by Hahn, Joni
He shook his head against the sofa cushion. “No, baby.”
She released a quick breath. “Do you want me, Dar?”
He gave a half laugh. “Every waking second.”
Smiling, she felt a sharp, tingling sensation shoot throughout her body.
“Would you still want me if I never regained my memory?”
Humor laced his voice. “Every waking second.”
Her laugh caught on tears. “Your past doesn’t matter to me, Dar.”
His swallow sounded loud in the dark stillness. Sitting up, he searched her gaze before laying his forehead against her chest. “I’ve done some bad things…“
Splaying her fingers in his hair, she kissed the top of his head. “That was before me. Before us. Let’s leave it in the past, all right?”
His wince didn’t surprise her.
“For me?”
Sitting back, he released a breath, his aqua gaze resigned. “For you.”
Pressing her lips to his, she said, “I don’t want to worry about my memory, or your past. I want us to just be us… now.”
“That sounds like the best plan we’ve had so far. Come here, baby.”
Dropping her towel, Jocelyn climbed onto his lap, her legs straddling him as he held her tight. She hadn’t felt this safe, this loved since she woke. He smelled of woodsy spearmint, his chest hair tickling her breasts. His covered manhood stood hard and hot against her belly, his lips soft on her neck.
Reaching between them, she stroked him through his boxer briefs, her movements instinctive.
He sucked in a breath. “I think you’ve done this before,” he choked out.
Groaning, he laid back his head against the sofa.
“I think so,” she said with humor.
Leaning over him, she tasted his lips with her tongue before delving deep. He accepted her invitation, clutching the back of her head and deepening the kiss even further. His breathing intensified with her bold strokes, crescendoing higher and higher until he broke away and stilled her hand.
“Stop.”
She kissed him again. “Why?”
“Because as much as I love what you’re doing to me – damn, am I really saying this? - this isn’t about sex.”
Smiling, she placed a lock of hair behind his ear. “It’s not?”
Lying her back on the cushioned ottoman, he shucked his briefs and covered her, his body hot against hers. In that moment, when he stared down at her with pure, unadulterated devotion, she knew fate had sent her from the past to find him.
“No, it’s not.” Dar brushed a kiss across her lips.
His muscled arms strained above her, his wide chest blinding her to anything but him. His manhood sat just outside her core.
“What’s it about?”
“Making you mine, Joce… for all time.”
He plunged into her then, robbing her breath. The feel of him inside her, his fullness, his strength, brought tears to her eyes. He was meant for her, she had no doubt, yet how they’d ended up in different times was a mystery.
Rather than moving inside her, he dropped his head beside hers on the cushion. “Damn, this is way too-“
“Intense?” Her breathless words washed over his cheek. She wrapped her legs around him.
He cursed under his breath. “Yeah.”
She pushed her hips against him. “I like intense, Dar.”
He laughed into her hair. “So, do I. I just don’t want this to end.”
“If I traveled seventy years for this, I’m not going to let you get by with only one time. Trust me.”
Rising up on his elbows, his shining aqua eyes crinkled in merriment. “What am I going to do with you, woman?”
“Love me? Please?”
Sobering, Dar moved inside her, his forehead wrinkled in concentration. Increasing the tempo, he thrust into her, again and again, carrying her to a peak just out of her grasp.
She moved with him, her own drive matching his, eager, hungry for what they both sought, knowing they’d only find it together.
His lovemaking, his touch promised her the devotion in his eyes. It told her he would find her no matter the time or place. If she called, he would stop at nothing to answer.
The rapid breathing at her ear, the scent of sweat on heated skin, all worked to arouse her to near delirium. Moaning aloud, she sensed the building climax and reveled in it. When his wild thrusts carried them over the edge together, she called out his name, with hers on his lips, declaring to time and all who lived that nothing would separate them.
Ever.
Chapter 7
“Yes, drill sergeant.”
