The Willfully Wedded Virgin (Beyond Fairytales)

by D. L. Jackson

  “Investigations. Terrorists, spies, gangs, serial killers, general bad guys. We handle just about all of them.”

  “Like Scotland Yard, then. Fascinating.”

  “Yeah, something like that. Why are you here again?”

  “For a dig. Not on holiday. Great-grandfather, you say? How odd.” None of what he went on about made any sense. This had to qualify as the strangest conversation she’d ever had.

  “Why would you say that?”

  “We, too, the expeditionary party, are searching for a William Davidson who vanished around the same time a few months ago, but he’s much too young to be your grandfather, let alone your great grandfather.”

  “You look just like her.”

  “Who?”

  “A woman from the past.” He had more to say, but didn’t offer. She could tell by the knit in his brow, the flash of confusion that surfaced in his expression and vanished as quickly as it happened.

  “Oh.” She nodded like she understood even though she didn’t. Maybe he’d lost his mind from thirst and hunger or somehow acquired an injury or illness that affected his memory. Nothing else could explain the strange conversation or that he resembled another William Davidson who’d vanished around where she’d found him. Yes, Doctor William Davidson had lost his mind.

  Will stared at the curvy blonde beauty. If he didn’t know better, he’d say it was her. That she blurted out that name…even odder still. There had been a Henry Dodge on the expedition. Could she be a distant relative, and could the woman in the photo have been Henry’s daughter?

  She had hit her head, so maybe she’d knocked herself silly. He still couldn’t get over how much she looked like the woman in the photo. Except for the clothing, this Elizabeth Dodge could be her twin. Regardless of the uncanny resemblance, they had bigger problems to address.

  He yanked his phone from his pocket and held it out. “Any chance you have a cell on you that can get a signal. I spent a damn fortune on this satellite model, and you’d think it should get some reception here since it’s coming from space, but no.”

  Her gaze moved over the object in his hand, and she frowned, drawing her brows together. “From…space?”

  “Hello? Phone? Signal?”

  “Mr. Davidson, I have no clue what you’re going on about. Whatever is you’re holding?”

  “You’re kidding me. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a phone?” He studied her face, searching for any indication she couldn’t be serious. “Is this some kind of joke? One of those shows where they hide a camera?” Exasperated, he looked upward. “You got me. Good one. You can let us out now,” he yelled to whoever might be listening, but nobody came out of hiding. “Hey! I’m not kidding. The joke’s over.”

  Elizabeth’s eyes widened, and she backed away. “You’re off your chump!”

  “What? Come again?” Off my what? He stepped forward. “Are we speaking a different language here?” What’s wrong with this chick?

  Throwing her hands up, palms out as if she thought he was about to jump her, she shook her head and continued to retreat. “Don’t come any closer.”

  Will opened his mouth to warn her about his deceased cellmate, but her heel caught the corpse and down she went on her ass across the dead man’s lap. The mummy’s hands dropped to cup one of her breasts. Lucky bastard.

  “My God! A dead body.” Elizabeth slapped her hands over her mouth.

  “Well, I should hope so, given his state of decay. And while we’re on the topic, that could also be considered pawing, but I don’t think he meant to do it.”

  Elizabeth screamed and knocked the dead man’s hands away. She rolled over and crawled as fast as she could go to the other side of the chamber before curling up into a ball. “Bally vile. Oh, God. You let a dead man grope me.”

  “Wait a minute there. I did not. The groping was your doing. Don’t blame me for that. But now that I’ve got your attention, can you tell me anything about how you got in here? Is there anyone out there that can help?”

  “I lost him in the jungle, and, no, he would not be a good fellow to ask for help. Are you telling me we’re trapped in here together with a corpse?” She furrowed her brow.

  “I kind of hoped you’d tell me someone else out there could help us escape.”

  “Sir, my reputation could be compromised, and you want to call attention to this situation?”

  “Will you drop the Pride and Prejudice routine, stop talking like that for a moment, and be serious?”

