Two Lives in Waltz Time

by Vivien Dean

  A sorrowful shadow crossed her face. “Because we don’t know. I suppose it makes sense to think you’ll probably go back to the way things were before we got here in the first place. You know. Forget everything and resume life as normal.”

  His gaze returned to staring at his tangled fingers. “What if I don’t want to forget?” he muttered.

  Her sharp intake of breath meant she’d heard his low declaration. The next thing he knew, Ava was on her knees in front of him, pushing his hands out of the way and forcing him to look at her.

  “We haven’t talked about…you and me,” she said. “But considering everything that’s happened, I’m thinking we probably should. Even if it hurts.”

  The light from the lamp cast half her face in shadow, but it didn’t hide the warm depths of her eyes. He had never seen anything so beautiful as Ava Reisman, and magic or not, there was no way in hell he was ever going to forget her.

  “I might not be wise to your world or how this magic stuff works…” He had no idea where he was finding the resolve to tell her this. “…but the one thing I do know is there’s no way it’s responsible for how I feel about you. I might have liked you before, Ava, but it’s been these past few days, with you being so nice to me, being my friend and…everything else, that’s convinced me I’m not nuts for being in love with you.” Holding his breath, he reached forward and pushed a strand of dark hair from her cheek, grateful when she didn’t make him stop. “So call me dumb for thinking this way, but I don’t want to forget how you make me feel.”

  “Oh, Gino…” Ava sighed, tilting her head to rub her face against his palm. “You barely even know me.”

  “I know enough.” A sudden fear struck him, and his hand froze. “Don’t you…were you just…when you kissed me this afternoon—”

  “I did it because you’ve been the one good thing to come out of this place,” she finished for him. “I don’t regret it in the slightest.” He was startled when she pulled away, rising to her feet and grabbing his hands, tugging until he stood too. “Come on. I have an idea.”

  When she began leading him toward the door, Gino frowned. “Where are we going?”

  “Out,” came the explanation. “For coffee.” She opened the door and smiled back at him. “I’m asking you out for a coffee date, you big lug. Someplace bright and cheerful and one hundred percent neutral territory so that you and I can get to know each other for real.” A twinkle in her eye joined her grin. “Maybe when you hear how I used to torture my baby brother, you’ll reconsider that wish not to forget about me when we leave.”

  He found it impossible to resist her amusement. “And maybe it’ll make me even more dizzy for you.”

  “Maybe,” Ava agreed. She pulled harder, tightening the hold of their hands. “There’s only one way for us to find out.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Even with Cash warm against her side, Maddy’s sleep was restless. More than once, she woke up when Kate poked her head in to check on them, but the other woman never stuck around long enough for Maddy to come fully conscious, leaving as sleep took Maddy over again. The dreams never congealed into anything recognizable, though. That was a blessing to be sure.

  An absence finally drew her fully awake. Opening her eyes for the final time, Maddy realized she was alone, the blankets tucked up close beneath her chin, as if Cash had felt the need to keep her warm while he was gone. The door stood ajar, letting in the morning light, and the distant rush of water lent a comfortable sense of home.

  Testing her strength, Maddy pushed the comforter away with minimal effort, gasping when the cooler air hit her bare breasts. She scanned the room, but her robe was nowhere to be seen. Probably in the other bedroom. She would have to improvise so she didn’t give any unexpected guests a show.

  It took longer than she anticipated to get out of bed, her legs surprisingly heavy, her muscles reluctant to obey her commands. The room swayed around her when she stood, and Maddy was forced to grip the nightstand until the vertigo passed, squeezing her eyes shut while nausea swept through her. Walking wasn’t supposed to be this hard. She would have a word with Kate and Cash about their so-called healing spells.

  Two steps later, her knees gave out. She crumpled to the floor with a surprised cry she couldn’t contain.

  As she struggled to get back to her feet, the sound of running grew louder before Cash raced into the room. “What are you doing?” he demanded, coming to her side to slide his arm behind her back.

