Kiss Across Deserts

by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  Alex pulled up directly in front of the main doors of her apartment building and kept the engine running. He kissed her, briefly but thoroughly, as Rafe got out of the backseat and opened her door.

  When Alex let her go, Rafe helped her out, then pulled her against him and kissed her just as thoroughly. Then he patted her ass and got into the passenger seat and grinned up at her. “I’ll be back in a while to finish that up.”

  Alex rolled his eyes.

  Sydney couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she headed for the doors, digging out her keys as she went.

  As she moved through the cars parked in front of the doors, her arm was grabbed, yanking her backward and almost off her feet. She was pushed up against a truck and an arm rammed across her throat, almost cutting off her breath.

  Dark brown eyes stared at her from under a baseball cap. “Hello, cunt-face.”

  Sydney swallowed. “Peter?”

  “I couldn’t believe it when I got the tip that you were living in little ‘ol L.A., but fuck me…here you are. And my, don’t you look all pretty?”

  Peter was older. Much older than he would be in actual years. A life of hard living was catching up with him. Sydney could see an old man looking out from his face. But one thing had not changed. The demonic, angry expression in his eyes was exactly as she remembered it, and the twelve years between here and Wisconsin evaporated. She was suddenly twenty again. Twenty and terrified.

  “You’ve lightened up your hair,” Peter said. “All the better to go whoring with, huh?”

  She tried to speak, but his arm across her throat wouldn’t let her. All she could do was scream. She drew in her breath, but Peter slapped his hand over her mouth, holding the scream in. She could just breathe over the top of his hand, which was rank with the smell of nicotine and diesel fuel.

  “Now, you don’t want to be calling out to anyone, darlin’,” Peter told her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a stubby little knife that he unfolded. The blade looked fat. And huge. The edge was silvered, showing it had been sharpened recently. Sydney stared at the edge of the blade, dazed. Peter had found out where she was and had sprinted to L.A., but he had stopped to sharpen his knife.

  You sick bastard! she railed at him silently.

  He lifted the knife up and pressed the tip against her cheek. “You and I have some catch-up to do. You owe me. A lot. We need to figure out how you’re going to pay back that debt.”

  Sydney moaned as fear swamped her. She couldn’t think. She could barely breathe. From the corner of her eye, she caught movement and looked desperately that way.

  Both Alex and Rafe were there, standing on the pavement, watching them. Relief touched her, so sharp and strong she could feel her knees weakening. They would get her out of this. She had absolutely no doubts.

  Rafe jerked his head at Peter. “We meet again,” he said quietly.

  “This is private business, asshole,” Peter growled. “Move on.”

  “I don’t think so,” Alex said. “We’re as involved in this as you.”

  Peter turned his head, like he was building up a pithy retort and more exhortations that they go away, but he straightened up and turned to face them. “You!” He was looking at Rafe.

  Rafe grinned. “Bet you never thought you’d see me again.”

  Peter’s mouth pulled into a nasty smile. “So the cunt went running off with you, after all.” He didn’t telegraph his move, but his arm lashed out sideways and the back of his hand cracked across Sydney’s cheekbone, sending her staggering between the cars.

  She held herself upright against the Audi, just barely staying on her feet.

  The car rocked under her hand and she looked up, her vision bleary. Alex had Peter by the throat, the other hand gripping the wrist that held the knife. “That was not a smart move,” Alex told him.

  “Bite me, runt. I could take two of you for breakfast.”

  “You’re just about to,” Alex told him. “And we’ll have you for breakfast.” His teeth descended and he flashed them deliberately.

  Peter’s eyes widened and his mouth opened. “What the fuck?” he cried.

  Alex lowered his head inch by inch, going for Peter’s throat. Peter struggled and kicked, but nothing dislodged Alex’s grip. Then he straightened, his spine snapping taut and his hand clawed at his chest. His face turned a sickly gray color.

  Rafe pushed in between the cars. “Alex, he’s having a stroke or something.”

