Time of the Draig

by Lisa Dawn Wadler

  Just as she had wished, Faolan lifted his body to once again cover hers and meet her eyes. Her leg wrapped over his thigh, she whispered, “Can you feel my beast?”

  His growl answered as his body slowly entered hers. Her leg pulled him hard inside, and she cried out at the intrusion. Maybe Faolan had been correct in his slow assault; it’s been a while since my body has welcomed his.

  Faolan waited only long enough for her to relax and began a slow rhythm designed to make her move beneath him and force her to meet his body’s pace. “Does this please you?”

  Samantha gripped his muscled sides. “You please me.”

  She wasn’t the only one desperate to confirm reality. Faolan’s pace quickened as he said, “Say you are mine.”

  Laughter died in her throat as he ground against her center and gripped the head of the dragon on the back of her thigh. She choked out, “Always.” Her hand shifted to his firm backside, and he filled her hard, then almost left her body to again take her with all of his strength. She warned, “You kiss another woman, and I will kill you.”

  A hard kiss met her lips before he growled, “I plan on being too tired to even think about such foolery.”

  There should have been a retort to such an idiotic reply, but she had none to offer. All thought ceased as his body brought hers to life with the promise of pleasure and desire fulfilled. Before she had a chance to brace herself, the wave hit and dashed her over the rocks in the distance. A feminine cry of ecstasy filled the chamber before she heard Faolan scream her name.

  Her senses returned along with the blessed feel of Faolan draped over her while he rained soft breathless kisses against her neck. The only coherent thought was that she was finally home.

  Resting on his elbows, Faolan stared down at the woman whose lips held the panting smile he loved best. His Samantha had many smiles: one for the beauty of the world, one for him when he smiled at her, and one that belonged only to Boomer. Yet the one she wore currently was for him alone. It represented the culmination of passion and pleasure only he had or would ever bring her. The smile belonged only to him for all time.

  For a woman who had lived in decrepit conditions, she seemed hearty and hale. Her sun-kissed face held no signs of poor eating. Her tiny frame still bore signs of her strength encased in skin as smooth as any silk. As always, she was perfection to gaze upon and touch.

  Reluctantly, Faolan removed his body from hers and chuckled at the whisper of discomfort she made. He chastised her as he lay at her side. “Why did you rush when we had the whole of the night, my heart?”

  With fluid grace, she shifted to push him onto his back and snuggled against his side. “I couldn’t wait any longer.”

  Pride filled him at the certainty she craved him and missed his touch. Her words had filled his soul with the admission of how she had wanted to come to him. Pain tugged at his heart knowing she waited despite her longings to be with him. He pushed the thoughts aside rather than risk the anger it sparked deep inside. There was no true way for him to comprehend her in his bed and her in a hut away from his side.

  Soft hands cupped his cheek and forced his gaze to her. She whispered, “I love you.”

  Using her hair to pull her close, Faolan gently kissed the mouth that whispered such devotion. “As I love you, my heart. Mayhap the next time I ask you to explain something to me, this can be how you begin.”

  Her laughter filled the quiet, darkened chamber. “Maybe next time you can define the actual question for me, but I thought you liked it when I spoke in theoretical physics.”

  “Only because you share your private thoughts with me,” Faolan answered with sincerity. He would listen to her talk for hours about all manner of things he never understood if she needed an ear.

  He stilled the hand that traced the dragon on his chest, though he could have enjoyed the light caress for hours. His finger traced the imperfection left by the sword wound on her arm. “You suffered, and I had no idea.” The very idea made him cringe at how he had failed to protect her.

  Samantha pulled the arm out of his grasp. “It’s all better now. Even Boomer was satisfied with Miller’s inspection.” In the dim light, he saw her eyes twinkle. “Would you like to know what else Miller said?”

  Fear coursed through his veins as his mind wondered at what the healer could have found. Is she still in danger? In a flash, he was sitting up to stare down at her. “Tell me all,” Faolan demanded.

  Her gaze searched his before she spoke. “Do you remember that night by the cliffs when we spoke of what type of life we would share? Of all the moments you wished to have?”

  “I need to ken if something ails you, and you wish to speak of word games?”

  Her head shook in denial against the bedding. “I want to know if you meant those things.”

  Her soft expression led him to believe her health was not at risk. Faolan leaned down to rest on his elbow and watched his other hand trace the skin between her breasts. He whispered, “I want and now shall have every moment I dreamed with you.”

  Samantha nodded in silent agreement. “One of those dreams is going to happen. I’m pregnant. Miller confirmed it.”

  The word spoken tickled his brain, yet comprehension could not be found. “I dinna ken what you mean.”

  “Apparently some words don’t work in the universal translator,” Samantha muttered. She lifted his wandering hand and placed it on her flat stomach. “We’re having a baby.”

  For the second time that night, Faolan felt his thoughts cease to exist. Such dreams he had spoken of the night they had stared into the darkened sea while they feared what the future would hold. His wife had crumpled before him in their peaceful glade when he had dared to ask if she could, even then, hold life within her.

