by Vanessa Vale
"I'd… I'd like to see the ruby ring, please," I all but begged the shopkeeper, my voice breathy. I sounded like a porn star. I ran my thumb over my fingers in a move that showed I was itching to touch it. Now. I needed to hold it.
"Ah," was all the old woman said, eyebrow raised on her wrinkled forehead, as if the one word explained everything. She appeared to be in her eighties, but I wasn't sure with her stooped posture and lined face. The woman wore a straight dark wool skirt that fell just below her knees, a white blouse and a light blue cardigan. I couldn't imagine how the woman could stand such heavy clothes in the July heat. But she was small and frail and the air was cool in the store. Walking slowly to the window display, she brought the ring and handed it to me, the woman's bony fingers brushing my palm in the process.
I gasped at the contact. The ring was clearly an antique, the band thick, worn with age. The blood red stone was set heavily into the gold with intricately carved swirls. It was a large ring, bigger than anything I would usually wear. The gold was hot to the touch, the ruby a color so vivid that it glowed and pulsed, almost scorching my palm. My nipples, already tight, tingled as if they'd been put in clamps. My silk panties became damp. I licked my dry lips and tried to stifle the slight moan that escaped. Just holding the ring felt so good.
"The ring has been waiting for you," the shopkeeper said, her voice raspy with age.
I closed my eyes briefly, giving over to the sensations, the waves of pleasure sweeping over me, tingling my skin. Goose bumps flickered to life.
I'd been waiting to feel like this for a long time. Hot. Bothered. Needy. From a man though, not a ring! From a Viking or a space pirate or a Highlander. Even a stockbroker from Cleveland. If I was to seek pleasure from an inanimate object, it should be from the vibrator in my bedside drawer rather than a ruby ring.
I was losing my mind! How could a ring make me feel this way? I laughed nervously. Embarrassed. "Waiting for me?" I repeated. "That's a pretty good sales pitch."
"It's not a pitch." The saleswoman leaned in as she spoke. Whispered. "You know what I mean."
I noticed the older woman's eyes were rheumy with cataracts, her smile kind.
"I… I don't think so," I stammered and shook my head, trying with difficulty to hide my pleasurable discomfort. I tucked my hair back behind my ear nervously. It wasn't as if I wanted to share with the lady how close to orgasm I was.
The woman cracked a wide smile showing crooked teeth. "There hasn't been someone like you in a long time."
Who? Someone destined for the insane asylum? I placed my hand on my chest. "Someone... like me?"
I squeezed the heavy ring tight in my sweaty palm, felt the heft of it, the need in it. Was I a freak? Was I among a select few who acted strangely—sexually, by holding a ring in my hand? Where the hell was Tracy when I needed her? Would she be acting like a sex-starved lunatic too, or would she drag me away from the store telling me I was banned from lunchtime wine?
"It's your birthday, isn't it?" the woman asked, although I could tell by looking at her eyes she already knew the answer. A sage. Maybe a fortune teller?
Stunned, I could only nod my head. The longer I held the ring, the more I needed fulfillment. Answers. Relief from the pain/pleasure the ring elicited.
"You've been drawn to the ruby ring because it's your birthday. Ruby is your birthstone. You can see your past lives when you touch the ring. His ring."
"What?" I cried out, half in surprise, half pleasure. This was beyond strange. But why was I having these unusual, intensely erotic feelings? "Past lives? The ring belongs to someone?"
"Only the sexual part of a past life," the shopkeeper said. "And yes, the ring belongs to your man."
Okay, maybe the woman had lost her senses in her old age. "Sure," I muttered, sarcastically. "Did Tracy put you up to this?"
"You doubt."
I nodded my head. "Of course, I do."
"You feel it, don't you?" The woman looked me over, assessing me. Could she see my nipples were hard? "The lust, the sexual longing?" She laughed, rusty and rough. "Do not be embarrassed."
I felt my cheeks heat even further. If I couldn't mention my fantasy man to my closest girlfriends over a bottle of wine, I wasn't sharing my inner feelings with this lady.
"It's true. The ring makes you feel the sexual desires of a past life, for your one true man."
"Okay, say I believe you," I murmured, definitely embarrassed. Skeptical. At the same time, relieved I wasn't completely insane—well, maybe not. The woman's words, strange as they were, were an answer to why I was so aroused, ridiculous as it was. "I don't see anything like a past life flashing before my eyes—nor a man." But I was overwhelmed by the sexual desire.
