Future Past (Gift of the Ancients Book 2)

by Bianca D’Arc

  “Don’t make me wait,” she begged him, wanting him to know she was ready and willing.

  He groaned. “You definitely are killing me, sweetheart. Killing me so good.”

  He lifted her by the hips, and they fit together just right. On the downward slide, he pushed inside her, and she took him gratefully.

  Yes. That’s exactly what she wanted. To be possessed. Filled. Complete.

  Then, he began to move. Sweet mother in heaven, that felt so damned great.

  It was hard. It was fast. It was real and good. He stole her breath with his staccato movements. Then, he gave it back again, along with a pleasure the likes of which she could easily get addicted to. God help her, she was going to miss him if and when they parted.

  But she couldn’t think about that now.

  She held on for dear life as he pounded into her, pressing her back against the shower wall. The fabric curtain at his back moved with his efforts, making a sliding noise that made her want to chuckle, but the way he moved inside her was no laughing matter. It was all serious. All consuming.

  She came hard, and he followed a moment later, biting back a groan. She was fairly confident that nobody had come into the ladies’ room while they’d been frolicking in the shower stall, but she couldn’t be absolutely sure. She hadn’t really been paying attention to much of anything except Jeff there for a good long while.

  But who could blame her?

  “That was amazing,” she whispered to him as they came down together from a momentous height.

  He kissed the top of her head in a gentle gesture that touched her heart. “You are amazing, Rosie. You rock my world, over and over.”

  “Back at you, Jeeves.” She was feeling a bit naughty after making love with him in a somewhat public place where they could’ve been discovered at any time. Mischief lit her soul.

  “I think that’s the first time you’ve ever used my call sign,” he replied. “I like it. I may never hear it the same way again.”

  She pushed at his shoulder in a playful way. “Just for that, Jeffrey, I think you should do what we just did, again. Later. When we have more time.”

  “With the greatest pleasure, milady, I assure you. Once things are settled, you’re going to have to kick me out of your bed to get me to leave.”

  “I’ll hold you to that, mister. Just see if I don’t.”

  After Jeff left, Rose took a shower, cleaning up all evidence of their activities. She dressed in a spare set of sweats from the linen cabinet and prepared herself for the night ahead as best she could. There wasn’t much time left before she was supposed to meet Casey, so she just stayed in the ladies’ room, practicing the trick of opening the secret room and switching on the monitor and radios.

  She was watching the camera displays, seeing the men preparing for their evening watch. Not that there was much to see. They went about their business as if everything was normal when on screen, but she knew there were places not covered by the cameras where they were preparing for the night’s dangerous work.

  They weren’t taking any chances. The cameras might’ve been put up by them and run in a closed circuit, but they weren’t counting on their surveillance staying private. There weren’t any wireless signals that could be hacked, but even in a wired system, there were ways in for skilled operatives.

  Jeff had told her that they’d weighed the options and decided to risk the camera installations, only after very careful consideration of each and every angle. What resulted was a system that the men knew inside and out. They knew the exact boundaries of what the cameras covered…and, more importantly, what they did not.

  The tactical radios would remain silent until operations began. Even then, the men would be speaking in their own code, and only when absolutely necessary. Still, Rose switched on the radio, just in case. She longed to hear Jeff’s voice.

  Something had changed between them. Their quickie in the shower stall had been laced with desperation, but also with…love? That’s what she felt, deep in her heart, and that’s what she believed she perceived coming from Jeff, as well.

  She couldn’t really say why she was so sure. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. Or, maybe, it was some heretofore unknown byproduct of her gift. Somehow, she sensed that he was growing to love her. Still, he hadn’t said the words. Not even close.

  She would do her best not to pressure him. She wouldn’t say it first. For one thing, she wasn’t really sure whether or not she could trust this weird gut feeling. For another, she wasn’t sure what declaring themselves would mean for them.

