Time Travel Romances Boxed Set (34 page)

Right in the middle of the whorl was a
minute scar.

Her breath caught in her throat.

The prophecy had come true! She had fallen
into a slumber that lasted nigh on twelve hundred years. Even with
all the evidence before her, Aurelia’s reason fought against the
conclusion.

It could not be true!

But it was.

Her pulse rose in her ears to the roar of
thunder, the sun shone on her brow with a savage heat.

It had all come true.

Aurelia could not tear her gaze away from
the scar on her thumb though the world danced around her in a mad
swirl. A thousand years had come and gone while she slept. Aurelia
felt her knees crumple as a terrible numbness seized her body.

The last thing she heard was Baird calling
her name.

*

Aurelia awakened in her chamber at Dunhelm.
Judging by the angle of the light slanting through the window, it
was late afternoon, though she had no recollection of leaving the
circle of stones.

She propped herself up on her elbows, then
froze when she met Baird’s steady green gaze. He was sitting
against the far wall, his long legs stretched out in front of him,
watching her over the tent of his strong fingertips.

His face was drawn as though he was
concerned for her. Aurelia knew that Baird who had killed her
brother would never have been troubled about her fate.

But then, the Baird that sat before her had
surprised her in many ways already. He was gentle with her, and
generous with his purse. He had neither raped nor killed her, nor
cast her to his men for their amusement. He had carried her to
safety when she was overcome. He had loved her with a passion and
tenderness that belied his reputation.

And he had given her his word.

Twice.

Aurelia frowned. But if twelve hundred years
had passed, then this man could not be Bard, son of Erc.

Which explained a great deal.

Except for who he actually was.

“
What in the hell was that
all about?” he demanded in a low voice. “You scared me half to
death.”

Aurelia thought furiously as she stared back
at her benefactor. One thing she had noticed was that he was a man
of good sense - and no one of good sense would believe the tale she
now knew to be true.

Twelve hundred years! The idea made her own
gut clench.

“
I do not know,” she lied
uneasily. “Perhaps it was the sun.”

And in a way, it had been.

He rolled his eyes and sat forward to brace
his elbows on his knees, apparently reassured by her awakening if
not her explanation. The corner of his mouth tugged in that smile
that made everything within her melt. “After the brunch you put
away, I wouldn’t be surprised if your stomach had something to
say.”

“
I was hungry.” And no
wonder, after over a thousand years with an empty
stomach!

“
Obviously.” Though his
tone was light, his gaze still danced over her with concern.
“Feeling better now?”

“
Much better, thank
you.”

“
I’m sorry we had no luck
finding your father in Kirkwall.”

Aurelia tried to swallow the lump that rose
in her throat and failed. Her father was long dead! There was no
point in searching for him now, and as wave of loss swept over her,
she could not summon any pretence to lie.

Her father was gone. Her Viking relations
were gone. The seamstress, the ostler, the cook and all the others
in her father’s household were lost to her forever.

Everyone Aurelia had ever known was so long
departed from this world that they were completely forgotten. She
was alone in a new world, in a new time, rootless as she had never
been in all her life.

“
We do not have to look for
him any longer,” she managed to choke out before her eyes blurred
with tears. “I understand now that it is futile to seek
him.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
He is truly gone,” Aurelia
said softly. “He is dead and lost to me for all time.” She felt one
heavy tear slide free.

“
Hey!” Baird crossed to her
side with one long stride, sat on the edge of the bed and gathered
her into his arms. Aurelia, helpless to do anything else, crumpled
against him and wept like a baby for all she had lost.

“
Go ahead and cry,
princess,” he whispered into her hair. “It’s all right. Everything
will be all right. This is good, even though it hurts. It’s good
that you remember the truth.”

Aurelia could not imagine what was good
about this truth. She was alone. An ache of loneliness she had
never expected to feel cast a shadow over her heart.

Aurelia became aware of the strong arms
encircling her, the heady musk of masculinity rising from the chest
she leaned against. The weight of a warrior’s hand rested gently on
her nape and she felt as though she had found safe haven in a
storm.

It was tempting to remain in the circle of
this man’s arms, to rely upon his strength, but Aurelia knew she
had already taken too much from him. He was a stranger, he owed her
nothing, yet he had taken her in, garbed her, fed her and shown her
kindness.

What if the rest of the prophecy was true?
Aurelia blinked in astonishment.

Could Baird be her one true love?

Aurelia pulled back and eyed at the sodden
mess she had made of Baird’s plaid chemise, well aware of his gaze
fixed upon her. Her heart skipped a beat. “I have ruined your
chemise,” she tried to jest.

He pretended to examine the dampness, then
flicked a twinkling glance to her. “I’m not made of sugar - I won’t
melt.”

The sparkle in his eye was nearly her
undoing and Aurelia caught her breath. She dropped her gaze and saw
that her hand had somehow been captured by his own.

He stroked his thumb across the back of her
hand as though he was unaware of the caress he made. “Better?” he
asked, his voice a soft rumble in her ear.

Aurelia tingled from head to toe. She
blinked the last of her tears back and nodded vigorously, not
trusting herself to speak.

It was not enough for her companion. Gentle
fingers tipped up her chin until she was forced to meet the
compassion in his eyes. “I understand that it must be hard to lose
your father.”

If he was not Bard, then his father had not
been Erc, and his father had not been drowned leaving Dunhelm. When
Aurelia stripped away all of her assumptions, she realized that she
knew very little about the man before her.

“
You said you never had a
father.”

Baird shook his head, his gaze flicking away
for only a moment. “But I always imagined what it would be like to
have one.” His thumb moved across her hand once more and his smile
was thin. “Kids have such active imaginations.”

And Aurelia caught a glimpse of pain in his
eyes.