"You feel the power though, don't you?" the woman asked.
I couldn't speak. I wasn't going to tell the shopkeeper my nipples were tight and my pussy clenched at the very thought of a rock hard cock. If I closed my eyes, I could envision lying on my back, spreading my legs wide, a dark head between my thighs with his mouth—
"Don't you?" the shopkeeper repeated.
"Yes!" I cried out, relieved and embarrassed to know I wasn't sick, just in tune somehow to a magic ruby. I frowned because I wasn't sure which was better. "I don't care about these so called past lives. Can it see my… future sex life?"
I needed a man. Now. Not decades or even centuries ago. It might have belonged to some seriously hot guy, but he wasn't here to relieve this ache.
"No." The woman smiled, clearly not the least bit bothered by the strange topic of conversation. "The ruby will take you back in time to relive a piece of a previous life. A sexual snippet in time with your mate. Rest assured, the man from the past life you will see again. In this lifetime."
"If I'll meet him in this lifetime, why should I go back in time?"
She offered a soft smile. "I'm old, but I'm not dead. As I said, you go back for one specific sexual interlude. Wouldn't you like that?"
I couldn't help but flush. Hell, yes, I'd like that, but what she was saying was slightly crazy. Put the ring on my finger, go back in time and have sex with a stranger. Hmm. I was desperate, but was I that desperate?
"He's your eternal mate," she continued. "As I said, the ruby won't show you when you meet him in the future. Instead, you can be with him once again, in the past."
"Eternal mate?" I was having a difficult time following.
The woman walked over to a straight-backed wood chair and carefully lowered herself, sighed, took a moment. "Ah, that's better. Your eternal mate is the man you are destined to be with forever."
"So it's not just some random stranger?"
She shook her head. "Oh, no. He's the man destined for you. He's not a stranger to you at all."
I gave her a doubtful look. "It's hard to believe all this past lives and eternal mate talk," I grumbled. "I admit I had too much wine at lunch, but this is more like too much tequila talking."
I was ready to dash home and pull my highest powered vibrator out of the drawer. Somehow, though, I knew it would get me off, but it wouldn't dull this ache.
"This ring—" I looked at the older woman, watched her closely as I asked, "—it belonged to... him?"
She nodded.
"Then why is it here, in your store? Why doesn't this... eternal mate have it?"
Her bony shoulders went up in a shrug. "I don't know what happened in the past, why it is here, other than perhaps this is how you were destined to find him again." She smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt. "To sense the ring, go back in time to be with your eternal mate, so you will know him when you meet him in the future."
I frowned. Seemed a little far fetched. Everything about this situation was a little unusual, make that ridiculous. If she wasn't telling the truth, then what was going on? It wasn't like I could go to the ER and say there was something wrong with me and the symptoms were extreme arousal and horniness.
"What if it wasn't my birthday? Could I see a previous life then, too?"
The shopkeeper shook her head. "Only on your birthday. I can see it in your eyes. Your doubt. The chances of it being your birthday and walking by the store on the same day."
Was she a mind reader as well?
"So it's like a birthday gift, this one night?" This one night of sex. Was the guy going to be naked with a bow wrapped around his cock?
"It was meant to be," she added with a confident nod of her head.
I was meant to go back in time and have sex? Why couldn't I be normal and have sex with a perfectly nice man from the present? "Why couldn't this have happened years ago?" Frustration boiled to the surface and the woman could hear it in my words. "I would have liked to have met this... eternal mate... a little sooner." I'd forgotten I still held my shopping bags and put them down on the floor. Crossing my arms over my chest, I felt a jolt of longing as I bumped my nipples before quickly dropping them back to my sides.
The woman smiled softly. "It wasn't the right time. Now it is. You may go back and meet him."
Now was the right time? I wouldn't have minded finding out about all this on say, my twenty-fifth birthday. Was this why I hadn't met Mr. Right before now? He was out there, somewhere? I could just walk out and know that he was out there. I didn't need to go back in time. God, was I even considering this?
I eyed the smiling woman with plenty of skepticism. She sat there quietly, patiently waiting for me to decide. Decide to believe her, the feelings the ring brought about, the existence of an eternal mate, and go back in time. Or walk away.
