Endless Affair (A 1 Night Stand Story)

by Gill, Angelita

  “What are you thinking about?” He cut through her thoughts.

  Heat burning her face, she glanced away as they transitioned into another turn. “Nothing. You’re a wonderful dancer.”

  “So are you.”

  She met his eyes, disbelieving. “I’m barely doing the work here.”

  “Like I said, only one of us can lead. You can’t deny how good we are together right now.” He lowered his voice. “We’re a perfect pair...don’t you see?”

  Yes, she did. How marvelous; how strange. They were moving in such a natural way, as if they’d done it a dozen times, and the ease of it carried an impression of haunting contentment. Yet she’d never been in his arms before. “Who are you?”

  “The man you’re dancing with.”

  “Don’t be literal. Who are you, really? You imply we’ve met, but I know otherwise.” Trying to read him, and not succeeding, she asked, “What is my name?”

  “Moira.” A flicker of helplessness shadowed his gaze.

  The way he spoke it, with such tender intimacy, wrapped around her heart and squeezed tight. “You know who I am. My name. You look at me as if I should remember you, but I don’t. Whatever this is—this game, I don’t want to play anymore.”

  “I’m not playing games. It’s just that....” He searched her features, his voice rasping. “I can’t look at you any other way than this.”

  And don’t stop. I love the way you look at me, like I’m someone special, but.... She shook her head. “I don’t know what to think about you, Tanith.”

  “Then don’t.”

  “It’s impossible not to when it feels like we’ve done this before, when I’m certain we haven’t.”

  “Just live in the moment, Moira.”

  His calm, reassuring tone inflamed her more. “Why should I?”

  “Because. We don’t have much time.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It’s never on my side.” His steps slowed and the song came to an end.

  “You’re not making any sense.” None of this did. She desperately wanted to understand, but how could she comprehend anything when he talked in riddles? There was no denying they had a connection, its presence very strong and unexpected, but what did it mean to her?

  Suddenly, an invisible current rippled through the air above, an electric wave that lifted the hair on her arms. She looked up, a chill trickling down her spine. “Did you feel that?”

  He sighed, searching the ceiling. “It’s already starting.”

  His release was so abrupt, she gasped at the coolness of the air, away from the warmth of his body. He turned his head, listening with concern, his sharp, handsome profile making her ache to be in his arms again.

  Goodness, how she wanted him. This she knew absolutely. “What’s wrong?”

  “I have to go.”

  “Why?” Alarm raced through her. Their interlude had ended much too fast.

  “Come with me.”

  “I—”

  Grabbing her hand, he wound through the crowd with long, charged strides. He led her to the entrance of the ballroom, which meant his aim was to take her away. Part of her demanded caution against disappearing with a man she’d just met, to shake his hold, while another voice urged her to go with him.

  Anywhere.

  What would compel her to do such a reckless thing?

  If only she knew where this instinct came from! Who’d sent her the invitation, and why, out of all the events she’d been requested to attend, had she chosen to come to this one? She had an inkling every moment about tonight intersected in some complex triangle—the invite, the masque, the man—but she didn’t have time to sort it out. Not without some answers.

  She halted her feet, shaking her head. “Wait.”

  Tanith squeezed her hand. “Moira, trust me.” He swallowed, desperation filling his gaze. “Please.”

  Breathing fast, she stared at his face for a long moment, then down at her hand in his. Her instincts pushed her to be with him, but she couldn’t rationalize it. She snatched off his mask. A lock of hair fell to touch a thick golden brow, and his face was revealed. She gasped.

  The pit of her stomach fired hot and she lurched with the sharp pain.

  Without warning, a flood filled her ears and pushed out the party noise, quick and soundless like plunging into a body of water. She shut her eyes against the pressure. Snapshots of images flashed in her mind faster than she could distinguish. The smell of putrid smoke in her nostrils, three blasts of a horn, masculine laughter, the sensation of lips trailing along her shoulder.

