Love of Her Lives (17 page)

“I meant you.” He kissed her lips good morning.

“You smell pretty good yourself,” she said after the kiss. “I got right on breakfast because you wanted to go somewhere today?” She passed him the hot egg sandwich.

“Thanks.” He devoured half the sandwich in one bite. “Very good. We’re going to that market just down the highway. There’s a phone for you to check in with your father and the real estate woman.”

“Do you think it’s safe to be seen there?”

His mouth was set tight. “We need to go, Beth. Don’t worry, I’ll not let any harm come to you.”

She relaxed her concern and wiped crumbs off the counter into the sink. He was right. They couldn’t expect to stay hidden indefinitely.

• • •

Calum snatched the keys from Beth. “I’m driving.”

“You don’t have a license to drive.”

He looked out over the vacant hills. Not much of a danger to humanity here. “How do people learn to drive?”

“It’s called graduated licensing.”

“Get in the car, Beth.”

She got in.

A few minutes later, Beth commented on what a fast study he was. It was charming in the fine morning, luxurious to picture their life like this. Was she thinking the same? Too much of a wish, perhaps. He sensed that she’d put herself in his hands to see her through this crisis, but would she remain there if given the choice? She’d not asked if he was there to stay. Guilt unfurled in his stomach with that thought, but there wasn’t much to be done about it. With their eternal bond at risk, he couldn’t reveal he’d soon be taken from her. She would never allow herself to fall back in love with him.

They drove for nearly thirty minutes before Beth noticed.

“Uh, Calum?” Her voice dipped off an eerie edge. “Why haven’t we reached the store? Did we miss a cutoff? Wait a minute; I don’t remember seeing any road signs since we left the cabin. That’s strange.”

When he slowed the car to a stop, he turned to face her. He hadn’t wanted to alarm her until he knew for sure, but this ‘trip into town’ had confirmed his suspicions. There was no town. “We didn’t miss the cutoff. Beth, be assured there’s no need to panic, but we may not be precisely where we thought.”

Her eyes darted across the countryside. “What do you mean by that?”

“I think Finn has led us somewhere just a wee bit off Earth.”

“Cripes! Don’t say that.” She grabbed the dash as if to hold the car down. “Why would you even think something like that? Where could we possibly be?”

“I could take a guess. Each dimension follows its own physical laws, so it’s complicated, but I’ll try to explain it as best I can. The universe is a multidimensional space in which lies a complex web of field lines that Finn is able to modify. I would guess he has rotated us through to another dimension. But, Beth, it’s quite safe. Don’t worry — ”

“Don’t worry? Are you insane? How is this not something to worry about?” She rolled her top lip over the bottom. “I’ve been pretty good with all this, Calum, with the thousand–year thing and the space warp and the immortal Finn, but what you’re suggesting? Rotated us a wee bit off Earth?
That
is pushing it!”

She slammed the door shut behind her. Calum got out and followed her storm cloud up the road, jogging a few paces to catch up.

“How could we possibly
not be on Earth?” she reasoned. “We didn’t say ‘open sesame,’ we didn’t fly over any rainbows, there were no black holes, so you are mistaken. And in case you’ve forgotten, this is exactly what Earth looks like. Those are maple trees for goodness sake, so I’m going to walk over there and I’ll see a highway with General Motors cars and a roadside bakery with actual humans eating
tourtières
, and then you are going to feel rather foolish, Bucko.”

“I’ve checked all directions from the cabin. Driving this far without reaching an intersection or seeing a road sign is confirmation enough. Nothing is out there but mountain, Beth. We’re in Finn’s world now.”

Beth’s bottom lip quivered. “
This
is a problem. You couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you? Who’s to say I’m in any less shit than I’d be in if I’d never left Ashbury. As a matter of fact, I don’t see how this couldn’t be the most shit any one has ever been in — just a wee bit off Earth! What the hell is that? See what happens when I lose control of my life? I want to go home, Calum. I want to go home now!”

“We have to wait for Finn. My guess is he’s removed us from danger. After all, he shifted you out of Matthew’s car when you were threatened.” Calum thought Finn’s game was the reason for the relocation, but one never knew what motivated Finn.

