Amethyst Destiny by Pamela Montgomerie Read Free Book Online Page B

hundred-dollar haircut. Does it look like I hacked it with a knife?”
    His jaw dropped. “A hundred dollars?”
    “American dollars. With over three centuries of inflation. Expensive, but not what you’re thinking, so close your mouth.”
    He did, and found a smile breaking over it.
    “What?” she asked warily. “Why are you smiling?”
    “You please me, lass. You’ve every reason for hysteria and swooning, yet you fight it every step of the way.”
    “Thanks. I think.” She slapped her thighs lightly. “Okay, let’s get me some clothes and find your chalice so I can get home. I’ve got an important meeting next week that I can’t afford to miss.” Her mouth twisted thoughtfully. “I wonder if time moves the same in both places. Or if I’ll wind up right back in the car as if I’d never left.”
    Talon shrugged and rose. “I dinna ken. All right, then.” He rubbed his ring with his thumb. “The lass’s clothing will give her away as not of this time, putting her in danger. Keep her safe.”
    Her mouth twitched. “You’re asking your magic ring?”
    His ire tried to rise at the faintly teasing tone, and failed. He might have a magic ring, but she’d traveled from the future. They were more than even, to his mind.
    “Aye.” The look he gave her was stern, but not entirely serious.
    “Why not just ask it for clothes?”
    “The ring’s a wee bit fickle, aye? It does as it pleases.” He shrugged. “Ye may get new clothes soon or not at all. And if . . .”
    He felt the tingle of magic over his skin, then stared as the lass’s outlander clothing disappeared to be replaced by a simple, threadbare shift. The yellowed linen clung to her form, the neck wide, revealing creamy skin, the sleeves extending to just below her elbows. The fabric itself was so worn, he could see straight through it.
    Jesu, but the sight of her dusky nipples and the thatch of hair between her thighs moved him. His blood rushed, heating his skin. Hardening him.
    Julia looked down at herself and gasped, covering those finely curved breasts with her arms. The only things she wore that she’d come with were her boots and the necklace around her neck.
    Her head jerked up. “You did this on purpose.”
    Talon’s mouth kicked up in a sideways grin, his body growing harder still. “Nay.” Though he couldn’t say he wasn’t enjoying the moment.
    “Quit looking at me like that and get me some clothes!”
    With a low chuckle, Talon rubbed the ring again. “The lass is in danger of catching a chill, ring.”
    A servant’s bonnet blossomed on her head.
    Julia scowled.
    Talon began to laugh. The ring had a mind of its own, to be sure. And for once he was enjoying the rock’s impudence.
    “This isn’t funny.” Though her voice was waspish, her eyes began to glitter with unshed tears.
    His heart went out to her. She’d been through shock after shock, finding the strength to withstand each. But now her clothing had been stolen from her and she stood undressed and vulnerable before him. Taken from all she knew.
    He sobered. “You’re right,” he said softly. Lifting the blanket from the bed, he wrapped it tight around her as she stood still as stone. Feeling the need to offer a bit of comfort, he cupped her shoulder and squeezed lightly. “I’ll find ye a gown. Without the ring’s dubious help.”
    As he reached for the door, he turned to her, to where she stood looking small and lost and vulnerable. “You’ll go nowhere?”
    Her eyes widened and she shot him a disbelieving look as sharp as daggers. He ducked out of the room, grinning. Slowly, he leaned back against the wall, fighting for control over his humor even as he willed his body to quiet from the need throbbing low.
    “You’re playing with the two of us now, are ye?” he asked the ring as he tipped his head back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. “You couldna bring me a plain lass, could you? Or dressed her in sackcloth?” Nay, the bloody ring had