Passion Over Time (30 page)

When he planted a soft kiss on her ear, the smile she felt against her cheek turned to a stifled oath at the hard pinch she gave his stomach.

* * *

Victoria glanced heavenward. Hanging low in the afternoon sky, the Highland clouds dropped a light mist. The best part of the day had been waking to find the strangers absent. Their presence had been unnerving, and the safety of the two men she had slept between held more comfort than she liked to admit. Victoria hazarded a glance at Iain MacPherson, who rode a few feet ahead. How safe was she? A shiver ran down her spine. Dangerous. Too much like another man she’d once known.

Iain looked over his shoulder at her, and Victoria dropped her gaze. She pulled the tartan tighter around her shoulders. The MacPherson lord couldn’t have read in her eyes what even her husband Richard hadn’t guessed. There had been another man. Had Richard discovered the truth, the fact that the man was his brother wouldn’t have stopped him from running a sword through Edwin’s belly. Though Edwin would have been the victor—as he would have been in her life, had she not stopped him. Richard’s possessions weren’t all Edwin had expected to inherit when Richard died. She doubted Edwin had recovered from finding the one possession he hadn’t yet fully claimed gone. She wondered which would be worse: staying locked in a Scottish castle the rest of her days, or the prison her brother-in-law would erect around her.

“Halt,” Iain command.

Victoria jerked from her thoughts. He dismounted and strode toward her. She didn’t resist when he lifted her from the saddle. She scanned the tiny clearing for the rushing water that echoed in faint murmurs.

“I hear water.”

He motioned westward. “Inlets from Loch Ericht run throughout the land.”

“I need to bathe.”

“As you wish,” he said. “But do not dally. It will be dark soon.”

Victoria turned. Another night and day farther from Montrose Abbey.

AVAILABLE AT YOUR FAVORITE DISTRIBUTOR

About the Author

Award winning author Tarah Scott cut her teeth on authors such as Georgette Heyer, Zane Grey, and Amanda Quick. Her favorite book is a Tale of Two Cities, with Gone With the Wind as a close second. She writes modern classical romance, and paranormal and romantic suspense. Tarah grew up in Texas and currently resides in Westchester County, New York with her daughter.

Website:

http://www.tarahscott.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/TarahScottsRomanceNovels

Twitter:

@TarahScott

Blog:

http://tarahscott.tarahscott.com/

Also by Tarah Scott:

Lord Keeper

The Pendulum: Legacy of the Celtic Brooch

When a Rose Blooms

Seduced

An Improper Wife

Untamed Heat

Double Bang!

Born Into Fire

MacLean Highlander Novels

To Tame a Highland Earl

Highland Lords Series

My Highland Love

My Highland Lord

COMING SOON

The Highlander’s Courtesan

Death Comes for a Knight

My Highland Chief

Award Winning Titles:

Lord Keeper

Golden Rose Best Historical of 2011

First place in the 2004 RWA CoLoNY Happy Endings contest

Third place in the Greater Seattle Chapter RWA's 2003 Emerald City

My Highland Love

Indie Romance Convention Readers Choice Award 2013

KyAnn Waters

Long ago on the shore of the Sea of the Arabah five brothers were born...all immortal. To defend their destiny they must protect their eternal love.

Selene Farrell isn't herself...or is she? Since arriving at Anthony Mager's remote castle to appraise ancient emeralds she's been thrown back and forth in an erotic history lesson. In each memory the man of the castle kisses, touches and passion intensify her connection to him. She can't take another orgasm--real or imagined.

However, she's also remembers her death. How is that possible? And will discovering the truth once again put her life in danger?

Chapter One

Long ago on the shore of the Sea of the Arabah five brothers were born…all immortal. To defend their destiny they must protect their eternal love.

“I’ve never seen such exquisite examples of emeralds from the Ptolemy Dynasty.” Selene Ferrell adjusted her glasses. “You have an impressive collection.”

Anthony Mager leaned against the wall of his office, cloaked in shadow, and quietly watched. The still air around him pulsed with anticipation. The woman had her dark hair pulled into a conservative knot at the nape of her neck. And if she was whom he believed her to be, there was a highly sexual woman simmering beneath her reserved outward appearance.

She hummed a soft tune and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

Anthony relished the sight of her trim hips and rounded backside. She had a small waist and narrow shoulders. The faint scent of her perfume drifted on the air—he closed his eyes long enough to deeply inhale—he could also detect the essence of her feminine musk. His heart pounded. “I’m glad you’re impressed.”

She leaned forward for a closer look at the stones displayed on black velvet on the desk. “Well, yes, when I received your letter I couldn’t resist your invitation to this castle.” She glanced around the dark-paneled room, masculine elegance with leather furniture and lived-in comfort. “And the chance to examine Cleopatra’s emeralds,” she grinned, “was simply too tempting. I should tell you that I hadn’t really believed they were genuine.”

“I assure you, the pieces did belong to Cleopatra.”

“Were they part of the 1817 find in northern Etbai?”

The answer to her question was no, but she wasn’t ready to hear the reason why these emeralds had never been documented. If all went as planned, within a few hours she wouldn’t need his explanation. She would remember.

