by Linda Mooney
A sound at the back of the cottage put her on immediate alert. She froze in place and listened to see if it repeated. She checked outside again for any sign of movement.
The face popped up on the other side of the glass and stared back at her in shock. She barely registered the man’s dirt-encrusted expression, the bloodshot brown eyes, and scraggly beard, when her survival mode kicked in. Lunging for her backpack, she swung it over her head, letting it drop across her shoulders as she ran to the nearest bedroom.
She barely caught the guy yelling to others, alerting them to the presence of someone inside, when she burst into the bedroom and went straight to the window. She counted on the fact that the men would try to enter through the front and rear doors, and not watch the windows, especially the ones on the side of the house. It would take them a few seconds to break through the locked doors. She hoped it would give her enough time to get away.
Pushing aside the dusty curtains, she fumbled with the lock before she managed to undo it, threw up the sash, and climbed out, falling onto the hard ground. Getting to her feet, she took off, running directly away from the cottage instead of going around it. She needed to disappear into the cover of the landscape as quickly as she could without one of the men seeing her escape.
This was not her lucky day.
“Hey! There she goes!”
“Which way?”
“That way! Towards the shed!”
Shed?
It loomed up suddenly in front of her. She swerved to avoid running into it, when she saw a shovel sitting propped up against the side of the structure. She snatched it up as she pounded past the building, gripping it tightly until she encountered the barbwire fence. Without thinking, she rammed the end of the shovel into the ground, then used it to pole vault over the wire. It took her a split second to consider stopping and retrieving the weapon, decided against it, and kept going as the sounds of the men yelling to each other steadily grew closer.
She knew she was leaving a clear track for them to follow as she blundered through the brush, but it couldn’t be helped. The fence also gave them some trouble, enabling her to gain a little headway, but they began to make up for it. She heard them getting closer as her legs began to give way. She was weak from not eating, her head pounding. The rush of adrenaline that had helped her get out of the cottage and over the fence was waning. And along with it, her last reserves of energy.
She stumbled and hit a tree with her arm. The jolt to her body and shoulder went straight to her spine, and she cried out from the pain. She fought to remain on her feet and keep going, but by this time one or more of the men were so close, she could hear them huffing and puffing as they raced to catch up with her. They made no effort to be quiet, whooping and hollering as they threw verbal jabs at her to try and intimidate her.
“How about we party, baby?”
“It’s party time! I got a lollipop you can suck on!”
“Aldo, you take the right. I’ll take the left.”
They were splitting off, hoping to put her in a pincer move. Her only hope was to keep going straight and outrun them, but that option was quickly fading. She needed a miracle when she knew none existed anymore.
A dense group of trees loomed ahead. She realized she wouldn’t be able to go through them. She had to go around them. But that meant she’d have to veer directly into the path of one of those men.
Lowering her head, she tried to put on a burst of speed to avoid capture, when her backpack was jerked on hard. Her feet went out from under her, and she fell onto her side. The impact knocked the wind out of her, but it didn’t matter. The man who’d snagged her fell on top of her. She tried to fight him off when his buddy arrived. Both of them laughed as they fumbled with the enclosures to her down jacket.
“Come on, bitch! Let’s see what ‘cha got under there!”
One man reached up underneath her coat, grabbed the waistband of her jeans, and tried to pull them over her hips and buttocks. Emlee struggled, clawing and scratching the man pinning her down. He yelled as she drew blood. She saw him make a fist and bring it down, and intense pain blasted through her cheek and eye, numbing her brain, stunning her motionless.
“Let’s see you try that again, bitch!” The voice was faint and far away. And then there was…
Silence.
She blinked and tried to focus, but it was nearly impossible to make out anything through the dark haze. She heard more talking, indistinct, fuzzy. Then the weight was gone, allowing her to breathe again. There was some kind of struggle, and all grew quiet again.
“Shhh.”
A hand touched her undamaged cheek. She tried to bat it away, when another voice spoke. A deeper voice. A third man.
“It’s okay. You’re going to be okay. We’ve taken care of those guys. They won’t hurt you again. Can you stand?”
There was rustling. She became aware of another man running up.
“Was that all of them? Just the two?” another voice asked.
That voice.
A face floated before her. A face that matched that voice.
Hands gently reached underneath her to help her sit up. A cold rag was pressed to her bruised face. She flinched, and that voice spoke again. Tenderly. With tears filling every word.
“It’s going to be okay, Emlee. You’re safe now.”
She blinked, fighting through the fog. The face reappeared. The reddish hair was longer. A slightly darker beard covered his cheeks and chin. An older face than the one she remembered, but the eyes were unchanged. Those bright blue eyes that defied description.
Her chest caved in, and she let out a gasp that turned into a sob.
“Mykail?”
The face smiled. “Hello, my Emlee. Finally. Let’s go home.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mossbeck
Someone helped remove her backpack. She didn’t try to fight them for possession. She knew it didn’t matter. All she could focus on was the man lifting her into his arms and cradling her head against his shoulder.
