Dante pulled back to look at Millie. His eyes smoldered, making Millie eager with anticipation. All she wanted was to make love with him, to feel their bodies joined as one.
“Do you know how much I want you?” he asked her in a low voice.
“I have an idea,” she answered back with a grin as she reached down to take his hardness in her hand. She stroked him a few times and he closed his eyes and groaned. When her fingers touched the tip, she felt the slickness of his precum.
Her pussy clenched and Millie knew she couldn’t wait another moment to feel the hard cock in her. She let go of him and lay down on the bed, smiling at Dante but not saying a word.
Dante smiled back as he covered her. Using his knee to part Millie’s legs, he settled himself between them. Dante lay himself over Millie while holding his weight up off her on his forearms. Millie took his erection in her hand and guided it to her open sex. As he slid inside her, they both moaned in pleasure. He was the perfect fit, filling her completely.
Dante started moving his hips, sliding himself in and out of Millie, his cock rubbing her clit with every stroke. “Bend your knees,” he told Millie.
Millie raised her legs allowing him to enter her even further. Dante’s hips moved faster and faster, his breathing intensified. Millie reached around to hold his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin. With every stroke inside of her, she could feel her orgasm come closer and closer.
Millie looked at Dante over her. The way he had his eyes closed and the way he was breathing told her he was close to his own release as well. As her orgasm finally swept over her, Millie felt Dante tense and hold his breath letting her know he was coming as well. They both rested together for a few moments, with neither speaking. Finally Dante eased off of her and lay down next to her.
“Since you're going to leave in the morning, would it be alright if I held you while we sleep? I’m not ready to let you go yet,” he explained.
Millie turned to face him and smiled before she placed a kiss on his lips. “Yes, I would love that,” she said as he wrapped her in his arms. It felt natural and right being in bed with him, safely nestled in his arms. Millie didn’t want to think about how she was going to have to leave Dante. She simply wanted to enjoy the moment and brand it into her memory.
Chapter Three
Millie woke up in Dante’s arms, her head resting on his chest. The night they spent together had been unbelievable. Dante was the most incredible lover she ever had. Watching Dante as he slept, Millie reached out to stroke his cheek. He was such a fantastic man. She wished she wasn’t going to have to leave him, but she knew it was inevitable.
“Mmmm… I love it when you touch me,” he murmured with his eyes still closed.
“I didn’t mean to wake you up. I’m sorry,” Millie apologized in a whisper. “I was thinking about last night and…” she trailed off as she ran her fingers through his hair.
“We’re good together, aren’t we?” Dante asked her.
“Yes, we are,” she agreed proceeding to kiss him. She wanted to stay there lying in bed with him, but she knew she had to get up and leave. If she stayed with him, she would want to make love again.
“You’re still going to go, aren’t you?” he asked. He didn’t even try to hide the disappointment in his voice.
Millie didn’t answer right away. It killed her that she was in this position through no choice of her own. This is what happened when she time jumped; she loved them, and then left them. It was a hell of a life. Millie could never commit to anyone. It was just the way it had to be.
“I still have to go,” Millie said softly. Her heart ached with her words.
Dante was silent, then gave her a hug before he kissed her hair softly.
“It’s alright, you told me last night you were going to go. I hoped that maybe you had changed your mind after last night. It felt like we had something special between us. You aren’t like the other women who live here. You’re different,” Dante told her. He sounded absolutely despondent.
Millie sat up to look at him, brushing her hair out of her face. She longed to tell him she wanted nothing more than to stay with him, but she didn’t even know if she would be there for the next sunset. She felt tears begin to well in her eyes. God, this was one of those times she wished she'd never seen that antique store that day.
“Dante, I really do have to leave. But you’re right about last night. I can’t even begin to tell you how fantastic it was. If I could stay here with you, I would. I just can’t,” she tried to explain. She fought the tears she felt ready to spill from her eyes. She wished she could tell him everything, but she knew there was no way he would understand.
“Well, when do you have to go? Can you stay until the afternoon?” he asked hopefully.
“I should go now. If I wait any longer, I’m not going to be able to leave you,” she confessed.
“I don’t see how that’s a bad thing,” he tried to joke, “But I’ll respect what you say. Let me help you get dressed,” Dante said as he got up from the bed. He quickly put on his own clothes, and then picked up Millie’s new dress off a trunk in the room.
Millie was glad he had offered to help her since she had no idea how to put the dress on herself. While he helped her, Millie decided she would leave the city to walk back to where she had arrived yesterday. It was a fairly secluded spot. She would wait for the watch to send her back from there.
Dante was fastening the dress at her shoulder when there was a rumbling sound and the ground started to shake. It was an earthquake, Millie thought as she held on to Dante. There was the sound of a huge explosion from outside followed by the sound of something hitting the roof of the house. Finally, the ground stopped shaking. Millie let go of her vice like grip on him.
“That must have been from the volcano,” Dante said.
“Volcano?” Millie asked back. It couldn’t be a good thing if a volcano just caused an earthquake. The noise of something hitting the roof was continuous and unnerving. It was too warm outside for it to be hail, Millie thought.
