consumed Read online

“Perhaps.”

  “You never wanted a child in your own image, someone to carry on the family name?”

  “At times it is a delightful dream, I suppose.” Her scent lulled him into a sense of peace. “Until recently, I never found a woman I wanted to impregnate. Now, it is impossible, as you know.”

  “But you slept with women before. There were no accidents?”

  “No. Either I was very careful or fate was. I have no children.”

  “Ah.” Her fingers furrowed his hair. “Do you have any regrets?”

  Did he? In accelerated flashes, scenes from his extended life streamed through his mind’s eye. Blurry faces from the parade of women he’d been with danced through his brain, exquisite tastes from food fired his palate, passages from favorite books illuminated his brain, and snatches of music and conversation rang in his ears. Ah, there was much to miss, but did he have regrets? His sigh fluttered a few strands of her hair. “I have one.”

  “Well, what is it?”

  “I regret not being able to sleep with a woman again due to my weak member.”

  She pushed away from him. Her eyes flashed in the darkness. “That’s it? Your one regret is to do the nasty with some random woman?” Her voice had risen with every word. “Get the hell out of my bed.”

  “Is that jealousy I hear, my dear Miss Lesarris?” His reflective mood lifted to know he’d gotten under her skin so quickly. Before she could consign him to perdition, he pushed her onto her back and kissed her until she went limp beneath him. Levering off by scant inches, he asked, “Would you allow me to finish my thought?”

  “Yes.” When she drew him down for another embrace, he temporarily lost all cognizant thought.

  A shaky breath later, he continued. “I wish only to make love to one woman. If, by some miracle, this would occur, I want it to be with you, Ava. Beyond reason or explanation, I find myself falling for you. I cannot reason it out and neither do I want to. I merely wish I had more time.” Now that he’d stated his case, fear twisted his insides. Would she still demand he leave? Was his story too unbelievable?

  “Oh, Sam!” She pulled him down and rained kisses over his cheeks, chin, and lips. “Why did you have to go and say something so sappy and romantic?” Wetness on his skin indicated she was crying. “You make me want the happily ever after, but how can I have it if you’re going to die?”

  Deep sorrow laid siege to his heart. He settled more comfortably into the bed and pulled her tightly against him. “Enjoy our time right now. That is all we can do. It is all we have. We must make it be enough.”

  An insistent knock interrupted more conversation. “Ava, are you all right? I thought I heard voices. Open this door!” Mrs. Altier’s command was more chilling than the air temperature.

  Ava barely stirred from her position. Instead, she renewed her explorations of his body. “I’m fine, Mrs. Altier. Just having a deliciously vivid dream. Good night!”

  * * * *

  The next afternoon, Sam walked the streets of Destiny with dragging steps. He’d remained with Ava until she drifted off to sleep, then he’d left her bedroom by way of the window, climbing down a trellis. The dried grapevines and other detritus plant life left over from the summer aided his flight, and shortly afterward he’d collapsed, fully clothed, in his own empty bed. He should have stayed with Ava, but too many years of ingrained manners worked against him. No matter that he would quit this life on the morrow, she needed to retain a sterling image in order to have a decent existence long after he was gone.

  That thought exacerbated his current frame of mind. Yes, he intended to spend the next several hours in her company. However, he also would try to convince her to forget about him and move on. He didn’t want her to mourn his passing. This would be a huge undertaking. Last night, she held him tight even in sleep, as if she couldn’t bear to part with him. While her regard made his heart glad, he refused to cause her greater pain. Thus, the urge to set her free.

  Halfway down Main Street, Sam stumbled to a halt. For so late in November, Mother Nature had set the scene with incredible glory. Golden afternoon sunlight glanced off every surface and gilded windows, rooftops, and trees. Eddies of dried leaves rode invisible currents through the streets, the curled edges scraping daintily on the cobblestones. He lifted his face to the sun and felt a warm brush of air on his cheeks.

  God, I am going to miss the tangible aspect of being alive.

