When Lightning Strikes (10 page)

Sarah gasped! She felt almost dizzy hearing Indiri speak the very words her own mother had said to her in the bedroom two nights ago before she was struck by the lightning and sent into this century. But she couldn’t show it or Indiri might suspect something.

Indiri looked at her a moment and stated matter-of-factly,

“You will be
at his side, you know. But that is for you to find out in your own due time. We will speak of this no more, as you requested.”

“I think I need to step outside and get some fresh air. My head is still foggy from my ordeal.”

Indiri nodded and finished helping her slip into the beautiful dress and laced up the back of for her. Then offered her a pair of soft leather slippers.

“Here, child.
Try these to see if they fit.”

Sarah slipped on the shoes. They were a bit snug, but they were tolerable.

“Thank you, Indiri. These will do just fine. I am going to go outside to get some fresh air now. Thank you for everything. You have been most generous.”

Indiri patted her back and smiled at her as she slipped from the tent. She dragged in great breaths of the fresh air trying to regain her composure.

How on earth could she have known the exact words that her mother had said to her the other night? It could be no coincidence that she had fallen into a group of Gypsies and that she had met Dominic du Barbaronne. She would have to find the answers when she finally got back home to her own time.

But what if Indiri was right? Should she follow her heart and allow herself to fall for Dominic, which seemed to be happening whether she wanted to stop it or not? Or should she continue to fight to get back to her own time as quickly as possible?

The thought of staying here in this untamed century living this rough, outdoor life seemed pretty scary. If she were somehow trapped here and stayed with Dominic as Indiri had said she would, she would never again know the creature comforts of her own century. It was unfathomable.

“Sarah!” Dominic’s voice sounded worried. “Are you well? You look pallid. Is your wound paining you?”

He had come over after seeing Sarah step from Indiri’s tent looking pale and seeming to gasp for air and he was concerned that a fever or infection had come on suddenly.

“No. I am fine. I just felt a little bit tired for a few moments,” she said quietly.

He put his arm around her. “Does your head pain you again? Or did Indiri say something that upset you? She is a seer you know.”

“No. No! She said nothing. And I do not want to go back to the wagon. I have spent enough time in that damnable closed space for the past two days to drive me to lose what senses I have.” She offered him a weak smile. “I am fine.
Really.”

“Damnable closed in place!?” He chuckled. “As I recall, that damnable closed in place kept you warm and dry for the past two nights! You did not complain then.”

They walked a little farther to the fire where he had been sitting earlier and sat down.

“How long do you think it might take before Marco can find out who my family might be?” she asked tentatively.

In truth she was afraid to know, but it was necessary in order to figure out how much time she had to continue with the cherade before having to run away. She didn’t want to think about that. Where would she go? How would she eat? Most women in this day and age either had to be married or sell their bodies to survive.

Marriage was out of the question. She didn’t even belong here! And selling her body was not an option either, obviously. With all the motley characters running around, it made her cringe just thinking of it. She would have to think of something to get by on until she could figure out how to get home. At least now she had a pocket in her dress so she could keep the medallion with
her at all times.

The galbi! Damn. It had totally slipped her mind. She did need to get back to the wagon and make sure it was still in the place she had left it. She could not under any circumstances afford to lose it now. It was her only hope as far as she knew for getting back home.

“Sarah.” Dominic’s voice brought her mind back to the present. “I just told you that we should know something within a day or two. Did you not hear me?”

“I am sorry. My mind was lost in thought. Perhaps I am still tired after all. I should go lie down I think.”

At least if she went back to the wagon to lie down she could hide the galbi safely in her pocket and make sure it stayed there within reach.

“Come and I will take you to rest.”

He led her back to the wagon and opened the flap for her to climb in. He followed close behind and straightened her blankets. She lay down and before she had a chance to protest, he stretched out beside her.

“What are you doing? Should you not be out there with your people practicing your arts and crafts?”

She slipped her hand under the head-roll and to her relief the medallion was still there. She pulled the blanket up over her to conceal her hands and quickly slipped it into her pocket without his knowledge.

“Yes, I should in fact.”

His finger traced a line down her cheek as he spoke. So much for his ‘needing a tankard of ale and a couple of wenches’. Maybe Marco would indeed end up trying to beat the shit out of him after all. He didn’t care. He knew where he wanted to be. And it was right here.

“Lady, I know it is wrong. I know that I should not look upon you the way I do, but I cannot help it.”

He inched in closer to her. One of his hands laced through her hair to the back of her head as he spoke and within a second his lips were only inches from her own. Sarah swallowed hard and she could feel his warm breath on her lips as he spoke.

“I will probably be beheaded by your people, but just to taste your sweet kiss one time…I think it is a risk I will take.”

Before Sarah had a chance to speak his soft lips were on hers. He pulled her in closer to him as she felt his velvety tongue parting her lips and softly stroking her own. Fire shot through her burning hotter and brighter than the stroke of lightning that struck her the other night and she melted into his embrace.

He deepened his kiss and she thought she would stop breathing from the intensity of it.

In a moment it was over and he pulled back from her but only for a second. Then he was showering her face with kisses. Her cheeks, her eyelids and her lips once again. His tongue trailed a path down the side of her neck and found a delicious hollow at the base of her throat.

