“Going, going…” she said as she came up behind him and kissed his ear.
“Gone,” he said, still utterly focused on the computer screen. “Nice bath, babe?”
“Lovely. Missed you, though.”
“Okay,” he said, obviously not listening to her.
“Everything okay at home?”
“Just a lot going on since I’ve been away,” he said. “Marshal shit.”
She felt her throat tighten. How was all this going to end? she wondered, as she walked slowly into the bedroom.
She pulled back the duvet on her bed, crawled in and switched the light off. As soon as she did, her sadness gave way to intense exhaustion. She was asleep within seconds. She didn’t hear the shower go on or the sound of footsteps minutes later at her side of the bed. She was awakened by the feel of Rowan’s rough beard against her cheek and the faint scent of the beer he’d had for dinner on his breath.
“You’re not going to believe this,” he said, leaning over her in bed. “You know how your grandmother was married to the Nazi and all?”
“Could hardly forget it,” she murmured, forcing herself to try to awaken more fully.
“Didn’t you say your Aunt Erica mentioned she had an older sister besides your mom?”
Ella yawned. “She probably meant an older cousin or something. There were just the three kids. Erica, my mom and the boy, Hans.”
“Maybe not.”
Ella sat up in bed. She was fully awake now.
“Turns out your grandmother was married before she met the dirtbag,” Rowan said. “I found out her first husband, Johann Reicht, died in 1934.”
“That’s what you were doing on the computer?”
“That and some other stuff.”
“My grandmother was married before she married Rudolph Vogel? And had a kid with her first husband?”
“A daughter, yeah.”
“So Erica was remembering correctly. It was a sister. What was her name?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t say.”
“Well, when was she born?”
“It doesn’t say that either.”
“Well, what does it say?”
“Just the date she disappeared.”
Ella looked him, the truth dawning on her. “Rowan.”
“Yeah, I know, babe.”
“Oh, my God.”
“If it really is her, what would that make her?”
“My half-aunt.”
“Pretty cool.”
A few minutes later, he slid into bed next to her, pulling her against him. She turned in his arms until they were facing each other. The day had been long and hard, full of exciting revelations, disappointments and loss. Ella nearly trembled at his touch.
“I love you, Rowan,” she said. He slid his strong, warm hands down her back, then cupped her bottom and pulled her to him.
“I love you, too, Ella,” he said.
She opened her eyes. “As a wife does,” she whispered.
“I should certainly hope so,” he said, kissing her lips gently and then with urgency. His hands gripped her short hair and pulled her head back. He kissed her throat and took one of her breasts in his hand while he lowered his mouth to the other.
She moaned and reached for his engorged cock pressing insistently at her stomach. But he pulled away.
“Oh, no you don’t. Not this time, wife,” Rowan said in a hoarse whisper. “This time we do it slow and for as long as we want.”
Ella closed her eyes and released him. “Take me, then” she whispered. “On your terms, in your own time.”
He groaned and then eased on top of her, straddling her, his cock probing insistently between her legs. “You always manage to say the one thing to get me going,” he said leaning over her to gently kiss her face and ease into her. “Despite all my good intentions.”
Both of them moaned as he slid a hand under her bottom to tilt her pelvis toward him. “A little deeper, baby,” he said. “Just like that.”
Ella grabbed his shoulders from where she lay under him when the first wave hit her like an explosion at her epicenter. The feel of him driving into her, pinning her to the bed, his very maleness, his unique mastery of her, brought her to heights of sensation she had never experienced before.
“Oh, Rowan…” she gasped. “I’m coming…oh my God!” She wrapped her legs around his lower back and hung on as the waves of delicious pleasure radiated out and up through every point in her body. It seemed to go on endlessly as he drove relentlessly into her and she clung to him in a crescendo of intense, mindless delight.
When she finally hit her peak—an endless pitch perfect escalation of pleasure that emanated in exquisite, satisfying bursts from her very core, she cried out and heard him answer with a roar of dominion and triumph before he collapsed next to her on the bed.
Twenty minutes later she could hear a faint snore coming from him. She could see by the bedside clock that it was a little past two in the morning. She moved beneath his arm and repositioned herself to spoon with him.
She wondered for a moment what Greta would be doing. She wondered if it was worth the risk to ever go back to 1620 and visit her. She shook that idea off as mad, and knew that’s how Rowan would see it. She reached behind her and took his hand in hers.
“I was worried,” she whispered. “I couldn’t imagine what you were doing on the computer that was so important.”
In the silence that followed, she realized that he wasn’t snoring any more.
“I wanted to check out my hunch about Greta,” Rowan said softly, his breath tickling the back of her neck, “but I also wanted to get things set up for us back home. I’d like my folks to be there this time and I’d like for it to be in a church.”
Ella twisted around in his arms until she was facing him.
“You…you were arranging for us to be married?”
“Well, doing some research anyway,” he said sleepily. “Don’t worry, I haven’t booked anything. I figure since we’re no longer married, you’ll fly home as Ella Stevens, but I went ahead and made the appointment for a new passport as Ella Pierce so we can take a trip at Christmas if you want.” He kissed her and tightened his embrace. “Unless you want to keep your maiden name?”
