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C rystal felt Jamie's strong hand run up her thigh. She arched her back up off of the bed inviting him to touch her more. Her hands grabbed the blankets, twisting them in her fists as her skin was set ablaze underneath his touch.

She whispered softly, "Jamie," begging for him to touch her more.

She felt her body responding to him in a way that she'd never felt for anyone else.

She opened her thighs wanting more of him.

Without words, she begged him to move his body over hers.

Feeling the weight of him pressing her into the straw mattress was all she could think about.

His lips pressed against hers, kissing her with a tenderness, but also with a certainty that let her know he was in charge.

Crystal wanted nothing more than her warrior to show her the man he was, preferably with his tongue.

A chill went up her spine as he traced his fingers up her belly and over her hard erect nipples.

However the chill felt real and she suddenly felt cold. That's when her eyes opened.

"Oh my… what a dream," she whispered as she pushed her hair from her face and looked around the dark room.

For a moment she thought she was in her own bedroom.

That everything had been a dream, a figment of her overactive imagination.

Then, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she saw where she was, it all flooded back to her.

The incident with Mason, the fae hovering over her, soothing her, waking up in the lake, and being told that she was in Scotland in a different time period.

She sat up in bed quickly, taking in more of the cottage. .

The fire had faded to just glowing embers and was the only light in the cottage and warmth.

She'd forgotten to add the logs like Jamie had said.

The chill she felt and her nipples being hard was because it was very cold in the small room.

Climbing from the bed, she wrapped the top blanket around her shoulders and walk over to the fireplace.

She poked it with an iron poker, stirring up the embers.

She added some dry hay kindling to get the fire going a bit more, then added two more logs to the fireplace.

She sat down on the wooden chair she'd pulled up next to the fire and warmed her cold bones.

She thought about the dream she just had about Jamie and how uncomfortable it made her feel now that she was awake.

She didn't know the man at all and had barely spent an hour in his presence and yet he was getting this reaction out of her?

How was that possible? She rarely had hot dreams. Yet this stranger, this medieval Scottish warrior in a strange land had penetrated her mind like no other.

She relit a candle and looked around the cottage for something else to warm her bones.

She noticed several jars on the counter in the section of the cottage that looked closest to what could be called a kitchen.

She pulled the cork on a couple of the jars, smelling them.

The third jar had what she was looking for, alcohol.

She found a tin cup and poured some in, then took a drink and realized it was wine or— with the heavy scent of honey, mead and not whisky like she expected.

She moved back to the bench and sat down drinking hefty swigs of the mead until she was drowsy enough and warm enough to crawl back into bed.

As she laid in bed, she realized that she couldn't stop thinking about the erotic dream of being with Jamie. He had really taken a hold of her mind in such a short time. She continued thinking of him as she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Crystal found herself fumbling with the clothing that Courteney had left for her.

The dress was more difficult than she had expected it would be to put on, and she could only guess that she did it correctly.

She was very glad for the long, thigh-high stockings to keep her legs warm but tying them around her thigh felt very strange.

Thankfully, her boots had dried and she was able to slip them on then grabbed the dagger and put it in one of the large pockets in the side of the dress.

Opening the wooden shutters, she let the light in and some fresh air. "Hello? Rory, are you there?" she said, and then recalled that Jamie had said he'd send someone to relieve Rory at midnight. "Er… or well, whoever you are from the Watch?"

"Aye, I am here, lass. You may call me, Shaw. Did you need something?"

Crystal stuck her head out of the window and looked at the red-headed Scottish guard. "Hello, Shaw. Thank you for watching over me and the cottage last night. It is nice of you." She smiled at him.

"Aye, lass, tis my duty." His gaze moved from Crystal to someone approaching.

Crystal turned to see who it was and smiled when she saw it was Elena.

"I see you're an early riser. I came to see if you needed help with the dress," Elena said, walking toward the open window.

"Elena, good to see you. I generally do get up early. Would you like to come in?" Crystal asked.

Elena nodded and moved toward the door. Crystal unlatched the lock and opened the door to let her in. Rory had turned back to gaze about the village, letting the two women have a bit of privacy, though Crystal was sure that the walls were thin enough he'd hear everything they discussed. .

"So how was your first night here?" Elena asked.

"As strange as anyone's first night would be after being told that they traveled through time and relocated in sixteenth century Scotland. What do you think?" Crystal grumbled, but then gave her a smile to let her know she wasn't really complaining too much.

Elena chuckled. "Trust me I've been there, but you seem to be taking it in stride and aren't hysterical about it. You spent your first night alone which is more than most of us have done. We all spent our first night at the castle."

