“Some investigative reporter,” Andrea scoffed. “I thought journalists were supposed to base their conclusions on facts.”
That statement caught Mitch’s attention as surely as it was meant to do. There was nothing he held more sacred than his journalistic integrity.
Except maybe his natural ability to hone in on the truth. Mitch was a damn good reporter and he knew it.
But Andrea had found a telling niche in his armor. He knew that all this paranormal stuff was bunk, but he’d never actually proved it.
That was not a welcome realization.
“Are you insinuating that I’m making a biased judgment?” he asked.
“No.” Andrea smiled. “I’m saying you are.” She held his gaze. “Afraid to find out you’re wrong, Mr. Hotshot Reporter?”
“I’m not wrong,” Mitch said. His low tone should have warned Andrea that she was on dangerous ground.
If she knew it, she apparently didn’t care.
She shook her head. “Your father always said you were too stubborn for your own good. I thought he was too hard on you, but…”
“That’s it!” Mitch slammed the box closed and marched to the front door. He turned back to glare at his stepmother. “Watch the kids for a few minutes, would you?”
He would go and meet the flake, prove that she was a charlatan, and be home in five minutes. Mission accomplished.
It wasn’t exactly rocket science.
“Of course!” Andrea said, laughing at him. “Let us know what you learn.”
He ignored her as he strode down the steps and across the lawn. The neon sign on his neighbor’s house blinked in candy cane pink.
Lilith’s Lovematches.
Right.
*
Lilith prowled through her house restlessly, noting how the light coming through the back windows had turned golden. Soon the twilight would creep over the sky, the time she found more and more difficult to bear. Twilight was the moment it seemed anything could happen.
But nothing ever did, not now.
She had first seen Sebastian in that strange light. The sun had been sinking on the horizon, the moon rising opposite, the first stars lighting in the sky. And in that one moment, with one glimpse, Lilith had been smitten.
And later, on the night that they’d shared everything, he’d come to the Rom camp at the same magickal time of day. Looking for her. Lilith hugged herself, remembering the heat in his eyes, the slow smile that had been just for her. Her heart pounded in recollection and her mouth went dry.
She was fed up with memories. She wanted him back!
The doorbell rang and Lilith jumped.
Sebastian?
But a wink of neon caught the periphery of her vision and squashed her hope. She’d just left the sign on.
The last thing she wanted to do was provide advice – especially as she was aching herself.
The doorbell rang again, more insistently this time.
It wouldn’t be right to not answer.
She’d just say that she couldn’t do a reading tonight.
Lilith trudged to the door, haunted by her memories. D’Artagnan wound around her ankles, but she ignored the cat and opened the door.
“I’m sorry, but…” she started to say, then stared in disbelief.
Sebastian was on her porch.
His chestnut hair still curled slightly. His eyes were still the same golden brown. He was taller than she remembered and more powerfully built than he had been before. He was a little older than he had been, but then, so was Lilith.
Neither of them were impetuous teenagers anymore.
Sebastian wore a red T-shirt that clung to his chest and denim shorts that still hid too much of his muscled legs. His feet were shoved into faded running shoes and his hair looked as if he had just pushed his fingers through it. Certainly the tinge of impatience in the set of his lips was new, but then Lilith was pretty much out of patience herself.
Obviously, he had had trouble finding her again.
But he was here! Just the sight of him on her very own doorstep sent a spark racing through Lilith’s veins. He was all man. He was her man. He was her beloved.
He’d returned, just as he’d promised.
And she’d been waiting a long long time.
This wasn’t a moment to waste on conversation.
She had, after all, vowed to make his return worth his while.
Lilith grabbed Sebastian’s shirt and hauled him into her foyer. She slammed the door behind him, locked it with one hand while she curled the other around his neck and kissed him hard.
Sebastian jumped a bit in surprise – maybe he’d forgotten how passionate she could be – but she backed him into the hallway, rolling her tongue into his mouth.
The man was going to know that he’d been missed.
He tasted so good, and smelled even better. Lilith ran her hands over his muscled shoulders and savored.
Sebastian made a sound of protest, but Lilith gobbled it up. She didn’t care if this was too fast – she was burning with desire.
Next time, they would take it slowly.
And the next time and the next time after that. They could spend all night reaffirming their love, a glorious repeat of the passion that had sparked between them before.
But first, she wanted him fast.
Right here and right now.
Lilith pressed her breasts against Sebastian and felt the heat of his erection. She rolled her hips against him and loved how he caught his breath. He was still trying to tell her something, but she didn’t care.
It could wait.
Lilith unzipped his fly, her fingers closing quickly around him. Sebastian moaned and caught his breath as she began to caress him. He still tried to talk, but Lilith kissed him with even more enthusiasm. It might have been centuries, but Lilith hadn’t forgotten anything her lover had taught her. She loved his little sound of defeat, the moment he surrendered the attempt to talk, the way his hands landed on her shoulders and pulled her closer.
