by Annie Seaton
As the blood surged to his groin and he swelled with wanting her, he was grateful for the long loose shirt that hung over his jeans, because the whole audience would have witnessed what he was feeling.
Music always filled him with desire and restlessness, but he’d never before experienced this connection with a woman. God, there’d been plenty of girls available whenever he’d needed to lose himself after performing—even back in the early days when he had played the pubs by himself. Over the years, the excitement of hooking up with different girls had paled, and it had bored him. There had been no feeling in it. For him, it was a quick coupling to assuage a basic need; for the girls it was simply the opportunity to say they’d slept with Davy Morgan. And when they found out which hotel the band was staying at, they wouldn’t leave him alone. That’s why finding the cottage next door to Alice had been a godsend.
David played without being conscious of the notes that came from his guitar and the words that fell from his lips. He thought back over the events that had led to his living across two centuries. Right up until yesterday when Megan had followed him through the time slip, he’d kidded himself that he had it all thought out and had been confident he could make music in one time and live his life privately in another. He knew the risk of changing anything in the past. Writing and playing his music were no threat, he rationalised to himself, but now another person was involved and it had become fraught with danger.
When the drums crashed loudly and Slim used the pedal to wind down the last sad notes of the final song of their set, Megan was staring at him and Davy’s world came crashing down as he fell into her eyes.
Those beautiful eyes. The hunger in them echoes how I feel. How the hell am I going to keep my hands off her?
Oblivious to the screams of the crowd and the others on the stage around them, he slid his guitar from his shoulder and walked over to her.
I can’t. Relief flooded through him as he let his need consume him.
He held out his hand without breaking their gaze and her hand gripped his as he pulled her from the chair. Her body was soft against his, her breasts moulded by the thin T-shirt she wore. Her arms went around his neck and he lowered his lips and claimed her mouth.
It didn’t matter when he was, he’d found where he wanted to be.
***
“Ken’s got a room.” The deep voice filled with mirth gradually intruded on Megan’s senses. Her world had whirled around her once David’s hot mouth had taken hers in a savage kiss. She hadn’t cared where she was or who else was around. All she needed was the touch of David against her. If this was a different world, and a different time she’d somehow fallen into, so be it. If it felt like this, she was happy to stay here.
As long as it was real. She would die if she woke up and it was all a dream.
Gradually, movement on the stage brought her back to reality. At the same time, David pulled his lips away but he kept one arm tightly around her. She needed it; her body was still screaming for his touch.
“Bear, can I borrow your van?” His deep voice sent a shiver down her back.
“Sure, don’t need it for a while. Slim and I are going to have a wander round and chill out for a while.” Bear winked at her. “We’re not on again till tomorrow afternoon so you two lovebirds have a whole day and a night.”
David pulled away from her slightly and Megan’s legs trembled as his hand stopped supporting her. But he was only gone for a second as he reached for his guitar. As he picked it up his arm came firmly around her back again.
“Thanks, Bear. And can you make sure Holly is okay?” He lowered his voice and turned to his band mates, who stood at the side of the stage. “In case I don’t make it back, I’ll park the van on the other side of the village. About a mile down.”
Bear and Slim came over together and each shook Davy’s free hand.
“Try your best, man. Our music needs you.” Slim turned to Megan. “Make sure he comes back, won’t you, dolls?”
Megan looked from one to the other and though she sensed that something had changed she couldn’t understand what. Nodding, she held her hand out and Bear squeezed it.
“I certainly will. The world needs Davy Morgan and his music.”
She felt David tense beside her as his arm gripped her tightly. She looked up at him and smiled.
“You don’t have to tell me where I am. Or rather, when I am.” She lifted her hand and held it against his lips. “I know.”
Chapter Seventeen
Bear’s van was parked a long way from the back of the stage. As they walked through the crowd, David kept his head down but it still wasn’t enough to keep fans from stopping him. The guitar on his shoulder was a dead giveaway.
“Can I have your autograph please?” David glanced down at Megan as the girl in front of him passed him a pen and lifted her shirt, baring her breasts. He grinned and dashed an autograph on the top of the girl’s arm.
Megan chuckled as they walked away from her to the van. “So the job has some perks then? It’s not just playing music?”
“You could say that. But it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” David opened the van door and reached beneath the seat and pulled out the keys. He led Megan around to the other side and opened the door. “I’ll tell you all about it later.”
When he got in the driver’s seat, he looked into the back of the small van and turned to Megan to apologise. Before he could speak, she leaned over the narrow space between them and caught his chin with her hand and kissed him.
“Do you know what you do to me? How you make me feel?” Her eyes were heavy-lidded and her soft breath warmed his cheek as she spoke. “I feel this incredible connection with you.” She pulled back and looked up at him with a frown wrinkling her forehead. “I don’t know if it has something to do with what’s happened to me…to us…” She shook her head. “But I’ve never experienced anything like it before. When you’re near me, I need to feel you touching me.”
