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"How's your head?" he asked.
"It hurts, a lot, but I'm a bit of a baby when it comes to headaches since I rarely get them," Quinn admitted.
"I wish there was something I could do for you."
"Maybe you could stay with me until I fall asleep?"
Archer brushed a rogue curl from her cheek and he smiled tenderly, "I would love to."
She was standing on the river bank looking up at the castle just as Archer and Nickie appeared. Nickie was riding his dad's shoulders and both of them were laughing. They waved when they spotted her before they started down to her. She moved to meet them but as soon as she took her first step she felt herself being pulled away. She saw their smiles fade as Archer took Nickie off his shoulders and started to run toward her. She knew he wasn't going to make it, that her hand wasn't going to feel the warmth and strength of his, that she would never see Nickie grow to a man, that she would never again be with the man she loved. Her hand reached out to his as a scream tore from her throat.
"Quinn!" Archer was at her side shaking her awake and when she realized it had just been a dream, she threw her arms around him.
"I was taken from you. You and Nickie were there but I couldn't reach you and I watched as you both faded away. I can't bear the thought of leaving you."
His arms came around her and held her tightly against him.
"Marry me, Quinn."
Quinn pulled back at that. "What?"
"Marry me. We may not get a lifetime but I want you as my wife. I want my ring on your finger; I want you to belong to me as I want nothing more than to belong to you. Marry me."
Pure joy settled over her and his perfect words had her answering with a quiet confident, "Yes."
It was only then that Quinn noticed that Archer was still dressed in his evening clothes. And though she somehow knew that he had spent the night watching over her, she asked anyway, "Didn't you sleep?"
He didn't reply and instead reached into his pocket. "I commissioned to have this made for you and when it was completed I found myself carrying it around waiting for the opportunity to give it to you."
He pulled out a small black box and opened the lid to reveal a ring of gold with an emerald resting in the center. Tears blurred Quinn's vision as she realized what she was looking at.
"I've seen this before." She looked up into the face of the man that she had crossed through time for and saw his look of confusion.
"This is what brought me to you. That day in the future when I saw you, this was lying in the grass in the spot where you disappeared. As soon as I touched it, I found myself here."
"How's that possible if I only just had it made?"
"I don't know but what if I touch it now and it takes me away from you?"
He cradled her cheek in his strong, warm hand. "It didn't take you away from me. It brought you back to me."
A smile spread over her face as his words hit home. "You're right." And without a single doubt she held out her hand to him so he could slip his ring onto her finger.
"It's beautiful," she whispered as she admired her hand.
"You're beautiful."
She wanted him, at that moment; she wanted him more than she wanted to take her next breath. And clearly he felt the same as he reached for the hem of her night rail and lifted the gown over her head.
"God, you are exquisite," he growled as he gently guided her back against the pillows, lowered himself on top of her and took her mouth in a hard, demanding kiss. She felt boneless and when he lifted his head, a wicked grin pulled at the corner of his mouth. "This is going to take a while." His hot mouth touched her neck, branding her, as he worked his way slowly and with great care to detail, down her body.
The following morning, Archer sent a letter to his mother and sisters informing them of his betrothal to Quinn. He requested they come to Whispering Winds to help Quinn plan the wedding. Then, having been gone as long as he had been, he departed early with his steward to see to estate business. His mind wasn't really on his work though since he couldn't seem to stop thinking about the night he shared with Quinn. He'd do well to not think of it now as he shifted on his mount and forced himself to put all thoughts of her aside. But that was far easier said than done and by the time he returned home he was on fire.
Quinn heard the sound of an approaching horse and looked up to see Archer barreling toward her. At the last minute he reared his horse and dropped to the ground, took Quinn's hand and pulled her along after him. He said nothing, but then he didn't need to since desire for her was stamped all over his face. He took her through a door, down a hall and up the spiral stone steps into the circular room then slammed and locked the door. He didn't offer a verbal greeting as his mouth settled over hers and in the pleasurable hours that ensued, Quinn learned exactly why she had such affection for that room.
Later, they walked hand and hand through the gardens. Archer was oddly quiet since their fabulous interlude in the circular room. Quinn was going to ask him what was on his mind when he looked down at her and asked, "Why do you think you're here, with me, in this time?"
Quinn was thoughtful for a minute before she replied, "Why I was chosen I don't know. How is it you dreamt of me and when you thought of your wife it was my face you saw? How did I see you by the river's edge when you couldn't possibly have been there and the ring? How could I have seen something in my time when it only came to be because I went back to yours? I can't answer any of that but I do believe I'm here so that in the future you and yours will be remembered. If what I believe is true then what became of your family was because someone from my time came back and screwed up history. I'm here to correct it. And, I think we have, Archer, because now you're wise to all of Katherine's plans that created the gap between you and your family and the bond between you and Nickie grows stronger every day. In the future this place won't be thought of as a cursed place but one blessed with generations of Scarcliffs, a family who lived and loved within these walls. But I think there's one last step we need to take."