He carried her away from the spot where she’d been attacked. She had no idea what had happened to the two men who’d tried to rape and kill her, but she knew it was no longer an issue. She refused to look behind them to see if the bodies were lying there, or to ask. It didn’t matter.
She was safe.
And Mykail…
“Mykail.” She reached up to touch the beard, noticing for the first time the lines in his face. The subtle differences in the Mykail she’d met in the past, as compared to the one she saw now. The toll that six years of brutal living conditions had left in his appearance. “You’re older now,” she softly commented.
His grin widened, and he chuckled. “Hope you like older men,” he quipped.
She nuzzled his neck and received a squeeze in response. “How? How are you here? How did you know it was me?”
He chuckled again. “I didn’t. Not at first. We heard those guys yelling, and could tell they were up to no good. They were heading straight for us, so Dallas and I waited to see what was going on. You rushed right by us, and that’s when I recognized you. You haven’t changed a bit since I last saw you,” he added teasingly.
They continued to trudge through the dense foliage. The man following them must have been the one named Dallas.
Nuzzling his warm neck, she allowed herself to relax and closed her eyes. “I went to the marina, but you were already gone.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“I went back to wait for you, but I saw the marina had been destroyed. I kept going back for over a week in the hope you had survived. But after a while, I believed you either were dead, or you hadn’t returned to the past.” He dropped a soft kiss to her forehead. The brush of his facial hair tickled. “You went back to the future when you were in the bathroom, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to.”
“Did you ever figure out how you were able to go back and forth?�
��
“Yeah.” She smiled and looked up at him. “Your clothes.”
He gave her a surprised stare. “My clothes?”
“The clothes right out of your trunk. When I put them on, here in the future, they sent me to your time.”
“Then how did you…”
“The t-shirt and jeans I’d been wearing? You know, the grizzly shirt? After you washed them while I was taking a shower, it seemed to strip that power from them. So when I put them back on, I returned to the future.” She caressed his cheek. “I put the gym shorts on to return to the past. I was at the marina when it was attacked. I fell into the water, but I managed to crawl out.”
“And you returned again to the future?”
“Yeah. Falling into the water stripped them, too. I tried to come back to you. I tried, but I couldn’t return to you, Mykail. I couldn’t return to you.” Tears burned in her eyes, and she clutched his neck and shoulders. “Please tell me I’m not hallucinating. Please tell me this is real. Please. Tell me.”
He stopped and lowered her legs carefully until she was standing, his arms never releasing her. Cupping her undamaged cheek, he gazed down into her eyes. He started to say something. Instead, he bent over to kiss her, laying his lips lightly against hers. She tried to respond, but the pain was too great. Instead, she savored the feel of his mouth touching hers. She didn’t know she was crying again until he pulled back and swiped away the tears with his fingertips.
“Does that convince you?”
“You waited for me?”
“I hoped I was wrong. I prayed you were still alive. That somehow you’d returned to your time, and I had to be patient. I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again, but I had this belief that whatever brought us together the first time would bring us back together. All I had to do was stay alive and wait.”
She stared into those brilliant blue eyes until the tears blurred her vision. Reaching up to him, she guided his face back down until they kissed again. With his lips on hers, he lifted her back up into his arms.
“Myk, we gotta keep moving,” Dallas softly warned.
Mykail broke the kiss and nodded.
“Where are we going?” she questioned.
“Mossbeck. It used to be a campsite for special needs children.” He smiled at her. “A couple of guys made it a place of safety for their families and a few friends. About twenty of us live there now. It has several cabins and a high wall around it. The wall was initially there to prevent one of the kids from wandering away. It’s become our first defense against groups of people who want to get in.”
“And you live there now?”
“Yeah. Ever since a friend of yours found me and led me there.”
“What friend?” She tried to think of who he was talking about, but she came up blank.
Mykail threw her another grin. “You’ll see.”
“What happened to the sailboat?”
“I guess it’s still where I anchored it. I went back to it one time to remove everything I felt we could use. Haven’t been back since.”
They entered a small clearing, and Emlee got her first glimpse of the wall he’d mentioned. It was a tall structure. One that would take a long ladder to climb over. Mykail carried her around to where there were a set of double doors. Above them was an arch bearing the word MOSSBECK in large letters. Behind them, a short length of road led down to a lake. Adjacent to the road lay what she assumed had been a parking lot, but the asphalt had long ago given way to vegetation.
Dallas pounded on the door. “It’s Dallas and Mykail, and a rescue. Open up!”
One of the doors swung outward, and they entered the campsite. Once they were inside, Mykail stopped. “Can you walk?”
“I’ll try.”
He set her back onto her feet, but kept a grip on her arm to prevent her from falling. “First thing we need to do is have Ian take a look at your face.”
“Who’s Ian?
“Ian MaGrath. He’s what you could call our resident doctor. Well, he is a doctor. A pediatrician.”
