by Annie Seaton
God, what if she’d passed out in the bath?
This time, he pounded on the door and when she didn’t answer, he turned the knob. The door opened and he stepped in.
“Megan?”
Taking the stairs two at a time, David hurried along the narrow hall upstairs and looked through the open bathroom door. The bath was full of water and her clothes were on the floor but there was no sign of her. Swiveling around, he headed for the bedroom and stopped in the doorway. Megan was curled on her side in the middle of the bed wrapped in a pink towel. His heart kicked up a notch. One hand rested beneath her cheek and a rosy flush stained her skin. Crouching next to the bed, he ignored the blood pumping down to his groin and placed his hand gently on her forehead and brushed the loose hair back from her face.
“Megan,” he said softly. “Are you okay?”
She rolled over onto her back and stretched. “I’m fine. I fell asleep after my bath, but I feel great now.” Looking up, she smiled and held his gaze. It was like getting a jolt of electricity through his entire body.
For the love of God, he couldn’t keep away from her. With a groan, he buried his face on her stomach and tried to contain the raging need that was coursing through his body. He’d thought he had it under control, but one look at her lying on the bed wrapped in a towel and all his good intentions flew out the window.
Standing up, he peeled his T-shirt off and threw it on the bed before stepping out of his jeans. He looked down at Megan—the intensity of her gaze had not left him and it held the same fire that was coursing through his body.
At the window, delicate lace curtains blew softly in the light morning breeze and the smell of roses filled the room as Megan reached a hand up to him. She kept her gaze locked on him without speaking, as her other hand circled her rigid nipple.
Need rushed through him, and he closed his eyes. His cock was throbbing and this time he wanted to take her slowly. But damn it to hell, he had to be back with the band in an hour or so.
“Shit.” He dropped down beside her onto the bed and stared at her. Her gaze raked him up and down as he hesitated.
“What’s wrong?” Her voice was a low, throaty purr.
“I want to stay here with you, but I’ve only got a short time before I have to go. I don’t want to rush you again.” He ran his finger lightly up her stomach and covered the hand on her breast with his.
“Do you have to leave?”
David held his breath as Megan lifted her butt from the bed and pulled the towel away from around her. His gaze traveled down her body, past her full breasts, past her flat stomach, and down to her almost-bare sex. A line of small dark curls covered her clit but the rest of her was bare. In their swift coupling in the dark the other night, he’d not been able to see and appreciate her beauty.
He rolled over on top of her and his cock homed straight in on her warm feminine core. He slid one hand between their bodies and pushed his fingers into her wet heat. She was more than ready, just as he was.
“Yes.” He dropped his mouth to her neck and nipped the delicate pale skin, and she gasped. “If I don’t go back this time, it will change the future. Or what is my present. This is the set where we get picked up by the agent and the band will take off. If I don’t go—”
“Well, then, you’d better hurry up here and get on over there.” Megan lifted her hips and ground against him.
“Shit, why now of all times?” He thrust into her in one slow movement. She arched beneath him and her muscles clenched around him deliciously. He took her mouth with his and slipped his tongue into the welcoming warmth, the pace mirroring the movement of his cock in her wet heat. Time almost stood still and the need to leave went away…almost.
She reached her hands around his back and her nails scratched down his back.
…
Fifteen minutes later, David pulled his jeans on before leaning down to the bed and brushing Megan’s lips with his. She pushed him away reluctantly—knowing he had to go. He stretched the black T-shirt over his head as he headed for the door and she smiled as he tripped over his boots and cursed. Picking them up, he stood in the doorway and smiled back at her.
“I’ll be back about midnight. As soon as we finish. Wait up for me?”
“I’ve slept enough to stay awake for two days.” Megan stretched as a delicious warmth coursed through her. “I’ll go into the village, get some supplies, and make you dinner.”
David frowned. “Don’t go anywhere near the stones. Promise? I don’t want to lose you again.”
“Oh, there’s no fear of that. I’ll stick to the road and come straight back.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed and wrapped the sheet around her. “Now go.”
With one last reluctant look at her, David disappeared along the hallway, and when she heard the front door close, Megan went across to the window and grasped the sheet to her breast waiting for him to appear. After a couple of minutes he came out of his cottage, dressed completely in black, with his guitar slung over his shoulder, and crossed the back garden. This time when he approached the stone markers and disappeared, she relaxed, knowing he was okay and where he had gone.
Wide-awake and her energy renewed, she slipped into the bathroom for a quick shower before wandering downstairs. Even though she hadn’t spent much time there, the cottage was beginning to feel like home. Thoughts of her real life and home seemed distant and the time she had spent with David filled her thoughts. She knew she’d surprised him with her sexual response to him this morning.
Hell, I surprised myself.
The effect he had on her physically and the way he made her feel were unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. The intensity of her feelings for him consumed her completely—body, heart, and soul.
As she headed for the kitchen, a muffled ringing reached her and it took a moment to realize it was her cell phone in her bag back in the living room. As she rummaged for it, a strange feeling came over her. It was as though it was someone else’s bag. It was all familiar to her, but she felt distanced from everything, as though the time spent in the past had put a glass wall between the past and her present.
