Puck and Prejudice

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The cow pond didn’t offer much to the eye. It sat in the center of the field, reflecting the clear expanse of sky overhead.

Cattails swayed along its banks, while a solitary duck lazily paddled across its surface. Tuck strolled around the perimeter,

his gaze sweeping over the basin, searching for any distinctive features that might hint at its significance as some sort

of cosmic ley line battery supercharger, as Ezekiel Fairweather had described. He wanted to give Lizzy some time with her

people, so he’d decided to take a short stroll around the Woodlands grounds to loosen up his legs after the carriage ride.

But he found himself drawn back here. It was as if he needed to see it with his own eyes to believe it was real.

No matter how hard he tried to perceive it differently, there was nothing remotely magical about the scene before him. It

was just a splash of water in a field, blending in with countless others in the surrounding area. There were no mystical signs

or inexplicable phenomena hinting at the possibility of being transported over two hundred years into the future in three

days’ time. Yet, the undeniable truth remained that this was the exact same spot where he had first arrived, sinking into

the mud while conversing with Lizzy.

It was wild to think that not long ago they had been strangers, and now she was such an integral part of his life. How could he even consider leaving her behind? The very notion sparked a deep-seated resistance within him. Yet he recognized that the decision ultimately lay with her. He wasn’t about to force his will upon her; it had to be her choice. Always hers.

He came to a sudden halt and rocked back on his boot heels. If he managed to cross over and return to his era, how much time

would have elapsed? Would Nora have presumed him dead? Held a funeral in his honor? Perhaps there was a stone somewhere with

his name etched upon it. The mere thought turned his insides upside down.

He was afraid. That was the truth and there was no point lying about it. But he also was ready—or at least resigned. This

wasn’t his time. He needed to go back. It would tear him in half to do it, but he had a place where he belonged. He had a

team and a career he was committed to. And if the worst happened and his cancer came back... he wasn’t going to hurt Lizzy,

dying slowly while she was unable to do anything to help him, and only blaming herself.

He knew what he had to do. He just was going to need all his guts to do it.

When he wandered back to the Woodlands, Jane and Georgie and Lizzy were all hugging and laughing together out in the garden.

Lizzy wiped tears from her eyes as she moved to greet him.

“No, no, stay where you are,” he said, holding up his hands. “I don’t want to interrupt your fun.”

“Nonsense, nonsense,” Georgie tutted, swatting the idea away as if it were an annoying mosquito. “You’ve passed every test

we have set for you with flying colors.”

“It’s truly delightful to see you once more, Mr. Taylor,” Jane said, inclining her head. “And I’m grateful that you’ve safely returned such a cherished individual to us! I must confess, I seem to be lacking composure today. I find myself unable to speak with any refinement, instead constantly lapsing into various exclamations. I attribute it to the overwhelming excitement of the occasion. I’m actually departing to visit my sister, Cassandra, and our dear mother at Chawton Cottage for a month. However, I’ve made a promise to Georgie to swiftly return to ensure Lizzy is settling in comfortably and not too lonesome.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that,” he said, a little bemused. Of course he didn’t want Lizzy to be some sad, solitary figure—it

was just that it was surreal as hell to imagine her living her life without him soon.

As if catching his train of thought, Lizzy stepped toward him. “I find myself quite fatigued by the journey from London,”

she said. “If it pleases you, I would appreciate an hour or two to retire and rest.”

“Of course!” Both the women were full of understanding as Tuck gave them a short nod and escorted his wife back into the house

and upstairs to their chamber.

“I wept in front of them,” Lizzy confessed, once they were alone in her room. “They bore it with kindness, yet I cannot help

but worry that I have caused them undue concern.”

“Lizzy,” he murmured, hating to see her upset. Yet, deep down, he understood that every choice moving forward would carry

its own weight, its own consequences to bear.

“They anticipated my joy, my triumphant demeanor, believing my scheming had succeeded,” she remarked with a touch of bitterness.

“It’s rather remarkable, isn’t it? How everything has aligned in my favor.”

“You had a plan and you’ve executed it,” he replied carefully.

“That I did.” She kicked off her shoes and flopped backward on the bed, stretching her arms out to him. “Come lie with me. I want us to hold each other.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” He removed his boots and crawled beside her, folding her into a hug.

She fell momentarily silent before raising her head to face him. “I daresay I have a notion of where you disappeared to.”

He kissed her forehead; her skin was cool to the touch. “That a fact?”

“You visited that dreadful pond, did you not?”