  What’s happening to me?

  Her mind went blank, the pictures vanishing to assign emotions in their place. She trembled at the power, the sheer clarity overcoming her entire being. The kind of instinctual craving that came with eating, sleeping, and breathing. Things she needed. That were required to survive.

  Oh my God. She pressed fingers to her temple. I do know him.

  When she opened her eyes, Tanith’s face became familiar as her own. If going with him was reckless, then it was the path she was meant to take. “Yes,” she said shakily, “I’m with you.”

  With a half-smile, Tanith led her to the lobby, and a bellman opened a door for them to exit. The cool early spring air sailed over her skin. She whipped off her mask and dropped it as they stepped to the curb.

  He pulled out a cell phone and made a call. “We’re out front.”

  “Who was that?” she asked, still reeling from the visions.

  “Our ride.”

  She didn’t know why or where the surge came from, but she pulled him down and kissed him, crazy for it. The moment their lips touched, a heavy sense of relief came over her. His fingers tangled in her hair and he moaned. His need seemed to parallel her own. He tasted like peppermint and sweet tobacco and something unique to him alone. As his tongue dipped inside, her hands clenched at the lapels of his jacket, and she arched into him.

  Now that she’d had a sample of him, she wanted more. Much more.

  A black limo pulled up. She could barely stand for him to break the kiss to help her inside the vehicle, desperate for his mouth on hers again.

  A wantonness she’d never dared to succumb to wove through her blood and mind. As if whole new woman emerged from the shy ballerina, but in a marvelous, invigorating way.

  Crawling into his lap, she gave a seductive smile. “There’s something about you. I don’t know what it is, but I’m not usually this...forward.”

  He didn’t comment, and the fact he didn’t appear surprised by her actions fueled her desire. He slid a hand from her arm to capture her nape, locking his gaze with hers. “You are so beautiful. More so than ever. I’ve memorized every plane, every detail, and yet when I finally see your face....”

  The words burned bright and directly to her soul. “How can you feel that way? You hardly know me.” And yet, her words were beginning to sound hollow. The visions she had just moments before reminded her. They were connected beyond the norm.

  “You’ll remember everything soon,” he assured her, resting his palms on her hips, bringing her closer. He cleared his throat, pressed a button on the door and spoke a sharp, authoritative command for the chauffeur to drive.

  Moving closer, she felt his iron erection against her panties. The thought of him taking their encounter further, deeper, made her nearly mad to make love with him. “Where are we going?” she breathed.

  He grazed his fingertips from her knees to the tantalizing hem of her dress. “Just enjoy the ride.”

  The car lurched forward, and he used the momentum to bring her into a kiss. She gasped, opening her mouth to lap her tongue with his in a feverish tangle.

  Moira had no intention of stopping what she’d started. When his hands slipped underneath her dress and caressed her legs, a spear of desire rocketed from her toes to the sensitive core between her thighs. The callused palms slid around to grip her butt, and he lifted his hips, pressing his bulge agains
t her.

  Her need for more struck her. How could she want a man so much? As if her body had been famished for his touch.

  He broke the kiss and tugged the long sleeves from her shoulders, exposing her small breasts. With a groan, he pinched the small peak of a nipple, taking it in his mouth with a gentle suck. A small cry escaped her at the tantalizing texture of his tongue on the sensitive flesh, and her head fell back.

  Raking her fingers through his thick hair, she held him to her breast, rocking on his lap. The warmth and scent of his masculinity wrapped around her like a hot fog as he tasted each breast with equal attention, transferring his lips to her neck. Lifting her head, she smoothed her palms on the inside of his coat, urging him to take it off.

  His hot, short breaths on her shoulder, he hastily tried to peel off his tuxedo jacket while she unraveled his bow tie.

  Desperate for another sample, she sought another kiss and tossed the silk accessory to the floor. She found the row of buttons on his shirt, her hands unsteady.

