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Quinn understood that Archer was speaking through fear but even so, what he was saying to her was completely unfair. It was his last ranting that made her think of his father and what he, as a little boy, must have had to deal with. He had been so defenseless and that made her so angry. Since the father wasn't there to receive her displeasure, she'd take it out on the man who was.
Quinn turned and walked away with as much dignity as a woman barely clothed could muster. She hadn't gotten very far when Archer's strong hand wrapped around her arm and turned her to him. Before she could protest, his mouth came down hard on hers.
There was no anger in him as his lips moved over hers and she didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around his neck to pull him closer. His arms came around her waist locking her to him as he pulled her up against the length of him, all the while making love to her with his mouth. He moved from her lips to her neck, kissing her in just the right spot that made her knees go weak.
"Tell me to stop because I can't," he pleaded.
Right or wrong, she was a goner. She wanted him so desperately that when she answered it was barely a whisper, "Don't stop."
The look of unbridled passion that passed over his face was not one she was ever going to forget. He moved, pressing her up against a nearby tree, and she gave herself over to him and their magical, impossible moment.
Sleep wouldn't come as Quinn lay awake staring at the ceiling. She felt guilty behaving as she had, but honestly when Archer's mouth came down on hers she was lost to him: lost to the emotions that only he could stir in her. She had guilt, yes, but she wasn't sorry for the few hours they had shared because she knew the memory of it would stay with her always.
Of course, she had slept with Archer so would there be consequences in the future for her moment of weakness? She wasn't arrogant enough to believe that her dabbling in the past would have far reaching effects on the future but would her individual future be altered? She wouldn't know until she returned, but even if she had altered her world she wouldn't take back a single second of her time with him.
Quinn believed now that her suspicion about Derek was right, especially after witnessing him burying treasure. In the future, he was forever finding treasures that most didn't even know existed so obviously he had found a way to travel through time to steal rare finds and bury them then later dig up in the future. Yes, it sounded all very sci-fi but how crazy a notion was it when she, a 21st century lady, was in the past? So again Quinn had to wonder how Derek met Katherine and Lady Danvers since it was impossible for them to be related.
Quinn had noticed the infatuation that Katherine had for Archer but if she was working with Derek, working a con on Archer, what was in it for Katherine? Money? A hot guy? Archer clearly didn't feel as Katherine did so even if she married him she wouldn't get his love. But she would be in line to get his money. Based on what Jack, the barkeep in the future, had shared with her, Quinn believed that Archer and Nickie met with foul play. Was it possible that since Katherine couldn't have Archer's love, she settled for his money? The only way to ensure not only access to the money but complete access would be to kill both Archer and Nickie. Would the death of the Lord and his son create enough of a taboo against the place to have people avoiding it? Quite possibly but even more so if people witnessed what Thaddeus had, a person appearing or disappearing into thin air, they would be crossing themselves and staying as far away from the place as possible.
She needed to learn everything she could about the Danvers, including why a man like Archer would have agreed to an engagement with a woman such as Katherine. If there was con, the Danvers would need a way to guarantee the engagement, but how? Was it a coincidence that his mother and sisters avoided Whispering Winds since his betrothal? There was one way to find out.
Quinn needed to get herself to London.
Chapter Five
"Are you mad? You want to sneak away to London? Have you lost your mind?"
Quinn only raised her one brow at Thaddeus' questions but he didn't seem to notice as he continued on.
"I won't be indelicate and state the obvious but do you think it's wise to sneak away now after what you and Arch shared in the woods?"
She couldn't help the blush. Whether it was a reaction to the fact that Thaddeus knew how Archer and she had spent their time in the woods or to the memory of what Archer's clever mouth and body had done to her, she couldn't say.
"We've tiptoed around the big elephant in the room, Thaddeus, so I'm just going to say it. You know I just appeared out of thin air the day we met. You saw what I was wearing and you know I am not from around here."
"Yes, I know," he agreed.
"But it isn't a location thing, it's more of a time thing," she tested the waters carefully.
His look wasn't as comical as she imagined hers would have been if their roles were reversed so she forged on.
"Moments before you came upon me I was standing on the river bank by Whispering Winds watching as Archer's ghost disappeared right before my eyes. The year was 2013." Suddenly Quinn remembered the ring she had found, a ring that she didn't have when she came to. Had she dropped it? She was going to need to look for that ring because maybe, like a port key inHarry Potter, it was her ticket back to the future.
She looked at Thaddeus and realized he had turned an unpleasant shade of gray after she dropped that bomb. He didn't cross himself nor did he run, which Quinn thought were both good signs. His voice was oddly strained when he did finally speak.
"I think I already knew that," he choked.
She hadn't expected that but was glad just the same since it meant she wasn't going to have to try to explain that which was still rather unexplainable even to herself.
"I was sent back through time for a reason."
"Any idea what that reason is?"
"I have a few theories. But what I do know is that Archer, for as hard as he tries to make people think he's closed off and unfeeling, is quite the opposite. He's also not a fool. So why would he agree to bind himself to the likes of Katherine? I think I can find the answers in London. But I need your help."
Thaddeus seemed unsure and she could tell he was battling internally to make the right decision. She just hoped he would see things her way. She hated dropping this on Thaddeus but she couldn't tell Archer what she was up to because he would insist on coming and that would mean Katherine and her mother would join them as well. The ones she sought answers from were not going to open up if the Danvers were present.
"Okay, I'll take you to London but I still think you should tell Archer of your plans."
