Sleepless Night: A Highlander Time Travel

by Vanessa Vale

  "I guess a good ass fuck is what will tire your cock," I said, looking at the candles burning on a table beside the bed.

  He groaned against my neck, then I felt his smile. "Ach, aye."

  One arm was thrown over my side, a large hand comfortably cupping my breast. His thumb stroked absently over the sensitized nipple.

  The scent of our lovemaking clung to us, heavy and very thick, Ian's cum on my ass, pussy, down my thighs. We were sticky and sweaty and I loved it. Everything was… perfect.

  "Tis to be a long night, wife." Ian kissed my ear, gently, tenderly. "This is the first time I've held you like this." He was quiet for a minute. "I've loved you for as long as I can remember, Alexandra." A deep sigh fanned my neck. "I could lay with ye like this forever."

  A tear slid down my cheek. I really hoped so. The night would be over sooner than I wanted. My time with Ian would be done. I'd be back to the twenty-first century, to my real life without the man who loved me. This had been my fantasy night, the most amazing birthday present. It was as if I'd made a wish, blown out the birthday candles and had it come true. Ian's hand kneaded my breast, brushing again over my nipple.

  My body was spent, worn out. Sore. I ached in places I never had before and I felt like putty, soft and pliant. Relaxed. Sated. My mind, fighting to stay awake, was equally sated. I now knew it was possible to have a connection, a night of wild and crazy sex while sharing close intimacy with someone. With my eternal mate. I didn't want to sleep. Couldn't, because then I'd be returned to my life.

  "Ian, I'm all sticky," I said.

  His hand moved from my breast and slid down to between my legs, feeling his seed there. He growled. "A bath then, for Lady MacInnes."

  CHAPTER TEN

  Lexy

  I relaxed in the hot water as Ian washed my hair. A bath had been called for and a large copper tub had been delivered to Ian's room, buckets of steaming water poured in. I'd wanted Ian to join me, but it was too small for both of us. I loved the feel of his fingers on my scalp as he squatted behind the tub as he washed my hair. I closed my eyes and settled in to the pampering. I was sore between my legs. While the hot water was soothing, I also could have used an ice pack on my ass, but I doubted that was available.

  I wanted to ask after the priest's comments about funerals, but I didn't want to sound like an idiot. I was supposed to already know this. Instead, I asked, "Do the English worry you overmuch?"

  He sighed and his fingers stilled. "They are always a worry, lass. But not tonight."

  The thought of Ian fighting the English in one of those battles I knew so little about had me shivering.

  "Cold?" he asked. The water came up so that part of my breasts were above the water and I knew he could see my nipples tighten. I couldn't feel embarrassed or ashamed that he could see my body after all we'd done together.

  I shrugged. "A little. I'm just… worried."

  "Tilt back." He scooped water into a tin cup and poured it onto my head, rinsing the suds. The scent of roses was strong from the soap. "These are hard times, lass. As Lady MacInnes, I know you will be brave."

  Tears lodged in my throat. "And you?"

  "I am Laird MacInnes," he said with a fierce voice that contradicted the gentle actions of his hands in my hair. "I am the bravest of them all… except when it comes to you. I have no fears of the English, of my safety. You are my heart, lass, and my only fear is that I might lose you."

  Opening my eyes, I glanced over my shoulder and smiled at him. Instead of lust in his eyes, I only saw love.

  "Ian—"

  A knock on the door cut off my words.

  Ian sighed again. "Aye?" he called.

  Through the door a man's voice called. "The patrol has an update you should hear."

  Sitting up, I turned and covered my arms over my chest. The door was closed and I was shielded by Ian's body, but the bubble of our time together was broken.

  Stroking the excess water from my hair, he looked at me. "I must tend to this."

  I nodded. "Of course."

  "When I return, I want you naked and in my bed. Awake, lass, and verra wet."

  He stood and I watched as he dressed, white shirt over his head and then mesmerized by the complex way he donned his kilt. As he worked the belt buckle, he glanced up at me. "I dinna care how ye get yer pussy wet, but ye are nay to come. Aye?"

  I loved the way his brogue got thicker the more aroused he became. He leaned down and kissed me, gently and slowly. His lips were soft and warm, and I didn't need more than that to be wet for him.

