I couldna help but moan.
Her voice breathy against my ear, “Does that feel good?”
“Aye, mo reul-iuil. It has been a verra long time without any comfort.”
She ran her lips down my chest and I was feeling verra interested in bein’ inside of her. She put some soap in her hand and I leaned forward dutifully. She massaged the soap through my hair, around and around, with much care and attention. I was so incredibly spent.
With a groan, I dropped down to my knees. I wrapped m’arms around her legs and pressed my forehead to her stomach. Rivulets of water ran down my face. Her hand faltered. “Are you okay, my love?”
“Aye, now.”
She held the back of my head pulling me closer in. I held tighter around her hips. “Would ye wash m’hair some more, mo real-iuil?”
She stood firmly and bore my weight as I clung tae her. She poured soap intae her hands and slowly rubbed it intae my hair, in and down; pulling it along the strands. She massaged the sweet-smelling soap intae my scalp in a circular pattern and then down the back of my neck and firmly across my shoulders. I pressed my cheek tae her stomach, my lips, and moaned from the feel of it.
I clutched her arse, pullin’ her in closer. “I love ye, Kaitlyn.” Twas like bein’ in a rainfall, the water rushin’ down me, washin’ away the soil and hopelessness of the months of tryin’ tae find my way back tae her.
Her hands clutched me closer, her voice a sweetness above me. She whispered, “I know you do.”
I spoke intae the flesh of her stomach tasting the water rolling down. “How dost ye ken?”
“Because you will always do anything to come home to me.”
“And I will come again, my love, though it were ten thousand mile.”
“You remember the poem I read you?”
“I canna forget that line, ye read it tae me with a bonny Scottish lilt tae yer voice, I winna forget it.”
She held me tighter still. “I love you too.”
In answer I lumbered tae my feet, picked her up under her arms so she would wrap her legs around me, and pressed her against the wall. Her arse in my hands, I brought her close and pushed inside her with a rush, warm rivers of water running down our bodies. We pressed and moved against each other, my chest against hers with small splashes as we rocked. She directed the water over our heads so that there was clear water and floral-scented soap and wet slippery liquid over us as I pushed and pulled against her.
“Ye smell like roses,” I said, “I had forgotten ye tae smell like roses.”
In answer she kissed me, tongue and lips and sweet breaths, and after the heaviness of my life these last weeks, the burden of it all, her weight in my hands was comfortin’. She was the burden I wanted. The lightness of her was refreshin’ after months of nothin’ but heavy toil. I pushed against her harder and she took me willingly and we ended with moans, their sounds muffled by the cascade of water around us. I pressed my forehead tae the cool tile wall. “Twas too fast, but I needed ye so desperately.”
She nibbled my earlobe. “It’s usually about enjoying the race, but sometimes the finish line is all we want. That felt good. Let’s just promise the next time we’ll linger.
“I like verra much the sound of that.”
I slid from her and dropped her gently tae the tiles.
She ran soap around on her own head, and through her hair. I watched for a moment, the expression on her face, pleased, relieved, satisfied, happy, my wife. It struck me at that moment that I was fully home with her, finally together, and safe.
I hadn’t had time to exhale and now I did and when I did she opened her eyes and smiled up at me. Her head wet and covered in soap, her skin glistening and clean and fresh.
I had almost lost her but here we were, married, together, in our own bathroom. Nae longer a king and a queen but instead Magnus and Kaitlyn, the Campbells, living on Amelia Island, Florida, smilin’ at each other because here was another day of happiness for us.
She said, her voice like her own sigh of comfort and relief, “Welcome home, Magnus.”
“Thank ye for the welcome.” I ran a palm down her stomach, there was nae a swell. “Dost ye ken?”
“No.” She wrapped around me and tucked her head against my chest. “No, I don’t know, but it’s only been a few days for me. The funny thing is I used to keep track of time by my pill. Now I can’t remember what day it is.”