  Faolan dipped his head to stare at her abdomen as if he could see through her flesh to behold the promise of a child. His lips placed a light kiss to where his child would grow as awe and amazement overpowered his senses.

  Her voice called to him in the depths of his stupor. “Miller says I’m about ten to eleven weeks along. By mid-winter, we will be three.”

  The counting made no sense. Faolan lifted his lips from her skin and watched her features transform with the uncertainty he knew his expression held. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “You have only been my wife for a handful of weeks.” Faolan began to growl before her laughter rang out.

  “By your counting, yes. Remember that I’ve spent another moon and a half waiting to come back to you.”

  Realization dawned with the subtlety of a fist to the head. Everything crashed down at once, and Faolan leapt from the bed and began pacing the chamber while trying to piece the continuing puzzle together. “You carried my child and stayed away from me. How could you live in that awful hut with no protection from the storms? You went into battle instead of seeking the safety of my walls!”

  Her exasperated sigh met his ears, and he stopped the erratic motion to glare at her. Samantha rose from the bed and stood before him. For once his gaze ignored her bare form and settled on the amused smile she dared to offer him.

  “If I had come here to claim I carried your child when we had never slept together, you would have reacted how?”

  Faolan had no reply for the question and instead stalked to the table to pour himself a drink. He cursed after a long swallow. The water did not satisfy his thirst or calm his rage the way wine would have.

  “I can’t drink wine now. It’s not good for the baby,” Samantha said from behind him. While her hand skimmed his back, she said, “I know this is incredibly complicated, but I had to wait until today to be here.” The sound of her feet padding away on the floor ended, and he heard her body settle on the bed.

  Without facing her, Faolan said, “You could have died from fever. Our child could have been lost
, and I would have never known any of it.”

  “Like Boomer would have let anything happen to me and his niece or nephew,” Samantha chided him. “All you need to know is that Boomer had my back, and Efraim saved the day. By the way, you owe Efraim an apology for threatening to kill him when you came in tonight. He’s the one who brought the medicine that saved my life.”

  Her humor had no place in the moment, though if any were to stand as her protector, none was better than Boomer. Faolan said softly, “I thought Efraim lied about your return. It was the only thought that made sense.”

  A lack of reply did not surprise him. What can she say to my simple truth? Faolan looked into the cup and then placed it on the table next to the bag containing the orbs of power. “In so many ways, I have failed to protect you.”

  Her soft voice called to him, and he turned to see her lying on her stomach on the bed facing him. Calm eyes met his. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not the weak woman you need to save. The lass your mother wants you to have is, and she would need your constant protection. I can fight and seemingly rearrange time and space. None of that diminishes my need for you or our child’s. You have taught me to be playful and enjoy life. Together we will teach this child to laugh and love and kick some serious ass when needed.”

  Faolan felt his anger vanish as visions of possibility danced through his thoughts. “Our son will be strong in mind and body.”

  “I was talking about a daughter,” she said with a wink and a raised eyebrow. “The past is gone, and we are left with now. Against all odds, we have so many nows to share. So, do you want to argue the theoretical physics of time travel and the responsibilities it creates, or will you have this now with me?” Her smile faded as she asked, “Can you accept who I am?”

  That she would even question his want of her tore at his heart. “I want only you,” Faolan replied as he sat by her side. He stared at the dragon twisting down her back, over her lush backside to end on the back of her thigh. Without command, his hand covered the trail his eyes had taken, and he sighed as she moved into his touch.

  Faolan whispered, “Your beast kens my touch.”

  Samantha’s head came to rest on her hands, and she stared at the wall. “Are you happy about the baby?”

  “Forgive me if I gave you a moment’s doubt. My wife is to bear my child. How could there be anything but joy in my heart?”

  A new smile covered her face as she shifted enough to gaze up at him, one that could only be love for the child-to-be.

  The smile faded as she asked, “Are you done with the anger for tonight?”

  The chuckle that issued from his lips surprised him. “From now on, you sleep by my side and sit on my right at every meal. You will rest and touch no weapon.” Using the phrase he had heard too many times to count, Faolan said, “I have your back.”

  Her eyes rolled in mock disgust even as her body languidly responded to his gentle touch on her dragon. “To prevent another argument, I’ll have you know that Miller, Boomer, and your grandmother have already decided on what I can and cannot do.”

  Not satisfied by her statement, Faolan rolled her gently onto her back and forced his gaze to only meet her eyes. “Do you plan to listen to their wisdom?”

  “Most of it,” she acknowledged with a touch of humor.

  “All of it,” he growled in response.

  Samantha sat up and placed her hand on the head of the dragon on his thigh. “Tell me again what the future holds for us.” Her gaze pleaded for what he might say.

  Faolan blinked the wetness from his eyes, as he knew it was no longer a game. The future was theirs to build. He let his gaze wander her bare form and scooped her up into his lap. His hands tilted her face up to meet his kiss, one that spoke of love and promise. He whispered against her mouth, “Everything.”

