"I'd love some," Suzannah said quickly, staring up at him with wide eyes.
It was too bad really. Because he could see a future with Suzannah. He could see her living here. She'd look... gods, she'd fit right in here.
If she wasn't from thirty years in the future and going back to her time in less than twenty-four hour.
He thought he'd done a good job of keeping those kinds of feelings out.It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that he'd already kind of lost that battle.
He'd lost that battle before he even knew he was fighting it.
~ Chapter Seven ~
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~ October 1, 1987 ~
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Suzannah
Matthew's place was nice. Very nice. So very flipping nice. And Matthew was being so wonderful. Making her last day in the past one she'd never forget.
Her throat clamped up as she tried, unsuccessfully, not to think about leaving the next day.
He wanted to ask her to stay. Suzannah could see it in his eyes. It hurt to look at him, because Suzannah wanted so badly to give him what he wanted.
Because it was what she wanted, too.
She didn't know where she'd gone wrong this week. She'd gone from zero feelings about Matthew to wanting to stay here, in the past with him. Or asking him to come back with her.
And honestly, she almost did ask him a few times. Something told her he'd be receptive to it. If it weren't for the fact that this man legitimately went missing in a few days. What kind of holes in the space-time-continuum would be irreparably ripped if she did bring him back with her?
A thought entered her mind just then. Something she couldn't believe hadn't been there all along.
How did Matthew go missing?
She glanced over at him.
The way he looked at her, the way he was constantly holding her hand, stroking the back of it, leaning over to tuck stray strands of hair behind her ear. She thought she'd melt into a puddle on the floor when he did that.
It would certainly solved a lot of her problems, wouldn't it, if he came with her? It had always been an option when Dr. Slone had been talking with her. Why would he have suggested it if it might fudge up the timelines? They were fixed, right?
"What time do you have to leave tomorrow?" he asked for the millionth time.
"One-seventeen p.m," she recited, sipping the last of her coffee from the mug he'd handed her after breakfast.
Rather than finish their quiet coffee together on that note, Matthew dropped the subject for the moment, shifting towards some small talk. Given that they couldn't even chew the fat about the weather, it was the smallest talk ever. Micro-talk.
Micro-talk with this big elephant looming in the air over top of them,and the elephant's name was Monsieur 'Why aren't you from my time, look at-me, I'm over the moon for you'.
So Suzannah had to sit there and bite her tongue. Hold back the second elephant called Madame 'I could be in love with you, you're amazing and wearing a shirt made out of boyfriend material but I'm from thirty years in the future, I'm so sorry.' Neé 'Please won't you just leave your life behind and come back with me to the future?'
The elephants here had some really long-ass names.
The only thing that was keeping her from blurting it all out was Matthew's hand on hers, his thumb stroking the back of her hand and squeezing right when she needed him to do so. Keeping her thoughts from running away with her and keeping her from asking something from him that he could never be allowed to give.
She really, really wanted to ask him to come back with her.
Her heart kept asking how could she not? What if, after all, her heart had a point? She was in the past, sent back to the wrong date. Maybe she'd already changed things anyway. Maybe she didn't know if she'd be going back to the same future she'd left from. Maybe...
Finally, finally, he took the cups back to the sink, washing them and leaving them in the drying rack with a clatter of porcelain.
"Listen, Suze? I've got a game room down the hall and to the left, if you want to head there..." He pointed her towards the door in the hallway. "I'll be right there, okay?"
She nodded, pressing her lips together and walking towards where he'd directed She had pretty much resolved herself in the last thirty seconds to at least ask him. She owed it to herself to ask. If she didn't, she'd always wonder what he would have said.
Suzannah's heart was fluttering like crazy by the time Matthew came down the hall to join her.
She was sitting on a couch. A sofa. A hide-a-bed. Whatever it was called, she was having a mini-meltdown on it because the guy she had feelings for was on his way down the hall and she was planning on asking him to come with her. To time-travel thirty years into his future for her.
It was a lot to ask someone. It was selfish. Wasn't it? He was going missing soon anyway. Maybe it would save him.
Maybe she had to ask anyway.
Matthew appeared on the couch beside her, leaning over to press a kiss to her cheek. "Did you miss me?"
"Kind of...yeah." She leaned over and reached for him, one hand settling on his stomach and the other on his head, running her fingers through his hair. She glanced around the room. At the arcade games and the totally eighties television. The sixteen-bit consoles that she hadn't seen in literal years. "So, do you like games or--"
She could feel herself shaking. Or was that him?
This was big, huge stuff and she was talking about video games. Avoidance much?
"Kind of. I guess. There's not much else for a single dude with no family to spend his money on," he said with a laugh. "I don't... really have anyone to spend it on." He trailed off, his eyes meeting hers with a dedication that made her breath catch. He shrugged and reached up to cover her hand, pull it down to clasp in his. "You cool with hanging around here today?"
She nodded. "Absolutely."
"Wanna watch T.V...or..."
"I was kind of eyeing that one over there," she jutted her head over her shoulder at the vintage arcade game in the corner. The kind that took quarters and held only ten high scores. "Does it work?"
