Authors: Lisa Dawn Wadler
Once again, she had disappointed Dana. The woman had been very clear she didn’t want her grandson hurt. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t let him leave without him knowing that I had no regrets about last night.”
Dana nodded. “No regrets is a fine thing, and I envy you the certainty that came with your night.” The woman surprised her by leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead. “Go upstairs, eat and sleep.”
“Dana . . .”
“I think the word you want is Grandma. I’m claiming you too,” Dana said with a smile. “All I wanted was for the love to be mutual.”
Samantha smiled at the warm gaze resting on her face. “It is.”
“As soon as he comes back, I’ll tell him where you are.”
Pulling away from the hug, Samantha glanced at the corridor leading to the hall. “I’ll be in the hall talking with Jeff.”
“Not done being the major yet?” Dana asked with a quick wink. “Go to the hall. Food and drink are on the tables.”
With a nod, she made her way into the almost-empty hall. Only a few men sat at the tables having a bite to eat. Only Jeff and Efraim were there from her troops. She gave them a small smile as she sat next to Jeff.
“I’m surprised Dana let you into the hall dressed like that,” Efraim teased, though he and Jeff also wore robes and were fresh from the baths.
Samantha shook her head as she glanced down at the long robe covering her body and the bare feet poking out at the bottom. “It feels so fantastic to be clean.”
“How is Boomer?” Jeff asked while he pushed a plate in front of her.
Her head shook in refusal at the food. Her mind still saw crazed tattooed men charging her at every turn. Fear still plagued her belly, and food was not what she needed. She needed Faolan. Somehow she knew he would be able to make the horror of the day vanish.
She offered details on Boomer and the other men in the makeshift hospital. Though most of it Jeff already knew as he had also checked in on the wounded. “What did you want to talk about?” Samantha asked as she accepted the cup of water.
Jeff glanced at Efraim, and Samantha added, “Whatever it is, say it. No more secrets on any level.”
Jeff laughed and glanced up at the stained sheet hanging over the fireplace.
“The fact that I married Faolan is obviously not a secret,” Samantha replied dryly.
Efraim leaned forward. “Just say that you didn’t do it for our safety.”
“All you need to know is that it had absolutely nothing to do with any of you,” Samantha stated and didn’t bother to hide the grin.
Jeff nodded. “Good to know, but that’s not why I wanted to talk in private. I heard gunshots today.”
“Impossible. We brought no weapons with us,” Samantha stated as a quick fantasy of a full magazine and a semi-automatic weapon danced in her mind.
“Maybe the Unified Forces found a way here and tracked us,” Efraim suggested.
“We’d know the minute they tried. The chip in your neck would reactivate if a door to our time opened. You’d feel the vibration when it became initialized,” Samantha explained.
“Then how do we explain the automatic weapons fire?” Jeff asked.
Between the three of them, they found no probable explanation for a similar sound, though they tried for a while. “You have to be mistaken, Jeff,” Samantha said.
“Just to be safe, I want to take a patrol to the area behind the training grounds near the far pastures. While I didn’t fight there, I’d swear that’s where the gunfire came from.” Samantha nodded at Jeff’s request.
The memory of the day she and Faolan rode those lands sparked in her mind. She offered a quick story of being certain someone had been in the shepherd’s hut. Jeff and Efraim agreed to take precautions when canvassing the area.
The conversation settled to the men describing their part in the day’s battle. She listened and nodded as they spoke of the men who never seemed to stop pouring from the trees. A shiver tore up her spine as her mind once again flashed on the brutality in the eyes of the enemy. While a trained military officer, she had never understood the compulsion to destroy and kill. She could see the face of every man who fell beneath her sword.
Efraim rose first. “I’m done and going to get some sleep.”
Jeff nodded and rose to pull the man in for a quick embrace. Samantha did the same, and she pulled his head down to place a kiss to his cheek. She smiled at the request he whispered in her ear.
“‘Tis the last sight I wanted at day’s end,” Faolan grumbled as he entered the hall. “My wife should be running to be in my arms, nay having another man whispering in her ear.”
