by Pandora Pine
Cow-boy? What strange language. Fionn sighed. “Follow me.” Walking back to his traitorous horse, he sheathed his sword. If Brimstone was willing to abide Carter’s touch, then he would bring no harm to Fionn.
11
They walked on silently toward the river together. Carter was trying to puzzle out the best way to explain his presence here since Fionn didn’t seem to recognize him. He would hold his tongue about traveling nearly six hundred years into the past and try to describe where he was from in a way that wouldn’t unduly alarm Fionn.
Arriving at the water’s edge, Carter knelt down to cup water in his hand. It was frigid, but felt good when he slapped it against his face. He dropped his hands back into the water forming a cup and brought them up to his lips. The ice-cold water was sweet and pure. Once Carter had his fill, he sat down on a nearby, sun-warmed rock. He took a deep breath before beginning again.
“I’m not from here, Fionn,” he started slowly.
“Where are you from? England? I cannot place your strange accent.” His hand moved to hover over the hilt of his sword, now sheathed at his side.
Carter laughed. It would be a long time until anyone would recognize a Boston accent. “I’m from a place called America.”
“I have not heard of this place.” Fionn’s eyes narrowed shrewdly.
“It is across the sea.” Carter pointed west, daring to offer a shy smile to the mistrustful warrior. Carter sucked in a deep breath when he saw the color of Fionn’s eyes blazing in the morning sunshine. His left hand went unconsciously to his medallion. The color of Fionn’s eyes matched the blue light which emanated within the moonstone.
“You travelled across the sea? How is that possible? I do not understand.” His blue eyes looked puzzled, but his body language remained calm.
“There is a lot that is not possible and a lot more which you may have a hard time believing.” Carter ran a hand up the back of his neck and into his hair.
“Why are you here? Where are the rest of your men?” Turning to look behind himself, he wrapped his hand around the hilt of the sword.
To save your life, he almost blurted out. “Curiosity. I heard about this place and wanted to see it for myself. ” He knew Fionn asking about others making the journey with him was a matter of protecting the castle, but it unnerved him to tell Fionn he was alone. “There are no other men.”
“So you travelled all this way alone to satisfy your inquisitive nature? It seems an impossible tale. Do you not know curiosity killed the feline?”
“I know it sounds like a crazy story but I’m telling you the truth.” Carter dropped his head into his hands, while desperation crept up his spine and settled around his brain. A warm hand gripped his left shoulder, sending a shiver of awareness through his body.
Picking his head up from his hands, he saw Fionn standing beside him. How did such a big man move so soundlessly? His hand was heavy on Carter’s shoulder, but the weight was comforting. There was kindness in his blue eyes which were now glowing in the morning sunshine. They were beautiful. He was beautiful.
“There are many mysteries in this life, Carter. Strange and mystical things man is not meant to understand yet, if at all.” Fionn squeezed his shoulder and then lightly ran his thumb against the sun-warmed skin of Carter’s collarbone. “I do not disbelieve your story, though it is rather fantastical. It is plain you are neither from Kildare, nor from anywhere close by. I can also see that you do not mean me or my people any harm. If you choose to accompany me, I would bring you back to Moone Castle.”
Letting out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding, Carter felt relief surge through his entire body. He was close to tears and needed to dig deep for control. If Fionn hadn’t agreed to take him to the castle how would he have survived out here in the wilderness alone? He was barely able to light a fire with matches, never mind trying to do it by rubbing sticks together.
Carter reached a hand up and placed it on top of Fionn’s, holding on for dear life. Carter was surprised when the other man threaded their fingers together and squeezed.
Seeing relief replacing fear in Carter’s dark eyes, Fionn said, “You could use a bath and a hot meal, I wager?” Carter had the most amazing brown eyes Fionn had ever seen. They reminded him of freshly turned earth before springtime planting. He could get lost in eyes likes those forever. Fionn fought the urge to slide his hand up Carter’s neck and walk his fingers down the side of Carter’s face before finally brushing across his full bottom lip.
“Yeah, I could really use both. Thank you.”
Pulling his hand back from Carter’s shoulder, Fionn turned to walk back to Brimstone who was happily munching on tender grass at the top of the riverbank.
“Fionn?” Carter called out.
With an eyebrow raised in question, Fionn turned around to look back at the foundling.
“I would like to see your home and meet your people.”
Fionn nodded his head sharply and turned away.
12
Insisting Carter take a room in the castle rather than bunking in the soldier’s quarters in the bailey, Fionn had dragged Carter into the castle and ushered him into a small chamber closing the door behind him, leaving Carter alone with his thoughts.
Moments later, two large warriors burst into the room unannounced and deposited a large wooden bathtub in front of the chamber’s fireplace. Each man silently sized Carter up before departing.
The warriors were followed by two women, Sorcha and Aggie, who carried pail after pail of hot water from Moone Castle’s kitchens. Carter noticed the men who carried the tub were standing guard outside his chamber door each time the two women departed with empty buckets.
