Faithfully Yours (The Forever Time Travel Romance Series, Book 1) (19 page)

"I have always suspected that there was something different about you," he said.  She glanced up at him, and he held her tighter.  "You were very forgetful.  I thought you were merely absentminded."

She chuckled against his chest.  "I'm glad to know you didn't mind that I was a simpleton."

"I never thought that."  He hooked his finger under her chin and tipped her face up to him.  "Tell me everything.  I will do my best to believe every word."

"And not get distracted?" she asked.

He chuckled.  "And not get distracted."

She sighed as though he had removed every weight she had been buried under.

"Our marriage is real," she assured him before launching into a lengthy account of the life she had led before him.

Hours passed and the sunlight that had once streamed strongly through the window faded to a soft glow.  Faith had told him of a forced marriage to protect her younger sister.  Aidan had been proud of her decision, even when her husband had become violent.  His muscles had tensed with his inability to help her during a horrific time in her life.  As painful as it was to hear of the beatings she had endured, he could only count them as a blessing.  According to what Faith had learned from Trista, it was this passionate, albeit negative act that had sent her into the future and to Aidan.

Now quiet, she sat back, looking spent and exhausted.  His heart pulled toward her.  Never had she looked more free and peaceful than at this moment.  There was one question he hated to ask, but knew he had to know the answer.

He took her hand in his, and waited for her to meet his gaze.  "Faith," he said, tentative in his approach.

Her face softened, and she smiled up at him.

"Do you want to return to your old life?" he asked, hating himself for speaking the words.

She blinked, but didn't withdraw.  "I can never go back to my previous life."

He looked down at her, and drew his brows together.  "You sound very certain."

"More than you realize.  Forty years ago, I died."

Chapter 19

Faith stretched her arms in front of her body and glided through the current.  It had been days since she felt relaxed enough to leave Aidan alone and indulge in such a tranquil luxury.  She cupped her hand and pulled against the river.  The boulder was just around the bend.  It had been years since she had sat on the bulging rock.  In the past, she had generally swum to her favorite spot in hopes that Aidan would join her.  It didn't seem likely that he felt fit enough to engage in a vigorous swim after his recovery. 

She drew her arm over her head adding an additional stroke to her glide.  For a reason that she couldn't understand, she was compelled to reach the safety of the stone as quickly as possible.  She kicked her feet and swam in the direction to her right.  To her surprise, Aidan sat atop the rock, looking like he and the stone had been carved from the same piece of granite.  His left leg hung languidly over the curve and his foot dipped into the water.

Faith pulled her legs beneath her and tread water several feet from where he sat.  If not for the buoyancy of the water, she would have gone weak-kneed at his presence.  His right leg bent at the knee, and he leaned his chin on the top of it.  His arms wrapped around his shin, and he drummed his fingers against his elbows.  If she had known he was up to a vigorous endeavor, she would have offered him something warm and cuddly to embrace. 

Something ominous brewed behind the scowl he wore.  After the way he had listened to her earlier today, she hoped he would allow her the opportunity to do the same for him.  She swirled her hands at her side in lazy figure eights and slowly moved closer to Aidan's exposed leg. 

"I don't remember Honor saying you could swim," Faith scolded playfully.

Aidan lifted his gaze but nothing more.  "I don't need to be smothered by a healer or by my wife."

Faith glanced down at the water.  Maybe she had hoped for too much from him.  From the expression on his face and the sound of his voice, he might not want company of any kind.  That could be the reason he went for a late night swim without inviting her to join him.  When she saw him step from the house earlier tonight and move toward the river, she had never considered that he would want to be alone.  She bobbed in the water, drawing closer to the rock.  His choice for solitude was no longer a practical option.  Regardless of her intrusion, his tone of voice was unacceptable.

"Is that what you think I'm doing?" she asked.

"Why else would you be out here during the night?"  He looked down at her and didn't offer to help lift her out of the water.

She grabbed hold of his ankle, pulled herself up onto the rock, and sat down next to him.  He seemed indifferent to her presence.  The breeze blew against her skin, and she shivered.  Running her hands down her arms and legs, she brushed the beaded droplets from her body, and glanced over her shoulder to the shore.  Her white nightgown glowed in the moonlight.  Why had she removed her clothing before swimming?  She would still be wet and cool if she had worn her clothes, but she would at least be covered.  She scooted closer to Aidan, hoping to steal warmth from his body.

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.  Pulling her tight, he kissed her forehead.  "Do you feel better?"

"Yes," she said, her teeth chattering.  Huddled next to him, she peered down at his leg.  He might accuse her of smothering him, but she didn't want his wound to reopen.  She had to admit that it did look better than it had when she first started treating it.  Other than a small speck, the mark was barely noticeable.  Perhaps a hearty swim would be what he needed to work the soreness from his limb.

She nudged him in the ribs with her fingertips.  "Since you don't need someone smothering you," she said, "swim with me." 

She should have paid more attention to the wicked glint in his eye instead of the lopsided scrunch on his face.  He lifted her from her perch and tossed her away from him.  Her arms and legs flailed the air.  Airborne, she braced for the chilly landing.  There was nothing to grab hold to in order to break her fall.  She hit the water bottom first, and made a quick jab for her nose.  She didn't know how, but there would be retribution. 

Holding her breath, she sank deep beneath the surface.  She unfolded at the waist, and clawed her way to the surface.  Laughing and sputtering, she splashed water over at him.  This was only the beginning of what he could expect in way of reprisal.  She would extract revenge, but until then, what a relief it was to interact with each other the way they had when they were younger.