"Does it work..." he chuckled. "It works fine, but I have to warn you... you won't be getting any high scores. I'm kind of the best."
She snorted. "Dude, you haven't met me before this week, so I'll let you off the hook for that one."
Matthew
After what felt like countless "Game Overs" and much screeching on Suzannah's part -because she was ten points from getting on the high score list, but a wrong move used up her last life Matthew sank down onto the floor with her and kissed her. Hard. Because she wasn't kidding when she said she was good.
She was arguably better than him, in technical skill. He'd happily concede his title.
"If this was any other game, I'd be wiping the FLOOR with you, Ivey," she insisted, holding out her hand limply towards him. "Joysticks aggravate my carpal tunnel."
"I actually HAVE a ton of other games. If you want to put your money where your mouth is." He took her hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumbs. Slow circles. Painfully slow circles.
"I could put you where my mouth is," she teased, leaning over closer. Her breath felt hot on his face as he tilted his head, closing his eyes and practically moaning into her mouth when she kissed him. Her tongue flicked between his lips as she shifted closer to him. She yanked her hand away so her fingers could play with the hem of his t-shirt. "I wouldn't mind putting other parts of you where my mouth is..."
Okay. Yeah. That was it. His brain exploded. Just...boom. Crash. Brains everywhere.
"Suzannah..." he whispered, taking her bottom lip between his teeth. Thoughts of her lips and tongue sliding over very specific parts of him were cascading through his mind and making it very difficult to focus on what he came down here to do. To say.
He wanted to say it before mouths were put on parts or anything else like that happened.
Matthew slid his hand up to cup the back of her head before b
reaking off the kiss.
"Suzannah..." he murmured, brushing her hair out of her face. "Suzannah...when is that portal opening again?"
Okay. So it wasn't the best way to broach the topic. Because he knew when the portal was opening. He knew. He had a little more than twenty-four hours.
"Tomorrow," she whispered. "One-seventeen p.m...."
It was now or never. He had to know if this was the last time he'd see her. If these hours were the last ones.
"So like...In your time? You think I'd fit in? I mean... I live in alone here... Can't be much worse, right?"
He made this sound that he regretted making the second it passed through his lips. Something like an awkward dry laugh, but somehow more awkward? A cough? A quiet choke?
Certainly felt like he was choking.
Her hand stilled in his hair. "You want to come with me?"
"Yeah..." he nodded, swallowing back the fear that was urging him to laugh it off.
"I was actually going to ask you that," she said with a small smirk. She pressed her lips together. "I'd love for you to come with me, Matthew..."
His heart soared. He was pretty sure that's what that feeling was. He wanted to jump up and down. And run around the room.
"But, like...if you did? It would be for good. I don't know if they'd be able to send you back."
He shrugged. "Okay. Maybe I don't wanna come back. I go missing, right? Maybe this is how."
Her eyes widened. "Are you...are you sure? We've only known each for other a week. This isn't just you wanting to get in my pants a few more times? Because... I mean... you can get in my pants, I promise. We have, like, twenty-eight hours left. I bet you could get in them multiple times before I have to leave."
He kissed her. Full-on, lips parted, completely desperate, kissed her. "That's not the only thing I want. Promise. In fact...we can just...put that off until...indefinitely, if you want. If you need convincing?"
Blinking repeatedly, she reached for his hands. "You'd be thirty years behind on everything. You'd miss... you're gonna miss a bunch of stuff."
"And if I didn't go with you... I'd miss you. Plus, I mean -- I..." He looked down. "You said I don't ever meet you. That you've never seen me before now." he shook his head. "I can't not find out what this is."
"It's not fair though," she countered.
"What isn't?"
"You... you giving up everything to come with me. I can't offer you the same... I mean, I can offer, but you know I can't do it..."
"Your present doesn't have a 'me'. My present has a 'you'. That's a no-brainer, Suzannah. Can't have two of you here."
"But... you're giving up everything. What if..." she trailed off. "What if it's not worth it?"
"It's worth it. No matter what happens, it's worth it."
He was smiling. He couldn't help it. Not really. Not when they were finally talking about the thing that he'd been mulling over for the better part of two days. Ever since he'd kissed her and she'd kissed him back. Ever since she'd made him feel like the greatest guy she'd ever met. Him. The greatest.
It was crazy and he knew it. But he couldn't imagine his life without her in it.
"But..." Her voice was lower, raspier. Thicker. "I dunno if you know this? But I snore. And drool in my sleep. It's gross."
He snickered. "It's not that gross."
"I think you're just jealous of my smartphone," she teased.
"Yeah, you caught me. I don't love you at all, I just want a smartphone."
Her eyebrows shot up. "Whoa, wait a minute. You love me?"
Matthew snorted. "NO. I just said I didn't. It's totally the phone."
"Well. I don't love you either," she returned with just a hint of haughtiness. "I'm just here for the sex and your awesome vintage arcade game collection."
Laughing, he scooted down a little so his head was level with hers. "Okay, fair enough. I can pull out the hide-a-bed if you don't want to do it on the couch..."