She ran her hand down my chest. “I’m worried though. I’ve jumped five times in a few days. It’s been nothing but drama and danger and I — what if... I’m just nervous about it.”
“Me as well, mo reul-iuil, but I daena think we should let our fear stop us from livin’. I love ye too much tae cause ye tae live in fear or pain—”
She said, “I know. I know you want me to feel nothing but joy, and you worry over it, but you’ll need to accept it — even Magnus, the great and awesome, Master Magnus, even he can’t protect me from every fear, from every worry.”
I smiled and joked back, “Och, ye are questionin’ my manhood while I am standin’ afore ye with my sword...” I looked down and shook my head.
She teased me, “Your sword is not as unsheathed as usual.”
“Sometimes even great warriors need tae put their swords away.”
She kissed me, slow and sweet. “I missed you. I love you. I feel safe with you. I want you. You’re my husband and I’m very glad you’re home.”
“I missed ye, mo real-iuil. Every night on the ship I would think on gettin’ home tae ye, like ye were a prize that I might be lucky enough tae win again. I kept looking up at the sky and thinkin’ tae myself, wherever I am she is there too. We are under the same sky, though we are in different folds of time. I wanted ye so much and tae have ye again is all I dreamed on and now here ye are. You are nae a prize tae dream on, you are mine, a part of me. You are my home and my family, waiting here, and it means everythin’ tae me.”
She said, “You're going to make me cry and I just got you back and we don’t want to cry. Not anymore.” She folded her arms around me and we both held on.
Forty-six - Kaitlyn
For dinner we didn’t even try to eat a normal meal. We ate some sliced meat for the protein of it and then went straight to ice cream sundaes because it was something we all really wanted. Magnus, because he had been without for so long, the rest of us because that had been some hard shit and hard shit sometimes requires lots of carbs.
We sat at the kitchen island on stools with Ben toddling around and we talked about what we had been through. Charlie, one of the regular security guys, was already stationed out on the deck.
I told Magnus all about Captain Warren and we all recounted what it was like that he had been the commander of our excursion and then was just gone. And we tried to reconcile it with what we knew: That the kingdom was falling. Hammond was fighting for it. Archie was out there somewhere. I didn’t remember old Magnus or Tyler telling me that it got quite this bleak before.
We came to the conclusion that history had changed.
Magnus said, eating a big spoonful of ice cream with caramel sauce on it, “We daena ken what will happen next.”
I said, “That’s frightening.”
“Tis, but tis also the same as for every other person in the world. We all must try tae understand what comes next, prayin’ tae god that it goes in our favor, and if ye think on it, Kaitlyn, tis a comfort tae be the same as everyone else.”
We all raised our glasses with a “Hear, hear!”
Magnus said, “Slainte!”
Then Hayley said, “To Beaty, I hope she pulls through because she is a true bad ass.”
I said, “To Beaty, a terrible arse.”
And we all laughed and Magnus hugged his arm around me, which was the best feeling in the world to have my 21st century husband back, in our 21st century house, looking out over the beach — a little windblown tonight, seagrass waving, but warm enough outside that the ac was humming inside to keep us a pe
rfect temperature. Plus we had the back door slid wide open for the breeze, because we were from the 21st century and it was okay to waste a little in the name of comfort, and smell a little like rose-scented shampoo, and glow a little from sex and love, and laugh a lot from relief, and yet to feel very sad about his kingdom and the people we knew who were stuck there in it and so worried about Beaty and Archie.
All of that.
Plus the ice cream tasted really good.
As we talked and ate, Zach did a few things around the kitchen, opening up drawers and cupboards, throwing away old bread, tossing boxes of cereal. It had been over a month and we had left in a hurry.
Some of our stuff had been moved to the octagonal house; someone would go get it in the morning.
We would deal with a lot in the morning.