Samantha laughed as she took in the mock glare on his freshly scrubbed face. Faolan also wore one of the robes, and his shoulder length hair dripped water as though he had not taken the time to dry it.
Before she had finished noting his appearance, he stood before her with her face in his hands. With a soft kiss to her head, he whispered, “I have waited too long to see you.”
Samantha smiled into the brown eyes that held her gaze. “Efraim wanted to know if he could be a part of replanting the fields.”
Faolan broke her gaze and turned to Efraim. “After such a day, the thought of bringing life into the world also fills my heart with hope. Consider your request granted.”
Efraim smiled and left the hall without a word.
Faolan pulled Samantha into his side and faced Jeff. She let loose a contented sighed as she snuggled into his embrace. For the first time all day, she felt safe.
“My thanks to you and your men for the day. My people live because of you.”
“I have more than one of your warriors to thank for covering my back today,” Jeff answered and grinned at Samantha. “Looks like we really messed with the timeline today. I mean we saved a doomed clan and got married.”
Samantha recoiled at the pronouncement. UNK005 seemed to call to her and ask her to run probabilities. Faolan seemed to feel her mind slip and held her shoulders tighter, bringing her back to the moment.
“My time thanks you, as do my people,” Faolan said. Samantha heard the way he shortened his words as if controlling his anger. It seemed neither one of them wanted to discuss timelines after the day spent dealing with death.
The major in her nodded and approved the plan the two men made regarding the rest of the men for the morning. The shudder was suppressed as they laid plans for the removal and burning of the bodies. Revulsion was for civilians. The duty needed to be faced no matter how repugnant it seemed. She approved the division of Draig warriors and her hale men for the task and those to be sent to patrol searching for stragglers. None of them were willing to risk any member of the enemy force coming back for a second attack.
“In the morning we need to discuss you getting back to work,” Jeff said as his gaze fixed on her and then seemed to reconsider what he had just said. “Actually, hold off until Boomer can stand guard.”
Samantha didn’t miss Jeff’s glance at the sheet. A proper officer would tell him off and put him in his place for meddling in her personal affairs. Instead, she kept quiet and silently thanked him for the brief time she could spend with Faolan. Besides, given the tasks they had laid out and the others that would come up once the sun rose, she would most likely be needed elsewhere.
Jeff smiled and turned to leave the hall.
“Go talk to Keira,” Samantha suggested.
“Some things can’t be unsaid,” Jeff said as he kept walking.
Faolan laughed. “So find some new words to say. Start with how pleased you are to be alive to beg for her forgiveness. We stand here and hold no grudge for the harsh words spoken yesterday. I ken you spoke to protect Samantha.”
Jeff chuckled. “Things got a bit crazy yesterday. I still owe you both an apology for what I said. Samantha, I hope you know I didn’t mean it.”
“No, you meant it,” she answered. “I kept information from you and dealt with it on my own. That’s not how we are supposed to work, not how I want us to work.” With a smile, she continued, “But I forgive you and promise no more withholding.”
It struck her that Jeff still didn’t know she had to leave to save the proverbial bubble. All hell had broken loose in the hall before she could explain the situation. Faolan’s grip tightened on her shoulder, and she knew it wasn’t the time to start the lengthy conversation. She wanted to be with Faolan without the nightmare to come being verbalized.
“Tomorrow we need to find time to talk about my progress. But for now, go find Keira. She’s waiting for you to break the ice.”
They both knew Jeff heard them when he altered his path to leave via the kitchens and the shorter route to the barracks.
“What do you need to speak about with Jeff?” Faolan asked.
“He doesn’t know how this needs to end.” It was as close as she was going to come to saying it.
Samantha started to add more but squeaked instead as Faolan bent to scoop her off of her feet. “What are you doing?”
“The stone floors are cold, and for too long, I have wanted you in my arms, my heart. Consider yourself fortunate that I waited long enough for your men to leave the hall.”
Her arms wrapped around his neck, and he began long strides to the stairs. Samantha buried her face in his neck and breathed him in while he took the stairs two at a time. He paused before his chamber door.
“Open the latch before Boomer kens where I mean to take you,” Faolan teased.