  Could they have a relationship when everything was so up in the air? Casey and Hal seemed to make things work, but Casey had mentioned that she’d known Hal most of her life since he was her big brother’s best friend. They had a long history. They had known each other long before anything had happened to change Hal into what he had become.

  Rose didn’t have any history with Jeff. At times, that didn’t seem to matter at all. They shared a gift of foreknowledge. Jeff knew more about the challenges that kind of gift brought than any man she had ever known. That forged a bond. A quick, hard bond that meant a lot to her even after such a short time.

  In her saner moments, she thought she must be deluding herself. She was probably letting a healthy dose of lust, and a crazy situation, get to her. She was imagining things. Wanting to believe there was more between them than just hormones and coincidental timing.

  Rose was trying the mechanism for the hidden door again, when Casey came into the room. She had a small cooler in one hand and a shopping bag in the other.

  “I brought snacks,” she said with false bravado. “I see Jeeves showed you around the special accommodations.” She nodded toward the secret door Rose had just opened again. “Let’s get settled in, shall we? Hal said, if anything’s going to happen tonight, it’ll start soon. He wants us buttoned up.”

  Chapter Nine

  Rose went inside the hidden room, and Casey followed suit. After taking one last look around the ladies’ room to make sure they hadn’t left anything to indicate where they were going, they closed the hidden door and locked themselves in. Rose knew they were locked away for the duration now, and it made her feel just a little claustrophobic.

  Casey turned the monitor back on and that helped. Being able to see what was going on around the building helped a lot. Especially when Rose caught sight of Jeff walking slowly into camera range and pausing there, looking at something in his hands.

  Closer inspection revealed he had a cell phone in his hands, and he was playing some sort of game. Rose had never seen him do anything of the sort, and she realized he was lingering in the camera’s view on purpose. For her.

  “That’s really sweet,” Casey commented. “He probably knows you’re worried.”

  “How do you know he’s doing it on purpose?” Rose asked, curious about Casey’s thoughts on the matter.

  “Jeeves doesn’t play games on his phone. None of the guys do. At least, not that I’ve seen. And they all know where the cameras are. If he’s visible, it’s with intent. This is probably part of their plan in case the bad guys somehow got into their camera feed—which Hal says is next to impossible, but they aren’t leaving anything to chance. So, if somebody is watching, they see a guy not on alert. Playing video games. Bored. If nobody but us is watching, we see Jeeves hanging out, safe. It helps both ways.”

  “Sneaky,” Rose mused. “But I appreciate the thought that went into it. I admit, it’s good to see him. This whole situation has me on edge.”

  “Me too,” Casey admitted. “Which is why I brought hot cocoa. I can’t do alcohol because of the baby, but chocolate is always good to cure what ails you. Am I right?” Casey grinned.

  “I can’t argue with that logic,” Rose said in reply. “Good thinking.” Casey dug out two mugs from the shopping bag and began pouring out steaming hot cocoa from a big thermos.

  Rose felt a little better after sipping the cocoa, but she still watched th
e clock. According to what she and Jeff had seen in their vision, the action could start any time now. Jeff had long since put away his phone and stepped out of camera range. He and his friends were no doubt in hiding in readiness for whatever might happen next.

  It could be that they had the day wrong, and the attack would come tomorrow night. In that case, tonight would have been a dress rehearsal for the real thing. But, as the night deepened, Rose got a creepy feeling between her shoulders that something was about to happen. Something big.

  Maybe it was just nerves. Casey had been upbeat at first. She’d been a good companion and had brought a huge picnic of treats to keep them amused, but Rose knew Casey had to be worrying about Hal.

  “Three a.m., right?” Casey said in a subdued tone, her voice barely carrying to where Rose sat, staring at the monitor.

  Rose turned to her. “That’s our best estimate,” she confirmed.

  “We’re almost there now.” Casey’s tone was contemplative, tinged with fear.

  “We might have the night wrong,” Rose allowed.

