn to whoever our mates are, if they’re close. So as soon as I reached mating year, I knew I would know you as soon as I saw you.”
“Will I know you’re my mate when I turn twenty-five?”
“Possibly,” he said. “It’s different for humans, so you may not. At least not the way we do.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait a month.”
“Your birthday’s in a month?”
“Yep.” She studied the book again.
He slid his hand to the back of her neck and squeezed gently. “What, love?”
“It’ll be my first without my mom.”
“Och, sweetheart, it will be. I’m sorry.” He pulled her close and she did a face plant into his chest. “We’ll just have to make it extra special, eh?”
“I’m not a big group person, so please, no party.”
He cupped her face and raised her chin. “No party. I promise.”
Leaning down, he kissed her and she wrapped her arms tighter around his waist. He broke their connection far too quickly, and she reluctantly went back to the book.
“So, the mate thing,” she prompted.
“Aye. When I touched you in the interview room, our örlög…fate, was sealed.” He kept an arm around her waist as they skimmed the book. “And when I first spoke to you in your mind, our connection began.”
“Do you have to say special words to start the connection?”
“No, but the first thing I said to you was ‘Þú verður að vera min að eilífu.’ They are some of the first words we speak to our mates.”
“But you said that out loud,” she countered.
“No, I didn’t, actually. You just assumed I did.” He smiled. “It’s how I knew I found the path to your mind so that I could speak with you later.”
“Yeah, ’cause that wasn’t creepy,” she grumbled.
Thane chuckled.
“So, is there more to this ‘mating’ thing?” she asked with a blush.
“When you’re ready, I’ll bind you, and you’ll become like me.”
She laid a hand on his chest. “Whoa, hold up there, skippy. What do you mean, I’ll become like you?”
“The binding is our version of a wedding ceremony, only it’s private. I will bind you spiritually and then when we make love, I will bind you physically. Your body will go through a conversion of sorts and you will become Cauld Ane. You’ll take on many, if not all, of my abilities and you will live as long as I do.”
“I’ll be immortal?”
“Not immortal, no, but you’ll live a thousand years or so, very likely.”
She let out a deep breath. “Wow.”
“It’s a lot to take in, love. There’s no rush.”
“Can you bind me now?”
“No. I can’t bind you until you’re twenty-five.”
She snapped her fingers and retorted, “Shoot.”
Thane chuckled.
“So, mating, is it like marriage?”
“It’s far more permanent. When mates find one another, even if they aren’t bound, they are connected forever.”
“So, no cheating or whatever?”
He shook his head. “It’s impossible for us.”
She leaned into him. “That would be so nice to never have to worry about something like that.”
“I suppose so, yes. We’ve never known any other way, but thinking about the possibility isn’t pleasant.”
She shuddered. “No, it’s not.”
“Have you had to deal with that?”
Sydney smiled. “No. I haven’t really dated much. I met a couple of guys at church, but with all the stuff going on with my parents, I didn’t go back. Crisis of faith maybe.”
“It’s understandable, love.”
“Lucy says I’m a little like my mom... I bury my head in the sand when things get sad.”
“We all process things differently, Sydney.”
She bit her lip and nodded. “I’m coming out of it, though. Even with my mom’s death. I’m trying to understand that sometimes shit just happens and it’s not God punishing me…or karma…or whatever. I just have to remember that when I’m really sad.”
He turned her to face him and stroked her cheek. “If you forget, I’ll remind you.”
Sydney smiled through the tears. “You make me feel safe.”
“Och, sweetheart, you’re killing me.”
“I am?”
He nodded and leaned down. “I love you,” he whispered, and kissed her, gripping her waist and lifting her onto the table. He moved to stand between her legs and cupped the back of her head, deepening the kiss.
Sydney slid her hands up his chest and into his hair. She wasn’t sure how long they were there, but he broke the kiss all too soon and dropped his forehead to hers. “A month you say?”
She giggled with a nod. “Way too long.”
“Aye, love, ’tis.”
“I love you, too, by the way,” she said, and looped her arms over his shoulders. “Sounds strange to say it so soon, but I mean it.”
“I do too, lass.” He ran his hands through her ponytail. “I can’t wait to make this permanent.”
“Same. Am I meeting your family this weekend?”
“Aye, lass. If you’d like to.”
“Aye, I’d like to,” she mimicked.
