Time Travel Romances Boxed Set (105 page)

Niall did not look persuaded.

“
They say that we are off
the west coast of British Columbia, which I can only imagine is
another name for Ireland. Wasn’t it claimed for the English king?
And didn’t Saint Columb come from there?”

Niall did not look suitably impressed by
this assertion. He sipped his drink. “I believe he was of
Scotland.”

“
It doesn’t matter! Don’t
you see - they wouldn’t tell just
anyone
that this was
Avalon! Maybe they’ve altered the names of places so that Avalon
can’t be easily found. It has to be some kind of a secret,
otherwise everyone would just come here and there wouldn’t be
anything magical about it at all!”

Niall leveled a glance at her that
effectively communicated his doubts.

But Viviane lifted her chin. “You can be as
skeptical as you like, but I know the truth. We’re on an isle to
the west of all the world, a mystical magical enchanted place that
exists on no known maps. And that
is
Avalon.” Viviane waved
off any further objection he could make.

Niall took a quick gulp of his drink. “And
what have you told them of your own deeds?”

“
As little as could be
contrived.” Viviane sighed. “Monty tells everyone that I have a
fourteenth century thing. They don’t seem very interested in the
passage of time in the mortal world.”

Viviane dropped her voice and practically
leaned on Niall’s shoulder. “Actually, I was afraid I might say the
wrong thing and prompt too many questions, so I’ve tried to be
quiet. You see, I don’t think we’ve come here the usual way and
they might not let us stay if they figure it out.”

That snared his attention. He considered
her, his gaze sober, then glanced to her pendant. “And you came
here with the aid of your witching stone.”

“
It’s not a
witching
stone, because that would mean that I was a witch.” Viviane rolled
her eyes. “Or that my father was a witch, which makes no sense at
all. In all honesty, Niall, how can you be so gullible as to
believe those false charges against me?”

Niall arched a brow. “Yet we are in this
place, without explanation, by virtue of that stone.”

“
A father’s love is a
powerful thing,” Viviane insisted. “There’s nothing more powerful
than love - my mother taught me that. And what parent wouldn’t want
to see their child saved from execution?” She shook her head as she
fingered the pendant, then shook her head. “I don’t care exactly
how it worked; my father’s love saved me and that’s explanation
enough. We’re here and alive and that’s a good thing.”

And she smiled at Niall, letting him see
that his presence was a big part of everything that was good.
“Thank you for returning my pendant. I was upset to have lost it,
because it’s all I have left from my mother.”

“
Aye?” Niall demanded
softly, and arched a fair brow as he leaned closer. “Then, if you
are so well pleased, perhaps you might grant me a small token of
your gratitude.”

Viviane knew exactly what token he had in
mind. She didn’t even need a whisper of her mother’s Sight to
recognize the meaning of that purposeful gleam in Niall’s eyes.

Nor did she have to guess why a quiver took
up residence in her belly.

And she was in absolute agreement with
him.

Viviane nodded mutely and leaned closer. She
shivered when Niall’s arm slipped around her; she arched toward him
when he splayed his fingers across the back of her waist; she
tipped up her face when Niall bent closer and blocked out the
sun.

And Viviane sighed when his mouth closed
possessively over her own.

Perfection.

*

Monty pounced on Derek as soon as that man
appeared on Deck again. “Look at them,” he muttered, jerking a
finger toward the embracing couple. “Talk about a flying lip
lock!”

Derek looked supremely untroubled by the
sight. “And so? Obviously they know each other. Nothing like a
happy reunion.” He shrugged and made for the rigging with
purpose.

“
Well?” Monty demanded.
“Aren’t you going to do something?”

“
Like what?” Derek
shrugged. “Green’s not your color, pal. Let it go.” And he turned
away once more.

But Monty wasn’t going to let him get away
that easily. “Yeah, but like where did he come from? Did you see?
He just” – Monty snapped his fingers – “like
appeared
out of
thin air!”

Derek met his gaze levelly. “I didn’t see a
thing,” he insisted flatly.