  He nipped at her bottom lip and slid his wet mouth down her chin. “I don’t give a damn about the shirt. Just rip it, Moira.”

  She obeyed by tearing the rest of the garment, buttons popping, to reveal a smooth, muscled torso that rivaled any work of art. Her femininity sighed in appreciation at the feel of his hard chest, how his muscles jumped with her touch. Tanith’s arms locked around her as he licked and sucked at her neck, catching her earlobe with his teeth. She let out a titillated cry, intoxicated—on fire—on him. The power of her attraction would consume her without mercy if she didn’t control it somehow. Slow down.

  The thing that frightened her most wasn’t the force itself...it was the fact she didn’t want to manage it, didn’t want to stop the madness.

  “Tanith,” she groaned, “touch me.”

  He nuzzled a breast, sliding his tongue over the turgid point, moving to grip her hips. Finding the knots at the sides of her panties, he untied them. She lifted, took hold of one of the strings, and plucked the panties from her waist.

  His caressed her butt, grazed over her crack, and dipped down lower to slide between her slick folds. A cry tore from her throat as he slid his middle finger inside, guiding in and out, rotating the tip on her clit, spreading the moisture. The contact sent frissons of orgasmic pleasure through her, and she begged for more.

  Aching for him, she slid her palm over his cock, her heartbeat roaring in her ears, her rising passion shortening her breath. This was what she wanted.

  She unhooked his pants and slid down the zipper, then sought his mouth for an urgent, tangling twist of tongues while he stroked her pussy. So tender. So slick. So ready to ride him right here and now. It’s been too long since I’ve been pleasured by fingers other than my own.

  “I want you,” she whispered. “Do you want me, Tanith?”

  His free arm tightened around her. “You know I do, Moira. You have to understand...making love, it changes things.”

  She had an odd notion it would, and that knowledge should’ve scared her, but it didn’t.

  He must’ve read the yearning in her gaze, because he said nothing in response. Bringing her down to give a hard, long kiss, he trembled, and she loved seeing her effect on him. It empowered her. She held onto his shoulders, rising on her knees. He stripped his pants and underwear, freeing his stiff cock. She slid down, the rod pressed to her swollen pussy.

  He hissed. “Wait.” Fishing in a jacket pocket, he pulled out a condom. “We must.”

  Heavens. At least one of them thought of caution. Pregnancy. And all the other consequences. She nodded. “Here. Let me.”

  Carefully, she rolled the condom on, then kissed him with sweet softness.

  He held her close and pressed his mouth on her collarbone, up her neck, whispering words she couldn’t discern but that her soul seemed to feed on, wanting more. She quivered as the tip of his cock teased her pussy, the smooth force of the head, large and blunt, penetrating her tight sex. Tanith shuddered while she took him in.

  His green eyes met hers with a hunger and heat that surged her arousal. He pumped his hips and she gasped, clenching her thighs, gripping the back of his neck. They moved at a slow measure, seeking a rhythm, the pace of their joining an about-face from their feverish, hasty foreplay. It took mere seconds for her adjust to his size, and God, did it feel good. Her entire body responded in potent relief, as if his possession was what it had been waiting for.

  Grasping her waist, he guided her up and down so she could feel the glide of his cock. He drew a ragged, heavy breath, thrusting deeper, harder. Letting out a choked cry, she slapped a hand to the fogged window to brace herself while he fucked her, increasing the pace. He bucked and moaned, sweat rolling down his cheek. Lost and overwhelmed, she could feel the sweet rush of completion seeping into her senses. The promise of an orgasm like no other. Boneless, she lay back, at a slight incline on his strong thighs, and held his forearms. His jaw clenched, his fingers digging in her skin.

  She admired the extraordinary male who gave such mindless pleasure, holding back his need for release so she could reach her own. With his shirt open, his hair tousled, his intense gaze making her feel like she represented the goddess of his dreams...she bowed her back and let the release rip through her.

