by Debi Wilder
“Ah, well, I see your supper is about to arrive,” Canterbury got up to take his leave. “A pleasure to meet you, Lady Jameson. Have a nice evening, Garrett.” Tipping his hat, Canterbury left their table. Even though Garrett felt the tension leave his body, he didn’t trust a soul...especially a lost one.
Cassandra watched Russell Canterbury return to his table, finish his drink and give both of them a nod before walking out the door. As much as the man gave her the willies, she couldn’t believe Garrett treated a friend the way he did. Maybe she was right about him in the first place, and he was someone to beware of after all.
Yet, watching her captor across the table, her heart wouldn’t accept he was a bad person. Something, she wasn’t sure what, but something deep inside her said he was filled with good and kindness. The kind of man a woman could fall in love with, given the time and half a mind.
“Tell me something,” Cassandra tore off a piece of bread from the warm loaf in the middle of the table. The irresistible, sweet aroma pulled her momentarily from her thoughts, reminding her just how hungry she was. “Do you always treat old friends like you can’t stand to see their face?”
Piercing a small red potato with a fork, he popped it into his mouth. “It is of no concern to you,” he said, chewing slowly a small drip of butter seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Wonder if he’d be offended if I licked that dapple away.
Suddenly finding herself not as hungry for the bread as she first thought, Cassandra pushed the bread away. “That may be true, but it tends to make me think you’ll treat me worse once we return to your shop. Why should I trust you when you tell me nothing of why I’m here?”
Garrett stopped in the middle of chewing, then sat back into the shadows.
“You have no choice but to trust me. I don’t believe you’d call the authorities and risk having to explain your being here when you don’t know yourself.”
Of all the damn nerve. “Confident, aren’t we?” He’s right. How would I explain something I know nothing of?
“Your reasons for being here will become clearer to you before the sun rises. Eat, Cassandra, you’ll find you’d wished you had if you don’t.” Garrett said, not once looking into her eyes. “Russell and I are old friends drawn together by life’s similarities…and tragedies. One day you may come to understand, right now is not that time.”
“There’s another thing. Why can’t you look me in the eye at least once when you talk to me?” She spooned a couple of the garlic roasted potatoes onto her plate. “I know I’m not that bad to look at, with you around I’m beginning to wonder if I’d grown a wart or something.”
A chuckle, deep and sexy, penetrated her heart. “My dear Cassandra, you are anything except undesirable…even to me.”
“Could have fooled me,” she said, popping a piece of garlic roasted potato in her mouth. “Are you sure you don’t…you know…like your friend Mr. Canterbury better?”
Garrett shoved his plate away, tossing his fork on top of what was left of his supper. “Well, shall we find out if what you ask is true?”
He stood before her, the challenge issued. What if she didn’t accept and pretended it was meant as a joke? Not likely, she loved a challenge. If she was right, then it would explain why he hadn’t taken advantage of her in his bed. Any other man would have.
Chapter 11
…Bong…Bong…Bong
Garrett felt the sharp intake of breath when the tenth bong rang out, signally the hour. Memories of the fire and Victoria’s screams resounded through his mind. His nerves crackled as if something was about to happen…again.
It’s been over a hundred years, will the memory ever go away? He pulled his hat down, put his hand at the small of Cassandra’s back and hurried them through the streets back to his shop. It was the one place he’d feel the safest at…even if it wasn’t impenetrable.
He didn’t begin to relax until they stood outside the shop door. He looked quickly into the shadows of the street, placing the shop key in the lock once he was satisfied no one lurked behind them.
Garrett turned the latch then swung open the door, closing it in one swift movement. “I’ll light a lamp,” he said, then left Cassandra standing in front of the heavy wooden door. He’d reinforced the door with several layers of hard wood, hoping it would keep any intruders from breaking it down. After that fateful night, he’d never given cause for suspicion, but there was always the first time. If he was over cautious he had good reason to be.
The warm glow of the lamp lit the room. Garrett turned to find Cassandra huddled at the door, looking around like she’d seen a spirit.
He took a step toward her, “Cassandra?” He reached out to touch her, only to have her turn from him.
Cassandra strolled around the shop, touching the mantel of the fireplace. “I feel like I know this place,” she said, turning to face him. “It’s the exact same layout as our shop, Eternal Pleasures. It’s just missing the modern conveniences, like electricity.”
Garrett’s mind raced in search of an explanation. He took a deep breath, then tossed his cloak and hat onto a chair. “Many shops are designed the same, Cassandra. Functionality is a must in a small space.”
She turned toward him, tears seeping down her cheeks. “For a moment I thought I was home again. But I’m not, am I?”
Taking her in his arms, he pulled her closer to his chest. The warmth of her heart penetrated his skin, touching his own beating organ with tenderness. What was it they said in the 20th Century? Oh yes, home is where the heart is and my heart will always be home for you, my love.
She snuggled deeper into his embrace, sending flashes of heat through his cock. The vision of warming himself inside her threw his throbbing rod into convulsions. He should let her go, but couldn’t. He’d been without a real woman’s love far too long, and he’d come so close with Cassandra on several occasions…even if she didn’t realize it.