“I’ll set it up,” he promised. “But tonight, you’re all mine. I won’t share.”
“Wine and snuggling better be on the table.”
Thane laughed. “I’m not a monster.”
“Good to know.”
“Shall we shelve this discussion, or do you have more questions?”
“We can shelve it.”
“You can ask me anything you need to and this room is open to you any time you want.”
Sydney smiled. “Thank you.”
“Come on, let’s go find something to eat.”
“Mmm, yes, please.” She slid off the table and took his hand, following him out of the library and toward the kitchen.
* * *
At almost midnight, after Thane kissed her at her bedroom door, Sydney stepped inside and started to prep for bed. She couldn’t help peeking outside at the storm. She’d always loved a good thunder and lightning show, but rarely got them in California.
A shot of lightning hit and she was drawn to a shadow out by the cottage. At first, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her until lightning lit up the sky again. She gasped. A man stood looking right up at her, if that was even possible.
Sydney, you okay?
I think someone’s out by the cottage.
I’m coming in.
“Okay,” she said distractedly, still staring out the window.
Another flash of light and the man still stood where he was. Thane reached her and wrapped an arm around her waist, leaning forward to see if he could see what she saw. It took a little longer than the last time, but lightning flashed and there was no one there. “He was just there,” she whispered.
Thane gave her a gentle squeeze. “Are you sure you saw someone?”
“Well, no. I guess not. It could have been a shadow from a tree, I suppose.” Lightning hit again and there was still no one there. Sydney sighed. “I must be seeing things.”
Thane smiled and turned her to face him. She licked her lips at the sight of him in dark pajama pants and black wife-beater. Running her fingers up his muscular arms, she stroked the pulse at his throat.
“Lightning can create all manner of illusions, but my land is secure, love,” he promised. “If someone was on it, I’d have been alerted.”
She nodded. “It was probably a tree or something.”
“Probably.” He kissed her nose.
A clap of thunder rattled the windows and she couldn’t help but startle.
“Are you afraid of storms?”
“No. Actually, I love them.” She smiled up at him. “I just feel a little off-kilter.”
“Do you want to sleep with me?” He stroked her cheek. “No monkey business, I promise.”
She giggled. “But monkey business is so much fun.”
“Aye, I agree, lass.”
“I’m okay. Really,” she said. “I won’t sleep. I never do and I don’t want to keep you awake.”
“Why don’t you sleep?”
“I don’t really know. I haven’t for years.”
“Do you get any sleep?”
“Maybe three hours a night.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I don’t want to keep you up, so I’ll just read or something.”
“We can watch a movie, love.”
“It’s way past midnight, honey.”
“So?”
“Don’t you need to sleep?”
Thane chuckled. “Sweetheart, if I’m with you, I never have to sleep again.”
“Is that a Cauld Ane thing?”
“It’s a you and me thing.”
“Oh, really?”
“I don’t want to waste a second of our time together sleeping,” he whispered.
She slid her fingers into his hair. “Charmer.”
“Wanna make out some more?”
“Does a bear shit in the woods?”
* * *
Thane laughed, leading her out of her room and into the private sitting room right off his bedroom. He loved her sense of humor. He loved everything about her. “If you fall asleep, I’ll carry you to bed.”
She giggled. “I won’t fall asleep.”
“What do you want to watch?”
“Nothing I have to think about.” Sydney flopped onto the sofa facing the television. “Would it be weird to watch one of yours?”
Thane grinned and pulled open a floor-to-ceiling cabinet two-deep with DVD’s. “Yeah, love, it would be weird.”
“You don’t watch your own movies?”
“I watch the premiere and then, no, I don’t watch them again.” He ran his fingers over cases and pulled a couple from the shelves.
“But I love your movies.”
He grinned at her over his shoulder. “I appreciate that, sweetheart.”
“Did you really date all of your costars? Except Charlotte MacMillan, of course. I heard that somewhere.”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Really.” He closed the cabinet and sat next to her, setting the movies on the coffee table. “Want to choose?”
She leaned forward, grabbed the shoot ’em up, and handed it to him. He slid it into the player and sat beside her again, pressing play. She took the remote and hit pause.
“Did you date any of them?” she asked.
“Aye, lass, I did.”
“Were any of them Cauld Ane?”
He raised an eyebrow. “No.”
“How many of them did you sleep with?”
Thane let out a long sigh. “I think it would be better if I don’t answer that.”