"Oh wow, that's so romantic," She grinned. "But I honestly think the arcade game machine would be more comfortable."
He straightened up. "Oh really?"
Suzannah
And that's how Suzannah found herself buck-ass-nude, balancing on the controls (to the far right of the joystick, thank you very much) of the arcade game machine, while Matthew kissed his way down her body.
It was too tall for any actual sex to happen, but what was happening was completely fine with her.
He smirked up at her before swirling his tongue around her navel. "This okay?"
She nodded, aware that her ass was pressing buttons, but not really caring in slightest. Because those lips -- those lips that should be illegal -- were on the move again. Further south.
And holy fuck, yes.
He spread her thighs and practically dove between them. No pretense. That was obviously what he was there for.
He licked along her slit and squared his shoulders so she could drape her legs over them.
As it turned out? If his lips were criminal, his tongue was a boss.
Fuck, his tongue was her boss. From now on. Her boss. Whatever his tongue wanted? It was getting it. In spades.
Because holy shit. He could use it. Really well.
He dipped it into her core for only an instant, wriggling it around before he moved up slightly to focus on her clit. He swirled the tip around the bundle of nerves, clockwise, counter-clockwise, clockwise again... She couldn't really tell because she was well on her way to being blissed out.
She was on the very edge of coming and it hadn't even been two minutes yet.
"Wait..." she murmured.
He stopped, looking up at her with these big brown eyes, all innocent and acting like he wasn't performing impossible miracles between her legs a few seconds before.
"Are you doing something with your tongue?"
He winked. "Picked up on that, did ya? What gave it away?"
She raised her eyebrows and shot him her best 'look'. "Are you doing something different with your tongue? Because hot damn, Ivey."
"Maybe a little? If you don't like it, I'll stop."
"No, I like it... I'm just... close already."
He looked genuinely surprised. "Whoa. Really? You hard up or something?"
She rolled her eyes and reached for the back of his head.
She pulled him back down and nearly yelped when his tongue touched her. Definitely different. Definitely mind blowing.
Definitely something she could get used to.
"Fuck..." She gripped his hair, hoping to gods she wasn't hurting him. He grunted against her, his tongue speeding up just slightly. Just enough to have her nerves singing as she toppled over the edge. His name was a constant prayer (or swear, she wasn't sure) on her lips.
He licked his lips and kissed his way back up. Lingering for a moment, he pressed a kiss to her quivering belly as he reached down to unbuckle his belt.
"This still okay?" he asked.
She nodded and gasped when her back hit the wall. Not hard, though. Almost feather light.
He had one arm around her waist and his other hand was busy lining himself up. "Still okay?"
"Gods, Matthew... just... fuck me, please."
He stepped forward, working her down onto his cock, filling her slowly as he sucked a mark on her neck to stifle his groan.
After that, he was surprisingly slow. He supported her hips with his hands, thrusting into her slowly as she braced herself against the wall behind her.
It took her a short time to realize that while he'd shifted them over here rather quickly, he still didn't have his pants off the whole way. They were down around his knees, which would have made her laugh, if he wasn't so perfectly hitting her sometimes elusive g-spot with every thrust.
It really was difficult to laugh when one was still technically in the throes of ecstasy while even more throes were on the horizon. So. Many. Throes.
When she came the next time, it was softer, more subdued. She could take him in a
s it was happening, watch his face as her walls squeezed him.
He started speeding up towards the end, biting down on his lip as he quickly pulled out, sliding up through her folds and finding his release there, on her belly and even a little on her breasts.
He was panting, and he still looked sufficiently wrecked, so Suzannah let it slide.
"Sorry... I usually last longer than that. Also, sorry about the mess..." He glanced down at her stomach. "Wasn't sure about birth control? I didn't want to like...I dunno..."
"I have a shot that I take every month, " she shrugged. "Just for future reference."
He nodded. "Good to know"
"Also, for present reference... my back's kind of--"
He quickly moved them to the couch. He even cleaned her up. Gods, she couldn't believe her luck; he was such fucking gentleman.
"You still want to come back with me?" she asked, tugging on his arm so he collapsed on the sofa beside her.
"Do you still want me to?"
"Yeah... I kinda wanna keep you," she confessed, a smirk forming there on the corner of her mouth.
"Well, that's good. 'Cause, I kinda want you to keep me."
~ Chapter Eight ~
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~ June 27, 2017 ~
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Henry
Henry pulled her hair back into a ponytail, wrapping it in a rubber band she'd found in the deep recesses of her desk drawer back at her office. It was one of the only things that she brought with her when she'd come down to the research center today.
Suzannah would flip out if she saw her doing this, would lecture her on the damage she was about to do to her hair. That girl always seemed to have one or two hair ties wound around her wrist at any given moment. Unfortunately, all Henry had around hers was this rubber band.
Sighing, she glanced over at Barry, who was inputting their new figures into the program for the time and matter manipulator.
It had taken a dozen of Dr. Slone's interns and some help from a licensed piece of warehouse equipment to get this apparatus set up at the research facility on time to make sure they didn't leave Suzannah stranded in the past.
Rewind: A Time Travel Romance Page 7