by Dawn Ryder
The room was completely foreign. The windows ran the whole length of the wall. Only little slivers of silver metal separated the panes of glass. Two complete walls of the room were windows and they didn’t have shades on them.
Noel stood up and stared at the glass. Nothing was covering the glass as she’d first assumed. The glass itself had changed. The lower part was frosted while the upper third was clear, letting her see outside. She stroked the border between frosted and clear glass, and just like that, the glass went transparent to the ground.
And then it changed right back to frosted.
“They are touch-controlled in addition to a master station here at the main doorframe.”
Noel didn’t jump. Instead, every muscle she had tightened to the point of breaking. That voice was, without a doubt, male. It was right about then that her eyes homed in on the fact that she wasn’t wearing a stitch. Nope, looking down her body there was nothing there but what nature had designed.
“I believe keeping the panes frosted is best right now.”
Oh yeah, very male. Noel peeked over her shoulder and her mouth went dry. Seven feet of raw male animal was filling the doorway. His shoulders were massive and really did fill the doorframe. He stared back at her with mild amusement as her eyes flew back to the large bed she had rolled out of.
Man, oh man, had she done something…impulsive?
Noel crossed her arms over her breasts as she looked back at her companion. His face was sharply defined, no extra fat to hide his cheekbones. Her brain offered up a single moment of recognition as she looked into his eyes.
And then those dark orbs swept down her body. She felt them inspecting her, inch by inch as his lips turned up slightly in response. Her cheeks burned as she tried to decide what part to cover with her hands. She shifted on her feet as her eyes flew around the room looking for her clothing.
The strange thing was, the way he was looking over her body didn’t suggest that they had spent a wild night of alcohol-induced sex together. He looked like he was seeing her for the first time.
The look in those eyes when they got back to her face said he approved of what he saw.
“Excuse me, where are my clothes?”
The hard lips instantly thinned into a firm line that didn’t betray even a hint of emotion. His hand moved over the master control panel and a portion of the wall slid open. “Garments are stored here. There are few female ones at present. I thought it best to await your input before purchasing any more.”
Noel bit her lip as she was torn between the need to scurry into the closet and the desire to demand information. Modesty won as those dark eyes began heading south again. She yanked the first thing off a hanger that looked like it might fit her and pulled the shirt up her arms. He didn’t move, but studied her from the doorframe as she buttoned the shirt.
Noel looked away from her silent company to search for pants of any kind. Nothing caught her attention as she kept one hand on the tail of the shirt to keep it over her mons. It wasn’t a very long shirt and that meant her fanny was on display as she searched.
A lower portion of the wall suddenly slid out to reveal a neat stack of panties. Grabbing the top pair, Noel bent at her knees to get into them without bending over. Her temper suddenly ignited as those dark eyes continued to watch her each and every move.
“Excuse me, do I know you?” Did we have wild monkey sex last night? Noel bit back her sarcasm as alarm raced through her brain. Just why she was getting nervous, she didn’t know. Even if they had exchanged bodily fluids, she was a grown woman, not a teenager out past curfew.
“No, we are strangers at this time.”
That deflated her completely. Noel stood up and pulled the panties to her hips as she shot him a confused look. He shrugged his massive shoulders as he stepped into the room. She felt cornered there in the closet, but tried to shake off the strange feeling.
He stopped as he looked at her face. “Maybe we should talk in the outer room.”
“Yeah, good idea.” Noel had no clue what the outer room would be like but at that moment, getting out of the closet seemed a good course of action. She walked forward and forced her spine to straighten. His eyes followed her and the look in those dark depths deepened the blush on her cheeks.
Damned if he didn’t look like he found her attractive. As in, really attractive. It wasn’t the kind of thing that translated into words very well. His eyes moved over her body with slow strokes that didn’t look a thing like a cheap peek at her rather indisposed condition with just a shirt and panties on. Her hair was tangled and she could imagine that her face wasn’t its normal, lightly enhanced with makeup, but none of that changed the way he looked at her.
No, he looked like he was enjoying the view. More heat brightened her cheeks but she just couldn’t get mad about it. His eyes were too appreciative of her and it made her feel more attractive than she could ever remember feeling about her own body.
Maybe that was sexual confidence. It was a completely foreign idea to her.
The outer room stopped her in her tracks. While her feet were in the hallway, the room was empty. The second her bare toes touched the carpet the entire wall moved. Noel felt her jaw drop as that wall slid down and became a sofa. Another thin red beam of light passed right over her eyes before she moved out of the way.
The lights brightened instantly as the upper parts of the window went transparent.
“All right, where am I?” Noel pushed her body into the outer room because she could actually feel him behind her. Her skin tingled at the idea of being closer to that raw body. His arms were cut with muscle. Clothing covered the rest of him, but the way he moved told her his body was in prime condition. His height still made her nervous and that rubbed her temper but she couldn’t exactly get mad at him for being big. At least, not without admitting that his size intimidated her.
Noel turned around and stared at him as he followed her. He did it slowly, like he didn’t want to spook her, but the hairs on the back of her neck stood up anyway. There was nothing that felt familiar here.
