Temporal Shift (Entangled Select Otherworld)

by Nina Croft

  The bridge was a round room at the front end of the ship. A whole bank of bulky consoles lined half the wall. Callum crossed to stand in front of one.

  “Let’s see what we have.” As he clicked a few keys, the screen whirred to life. He stood over the console and tapped in a few words. To Devlin, it seemed unbearably slow. “Well, looks like life support and cryo are both still running. Main engines are dead. She’s running on subsidiary power.”

  “The passenger lists?” Devlin asked, unable to hide his impatience any longer.

  Callum glanced over his shoulder and frowned, but he turned back, punched something in, and stepped away.

  “What are you looking for?” he asked.

  Devlin didn’t reply, just stood staring down at the screen. He sensed Rico come to stand beside him. At first, the words appeared blurred, and he couldn’t make them out. Then they formed in front of him.

  Maximus Beauchamp. President of the Federation of Nations…Tamara Beauchamp, daughter.

  He read quickly, then scrolled down and found her halfway down the second page. Saffira Lourdes. His finger trembled as he clicked on the name to bring up more information.

  “Fuck me,” Rico murmured.

  Saffira Lourdes

  Position: Religious Adviser to the President and Founder of the Church of Everlasting Life.

  Age: 47.

  Sex: Female.

  He had to read it a second time, and a sense of outrage filled him. “You have got to be kidding me,” he said.

  Beside him, Rico laughed. “Founder of the Church of Everlasting Life? I fucking love it.”

  “What is it?” Callum asked.

  “Devlin’s girlfriend.”

  “Saffira?”

  “It can’t be anyone else.” He laughed again “Let’s go wake Sleeping Beauty up and see if she’s changed much in five hundred years.”

  “You need the cryo number.” Callum pointed to the bottom of the screen. “Twelve.”

  Devlin was finding it hard to take in. And even harder to comprehend that while only a few days had passed for him, she’d lived through five hundred years. Well, fifteen hundred in total, though the last thousand or so had been sleeping in cryo. How had she changed? Would she even be recognizable as the girl who’d left him?

  He tried to identify what he was feeling. Fear? He wasn’t used to the emotion. He swallowed and nodded. “Take me there.”

  Callum led them deep into the heart of the ship. Then into a huge room that must have spanned the length and breadth of the vessel. It was filled with wall-to-wall cryo-units, thousands of them. All pristine clean and each with a small green light indicating they were functioning. Callum was reading the numbers from the ends of the units.

  “Here you are.”

  Devlin came to a halt beside the unit. For a moment, he couldn’t bring himself to look. Rico had no such reticence. He gave a low whistle.

  “That’s your girl,” he said. “She’s looking pretty good for a five-hundred-year-old.”

  Devlin swallowed. He didn’t know why this meant so much to him. He’d only known her for a week or so. And he’d never really believed that crap about them being in love. Just for one brief second, maybe he’d thought…

  He took a final step and stared down through the clear glass. Different and yet the same. She didn’t look so much older, as more mature. She’d been twenty-one when he last saw her. What was she now? But her face was smooth and clear of lines. Her hair the same vibrant dark red, though shorter. He couldn’t see much of her body, but he was guessing it would be the same, and heat curled in the pit of his stomach.

  It had been days for him but five hundred years for her. No doubt she would have forgotten him. She was hardly likely to want to take up where they had left off.

  How many men had there been in that time?

  “Wake her up,” he said.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Saffira’s eyes blinked open, and she fought down the sudden feeling of panic. She lay on her back, the walls and ceiling close on all sides. Something wriggled in her arms and she peered down. Her white poodle, Devil, lay on her stomach, her arms clasped loosely around him. He was blinking up at her sleepily.

  It came back to her.

  Where she was.

  In her cryo-tube on the Trakis One. It felt like only moments had passed since she’d drifted off into what she’d expected to be either a very long sleep or an infinite one, ending in her death.

