He smiled at her, a sensuous, knowing smile that sent shivers of anticipation racing along her nerve endings.
"Let me love you," he said softly. "Here, in the wide open, with the sunshine playing on your body."
Oh Lord.
Nora's mouth went dry and she felt heat pool at her center. Seth bent over her, lavishing tiny, damp kisses atop her breasts, each in turn. He paused long enough to taste her hardened nipples, flicking at their pebbly surfaces with the tip of his tongue. Nora groaned, reaching for him again, but he avoided her grasping hands and moved further down her body. Helplessly, she watched him, her empty arms aching to hold him, to feel his skin beneath her touch. His lips and tongue tortured her gently, blazing a trail along her flesh until he finally stopped to kneel between her legs.
The sun's heat warmed her outside while Seth's presence warmed her insides. She felt liquid, yet more alive than she ever had before.
He stroked her inner thighs with callused fingers and Nora's body went instantly taut with expectation.
Then he slid his hands beneath her bottom and lifted her from the blanket.
"Put your legs on my shoulders," he said quietly.
Her insides twisted, jumbled into a quivering mass of need. Slowly, she did as he asked, hooking her knees across his shoulders as he lifted her hips even higher. Nora's fingers curled into the wool blanket beneath her. Mouth dry, breath coming in short, jagged gasps, she watched, entranced, as Seth bent his head and took her with his mouth.
At the first touch of his tongue, Nora gasped aloud and jerked in his arms. He didn't stop. His breath brushed against her skin, his lips moved over the soft, delicate folds of her center even as his tongue moved in deliberate strokes across the heart of her sex.
Twisting and writhing in his strong grasp, there was no escape, even if she had wanted one. There seemed to be no purchase in a suddenly spiraling world. Her fingers opened and closed convulsively on the rough blanket beneath her. The heat of the sun speared into her. She opened her eyes wide and tipped her head up to the cloudless, endlessly blue sky. A brush of wind teased her even as Seth's strong hands kneaded the tender flesh of her buttocks.
She whispered his name brokenly, hardly daring to draw a breath. His fingers moved on her skin, exploring the cleft of her bottom and touching her deeply. The intimate, unfamiliar caress startled her, drawing her deeper into a world of brilliant color and sensation. Nora groaned aloud and didn't recognize her own voice. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered but the relentlessness of Seth's loving.
His mouth tormented and delighted her. His hands invaded and adored. She drifted helplessly, reaching for the peace she knew awaited her at the end of this exquisite agony. And though she wanted— needed— the climax hurtling toward her, she didn't want his ministrations to end.
Forcing herself to look at him, Nora stared through passion-glazed eyes at the man caressing her so intimately. Clearly sensing her gaze on him, Seth lifted his head, abandoning her briefly, as if to let her see the full measure of love shining in his eyes.
Her heartbeat staggered. She drew a long, shaky breath. He dipped his head once more and when his mouth covered her, the day splintered around her. The world rocked. But she was held, safe in the arms of the man she had loved for centuries.
Before the last ribbon of satisfaction unwound inside her, Seth gently set her down and pushed his body into hers. With deep, long, hard strokes, he claimed her again, driving her into a mad rush toward an orgasm even more fulfilling than the last.
Nora's fingers dug into his shoulders. Her head tipped back. She wrapped her legs around his hips, crossing her feet at the ankles, pulling him harder, tighter to her. Each thrust stroked something deep within her, something she hadn't even known existed, electrifying her as nothing else ever had.
Tears filmed her eyes. Her breathing staggered. She lifted her hips wildly, demanding the relief only he could give her. And finally, when she was sure she couldn't bear it a moment longer, her core dissolved in an exploding shower of sparks. As she held onto him tightly, Seth shouted her name, drove himself one last time into her depths, and poured all that he was into her waiting warmth.
Hours blurred together. The rest of the day passed in a flurry of lovemaking that only seemed to feed the fires burning brightly between them. Every time Nora thought she was exhausted and beyond experiencing any more. Seth showed her differently.
