His lips parted and he seemed to breathe her in, because she felt a tug on her insides.
Sunny resisted and staggered back.
He was powerful, she realized, and wondered what the hell she’d let herself in for.
And then he was gone.
The rising tide around their legs slipped away, the waters racing out. On the distant horizon, the tall ship’s white sails were just about visible. The vessel had left without him.
Cullen pulled her in against him, his eyes frantic. “You shouldn’t have done it. I will not allow him to take you.”
“Maybe not, but I’ll figure out how to deal with him later. There’s no going back now.”
She glanced around, her thoughts tumbling.
Fox had indicated she’d know how to get back to 2020, and if she could figure it out, she could go to Celeste and Willow and ask for their help.
“Right now we need to get back home,” she muttered and grabbed Cullen’s hand. They had to get back to the cottage, her anchor—that which was the same in both worlds.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Why the hell didn’t I say a year, Sunny wondered, ready to slap herself for being so stupid, or even five years? Fifty?
Then again, it would’ve meant that many years in servitude to Nathaniel Fox, whatever that entailed. She shuddered at the thought. She muttered a silent prayer, hoping she could get herself out of it.
“Did he hurt you?” Cullen demanded, easing her hair back from her face and staring down at her with concern in his eyes.
“No.” She clung to him though, glad above all they were still together.
“But he frightened you, and I will string out his guts with my bare hands for doing so.”
Sunny laughed softly, her spirits lifting. “I’m hoping that won’t be necessary. Come on, let’s get back to the cottage.”
“I have never known a lass as brave as you,” he said as they hurried along the edge of the bay.
Brave or stupid? Sunny silently wondered.
Dusk was rapidly falling and she had no idea what lay ahead. Her determination to get them back home kept her going, that and the presence of Cullen at her side.
“I have no idea where you are leading me,” Cullen said in a bemused tone, “and I’m sure you have bewitched me. Yet I am fully content,” he added, the humorous look in his eyes assuring her he was happy with the situation. “I’m willing to see this future world of yours.”
Bewitched? Sunny shook her head. This was going to take some working out. She tried to picture him in her world, glancing down at his water stained suede breeches and his sword hanging in its sheath. He really didn’t know what he was letting himself in for, she thought, but something told her it was the right thing to do. His faith in her only seemed to confirm the notion. She held onto the feeling, she’d maybe need to feel that sure later on, when she had to figure out how the hell to get them back to the future.
“We need to be at the cottage,” she reasoned, as they hurried along, “because that’s where we both were, when we wished.” And then it hit her. “Wait...” Her mind was whirring. “The librarian hinted to me that a white witch had lived here, years ago. She said witches grant wishes to those they favor. I didn’t believe it at the time, but...”
Could it be true? She considered herself a methodical, balanced person, and the absolute chaos she found herself in meant her logical mind was grasping for any thread of reason it could latch on to.
They glanced at each other as the implication sank in. “A wench wasn’t all I wished for. I also wished to stay here in Cornwall.”
“And I wished for you to be real, to be with me in my life.” Her heart was full of hope.
Cullen took the lead, pulling her by the hand with him. “It is meant to be.”
Once more they made their way through the town.
He glanced at the sky above the cluster of cottages huddled together at the rise of the bay. “Dusk is closing in, and the sea mist is rising by the moment. Let’s make our way back swiftly, before it gets any heavier.”
The mist was rising, fast and wispy, and it trailed their footsteps as if it were so many eyes following them. Sunny shivered, as much from the feeling of being watched as that of being cold and damp.