He hummed his assent deep in the back of his throat.

“You are so predictable.” She leaned up and planted a long kiss on his neck, right at the sensitive place beneath his ear.

“It’s like that, is it?” He moved quickly, pinning her underneath him. His lips brushed hers, and he flicked out his tongue

to tease the seam before pulling back.

She pouted. “Is that all?”

“Thought you wanted to rest?”

She lightly sucked her teeth. “Yes, but that was before.”

“Before, huh?” He dragged a hand over her hair, letting the silky strands slide between his fingers. “Before what, exactly?”

“Before you climbed on top of me and made me realize that I can sleep anytime, but I can’t do this with you for much longer.”

Her teasing smile sputtered. “Oh. I didn’t want to make this morose.”

“Then don’t.” He made a trail of kisses across her cheek and down her neck and he reached down to bracket his thumbs over

her hip bones under her skirts. “We get to decide how to spend our time. And I’m not planning on sitting around watching you

cry, unless it’s crying out my name.”

She arched off the mattress. “You’re wicked.”

“And you love it.” He put one hand under her skirts, getting between her legs. “And I fucking love how you are always accessible here to my hands.”

“What should I be like?”

He put his mouth against her ear, but didn’t touch. “In my time women usually wear panties, but you make it easy.”

“W-what are panties?” She gasped as he rolled his fingers over her. Wet. Slick.

He eased the tip of one into her, swirling her center. “They cover up all of this.” He cupped her. God, she was so wet for

him. He wanted to be inside her and never come out.

“Oh, drawers. All women wear them in your time? The linen itches.”

“Sometimes they’re made of silk.”

“Sounds scandalous.”

He slid his finger inside her, deep, and then another, feeling her body adjust, welcoming his gentle invasion. “I’ll tell

you what sounds scandalous. When you get this wet for me.” He pushed in and out, slow and intense.

She shivered, squeezing her eyes closed.

“Oh no, I don’t think so.” The corner of his mouth kicked up. “Look down and see what I’m doing to you.”

She licked her lips before opening one eye and then the other.

“That’s it,” he growled. “I want you to know who is taking you so good.” He unbuttoned his pants with a swift motion, hastily

tugging down the flap, freeing his cock. He stole a quick glance at her face and found himself ensnared by the longing in

her eyes. “You’re going to watch everything I’m gonna give you, right?”

She cast her gaze down between them, bending her legs and letting them fall open to the sides. “I’m watching.” Her words came

out a whimper.

A snarl tore from him. He charged down between her thighs and devoured her sweetness until she shuddered against his tongue and moaned his name. While she was still convulsing, he crawled up. She barely blinked, utterly focused on his cock as he sheathed it into her. When he reached the hilt, she gasped.

“God, you smell so good,” he grunted.

She kept her head angled to watch as he rode into her, raw but reverent. His body felt on fire. “I can’t get enough of this.

You drive me fucking wild.”

She quaked around him, her body hungry to milk him.

“Such an eager little thing. You know exactly how I like it.”

She shivered, sending surges from the base of his cock to the pit of his flexed stomach like summer lightning. The smell of

their sex hung heavy in the air.

He focused on every sensation, didn’t want to miss a moment, not when so few were left. They lit up together—kindling igniting,

before falling together, panting and spent.

“I could do that forever.” Lizzy jutted out her chin, lazily tracing a finger along his collarbone, her nail gently scratching

at his skin.

“You have amazing stamina.” He grabbed her hand and kissed the palm. “I’ve got to work to keep up with you.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Nah. I like it. You’re a challenge.”

She curled into him and whispered in his ear, “I like you so much.”

He had bigger words swirling around in his head than just “like.” His feelings for this woman were way beyond that. They were huge. But what was he supposed to say at this moment? She was here, and he was about to go to a place far, far away. Leaving was already gonna be tough without making it even more complicated.

“Jane told me about her idea,” he murmured into the top of her head. “My death story.”

“Where you will go on a forever fishing trip?” She went quiet for a moment, but when she continued, her voice was steady.

“What do you think?”

He exhaled a broken laugh. “You mean, is that the death that I’d choose?”

“I suppose, yes. Not everyone gets that, right?”

“You’ve got a point. And as to my thoughts, a fishing mishap is a little boring. What’s the implication? That I got overexcited

pulling in a sea bass and tipped my ass out? Then I couldn’t swim, so that was it? Lights out? Down to Davy Jones’s Locker?”