  "Wait for me, my heart."

  He stood to his full height and went to the door, only opening it wide enough to slip through, allowing no one that stood beyond to see me.

  I settled back into the water and smiled to myself. I hadn't been happier, more content in… ever. I had no idea how long I remained in the tub, daydreaming, but I heard the door open, then close.

  "You're back. That was faster than I expected. As you can see, I'm wet for you."

  I smiled and turned to look up at Ian, but my eyes widened when I discovered Glynnis above me instead. She had a wild glint in her eye, dark and sinister.

  "What are you doing here?" I covered myself as best I could.

  "Wet for him? Ye are a harlot, just as I thought." Spittle flew from her mouth as she spoke. I would think she were on meth or something, based on the crazed look in her eye, but that wasn't possible. She was too on edge, too wound up to be drunk.

  The surprise at her appearance had faded and now I was worried. I was naked in the tub and she was a little insane. I stood and stepped from the tub, trying to be as ladylike as I could. I was Lady MacInnes, after all. "He's my husband," I replied, reaching for the bath sheet Ian had put on a stool beside the tub. "He will return soon."

  "Nay. A patrol was attacked. He has ridden off with the others."

  Ridden off? He left… or did she lie?

  "Thank you for telling me, but you may go."

  "Go?" she shrieked. "I am nay a maid to be commanded about."

  I walked toward Ian's big bed. "I will nap while he is gone. I am quite weary from all the… tupping."

  "Ye willna soil his bed with your slattern ways. I should be in that bed with him. I'm the one who should be filled with his seed." Her skin flushed bright pink and she had a crazed look about her.

  Shit, she was insane. I had no idea what to say, so I shrugged.

  She screamed and I widened my eyes as she pulled a knife from the folds of her skirt.

  I stumbled away from her, but she was fast. I fell to the floor, landing hard on my butt, then my elbow. She was upon me in an instant and I felt the searing fire as the knife plunged deep into my belly.

  My breath lodged in my throat, the pain overwhelming. I'd never known such agony. My hands came to cover hers, to stop her, but it was too late. I could only stare up at the woman who'd just stabbed me, feeling the hot trickle of my blood drip over my fingers.

  "He will be mine now."

  My vision blurred, my world narrowing. I saw her maniacal face, then heard her laugh, then shouting, heavy footfall on stone. Glynnis was lifted from me and I heard my name called through a fog. An anguished roar.

  Ian. I tried to call his name, but there was no voice. His face loomed above mine, the last thing I saw. The last words I heard from his lips, "My heart."

  The world went black.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Lexy

  My eyes flew open and I cried out at the pain, clasping my hand to my side. I was no longer on the hard stone floor. While I remembered the horrific feel of the knife plunging into me, I had no pain. No blood. No knife. I was sprawled in the overstuffed chair in the jewelry shop. Jumping to my feet, I looked myself over. I was back in my clothes from the day before, not wrapped in a bath sheet. My hair wasn't wet from when Ian washed it.

  I hadn't been stabbed. I wasn't dying. Oh my God, I'd died in Ian's arms! I hadn't though, because I was in the jewelry store. It wa
s daylight, the air conditioning hummed, chilling the cozy store. I still felt the weight of the ring on my finger, touched its warm red stone, yet the rest of my body was covered in goose bumps. I felt sick, nauseous from what had just happened. Glynnis, the assault. But it hadn't happened. It had been hundreds of years ago and it hadn't really been me.

  It hadn't been a dream though, either. Absolutely not. I wasn't sore between my legs any longer. Deep inside I didn't feel well used. My ass wasn't sore from being stretched by Ian's cock. My nipples weren't tender from his whiskers. There was no physical sign of our lovemaking—while we'd definitely fucked, I would consider it lovemaking—I remembered it, could still see him, feel him, smell him. Even taste him. He had just been with me, holding me as I'd died.

  "Oh my God!" I cried, realizing the impact of what had happened. Scottish Lexy had died on their wedding night, leaving Ian alone. He'd had only a few hours with her before that crazy Glynnis had ruined it all. I felt sorrow, anguish over what Ian had to face. "Ian!"