  “It is you who is speaking in tongues, Doctor Davidson.” She pointed. “And stay over there. I’m not some dollymop.”

  “Wait one minute, lady. I’m not about to rape you if that’s what you’re insinuating. I never called you a dollymop, whatever that is. I just want to get the fuck out of here. You understand that much? Get. The. Fuck. Free.”

  She gasped.

  “What? You haven’t heard a man cuss before, either? What the fuck? This is the year 2015. Get with the freaking program, honey.”

  She stared, not saying a word.

  He glared back. “What?”

  “It is not 2015.”

  “Oh, really.”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Tell you what. Let’s get out of here, and then I’ll help you find the hospital you escaped from. Can we do that? I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”

  “Well! I’ve never been so insulted by a gentleman.”

  Will snorted and laughed. “Gentlemen insult you often? I mean, with that stick up your ass, I can certainly understand why.”

  Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open. Seconds later, she snorted and put her shoulder to him.

  Nice move, asshole. Will blew out a breath. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’ve been stuck in here for God knows how long, and I’m gettin’ a little punch happy. I didn’t mean it. Let’s try this again one more time. Two heads think better than one, and unless you want to be stuck here, we need to work together,” Will sighed. “I have a diary that talks about hidden doorways, and I could use some help with it if you’re any good at deciphering the glyphs.”

  She turned around. “Diary?”

  “More like a journal, a record of an expedition to a ‘golden city.’ It has maps to hidden doorways or portals, passages to other worlds and times.”

  “El Dorado?” Elizabeth tipped her face up and held his gaze. “And where did you get this journal?”

  “Off the dead guy.”

  She glanced down at the corpse and back up. “Who is he?”

  “Not sure, but between the three of us, I think he’s the one who knows how to get out of this trap.” He handed her the journal and noticed how delicate her hands were. The faint scent of lavender wafted up. Their fingers brushed, and energy zinged up his arm.

  “Oh,” she yanked her hand away, retaining the journal. She looked everywhere but at him. “I’ll take a peek.” She thumbed through a couple of pages, still refusing to bring her gaze up.

  “You felt that, didn’t you?”

  She turned her shoulder to him again, red creeping up her neck. “No.”

  “Elizabeth.” He stepped toward her, resting his hands on her upper arms. She jumped but didn’t run. “You felt that connection. It’s like there’s a pull, a link between us. It was there when I kissed you and just now—as we touched.”

  She spun around so suddenly Will had to retreat a step. “Kiss me again.” She lifted her eyes, longing filling their aqua depths.

  “What?”

  “Kiss me, William Davidson. I need to know I’m not dreaming. This is all so strange. I—”

  He pulled her to him, and she dropped the journal. Will captured her mouth, and the world began to spin. The more vigorous the kiss, the faster it whirled. Her hands slid under his T-shirt, tentatively skimming along muscle as though she’d never touched a man before. Her curves melted into him with a softness so utterly female.

  Will broke the kiss and stepped away. His mother had raise
d him better than that. He couldn’t seem to collect a coherent thought beyond the need to take the kiss further, explore the energy between them. Raw lust. Hell, he wanted to rut. The woman made his heart race, his pulse pound, and the front of his pants a little tighter.

  “This is all real.” Her chest rose and fell in heavy pants as though she’d just run a marathon.

  As he stared at her trembling bosom, his mouth watered, and he found himself snared, unable to look away. Two buttons on her top were undone, giving him a view of her cleavage and soft skin.

  Damn if he didn’t want to tear open her shirt, lick between her tits, run his tongue around her nipples, and make her moan, bringing forth that sound from her throat he’d heard before when he’d kissed her. She could yank his hair. Scratch his back. Anything she wanted, and he would be game.

  She lifted her hand and touched two fingers to her lips. “You really are from another time, Mr. Davidson.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Stop staring at my breasts for a moment, sir, and look around you.”