Dar jumped back from the spray of the water hose. Jocelyn had been ordering him around all morning, asking him to rearrange plants and flowers, and reposition furniture on the front porch. She acted like she owned the place.
“I’m not acting like a drill sergeant, Dar. I just think your sister would appreciate a woman’s touch around here.”
And damn, she was all woman, all right. With one of his t-shirts tied in a knot beneath her bare breasts and his shorts hanging to just shy of her knees, she looked like a forties pin-up girl. Her silky, dark hair fell over one shoulder in a ponytail, her tiny feet, bare. The bruises had faded to reveal more of her jaw-dropping beauty. He couldn’t quit looking at her.
Thus, the reason she kept squirting him.
“Are you staring at me again?”
Technically, he wasn’t staring. He was daydreaming about making love to her last night.
If he’d thought them connected before, he’d been totally naïve. Jocelyn had brought a mind-blowing, bewildering bliss to the surface that Dar never knew he could feel. She’d made love to him at full speed, always giving, always eager, always tantalizing. Yet, it was the last time, when she’d climbed on top of him and loved him without words that rocked his world.
He could see Mitchell’s masochistic obsession on the horizon.
“No ma’am, I am not staring. I believe it’s called ogling.”
She squirted him with the hose, soaking his shirt. “You’d better cool off, Naylor.” Turning off the nozzle, she stared at him, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “On second thought, maybe we do need to go inside.”
Glancing down at his white t-shirt, it clung to his body like a second skin, outlining his torso. She gave him a heated survey, and an even hotter grin.
Game over.
He started towards her slowly before speeding up. Dropping the hose, she ran for the front door. He caught her on the porch and hauled her over his shoulder. She pounded his back as he reached for the front doorknob.
“Hope we’re not interrupting…”
Dar whipped around to find Rachel and Tristan standing not two feet from where he’d been a moment ago. He never even heard them appear. A huge grin graced Rachel’s face while Tristan stared at him with raised brows.
“Working hard, brother?” He gave a cockeyed grin.
Dar lowered Jocelyn to the ground. She straightened her clothes and her hair.
Rachel walked up the steps with a friendly smile. “I’m Rachel, Dar’s sister.”
Jocelyn beamed at her. “You must be his twin. You look so much alike. I’m Jocelyn Chalmers.”
Rachel glanced at Dar. “Actually, no. I’m his half-sister. This is Dar’s brother and my fiancé, Tristan.”
Tristan placed a hand on Rachel’s back. “I was with Dar that first day at the hospital.”
Frowning, Jocelyn shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t recall. I was a little confused back then.” Looking beyond their shoulders, she said, “How did you get here?”
Tristan looked at Dar for confirmation. Dar knew Jocelyn would learn about his unusual family sooner or later. Once her memory returned, she’d recognize Tristan and Aidan, anyway.
“Show her, Jacobs.”
Rachel put her arm around Jocelyn’s shoulders. “Has Dar told you about D.I.R.E.?”
“Yes, somewhat. It’s
a private spy agency, like the Pinkertons.”
Jocelyn frowned up at him. “How do I remember meaningless trivialities, but I can’t remember my past?”
Rachel hugged her shoulders. “It’ll happen. It sounds like your memory is just being stubborn.”
Tristan went into science guy mode. The dude really got intense sometimes.
“Jocelyn, D.I.R.E. is heavy in science and technology.”
Her eyes grew wary. “Such as?”
Green plasma wafted around Tristan on the front walk, before he disappeared with a flash. Jocelyn started, her eyes like marbles.
“Where did he go?”
Rachel gave her a sly smile. “Hold on a sec...”
A minute later, he flashed on the scene with Cassandra at his back. Jocelyn grabbed Dar’s arm in a painful grip. He took her hand in his.
He expected to see worry in her pretty, brown eyes, but excitement shown in their sparkling depths. Leaving him and Rachel on the porch, she ran down the steps.
Cass turned around. Jocelyn stopped short, her mouth dropping open.
“Do I know you?” Her voice held a tremor of fear as she backed up slowly. “Dar?” His name came out on a high pitch of worry.
