Passion Over Time (34 page)

Embers of remembered lifetimes burst into flames of need. Anthony traced her spine to the curve of her ass, ran his hand over the cleft of her cheeks, and reached between her thighs to her hot, soaked folds. He closed his eyes and slipped his middle finger deep into her channel until his palm was flush against her.

“Wet and ready to make love.”

She moaned and arched her back. “I see you haven’t forgotten your technique.”

“I haven’t forgotten anything.”

“Neither have I, my love, neither have I.”

Chapter Three

  Selene paced the cold stone floor, chewing her fingernail to the quick. She had to think and think fast. All of her memories had returned…including her near death at sea. In a quandary as to what to do about that dark night, she considered two options. Deal with the circumstances on her own, or bring Anthony into a situation that would tear his soul apart.

She turned and watched him sleep. Time didn’t age his appearance, nor did it alter how she loved him.

Crisp air blew through the open window. Outside, dawn turned the early morning skies a pale gray. Seagulls hovered above the incoming tide. The birds glided effortless and free…just as she wanted her life with Anthony to be. But that couldn’t happen until she was assured they were safe. And this war was one that she couldn’t let Anthony fight. His immortal soul would die…whether he survived the battle or not.

Anthony groaned and stretched. His arm reached out in sleep searching for her, just as she was sure it had for the past centuries. Selene crossed the room, slid back onto the mattress, and curled into him, drinking in his spicy warm scent.

“Hmmm.” He pulled her close and buried his nose in her neck. “Morning.”

She combed his hair with her fingers, gently dragging what was left of her nails across his scalp. Telling a man, “we need to talk,” probably wasn’t the best way to start the day, but… “Anthony, we need to talk.”

“Mmm hmm.” His sleepy mumbles didn’t convince her he wanted to talk. Instead his hands sought her beneath the blanket. “A perfect morning.” His finger skimmed across the seam of her sex, then dipped into her heat.

Anthony held tightly and rolled her onto his chest. She slid against his growing arousal, working the hardening length between her slick folds.

“Take me in your hands.”

Selene sat up, leveraged on her knees and wrapped her palm around his shaft. She stroked him, sliding the taut skin over his turgid length.

“Please.” He thrust into her hand. “Take me inside.” Anthony closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose.

Selene smeared her juices over the crown of his penis. Sinking and then lifting up, she slowly stretched her internal walls to accept his voracious morning erection. He was harder, bigger, and poised to take her to the edge of euphoria. Moaning in bliss, she impaled herself. Anthony’s fingers dug into her hips, anchoring her. With a long thrust, he pressed his rod deep, and impacted the very top of her channel.

Selene’s hands braced against his hard pectoral muscles. Then she rocked her hips. Moving faster, digging in, she rubbed her clit against his springy dark pubic hair. Momentum moved them in a continuous ebb and flow.

Ragged gasps of air burst from her lungs. Burning, needing, reaching for that pleasurable destination that would send them both to delicious ecstasy. Anthony slid his hands around to the well-rounded cheeks of her ass and helped to lift and lower her in frenzied pursuit of euphoric release.

Numbing intoxication flooded her mind. Stars erupted behind her closed eyes. Internal vaginal muscles milked Anthony’s cock. Selene felt glorious riding him. Energy surged through her veins. She threw her head back and laughed. He was incredible, bringing her back to life.

Anthony’s balls tightened and a primal, keening cry filled the room. Within her she could feel violent spasms of his orgasm and the hot eruption deep inside.

Spent and breathing hard, she collapsed onto his chest. Tears burned behind her eyes. “I want to spend eternity making love with you.”

His fingers tunneled into her hair and caressed the nape of her neck. “This time you will.”

Anthony slipped from her body when she rolled to her side. He stretched and groaned before sitting up. “Breakfast.” He kissed the tip of her breast then left the bed. “Get dressed and we’ll go eat.” He grabbed his jeans and stepped into them.

“I want to talk first.” She sat up and tucked the blanket around her torso.

