Time Travel Romances Boxed Set (124 page)

Niall’s eyes twinkled when she dared to meet
his gaze once more. “Aye, I have little doubt of that,” he said
warmly and Viviane felt as though she was the only person in his
world.

It wasn’t a bad feeling.

“
Though truly, my lady, you
might have need of further
persuasion
. The third time in
particular seemed most challenging to me.” He coughed into his
hand, that wicked glint reappearing in his eyes. “I believe we
should ensure the pose is a plausible one.”

“
Niall!”

He flipped open the reference book, tapping
the header on a chapter called “Research”. His eyes gleamed, though
he tried to take a lofty air. “’Tis your duty as a writer to ensure
that all you include is truth.”

Viviane tried to look disgusted with him and
failed. “And you volunteer to help with my research?”

He bowed slightly. “’Twould only be
gallant.”

Viviane laughed at him, she couldn’t help
it. Niall grinned and their gazes held for a breathless moment
before Viviane remembered not only that they were in the shop, but
that she was trying to get his opinion.

And see if he noticed the most important
part of all.

“
Anything else?” Now, she
tried to not look too hopeful. Niall had shown he was a perceptive
man - had he discerned that she was really writing about him? Had
he guessed how she felt? Had he understood what she meant about
love and its importance?

Viviane held her breath and hoped.

When he spoke, it seemed that he chose his
words carefully. “Aye, there is one more thing I noted.”

Viviane bit her lip, but Niall suddenly
looked at the pen Barb had lent him and discovered the button to
retract the nib. He clicked it a few times with obvious delight,
then prepared to take the pen apart, doubtless intending to pry at
its magical workings.

“
You shouldn’t do that, you
know. No one likes having meddlers in their magic.”

Niall’s glance was wry. “I meddle with no
magic.”

“
Of course, you do!
Everything here is magic and sooner or later, someone won’t take
kindly to your…”

“
Viviane,
naught
is
magic here.”

Viviane sat back on her heels, astonished
that he could be so sure of himself, especially when he was wrong.
But Niall’s gaze never wavered. “Of course, it’s magic! What else
could it be?”

“’
Tis the cleverness of man
we witness,” Niall confided. “’Tis not true that we are in Avalon,
though indeed, you were not so foolish to imagine so. This place is
indeed full of marvels.”

Viviane frowned. “Well, where is it, if it’s
not Avalon?”

“’
Tis a place called Salt
Spring Island…”

“
Oh, I know they call it
that!”

Niall’s eyes grew sober and his voice
dropped low. “Nay, Viviane, they call it that for that is what
’tis. Truly. ’Tis not Avalon, but a foreign land, thousands of
miles from Cantlecroft.”

Viviane blinked and looked around herself.
“No, Niall, that can’t be true. There’s magic everywhere here!”

“
Nay, these marvels are but
the workings of men.” Niall unscrewed the pen as she watched, a
spring and a narrow tube dropping into the palm of his hand. He
fiddled with it for a moment, then put the spring and tube back
into the bottom of the pen. He pushed the nib in and out, then
showed her how the button at the top pressed the assembly back and
forth.

No vengeful sorceror smote him for
dissecting this magic and indeed, when Niall explained it, it
didn’t seem very magical at all.

“’
Tis cleverness, Viviane,
no more than that.”

But Viviane frowned. “Then, why have we
never seen any of these things? Why have we never heard of these
marvels? Travelers and merchants leave Cantlecroft all the time,
then return with tokens from foreign lands - surely they could have
brought these!”

“
Only if they had been
here.”

Viviane flung out her hands. “You know that
the merchants leave Cantlecroft for the four corners of
Christendom!”

“
But they do not leave
Cantlecroft’s
time
.”

Viviane stared at her knight in
astonishment, certain he had lost his wits, but he held her gaze
steadily. “Viviane, we have come into the days far beyond our own,”
he explained softly. “’Tis the year 1999, nigh 2000 years since the
birth of Christ and some six hundred years away from all we
know.”