She shook her head, fighting to keep the tears back.
“Yeah, Ella Pierce has a nice ring to it. And speaking of that, I also emailed a buddy of mine who knows someone who knows someone. But we can pick that out together.”
“What about the whole bad seed thing? Would you ever want to have kids with me?”
“Are you kidding? I’m counting on it. Between the two of us, I figure we have some pretty kick-ass DNA.”
Ella wrapped her arms around Rowan’s neck and kissed him hard. She pulled back to look at him, almost as if to convince herself that he was real.
“Rowan?” she said. “Before we leave tomorrow, I want to introduce you to someone very special.”
“You mean Aunt Erica? I can’t think of anyone I’d look forward to meeting more,” he said.
Ella turned away again, snuggling with her back to him as he wrapped her in his arms. “Oh, Rowan,” she whispered, feeling like her heart would explode with happiness. “I wasn’t sure you still wanted to be married.”
“God, Ella, do you know me at all? You’re my wife. You were then, you are now, you will be back in the States. Forever and ever.”
The tears escaped down her cheeks and Ella knew for the first time in her life what total security wrapped in love felt like.
“Amen,” she said.
About the Author
Susan Kiernan-Lewis lives in Ponte Vedra, Florida and writes mysteries, dystopian and romantic suspense. Like many authors, Susan depends on reviews and word of mouth referrals of her readers. If you enjoyed Swept Away, please consider leaving a review saying so on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com or Goodreads.com.
Check out Susan’s website at susankiernanlewis.com and feel free to contact her at [email protected].
AUTHOR‘S NOTE
I need to mention that, when writing a piece of fiction about history and real places, it’s often tricky sticking strictly to the facts. For the purposes of this story, I altered many facts about Heidelberg’s history, including the names of rulers and the timing of when certain famous structures were built. I think the rule of thumb for any reader wondering about the accuracy of my facts and dates, whether in 1945 or 1620, should be: if it doesn’t look right to you, I probably made it up.
Two favorite themes of mine, World War II and living in a foreign land, are explored in Swept Away. I hope the reader will be able to see my deep love and fascination with Germany--and particularly the city of Heidelberg, the image of which is forever etched in my memory and in my heart. I lived in Germany as a young girl and the experience was not merely indelible but one that continues to shape and steer the direction of much of my writing even forty years later.
If you’d like to be notified when each of the next books in this series comes out, sign up for Susan’s newsletter here.
If you liked Swept Away, you’ll love Carried Away, Book 2 in THE ELLA OUT OF TIME SERIES— again featuring Ella and Rowan. Carried Away is a fast-moving story of romance and adventure that will have you gasping with surprise and delight. You can read the first several chapters here.
Chapter One
When the phone call came in the middle of the night, Ella’s first thought was that it must be her stepmother Suzie calling to say her father had fallen or had a stroke. She fumbled for her cellphone on the bedside table, her heart pounding.
As she picked up the phone she realized that no matter who was calling, somehow, bizarrely, she had been waiting for this call.
Something was coming. Before she even spoke into the phone, she knew in her heart that this was that something.
“Ella?”
Instead of her stepmother’s sing-songy, high-pitched voice, Ella heard the low, hoarse tones of Madelyn Pritchard, her best friend from college. Maddie was living in Cairo preparing to marry her fiancé, a relentlessly handsome man named Gagan Gupta.
“Maddie?”
“Oh, my God, Ella, I am so sorry to wake you and I know I did but I just had to talk to you.”
Ella rubbed her eyes and looked at Rowan’s side of the bed to see that he must still be downstairs watching TV. It was only a little after one. She was relieved to be able to speak without disturbing him.
“What’s the matter?” she said. Her friend, usually so cool and collected, sounded agitated. “Is Gagan okay?”
“Yes, he’s fine. It’s me, Ella. I’m in a tiny bit of trouble here.” At this point, Ella heard her friend break down into heartrending sobs. Ella sat up straight and became fully awake.
“Sweetie, what is it?” she asked. “What’s happened?”
“I need you, Ella,” Maddie said, her voice strangled with trying to speak through her tears. “I know you’re coming out in a couple of months. Is there…is there any way you can get here sooner?”
Ella tried to make a fast calculation in her head of what her calendar looked like. It was June and she and Rowan had planned on going to Cairo in September. He already had the vacation time approved.
“Well, yes, sure,” Ella said uncertainly. “You mean…August? Or next month?” As soon as Ella heard the answering weeping on the line she knew that soon meant now. It meant yesterday.
“Maddie, what’s happened? Have you been arrested? Do you need a lawyer?”
“No, El, I need you and I know I haven’t the right to screw up your life like this.”
It occurred to Ella that Maddie had forgotten that Ella was to be married this coming weekend. Ella cleared her throat to speak. Surely, she could fly out after the weekend?
“He’s started…he’s started…h-h-hitting me,” Maddie said.
“Who? Gagan?” Stupid question. Who else?
“Y-y-yes and I am so alone here, Ella. I can’t tell my folks.”