He rushed to her. “I’m here, baby.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “My head…” She pressed her fingers to her temples.
“Let’s go inside.” Dar turned her around.
“No.” Her voice held a note of authority. “Just… give me a minute.”
“She gets headaches when she starts remembering.”
Cass stepped toward her. “Then maybe we need to push her past them.” She touched Jocelyn’s shoulder. “Jocelyn, I’m Cassandra Naylor, Dar’s twin sister.”
Slowly raising her head, Joce stared at Cassandra. “We’ve never met?”
“No.”
“You seem so familiar to me...”
Cass gave her a sympathetic nod. “That’s understandable.”
“Why?” Jocelyn winced with pain.
Dar cursed under his breath as he stepped in front of her. “Stop, Cass. I don’t want to hurt her.”
“I’m fine, Dar.” Jocelyn stepped back around him. “Why?”
“You tell me, Jocelyn.” Cass gave her an encouraging grin.
Dar kissed the top of her head as she studied his sister.
Joce slumped her shoulders. “I don’t know.” Her eyes darted to Tristan. “What did you just do?”
“I teleported back to D.I.R.E. Headquarters to get Cass.”
Her mouth dropped open again. “You… teleported?”
“Yes.”
“As in Professor Einstein’s Philadelphia Experiment?”
Dar’s gut churned with excitement. Her memory was returning.
“Yes,” Tristan said. “My technology is based on his Unified Field Theory. Do you know him?”
“Ye-“ She stopped mid-word. Swaying where she stood, Jocelyn clutched Dar’s arm again. She let go, as if shocked.
“Take it easy, Joce…”
“Tristan, I think I know Professor Einstein. I feel like I should, just like I feel I should know Cassandra. I just don’t know why.”
“You’re pushing her too hard.” Dar glared at his siblings. “Back off.”
She glared up at him. “Stop babying me, Dar.”
“Somebody has to – you’re jumping into this with both feet, just like you do everything else. Slow down and relax.”
He took her hand in his and pointed at the barrels they’d worked on earlier. “Tell Rachel and Cass your idea for the barrels while I talk to Tristan.” He glanced at his sisters. “Don’t push her.”
“He’s such a Neanderthal, don’t you think?” Cass led away Jocelyn, Rachel beside her.
Dar’s eyes never left her. “Mitchell called me up, didn’t he, Jacobs?”
“Yes. He wants you at D.I.R.E. right away.”
Jocelyn widened her arms at an angle to show how she wanted to cut the barrels at different heights.
“She’s coming with me.”
“Of course,” Tristan said. “I’d do the same thing.”
Picking up a hand shovel, Jocelyn moved to scoop dirt in one of the barrels and accidentally scraped the side. A wide strip of paint flicked off and fell into the dirt.
“I hate taking her up there with that damned spy and my father on site.”
She leaned forward and studied the exposed strip of paint.
“We’ll keep her protected twenty-four seven.” Tristan assured him. “Don’t worry. She’ll be safe.”
Jocelyn said, “Is that… gold?” before she passed out on the grass.
#####
Jocelyn sat bolt upright in bed. Gasping, she touched a frantic hand to her forehead, her face, her torso.
“You’re fine.” Dar’s sister, Rachel, clasped her shoulders, a warm smile on her face.
She glanced around. This had to be Dar’s bed. It smelled like him, of woodsy spearmint. The grey sheets were crushed, a mountain of pillows against the headboard. His clothes littered a grey desk and white acrylic dresser, a set of barbells and a padded bench on the floor in the living area.
“Is this Dar’s… home?”
Rachel gave a one-shouldered shrug. “A temporary one. We’re in his apartment at D.I.R.E.”
“How did I get here?”
She sat down on the bed. “If you’re asking whether Tristan teleported you, the answer is no. You were transported by private jet.”
An airplane? If she flew from Texas to Nevada, she must’ve slept for hours.
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Over twenty-four hours.”
