He held her hand tightly as he looked into her eyes. “Worry not, dear Maggie. No matter the outcome, I shall not abandon thee.”
He led the way and she pulled her hand back to gather her skirt closer as they entered the woods. The underbrush was thick and several times as the velvet material caught a branch, she would have to stop and free it. Already she had lost many of the seed pearls in her travels and regretted the damage to the beautiful costume. Somehow, once she got back, she would make reparation, but right now it was all she could do not to tear at the skirt and hold it up over her thighs. She wanted to run, to end this madness, yet held back as Nick led her deeper into the woods. Something was wrong. They were walking too far.
“Nick…” She stopped and looked around her.
Turning, he asked expectantly, “Yes?”
“I ran from the maze and within seconds was on the road. It couldn’t have been this far.” Her gaze took in the surrounding forest and she felt the weight of dread come over her body. “This can’t be the place.”
“But I tell you, it is. Come, the forest thins, and I see a clearing ahead.”
Hope surged then mixed with sadness that her adventure with Nick might just be over. This was it, then. Her heart began racing as she gathered even more of her skirt and hurried behind Nick as he held branches aside for her to pass.
Now he would see she hadn’t been making it all up. Maybe he could come back with her and meet Aunt Edithe. Maybe it wouldn’t be over. Maybe there would still be time to—
He stopped short and she almost walked into him. Stumbling forward, Maggie felt his hand on her arm to steady her. She looked up and stared at what was before her… a shaded clearing with rays of sunlight making an almost ethereal pattern through the canopy of deep green leaves. Wispy ferns dotted the carpet of tiny white flowers. It was almost magical to behold, yet there wasn’t a maze in sight.
“This can’t be it,” Maggie stated in a strangled voice. “The maze must be farther down the road.”
“I assure you, it is,” Nick answered and looked around. “With great speed, you came running from this clearing, Maggie.”
“No, there was a maze and I was lost and that little girl kept telling me to follow my heart and… and this can’t be it!” She turned around in a full circle, staring at where there should have been a hedge maze. “We must have made a mistake. We need to find the faire. Where is the village?”
“The village Trowbridge? ’Tis a long ride from here, too far for thee to have walked. I vow there is no grand event taking place in that impoverished hamlet.” He turned back to her, and spoke softly. “Maggie, how can it be even the possibility of unexplainable things, such as this phenomenon, is so impossible for you to believe?”
“You just don’t understand, Nick. My life just couldn’t have disappeared!”
“But thy life shines in front of me here, now Maggie, in this moment. I cannot deny what mine eyes see. Thou art alive as my own flesh and heart…”
He stepped closer to her.
“Countess Elthea has also heard of such extraordinary events, yet neither she, nor I, can explain them. Nevertheless, I know of someone in London who could help you. Sir Francis Bacon. In a hard ride, we could be there before nightfall. Come, I promised Countess Elthea I would see you to safety and—”
“I can’t go to London!”
Maggie walked farther into the clearing and found that her breath was coming in short gasps, as though she’d been running. Her heart was again racing and she thought she might just faint. “This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening…” she kept muttering, until she felt his hand on her upper arm.
Turning around, she gazed at him and could no longer contain her tears. “I cannot accept this! I have to find my way back,” she whispered in terror.
His finger barely touched her lips. “Shh…”
“You don’t understand,” she whispered, staring into his eyes and feeling a peacefulness enter her body. “I have to find my way…” Her words trailed off as she watched him study her mouth.
“Perchance thou hast, sweet lady,” he said in a low, soft voice, holding her now with both hands on her arms to steady her. He was staring into her eyes, beyond her eyes, and into her soul. “It could be you have come back… returned, to remember this…” He lowered his head to hers and captured her mouth in the softest, most gentle kiss Maggie could have ever imagined. Her body seemed to come alive, to feel more vital than she could ever remember. Suddenly, she felt herself waking up… for the first time in her life.
