Once Upon a Duke's Dream

by Ellie St. Clair

  “I came to find you,” he replied, which caused Dougal to scowl at him fiercely, his hand going to his sword. “Easy big guy. I just wanted to make sure she was ok. I needed to know so I could move on with my life. Maybe that’s why I’m here. I know all is good with you. So why can’t I go back ?”

  “Is there anything else, when you look into your heart, that you want ?”

  “No.”

  Emilia let out a groan. “Bryan,” she said. “This is what always drove me nuts about you. Stop being so stubborn and admit, to yourself if no one else, what it is you really want. What is your soul searching for ?”

  “Nothing,” he said, rising. “This is a mistake. I shouldn’t have come here .”

  He knew what he was looking for because he had found it. When he was with Sorcha, he felt that all was right with the world, even if that world was the 16th century. But it could never be with her, and so he wouldn’t give into the feelings that chased him .

  “Forget it,” he said. “Sorry to bother you. I’ll see you at the wedding I guess .”

  Emilia looked at him knowingly. “Sorcha’s wedding? Bryan, what do you feel for her ?”

  “Nothing! I barely know her. How could I possibly feel anything for her? Sure, she’s beautiful but any man would notice that .”

  “I didna .”

  “Oh, he speaks !”

  “Careful, time traveler,” said Dougal, rising. “I dinna hurt you as my wife pleads for me not to, but ‘tis a thin line you walk .”

  “Enough, both of you,” Emilia cut in. “Bryan, sometimes you just know. Don’t give up on love, or yourself. You deserve happiness .”

  “She’s to marry another man,” he said .

  “Question why you’re here Bryan,” she said. “What are you supposed to do ?”

  “I don’t know, Emilia,” he said, finally being honest, with her and himself. “I just don’t know .”

  10

  Sorcha

  S orcha sat in the tower window, looking out on the training yard below. She shouldn’t be here, she shouldn’t be doing this. All she was doing was torturing herself. Since their kiss, she had yearned for him, the man with the soft lips and the hard body .

  She watched that body now. He was in the yard, paired off against a young warrior still learning his craft. Socha knew Bryan’s skills were much different than the other men when it came to practice combat, and yet he held his own in the ring, lifting the training sword with determination. Despite the chill, his shirt was off, and Sorcha watched the way the sun glistened off the perspiration of his bare, chiseled chest .

  “See something you like, child ?”

  Sorcha whirled around .

  “Fiona! Where have you been ?”

  “I had some things to do. You’re not the only ones I look after, ye ken .”

  “No, Fiona, I donna ken anything. You’re my maid are ye not? Ye canna be a lady’s maid to more than one woman at a time .”

  Fiona waved her hands in the air. “The maid part of what I do is so small it hardly counts. Now about the man ye desire down there, dear --”

  “Fiona, Bryan has been trying to find you. He’s said ye were there in his present day and now you’re here. And he’s not the only one to see ye there. We met his friends and they know ye as well. Fiona, what is going on here? You have to help him .”

  Fiona contemplated her for a moment. “Is that what ye want? For him to return ?”

  If Sorcha was being honest with herself, no, she did not want him to leave. But she couldn’t ask him to stay and then not be with him. If he did ever stay, it would have to be because that was his truest wish, and it did not seem to be so. “If that is what he truly wants himself, then aye, I do want him to return .”

  “Very well,” said Fiona after a moment. “The pathway to the future will open at the time and place when is most appropriate. Have patience .”

  “And what of you, Fiona? What is yer role in this ?”

  Fiona looked at her. “Sit, child,” she said, leading Sorcha to a chair in the corner of the room. “I canna exactly explain it to you in a way ye will ever completely understand. I watch over people, help them follow their hearts -- give them a little nudge when they need it. I have a bit of what you would call magic to help things along. I’ve found that hearts that belong together sometimes span centuries apart. They come in threes, typically .”

  “So, you’re saying Bryan’s heart belongs to — me?” Sorcha was incredulous. “But I am to be married in just over a week. There is no way out of it .”

  “I can only bring people together. I canna force anything to happen. That is up to you.” Fiona gave her a gentle smile, then left the room, leaving Sorcha alone with her thoughts .

  * * *

  S orcha sat in her room that evening, twisting her night garments around in her fingers. She was to be married so soon — to that vile man she hated so. Her father would not see reason, seeming to believe Archibald was a man of worth, but clearly he was otherwise .

  Sorcha thought of the way he had treated the actors that night at Dunnator and shivered. How was she supposed to spend the rest of her life with someone like that? She could run away from him, but where would she go? She had no money, no valuables, no property of her own. She would be destitute, and her clan at risk .

  As for Bryan, well, despite his handsome demeanor and the way he attracted her to him, he hadn’t kissed her again. He was stubborn, opinionated, and wilful. And yet… there was something about him that drew her. She couldn’t help her attraction to him, the desire she felt in her body when she looked at him, whether it was at the dinner table or watching him spar with the other men. His lean muscle was impressive. She watched when he didn’t know she was there, looking at the sweat sheen on his skin like dew on the morning grass .

