Time Travel Romances Boxed Set (5 page)

Bard’s smile faded. “I don’t know your
father,” he said gently. “Much less know where he is. In fact,
there was no one here when we came to Dunhelm.”

That Bard should lie to her so baldly
stunned Aurelia to silence. No one here? What of the warriors she
had joined on the walls this very morning?

Her heart clenched in fear. What had Bard
done to her father?

Aurelia pushed to her feet and determinedly
folded her arms across her chest. “He must be here!” she
insisted.

Bard’s lips quirked as though he wanted to
reassure her. “Well, there can’t be that many Hekod’s in the
vicinity. And he can’t be far. Maybe we could find him
together.”

Aurelia was astonished by the suggestion.
Either Hekod had already died a gruesome death, or he was
imprisoned and awaiting a sorry demise. How could Bard pretend
Hekod did not even exist?

He had sworn vengeance upon Hekod, after
all.

“
Do you have any other
family?” Bard asked with a concern Aurelia knew was
feigned.

Clearly, Bard meant to exterminate all of
her family to see his claim to Dunhelm uncontested. Well, Aurelia
was not going to supply the names of her Viking kindred to make
that task any easier!

“
No, none, I am afraid.”
Aurelia lied.

Bard had the audacity to look
sympathetic.

The cur! How could he imagine that she would
forget that he had killed her sole brother in his drive to possess
Dunhelm? Bard must think Aurelia a fool.

Though Aurelia longed to set him straight on
that score, she realized that it might be useful to encourage this
view.

Aurelia’s mind flew like quicksilver. She
was Bard’s prisoner, that much was clear. If she were believed
harmless and given rein within Dunhelm’s walls, she would be better
situated to aid her father’s Viking cousins when they arrived.

And it was so easy to trust a half-wit.

“
Well, if you have no other
family, we’ll have to make sure we find your father,” Bard
asserted.

Determined to play the idiot, Aurelia
clasped her hands and let her voice rise slightly, as though she
was but a trusting child. “You would have time for such an
endeavor?” she asked with feigned delight.

“
Of course.” Bard smiled
warmly at her, then a shadow flickered over his expression. “Losing
a father must very difficult.” The glimmer of pain in his eyes was
gone so quickly that Aurelia wondered whether she had imagined its
presence.

“
Baird! What are you
doing?” The priest was agitated, obviously at having lost control
of events. “Are you feeling all right?”

Bard interrupted his priest in a tone that
brooked no argument. “I see no reason why she can’t stay here until
this is resolved.” He smiled for Aurelia and her heart thumped.

“
I can see a
thousand!”

Bard propped his hands on his hips and
pivoted to glare at the priest. “What about your old favorite,
liability?”

What was liability? Something that enraged
the priest, clearly, but beyond that Aurelia had no idea. Perhaps
it was a fancy word for her not being Christian.

The other man hissed through his teeth.
“There is no Ki…” he began, but Bard did not let him finish.

“
We don’t know that,” he
interrupted crisply, command obviously coming easily to him. “And
there’s no reason not to be cautious.”

“
Except that you never have
been before,” the priest muttered with dissatisfaction.

Bard grinned outright, his teeth flashing in
the darkness of the chamber. Aurelia could guess that women came
out of the woodwork when he smiled like that - and melted when he
turned that smile upon them. “So, your tirades haven’t fallen on
deaf ears all these years, after all.”

The priest opened his mouth and shut it
promptly.

Bard turned crisply, ignoring the way the
priest’s nostrils flared with disapproval. He offered Aurelia his
hand gallantly. “May I offer you accommodations?”

Accommodations in the home he had stolen
from her family.

Aurelia bit her lip before she said too much
and fought to appear simple. “You have claimed Dunhelm, then?” she
asked with wide eyes.

“
Yes,” Bard declared in a
tone that brooked no argument. “Dunhelm is all mine.” He was once
again a grim warrior and Aurelia had no doubt that Bard would be a
formidable adversary.

