“Abed.”
“Oh, still? Is she well?”
“Aye, she’s well.” He filled his trencher with steaming food, enough for him and Anne. Her insistence she was from another time had plagued him during his swim. Such a thing wasn’t possible and the responsibility of setting her to rights fell to him. “I shall see she has food. Goodnight, Mother.”
“Sleep well, and give Anne a kiss for me.”
He almost smiled at her need to interfere. What was he going to do with his wife? And what had truly caused her lone arrival here? He entered his chamber and shut the door. In bed, Anne lay awake under the covers, her long hair spread across her pillow and his. “I brought you food.”
“Thanks.” She edged up onto her elbows and scrutinized him. “I forgive you by the way. It took a bit of time, but I guess you have the right to be dubious.”
“Nay, no more of this nonsense.” He set the food on the bedside table, shucked his clothes and climbed in. He’d forbid her to speak of this if he must, even with him.
“Where I come from, women speak freely, we even vote.”
“I for—”
“We marry whom we wish, and usually without interference from our family. Women even work inside and outside the home, bringing the bacon home just as the men do.”
“Now I know you lie.”
“It’s quite acceptable for women to have children outside of wedlock.” She stroked the area between his brows. “Look at this frown. I truly wish you’d believe.”
“’Tis impossible to believe such a thing, and from now on you’ll no’ utter another word. Do you understand?”
“I can’t allow this opportunity to pass. My parents died in my time, but three years past. I’ve written them a letter and I have to get it to Dunvegan. The castle has remained the stronghold of the chiefs of MacLeod for over eight-hundred years.”
Obviously he’d no’ spelled it—nay, she’d written a letter?
“Anne, are you saying your chief saw you learned to read and write?”
“All children have a right to an education. In the future.”
“I didnae mean in the future.” Why would she not relent on this?
“I majored in accounting and spent three years at university, although we hardly have the need to write in my time. We use slim devices the size of your trencher, which have all the letters and numbers set as keys on a wide pad. You enter the written word in and it shows up on a bright screen before you. You can then send what you’ve written to yet another device closer to the size of Mary’s basket. It stamps your words onto paper, or you can simply send it anywhere in the world to the person you need to, like a letter.”
“What the?” Hell, her imagination was rife.
“One’s message can also move from one device to another across any distance, no matter if they’re not linked. Contacting someone is immediate.”
Certain his jaw hung somewhere down in his lap, he stared at her. Rife didn’t even begin to describe her imagination. “So you’re saying you dinnae need a messenger?”
She smiled, and he could have slapped himself for encouraging her further. “No, and that’s not the only means of communication. Almost everyone in the world has a land or cell phone. With those you simply press a button and—”
“Stop.” He was digging himself in deeper. He had to halt her spiel. Now. “You have the ability of a bard who weaves the most intriguing tales, but tales they are.”
“You truly want me to stop?”
“Aye, and to never start again.”
“What of my letter? I have to get it to Dunvegan.”
“There is no need for such when you didnae come from the future.”
“But what if I did?” Her gaze pleaded with him. “What if I’m taken from you? I mean here, before I’ve done what I must do. For years I’ve wished I could change the past, and now with Annie’s wish it’s possible.” She caught his hands. “My parents deserve to live.”
“You are no’ alone. You have me.”
“I want my wish to come true as Annie’s did. I need to journey to Dunvegan.”
Even with all Alex’s decrees of denial, he was still listening to her. “I need you if I’m ever to get to Dunvegan. Please, Alex, take me there.”
“The feud between our clans will only settle once MacLeod hears of our handfast. I’ve sent James.”
“Then take me once James returns.”
“Nay, there is no reason for me to allow such a visit unless at your request. MacLeod will believe I have a weakness for you.”
“But you don’t.”
“Aye, it seems I do. Even now I seek to plunder what’s beneath your nightrail.” He cupped her breasts through the thin ivory cotton.
Warmth flooded her below and she swayed into him. “I have a weakness for you too, and you will drive me mad if you don’t satisfy this hunger.”