His hand came up and cupped the side of her face as his lips continued to softly explore hers, and Maggie thought she moaned in the most intense pleasure as he tenderly nibbled on her lips, demanding a response.
She gladly gave it.
She’d waited so long to feel this, to feel like this. It was as if her soul was soaring beyond her body, awakening to a long-remembered passion, yet one that she knew she had never experienced in her lifetime. Her head was spinning as she clutched the material at his chest and hung on, for he was taking her to an uncharted place in her heart, and she had no direction, only instinct.
His lips created an electricity that coursed through her as over and over and over again he kissed her as though starving for the taste of her. She felt his heart pounding against her breast and moaned as she flung back her head and gave in to what she had been craving since she’d met him. She wanted the taste of him imprinted on her mind, branding her skin and her lips so she would always remember this wonderment, this sensual intensity, this heaven on earth.
“Oh, Maggie,” he murmured against her mouth. “I prayed once we kissed you would remember. Long I have waited for you to appear in this life.” And he captured her mouth and took possession again. This time tenderness was replaced with passion, one kept long under control.
Maggie felt herself being taken to places she had only dreamed of as she ran her hands over his chest, feeling the beating of his heart against her palm, his wide shoulders, feeling the strength of his hardened muscles, his face, feeling the faint scratch of his beard under her fingertips. She felt everything she had ever wanted to feel with someone, as emotions long suppressed burst forth inside of her, taking her higher until she thought she was no longer touching ground. It was as if they were voracious for each other and when she pulled back and gasped for breath, the most amazing thing came forth from her lips.
“Where have you been all my life?”
His face was filled with passion as he stared at her mouth, her hair, her eyes. “Oh, my lady… I have been here… waiting only for thee.”
Again, they came together, touching, inhaling, as their tongues darted, mated, and their bodies longed to follow suit. He pulled back and with one hand untied his cape and tossed it to the ground.
She didn’t care if she was crazy, or if she had died and was in heaven. Every nerve ending in her body seemed to be screaming to go for the adventure. All her life she’d been the responsible one, the one who did whatever was right. Well, nothing in her entire life ever felt as right as this! To hell with whatever anyone else though…
This one’s for me.
She needed no further urging to lower herself upon the cape. She sank down as he knelt before her and pulled her against him as they fell together. Feathering ferns bowed under their weight and when Maggie looked up to the tree limbs, the sunlight, the bed of soft green that surrounded her, she knew she had found paradise.
Her heart sang out with the joy of freedom.
Nick pulled back and leaned on one elbow while his fingers caressed her lips.
“Thou art the most enchanting creature I have ever known, Maggie Whitaker. Is it no wonder my heart was locked, when thou art the key.”
“Oh, Nick…”
He leaned down and reclaimed her lips. Maggie wound her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer. She wanted to prolong this moment of heaven. If she never experienced this bliss again, she wanted to capture the m
emory of it… for nothing in her life had prepared her for this intensity, this longing, this yearning to meld with another and lose herself in his arms.
When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her with such a serious expression that Maggie pushed on his shoulders to see him better. “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?” His smile melted her heart “Everything is right finally.” He brushed a stray lock of hair away from her forehead. “I shall protect thee, my love. As long as I live and breathe upon this earth, I vow nothing will ever harm thee. It matters not who you are or from where you came, whether in jewels or rags… whoever you are, Maggie Whitaker, I thank you for finding me and ending my anguish.”
His eyes shined with emotion, and Maggie felt her own tears of joy resurfacing. She reached up and touched his cheek. “I thought we ran into each other,” she whispered with a smile. “Thanks for running into me, Nicholas Layton, and changing my life.” Her fingers traced a line down to his lips, as she added, “I wouldn’t have missed this for anything.”
It was in that moment, as their gaze connected with an electrifying jolt of recognition, of seeing beyond the eyes and into the soul, that Maggie knew Nicholas Lay-ton.