And he was the new king. Dunhelm had been
lost, her father’s fate was unknown. Aurelia refused to be daunted
by the minute prospect of her being able to change any of that.

She was the only hope her father had.

Aurelia stood tall and slipped her hand into
the broad strength of the warrior’s palm. His skin was warm, his
grip over her own small hand both strong and gentle.

But Aurelia would not be fooled. She
summoned every vestige of regal training she had and turned a
polite, if vacant, smile on her companion. “I thank you for your
hospitality, King Bard.”

The priest snorted. “King? More like your
knight in shining armor! He’s awakened you with a kiss, just like
some goddamned fairy tale, and now you want us to believe your
father’s a king.” The priest folded his arms across his chest and
glowered at Bard. “Just let me know when reality can intrude
again.”

The words made Aurelia’s cheeks burn. Did
Bard know the ridiculous prophecy of her birth? Had he arranged
this awakening to trick her into believing that he was her destined
lover?

That would explain his kiss. He was using an
old bit of whimsy to his advantage. Aurelia’s heart went still.

And then her anger erupted. Oh, his ploy was
lower than low. Any fool could see that the curse placed upon
Aurelia was meaningless! Who ever heard of someone sleeping for
eons, let alone until their one true love awakened them? It was
beyond reason!

These two must think her stupid indeed!

But, all the same, this was a perfect
opportunity to bolster their expectation of her intellect. She
could play the witless woman as well as anyone, if it meant saving
her sire and her home.

Without another thought, Aurelia spun and
clutched at Bard’s hand. “Truly?” she demanded with a cloying
sweetness alien to her. “You have come for me, just as it was
foretold?”

Bard opened his mouth, but Aurelia was not
going to give him any chance to make his lies yet worse.

Instead, she flung herself into his arms. “I
was so hoping you would come soon, warrior of mine!” she cooed.

And Aurelia stretched up to kiss the
deceitful murderer full on the lips.

*

Her soft lips were on his and the breasts he
had glimpsed were pressed against his chest before Baird guessed
what the woman was going to do.

And then nothing else mattered but her
kiss.

Baird’s fingers of their own accord fitted
to the neat indent of her. She was so tiny that his hands nearly
encircled her completely, her curves fit against him as though they
were made for each other.

And Baird, a man not given to impulse, only
cradled her closer and deepened his kiss. She trembled, as though
she was also surprised by the heat of their kiss and just as
powerless to end it as Baird. A protective tide swept through him
and he lifted her to her toes, slanting his mouth across hers.

There was a rightness about kissing her, a
sense of homecoming, a rush of victory that made absolutely no
sense. In this moment, Baird didn’t care about what made sense. Her
lips were as soft and warm as the rain, her kiss as sweet as
honey.

Baird knew with sudden clarity that he had
come to Dunhelm precisely and purely to find this woman. It was no
coincidence she was here, he was oddly certain of it. This woman
was the lure that had drawn him not only to Dunhelm, but to this
chamber.

He had been looking for her.

What? How could he look for someone he
didn’t even know? That kind of thinking had no place in Baird
Beauforte’s supremely rational mind!

Baird tore his lips away from hers, but his
odd certainty didn’t fade. He stared at the woman as he backed
warily away, and his hand rose to wipe away the nectar of her kiss.
She was possibly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, as
perfectly made as a china doll, but must be a few bricks short of a
full load. She had just kissed him as though she couldn’t get
enough of him, and for no reason at all!

And Baird had - very uncharacteristically -
kissed her back.

In fact, he had kissed her first.

The whole situation was enough to make Baird
uneasy. He had a very definite sense that this woman knew more
about him than he did about her.

Baird was no stranger to manipulation by the
fair sex, but he had decided a long time ago that he wasn’t going
to be tricked again.

Okay. This woman had lost her father - in
one way or another - and was obviously upset, maybe upset enough to
be confused. And she was on Beauforte Resort property, which must
be the reason Baird felt so responsible for her. He had offered to
help her find her father and he would keep his word.

