Time of the Draig (29 page)

Chapter 20

“Why did you wish to come here, my heart?” Faolan asked as he spread the blanket on the ground in the glade.

Samantha laughed, and she shook her hair free from its braid.
How can I ever put into words what this place symbolizes to me?
She smiled at the man who waited patiently for a reply. “That day we were here was one of the most unusual of my life. We laughed, we played, and we were just . . . we were just here. I had never had a day like that.”

Faolan grinned as he sat on the blanket and motioned for her to sit by his side. “I’m glad it pleased you. Such a day is rare, and this place will always belong to us.” His head cocked to the side. “But then the loch also holds a fine place in my thoughts as it was where I first kissed you.”

Sitting against his chest, Samantha stared at the lush scenery before her: the green leaves, tall trees, thick grasses, and the bushes that still held the fragrant white flowers. The brook could be heard babbling to their left side, and Faolan’s steady breath filled her ears.

She sighed at the memory of that first kiss; it had taken on a life all its own with a passion she never knew existed. She sighed. “I liked the loch, too.”

His arms banded around her waist as he nestled against her hair. “We will swim there again, my heart.”

Her eyes closed. He played the game too well, the game of what their future could have been. In her mind, she could imagine the potential for a fine afternoon swimming in the clear water with Faolan, laughing and splashing.

“We have a large meal awaiting us. Would you like me to fetch it?” he asked after kissing her hair.

She knew she should be hungry because breakfast was long since past. They had ridden through the countryside, enjoying the beautiful morning for hours. “Not yet, just be here with me.”

“Tell of your time with our men,” Faolan said.

Goodbyes were never easy, and those had been brutal. She told Faolan what she had said to each of her men, how she praised each for what they had done there. She thanked them for serving her with pride and honor. It had been hard to deny each one’s private request to go back with her; they had offered with such sincerity.

“You have the men you wanted,” she teased him but realized the mistake as he tensed behind her.

“I will care for the men, but dinna have what I want.” His voice held too much sincerity.

“We have this now together,” Samantha offered. It wasn’t what she wanted either. For the first time in her life, she wanted the proverbial fairy tale. She wanted the future to unfold around her as it would, not controlled by an unknown object. Her lungs wanted to breathe the clean air, her soul wanted to dance in the moonlight, her body wanted to remain strong and alive, and her heart wanted to love Faolan.

His body was stiff, and he was silent. She knew he was deciding if he wanted to bring up whatever it was that bothered him. The night before, they had both pretended nothing was wrong. They had laughed and loved the whole night through. As soon as morning came, however, there was something he wasn’t saying. Like a coward, she didn’t ask. A little voice whispered in her mind that she didn’t want to know.

He sighed before he spoke. “If I ask you a question, will you give me the truth?”

She turned to see the serious look on his face. Her hands cupped the sides of his strong jaw, and she placed a chaste kiss to his lips. “Always.” Their limited time didn’t allow for partial truths.

His eyes bore into hers as if seeking whatever answer he needed. “In the weeks since we have wed, you have not bled. Are you with child?”

He found the game she didn’t want to play; it was the math that should never be done, and the probability was too cruel. Her cycle had fluctuated greatly over the last six months due to almost no sleep, a bad diet, extreme exercise with Boomer, and an immense amount of stress. However, currently, she ate real food, slept each night, exercised in moderation, and was sexually active. Yet it was almost impossible to calculate a definitive answer with no true starting point.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, and her eyes closed.

“You do ken. Your eyes only close when you hide from me,” Faolan growled.

In the heat of the moment, she hated that he knew her so well. Her hands fell from his face, and she opened her eyes. “I mean it when I say I don’t know. At this exact moment, we only can assume it’s possible.”

His forehead leaned down to rest against hers. “You could have our child, yet you leave me.”

She pushed him away roughly and rose to her feet, anger pulsing through her body. “I’m not leaving you. I’m saving you and all of this.” Samantha spoke as she gestured to the world around them. “You knew this would happen, damn you. You knew I would have to leave. How dare you make me think about that? What gives you the right to make me think about one more perfect thing I will never know?” Tears fell, and she choked out, “I don’t want to know. For the first time in my life, I don’t want to know the answer.”