Exhaustion claimed them finally, and they woke just before sunset, still tired, but complete.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Seth glanced at the woman riding beside him in the dusk and smiled to himself as he recalled vividly how they'd spent the last several hours. His fingers tightened around the leather reins as other visions raced through his mind.
Strange, but each time he loved her, his memories of their past lives together became stronger. Clearer. He didn't know how long the images would last and really didn't care. For the moment, it was enough to know that past sorrows no longer mattered. They had finally found each other. It was enough. In fact, it was more than he had ever dreamed possible.
Love. Such a small word to describe what he was feeling. All his life— this life— he corrected mentally, he had stumbled along in the dark, sure that he would be alone forever. Now, with Nora, a woman who had come out of the future to find him, he finally had a chance at the happiness that had eluded him.
All he had to do was keep her safe.
Lifting his gaze to the darkening sky, he muttered, “You can't take her away again. This time will be different. I swear it."
"Who are you talking to?” she asked.
He swiveled his head to look at her and found her watching him. A smile caressed her features and Seth was awed by the fact that she loved him. "I don't know exactly," he said. "Whoever's listening."
"The line's probably busy,” she told him, her mouth curving into an even more delightful smile.
"What?" He chuckled despite his confusion and discovered he was actually looking forward to being confused for the rest of his life.
"It's a future thing," she said with a shrug.
That simple statement slammed into his brain and shook him down to his soul.
Amazing. She had lived in a time so far away from his own that even thinking about it staggered him. And as ridiculous as that story sounded, he believed every word of it because it explained so much. Still, there was so much about her he didn't know. Where she came from. What she had done before crashing into his world and turning his life upside down. But he wanted to learn about all of it. He wanted to know everything about her.
"When we get some free time," he said, kicking his horse into a trot, "you're going to have to tell me about the future.”
"What do you want to know?" she asked, keeping her horse alongside his.
He inhaled sharply. "Everything."
She grinned. "Well, that shouldn't take more than the next fifty years or so."
Fifty years with Nora. Nope, he thought suddenly, it wouldn't be enough. But he'd take what he could get.
“I’ll be here," he said, then shifted his gaze forward. In the distance, he could just make out the light of a campfire. "There they are," he told her, lifting one hand to point.
Nora turned her head to look, then frowned slightly.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his insides tightening.
"Nothing, I guess," she said. "It's just that I'm not looking forward to trying to keep you and Richard apart all night.”
Now Seth frowned and glanced at her. "Don't worry about me. You stay away from Bonner."
Her eyebrows lifted as she pulled her horse to a stop. Cursing under his breath, Seth tugged at his animal's reins, then turned the horse around to go back to Nora's side.
"Just because we're getting married doesn't mean I'm going to start taking orders from you like a little Stepford wife."
"Huh?”
She scowled at him.
Sighing, he braced both hands on the saddle horn and lea
ned toward her. "Don't ask me why, but I don't like that fella. Haven't since the first day I met him. And I damn sure don't want you hangin' around a man who keeps tryin' to convince you to marry him instead of me."
"That's what this is all about?" she demanded. "Jealousy?”
"I'm not jealous. I just don't trust him."
"Fine," she snapped. "I can live with that. And as soon as we get back to the ranch, we'll send him and his sister on their merry way back to Boston."
He smiled grimly at the thought.
"But until then," Nora continued and he looked at her closely. "Hold onto that temper of yours, huh?"
He gave her a short, abrupt nod.
"No fights. No turning into Wyatt Earp."
Seth straightened up in the saddle and stared at her. "You know about him?”
"Everybody knows about him." She shrugged and smiled. "There's probably been a dozen movies about him."
“Movies?”
"Long story."
Shaking his head, Seth muttered, "Imagine that." He chuckled shortly. "Wyatt always said that history would remember him.”
Now Nora's eyes widened in surprise. "You know Wyatt Earp?"