“You’ve never seen it? You aren’t from around here, are you?” he asked. “Let’s go see what’s going on outside,” he told her as he started to lead her from the room.
“Hold on a second,” she told him running back to her old dress on the floor. She picked up her watch, pulled it on over her head, tucking it in her clothes.
As they walked into the atrium, there were rocks falling through the hole in the ceiling. It was as if it were raining rocks. Dante walked over to pick one up, only to immediately drop it.
“That feels like it's on fire,” he said to her amazement.
They went to the front door to see rocks and pebbles fall from the sky. Also, a fine ash covered the ground.
“Mount Vesuvius must have erupted,” Dante told her.
Millie thought she was going to throw up. She suddenly knew where she was. “You live in Pompeii,” she stated.
Dante gave her a strange look, as if he couldn’t understand why she had said that. Of course, he knew where he lived.
Millie tried to remember what she knew about Pompeii. There was an exhibit on Pompeii at the history museum Dayna and she had gone to. She remembered that the people had mostly suffocated from breathing in the ash and poisonous gas from the volcano’s eruption.
“Let’s go back inside my house,” Dante told her, “we’ll be safe there.”
Millie remembered how people had died thinking the same thing. In a few hours, the whole city of Pompeii would be buried under ash. The wind would continue to blow the ash right towards the city. No, staying in his house was the wrong decision. They had to get out of the city as quickly as they could. Millie had an idea. She turned to Dante.
“Do you have a boat?” she asked him.
He nodded to her. “Two actually. Are you thinking we should leave the city?” he asked her.
Millie could tell he was thinking taking a boat might be the right way to go. “I think we need
to get to one of your boats as soon as we can,” she told him.
“But my house will be safe,” he tried to reassure her.
“Please Dante; let’s take a boat out of the city. Please,” she begged him anxiously.
Dante looked out at the darkening sky. The thick ash hanging in the air started to hide the sun. “The boats are this way at the harbor,” he said taking Millie’s hand leading the way. There was urgency in his voice. He was walking so quickly, Millie had to really work to keep up with his pace.
They started out walking as fast as they could, but soon had to slow down. Dante had to let go of Millie’s hand so they could protect their heads from the falling debris with their arms. Their eyes stung, their throats hurt from breathing in the ash and dust. Millie and Dante both covered their mouths with material from their clothes.
When they finally reached the harbor and the boats, it was dark from so much ash in the air. They had a layer of ash on them making them appear monochromatic.
‘This is one of mine,” Dante told her when he stopped at one of the boats. He helped Millie in to it, then hurried to get them away from the land.
As they sailed away from the shore, they started heading south. The wind that was blowing the ash towards Pompeii was also blowing them away from the city. Soon the rain of ash was noticeably less.
Millie was so relieved she was there that day to tell Dante not to go back to his house. He would have died for sure, buried under at least twenty feet of volcanic ash.
“I think your idea of leaving the city was a good one,” he said. He brushed his hair with his hands trying to get the ash off him.
Millie felt for him because she knew he would never see his house or his city ever again. Dante moved next to Millie brushing the ash from her shoulders and hair.
“We’ll keep heading south and go towards Surrentum. I have some business associates there who will let us stay with them,” he told her.
Before Millie could answer him, she heard the whir of her watch. She pulled it out from under her dress to see the hands start to spin forward. It was amazing the terrible timing that thing had, she thought.
“Dante, thank you for everything,” she told him hurriedly. “I hope you have a great life, find a wife and have all those children you dream of.” She knew she had a matter of seconds before she would be gone. He gave her a confused look. She was sure he didn’t understand why she was saying goodbye to him when they were on a boat in the middle of the sea. There was nowhere for her to go. She didn’t even have the time to explain. This was one of the few times she would be time jumping in front of someone.
“Please know that if I could have stayed here with you, I would have. I mean it. You are an incredible man. Thank you Dante,” she said.
As she said thank you, he started moving closer to her, but it was too late. She was already fading. As she reached out her hand to touch his one last time, she was already transparent. She could not hear his voice anymore, but she saw him mouth her name. He tried to reach for something he would never be able to touch again. She was gone.
Millie arrived back in her time on her back, lying in her bed. She looked at the clock next to her bed. It was still the middle of the night. She had only been gone for a few minutes.
She got up from her bed and went to the bathroom to wash her face. As she looked in the mirror, her heart ached, thinking of Dante. He was so wonderful. She would have really stayed with him if she could have. It was going to take some time to get over him. She hoped the watch would give her the time to let her heart recover before it sent her on her next romantic adventure…
The End
www.myspace.com/annmarieortega
SHORT AUTHOR BIO :
Annmarie Ortega is a lifetime resident of Chicago, Illinois and loves the big city life. She is a part time student pursuing her Bachelor's Degree in Fiction Writing. In the fall of 2005 Annmarie had her first short story published, and is now published with the Dark Castle Lords, Whiskey Creek Torrid, New Concepts, and Red Rose. She is a member of the RWA, along with their ESPAN and Passionate Ink chapters as well. In her spare time she loves to spend time with her family and friends, read, and volunteer with fund raising at her oldest son’s school.
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