  Why had they woken her up? Had something gone wrong with the plans? She’d been so meticulous, but even she had to admit that there had been a lot of potential for errors.

  Damn.

  Through the glass above her head, she made out movement. She blinked to clear her vision as the glass door to the cryo-tube was opened from the outside.

  “Welcome back.” A man’s voice laced with lazy amusement. A voice that stirred distant memories. Really distant.

  She glanced past the man who had spoken, her gaze drawn to the figure at his side. She’d dreamed of him so often. Real dreams; the visions had faded years ago. He looked exactly the same, even down to his expression, closed and telling her nothing.

  Wonder filled her. “Fuck me,” she muttered.

  It had actually worked. She was back. Step one of her plan was on track.

  “Hardly suitable words for a woman of God,” the voice said.

  So they knew that, did they? They must have read the manifest. She wondered how Devlin had taken it.

  “How long?” she asked.

  “Since we left you? Four days.”

  “You worked it out then? I was a little worried you might just bugger off back to your own universe and leave me endlessly circling here for the rest of eternity.”

  “Your boyfriend worked it out,” Rico said.

  She cast a look at her “boyfriend.” He didn’t look much like a boy. All man. And as gorgeous as she remembered. Long and lean, just as she liked them. Warmth stole over her and she realized how long it had been since anyone had touched her like that. Too long, but she’d lost the urge, and her last manifestation as religious nutcase and adviser to the president had meant she had to be circumspect.

  She pushed herself up so she was sitting. The little dog on her lap wriggled and she picked him up, kissed his nose, and handed him to the vampire.

  “Take Devil,” she said.

  He held the dog at arm’s length. “Devil? Named after anyone we know?”

  Her lips quirked and her gaze darted to Devlin. “Can you see the similarity?”

  “Yeah, both cute and fluffy.”

  Devlin hadn’t said a word yet. But he was staring. Had she changed? She didn’t think so. Outwardly at least. Her eyes had lost their violet tinge and were now blue-gray and she’d lost the very inconvenient habit of turning blue when she got emotional—a trait which had nearly caused her downfall a number of times early on in her adventures. And maybe she’d matured a little, but she had only been twenty-one at the time.

  Inside was another matter. Inside, she might as well be a different person. But that’s what five hundred years would do to you. Change you beyond anything you could imagine. Would he like the new her?

  She didn’t know and she wasn’t sure she cared.

  Now, she could look at him objectively. If five hundred years gave you anything at all, it was the ability to look at things objectively. Even the love of your life.

  How had she not seen the coldness in him? The scar she’d thought gave him character actually twisted his lips into a cruel curve, almost a sneer. He obviously hadn’t changed, so why had she not seen it before? Probably her naïve little twenty-one-year-old self had been blinded by love.

  Mind you, the scar also made him sexy as hell. As did the long, hard body. Gave him an edge of danger that curled her toes and made her nipples peak inside the black vest she wore.

  Maybe they could have a shag for old time’s sake. Though hardly old times for him. Four fucking days. And afterward, s
he could decide if she wanted him as part of her plans for the future. Would he help or hinder her?

  If he stood in her way…she’d just have to go around him and leave him behind. She’d worked too hard for this—for too goddamned long—to let something as unimportant as love stand in her way. Oh, she still believed in love, just wasn’t particularly interested anymore.

  That didn’t mean they couldn’t have a little fun.

  Excitement bubbled inside her. She was here, back, alive. Everything she wanted within her reach. All she had to do was make it happen.

  Swinging her legs over the edge of the cryo-unit, she stretched. She’d been asleep for a thousand years. Just like Sleeping-fucking-Beauty. She laughed again and ran her hand through her shoulder-length hair, rubbing her scalp.

  “You’ve cut your hair,” Rico said.

  She grinned. “Yeah, about a thousand times since I last saw you.”

  “It suits you.” He turned to Devlin. “You’re being quiet, lover boy. Shy? Let me give you two a moment alone together.”

  “Rico, wait.”

