“Good morning,” he said quietly, “You look ravishing.”
Miranda felt herself blushing and she moved forward and took a seat. She hoped he would come and join her but he stayed still, silently watching her with a little amused smile.
“Sir Caine…” she began, “What year is this?”
He bit his bottom lip and studied her.
“I know,” he said, “I can’t believe it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other either. What, it must be, ten years?” He moved closer.
“Must be…” she played, “What year was the last time?”
“I believe it was 1066, I remember because it was before the great battle,” he said as he shook his head, “I don’t know how I’ve lived without you for so long.”
Her skin began to tingle… that made the year 1076…
“Tell me what happened,” she said, “When you found me in the woods?”
He shook his head and came inside, crossing the room and sitting down opposite her.
“You were just lying there… strange clothes… unconscious… as if you had just dropped from the sky,” he looked off into space. “It was… fate… for me to be there, I mean.”
“Where are those clothes?” she asked.
“My men burned them,” he said. “They feared witchcraft. Strange happenings go on in those woods, and I was scared for you.”
Miranda looked down at her feet, remembering studying something in college about how fucked up medieval times were when it came to witches. The last thing she wanted was them to accuse her of that.
“Did you think about me often?” he asked her as he stared up and looked longingly into her eyes.
“Always,” she said. And to her disbelief she realized that was true. Each second she was spending with him was making her feel like she had known him forever and he was a part of her that had been missing. She didn’t know how, but she knew that their souls had been connected before.
“I still remember the last time,” he smiled, “You were on the back of that big black horse, and your father ordered you to follow them as they left,” he looked down. “I knew you didn’t want to go and it broke my heart.” He reached out and touched her hand. “I always vowed that I would find you… And now here you are.”
Miranda smiled at him. Somewhere, there was a loose memory of what he had told her. She asked him to recall more details and with each little story he told her, a picture built up in her mind…
She had been Lady Miranda once and Sir Caine was the man she was supposed to marry. The more he spoke, the more she knew it to be true. They were madly in love and had been together since childhood, meeting secretly, planning their wedding, growing up together and being inseparable… until their families’ quarreled and Miranda’s was forced to leave York. She had been broken hearted, as had Sir Caine, torn apart by a feud over money and their fathers’ stubbornness. Caine always said he would wait… And he did…
The memories flooded back to her: In her mind’s eye, she could see herself as a child, running along the wild desolate fields with her horses and clinging onto a young Caine. She saw the townspeople in the square putting criminals into the stocks, she saw people being stoned and burned alive and the terror it had instilled in her. She saw her father putting her on that horse and telling her that they were leaving before they suffered the same fate at the hand of the king’s men. Caine’s father was an ally of the king and Miranda’s knew they wouldn’t have a future in York unless he made amends, which he wasn’t prepared to do… She saw her parents slain in front of her while they were in the forest, making their way south. And she remembered the brute with the biggest sword she had ever seen coming at her and swiping. She had been killed in the forest back then, and that was where she had returned. She had stepped through the door and fallen back into a past life, one she had lived hundreds of years ago. And she was now reunited with the love of her life… Caine.
As the feelings filled her, she found herself jumping up to embrace him. She had never felt feelings in all of her lives since than the ones she had for Caine back in the Middle Ages. She knew it all seemed too crazy to believe, but she could feel it in her bones. Something had aligned and made it possible for her to return. She was being given a second chance at the happiest life she had ever had. She was fulfilling a destiny that had been cut short. She had escaped from Ryan and her shitty life in 2015 and she was back where she could be who she was meant to be… Lady Miranda of York.
Caine looked into her eyes and pulled her to him. Her heart raced in her ribcage and as he held her tight and kissed her, it was if nothing had ever changed.
7.
Caine lay Miranda down on the four-poster bed and began to unlace the front of her dress robes. They were heavy, the fabric layered and soft against her skin. He ran his hand up the side of her leg and parted them so he could slip between them. Miranda gasped as he nipped the side of her neck with his teeth and pinned her back against the bed. With each touch, she remembered him even more, and she knew that they had made love before, when they were in their late teens and full of hormones and lust for one another.
She leaned forward and pulled his shirt up. Beneath it were his perfect abs. His muscles were tight and solid from hours of fighting, swinging a sword and jousting on his powerful horse.
“I’m so glad I found you,” he whispered into her neck as he kissed her once more and pressed himself against her. Miranda bit her lip with ecstasy when she felt the stiffness in his trousers. She ran her hands through his hair and pulled him closer to her, needing to see into his large brown eyes. She saw everything when she looked into them; it was as if he were a mirror reflecting her own soul, and when he kissed her, he seemed to breathe life back into her. Ryan had taken so much of that away.
