She desperately wanted Adelle to get her daughter back. But—just as desperately—she never wanted to return home. She couldn’t bear the thought of it: being married to Eoin and living in the same place as Arran. Every glimpse of him would break her heart all over again.
If Arran didn’t want to be with her, she’d rather stay here in this strange and foreign time, where at the very least it was acceptable to live independently. She would be free to live her life without putting her heart in the hands of someone else. She could live a guarded, simple life all alone. And, with her heart and soul broken, she couldn’t think of anything she wanted more.
Even if they found the ring, she wasn’t going to go back. They’d simply have to find a way to bring Bri forward without making a switch.
*
1645
I was deliciously sore and as happy as I’d ever been when we set out on our return journey early the next morning. I’d fallen asleep wrapped in his arms, only to be awakened a few hours later by his lips kissing the side of my cheek and trailing down my neck.
I smiled into his lips and faced him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I don’t have the energy to do it again tonight, Eoin. I’m a bit out of practice.”
He kissed the tip of my nose before pulling back to prop himself up on his elbow. “Aye, that may be so. But ye were no a virgin, aye?”
At first I was a bit taken aback by his question. At my age, it seemed odd that he would assume that I was. At second thought, I realized just how surprising it most likely was to him to find that I wasn’t. While most men in this time found themselves in the bed of another far before marriage, any respectable woman would never have let herself be “ruined” before reaching her marriage bed.
“No. I wasn’t. It’s different where I come from. People often have sex before marriage.”
He frowned at my answer. “I see, lass.”
“Does it bother you that I wasn’t?”
“Nay, I canna fault ye for the life that ye lived before ye came into my life. But, I’ll nay say it pleases me. Thinking of another man holding ye and touching ye as I just have stirs a rather dreadful feeling in my chest. I’d like to bludgeon the lad that did so.”
I smiled, pleased at his jealousy. “All three of them?”
He sat completely upright in the bed. “Three! My God, Bri! Tell me, lass, were ye a harlot in the time ye came from?”
It was my turn to frown. “No, I was not! I can assure you that for someone my age that is a very respectable number! Just ask Mitsy! She’s got me beat for sure!”
“What’s a Mitsy, lass?”
“Mitsy is a person. A friend. Who, come to think of it, is probably worried sick about me.”
He lay back down and draped an arm over me as he snuggled in closely. “I’m sorry, lass. I suspect there are a good many things that I doona know about ye that would surprise me.”
“Yes, I’m sure there are. We are from different worlds, Eoin.”
“Aye, lass. But for now, they are the same world, and that’s all I can bear to think of now.”
*
I thought back on those words as I rode in front of him, now only a short distance from arriving back at Conall Castle, as we could see it in the distance. It surprised me how much I could relate to what he’d said. I found it hard to think of our worlds separating, as well.
Thankfully Eoin pulled on Griffin’s reins, slowing him to a stop before I could allow my thoughts to descend so negatively. He said nothing as he dismounted, turning to lift me off of the horse.
He dragged me until my back was against the side of a tree and his mouth was on mine.
After kissing me ruthlessly, he pulled back, his eyes hungry. “When we get back to the castle, we shall all be busy with preparations. I doona want to end this constant companionship with ye, and I must take ye once more before we arrive at the castle.
I reached forward to pull him toward me, gladly fulfilling his desire.
*
God, he wished he could spend his life buried deep inside her. He leaned forward, deeply breathing in the smell of her hair as the breeze lightly lifted it toward him. Each time he made love to her, he found himself wanting to go deeper, to claim every inch of her, to melt her with himself so that she would stay his forever.
In past experience he’d found that once he slept with a lass his fascination was gone, that having her for one night was enough. Not with Bri. She’d captured a part of him he’d never lent to anyone, and if he let her go, he knew that she would take that part of him with her when she returned home.
He squeezed her tightly around the middle as they pulled reins at the stables where Kip was waiting for them, ready to care for the travel-worn Griffin.
As they made their way up to the castle, hand-in-hand, Eoin caught sight of Mary waiting at the entrance. Mary glared at him as she saw him and quickly called Bri to join her, for there was something she wanted to discuss with her.
Knowing better than to deny Mary, Eoin squeezed Bri’s hand, encouraging her to leave him. As the two women entered the castle, worry started to build. Whatever Mary was going to tell Bri, he had a feeling it wasn’t going to mean anything good for himself.
Chapter 30