Real Magic (23 page)

Her scent overwhelmed him, and he said something he had never said to a woman in all in his life. "I love you."

Lucy's smile faltered. Her chin quivered, and she lowered herself to the floor, keeping a tight grip on the railing. "You are nothing, if not surprising, Duncan Rose."

He hurried to the stairs and clasped her hand. "I mean it. I love you. I don't care about all the mess around my life. No matter what it does to the world or the universe or Time itself. I love you, and I want to be with you."

She looked into his eyes, and he saw an emotion mounting within her that he had never seen in a woman's eyes. He watched it glisten and grow until it encompassed her mouth and nose and cheeks — he stepped back to see that her entire being radiated this strange emotion.

Placing her free hand around his neck, she pulled him close. "I love you, too."

She pressed her lips against his. An explosive force gripped him like lightning through his lips straight to his brain. He had enjoyed his share of women before but never had he experienced such passion in nothing more than a kiss. Even as he picked Lucy off the floor and climbed the stairs, even as he carried her into the apartment, part of his brain watched with sheer amazement. The only thought repeating —
So this is what the fuss about love is?

When he put her onto the lumpy mattress in the back, she placed a hand on his chest. "I have to tell you something," she said, her brow getting that worried furrow he had seen on her before.

Another mark of love, perhaps,
he thought.
I'm noticing little details about her.

Sitting up, Lucy smiled bashfully. "I ... I'm not a virgin."

Though he knew it was the wrong reaction, he couldn't help himself. Duncan laughed. "It's okay. I didn't expect you to be."

"What? What kind of girl do you think I am?"

"No, no, don't get offended. I didn't mean anything like that. I never assumed anything about you. All I meant was that where I come from, being a virgin is not a big deal. I don't care. I want you. That's all."

She watched his face closely and then seemed to decide he told the truth. She smiled, rose to her feet, and waited until he looked at her in passionate need. She didn't have to wait long.

Slowly, she disrobed. It was quiet and sensual and utterly new to Duncan.

I'm the virgin,
he realized. And for the first time since he was a teenager hiding in the backseat of Pappy's car, screwing a girl with too much curiosity and not enough sense, Duncan felt nervous. He knew how to take a woman, but what was expected of him here? This was unknown territory. This was more than taking what he needed for a night. In fact, as much as he wanted her, he discovered another desire.

Duncan gazed upon her body, his mind drifting from any sense of reality. All that existed was the bed, himself, and this work of art called Lucy.

He reached for her but she pushed his hand aside. "No fair," she said, her sweet smile as astonishing as her soft lips. "You've got all your clothes on."

"I should remedy that," he said.

And in moments, his skin pressed against hers. He felt her warmth and smelled her intoxicating skin. His hands caressed her shoulders, longing to cover her breasts, but shaking like that teenager. He worried over every action, afraid he would spoil what had become a beautiful, sensuous, truly erotic connection.

As he kissed her neck, Lucy let out a soft moan and that sound released his fear. His hands took command where his brain had second-guessed. Starting with her face, his fingers traced her body's curves. When he reached her breasts, her moans grew louder. His hands continued downward, and her reactions continued to mount. Each utterance from her excited him more.

She moved under him, pressing herself against him with fiery need. "Please, Duncan, don't tease me."

"Never."

Their rhythm launched into a fury. The instinctual animals within wrested control as they rose and fell, harder and faster. When she touched his sides, his bruised body mixed pain with his pleasure, his need overriding any desire to stop her hands. The room spun around them, both of them groaning with each thrust, both of them lost in each other.

Lucy gasped and her muscles tightened. She held onto Duncan, lifting herself off the bed as he continued to push deep inside her. With a long moan, she released, squeezing him as if she could meld into his bones. And she fell to the bed.

Duncan rolled onto his back, and after a moment, Lucy moved smoothly on top. They kissed and licked and laughed. She placed him back inside her but did not move. With her breathing heavy and a trickle of sweat running between her breasts, she smiled. "I want to stay like this forever, feeling you in me."

Neither spoke any more. They locked eyes and listened to their breathing. Lucy leaned down and kissed him gently. With deliberate motions, she rose and fell upon him, taking him once more away from the real world and into the world of her pleasure. Her determined look told him all. This part was for him, and he let all control pass from his mind.

Lucy set the pace. Lucy ran the show.

When he came, his body flushed with pleasurable numbness. He felt so incredible that a touch of sadness overwhelmed him. All the sexual experiences of his life were empty ghosts compared to this. Love made such a difference, and he wondered how many other aspects of his life would be fulfilled with a loving relationship.

Holding Lucy in his arms as she closed her eyes to sleep for a little, he decided that she would have to accompany him no matter what. He could not leave her behind to face Nelson Walter. For that matter, he couldn't justify leaving her to face World War II or Korea or Vietnam or any of the horrors of the twentieth century still to come. Not that 2013 was a field of flowers and puppies, but at least they would face the twenty-first century's horrors together.

 

 

Duncan woke to the rich aroma
of fresh coffee on the stove. He rolled to his back, the mattress forming new lumps beneath him. As he stretched in the beams of sunlight casting on the bed, he listened to Lucy setting the table. He would tell her this morning, he decided, tell her everything — exactly who he was, where and when he came from. She had to know so that when they found the Door, she would not hesitate to come with him. But more than that, he could no longer justify keeping secrets from her. He loved her, and that demanded a level of honesty entirely new to him. But he was willing to try.

When he stepped from behind the curtain, he saw the table set with coffee and fruit as well as the local paper. Wearing another summer dress that both covered her appropriately for the time and yet accentuated her lovely curves, Lucy walked over and kissed him. He scratched his chest and stretched again. "Good morning."

"Good morning. I've got a little breakfast for you."

"So I see."