  The sharp scent of burning wood wafted to his nose, and he inhaled deeply. Birds chattered in the naked branches while masked in the woods and the lone call of a wolf carried through the town, answered moments later by its mate. Life would continue long after he was gone. He couldn’t change that fact, but he could make sure he was remembered by someone who cared for him.

  And that was what he’d wanted all along, except he’d realized it much too late.

  Shoving his hands into his trouser pockets, he started on his journey again only to come to yet another halting stop, this time from a vision in the street. His blood ran both hot and cold as he stared.

  Ava stood gazing back, looking for all the world like every dream he’d ever had. The sun slanted through the trees and turned her upswept hair to molten gold. Rosy color stained her cheeks and lips, while the pale expanse of her décolletage beckoned from the dark backdrop of her deep-plum gown. The jet beads framing the neckline and sprinkled over the skirt sparkled in the sun, and a turquoise underskirt peeked out with every step she made.

  “What are you doing here? I said I’d call for you.” He forgot how to breathe as he peered at her as if he’d never see her again.

  “I couldn’t wait any longer.” She shook her head, her expression jumping between confusion, puzzlement, and wonder, much like he felt. The tendons in her neck worked with the force of her swallow. “I woke up this morning without you and didn’t like it. Don’t do that again.”

  “I promise, from this moment forward, I will spend whatever time I have left with you.” He took a few steps toward her. “You realize that style of gown is worn strictly for dinner or an evening out.”

  She nodded and smoothed the fabric at her midsection. “I do, but I thought you might like to make your last day over-the-top special. In these clothes, I think I nailed it.”

  “I do appreciate your efforts.” Oh, how he wished for more time to grasp the meaning of her strange language. “I have one other regret.”

  “Yeah, what’s that?” She met him in the middle of the cobbled street. Whatever footwear she’d chosen to wear put her nearly eye to eye with him.

  His pulse thundered through his ears and raced through his veins. Blood went coursing straight to his cock. It hardened more than it had in recent days, but not enough to warrant dragging her into the woods. “I do not have years to spend kissing you. Damnation, Ava, I could waste a decade whispering sonnets to your beauty into your ear.” She didn’t need to know that he hadn’t a clue how to compose a sonnet. All he was certain of in that moment was he needed her like a drowning man needs rescue.

  “That’s the great thing about life, Mr. Tremaine.” The way his name rolled off her tongue shot white-hot desire into his system. His member twitched. “You take what’s available to you, and you enjoy it to its fullest.” Her chin wobbled before her grin took his attention. “Live a lifetime in the next twenty-four hours, Sam. Take my breath away, and let me do the same for you.”

  As if her words were the key to the lock he kept around his heart, he took her into his arms and slanted his mouth over hers. This kiss wasn’t designed for romance or flirting. He wanted to make Ava aware, in no uncertain terms, that she belonged to him in this moment. She may have traveled across space and time, but he claimed her now.

  Forever and always.

  When she uttered a growl, grabbed his lapels in her fists, and hauled him closer in an attempt to take control, he fitted one hand to the back of her skull and the other to her rear and grounded her against his body. He plundered her mouth, thrusting his to
ngue into the warm, moist interior of hers, showing her how he wished he could take her.

  The return of common sense broke through passion’s fog. Sam yanked slightly away, glancing furtively about to see if any of the townsfolk witnessed their embrace. If they did, they were well concealed behind curtains or corners of buildings. No one lingered along the street. His chest heaved as his breath condensed in the chilly air. “What now?”

  A grin parted her kiss-swollen lips. “Take me to bed, of course.” Her eyes had taken on an animal quality. They resembled more a wolf than human. “My wolf is demanding I drag your polite ass to the nearest private spot and pleasure you until you get enough of a hard-on to have some fun.”

  “I can guess at your meaning.” As he held her gaze, her eyes returned to their normal form. “What would you like, Ava? From all you have told me, I rather doubt many people have asked you what you want.”

  Her chin quivered. “Damn it!” She dropped her gaze to his pocket-watch chain. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before. How could I have been so stupid?”