But that was it.

Baird swiftly turned his back on the woman
before she could mess with his thinking any more than she already
had. “Julian, find her a room in the renovation until we get this
resolved,” he commanded crisply. The weight of her gaze bored into
his shoulders, but Baird refused to turn and look at her. “It
doesn’t matter where.”

Julian’s brow furrowed with concern. “But -
“

“
Just do it!” Baird snapped
in a rare show of frustration. “Just do it and do it now!” He
stalked toward the stairs, fighting the urge to take one last
survey of the woman.

Baird forced himself to think of the
appointment with the interior designer. They would talk prices and
availability of materials, they would plan, they would be reasoned
and unemotional.

He could hardly wait, Baird told himself
grimly.

“
King Bard,” the woman
called softly from behind him.

Baird froze with one foot on the first step
and hesitated for just a moment, bracing himself for another view
of her feminine vulnerability.

But the sight still made his gut clench.

It seemed impossible that she could appear
softer than she had after their kiss, but she did. It was easy to
imagine long sunny mornings spent in bed…

Baird pulled himself up short. Julian was
right - the woman must be a crazy vagrant. Wherever she had come
from, obviously she had been out in the elements too long.

But Baird’s lips burned. As much as he knew
he should just march right out of there and put the woman out of
his mind, he just couldn’t do it.

And she seemed to know it. She tucked a
strand of blond hair behind one ear, the move accentuating the soft
sweep of her jaw line. She stepped closer, her fair hair swaying
behind her like a satiny curtain, and her blue, blue gaze locked
with his.

Baird could feel that uncanny allure working
its magic on him again. He forced himself to look away, to look
anywhere other than her eyes, and his gaze had the misfortune to
fall on her feet.

Baird had always had a weakness for the
feminine foot. So different from his own, women’s feet spoke of
delicacy and grace, of suppleness and strength. These -
unfortunately for his determination to leave and ignore the woman -
were among the finest pair he had ever seen.

Baird swallowed and stared.

Just to make matters worse, those tiny feet
were bare against the accumulated moss on the stone floor, the
contrast highlighting their dainty femininity. Baird gritted his
teeth and struggled to not wonder how soft the pearly skin on her
instep would be.

He failed utterly.

“
I thought we were going to
look for my father.” There was a thread of steel in her tone that
had not been there before, but Baird seized on her words
themselves.

Could her father - whoever he was - really
have some claim on Dunhelm? Could Baird lose Dunhelm, after all he
had been through to acquire it?

No way! An irrational panic swept through
him and Baird knew he couldn’t let that happen at any cost. He
shoved one hand through his hair. “I’ll get to it after my meeting
with the designer.”

“
Oh, yes, we can’t keep our
precious Morticia waiting,” Julian muttered.

Baird fired a dark glance at his friend, his
patience with dissenting opinions completely gone. “Our designer’s
very good at what she does, whether you like her or not.”

Julian grimaced. “I wouldn’t know how good
she is - what I do know is that she’s very - how should I put it? -
ambitious.”

Baird stifled a growl, wishing for the
umpteenth time that Julian and Marissa could put their differences
aside. There were days when he felt more like a mediator than an
employer.

And that was the last thing he needed
today.

“
Just leave it, Julian.”
Baird turned back to the stairs, his gaze unwillingly drawn one
last time to those enticing feet. It was too easy to picture one
cradled in his hand, cleaning the dirt away, sliding his palm over
that graceful ankle…

He was losing it!

“
Take care of her,” Baird
commanded, then swung around and started up the stairs. “After the
meeting, I’ll start looking for Hekod.”

“
King Bard?”

What now? Baird reluctantly glanced back to
find the woman standing ramrod straight, her chin high, his sweater
hanging nearly to her knees. Her blue eyes shone with a clarity
that made Baird wonder whether she was really as dumb as she seemed
to want him to believe.

He refused to look below the hem of his
sweater.