by Rebecca York
“Jonah saved me in another way. I had almost given up hope. But when he spoke to me mind to mind, it was like my whole world changed.”
“Yes.”
Suddenly she blurted the worry that had been clawing at her. “There are so many things here I don’t understand.”
‘You’re smart. You will.”
“But do you think I can fit in—and Jonah and I could make a relationship work?”
“I hope so. Because I know he cares about you. When he lost the communication with you, he got frantic.”
“Me too.” She swallowed hard. “Now that the emergency is over, I hope we’re not too different to understand each other.”
“We know you’re going to have to get your bearings. And you’re welcome to stay in our guest suite for a while.”
She shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m going home with Jonah.”
“Okay.”
“You don’t approve?” she asked quickly.
“It’s your decision—and his.”
“He agreed.”
The doctor nodded and cleared her throat. “It’s a good idea for you to use birth control if you make love with him.”
Shocked by the bluntness, Alice felt herself flush. “I don’t know much about it.”
“Right, in your era a girl your age probably wouldn’t.”
“So you’re saying he’ll find me . . . naive?”
“No, I think he’ll like it that he’s the man who made you want to take the next step.”
She nodded, wondering if it really was true.
“There are birth control methods for women, but they all require a prescription. Ask him to use a condom,” Rachel said.
She flushed again. “Uh . .”
“They had them back then, right?”
“Yes, but I never needed to use one.”
“It’s part of being responsible.” The doctor turned away, opened a drawer and handed Alice a couple of packets. “Here. You can put them in your pocket. Her voice turned brisk. “And let’s ditch those oversize guy clothes for something that fits. We keep a lot of things on hand here in case a client needs something.”
Alice was glad about the change of subject. It felt strange discussing something as private as sex with a woman she’d just met. But the woman was a doctor, Alice reminded herself. She could even ask her more questions, if she weren’t too embarrassed to do it.
Rachel led her down the hall to a room with closets on three sides and drawers on the other. Together they found a pair of stylish jeans, a pretty mint green knit top and running shoes. Rachel also got out a suitcase and put in extra underwear, some tee shirts, and a couple more outfits.
“And what about some makeup?” Rachel asked.
They moved to another section of the room where Alice found products she recognized. She put on lipstick, a little blusher, and some subtle eye shadow.
“Nice,” Rachel approved as she added Alice’s choices to the suitcase.
“Thanks. But you know, I’m overwhelmed by all this.”
“Frank Decorah is very generous with clients.”
“Am I a client?”
“Yes.”
“But I can’t pay him. At least not yet.”
“Don’t worry about that. He had funds set up for people in need.”
“Charity cases?”
“I wouldn’t put it that way. In the first place, your making it here has given Decorah invaluable information.”
As they stepped into the hall, Alice could see the men deep in conversation. They stopped talking and glanced up.
She caught the appreciative look in Jonah’s eye as he took in her appearance.
She smiled at him, then turned to Frank, who was evaluating her on a more basic level—with a mixture of concern and speculation.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m still marveling at my miraculous escape.”
“I can imagine.”
The way he said it sent a little shiver over her skin, and she had the feeling he had a better idea of her feelings than the others. Had he been through something similar?
She’d have to ask Jonah later.
“It would help if you could write a report of your impressions of contacting Jonah and everything that happened after that. The paranormal experience—from your point of view.”
“Of course.”
“I should get you home,” Jonah said, “You probably want to get some rest.”
“Right.” She hoped he had just said that for the benefit of the others. Resting wasn’t at the top of her current list.
They got back into the Chevy, and he drove through the darkness, to an area that still looked fairly rural. Their destination was a country garage.
“Frank found this place for me. He got the owner to sell for practically nothing. I put in a lot of sweat equity turning the wasted space upstairs into an apartment.”
In the service bays they passed several vehicles that she might have seen on the street. He got her suitcase from the backseat and carried it up a flight of stairs. At the door to his apartment, he hesitated. “It’s nothing fancy.”
“I don’t need fancy.”
“I should have straightened up.”
“Please, don’t worry about it.”
The comments told her he was nervous, too.
He unlocked the door and led her into a large space that was part living room and part kitchen.
As he set down her suitcase, she looked around. The kitchen was arranged in an L-shape with a refrigerator, stove and sink along the back wall. A perpendicular counter came out at an angle. In the middle of the L was a wooden table and four chairs.
Across the room were a worn couch and an easy chair. An empty glass sat on an end table and a pair of shoes and socks were on the floor. Really, not much was out of order. Her gaze went to a large flat screen hanging on the wall across from the couch.
“What’s that?”
“My TV. They got a lot more streamlined. You don’t need that bulky cathode ray tube anymore.”
He picked up something about the size of a small, flat flashlight, pointed it at the TV, and clicked a button. She blinked as the screen flashed to life. It was in bright colors, like a Technicolor movie. Two men were discussing a baseball game.
