Kiss Across Worlds (Kiss Across Time Book 7)

by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  Think.

  Even while her heart pounded, London pressed her fingers to her temples to try to disperse the yawing forces beating at her.

  “London.”

  She looked up, with a gasp. Neven was moving around the same corner of the shed, moving fast.

  “Remi said you needed me.” He came right up to the stump and stepped up onto it and cupped her arm. “What’s wrong?” His voice was a soft rumble, filled with warmth and concern and caring.

  “Remi said…?” Her voice was strained. It was hard to ignore the impact Neven had on her senses. He was tall and strong. Worried.

  “What are you doing out here?” Neven asked. He glanced around, puzzled.

  “You sent me here,” London whispered. He had sent both of them here. She couldn’t help herself. She lifted a hand to Neven’s hair and stroked the fine gray hairs at his temple. “How did I possibly confuse you with Kristijan?” she asked. “You are so different.”

  He watched her warily. “You didn’t stay confused for long. It only took you a few hours.”

  “Remi knew straight away, didn’t he?”

  “He had an advantage. He kissed me as soon as we met.”

  Her breath caught as the simple statement caused an explosion of images in her mind. The stuff of pure fantasy…yet not. The heated, fiery Remi she had just met, kissing Neven. This man, not the Kristijan she had known.

  Her breath increased and she almost moaned at the purely sensual cascade of male bodies twined together. “He wants you. You, not Kristijan.”

  “I know.”

  Startled, she met his dark gaze. “You would deny him, though?” Like you denied me, the voice whispered in her mind.

  “He’s not the one I want,” Neven breathed.

  Her heart leapt.

  Neven pulled her closer, moving slowly and she understood that he was giving her time. Time to decide, to pull away if she wanted. He would let her do to him what he had done to her earlier.

  He was hot. Solid. And he wanted her. Could she say that about Kristijan? Ever? Even in the beginning?

  She thought again of St. James, of the two people standing beneath the plane tree. She had been so bowled over by his attention, his sexiness and his flattery. She had been blind to the evidence that she had only been able to see when Neven had taken her back there to watch with experienced eyes. The relaxed stance of Kristijan’s body. The little smile he had been wearing, even as he had kissed her. As if he had been pleased with himself.

  A real lover would have leaned in and pressed themselves against her, to feel every inch of her, greedy for her touch.

  Just as Neven was doing now.

  London drew in a breath, as she felt the length of him against her. His hand slid up into her hair and held her head. “Say no,” he whispered. “If you have any doubts, say no now, because I won’t stop if you don’t.”

  She trembled. “I can’t.”

  With a groan, he kissed her, his lips pressing against hers with a firmness that was exactly what she wanted. His tongue swept into her mouth, delighting her. Then he lifted his head. “You’re cold. You’re shivering.”

  She shook her head. “Not with you against me.” She reached for his lips again and he didn’t pull away, which sent a thrill through her. Instead, his arm came around her back, holding her against him.

  He jumped. She could feel him do it and saw the instantly gone blackness of the timescape. Then, warmth and filtered light. The sound of running water and farther away, surf.

  Neven let her go. He was smiling. “It’s warmer here,” he told her. “And private, too.”

  London looked around, marveling. They were in a cave. A big cave with a roof that soared hundreds of feel overhead. The front of the cave was also huge. It was as if some giant had turned a bowl upside down then loped off the side of it, making the arching opening. Inside the opening was a bar of beach sand, pristine white and lit by sunlight slanting in from outside. There were five palm trees anchored in the sand, all reaching up to the sunlight and sending filtering shadows over the entrance.

  The middle of the cave was a pool of water, crystal clear and shallow. A narrow channel broke through the palm trees where fresh seawater could flow into the pool, for the curl of blue waves rising and falling were visible through the trees.

  The pool took up most of the cave. Around the edges of it was more white sand, where it lapped with soft, soothing sounds.