“All of them?” she squeaked.
“No. Not all of them.”
“Who?”
“I’m not going to tell you that, Sydney.”
She gasped. “What? Why not?”
“Because I can feel your irritation.”
“So that means you’re never going to tell me which ones you slept with?”
“Not ‘never,’ but for now, love, aye.”
“Fine.” She crossed her arms and sank further into the sofa. “Let’s just watch the stupid movie.”
He nodded and pressed play again... and waited. He didn’t have to wait long before she paused the movie again.
“Why not?”
“Because when I tell you about my dating history, you need to be calm,” he said. “Right now, you’re not.”
“I’m calm,” she argued. “I’m so calm, I’m like Zen calm.”
He chuckled. “Sydney, you are so far from Zen calm, it’s not even funny.”
“You’re so far from Zen calm, it’s not even funny,” she mimicked in a sing-song voice.
“Shall we watch the movie?”
“Go ahead.” She waved her hand toward the DVD player and then went back to her guarded posture. Ten seconds in, she huffed. “So, did you sleep with most of them?”
He paused the movie again and leaned his head in his palm, resting his elbow against the back of the sofa. “No.”
“Just tell me.”
“No.”
“I’m going to bed.” She threw the blanket off and rose to her feet. “My bed.”
Thane watched her leave with a sigh. He should probably give her a few minutes to calm down, but he could feel her frustration. He shut off the television and stood, heading to her room and knocking on the door.
She pulled open the door and threw herself into his arms. “I’m sorry.”
He kissed her temple. “Och, lass, it’s alright.”
“Jealousy isn’t really in my nature.”
“Jealousy’s in everyone’s nature, love.”
Sydney shuddered.
“What?”
“Something’s wrong.” She pulled away from him and rushed to the window. “He’s there again.”
Thane grabbed the phone and dialed Wallace’s number. The man answered on the first ring. “Sir?”
“Check the grounds.”
“Aye, sir. What am I looking for?”
“Sydney saw someone over by the cottage.” Thane watched as Sydney stared out the window. “Text me when you find anything.”
“Aye, sir.” Wallace hung up and Thane set the phone back on the cradle.
“He’s gone again,” Sydney said, turning from the window and running her hands up her arms.
Thane could feel her fear, so he pulled her into his arms again and she sagged against him. “You’re safe, sweetheart.”
“I just don’t understand why I don’t feel safe. There’s no reason for it.”
“Come on.” He took her hand and led her back to his room, locking the door behind them and leading her to the sofa. “You’re staying in here tonight.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
Pulling her up against his chest, he wrapped the blanket around her and kissed her forehead. “I’ve got you, love.”
“Okay,” she whispered again, and settled her cheek against his chest.
He felt her relax in stages. “Better?”
She didn’t answer him because she was asleep. Thane smiled and turned the volume on super low, holding her close. His phone buzzed on the table next to him and he reached for it. Wallace didn’t find anyone, but he did find cigarette butts, which didn’t sit well with Thane.
Shite.
“What?” Sydney mumbled.
“Nothing, love. Go back to sleep.”
“Tell me.”
“Wallace found cigarette butts, but whoever was out there is now gone.”
She sat up and frowned. “Shit.”
“Aye.”
“Should we leave?”
“There’s really no safer place, love. We’re locked in and the alarm’s set.” He gave her a gentle squeeze. “Plus, the men have been alerted, so my team is ready.”
“Okay.”
“Want to watch the movie or go to bed?”
“Bed, I think.”
He turned everything off and pulled her from the couch. “You’re going to sleep tonight.”
“We’ll see.”
He cupped her cheeks. “Do you want me to make you sleep?”
“Can you do that?”
“I’ve done it before.”
“What?”
Thane smiled. “Think of the last few times I told you to sleep.”
She gasped. “I did sleep.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
“Don’t go getting all superior on me, mister movie star. But I will admit, it was unusual for me to sleep six hours.”
He chuckled. “Well, tonight we’ll try for eight.”
“If you can do that, I’ll marry you tomorrow.” She looped her arms around his neck. “After I wake up, of course.”
Thane kissed her and guided her to the bed, where he pulled her into his arms and wrapped the covers around her. “I love you, sweetheart.”
She kissed him and smiled against his lips. “I love you, too.”
“Sleep now.”
It didn’t take long for her to succumb to his words and as soon as he felt her relax, he followed her into slumber.