Slipping the Past

by D. L. Jackson

  “What is it with reapers and closets?”

  “We like to jump out of them and go ‘boo.’” The corner of his mouth twitched.

  “What?”

  “It’s a joke. You know—funny?”

  Jocelyn tilted her head back. “You’re kidding. Reapers make jokes?”

  The humor in his face faded. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on the roof.”

  “I had to find Nate,” she said.

  “He’s on the roof.”

  “I need to go.”

  “No.” Gabriel tightened his arms. “I told you to go to the roof. You didn’t listen. I sense they’ve moved on, but I don’t know if they’ve got anyone watching. We’ll stay here. For now.”

  “Nate—”

  “Will be okay.”

  Gabriel’s fingers brushed her lower lip. The heat in his eyes intensified and one hand slid along the outside of her thigh, rumpling her hospital gown, pushing it up as he skimmed his fingers along bare skin. “I can’t get you out of my head. God knows I’ve tried.” He lowered his mouth and kissed her lips. His hand rested on her leg, setting her on fire where it touched.

  “Gabriel. We can’t do this.” Her body pleaded yes, but her mind fought the notion that the enemy touched her, kissed her, and wanted her for more than containment.

  “Because I’m an Enforcer?” He whispered in her ear and slipped his hand from her thigh to the ties at her lower back. “I’m not your enemy.” Jocelyn felt a tug and the gown fell open. “Are you afraid of me?”

  “I’m not.” Jocelyn’s heartbeat picked up and her breath caught. “I’ve never been.”

  “I know.” He nibbled her neck and his hand moved inside the gap in her gown, the pads of his fingers stroking along her hip.

  The heat from his fingers scorched her skin and sent shivers of lust coursing through her.

  He pressed her backside against the door to the utility room. The deadbolt clicked, seating home. A knee slid between her thighs, pushing them into a wide stance. “You should have gone to the roof, Jocelyn. You’d have been safe on the roof.”

  Safe? Warm energy pulsed around her, wrapping her body with the oranges and blues of Gabriel’s soul. She threw her head back and sighed as his lips traveled down her throat.

  “You make me so hungry. I want you.”

  The energy and voice weren’t one of a warden bent on trapping her for eternity, but that of longing. “I can’t eat, think, do anything but obsess about you. You’ve infected me.” A tug at a tie in the middle of her back and Jocelyn felt it release. His hand moved to the back of her neck and the last tie came undone at his fingertips. Goosebumps raced across her skin. “Say yes.”

  “I….” She should be anywhere but here. Her feet were frozen. Her body refused to move or fight. Her energy locked with his in a traitorous embrace, lulling her deeper into trouble. Stiff words struggled from her throat, rolled off her tongue, and died before they passed her lips. Instead, a small whimper escaped.

  “What do you want?” he whispered and slid one side of the gown off her shoulder. His lips blazed a heated trail along the exposed flesh, grazing her birthmark. “Tell me no, and I’ll stop.”

  “Please.” That touch. Jocelyn melted. She couldn’t deny him. Her soul beckoned to him, pulled, begged, wanted. Oh, God, she wanted. She wanted him with every bone down to the marrow, every pore in her flesh, every cell. “Yes.” Needs never fulfilled, desire never tasted, turned her slack in his arms.

  The gown fell to the floor.

  “So beautiful.” His hand cupped her breast and he dipped his mouth, drawing a hard nipple between his lips. Heat rocketed from her core to the tips of her fingers and toes. Jocelyn cried out and arched against him, needing to get closer. Her pink aura exploded with white, interweaving with his. The need increased and the world shifted under her, as though tectonic plates collided beneath the hospital’s foundation. Yet the room remained still. Never had she felt such power in a touch.

  Her hands slid under his coat and shoved it off his shoulders. He shrugged and his duster dropped to the floor. Gabriel lifted her off her feet, wrapping her legs over his hips and around his waist. She locked her heels together, holding her body where he’d placed it.

  Jocelyn pushed her hands into his hair and pulled him closer, staring into his honey eyes, haunted with the need to taste him, feel him. “This is crazy. You want my soul.”