She gasped. “You must leave off of this at once. You yourself have said that I am most certainly wedded to another.”

He froze and pulled back from her.

“The thought of another man touching you makes me insane.” His jaw tightened. “I have no care whether he is your lord husband or not. It infuriates me as well, that I would allow myself to feel such foolishness over a woman I barely know. But I can no more stop it than I can stop the sun from rising tomorrow. Look at me and tell me you do not feel as I do, and I will never touch you again.”

Sarah sat there looking at him and opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as the words rang in her head….
Passion. Desire. True love. These things know no time be it one night or lifetimes….

“Go on lady. Look me in the eye and tell me that you have ever felt this way with another.”

Sarah shook her head but couldn’t say the words that she knew were the truth.

Dominic pulled her to him again and his lips pressed to her own with urgency. His tongue found its way into her mouth once more and began its slow sensuous dance. His hands laced their way down the sides of her face and neck and down to her breasts. His fingers traced the tops of the soft swells that rose from the top of her bodice.

Sarah melted at his touch. His lips slid down the side of her neck to the place where his fingers now played and he unlaced the top of her dress. One of her full breasts fell free and he caressed the tip of her rosy nipple before taking it into his mouth.

Sarah could feel his soft tongue swirling around and around against her flesh and she felt goose bumps break out all over her entire body. And there was the wetness she felt forming between her legs as one of his hands made its way up her smooth thigh and began softly stroking her
there
. Her legs seemed to part to his touch of their own accord.

She wanted him. She wanted to feel the weight of his body against her own as he buried himself deep inside of her until she was screaming his name. She wanted him to explore every inch, every curve of her body with his hands and mouth. And she wanted to do the same to him.

She had played these teasing games with David, but never did it have this effect on her. David’s kiss…his touch had never been like this was right here and now.
David
…dear God, what was she doing? She did not want Dominic to stop and yet she knew that she must somehow end this before they did something she would later regret when she returned to her own time.

She gasped. “I am not ready for this.”

He raised his head from her swollen, puckered nipple and smiled at her.

“From what I feel here,” he said, stroking the wetness between her thighs with the pad of his finger, “it feels like you are quite ready.”

He raised up on one elbow and kissed the end of her nose as he pushed one of his fingers fully inside of her and trailed his tongue up the side of her neck to her earlobe.

God’s blood she was hot and
tight
! She was nearly clean-shaven as well…unlike any of the women he’d been with and he found that it drove him out of his mind. His erection was painful and throbbing now against the confines of his breeches. Sarah gasped at the feel of his large finger pushed deep inside her. It almost hurt, but it felt good too. Almost too good to allow him to stop, but stop him she must!

“That is enough! Stop it right now.”

She pushed hard on his chest dragging herself away from the delicious sensations.

He moved back from her slightly and pulled his finger from her, still wet with her juices. He looked directly at her as he slowly brought that very finger to his lips and sucked it dry savoring the taste. He then he licked it with his velvety tongue as if to get any of the remaining essence that might linger. He then
took one of her fingers to his lips and did the same, licking it from bottom to top all the while smiling wickedly.

“Are you sure that is what you want, my lady?” he asked playfully.

Sarah blew out a long breath, composing herself.

“It is what we must do…we are on the verge of committing adultery.”

This was a lie, since she was only engaged of course, but she knew it wasn’t right to betray David in the way she was allowing to happen right now.

He took her finger from his mouth and placed a light kiss on the palm of her hand.

“And is it an ‘act of love’ when you do this with your lord husband?” Dominic’s voice tightened with sarcasm.

“That is none of your affair. And besides, I cannot remember him right now anyway,” she answered thinking quickly.

Sarah’s eyes traveled to the floor of the wagon as she pictured David’s face. She swallowed back the lump in her throat as she realized that she couldn’t honestly say that she did love him, now that she had experienced what it felt like to be with Dominic even for one day.

She thought for a moment before answering.

“Since I cannot remember him, I suppose I cannot say at this time that I can recall any acts of love between us. But I must return to him, no matter, to ensure your safety and that of your people.”

“My own safety is of no matter to me, lady. But yours is.” He sighed with resignation
.“I will obey your wishes. I care for you and I do not wish to bring shame upon you if we are to find your family. The gold matters not to me anymore. But it will save my people more of the hardship they have had to endure this winter. But, if we did not get any ransom for you, I would endure even their wrath to keep you to my side, I think.”

He reached out to touch her face once more.

“Before my mother Mara died, she told me that I would know love someday. She said that an act of kindness would bring my heart’s desire to me and I would know it when it happened. I do not know what act of kindness I have done as of late, besides saving you…but you are here and somehow I believe this must be what she spoke of.”

“Dominic…it cannot be me. You do not understand.”

He smiled. “I would say that I do. You think it is impossible because we must return you to your family. And it does seem that way. And yet, what if you never returned? What if we could not locate your people and your memory never returned to aid me in such? What then? Would you still deny me? I would take you into my heart, home and my bed for the rest of our lives if you would let me.”

“We must not speak of that happening. I absolutely must return to my family. What of my mother and father? They would never get over losing me.
And what of my fiancé?”

She cringed realizing in the heat of the moment she had slipped and confirmed that she was not married once again. She got away with it the first time, but now? Her one bargaining chip of keeping him out of her bed was now lost. Dammit!