  Though she wouldn’t say so aloud, Maddy was glad for the support and leaned heavily against him as he pulled them both straight. “I wanted to get dressed.”

  “You should have called me.” There was anger in his tone, but she didn’t have time to assess it before he led her back to the bed. “I was just putting the kettle on for some tea.”

  His rumpled appearance finally sank in. He was dressed only in his trousers from the previous night, while his hair stuck up in mussed curls all around his head. There was even a telltale sleep wrinkle still fading from his cheek where it had been pressed to his pillow.

  “Where is everybody?” she asked. He wouldn’t dress like this in front of Ava. At least, Maddy didn’t think so.

  “Kate left early with Ava. They’re going to break into Lombardi’s office and get the personnel files so we can start making some home visits in our safety search.”

  She stopped him from pulling the blanket up over her legs again. “I still need to go to the bathroom,” she argued. “And take a shower, maybe? I feel…” her fingers gestured weakly over her bare form, “…icky.”

  His mouth twitched in amusement, his eyes dancing. “Is that a technical term?”

  Affecting a scowl, Maddy leaned against the headboard. “I seem to remember you being all particular after you got shot,” she grumbled. “So what you’re telling me is that what’s good for the gander, isn’t so good for the goose?”

  Cash laughed, a rich, rolling sound that warmed her all the way to her toes. “You’re not up to a shower. You can’t even stand up.”

  “A bath, then.”

  His eyes narrowed as his gaze swept over her in consideration. “Are you in pain?” he asked, concern back into his voice. “Kate said—”

  “I’m fine.” Assurance came quickly. That bath was sounding better and better. A surefire temptation leapt to mind. “If you don’t trust me not to drown myself, why don’t you come in with me? It could be good for both of us.”

  She said it with her best innocent face, but there was nothing chaste about the way his pupils dilated, or the way his fingers slid possessively around her back. “I think that’s a splendid idea.”

  The next thing she knew, the world tilted around her, and Maddy barely had time to loop her arms behind his neck before he was carrying her off to the bathroom.

  She sat on the toilet while he filled the tub, watching his muscled back flex and tense as he reached to adjust the temperature. Her breasts ached, though it wasn’t from the bullet’s aftermath. In light of everything, Maddy wanted desperately to feel him against her, feel Cash slide his skin over hers, hear him whisper so irreverently in her ear. But she couldn’t ask. Not after everything he had already done. Inviting him into the bath with her was the closest she could come to it.

  When he slid his trousers off, revealing the long length of his semi-hard cock, she unconsciously licked her lips. If she had the strength, she would be on her knees, grasping the smooth shaft and guiding it into her mouth. Something about the taste of him made her clit tingle, and she actually felt her pussy getting wetter as she squirmed against the seat.

  Cash didn’t seem to notice, though. He was too intent on her well being to see how aroused she was.

  “Let me do everything,” he said as he carried her over to the bath.

  The water was almost scalding, instantly relaxing her muscles as she slid beneath its surface. Maddy sighed in pleasure, letting her arms float along the top, then scooted forward when he climbed
in behind her. “My tub back home isn’t this big,” she said.

  “Neither is mine.” His long legs stretched out beside hers, and she felt the definitive nudge of his cock against her ass and back as he tugged her against his chest. “We’ll have to take advantage of this while we can.”

  She let her head drop against his shoulder, her eyes fluttering shut as she drowned in the soft sensations of the water lapping against her breasts. “Have I said thank you?”

  “Don’t thank me yet.” The rumble of his chest vibrated through her body. “We still have to find the safety and get out of this place.”

  His reluctance to talk about the shooting underlay his every word. Maddy held her tongue, focusing instead on the soft rasp of the washcloth he swiped in deliberate strokes across her torso. When he reached her breasts, though, his touch hesitated, prompting her to find her voice again.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She opened her eyes in time to see him drop the cloth into the water, a gentle hand stroking the upper curve of her left breast. “There isn’t even a scar,” Cash said, so quietly that it was almost a whisper. “Nobody will ever know how close I was to losing you.”

