Shielding
my eyes with my hand, I turned and peered at the towering figure. Illuminated
from behind, his wavy blond hair shone like a halo around his head. He wore a cream
shirt and pants and couldn’t have been much older than me, but he looked like a
Greek god. When he smiled, a dimple appeared on one cheek.
“Weel,
hallo there,” he said in a thick accent. My eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Without
thinking I blurted, “You’re Scottish.”
Brilliant, Einstein.
He
threw his head back and laughed – rich, joyous sound that bounced off the
water. “Aye, that I am, indeed. Aiden MacRae of Eilean Donan. Very pleased to
be meeting you.” He bowed with a grand sweep of his arm, and straightened with
an upright carriage that cast an air of royalty.
“Wow.
Um, I’m uh…” I struggled to think of something impressive to say in return but
gave up. “I’m Lindsey. Lindsey Waters.”
He
repeated my name carefully with a sweet lilt I’d never heard before. It’s a
lovely name.” He tipped his head and smiled, his blue eyes crinkled in the
corners.
I wanted
to say something witty, but I just stood there, absorbing him with my eyes. He
knelt beside the water and took a drink. I couldn’t help but stare at the
strength of his movements: swift and fluid in one way, but filled with an
undying power, like a lion at rest.
“You
look like an angel,” I breathed.
Oh man, did I just say that out loud?
“Thank
you kindly, lass. But no, angels are incredible beings, fierce and dangerous,
and so beautiful you can barely stand to look that them.” He fit the
description pretty well, but I kept my mouth shut. “No, I’m not an angel. I’m
what you might call a Transporter. I’m here to take you from earth to heaven.”
~~~~~~
Can
you believe it was only two years ago that we met this Greek (or I guess
Scottish) God on the banks of the In Between. Now
look how far he’s come. Married to the love his life with three books under his
belt and another one on the way.
Today is a very special day; do you know
why?
It’s his BIRTHDAY today!
On May 1st 1699 Aiden MacRae was
born and now, 314 years later he’s here for us to swoon over and adore. How
fantastic is that?
To celebrate this joyous occasion, we’ve
got a few things for you but you know what would be an amazing present? Reviews.
Even In Darkness was released
30 Days ago and I know many of you have received your copies and no doubt tore
through them as quickly as possible. The best thing you can do for Cyndi, for
Aiden, and in support of this amazing series is to review it and post it on
Goodreads as well as wherever you purchased the book from (Amazon, Nook etc.).
It’s such an amazing gift.
And speaking of gifts, let’s get this party
started!
Any good party begins with a…
SURPRISE!
Were you surprised? Who doesn’t love a Scotsman in a kilt? Well here are some more:
What? You want more? Well you can find them
all on Cyndi’s Pinterest page
Next part of the party is of course the
cake.
Below you’ll find two cakes (one alcoholic
and one not). Now, I’ve yet to make these cakes so if you try them please let
me know how they turn out. Tweet me pictures if you can.
Yum! Looks good, right?
Well, the next part is everyone’s favourite,
presents!
So the first part of the present is the
giveaway that Cyndi hosted in celebration of Even In Darkness being released
into the wild. That ended yesterday and the winner will be announced soon.
This present is a little more like a
tribute to Aiden. A tribute to a fangirl’s love of the hunky Scotsman.
Aiden MacRae. That Hot Scot. We all know him, and well love
him; we simply can’t help it. In every sense of the word, Aiden is irresistible.
Let’s look at this
systematically, shall we?
His accent. Personally, I have a thing for accents.
Especially when they are used to say amazingly sweet things. Aiden’s accent
ALONE could be enough to make me—and I’m sure others, too—love him.
His looks. I’m going to keep this appropriate, and simply
say that AIDEN IS FREAKING HOT. There is no way anyone can deny it. I mean,
honestly, the guy wears a kilt! Zachary (another Hot Scot from another
wonderful series called Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready) was completely
correct when he said that a kilt is like male lingerie to us. No one can deny
this either—kilts are hot.
His personality. Our boy Aiden is as sweet as can be. He’s a
gentleman, but he knows when to…not be a gentleman. I’m going to focus on the
sweet gentleman thing, though, because I’m still keeping this appropriate.
Remember in Between when he and Lindsey were in the car with her
parents, and he mom was telling her she should find a man who can play an
instrument, then her dad said she should wait for a guy who loves her, trusts
her, wants her only to be happy, and will never ever leave her? And then her
mom said she’ll never find someone like that and Aiden (along with her dad, but
that’s not the point) said “She will” rather forcefully? Well that was our boy
being sweet. He is sweet and caring to a fault and I love him for it. We all
love him for it.
Another thing about
Aiden—he’s brave. And protective. He is, by all definitions of the word a MAN.
So, this was an
attempt to rationally define why we all love Aiden the way we do. Why we are
all devoted to being his angels. But what about the part that can’t be
rationalized? The part where we just love him because we love him? Because that
IS a factor in this equation, too. And there really isn’t an answer to this.
It’s just a part we acknowledge, and let it be.
Because we all know
that, whatever the reason, Aiden will always be our irresistible Hot Scot. ;)
~~~~
Oh don’t think we
forgot about you. Of course we didn’t. The lovely and wonderful Cyndi Tefft has
posted a bonus scene from Hell Transporter for your enjoyment:
The late morning sun
streams through the window of the cabin loft. I stretch in the warmth of the
bed and watch tiny particles of dust dance in the yellow rays. Aiden breathes
deep and even at my side and I allow myself a moment to bask in the rightness
that is this moment, this bubble of time we’ve carved out of reality, where
only he and I exist, tucked away in the woods, trying to catch up on all the
time we’ve missed.
One thing I missed
this past year is about to be rectified, if only I can sneak away quietly
enough to keep from waking him. If he wakes up, he’ll want to know what I’m
doing and I want to surprise him.
Sliding out of the
bed, I gingerly place one foot on the bare hardwood floor and then another, all
the while listening to Aiden’s breathing. In. Out. In. Out.
So far, so good.
Then I’m free of the
bed’s embrace and clothed in nothing more than a sunbeam, still listening,
afraid he’ll sense that I’m missing from the bed. But he doesn’t, so I quickly
slip a satin nightie on and tiptoe down the stairs to grab his present out of
my purse.
Once I hit the kitchen
floor, I am lightning speed, hoping I’ll make it back before he wakes up.
Careful to skip the squeaky step, I dash back up the stairs and round the
corner just as Aiden rolls onto his back and breathes out a deep sigh. His eyes
are closed, but he is starting to stir. The sheet is lightly draped across his
hips and tented in the middle. I can’t help the grin that steals across my face
at the sight.
Want to read the rest?
Find it here
How do you love Aiden? Tweet, comment,
post, skywrite your love for Aiden and use the hashtag #Aiden314. Don’t forget
to tweet @AidenMacRae all your birthday wishes.
Oh and Just for fun, here is a post about
why Scotland is better than England
Là breith sona dhuit!
