"I… I would be in heaven."
"Welcome to heaven, Casey," he said with the most tender smile.
"This is gonna be intense, isn't it?"
"Yep." His slight chuckle was even more endearing, that he could go along with her playfulness. "This is gonna be intense. But you're an excellent teacher and you've taught me there's nothing to fear. Allow me to lead you. I will never hurt you, my precious angel."
"Right," she breathed, as his fingers slid down the side of her face to her neck, and the laces that bound her blouse. She kept her gaze locked with his, taking her strength now from him.
"I have imagined, dreamed, of this moment," he whispered, pulling on the laces until the top of the blouse dropped down her arms. He gently removed the blouse and placed it on the bed beside them. The chemise had more laces and he slowly began untying them, whispering, "Beautiful, beautiful…" as more of her was revealed.
She drew in her breath as his hands gently touched her breasts, as though paying them honor with his reverent touch.
Gazing into her eyes, he said, "Thank you for trusting me."
Sensing the tears returning, she pulled him to her, feeling his shirt against her breasts. "Thank you for loving me," she answered, burying her face against his neck and inhaling him. "I… I've never felt like this before."
He brought his head down and lightly ran his cheek against hers, creating an intimacy that inflamed every nerve ending in her body. "Nothing exists, querida, but this moment… Stay here with me."
"Always, Luke… I'll always stay with you, anywhere, anytime."
Their mouths came together, as though starved for each other, and Casey nearly ripped his shirt from his chest. Luke helped, and when his bare skin touched her breasts, she moaned with the searing contact and her head fell back as he placed kisses along her neck and shoulder. He took his time, savoring each inch of skin, extracting for them both such pleasure, all that was heard was their ragged breathing. Kissing, licking, nipping, his mouth devoured her. Her breasts ached for his touch again, and as though knowing everything about her, he bent his head and paid them homage. Everywhere he touched, her blood rushed to that spot, leaving her feverish for more. His hands caressed her back and waist, tugging at her skirt until it pooled at her feet.
Without words, they quickly removed all remaining barriers of clothing. Shoes were kicked off, slip and underwear dropped on the floor along with his trousers. As she stood naked in the moonlight, Casey realized, incredibly, she wasn't scared. She could feel she was loved beyond anything she'd ever imagined, and fear had no part in this… This was timeless.
"You are so incredibly beautiful." His voice was low and husky with desire.
She smiled and brought her hand up, as though to sprinkle something before his eyes. "Juana's magic," she murmured. "To keep you thinking that."
"I need no magic beyond this moment, querida." He captured her hand and kissed her palm, running the tip of his tongue up to her wrist and planting a kiss at her pulse. "I wish you could see yourself through my eyes. You would know you never need anything else. You are beautiful."
She sighed as she stroked his chest, feeling the beat of his heart under her hand. "I love you, Luke," she whispered as emotion crept up her throat.
"C'mere." He shocked her by sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her to the bed. Placing her gently against the soft pillows, he reached down and kissed her tenderly. "I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?" she demanded, feeling his loss as he walked across the room.
He picked up the chair and carried it to the wardrobe. "I just want to make sure we aren't disturbed."
Casey grinned. He was the beautiful one. His strong lean body was perfection. "Good thinking." She turned on her side and ran her hand over the coverlet. "Now you c'mere…"
"As you wish, mi querida." he answered, sliding onto the bed and pulling her into his arms again.
They came together with a passion kept in denial for far too long. Hands were instruments of discovery and pleasure. Their mouths tasted and memorized the landscape of each other's body. Casey felt herself melting into him, giving of herself so freely, and when he moved to lie on top of her, she gasped with the scorching connection. She could feel his heartbeat at their intimate meeting as he held her close and breathed her name…
"Casey…"
She opened her legs to welcome him and he slid between them. This time he gasped and stared at her in wonder. Stroking her hair back off her face, he said, "I have never felt this close to another. Always I held something back, for fear of the uncertainty in my life. This time…" He shook his head slightly. "This time there is no holding back. If there is nothing more than this moment, then I shall not waste it with anything but love. I, too, have waited a lifetime to adore you."
He lowered his head and kissed her lips, her eyes, her nose, her chin. He began a course down her body, lingering at her breasts, and when he left them to go lower, Casey moaned and reached up to cling to the iron bars of the bed.
He adored her, using his tongue to caress her tender flesh. Over and over he graced her with his attention, creating such exquisite pleasure that she moaned his name as his hand came up and captured her breast. Waves of intense sensations permeated her body, and when she thought she couldn't take any more, he slowly, deliberately, slid up her electrified torso and stared into her eyes.
"You were made for me."
"Yes," she breathed back heavily, trying to make her brain work again. The throbbing between her legs didn't ease and she wrapped them around him to again make contact.
"Not yet, my beloved," he whispered, and then glided down to kiss each breast, the tender skin beneath, her belly, and again he adored her. "I want this night to be burned in our memories." His hot breath against her inflamed body sent a current of heat laced with pleasure rushing through every inch of her. Every tiny nerve ending was alive, awakened, and demanding release from this magnificent torture.