She moved across and wound her arms around his neck and moaned softly as his mouth took hers.
God help me, I can’t get enough of her. He deepened the kiss and her tongue danced with his. The blood hummed through his body and he fought to keep control.
Gently he pulled back, and took her arms from around his neck and held her hands between his.
“I need to feel your hands on me.” She took his hand and laid it on her thigh, and David groaned as her thigh muscle tightened beneath his fingers.
David lifted his hand and held her gaze. Her lips were parted, and she stared with uninhibited desire at him. It was one of the hardest things he’d done, but he tore his eyes away and looked out onto the street to get his control back. He took a deep breath and crossed his arms.
Before I rip her clothes off right here in this grotty van.
“I know exactly what you’re saying. I understand how you feel. This time stuff can screw with your head.” He chose his words deliberately to try to put some distance between them, to move away from the sexual tension that was hovering around them. “I’ll explain everything to you when we get you back to the cottage. Or as much as I can, anyway.”
Megan glanced into the back of the van. A mattress butted against the bare metal walls and it was covered with food wrappers and empty bottles. A pile of clothes held an indentation the shape of a head, and had obviously been used as a pillow.
“So we don’t have time…” She glanced back at the mattress.
David’s blood heated as he saw the naked hunger on her face. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
She wants me as much as I need her.
“No, not here.” He laughed as he looked back at the mess in the back of the van. “The first time I laid with you was under the stars with the sound of water playing music to us. The second is not going to be in Bear’s van.” He couldn’t do it. Her body was calling to be touched and he leaned in and kissed her, running his finger down the front of her T-shirt and cradling her brea
st in his palm. “No matter how much I need to.”
“This is really out of character for me. The intensity is, well…it’s just peculiar.” Megan’s voice was husky. “I don’t do this.”
“It’s okay. Just chill,” he reassured her. “It will be interesting to see if these feelings stay when we go back…it’s almost like a craving…an addiction.”
A flicker of uncertainty ran over Megan’s face. “Tell me what’s going to happen.”
“We drive to the field where the stones are and I’ll find the time gate on the ley line. We need to get there by midday."
“To where?”
“The stones.” David let Megan’s hand go and the loss that shot through his body rocked him to the core. His hand went out to hold her again and he wasn’t aware of the action. He grabbed hold of the steering wheel and looked ahead. It had to be something to do with the time shift; he was becoming more certain of that every time he touched Megan, and it worried him.
Whatever it was, it seemed to have the same effect on her. Although if he was honest, he’d been attracted to her since he’d landed on top of her on the porch.
“I’ll explain it all soon.”
***
Megan shivered as David let her hand go. While he was holding her or touching her, she felt grounded. She sighed with relief as he reached out and took her hand again.
Safe.
Even with the pure sexual desire that coursed through her every time he came near her or held her gaze, she trusted him implicitly. This connection between them seemed like something out of this world.
Eerie. Supernatural.
It was as though she’d been bewitched. Her life in Sydney seemed detached from the present and she had to concentrate really hard to grasp and hold the memory of anything before she’d woken up in that first aid tent yesterday. It was like being in a parallel universe, like something she watched at the movies. But she was in it. She didn’t care about anything—or anyone she’d left behind there.
I’m totally out of my realm…
Fear knotted in her chest and Megan crossed her arms tightly in front of her as David started the car.
What was the present?
Confusion filled her thoughts. So much had happened in the last couple of days and they hadn’t really talked about it. David had not admitted in so many words that he was actually Davy Morgan. Nor had he confirmed that she had gone back in time.
All he’d said was they had to go back to the stones.
As they drove through the village she turned to look out the window as the village went by. She paid extra attention to the buildings and tried to remember what they had looked like when she’d walked to the pub for lunch the other day.
The only difference she could really see was the signs in the café and the village store saying hippies not welcome. She hadn’t noticed enough yesterday. The crazy old woman in the store talking about magnetics, solstices, and water had taken all of her attention. Reaching for the window winder inside the door, she gripped it tightly and it creaked as she wound down the window and the sweet fragrance of honeysuckle drifted in. Megan looked across the narrow street as David drove the old van slowly past the pub. The village looked as quaint as it had the other day. Geese dotted the green, and the whitewashed walls of the pub contrasted with the soft blue of the sky.
An idyllic scene, but sinister. The uncertainty of what lay ahead of her filled her veins with an icy fear and she fought the panic that rose in her chest. Unfolding her arms, she reached out and placed her hand on David’s thigh, and immediately a calm stole over her, and the fear disappeared as quickly as it had come.
“I feel safe when I touch you.” She looked across at him. His skin was fair, with a flush on his high cheekbones, and contrasted with the black curls tumbling past his face. “The fear disappears.” As she watched he briefly closed his eyes and placed his hand on top of hers.
“And when you touch me, I feel decidedly unsafe.”
“What do you mean?”
His gaze dropped to his jeans and heat rose from her chest to her neck. Not to mention the heat between her thighs.