“Like I said, we have hundreds of channels.” He flicked another button. “And you don’t have to get up to change.”
Bits and pieces of other scenes flashed by. What looked like a newscast. A cartoon. A drama. Then a scene of a man and a woman in a tight clinch. They were kissing hotly, and the man reached for the zipper at the back of her dress.
Jonah clicked it off. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. I think it’s a suggestion.”
“Of what?”
“What we both want to do.”
“Alice. . . .”
Sensing that he wasn’t going to push her into anything, she reached for him and pulled him close.
He said her name again, his voice full of longing.
“Don’t step away from me because you think it’s the right thing to do,” she whispered.
“It is. You’ve been through a horrible ordeal. You just got here. I could be taking advantage of you.”
“Of course not. I want to be as close to you as I can get.”
Cupping the back of his hair, she brought his head down. He moved his lips against hers, and she opened for him, reveling in the intimate contact. Accepting the invitation, his tongue played with the line of her teeth and the sensitive tissue just beyond her lips.
That simple contact sent currents of heat coursing through her. And when he lifted his head, they were both breathing hard.
His hands stroked up and down her back. “Have you . . . made love before?” he asked.
“Are you asking because I seem . . .” she fumbled for a phrase and came up with, “Wet behind the ears?”
“No. I’m making assumptions because of . . . when you come
from. You were probably taught—good girls don’t.”
Rachel had made the same assumptions. Alice dragged in a breath and let it out. “You’re right. My parents were pretty strict with us. I haven’t gone all the way before. But I want to—with you.”
“Why?”
“You saved my life.”
“And you want to thank me.”
“No, I want to finish what we started. She stopped talking and said the last part silently. I mean, we were so close. In each other’s minds. It was unique. And wonderful. And being in your arms is another kind of wonderful.
She felt him shudder. On Lord, Alice.
I think it’s going to work out, she said, putting as much conviction as she could muster into the assertion.
When she lifted her face again, he brought his lips back to hers for a kiss that was both hungry and gentle.
They stood kissing and swaying in the middle of the room, and she felt as if the apartment was whirling around her.
“You’re making my head spin,” she murmured, speaking aloud against his lips.
“Mine too.”
“Can we lie down?”
“You mean sit down?”
“I think your bed is probably more comfortable than your couch—for anything major.”
He dragged in a breath and let it out before leading her through a door to a bedroom that was about the same size as the living room. When he switched on a bedside lamp, she saw that his bed was wide, with a spread carelessly pulled up. A chair in one corner was piled with clothes he’d worn.
“Sorry it’s not neater.”
“It’s fine.”
Not sure exactly what to do next, she sat down on the edge of the mattress and kicked off her shoes. Then she decided to pull off her jeans. She was about to toss them on the floor when she remembered they had something she needed.
“Rachel told me to use a condom,” she said as she fumbled in the right front pocket and pulled out the packets.
He made a low sound. “You talked about this?”
“Not much. But I told her I wanted to be with you, and she said we should be responsible.”
She handed him the packets, which he put on the night table. She gave them a quick look before pulling off the jeans and slipping under the covers, leaving space beside her. He turned the light down to a lower setting, then pulled his tee shirt over his head. Although he kicked off his shoes, he kept his jeans on as he slipped under the covers beside her.
“I’ve got a shirt and you’ve got pants,” she said, then felt like it was a dumb comment.
“Not for long.” He folded her into his arms, and she snuggled against his broad chest.
He rolled to his side, kissing her again, playing with her mouth as his hands began to stroke her back, her ribs, the curve of her hip. His touch was light, but it felt like his fingers were trailing fire down her sensitized skin.
She didn’t want to be a passive lover. She flattened her hand against his chest, feeling his heart beating and loving the texture of his masculine skin and the hair spreading out in a wide pattern. When her hand brushed his nipple, he caught his breath.
“Is that okay?”
“Oh yeah. I can show you.” Sweeping the covers aside, he helped her to a sitting position, then eased the knit shirt over her head. As he lay her back down, he dipped his finger into the top edge of her bra, playing with her breasts, stroking downward. Her nipples tightened, and when he finally touched one, she felt a jolt of sensation. Bending over, he pressed his lips against the other peak, using his mouth on her through the thin fabric of her bra.
“Oh!”
Reaching behind her, she unfastened the hooks, then pulled the bra away.
As he stared down at her, she held her breath. Would he think her breasts were too small?
“You’re so pretty.”
“I want to be. For you.”
“You’re perfect. Just right for my hands.”
He cupped both breasts, stroking sensually, then drew circles around her nipples, making them rise to rigid nubs, as the circles drew inward. And when he finally brushed his fingers against their sides, she couldn’t hold back an exclamation.
“That’s so good.”