  “I want more than your soul.” His mouth captured hers again. Stronger, more demanding, tasting of lust and every forbidden desire, everything she’d lost. His tongue brushed along her lower lip and her mouth dropped open, taking what he offered.

  Gabriel unfastened his fly and Jocelyn felt his fingers slide between her lips, stroking along the folds, touching the tender nub. She whimpered and bucked against him, wanting him to take her, committing sins in her head she couldn’t believe existed, but manifested the second he’d touched her.

  As if he read her mind, his fingers sank inside her. Jocelyn whimpered and bit her lip. More.

  Gabriel pushed deeper and the world exploded around her. She cried out as he worked his fingers in and out, stroking, touching her as no other had.

  “So tight.” He nipped her throat and she bucked against him. “Do you want this? We can’t go back.”

  “Yes.”

  He replaced his fingers with the head of his cock. “God help me, I won’t let you go again.” He thrust inside, shattering the barriers between them. “You’re mine. No one can have you.”

  He covered her mouth with his, stifling the scream, holding her until the pain subsided. “The worst part is over. Relax. Lose yourself to me.”

  Lose herself? He’d stolen her soul hundreds of years ago when they’d first met. Blues swirled around her as he began to move. A haze wrapped around her. The world began to spin, drawing her into the past.

  Jocasta blushed and glanced at the ground. The soldier reached over and cupped her chin, bringing her gaze back up to his. “Never lower your eyes. It should be me worshipping the ground you tread upon. I should be the one humbled by that smile and I am.” He dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

  She glanced around. People stopped to watch, hundreds of eyes witness to his flirting. More heat flushed across her cheeks. She tugged on his shoulders. “Please. Please rise. Don’t do that. People are staring. Please.”

  He looked up and grinned from the open face of his cassis. “If I do, will you accompany me to the celebration tonight?”

  “Anything you desire. Please, please rise.”

  A teasing look took his features, something that didn’t belong on a war-hardened warrior, but proved irresistible on him. She could never say no, not to this man.

  “Anything?” His heated gaze traveled over her.

  Her stomach twisted. She studied his face for a moment. Strong features. A hero. His was the face of a determined man, one who would never run from what he wanted, and that gaze said he wanted her. She bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Anything.”

  Chapter Six

  “Stay with me.” Gabriel pushed into her, gripping her hips to pull her tighter. “Look in my eyes, Jocelyn. Come back to me.”

  Her vision cleared and the past faded away like vapor, until only they remained in the moment. He captured her mouth, tasting her, devouring, awaking the moment. Heat coiled tighter in her belly.

  Gabriel shifted and pressed her tighter to the wall, pushing in deeper. He pulled his lips from hers. Amber eyes locked onto hers, so clear in the dark. His chest rose and fell against her breasts, brushing her nipples, making them ache. “Are you with me?”

  She nodded, unable to speak a word.

  “I don’t want you to forget this moment. Stay with me. Here. Now.”

  Those words made her heart stutter. Did he remember? “Here—now,” she whispered. Somehow he’d sensed her retreat into another time, and drew her out. No one had been able to do that before.

  “Are you?”

 
; Her stomach flipped and warmth poured through her. Pleasure built, threatening to envelop her. Jocelyn tightened her thighs around him, grounding her to his flesh. “I’m here.”

  He began to move again. She wound tighter, digging her nails into his shoulders, needing him deeper, closer. Jocelyn closed her eyes and melded in spirit. Energy shot through her body with each thrust, bringing her closer to release.

  She whimpered and came. Heat washed through her and her body ignited. Gabriel slid his hand over her mouth, muffling her cries as she pulsed around his cock, squeezing, throbbing, each contraction stronger than the last. He thrust again. She pulsed harder, milking ecstasy from the pressure of his cock. He remained still, letting the orgasm settle.

  His hand slid away. A tug on her soul started the pink of her aura swirling. The energies laced and intertwined. Around and around they spun until the colors blurred into white light. Like a vacuum, he sucked her life-force, drawing it into his body, pulling from below her navel.