  Chapter Five

  Several tourists stared. The crowd stood frozen, gaping, as if he’d stripped naked and painted himself neon green. Nothing unusual about where they found themselves, but…. He twisted around, surveying the plaza. Although pavers beneath their feet mimicked the stones they’d stood on inside the ruins, he’d recognize this place anywhere. He’d left it a couple of days before. How the heck had they gotten here?

  “The marketplace.” He’d started his journey into the jungle from here, had purchased a few supplies, found guides. “How?”

  “I told you. It appears we’ve traveled through time.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed, her eyes wide with fear. She’d break his fingers if she clamped down any harder. But she wasn’t the only one feeling a little freaked at the moment.

  “Can you ease up there?” He nodded at his hand.

  “Oh, sorry.” She released him. “Are you seeing this, Will? Look at what they’re wearing,” she whispered.

  What they’re wearing? His brows rose as his gaze traveled up the delicate, laced boots and coarse brown trousers of Ms. Elizabeth Dodge.

  Her. Look at what she’s wearing. It took him a moment to realize the crowd wasn’t staring at him, but at Elizabeth. Her clothing bespoke another time, and, as crazy as it sounded, he wondered if, in fact, she’d come from the past.

  He grabbed her hand again and leaned in. “I need you to start telling them out loud what you know about Peruvian marketplaces.”

  Elizabeth scrunched up her nose, tempting him to lean over and kiss the tip. “Why?”

  “Just do it.”

  She broke eye contact and turned toward the crowd, a smile lighting her face better than any sunbeam. “Here we are, standing in a marketplace. It may appear modern, but the ancient peoples of Peru used places like this to trade meat they harvested from the jungle—monkey and a rat-like creature called a capybara, which, I’m told, cooks up tasty with beans and rice.

  “Commerce centered around maize, a principal staple in the ancient people’s diets. Indeed, maize held such importance that the Incans worshipped gods representing it. You can see the impact of maize in murals and on local cultures all over Peru.” She swept her hand out over the city. “To this very day, corn and other foodstuffs enjoyed by the native population for thousands of years are traded in marketplaces just like this one throughout Peru. Corn, or maize, comes in many varieties….”

  The tourists dispersed, heading for more exciting areas of the city, leaving her standing in a now empty area.

  Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open. “Well, I didn’t think what I said sounded that dreadful.”

  “You weren’t on the listening side. You lost me at corn. Great job.”

  She frowned. “Why did I do that again?”

  “They thought you were a tour guide, or at least I needed them to think that.”

  “Pardon?”

  “You don’t blend in.”

  “I must have caught a fever, and I’m in my tent right now, dreaming.” She blinked. “Of course, I am sleeping. I must have caught malaria. None of this is happening. Look at the calendar we’re standing on. I didn’t see it before. The tiles each have a date, and what we are standing on now is over one hundred years into the future. Each of those marks there are a year, and the marks in between, months, days…. This is impossible. It can’t be real.” She rubbed her temple. “Now if I can just figure out how to wake from this horrid sleep….”

  “Oh, it’s happening. We’re not sharing the same dream. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I aim to find out.” He pulled her toward a path that would take them to a parking lot where he’d left his rented SUV, which, if his luck held up, should still be there. The woman knew too much about his great-grandfather for it to be coincidence, and he needed her to solve the mystery. That, and since he’d brought her to his time, he should be the one to protect her and return her, if possible. An impossible mission, if she wandered off.

  She yanked her wrist from his grip. “Excuse me. Just where are you escorting me?” He reached again, and she slapped his hand away.

  “I need to get you out of those clothes.”

  “Even if all of this is a delusion, you have no right. I told you, I am not some dollymop! The last thing that is going to happen is me undressing for you.”

  He hauled her up next to him and leaned in to speak softly in her ear. “Keep your voice down. I’m not asking you to strip in front of me, I’m asking you to put something else on. Something that won’t draw so much attention.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “What does it matter? You said you’re dreaming.”

  “It does. What if I’m not dreaming?”

  “Well, there’s a novel thought.”

  “I will not compromise my reputation. I’m not taking my clothes off.”

