The water felt amazing and was deeper than it originally looked. While she had been afraid to touch a squishy, muddy bottom, she didn’t even hit bottom! Riley swam back upwards after jumping in and quickly looked away from the banks once her head broke the water’s surface. She pushed her hair back from her face to get it out of the way where it pulled free. It was still twirled up and fastened into a bun, but was quickly falling. Removing her hairclip, she grinned as she realized it was her newest purchase from Amazon. It had been designed to hold a hair bun in place and looked like lace, except it was hinged with a latch to secure it. It had been expensive, but well worth it. That would be interesting for historians to find in the future, she mused.
Hearing a splash beside her, she realized John had jumped in as well. Riley turned and threw her hairclip to the blanket, seeing it land near her dress. She would need that again. As John’s head came up from the water, he smiled at her.
“You are full of surprises, aren’t you?” he asked, grinning.
“What do you mean?”
“I didn’t know you could swim.”
“I am betting there is a lot you don’t know about me.”
“I’m thinking that you are right,” he said appreciatively. “Care to share?”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she hedged.
“Why?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Are you involved with another man? Married to someone else?” he asked hesitantly. She could see the shutter drop down in his gaze, instantly protecting himself.
“To you!” she countered quickly. “Did something happen with Lily?” she asked bluntly. It was odd that he gave her so much space and then quickly assumed she was with another dude. “Don’t lump me in with your ex-wife,” she said hotly.
“I am not,” he protested guiltily.
“You are, if you think I am like her and she did you wrong.”
“She was very ‘wrong’,” he said, using her terminology,
“What happened?”
“Lily and I had a bad start. We were engaged by our families and then married. I chose to leave for Texas and she didn’t want to go. I made her go regardless. Our marriage was held on the day we left and it went downhill from there,” he said evasively.
“Tell me. Remember? No secrets.”
“You have them,” he countered.
“You are right,” she agreed. “Finish your story and then you can ask me anything. I will answer you honestly,” she pledged.
“Lily said that I hurt her when I took her, which is why I wanted to wait until you wanted me. She didn’t,” he said, painfully. “Lily and I may have been married, but it was in name only after the first time. Then she got pregnant.”
“Did she lose it?” she asked gently, thinking that John had lost so much.
“It wasn’t mine.”
“Oh! She slept around?” That hussy!
“My solicitor and Lily had an affair. She left me for him. They also tried to take all my money and were stopped in the next town trying to withdraw from my account. They almost got away with it until Lily was found dead not far from here.”
“What happened?”
“Not sure,” he said honestly. “I was accused of doing it and sentenced to hang when they caught her lover and found him guilty instead. Once he had been caught, he confessed all, which freed me. I was certain someone would have told you what a horrible person I am assumed to be,” he said evenly.
“Nope, not a word of it,” she replied. “And I can make my own decision when it comes to a person, not relying on idle gossip.”
“True, you do seem to be quite headstrong regarding some things,” he agreed. “Now, let’s talk about you. Where did you get your education? I saw your handwriting and assumed you had a tutor. You obviously don’t need swimming lessons either, so it must have been a well-rounded upbringing you had.”
Taking a deep breath, she hesitated for several minutes. He is never going to believe me and I have no idea if this is going to zap me back to the other time where I get face to face time with the crypt keeper, she thought and cringed at the idea of dying.
“No secrets, remember?” he pushed.
“No, I know. It’s just pretty outlandish. So don’t interrupt until the end and if I disappear, it was nice meeting you,” she said with a scared, tentative smile that caused his eyebrows to shoot upwards.
“Disappear? Magically?”
“Shhh, remember?” she reminded him.
“I was educated in a formal school for women in Manhattan, New York. I worked as a Defense Attorney defending civil and criminal cases. I graduated from Columbia University in the year 2013 and began my practice shortly afterwards. I have a gorgeous Mercedes Benz that I love driving around. I guess you call it a horseless carriage, or maybe not yet.” Taking a deep breath, she shut her eyes and continued on.
“I have an apartment that I live in that overlooks the city not far from the courthouse. I was late for work and got into a car accident where, apparently, I wished for a second chance to help people and said that I didn’t want to die. I think God heard me, too.” Taking a shaky breath, she hesitated again, looking away.
“I arrived here in my work clothes, lying in the grass. I walked into a small town thinking it was some sort of festival by the way the buildings looked and the way people were dressed, kind of like a medieval fair. Then I met Eve. I don’t know what she is. Angel, devil, sprite, nymph, voodoo queen? I honestly don’t know. But she has powers and helped me. She said I could live here or go back and die. Those were my choices.”
Riley saw John open his mouth to speak and she held up her hand to stop him. “She told me that someone here was waiting and was just as desperate to live as I was. Eve said that I needed to grow, learn, and live again. She told me that I was a mail order bride and shoved me out the door with no other instructions but not to curse,” she said with a sad smile. “Which is why when you showed up at the house and I killed that spider, I couldn’t talk just yet. She makes me silent as a punishment for my foul mouth.”