  Alex smiled. “He’s having a heart attack,” he said mildly. “With luck, it will kill him.” He dragged him out from between the cars and dropped him on the pavement. “Someone had better call 911.”

  Rafe sighed and pulled out his cellphone. “Damn, I didn’t get to have any fun with him.”

  Alex helped Sydney out and was much more gentle with her than he had been with Peter. “Are you all right?” He lifted her chin, looking at her cheek.

  “Shouldn’t you care for the critical patient, first?” she asked.

  Peter was curled up on his side on the pavement, still clawing at his heart.

  “I suppose I must.” Alex dropped into a crouch next to Peter. “So here is the deal, Peter. I hope you’re listening. If you pass out or stop breathing, I’m not going to do anything to revive you. My two witnesses here will swear I made heroic efforts to save you, but if you die, no one is going to care much because you were attacking Sydney when we caught you. So you can fight to live, and I suspect you will live, because you’re one of those ugly survivor types.”

  Peter was watching Alex with a mix of horror and fury in his face, along with a heavy dose of pain.

  Rafe moved around to where Peter could see him, too. “If you do survive, you ugly sack of worm meal, consider yourself the luckiest bastard alive. Don’t tempt fate. Don’t come back here. Don’t try to find Sydney again. If we ever catch sight of your face again, we’ll pick up where we were interrupted. Do you understand?”

  Peter made snuffling sounds. Then he nodded. From not far away, an ambulance siren was coming closer.

  Alex patted Peter’s shoulder. “You should think of this heart attack as a good thing for you. Today would have ended much differently, otherwise.” He stood up again and looked at Sydney. “There. I’ve tended him. Now, let’s look at you.”

  Sydney threw her arms around him and hid her tears against his shirt.

  * * * * *

  Captain Baker looked up as Sydney walked into his office, and frowned. “Where the fuck have you been, Lieutenant?” he demanded. “And who are these jokers?”

  “This is Judge Rayner De Leon,” Sydney told him. “You may have heard of him. And this is Doctor Alexander Karim.” Alex and Rafe stood at either shoulder and just behind her. They stayed silent.

  She dropped Peter’s wallet and cellphone on Baker’s desk. “There are phone calls and text messages on the phone, proving that Yonkers contacted my ex-husband and told him where to find me. In the wallet are more precise written instructions on how to track me down, including my usual movements and locations.” She leaned over his desk. “Yonkers deliberately steered a man with a record of abuse and aimed him directly at me. I could have him kicked out of the force for that. And you, too.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Baker spluttered.

  “You told Yonkers and McLeary that I had to be dealt with,” Sydney replied. “When Yonkers said he knew a way, you told him to take care of it.”

  Baker stared at her.

  “Actually,” Alex said, “he said ‘I don’t want to know.’ Very neat way of dodging the bullet. Except you didn’t, did you?”

  Baker looked frightened now. “You’re bugging my fucking office?” he cried.

  “Bingo,” Rafe said softly.

  “No bug,” Sydney said. “But you just confirmed the details of that meeting for me. Not that I needed convincing anyway. It sounded just like you when I heard it.” She picked up the wallet and the cellphone again. “You’ve got twen
ty-four hours to resign, Baker. You and Yonkers both. Or I go to Internal Affairs and you’ll lose your pension as well as your job.”

  She turned her back on Baker and smiled at Alex and Rafe. Rafe offered her his arm and they walked to the door.

  “You fucking bitch!” Baker cried, behind them. “You can’t do this to me!”

  “I just did,” Sydney told him and blew him a kiss.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Veris and Brody kept hovering around Taylor where she sat quietly on the Craftsman chair that was Brody’s favorite. Marit clung to her knee and Veris kept kissing her, on whatever section of flesh was closest; her hands, her mouth, her forehead. Taylor’s making had upset them and made them appreciate all the more her return to them.

