Time Travel 02 Nothing but Time

by Angeline Fortin

  Brand slowly reached down under her skirts and wrapped his fingers around Kate’s ankles. Though the stockings were indeed thick, Kate could still feel the heat of his hands radiating through them. He lifted her legs, scooting closer to her until her legs were in his lap. Brand bent, the rotation of his hips lifting her legs as he leaned over her until his elbow was resting above her shoulder. With his free hand, Brand brushed Kate’s long sweep of bangs aside, winding his fingers through her hair much as she had been moments before.

  Brand looked at her wet lips, down over her exposed neck where he could see her pulse beating wildly in the hollow of her throat. Tenderly he traced a finger down one of those fluttering veins hearing her breath catch before she swallowed deeply. Her breathing was shallow; he could feel her chest rising and lowering quickly under his. Catching her gaze with his, Brand skimmed a palm over her shoulder, her breast, down her ribcage and waist to her hip and under to her bottom. Squeezing the flesh there, he roamed farther down her thigh. Kate’s eyes lost focus for a moment before they snapped back to his.

  “Are you finally going to be the one to ask if you can kiss me?” she asked wetting her lips with the tip of her tongue. “Or are we just going to skip that part?”

  “Do I need to ask?” he murmured, running a hand over her breast and up her neck until his fingers dove into her hair and his palm cradled her head. Kate nodded. “Then, yes, I am.”

  “I’m afraid you didn’t phrase that in the form of a question.”

  “May I kiss you, Kate?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Brand’s eyes crinkled in the corners. “Are you planning some sort of torment for my previous refusal of your tempting offers?”

  “Not at all. I’m from Minnesota,” she told him breathlessly. “It’s a universally acknowledged fact that we need to be asked three times for just about anything from a cup of coffee to a kiss.”

  “May I kiss you then?”

  “I wouldn’t want to put you out,” she drawled coyly, running her hands up his muscled arms feeling the strength in the tensed muscles, feeling the heat emanate from his body into hers as his weight pressed against her.

  Brand brought his lips to within an inch of hers and whispered seductively, “May I kiss you, sweet Kate? I want so badly to feel your lips beneath mine.”

  “Well, if it isn’t too much of a bother.”

  With that, his lips parted hers, his tongue diving between hers to sweep through her mouth teasing her lips and her tongue. Within moments, desire consumed Kate and she moaned as a rush a dizzying passion swept over her. So lost was she that she didn’t even notice Brand working the buttons on her dress until his fingers slipped inside, the heat of his fingers scalding her breast as he covered it.

  With a gasp, Kate parted her lips even more inviting Brand’s hot invasion of her mouth. She nipped at his lips while he caught her lower lip between his and drew it into his mouth before changing angles to kiss her deeply once again. With a shudder, Kate began working the buttons on Brand’s jacket and waistcoat the best she could. With her hands shaking and her mind blank with passion and desire, it was no small task to get them undone.

  Finally, she reached his shirt and tugged it from his trousers and at last put a hand to Brand’s bare flesh. His groan of satisfaction matched hers as her hands dove under his shirt and up over his rippling abs, savoring the feel of his hot flesh. Up higher they soared over his smoothly muscled chest before circling his back and pulling him closer.

  “Kate, darling,” Brand whispered, smoothing her hair back away from her neck before he lowered his mouth to explore the tender flesh there.

  Kate’s head was swimming so furiously that, for a moment, she thought she might pass out. She wrapped her arms around his head, cradling him close as she arched her neck.

  “What is this second base you spoke of this afternoon?” he asked unexpectedly.

  “What?” she asked, confused before gathering her thoughts. “Oh, it’s a term for making out based on baseball. Oh, you don’t have that here, do you? It’s a sport with four bases in a diamond form. In the center is a…” Kate gasped as Brand’s hand slid back under her skirts to cup her bottom while his other hand traced its way across her ribcage just below her breast. “Uh, in the center is the pitcher who throws a ball to a man at home plate… er, base. That player has a…oh!” She paused again as Brand’s fingers caught her nipple and rolled it with agonizing laziness.