  “Talk to me.” He lifted her chin with a finger, then eased his hand back to cup her cheek. He caressed her soft skin. “This day is for you as much as it is for me. I want to please you, too.”

  Tears welled in her eyes. “I want to go home.”

  “I beg your pardon?” Of all the responses he expected, this was not one of them.

  “I need you to come with me back to Mrs. Altier’s house.” Now that she’d spoken her request, she became highly animated. “Hurry. I think this will work.” Tugging on his hand, she used the other to lift a handful of skirts. The intriguing footwear she’d worn that first day came into view and fired his imagination.

  “Can you do me the courtesy of explaining why you suddenly wish to go back?” The question came out couched in clipped annoyance. “I do not want to take tea with your guardian. I want you, alone and preferably naked.” He feared she would think him a petulant child.

  “I’m reading you loud and clear. That’s my goal too.” The glance she tossed over her shoulder smoldered with the same passion and blatant desire roiling within him. “Trust me. There’s something I need to retrieve from my room, and what’s more, it’ll help you in ways no amount of heavy petting could ever do. At least one good thing will have resulted from my being sent back in time.”

  He allowed her excitement to overtake him, even though he had no idea what she meant. “I trust you.” With my life and heart.

  Chapter Seven

  Sam followed her into the house, but argued, in no uncertain terms, about accompanying her upstairs. In that one moment, he was treated to her inability to take orders from authority figures. Ava rounded on him so fast he had no time to react.

  She stood toe-to-toe with him, her lips inches from his. “Do you, or do you not, want to have sex with me today?”

  “I do, but—” He reached for her, intending to relieve the urge to kiss her. She danced beyond his fingertips.

  “But nothing. I have the miracle cure for your problem in my bedroom; now kindly either step out of my way or follow me, because nothing is going to prevent me from keeping you hot and happy long into the night.”

  Sam swallowed around a lump of fear and anticipation. “I trust you.” He repeated that mantra as they strode through the parlor to the next room beyond. He even mentally spoke it when Mrs. Altier rose from a settee with a teacup halfway to her lips.

  “Young woman, absolutely no men are allowed on the upper level of this house.” She returned her cup to its saucer with such force, amber tea sloshed over the rim.

  “Stow it, Mrs. Altier. I’m only here to retrieve something, then we’ll be gone.” Ava stormed up the staircase. “And here’s food for thought. Let me put it into a context you’ll understand. I intend to be thoroughly ruined by Sam today whether you like it or not. How’s that for your delicate sensibilities?”

  The dragon’s jaw dropped open and her chins quivered, but she said nothing further.

  “You really don’t like people making decisions for you.” He followed in her wake with a grin. Her outspoken ways only endeared her to him further. “I wish you and I met earlier. It would seem there are many layers to your character I will never see.” Despair snaked through his gut, dispelling his earlier joy. Tomorrow, he would leave her forever.

  The touch of her hand on his jarred him out of the maudlin mood. “Stop thinking, Sam. I can almost feel you doing it.” She pushed open her bedroom door and pulled him inside. “I don’t want today broken, okay?”

  “I will endeavor to follow orders.” When his attempt at levity only brought a flash of tears to her eyes, he sighed. “I’m sorry. Perhaps we can accomplish our task and move forward? I would like to conduct our next conversation in bed.” At this point, he didn’t care if they engaged in sexual activity. He merely wanted to hold her in his arms until his end. With her, he’d found the safe harbor he’d sought, the one woman who would understand his fears and dreams—the one who would tell him everything would be fine. And for the first time, he understood what his father must have felt the moment he knew he’d leave his mother forever. Pain fractured his heart, so great he thought it might be torn in two.

  “You’re doing it again.”

  “I apologize. Death has a tendency to linger.” Using a huge effort, he shoved the thought away.

  “Well, today the Grim Reaper has me to contend with, and I’m not giving you up to him until the very last second.” She crossed the room to a trunk beneath the window. Opening it, she withdrew the mannish jacket she’d worn the first time he’d seen her. “I just remembered that I stowed a couple of pills in my jacket pocket after my last sales call that I’d forgotten to put back in my sample kit.”

