He chiseled at the grout between the stones, and then as the powder fell to the floor, he jiggled the topmost stone. “They are now.”
He pulled the stone out, and the next one also. And in the opening sat a rosewood box.
“It’s… it’s got to be the one.” But when Ian pulled it out from its hiding place, she touched the lock. “My grandfather said not to break the lock.”
Not to be thwarted, Ian left her again and returned with a set of lock picks. She was running her fingers over the carvings with a gentle touch, her breathing light, her eyes wide.
What would they find in the box? He told himself it wouldn’t change anything between them, no matter what was contained within.
He wiggled the lock pick in the keyhole as he felt Julia still and barely breathing beside him. Then, with a click, he unlocked the box, pausing before he opened it. He thought of letting her see the contents in privacy to prove he trusted her. But he was dying to see what was so valuable in the box.
Still, he wanted her to know that she was more important than anything the box could contain. He kissed her cheek and said, “I’ll leave you to explore the contents. Then, if you’d like, we can see your friend Maria before she leaves. Flynn made a special appearance just to give her a thrill.”
“Was she all right?”
“Aye. At first she was just stunned, but then she asked him so many questions that she wore him out.”
Julia chuckled. “Sounds like Maria.”
Ian ran his hand over Julia’s arm in a loving caress. “Your father and grandfather are coming here in a week’s time.”
“Are they upset with me?”
“For mating me? The laird of Argent Castle? Your grandfather was resigned to it. Said as soon as I knew of the contract, I’d never let you go.”
She smiled. “The contract had nothing to do with it.”
“Nothing at all.” Ian kissed her cheek and then rose to leave her, but she grabbed his hand.
“Stay. What’s mine is yours. If it’s nothing of importance to us, we can let Grandfather have his box and all its contents.”
He pulled her up from her crouched position on the floor, box still in her hands, and embraced her with heartfelt love. “You are all that is important to me, love.”
She smiled and led him to the lady’s bed. “I love you, too.” Then, with shaking hands, she opened the box and set it down on the bed between them.
Five brooches embedded with rubies and emeralds sat next to a Bible on top of several documents. But it wasn’t the jewelry that caught her attention. Or the papers, either. Her eyes had widened at the sight of the Bible, her mouth parting a little in surprise, and then her fingers had lingered on the leather-bound cover.
She set the Bible on the mattress out of the way and reached inside for the papers, quickly inspecting them—one, a household accounting of payments and receipts for every aspect of maintaining the castle. Another, the contract between the Sutherlands and the MacPhersons concerning the betrothal with Fiona MacPherson and, if that did not come to pass, with the next female heir and the laird of Argent Castle. Also, the earlier contract between the MacNeills and the MacPhersons for the betrothal of Fiona with the laird. That was all. Nothing new. Nothing riveting.
Julia looked disappointed. But then she smiled brightly. “It’s good that there isn’t any bad news in the box.”
Ian wasn’t so certain. He’d seen the way she’d revered the Bible, as if she knew something important about it, some tie to the past, something that she was afraid to reveal to him.
“Anything in there?” he prompted, motioning to the book.
She looked up at him and attempted the most innocent expression, which was the most telling. “An old Bible?”
“Aye. You never know what secrets could be contained within a Bible.”
“Did I ever tell you of my great-uncle who listed all his children in his Bible, birth dates and death dates, only I couldn’t figure out why he listed H by some and M by others and nothing for seven of them? A middle name, maybe? But what was it? Grandfather told me his brother loved his children as much as his livestock. The H was for horses, the M for mules, and the ones without were his children.”
Ian smiled. “But who did this Bible belong to?” He thought by the look on her face that she knew, but it was almost as though she didn’t want to know. “Julia?” he said softly.
She swallowed hard. “I… I think it might be the family Bible some of my ancestors were questioned about.” She looked from the Bible to Ian. “My father’s great-grandmother was a Campbell.” She paused, as if waiting to see if perhaps his people didn’t get along with a faction of the Campbells.
“Go on,” he prompted.
She sighed. “She was the daughter of the Duke of Argyll. But the Duke’s descendants swear that she didn’t exist. She ran off with a commoner Highlander who worked for the Duke as a groom. While she was at finishing school, she fell in love with him and they eloped. Anyway, the Duke stated that he would disown her and wipe her name from all records.”
