It hadn't been a dream though, either. Absolutely not. I wasn't sore between my legs any longer. Deep inside I didn't feel well used. My ass wasn't sore from being stretched by Ian's cock. My nipples weren't tender from his whiskers. There was no physical sign of our lovemaking—while we'd definitely fucked, I would consider it lovemaking—I remembered it, could still see him, feel him, smell him. Even taste him. He had just been with me, holding me as I'd died.
"Oh my God!" I cried, realizing the impact of what had happened. Scottish Lexy had died on their wedding night, leaving Ian alone. He'd had only a few hours with her before that crazy Glynnis had ruined it all. I felt sorrow, anguish over what Ian had to face. "Ian!"
A clock chimed on the wall. Outside the window, cars passed. Being back in the present made it seem as if it had never happened. It did. It did. I ran my hands over my face, trying to wipe away the intensity of the moment. I'd never been attacked before. Never hit or even slapped. I'd been mortally wounded and it felt like it occurred just a minute ago. Not worlds, make that centuries, away. So was Ian. He was gone and alone. The storekeeper had been right. One night. Just like Cinderella. Cinderella wasn't stabbed by a crazed bitch after the wedding leaving the groom to mourn. I knew he mourned. He'd called me his heart.
"You're back." The storekeeper approached, carrying a glass of water. She wore the same clothes as the day before. "What's wrong, dear? Was it so awful?"
I dropped back down in the chair as the shakes began. I was going into shock, the adrenaline of it wearing off. I'd found a connection with Ian unlike I'd ever known existed that was severed just as it was being made. One night hadn't been enough. It was so unfair. Horrible. Cruel. What had happened to Ian? Glynnis? Had Ian killed her? Stabbed her with the knife she'd used on me?
I leaned forward and covered my face with my hands and began to cry. Not the pretty tears, but fat ugly ones that I knew made me look splotchy red and have snot dripping from my nose. I heard the clink of the glass as the woman set it on a glass display. Her frail hand settled on my shoulder. "Was it so horrible?"
"You… you said it was one night of sex. You never said anything about murder." My words were thick with tears and I had to stop and cry some more in the middle.
Her white eyebrows went up. "Murder?"
"I was stabbed by a crazy lady. A woman scorned by Ian. She was insane and jealous and evil. I died."
"Oh, dear heavens." She patted my shoulder. "You just keep crying."
I did what she said and sobbed. Sobbed for the love that was so short lived. What happened to Ian? I had to know. I had to find out because I felt so connected to him. He was my eternal mate. I paused at that thought. The old woman had said that I'd meet him again in this lifetime. While the Ian and Lexy of the past had a tragic story, that didn't mean that the present Ian and I would.
The woman pulled a tissue from the sleeve of her sweater. I took it and wiped my nose. "Will… will I meet Ian again soon?"
"His name is Ian then." She sighed. "I don't know. I see you're so sad and I wish I could tell you more. I had no idea of what would happen, how their connection would end."
I sniffed. "I know. It's not your fault, but it's so vivid to me. So real."
"While it may seem like you had a night with your man, no time has passed while you were gone. Only a minute or two were you asleep—at least that's what it appeared to me—so I went to make some tea."
No time had passed? I glanced out the plate glass window. The sun was still bright, people walked past as if the most amazing thing hadn't just happened. My life was irrevocably changed. I couldn't just date any man. No one but Ian would do. I had to find out what happened to the Ian I knew, the Ian I'd spent one remarkable night with.
"It is still your birthday. Make a wish." The woman smiled at me, most likely hoping to soften the blow of what had happened. Nor could she tell me when I'd meet the man of my dreams again. "Birthday wishes are known to come true."
She'd been right about going back in time for one night with my eternal mate, although the outcome was not what either of us ever imagined. Maybe she'd be right about meeting Ian again. Unfortunately, it could be the next day or when I was seventy. Ugh. The thought of it brought tears to my eyes again. I took a deep breath and willed them away. A birthday wish. I closed my eyes and formed the words in my mind. I wish I meet Ian again. Today.
"There," the shopkeeper said when I'd opened my eyes. "Now just wait and see what happens." Her gnarled hand, soft and warm, squeezed mine in reassurance. Perhaps it was the patience of those who were older and wiser that made her seem so calm. She hadn't spent a night of wild monkey sex and craved it again like a druggie wanted a fix. She hadn't just been murdered.