  The crescent of sand around the edge of the pool was broken by a cascade of rocks stacked up against the side of the big bowl of a cave. From the top of the rocks, water bubbled and tumbled down to the pool.

  It was idyllic.

  “Where are we?” London asked curiously. She no longer felt cold. The warmth in the cave said it was much hotter outside and she was glad to not be out there in the sun. Her skin didn’t tan. With only a little sun, she turned red, blistered and peeled. Then freckled. No, she didn’t want to be out in that heat.

  It was very nice here in the cave, though.

  “I found this place a few years ago. I come here when I want to stop for a while.” He shed the thigh-length coat he had been wearing and dropped it on the sand. “No one ever comes here but me.”

  “Where is it?” she repeated. “And when is it, I suppose I should ask.”

  Neven hesitated.

  “What’s wrong?” she demanded, her heart thudding.

  “It’s just that…you may panic.”

  “Where are we?” she asked quickly.

  “Krakatoa,” he admitted.

  Her mouth fell open. She looked up at the roof.

  “Yes, right over the top of us,” he said.

  “Oh…my God…” she breathed.

  “It’s six years before Krakatoa blows. It’s perfectly safe. No tremors yet. Nothing like that. Just hot water on tap and perfect isolation. The locals are afraid of the volcano and the gods that control it and stay away.”

  “Hot…” She looked at the water falling down the rocks. “It’s a hot spring.”

  “The pool would be freezing without it,” he assured her.

  London bent and unbuckled her shoes and kicked them off. “I want to try it.”

  “Be my guest,” he said, smiling.

  She rolled up her trousers and took a step into the pool. The water was warm—almost too hot—which made it perfect. She wriggled her toes, feeling the soft sand beneath the ankle-deep water.

  She wanted to feel that warmth all over her. She looked at Neven. He was watching her, his arms crossed. London put her hand on her hip. “I thought you said you would not stop.”

  The look in his black eyes made her heart stutter. “I haven’t. There is a difference between pausing and slow seduction.”

  She waded out of the water and across the sand to where he stood. Without her heels, she was considerably shorter, more than she was used to. She gripped his shirt, feeling silk smoothness beneath her fingers. “Come in with me.”

  “In time,” he promised her. “Go ahead. Only, you may want to keep your clothes dry. If you return to October in Serbia with damp clothes, you’ll regret it.”

  “Is that your way of seducing me out of my clothes?”

  “As you seduced me out of mine?” he asked, his mouth curling up at the corners.

  London held still, shock trickling through her. “We’ve been here before, haven’t we?” She looked around the cave. “Except I’ve never been here, so it’s in my future. Elle,” she breathed, putting it together. “She seduced you? I did? You were seventeen!”

  “Eighteen,” Neven admitted. “Just. It was my idea, though. Elle added the details, like this place.” He looked up and around, then reached for the buttons on his shirt and swiftly released them.

  London caught her breath. “We have been leading each other all through time.”

  Neven came to her. “Yes,” he breathed. “We have. That is why I had to make certain you knew who you wanted. This is the start of it, here and now. You
will close the loop, somewhere in your future and back in my past.” He kissed her. It had weight and meaning. Emotion. Feelings that seemed to sweep through her and leave her breathless.

  His hands were on her body, stroking through her blouse, making her muscles quiver. Her nerves seemed to ripple at his touch, sending the delight fizzing through the rest of her body.

  Kristijan never kissed me like this.

  The thought scattered as he pulled her shirt from her pants. She thought he might pause to undo buttons, yet he slipped it right over her head and tossed it away. Then he trailed his lips down between her breasts and over the top of them, teasing at the edges of her bra and making her nipples ache and tighten.

  It had been so long since she had felt this stirring. This intensity of longing. She wondered if she had ever felt it to this degree. She was shaking with it.

  As she stood there, he removed her clothing, one item at a time. With each, he would pause to cover the exposed flesh with kisses. His tongue would slide over her flesh, increasing her trembling and making her moan.

