Time And Time Again (Out Of Time Book 1)

by Pandora Pine

  “So Fionn has given you his trinket, what of it?” Shea called from the back.

  “I have not given him the Gealach, see?” Fionn pulled his moonstone out from under his tunic and held it up for the warriors to see.

  The room quieted instantly. They all knew the legend well that the Gealach had been brought to Ireland from a land far away. There was no other stone like it anywhere.

  “How is possible there are two?” Donnall asked.

  Carter smiled. “The moonstone Fionn and I wear are one and the same. My father found this during a dig on the castle ruins in the year 1991.”

  “Castle ruins?” James asked, his voice cracking.

  “That is the problem with knowing the future,” Carter said quietly. “The McRoths will attack the castle in the morning. Fionn will lead the attack outside the gates of Moone.”

  “Do we kick their arses?” James’ hazel-eyed lover asked.

  Carter shook his head. “They kick yours. Fionn is… is-” Carter couldn’t bear to go on.

  Fionn stood and put a hand on his shoulder. “I am struck down in battle.”

  “Is this true?” James asked.

  “Yes. Once the dust settles, you all vote Donnall lord of Moone Castle since Fionn died without an heir. Donnall marries the McRoth girl.”

  “And they live happily ever after,” one of the warrior’s mocked.

  Carter shook his head again and looked up to Fionn for support. “No. No one lives happily ever after.”

  “Why, what happens?” James asked, seeking out his lover’s eyes.

  “The English will attack Moone Castle in a little over a month from now.”

  “And what? You are saying we are defeated by those English cocksuckers?”

  “Yes, Moone’s defenses were so weakened by the battle with the McRoths that they were easy prey to the English. What’s worse, Irishmen will never again hold this castle or her lands.”

  The room went still as the grave.

  “How do we know this isn’t all a crock of bullshite meant to scare and intimidate us?” Shea shouted.

  “The one thing you all know is how much I love Fionn. I came back in time to save his life.”

  “Just his life?” James asked, starting to find his fight again.

  Carter smiled. “No, not just his life. In the short time I’ve been here, I’ve come to think of this place as my home and all of you as my people. I will fight alongside you to save Moone. There is something I would like to show you.” Carter reached into the waistband of his pants and pulled out his iPhone. It had been powered off since the day he arrived in 1433. He powered it on and pulled up the photographs he had taken at Moone Castle. He turned the screen to show Fionn.

  “Merciful gods,” Fionn whispered. The image on the screen was of Carter standing with the ruins of Moone Castle behind him. “What is this?”

  “A camera is a device that freezes an image in time. Smile!” Carter wrapped an arm around him and clicked the shutter. A moment later, the image of Carter and Fionn appeared on the screen. Fionn looked up at him with his mouth hanging open in shock.

  Carter left a stunned Fionn to walk among the warriors to show them all the picture of him and Fionn. The last person he showed was James, one of Fionn’s best warriors. “There is one more picture I need you to see.” He flipped back through the images until he came to the one he took of Fionn’s funeral slab. “James, can you read the last line that is carved into the slab?”

  “11 October, 1433. Sweet fuck, that’s tomorrow.” James looked up at Fionn, his blue eyes shining in shock.

  “What is it?” Fionn asked, moving toward Carter and James.

  “It’s your funeral slab,” James whispered, turning the screen to Fionn.

  Fionn took a ragged breath and turned back to his warriors. “We must make a battle plan, who is with me?”

  The room erupted in cheers.

  39

  Carter barely saw Fionn for the rest of the day. Once the men decided they were with Fionn in the plan to go to war with the McRoths, Carter told them what he knew of the way the Battle of Boyne Bog unfolded. Instead of charging the castle, the McRoths came through the marshy bog land to the southeast of Moone’s gate. No enemy had attacked the castle in that manner before, taking the castle and her guard by surprise. Fionn’s warriors had no time to prepare for battle last time. That changed now.

  Carter left the war council with Islynn once Fionn got into planning the way the warriors would prepare for the battle. He didn’t want to stay and listen to the plans Fionn was making to slaughter his enemy.

  “How do you feel, Carter?” Islynn asked from his side.

  “I’m terrified for him and for the others. I meant what I said. Moone is my home and these men are my family.”

  “Yet you make plans to return to 2015,” she said softly.

  Tears shone in his eyes. “I have no other choice. He needs an heir to Moone Castle and I can’t give him one. I don’t want to leave him, Islynn. I don’t want to leave 1433, but we can’t escape this issue.”

  “And what of what Fionn wants? Should he not get to decide how he will live his life?”

  “He will get to live it, Islynn and that is enough for me.” It was enough for him. It mattered little what happened to him so long as Fionn lived when the battle ended.

  “May I see your photographs?” she asked curiously. “I saw something earlier that simply cannot be.”

  Carter pulled out his dying iPhone and opened the pictures. He handed the phone to Islynn and showed her how to swipe backward through the images.