Caine pinned her arms back high above her head with one hand and with the other he began to pull down her robes, exposing her breasts. He sucked on them hungrily and reached between her legs to find her underwear. He pulled them down in one swift movement and plunged a finger inside of her. She moaned and thrust her hips up to meet him. She was soaking wet and desperate for him. She had missed his touch, which remembered so well now and couldn’t get enough.
I’m the luckiest woman alive, she thought. I’m getting a second chance at my perfect life.
Caine released her hands and kissed down her throat, her chest and her stomach before reaching between her legs. He pulled her to the edge of the bed and spread her as wide as he could before lightly flicking his tongue up and down her sex. Miranda screamed in ecstasy and Caine grunted as he crawled back on top of her with his rock solid manhood in his hand. He parted her legs again with his knees and positioned his helmet at her opening.
“I love you, Miranda,” he whispered before sliding himself slowly inside her. He grunted and put all of his weight on her. “And I am never going to let you go again.”
Caine thrust in and out of her slowly and pinned her back into the bed. He held her wrists against the bedframe and slammed her against it. Miranda could barely breathe as he took her, and before long, she was on the verge of the most intense release.
“Caine,” she panted, “I’ve missed you so much.”
He drove himself into her, hot and hard and hitting her spot so perfectly that her whole body shook and seemed to open to him, allowing him to penetrate her deeper than ever before.
His thighs tensed and with each stroke Miranda knew she wasn’t going to be able to hold on any longer. She unraveled beneath him in a wave of pleasure and screamed up to the ceiling as she held onto his neck. Caine wasn’t far behind her, and at nearly the exact same moment, he began to cum, shooting his hot, fierce load right up inside her. He groaned as he buried his face into her neck and shuddered on top of her. Miranda was split open and full of his love… and she never wanted to let it go.
***
They lay side by side in Caine’s huge four-poster bed, and he cradled her and kissed her head.
“This is
just the beginning,” he whispered, “We have so much to look forward to.”
Miranda trailed her fingertips up the side of his arm and breathed him in. Even the scent of him was familiar. He really was the other half of her soul…
Maybe this is why nothing ever seemed to work out for me, she thought, I was always supposed to be here, with him.
She had only been back in the past for twenty-four hours, but she was already losing sight of her current life. She wasn’t leaving anything behind that she would crave as much as Caine. She no longer had to worry about Ryan… about her shitty boss who was so quick to throw her under the bus the very second something went wrong… She would miss her parents, but she knew that they would want her to be happy. And she hadn’t been in 2015. She smiled as she looked up at her amazing man. Her one and only love that after hundreds of years, she had been given another chance with. Her knight. Her savior.
Caine ran his hand through her hair and kissed her.
“You are even more beautiful than I remember,” he smiled. “But you have to tell me… Where were you all of these years?”
Miranda looked into his eyes and wished that she could have told him the truth. She wished she could have told him all about how the world is in the future, but she knew it would blow his mind… and not only that, he would probably think she was a witch, wielding black magic with her crazy talk.
She could try and explain television, the internet, electricity and cell phones, but she had realized the second that she had woken up in 1076, it was a lot more enjoyable without them. Instead of wasting time watching brain dead TV shows or surfing the web, she could cuddle up in the arms of this amazing man and let him make love to her all night. No distractions and one hundred percent dedication. She was excited for their future. Just as long as it stayed well in the past.
THE END
Rescued by the Alpha Bear
Leela Ash
Copyright ©2015 by Leela Ash. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Thank you so much for your interest in my work!
Prologue
One Week Earlier
“Dad, there’s something over here!” he heard a young boy call. This would complicate things. Conner did not want to be found, but he couldn’t bring himself to drag his broken body out of sight. Every ounce of his being was in agony, and even the sound of footsteps getting closer drilled through his head like a jackhammer to the brain. He wasn’t sure what happened, and a part of him knew he needed to hide before the boy with the piercing voice found him, but he just couldn’t move. He was bloody and naked. That would certainly traumatize a little kid, or at least scare the shit out of him, which he also wasn’t eager to do. Besides, he didn’t need a hospital to get better. He needed food and a lot of rest. But he couldn’t move, and when he tried, pain sliced through his body.
“Oh my god, Dad there’s a naked man over here. He looks dead!” the boy shrieked. That was followed by the sound of someone else – or the boy - running towards him. Conner wasn’t sure which, nor did he really care.
He groaned and grabbed his head as he tried to lift himself. Lights flashed before his eyes, and he fell back to the ground with a heavy thud, writhing in pain. He was dying; that’s all there was to it. Closing his eyes, he gave himself over to fate.