"Sure." Seth shrugged one shoulder. "Worked for him a while back."
"You worked with Wyatt Earp.”
He didn't like the look on her face. All dewy eyes and surprised admiration. Like Wyatt was some kind of hero or something. "Yeah," he said tightly.
"And Doc Holliday?" she asked.
One corner of his mouth lifted and fell quickly. “Fancy you knowin' about Doc, too.”
"Everybody knows about them," she said with a slow shake of her head.
Seth laughed. "Someday, you'll have to tell me what you think you know about Wyatt and Doc.”
"But not today?"
He shook his head. "Nope.” Shifting his gaze to the spot of fire in the distance, he said, "We'd better ride in."
"Okay," she said, gathering her reins tight in her fist. "But no fighting."
He'd try, Seth told himself. But he couldn't make her any promises about that.
#
"We should be back at the ranch by noon tomorrow," Seth said to no one in particular.
Nora noticed Richard's jaw tighten at the words. She had a really bad feeling about all of this. And it wouldn't end, she knew, until she and Seth were actually married. For eight lifetimes, she'd died during her engagement. Surely once they'd actually gone through a ceremony, the curse would be broken.
Unconsciously, she reached for the front of her shirt and fingered the gold ring through the cotton fabric. She hoped her cosmic trio was paying attention to what was going on down here. She didn't want any more "accidents." Tightening her grip on the ring, she called herself every kind of fool. Hadn't she sworn she wasn't going to fall in love? Hadn't she boldly told anyone who would listen that she had no interest in getting married? Hadn't she reminded Seth and the unholy three that every time she got engaged, she ended up dead?
Yet look at her now. Engaged. In love. And about to marry the man she should have been avoiding.
God, how stupid could one woman get? Hadn't she learned anything in centuries of living?
The ring felt warm through her shirt.
"Yes, my dear," Harry's voice whispered through her brain.
Nora opened her mouth to speak, looked around her at the people sitting in a circle around the campfire, and closed it again. Directing her thoughts heavenward, she asked, "Did you know I'm getting married tomorrow?”
“Of course. My felicitations.”
"Thanks, but that's not why I called you."
"What, then?"
"I want to know if I'm going to die."
"Really, my dear."
"Don't 'my dear’ me, Harry," she interrupted, flashing a look at Richard's thunderous features. "Things are a little iffy down here right now and I want to know if I should be ducking.”
"I'm afraid I can't help you there."
"Well, who the hell can?" Nora's gaze shifted to Seth, who looked at the moment as if he could bite through a saddle.
"No one, Nora," Harry said softly. "Destiny must unfold in its own time.”
"Well, that's comforting." She shot an angry glance at the black sky overhead. "If you'll recall, destiny has not been my friend in the past.”
He chuckled. "Have faith, my dear."
"That's easy for you to say,” she countered quickly. "You're not sitting in the middle of a mine field waiting for the explosion."
“Now, now, mustn't exaggerate.”
"Harry…"
"I have another call, dear. I'll get back to you."
Call waiting? In Heaven?
"I can't do this," Richard said abruptly, shattering Nora's thoughts and dragging her into what she feared would be an echo of centuries past.
"Richard," Elizabeth warned.
"No, dammit," he ground out, not even bothering to glance at her. "I won't be quiet. I won't watch her do this."
"You don't have a choice, Bonner," Seth said quietly, his tone tight.
Richard scrambled to his feet, glaring down at Seth like a man possessed. "She hasn't married you yet, Murdoch, and if I can stop it, she won't."
"Now boys." Nora interrupted, but neither of them paid her the slightest bit of attention.
"Richard, please," Elizabeth said and stood up to take hold of her brother's arm. "Stop this. It's over."
He shook her loose. “It's not over. Not yet."
Seth pushed himself to his feet and braced his legs wide apart, as if preparing for battle. His arms hung loose at his sides, but his fingers were already curling into fists.