  When she was naked, he spread his coat and laid her on it, on the soft sand and laid down next to her. “You have haunted my memories and driven me to this spot,” he murmured, against her ear. “I would haunt you the same way, if I could. I want to.”

  London cupped his face. She had already become accustomed to the older man, to the warmth in his eyes. That was why seeing Kristijan in St James Park had been such a shock.

  “Kiss me,” she said. “I love your kisses.”

  He leaned over her and kissed her and she felt the silk of his shirt brush her torso, making her muscles quiver. Then his hand was there, stroking and sliding over her flesh, making her moan.

  “Not slow,” she begged. “Not now.” She writhed, the sensations building.

  He ran his finger down her cheek. “No, not now,” he agreed.

  She heard the sound of a zipper, then he brought himself over the top of her and lifted her thigh. His cock pressed against her. Her pussy opened to him and he slid in, his shaft separating her. Filling her.

  Neven propped himself over her, looking down at her. Fine dark hair jutted over his forehead, shadowing his eyes. “Now I remember,” he whispered.

  “Remember what?” She could barely speak the words.

  “Why you bewitched me.” He thrust, a single movement that made her arch and her hips to lift. His gaze was still locked with hers.

  London felt as if she was melting. The heat of him against her and inside her was delicious. It felt right in a way that she had never felt before, not with this sort of certainty.

  He dipped his head and drew the tip of her breast into his mouth, as his cock shifted inside her, stroking her channel. London rolled her head back, reveling in the sensations. His scent was in the coat she was laying on—it had never been so distinct before and had never smelled like this.

  Her back arched, offering her breasts to him and Neven stroked the other, his fingers teasing the nipple.

  Then he straightened, gasping, and thrust into her harder. Deeper. She could see the muscles in his chest through his open shirt, working hard. She rested her hand against his flesh, her fingers digging in, as he drove himself into her, over and over again.

  It was glorious. It was like coming home.

  She climaxed with a cry that locked in her throat. Every tendon grew taut, thrumming with the intensity of it.

  Neven groaned and came with her, his hips up tight against her.

  London could barely catch her breath. Her head was reeling. Her heart staggering. She watched as Neven stood and stripped his clothes hurriedly. At last, she saw his cock. It was still rigid, glistening with her fluids, jutting up from powerful thighs.

  His shoulders were wider than she remembered.

  London put her hand to her mouth, holding in her shock. She sat up. “You’re…different! You’re stronger!”

  He leaned down and picked her up, his hands about her waist. He lifted her up into the air with what looked like little effort. “I live my life among vampires and time jumping is high risk. It has saved my life more than once to be able to out-wrestle someone, or push a heavy object out of the way.” He settled her against him and London automatically wound her legs around his hips. Then he turned and carried her into the water.

  “Kristijan…” She bit her lip.

  “Don’t be afraid to speak of him,” Neven told her.

  “You don’t like it when I do.”

  “I don’t like what he did to you. It feels like something I did and it makes me feel sick. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk about your life before you met me.” He stopped walking and looked at her. He didn’t have to look up far because he was that tall. He pushed her hair back out of her face with a gentle hand, smoothing it out of the way. “Your history is going to haunt you in ways that are not possible for most humans. You will face all your demons, sooner or later.”

  She shivered and it wasn’t because she was cold.

  Neven smiled. “I’m scaring you. That won’t do.” He walked out into the pool. She felt the warm water around her toes, then it swirled higher, until it was up to her waist and Neven’s chest.

  “Oh…this is wonderful,” she breathed. Tension she didn’t know she had seemed to dribble out through her pores, leaving her relaxed and floating in the water, anchored against Neven.

  He drew her to him and kissed her.

  “It feels familiar, when you kiss me. Not because of Kristijan,” she added quickly.

  “Good.” He nibbled at her jaw and slid his mouth down to her chest. Then to her breasts. She gasped and arched back. He held her up in the water and devoured her breasts with his hands and mouth, until she was panting with fresh need.