  Most women wouldn’t have known what was happening, but she was sensitive to all shifts in energy. “Gabriel,” she gasped and thumped him on the shoulder. “Stop.”

  His eyes brightened and he did the unexpected, reversing the draw, sending his energy racing through her body in mini-jolts, each a bite of pleasure that left her breathless. Jocelyn tightened around him and exploded into another orgasm. This time, when she cried out, he let her. She bucked against him, pushing him to the hilt.

  “My turn.” His hands slipped down her body. He thrust deeper, sliding her up the door. Jocelyn’s nails curled into his shoulders, anchoring her to the man. Strong hands captured hips to stop the retreat, holding tight to his body as he came. All along, his eyes remained locked with hers, in a look that made her shiver. They didn’t just look at her, they claimed her. He claimed her. Her heart skipped. She didn’t need to be a mind reader to know it.

  The energy pull started again, and she blinked. Her vision began to fuzz as it grew stronger. “Gabriel?” Jocelyn collapsed against him and whirled into darkness.

  ***

  He was a bastard. He’d tried to stop, but couldn’t. Her energies overwhelmed him and he became lost in the moment. He’d drained her, taken more than he should. Yes, she’d a strong energy, but that was no excuse. Her visit to the hospital proved she wasn’t invincible.

  His feeding might leave her comatose for hours. Who knew what she’d remember when she woke. Too large a draw of energy could wipe her mind, leave her vegetative for days, weeks, longer. He’d forgotten himself and pulled on instinct, even after she’d stopped him once.

  Gabriel touched the pulse on her neck. A strong beat, indicating her heart hadn’t suffered from the pull. She’d wake exhausted but sound. He ran his fingers along her body, memorizing every scar, curve, and dip. He traced the upside-down, heart-shaped birthmark over her breast. A curse, but something about it touched him deeply. It reached to the roots of his soul, as if it wasn’t what it appeared.

  She’d recover this time, but next time…. There could never be a next time. They couldn’t do this again. He could, unintentionally, steal her soul. It seemed around her he’d little control.

  He slipped his coat on her, fastened it down the front, and carried her down the hall, exiting through the front entrance. Hospital staff and patients stopped to stare, but not a one questioned him or tried to stop him. They didn’t dare. It was a good thing. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with questions.

  He shouldn’t feel guilty about what happened, but he did. It was his job to imprison her soul. The sex should be a bonus for a job the department required, nothing more.

  Her brother would be looking for her. How could he explain? Officers of the law didn’t take advantage of the fugitives in their custody. But he had. He couldn’t keep his hands off her, or his cock in his pants. He wouldn’t be the first Enforcer to do it, but he’d always held himself to higher standards.

  Until now.

  He’d put her in the room she’d rented and leave her money to cover any expenses. He’d protect her from the others and keep her safe while he figured out how to prove her innocence and get himself out of the situation. He’d combed through every archive in the DSLE database and had gone through the chip a hundred times. He’d yet to find what he needed.

  Only one thing stood out. For the last eight years, women around the city had been disappearing. No, they didn’t just disappear. It was like they’d never existed. No bodies, no souls, and all of them were redheads. Even Diego ran into concrete walls. He’d taken the chip home to follow a couple other threads that tugged at him and had promised to call Gabriel if he found anything. Doesn’t look good, he’d said.

  Ian meticulously documented every past-life crime, down to a microscopic detail. Clean. Clear. By all appearances, his report looked perfect, except Diego said he’d made a mistake. It was too clean, too perfect, and that was enough reason for him to dig deeper.

  Gabriel followed the lead on the disappearance and came up with zilch. He thought perhaps if he followed Jocelyn, he’d catch the stalker at work, but Ian wasn’t about to toss the evidence at him. The man knew how to mask his deeds.

  Could he keep Jocelyn safe from Ian and prove her innocence? Who’d keep her safe from him? He was bound to the week as much as she. If he couldn’t prove it and she couldn’t find the evidence, he’d lose her—this time forever, when they were both imprisoned. She’d spoken the truth. They’d been together before. Many times. He’d felt the bond in the closet, glimpsed a piece of the past in her energy as she’d slipped away. Frantic at her loss, he’d pulled her back. He’d never been so afraid.