Blinded by tears, she never saw him rise but felt his arms band around her from behind. Her body shook with the force of her sobs, and the most beautiful place she had ever seen became one more location filled with dread.

He waited and held her while the grief ran its course and left her exhausted. Strong arms held her as she turned within his arms and buried her face in his chest.
I’m a scientist, a physicist, and far too brilliant to live in a land of denial.
Plus, she could count and knew her body. The game of a perfect day was over. She whispered, “I think I could be.” Samantha explained her irregularities and finished with, “Two weeks of sleeping and eating properly should have . . . but I still don’t know.”

“Then for now let us think you are,” Faolan said as he placed a kiss to the top of her head. “The thought pleases me.”

Samantha shook her head. “Not me. Not given what will happen to me.” She pushed back from him. “If I don’t come back, it’s a death sentence. You know that. What kind of a monster of a mother conceives a child when—”

Soft strong lips brushed the remainder of the sentence from her lips. Gentle hands lifted her face to look him in the eyes. Warmth gazed down at her as did love. “Forgive me, my heart. We live in the now. I should have never asked.” Faolan swallowed hard, and moisture pooled in his gaze. “I thought it would be something to think on this day. A child would be a fine thing between us. It gives you one more reason to fight to come home to me.”

She attempted to smile at the apology even as a piece of her heart died. “I already have so many reasons.” She stared into his brown gaze. “I love you.”

“Have hope, my heart, even if it argues with your wisdom.” Faolan winked and stepped away from her. “Let us eat our meal in the sunshine. The clouds will provide a diversion for the afternoon.”

Samantha wiped the tears from her cheeks and forced a smile as he returned from the tied horses with a bag in hand. His gaze held regret for the question and, sadly, her answer.
People living only in the now should never speak of possibilities that implied a tomorrow.
Despite the emotional overload, her stomach rumbled at the small banquet he laid out before her.

As she sat by his side, he leaned down to kiss her softly. He whispered against her mouth, “Eat and find shapes with me. When you have found five visions to share with me, I will spend the rest of this day loving you in the nature you so enjoy. When dusk falls, I shall take you home, and we will lock ourselves in our chamber, and I will love you until the sun rises.”

Still he played the game, but his eyes bore the wounds he didn’t give voice. If it were possible, Samantha loved him even more for it. After pulling him closer for a hard kiss, she asked, “Is that a promise?”

“Aye, my heart.”

Dawn had come far too quickly for a night with little sleep. Faolan had kept his promise and had spent the night loving every inch of her flesh. He had whispered words of love and devotion with each caress. Each gasp and sigh she had made rang in his ears. Her vows of love had filled his heart through the night.

He would remember the dawn if he lived for one hundred years. There had been no words, no sounds, only soft touches. Bright green eyes held his as he had entered and filled her for what could be the last time. When her body had tightened around his in pleasure, her gaze had remained locked on his. His release had left him hollow and spent, buried against her neck.

Neither had spoken as they rose from the bed to dress for the day. His only smile had been for the leather trews she had donned, a gift from Keira for a hard day of travel. Samantha was a sight to behold in soft deerskin trews with his dagger strapped to her side.

Her men had gathered at the gates and had formed a line with their hands pressed to their foreheads. Boomer had explained it was a salute, an offering of respect. Samantha had returned the gesture and rode ahead without looking back.

While the journey to his keep had taken two and a half days on foot, they reached the destination by mid-afternoon. There were no animals to slow their progress, and he had taken the shorter path like a fool.

Faolan paced the field while he stared at Samantha sitting in the grass with the metal attached to her temple. Her fingers flew over her computer as she finished whatever needed to be done to open her cursed door.

His finger itched to pull his sword from his back and hack the foul tool to pieces. Yet a large part of him was certain she would never forgive him if he doomed the fate of time. His father had explained many times that being laird meant making decisions for the greater good of the clan. Faolan never thought to be faced with such a painful example. He exhaled sharply as he stopped pacing at her feet. She was unaware of his presence, but Boomer nodded from behind her back.

