“Bryan,” she lowered her other hand to lift his chin up with a finger. “I was angry that ye left, ‘tis true. However just as you didna want to stay, I chose not to go back with you. For that, I apologize as well. Once you left me, I realized the same -- I would rather be in a frightening new world with ye by my side to show me the way, than to stay in one without you. I will go back with you, if that’s what ye wish. Wherever you go, I will be by your side. I love you with all of my heart .”
She couldn’t stop the flow of tears that fell in earnest now down her face. His mouth broke into a wide smile, and he gave a shout as he lept from his knees, landing on the bed with her. He took her in his arms, and jubilantly planted his lips on hers, in a kiss full of promise and forever .
She felt his own tears of joy mingle with hers, and she wrapped her arms tight around his neck, squeezing him in closer to her. How she had lived without this love, she would never know, but she was so, so grateful to have him now with her .
He laid her back on the bed, his kiss now turning serious, deeper, and searching as his tongue probed her mouth .
She reached up and wrapped her arms around him, trying to get as close to him as she possibly could after imagining a lifetime without him. She wrapped her legs around him, squeezing him close, feeling him hard against her through her thin nightgown, which he was lifting and soon had over her head. She cried out as he bent his head and loved first one breast and then the other with his mouth, grunting his satisfaction as he cupped them with both hands and brought his lips back to hers .
She rubbed against him, wanting more, wanting to feel the same satisfaction he had brought to her last time they had been to bed together .
He responded quickly, having mercy on her as he began to rub at her center, bringing her closer to the explosion she longed for. Feeling her ready for him, he moved between her knees, and slowly slid inside as her hips rose to meet him. He whispered words of love in her ear as he rocked back and forth, as she was replete with the knowledge that she was free now to spend the rest of her days making love with this man. The crescendo of feeling began to grow inside of her, an excitement, a longing for what was to come. Finally the explosion rocked her, making her shiver and shake from deep within her, the sensations cascading as she threw her head back and he drank in her moans .
The pulsing around him made him find his own release, and he filled her with his seed. She smiled satisfactorily at him, and he returned her grin as he rolled off of her to the bed beside her, drawing her close and running his hands down the soft skin along her side to her hip .
“You,” he said. “Are absolutely gorgeous .”
“Are you just saying that because you want me again ?”
“No!” he said, then laughed. “Well, I do want you again. But I would say that either way. You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, and the beauty of your soul matches the pretty face you wear .”
She blushed prettily. “Ye’ve got a pretty face yourself, love .”
He grinned. “And now that I’ve thoroughly ravished you -- twice -- I best talk to your father about marriage. Is that how it’s done here and now? Do you think he’ll agree ?”
“Aye, that would be the next step,” she said, then laughingly added, “Unless he protests, however, I would leave out the ravishing part .”
“Duly noted,” he said, his expression turning serious as he traced the curve of her cheekbone with a finger, and she gave herself over to him once more .
* * *
Sorcha twined her fingers around each other the following day as she and Bryan sat in the great hall with her father. He was beginning preparations to return home as they no longer had any reason to stay at Fetteresso. He had conducted his business with the Keiths, and he had summoned Sorcha to discuss what would become of her now .
When they entered the room he had begun asking Bryan to leave, but Sorcha asked her father to allow him to stay, that they both wished to speak to him. He raised his eyebrows but acquiesced .
“Sorcha,” he began, now they were all seated. “I’ve spoken with the Keiths. As the ceremony did conclude, they have determined that you are Archibald’s widow, however brief the marriage was. As you know, the land where the MacLauchlan lived belongs to the clan, not to any one man. His land will be distributed back among the men of the clan. They will, however, grant you the amount of moveable property of Archibald’s that you are due. You may keep this property, or the value of it should the Keiths wish to buy it back from you and I believe they will, and you may continue to live on the Singleir clan holdings .”
Sorcha’s face exploded in a smile, and she nodded. “Thank you, Father. That is more than I could have hoped for. It is generous of the Keiths, and of you .”
“If I could just --,” Bryan began, seeing his opening .
“Ye wish to marry my daughter, is that it son?” The shrewd man asked .
“I do,” Bryan replied .
Baldwin sighed heavily. “I nearly had me daughter taken from me once. I’m not sure I can go through that again, to trust another man with her life .”
“I would never do anything to hurt her -- never,” said Bryan. “You have my word on it .”
Baldwin nodded. “I do see that from the way you treat her, the way ye put her first when you rescued her. Where would ye take her? Where are your lands ?”
“I have none, Sir,” he said with a bit of a dip of his head. “I have nothing to offer her but myself .”
“Where is your family? Who is your family ?”
“As you may have realized, I am from… another land, far from here. My parents passed at a young age and I have traveled far to be here .”
The man nodded and looked at Sorcha .