Slipping out of his clothes, Carter took the moonstone from around his neck and hid it under his tee shirt which he had dropped haphazardly on the bed.
Carter tested the steaming bathwater with his fingers before climbing into the tub. The temperature was perfect. He rested his head back against the rough hewn rim of the tub. It had been one hell of a day so far. The steaming water was soothing against Carter’s tired muscles.
During the short walk back from the meadow to the castle gate, Fionn asked questions about Carter’s homeland. It was all he could do to stop himself from bursting out laughing when he asked why he had never heard of America. Carter couldn’t possibly tell him it was because America wouldn’t even be discovered for another fifty-nine years.
Now that he was here with Fionn he needed to first find out the month and year. The Battle of Boyne Bog took place on October 11, 1433. It felt too warm to be autumn in Ireland, but he wasn’t a meteorologist. The more troubling thought was which year it was? Did he have the patience and stamina to survive here if the year were 1431?
How would he ever explain to Cadence being gone for years? She hadn’t believed he had come back in time for fifteen minutes yesterday. There was no way she would believe he was in medieval Ireland for months or years. That was of course assuming he could get back home. Not wanting to worry over Cadence now, Carter turned his thoughts to Fionn.
He had found the man gorgeous from afar, but up close he was able to take in all the tiny details. Fionn’s eyes were the color of warm Caribbean waters. His nose was bent slightly to the left, likely a result of a break in some kind of fight, while his mouth was rich and full. His corn silk hair flowed to the center of his back and was tied back with a piece of leather. His blond beard was a bit shaggy, but looked soft. Once he had gotten past Fionn’s face, Carter couldn’t take his eyes off the way Fionn’s ass swayed seductively in his tight breeches as he walked.
Slipping his hands down his chest, he stopped to tweak each pebbled nipple. His hands wandered further south to his abs before tangling into the silky hair of his lower abdomen. Taking his erection in hand and slowly giving it a stroke while his left hand wandered to his balls, Carter wondered what it would feel like to have the warrior’s hands on his skin. Fionn’s large hands were rough and scarred. He imagined th
e callused skin of his hands would catch against his own tender skin when Fionn touched him.
Carter’s wet hand quickened over his heated flesh. His mind conjured up an image of him riding Fionn, staring into his endless blue eyes as his lover rose up to meet his downward thrusts. His rough hands gripping Carter’s hips so tightly, he would be wearing the marks for days to come.
His thumb slipped up and over the spongy head of his cock. He was able to feel the leaking pre-come even underwater. His left hand wandered past his balls, his index finger brushing against his hole.
“Fuck, Fionn,” he whispered when his finger breached the tight ring of muscle. He pushed forward until he found the small bump that was his prostate and started tapping the tiny gland. His hand sped up over his cock when he felt his lower back start to tingle, imagining Fionn’s powerful body pounding into his from beneath him. He was on the verge of exploding. A few more strokes and he would be there.
The heavy, wooden door to his chamber slamming open stopped Carter’s orgasm in its tracks. Not bothering to knock, Fionn barged right in as if he owned the place, which of course he did.
“Ah, enjoying your bath, I see.” Fionn dumped a bundle of clothes onto Carter’s bed and turned to face his guest. “We seem to be of a height. I brought you some clothes to wear during your stay.”
“Thanks,” Carter mumbled, sinking deeper into the tub.
“What,” Fionn asked, picking up the unused bar of rosemary soap from the stone floor beside the tub, “do you not wash in your mythical America?” He hated to admit it, but Carter was looking good enough to eat with his skin bright pink from the hot water. His dark hair stood up in spiky clumps where it looked like he had raked his hands through the silky strands.
“We use soap where I come from. I-I hadn’t gotten that far yet.” Carter blushed and ducked his head away from his host.
“Let me get your back.” Fionn dunked the bar of soap into the hot water along with a rag. The temptation of touching Carter’s creamy skin was too great to pass up.
Carter started to panic. “No, wait! I can do it myself.”
“Nonsense, you are a guest. I insist.” His eyes glittered dangerously, his tone was chilly. Now that he had his guest captive in the bathtub, it was time to get some answers, if he could manage to keep his unruly dick under control. His cock stirred to life the moment he saw Carter’s creamy, naked chest. He longed to trace his fingers over the smattering of freckles on his shoulders before slipping his hand down lower and lower until it wrapped around Carter’s cock and stroked it into hardness. Rather than act on his cock’s urgings, Fionn pushed a wet hand against Carter’s left shoulder and roughly shoved him forward.
“Hey!” Carter squeaked, putting his hands out just in time to stop his forward momentum from crashing his head against the opposite rim of the tub. A wave of water crashed against his back and splashed over the rim onto the stone floor.
Fionn bit back a smile over Carter’s reaction to his hospitality. Once he had deposited the strange man in the small chamber adjoining his own, he had spent the time he was away from Carter with his most trusted advisors telling them about the oddly dressed man he found in the meadow outside the gate of Moone Castle.