Lilith slid her fingers into his hair to pull him closer. She slanted her mouth more determinedly across his and he kissed her back with an answering heat that made her heart race. She lifted her dress and rubbed his erection against her bare belly as she wiggled out of her underwear. His hand slid over her buttock, his fingers slid across her heat and he shuddered.
He was all hers.
Of course, she’d always been all his.
His erection grew as he touched her. His kiss turned ravenous and Lilith arched against him, demanding more and more and more.
He felt so good.
She pushed him down to the Persian rug, kissing him hungrily all the while. She rolled on top of him as soon as he hit the floor and he pulled her closer. She kicked her underwear aside and straddled him.
He might have said something then, but she kissed him to silence, urging him into her heat.
He was bigger than she remembered and that news was welcome. He gasped, then they kissed with even greater passion. The heat rose within her as they drove each other wild.
It only took a moment until Sebastian clenched her hips and bellowed in his release. Then he touched her with those strong fingers, sending her over the brink even as she felt the warmth of his release. Lilith cried out in turn, then tumbled into the haven of his arms, content.
Sebastian was back.
This time Lilith wasn’t going to lose him.
For any price.
*
2
The High Priestess
Mitch was quite certain that he had never had a beautiful woman pounce on him before.
He definitely would have remembered that. He felt as though he had just tasted single malt scotch for the first time. Even his toes tingled.
But people didn’t just do stuff like this.
Did they? Mitch leaned back against the hardwood floor and kept his eyes tightly closed. He moved his fingers and found the curve of a perfect bare, luscious buttock b
eneath his hand. The woman’s perfume - something warmly seductive and completely alien to Mitch’s life - wound into his nostrils.
His mouth went dry.
Mitch frowned as he reviewed the course of events. He had knocked on the door, he remembered that. And an exotic woman had opened the door. She was dark-eyed and dark-haired, curvaceous, and wearing a dress as red as cherries. He’d never seen a woman like her, outside of Italian fashion magazines.
Mitch had gotten no further than that before her dark eyes flashed in welcome, she hauled him into her foyer, locked the door and started kissing him like there was no tomorrow.
This neighborhood had one hell of a welcome wagon.
Mitch was unable to rationally explain what had just happened, yet for the moment, he didn’t really care. After all, it had been a long, long, long three years since Janice had packed her bags, and even longer than that since she had slept with him.
She’d certainly never jumped on him.
Not even once.
Mitch exhaled unevenly, knowing there was no way he could have stopped what just happened, regardless of his usual chivalrous inclinations. Swearing off relationships and just not being a fling kind of guy could seriously impact a man’s sex life.
It had certainly impacted Mitch’s.
Until just now.
He hadn’t had a chance. Mitch was unable to shake the sense that he had just stepped into one of his buddy Kurt’s frequently recounted - and seldom believed, at least by Mitch - amorous adventures.
He couldn’t exactly remember how things went from here.
“Wow,” the lady purred. “You were worth waiting for.”
She had an accent as exotic as her looks. Something European, maybe French or Italian. Her voice was low, just the sound of it making Mitch shiver in anticipation.
She sighed with obvious pleasure and ran her fingertips across his shoulder. Mitch slanted a glance her way, instinctively bracing himself for a reality check.
But she was smiling. At him.
Mitch stared as his first impression was vehemently reinforced. The lady was a stunner. Dark hair and creamy skin, thick lashes and lips almost as curvy as the rest of her. She was more unabashedly feminine than any woman he had ever seen before.
And her presence was so tranquil. She simply watched him study her, apparently not in a rush to go anywhere or say anything. Mitch had the definite sense that she’d be perfectly content to lay together here all day.
A hint of a smile curved her lips and something in those eyes made Mitch’s blood quicken. Her eyes were dark, dark brown, so dark that he couldn’t discern where the iris ended and the pupil began. They were remarkable eyes, even more remarkable than the rest of her, which was really saying something.
If the eyes were the windows to the soul, this woman’s eyes would open a portal into whole other universe. One of secrets, wisdom, and things a man might not really want to know.
Before Mitch could wonder how that kind of whimsy had make its way into the relentless logic he usually followed, she tapped a finger in the middle of his chest.
A twinkle glimmered in the depths of her eyes. “I told you I’d make coming back worth your while,” she murmured, her seductive tone making Mitch’s heart pound again.
Mitch’s good sense chose that moment to return with a vengeance. His eyes widened as he did the math. He had just had sex with a complete stranger!
Was he out of his ever-loving mind?
He was a journalist! He wrote articles about STD’s, he compounded stats about unsafe sex, he had done a series on AIDS. And he, as matter of personal principle, had never ever been casual about intimacy!
Mitch was on his feet in a flash, his hands shaking as he fought against his unruly zipper.
She was still watching him, that bemused smile clinging to her ripe lips. Mitch couldn’t even think straight, but he tried to talk his way through it.
“Look, I don’t know what just happened here, but…”
The woman rolled to one hip and laughed unexpectedly. Her dark wavy hair cascaded over her shoulder, her dress gaped open to reveal the luscious curve of her breasts. She was so at ease with her sensuality, in marked contrast to how uptight Janice had been, that Mitch had to fight his urge to have a good look.