She had loved him forever.
“Nicholas…” she breathed, seeing that his eyes were a mirror of such an eternal love. “Do you understand this?”
He slowly shook his head while smiling with tenderness and wonder. “I do not, yet it seems the most natural thing I have ever done, for being in thy presence I have finally come alive. Come with me now to London, my sweet Maggie. Let us leave this place and begin… this, our adventure, together.”
The agreement was sealed with a kiss that took away Maggie’s senses and left her breathless. His body covered hers and she groaned at the barrier of thick velvet material that separated them. When his hand cupped her breast, she arched against him and felt her body melt with an intense, primal longing. Maggie held on to him to anchor herself to the earth as they vowed in a language older than time to become one mind, one heart, one soul.
It was indescribable, miraculous and real. The future was staring right at her.
And it felt so familiar…
Chapter Twelve
It was ethereal. Brilliant lights danced on a thick sea of emerald green flowing above them. The cooling afternoon air lingered sensuously in the wooded shade. Their path was illuminated with myriad beacons cast down by the midmorning sun. Birds sang music her heart knew. Her instincts were alive with everything around her. It was magical. Maggie couldn’t stop smiling as she rode next to Nick toward their future. She couldn’t believe she was saying good-bye to everything in her past, to her aunt, her mother, her home… everything, and following her heart. It was crazy. It was wonderful. It was real.
It seemed the most intelligent thing she had ever done, nor could she deny how right it felt. She belonged with this man, in whatever time they found themselves, and she was determined to stay at his side.
His hand reached over and squeezed her arm. “You shall find London most interesting, and I am anxious for you to meet Francis Bacon. He will be overjoyed to make your acquaintance.”
“Sir Francis Bacon?” Maggie vaguely remembered his name in history, but hadn’t a clue why. Imagine, she would be meeting someone famous. If possible, her smile widened, with anticipation for this joint adventure. No longer was she alone. She had found what Elthea talked about last night.
Her twin soul.
She only had to travel four hundred years to do it!
“I can’t wait,” she said honestly, as the horses trotted together almost in unison.
“My beloved,” he said with a sexy twinkle in his eye, “neither can I.”
She moaned and looked back to the road, again wishing that Nick hadn’t stopped making love to her in their magic clearing. He had insisted that it was for her protection, and that they must travel quickly to reach London before nightfall. Nicholas Layton had become her knight in shining armor and Maggie felt protected, cherished, and loved. Yes, she could think the word… Love, no longer did it frighten her, for she was with a man unlike any she had ever known. It didn’t matter if she had known him for three days or thirty years. He could be trusted with her heart, for they had somehow known each other for eternity.
Together they rode in a peaceful silence for what seemed like a half hour. It crossed her mind that soon they would reach the village and she wondered if they could stop, for her body was on fire and to just touch him and feel his arms around her would be enough… for now. A part of her was anxious about making love to Nick. He was younger than she and quite frankly, gorgeous. Immediately, she shook off the moment of insecurity. This man was like no other. What he saw in her went beyond the physical. It was as though they were connected… her mind froze on one word, the only fitting one. They were connected through the soul. She had to believe that. But didn’t she luck out that her twin soul was everything she had dreamed and way more? Talk about the bennies.
Somehow, she had traveled back in time. No longer could she deny it. Congratulating herself for having the courage to cross that line and go for the adventure, Maggie was totally unprepared for Nick’s hand to come up and motion for them to stop. She was so lost in her daydream that she just now noticed the way his face was set with a mask of seriousness. She looked down the road and her breath caught in the back of her throat.
There were a group of riders ahead and one of them, the one in the lead, prancing upon a white horse, appeared to look a lot like Robert.
Maggie glanced back to Nick.
“Remain calm. I will speak with him.”
“Nick, what about Elthea? I don’t want anything to happen to her, or to you!” She forced her mind to function. “There’s no need to confront him now. It won’t serve anything. Just play along. We’ll find another way.”
