Time and Space

By

Copyright © Pandora Pine 2016

All Rights Reserved

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, events, business establishments or locales is entirely coincidental.

First Digital Edition: March 2016

For Olivia and Addison,
An Aunt has never been more proud of her nieces than I am of you.

Someone was slapping Cadence McCann’s face. Repeatedly. Annoyingly. She could feel the warm Irish sun on her face and didn’t understand why someone was trying to ruin her warm, happy feeling.

“My beauty, are you well?”

The voice sounded distant, like it was coming from inside a tunnel. A memory tickled at the back of her foggy mind. The handsome barbarian with golden-green eyes and grabby hands called her ‘my beauty,’ but what was Donnall Healy doing in the middle of her dreams?

“Speak to me, Cadence.”

“I’d watch yourself with slapping her like that, Donnall. She’s likely to wake up swinging and I’ll be the first to tell you my sister definitely does
not
hit like a girl.”

Her brother Carter’s words had little impact on the hulking brute. The slaps and syrupy words of praise continued. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was talking to a faithful horse. It seemed the only person who could save her from the slapping menace was her. Slowly opening her eyes, she came face-to-face with the hulking brute in question. His bearded face was only an inch from her own. If she moved the smallest bit forward they would be kissing.

Cadence shook her head hoping to knock that thought out of her fool head. The last person she wanted to kiss was Donnall.

“She wakes!” Donnall crowed triumphantly, as if he had something to do with it.

Cadence raised an eyebrow. “I’m not Sleeping Beauty. Stop acting like you woke me up with love’s first kiss.”

“I would gladly be your first kiss, my beauty.” Donnall licked out at his full bottom lip, his hazel eyes darkened to burning gold.

Cadence snorted and sat up. “You’re ten years too late to be my first kiss.” Seeing the shocked look on Donnall’s face made her laugh. If he was shocked to know she’d had her first kiss at fourteen, how would he react to knowing she wasn’t a virgin?

Donnall reached a hand down to her. “Let me assist you.”

Batting his hand away, Cadence pulled herself back up to her feet, feeling triumphant she hadn’t needed Donnall’s help at all. She tried to take a step away from him and stumbled. Strong, hard hands gripped her hips and before she knew it, she was pulled flush against his solid chest.

“Do you always have a hard time walking, my beauty? This is the second time I have had to save you from a nasty fall.” Donnall’s eyes glowed in triumph.

Cadence remembered the first time well. Her brother, recently returned from his own trip to the fifteenth century had asked her to time-travel with him back to Moone Castle to the year 1433 and she’d needed some time and space to think about it. Following her around like a lovesick puppy was Donnall, Moone Castle’s second in command. As much as she hated to admit it, Donnall had saved her from a sprained ankle at best and a broken ankle at worst.

Now, here he was acting like cock of the walk and rubbing his hardened warrior’s hands against her lower back.  If she weren’t so annoyed at him it would have felt nice. “I’m fine. Thank you for saving me.”

“Again.” His eyes danced with amusement.

Rolling her eyes so hard they hurt, she tried to pull away from him. “Fine. Thank you for saving me
again
.”

“There, now was that so hard, my beauty? I will take my payment in the form of a kiss.” He waggled his eyebrows at her and puckered up.

Instead of Cadence’s lips meeting his own, it was the flat of her hand. The solid slap echoed through the small clearing.

“What was that for?” Donnall squawked, putting a hand to his cheek.

“Payback for slapping me. Where I come from, men don’t hit women.”

Carter McCann stepped between them and pulled his sister away from Donnall. “Are you okay? You were out for about ten minutes.”

“I was fine until tall, dark and handsy started slapping me,” she yelled. Knowing she’d made her point loud enough for Donnall to hear her, she turned back to Carter who looked awful.

He’d spent most of last night telling her the incredible tale of time-travelling to 1433 in an effort to save Fionn Ò Ciardha, lord of Moone Castle, who had died in The Battle Of Moone Bog. Their father had told them bedtime stories of brave Fionn throughout their childhood and when Carter discovered his moonstone medallion had the power to transport him back in time, he’d used it to save Fionn’s life and fell in love with the gruff warrior in the process.

Carter had returned to 2015 because he was unable to give Fionn the one thing the lord of Moone Castle needed most: an heir. After Carter related his adventure in the past to her, it was her sad duty to tell him he’d only bought Fionn thirty more days of life. When the land-hungry English invaded Moone Castle one month later in November of 1433, they sacked the castle and slaughtered Moone’s people. 

Her brother spent the rest of the night researching everything he could find on the internet about the battle with the English that would claim Fionn’s life. There were only forty days until the English would attack Moone Castle and she’d agreed to come back in time with him to ease his transition into life in the fifteenth century. Now here she was acting like a shrew over Fionn’s first in command.

“I’m sorry Carter. I feel dizzy and a bit nauseous.” What she really felt was embarrassed. Her priority here was Carter, not Donnall with his sparkling mood ring eyes.

“Time-travel takes a lot out of you.” Carter grinned and hugged his sister. “I felt the same way the first time it happened to me only there was no one there to worry over me when I didn’t wake up right away.”

Is that what Donnall was doing? Worrying over her? Cadence snorted. There was no way Donnall Healy possessed a soft emotion in his entire body. He was a warrior, a trained killer, not the type of man to play the role of gallant knight. Only he had. Twice now.