"Get some clothes on so we can eat. I'm starving."

The idea of dressing for breakfast instead of eating in his underwear tickled Duncan, but he did as asked. While he slid on his pants, he asked, "Have you heard from Vincent yet?"

"Don't worry about him. He'll show up when he's ready. You've got to learn to let Vincent be Vincent. Trust me. If you start searching for him, he'll do everything he can to avoid being found. Why do you need to see him anyway?"

Duncan returned to the table, dressed and smiling, and he sipped his coffee. He could feel the worried tension pulsing off Lucy. She was smart. She had to know that whatever Duncan wanted with Vincent had to do with whatever he was being secretive about.

Well, Lucy, today your entire world is about to change.

He held her hands across the table and saw the concerned, torn expectation in her eyes. She wanted to know, but she also feared knowing. "You've been so patient with me, and I want to thank you for that. I've tried to protect you, even while you were yelling at me that you didn't want my protection."

"All I meant was —"

"You'll understand now. This secret of mine is the kind of thing that can change a person forever and I didn't want to burden you with that before. But after last night ... I ... I don't know even know how to say this. I don't want to scare you, but I can't stop thinking about you and me and ways we can stay together in the future, and yet I'm afraid if I tell you this, that you'll see me so differently that you won't want to give me a chance, but I know I have to tell you and yet —"

Lucy squeezed his hands before letting go. "I've never seen you ramble like this. Calm down. Look, I understand that you're nervous. Obviously, the thing you've kept inside all this time is big and important to you. I can't say how I'm going to react, but I promise you, I won't change the way I feel about you. I love you. I don't throw those words around willy-nilly."

"Willy-nilly? Do you want to go play hopscotch and get on the swings?"

"You're going to make fun of me?" Lucy teased. "Not a great way to endear me."

Raising a hand, still chuckling, Duncan said, "I'm sorry. Really, I am. I didn't mean to poke fun. I just ..."

A chill crossed Duncan's heart as he caught sight of the newspaper's front page.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked.

He lifted the paper, reading the article twice before setting it back down. Lucy stared at him, frowning as she waited. He pointed to the black-and-white photograph in the two-column piece. It depicted a young man holding his bleeding head while police stood nearby.

"That's Morty's friend — Forrest. We met him yesterday."

"Forrest from Lady Lane's?"

"Not what you're thinking. We went to see Forrest and only Forrest. Morty thought he knew something about Verido."

"You told Morty about what we're doing?"

"No, no. It's not like that. I need to find Verido for myself."

"Why? Is this what you wanted to tell me? That you've been after Verido's trick this whole time?"

"No. Well, sort of. It's ..." Duncan trailed off into thought. From what he had seen, Forrest was a nice young guy who never bothered anybody. And with the doorman at Lady Lane's, not to mention Lady Lane herself, nobody would mess with him unless she allowed it. Or unless that person had enough power to scare a whore who knew an entire town's dirty secrets. Only one man fit that description. Nelson Walter. But why? Was it meant to be a warning to Duncan? His way of saying, "I'm still watching you?" Duncan looked up at Lucy.

"What's going on? You look worried?"

"I need your help. I'm going to tell you everything. I swear I will. But it's a long, complicated story and I don't have time right now. You're going to have to trust me. The situation I'm in has become far more serious than I realized and some of what I've been trying to protect you from is about to come on to us. Come on real strong."

"Did somebody beat up Forrest because you talked with him? Why would they do that?" With a shake of her head, she put on a stern face. "Look, whatever you've gotten into, we can work through. You just need to tell me —"

"That's what I'm trying to do. And I will. I promise. But right now, I have to go."

"What? Where?"

"I need you to do something for me. I'm sorry to ask this. See, I was hoping Vincent would be back by now because I need a car. Is there anybody you know who can let us borrow one?"

"A car? You're asking the sister of a guy who steals cars for joyrides if she can get a car? Of course I can get a car."

"I don't want you stealing a car."

"I'm not Vincent. But I know where he goes to sell them. I know how to get a car cheap. Only problem is that I don't have nearly enough to buy one. Even a cheap one."

Duncan got to his feet to retrieve the rest of his clothes. "I'll pay for it. I've still got cash from the tableside gig."

"Enough for a car?"

"You'll have to do some heavy negotiating, but I don't think that'll be any trouble for you. If you need to hock my watch or anything of mine, let me know. Just set up the car and when I see you, I'll pay for it."

"Please tell me what's going on?"

He rushed over to her and kissed her with every ounce of emotion he felt. "I love you. Okay? Please, trust me. I'll be back by noon at the latest."

"Okay, I'll get the car. I'll be here at noon. You better be here, too. And you better explain all this."

"I will." He kissed her one more time. He headed for the door, paused, and turned back. "If I don't show up, it means things went really bad and you're in danger. Go find Morty, find Vincent, and get out of this town. Don't ever come back."

"What the hell did you do?"

"Promise me you'll do that. I don't show, you run as far from here as you can get."

She barely nodded, her fear and confusion building tears in her eyes. Duncan knew he had terrified her with his final words, but they had to be said. He planned to confront Nelson Walter, and he knew the kind of man Nelson Walter could be. He only hoped Walter would be too tired in the morning to bother with a golf club.

 

Duncan chose to walk
to The Walter Hotel, partly to stall, partly to build his courage, and partly to tap into the anger seething underneath. He hated when somebody's impatience screwed things up. A little time often made the difference between success and failure, but too often the people he had worked with wanted instant results and fast money without a sliver of complication. If Walter would have simply waited, Duncan could have found Verido, found the door, and found a solution that, at the least, made everyone think they got a good deal. Instead, he had to deal with a glorified thug who beat the crap out of a decent, young man that had had more than his share of brutality in his life.