“Whatever it was,” she said, a thread of humor in her voice, “it was very, very good.”
Her admiration was so open that Mitch felt the back of his neck heat. What was protocol here? A life without casual sex had left Mitch without a script, never mind a marriage with a woman who hated being touched. This woman’s cheerful enjoyment was as puzzling as the situation itself.
Should Mitch apologize? Should he thank her? Should he try to explain?
Explain what, exactly? Mitch didn’t like being at a loss for words, but none popped into his mind to save him.
The woman stretched with leisurely satisfaction, then rolled to her feet. Her red floral dress fluttered around her shapely calves, the bodice draped open as though inviting Mitch to take a look at those creamy breasts.
She treated Mitch to a sultry smile as she flicked back her impossibly long hair, then she took a step closer. Those eyes smoldered and Mitch knew he was not nearly as immune to the lady as he would have liked to have been.
This was crazy. He knew nothing about her.
He was a father, Mitch reminded himself when she sidled closer and his heart began to pound. He was a responsible man. He was a journalist.
He was an adult.
“Was it worth your while?” she asked softly and Mitch felt a telltale response in his shorts.
This was not how things should be proceeding! Mitch frowned and tried to look suitably forbidding. He had to steer their conversation back to some rational course.
But the woman wasn’t paying any attention to his best glower. Mitch stiffened as her fingertips trailed along the neck of his t-shirt. He fought to keep his mind out of the gutter and his gaze out of her cleavage.
It wasn’t easy.
And the way she leaned against him to kiss his throat wasn’t helping. “Maybe we should adjourn to the bedroom,” she whispered, her words heating Mitch’s very blood.
Wait a minute! Mitch cleared his throat deliberately. What he had to do was get to the root of the story.
Right! He’d ask the questions. Familiar ground, to be sure. He summoned his best reporter voice. “When exactly did you tell me that you’d make it worth my while?”
The lady chuckled, her breasts pressed against his chest as she backed Mitch into the door. Mitch’s nostrils flooded with the scent of that wondrous perfume, his hands itched to close around her slender waist.
He stared at the ceiling and knew he was in big trouble.
“Well, I never told you directly,” she admitted. “But it was in the spell I cast to summon you.” She winked when he looked at her in astonishment, those fingertips sliding up his neck and into his hair. “You must have heard me.”
A little bit too late, Mitch understood her words and remembered his neighbor’s stock in trade. “What spell?” he managed to ask
“The spell that brought you here.” The woman chuckled under her breath. “I’m a witch now. I guess you didn’t know.” Her manner was easy, as though she was confiding something mundane, like a fondness for chocolate. It made it even harder for Mitch to make sense of what she was saying. “I make spells, read fortunes, all of that stuff.” The tip of her tongue slid into Mitch’s ear and he closed his eyes against a tidal wave of desire. “Right now, though, I’d rather make love.”
Mitch grasped her upper arms, put as much space between them as he could, and seized on her claim. He was more than ready to set the record straight. “No, you see, you’ve got it all wrong. No spell summoned me. I just came to find out about your sign…”
But her hearty laugh startled him into silence. “Sebastian! We’ve known each other long enough that we don’t need to play games.”
Mitch stared at her as his
blood turned to ice.
Sebastian? Why did she call him Sebastian?
Because, obviously, she thought he was someone else! Suddenly the enthusiasm of her welcome made a whole lot more sense. Mitch had just made one hell of a mistake. She was going to slap him when she learned the truth.
Or worse.
He straightened, frowned, and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, but I’m not Sebastian,” he admitted. The woman blinked, her surprise obvious. “You must have me confused with someone else.”
She said nothing at all.
As awkward moments went, this was a biggie. “Uh, Mitch Davison. Your new neighbor to the left.” He released her shoulders and stuck out his hand, but she just stared at it and frowned.
And no wonder. She had just mistaken him for some other guy and ravished him as a result. No wonder she looked so stunned - she must be really embarrassed.
Well, she couldn’t be any more embarrassed than Mitch was. He cleared his throat and wished he were anywhere else on the face of the earth.
Or that the floor would yawn open and swallow him whole.
No luck on either front, so Mitch shoved one hand through his hair and unlocked the deadbolt behind his back with the other. He took a deep breath. “Look, I’m sorry we got our wires crossed here. We’ve certainly gotten off to a rocky start and I can only apologize for my part in this.”
The lady stared at him as though she didn’t understand what he was saying. This conversation had died and was well beyond revival. Mitch tried for his most charming smile, without any noticeable result in her response.
Oh, he was batting a thousand here.
“Maybe it would be best if we just forgot this ever happened,” he managed to suggest.
Then, her slender hand snapped out and abruptly gripped his chin. Mitch froze in surprise at the strength of her grip. Her perusal was so thorough, her gaze so cat-bright, that the hair on the back of Mitch’s neck started to stand on end.
He had just concluded that things were definitely a little weird on this side of the property line, when the lady went one better.
Time Travel Romances Boxed Set Page 104