Waving her hands at the bitter thought, she continued. “Anyhow, I was shoved right into the sheriff and told I was the mail order bride. He asked me who I was supposed to meet. I had no idea! So, I came up with a name on the spur of the moment from my favorite fairytale. The heroine’s husband was John Smith.” She held out her hands in a shrug. “So here I am,” she finished lamely. She noticed John just stared at her, processing all of what she said.
“I’m here. I don’t know if I am stuck or if I can go home. And I have no idea if I am the woman you were supposed to get or if someone else is on the way, which was part of the reason I didn’t want to sleep with you yet. I can’t take someone’s husband.”
“But you married me,” he said in a low, flat voice.
“And it’s not consummated,” she reminded him, and herself as she looked away from the doubt in his eyes. Those hazel mirrors told way too much when he opened up and she was afraid he would read her own innermost thoughts.
“I want it to be,” John replied quietly.
“But what if your real bride is on the way?” she countered again, feeling her heart contract painfully at the idea of another woman claiming what she had been gifted. All she had to do was simply accept her chance with him. What are you waiting for?
“Riley, I cancelled my request for a mail order bride,” he said softly, causing her to gasp and stare at him in shock. “I wasn’t expecting you. But when I saw you, I thought you were an angel sent for me. I didn’t want to live alone anymore and prayed for a change. A chance to be happy finally.”
“Are you serious?”
“Honey, you are heaven sent and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner, friend, or wife,” he admitted tenderly, touching her cheek gently.
“Or lover,” she whispered, looking at him and waiting for any sign of hesitation or a mistake being made.
“Or lover,” he replied gently, pulli
ng her towards him in the water.
“I don’t know what to think about your strange history, but your future is with me. Only me,” he said heatedly and captured her lips. The moment she felt his lips touch hers, she knew that she was a goner.
Riley didn’t know if there was Spanish Fly in the water or what was going on, but she was not going to run around like a dog in heat any longer. She had decided to give in to the urge and take Eve’s suggestion to have John scratch the itch she had. Wrapping her arms around his neck in an effort to pull her closer to his body in the water, she realized that not only was she kicking to tread water, apparently, he was as well.
Riley jerked herself away from John at the explosion of pain that suddenly registered within her. Momentarily, she thought that Eve was sucking her back to her world and this was the end, the pain was so intense! Instead, it was her toe as it connected with John’s shin, giving a slight crack causing her to wince at the sensation. They both burst out laughing at each other’s shocked expressions. She liked that they could laugh together, but it caused her to swallow water. She began coughing in an unappealing fashion, or so she thought. She was relieved that he grabbed her by the upper arm, hauling her upwards. She hacked repeatedly to expunge the water from lungs. John was definitely stronger than she was, because she found herself on the grassy, slippery bank just as quickly as her coughing subsided.
Glancing beside her, Riley saw John was exiting the water as well. She stared unabashedly as his golden, tanned body emerged within arm’s reach. Every inch bared to her hungry eyes. Was it possible for a man to have sexy calves and toes? She had never thought so, but there wasn’t one unappealing part of him from what she could tell. She stared as he pulled himself from the water smoothly and shook his head like a dog shaking after a bath. He then walked boldly over towards the blanket that was spread out and laid back in the sun, his eyes shut.
Quit being a big, ol’ titty baby, Riley! You want him. You’ve wanted him from the first day, ehem, second day! The first day, he was annoying as could be! Go, take what you want and enjoy yourself, she told herself firmly. Her body was thrumming with want. Pulling herself from the bank, she noted the debris on her chemise she had worn to hide her body. The thin cotton hid nothing and was only getting filthier. Standing, she glanced at him to see his eyes still closed.
Girl, get your game face on! Be brave! He won’t bite, unless you want him to! She nearly groaned aloud thinking of what he could nibble on for her. Pulling off her chemise, she dropped it in the grass with the idea to wash it later on once she was finished with him. Oh yes, she intended to get her happy “O” face on so hard that she was going to want a cigarette and a drink afterwards… and Riley didn’t smoke! She padded over to the blanket and hesitated for the merest second until she saw his wide smile.
“You are dripping water on me, Honey,” he said, smiling tenderly at her. He cracked open an eye against the sun that was streaming down on them both through the trees.
“You win, ya big lummox,” she admitted throatily, looking down at his golden body. His golden body that was hers. Hers, to do with as she pleased – and, oh dear golly, did she please! It was downright erotic to be naked and standing in front of him, knowing that all he had to do was reach out to her.
“I think we both do,” she heard him rasp as he sat up, “Come here.”
Riley started to kneel beside him, but John pulled her down onto the blanket. She lay there looking up at him as he wrapped his arms around her. She started to hesitate at the heat in his gaze and trembled as his finger traced her collarbone.
“John?”
“Shhh, Honey,” he crooned lightly. “I have wanted to do this from the moment you got off the horse at my doorstep and flashed those pretty bloomers at me,” he said with a grin. “You swept me off my feet, little bride.”
Laughing, she knew she was turning red from embarrassment. He was a romantic hidden underneath all that gruff bluster. She really liked that about him! Smiling widely, she pushed a lock of hair off his forehead, shivering as he traced the outside edge of her breast lightly.