All too soon, Samantha sighed and stood before him. He faced the major who stood straight with conviction. A weak smile crossed her features before she turned to speak with Jeff.

“I’m ready,” she said, and she patted the bag strapped to her waist containing the small orb of power.

Jeff nodded. “Do you want to go over this one more time?”

“We’re good,” Boomer said as he stretched his shoulders. “We know exactly where the enemy is, and we each have our targets.”

Jeff nodded. Faolan had already heard the plan several times that morning. Two guards and one other stood between immediate life and death for his wife. Samantha had sketched a rough map in the dirt that showed their positions and the assumed entry point. Boomer claimed he would receive a weapon of incredible power upon arrival from himself. The thought boggled his mind—Boomer meeting Boomer was beyond his comprehension.

Samantha lifted the cursed metal box from the ground and placed it in Jeff’s hands with firm instructions. “I will begin the sequence and need you to press the enter key on my signal. Expect the same noise and wind that you experienced in the lab. Whatever you do, don’t drop it. My hope is that the connection running through my system will keep the second door open long enough for us to retreat.”

Jeff blinked rapidly as the question formed on his face. “In the lab, you opened the door between two metal poles.”

Samantha laughed. “Props that took four months to procure. The requisition gave me the time I needed to finalize the initial plan.”

Faolan understood none of it and only knew Jeff had not found a reason to delay her departure.

Jeff handed the computer to Boomer and moved to take Samantha in his arms. His words were whispered, and he could not hear what was spoken between them. Both stood apart with hands wiping eyes before tears could fall. Jeff turned and faced Boomer. The mountain shook his head.

“Not much on goodbye.” He added with a wink, “Besides, I’ll be back in just a few, and then you’ll feel ridiculous for getting all weepy over me.”

Laughter filled the clearing for a sweet moment. Jeff replied, “Watch yourselves in there. The potential for more incoming exists, and I—”

“I’ve got his back,” Samantha interrupted as she placed the computer back in Jeff’s hands.

Instead of a verbal reply, Jeff faced her with a salute, and she stood a bit straighter to offer the same. Samantha then reprimanded him. “Both hands on the hardware, please.”

She stood in front of Faolan with her emerald gaze fixed on him and the metal attached to her temple. Faolan forced a smile to his lips as his eyes focused only on hers. “Hurry back to me, my heart.”

Soft hands pulled him down to meet the sweet kiss she placed on his lips. Samantha whispered against his mouth, “With you is the only place I wish to be, remember that.” With a step backward out of his reach, she said, “You please me.”

Boomer moved between them, and Faolan stared up at him. Boomer smiled and nodded. “When I get back, I’m thinking I’d like to call you brother.”

“Nothing would please me more, Dark Mountain,” Faolan replied, touched by the words. It did not escape his notice that Boomer offered no words of hope. The only certainty was that the mountain would protect his wife with every ounce of strength he possessed.

Jeff stood by his side as Samantha and Boomer stepped closer to the area they had arrived at weeks ago. Faolan’s hands clenched in fists, and Samantha touched the metal on her temple and raised her hand to Jeff.

Once again, the air screamed and the ground shook as the trees in front of his wife wavered. The door came into view while wind buffeted against him. His eyes widened in shock, and he saw her world appear before him; bright white light came streaming from the forming door.

Fear caused his feet to move. Faolan ran to Samantha’s side, and he pulled her to face him as the shimmering became an opening between their worlds. Boomer stepped forward with his hand high in the air. Faolan screamed over the wind, “I love you now and for all time, my heart.” He then turned her back to face her duty and pushed her forward. 

Samantha stepped toward the light, and he heard her word as she left him, “Forever.”

As soon as her feet cleared the door, the opening began to waver and shake. Faolan heard Jeff cry out a warning that the computer was shutting down. Faolan only knew it was not supposed to happen, they were to come back through the door, back to him. Before he could leap in to save his wife, Jeff grabbed the back of his shirt, and the door began to slip from sight.