And soon Zach and Emma and Ben went to bed and Hayley went to sleep in the guest room because she didn’t want to go home, she had shared nights there with Nick and—
I shuddered at the thought.
She would sleep here.
We might have to come up with a better plan for her, sell her house, or move her to India, or something.
* * *
I used the bathroom and that was when I realized I had started my period.
That super sucked.
I mean, it sucked because I really really wanted a baby, but also Magnus said he had a plan. He was going to kill Reyes. And how could I help if I was pregnant? He didn’t want my help, but he would need it. I was kind of a terrible arse through all of this.
Plus the motherfucking matriarch.
I was just having a harder time being an actual mother.
I sighed and pulled open the drawer beside the toilet and pulled out a tampon and well, did what one does with those, and sighed again. That’s fine. It just wasn’t the right time.
It wasn’t the right time when we decided it.
It wasn’t the right time now. I would get my period behind me, kick Reyes’s ass, then after that, when I was all ovulating and stuff, then I would get pregnant... definitely.
Except first... I had to tell Magnus.
Forty-seven - Kaitlyn
When I returned downstairs he was out on the back porch, looking out over the dark dunes, the breeze rustling his hair. His broad back stretched across the slats of the wooden deck-chair. I paused for a moment with my hands on the sliding door to just watch him for a moment. The back of his hair with the curls ruffled against his taut muscular neck. I wanted to kiss him there. Everywhere.
The edge of his jaw, the eyes — they were pensive, worried.
I slid the door open and crossed the deck. I pulled a chair up beside him and took his hand on the side-by-side armrest. It was the same position we were in when we talked about Archie for the first time, and he told me about Bella, really told me about her and broke my heart a little, but healed it too. Because this was us. I tightened my fingers around his. “Hi love. I have news. I don’t think you look like you want this kind of news, but I don’t want to keep it from you — I started my period just now.”
He nodded. “You told me twould be a few days, tis okay Kaitlyn, we will try again.”
“Yeah...”
I watched the side of his face while he stared out at the ocean. “Whatcha thinking about? Your kingdom?”
“Aye, tis verra complicated that tis—”
He let go of my hand and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Dost ye really think Roderick has the kingdom now?”
“I do. I mean, who else is in charge? You’ll need — I don’t know, it will take a lot to get it back.”
“I have Lady Mairead.” He chuckled weakly.
“Yeah, she is not going to let your kingdom fall. She probably raised an army already.”
“When you spoke tae her, did she seem tae want tae protect Archie?”
“She did. She wanted to take him to New York she had a whole plan. I decided though that she should take them to Lizbeth. She didn’t love the idea, but she agreed it would be the best for them. She was going to do it. It was the first time we agreed on anything except you.” I ran a finger up and down his arm. “Yeah, I think she wants to protect him.”
“Good, I winna worry on him right now.”
“You have a lot to worry about, huh?”
“I do, tis a big thing tae need tae kill a man. Even one that deserves it.’”
“Once you told me that before a battle you would pack your gear and it would get your mind off the worry.”
He chuckled. “Aye, packin’ or I can watch the movin’ pictures of the cats.”
I smiled. “The cat videos? Yeah, they can get a mind off any worries. Some might say they are the entire reason the internet was invented.”
His brow went up and he teased, “What is the internet?”
I teased him back, “I’ve explained it already. You’ll have to trust me that it’s really just cat videos.” He leaned back in the chair again and gave me his hand, warm and securely wrapped around mine. “Do you want to talk about your plan to fight Reyes?”
“Not yet, I’ll talk tae ye about it tomorrow.”
He raised my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.
“Is that all you’re worried about? It seems like there’s more. Something else...”
He looked at me for a moment. “Tis my friend, Fraoch. I am tryin’ tae get used tae a world where he will die because he voyaged across the ocean. Dost it kill a man tae cross the ocean these days, Kaitlyn?”
“No, we can cross the Atlantic Ocean by plane, flying, and it will take about eight hours.”