“What?”
“Yes, Dar didn’t want to wake you.” She looked away, her face flush.
She studied Rachel. Something wasn’t right. Had something happened to Dar? Had he left her?
Scooting off the bed, she said, “Take me to Dar. I want to see him.”
Rachel stood to face her. “That’s impossible at the moment. Maybe, tomorrow morning.”
She didn’t like this at all. Something was definitely wrong. “Why? Why can’t I see him?”
“He’s in the middle of… something.”
She wasted her time here. “I’ll find him myself.” She headed for a door on the far wall.
“Dressed like that?”
Glancing down, Jocelyn realized she wore one of Dar’s t-shirts and nothing else. Rats.
Where were her clothes? The idea of stopping to iron one of her dresses and squeeze into one of those atrocious girdles made her groan. The only reason she wore them was because Angela said their family had a reputation to uphold and ladies wore girdles.
If it were up to her, she’d wear denims and button-up blouses every day.
Jocelyn stiffened. It was all there, like a filing cabinet filled with folders.
She remembered everything. Her father, Angela, the time machine, the sailors, the gold – all of it. Her heart hammered in her chest.
Rachel said, “You remember, don’t you?”
She nodded, before rummaging through the clothes on Dar’s desk. “I need to see Dar right away. I also need to find a man.” She stopped to look at Rachel. “He traveled to the past. He could create electricity with his hands.”
“My brother, Aidan.”
“Your brother?”
“Yes, he’s here. He also works for D.I.R.E.”
She propped a hand on her hip. “What kind of place is this?”
Chuckling, Rachel headed for the door. “You’d be amazed at what goes on here.” Hand on the doorknob, she turned around. “I’ll grab you something out of my closet. While you’re getting dressed, I’ll get everyone together. Mitchell’s anxious to talk to you.”
Jocelyn paced the small meeting room, her cola growing hot on the table. Rachel had left her there while she went to get the others. Apparently, her regained memory was a big deal. They had to prepare for this meeting.
Prepare what?
Whil
e they prepared, thousands of men, women and children were dying back in nineteen forty-four. The war had gripped the world in a strangle hold and threatened to choke it dry. Cruel, heartless people killed unjustly, making up excuses for why innocent people must die.
They had to be stopped.
Including your father.
At first, she didn’t believe it. She told herself Buckner and the other spies had double-crossed her father – and still hoped that was true. However, when Rachel’s brother told her Nathan and Angela were traitors, it gave her pause.
She’d questioned the late night meetings away from the warehouse and home. She’d questioned why her father and Angela learned the German language a few years ago. Why they’d had to keep armed sailors on site day and night.
Jocelyn rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. Justification came easy when someone close made bad choices. However, when those choices proved deadly, justification disappeared to be replaced with flat out reality.
Who could she trust? Her own father couldn’t be trusted. Her stepmother proved no better. She’d risked time travel with men that wanted to kill her just so she could find safety.
Now that she had her mind back, it puzzled her why she had chosen Dar that day outside her hospital room. She’d had terrible nightmares of Buckner holding a gun to her head and pulling the trigger. Nightmares of Nichols and Buckner chasing her down to strangle her. Nightmares of them running over her in a car.
Her pulse pounded where she clutched her throat. Dar had been there and taken care of her without a thought. Now, she could see why D.I.R.E. had been at the hospital. She had to be a unique case. Despite all of the science fiction gadgets the future held, time travel still outshined them all.
“We meet again.”
The man she had seen in the electronics store and again in nineteen forty-four, stood before her now. He wore a confident, easy smile that surely rendered the ladies dumbstruck. Based on Cassandra’s clasp on his hand, his magic had worked on her.
“I’m Aidan Monroe, Rachel’s brother, and you’ve met my girl, Cass.”
She shook his hand. An electrical current tickled her palm. “Where’s Dar?”
“Dar is recovering and can’t be with us.” An older, dark-haired man went around the table to escort her to a chair. “I’m Mitchell Jacobs.”