“I did that on purpose, you know. To win you over,” she teased. “I heard you were a bloomers kind of guy.”
His bark of laughter at her outrageous claim as they lay there together naked in the sparse shade of the mesquite trees solidified her decision. Oh yes, she would enjoy herself completely with her new husband. Riley adored the fact that they both seemed to be learning and exploring each other for the first time. She could tell when John hesitated that he was having a flashback of how things had gone wrong with his first wife. She reassured him that she would not break or get upset. She wanted to wipe the doubt from his eyes and seemed to only break through when she seemed to shock him or make him laugh.
“Can I speak frankly?” she teased as he carefully touched her, causing him to stop touching her instantly. At his nod, and by the way he froze suddenly, she figured he was worried. Having him kiss her neck only was not going to do it for her. The itch needed to be scratched. She wanted to have the best time of her life in his arms.
“I want you to do anything you want to me,” she purred, cupping his face and licking his bottom lip. “And if you do, I will do the same for you. But only after you make me scream with pleasure.”
Riley grinned as his eyes shot wide open in shock. For the barest moment, she thought maybe she had gone too far with him. After all, she was talking trash to a man who had never been goaded like that before… until she heard his reaction.
“Oh, hot, damned woman,” he growled deep from his throat and pounced on her like a hungry lion on a helpless lamb. Apparently, he had been restraining himself quite a bit! Riley had never been devoured like she was today. She had been horny before. But now, she was mindless with desire. When her body found release, she was certain that there wasn’t a bone left in her body and equally sure that she had scared away every bird for miles.
While she’d had sex before, this was all encompassing. John’s mouth and hands were everywhere. He practically curled around her, inside of her and gripped her as if their lives depended on it. When he finally took her, she loved it! Riley had never shaken so hard when she came, nor had she laughed and cried at the same time.
It was glorious!
If trumpets had sounded around her, she would have had the same reaction and felt the same joy. She felt like she had separated from her body and that their souls were so focused on becoming one. There was no Riley or John but simply their shared pleasure. When John found his release in her, his essence flooded her womb just as it tore an unearthly roar from deep within his soul. She panicked momentarily at hearing him, until he cradled her and whispered sweet nothings in her ear.
“That meant the world to me,” he murmured. “Thank you, Honey.”
Riley sighed with contentment. She would have never screwed someone back home in the middle of the day, in a field. This was mind-blowing, earth-shaking, brain-quaking, rocking sex! His idea of making love was simply amazing and she was married to him. This meant she could have that whenever she wanted! Holy guacamole!
“Let’s do it again,” she whispered wickedly and was rewarded with laughter that shook the trees.
Chapter 9
They spent the rest of the afternoon exploring each other and swimming between bouts of pleasure. It was wonderful to have the stars come out above her head as they exploded inside of her time and time again. John must have had quite a bit of pent up frustration and desires, because he seemed to be relentless. The man never stopped! If she smiled at him, he was ready. If she kissed his cheek, he was ready. She sneezed at one point and was certain he had a hard on! It was fantastic but she was certain that she would be sore unless he eased up.
“I’m getting a bit tender,” she admitted, embarrassed. “Mind if we just cuddle for a bit?”
Looking sheepish, he pulled her into his arms and they lay there for some time. She loved listening to him talk. But now that she had revealed her
own past, he had so many questions. She wasn’t sure what she could or could not tell him since there really hadn’t been any restraints given other than her cursing. She told him of her time at Columbia and what a cell phone was. He seemed amazed that she could be connected to anyone in the world or look up anything on something the size of a bar of soap. It fascinated him and brought on so many more questions, too.
“You don’t have to return, do you?” he asked finally.
“I don’t believe so.” Riley hesitated, not knowing for certain. Did she want to? Kinda. He was amazing but it felt so foreign here. So different. It would be a hard life with so many challenges. No vaccinations, no real medicine. There were so many things rolling through her mind that begged her head to try to return home. But her heart? Her heart told her “meh, you’ll learn and love every second of it as John’s wife”.
“But you don’t know for certain?”
“No,” she admitted. “I really don’t know.”
“Then I guess we will make the best of our time,” he promised. “If you have to leave me, I want there to be so many memories that we never miss each other.”
Riley felt tears threaten as the intensity of his voice revealed his fear. He would miss her if she left. “That sounds perfect.”
“You are perfect,” he told her. “Perfect for me.”
“Stop it,” she teased, “You will turn a girl’s head.”
“I hope so,” he quipped softly.
Sometime later when she began shivering in the cooler night air, he suggested they return back to the house. It felt like so many barriers had been broken out here under the trees and stars that she was hesitant to return. He helped her into the overdress only, gathering up her bloomers, corset and wet chemise. Riley shook off the quilt and folded it neatly, tucking it under one arm. John grasped her free hand, gave her knuckles a kiss and then held it as they walked together through the moonlight. She couldn’t have picked a better way to finish out the day. She didn’t feel alone, but part of a team. His partner. His wife.
A Lifetime with You: Timeswept Soulmates Page 10