Viviane caught her breath. “But that’s
impossible!”

“
Clearly not, for we are
here.” Niall dug in his pocket and unfolded bills, pointing out the
date to her. He showed her coins, with the A.D. clearly marked
after the year - 1999! - on a shiny new penny. Viviane couldn’t
believe she hadn’t really looked at them before.

She’d liked the pictures of the animals and
assumed the numbers meant something entirely irrelevant to her.

Niall seized her hand and showed the legends
on maps, even the dates in the front pages of books. Viviane gave a
little cry when she realized that the ‘-99’ on the cash register
tape implied a ‘19’ in front of it.

She turned to Niall, still shaking her head.
“But how? How can this be? How did we get here?”

“
I do not know. ’Tis some
wondrous invention of which we know naught, but clearly one of this
time.”

Viviane frowned, momentarily uncertain how
that could have happened. She fingered her pendant. “But I wished
on the pendant and then came here,” she said slowly. “Unless
someone summoned me here at the very same moment with whatever
invention is at work…”

Her voice trailed away, that not sounding
very likely to her. Niall’s gaze fell to the pendant.

“
And I wished upon the
stone, as well. ’Twas that which brought me to your side, or so I
believed.”

Viviane’s fingers trailed across the stone
and she shivered at its chill. “But how could that be? Do you think
my father is here, in this time and place?”

Niall shrugged. “Or perhaps he was once. We
know for certain that naught from our own days could explain this
feat.” He met her gaze. “Maybe he came from here.”

Suddenly, it all made perfect sense to
Viviane. “And loved my mother. That was why I never knew him. But
my father did save me! My father did give me a token of his love in
this gift!” she said with delight. “He saved my life!”

Niall did not smile.

“
Don’t you see, Niall?
We’re as far away from the archbishop and his court as we could
possibly be!”

Niall nodded heavily. “Aye.”

“
But if I have the stone
and it’s not from Cantlecroft, then no one can ever follow us here!
I’m safe!”

“
I do not know for certain,
though ’twould seem to be the case.” Niall frowned, though Viviane
couldn’t guess why. “Just as I do not know whether we can go
back.”

But who
wanted
to go back?

Not Viviane! She was ready to sing and
dance. In fact, she couldn’t imagine why Niall looked so glum.

“
That’s perfect!” she
declared with a grin. “Who would want to go back? We couldn’t have
planned any better than this if we had tried! I
told
you
that I was uncommonly lucky and it seems my father was lucky,
too!”

Niall frowned. “Viviane, perhaps you do not
understand…”

“
I understand exactly what
you’re saying. We’re stuck here, which suits me fine. Niall, I
don’t care whether I can ever go back to Cantlecroft or not!”
Viviane practically bounced. “I’m here and I’m staying here and
you’re here and you’re staying here - it’s perfect!”

Niall got to his feet, frowning at her. “But
Viviane, we do not belong in this place…”

Viviane arched a brow skeptically. “Niall, I
don’t belong anywhere where someone is trying to have me
killed.”

He pushed his hand through his hair and
appealed to her. “But Viviane, ’tis not right that your reputation
should be maligned! We could clear your name! You are
innocent
, the archbishop would clear the charge against you
if he knew the truth of matters.”

Trust Niall to want to do something so
sweet! Viviane’s heart melted that he believed in her innocence so
much that was prepared to defend her.

And he said he wasn’t really a knight any
more.

Unfortunately, Viviane didn’t share her
knight’s conviction that justice would prevail at the archbishop’s
court.

She caught at his hands and leaned close to
explain, knowing she could persuade him. “But I’m
safe
here,
Niall.”

“
I would see you safe in
Cantlecroft,” he said gruffly, his protectiveness making Viviane
want to kiss him senseless.

But first she had to win his agreement. “But
you know that the archbishop lied to me before. He promised me an
audience, but didn’t give it to me.” Viviane shook her head. “No, I
don’t care where this is, I’m staying and that’s that. It’s not
worth the risk to go back.” She cast her best smile Niall’s
way.