“Ye wish to be married to him, this landless, clanless man, daughter of mine ?”
“Aye, Father,” she said. “More than anything .”
“Then so be it,” said Baldwin with a clap, surprising Bryan mightily. “You will live on our lands and Sorcha will not have to want for anything, including visits with her family. You will have your own allocated land, and will farm for me. The value of the property from Archibald should allow you to live well on Singleir land. She did her duty by marrying as I asked. Let her choose for herself this time. We leave tomorrow morning .”
After making a few more arrangements for the following day, Baldwin rose and exited the room, leaving Bryan and Sorcha staring after him .
Sorcha turned to Bryan in awe. “I never imagined he would be so understanding. ‘Tis all we could have wanted, is it not?” She turned serious as she took in his expression of wonderment. “Is this what ye want, Bryan? If not, I will go back with you, truly I will .”
“It is exactly what I want,” he said with a smile on his lips. “Wherever you are, is home .”
Epilogue
Bryan ~ Three months later
T he crowd circled around Bryan and Sorcha as he led her in the grand march, which he had practiced over and over in the weeks leading up to their wedding. It had been a traditional Scottish Highland wedding, held in the chapel in the nearby village. They had returned home for the reception, to be held in the great hall of Baldwin Singleir’s tower house .
Bryan didn’t think Baldwin would ever find him to be acceptable as the man he had wanted for his daughter, but he had seen the misery marrying Archibald MacLauchlan had caused her, and was willing to forgive Sorcha’s marriage to a foreigner if it meant seeing his family content .
Bryan realized there were aspects of the 16th century he would never get used to. He already desperately missed electricity, central heating, and of course, the water and sewer system. He missed the Internet, having the world at his fingertips, and the ability to travel anywhere in the world in a day, as much as he hated flying .
But it all paled in comparison to how he had yearned for Sorcha when he was without her. And as much as she had promised him she would be happy in his present, he knew deep in his heart that i
t would be much easier for him to find a home in the past than the other way around .
Before he had returned to this century, he had moved out of his apartment, given his belongings to a homeless shelter, and set himself up online as a fake person for the time being. There wouldn’t be anyone who cared enough for him to worry about where he had gone .
When the dance ended, they retreated from the dance floor for a quiet moment. Bryan went to find Sorcha a drink, and on his way back to her was sidetracked by a familiar voice .
“I never thought I’d see the day -- Bryan Smith, married. And to a sweet, lovely woman to boot .”
He rose his head to find Emilia standing there, hip on the wall of the fireplace as she laughingly watched him walk by her. He turned and started towards her, only for her husband to approach .
“Close enough,” he muttered at Bryan, who respectfully kept his distance .
“I sure am glad to see that you came to your senses and returned,” said Emilia to Bryan. “Sorcha didn’t put it into words but she was devastated that you left her. What’s wrong with you? Why would you do that ?”
“I didn’t mean to hurt her, Emilia,” he muttered. “I thought --”
“Well, you realized the mistake of your ways, and that’s what matters, doesn’t it?” Jaime joined them. She and Alec had made the journey for the wedding, as now that she knew there were others from her time here, she was eager to speak with them again. She also loved weddings and had been excited to see another. “For once,” she told Alec, “I’m the one who knows the happy couple !”
Sorcha must have seen them across the room, as Bryan soon sensed her by his side. He wrapped an arm around her small waist, drawing her in close to him, appreciating the way she fit him so perfectly. They smiled at one another before turning to the group .
He could see the awe in Emilia’s face as she looked at the two of them. He and Emilia should have known long ago that they were not a match for one another, and he was glad they had each found happiness in a soulmate .
“So Bryan,” said Emilia, “What will you do with yourself here in what is now 1547 ?”
“I look after our land now,” he said, ignoring her raised eyebrows. “And, with fewer demands than in the 21st-century life, I actually have more time than ever to think, read, study, and write my philosophies of life. Who knows, perhaps one day a student like me will learn something from them .”
“You have no desire to go back?” Jaime asked .
“None,” he said, pulling Sorcha closer to him .
They were all taken aback when another figure joined their circle -- one all too familiar to them, who had provided them with endless questions and yet also the happiness they had all been searching for .
“Well, my dears,” said Fiona before any of them had time to greet her. “It is time for me to wish you adieu. My work is done here, and, as you know, any great magic comes in threes and my trio of couples is complete. You have all followed your hearts as I so wished you would and I am proud of you all. You will not see me again, but know I will be with you, watching and guiding ye as you find your way in life. Farewell .”
And she was gone, leaving them behind, each with the one they held most dear to them in this life .
At the end of the day, Bryan mused, happiness wasn’t dependent on where -- or when -- you lived. It was on making the most of each day with those who gave your life meaning .
More From Audrey Adair
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