She gave an exasperated huff. “What else would you prefer?”

“I don’t know,” he mused, the lingering sensation still coursing through his body, the shock waves slowly fading. “Lightning?

What if I got struck by lightning? That’d make for a story, wouldn’t it?”

“It certainly would. But then there wouldn’t be a body, which poses a problem. I don’t believe lightning can make a person

disappear, can it?”

“Fair point, fair point. You’re always one step ahead of me. All right, then, if we’re aiming for a lack of a body, I suppose

Jane’s plan will have to suffice. There aren’t many options that can be believable yet avoid the need for a corpse. But even

with this, there will be some who don’t believe the story.”

“How could anyone ever predict the truth? It is impossible.”

“I agree. They’ll never predict what really happened. But after seeing your family, it seems reasonable that some folks might be unkind... Gossip and say I ran off back to America. I guarantee at least one rumor will be that I was already married.”

“It may tarnish my reputation, but it shan’t be enough to ruin me. Mamma will undoubtedly require her smelling salts, and

Mr.Alby will fume. Henry will feign disappointment, yet secretly he will be relieved, as it means he will once again be the

sole heir and progenitor of future Wooddashes.”

“You could...” He cleared his throat and gave name to a terrible idea that had occurred to him a few days earlier. “You

could marry again. You’d have every right.”

“Oh heavens, no. Why would I ever do that?”

“Love.” He spoke the word; at least it was safe in the abstract.

“No, Tucker Taylor.” She burrowed into his chest with a sleepy sigh. “I’m afraid you’ll be the only man I’m ever willing to

have as a husband.”

He rubbed her back gently as she drifted into a midafternoon nap. A twinge of jealousy crept into his heart, whispering that

he should feel content; after all, he shouldn’t desire to share her with anyone else. And yet he found himself wanting her

to experience a life brimming with passion and love on her own terms.

The next two days passed in a blur. When they weren’t sneaking up to the bedchamber while Georgie and Jane pretended not to

notice, they spent time together as a quartet, enjoying cakes, engaging in gossip (or rather, he listened to Jane, Georgie,

and Lizzy gossip while he chuckled), playing parlor games, or enjoying Jane’s readings from her book, First Impressions .

“No, no, no. That’s still not the right title at all,” Georgie asserted matter-of-factly. “ Sense and Sensibility is memorable. You need something similar. Something that will capture the public’s imagination.”

“I’m not disputing your point,” Jane replied, taking a small sip of tea, her brow furrowed. “I simply haven’t come up with anything better. Tuck, what are your thoughts?”

He sat up abruptly. “Me?”

“I don’t believe there’s another Tuck in our company,” she retorted with a hint of amusement.

“All right, all right. Let’s see. You have this Elizabeth Bennet, a spirited and intelligent woman. While at first she can’t

stand Mr.Darcy, their misunderstandings gradually give way to love. What kept them apart?”

“Her pride after he hurt her feelings at a ball. And his prejudice to her social position and her family.”

“Why not just call it that? Pride and Prejudice ?” he asked with a shrug.

Jane dropped her teaspoon into her cup. The metal rattled the porcelain, exacerbating the silence. “What did you just say?”

“I mean, I’m not a writer.” He held up his hands. “If it’s stupid, just ignore me and move on.”

“It’s not stupid,” Lizzy said carefully.

“It’s rather clever,” Georgie chimed in. “I believe I like it quite a lot.”

Jane set down her cup. “ Pride and Prejudice . Why, I love it.” She turned to Tuck, eyes shining. “You just named my book!”

“I did?” He wondered if she’d really use the name. He’d have to ask Nora if he got back if she had ever heard of that one.

Not if . He mentally shook his head. When. This plan was going to work. All of Lizzy’s talk about plague had him a little on edge. The whole “bring out your dead” period

of human history was not a time with which he needed to get up close and personal.

He was smashed out of the dark thought by a body barreling into him. It took him a second to reorient and realize it was Jane,

who’d thrown herself at him in a fierce hug.

“Whoa, now,” he said, half jokingly and half to keep from tipping off the sofa and ending up tangled together with her in a heap on the floor.

“I should apologize for such a frightful lack of good manners,” she said, releasing him and stepping back, cheeks flushed

and eyes bright. “But you really have done me a great service today.”

“If I can be honest, you did all the work,” he said. “Me? I just listened.”

“Well, thank you, anyway.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. “I suspected you were one of the good ones.”

“I seem to recall you threatening to bury me in an unmarked grave if I didn’t treat Lizzy honorably.”

