Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

N early two weeks had gone by with minimal time spent with Niall and Mae was becoming more and more frustrated. Brian continued his pattern of behavior, sexually harassing the various women and girls in the castle, at least until Niall put a stop to it. The problem was every time Niall shut him down, Brian got worse and found a way around him.

Mae knew Niall was at his wits end. He was looking extremely stressed, with dark circles under his eyes and a closed off demeanor. The only time he seemed to brighten was when Mae managed to greet him for a brief moment before Brian showed his ugly face. She knew this couldn't continue for much longer.

Brian continued to seek her out along with the other women, too, which only served to frustrate Mae more. Niall too, for that matter, since he was the one keeping Brian in check. She watched him doing so with the other women, but there was a bit of extra force when he protected her from the vile man. Unfortunately, that only seemed to make Brian more determined to accost her.

"What's the matter? Why aren't you enjoying the day with Niall?" Jen asked, taking a seat next to her at the morning meal.

Mae twisted her spoon in her porridge and sighed. "Because Brian the asshole is making our lives miserable."

Jen arched a brow. "How so?"

"He won't leave me alone and any moment Niall and I find to have to ourselves, he somehow manages to interrupt. We haven't gotten to be alone in ages and I think Niall is about to lose his mind. He's really stressed out, you can see it on his face." She frowned as she looked across the room to where he sat across the table from Brian.

Jen followed her gaze and nodded. "Hmm, yeah, I see what you mean. I wish Cam would let me kick his ass. Maybe if he got a good ass whopping, he'd stop all this shit."

Mae couldn't have agreed more. "Absolutely. However, I do see Cam's predicament. I mean the guy is a Campbell and kicking his ass could bring about consequences we won't like. It wouldn't be good if the clan lost this stronghold because we couldn't control our tempers with their representative."

Jen nodded. "A lot of truth in that, but damn I wish I could just punch him in his smarmy face."

Mae giggled. "Yeah, me too."

Jen glanced at her and grinned. "How about you come join today's training session? I've got beginner lessons happening, and maybe it will help relieve some of the frustration you're feeling?"

"Sounds like a good plan. I am supposed to help in the kitchens this afternoon, when is this training?"

"In about an hour. I'll have you back in the kitchens before you know it." Jen winked. "By the way, I'm glad you've found something to keep you busy around here. I know being here is different than being back in our world and isn't exactly how you saw your life playing out, but?—"

"No, it's okay. You're right it isn't, but after talking to Dub Sith, well, it seems I probably would have died if I'd stayed. He sort of implied that if I were to go back, that is what's in store for me. Better to be here and live than go back and die."

Jen looked solemn. "He said you would have died? How?"

Mae realized she hadn't exactly told Jen the truth about what had been going on prior to her coming here. Maybe now was the time to come clean, she thought. "When I got in his cab, my ex-boyfriend was chasing me."

"Right, you mentioned something about that, I think."

"What I didn't tell you was that I sort of took some stuff from him and he was angry about it. Really angry. Like murderous about it." Mae pressed her lips together and closed her eyes. "He was a really abusive guy and I'd gotten away from him for a few years, long enough to go to school and get my degree, but he'd found me and that was why he was chasing me."

"Wow. I'm sorry you went through that," Jen replied.

"I was after a better life, and I guess I've found that here, so being here it's good. I can start fresh without worrying about Billy getting a hold of me. And finding Niall, well, if we can ever manage to get some time together, I think we could really work. He's a good man."

Jen smiled. "That he is. And you do know that it's not exactly taboo to spend time with him away from prying eyes. I mean, when I got here, I was under the impression that people in the past were inclined to puritanical views about relationships, but it's a bit more laid back than that. Don't go getting pregnant or anything without a ring on your finger, but pretty much everything else is on the table."

Mae blinked. "Seriously?"

Jen grinned. "The staff will gossip if they catch you, but that's about it. Haven't you heard the girls tittering about Lorne and Elspet?"

"Elspet? She's a teenager!" Mae gasped.

"She's seventeen, and yes and in our world that's a bit young, but here, she's marriageable age. Most women marry by the age of nineteen in this world. And Lorne is twenty, so not too big of an age difference really in the grand scheme of things."

"They must think I'm an old maid then." Mae chuckled.

"Me too when I got here," Jen said with a laugh. "I'll let you finish your meal. Come find me in the courtyard when you're done."

"I'll see you later."

Mae watched her leave and then allowed her eyes to rest upon Niall's hunched shoulders once more. She missed him, missed his conversation, missed the way he smiled at her, missed the way he held her and kissed her. She wished once again that things could be easy, and Brian would go back to the rock he'd crawled out from under.

Niall turned and glanced her direction and then after a surreptitious glance at Brian, smiled at her and raised his hand in greeting. She smiled and waved back at him, wishing she could join him, but she wouldn't. Not with Brian there.

Their brief connection was broken when Brian grabbed one of the girls clearing the table and Niall had to jump up to help her get away from Brian's grasping hands. Sighing, Mae finished her food and took her used dishes to the kitchen. She'd gotten into the habit of clearing her own things so the others wouldn't have to.

"You're a wee bit early to be helping in here today," Mira said, greeting her.

"Oh, hi, Mira. Good morning. No, I'm just clearing my plate. I'll be back later this afternoon. Am I on vegetable chopping duty again?" she asked with a grin.

"I thought I might have you help me with the baking today, if'n you're up to it?"