Nora jumped up too and looked at the two men across the fire. Flickering shadows danced on their features. Each of them wore an expression that could have been carved from stone. Their gazes locked in a silent battle, their bodies were tense with tightly reined fury.
Déjà vu all over again.
Nora shook her head, rubbed her eyes with her fingertips, then looked at the men. She'd lived through this before. She'd felt the breathless anticipation in countless lives. She'd sat by and watched as the man she loved fought with another.
And then she'd died.
Visions raced across her memory at a breathtaking speed. Knights. Pirates. Farmers.
The image of pale blue eyes rose up in her mind. But even as she studied them, the color wavered, darkened, then paled again. But they were different now. Not blue. More of a light brown. Amber.
Whiskey-colored eyes.
Nora gasped and turned her gaze on Richard. She stared at him in mute understanding. Now, when it was too late, she finally got it. Why whenever he and Seth argued or stood opposite each other ready to do battle she felt the strange sense of déjà vu.
Because they'd been doing it for centuries.
"It's you," she said on a long release of breath. Nora felt Seth's gaze on her, but she couldn't look away from the blond man she'd only just recognized.
"You do know me," Richard countered, turning toward her, pinning her with those now familiar eyes of his. He reached for her, despite the fact that she took a quick step backward. "At last," he said, a relieved smile wreathing his features. "I had almost given up hope that you would."
"I don't know why I didn't before, but I do now," she told him, not quite sure what to do with the information. Good God, was history repeating itself? Was she about to die while Richard and Seth played out some age-old competition?
"What are you talking about?" Elizabeth shouted, but no one answered her.
"Seth?" Hannah said, bewilderment coloring her voice.
"What do you mean, you know him?" Seth asked Nora.
"Don't you?" she demanded, darting a glance at him before turning back to Richard. "Look at him. His eyes. Don't they seem familiar?"
Why hadn't she seen it earlier? In an instant, the answer to her question came hurtling at her. Every time she'd relived the past, she'd been so busy concentrating on Seth, she'
d never paid much attention to the other man. The man who had always been half in shadow. The man who had traveled through time with them in some bizarre, cosmic ménage a trois.
Seth studied Richard for a long, intense moment. Nora knew the instant recognition dawned on him with the force of a thunderbolt.
"You son of a bitch," Seth said in a quiet, deadly voice.
"Finally.” Richard muttered.
“How long have you known?" Nora asked the blond, trying to give Seth a chance to get control of his temper.
"Known what?” Elizabeth fairly screeched.
"Since you woke up on your deathbed," Richard said, speaking only to Nora, regardless of how many others were listening. "The minute you opened your mouth and started talking, I knew. I recognized you immediately."
No, this couldn't be happening. Nora told herself. It was all too weird. He shouldn't have any memories of shared lives. Not unless…
"The Resettlement Committee," she said quietly.
“Diverting bunch, aren't they?" Richard smiled knowingly.
"Nora?" Seth asked. "What’s he talking about?"
“One of those 'long stories' I told you about,” she said, suddenly determined to get some answers from Richard. "How? When?"
"There was an accident," he said "Several years ago. I nearly died.”
"Richard…" Elizabeth's voice carne reed thin and quavering.
“While unconscious. I met three interesting… people," he went on, ignoring the sister who seemed to be hovering near the edge of a breakdown. “They wanted to give me a new life, but I chose to return to the one I hadn't finished."
He had had a choice?
"They didn't let me choose,” she snapped, suddenly irrationally angry.
"Apparently, my brush with death wasn't nearly as permanent as yours."
Damn them, she thought, furious. Why hadn't they bothered to tell her that they'd dumped her with both of the men from her past incarnations? Were they sitting idly by even now, eating popcorn and enjoying the show? Waiting for her to show up at the pearly gates again?
“What in the hell is going on around here?” Hannah demanded.
"Later," Seth muttered. To Nora he said, "Step away from him.”
This Time for Keeps Page 26