Seducing Anne (29 page)

“You will be. I know you. You will be.”

He set her hand in her lap and then he started the car.

Her breath hitched, and she clawed her fingers into her thighs.

“Relax, sweetheart. We will be well.” He reached over and squeezed over the top of her closest hand to him.

She sighed and then shifted back into her seat, her back rounding into the leather cushion.

“How about you close your eyes? I will try my best to detail the plan out for you,” he began.

“Yes, I think that would be best.” Her head lolled toward him, she gave him a skeptical look and then closed her eyes with a soft breath escaping her.

“We are in Los Angeles, California. The year is 2023, and we are heading to a town called Jacumba. It is spelled with a J, not an H, but you say it with an hhhuh,” he explained.

“Why is it spelled that way?” She yawned after she said this.

“It is a Spanish word.” He scratched at his beard. “It will be approximately a three-hour journey, and we will be living right on the edge of another country so we can escape if we need to, should the agency track us down and come after us.”

Her face pinched, then relaxed.

“This city has six hundred and twenty-three people inhabiting it—which means we will be recognized by locals easily as outsiders. If the agency came there, the people living in the town could lead them to us. For that reason, I want to keep you indoors most days. If we do choose to go out, we will visit other towns instead. Do you understand?”

She nodded and yawned.

“There are natural hot springs there. We will have to visit those once you are settled and adjusted.”

She gave another slight nod, and her head drifted down to her shoulder.

“We will also need to change your name, and mine, along with our appearances.”

Her headed nodded, but this time it was heavy with sleep.

He smiled. She missed the bit about having to look different.

How would she take that news later when he approached her with a bottle of hair dye and took her out for a haircut?

* * *

Anne woke sobbing, and he had to pull the car over and cuddled with her in the backseat.

They sat on the side of the highway, and he reassured her they were fine.

Her dreams were of dragons attacking them and losing her baby in the process of defending herself.

“We have to put fuel in the car soon,” he informed her once she settled down.

“F-foooee-uel?”

“It is kind of like food for this machine. It is what makes it go,” he said.

“What shall I do when you are getting this fooooyell.”

He smiled. “You can either remain in the car or get out with me and hold onto the tail of my shirt, since I will need the use of my hands.”

She sat stiff in his arms. “I will always be with you.” She clutched the front of his shirt.

“That is a sound plan, my lady.”

“Good.” She nuzzled her face into his chest.

“I also need to get some water into you. Otherwise, you will grow more ill. The effects of time travel can be severe.” He stroked her hair.

“Water? But that is forbidden! It is polluted,” she said, almost yelping.

He chuckled deep in his chest. “Not here. You can no longer drink wine. At least, not while you are with child.”

“But that is what we drink.” She shifted in his lap.

Another chuckle from Guy. “It is the opposite here. It is the ale and wine that is the most dangerous, love. It is probably one of the reasons why so many pregnancies did not make it full-term in your time period.”

“Hmmm . . .” Her head dropped, and she snuggled closer to him.

“Water is the safest thing for you and our child. It’s not contaminated like the water was at court. I want you to drink lots of it daily.” His fingers combed through her hair, and he yanked playfully at the roots several times.

“Yes, sir. Is there any other rule I should observe for the sanctity of the growing life inside me?” Her voice was calmer now.

“We will talk more about that as we go along. Plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, high protein, and I expect you to rest often.”

She took a deep breath and melted into him. “You smell good—my favorite scent in all the world that exists.”

“You are too sweet, lavender.” He kissed the top of her head.

He coaxed her back into the front seat, and he found the nearest gas station.

The overhead lights terrified her, and as he pumped gas, she quaked silently behind him, making tiny sounds of horror at any movement around her.

She honestly was afraid of her nighttime shadow.

“These lights are powered by something we call electricity. We rarely use candles for light at night,” he told her as he pumped gas.

“I have no notion of what that means,” she said, petrified, fisting the back of his shirt.

“It means that there is a source of power that is much stronger than a flickering flame on a candle that allows that light to be shed on us.” He pointed with one hand at the street light a few feet away, illuminating the cars parked beneath it.

She stared wide-eyed at the various lights.

“They are safe as well, lady.”

She sucked in her lips and stepped closer to him.

He finished pumping the gas and then turned to her. “We have to pay inside the store since I am using cash.”

Her brow furrowed, and it was evident she was unsure what that meant.

“Come with me, please. Remain silent, and I will see to it we are settled with the bill.” He screwed the gas cap back in place, took her hand and led her inside.

He grabbed four bottles of Smartwater—the biggest he could find—and then paid for the gas and the drinks.

She followed behind him, her hand gripped tight around his.

This time getting her into the car was a much simpler affair.

Less tears threatening in her eyes, and less of him having to stroke her cheeks and telling her how brave she was.

“You are handling this all so well,” he told her as he slid into the driver’s seat.

She swiveled in her seat to face him, and a sweet smile greeted him.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“Fuck!” He groaned. “Say that again.”

“Your. Majesty.” She chuckled, covering her mouth as she did it.

“Fucking hell, Anne. That’s . . . I can’t take it. Come here.” He gripped her by the shoulders and slid her closer. “Kiss me.”

