And then I see him.
My God, he’s bare-chested, swinging an ax to chop the broken bit of fence. With the mountains behind him and his muscled, inked chest glistening with sweat, he’s a fucking vision. A real man of the mountains, the stuff of fantasies. So strong. So powerful. So fucking alpha.
I watch as he swings the ax, and the wood goes splintering to the side. One of his brothers shouts out and says something, and they all burst out laughing, deep bellowing laughs, all masculine and rugged. And I feel a wee bit guilty because right then, I don't want to leave this clan. My family isn't like this, and I want to know these men better.
He sees me when I near and leans against his ax. His eyes shine at me, and he grins, that dimple showing on his cheek making my heart flutter madly in my chest. I wave at him, like a silly little girl, then immediately feel embarrassed by my outward display of affection. My family doesn't do that. We know better than to show any type of emotion.
He grins and waves back. Leith and Tate look up to where I am, and suddenly, with the sun glaring behind them, I know. I’ve seen these men before.
When I first saw them all together, I felt a strange sort of recognition. But I didn't really know how to reconcile it, or how I would know these men. But now I remember.
“Last year,” I say, shaking my head from side to side as I approach. “You three were in the petrol station in Inverness centre, weren’t you?”
Mac laughs, but he doesn’t meet my eyes. He turns to grab his shirt from the fence.
“Aye, perhaps, lass. But you have to understand that we were likely in the petrol station in Inverness centre about fifty times last year. Why would you remember one time?”
For some reason, Leith doesn’t meet my eyes but just keeps working, and Tate does the same.
“Because it was the first time I saw any of you. And now, seeing you all together like this… I just remember." I turn to Leith next. “Do you remember? You were asking how to find the Cathedral." I shake my head. "But why would you need to know how to find the Cathedral? You've lived here all your life, haven't you?"
I don't miss the way they all look at each other. They don't want to answer my question. They know exactly what I'm talking about.
And when it all becomes clear to me, I wish I could take my words back. Of course they knew where the Cathedral was. I was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and they were probably doing something illegal.
Mac puts down his ax and walks over to me. He smiles, but there’s warning in his eyes. “Are there things your father doesn’t speak of, lassie?”
I nod. “Aye, of course.”
His voice lowers, and his hand comes to my lower back, gently pushing me away from the others, his voice low in my ear. “There are things we don’t speak of either. And I think it’s time you dropped the subject.”
I nod, caught halfway between embarrassment for speaking so boldly, like a child asking questions she shouldn't, and a tiny bit of fear at the reminder that these men do things they shouldn't. I don't want to think of what they do, but if they’re anything like my father, I know that they’re violent, and they break the law.
But those thoughts are very fleeting, because I like the way his hand feels on the small of my back. I like the way his deep, commanding voice sends a shiver of delight down my spine. And for some reason I can't understand at all… I like that I'm a wee bit afraid of him.
“Lads, I reckon we’re done here for now, aren’t we?” Mac asks over his shoulder.
“Aye, thanks, brother,” Leith says, as Mac grabs his shirt from a nearby tree branch and slings it over his shoulder. “Call me later.”
“Aye, will do.”
“Aren’t you freezin’ your bollox off?” I ask Mac. “I feel cold just looking at you.”
“Nah, lass,” he says with a teasing wink. “Not when you’re beside me.”
I grin. “You’re a shameless flirt, Mac Cowen, you know that?”
“Me?” he asks in mock surprise. “A flirt? Never.”
I roll my eyes as he takes my hand in his. Now that we’re a good distance away from his brothers, he brings the conversation up again.
“Aye, lass, you saw us at the petrol station. We were looking for someone, and we didn't want anyone to know who we are. There's something you need to know, Bryn. We like to stay anonymous. It's very important to us that nobody knows who we are, or what we do.”
Has he put himself at risk here with his family, for me?