An Original Sin (20 page)

Laying her hand against his bare chest, she rubbed in soothing circular strokes until she felt him begin to relax. Eventually, she thought he slept.

Just as her lids drooped shut, he laughed. His face pressed to the side of her breast, she felt his laughter rather than heard it. “What’re you laughing at?”

“Ganymede. Dinna ye wonder how the cursed cat appears wherever we go? How did he follow us to the mall? How did he get into the theater and find us?” Propping himself up on one elbow, he stared down at her. “And why did he climb into my lap at the movie? He ne’er chooses me over ye.”

“Maybe you needed him more.”

“Ye’re daft, woman.” She heard the amusement in his voice.

She could barely keep her eyes open. “I don’t know, but can’t we discuss this tomorrow?”

Leith lowered himself until his mouth almost touched hers. “Do ye know what I think?”

Something in his tone had her suddenly alert. “What?”

“I think Ganymede has something to do wi’ our trip through time.”

At the foot of the bed, a dark shape rose from the covers to watch them with gleaming amber eyes.

Uh-oh. The cat’s outa the bag, no pun intended. I didn’t expect them to catch on so quick. I shoulda known. Leith’s smart, just like me. Maybe I overplayed my hand a little.

I shoulda stayed away from the mall, but I gotta admit I like bein’ with them. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not goin’ all mushy, but I’m a normal kinda guy. After all those centuries of bein’ alone, I could get used to havin’ some company.

So what can I say; I felt sorry for Leith. Look, I’ve got some things in my own closet I wish coulda gone in a different direction. Don’t tell the Big Guy this, but sometimes I sorta yearn for a different job description.

Guess we all do what we gotta do, though. Right now I’d better take care of business. But I’ll work on bein’ more careful.

Good thing humans never look too much past externals. They look at me and see a cat. A cat couldn’t have caused all their misery, could it? Nah.

They don’t even suspect that ice-cream man, and he’s pretty obvious. At least I took care of him for a while. Did you see the look on his face? No, of course you didn’t. Hey, he was lucky. A few more seconds and his skinny butt would’ve decorated the potted ferns along with his drivetrain.

But his kind never gives up easy. He’ll be back as soon as he restocks. Bet he doesn’t do too much messin’ around with me anymore. He wants to get to Leith and Fortune. He can try, but I’m tellin’ you he’ll have to go through me first, and that won’t be easy. They’re my humans, and he’d better keep his mitts off them or else I’ll stuff his Fudgsicles…

Relax. Forget the ice-cream jerk. Think happy thoughts like that last great earthquake.

So I guess I’d better cool it with Leith and Fortune from now on. Besides, looks like they’re doin’ OK without me. Who woulda believed? I mean, I busted my butt to find a touch-me-and-you’re-dead virgin and a man who lives to love. Complete opposites, right? Should hate each other’s guts, right? Looked great on paper. Never can figure with humans, though.

“Ganymede? You think Ganymede’s responsible for this?” He had her full attention now. “He’s only a cat, Leith.”

As though he realized they were talking about him, Ganymede crept up from his resting place at the foot of the bed and lay purring on top of Fortune. She reached up to scratch behind his ears. “Is Leith picking on my kitty?”

“God’s teeth, woman, think about it.” Leith winced as Ganymede transferred his ample body to Leith’s bare torso and began to knead contentedly with his sharp claws. “Where did Ganymede come from?”

“There has to be a logical explanation.”

“Look around ye, Fortune, and tell me about yer logical explanations.”

Leith could sense her worrying at the problem. “He must be a stray that wandered into the room somehow. That’s it.”

“Dinna ye think it strange that he goes where’er we go? How did he find us in the mall?”

“I…I don’t know, but I refuse to believe he’s some evil demon responsible for all this.”

Ganymede seemed to suddenly lose his zest for digging holes in Leith’s flesh and crept back to the foot of the bed.

Leith couldn’t keep himself from asking, “Is this so verra unpleasant, Fortune?” He’d wanted the question to come out firm, direct. Instead it sounded soft, tentative. He grimaced.

From the silence, he assumed she was thinking.

“This has been the most exciting time of my life, but I don’t feel right here. I miss the familiarity of home, people I know, places I go, my work. I really miss my work.”

“Making men?” Would he be just a fading memory once she returned to her time?

“Yes. It’s fulfilling.”

“Aye.” Did she get more pleasure from a fantasy than from the real thing? A fantasy was perfect. It didn’t argue, didn’t grow old, and would never embarrass her with “primitive” behavior.