“Don’t say another word. Take the car. Go back to the cabin. I’ll find my way there.”

“Ah, no.”

“No?” Her eyes flashed furiously. She looked ready to punch something. When Calum took a step back, she directed her fury to an apple–sized rock and kicked it off the ground. Dust flew as she kicked another and another.

“That behaviour is of no help,” he said.

She stopped in mid–kick, narrowed her glare, shifted slightly and kicked a stone a finger width past his right leg. Now
that
was uncalled for. He crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes to match hers.

“The elfin folk don’t take kindly to mortals who disrespect nature, and they’re a bit sensitive to moods, so it’d be best to cool your temper, since we don’t know our exact whereabouts.” He didn’t miss the irony in him advocating for temperament change.

“Is that so? Well, you can tell your elfin folk friends that this mortal doesn’t take kindly to being manipulated like a checker piece. I don’t recall asking for elf help.” Her mouth twitched at that declaration, but she bit back any humour and fixed a scowl back in place.

“I’ll not leave you here alone. You take all the time you need. I’ll wait.” He walked back to the car and looked out over the mountain.

Finn! Make an appearance, he willed.

“Patience, human!” spilled from the ether.

“Finn!”

But once again Calum’s plea went unanswered.

What the hell was he supposed to have done differently? He’d gotten them bumped off Earth. There was benefit to it. They appeared to be safe. And being here with him — was it so bad? This was paradise. She’d not been complaining. Jacuzzi foot rubs, walks in the woods, languishing by the fireside — she had the whole damn bed to herself. Aye, it’d been terribly rough on the lass.

Beth returned to the car and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Better now?” he asked.

“No.” The woman was frosty.

“Come now, Beth, get over it. We have everything we need. It’s not so appalling. Can we not make the most of it?”

“Get over it? Easy for you to say, Mister Upper Worlds. I liked my world just fine.” She turned her back on him.

He came up behind her and talked over her shoulder. “I know you’re afraid.” His lips brushed her ear. “I’m asking you to trust me. We are not dealing with your world any longer. This is Finn’s world, and as much as it abhors you, this is about pleasure and decadence. We are to enjoy it, Beth, and be patient.”

“Did you talk to him?”

“No. He asked for patience, that was it.” Demanded was more like it, but Calum didn’t want to make Finn sound anything but compliant. It would only worry her.

“Let go, Beth,” he whispered in her ear. “You know what this is? This is our chance to be together again. Listen to your heart. That’s where you know me
,
inside. I’m not any man,
m’eudail
, I’m yours. Does your body not respond to me as if your flesh and bones know who I am? When you close your eyes, do you feel me?”

He moved aside her blouse and laid one kiss on her shoulder, one on her neck. Her tension relinquished, slightly. With a hand to her waist he eased her back against him, where
she belonged. He didn’t know how else to convince her of that truth but with his body. To feel it. He swept the hair from her neck and claimed her with his lips, his tongue, and his teeth until she let go a soft whimper.

His grip on her hip held tight.
I am yours, Bethia, but you best not forget, you belong to me.

She threw back her head and drew a long breath as his unshaven jaw rasped her neck. Her surrender followed. When she turned, he nudged her lips apart with his thumb, and then teased her with the tip of his tongue. Her lips parted, and he slid his lips across hers. There was no urgency. He loved the sensuous build from languorous and slow, the laying down of promises she would anticipate and he would keep. Like the feather touch of his fingertips over the sensitive skin mounding above her bra. He laid a promise there with a brush of his thumbs against the fabric covering her nipples. He knew she waged an interior battle to keep to her rules, knew how to unravel her resistance, knew she would suffer no regret when the time came.

The heat of her mouth instantly warmed the blood in his loins, but he wouldn’t be satisfied until her desire for him turned fierce. Perhaps when he submerged his tongue and stroked hers with long, lazy licks. Ah, she liked that. Her fingers raked through his hair. The taste of her need was sweet and freed a groan from his throat as her lips fastened on his tongue when he attempted to pull back. He could certainly tarry, so he slipped inside to ravage her mouth again.

Finally he lifted his mouth from hers. She was beautiful, skin flushed, lips swollen, eyes closed. “Feeling improved, lass?”