He shook his head. “It daena seem fair that he was born in a time where his life is cut short from it. How many men have been lost because of what we daena ken about the world? We dinna ken we could fly and so we died in the crossing.”
“It’s really bothering you?”
“Aye, he was in his hammock and he was ready tae die there, in the dark, horrible bottom of the ship with the vermin and — he wanted tae go home tae Scotland. Tae start a family. But then he wanted tae die from the pain of the death that was nearin’. He wanted me tae leave him there, Kaitlyn, and I refused. I carried him tae shore and got him tae the hospital. I paid all the money I had tae save him, but it wasna enough. I asked my cousin tae sit at his bedside, but I canna save him because of the time he was born.”
Magnus looked at me with such sadness. “The truth is, I can save him, I could bring him here. I could bring everyone here, Lizbeth and Sean, and my nieces and nephews, but they might get sick like Beaty. Twould be cruel tae give them hope that they wouldna die in the dirt and vermin of a barbaric castle, that they could have ice cream and air blowing, but they might die anyway. I daena understand why tis like this. I am feelin’ like I daena want the power tae decide who can live and who will die.”
My heart broke hearing him talk like this so guiltily because of the time we were in. I put my arms around him, my head on his shoulder, and hugged him tightly.
“I’m sorry you’re feeling this so much.” I kissed the folds of fabric stretched across his shoulder. “I know this might not help much, but we all die. That’s the truth. No matter what the time is. We have a lot of comforts now, but Lizbeth knew she could come here and she still chose to stay there. There are things that are worth living for in that time — family comes to mind.”
He patted my hand that was wrapped around his arm. “I am just feeling the loss of my friend.”
“I can hear it, and I wish I knew how to save you from it. I’m sorry.”
“You daena need tae be sorry.”
“Still, he saved your life. I would like to thank him.”
We watched the sea grass wave on the dune top for a moment and then I thought to ask, not really wanting him to relive it, but wanting to know. “What happened to him?”
“He got verra ill on the crossing as many of the men did. Tis like he was wastin’ away. He was weak and I saw his legs, Kaitlyn, they had tu
rned black. His teeth were hurtin’ him so he couldna eat and—”
“He has scurvy.”
“Aye,” he nodded. “Scurvy will kill a man for darin’ tae think he can live on the seas.”
“Magnus, there’s a cure for scurvy.”
His eyes rose to mine. “There is?”
I nodded, “Yes, there’s a cure and it’s actually an easy one. I mean, I would need to make sure the best way to — but do you know the date, when you left him?”
“I made sure of it afore I left. You could cure him, Kaitlyn?”
“I don’t know. I never really thought about scurvy before, but I think so. I think it’s vitamin C. I don’t know how far is too far, but we can definitely try.”
“We can try tae save him?” His face screwed up as if he was holding down his emotions. “Thank you, mo real-iuil, it means a great deal tae me that ye want tae try.”
“Of course Magnus, anything for you.” I grinned. “Plus, what if he’s the great-grandfather of the man who invented McDonalds restaurants? Civilization might stand in the balance.”
He chuckled.
“Feel better?”
“I do, but I am verra tired.”
“I’m going to take some Midol, get a hot water bottle, and then let’s go curl up in our bed together.”
He kissed my fingers again.
I hugged him and then led him back into our house.
Forty-eight - Kaitlyn
I woke up in the perfect place, sprawled across his chest. It went like this: sleep, comfortable, warm, slowly waking, and then with a rush, Magnus, love and more.
He looked down at me. “Good morning, mo reul-iuil.”
“Good morning, Magnus.”
“Dost ye have a list a’ready?”
I rubbed my palm down his bare chest and lingered around the gathered top of his plaid pajama pants. “You better believe I have a list. First, we have to go see Beaty and check in with Quentin. Then, we need you to detail your plan how you want to deal with Reyes.”
Under the Same Sky Page 16