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  “Why do we have to pack now?”

  “Because the train leaves at like eight. Thane said he’ll be here to pick you up at seven.”

  “Then you go with him,” she argued, and rolled away from her cousin.

  Lucy smacked her butt. “I’m going to pack sexy undies and nothing else if you don’t get out of this bed.”

  “Wait.” Sydney sat up, her hair falling in front of her face. She found the scrunchy that fell out during the night and pulled her hair into a ponytail. “Start again, Luce, and talk really slowly.”

  Lucy giggled. “Thane is taking you to Edinburgh, and the train leaves at eight. He’ll be here at seven to collect you.”

  “But he said he’d call me today to talk about it.”

  “Well, he talked to Dad and is now on his way.”

  “Uncle Cary said that was okay?”

  “Yep.” Lucy walked into Sydney’s closet, returning with a suitcase. “Go shower and then we’ll pack.”

  Sydney jumped from the bed with a squeal and rushed into the bathroom, taking the fastest shower in history. Dressing in dark jeans, black knee-high boots, and a cowl-necked cream sweater, she left her hair in a ponytail, rather than washing it. It would take too long to dry.

  “You look gorgeous,” Lucy said.

  Sydney giggled. “Thanks, cuz. Okay, let’s figure out what I’m taking.”

  “Shoes. You need shoes.”

  “I need sneakers and flats, maybe slippers.”

  “No, you need one-, two-, and four-inch heels, plus sneakers, flats, and definitely slippers... oh, and boots.”

  “I’m going for the weekend,” Sydney argued. “Not a month.”

  “At least take your Jimmy Choos and a little black dress. In case.”

  “Fine.” Sydney rolled her eyes. “Just in case.”

  Lucy helped her pack the rest of her things, which meant Lucy threw stuff into the bag while Sydney took half of it back out. If she hadn’t, she’d have needed more than one bag and they would have been packing for a week.

  A knock at the door brought her aunt. “Thane’s here, love.”

  Sydney checked her watch. “He’s early.”

  Aunt Clara chuckled. “He obviously wants to get the romance started.”

  “Oh, gross, Mum,” Lucy complained.

  “Why is that gross?”

  “Probably because you said it.”

  Sydney grinned and pulled her bag off the bed. “I’m ready. You two can bicker on your own time. Right now, it’s romance time.”

  Aunt Clara giggled and Lucy groaned.

  “Just FYI, it’s gross when you say it too, Syd,” Lucy retorted.

  “At least I’m not saying lover.”

  “Ohmigod, that’s disgusting.”

  Sydney wrinkled her nose. “I’m going away with my loverrrrr.”

  “Okay, even I think that’s gross,” Aunt Clara said.

  “Which he’s not,” Sydney rushed to say. “Just to be clear.”

  “We know,” Aunt Clara said, and the three dissolved into giggles as they walked downstairs.

  Sydney set her bag in the foyer and smiled when Thane and her uncle walked out of the parlor.

  Thane leaned down to kiss her gently. “Good morning. You look beautiful.”

  “So do you,” she said.

  He wore dark jeans with a periwinkle-blue sweater that matched his eyes, and to say he looked gorgeous was an understatement.

  “Are you ready?”

  Sydney nodded. “I tried to pack light.”

  Thane chuckled. “You did well, love. I was expecting triple.”

  “I can go back upstairs and pack more if you need me to,” she retorted.

  He grinned. “Cheeky.”

  Thane nodded to his “man” who stood inside the door, and he took Sydney’s bag out to the car. Sydney took a few minutes to hug her family and then Thane ushered her out to the waiting SUV. The driver held the door open for her and she climbed in while Thane walked to the other side. His phone pealed and he took the call as the driver pulled away from the curb.

  “Morning, Pam. Aye.” He took Sydney’s hand and linked his fingers with hers. “Aye. You did? Well done. Aye. See you in a few minutes.” He hung up and smiled. “Pam’s diverted the paparazzi, which means, if all goes according to plan, we won’t be bothered at the station.”

  “I didn’t even think about the paparazzi,” Sydney admitted.

  Thane kissed her palm. “That’s why we have Pam.”

  Sydney giggled. “I’m not sure I’m her favorite person.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because I keep distracting you from what she wants you to do.”

  Thane chuckled. “Pam’s protective, but she knows who signs her checks, so you won’t have any issues with her. If you do, tell me.”

  “I’m not getting between you and your assistant, Thane. I’ll fight my own battles if I need to.”

  “Sassy.”

  “Bossy.”

  He dropped his head back and laughed. “You’re gorgeous, you know that, right?”

  “Back atya.”

  He leaned over and kissed her quickly, smiling against her lips. “I can’t wait to spend the entire weekend with you.”

  “Me neither.” She cocked her head. “Uncle Cary discussed me staying with you instead of Charlotte and Niall, right?”

  “Aye, he did.”

  “Is that still okay?”

  He chuckled. “Of course it is. It’s better. We’ll have no distractions.”

  “Perfect,” she said. The SUV pulled up to the train station and Thane guided her directly to their private train car.

  “Shouldn’t we check in?” she asked.

  “My people will do that for us.” He pulled her to a seat next to the window and sat down beside her.

  “So this is what it’s like to travel with a big movie star,” she mused.

  Thane chuckled. “Do you find it to be a positive or a negative?”

  “Being whisked into a private rail car? Positive,” she said. “Being accosted by sixteen-year-olds with barely any clothes on? Negative.”

  He grinned. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  A young man in uniform made his way to them and smiled. “Sir, ma’am, may I get you a drink or something to eat?”

  “Coffee,” Sydney said immediately. “Please.”

  “Same,” Thane said. “What would you like for breakfast?”

  “Surprise me.” Sydney grinned. “But definitely something with bacon.”

  Thane chuckled. “Everything’s better with bacon.”

  “A valuable motto to live by.”

  Thane focused back on the server. “Full breakfast, please.”

  “Very good, sir.”

  The server walked away and Sydney leaned against Thane. He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

  “Careful, honey, I’ll fall asleep if you make me any more comfortable,” Sydney warned, settling against his chest.

  He chuckled. “Sleep, baby. We’ve got time.”

  “But there’s bacon coming,” she whispered even as her eyes were closing.

  “I’ll wake you when it gets here,” he promised.

  She nodded with a smile and snuggled closer. She didn’t even remember falling asleep, but as promised, Thane woke her to eat. Even with the lure of bacon, she was hard-pressed to leave the comfort of his arms, but the pig won out and she devoured her meal.

  “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.”

&
nbsp; “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.”