Could he compete with a fantasy?
Bloody hell, yes.
No fantasy could’ve wrung the cries of ecstasy from her that he had as she’d wrapped her long legs tightly around him…He took a deep breath. Just thinking about it made him hard.

“OK, let’s back up. It’s not particularly the making of men that’s fulfilling. It’s the creative process. I miss it.”

He didn’t want to examine his feeling of relief. “Ye could do the same thing here. Mayhap not men, but something that would satisfy ye.”

“I won’t be here long enough to need a career.” She moved closer to him. An indication she didn’t feel as certain as she sounded? “If I didn’t need to take you with me, I could probably go back to the rest-over room and be home by morning.”

“According to yer belief, if it werena for me ye wouldna be here at all.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She didn’t fight him. “I will ne’er go back to that room wi’ ye. So what will ye do? Will ye take some other poor man, one wi’ a family, children? Do ye think ye have the right?”

“I don’t know, Leith. God, I don’t know.” She snuggled closer to his side, drawing strength from his warmth, his solidness. From the memory of his powerful, sweat-sheened
body poised above her, filling her.
No.
She had to erase that memory, because remembering would increase the wanting, the need. And she knew with a certainty born of a woman’s instinct that desire for Leith, and only Leith, would destroy her.

Before being catapulted into this time, everything had been black-and-white. Either something was right or wrong, and differences were always clear-cut. Now? Did the end justify the means? Did she have the right to force Leith into the future for the survival of the human race, for the good of humanity? Probably. Did she want him to return with her? Definitely. Then why did she feel like the worst kind of traitor?

She’d have to make up her mind soon, though. Before she got too used to having him with her. Before she couldn’t do what had to be done.

And what had to be done? He wouldn’t go on his own, so she’d have to force him somehow.
Force him.
Even the thought made her feel dirty, and not just because it went against everything she’d ever been taught. He was…a friend. And you didn’t force friends.
And is he more than a friend? Would you have mated with someone who was just a friend?

Mated.
Such a cold word for what had been explosive white light and searing blue flame. Even the iron will she’d used to survive a loveless childhood, to forge a successful business out of women’s needs, couldn’t hold back her memories of Leith. The warm, salty taste of his skin, the slick glide of smooth muscles and hard flesh across her body, the scent of hot male, sex, and…the sweet perfume of a small yellow flower.

She had to distract her thoughts right now or risk everything by begging him to mate with her again. Either that or return to the hard floor and its beady-eyed inhabitants.

Fine.
She’d start making plans. Relaxing into him, she listened to his even breathing, knew he’d fallen asleep. OK, not tonight. She wouldn’t make plans tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

A dark shadow leaped from the foot of the bed and disappeared through the open window. Ganymede. Had her small furry friend merely wandered into their rest-over room; was he a hitchhiker on time’s endless highway? Or could there be a more sinister reason for the black cat’s presence?

The brooding, starless night, combined with the cool breeze smelling of rain, was putting her in a fanciful mood. She needed the bright sunlight of morning to get her back on track.

Leith would be just a man, one her world desperately needed. Everything would seem reasonable then. Ganymede would be just a stray cat, one she’d hate to leave behind, but just a cat.

She edged closer to Leith and stared at the curtains blowing softly in the night breeze.
Just a man? Never.

Leith climbed out of the taxi and stared at the castle while Fortune paid the taxi driver. At least by tomorrow they’d have more money. He’d given Mary’s check to Blade, and Blade had promised he’d have money for Leith by tonight.

He heard the taxi pull away and walked toward the door without waiting for Fortune to join him. He didn’t want her to see his face, his pain. The powers asked much of him if they expected him to tear open the healing wounds of Glencoe day after day. But if he must do so to return to Scotland, so be it.

He heard Fortune’s running steps, and then she was beside him, tucking her arm through his. “We have all day, remember?”

Her laughter washed away his dour thoughts. She brought with her the present—a sunny day with a clear blue sky, a green stretch of lawn dotted with live oak trees.

If he never returned to Scotland, could he find peace here? He was stuck in this time, if Fortune’s theory was right, because he’d never go back to the hotel room with her.

He cast her a sideways glance and caught her watching him. She smiled up at him. Yes, he’d always miss Scotland, and yes, there’d always be a feeling of things left unfinished. But if Fortune stayed…

What if Fortune was wrong? What if, in the middle of the night with her body warm beside him, she suddenly disappeared? He shivered, a cool breeze trailing over his skin. Clenching his fists, he rejected the idea. It wouldn’t happen. But what if it did?