He looked as though he were in mental anguish as he stared back at her. Maggie could hear the sound of the approaching horses and looked at him pleadingly. “Please, Nicholas. Let me deal with Robert. He still thinks I’m his betrothed. He won’t harm me.”
Nick looked to the men and then back to her. “This charade continues? I cannot bear thoughts of that man near you again.”
“Now isn’t the time,” she warned. “I just found you, Nick Layton. I am not about to lose you over some grudge you two seem to have. Please… let me handle this with Robert. You play along. We will leave this place together. I promise.”
She had no idea how she would accomplish it, but she vowed that she and Nick would do it. Maggie sat up straighter in the saddle, flung her hair back behind her shoulders, and waited for Robert and his men to ride up to them. If she ever wanted to be good at role-playing, the time was now. She was flying by the seat of her pants, yet she knew she’d do anything to save Nick.
“Good day to you, m’lord,” she called out as the group neared. She could see now that Robert was holding a large hooded bird on his gloved forearm and a string of dead birds was attached to his saddle.
He led his friends, more a gang of unsavory thieves, up to them and stopped a few feet away. “M’lady,” Robert acknowledged, and looked suspiciously at Nick and then back to her. “Where is thy escort? I was informed by my stable boy your destination this morn is the village Trowbridge of my bailiwick.”
“Nicholas Layton agreed to accompany me. I am tired of wearing this dress,” she said, feigning a pout, “and Countess Elthea spoke of a draper that might accommodate me sooner than your own could.” Where did that come from? She remembered Elthea speaking about drapers and staplers. She figured she might cool it on the personal digs.
“And it was thy desire Layton sing a while en route? Most unusual, cousin.” He looked to the lute, strung to Nick’s saddle.
Maggie forced a laugh. “I asked Master Layton to show me the place where he found me, that I might search for my jewels. He was kind enough to act as my guide.”
“And presently… you are traveling to my village?�
�� Robert didn’t seem to believe her.
“Yes, I… I was going to see if anyone there had information that might lead me to my things.” There. That sounded semiplausible. The bird screeched, and Maggie jumped in fright.
Robert paid no heed to the sound. “Then it is fortunate indeed we have come upon thee, cousin. My entourage and I shall accompany thee and question the villagers. Here, Layton.” Robert untied the dead birds and held them out. “Take these back to my manor and tell my mother I am attending my betrothed on the recovery of her personal things.”
There was a strained moment of silence, and Maggie mentally pleaded with Nick to ignore the insult and just take the birds. No one moved as all waited.
Slowly, without any outward show of emotion, Nick urged his horse forward and accepted the birds from Robert. Maggie let out her breath. As Nick turned his horse around and stopped by her, she said in a voice to be overheard, “Thank you for your kindness, Master Layton. I shall see you when we all dine on my betrothed’s bountiful game.”
“Thank you, m’lady.” Only she could see the torment in his eyes as he nodded and rode off, holding the game out as though it were contaminated. Her heart ached to hold him in her arms and really thank him for not giving into his male instincts. The very last thing any of them needed right now was a fight. She would tell him that it took more strength to walk away than to stay and play in to Robert’s schemes. He had wanted to humiliate Nick, and Maggie was going to make sure that Nick knew Robert hadn’t succeeded.
“M’lady?”
Maggie smiled into the eyes of a man that she almost couldn’t stand and positively couldn’t trust. Gently, she urged her horse forward. She was immediately surrounded by Robert’s men and refused to look at any of them. She kept her eyes on the rump of the horse in front of her as they proceeded down the road. She was on her own now and would have to use her wits to get back to Nicholas at the manor house. How could everything have changed so quickly? One moment they were racing toward their future and in the next they were parted. Now that she had accepted her time travel, she understood the gravity of her situation. Hers, and Nick’s and Elthea’s.
Once and Forever Page 19