She laughed at the comment and then opened the door. A warm glow from the fire filled the dimly lit chamber. Even as Faolan pushed the door closed with his foot, his comment lost its humor. She said, “Maybe I shouldn’t be here.”
Faolan sat on the bed with her tucked in his lap. “Where else would you go at day’s end?” As if sensing her fear, he whispered against her hair, “Only this morn I tracked you into the kitchens and demanded you honor what passed between us last night. ‘Tis where you belong for all time, my heart. Here in our chamber and in my bed.”
Her arms clung tight around his neck, and her head rested against his chest. The comment about “for all time” haunted her because she knew it would never happen. But after the nightmare of a day, the last thing she wanted was to make the night about pain and future loss. With the sound of his strong heartbeat in her ear, she sighed, grateful for the security she felt being wrapped in his strong arms.
“I feel you shake, my heart. Are you cold?”
His voice was a soft caress against her hair. The shaking was something she hadn’t noticed until he mentioned it. Adrenaline was gone, and that was the repercussion. Even after the concrete certainty of the physiological aspects of a day spent fighting, she wondered if it was simply fear. She whispered against his chest, “I can still see them pouring from the trees. So many . . . there were so many.”
Faolan tightened his grip. “And yet we are here where we belong. Our people are safe and free from threat. You are in my arms, and ‘tis all that matters.” With a soft kiss to her hair, he said, “Such fear I had kenning you fought. When Rolph said you were down, rage filled me. It seems I fail to protect you in all ways.”
The pain in his voice forced her to straighten and pull back enough to see his pained gaze. Samantha cupped one hand against his cheek. “You saved me from the men who approached from the fields. Not one of them came anywhere near me.”
Her attempt at humor failed as he looked away. It struck her that he was unlike any man she had ever met. All other men she had known were used to women being in combat and being trained for such things. In Faolan’s world, women didn’t fight because they were weak and frail, and dependent on a strong man. Her mind didn’t quite know how to accept the idea of someone fighting for her like that, but her heart swelled at the realization he would.
She shifted in his lap to straddle him and pulled his head down to meet her. Even on top of his thighs, he was still taller. When he finally looked at her, she said, “I love that you would have me safe at all times and away from danger. You are such a good man. But you need to remember that I’m as much a warrior as you are and can handle myself if I need to.”
Her forehead fell against his chin. “I never want to go through what happened today again. I’ve never been so scared. But if needed, I will do the same again.”
Faolan held her face in his hands and brought her up to meet his gaze. “You are skilled with a weapon and wise beyond my imagination. I am the most fortunate of all men to have you for my own, my heart.”
She smiled as warmth again filled his beautiful brown eyes. “Being here with you now is all that matters. Since I came back, you are all I wanted. You make it all vanish for me. It’s impossible to remember the horror of the day now.”
The kiss she had longed for all evening was finally given. Samantha sighed as he pressed his lips against hers and brushed them softly over her mouth. Far too soon, he pulled away.
His fingertip stroked the top of her cheek, and she winced as he brushed what she assumed was a bruise. “How bad is it?”
“The light is dim, but I can see where you were struck. Tell me the bastard died.”
“He did. I made sure of it.” There was no pride in the statement. Death was not easy to deliver.
“Grandma said you were hurt.” There was no waiting for a reply as she pushed her body back on his thighs enough to push back the fabric of his robe. Her hand found the evidence of the sealed cut. Dana hadn’t exaggerated. It was in the middle of the body of his dragon. “Does it hurt? Are you okay?”
Faolan chuckled and raised her hand to kiss her scraped knuckles. He frowned at the marred skin. “My wound matters little. There is no pain to speak of. Since when do you refer to Dana as Grandma?”
Samantha told him of the conversation in the baths and how Dana had claimed her as a part of the family. Faolan’s grin was all she needed to know he was pleased. She went on to tell him how her wound was in the same place on her beast.
Before she could blink, her feet hit the floor, and Faolan whirled her around so he faced her back. Staring at the wall, she heard his voice growl, “No one told me you had been hurt. Show me now.”