“
What do you mean, you saw
nothing
?” Monty flung out his hands in frustration. He was
really annoyed; just when he thought he was making progress with
Viviane, when he’d blown a fortune on dinners, this guy had to
appear out of the blue and ruin everything! “Come on, Derek! You
were like looking right at him! You saw what I saw, which was a guy
just
poof
appear from nothing.”

“
I told you that I didn’t
see a thing.”

Monty stepped into his friend’s path and
propped his hands on his hips. “Then were did he come from?”

Derek shrugged. “He must have been hiding on
board.” He nodded, the idea obviously gaining appeal as he thought
about it. “Yeah. A stowaway. He popped up and jumped overboard to
get the lady’s attention. Seems to have worked.” And he started to
whistle as he tugged the sail back into the wind.

“
Come on!” Monty surveyed
his friend with disgust. “You don’t believe that any more than I
do!”

Derek flicked a serious glance Monty’s way,
his voice dropping low. “And what’s the alternative?”

“
That something truly weird
is going on.”

“
Right, truly weird. I need
that like a hole in the head.” Derek rolled his eyes and turned
back to his work. “Like this guy just appears out of midair for no
reason at all. You can’t say it happens all the time. Think about
it, Monty.”

“
But it did happen! Right
here, right now.”

“
Nope. Can’t have. No way.
It’s impossible and we both know it.”

“
Can’t be impossible if it
happened,” Monty felt compelled to comment. He stole another look
at Viviane and noted that the killer kiss showed no chance of
stopping anytime soon.

He was jolted back to the conversation when
Derek poked a finger in his chest.

“
Look. You’re going to just
let this go, understand? I don’t know what happened and I don’t
really care. There’s got to be a perfectly rational explanation, so
I’m sticking with the best one I know.”

Monty grimaced. “He stowed away and suddenly
appeared.”

“
You got it.”

Monty watched his friend work for a few
moments, knowing that Derek was fiddling more than necessary. “What
if there’s a perfectly
irrational
explanation?”

Derek pivoted and glared at Monty. “You
know, I put up with this shit all the time. Power of the unseen,
the magical mystery of runes, on and on and on it goes and frankly,
I’ve had enough. I don’t appreciate you even hinting that you might
encourage Paula with more of it. I’ve always thought it was bunk
and I’m not changing my mind.”

“
Even if it means closing
your eyes to what’s going on?”

“
Monty, there’s nothing
going on.” Derek pointed at the couple still embracing. “You tell
me what’s unnatural about that, hmm? Have a marguerita, put your
ego back on ice and just enjoy the fact that your friend is
happy.”

The older man smiled. “In a couple of days,
my friend, you’ll get over the fact that her happiness isn’t with
you. And eventually, you might even be glad. These things have a
way of working themselves out.”

Then Derek winked and headed back to his
work.

But Monty turned to watch as the pair
finally parted, something ugly in his gut twisting when he noticed
Viviane’s flush of delight. It wasn’t just jealousy, he knew
it.

Nope, there was something screwy going on,
whether Derek admitted it or not.

And Monty was going to get to the truth of
it.

For Viviane’s sake, of course.

*

The potion of Paula’s reminded Niall of the
tales the old crusaders told of Greek fire. It slipped over a man’s
teeth without much noise; indeed, ’twas almost pleasant. He had
just enough time to savor its tang before it hit his empty
belly.

And exploded.

’
Twas a thousand times
stronger than the strongest ale he had ever imbibed and it shot
through his body like wild lightning. Matters were not helped by
Viviane’s torrid kiss and the way it left him dizzy – Niall had
downed almost the whole of the green brew before he realized its
potency.

And then, ’twas too late to save
himself.

Worse, he did not care.

Even worse than that, he completely forgot
to wish. He had had this thought that he would accomplish two
matters at once, by having his kiss of Viviane and making his wish
while she was in his arms. He’d be holding the pendant by way of
holding her. But as soon as her soft lips parted beneath his, as
soon as her breasts were pressed against him, as soon as she made
that irresistible little sigh of satisfaction, Niall just
forgot.