Shaking her head in an attempt to dispel the strange sensation, she pressed the phone to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Megan, where the hell have you been?” Tony’s voice came over the connection and he sounded cross. “We’ve been trying to call you for twenty-four hours and your phone just rang and rang every time.”
“Sorry, I didn’t take my phone with me to the…er…festival.” Megan wandered over to the window, looking at the tents in the far distance as she tried to concentrate on his voice. “And it was dead for a couple of days too before I got an adapter, and the service is shit. A lot of stuff doesn’t work right here.”
“Never mind all that. You are going to have to come back to clear this up. I’ve done as much as I can do”
“I can’t.” It was the last thing Megan wanted to do at the moment.
“You have to.” The irritation was evident in Tony’s voice. “I’ve worked my butt off for you, and the disciplinary committee has agreed to hear your appeal. They’ve had a look at some of the evidence I’ve gathered from your files and they’re prepared to interview you.”
“I can’t come home yet.” Megan tried to focus on Tony’s words. It all seemed so long ago and far away. She couldn’t summon any interest in what he was saying.
“What do you mean you can’t come? I’ve done as much as I can without you. Jeez, Megan, what the hell is the matter with you?”
For a moment there was silence at the other end of the phone and then Kathy came on. “Megs, what’s wrong? Why is Tony storming around slamming doors and glaring at me?”
“I told him I can’t come home yet. The committee hearing will have to wait.”
“I’m sure Tony can work something out.” She could hear Kathy’s muffled voice speaking to Tony and it sounded as though she had her hand over the phone.
“I don’t know. I have some things to work out.”
“Your research?”
“No, just some stuff.” Megan began to get irritated. “Look Kathy, tell Tony I really appreciate what he’s done, but I’ve got some other stuff to deal with that’s far more important to me.”
Her sister’s voice rose. “You’ve only been gone a few days but your research will mean nothing if you don’t have a job. It’s your whole career, Megan. If you want to save your job, you’ll have to come home to the meeting. What’s happened over there that’s more important?”
It was as though Kathy was now the mouthpiece for Tony, and Megan decided it would just be easier to agree.
“Yes, okay, whatever Tony thinks. I’ll come home then. I’ll let you know when I’m coming. And now I have to go. Good-bye.”
Megan terminated the call before her sister could object, and she turned the phone off before throwing it back in her bag. It surprised her that there was any battery life left on the phone, anyway.
But then she thought about it. It had only been a couple of days since she’d charged it.
So much had happened to her in the last forty-eight hours.
Her whole life had changed, and she had a lot of things to work out before she tore back home for a hearing. She wasn’t sure what she wanted yet, but before she made any decisions, she had a festival to go to.
And a sexy man to think about.
Time would tell. That’s what she needed…time to get her head around everything.
Chapter Fourteen
“Fuck, man. We thought you weren’t coming.” Bear was behind the drums at the back of the stage and he watched David as he hurried to the amplifiers and plugged in his guitar, with only seconds to spare.
He turned and grinned at the drummer. “Not tonight. I know how important this concert is. Tonight’s our big night.” Pulling the guitar strap over his shoulder, he nodded to the announcer, who’d been waiting at the microphone to announce the band.
Energy flowed through David’s body and his nerves were jumping. As hard as it had been to leave Megan and come back through the time slip, his fingers were itching to play tonight. The music was flowing through him and he knew this was going to be the performance of his life. He could thank Megan for that.
Maybe it was all part of a bigger plan. Meeting Megan, getting inspiration for his performance, meeting the agent after the concert. Even without being forearmed with the knowledge of the performance tonight, he would have known that they were going to pull off a top-class performance.
It was a shame Megan couldn’t be here to watch them tonight, but the journey through the stones seemed to take so much out of her. He wasn’t going to risk her traveling again. As soon as he was finished here, he was going straight back to her.
David launched into the first riff, the mellow music introducing the first words of his signature song, and the crowd cheered as they recognized the tune. A familiar face caught his attention and he frowned. Holly stood at the end of the front row in the middle of a group of young girls. She was dressed in a bright-red dress and her hair was braided beneath her red hat. Smiling up at him, she swayed with the music and David shook his head. She looked like she was totally out of it.
Why the hell he’d ever hired her, he didn’t know. She’d been an efficient publicist, booking their pub gigs and getting the music magazine interviews, but now he was worried about her. She was involved in something, but he shook his head and pushed her from his thoughts. Nothing and nobody was going to take his mind off the music they were going to make tonight.
Three songs later, the perspiration was dripping from him and when he pulled his shirt off, the crowd went wild. The number of people watching them had grown as they’d played and the word must have spread across the festival site. Music lovers had left the other stages and had come to listen to the Davy Morgan Band. He caught Slim’s eye and the bass guitarist grinned at him and gave him a thumbs-up.