Her eyes opened as if from a dream. She sighed, but Calum read the lines of irritation still present in her brow.

“Am I kissed all better, do you mean?”

His smile was dry. Had he misread her? “Not quite yet, I see.”

“Not quite.”

“Shall I try again then?” He lowered his head.

“No, Calum, let’s go now.”

She drove them back, but didn’t stay. When Calum got out of the car, Beth reversed, and called out the window.

“I need some time alone. Don’t try and stop me. I’ll obviously be back.”

He let her go. What else could he do? Until Finn doled out the final task, he had nothing to do but ease Beth’s worries, temper his physical needs, and practice infinite patience.

• • •

Since the road into the cabin dead–ended, Beth headed back over the same route they had just taken, but she didn’t go far. What was the point? She only wanted to get far enough away so her thoughts were not gilded with pictures of getting naked with Calum.

He
did
kiss her better, surprisingly, though she’d not felt like admitting it. When he’d made those male sounds of pleasure–giving seduction in her ear and said he wasn’t any man, he was hers, an exquisite hot wave of arousal rippled through her. Calum wasn’t just heat–inducing, he was hazardous and could easily sweet–talk Fort Knox into tumbling open. No, he wasn’t any man. No man charged every particle in her body like he did.

Beth shut the engine off and got out of the car. So maybe they weren’t on Earth any more, she thought, slightly hysterical. They were somewhere spectacular, the air delicious, the sun savoury, the woods wanting and wild.

She needed to expend some energy. A brisk walk would ease her agitations and get her mind off seduction — focus on the pull of different muscles for a change.

Leaves rustled in the canopy high above a trail that looked inviting. She headed that way. What if she gave herself to Calum, her spirit guide warrior, gorgeous and impassioned and bloody good with his hands? She’d hardly experienced that sensuous mouth of his, not to mention what he had in his …

Oh! How easy her mind slipped into thinking about Calum’s body parts. She needed to focus on dire matters. Like how in this world was she going to get back to her world? It all came down to that Finn character. Calum said the immortal deferred to humans. She was human. Why couldn’t she summon Finn?

Beth stopped cold. A strange looking man sat with a casual air on a tree stump so close, she came to an abrupt halt to avoid smacking into him. Why had she not spotted him from farther back? Must be those camouflage clothes — he wore a comical green suit and a smile of pure mischief. His long white hair blew in a breeze that wafted Beth’s neck. Wait. Unless he was a Cirque du Soleil performer, no one could defy gravity like that. The seat of his pants hovered over the stump. There was no contact!

“Hello, Bethia,” he said.

Her heart thumped into her rib cage. She shrieked, turned, and ran in a beeline for her car with that strange wind tickling her nape.

The creature popped into place in front of her.

Ack! She skidded to a halt. How’d he do
that
? “That’s not fair!”

The elf being, for it couldn’t possibly be human, smiled. “You’ve no idea how fair I really am.”

“Perhaps we could discuss that later … in the next century.” She took a retreating step.

He smiled pleasantly. “
You
called me.”

“No, I didn’t. I would know if I did, and since I’ve no idea who you are, it’s safe to say I didn’t call you.”

He held his head at a regal tilt. “I go by many names. You’ve settled on Finn, so be it.”

“Pardon?” His name had blown over her like a puff of smoke, sounding something like ‘Phew.’

“You may pronounce it F–I–N Finn. You humans don’t have the capacity to address me properly.”

She took a closer look. Did he have pointed ears under that hair? “You’re Finn?”

“Ah, you’ve heard of me then.”

“Briefly.” She had thought Finn would look like a picture–book elf, but he was fairly easy on the eyes for an unworldly creature. “I was thinking about you.”

“Yes, I pointed that out. Strange that you beckoned, yet when I came, you shrieked an annoying sound that still rings in my ears and ran. Very strange behaviour, indeed.”

Her
behaviour was strange? “How was I supposed to know you’d appear floating over the ground like that? You nearly scared me to death.”

“Not yet, dear Bethia, it’s not your time. Are you going to explain your summons?”

She suddenly felt like she’d won the lottery again — her very own elf to do her bidding. Sweet. “Why do you call me Bethia? My name is Beth, or don’t
you
have the capacity to address
me
properly.”