Savoring
was the only thought he
had.

And in the wake of that kiss, naught made
sense to him. Not the way Vivian’s smile set his very flesh afire;
not the easy command Derek had over his strange craft; not the
thousands of lights that erupted along the shore as the sky grew
dark. Certainly not Viviane’s conviction that they had come to
Avalon, a place that did not even exist - and not one that would
tolerate intruders if it did.

He could not even sort the proof of
Viviane’s witchery from his belief in her pledge of innocence.
Indeed, ’twas impossible to believe ill of her when she smiled at
him just so, never mind when she kissed so sweetly.

There had to be a reasonable explanation for
all that had transpired. The tiny sober bit of his mind was
convinced of that, even as it was banished to a corner. That sober
bit of him was equally convinced that he could sort matters
through, given some time and a good bit less ‘marguerita.’

But the greater part of Niall was oblivious
to such concerns. He was simply having too much fun. ’Twas the
first time since the wounding of his knee that he had celebrated
anything, and though he did not precisely know what was being
celebrated now, he joined in with gusto.

He drank more of the brew. He sang with
abandon. He consumed ‘grilled steak’ until there was none left to
consume. He kissed the woman back who was so determined to make
herself his own. He let her talk and did not correct her illusions,
for indeed, he could not have summoned a decent argument to save
his life.

And when they stood in a moonlit harbor and
she shyly invited him to her abode, Niall accepted without a second
thought. Viviane took his hand and led him through the quiet
streets, the weight of her slender fingers in his own giving Niall
more pleasure than he had known in years.

And ’twas then he realized the truth.

’
Twas not because he had
been fasting that he was so intoxicated. ’Twas not because of some
fearsome ingredient in Paula’s brew. ’Twas not because anyone had
bewitched him against his will. ’Twas not even because he was in
the presence of a fearsome witch.

Nay, nay, nay. Those were the obvious
answers. The truth was simply that the loveliest lady he had ever
met thought he was wonderful.

And that was heady stuff indeed. Truly, to
be believed a hero had a tendency to make a man want to fulfill
such expectation, not to shatter it. Niall was not quite ready to
prove to Viviane that he was somewhat less than wonderful,
certainly not that he had come to collect her person for
execution.

Nay, not when she smiled at him sweetly as
she did now.

Indeed, Niall of Malloy smiled back.

*

Niall awakened to a persistent thudding.

He winced and buried his head deeper beneath
the linens, though that earned him no respite. He realized that the
pounding came from within his own head and groaned softly at the
recollection of Paula’s powerful potion.

’
Twas indeed some foul
brew, and he could only hope that this was the worst of the damage
done to him. Niall wiggled his toes and fingers, did a quick check
to ensure that all was as it should be, and knew some
relief.

Indeed, this pounding between the ears was
not unfamiliar and in a way, that was reassuring. It had been years
since Niall had drunk too much ale, and he winced anew at the
souvenir he was likely to enjoy all the day long. He tried to
recall events of the night before, without a great deal of
success.

That, too, was typical of a night of
overindulgence.

Niall was fairly certain there had been
singing, and given the thunder between his ears, would hazard a
guess that it had been particularly loud and off-key singing,
undoubtedly of vulgar verse. Niall did recall, now that he pondered
the matter, that Monty had not participated, and that Derek,
despite his tendency to be overly affectionate, had proven to be
quite a decent sort.

He also remembered that there had been
naught magical about the cuts of beef Paula conjured from the
ship’s tiny kitchen, except perhaps the speed with which they
disappeared. Aye, he had had four chunks himself and could have
consumed that again, had there been more available. The
recollection of good food made the pounding in his head recede,
just as it made his belly growl.

And Viviane had lingered close by his side
all the night long. Niall smiled, his eyes still closed, not
wanting to dispel the memory of the many soft smiles she dispatched
in his direction, or the way her eyes shone.