Perhaps she was just an elderly woman who had succumbed to dementia and was nonsensical. Her words certainly didn't make sense. Of course, finding Mr. Right and falling in love never made sense. Ali, Tracy and Hannah hadn't found their Mr. Right. Others had, and their love stories were absolutely ridiculous, like my friend Sarah. She met her now husband when they were both hooked to IV's and throwing up in the ER after they'd eaten at the same restaurant and gotten food poisoning. That was not the premise for a romance novel.
What did I have to lose? I had no plans besides a nap and this was way more interesting. In fact, it was the craziest thing that had happened in a while. The woman was too frail to harm me. Worst case scenario, I humored an old woman and went home. Best case, my eternal mate brought me to orgasm. If I had one night, hopefully more than once. Tough decision. At this point I'd do anything, including going back in time, to finish what the ruby had started.
I was insane. I was insane. I was insane! "All right. I'm game. What do I have to do?"
The woman's smile reached her eyes. Softened them. "Put the ring on. That's all. You will be transported back in time for one night from a past life with your eternal mate. When the sun rises and your birthday is over, you will return."
"That's it?" I was surprised. It didn't sound too bad. Then I paused, looked cautiously at the woman. "I can't get stuck there, can I?" Wherever there was.
The shopkeeper laughed, her head tilting back. "No. But you must keep the ring on, however, to stay the night." She pointed a gnarled finger at me. "Otherwise, you'll be brought back immediately."
I ran my fingers over the blood red ruby, felt the craftsmanship, the detail. How far back in time would I go? Where would I go?
My body hummed, screamed with need. A need I knew deep down only the ring could give me, and I didn't want to give it back. I wanted to meet this eternal mate. If the woman wasn't crazy, he was the only one who could satisfy me. If putting on the ring brought me to him and an orgasm, I had to do it.
"This is crazy, you know," I said to the woman, giving her a pointed look. She only smiled in return.
Taking a deep breath, I sat down in a comfortable armchair across from her. Glancing her way, she nodded with what I hoped was reassurance as I slipped the ring over my finger. If nothing happened, I'd yank off the ring and head home and spend time with my battery operated boyfriend. It was warm against my skin, then I felt the gold almost singe my skin before my world went dark.
CHAPTER THREE
Lexy
"I now pronounce ye are man and wife. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder."
I stared down at the ruby on my slim finger as I processed what I'd just heard. Man and wife. Man and wife? I whipped my head up to see a man in long black robes standing before me. He was smiling at me, then looking to my right. Oh shit.
I whipped my head around to look at the man who stood beside me. No, make that loomed over me. He was so close, near enough I could smell his clean male scent. Spicy, dark. He was large, well over six feet as I barely came to his shoulder. His broad, thick, very masculine body was covered in a crisp white shirt. He had inky black hair, wavy and unruly, yet short enough to fall recklessly over his forehead and brush the back of his neck. A day or two's growth of dark whiskers covered his rugged jaw. He had the deepest brown and brooding eyes, yet a quick smile. Clearly, he was pleased with the clergy's words.
My gaze shifted lower and took in the rest of him. Holy shit, he wore a kilt. A kilt! A real one, cinched about his hips by a wide leather belt, a long strip of it tossed up and over his far shoulder. My mouth fell open. A man in a kilt. A very hot man in a kilt. I couldn't help but lick my lips.
Cheers and applause broke through my ogling. Spinning around, I took in my surroundings. Thick stone walls, dark tapestries, solid wood furniture in a large room. I felt like I'd stepped into the great hall at Hogwarts, for at the long rows of tables laden with food were people clapping. This wasn't Hogwarts. It looked like I'd stepped into the movie set from Braveheart. Um, double holy shit, I was in Scotland!
The man beside me took my hand in his. It was large and warm, engulfing mine. And the man before me was a Scot. In a flipping kilt! A Highlander.
"Ye may kiss yer bride."
The man's sexy smile widened and I caught a quick glimpse of straight white teeth. I couldn't do more than take a deep breath before he tugged me close. I had to place my hands on his chest for balance. While his skin was warm through his shirt, it felt like he was made of bricks. All I could feel was hard slabs of muscle. His gaze dropped to my mouth as he lowered his head.