"Oh God…" Casey gasped, not knowing how much more she could stand. Over and over he repeated the same thing, bringing her to the brink of orgasm and then stopping, She had never been loved with such total abandon, and a part of her knew she was being altered, for she felt herself expanding to him, opening her mind, her heart, her soul, even more.
"Please, Luke," she pleaded, wanting to unite with him. "Please come to me…"
For the last time he kissed her throbbing flesh. "My pleasure, mi amor," he whispered, coming to lie above her. "You are mine."
"I am," she murmured thickly. "Forever…"
She wound her arms around his back and pulled him to her, gasping and pressing her head into the pillow at the exquisite, breathtaking sensation of him slowly, gently, sliding into her. The warmth, the fullness, the rightness, overwhelmed her as he kissed her chin and whispered in a raspy voice, "Thank you, my precious one, for loving me. I… I didn't think you existed, except in my mind."
"I'm here," she cried. "And I do love you…"
He thrust into her and she moved in response, wrapping her legs around him to pull him closer. Again he began a rhythmic motion, this time with his body, and Casey followed easily, for they had danced before and she trusted him with her life. He brought her back to the edge again, urging her onward with words of love, encouraging her to leap, to fly, and it built and built until she burst beyond and she was flying, as wave after wave of divine energy seemed to race to every atom of her being and seep out through her pores, sending her into the universe to dance amid the stars.
It was magnificent.
"Casey… Casey… mi amor…" He called her name as his body stiffened with release and he joined her in the heavens, granting her the honor of leading him home. They clung together through the aftershocks, gasping as the dance crested on and on in an unnameable timelessness. Everything they each desired was fulfilled in one exquisite, glorious, eternal moment.
"Oh…" Casey gasped, settling back into her body with such sweetness that she
wanted to cry.
He lifted his head from her shoulder and gazed with love into her eyes. "We are united now, you and I," he whispered with a smile as he brushed her hair off her face. "We are forever altered, querida. There is a poet who said it well, something to the effect that you and I are not going to be who we were going to be because we changed all that for each other, and we are now going to be who we never would have been without each other. I pray you will always be happy with the change."
"I am so happy, Luke," she whispered, sniffling and cradling his face with her palms. "Happier than I have ever been in my life. I feel so peaceful, as though I have finally come home and my seeking is done. Whatever happens after this, I promise you… I will always be grateful that you changed my life."
"As will I, Casey. I am more of me now."
"Yes," she said in an excited voice. "That's it. I'm more of me now, too."
He slid off her and pulled her into his arms. She lay on her side and casually, as if they had been married for years, drew her leg over his body and her arms around his chest. "That was exquisite, Luke," she murmured, running her hands over his skin and reveling in the sensation.
He stroked her back and sighed contentedly. "Thank you for receiving so beautifully and for giving so completely. You honor me with your love."
"I could stay within your love forever like this," she sighed, feeling as though she never wanted to leave his arms. It was as if she had been on this long, arduous journey to reach him her entire life. And now she felt safe, secure, loved.
"I must speak with you about a few things now, my precious time traveler."
She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. "You sound so serious. What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong, querida, but the time has come to explain some things. It's about time-traveling. Do you remember making a bet with me? That if you learned how to dance with me, I would tell you everything I knew about it?"
She thought back and did remember that conversation in the garden before their first dance lesson. "Yes. I did win, didn't I?"
He chuckled and continued to stroke her back. "Yes, you won… and you danced magnificently."
"So now the time has come for you to pay up. I think I like this part," she giggled.
"I hope you feel that way when I've finished."
"Why?" Again she raised her head to stare at him.
"Because I believe the time is approaching when we shall return."
Now she sat up and stared at him. "Really? How do you know?"
He closed his eyes briefly, as though collecting his thoughts. "I can't explain it. It's something I feel… A knowing starts to build inside of me that a change is about to take place. You will feel it, too, when it's evident, and you must trust yourself… for now you are a time traveler, Casey. It may happen to you again."
"What do you mean?" she demanded. "I could time-travel again?"
He nodded and opened his eyes. "You are not the same woman you were when you were driving that car in the storm. You are altered, Casey, and you will never be that same woman again."
"I'm okay with that," she whispered. "Actually, I like myself much better now."
He smiled. "Good. But just as the opportunity to serve you was presented to me when I drove along that interstate, you, too, will be presented with opportunities to be of service now."
"What? You mean I could be zapped back in time to anyplace… alone?"
Once more he gathered her in his arms and she clung to him. "Do not fear. You will always have a choice, querida. To be of service or not. I have found in my experience that things unfold exactly as they will, and if I fight the circumstances, it only leads to difficulty. You will not be forced, for if you do not do something with an open heart, is it really of service to another?"
She thought about it, all the times she had done something because she thought she should, not because she wanted to. "I guess not."
"When your cup is filled to overflowing with love, then you have something to give without expecting anything in return… for you are full, whole, complete… no fear."