“You know, we’ve been in 1433 for nearly fifteen minutes now and you haven’t even taken a look at Moone Castle.” Carter’s dark eyes twinkled as he spun his sister around to see the castle.

Blinking several times to make sure what she was seeing was actually real, Cadence swayed on her feet. She was standing several hundred yards away from the gate of the Castle. The bailey walls were perfectly intact as was the castle itself. In fact it looked showroom new, like the last stone had just been set in place. 

It was an amazing contrast to the Moone Castle Cadence left behind in 2015. Gone was the bailey wall and the castle itself was slowly crumbling to ruin. Of the four chimneys, only the third one was still whole. A curtain of deep green ivy cascaded down the crumbling chimneys and stone walls of the castle serving to help Mother Nature reclaim the land.

Not wanting to ever forget this moment, she reached into the back pocket of her jeans for her iPhone and started snapping pictures of a pristine Moone Castle.

“Does she not know she will see the castle every day?” Fionn asked, coming to stand behind both McCanns.

“If I decide to go back home after we defeat the English, I want to have pictures of the way the castle looked before it turned to ruin.”

Following in her father’s footsteps, Cadence had graduated from Boston College with a degree in Irish Studies. She only had to put the finishing touches on her Master’s thesis and she would earn her second degree. Part of the reason she’d agreed to come back in time with Carter was to see Moone Castle for herself and meet the people who called this magnificent place home.

“Donnall, please escort Cadence into the castle and deliver her to my sister.” Fionn turned to Cadence who was still staring awe-struck at the castle. “Cadence, Lady Fianna will bring you to your room and help find you clothing suitable for a woman in the fifteenth century. I am quite sure Moone Castle is not ready for a woman in breeches.”

Cadence turned from the castle and laughed at the man who had stolen her brother’s heart. “Thank you for your hospitality, Fionn. I’m not used to wearing a dress, but I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

“Come, my beauty. It will be my pleasure to show you our home. I am sure once you have seen it for yourself, you will never want to return to your own century.” Donnall gallantly offered his arm.

Not wanting to stir up any more trouble, Cadence wrapped her fingers around Donnall’s arm. A thrill of awareness tore through her body. Through his forest green tunic, she could feel the raw power and strength in him.  Compared to her 5’2” stature, Donnall was a giant, standing several inches taller than six feet. With his long, dark hair pulled back with a leather strap, his golden-green eyes shining in the morning sun, full beard, and his bright smile, Donnall Healy was a handsome warrior.

What the hell was wrong with her? Donnall was escorting her to the castle because his lord ordered him to do so. She was in no mood to analyze the sappy smile on his face or the way her entire body tingled being this close to him. Turning to look over her shoulder, she smiled at Fionn and Carter. “Enjoy your reunion, boys!”

Donnall was having one hell of a morning. Truth be told, it had been one hell of a week which started with a bloody battle against the McRoth clan and ended with his travelling 582 years into the future to help reunite Fionn and Carter. In all of the craziness the last thing he expected was the lightning bolt of attraction that sang through his veins every time he touched Cadence McCann.

As exciting as it was bickering back and forth with the redheaded beauty there were other things requiring his attention. First and foremost among those things was the English Army who would be knocking on the gates of Moone Castle a few weeks from now. With Fionn’s focus turned to Carter and their now growing family, it would be up to him to step up and prepare Moone for the battle to come, at least until Fionn was once again thinking with the head housing his brain.

“Are you feeling better?” He hoped this was a safe topic to broach with the fiery lass.

“Much better now. Thank you. Is that a bit of an English accent I hear?”

“It is. Unfortunately my father is English. I was sent to foster at Moone Castle when I was seven summers. I was too much for my father to handle after my mother passed and he packed me off to Moone. Told me Clan Ò Ciardha would make a man out of me.”

Cadence knew of young boys being sent to foster with other families. Usually this was done with second sons, who would inherit nothing as a way of preparing them for life outside the family manor, but she didn’t remember reading of an instance where a child was sent over five hundred miles from home. “Why were you sent to Ireland rather than someplace closer to home?”

Donnall smiled indulgently. He needed to remember that being from the future, Cadence had knowledge of such things that weren’t considered a woman’s business in his own time. “My mother was from Moone and it was thought I should be sent back to her homeland.”

“You’ve done well for yourself becoming second in command of Moone Castle.”

Donnall’s mood turned darker. “Are you trying to imply that a half-English mutt does not deserve to rise to such a lofty position in the castle guard?” What happened to women being seen and not heard?

Stopping short, Cadence yanked her arm from Donnall’s, trying with all of her might to hold on to her temper.  “Of course not! I was complimenting you on your hard work. You shouldn’t be so quick to jump to conclusions, you irritating barbarian!” Cadence brushed past him, walking fast toward the gate of the castle.

A bright smile lit his face as Cadence stormed off. Life certainly would not be dull with her living in the castle. He didn’t know what kind of family Cadence came from, but it was obvious she needed a lesson or two in proper manners. He wouldn’t mind taking her over his knee as a means of instruction. The skin-tight breaches she wore left nothing to the imagination. He stood admiring the sway of her heart-shaped ass. She couldn’t get far without him. Entry to Moone Castle required a password and he very much doubted she’d guess it without his help.