“It is a matter of when, not where. This is Earth.” He stopped when she backed up, and considered her with intense eyes as he appeared to search for his next words. “I am Thorn. The date is 2231.”
Sure it was. Noel tried to believe that, but her eyes moved around the room and then back to…ah…Thorn. His clothing looked very military. Large pockets on the top of his thighs and over his chest. He had the sleeve cuffs rolled up a couple of times and a dark red metal band showed on his right wrist.
2231…
Noel suddenly turned and touched one of the frosted glass panes. It went translucent, instantly letting her see outside the building. She stood in frozen fascination as cars zipped by without wheels. They were more like jeeps with three rows of passenger seats, and every one was identical. Men walked by and they all wore the same clothing that Thorn did. Only some kind of weapon was slung over each and every one of their shoulders. Not a single male was in sight without a muzzle of a rifle resting against his right shoulder.
Several heads turned in her direction as she stared back at them. The windowpane frosted halfway down as she heard Thorn growl. She jumped and turned back to stare at him.
The man had actually growled. Low and deep in his throat. The sound hit her as possessive, and the really surprising thing about that was the rush of heat it sent towards her belly.
“Do not display your body to other males. I rescued you.”
“From what?”
He stepped closer and aimed his dark eyes into hers before answering. “From your death.”
He could smell her. Thorn battled against the urge to simply reach for her and pull her into his embrace. She smelled fresh, and it tempted him in a manner he had never experienced.
Bewilderment coated her face, but not fear and that made him even more impatient to touch her. She was strong. Not whimpering like a lost child. The display of strength sent his blood racing t
hrough his body.
Strength was something he respected.
Her eyes were a mixture of green and topaz. Her hair was a darker shade of brown—the medical team had cut several inches off because it was burned. Her body caused the biggest reaction in his. She was lush with curves. Hips that weren’t bony but softly rounded. She was also petite—that surprised him. Accustomed to larger females, he considered her slight figure while he cautioned himself to remember that fact once his hands got into contact with her. His cock twitched at just the idea and his brain urged him to move closer to the full breasts hiding behind a single layer of fabric.
Her death? Noel shook her head, but her brain clung to that word as it sifted through the layers of slumber. Her heart accelerated as bits of memory exploded inside her skull. Fireworks, and the horrible sight of one exploding against her apartment wall. The thick smoke and searing heat baking her alive as she struggled to…
“Kyla.” Noel covered her mouth to hide her horror as she looked around the room again and back at Thorn.
“Your companion was dead when I arrived. Her spine severed at the neck.”
Oh God! Noel wanted to vomit but just couldn’t move, even to throw up. She wanted to deny it, scream out that it wasn’t true, but she knew it was. Her brain was tossing out the images to prove it.
2231?
“How?” Noel forced that single word out of her mouth as she grabbed her sanity before it dissipated, leaving her a shrieking idiot. She needed to get a major grip on herself. She was still alive and that was certainly worth thinking about more than the grisly alternative.
“Time current crossing is available with our technology. But because of its risks, it is off limits, except under extremely controlled circumstances.” Thorn moved around her and watched her as he did it. It felt like a test of her courage. His eyes dared her to respond to him. Noel pressed her bare feet to the floor as she stared right back at him. The corners of his lips twitched up in response. She almost smiled back. Lurking in his eyes was a tiny hint of playfulness. But the deeper intensity kept her lips pressed into a smooth line.
“Well…um…thanks.” Her words sounded lame but she hadn’t had a whole lot of practice dealing with extremely hunky men. Thorn wasn’t a guy. He wasn’t anywhere near that category of male. No, he was a man and one who actually frightened her on some deep level. There was a subconscious understanding that he was stronger than her. Besides, there was no missing the way he towered over her. It was one thing to deal with guys who were a few inches taller—this was full-scale looming above her. The word vulnerable lodged in her mind as she looked up at his face.
It was sure one hell of a time to notice something like that!
Thorn smiled at her. The expression scared her. His lips curled back and displayed even teeth before he walked right towards her. Her skin tingled again as he towered over her and his eyes moved over her face to linger on her lips this time.
“I selected you, so it was my duty to bring you back.” His fingers stroked the surface of her cheek, and she jumped away from him. The smile stayed, but it turned into an expression of promise that made her stomach knot.
“What do you mean you ‘selected’ me?” And more importantly…what for? One dark eyebrow rose. The glass wall kept her from retreating again, as her head tipped back to keep her eyes on his face.
“For me.” His fingers stroked her cheek and caught her chin to hold it steady as his head moved closer. Her body shuddered, but Noel couldn’t decide if it was fear or excitement. The warm male scent of his skin filled her senses and it triggered a pulse that pounded through each little nerve ending she had.
His breath hit her lips, making the skin tingle. A half-second later he connected his mouth to hers and gently slipped his lips across hers. It was a tease of a kiss that ended abruptly as another one of those low male growls rumbled from his chest. A solid steel arm slid around her waist to pull her against his body. His lips pushed her mouth open as his tongue swept inside to taste her.