  “Yes?”

  “How’s Daisy?” she asked. “I always wondered.”

  “She’s fine,” Rico’s lips twitched. “Hungry.”

  Saffira raised an eyebrow. “For blood? Well, there are a few people on this ship who I wouldn’t mind feeding to a hungry vampire. Perhaps I’ll introduce her.”

  “Good plan. I’ll go help Callum check them out.” He wandered off, leaving her effectively alone with Devlin. She studied him, waiting for him to speak. He appeared a little shell-shocked. Maybe he needed a nudge. She held out a hand to him. “Could you help me down?”

  In her considerable experience, men liked to feel useful. A delusion she helped them foster until it was time for her to inform them that the majority of men had less use than her latest vibrator. Which she’d left back on Earth. No doubt destroyed now with the rest of the planet.

  He gave her a long look out of narrowed eyes and slid his palm into hers. A little frisson of sensation skittered across her skin, and she frowned. She’d honestly not expected to have any reaction to him. And she wasn’t sure whether she was pleased or annoyed.

  She pushed off the cryo-tube, landed lightly on the floor, and her legs gave out. She would have fallen, but Devlin pulled her close so she was balanced against him, plastered along the long length of his body.

  “Sorry,” she muttered. “Obviously sleeping for a thousand years takes it out of you.”

  As she made to pull away, his hands slid down her back to cup her ass and hold her against him. She steeled herself against the melting feeling that washed through her. Melting was no part of her plans for the future. All the same, she closed her eyes for a moment and savored the hard hands, the hard body. It had just been too long, that was all.

  “Did you miss me?” His voice was the rough velvet she remembered, and her ears tingled.

  “Of course I missed you.” Well, that was partly true. She’d missed him for about two hundred years, in fact. Two hundred long years while she had built him up into some sort of romantic hero. But dreams can only last for so long and eventually they faded. She’d taken lovers. Some had been good, some not so good. All of them she’d had to leave behind. Until she reached the point where she had no urge to get close to people only to lose them.

  Now she was just frustrated after so long. This man didn’t mean any more to her than those other lovers she’d left behind. All the same, he knew what to do with those big hands. He massaged the globes of her ass. Squeezing and releasing.

  “I’m glad.” When she didn’t answer, he continued. “I missed you.”

  “For all of four days? Wow.”

  “Four long days.” He lowered his head and she felt his lips against her throat. His rough tongue licking at her skin. His hands slid up the length of her back and she held herself still. She was just doing this as a scientific experiment, to prove, once and for all, that he really did have no more effect on her than any other man.

  His fingers curled into her hair, he tipped her head back, and she found herself staring up into those blue-green eyes. They were narrowed, shuttered and studying her as though he would take her to pieces and put her back together again, probably as a naïve twenty-one-year-old who would dote on his every word.

  And she only kissed him to stop that look. As a distraction. She didn’t want him delving into her secrets. So she raised her hands, slipped them behind his neck, and tugged him down to her.

  The first taste of him was like coming home, and she knew she’d made a tactical mistake. But it was too late, and his tongue pushed inside her mouth, and his lips ground against hers. He pressed her back so she hit the side of the cryo-tube, but he didn’t break the kiss.

  She couldn’t breathe, her head felt light, shadows hunted the edge of her vision, and still he kissed her. It was just the effects of the extended cryo making her dizzy. Making her breasts swell and moist heat ooze between her thighs.

  Finally, when she thought the darkness might take her completely, he raised his head. Saffira took a deep breath and brought herself under rigid control. She’d had a lot of practice at that, at controlling her emotions.

  Curling her lips into a slight smile, she pushed her hips forward against the hardness of his erection. “You really are pleased to see me,” she murmured.

  He frowned as though she wasn’t acting as he expected.

  “You’ve changed,” he said. And he didn’t sound as though he thought it was for the better.

  “Well, duh. Five hundred years. Not counting the thousand I’ve been asleep. You might expect a few changes.”