“
You must have been very
close to your father to be so affected by losing him,” he said
quickly.

Aurelia’s gaze misted with tears again. “I
was.” Her voice broke. “Oh, yes, I was.” A lone tear fell and
splashed against his hand. “We had only each other after my mother
and brother died.”

Baird touched her cheek. “It’s all right if
you need to cry.”

“
No.” Aurelia straightened
and wiped away an errant tear. She eyed her companion, seizing on
the tale of his own misfortune to forget her own. “If you had no
sire, then you must have known your mother?”

Baird’s expression turned sad and his voice
hardened. “No. Neither of them stayed around any longer than they
needed to.” He flicked a bright glance to her, then his gaze
skittered away. “Apparently, she didn’t even know his name.”

“
And you did not ask
her?”

Baird shrugged with indifference, though
Aurelia knew he cared deeply about this matter. “I never knew her.
She delivered me, then left the hospital without a word. They tried
to hunt her down to have her sign the forms. I sure as hell wasn’t
going to go looking for her.”

“
She abandoned
you!”

Baird’s green eyes were sober. “That’s one
way of putting it.”

Aurelia was outraged that any woman would
treat her child so poorly. “Then who saw you raised?”

His lips twisted. “The good state of New
Mexico.”

“
A state cannot raise a
child!”

“
A state has no choice when
the mother has not released her child for adoption.” His expression
turned grim. “It’s the law.”

“
Well, it certainly is a
poor one. You should demand the king change it.”

“
Well,” Baird shrugged
again. “They had lots of foster parents to take me in. I went from
one to the next and the next.”

Fourteen foster parents he had claimed the
other day. This was unheard of! “Did none of them permit you to
stay? Were you not entrusted to their care?”

“
Oh, they were good to me
in their own way.” He looked to their entangled hands. “But most of
them wanted to foster a child they could ultimately adopt and that
wasn’t me.” He grimaced. “Courtesy of my mother.”

“
Your dame served you
poorly,” Aurelia said tightly. “And your sire no better. You should
hunt them down and force a reckoning for their
misdeeds.”

Baird’s gaze blazed into hers for a long
moment and Aurelia could not draw a breath into her lungs.

Then he pushed to his feet and shoved his
hands into his pockets. “Well, I turned out all right, I guess, so
it’s all water under the bridge.” He shrugged. “Being alone isn’t
so bad. You get used to it after a while.”

It was so obviously a lie he made to himself
that Aurelia did not know what to say.

Baird cleared his throat and Aurelia guessed
that he was not a man who easily talked of matters so close to the
heart. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” He turned and might have
left, but Aurelia bounced to her feet. She felt even more guilty
about how poorly she had treated him after hearing this tale.

“
Wait!”

Baird pivoted slowly and Aurelia suddenly
felt very nervous.

“
I owe you an apology,” she
admitted softly, holding up her hand when he might have interrupted
her. “I have had harsh words - and even harsher thoughts - for you
when you did not deserve them.”

Baird said nothing.

Aurelia took a deep shuddering breath and
forced herself to continue, though it was not easy. “My only excuse
is that I believed you to be another man, a man who committed grave
wrongs against my family.”

Baird arched a dark brow. “The notorious
Bard, son of Erc the Destroyer.”

Aurelia sighed and rubbed her temple. “Yes.
You must understand that he is most evil, and when I though you
were he, I - I…”

Her words faltered, but Baird stepped back
to her side. “It’s all right. It was an honest mistake.” The heat
of his finger landed against her lips. “You don’t have to say any
more.”

Indeed, what she desired needed no words.
And if he was not Bard, son of Erc, then there was no reason to
deny this man’s powerful effect upon her.

This was the man who had awakened her.

This was the man destined to take her to
wife. He had come for her exactly as had been decreed. Aurelia felt
as though she was seeing the man before her clearly for the first
time.

Baird might not be a warrior in the way
Aurelia knew, but he was a man she was proud to take to husband all
the same. He was honorable and clever, gallant to a fault, both
tender and strong. He made her laugh and held her when she cried,
she felt safe in his presence and cherished beneath his caress.

Her father would have liked him well.
Confronted with her destiny and finding naught to protest, Aurelia
stretched to her toes and kissed Baird Beauforte full on the
lips.

*

Baird awakened to the sound of rain drumming
against the window. He tucked a dozing Aurelia tighter against his
side and watched the dark clouds roll across the horizon.

All was right in his world. Not only had he
found Aurelia, not only had he proven himself to her, but she had
somehow surmounted her fears and faced the reality of her father’s
demise. Her protective illusions had fallen away like scales from
her eyes and she was whole and healthy again.

Everything was going to be fine.

He still couldn’t explain the weird dreams
that had plagued him since coming to Dunhelm, but it didn’t matter
any more. Baird only knew that he felt more complete than he ever
had before.

And this was just the beginning.

The old king’s love from Baird’s last dream
resonated in his heart. Baird had never experienced love like that,
but now he had a benchmark to measure his own feelings against. So,
the dream had helped him, really. This was all new ground to him,
but for Aurelia’s sake, Baird was going to give it his best
shot.

He knew somehow that Aurelia was the woman
for him - a woman with so many intriguing puzzles he would never
figure her out completely - and if nothing else, Baird was learning
to listen to those weird gut instincts.

He bent and brushed his lips across
Aurelia’s forehead, smiling as her eyelids fluttered open. Her
small hand landed on his chest in a proprietary way that filled his
heart to bursting.

“
Sleep well?” he asked,
letting his thumb caress the soft sweep of her shoulder.

“
Mmm,” Aurelia nestled
against him. “But I’m hungry.”

Baird laughed out loud. “It figures,
princess.”

She looked up at him with twinkling eyes. “I
like how young you look when you laugh.”