  She sighed. She should not have these thoughts. After her marriage, nothing would ever be the same and she would hardly have a chance to ever speak to the man let alone interact with him as she had been since the night he appeared .

  After this, the only man she would see during the night was her husband. She hoped, at least, he would be kind in this regard. She grimaced. She knew better than that. She needed to get out of here, away from her thoughts before she made herself mad. She put on a robe before hesitantly putting a foot out the door. She didn’t have a set destination but felt like wandering rather than staying here alone .

  Until, that is, her feet stopped outside Bryan’s door. No. She couldn’t — wouldn’t. She was supposed to be an innocent woman going to her marriage bed. If she went into Bryan’s room, she had a very good feeling that would no longer be the case .

  As much as her mind was telling her no, it seemed her body and soul had other thoughts. After a soft knock, her hand turned the knob of the door, and it swung open. There he was, sitting on the edge of the bed as if he was waiting for her .

  “Sorcha,” he murmured, his voice making her name sound like a caress. His chest was bare, his legs crossed in front of him as he sat on the bed, which was more of a cot, about half the size of hers. One candle beside him lent a soft light to the room, his face in partial shadow .

  Sorcha swallowed the lump in her throat as best she could. “Will ye -- come to me?” she asked in a whisper. His eyes widened and he nodded, before she shut the door behind her quietly and ran back down the hallway. She entered her own room, with its wide, soft bed, and waited for him, praying that he would come. She wanted him to choose, so she would know if he wanted her, but how devastating if she asked and he never followed .

  She nervously curled a tendril of her hair around her finger, before letting it spring free. She continued to wrap it so tightly until a pinch alerted her to what she was doing. Finally, the door opened a crack and her heart jumped. He slowly eased it open the rest of the way, and came in, shutting the door behind him as he leaned against it, waiting for her to initiate whatever it was she was looking for. She cleared her throat and finally looked at him, as he
waited so patiently for her to decide what to say .

  “I… that is, I… I’m unsure exactly if I should have asked ye to come. I only know that I want — nay, need — the chance to really feel before a lifetime without .”

  She lifted her head then, that unique shade of teal green of her eyes drinking him in. Bryan slowly began to walk over to her, lifting a hand, his palm up and outstretched towards her .

  “Come,” he said, and once the invitation was made, she took it greedily, sliding out of the bed to stand in front of him. He gently pulled her to him, and easing her fingers down, he slid his hands over hers and moved them around his waist. He left her fingers there, and they instinctively bit into his hips as he raised his hands to smooth the hair away from her face. She tilted her head towards him, and caught a glimpse of the intensity of his gaze upon her before he bent his head and tasted her lips. The kiss started sweet, as it had the first time he’d kissed her, but it slowly grew in intensity, an ember that began to burn fiercely between them .

  His lips tilted overtop of hers over and over, the pressure causing her to tremble. His tongue teased her lips, opening them and caressing inside her mouth. The sensation caused her to press her body closer to him until she was completely in his arms and holding onto him with all her strength. Wherever — whenever — he was from, the man knew how to kiss, that was for certain .

  “Sorcha,” he groaned as he raised his hand and ran his fingers down her spine, feeling her curves through the thin chemise. “You’re killing me .”

  “I’m what?” her head lifted at that. However could she be —

  “It’s an expression,” he said at her confused look. “Forgive me. I only meant that you are so sweet, so delicious, that I can hardly stop myself from drinking in more of you .”

  “Take it,” she responded breathily. “Take me — please. I need more .”

  His eyebrows raised but he didn’t argue with her. Rather, he lifted the thin shift off her body and over her head, throwing it onto the sole chair of the room .

  Sorcha felt like covering herself for a moment, until she caught the way his intense gaze ran up and down her body, coming to rest on her breasts, which he reached out and grasped, one in each palm .

  “Sorcha, you are absolutely beautiful,” he said, admiring her in a way that made her want to blush from head to toe. “I am a lucky man to be able to see you like this .”

  “You can do more, if you want to .”

  He lifted her and laid her gently on the bed. He knelt in front of her, in between her legs, and gently pulled her towards him, one leg on either side of his body .

  “What are you —”

  “Shh.” He lifted her legs and first he found her with his fingers, gently rubbing his thumb against her, creating a glorious friction that worked its way into her very core, before sending shivers out through her arms and legs. She wanted more, and he seemed to understand as before she could even ask what he was doing, his mouth replaced his fingers. She gasped. This wasn’t done -- was it? But before she could protest any further, he was sucking at her in a way that soon had her splitting apart with sensations that she could never have dreamt of .

  It was more than she ever thought possible, and yet it wasn’t quite enough. As her hips came off the bed, he realized what she wanted, but he shook his head no. “You’re to be married soon,” he said. “I can’t do that to you -- you’re not mine to take .”

  “Please,” she begged, looking up at him through eyes clouded with tears. “If I must marry that man, there will never be any true coupling with him -- not like this. Give me this one night, that’s all I ask. Let me experience all there is to feel before I must spend my life with another who will never give me the pleasure ye are able to .”

  “You must be sure,” he said. “Tell me now .”