The idea of learning to bake bread here actually thrilled her and she nodded. "That would be great. I'm looking forward to it."

"Come a wee bit early then, we've a lot to do."

"I will," Mae agreed, and then headed upstairs to add a pair of pants under her skirts so she could train with Jen.

After a long day of first working out with Jen, where she learned a lot of basic martial art moves, and then a quick wash—Lord how she missed her shower back home—she'd gone to the kitchens and Mira taught her how to grind the grain for the flour, then how to add the yeast and boiled water to get it to rise and lighten. Once that was done, it could be baked. They'd done probably thirty loaves by the time they were finished, but Mae didn't count them to be sure. She was tired and her arms ached from both her workout and the kneading.

Instead of joining the others in the dining room for dinner, she decided to take her meal up to her room and then get an early night of sleep. The others in the kitchen had made a delicious smelling beef stew to go with all of the bread she and Mira had made. There was also shortbread, which Mira had done between making the bread. The woman was a very skilled baker with the arms of a strong man from all the bread kneading and heavy flour bags she lifted daily.

Sinking into her chair, Mae ate her meal and then quietly slipped downstairs to return her plate and utensils. Sally stopped her on the way back upstairs and after a brief conversation, said she'd have a bath delivered to her. Mae couldn't help but be grateful. A bath sounded like heaven.

She wasn't wrong. The bath was just what she'd needed. The maids had returned a short while ago, cleared away the bath and stoked the fire for her. She was just about to climb into her bed when there was another knock on her door. She didn't bother asking who it was, assuming it was Sally, come to do her hair or chat, so she just opened it. But it wasn't Sally. Instead, Niall stood on the other side of her door, wearing a grin.

He dragged his gaze over her in her nightgown and she felt her cheeks heat. She wasn't really embarrassed, she'd worn less on the beach back home, but somehow, he made her feel as though she were wearing sexy lingerie instead of a floor-length white, cotton shift that came all the way up to her collar bone.

"Lass, aren't you a sight for sore eyes. I've missed you greatly," he murmured, looking at her hungrily.

Mae swallowed hard and let a grin spread over her lips. "I've missed you too." Her gaze strayed past him, almost afraid she'd find Brian lingering in the hallway behind him. "Where is your charge?"

"I left him in a drunken stupor in his bed," he answered, his smile growing. "I thought it might be the perfect chance to steal some time with you."

"I'm glad you did, would you like to come in?"

He hesitated. "But you're dressed for bed."

Mae laughed. "All the more reason you should come in, instead of us lingering in the doorway, don't you think?"

Chuckling, he nodded and followed her into the small room which only grew smaller with him in it, and closed the door behind him. "You do not mind me being here when you're dressed as such?"

Mae arched a brow. "Are you uncomfortable around me while I'm dressed like this?"

"Uncomfortable? No. Enamored, yes," he said, his voice low and husky as he drew her into his arms. He raised a hand and brushed some of her hair from her cheek, tucking it behind her ear gently. "I missed seeing you at dinner. Did you eat?"

Mae nodded. "I ate up here. I needed a quiet evening."

"I donnae blame you, lass, though I must admit seeing your smiling face during dinner is one of the highlights of my day." He cupped her cheek. "I regret not getting more time with you."

Mae leaned her cheek deeper into his hand, enjoying the intimate caress. Her eyes fluttered closed as she breathed in the scent of him. "I regret that too," she murmured.

He leaned in and kissed her, and Mae felt her world turn topsy-turvy. A few moments later, he broke the kiss and sighed, leaning his forehead against hers.

"He's driving me mad," he practically growled, "especially when he acts the vulgar fool toward you."

A smile ghosted over Mae's lips. "He's just jealous of you. He knows he can't get with me, and you can."

"That may be so, lass, but it does nothing to alleviate the hatred I feel toward him when he does it." He shook his head, which felt strange because he still had his forehead pressed to hers.

It was as though they were in a little bubble of existence, connected to each other at every possible point they could, dressed as they were. Mae felt her heart swell as she whispered, "This isn't just a fling, is it?"

"Not for me, love, you?"

"Not for me either," she whispered back. "I'm falling in love with you, Niall."

"And I with you, love. I think that may be why I get so angry when he acts indelicately around you. It hurts my soul to not be able to defend your honor around him."

Mae drew her hand from his waist up to his chest and put it over his heart. "You are a good man, Niall, and I love that you want to defend my honor, but know, he can't touch me."

Niall's fingers twisted in her hair, tilting her head as he kissed her again with more passion than she'd ever felt in her life. He made her feel precious and fragile, yet strong and capable in his arms. It was unlike any feeling she'd ever had before. She never wanted to let him go, it was a scary thought, but one she wanted to hold onto forever.

"I should go," he said, breathing hard when he broke the kiss a few minutes later. "Let you sleep."

Mae really wanted to beg him to stay, but knew he wouldn't, not yet. Despite what Jen had said about the rules being more lax than she'd originally imagined this time period would be, Niall was a gentleman. She had a feeling he wanted to court her properly before he subjected her and their relationship to the rumors of the staff. "Stay a moment more?" she asked, hopeful.

He smiled. "Only a moment. I fear if I donnae leave soon, the staff I passed in the hall on my way here will be having us at the center of their attention for the next month."

Mae giggled. Gossips were the same in the twenty-first century; that hadn't changed. "Probably so, though if they're going to gossip anyway, we should maybe give them something more to talk about." She grinned and pulled his lips back to hers.