Unable to contain himself any longer, Garrett slipped the cloak from her shoulders. He tilted her chin with a fingertip until his eyes met the raw desire lurking in hers. He kissed her with a need he’d not felt in more than a lifetime. He swept her up into his arms, never breaking their heated connection.
Mmmmm, delicious. The thought flitted in Cassandra’s mind as she returned Garrett’s kiss. A kiss she’d only dreamt about. Quick and hot, her pulsing clit hardened with need and desire. For now, all thoughts of home escaped her mind…or was home right here in his arms? It certainly felt like it.
She became aware that her feet left the floor when she’d felt herself being carried across the room to the settee. Her lips, hot and bruised, eager for more of what Garrett gave them cried out when the cool air touched them.
He stood in front of her, the bulge in his pants looking her square in the eye. Without a moment’s thought she ran a fingertip lightly over the hump, feeling his cock bump against the material. Wanting to feel more, she flattened her hand lightly against the pant material. Barely covering the bulge with the palm of her hand, she pulled away quickly when it flicked at her touch. If his cock was as large as it felt, she just had to have it.
Her pussy could wait, but her mouth couldn’t. She licked her lips, then reached out and unbuttoned his waist band with as much grace as she could muster in the dim light. His deep, husky moan only encouraged her to venture further in search of satisfaction. She slowly and deliberately pulled his shirt free from the restriction caused by the tight pants. His moans grew huskier and his breathing deeper.
Cassandra smiled to herself. Licking her lips, she sucked in the bottom one in anticipation of the treat that could be hers. She wanted to taste him, all of him on her tongue and in her mouth. Her pussy grew moist with juices at the prospect of hugging him inside her…deep inside her.
His cock strained further against his pants and she couldn’t resist leaning forward to place a kiss upon the throbbing bulge. His sharp intake of breath gave her a sense of power, exciting her further in h
er boldness. Feeling his hands lightly on her arms, she inhaled the smell of his sex deep into her core.
He pulled her up to him with an ease she’d never experienced before. His movements fluid and as light as a feather, she felt weightless in his grasp.
Held in position, she explored his chest beneath the white cotton shirt with light kisses, nibbling on his nipples lightly with her teeth. His heart beat against her lips in unison with her clit…hard and fast. He wanted her as much as she wanted him, she was sure of it.
“Cassandra,” he moaned, his mouth covering hers.
His tongue coaxed her mouth opened into sweet surrender. The taste as scrumptious as the nectar from a Georgia peach, she gave in willingly.
Cassandra’s heart sank when he broke their sweet connection. An emptiness she’d not experienced before filled her like the cold touch of a winter breeze. It left her yearning for the warmth of his touch upon her once again.
Unable to move, she stood transfixed by his sensual violet colored eyes. Good God, it’s happening again. But it can’t be…he’s real, not a dream.
The further she ventured into his gaze, all thoughts of home and fantasies left her mind. All she wanted was to be in his arms; wrapped around his sex.
The satin dress slipped from her shoulders and lay in a pool of melted silkiness at her feet. Goosebumps crept through her, sending a shiver of liquid silver into her veins. If he didn’t touch her, she’d certainly die from the fiery need to have him.
As if he’d heard her silent vow, Garrett slipped a finger into her cunt and caressed her clit with his thumb.
“Garrett,” his name but a whisper, she thought she’d collapse from the movement inside her. “Please…”
“Yes, Cassandra,” he said, slipping another finger into her. “What is it?” he asked inserting a third finger deep into her pussy.
Cassandra’s legs spread further to accommodate the breadth of his fingers. How she remained standing was a mystery soon forgotten. When she didn’t answer him, he pushed harder against her clit, twisting his fingers inside her at the same time.
“Answer me, Cassandra. What is it you wish for?” His fingers kept the rhythm of a rocking chair, slow and steady. His voice a seduction as sweet as honey to bees.
“You,” she replied, knowing she was on the verge of climaxing.
“Will you do as I instruct?”
The question floated in a hot whisper through her hair. Would I? she asked herself, knowing the answer. “Yes.”
A fiery smile lit up his eyes. He removed his fingers, slowly, from the warmth of her cunt. A soft whimper came from somewhere in the room.
“Put your arms above your head,” Garrett instructed, then stepped back. So much like your old self. You’ve got a hunger for sex that only I’ll be able to satisfy.
His cock strained further as she stood naked with her arms in the air in front of him. Her breasts lifted upward, an invitation to claim them. One by one he unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it over his head. At the first sign of her lowering her arms, he reached out and twisted a nipple.
Her gasp excited him further. “You must do as I say, Cassandra,” he said, reaching down to unbutton the top of his breeches. He could see the slight trickle of drool at the corner of her mouth as he slid them down his thighs, exposing his dick for her. It bounded for attention…her attention. It wouldn’t be long before they’d both have the pleasure they desired.
“Sit and spread your legs wide,” he instructed. “Keep your arms where they are, my love; you’ll be rewarded nicely for obeying.”
Cassandra slowly sat upon the settee, her legs spread as far apart as they would go.