  She simply nodded and pulled him tighter towards her .

  It wasn’t a request that Bryan could turn down. Before he could even think, he had braced himself above her on his elbows, gazing down into the ocean of her eyes. His thumb found her again, and he made sure she was ready, her hips coming up to meet his, inviting him forward. As he slowly eased into her, his eyes closed and Sorcha couldn’t tell if he was in pain or if something was bothering him. Before she could ask, he groaned, and told her, “This may hurt for a moment. But it will ease, I promise .”

  She gasped as she felt the pain he had described, and he stilled as she clenched around him. The moment soon passed, however, and before long she was moving up against him, rubbing the place that felt so, so good. He responded to her with equal measure and began rocking back and forth, in and out of her. She never knew there could be sensations like this, and she was so grateful she had taken the initiative to find this with him, to have this experience this one time. She would hold onto it forever .

  Her thoughts were interrupted as the awareness she had felt before began growing again, but this time was much more amplified by the pleasure he gave from within her as well. She shattered, coming around him, as he found his own release with her. She clenched her arms and legs around him, holding him close, not wanting to let the moment pass .

  Tears rolled down her cheeks in earnest now. The love they had made was better than she could have ever imagined, and she knew it would never be this way again with the man that was to be her husband. Fiona had said her heart belonged with Bryan, and she was right .

  As they lay there, he stroked her cheek, brushing away her tears, and running his fingers through her long hair, over and over. As they stared at one another without any words, the air shifted, and the portal appeared .

  11

  Bryan

  B ryan lifted himself on his elbow, rising in shock. The portal, the wormhole, whatever you wanted to call it -- was back. He couldn’t believe it. He had basically accepted the fact that he was here, in 1546, to stay .

  But now… he looked at Sorcha, and her eyes were filled with wonder as she stared at the shimmering air in front of her. It was almost as if you could see through it, but it distorted the room and all that surrounded it .

  “My word,” she breathed. “‘Tis incredible. I had never actually thought of what such a thing would look like. Did it seem this… this outlandish to you when ye first came upon it ?”

  “It was really dark in the room when I saw it,” he responded. “And while it is quite remarkable, I suppose I am a bit more accustomed to seeing things like this in movies and TV shows .”

  Obviously she had no idea what he was talking about .

  “Movies and TV are like a play. There are people who act out stories. Instead of being live, though, their actions are recorded. Which means their movements are captured by a camera, which is a device that collects images. Then we watch them play back on another machine .”

  He sighed. She looked completely lost, and rightly so. There was really no way to explain this that she could grasp. Some things really did have to be seen to be understood .

  “Well. What I am trying to say is there have been fiction stories of time travel told to me, so I’m not completely unfamiliar with the concept,” he said. “Why is it appearing now? From what Emilia told me, it was always there for her to travel back and forth, and then finally disappeared when she decided to remain in this era .”

  “I haven’t had a chance to tell ye,” said Sorcha, her eyes downcast as her finger played with the fabric of the quilt. “I saw Fiona yesterday .”

  “Fiona? She’s returned ?”

  “For the moment, anyway, although she seems to come and go. I saw her this afternoon yet she did not return to my rooms to help me prepare for sleep. I’ve been wearing simple dresses these past few days, although I did hope she would return before… before the wedding .”

  Bryan nodded .

  “She said the path would open for ye when the timing is right .”

  “What does that mean? That I was supposed to come and make love to you and then it would be time for me to leave ?”

&nbs
p; Sorcha looked up at him with tears in her eyes, making his chest hurt. “Perhaps. I dinna ken .”

  Bryan sat there, utterly perplexed at what he was supposed to do. He felt completely pulled in two. He didn’t see how he could return to the future and just leave Sorcha here to face this all on her own. But if he stayed, what was he to do? Watch her get married and then find some way to live as a lone man? He would probably have to ask Emilia and her bear of a husband to take him in, and that was the last thing he wanted to do .

  “Come back with me,” he said suddenly, impulsively, without thinking it through. “You wouldn’t have to marry Archibald anymore, you can live with me in 2017. We can be together, you could leave all of this behind .”

  She looked up at him, her brows furrowed together. They were both in a state of complete confusion .

  “I… I dunno, Bryan,” she said. “I would still be abandoning my betrothal and therefore leaving my clan to potential ruin. And while I do want to leave behind Archibald MacLauchlan, what of my family? I would never see my mother again, nor my sisters or brothers or my father. Godric, or my best friend Marie. Do ye not regret the people ye left behind ?”

  Bryan thought on it. The truth was, he didn’t have that many people to really miss him. The only family he had basically abandoned him. He had friends in the academic community, but they wouldn’t miss him much. Emilia had been his closest friend. It was why he had missed her, not because he had been head over heels in love with her, but because she had been his companion. Sorcha’s voice broke into his thoughts .

  “I asked Dougal about your time. He was there for not even a day,” she said. “He is a proud warrior, one of the strongest men I’ve ever seen, and I could see the terror in his eyes. What would it be like for me, then? How could I ever live there, in a place with metal beasts, crowded by people, new disease and ways of life I could never begin to imagine ?”