“Sure.” Anthony sat on the edge of the bed. Concern reflected in his dark eyes.

She smiled and took his hand. “Nothing to worry about.”
Yet
. “Actually, I have a favor to ask.”

“Anything. You know that.”

“I’d like you to keep my identity a secret for just a little while.”

The worried look returned to his eyes.

“The last time you found me, you stormed into my father’s keep, tossed me over your shoulder, and carted me off. Leaving my life in London won’t be as easy. I have obligations, a career, my flat, friends, and debts.”

An easy smile tilted his lips. “Then we go to London. My only obligation is to you. Money has never been an issue. Tell my how much you need, and where to send it, and I’ll have Bassam transfer the funds to you.”

“No.”

“The money is ours—”

“No, as in I don’t want Bassam to handle the transfer.”

Anthony stood and paced across the room. Then he turned and met her stare. His eyes narrowed. “Why?”

He was too inquisitive and much too intuitive. “I don’t want Bassam to know that I’ve regained my memory, and I don’t want him to know where I live in London. Please, you’ll have to trust me.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

How could she tell him that she feared for both of them? She remembered that night on the beach, when her eternal life nearly ended. She bowed her head. Until she talked to Bassam and determined the truth for herself, she couldn’t—dared not say anything to Anthony.

“Vitus,” she whispered knowing that using his given name would add impact to her request. “Please, I’m asking for a few days to mesh the life I’ve been living for twenty-seven years with the ones I’ve lived with you for five thousand.”

After a moment, he nodded.

She crossed the room and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Ready for breakfast?”

He grinned then kissed her forehead. “I’m starving.”

“Me too.”

Anthony took pleasure in watching Selene quickly dress. Gone was the prudish woman who’d walked through the castle doors yesterday. Selene’s hair hung in sexy disarray, her red lips were slightly swollen from his bruising kisses throughout the night, and her skin held a healthy glow from multiple orgasms.

“Why are you smiling?” She combed her hair with her fingers.

“Because you’re a ravishing woman. We won’t have to say anything. Bassam is going to know you’ve changed.”

She shrugged. “I just want a little time.”

He didn’t know exactly what, but she was hiding something. A grin stretched his lips. He’d find out because she couldn’t keep secrets…not from him.

The furrow in her brow softened and she forced a smile. “Yesterday, I couldn’t find my way out of a paper bag, but today the castle is familiar as my home in London.”

Arm in arm they made their way to the great hall.

“So tell me everything I’ve missed. Your brothers, well besides Bassam, how are they?”

Anthony chuckled. “I would say someday Andreas will grow up and settle down, but how many millennia should it take?” Andreas had a perverse pleasure of using his immortality for entertainment. Death-defying occupations for mortals were sport for Andreas. He considered himself something of a scholar of the human condition, claiming his purpose on the planet now was to discover the meaning of life. Anthony had hoped someday Andreas would grow up and figure out how he could best serve the world with his gift, but that day had yet to arrive.

“I suppose in all people there are qualities we wish we could change.”

His arms wrapped around her shoulder. “You, my love, are perfection.”

She laughed with an unladylike snort. “I’ll be sure to remind you of that the next time we have an argument. Speaking of arguments, what about Justus and Kyros?”

“They’ll be happy to know you’ve returned.”

Selene answered with a chuckle and Anthony knew she was remembering the four others born that dark night. Justus and Kyros were identical twins. They once had an argument that lasted a thousand years.

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll be thrilled. They loved my meddling.”

“You won’t have time or energy for meddling…only for me. I’ve missed you too much to let you out of my sight.”

They entered the empty great hall. Their footfalls echoed hollow off the walls in the vacant room.

“Breakfast will just be the two of us.”

She leaned in closer. “I like the sound of that. Yesterday I had a deliciously wicked memory of one particular meal at this very table.”

Anthony whistled low and squeezed her ass.

She wrinkled her nose. “One thing is certain, the place smells much better in modern times than it did with animals running around.”