"Will you be with me?" She asked the question with a trembling voice.
"I honestly can't say right now. But you will feel me. In that sense I will always be with you. Our connection cannot be changed after tonight. Still, we will have to see how the pattern unfolds before us."
"Oh, Luke… this sounds scary." She felt the burning in her eyes and shut them tightly to stop the tears.
"Do not allow fear to enter into it, Casey." His voice was firm as he held her tighter. "I am only telling you this because you have a right to know. You are an intelligent woman and you understand the pattern now. You will see the signposts. You will read the directions. You will make the choices. Trust yourself now… your own inner voice."
The words to the song she had been listening to in the car, a lifetime ago, played through her mind.
The next voice you hear will be your own…
He hugged her tighter to his chest. "Let's stay in this moment, for I'm afraid I will have to leave you before it gets light."
Casey sighed. "Yes, this is not the house to be discovered in bed together. I think Marcella would faint away in shocked outrage."
He chuckled.
"And I don't want to disrespect Doña Isabela. She has been so kind to me."
"Everyone has grown to love you, Casey. Should you ever come back to this time, you now have a place that will welcome you with open arms."
"I don't even know if I want to leave anymore…"
"Don't think, querida. I am sorry I took you away from the moment. Stay with me now, here," he whispered, lifting her chin and kissing her lips with such tenderness that Casey moaned with renewed pleasure. "Let us dance once more…"
Her sigh seemed to fill the room as she slid over his body and stared down into his beautiful brown eyes.
"Oh, sí, señor. I accept your invitation… with great pleasure."
Eighteen
"Señorita! Señorita! Wake up. I have food to break your fast and news such as you will never believe!"
Hugging her pillow, Casey blinked several times and saw that the space next to her was empty. Luke was gone. "Oh, Juana," she murmured sleepily, "let me sleep for a few more minutes. Please… ?" She felt like she had just closed her eyes.
"Why are you not wearing your nightclothes?"
Immediately awake, Casey pushed the hair back from her face and pulled the cover over her. She turned around and saw a nightgown was placed at the foot of the bed and her clothes from the night before were neatly folded on the chair. Bless Luke's heart. He thought of everything.
"Ah…" she stammered, fumbling for an excuse for her nakedness. "I was so hot last night, so I removed my nightgown. Weren't you warm, Juana?"
"No," she answered, coming closer and putting her hand to Casey's cheek. "Are you with fever?"
What a leading question!
"No, I don't think so," Casey answered, wishing Juana would not look into her eyes so directly. How could she possibly hide such a night of lovemaking? Surely it was written all over her face.
The older woman looked around the room and inhaled. "I will ask no more questions, for I have news of a miracle."
"A miracle?" Casey sat up in bed and pulled the cover under her arms as Juana placed the tray of food in front of her. She had to clear her mind of last night and concentrate on the conversation. Talk about challenges, since her body was still tingling with the memory of Luke's touch. A shiver ran through her body as she instantly recalled the sensations of making love with him.
"Now you are cold?" the woman asked with concern.
"Yes… I mean no. What about a miracle?"
"Oh sí… the entire town is speaking of it," Juana said with renewed excitement. "A staircase, such as has never been seen before, has appeared in the Loretto Chapel! Gracias a Dios, the sisters' prayers to the carpenter Saint Joseph have been answered! They say it was the saint himself who built it and
left when the priest discovered him last night. I have seen it myself, Señorita Casey. It was my Manuel who told me and took me this morning to the chapel… and it is round and round and… Oh, you must see it yourself. Everyone is going. You must eat and get dressed quickly for Doña Isabela is going to a special mass the bishop is going to say there. She has invited you to go with the family."
Casey could only hide her smile as she stared at the woman's animated gestures. Luke's mystery had created a miracle for these people of Santa Fe. Her love for him grew and she couldn't wait to see his face and talk to him about this. Plus, her arms ached to hold him again and hear him say he loved her. He loved her! Now, that was her miracle.
Thunder sounded in the distance and Juana's face brightened even more. "And perhaps also rain! What good signs. We are doubly blessed today."
Casey inhaled the spicy eggs and tortillas, figuring people living in the desert would always welcome rain, and it would be nice to lie in bed and listen to rain on the tiled roof. Her stomach growled to confirm her hunger. "Juana, I don't feel up to mass this morning. Will you ask Doña Isabela to excuse me from the mass? Perhaps I will see the miracle staircase this afternoon."
"But there is a great feast planned on the plaza to celebrate and you must go, though if it rains, I do not know where it will be."
"I will go to the plaza later. I promise. It's just that I didn't sleep well last night and I'm so tired." She smiled pleadingly to the older woman.
"Sí… I will make your excuses, señorita. Rest for the celebration. Imagine, another fiesta so soon. Ay, Dios mío! We all will be tired this night!"
"Yes, it's been quite a few days, hasn't it?"
"Eat. Rest. I will return later for the tray."
"Oh, Juana, enjoy yourself. Don't worry about me. I'll take the tray back down to the kitchen. I can take care of myself."
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