Emlee glanced around the campsite. Narrow gravel paths crisscrossed each other between the several small cabins that dotted the interior. Each path ended in a short ramp at the door of each building. Picnic tables sat scattered beneath the trees. She glimpsed a larger one-story further down.
Several people saw her walking with Mykail as they headed toward one of the cabins that had a sign with a blue and white caduceus nailed to the wall by the door. They stared at her in curiosity, but no one said anything or approached them. When they reached the building, Mykail gave a perfunctory knock, then opened the door to go inside.
“Hey, Ian! Got a patient for you!”
A middle-aged man entered from a back room. Tall and lean, and wearing a pair of glasses, he flashed a set of perfectly white teeth at them. “Mykail! Whaddaya got for me? Oh, hello. What’s your name?” He graced her with a warm smile.
“Ian, this is Emlee,” Mykail informed him.
The doctor paused, his eyes widening. He gave Mykail a hesitant look. “The Emlee?”
Mykail snorted, his grin widening. “Yeah. Incredible, isn’t it?”
“To say the least!” Ian reached up, taking her chin in his fingertips, and slowly turned her face to where he could examine her bruised side. “Are you in a lot of pain?”
“At the moment, no, but it’s throbbing.”
“How did this happen?”
“Two guys were chasing her. She got tackled, and when she fought back, one of the men clobbered her in the face.”
Ian raised an eyebrow at him. “I take it I don’t have to worry about treating those men.”
“They’re indisposed at this time,” Mykail replied enigmatically, but she got the impression “indisposed” was a permanent term.
The man released her. “Come into an examination room and sit on the table so I can check you further.”
He led her into the same rear room he’d emerged from. Emlee gratefully collapsed on the padded seat.
“When was the last time you ate anything?” Ian inquired as he washed his hands from a bowl set inside a sink in the cabinet. Emlee stared at the pitcher he’d poured water out of and into the bowl he was using.
“I had an orange a couple of days ago.”
“That’s what I thought. Myk, this young lady needs something to eat. Go fetch her something from the mess hall. Something soft, so she won’t have to chew.”
“Will do.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her hair. “I won’t be long.”
As soon as he left the room, the doctor gave her a stern look. “I need you to answer me a couple of questions. Have you been raped?”
“No.”
“Do you have any other injuries besides your face?”
“Not recent ones.”
The doctor grunted and reached for her cheek. “Let me know if I hurt you.”
He lightly prodded, extending his search from her ear to her eye, and down to her jaw. He was almost finished with the examination when Mykail re-entered the room with a tray bearing a bowl and a glass of water.
“What’s the verdict?” Mykail asked, setting the tray on the cabinet. He handed her the water. Emlee stared at the straw propped in the glass, but didn’t question it, and drank deeply.
“Her cheekbone’s definitely broken. Maybe the eye socket, too. Not seriously, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s multiple hairline fractures.”
“What can you do for her?”
“At this point, not much except give her pain tablets and advise lots of bedrest. And all the food she can eat.” He leaned back and addressed her directly. “I can bandage it, but you basically just need to keep it immobile. Want me to wrap it?”
“I’d rather you don’t.”
“Okay. But if the pain worsens, or you change your mind, come see me.” He gave her another generous smile. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you, Emlee.”
She tossed Mykail a confused look. “You told the
m about me?”
“We both did,” a voice in the doorway answered.
Emlee gasped at the sight of the man standing there. Like Mykail and the doctor, he wore a full beard, but she recognized his voice.
“Officer Apsteen?” She tried to say more, but all coherent thought had left her. “H-how…”
“Here.” Mykail took the glass from her and replaced it with the bowl. “Eat this, and we’ll tell you everything.”
“Tell her the short version,” Ian ordered. “She needs bedrest as soon as she’s done. There’ll be plenty of time to tell her the whole story later on.”
Mykail and Apsteen agreed, but not before Emlee shared a welcoming hug with the former police officer.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Birds
His mouth suckled her breast, drawing on the hard nipple with slow, teasing pulls. His hand played with her other breast, rolling that nipple between his fingers.
Emlee groaned with pleasure and tried to roll over to face him, but he stopped her. “Don’t move. Lie still and enjoy.”
She obeyed, smiling lopsidedly to keep from stretching the damaged side of her face. Through her closed eyelids she could tell it was almost dawn. Sunlight shone through the partially-open curtains above the bed.
Mykail trailed his mouth down her belly as his hand continued to fondle her breast. His beard tickled, arousing her further. He knew it did, and used it to his advantage. As he licked and nuzzled her goosepimpled flesh, his other hand insinuated itself between her legs and lower lips. She spread her legs to give him easier access, and he went straight for her clit.
She writhed on her back as he manipulated her, drawing her closer to her release. Between his body heat and the heavy blanket covering them, she felt the perspiration coating her skin. When he slid his fingers inside her and began to pump her, she moaned, burying her hands in his thick, curly hair.