  No matter how many lifetimes they’d been together, this would be the final time. No reincarnation, no more chances. Their souls would be prisoners for eternity, never to see each other again. That would be worse than any death. That would be hell.

  It couldn’t happen.

  His father had granted the reprieve with the stipulation that if she couldn’t prove one-hundred percent innocence in all past crimes, Gabriel would collect her soul and surrender his own.

  What past did they have that would make him sell his soul to save her? Only one thing came to mind. Love. He’d loved her. He loved her enough to come back again and again.

  Now, he stood outside the motel Nate had returned to after failing to find his sister in the hospital. Staring up at the lit window, he watched the silhouette of Nate pace back and forth. When he’d first sensed her energy back in the hospital, he’d gone through a range of emotions: anger, worry, fear. At one moment, he’d thought they’d found her, taken her. In that moment, his world ceased to exist, and he’d begun to question if he could follow through on the warrant.

  Then he’d found her in the closet. His emotions changed to hunger and he’d tossed his duty out the window. Who was this woman? Who was Jocelyn Miller that she could bring him down like the walls of Jericho, expose his heart, his soul, and leave him helpless? Could he take her and run? Doubtful. They’d find him. He’d been an Enforcer long enough to know he couldn’t escape them. Eventually, they’d catch up. He’d have to play the game their way.

  Gabriel shifted Jocelyn in his arms. How to explain her nakedness? Nate wouldn’t be happy. He took a deep breath and started up the stairs to the outer deck that led to the room. Open to the street, all entrances visible, something someone running from the law would consider. Seemed they’d been running so long, it was instinct to take precautions. No one should have to live with that fear.

  Those precautions couldn’t stop him. Now that he held some of her energy, he could locate her anywhere, anytime, and the connection didn’t negate the fact he was an Enforcer and there was a warrant for her. When the time came, he’d do his job. He owed her that, even if it killed him. No other Enforcer would possess her energy, even for a second. He would take her. Hold her, make love to her one last time, and lull her into eternal sleep. Then he’d follow.

  He stared down at her face. “They won�
�t take you. Not as long as I live.” But he would. He hated himself for it. Gabriel banged the door with the toe of his boot. “Open the door, Nate.”

  The lights in the room cut off and the door flew open. Nate stood off to the side with his damned baseball bat, ready to take a swing.

  “Put it down.”

  Nate eyed Jocelyn and dropped the bat to the floor. He rushed to take her from Gabriel’s arms.

  “I’ve got her.” Gabriel tightened his grip and brushed past him, kicking the door shut behind him. He strode to the bed and set her on its surface. “Do you have clothes for her?” He began to unfasten the coat.

  Nate glared. His eyes widened as his gaze swept over his sister, stopping on the bare skin peeking through the open buttons. “Where are her clothes, reaper?”

  “At the hospital.”

  “I mean, why’s she naked?”

  “She’s not. She’s wearing my duster.” Gabriel continued to unbutton the front.

  “Why isn’t she waking up? What did you do to her?” Nate spun around and reached for the bat. “Get your hands off her.”

  “Don’t hit me with that.”

  He raised the bat and Gabriel flung his hand in Nate’s direction. A blast of kinetic energy slammed into his chest, sending him across the room and into a wall. Plaster rained down on the orange shag carpeting, mushrooming up into a cloud of dust.

  Gabriel held him against the wall for a few seconds. The lights flickered and popped. Nate’s hair rose, standing off his scalp, reaching for the ceiling.

  “I said, don’t—hit—me—with—that.” He pulled his energy back, dropping the kid to the floor like a sandbag.

  Nate staggered to his feet, leaving the bat where it fell. “Did you touch my sister?”

  He didn’t need to ask. He could see for himself, put it together.

  A part of Gabriel needed to explain, another part felt anger at the intrusion. Jocelyn had consented. He kept his mouth shut, fighting detonation with each accusation the kid made.