She licked her bottom lip and then bent toward him.

Her kiss was slow and lingered. She made this grunting sound of displeasure when he pulled away a moment later.

“Drink. Drink as much as you think your stomach will accept,” he said, handing her a bottle of water.

She fumbled with the lid, unsure of how to open the cap.

Stupid, Guy. She hasn’t ever dealt with a bottle top before.

He rolled his eyes at himself, took it back and opened it for her.

She stared at it with a blank, dumbfounded look.

He opened his, showed her how to drink from it.

“It is similar to drinking from a mother’s teat,” he teased.

She pressed the bottle to her lips, scrunched her nose, then took a dainty sip.

“More. I want you to drink at least half of that over the next hour. That is how much longer we have of driving.” He tipped the bottle up to her lips by using the flat of his fingers on the bottom of her drink.

She made a slight gagging sound when he was a little too quick about it.

“Sorry. I did not mean to—”

She shook her head and put a hand up so he would stop speaking.

After a few gulps, he allowed her to set the drink down.

He secured the cap for her and then he started the car back up and drove off.

She settled in nicely, all until he pulled out his iPhone to check on directions and found her curled against the door in sheer terror.

“Fuck,” he muttered. Now how to explain this?

* * *

Anne was awake most of the night vomiting up the water and small amount of food he’d managed to get inside her.

She pulled at the hem of his shirt she was still wearing. The rest of her clothes had been cast aside.

She was nauseous when not throwing up.

Was this all morning sickness, or all time travel? Or was it part of both?

He held her in bed, stroked and massaged her body and then gave her some more water.

Things got worse when he was struck with the effects himself.

Usually it was damn near debilitating, but for some reason, the fact he had to tend to her kept him on his feet when normally he would have crashed by now.

“Here—take these. It will help,” he said, placing two small white pills in her hand.

“What is this?” She lifted her cupped palm to her eyes.

“They are for motion sickness. Should be agreeable to your pregnancy.” He grabbed her hand and brought it to her mouth.

She licked them off and then groaned as it went down.

He made sure she drank a few more swallows of water, then put her back in bed.

“Anne?”

“Yes?” She caressed the back of his hand that was draped over her waist.

“Are you regretting coming here already?”

She stopped moving and breathing. “I . . .”

“It is all right. Tell me the truth. Do you wish you had never come with me?” His heart almost drilled its way out of his chest as it throbbed like crazy.

“There are moments I feel lost and panicked. I look for Mary, George, my parents, but none are found. I even look for Nan, my lady-in-waiting, but she is gone, too. And then I blink, and you are here. Though it pacifies me that I have you, I already miss them. They are dead by now. Long ago, they went the way of dust.” She sniffed.

“Yes, sweetheart. I am sorry. They died nearly four hundred and ninety-one years ago.” He wanted to say more, but what could he say to atone for the loss she was experiencing?

She curled in on herself and wept. “I do not know what to do here.”

“You do the same as you did there. You please me. I take care of the rest.” His voice was soft but shaking terribly.

Had he been a selfish asshole? Was he worse than Henry for bringing her here?

No. She’d be dead, and he’d be worse than dead—he’d be living without
her
.

“Shhh . . . Tomorrow, Anne, I take you to the nearest church. You can go to confession if you wish, and we can study the English version of the Bible.” He smiled when she gasped.

But that faded when she cried even louder. “I had nothing to do with its existence . . .”

Chapter 15

“No, please, I cannot do this!” Anne hid her face with her hands.

The tears were absent this time, but she whimpered.

“It is called a shower, sweet one. Henry actually developed one later on, so you would probably have experienced a rudimentary version of this in your time. It is the best way to get clean, and I know how important that is to you,” he said, using the back of his left hand on her upper arm to caress and soothe. “Please, darling. For me? We need to clean up so we can go and buy you some clothes that fit. I want to take you to church where I know you will be comfortable.”

“You will hold me?”

“When I am not washing you or myself? Yes. Absolutely.” He grinned.

The idea of washing her already had him hard.

“I will also buy you some lavender soap today and some shampoo with that scent as well.”

“Shampoo?” Her head lifted and her dark doe-eyes searched his.

“It is the special soap we use for our hair.” He twirled a few long strands that had fallen over her shoulder.

“I used lavender water for all things along with soap,” she said with a shy smile.

“I know. It is why you always smelled so divine.” He took her hand in his and tugged her into the running shower.

She stood behind him, unmoving and failing to even blink.

He washed himself first and allowed her to watch.

Her eyes went heavy when he paid an inordinate amount of attention on his hardened length.

“That’s it, lavender. Watch me. Forget about everything else. Bathing together can be very pleasurable.” He stroked his cock and fisted hard at the tip so she could focus on how his foreskin covered, then exposed his slit.

Her lips parted, and her pupils dilated.

“Are you hungry for me, Mistress Anne?” He pumped faster and moaned when her nipples tightened and her chest flushed.

“I cannot look away,” she said with a tiny gasp.

“Good. I prefer you keep your eyes on me. I love it when you watch me. It leads to carnal, devilish delights.” He chuckled at the back of his throat.