  A clock chimed on the wall. Outside the window, cars passed. Being back in the present made it seem as if it had never happened. It did. It did. I ran my hands over my face, trying to wipe away the intensity of the moment. I'd never been attacked before. Never hit or even slapped. I'd been mortally wounded and it felt like it occurred just a minute ago. Not worlds, make that centuries, away. So was Ian. He was gone and alone. The storekeeper had been right. One night. Just like Cinderella. Cinderella wasn't stabbed by a crazed bitch after the wedding leaving the groom to mourn. I knew he mourned. He'd called me his heart.

  "You're back." The storekeeper approached, carrying a glass of water. She wore the same clothes as the day before. "What's wrong, dear? Was it so awful?"

  I dropped back down in the chair as the shakes began. I was going into shock, the adrenaline of it wearing off. I'd found a connection with Ian unlike I'd ever known existed that was severed just as it was being made. One night hadn't been enough. It was so unfair. Horrible. Cruel. What had happened to Ian? Glynnis? Had Ian killed her? Stabbed her with the knife she'd used on me?

  I leaned forward and covered my face with my hands and began to cry. Not the pretty tears, but fat ugly ones that I knew made me look splotchy red and have snot dripping from my nose. I heard the clink of the glass as the woman set it on a glass display. Her frail hand settled on my shoulder. "Was it so horrible?"

  "You… you said it was one night of sex. You never said anything about murder." My words were thick with tears and I had to stop and cry some more in the middle.

  Her white eyebrows went up. "Murder?"

  "I was stabbed by a crazy lady. A woman scorned by Ian. She was insane and jealous and evil. I died."

  "Oh, dear heavens." She patted my shoulder. "You just keep crying."

  I did what she said and sobbed. Sobbed for the love that was so short lived. What happened to Ian? I had to know. I had to find out because I felt so connected to him. He was my eternal mate. I paused at that thought. The old woman had said that I'd meet him again in this lifetime. While the Ian and Lexy of the past had a tragic story, that didn't mean that the present Ian and I would.

  The woman pulled a tissue from the sleeve of her sweater. I took it and wiped my nose. "Will… will I meet Ian again soon?"

  "His name is Ian then." She sighed. "I don't know. I see you're so sad and I wish I could tell you more. I had no idea of what would happen, how their connection would end."

  I sniffed. "I know. It's not your fault, but it's so vivid to me. So real."

  "While it may seem like you had a night with your man, no time has passed while you were gone. Only a minute or two were you asleep—at least that's what it appeared to me—so I went to make some tea."

  No time had passed? I glanced out the plate glass window. The sun was still bright, people walked past as if the most amazing thing hadn't just happened. My life was irrevocably changed. I couldn't just date any man. No one but Ian would do. I had to find out what happened to the Ian I knew, the Ian I'd spent one remarkable night with.

  "It is still your birthday. Make a wish." The woman smiled at me, most likely hoping to soften the blow of what had happened. Nor could she tell me when I'd meet the man of my dreams again. "Birthday wishes are known to come true."

  She'd been right about going back in time for one night with my eternal mate, although the outcome was not what either of us ever imagined. Maybe she'd be right about meeting Ian again. Unfortunately, it could be the next day or when I was seventy. Ugh. The thought of it brought tears to my eyes again. I took a deep breath and willed them away. A birthday wish. I closed my eyes and formed the words in my mind. I wish I meet Ian again. Today.

  "There," the shopkeeper said when I'd opened my eyes. "Now just wait and see what happens." Her gnarled hand, soft and warm, squeezed mine in reassurance. Perhaps it was the patience of those who were older and wiser that made her seem so calm. She hadn't spent a night of wild monkey sex and craved it again like a druggie wanted a fix. She hadn't just been murdered.

  I didn't have any other choice but to try to come to terms with what had just happened to me. And wait. Sighing, I got up from the comfortable chair. I was exhausted. My mind was all confused—gross understatement—by all that had happened. I was sad. I'd had something perfect in my grasp and I could feel it, with every passing moment, slipping further away. Glynnis had taken the Scottish Lexy from Ian and time had taken Ian from me.

  I tucked a damp curl behind my ear. Was it really the same time as when I put on the ring? It seemed like yesterday, but so much had happened. I touched the ring, felt the heat of it still. Ah, the ring. It wasn't really mine. I started to remove it.