  Brand allowed her only a moment to let her attention wander before commanding huskily, “Yes? Go on.”

  “Uh, the batter… the player at home base has a bat and tries to hit the ball the pitcher throws. If he does he runs the bases in a…ooo, counter-clockwise direction. First base, second and so on until he gets home,” she finished breathlessly.

  “And what does this have to do with making love?” he asked.

  “Oh well, someone years ago equated baseball to kissing and such,” she explained, shifting as his lips ran along her jaw line. “First base: kissing. Second base: kissing and some bodily contact like… well, this. Third base… well, you get the idea. More and more until one might get a home run.”

  “I see,” he said thoughtfully, nipping at her earlobe before pulling back to meet her gaze. “Shall I take you around this second base then, Kate, and see if you hold it against me?”

  “Batter up,” she whispered and Brand ducked his head, catching her lips fiercely with his once more. His left hand cupped her breast fully, squeezing tenderly while his other hand shifted directions, pushing up her skirts to stroke her inner thigh.

  Each caress produced such overwhelming sensations that Kate could feel each keenly yet focus on neither. That changed when Brand’s mouth left hers and he ducked his head to capture her waiting nipple between his lips. Kate gasped as he licked and then suckled, arching her back and surrendering to his will.

  The touch of his tongue sizzled a direct path down her center, tightening her core with a delicious ache. Her head buzzed and her senses reeled so that Kate couldn’t even think. All she could do was feel. Feel his hands, his mouth. His lips, his tongue. His other palm skated up her bare thigh, shoving her skirts up to her waist. Kate momentarily wondered where her pantalets had gone but then all thought was lost again as his fingers brushed the curls at the apex of her legs.

  Kate flinched at the contact with a shudder and a moan. She didn’t know how to react to the sensations Brand evoked in her; each caress was like an electrical current, zinging along her nerves, jolting her with a rush of feeling. She quivered and trembled as his fingers parted those curls and nudged her legs apart to stroke her core. Her legs tensed then relaxed before tensing again against the uncertainty of what dizzying fervor might assault her next.

  Hearing Kate’s helpless moan, Brand stifled a smile of pure male satisfaction as he nuzzled her neck, his fingers caressing her tender flesh as she mewed, arching against his hand. Returning his lips to hers, he plundered her deeply capturing her cries and sighs as they emerged. Already she was in a daze of passion, so quickly roused to the breaking point as she had been the previous night. Never had he known a woman so reactive, so openly fervent. There was no calculation in her responses. She didn’t moan to feed his self-esteem, to laud his skill. Her vocalization was the result of her honest passion, the passion he roused in her.

  In truth, he was on the verge of losing himself to that same ardor, Brand realized. The detachment, both emotional and physical, that he usually maintained with ease with women was quickly waning leaving him as atremble with the power of their shared ecstasy as Kate was.

  And she’d hardly touched him yet beyond caressing his chest!

  Her passion fed his and Brand thought that just watching Kate as ecstasy overtook her might be enough for him to reach his own release. Though he’d rarely allowed himself the luxury of finding release during foreplay, his promise not to compromise Kate fully might leave him with little other recourse unless he wanted to wallow in frustratio
n.

  Kate cried in protest as his lips left hers but that cry turned to a gasp of surprise as his mouth replaced his hand at her core, his lips and tongue curling around the small nub that served as the hub of her smoldering need. Heedlessly, she tried to pull her hips away but his big hands pinned her to the chaise while he feasted upon her sensitive flesh. He licked, suckled and teased her forcing Kate up the mountain of rapture with astonishing speed. Within moments, her body was pulsating, weeping in surrender.

  Circling her moist entrance, Brand smiled with masculine satisfaction as he dipped into her once more. She was hot and wet, begging him for mercy, her body writhing with passion as she cried out against the approaching tempest. The sound tore at Brand sending a shudder of need through him as his body demanded that he give her what they both wanted, that he strip Kate bare and possess her completely. He wanted to take her, plunge into that welcoming moisture; he ached with the need to surrender to his craving.