  Her fingers found his and twisted together, skimming along the water. “I’ll know.” Maddy sighed when his lips skated along the side of her neck. “Of course, when you do things like that, I have problems remembering my own name.”

  It did what she hoped and drew a small chuckle from Cash. “And that’s different from everyday how?”

  She gasped at the playful gibe, so unexpected in this new phase of their relationship. With all the strength she could muster, she slapped at the water, letting it splash up into their faces in protest, and giggled when Cash did the same.

  “Maybe we should just stay in here forever,” she said. “Nobody can try to kill you if you don’t leave.”

  “Except for you.” His hand dipped below the water, disappearing between her thighs. “Of course, that would be my preferred way to go.”

  A shiver rippled through her when his strong fingers traced the opening of her pussy. When two slipped inside, Maddy clenched around them, rocking slightly within the water to encourage him to move them in and out.

  “I knew this was your ulterior motive for getting me in here,” Cash whispered in her ear. Her pulse accelerated when the tip of his tongue traced the delicate outer curve, stopping in a gentle bite of her lobe. “Icky, my foot.”

  “Like you’re complaining.” Languorously, she used the momentum of his fingers to push back against his now rock-hard cock, smiling when he groaned. “If you’re not interested—”

  Her meaningless threat was cut off by sudden pressure against her clit, and Maddy sank back further into his embrace as Cash began to flick his thumb across the sensitive bundle of nerves. “Just relax,” he breathed. His other hand rose to the water’s surface to caress the lower swell of her breast, offering another layer of sensations to those already buffeting her skin. “Let me take care of you.”

  Maddy couldn’t fight him even if she wanted to. She closed her eyes to lose herself in the pleasure fostered along her flesh, the wetness and the sweltering heat and the powerful restraint of his hands guiding her toward a peak she knew would send her crashing afterward. When he skimmed his palm across the puckered tip of her nipple, her moans encouraged him to intensify the pressure, taking it between his fingers and pinching.

  A guttural cry escaped her throat as she arched at the electricity shooting to her clit.

  “I love the sounds you make,” Cash said. His breath combined with the heat her body sucked from the bath, molding around her shoulder as his mouth followed the same path. Adding a third finger to his gentle fucking, he stretched her pussy even further without abandoning the attention to her clit. “You should hear how you gasp when you come. Like you’ve forgotten how to breathe. Like all that matters is my touch, my cock, my mouth.”

  She felt his teeth sink into her shoulder after that last and clawed her nails into his strong thighs as the crescendo rippled through her body, threatening to send her headfirst over the verge of her impending orgasm. Maddy heard him hiss, but when he lifted her up and guided the tip of his cock to her opening, she knew it wasn’t because she’d hurt him.

  “Took you long enough,” she said.

  Cash didn’t answer, choosing instead to abandon her breast to loop a powerful forearm around her waist. Slowly, he began to lift her up and down, every stroke long and deep, not once losing the rhythm of his thumb against her clit.

  Though she knew he was guiding her body in response to her lack of strength, there was something unequivocally possessive about the way Cash kept her close to him, as if he feared that, should he let go, she would somehow run away. He’d done the same thing at the window, in her bed, under the shower, and Maddy couldn’t help but wonder if he was even aware of the message he conveyed. Added to his verbalized fears of losing her, and there was no denying the vast depth of his feelings for her.

  “I didn’t…” she started to say, and then had to swallow when a slight roll of his hips made her struggle for breath.

  “Ssshh…”

  His strokes became stronger, angling further to enhance the tremors that had consumed Maddy’s muscles, and she had no choice but to comply, rocking against him with slick glides that left her skin feeling raw. Each thrust drove her closer to coming, each touch proving that letting Cash in hadn’t been a mistake. When he started whispering again in her ear, rougher words, coarser intentions, the sound of his voice overwhelmed the slapping of water against the tub, and Maddy rushed headlong into oblivion, the roar of her orgasm blocking out everything but the thrill of his thrusts.