  Islynn passed the images of Carter at Fionn’s gravesite. Her breath caught in her throat when she came to an image of a blond woman in an orange dress with her arm wrapped around Carter. “Breena,” she whispered, her hands starting to shake.

  Carter looked at her curiously. “No, that’s my foster-sister Bree. That picture was taken at our sister Cadence’s wedding before the nuptials were called off.”

  “Call her what you will, Carter, but that is my Breena.” Tears glittered in her eyes as she continued to stare at the picture of a smiling Bree.

  “You know my sister?” A shiver tore through Carter’s body. He remembered Islynn mentioning a lover slipping away from her time after time, but never in his wildest dreams could he guess that lover was Bree.

  “I have loved her over many lifetimes. May I accompany you back to the future? I must see her again, it has been so long.” Tears slipped from her icy blue eyes.

  Carter pulled her close and hugged her to him. How was it possible she had known and loved Bree in past lives? He supposed if he could come back five hundred years in time to save Fionn, then it wasn’t hard to believe Islynn and Bree had been lovers in past lives. “You can come with me,” Carter said pulling back from the smaller woman. “But first, I need to talk to you about better ways to treat our injured warriors.”

  40

  Carter was pacing in front of the fireplace when Fionn came into his bed chamber later that evening. He ran to his lover, wrapping his arms around his neck.

  “Undress me, my heart,” Fionn whispered.

  Carter purred, sliding his hands under Fionn’s tunic. He ran his hands through the hair on Fionn’s stomach his fingers tingling as they felt Fionn’s heat sink into them. Fionn moaned low in his throat as Carter’s hands began to push his shirt up his chest.

  Fionn pulled his shirt off the rest of the way and bent to kiss Carter, low and sweet, their lips brushing together again and again. He licked out his tongue at Carter’s bottom lip and Carter opened for him. Both men moaned loudly when their tongues finally connected.

  Carter’s hands wandered back down Fionn’s chest and stomach and came to the ties of his breeches. He quickly undid the laces and ran his hand down the hard ridge of his cock. Carter kissed Fionn’s lips one last time before he concentrated on pushing Fionn’s pants down as far as he could reach before kneeling in front of his lover.

  Swipi
ng his tongue across the wet head of Fionn’s cock, Carter moaned when Fionn’s nectar burst over his tongue. He tasted like home. He felt Fionn’s hands land in his hair and urge Carter closer. He moved his mouth lower and lower down Fionn’s cock, swirling his tongue the whole way down. Carter sighed when the cock hit the back of his throat and his nose tickled in Fionn’s dark nest of hair. Carter swallowed around him and brought his hands up to the cheeks of Fionn’s ass, urging him forward. He felt Fionn twitch in his mouth as he began to move his hips, slowly fucking Carter’s mouth.

  “Carter, stop,” Fionn whispered, moments away from his climax.

  Reluctantly, Carter obeyed and climbed back to his feet.

  “My turn.” Fionn winked before stripping Carter to his bare skin and knelt before him. Fionn took the head into his mouth and began to suckle, moaning at the feel of his lover’s cock on his tongue. His hands slipped around to the cheeks of Carter’s ass and he squeezed into the hard flesh.

  Carter gasped when one of Fionn’s fingers brushed past his pucker.

  “Will you allow me entrance, Carter?” Fionn panted, his breath coming in short bursts.

  “Yes, yes, fuck, yes.” Carter’s breaths were fast and hard.

  His fingers brushed past Carter’s hole again and again before he felt light pressure from one finger against the furl of muscle. He groaned as the tip of Fionn’s finger pushed past the first ring of muscle and kept a slow steady pressure pushing forward.

  Carter sucked in a harsh breath when the finger grazed past his prostate.

  “More,” Carter begged.

  “Patience, Carter. I am not yet finished preparing you. So hot and tight. We shall fit together perfectly.” Adding a second finger to the first, Fionn worked quickly to get Carter ready for him.

  Carter whimpered and pushed back against Fionn’s fingers.

  “You like this Carter? My fingers deep inside you, preparing you to take my cock?”

  “Yes, please Fionn, need you now, need to feel you inside me, filling me up.”

  Fionn pulled his fingers free. “Go lie on the bed and wait for me.”

  Carter hurried to lie on the bed as Fionn asked, stroking a lazy hand over himself.

  Fionn followed Carter to the bed and reached his fingers into the jar of saddle grease. “Spread your legs, my heart.” When Carter obeyed, Fionn swiped his lubed fingers against Carter’s entrance.

  Carter jumped a bit when the cool lube touched his hot skin.

  Fionn rubbed his coated fingers against his pucker and slowly pushed back inside. He reached out to jack Carter’s cock in rhythm with his penetrating fingers opening him up more.

  “Please, now, Fionn, now.” Carter whispered as his head thrashed back and forth on the pillow.

  “You will ride me.” Fionn pulled his fingers out of Carter’s swollen hole and dipped them back into the lube and working it onto his cock. “Move over, so I may lie down.”

  Carter obeyed and when Fionn was settled on the bed, Carter rose to straddle him. Locking their eyes together, he leaned down to kiss Fionn. Their tongues met, dueled and mated again and again.