None of his advisors had ever heard of America, not even Donnall Healy, his right hand man and childhood friend. Donnall had been sent from his home in England to foster at Moone Castle when he was nine years old.
“What,” he drawled, “you don’t like my rough hands on your silken skin, my pretty little spy?” Carter not responding to his intimidation was making him angrier by the second.
Fionn thought he was pretty? Pretty shouldn’t have been the word he keyed on in that sentence. His still-hard cock twitched against his stomach. Trying to get his incorrigible dick under control, Carter took a deep breath. “Spy? You think I’m here to spy on you?”
Carter picked up on Fionn’s change in demeanor and wondered what caused it. He hadn’t been upset or suspicious when he insisted Carter take a room in the castle. What had changed between then and now? His heart was hammering in his chest, but he wasn’t going to let Fionn intimidate him.
Turning to face his angry host, Carter noticed instantly the dark look marring his handsome face. Unable to control himself, he reached his hands out of the water toward Fionn who flinched away from his dripping fingers. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Fionn was supposed to fall madly in love with him so Carter could save his fool life. The last thing he expected was hostility.
“None of my men have heard of America.” His tone was glacial, but he met and held Carter’s dark brown eyes.
“That doesn’t surprise me. Most of your men haven’t been outside Ò Ciardha lands.” He remembered his father telling him most people in Fionn’s time never traveled more than five miles away from where they were born in their entire lives. He was trying to save Fionn’s life but the handsome bastard wasn’t making it easy on him. He would have to find a way to earn his trust and control his own temper so he wasn’t tempted to kill Fionn himself.
Fionn arched an eyebrow, his eyes growing even colder. He moved closer to Carter, his top lip curling into a snarl. “Donnall came from England and he has not heard of your homeland either.” His voice was barely above a whisper.
Carter, sensing the menace in Fionn’s tone wisely held his tongue. Fionn looked like he didn’t know whether to kiss Carter or punch him in the face. Carter knew which one he would prefer. If he were smart, he would run from the hardened warrior. He should grab whatever clothes he could along with his medallion and run for his life, but he wouldn’t do it. Fionn’s barely restrained temper and brute force made him all the more desirable. It was all he could do to keep his hands to himself.
Licking out at his dry lips, his eyes locked on Fionn’s. He moved a scant inch closer and could feel Fionn’s breath against his face. All he had to do was move the tiniest bit closer and they’d be kissing. He wanted nothing more than to lick across Fionn’s thick bottom lip before sucking the tender flesh into his mouth. He wanted to hear his host moan with need, when Carter rubbed his tongue against Fionn’s.
Fionn’s head was spinning. He had never been angrier or more turned on in his life. Carter’s eyes were so dark with desire only the thinnest ring of brown was still visible. He took a shaky breath intending to press their lips together and let the consequences be damned.
Carter turned and pushed away to the opposite end of the tub. A wave of water sloshed over the opposite rim, splashing an outraged Fionn. “So, I’m a spy because no one has heard of my homeland? I bet no one in Moone had heard of Scandinavia before the Vikings invaded.” He crossed his arms over the goose bumps on his chest, raising his own eyebrow in challenge.
When Fionn only flared his nostrils and narrowed his icy eyes in response, Carter pressed on, “I came here with only the clothes on my back and no weapons. Yet you think I’m here to do you or your clan harm?”
Fionn could see the anger burning brightly in Carter’s eyes. Where moments ago they were dulled and darkened with desire, now they were sharply focused on him spilling over with ire. To his surprise, he was even more turned on by Carter’s anger that he was by his earlier show of submission.
Not getting an answer, Carter lost his temper completely. “FINE! If this is how you’re going to act, I’ll leave in the morning. Post guards at my door and I’ll be gone before sunrise.” He stood from the tub, stark naked and stalked across the room sending water splashing everywhere. He grabbed his boxers from the pile on the bed and roughly shoved his feet into them and tried tugging them up over his still wet legs.
Fionn was rooted to the spot when Carter rose from the water like something out of Greek mythology. He watched spellbound as beads of water coursed down his body to drip off the end of his erection. Wanting nothing more than to drop to his knees and lick every drop of water from Carter’s cock before swallowing him whole, Fionn fisted his hands and tried not to stare at Carter’s obvious arousal.
>
Trying to focus on something other than Carter’s freckled skin on display, Fionn bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing at his foundling’s little snit. He would keep an extra close watch on him to make sure he wasn’t here to do his clan harm. “No, you will not,” he said, trying to put a chill in his voice he no longer felt. “You will sup with my family this evening.”
“And then what? You gonna search me to make sure I didn’t steal a knife?” Carter lowered his hands to hide the way his wet boxers were molded to his erection.
The idea of searching Carter made his blood thrum faster in his veins. It would not be a quick search. He would be thorough, taking his time to search every nook and cranny of Carter’s body, twice. No hiding place would be missed. His unruly cock jerked in agreement to the plan. “I will ensure you are not supplied a knife.”