He was going to kiss me! I thought that for a split second before his lips touched mine. This wasn't a dream! I felt the warmth of his lips, scented cinnamon and felt the zing of his touch go straight to my pussy. This wasn't a quick chaste kiss, but deeper and with some serious heat. Some serious tongue. This was possession, pure and simple. The scorching heat I'd felt when I first touched the ring was nothing compared to this. My need, desire, only escalated, seeped through my body to my bones. I couldn't help but gasp at the incredible sensation. Power, domination, need, all coalesced in this one kiss. One quick… incredible invasion and he was gone. He pulled back and I felt bereft.
I had no idea I'd closed my eyes until they fluttered open to look at the man who'd given me the best—and probably fastest—kiss of my life. He still smiled down at me, but had that predatory look a man gets when he wants you. Bad.
Good. I wanted him, too. Wanted his lips back on mine, his tongue back in my mouth. The feelings from the jewelry store had only grown stronger. Needier. More desperate. I felt the ring pulse around my finger. I knew this was the man who was going to ease the ache. Oh, hell yes, he could totally ease the ache.
I gazed into his whiskey colored eyes, small lines crinkled at the corners, and long dark lashes. I saw something there, something I recognized deep down. It was totally weird, I knew he was what I'd been missing. I felt it down to the very marrow of my bones. He was my eternal mate. It was like he held a missing piece to a puzzle I'd been trying to solve all my life.
The old woman hadn't been crazy. This was real. I could feel the dampness from the stone walls. I could smell the burning wick in the candles that lit the room, the scent of roasting meat and wine. Even with all of that, his spicy scent filled my senses. The heat from his body radiated like a furnace. It was like virtual reality to the extreme, but this was actually hap
pening.
"I'll be on my way now, Ian," the priest said, his smile kind. He spoke over the continued applause, louder because we'd kissed. "Robert Kenzie is to wed as well today to Brynn Ross."
Ian—his name was Ian—broke our connection, released my hand and turned to shake the cleric's. My palm was cold without the heat of his touch. Lonely. It was as if a lifeline had been removed. Life support shut down. I ached for more contact. Craved it. Needed it. I stepped closer to him and he must have sensed my need because he wrapped his arm about me, pulling me into his side.
"Thank you, Father." His voice was deep, rough, like tumbled rocks. "Ye ventured out of your way. I know how hard that was for ye with so many funerals."
Funerals?
"Ah, yes, but it is moments like that that we are reminded of the joy in life." The priest smiled. "Much happiness, my dear," he said to me before Ian led him to a side door.
I couldn't help notice the back half of my husband—husband!—was just as appealing as the front. Wide shoulders, narrow waist and muscled legs that could be seen below the kilt.
I ignored the others in the room, for I was too confused, too overwhelmed, too nervous to pay them any attention. I took a deep breath and covered my tingling lips with my fingers. In the past few minutes I'd gone from being in the twenty-first century having a perfectly average birthday to some bygone era in Scotland. I assumed it was Scotland by the men's thick brogues.
I was married—married!—to an incredibly attractive man named Ian. The intense pleasure I'd felt at the jewelry store hadn't gone away. After the kiss, it only escalated. I was ready and willing to do whatever Ian wanted. Anything. Especially headboard banging, pressed up against the wall Scottish monkey sex. Oh, hell yeah. As long as he took care of the almost painful aching between my thighs. My nipples. My very being. By the look he'd had in his eye—and the way he kissed—I felt sure he knew how to do that.
I looked down at myself. My skirt and tank top were gone. In their place, I wore a navy dress that fell heavily to the floor with full skirts and long sleeves. My full breasts were shoved high, round globes practically spilling out of the low cut bodice, by what felt like a corset constricting my waist. No wonder I was short of breath. I sucked in air and my nipples popped free. I squeaked at the sight and shoved them back down into the tight bodice. Glancing left and right, I hoped no one had noticed. Ian's back was turned and the group of people sitting at the tables seemed to be partying pretty hard. Still, I'd never flashed anyone before in my life. Even with my breasts covered, I could see my nipples jutting out through the fabric of my dress. A modern day bra had nothing on the support and lift a corset could provide. It was a historic Wonder Bra. Amazed, I ran my hands over my plump breasts. I gasped at the erotic contact, surprised by how sensitive the tips were.