Looking down at the crowd as he sang, David detached himself from the words and just let it flow. He wondered which one of the onlookers was Mick Rothman, the agent who would come and see them after the concert and get them an amazing record deal. Knowing what was going to happen before it did was bizarre, but he’d read about the deal that happened tonight in his biography and now that he had come through the time slip, he was creating the present.
There was no way he was going to jeopardize what was about to happen. His future depended on it.
Past, present, and future all ran together as David put everything he had into the last song. The final chord crashed down and when he dropped his guitar and bowed to the crowd, they screamed and whistled. A flurry of movement at the front caught his attention. Two first aid workers leaned over someone lying on the ground and as the crowd stepped back to give them room, he saw Holly’s bright-red dress spread out on the ground around her as the men worked on her.
“Shit.”
As he turned and ran for the stairs at the back of the pyramid stage, a small man in a suit with a thin black mustache held his hand out to David.
“Davy Morgan? I’m Mick Rothman and I’d like to talk to you.”
“Bear? Slim?” He called to the two band members who were unplugging their equipment before the next band came onto the stage. “Come and talk to Mr. Rothman here. I’ll be back up as soon as I can.”
The agent frowned as David ignored his outstretched hand and raced down the stairs. Pushing through the crowd, he ignored the girls whose hands grabbed at him but slipped off his sweaty, bare chest. When he reached the first aid men on the ground next to Holly, he dropped to his knees next to her. His chest closed as fear crawled through his blood like ice. He’d hired Holly and had gotten her into the music scene. If anything happened to her, he was responsible.
Images of Emma swirled through his head.
Fuck. It was happening all over again.
“Holly? What’s wrong?” She lay there on her back with her eyes closed. Her face was pale and covered with a sheen of perspiration, and her hands were grasped tightly in front of her chest.
“We’ve called for the ambulance. We think she’s overdosed on something. Blood pressure is through the roof. Do you know who she is?” The younger of the two men looked at him and his eyes widened as he recognized David.
Before he could answer, Holly’s eyes fluttered open. “Davy? Is that you? Come with me?” Her voice was weak and she struggled to catch her breath. “Please? I’m scared. Don’t let them take me away from here.”
David reached out and took her hand between his. “Of course I won’t leave you. I’ll look after you, don’t worry.”
The flashing red lights of the ambulance reflected on the side of the stage. David looked up and groaned. Not only was he going to be late getting back to Megan, but he was missing out on the meeting with Mick Rothman.
But he couldn’t leave Holly. He was not going to be responsible for the loss of another life.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
God, please don’t die.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” He looked across at the paramedics, who were placing an oxygen mask over Holly’s mouth and nose. “Please wait for me.”
Pushing through the milling crowd who were waiting for the next band to come on stage, he tore around the front of the stage and up the stairs, holding on to the rope handrail as he took them two at a time. Mick Rothman frowned as he spoke to Bear and Slim. When David pushed past him and picked his T-shirt up from the floor, the agent smiled.
“Ah, at last.” He stood back and waited for David to join the group.
“Sorry, guys. They’re taking Holly to the hospital and I have to go in the ambulance. Whatever you think, just take the deal and I’m good.” He held Bear’s gaze with his. “Okay?”
The burly drummer slapped him on the back as he headed back toward the stairs. “That’s cool, Davy. Look after Hols. Gi
ve her a kiss from me.”
“Keep an eye on my guitar?” David pointed to his black Fender on the floor. Already it was getting lost among the equipment as the next band set up for its performance.
“Sure thing.” Slim strolled over and picked it up as David headed back down the stairs.
Holly was already in the back of the ambulance covered with a white blanket. When David climbed in the back and sat beside her, she reached out and gripped his hand.
“Thank you, Davy. I’m a bit scared. They’re taking me to Taunton hospital.” Her eyes were wide and her hair had fallen from her braid. She looked younger than she was. “I’ve never been in a hospital. I’m scared.
“I know what you mean.” David squeezed her hand as he glanced across at the ambulance driver. “Neither have I. We’ll do it together.”
He spoke confidently to keep her calm, but inside, his thoughts were churning. He needed to get back to Megan. If he didn’t turn up as he’d promised, he was worried she’d come looking for him.
…
Megan summoned up the courage to walk along the road into the village in the midafternoon. She gave the fields a very wide berth and was relieved when the bell on the shop door chimed as she pushed it open. Crazy Jules greeted her with a smile and Megan let out the breath she’d been holding.
“So how’s your water, then, dear?”
“Fine, thank you.” She grinned at the woman, who was wearing brightly patterned tights beneath a lime-green apron today. “Solstice fixed it just as you said it would.”
Not to mention the sexy rock star who fixed my pump. But she’d humor the woman.
Picking up a basket, Megan wandered around the dim store, collecting the ingredients for a meal to have ready for David late tonight. Tomatoes, dried herbs, some bacon, and a small jar of cream, as well as a packet of pasta, all went into the small plastic crate. She’d venture into the little cellar and raid Alice’s wine stash, too.
She daydreamed as she poked about the store.