“God, yes. I love the way you respond to me.”
“How?”
He grinned. “With heat.”
“Yes, heat.” As he gathered her close, kissing and caressing her, she felt her whole body flame. She had made out with guys, but they had never made her feel like this. Nobody had been this experienced—or as focused on giving her pleasure.
He watched her face as one of his hands slid down her body, into her panties, winnowing through the triangle of hair at the juncture of her legs before slipping into the folds of her sex. They were swollen and slick and exquisitely sensitive.
He stroked down to her vagina, dipping inside as he had before, then up to her clitoris, and she raised her hips into the caress.
“I touched you like this when I was a ghost. I wanted to give you as much pleasure as I could. ”
“You did.”
“Had you done that before?”
“No.”
“But you let me.”
“You made me feel alive for the first time in months.”
When she reached to press her hand against the bulge at the front of his jeans, he drew in a quick breath.
Feeling bold, she undid his belt buckle and the button at the waistband before lowering the zipper and thrusting her hand into his shorts so that she was touching him intimately.
He felt full and hot and very large.
“That’s going to fit inside me?” she heard herself ask.
“Yes, but we don’t have to do everything tonight.”
“I want to do everything. It’s my reward for surviving.”
He seemed to stop breathing as he watched her pull down her panties and toss them onto the floor.
He did the same with his jeans and shorts. Before she could get a good look at him, he pulled her into his arms, his hot flesh molding to hers.
She pressed against his penis, loving the way it teased her throbbing center.
He kept her in a tight embrace, clasping her bottom, stroking her back.
She couldn’t stop herself from moving against him, rocking against his hard shaft.
“I think it’s time.”
He rolled away, and she saw him open one of the packets she had put on the night table.
When he came back to her, she tensed, thinking he was going to thrust himself inside her right away. Instead, he played with her breasts again, then slid himself against her the way he had done with his hand, giving her long, sensual strokes.
She threw back her head, absorbing the sensations, helpless to do anything but quicken to the exquisite friction.
She felt herself driving for climax, knowing she was close. She needed only a few more strokes before she tumbled over the edge and flew off into the clouds. And as her orgasm began to fade, she felt him lift her hips and change the angle as he drove into her.
There was a moment of pain, but only a moment. Then he was moving urgently inside her, pushing for his own satisfaction, his hips rising and falling.
He cried out, breathing hard, shuddering as he came down on top of her.
She kissed his cheek, stroked her hands over his sweat-slick back.
When he rolled to his side, he took her with him.
She snuggled against his chest, marveling at how well he had planned that. He had given her the ultimate pleasure before ever taking his own.
Thank you, she said.
Are you okay?
Yes, that was wonderful. And there’s no way to lie mind to mind.
“I didn’t want to hurt you,” he said, switching to speech again, and she smiled at the way they could change the way they talked to each other.
“Only a little. You did it just right”
He fumbled with the condom, crumpled it into a tissue and threw it on th
e floor before taking her back into his arms.
She cuddled against him and whispered, “I thought I was going to die in that hunt, and you charged in on a white horse. No a ‘55 Chevy.”
“Because you called out to me.”
“Without much hope.”
“That makes it even more remarkable.”
“More like desperate.”
Chapter16
Alice stayed in Jonah’s arms, drifting on a tide of contentment—and wonder, still trying to believe this was all real—and that everything could have changed so completely.
Finally he stirred, “I hate to break the spell, but did you eat today?”
The question made her think again how everything was different. “I was too nervous to eat much.”
“Me too. I didn’t know if I could get back there again once I realized I had to travel through time, and I didn’t know what I could do to help when I got there.”
“You helped plenty. Just telling me about the tracker saved my life.”
“Thank God. And now let’s get practical. What do you want to eat?”
“What are my choices?”
“I make a pretty good omelet. Or I have pizza in the freezer.”
“I’d love the omelet, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“No, that’s good. Do ham, onion, green pepper and cheese work for you?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll give you some privacy.”
“Thanks.”
She waited while he dressed. When he’d left the room, she grabbed her clothes and ducked into the bathroom.
Turning toward the sink, she inspected her face in the mirror. Her cheeks were leaner than she remembered. But her eyes were bright, and she looked like a very satisfied woman.
She’d said making love was her reward for surviving. But survival was still astonishing, after all she had been through.
She cleaned up a little, dressed, and left the bedroom. In the kitchen, Jonah was chopping onions on a cutting board made of some material she’d never seen before.
“What can I do?”
“Chop the pepper and the ham.”
He pulled out a small skillet, then put it back and got out a larger one. “Easier to make a big omelet and cut it in half.”
“Right.”
The ham was sliced in a package, and she cut some of the slices into smaller pieces, then watched him sauté the ingredients in olive oil. Her mom would have used butter, but the oil sounded more interesting.