As though reading her mind, Aidan stood to his feet, and jumped into the air.  Faith squealed and ducked away from him.  She kicked toward the surface and stretched to swim away.  Aidan was a large man and very strong.  Even without using his legs to swim, he would catch up to her within a few strokes.  She would never move fast enough to flee from him. 

Four strokes into her escape, two powerful hands clamped down on her waist.  She gulped air and disappeared under the water.  She tried to keep from laughing as her back slammed against his chest.  Giggling, she held to his arms as their heads broke the surface.

She lifted her body and leaned her back against Aidan's chest.  Using him as a pillow, she kicked her legs upward.  The moonlight rippled on the water in front of her.  There was no other place, or time for that matter, that she would prefer to be.  Shifting in his arms, she looked up at him.  From this angle, he looked as though he had been carved from silver. 

"When I saw you from the bank," she said.  She lifted her leg, pointing her toes at the moon.  Water trickled down her calf, striking the water like a musical instrument.  "You looked as though you were deep in thought."

"Um hmm," he said.  His chest rumbled beneath her, and she snuggled closer to him.

From the currents rippling around them and the direction that they flowed, she could tell he moved them closer to shore.  Aidan's legs no longer kicked beneath hers, and his body straightened.  She stretched her foot, reaching her toe for soft sand.  An endless void of water, fluttered between her calves.  This move on his part was so typical of his sense of fair play.  He had deliberately kept her in water deep enough that she would remain dependent on him.  He readjusted his hold, locking his hand around his wrist.  The way the tops of her breasts pushed up out of the water, this action was as deliberate as where he chose to stand. 

"Would you like to tell me what you were thinking about when I came upon you?" she asked.

He bounced her low, and she caught her breath.  Water surged over her chest.  "I was thinking about you," he said.

Her heart sped up.  She had been content to lie in his arms, feeling his breath on her hair, but to know she occupied his thoughts was enough to make her lose control.  She turned to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck, hanging from him like a banner. 

"You were thinking of me?" she asked.  She wished there was more of a moon to enable her to see the details of his features.

He held her away from him and lifted her torso out of the water.  His gaze lowered slowly, as though refreshing his memory of what he had seen.  Faith closed her eyes in a slow blink and bit on her lower lip. 

"You need to have more memories about us," he said.

She nodded, curious as to what he meant to do.  "I agree."

Aidan's hands slid behind her.  He grabbed her buttocks and squeezed.  "Since passion is what sent you backward in time, I want to be certain of something before we… create new memories," he said.

She touched her fingers to his chest and then slipped them downward over his ribs.  Keeping contact with Aidan, her hands disappeared under the surface and past his hips.  His breath caught, and she smiled.  She leaned in and pressed her lips to his neck.  She would never grow tired of the taste of him.

"I am certain," she said, trailing kisses up his cheek, "that I will not time travel anymore.  I am destined to be here with you."

He pulled her to him and tilted his head to the side giving her more access to his face.  "Faith," his voice rasped.  "I cannot live my life without you in it."

His hands moved from behind her and up to her breasts.  Faith gasped, savoring the smell and heat of his body.  She had been given a small taste.  Now, she salivated for more.  He had shared his fear with her, even shaking in her arms.  She had to set his fears to rest. 

"I'll never leave you, Aidan," she said.  "Trista assured me that when a time traveler dies in one life, they can never return to that time.  I died forty years ago.  I can never go back to my earlier life."

That promise seemed to be all he needed to hear.  His mouth came down hard on hers.  Clutching his back, she held him tighter, not wanting the moment to end.  Aidan must have felt the same way.  He grabbed her around the waist, lifted her off of her feet, and then carried her to the bank.

"Your leg," Faith said, not wanting to influence a change in his direction.

"Madam, now that you have satisfied my concern, a completely severed leg will not stop me from my intent." 

She ran her hand behind his head, locking her fingers in his hair.  "If that happens," she said.  "I will patch you up...later." 

****

Aidan grabbed Faith around her waist, lifted her off of her feet, and laid her on their clothes.  There was no turning back.  She had assured him that this was what she wanted.  If these were to be her last moments of life, this was how she wanted to spend them. 

Careful of Aidan's leg, Faith pushed him to his back and leaned over him.  Aidan's eyes widened as he looked up at her.  He rubbed his hand down her bare back and over her behind.  Faith tingled from his touch.  She didn't have experience to draw from, and hoped she did this correctly.

Her hair fell in front of her shoulders.  Aidan gathered the locks in his hands, and pulled her down to him.  His lips were warm and intoxicating.  He held to her hips, guiding her over him.

The heat of him slowly melted her fears.  Never had she known there could be so much strength in tenderness.  Her breasts rubbed against his chest hairs igniting new passion inside of her.  Aidan pulled her to him, holding her as though he feared she would vanish.

This was not her first time being with a man, but this was the first man she had ever loved.  Each tantalizing moment spent in Aidan's arms was more intense than the last.  His touch melded her to him, blending their bodies into one.

He rolled her to her back and buried himself deep within her.  Faith's breath caught, and she held him tighter, trying to give him every part of her.  He groaned with each thrust, and Faith screamed into his shoulder.  Both of their bodies were slick and wet.  Tears rolled down the sides of her face, and she grabbed hold of his back, not wanting to release the moment. 

Thoroughly spent, she lay still, listening to their uneven breaths, slowly return to normal.  Neither of them made any effort to move from the bank.  They lay thoroughly content where they were.