  “Okay, then, I’m leaving you here.” He didn’t want to call her bluff, but there it was. He couldn’t explain being in a trap one moment and smack dab in the middle of a city the next and with a woman who obviously didn’t come from his time. Until he figured out how it had happened and how to get her to where she belonged, he thought it better to keep his one link to the crazy trip out of sight, even if it meant he lowered himself to threatening her. Heaven forbid someone else found out time travel existed. Who knew what would happen?

  “You’d really leave me here in this strange place?”

  Will sighed. “No. But I’m not some sick creep, either. I only wanted to suggest you dress in something a little more modern and inconspicuous. This is not a dream. Hell, I’m not sure what it is, but until I know how this happened, or if there are consequences to you traveling to my time, I’m asking you to work with me. You should blend, and that means changing out of what you’re wearing.”

  “Inconspicuous? You did see all the half-naked people?” She bit her lip and shifted from foot to foot. “Never mind.”

  “They call them shorts, and you should be wearing a pair if you want to blend.”

  “I am not putting on anything that shows that much flesh. It’s…indecent.”

  “Don’t you mean bloody indecent?” He couldn’t help taunting her, what with her prim and proper British accent. Something about her snooty, uppitty-ti-do attitude pushed all his buttons.

  “Are you mocking me, Mr. Davidson?” Her glare held enough fire to weld steel beams together.

  “Damn skippy I am. It’s time to knock off the proper Victorian lady role and try to fit into the time and reality you find yourself in now.”

  “How dare you! I am a lady. Return me to where we were before this…this travesty of a future.”

  “I’m not quite sure how we got here from there. I told you that. Give me the diary, and I’ll see if I can figure it out. I’m pretty sure the pavers under our feet have something to do with it.”

  She snapped her mouth shut and wrung her hands.

  “What?”

&nb
sp; “I don’t have it. I dropped it in that room.”

  “You left the journal behind?” Heat crept up his nape. “Seriously?”

  “Well, I didn’t know we’d end up here, and, might I point out, I was a bit distracted. I didn’t do it on purpose. Do you think I want to be stuck here, wherever here happens to be?”

  “Tarapoto.”

  “Tarapoto.” She furrowed her brow. “Where exactly is Tarapoto?”

  “Peru.”

  “What I meant is what is the calendar date? Here? Now?”

  “2015.”

  “That can’t be possible. I thought you jested before. I thought I misread the paver at my feet.”

  “Really?” Will pulled out his phone. Time to educate her. He searched for a video clip of the ball dropping in New York City and the previous year’s events in review. Once satisfied, he’d found the nail for her proverbial coffin, he held the screen in front of her and hit play. After several seconds of silence, Will turned to her. Her eyes were wide, her mouth hung open, and her face had taken on a not-so-good shade of white.

  “So what do you think?”

  Elizabeth Dodge slumped into a heap at his feet.

  Cool air blew across her skin. Rather refreshing after the sticky jungle humidity she’d dealt with for days. The strange music played again, but this time louder as if the musicians sat next to her. She rested on some kind of chair with a great deal of cushion, and humming filled her ears. Afraid of what she’d see, she kept her lids shut. “Someone please tell me I have a fever and suffer from delusions.”

  “Sorry, we already covered that, sweet cheeks. No can do.”

  That voice! Him. The insolent arsehole she’d met in the tomb. Bally hell. Her eyes snapped open, and she stared out a window. The world flew by. Funny horseless carriages came at them on the road much faster than anything she’d ridden in. They had crystal eyes and great big silver smiles. And so she did what any woman would do when she found herself in Hell, realizing she really wasn’t in the throes of some tropical illness.

  She screamed.

  “Fuck.” William Davidson jerked on the wheel, and the whole buggy swerved and flew into a ditch. Dust kicked up everywhere, and a blaring horn blasted as one of the strange carriages passed. They came to a sudden stop against a tree. Bands across her body jerked her against her seat while a giant cushion appeared in front of her, smacking her in the face and knocking her head into the rest.