“Get on an airplane right this minute,” Ella said fiercely. “Get out of there now.”
“I can’t, Ella!” Maddie said, nearly wailing. “You don’t know what it’s like. I was lucky to be able to make this phone call! He watches me night and day or has his wretched mother and sisters do it. I’m a prisoner here. Please, for the love of God, come as soon as you can. They wouldn’t dare to try to stop you.”
“I will, Maddie,” Ella found herself saying as she climbed out of bed. “Of course. I’ll be on the first plane to Cairo tomorrow. I’m coming, sweetie, just hang on.”
“Do not tell Rowan, please Ella. Gagan said if I embarrassed him by involving the authorities in any way, he would kill me. Promise me, Ella.”
“Yes, yes alright, although what I’ll tell him to explain why I’m leaving…”
“Thank God for you, Ella,” Maddie said, crying again. “Thank God for you.”
When Ella finally hung up she sat for a moment holding the cellphone and staring into space. Her wedding was in less than four days. Her in-laws, who already hated her, were due in in two. And her gorgeous hunk of already-seriously annoyed US Marshal was about to be left stunned and slack-jawed at the altar.
Chapter Two
Rowan stood next to her as Ella opened her laptop. The prices for flights were all horrible at this short notice but Maddie had enough money to pay her back. That wasn’t an issue. Explaining it to her six-foot four mass of furious fiancé, on the other hand, was.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Rowan said. He was clenching his fists as he spoke. Ella got the distinct impression he wanted to hit something.
“Maddie is in trouble. She needs me.”
“That is a crock of shit. She can go to the police if she needs help.”
“I told you, Rowan. She’s afraid to.”
“You’re blowing off our wedding so you can go to effing Egypt.”
“You think I want to go? You think I want to miss our wedding?”
“It’s not a matter of miss, Ella.” Rowan cracked his knuckles and flexed his fingers in agitation. “It’s not like the wedding is going to go on without you. My parents are coming in. Your parents are coming in.”
“I know. The timing sucks.” Ella squinted at the screen.
“That’s all you can say?”
“Rowan, it’s not like this is a big wedding. We can easily reschedule for later in the month.”
“I don’t believe this. What the hell is my mother going to say?”
Ella kept her focus on the computer screen. On the one hand, she knew the image of the flights and their astronomical prices was only helping to further enrage Rowan every time he glanced at the screen. But on the other hand, it gave her something to do besides directly confront him.
“Maddie needs me, Rowan,” Ella said softly. “Two phone calls can rearrange everything. Your folks aren’t even taking a flight to get here. You just need to stop them from leaving their driveway in two days.”
“What am I gonna say is the reason why we’re not getting married this weekend?”
Ella stood up and willed herself to monitor her voice level. She could feel the adrenalin pumping through her, urging her to use the fuel to present her case. She took a long breath and tried to resist the temptation.
“This is only an inconvenience,” she said. “We don’t have relatives flying in, we don’t have a million dollars in flowers that’ll wilt and go to waste, and we don’t even have a caterer to pay. We just need to push it back a few weeks.”
“This will be the last straw for my mother,” Rowan said, raking his fingers through his thick brown hair.
“Don’t kid yourself. She’ll be delighted.”
“She won’t,” he shook his head. “Don’t you see? She’ll see this as just another example of why you’re not right for me. Putting someone else ahead of our wedding, for Chrissake.”
Ella sat back down and typed in her Visa card number on the registration page.
“It does
n’t really matter what your mom thinks,” she said, looking up at him and wishing it were true. “I have to go.”
“What am I gonna tell the guys at work? My fiancé had to go out of town?”
Ella typed in the time for her return flight. Hopefully, she could get Maddie on the same one coming home.
“It’s the truth,” she said, hitting the Buy button and then sank back in her chair as if she had finished a massive project and was now spent.
“I just can’t believe you’re doing this.”
“And I can’t believe you’re not a hundred percent behind my doing this. The Rowan I knew in Heidelberg, the Rowan I knew in 1620—”
“Don’t give me that shit! That was a different world.”
“It wasn’t a different you! The Rowan who went through hell and torture and threat of death to save his friends? That’s the Rowan I love! That’s the Rowan I’ve been trying to find ever since we…” She turned away.
“You think I’m not the man you fell in love with?”
“I didn’t mean that.”
“Sounds like exactly what you meant.”
“It’s just that ever since we’ve been back everything has been so easy and so…”
“Dull?”
She looked at him to see if he was being sarcastic. She couldn’t tell but she didn’t think so. He sat down hard in the chair next to her at the computer.
“You know I love you, Rowan,” she said. “I love every piece and part of you.”
“I love you, too, Ella.”
“But these last three months have been hard. Trying to live together and keep alive the thing that made us love each other? I mean, we get back here in the States—in our own time—and I start to see how different we are.”
His eyes narrowed but he didn’t speak.
“You can’t say you haven’t seen it, too,” she said. “We don’t have any of the same interests. You like to watch TV, I don’t. You like to go out with the guys for beer. I’d prefer to stay home and read. Even before your mom put her two cents in, we weren’t on the same page.”
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