  So Alex took over the pouring of champagne, including half an inch in a glass for Marit, and handed them out to everyone. He arranged chairs for Brody and Veris right next to Taylor and forced them into them, and handed them each a glass, too. Then he went off and found Mia, and brought her back to the library and set her up with a glass, and a chair, despite her protests.

  Raphael had pulled the sofa over and Sydney was settled down next to him, leaving Alex a seat beside her. Alex came over to the sofa, but stayed on his feet. He held up his glass. “To long life,” he invoked.

  Everyone held up their glasses. Sydney frowned as she sipped and the others brought the sparkling liquid to their lips.

  “It really is a long life, for all of you, isn’t it?” Sydney asked. “Even Taylor, now.”

  Taylor pressed her lips together. “Don’t envy me.”

  Alex picked up Sydney’s spare hand. “You would go through what Taylor did for a few more years?” he asked quietly.

  “There must be other ways to do it. Gentler ways,” Sydney said.

  “There is,” Veris said. “But you would deprive Alex and Rafe the years of living with a human?”

  Sydney looked startled.

  “There are always two sides to the coin,” Veris said. He picked up Taylor’s hand and kissed it. “I cannot conceive of a life without Taylor in it, and for that to happen, she had to be turned. But I would have asked for more time, if I’d had a choice.”

  Sydney’s eyes sparkled. “But now Taylor is safe. Nothing can ever harm her. Surely, that must give you comfort?”

  “Nothing comforts me more than knowing you will be here tomorrow,” Alex told her. “Tomorrow, and all the days after it. Anything else that happens we can deal with, as long as you’re here.”

  Sydney squeezed his hand. The sparkling in her eyes had turned to gathering tears. “You want me to stay human?”

  Rafe sighed. “Yes, we both do,” he said. “For now. I like your human-ness. The heat of your body against mine in bed. Your scent.”

  “Don’t rush into any changes,” Brody said. “You’ll find there are big changes you have to make just because you’re together now. Don’t trade off your life because of fear.”

  Sydney swallowed and nodded.

  “Besides, you have five vampires that call you family,” Veris said, “and any one of them would jump to defend you and solve your problems. Especially Alex and Rafe. That sort of helping is part of what makes living with a human so rewarding.”

  Sydney sighed. “There’s so much to learn.”

  “Comes from living so long,” Rafe said. “Although we still manage to complicate things in a very human way from time to time.” He glanced at Alex. “All of us,” he added.

  Alex lifted his glass again, in a small salute, then looked at Veris. “There’s one thing I haven’t worked out yet. I don’t know if you have. The queen coming after Taylor, that I understood. But why did she try to kill Sydney?”

  Veris leaned forward and put his glass on the coffee table. “Marit said that Tira came from our future,” and he rested his hand on Marit’s shoulder for a second. “I have no reason to doubt her. As Tira was driving the same Ford Explorer on both occasions, we have to assume that she came back from the future to deal with both Taylor and Sydney at once. As we can’t think of a single reason why Tira would even know Sydney, let alone want her dead, it has to be something in the future.”

  Sydney was squeezing her glass. “Something I did?”

  “Marit called Sydney ‘the queen lady’,” Brody said softly, as if he was speaking just to Veris.

  Veris frowned. “We can only speculate,” he said slowly. “Clearly, Marit of the future knows Sydney well. Perhaps she knows her well enough to know her middle name, and the meaning of it, and that was what she meant.”

  “Or?” Alex asked sharply.

  “Or Marit was being literal,” Veris replied, “and somewhere in the future, Sydney becomes a queen.”

  * * * * *

  When Bruce smashed a porcelain bowl, the third valuable knickknack in twenty minutes, Sydney apologized for the third time. “It’s just for the night,” she told Rafe, as he swept up the shards.

  Rafe shook his head. “This house isn’t childproof and hasn’t been for years. We can fix that. Besides, he’s family, too.”

  Alex sat on the bottom step of the stairs and watched Sydney calming Bruce down as he settled on the blanket by the bottom of the stairs, and Rafe sweeping. It was a very domestic sight and it made him sigh.