  Crying out, she felt reborn a thousand times, sparks shattered in her body. With eyes closed, fresh visions flickered in her mind, old emotions compounded with new ones, and a realization hit her again.

  We’ve done this before.

  She knew without a shadow of a doubt.

  They were soul mates.

  I love him. He loves me. It has always been like this. Oh God.

  Tanith let out a low, guttural sound from his throat. Tensing, he threw his head back, and with one last thrust, came inside her with a long, relieved groan. As she labored for breath, he brought her up against his sweaty chest, holding her for longer than she’d ever been held before.

  Breathing in the scent of his damp skin, their hearts pounding in irregular beats, time seemed to stop. In one startling moment, she found herself catapulted to another time, other places. Kissing him on a bridge. Holding hands in a café. She heard shared laughter while pulling him down on a bed. Could taste wine they’d drunk during dinner. Felt wet sand under her feet while they walked along the shore.

  “Tanith,” she choked out. “I can see us. I can feel our past. We’ve been together before.”

  He stroked her back. “Yes.”

  “But...?” The visions, emotions, the answers, reverberated in her heart and mind. “How long have we been apart this time?”

  “Five long years.” He held her back to meet her eyes. “Try to remember. I’m a dimension traveler now. After you and I met, a friend and I went on an expedition in Austria. It led us to a cave. We must’ve walked for a mile in the dark, hoping to discover something—life changing, I guess. At the end, we saw bright blue streams of light, waving like curtains in the wind. Entranced us both. The power of it made the hairs on my neck stand up, but I couldn’t turn back, couldn’t leave it alone. So I walked through it, and found myself in a whole new reality. It was a portal to a parallel universe. I’ve been jumping dimensions ever since.”

  To her shock, his summary made complete sense, as if she’d heard this before. And she believed every word. “An alternate reality. Nothing’s familiar—”

  “Everything’s the same.”

  Moira took a deep breath, pressing her forehead to his. “But you always find me.”

  “Always.”

  Chapter Three

  To love a woman once could change a man’s life.

  To love and lose her seven times could haunt a man’s sanity.

  As Tanith held his Moira in his arms, he made sure to thank God for another night with her.

  When he’d caught a first glimpse of her at the masquerade, it took every ounce of his control not to plow through the crowd and crush her in his arms. At last, she was flesh and blood! Not
just the woman in his dreams. However, approaching her in such a manner would’ve been a mistake.

  While he could recall every minute of their previous lives together, Moira’s memory worked in a different way. It built up in pieces, in images...but after a while, she came back to him. Making love always proved the most the powerful way to trigger her memory.

  Now that he had her, he didn’t want to spare a minute. “I have a room at the Castillo du Parc.”

  “I’ll go anywhere with you, you know that.”

  He tapped the intercom. “Take us to the hotel, please.”

  Madame Eve had recommended the place for its first class service and her professional relationship with the family that owned it. Though not a man obsessed with money, Tanith always made an effort to acquire it as soon as he found his bearings in a new reality. No matter the subtle or vast differences between this world and the next, one thing remained constant: wealth. It came in various forms—paper, coin, magic—but its purpose held true in every life.

  Never really sure if or when he would leap again, he used his knowledge and experiences to amass a fortune big enough for two. Hope was a mighty motivator. If he and Moira had any chance at a future, he’d be prepared. And if he jumped—and he always did—well, at least he knew she’d be taken care of.

  The driver sped through the streets of Paris, trained to cut corners and minimize time, and brought them to the hotel within minutes. Tanith took Moira’s hand and pulled her from the car. As they rushed through the lobby and into an elevator, he could hardly contain his urge to divulge about his life here. He wanted to share all the things he’d seen, the people he’d met, how the unnatural and bizarre in this world would be normal and banal in another. Over the years, his encounters had changed him, little by little. He wasn’t the same man he was when he’d first leaped, but in the best way possible. The old Tanith was self-serving, headstrong, and rash. Immature, even.