  “But you don’t think so.”

  “How did you know?” Rose heard the surprise in her own voice.

  “I may not be a mutant, but I’m pretty good with people. Your shoulders are very tight, and you look worried,” Casey explained.

  Rose deliberately rolled her shoulders to try to ease the tension. “I’m not a mutant.”

  Casey looked startled then laughed, as Rose had intended, when she saw the teasing smile on Rose’s face.

  “Sorry. It’s just hard sometimes, being the only one here without superpowers,” Casey admitted. Rose was about to reply when a flicker of motion on one of the camera feeds caught her eye.

  “Holy crap. It’s happening!” she scream-whispered. Casey jumped up from her seated position on the cot and came over to crowd alongside Rose in front of the big monitor screen.

  “Where?”

  Rose pointed to one of the boxes the screen was divided into. This camera angle looked out from the back of the building toward the water. The camera must’ve been placed near the roof of the building because it showed a good portion of the yard behind the building and even a bit of the beach. The infrared sensors picked up everything in shades of gray.

  “See that?” Rose put her finger on a black shape on the screen that nearly blended into the other black shapes…but not enough. “It’s a guy in a wet suit.”

  Casey squinted. “How do you…? Oh.” The man turned his head and the little round face hole in the headgear showed a man’s profile. “Damn. I’d hoped you were wrong.”

  “Me too.”

  Jeff felt the change in the air the moment the first of the enemy soldiers began crawling up out of the ocean. Hot damn. They’d been right. He hadn’t really doubted the vision, but it was still a marvel to him when something he foresaw came to pass.

  The team had been positioned strategically all around the expected infiltration zone. He and Rose had sketched out the positions of the enemy they’d seen in their shared vision, but the unit hadn’t taken anything for granted in planning this mission. They’d prepared for everything Jeff had seen—and more. Hal had asked for, and received, backup from the base command. The commander had called on the Navy for any assets they had in the area.

  Hal hadn’t shared what, exactly, the Navy was going to do about the submarine off the coast of Long Island, but he’d looked pleased when he came back from his last meeting with the commander earlier. Jeff didn’t want to speculate, but he and the rest of the guys took Hal at his word when he said the submarine would be dealt with one way or another.

  Their job was to protect the beach and not let any of the enemy troops infiltrate the island. A click over the earpieces that all the members of the unit wore told them the game was afoot. Their carefully laid plans were in motion, but they all knew that pre-made plans only lasted for a short time once things started really happening. They would adapt and overcome…as always.

  Jeff spared a thought for Rosie. Sweet, sweet Rosie. She was literally the girl of his dreams, and when this was over, he was going to tell her how he felt—short acquaintance or not. He felt something special—make that really special—when they were together. It wasn’t just the sex, though that was phenomenal. It was a feeling of belonging. Of fitting together like two halves of a whole.

  He’d never felt like this before, and he suspected he never would again, about any woman. Jeff figured he was in love with Rosie, though heaven knew they’d only known each other a short time. Maybe that was all it took? Maybe you didn’t have to know someone most of your life like Hal and Casey. Maybe all it took was finding the right person at the right time and trusting the instincts that told Jeff that he would be forever incomplete if he let Rosie go.

  Yeah, maybe that was it. Or, maybe he was crazy. He wasn’t entirely sure, but he’d give it a go as soon as he got her alone again. He wanted to find out if he was alone in these wild, unexpected feelings or if, maybe, she was feeling something similar. He knew things would be a whole lot easier on his nerves if he knew for sure she felt the same way.

  Decision made, with a resolute heart, he went into battle. The enemy wouldn’t stand a chance. Nothing that stood between him and Rosie would ever defeat him. No how. No way.

  Jeff walked through the enemy like he was plowing a field. They fell, left and right of him, dark shapes in the pitch black of the sandy dunes. He was wearing night vision gear, as was the whole unit. The bad guys had their own version, which looked like a foreign make. Maybe something out of Europe or the old Soviet Union. They’d have to examine the enemy gear later.