“I’ll show you animal.” Anthony pulled her tight. Selene squealed and twined her arms around his neck. Laughter drifted on the air.

“Good morning.”

Selene stumbled at Bassam’s voice behind them.

“Hope you’re hungry because I’ve made breakfast.”

Selene untangled herself from Anthony’s hold and crossed to the sideboard. “I’ll just have coffee, then I’ll get back to the appraisals.” She filled a cup, trying to keep her trembling hands still. Anger, fear, remorse swirled together in a vortex of tempestuous emotions because she knew once she acted on the revelation of that last night three hundred years ago, life for her and Anthony would change. Panic seized her heart and squeezed. She turned to Anthony.
He’ll be devastated.

She picked up the cream and then changed her mind. Perhaps she shouldn’t drink the coffee either. Bassam couldn’t be trusted. “My tummy is a bit upset. Perhaps I’ll wait a spell then have something.” She hoped Bassam saw the prim and proper woman from yesterday and not the madly in love woman she’d become in Anthony’s arms.

Anthony approached her and touched her cheek. “You were fine a moment ago. What’s going on, Selene?”

She blinked rapidly to keep tears from her eyes. “Remember your promise.” After setting her cup on the sideboard, she fled the room hoping Anthony or, worse, Bassam didn’t follow.

A shudder racked her body. No one was in the corridor to question her perceived erratic behavior. Selene hurried to the library on shaky legs.

Sweat beaded on her brow and trickled between her breasts. The cold room chilled her heated skin. She stood at the open window and let the salty ocean breeze dry her skin and calm her nerves. Amazing the one element that could end her existence also offered her solitude and peace. She breathed deeply through her nose.

“Selene, can we speak?”

Hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Should she claim ignorance or had the time finally come for the confrontation? Selene slowly pivoted around to face her nemesis. Bassam stood in the doorway like a specter of death. His eyes narrowed, then widened as he surmised the truth.

“Yes,” was all she said.

“I suspected.”

She sauntered to the desk, feigning unconcerned. Her indifference was a ruse to lower Bassam’s defenses because she still didn’t know exactly how she would defuse the volatile situation. Inside she trembled. “Do you want to kill me, Bassam?”

He entered the room. “Selene! Why would you say such a thing?”

A beguiling smile tilted her lips. “Because, dear Bassam, you see me as the bane of your existence.” She sat behind the desk. “Last night, while lying in your brother’s arms, I remembered everything. Three hundred years melted away.” She tilted her head and studied Bassam’s stoic expression. He was trying not to let his emotions show. He failed. Fear filled his eyes. Sweat glistened on his scalp.

“Does it feel like three hundred years for you, Bassam?” She let the statement hang in the air between them, gathering significance. “Or does it seem like yesterday that my pale, lifeless body washed ashore.” Her voice dropped to a mere whisper.

“Cara?”

Selene leaned back in the chair and steeled her nerves. She refused to show weakness. “You poisoned me with the bittersweet nectar of Dwale. Last night, when I was with Vitus on the grounds, I remembered the night you took me out to sea.” She ran her finger over the desk. “You pitched me overboard.”

Bassam shook his head. “Your memories are distorted.”

“Liar!” Her palms slapped the desk. Rage boiled in her being.

Bassam jumped.

“I couldn’t move to stop you.” She stood. Tears burned her eyes. “I fought the water. I knew I had to get to shore. I tried to swim, tried to fight the cold.” She sharpened her gaze and stared into his eyes. “Well, I fought the cold, swam for my life…swam for Vitus.”

His eyes darkened. “You should’ve died. The sea was angry, a storm had moved in. I don’t know how you survived.” He crossed his arms, stretching the tunic he wore tight to his mammoth biceps.

“Why?”

“Andreas chooses not to have a mate, preferring solitude. Kyros and Justus are reclusive and only need each other. I have nothing. Vitus is all I have and when you’re around he lives for you.”

“You’re brothers, not lovers! He can have both.”

“No. He was fucking you in the great hall! On the battlefield he called your name while he slaughtered armies. He lives for you!”