“Pardon?” Lizzy gasped. “Jane! You didn’t.”

“And we’d do that again,” Georgie retorted. “But I’m happy to say, Mr.Taylor—Tuck—you are part of the family now.”

Lizzy jumped as the clock chimed another hour. She didn’t look in his direction, but he knew what she was thinking. Every

hour was the last hour for them. A last meal together. A last lovemaking—fast and urgent as if they could tattoo their memory

onto the other.

It was quiet when they left the house. Georgie and Jane didn’t emerge to say another good night. “They know I want this time

to myself,” she said simply.

And while he enjoyed the company of the other two women, he was glad of it. He didn’t want any goodbyes or fuss. Saying it

once would be enough. They walked through the forest hand in hand as the full moon sat high in the sky and flooded the darkness

with its pale blue light.

“I never imagined when we walked through here that first day everything that would happen,” he said.

“What were your initial impressions of the entire affair?” she asked.

“You mean my First Impressions ?”

That earned him a groan.

“I didn’t have as much of a feeling of disbelief as I should,” he continued. “It’s weird that I wasn’t really pinching myself,

wondering if it was all some crazy dream. But for some reason, deep down, I just knew it was all real. It didn’t add up, and

I had no clue how to explain it, but I was certain. And honestly, I think you’re the one to thank for that.”

“Me?” She laughed in earnest. “How did I manage such a feat?”

“Just by being you, I guess.” He lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing the inside of her wrist. “You are one of the realest

people I’ve ever met in my life. If you were here, then that made this place and everything that happened to me seem believable,

or at least plausible.”

“I don’t know what I did to warrant such a compliment, but for now I’ll thank you.”

“What about you? What did you imagine was going to happen?” he asked.

“I—I recall feeling quite anxious, fearing someone would stumble upon us and notice your shoes. They’re far too unconventional,

too out of place for this era. I couldn’t shake the thought... if someone catches sight of those shoes, there will be quite

the uproar.”

“What happened to my shoes anyway? They disappeared after we got to the house. Along with my clothing.”

“That was my doing,” she said matter-of-factly. “I couldn’t risk anyone finding anything.”

He groaned. “Don’t tell me you buried them?”

“Of course not, don’t be ridiculous.” She sniffed. “I stuffed everything into the privy by the barn.”

He pulled up short. “You put my Regals jersey into a toilet?”

“What’s a jersey?”

“My hockey shirt. It had our logo—my lucky number... and my name.”

“Oh, that. I do remember it. The material was too strange. If anyone stumbled on it, there would be questions for months,

if not years. I couldn’t risk it. It would draw too much attention.”

He understood the logic but still gave her a look of mock horror. “How can you be a Regals wife if my jersey is stuck in shit?

You’re supposed to want to borrow it because I am the shit.”

“I won’t apologize for not fully understanding what you are saying,” she said crisply. “I stand by what I did to protect you

and I’d do it all over again.”

“I just wish I could’ve seen you wear my jersey one time. Nothing else.” He squeezed her hand as they resumed walking. “Just

the jersey.”

“This seems like a very primitive sensibility, like wanting me to wear the fur of an animal you’ve hunted.”

“Maybe it is, in a roundabout way.”

A light fog drifted between the trunks of the trees. It wasn’t dense enough to obscure the moonlight, but its presence lent

the forest an eerie, ethereal quality. The rustling of nocturnal creatures fleeing added to the atmosphere of secrecy and

danger.

Their conversation dwindled to a hush, and they clung to each other’s hand with increasing intensity. As they ventured further,

the trees began to thin, eventually yielding to the expanse of the meadow.

Tuck’s heart quickened as he noticed Lizzy’s sharp intake of breath at the sight of the pond. Her hand trembled in his.

“You okay?”

“No. You?”

“Not at all.” He stopped and faced her. “We don’t have to do this.”

She shook her head. “We do. You cannot remain here. It is not prudent. Should your illness resurface and there be no means

to procure the assistance you require, the burden of guilt would destroy me. Moreover, there is your sister to consider. As

you’ve mentioned, you are essentially her sole family. And then there is your hockey, a pursuit I must confess I still do

not comprehend, but I am aware of its significance to you.”

His throat was so tight it felt like he was choking. “I’m not going to ask you to come.”

“Please...” Her voice hitched. “Don’t.”

“I know this is your home. You have your friends. Your life. Your dreams. I’m not going to ask you to leave everything and

everyone you’ve ever known.”