“Move to the edge of the cushion, Cassandra.” Garrett stepped between her legs as she scooted forward. “That’s it,” he gasped when his cock thumped against her lips. Grasping her wrists, he held them in place above her head.
“Now, Cassandra, take my cock in your mouth,” he said, spreading her legs further as he stood in front of her.
Garrett pumped his cock into her waiting mouth, relishing the expertise she used to suck him deep then withdrawing fully. Each time she withdrew the tip of her tongue circled his cock’s purple head before sucking it back in.
His hips moved slow and in stride with her sucking mouth. Her fingers in his mouth, he mimicked her movements with a sucking of his own.
She moaned, almost whimpered, as he stepped away leaving her mouth void of his dick.
“I can smell your juices…hot, wet and wanting,” he said, pulling her up by the arms.
She stood in front of him, her legs spread and her mouth wet from sucking him. Reaching down, he cupped her ass and pulled her to him.
She wrapped her legs around him, his cock sliding in her pussy up to his balls. He pumped her hard and fast, feeling her cunt squeeze him tighter with each thrust.
Arching into each other, they came as one. Hot sperm penetrated deep into Cassandra as her juices blanketed Garrett’s throbbing dick. Garrett threw back his head, growling low and deep like a wolf crying in the night.
Chapter 12
When Cassandra woke, she thought she was dreaming. She lay bound to the posts of Garrett’s bed, with him between her legs. She sucked in a ragged breath as his tongue suckled her hardening clit.
“So, the pussy has awoken,” he said, licking the entrance to her pussy.
“How’d I get this way?” she asked, panic racing through her again. She couldn’t remember much of what took place after their late supper. Except…ah, yes…a kiss that led to so much more.
Garrett slid his tongue into her crevice, over her mound, then up to her belly button…sucking and kissing a trail along the way.
“Garrett,” she began, his fingers entering her pussy. As much as she tried not to, she wanted him again. She wanted to feel him caress her once more, especially filling her with his cock.
Again!? she stiffened at the revelation that they’d made love, standing up, in the front room of the shop. What if anyone had walked through the door? What would they have thought?
“Lucky man, would be my first guess,” Garrett answered.
“What?” she asked, wiggling under his manipulation of her pussy. He drove her near the edge with each movement.
Garrett inhaled deeply, a nipple still in his mouth. “You were wondering what someone…”
“How do you know that?” she asked, trying to focus on his answer and not on what he was doing to her body. The delicious torture of his fingers massaging the walls of her pussy, his suckling of her nipples drove waves of heat through her.
“Let me see if I can explain it to you,” he said, removing his fingers from her moist pussy.
“We royally fucked a few hours ago,” he continued, circling her wet nipples with a fingertip covered with her juices, “and in doing so have become one…as we were before.”
Before, what does he mean before? “Garrett, we can’t talk about this with me tied to your bed. Would you untie me until this is finished?”
He stopped playing with her breasts, long enough to look her in the eye. “Even after fucking you don’t remember who you really are?”
“I know who I really am, Garrett. I’m a woman who has no idea who you are or where I am,” she said, feeling the tears about to spill out of her eyes. “And, I’d like some answers to those questions before we ever have sex again. Is that too much to ask for?”
Touching her face with the palm of his hand, Garrett wiped away the trail of tears from her cheek with a thumb.
“No, it isn’t,” he said, then began to set her limbs free from the restraints.
Garrett took Cassandra in his arms, wrapping her safely in his embrace. How can I even begin to explain to her? I’m an immortal by my own doing, not a flesh and blood man who just happened to take her on a wild ride of sexual pleasure.
“The year is 1792 and you are several hundred years before your time.” He felt her stiffen the way she did when she didn’t believe what he was sayi
ng. In the little time they’d been together, he’d come to realize she was more than she’d been in her past life with him. She’d become a woman who believed only what she could see and touch, not what was unseen.
“I know you’re about to deny it, but you wanted answers so you must lie back and listen. When all is said and done, your heart will tell you what is the truth and what is a lie.” He wanted to make love to her instead of telling her something about a past life she may not accept.
I couldn’t survive without you now that we’re together again. He kissed the top of her silky head, the smell of her lightly scented hair filling his senses.
“A hundred years ago your name was Victoria. You have the mark of a half-moon at your temple, given to you at your first birth. You believed in magic and healing with herbs instead of allowing an innocent to die…” Garrett continued to tell her of her life with him, how she died and the pact he made because he had failed to save her.
Explaining to her about his life over the past hundred years as an undead being was the most difficult without making it sound like he was a vampire or something worse. In a way he was a creature of the night, but not in the manner she’d known in her life hundreds of years in the future.
“…when you called me that day, I couldn’t stop myself. You are the only woman powerful enough to summon me.” Garrett pulled her up so he could see into her eyes. “Now that I’ve answered your questions, you must answer one of mine.”
He searched her sad, sexy eyes for the affirmation he needed, without it he may never know how it had happened. How she’d been able to bring him to her side hundreds of years into the future. It was a magic more powerful than he had any knowledge of. A magic only known in finding your one true love.
Cassandra touched his face with a gentleness saved only for a small child. “You want to know how you came to me?”