  “Brand, Brand,” she implored breathlessly, clutching at his head as if she might squeeze completion from him. But Brand drew the torment out bringing Kate to the brink of release again and again until she was sobbing her surrender.

  He watched her climb to the pinnacle of ecstasy, her head thrown back, lips parted. Finally he let her fly, glorying in the magic of seeing her come apart in his arms. She cried out his name hoarsely as he wrenched every last bit of pleasure from her until finally she collapsed, his name a whisper on her lips.

  Soft lips brushed hers and Kate opened her eyes to catch Brand watching her. Though she was throbbing with satisfied rapture, Brand’s eyes still burned with fire. Drawing his head down to hers, Kate kissed him tasting her essence on his lips and allowing the passion to build once more. For the nirvana Brand had just delivered her to, he deserved some of the same in return.

  Running her hands over his shoulders, she pushed his jacket off. Brand eased away from her to push it off and Kate tugged at his shirt indicating that it should go as well. He obliged her revealing his smooth, thickly muscled chest, broad shoulders and rippling abs. With a hum of appreciation, Kate smoothed a hand across his belly before catching him about his waist and urging his heavy weight back down.

  Brand shook his head. “I would see you, Kate. If I might.”

  Kate felt passion flood her anew at his soft, husky words. She wanted to please him, wanted to deliver him to the same rapture she had just found. Rolling off the chaise, Kate stood and slowly worked the remaining buttons on her bodice before spreading it wide and lowering it off her arms. Locking her gaze with his, she more quickly undid the ties of her skirts and petticoats until the multiple layers dropped into a pool at her feet. Clad only in her corset and chemise, Kate reached up to untie the laces just below her breasts but as her hands came up, his eyes locked on them and, as if reading the desires of his mind, Kate caught her breasts in her palms, lifting and squeezing gently.

  Brand’s eyes flew to hers, the scalding heat in them searing away the devilish grin that had been forming on her lips. He came to his feet before her, his hands covering hers until their hands were caressing her breasts as one. Encouraging her to continue, Brand quickly unlaced the corset letting it drop at her feet as he gathered up her chemise pulling it higher, higher and over her head. That done, Brand dropped back on to the edge of the chaise, his blue eyes searing her from head to toe as he looked his fill.

  By God but she was lovely, Brand thought as he reached out to run a sweeping palm over Kate’s rounded hips. As he had known it would be, her body was lush with bountiful breasts and flaring hips. But unlike every other woman he had known, there was little softness to her body. She was firm, muscular. He could feel the muscles across her midsection and belly and see them in her thighs as he had felt them in her bottom. It was the body of an active woman and Brand realized he had never seen one so sculpted, so appealing.

  Running his hands up her thighs, Brand caught Kate by the hips and drew her closer, placing a hot kiss to her belly before his thumbs reached out to spread her dark curls. Keeping her tightly anchored, Brand kissed her there, his tongue darting out to taste her remaining passion. Kate moaned and he could feel her thighs trembling.

  Focusing on Kate’s face, Brand parted her and dipped a finger into her core, watching as her lips parted with a sigh of relief promptly followed by a groan of frustration as he slowly withdrew the digit.

  “Brand,” she whispered. “I want to see you, too.”

  Ignoring her, he thrust his finger deeply once more, withdrawing it to couple it before teasing her once again. Kate gasped with a whimper at his invasion, her arms encircling his shoulders as she arched against him. But tugging at his hair, she asked again. “Please, I want to see you, feel all of you against me.”

  Nearly undone by her seductive words and the images that flowed through his mind, Brand hesitated knowing that he couldn’t risk the loss of a barrier between them. His body ached to possess hers. Any good intentions would be lost if he were to feel her soft skin pressing against the length of his body. “I cannot, Kate, if we are to refrain from completing the act. I cannot risk it.”

  Kate closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. She wanted to tell him that she didn’t care, that she wanted him anyway. Impulses and rash decisions, she thought with a shake of her head. How could one experience the joy of Brand’s hard body without giving into them?