He didn’t need the appraisal. The emerald pieces were genuine artifacts from Cleopatra VII’s Emerald Mines. Commissioning Selene to appraise the emeralds had been an easy guise to lure her to the castle. His heart rate jumped. Even now, watching her at his desk, he could scarcely believe his soul mate at last sat before him. As he’d followed her through eternity, weaving in and out of many shared lifetimes, she had been the only salvation in his immortal life. And now she was here, in his castle for the weekend…for another lifetime.

Selene selected a ring with an oval stone in the center. She twisted it in the light, scratched some findings on a sheet of paper, then numbered and photographed the piece with her compact digital camera. None of her efforts were necessary because Anthony would never part with the stones regardless of their value.

Selene set her camera to the side and picked up the long tubular artifact. “This is beautiful.” The piece was ten inches in length and had a nearly three-inch diameter. A rounded, natural emerald capped the top. The stones along the sides were polished until smooth, yet the emeralds shone with a brilliant green in the sunlight streaming through the window. “I believe the base is made from bone.”

“Yes,” he replied. The piece she held in her hand was one he had given to Cleopatra on a warm spring night. The memory returned in vivid detail.

He lived as Mark Antony then, and had found his eternal love in Cleopatra VII.

He stood over her, motionless, understanding the silent command of her gaze sliding up his body. His cock pulsed in response, and a hint of approval tilted the corner of her mouth upward. She threw an arm over her head and stretched, cat-like against the bedding, spreading her legs enough to invite, yet keeping her deepest secret hidden. He raked his gaze along every curve of the lithe, naked body until he could stand it no longer.

Antony stretched out on his side next to her, devouring every delectable curve. He caressed the soft flesh of her arm, tickled the inside of her wrist with his thumb, until finally pressing their palms together. When he brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed them, she sighed. Slipping her fingers into this mouth, he sucked them one by one while staring into her smoldering eyes. Pleasure tilted Cleopatra’s lips into a promising smile. His breath quickened.

Antony nibbled along the inside of her arm, then gently sucked on the smooth skin of her shoulder and the swell of her breasts. Her heavy globes filled his hands. Craving a taste of her raspberry-hued, taut nipple, he opened his mouth over the crested peak.

Cleopatra moaned and arched. Mark sucked more of her creamy flesh into his hot mouth before trailing wet kisses down the soft, smooth skin of her rounded belly. She opened her thighs for him. “Taste me.” She reached down and slid her fingers into the damp curls, parting her luscious nether lips. Erect and dark pink, her clit strained for his attention. He breathed in her musk before tasting, savoring her flavor.

His queen’s gasps of pleasure as he tongued her sweetness, drinking the nectar of her arousal, brought his cock to agonizing hardness.

“More,” she pleaded and pushed his head deeper between her legs.

Mark reached for the emerald-encrusted dildo lying beside her and rubbed it against her. Juices made the gold inlay sparkle and brought out the luster in the green stones adorning the sides. A large emerald created the crown of the phallus. He eased the smooth head into her. Coated with her cream, he slid it a fraction deeper and she whimpered.

Cleopatra pinched and rolled her nipples between thumbs and fingers. When he filled her full of the bone and jeweled phallus she bucked and arched. She released her nipples and clawed at his arms until she screamed. Her head thrashed on the soft bedding. Hot fluids coated the dildo that he’d had made just for her. “Mark,” she pleaded in desperation. Her chest rose and fell. Sweat glistened on her skin.

“Come for me,” he whispered, and pulled the emerald back an inch, then twisted it in again. She strained against the stone. He brought the dildo out, then in and out until she writhed with each thrust. When she ground herself against the stone, he leaned forward, took a nipple in his mouth and sucked. She screamed in climax. He sucked harder and she arched against the emerald, her breath coming in hard gasps, then climaxed again, and collapsed back against the bedding.

The tool slipped from her body into his waiting hand. “Do you know how much I adore the taste of you?” He licked a trickle of her cream from the dildo.

She gave a soft chuckle. “It’s a good thing since it pleases me to have your face between my legs.”

“But not as much as you love to be fucked?”

“True.” She tossed her arms above her head. “But what if I said I’m perfectly satisfied already?”

“I’d say you have never been satisfied. You, my love, could fuck for days. Now get to your hands and knees.”

“Will you spank me if I’m disobedient?”

“Later. First I’m going to sate my appetite as much as yours.”

She rose onto hands and knees then glanced over her shoulder at him.

Mark held her gaze as he dipped his fingers into her, coaxing her honey to flow. “Ah, still so wet for me.” He easily plunged his cock into her slick channel. Hot walls enclosed him and he basked in sheer bliss. Fierce need drove him to possess every part of her. He pounded into her welcoming body with powerful strokes. Then, knowing Cleopatra’s needs, he pulled from her and replaced his cock with the dildo. Her internal walls gripped and held it inside.

He spread her cheeks and licked her tight little rosette. With the dildo stuffing her channel and his tongue playing in her ass, she couldn’t stop wiggling.

“Damn you, fuck me.”

Pushing his thumb into her anus, wet from his mouth, he stretched her open. She flinched from the momentary sting that comes from anal play then backed into his hand, wanting more.