  “Ride me, Carter, I need to feel myself inside of you, need to feel your heat surround me.”

  He nodded and rose up, positioning Fionn’s cock at his entrance and began to slowly sink down, impaling himself on Fionn’s length. Both men moaned as Carter took more and more of Fionn inside his own body.

  “Are you ready, my heart?” Fionn’s eyes glassed over as he stared up at Carter.

  Carter nodded and continued to push down on Fionn’s cock. He closed his eyes.

  “No, Carter, do not close your eyes, I need to see into your soul as I love you.”

  Carter’s dark eyes snapped open and stared into Fionn’s, both men moaning loudly when Carter bottomed out.

  “We are part of each other, Carter.” Fionn said, reverently. “You are mine for all of time.”

  “Yours,” Carter replied. He lifted up and almost completely off of Fionn’s cock before slowly sinking back down to the root. Fionn reached forward and took Carter’s hip in one hand and his cock in his still greased right hand. Carter loved the slide of their skin against each other.

  Carter continued to rise and fall on Fionn’s cock slowly, their soft moans joining to mingle together in the quiet room. “More, Carter,” Fionn coaxed and Carter began to move a bit faster. Fionn’s hand on Carter’s cock sped up as well. “Carter, please. Please move faster.”

  Obeying Fionn’s command, he braced a hand against Fionn’s chest and increased the pace of his movements.

  Fionn’s hand sped up when he felt his spine tingle and his balls tighten. He shouted Carter’s name as his cock started to spurt deep in Carter’s ass.

  Feeling Fionn pulsing deep inside him triggered his own release and he yelled Fionn’s name until his voice cracked, while staring deep into his eyes, into his soul.

  “Love you so much,” Carter whispered, knowing it could be the last time he said those words to Fionn.

  “And I you, my heart.”

  41

  Neither man slept. Carter lay sprawled on Fionn’s chest. He picked his head up for the occasional kiss and to tell Fionn how much he loved him. He knew their time was up when the room started to lighten slightly from the rays of the rising sun.

  “We must start our preparations,” Fionn said quietly.

  “I know, just five more minutes to love you, Fionn.” Carter felt tears spring to his eyes. He didn’t want their last moments together to end with him crying.

  Fionn sat up and pulled Carter close. “Listen to me, my heart. We are going to end this day the same way we have ended every day since you came to Moone, with the two of us curled together in your bed. I will fight to come back to you, Carter.” Fionn kissed him hard, sealing his vow.

  “I love you so much, Fionn.”

  “As I love you, princess.” Fionn brushed a kiss against Carter’s lips and licked across the seam of his lips. He was about to press forward for one last taste of Carter when a knock on the door interrupted. “Come,” Fionn called.

  Donnall stuck his head into the room. “It is time, Fionn. We must saddle the horses and prepare to ride. I have given you two as long as possible.”

  “We’ll be right there. Thank you, Donnall,” Fionn said softly as Donnall ducked out of the room.

  “We will pick up where we left off later this evening,” Fionn said, pressing one last kiss to Carter’s lips. He got up from bed and dressed quickly while Carter watched him. “I shall see you in the stable.”

  Carter shivered when the door slammed behind him. He felt sick to his stomach but knew he needed to get up and prepare himself for the day to come. No matter the outcome of the battle, he knew the day wouldn’t end well. One way or the other, he was going back to 2015, a place that strangely no longer felt like home.

  Carter was assigned to Donnall’s group which would backtrack behind the McRoths, cutting off their means of escape. Once they were outside, Donnall had a chance to draw up the battle plan in the dirt, explaining the strategy and effectiveness of the maneuver. Fionn was impressed. This plan was genius and he was a little upset he had not thought to affect this maneuver in past engagements upon the field of battle.

  Fionn had explained that he wanted Carter with Donnall’s group in case they needed more guidance with the strategy of the attack. He lied. He wanted Carter away from as much of the action as possible. He hated lying to Carter, but he hated the thought of losing Carter more. He had to admit this thought was jarring as he prepared to ride into battle. He had never before had someone to come home to, someone he wanted to come home to him. It surprised and humbled him at the same time.

  Before they parted from the stable, Fionn kissed Carter, wrapped both arms around him and let his tongue plunder Carter’s mouth. “Do not forget to praise Cerberus. He will need to know he is serving you well.”

  Carter smiled and kissed him back, patting the side of his face. “Good
boy, Fionn, you are strong and brave,” Carter cooed into his ear.

  “What are you doing, my heart?” Fionn questioned.

  “Praising you for serving me well, of course.” Carter winked.

  “I am not a horse being ridden into battle,” Fionn teased.

  “You were last night.” Carter kissed him again and strode off for Cerberus’ stall, whistling.

  The rest of the early morning flew by in a flurry of activity with horses being outfitted for the battle to come. Carter was about to mount Cerberus when Fionn came up behind him and wrapped him in a hug. Taking a moment, Carter allowed himself to get lost in his scent. Fionn smelled like horses and sunshine.