Her hands landed on his shoulders but she couldn’t find the discipline to push him back. Instead, her fingertips insisted on telling her how hard his chest was. A little moan came from her throat as his kiss continued to demand complete compliance from her. His arm bound her to his body as her nipples tightened into hard points that stabbed into his harder chest.
One hand captured the back of her head as his mouth left hers and found the column of her neck. He pulled her head back as he laid a line of tiny bites down to her shirt collar. The heat in her face bled down her torso as the shirt became too hot. Her skin begged to be free from the scratchy fabric.
Another growl hit her ear and its intensity shook her out of her daze. Noel shoved at the hard shoulders that held her, as she jerked her head away from his hot mouth.
“Just hold on, buddy! Let me go!”
He did and it surprised the hell out of her. His arms released and she fell back against the wall so hard the glass shook. A hard grunt was Thorn’s response before he reached for her and lifted her right off the ground.
Suspecting the man had incredible strength was one thing, feeling her body being moved without even a groan from him drove home how much strength he really did have. He turned towards the sofa and three steps later she was sitting on its cool surface.
Noel raised her eyes and froze as she caught the look on Thorn’s face. Hunger blazed from his eyes, and it sent a jolt of heat spearing through her belly and right into her passage. It wasn’t something she had ever noticed so keenly before, and right then was sure one hell of a time to have it burst into her world.
Oh, damn it!
Chapter Three
“You enjoyed being kissed.” His voice told her he was pissed off. His eyes said a whole lot more. Noel was sort of fascinated with the glow in those dark orbs. Sure, she’d managed to hook up with a guy or two since leaving home but she couldn’t ever recall feeling so attractive to any of them. Their cocks got hard but their eyes didn’t look at her like Thorn was doing right then.
“I don’t know you.” Her words sounded too shaky, like she was trying to convince herself that she was right to put him at arm’s length. Her body yelled back that she was a complete fool to think about anything except letting Thorn do exactly whatever he wanted to do with her…just so long as it lived up to the promise burning in his eyes.
The hard length of muscle-bound body said he could back up that look and then some. Noel shook her head as she tried to find some sense inside her overheated brain. “And I don’t kiss guys that I’ve just met.”
Thorn grunted at her, and Noel frowned at him. He sounded somewhat satisfied by her comment, if she was any judge of grunt lingo.
“I am not merely a guy, yet it is good to know you are faithful.” His eyes moved down her shirt to the little points of her nipples and a small smile appeared on his face as he crossed his arms across his chest. “I will enjoy helping you get to know me, Noel.”
That heat flared up in her belly again, but this time Noel was positive she felt fluid actually coating the walls of her passage. It made her mad that her body responded so quickly to Thorn. What kind of a girl got so hot and bothered after one kiss? The trip through time must have warped her brain.
Noel frowned as she thought about that idea. Maybe Thorn had done something to her to make her so…interested in him. “What did you do to me?”
“I kissed you. If you’d like another demonstration, I’d be most happy to give it to you.”
Noel shook her head. “No, I mean, did you or someone mess with my body?”
His smile faded and a second later he was looming over her. Each of his hands landed on the sofa seat on either side of her. Noel leaned as far back as the sofa let her as Thorn’s body heat made her skin tingle once again.
“No, I did not.” He delivered each word like an order, sharp and precise, before his eyes dropped to her hard nipples once more. “Attraction between male and female is normal. Maybe in your time sc
ience hasn’t proven that but it is a fact of human brain chemistry.”
She shivered and his eyes caught the movement. He lifted one hand and stroked her bare arm. Goose bumps rose instantly before he leaned down next to her neck and inhaled deeply. His eyes closed to slits as another groan shook his large chest. It hit her as intensely sexual. Thorn was actually smelling her. Whatever her brain might want to make of that, her body shivered as her thighs complained about being pressed together. The folds of her sex felt crowded. All she wanted to do was relax her thighs and let them part to give more freedom to her body.
“This is insane!” Noel tried to duck under his arm, but Thorn scooped her up and turned her body so that his chest pressed against her back. His arms crossed over her body, trapping her arms and holding her completely captive. The amazing thing was, he didn’t hurt her. Not even a pinch. But she was completely surrounded by his larger body and immobilized.
His lips brushed her ear before laying a single kiss onto her neck. “What bothers you, Noel? I am healthy, strong and capable. Your body knows that, that’s why it’s heating for me.”
“But I don’t know you.” She jerked against his hold, but he didn’t release her. He didn’t hurt her either. For someone his size, that impressed her.
“It is time for you to change that. You are here. Would you prefer a death and the end to any further life? You died in that fire, Noel. It’s a matter of history. The details were neatly recorded and unchangeable until I selected you.”
“Selected me for what?” The hard cock pressing into her back told her one reason, but she just had to know if there was another one.
“For me. You are my reward for serving Earth.” And her pussy was wet. Thorn could smell her musk as he struggled against the urge to bend her over and impale her. Selected females were always difficult, he knew that from his friends who had made it to promotion. If you let them get away with avoiding physical contact, they never settled into their new life. She was his and that was going to be the foundation of their life. Now was the time to start.