  With a tug of her hand, Brand urged Kate down to the chaise once more and, giving in, Kate laid down next to him as he ran his rough palm up the length of her body from thigh to breast. Sensing that Brand would be a generous lover sacrificing his needs for hers, Kate knew that this time she wasn’t going to be content laying supplicant before him. She might not have him completely, but they would share this nonetheless.

  She pulled him down against her, glorying in his weight as he pressed her into the chaise. His chest chafed against her nipples and, as if sensing their need, Brand dipped his head to lavish her breasts with attention. Kate raked his back lightly as her teeth found the sensitive tendons at the base of his neck and mimicked the action there, sucking and nipping.

  Distracted from his purpose, Brand took her lips with his once more forcing Kate to give him the reins in their love play but Kate would have none of it. She wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him against her. She could feel his erection pressing against her and knew, were it not for that last barrier, she would welcome him into her body in that moment. Temptation paired with her impulsive need to cast aside their agreement. Hadn’t she only just today told him that she wasn’t ready to have sex with him?

  Her body certainly was. Brand reached between their bodies stroking lightly between Kate’s thighs, stoking her fire once more. She was still warm and moist, her body receptive as he slid his fingers easily inside of her once more.

  Taking her lips with his, Brand lavished attention on her mouth while continuing to ease his fingers in and out of her slick body, rotating and curling the digits as he did so. Kate clenched her body around him, gripping him, begging for more. Brand gave it to her employing the pad of his thumb to stroke the tiny nub that was the center of her desire. His thumb circled and rubbed as his fingers continued their assault and soon Kate was writhing beneath him, panting for release.

  “Brand! Damn it, I want…” With a huff, Kate met his kiss ferociously. Not content to lay prostrate to his worshipping hands, Kate’s hands went to the fastenings of his trousers, pulling at the buttons until she had them loosened.

  “Kate, I told you…”

  “Hush,” Kate whispered as she slipped her hand down. Her hand circled him rousing a guttural moan that was torn from Brand as she stroked the long length of him with a hum of appreciation.

  “Ahh, God! Kate!” he moaned as she rotated her hand around him, sliding her hand up and down.

  “Live with it, Brand,” she whispered teasingly into his ear. “You’re coming with me this time, once way or another.”

  Kate caressed him again
, savoring the hard length of him. He was thick and long, pulsing with desire. While Brand’s fingers resumed their invasion of her body, Kate imagined his throbbing erection taking the place of his fingers. Imagined him thrusting inside of her, filling her, stretching her. She was dizzy with the images, the fantasy compounding the torment Brand was playing on her.

  But she wasn’t alone. She could hear Brand’s breath panting against her neck as they pleasured one another. He was losing control just as she was, his fingers thrusting harder up inside of her as her grip upon him tightened.

  Changing the angle of her hand, Kate rubbed the heel of her hand over the throbbing head of his erection before dragging it down the length of him. She palmed him again knowing that she was nearing the breaking point once more and didn’t want to take the plunge alone. “Come with me, Brand,” she begged huskily in his ear. She felt his arousal jerk in response, felt the ache of her own orgasm radiate out from her core. Kate flicked her tongue against his earlobe and panted hotly. “Oh, Brand, Brand, please, come with me. Please! Now! Now! Ohhhhh!”

  Kate exploded against his fingers with a cry of release, her hand unconsciously clenching tightly around Brand until he, too gave a guttural shout as his climax came upon him. He thrust against her hand even as Kate lifted her hips to his before they collapsed together. Kate felt his weight fall heavily on her but didn’t care. She ran her palms up his damp back as he lay on her breathing deeply. His heart pounded with hers, matched hers.

  Kate had never felt anything like that moment as she hugged her lover to her. She felt complete yet strangely empty. It was bewildering. Despite finding her climax twice, she was dissatisfied in a way she had never been. Then she knew. With Brand, with the riotous emotions he invoked in her, physical release wouldn’t be enough. She ached for him to fill the void in her.