  Something touched her back. “It’s just sand,” he murmured against her breasts. He looked up. “Turn over,” he added, his voice thick with lust. His eyes were ablaze with it.

  Her heart hammering, London carefully turned over in the water. He must have walked towards the shallows the whole time he had been kissing her. Now, they were only a few feet from the dry sand.

  Turning over put her naturally on her hands and knees. Neven gripped her hips. “Mmm…” he growled and slid back into her. His fingers pressed her flesh as he worked against her and London closed her eyes and dug her own fingers into the sand, her body quivering.

  When Neven’s hand slid over her hip and between her thighs, she gasped. He found her clit and stroked it in soft, maddening little strokes that mirrored his rhythm. She choked, her hips jerking, as her orgasm bloomed at the base of her belly and expanded rapidly. Her breath shortened.

  Neven’s other hand gripped her shoulder. He was thrusting deep and hard now. She could hear his breathing, short and fast.

  He let his hand fall from her shoulder, to slide down her back and over her ass. His finger slipped into her anus, probing.

  London came with a scream that tore from her throat and stole her vision for several heartbeats. She could feel every muscle clamping down, holding tight while the pleasure lasted. Even her heart seemed to pause.

  “Gods above!” Neven breathed gustily. He choked off a groan of his own as he rammed into her and grew still, quivering, as he came. Then, before either of them recovered, he pulled her up, so that she was kneeling in the shallows. He wrapped his arms around her. He was breathing heavily as he pressed his lips against her shoulder, her neck and her cheek.

  He grew still, his arms around her and she could feel his heartbeat slow. She closed her eyes, absorbing every detail, so she could remember it later.

  Neven sighed and pulled out of her. “Come here,” he coaxed, pulling her backwards.

  London fell back into the water and he caught her head and held it up until she found her footing. “Over here,” he told her, nodding towards the formation of rocks where the hot spring cascaded down.

  The water was only knee deep and easy to walk through. They waded over to the rocks and Londo
n took the opportunity to examine Neven from behind. He really was a different person. Now she could see it easily. His body was stronger, the muscles heavier and more developed. His ass was high and hard, the hips tight. There were scars that Kristijan had not had, including one on the back of his shoulder.

  “You don’t have his tattoo, either,” London said, finishing her train of thought aloud.

  Neven looked over his shoulder at her. “Tattoo?”

  “I think it was a gang thing.” She touched her chest, just under her collarbone. “Here.”

  “Most likely,” Neven said.

  As they came closer to the rocks, the water grew warmer and the scent of the natural minerals became stronger. It wasn’t overpowering. London sniffed.

  “The spring comes from a long way underground,” Neven said. “Down by the magma chamber, I presume. It has time to cool off, or we wouldn’t be able to stand here like this.”

  “When Krakatoa erupts, this cave disappears, yes?” London asked.

  “The whole island sinks into the sea. Then a new island is formed. This is the only time in history the cave exists.” He patted one of the bigger rocks. “Here. Sit. Rest.”

  She moved towards the rock and he demonstrated once more how strong he was, by hoisting her onto the rock, so her feet were hanging over the edge. The water from the spring was oozing over the nearly horizontal rock and falling down to the pool. She could feel it splashing up against her rear. “Which eruption?” she asked curiously

  “The big one. 1883,” Neven said, then used the nearby rocks to climb up onto the flat one beside her.

  As London tried to encompass the idea that they were nearly 140 years in the past, Neven coaxed her to move up the rock, closer to the high end. He laid her down with a hand on her shoulder. “Arms up,” he said. “Grab the top of the rock there with both hands. I don’t want you sliding off. The rock can be slippery if you move around too much.”

  “I’m lying perfectly still,” she pointed out, yet she gripped the top of the rock, turning her hands in to grab the edge. The water ran around her, licking the sides of her body with warm fingers.