  For now, Jeff was using all his skill and stealth to dart the enemy with super-fast-acting knockout drugs. They were trying not to kill anyone if they didn’t have to. They wanted prisoners to interrogate so they could learn more about where this attack had come from and just who these people were.

  That’s why the front line had been issued air guns with highly effective darts. They were nearly silent with the background of waves lapping at the shoreline and the other night sounds, so it was easy to drop quite a few of the enemy at some distance with just a couple of sharpshooters using dart rifles. Jeff’s group was doing cleanup closer in, with handguns. He trusted what he’d seen in the vision to tell him where the enemy was hiding, though after a few moments, the future had changed, and the vision was unreliable.

  Their action had altered what he’d foreseen. Hopefully, they’d changed it for the better, but only time would tell.

  Rose was watching the monitor in the hidden room when her vision clouded, and a premonition hit her. She grabbed onto the table to keep steady in the real world while she closed her eyes and let her gift take her away to a future possibility.

  She was in the ladies’ room. Not the hidden room where she was in reality, but the outer room where the facilities were located. She was standing off to one side, observing as a strange man, dressed all in black, paced around the room like a caged lion. This couldn’t be good.

  “When is this?” Jeff’s voice came to her from behind. She spun, and there he was, on the vision-plane with her.

  “Are you really here or are you part of the vision?” she asked, just to be sure.

  “We’re sharing it again, apparently,” he confirmed. “Is this happening now? Is it soon or is it later? Tomorrow? Days from now?”

  “Hard to tell without obvious markers. There’s nothing with a date on it in here.” She looked all around as the man in their vision did the same. He was searching for something. She was searching for clues about when this might take place in reality.

  “That blue towel was there when I left earlier,” Jeff offered, pointing toward a discarded towel in one corner of the room that Rose knew she hadn’t tidied. Her blood ran cold.

  “I left it there. This is tonight,” she whispered, fear clutching at her heart. “Is he looking for me and Casey?”

  The man in the vision kept moving, oblivious to his w
atchers, and sniffed loudly as he zeroed in on the shower pipe that hid the opening mechanism to the hidden door. Something about his actions raised a flag in Rose’s mind. She’d seen something like this before.

  “I’d say that’s a roger,” Jeff said in a grim voice. “I’m back on the beach. How long do I have to get to you once this vision clears?” he asked in clipped tones.

  Rose’s mind spun for a moment. There had to be a way to figure this out. There just had to be!

  “Wait a sec. I’m going to try something.” Rose used all her hard-won skills to try to divide her attention away from the vision and back to the real world where she sat, clutching the small table, crowded in next to Casey. She made herself speak aloud, hoping Casey would realize what was going on, but kept her eyes firmly shut, so as to avoid too much disorientation. “Casey?”

  “Rose? Are you okay?”

  “Vision,” she said shortly. “Man in outer room. What do you see on cameras?”

  “Holy shit!” she heard Casey mutter as she tapped some keys and brought up larger images of the inside of the building. “Okay. I see… Wait a minute… Nothing in the hallway just outside the ladies’ room, but there’s a door open in the mess hall. I don’t think any of our guys would’ve left a door open.”

  Rose related what Casey had said to Jeff, and he swore as the man in the vision successfully opened the secret door. “Tell Casey to call it in. Use the radio. They already suspect you two are here, anyway. The moment I get out of this vision, I’m on my way to you, Rose.” He reached for her, and the moment he touched her in the vision, it disintegrated.

  Well, that was one way to end the vision state. She’d have to remember that, if they ever ended up in the same vision again. The way things were going with them, it seemed like the possibility was more probable than not.

  Jeff came back from the vision to find himself alone on the beach, well hidden behind a sand dune, thank goodness. Casey’s voice, speaking in the code they’d taught her, came over the headset just a split second after he started running for the building.