“Right, you need to do some explaining. Forget about this feeling we seem to create whenever we’re around each other.” She changed the subject to get her thoughts away from pulling him into the back of the van and taking her clothes off. “Tell me exactly what’s going on.”
David glanced over at her before he pulled the van onto the side of the road, steering with one hand as he kept his hand on hers on his thigh. His dark lashes fanned his eyes and she couldn’t see his expression. His lips were tight and his brow was wrinkled.
“Don’t you dare close up on me, David…or Davy? You are Davy Morgan, aren’t you? As crazy as it seems I know it’s true.” Megan snatched her hand from beneath his and tried to ignore the fear that crept back through her when she moved away from his touch.
David took the keys from the ignition and put them on the floor beneath the seat before he reached over and picked up his guitar. Without looking at her or speaking, he opened the car door and came around to her side and opened her door. The guitar was slung over his shoulder and he held his free hand out to her.
Megan looked up at him as she took his hand. “Well?”
“Come on, I’ll tell you everything as we walk.” He inclined his head towards the field on their left. Low bushy trees blocked her view past the field. “We have to cross two fields to get to the markers.”
He tugged her hand and they set off through the gate in the fence. The grass was soft and cool beneath Megan’s bare feet. A couple of black-and-white cows stood silently and watched them as they crossed to the middle of the field.
“I didn’t know how much to tell you because this has never happened to me before.” David’s voice was low and Megan leaned closer as he continued. “I’ve always gone through the stones deliberately. Tell me what happened to you yesterday. When I left, you were wandering around the garden of your cottage. How did you get to the stones?”
“I was looking at the flowers while I had my cup of tea and I saw you go out. And then you disappeared and I thought you’d collapsed.” Megan closed her eyes, remembering the feeling that had overtaken her. “I ran over to help you and when I got to the big stone monument thing something happened. I can’t remember if I touched it but the most peculiar feeling came over me.”
“What happened then?”
“I don’t know.” She stared through the gap in the trees to the next field. In the distance, the three grey markers were highlighted against the clear horizon.
A shiver ran through Megan and she leaned into David as he stopped and put his arm around her.
“Don’t be frightened.”
“If you tell me more about what’s happening—or going to happen I might not be so bloody scared.”
David looked up at the sun. “It’s not quite midday. We’ve got some time.”
“Time before what? You’re talking in riddles.” Megan’s temper rose and she pulled away from him, ignoring the cold that trickled through her veins when she let him go. “All I know is I’m—we’re—in 1971 and you’re about to whisk me back to 2011. What’s going to happen? Is some sort of time machine going to arrive and send me back home? Tell me, David.” Fear cracked her voice and she shivered as the anxiety about the unknown snaked down her back.
David took her hand and led her over to the stone wall He turned, lifted her easily, and sat her on the flat stone on the top before sliding his guitar from his shoulder and placing it safely in the shade. Gently, he parted Megan’s legs and stood between her thighs. The warmth of the stone beneath her legs was nothing compared to the heat that filled her when David leaned into her and held her waist gently.
“Last year—1970—I was touring the pub circuit in England. My songs were becoming well known and I’d played the pubs for a couple of years. I had made enough money to live comfortably in a flat in London.” He held her gaze steadily. “I came do
wn to Glastonbury to the festival and stayed at the pub, and that’s when I met Bear and Slim.” He held her gaze and Megan tried to focus on his words. His closeness was sending delicious quivers all over her. “We hooked up and played a set at the first festival. It was very informal back then. We put down an album after last year’s festival and it sold really well. We got a publicist allocated to us by the record company. That’s when everything started to come unravelled. Emma was an addict, and we got linked to drug rumours because of her actions.”
Word for word, David—Davy—was reciting what she’d read in the article on the way over. As he spoke, his voice deepened and the hint of that sexy Welsh accent tinged his words. Her stomach fluttered and the ever-present heat pooled between her thighs as she stared back at him.
“Ken, the publican, told me about Rose Cottage being vacant and I moved in after we finished the tour after the album was released.” He dropped his forehead to the top of her head. “Are you with me?” He lifted his head and looked at her. Their eyes were level and Megan nodded.
“I’m with you. It’s 1971 and you played at the first festival, which if I’m working things out correctly was last year.
“So Bear and Slim live in the seventies and you live in the present. I mean, in 2011? This is doing my head in.” Megan scrunched her nose trying to follow his explanation. “But they were at the pub here? I met them when I was having lunch? The other day when I arrived. That wasn’t 1971. And I still don’t know how you found the present.” She shook her head at the confused thoughts. “I mean, how you found my time. Where I was yesterday.”
I can’t say what I mean.
“Do you know what I am trying to ask?” Relief flooded through Megan when David nodded.
“Yes, I do. Bear and Slim come to visit sometimes. The time gates let you cross both ways. And that’s what we’re about to do. We’re in 1971 and we need to get back to 2011.”