  “You want me to take drugs?” He waited as she withdrew a small packet from the pocket.

  “Not just any drug, Mr. Tremaine. In my time period, it’s the single greatest medical advancement to help males suffering from erectile dysfunction.”

  “Is this a big problem in the future?” A world full of sexually frustrated men. Perhaps the coming years were not to be envied.

  “A little bit.” She waved the silver packet in the air, then came around the bed. “You swallow this, and in no time you’ll be a whole new man. I guarantee it.”

  “I rather doubt a pill has those sorts of properties.” He accepted the water glass she shoved in his hand. When he’d hoped for a miracle, he’d never imagined it would turn up in the form of a square-shaped pill. “How is it possible?” An eyebrow lifted as she popped a blue tablet into his other hand.

  “Look, I have zero time to explain how it works in scientific terms, all right? Suffice it to say that in about twenty minutes your limp lizard will transform into a proud stallion, and you’ll love me forever afterward.” The statement was accompanied by a wink. “Come on, wash it down and let’s get out of here.”

  Shaking his head at the euphemisms, he placed the pill on his tongue and swallowed it with a swig of water. “How long will this miracle last?” He set the glass on the nightstand and allowed her to lead him back down the stairs.

  “Up to four hours, which means you can get in a couple of good lays out of the deal. Not bad, eh?” Ava waved to her guardian. “Mrs. Altier, I’m having a sleepover at Sam’s house. I’ll see you sometime tomorrow. And don’t worry, I’ll keep the scandal to a minimum.”

  “You realize she will make your life hell once tomorrow comes.” Once outside, he tucked her hand into the crook of his arm as they strolled through the streets. At least they could make a semblance of observing the proprieties.

  “I don’t care.”

  “As much as it thrills me to hear of your courage and challenging authority, in all likelihood, you will need to conduct yourself as a lady once I’m gone.” His chest tightened at the thought. “Destiny is many things, but it is not enlightened to your way of thinking, and you will be ruined.”

  “That’s my problem. Not you
rs.” She patted his hand. “I’ll survive, but promise me that for however long you have left, don’t ruin it with talk of your death. I won’t ask again.” Her voice wavered on the last word, and his stomach clenched in sympathy. “I want to remember you as the sexy, virile man who stole my heart when I wasn’t looking, when I didn’t know I needed you.”

  “I thought you did not believe in that sort of thing?”

  She shrugged as a wash of color stained her cheeks and chest. “I thought I didn’t, but here we are.”

  “I feel the same.” He brought them to a halt midway up Main Street. “I hope I live up to your imagination.” Lifting her chin with a finger, he gently kissed her upturned lips. Soft and inviting, he lost himself in the wonder of her mouth. This one strong-willed, outspoken woman had come into his life during his lowest moment and gave him hope for the future. It may not be his ideal future, but he imagined she’d remember him fondly.

  Perhaps he would live on in her memories and—

  His previously ailing member not only twitched, but pressed against the front of his trousers with an insistent need he’d thought long gone. Wrenching away from Ava, he stared at her as a glorious resurgence of sexual arousal hit him. It roared through his shaft with a curious tingling sensation. “Whatever is in your magical pill, I do believe it is beginning to have an effect.”

  When she glanced at his groin, it stiffened further. Heated waves of desire flowed through him, made even more poignant by his awakening cock and the thought of finally being able to bring her pleasure. A far from demure smile curved her lips. “Maybe we should hurry to your house, then.”

  “I agree.” He grabbed her hand and set out.

  Never had the trip through the streets of Destiny seemed so long. Past Town Hall to Poplar Street, he pulled Ava west another two blocks to his home on Beaver Road. He had no time to admire the fall flowers he’d worked so hard to coax into life in the beds, and even less time for contemplating the painstaking labor he’d put into painting the exterior in an inviting white-trimmed blue. None of it mattered. All the visually pleasing things around him couldn’t hold a candle to the woman whose warm hand gripped his, whose very soul called out for him to claim.