  Somewhere in the echo of her climax, she became aware of Cash stiffening, crying out, his arm clamping almost painfully about her waist. By the time she was coherent enough to notice, his face was buried in her neck, his mouth sucking at the wet sinew of her nape.

  “See?” Summoning what little strength she had, Maddy lifted an arm to run languid fingers through his damp hair. “I told you this was a good idea.”

  His mouth left her skin with an audible pop. “This was my idea,” he corrected playfully. “You wanted to take a shower.”

  She smiled. “I only said that because I knew you’d argue with me.”

  “Liar.”

  “Control freak.”

  “Minx.”

  “What happened to wench?”

  Cash paused, and she wondered if he was going to remember the last time they’d done this type of bantering. It had ended with his almost declaration of his feelings. She hoped to find the opportunity to tell him he wasn’t alone in them any more.

  When Kate’s muffled voice came from outside the door, Maddy knew this wasn’t going to be her chance.

  “Remind me to tell my sister she has lousy timing,” Cash muttered, sitting up in the tub and reaching for the washcloth at the far end.

  All she could say as he set to soaping her up was, “Stand in line.”

  The last thing Aaron wanted at the moment was to play fetch for the mobster ultimately responsible for Cash and Maddy’s current predicament, but when he’d shown up at the hospital to check on Mack, he’d been surprised to discover his so-called boss awake and eating breakfast.

  “They’re not letting me go yet,” Mack had complained, pushing away his tray with his good hand. “So I need you to get a few of my things.”

  Aaron had left the hospital with a list and a set of keys, sliding into the back seat of Mack’s limo, grateful he wouldn’t have to try to find the man’s apartment on his own. He should have expected to be taken to an exclusive building along Central Park, but somehow, stepping into the grand foyer with a teenaged boy eager to take the keys and lead him personally to Mack’s set of suites seemed too grandiose.

  Ending up in the penthouse was inevitable.

  “Just ring when you need me to help you back down to the car,” the boy said, backing out of the room. “I’ll
be straight up, right in a jiffy.”

  Aaron tipped him without thinking, pulling the first loose bill from his pocket and pressing it into the boy’s palm as he stared at the rooms around him. He barely heard the boy’s exuberant, “Thank you!” before the door snicked shut. He was too absorbed by the obvious luxury surrounding him.

  Plush carpet made Aaron’s footfalls silent as he moved to the center of the room, and he slowly turned around as he drank it all in. Everything was cream, the walls, the floor, the furniture, with the only displays of color coming from the multitude of artwork that hung on the walls. The curtains were open to reveal a magnificent view of the park, while an adjacent wall was dominated by a large granite fireplace and a bright landscape adorning the mantle above it.

  Something familiar about the painting drew Aaron closer, his brows coming together as he scanned the vivid shapes. It was a street scene, bustling New York, pedestrians streaming along in the sidewalk, frozen in midstep. Behind them loomed the stone edifice of a building he didn’t need to blink twice to recognize, but the question of why his museum would be in a picture in an alternate dimension didn’t get answered for the several seconds he stood there and thought about it.

  Then his eyes shot wide.

  There was only one explanation.

  Mack had to be the safety.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Now that he recognized it, it was easy for Aaron to match the painting’s style with the one that had transported them to this dimension in the first place. The colors were just as vibrant, the strokes as bold. Blue skies promised the heat of sunshine, a woman’s red jacket seemed to bleed off the canvas’s edge, and there, in the corner, was the same signature that graced the painting back in the restoration room. It was definitely by the same artist.

  He took a step toward the fireplace, mulling over the possibilities. Though Kate’s information had said otherwise, Aaron couldn’t help but wonder if they had been wrong about how to get back. What if it worked on the same principle as the other picture? If he touched it, would he go home? He could always just come back if he landed back at the museum, and let the others know where it was located. Then, there wouldn’t be any need to kill anyone. Kate’s information could just be smoke and mirrors to throw them off the track.