"Yes, well I didn't want to be interrogated by your Laird and I just wanted some alone time to process everything."

"I can understand that." Elena smiled. "He's not a bad guy though, just so you know. He's not going to treat you like a criminal or anything. He's always very welcoming to those of us who show up. Of course he wasn't in the beginning, but that's Anna's story to tell."

"Yes, Courteney mentioned her," Crystal said just as her stomach gurgled loudly. "Sorry, I'm really hungry." She laughed.

"We could go to the tavern to eat, or the market is all set up if you'd rather cook something here?"

"Maybe to the market?" Crystal wasn't sure what to expect, but fixing her own food sounded good.

"We'll get you a few things then, just in case you stay here longer than today," Elena said.

"Thank you I would really appreciate that." Crystal looked down at her dress then back to Elena. "Is this dress on right? I don't want to go out there if I've done it up wrong."

"Turn around." Elena twirled her finger to indicate that she should spin around.

Crystal did as she asked. "Well?"

"Not bad for your first try. Let me just fix this—" She tugged on one of the dress ties and redid it. "There you go. All fixed."

"Thanks." Crystal smiled. "Shall we go?".

"You'll want this too, it's helpful to keep you warm." Elena moved to the wall next to the wardrobe and pulled a hooded cloak from a peg and tied it around Crystal's shoulders.

"I can't believe I'm actually wearing all this medieval stuff. It's very surreal," Crystal said.

"It is but you'll see it's actually pretty comfortable and it keeps you very warm."

A few moments later they walked out of the cottage with Shaw following them. It felt strange to Crystal to have her own guard, but since it was the only way Jamie would let her stay and not send her away to the castle she had to endure it.

They returned to the town center and Elena directed her to the market area.

There were many tables set up with vendors selling their goods.

The fish stall they passed was very pungent.

Fresh herbs and vegetables hung from another stall and in the back was plenty of livestock.

Crystal thought it was very similar to the farmers markets that she'd been to back home.

As they walked through the crowd of townspeople, Crystal could hear everyone talking about the murder and how awful it was that the demons had gotten to Maeve.

She assumed that they meant the goblins that Elena, Melanie and Jamie had told her about.

She did her best to overhear anything that might be useful to the investigation.

It was the least she could do to keep her mind occupied instead of dwelling on the fact that she may never return home again.

That was something that had truly started to sink in and made her stomach hurt.

Elena bought Crystal some vegetables, fresh eggs, dried fish, a loaf of bread, and a bottle of mead. Then she handed her a freshly made meat pie that was the perfect size for eating while walking.

"I can't believe how good the food is here. I've never tasted anything like it," she said.

"True. I'm still amazed myself. Now let's get you a wedge of cheese."

The cheese stand had many varieties and Crystal picked a hard goat's cheese herself.

"Let's get this stuff back to the cottage. This should have you set for a while. But if the Laird wishes to meet you, we'll have to take you to the castle."

Crystal nodded. "I get that. I mean he's like the governor or something right? Courteney said he's like the guy in charge, but not the King."

"Right, I guess governor is similar to what he is.

He's the political power, the head of the Watch, the judge, the owner of the land.

People come to him to solve their differences, help when they are in trouble, that kind of thing," Elena explained.

"He's also the one in charge of keeping everyone safe from the dark fae. "

"Still don't know why he'd want to see me, but I get it. If he wants to meet me, I have to go."

"Exactly." Elena nodded and reached into a pouch tied to her dress. "Here's some money." She dropped some coins into Crystal's hand. "When these goods run out you can come to the market and buy more now that you see where it is and how to haggle."

"Thanks, Elena. I don't know how I'd have done all this without you."

"It's my pleasure. Us time-traveling women need to stick together. And as I said, the Laird is very generous. He makes sure that we have everything we need when we arrive, including money to purchase things."

"I admit I am very curious about seeing this castle you keep talking about, and meeting your Laird."

"Urquhart Castle is a sight to see, definitely. It sits on a isle that juts out into Loch Ness at the end of a long land bridge. It's honestly beautiful."

They walked with the bundles back toward the cottage. Crystal couldn't stop thinking about how everyone spoke of these demons and how strange it was to think that they were really goblins.

They entered the cottage and put the goods on the table. Elena turned to her and said, "Well I must be off. I have work to do with the Watch."

"Where are you going?" Crystal asked curiously.

"We're heading back to the scene of the crime," Elena responded.

Crystal's gears began to turn and she knew exactly what her next question would be even if that question was a demand.