“This feels like a test.” Her eyes shone with tears. “It’s as if I’ve received this gift that I’ve always wanted, and here

I am ready to open it. I still want it—I do—I want it with all my heart. Except I want another gift too. Us. And so now I’m

just greedy.”

“No.” He pulled her to him, hugging her tight. “Don’t talk like that about yourself.”

“I want to live so many versions of my life. But I can only have one. And I need to choose me. This is my world. And you have

given me a true gift. My freedom.”

“You’ve given it to yourself,” he murmured into the top of her head. “I’m just the guy who has to disappear.”

“You are...” Her voice trembled as she trailed off, wiping her eyes. “You are the first person who has ever seen me, all of my parts, the good and bad, and didn’t turn away or ask me to be someone else. You have taught me what it truly means to open one’s heart to another. It’s a lesson I never fully grasped until now. Even though you are bound for a place so distant, where I will cease to exist, I know there will always be a part of you within me. And I dearly hope that I will remain with you as well.”

“Lizzy.”

“Go now.” She folded her arms as if holding herself together. “Please. Let us not prolong farewells. It’s time.”

“Fuck time.” He stepped forward and lifted her chin, searching her face. “I’m never going to forget you.” He kissed her softly,

trying to commit her taste to memory.

“Please.” She put her hands on his chest and gave a small push. “Please.”

He knew she was asking him to go. But also, there was so much else. So many things that they hadn’t said. So many things that

they hadn’t done.

“My time with you has been unforgettable,” he said.

“And now it’s over.” She forced a laugh. “But we did have fun.”

He glanced at the pond. “Are you going to watch me go?”

“I hadn’t been sure, but yes. I need to. I was here when you arrived. I will be here to see you out.”

“Promise me something?”

She cocked her head. “It depends on the request.”

“Please finish your book, I mean it, really prove it to yourself. I know Jane Austen is going to be hot shit someday, and

good for her, but why not you too? I want to go to some bookstore and find your words there, printed on a page.”

“I will try my best.”

“Try?”

“Oh, fine.” She stamped a foot. “I’ll bloody well do it, and you shall be able to buy that bloody book, put it on your pillow,

and I’ll haunt your dreams for the rest of your life. Happy? Is that the promise you want?”

“That, Pocket Rocket, is exactly the promise I wanted. I want you haunting my dreams every night—becoming my own personal

sleep paralysis demon.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“But you know you are going to write a book. And I’ll read every word.”

“Very well.” She pushed back her shoulders. “Goodbye, Tucker Taylor. I’m very glad we have met and married. Also, my middle

name? It’s Hortense.”

His brows lifted. “You’re joking. Is that even a real name?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I told you it was horrid.”

“On you? It’s lovely. Goodbye, Elizabeth Hortense Wooddash. I’m very glad to have met you, married you, and I hope you have

the best widowhood in all of England.”

He took a step into the water. The frogs stopped croaking. The temperature was cool, but not as cold as he had imagined. He

took a step and another and another. Nothing happened. Nothing looked different. His heart pounded. Maybe it was all a fluke.

Maybe he’d be walking home with Lizzy tonight. Did he want that?

There, just beyond his position, a light emerged from the water. It took him a moment to grasp that it wasn’t a figment of his imagination; it was real. He turned back and saw Lizzy on the hill, her hand covering her mouth. She looked smaller, fragile somehow. He hadn’t even told her the most important truth of all. He’d been afraid it would hurt her. That it would hurt him. But that was cowardly. He knew he had to do it. They’d begun with honesty. They needed to end there too.

“Lizzy. I—”

But he was gone. The night sky vanished. He fought to keep his eyes open, but the pressure was too great. A sickening sensation

bore down, his internal compass gone. There was no left or right or up or down. East turned west. North became south.

And then silence. The scent of antiseptic assaulted his nostrils. A rhythmic beeping was in the background.

He tried to open his eyes but they were so heavy. He gritted his teeth and put everything he had into it, and... there.

Fluorescent light. He wasn’t in a pond. But he wasn’t in some medieval plague village either. He was in a hospital bed, and

that beeping? It was a heart monitor. He glanced over and there was Nora, in a chair, reading by the window.

“Nor?” His voice was so weak. Why was his mouth so dry?

But it was enough. She heard him. The book tipped from her hands as she stumbled to her feet. “Tucker? Tuck! Oh my God, you’re

awake.”

“Hey, sis.” He forced a grin. “I’m back.”