“I’m ready,” she said breathless.

Taking his shaft in his hand, he fit the crown to her small, puckered hole. His muscles bunched as he controlled the glide of his cock into her sweet ass. Once the bulbous head pushed past the tight rim, her muscles relaxed. The speed of his thrust built slowly to keep the dildo in place.

Cleopatra arched. Mark gripped one hip to steady himself and reached between them with his free hand and grabbed the end of the dildo. As he plunged into her ass, he pushed the tool deeper.

Cleopatra cried out. Her body convulsed. Violent spasms rocked her as she careened into orgasm. Pressure tightened around his shaft. As he continued to pound into her body, he exploded. Jets of hot come spurt from his shaft. While buried in her ass, he could feel the hard contours of the bone and jeweled phallus still lodged in her passage.

“This is so unusual and unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Selene said.

Anthony jarred from the memory. He ground his teeth at the pressure that had built behind the fly of his jeans. He shifted his stance to give room to his rigid erection. The change of position helped, but the woman before him blended with the memories of his eternal love.

Too many years had passed since he’d seen her. Three hundred and four to be precise. However, a thousand years could have passed and he’d still remember the feel of her writhing beneath him. A day was too long. And now his hunger for her had left a constant, piercing ache in his gut.

“It’s very unusual in shape.” Selene held the long artifact to the light and traced the inlaid gold with her fingertip. “It doesn’t fit with the other pieces. In my opinion, it’s not from the same collection. The unique scrolling—” She fumbled the piece as if suddenly singed, nearly dropping it on the black velvet.

Anthony straightened. Had she realized what she caressed?

“Oh, I…um,” she gave a nervous laugh. “I may need more time to determine the value of this piece.”

Anthony stepped from the shadows, and Selene sucked in her breath. He wrested the piece from her and ran his thumb over the emerald crown. “The inlay is flawless.” He grasped her finger and traced the golden scrolls along the sides. “Feel how smooth, but with enough definition to produce ribbing.” Her eyes widened. He breathed deeply, his stare never wavering from hers.

The pleasing essence of the mouth-watering wetness between her legs tightened his jaw. Her cheeks were flushed and fluttering beats of her heart were visible in the delicate skin of her neck. She was aroused by him. More proof that Selene was once his queen. Unlocking her memories would bring forth the woman he’d loved for five millennia. In all their lifetimes together this was the longest they’d been separated.

Selene pulled her hand free and grabbed another stone. “Let’s move on.” Her voice broke. She cast a sideways glance before clearing her throat and pointing to the next stone. “Look at the intricate carving of this particular emerald.” Picking up her pencil, she pointed to the fine details of the grooves etched into the stone with the point. “This is astonishing. You can see Cleopatra had her image carved into the stone. It is believed these were gifts to visiting dignitaries.”

She was right. But it was the unfamiliar piece he wanted to discuss. Studying the artifact aroused her. Sexual energy brought awareness of their lives together. Although their connection transcended time, it was the physical connection of their joined bodies that strengthened their eternal bond.

They had lived in the Nile river valley for a thousand years, then traveled across continents, and since the Crusades, they had called England home. She was always born where she died, only the physical body and attributes changed. Her heart, soul, all he loved about her remained the same.

Selene studied the stone. “Emeralds adorn many mummies from the Middle and New Kingdoms. But it is these from 51 to 30 B.C. that are the most prized. You have an extensive collection, Mr. Mager. In fact, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a vast amount and the quality is extraordinary. The few pieces known in existence are documented and in museums.” She raised an inquiring brow.

“Remember our contract. No one is to know of my collection.”

She stiffened, thrust out her pointed chin, and looked up at him with her petite nose proudly in the air. “I’ve been paid a commission. I have no plans to renege on our agreement.”

She wouldn’t have to. If he was right, by tomorrow she wouldn’t be able to leave him.

Selene willed her rampantly beating heart to still. How was she supposed to determine the value of some jeweled replica of a penis? She couldn’t concentrate when the space between her and this mysterious man was rife with sexual tension. She needed to be able to focus on details.

Since receiving the email and subsequent letter from Anthony Mager, her interest had piqued in unnatural proportions. Egyptian artifacts had always fascinated her and then there was her affinity with Cleopatra. The Emerald Mines in Upper Egypt were synonymous with the queen.

This wasn’t Egypt, but Britain. And she didn’t normally go to castles in the hills of North Wales. At least not alone. The temptation had proven too great. So here she was appraising an ancient emerald
sex toy.

What she hadn’t expected was the attractive, virile man hovering in the corner. He was off par from the men who usually drew her attention. He wasn’t studious, with an air of superiority. Perhaps Mr. Mager had a bit of the arrogance, but he wore it as confidence. At any rate, Selene didn’t date the most dashing men. Good-looking men tended to make her nervous. Pompous she could deal with. Mysterious, formidable men who radiated sexual energy didn’t look twice at her, so she’d adapted her needs to what was available. In the exciting world of antique appraisals the men she knew were either too old to have fun or were homosexuals. That Anthony Mager gazed at her with hunger in his eyes baffled her.