Page 85 of Stay with Me

All she needed was him—desperately.

Her breath got lost somewhere deep inside and so did any words. She slid her hand around his, pried loose the cheese, and let it fall into the grass. Without breaking gazes, she drew his hand toward her, placing it on the bare spot of her chest just above the embroidered edge of the bodice. Since it was lowcut and exposed a slight swell, she let him draw his own conclusions but hoped he understood her offering. That she welcomed his touch.

The muscles in his jaw rippled. He didn’t move except to let his thumb drop and caress her chest, brushing against her bodice.

Tight desire unfurled within her.

Maybe it was still too soon. But she couldn’t push aside this need to be with him, to show him how much she loved him while they still had time. If there was one thing she’d learned over the past week, it was that love could come quickly and be torn away just as fast. Now that she was with Nicholas, she wanted to make the most of the time before something threatened to split them apart again.

He leaned in a fraction.

She lifted her head, her lips already parted. She’d been dreaming of kissing him since that morning he’d kissed her good-bye and ridden off. No doubt her need was etched into every fiber of her being and on display for him to see.

He bent in farther, then released a soft huff before standing and striding to the horse. He grabbed the reins and wound them around his hands. Then he leaned in and pressed his forehead against the mount’s neck.

She didn’t realize she was trembling until she pressed her hand to her chest. Something was wrong. He was acting strange, almost afraid. And if she’d been more alert, more herself, she would have seen it right away. She had a feeling that their escape and his fear were related.

She drew in a breath to still the erratic beating of her heart caused by his nearness and his effect upon her. “What’s amiss, Nicholas?”

His shoulders were stiff and his fists taut against the reins. “I have sacrificed already to give you life, and I must sacrifice again to keep you alive.”

She glanced around, searching for clues that could help her understand his bold declaration. Normally she could deduceevidence, find obscure details, come to conclusions, but today her mind was sluggish.

“Maybe you had better start at the beginning.” She guessed the story wasn’t necessarily one she’d like.

“The plague has spread throughout Reider Castle. I have been exposed to it. And if I am already sick, I would not willingly pass it along to you.”

“I’ve been around the guards and have been exposed to the plague just as you have.”

“The holy water has healed you of the plague—or whatever was ailing you—and now that you are healthy, I would do my best to keep you that way.”

The holy water had healed her? What did that mean?

As if sensing her questions, he finally turned to face her and made short work of explaining all that had transpired while he’d been gone in Dover and London and then what he’d discovered when he’d returned to Devil’s Bend and ridden to Reider Castle.

“Two bottles of the holy water were in the curio. My mother took one that she intended to save for me. Someone else must have discovered the other one.”

Sybil’s mind flashed back to the intense search she’d conducted after recovering Ellen from Lionel’s lab. She’d scoured the castle—or nearly so and had located a bottle in the ancient cabinet. She hadn’t known how it had gotten there, only that Harrison and Ellen had needed it.

Never would she have imagined that the second bottle from the same cabinet would end up saving her life in the Middle Ages. It was strange how events and time were so intricately related.

“She wanted to preserve the holy water for me,” Nicholas continued, “but I convinced her to relinquish it to me so that I could save you.”

Sybil clutched her hands together, feeling the pulsing of her blood and the vitality of life flowing through her. Although she was alive in the past, she could feel that her connection to the present was now completely severed. She would never be able to return to the world she’d always known and the life she’d always lived. It would be a loss, and she would miss many things. But maybe eventually, she would adjust... if she survived.

The fact was, she still needed a second dose of the holy water to successfully transition out of a time crossing.

How long did she have before she needed that second dose? Days? A week? Did she have enough time to ride to Chesterfield Park as she’d originally planned and beg Marian for the holy water that could keep her alive?

As before, she didn’t think she’d suffered from the Black Plague, but maybe it had affected her body differently. With having modern immunizations and being a part of genetic changes over time, her body could react differently to the ancient diseases, and it was possible she might not experience the same symptoms.

Even so, Nicholas was wise to be careful. She didn’t want to pass anything along to him either. If the plague could be transmitted via air particles, then in riding together in such close quarters, they’d likely already exposed each other. All the more reason to go to Chesterfield Park for holy water. If Nicholas fell ill with the plague, she needed to have a way to save him.

She smoothed the velvety material of the gown. There was only one person who could have given it to her. “I’m surprised your mother gave me this gown.”

“She is a generous woman.”

She had been generous, indeed, in giving Nicholas the treasured holy water. Why had she done it? “After taking her holy water, I would have expected her to send me away in rags.”

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