“So if the lady had kept a family Bible…”
“It would be proof.” Julia took a hesitant breath and opened the Bible, scanned the dates, the names, and breathed in a deeper breath. Tears filled her eyes as she cast Ian a small smile and then closed the Bible with reverence. “It appears, Laird MacNeill, you have mated with a descendant of the Duke.”
With a stern expression, Ian shook his head, not believing the implications. “We haven’t had good relations with the Duke and his family for centuries.”
Julia gently replaced the Bible in the box. “You are making real strides in that regard then, my laird.” She set the box on the bedside table and climbed onto the bed. “Is this my bedchamber?”
“Your family has higher rank than mine,” he said, utterly astounded.
She gave a breathy little laugh. “My grandfather feared that if we ever could prove our ties to the Duke’s family, a Scotsman may want me for only that reason. Now I’m wondering if that had been my grandfather’s reluctance about anyone seeing the contents of the box. But we don’t have titles in America, remember?”
He eyed her lying on her back, her T-shirt barely covering her feminine treasures. “But in Scotland we do. Should we have DNA testing to see if we can lay claim to their castle? In the event you are a more direct descendant than those who are running the place now?”
She laughed and tugged him close. “If we participated in those circles, we’d have to get married, you know. As werewolves, we don’t bother.”
“Since I am an earl, we must also.”
She frowned at him. “Basil said you didn’t really have a title. That you could buy a little bitty piece of land and call yourself laird.”
“He did, did he? Well, he only said so because he was a baron. But a duke’s descendant is within our pack now? How could I ever have gotten so lucky?”
“You truly didn’t know it, did you, Ian? That isn’t the reason you wanted me? That’s why I normally kept the Campbell ties secret,” she teased, running her finger down his bare chest. “Well, that, and the fact I didn’t have any real proof.”
Ian laughed. “You only had to be Julia for me to fall in love with you, lass.”
With that, he pulled off her T-shirt and shucked his boxers. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and he plied her with a deep, ravenous kiss, that she responded to with a kiss that was just as voracious. Her legs wrapped around him as she wriggled, trying to line herself up for his penetration. And then he plunged into her hard and fast and furious, only stopping briefly to stroke her until she was moaning and writhing under his touch.
Their breathing was ragged, their bodies covered in a light sheen of perspiration, when he thrust deeply inside of her again and felt the fervor of their lovemaking gathering and growing—the spasms of contractions deep inside her gripping him like a velvet sheath. And in an upsurge of white-hot heat, he was blown away by the combustion—the chemistry between them nothing like anything he’d ever experienced. Then he felt bone weary and satiated, and sank next to her.
Kissing her lightly on the mouth, he smiled at her as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. He sighed and spooned her body with his.
Somehow, he had to figure out some other way to keep the castle afloat, or he could very well be a titled laird without a centimeter of land to call his own.
A couple of weeks later, when Julia had finished mapping out her schedule with her publicist for her signing tour, Ian didn’t take the news well at all.
“Worldwide book tour?” he grunted. “You said there would be one signing in the States.”
“It’s scheduled, Ian. I’ll be gone all next month. But you’re welcome to come with me.”
“To do what?”
“Wear a kilt, stand behind me, and look ferocious or sexy as hell.”
That brought a small smile to his lips. He enfolded her in his arms. “I told you, lass, you would not traipse around the world without your mate at your side.”
“I know—there are wolves all over the place out there. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for going with me. We’ll have fun. You’ll see.”
His eyes gleamed with intrigue. “Different beds every night. Could work.”
She laughed and poked him in the chest with her finger. “But you can’t make me miss the engagements.” She reached up and stroked his cheek. “What about the movie premiere?”
He shook his head. “It is said that if anyone sees those shots of me fighting Oran and the others, women will be driven to climb the castle walls to get to me.”
Julia laughed. “Ah, but they would not dare tackle you with me around.”
And with that, she returned him to bed, a surefire way to get his mind off book tours and the like.
Within weeks, they were off on her worldwide tour, including stops in Australia and New Zealand and all over Europe, and then on to Canada and the States. Not only did Ian accompany her, but his brothers also. If he was going to protect her, so were they. But she knew it had to do in part with them using that as an excuse to see the world. She needed no one’s protection from her fans.