  “You’re thinking deep thoughts, my philosophical infidel,” Rafe accused him as he swept up the last of the porcelain.

  “Happy thoughts,” Alex admitted.

  Sydney brushed her sweaty brow with the back of her wrist. “And they would be?”

  “Don’t encourage him,” Rafe told her. “He’ll start talking about the meaning of life and we’ll be here all night. I’d rather be in bed, communicating with my hands and my mouth.”

  Alex shook his head. “I was just thinking about how a while ago, I didn’t know if I deserved to call myself a Christian. What I am and what I wanted seemed to be so wrong.”

  Neither of them looked appalled, or upset, or anything but interested, and that encouraged him to go on. “This…us…feels so right. I couldn’t understand how what I’ve been taught to think of as a sin, and as me and you, Rafe, as abominations, could make me feel so happy.”

  Rafe leaned on the broom. “You’re talking in the past tense. So that means you’ve decided that…?”

  Alex shrugged. “I’ve decided that love must be right. No matter what shape it comes in.”

  Rafe dropped the broom and kissed him. Then he held out his hand toward Sydney. “Come, my lover. Let’s take him to bed and make him laugh.”

  Sydney took his hand and smiled at Alex, a wicked grin. “Can we make him scream, first?”

  Epilogue

  Marit looked around the long hall with the big black and white tiles on the floor. It looked very familiar to her, even though she knew she had never been to this place before. But it was like a memory….

  There was another person at the far end of the hall and they were coming closer to her. As they drew closer, she realized it was a girl. A much bigger girl than her, though. She had hair like hers, too, but it was long and very pretty.

  The girl smiled. “Hello, Marit. Do you know who I am?”

  Marit caught her breath. “You’re…me.”

  The other girl nodded. “I am you, yes. But I’m older than you are now.” She looked around the hall. “This is a special place where we can meet. I’ve been waiting a long time to speak to you.”

  “You have?”

  The older Marit nodded. “I’ve been waiting until you were old enough to understand some of the things I have to tell you.”

  “What things?”

  “Many things. We have time, here, to talk about them all. There are also lots of things I can show you. Things for you to learn.”

  Marit nodded. “So I can help Mommy, and Athair and Far.”

  “And Uncle Alex and Uncle Rafe and Aunt Sydney and Mia.”

  “Everyone,” Marit said happily.

  “Everyone will need help, yes,” the othe
r Marit said, and for a moment, it seemed she was sad.

  The Next Book in the

  Kiss Across Time series

  Kiss Across Kingdoms, Book 5 in the Kiss Across Time series.

  They must go back in time because history says they already have.

  Six years have passed since Alex, Rafe and Sydney met and fell in love. Steeped in the stories of time travel by Brody, Veris and Taylor, they have avoided time-jumping, too afraid their every action will change the past and bring disaster upon everyone.

  Taylor brings home a book from tenth century Anglo-Saxon England. Within is a hidden cypher that insists Rafe and Sydney must travel back to Powys, the most powerful kingdom of ancient Wales.

  But the pair don’t arrive together. Rafe finds himself in the kingdom of Powys, scribe to the king, Llewelyn, as he was when he first lived through that time. Sydney, however, is in the land of the Lady of Mercia. She is a woman alone in a land and time she doesn’t know.

  The two must find a way back to each other across the two warring kingdoms, while Alex tries desperately to help them, from eleven centuries into the future….

  Warning: This time travel ménage romance features two super-hot alpha vampire heroes, multiple sex scenes, including anal sex, MM sexual play, and MMF sex. Do not read this book if frank sexual language and sex scenes offend you.

  The time-space continuum was restored to order at the end of this book. Promise.

  This is the fifth book in the Kiss Across Time paranormal series:

  Kiss Across Time 1.0: Kiss Across Time

  Kiss Across Time 2.0: Kiss Across Swords

  Kiss Across Time 2.5: Time Kissed Moments I

  Kiss Across Time 3.0: Kiss Across Chains