  He shook his head. “This is screwing with my mind. How the hell can you have lived through five hundred years when it’s only been four days for me?”

  She gave a casual shrug, placed her palms on his chest, and pushed him away. At first it looked like he wouldn’t budge, and she got ready to be a little more forceful. He might be bigger and stronger than her, but she had learned a few tricks in her time on Earth. Then he took a step back, and his hands dropped from her shoulders.

  “So you no longer believe we’re fated to fall in love.”

  She gave a shrug. “Maybe. But so what? I’ve also learned that love isn’t what’s important.”

  “And what is?”

  “Survival.” She glanced beyond him to where Callum and Rico stood over another cryo-tube. She didn’t want to talk anymore right now. Not until she’d thought through the implications of that kiss. She really hadn’t believed he would have any effect on her. But he had. Now she needed some alone time while she decided whether it made any difference to her plans. “Let’s go see what your friends are up to.”

  He opened his mouth, clamped it shut again, took another step back, and shoved his hands in his pockets. It didn’t change the telltale bulge in his pants, and another wave of heat washed through her. She ignored it. “Well?”

  He swung around and headed across the room. She took a moment to admire his ass in the khaki pants, his long legs and broad shoulders, and heaved a sigh. She so didn’t need this complication.

  Maybe what she did need was a torrid sex session to finally get him out of her system once and for all.

  Just one.

  As a treat for getting so far.

  She followed him and came to a halt beside the cryo-unit. She knew immediately whose it was. She supposed it was too much to ask that President Asshole would have had the decency to pop his clogs during the thousand-year sleep.

  She’d been very tempted to nobble his cryo-unit before takeoff, but in the end had decided against it. There was a chance the sabotage would have been discovered and traced back to her. And however much personal pleasure she might have gotten from the knowledge that this was his last sleep, she wouldn’t risk her plans.

  “Maybe we should just let him sleep,” she said.

  Callum glanced up. “I’ve spoken to Tannis. She reckons we should wake him. We n
eed someone to take responsibility for this lot.” He waved a hand around the huge cryo chamber. “And she doesn’t want it to be her.” He flicked the buttons on the unit as he spoke.

  “What do you plan to do with them all?” she asked.

  “It depends on what condition the ship is in, whether she can attempt to make the trip back through the black hole. Otherwise, they’re going to have to stay here. There must be other habitable planets.”

  “I wouldn’t bet on it,” Saffira replied.

  “Well, it’s his problem, not ours. We’ll do what we can, but the captain’s pretty clear that we’re out of here as soon as possible.”

  “I suppose we should be grateful you took the time to come at all.”

  “Indeed, you should,” Rico said. “You can show Devlin just how grateful later. Right now, let’s wake up the president.”

  Saffira didn’t bother to hide her unenthusiastic expression as they stared down at President Max Beauchamp.

  “You don’t like him?” Rico asked, the amusement back in his voice. “Don’t you work for him—religious adviser? A good position for the Founder of the Church of Everlasting Life. You really must explain how that came about.”

  “Yeah, we’ll have a story time. Not. And him”—she waved a hand at the tube—“He’s a total tosser. And I’ve spent too many years pretending I admire him. No fucking more. Asshole.”

  Callum chuckled. “Your language has deteriorated somewhat in the last five hundred years.”

  “Yeah well, I bet yours did as well.”

  She realized that she and Callum were much of an age now. The thought amused her. She’d known of him back on Earth. He’d been this pretty boy, a hotshot pilot, but their paths had never crossed. She’d considered it once or twice, but by that point, she’d learned to rely on no one but herself, and she’d made sure they never met.

  “Should we wake up this one as well?” Rico said, interrupting her thoughts. She shifted over and glanced down in disgust. “Why not?”

  Rico was already pressing the wake up buttons.

  “Who is it?” Callum asked.

  “Tamara Beauchamp. The president’s daughter.”

  “You’re fucking kidding me,” Callum snapped. “Shut the fucking thing down.”