But he was scowling at his toes and seemed
to be summoning an argument.

It was endearing that he wanted to see
everything set to rights, but it wasn’t important to Viviane that
her name was maligned by people who were long dead and gone.

Although she was beginning to understand
that Niall was the kind of man who finished what he started, who
defended his woman - which is clearly who he had decided Viviane
was - and ensured the truth was laid bare.

It was the kind of gallant thing that her
Gawain would have insisted upon doing and Viviane decided that
Niall’s arguments about love were easily outweighed by his deeds.
Her heart skipped a beat or two while she watched him.

She certainly didn’t want to argue any more.
In fact, she wanted just one more teeny confirmation that this man
was the knight for her.

So, Viviane deliberately changed the subject
to one that interested her a lot more than the issue of returning
to Cantlecroft. It was a shameless effort to resolve the last
obstacle between them, so that she could surrender to a little
persuasiveness.

“
What about my book?” she
asked pertly. “What else did you notice about it?”

Niall held her gaze, though he didn’t look
very pleased. “Your Gawain,” he said, his low voice filled with
portent.

Viviane caught her breath. He
had
noticed! And he was just shy talking about mushy stuff, just like
Barb said. Oh, this was too marvelous! They were stuck six hundred
years from Cantlecroft with only each other for all the rest of
their days. And no one could follow them to ruin everything.

“
Yes?” she asked anxiously,
more than ready for Niall to admit that he understood her view on
love.

And that he agreed with her, of course.

Niall frowned. “He seems a man of intellect
and great loyalty.”

Viviane wished he’d get to the point more
quickly. “Yes? Yes?”

Niall took a deep breath and seemed to be
searching for the words on the hardwood floor. “A noble knight who
fulfils his pledge,” he said heavily, “regardless of the cost to
himself.”

“
Oh, yes, yes,
yes
!
That’s my Gawain!” Viviane couldn’t wait to hear the
acknowledgement fall from his lips.

Niall studied her for a moment, looking for
all the world as though he was going to give her the worst news
ever, instead of the best.

“
But he embarks on this
quest without the consent of his overlord.” Niall shook his head.
“’Tis not done, Viviane, at least not by any man of merit. A pledge
to an overlord cannot be broken, not at any cost, and no man is
free to choose his course once he has made such a
pledge.”

He sighed and sat down again as Viviane
stared at him. “You shall have to change that, and make it Gawain’s
overlord who dispatches him upon his quest. There is no other way
it can be.”

Viviane waited, but Niall returned to his
perusal of the books and the listing.

*

Viviane stared at Niall, even as she fought
her disappointment. How could he have missed the point? Niall
wasn’t a stupid man, not by any means, and she had been so sure
that he would see through her characterization…

Well, Viviane wasn’t going to give up that
easily. Maybe she could explain it to him.

Over a nice romantic dinner.

Viviane smiled hopefully, the prospect alone
cheering her up. Niall was always ready to eat, after all. “The
shop is closed,” she reminded him. “We could go for dinner.”

But astonishingly enough, Niall shook his
head. “Nay, Viviane, ’tis impossible.” He shook the pen at her.
“You have a book to finish writing and I, I have much reading to
complete.” He smiled a slow, sexy smile that made her blood start
to simmer. “But you have only to summon me when you wish to affirm
the possibility of that coupling.”

No! Viviane couldn’t let Niall seduce her
with his touch again, not before he admitted to having some
feelings for her.

And admiration for her book didn’t
count.

Viviane bounced to her feet and scooped up
the reference book she had used. She waved the
Kama Sutra
under his nose triumphantly. “Oh, that’s all right, I can just
check everything in here. You go ahead and read.”

“
Aye? What is this?” Niall
plucked the book out of Viviane’s hands before she could hold it
away. His eyes widened as he turned the pages. He tilted his head,
then turned the book halfway around, his gaze flicking to
Viviane’s.

“
Perhaps we should take
another wager on the illustrations in this volume,” he suggested,
turning the book so she could see.