  "It's yours. It always has been. Always will be," the shopkeeper said. "Now this Ian of yours will be drawn to you. To the ring. Just like you were."

  I couldn't help but smile, thinking of Ian, wherever he was out there, being pulled to me by the power of a simple piece of jewelry. It was fantastical, but I believed. The woman had brought a dream to life, brought hope to my soul and hopefully soon, my eternal mate.

  ***

  "Tell me what happened again?" Tracy asked. I had her on speakerphone, my cell on the coffee table beside my foot, the one on which I was painting the toes a bright fuchsia.

  As soon as I'd gotten back to my apartment, I stripped off my clothes and looked at my body in the mirror. There weren't any whisker burns on my neck, across my breasts and even between my thighs. My pussy and ass weren't sore. I didn't feel like I'd had sex. Lots of it and it hadn't been gentle. There was no scar or mark where I'd been stabbed. Nothing. Even so, it hadn't been a dream. I wasn't insane. I wasn't insane. I'd wanted to call Tracy then and there to tell her what I'd just done, to confirm that I wasn't losing my mind, but she'd been on a plane.

  I was alone and I felt fragile, vulnerable. The tears returned and I crawled into bed naked, tossed the blanket over my head and cried into my pillow. This wasn't even like the feeling of being dumped by a boyfriend. Then, the hurt and loneliness kicked in. Self doubt, perhaps even loathing. This was different. There hadn't been any question that Ian had wanted me. I'd wanted him. We were compatible and perfect for each other on a level far deeper than any relationship I'd ever had. That was the crux of it. He had been the one and Glynnis had so ruthlessly ripped us apart. And so I cried myself to sleep, mourning a couple that never had a chance.

  By the time I woke, it was dark out and I was even more confused than ever. I showered, tossed on a pair of sweats, and moved to the couch. Finally, I gave Tracy a call and gave her the story.

  She'd remained quiet until I mentioned the words "eternal mate," then she'd laughed. When I didn't laugh with her, she quieted down and let me continue. I brushed the second coat on my toes, blowing on them.

  "I know it's insane, but you've got to believe me."

  "She didn't drug you?"

  I rolled my eyes. "No."

  "Did you go have more to drink?"

  "No. Tracy, c
ome on." I sighed, knowing it would be futile. "Look, when you come back, I'll show you the ring. Okay?"

  I held my hand up and glanced at the shiny ruby, felt the warmth seeping from it into my finger.

  "Okay. Are you sure you're okay? I know thirty is tough and all, but should I call your mom or something?"

  "God no. She'll freak and then have me committed." My mom and I got along just fine, but if Tracy didn't believe, then my mother wouldn't. Besides, I wasn't going to tell the woman I spent almost the entire time I was with Ian fucking him. We were close, but not that close.

  Tracy laughed. "She will not. She'll find a nice guy from church and fix you up."

  "Yes, and never mention the small hints of insanity." I put the top back on the bottle of polish. I glanced at my cell. "You don't believe me."

  She didn't. I wouldn't believe me either.

  Tracy paused. "I believe that you believe. But murder? Seriously, Lex, I could understand the monkey sex, but murder. I want to believe because my birthday's coming up and I want to meet my eternal mate—not be stabbed by a vindictive bitch. Like you said, it's hard to even comprehend."

  "Yeah, I didn't believe at first either." I thought back to our lunch. "Weren't you the one who fantasized about a space pirate?"

  Tracy groaned. "God, that was not me." She was quiet for a minute. "I lied. About the fantasy man."

  I picked up the phone and settled back into the couch, my feet still up on the side of the coffee table. "Are you going to tell me?"

  "No way. I've got three months until my birthday. We're going to that jewelry store and I'm going to meet him, preferably on some deserted island without anyone else around. Then I'll tell you."

  "Okay." I wasn't going to push her. I understood more than anyone that this wasn't just play.

  "Look, I have to go. The taxi just pulled up to the hotel. Lexy, if he's as hot as you say and that good in the sack, then I can't wait to meet him."

  I ended the call and sat there thinking of Ian. I couldn't wait to meet him either.