***
Lana paced outside the judge’s chambers as he went over the notes for the case to decide whether or not there was a case at all. In her gut she knew something was off, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. It was a strange case. The defendant, Cameron Marks, had no priors. Hell, he had never even gotten a traffic ticket. But now he was being indicted with three assault charges and attempted murder. One of the women whom he supposedly assaulted couldn’t even finger him. But that could have been chalked up to shock, so it really meant nothing. It made no sense, but the detectives weren’t bringing her anything she could use. He seemed to be implicating himself, but not to the point of a confession. Something wasn’t right.
The door swung open and Judge Patterson strode from the room. He was such a serious man, and she could swear that he never smiled. Ever. Not that she had much to say on that account. Lana wasn’t sure how long it had been since she had last smiled or had a good time. She didn’t even want to think about how long it had been since she had enjoyed a man’s company. And that didn’t just mean getting between the sheets, either. She hadn’t had a date in months. She shook her head. This wasn’t the time to be going over her love life, or the lack thereof.
The judge walked past her and she followed behind, hoping to get this day over with. Already she had been in court three times, and she still had two major clients to meet with. The day was far from over, but at least after this she’d be done with court for the day. She walked by the defendant’s brother, who was here to support him, and shivered. She glanced back over her shoulder to find his dark eyes staring back at her. There was a strange intensity within the blue depths, as if he were trying to read into her very soul. Lana shivered again and, averting her gaze, quickened her pace to get back inside the court room.
Now he’s someone I could picture trying to kill someone.
The thought stopped her in her tracks. Could that be why the case was so messed up? Maybe Cameron was innocent? But if so, then why would he take the heat? Stranger things had happened. Brothers could be very loyal, even to the point of serving time for crimes they did not commit. And now that she thought about it, she knew she needed to follow her gut instinct. It had never let her down before.
The sound of the gavel rang out in the room. Everyone grew silent waiting for the judge’s decision.
“Regarding the case of the state versus Cameron Marks, for three counts assault and one count attempted murder, with insufficient evidence I am forced to dismiss this case. If and when evidence is collected the case can be refiled with the state.” He hit the gavel again. “That is all.”
That was it. Even the judge couldn’t find a reason to keep Cameron behind bars, and now Lana had her work cut out for her. She had to bring someone to justice at least. She gathered her notes and placed them in her briefcase. At her back she felt eyes boring into her. A shiver of fear ran up her spine, and when she turned around Campbell Marks was staring insistently at her again. Catching himself he looked away, but not before she registered his contempt. His eyes looked even darker and more sinister than they had in the hallway. The man really gave her the creeps, and the first order of business was having someone check into his background. Something about his demeanor had her on edge. He was not a nice man, but just because he wasn’t nice didn’t mean he was the one who committed the crimes.
Or did it?
Lana didn’t know, but she would find out, and soon; something smelled rotten in Denmark, and she vowed to discover what it was.
Chapter 1
Lana had followed Campbell Marks since the judge dismissed the case against his brother Cameron, and she’d seen a couple of things she probably shouldn’t have.
To make matters worse, he caught her.
Luckily, she had been in her car and was able to get away. It turned out Lana’s theory was correct. It wasn’t Cameron who had committed the crimes but his older brother Campbell, a man with a long history of violence and domestic abuse under his belt. He had assaulted his ex-girlfriend, and the two men she had cheated on him with.
Gross, she thought, talk about getting around. I’d be pissed too.
Even though she was thrilled that she’d been right, and her gut hadn’t led her astray, Lana wished she could kick her own ass. Since she decided to take the detective work into her own hands, she was now in a predicament she wasn’t sure how to get out of. She had evidence that she really couldn’t prove, which meant she couldn’t use it in
court.
She realized too late she should have left the investigating to the police, but she couldn’t help it. She found herself wanting to prove that Cameron was innocent, even though technically it was her job to do the opposite. As the prosecutor of the case, she was going about it all wrong. To be honest, she wasn’t sure why she was so hell bent on finding out the truth. It was her job to prove without a doubt that someone was guilty. But in this case she couldn’t.
She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn’t even see him coming. Campbell grabbed her and shoved her against the wall—hard. Lana didn’t have time to scream before his dirty hand covered her mouth.
“Don’t you dare make a sound, got it?” he hissed in her ear. Lana nodded, if only to get him away from her.
His stench made her gag as he rubbed against her and groaned. “Hm, you’re a big girl.” Then he had the audacity to roughly fondle her breast before backing away.
Now he was angry again. Talk about mood swings.
Lana was pissed. Any other time she wouldn’t have stood for that kind of behavior from a man, but this one just so happened to be holding a knife in his hand. Maybe things were worse than she thought. She could handle being groped. Hell, she could even handle being roughed up, but she wasn’t sure if she was up for whatever he was planning. She shivered in fear, thinking of the worst case scenario.
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