Ignoring the doorbell, he raised his fists to pound on the massive wooden door. He needed to beat on something, and the door was convenient. But he was cheated of the satisfaction as the door swung open before he could touch it.

Stephanie. Her gaze swept slowly over his body. He felt the urge to place his hands protectively over his manhood. He’d met women like her, and even enjoyed a few, but it had been like mating with a she-wolf—exciting if you liked being eaten alive. His manhood indicated no interest in repeating the experience.

Fortune leaned into his side and smiled at Stephanie. “Could you tell Mary we’re here?”

“Umm.” She licked her lips and dragged her gaze from Leith. “That’s okay. You can come in. Mary’s expecting you.” She stopped and blinked. “You brought your cat?”

Leith frowned. By unspoken agreement, they’d ignored Ganymede as he’d leaped into the taxi with them. Manipulated by a cat.
A cat?
Suspicion again poked at him.
Ganymede’s appearance had been so convenient, his tenaciousness in staying with them so determined. Ganymede stared at him with large, guileless eyes, or as guileless as any cat’s eyes could be.

“We canna leave him home.”
Truer than ye know.
“He’s part of our family, and would feel insulted.”
Family
?

“What ever floats your boat, I suppose.”

He could hear the shrug in her voice…and the amusement. The sudden fierce flare of protectiveness toward his “family” surprised him. The sound of footsteps kept him from an examination of his feelings.

“There you are.” Mary Campbell pulled off the gloves she wore and stuffed them in the pocket of her jeans. She grasped Leith’s hand warmly and smiled at Fortune. “I was just working with my plants. The gardener does most of the tough stuff, but I like to putter around.” Still holding Leith’s hand, she led him toward the stairs. “I have to confess to being nosy. I couldn’t wait to see what you’d written, so I took a peek.” She squeezed his hand. “Marvelous. Absolutely marvelous.”

Releasing his hand, she paused at the bottom of the stairs and turned to face him. “I’ve decided to take full advantage of your time here, Leith. I don’t want just a bare-bones list of events. I want everything.” She flung her hands in a wide arc. “People’s emotions. How did they feel during the massacre, afterward? And the consequences. How did the massacre affect the lives of ordinary people? Can you do it?”

“Aye.”
By ripping out my heart and soul.

“Good, good.” She bent down to brush soil from the knees of her jeans. “You’ll be happy to know the mystery of the ice-cream man is solved. I talked to a few neighbors after you left. Carol Davis said he stopped by her house right after her husband had open-heart surgery. She was
feeling pretty worried, and before she knew what was happening she’d told the ice-cream man everything. He gave her a free cone along with some advice that calmed her right down. Same thing happened when Joan Carlson’s little boy fell out of a tree and broke his leg. The ice-cream man was right there to help. Strange that I’ve never seen him. But no matter how many good deeds he’s done, he’ll still have to answer to me for the mess he made of my lawn.”

Satisfied no dirt remained on her jeans, she smiled at Fortune and Leith. “Well, have a good day with your work, and lunch will be at noon.” She turned just before leaving the room. “Oh, I almost forgot. I borrowed several books from the library that you might need for research. I thought you’d want to find out what happened years later, get a wider historical perspective on the whole thing. I think I left them on the couch.” For the first time, she seemed to realize Stephanie stood watching them. “Come along, Stephanie. You can help me with my plants.”

The expression on Stephanie’s face as she followed Mary from the room didn’t bode well for the plants.

Deep in his own thoughts of wounds he must probe to satisfy Mary’s desire for “emotion,” Leith trailed Fortune up the winding stairs. But even those thoughts couldn’t stop his gaze from following the tantalizing sway of her hips. And so when she suddenly stumbled, fell forward, and braced her hands on the step above her, he found himself at eye level with that most intriguing part of her body, her nicely rounded bottom. Instinctively, he reached out with both hands to steady that bottom. Then, of course, he had to smooth his fingers over each wondrous curve to make sure it had suffered no damage.

With a startled gasp, Fortune straightened, then promptly fell backward.

Leith caught her and pulled her tightly against him. A part of his body that was always alert to possibilities swelled in anticipation. “ ’Tis lucky I was here to catch ye.”

“I was fine until you grabbed me.”

He didn’t imagine the slight breathlessness of her voice, and for all her outraged words, she didn’t move away from him.

“I dinna need thanks. ’Tis part of a warrior’s calling to save clumsy women who canna go up or down steps wi’out tripping.” Leaning down, he gently kissed the side of her neck where her pulse pounded a rapid beat. He breathed in her scent of warm woman and—