  Chapter 26

  Samantha held up her hand in a gesture that asked for one more minute. Her mind whirled in the neural connection even as she felt the warm hand on her shoulder and knew her time was up. The sigh left her lips, and her hand pulled the connector from her temple. She blinked rapidly and asked, “How long?”

  Boomer replied, “For once, you’re right on time. Three hours on the dot.”

  Samantha rose and stretched in the chamber across the hall from the one she and Faolan shared. It was still the only place she felt comfortable logging in to UNK005. The chamber seemed cold and lifeless after the session, while her mind still reeled from the implications and the encounter as a whole.

  “How did it go?” Boomer asked and handed her a cup of water.

  After the drink, she nodded. “I can’t believe how easy the session was with the primary connection to the smaller UNK005.” The mysteries of the universe should have all been accessible and ready to be explored. The larger UNK005 functioned as the anchor it was meant to be. She could only assume the mainframe at the base must have caused some type of interference with the connection. That was all she explained to Boomer. The last thing she needed was for him to be in a panic.

  UNK005 had completely controlled the data stream. It had limited what she could explore and prohibited her entry into the vast amount of its stored information. For the first time since the technology had been entrusted to her, Samantha had not been the true operator. UNK005 had taken her where it wished and no further.

  “Everyone is waiting in the hall for your report,” Boomer reminded her.

  The mysteries of the universe were going to remain hidden. Miller had given reluctant permission for the session, and Faolan was most likely out of his mind with worry. No one had any idea what the connection would or could do to the child she carried, and for once, scientific curiosity would not come first. The session had accomplished everything she needed to make certain her mission was complete.

  With a nod, Boomer walked by her side down the stairs to the crowd that waited for good news.

  Her feet had barely hit the stone floor when Faolan reached her side to hold her face in his hands. “The dark mountain refused to let me near you,” he grumbled.

  Boomer laughed. “Give me a break. I can handle watching Sam all by myself. What I can’t do is listen to your whining about it.”

  Samantha grinned up at him and pulled his head down to hers with a soft kiss for his frowning lips. “We’re fine, and I’m done.”

  Jeff’s voice rose over the men gathered. “Report, Major.”

  Releasing herself from Faolan’s grip and tugging his hand within hers, she strode to face her men and Dana. “You should all be pleased to know the mission is done and, by my standards, a success.”

  Cheers erupted and had to quiet of their own accord before she could finish. “To continue with the analogy used, this bubble is secure. The two UNK005s being in one place has locked this time securely. UNK005 believes the timeline develops in almost the same way as the one we left, and we could almost write history before it happens. There will be subtle changes in this timeline that prevent the world war and the destruction of humanity we left behind.”

  Again, cheers rang in the stone hall. Samantha left out how the other time stream, or bubble, ceased to exist. The explosion that had chased them from the lab was more than just the lab’s or base’s destruction. UNK005 had popped the bubble. Parallel timelines were the imaginings of science fiction, not science fact.

  Guilt should have plagued her at the destruction of what was, but didn’t. The new bubble already existed as a whole. The future was there; UNK005 had reassured her. While she couldn’t open a door to the future without risk, it was happening or had happened. Time was tricky that way. Humans saw a line with a start and an end. UNK005 had shown her the truth. The bubble was whole and complete. From every glimpse she had been shown, it wasn’t perfect, but it was good and inspired hope.

  Jeff stepped to her side. “You left out w
hat?” His voice was soft and could not be overheard given the celebration in the hall.

  Samantha nestled her back against Faolan’s chest and pulled his arms around her like a security blanket as she considered how to answer the question. “There is more to UNK005 than I could have ever dreamed. There’s a sentient quality mixed with a sense of moral responsibility. Don’t ask me how, it won’t tell me. Some secrets aren’t meant for us.”

  Jeff’s jaw dropped. He then asked, “Are you done with that thing?”

  Samantha nodded. “It doesn’t matter what I want. It’s done with me. The last login was a goodbye. Its job is done now that time is safe.” She smiled at the confused look on the captain’s face. “UNK005 wants you to live your life.”

  “I hope you’re joking,” Jeff muttered.

  She was and she wasn’t, but Jeff didn’t need to know that. With a loud voice, she said, “All of the tech and materials we brought with us get stowed. From now on, we live based on the rules of this time.” The order, while issued from her mouth, had come from the last session. Who am I to argue with UNK005?

  As an afterthought she added, “All of the data stored on the pads needs to be converted to hard copy. I want drawings of the water tables, all of the landscape features above and below ground, and the schematics we took of the keep.” It may be a bit more than she had agreed to in the last login; however, it seemed like a prudent final command decision.

  It was Efraim who asked the question. “Are there UNK005s buried in the future in Arizona?”

  “Yes,” Samantha replied. While truth, she couldn’t comprehend how two pairs of the strange technology existed. The potential risk of two sets of UNK005s in one world threatened to erase the celebratory mood from the hall. She quickly added, “UNK005 is not found in this future. It was extremely clear on that fact.”