Authors: Carla Parker
“It wasn’t that at all, from the first time I saw you, walking on the sidewalk you enchanted me Melina. Then when you got hit, I came back to save your life. I couldn’t just let you
die
. Then we spent time together and I fell for you, I love you,” I said desperately. I was just trying to make her understand by that point.
“I don’t—I can’t…I need a break. I need some air,” Melina turned to walk inside and I followed after her as she shrugged on her coat and told Jayden that she’d be right back. I started to panic when I realized she was going out there where it wasn’t safe.
“You can’t be serious Melina. You’re going out on the street after what I just
told you
?” I asked her and she brushed me off.
“I’ll be careful not to go into the street, I don’t even have a scarf with me,” she said before she stormed out. I watched helplessly as she walked out.
*****
I went into the kitchen to set the groceries down on the counter. Jayden walked out of his room with a long, thin, white box that had a red bow on the top.
“Where is Melina? I have something for her that I made,” he said with a small smile on his lips. As I stared at the box I knew exactly what it was. The white scarf she was wearing; it must have been why she had such a happy expression on her face the first time I saw her.
“I’ll go and get her, she just went around the corner,” I said and then hurried out of Jayden’s apartment. By the time I got downstairs and outside there was no sign of Melina anywhere. I couldn’t let this happen to her, she simply
could not
die. The sense of urgency I felt was palpable, it saturated the air around me wherever I walked. I circled Jayden’s block three times before I started to branch out to the surrounding four blocks. I couldn’t find Melina anywhere and I was beginning to get desperate. Especially as time was progressing like a freight train down a steady track.
Even though Melina knew about her fate, no matter how careful she was, a variation of the accident would happen again and she
would
die after all. That was how it went. I wondered if I should go back again and fix things in the past.
When I heard a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning that signaled a new wormhole, I realized that I was too keyed up. I needed to calm down. Creating a pathway into the past would not be helpful at that point. It would more likely just make things more tangled.
I kept walking, my eyes in search for red hair and a red coat. I turned a corner and realized that I was at the sports bar. My eyes glanced over to the other side of the street and I saw her. She was upset this time and walking with heavy feet. I felt a brief sense of relief until I heard the roaring engine of a bright yellow Jaguar as it barreled up the street. The guy in the driver’s seat didn’t seem to be paying attention to the road and he was swerving all over the place.
I acted before I could watch what would happen. I created a portal quicker than I ever have before and jumped over to the other side of the road. Just as the driver veered to the right and jumped the curb, I grabbed Melina and jumped just as quickly to my place in Midtown. We appeared in my foyer and she was frozen against me. Her hands clutched my coat with a death grip and I held onto her tight, my arms wrapped around her as we both recovered from the shock and rush of adrenaline that the near death experience brought us.
“Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay,” I said and Melina nodded her head woodenly against my chest.
“We just teleported…we teleported and you saved my life,” she gasped with blind shock in her voice.
“Yeah…I told you I was here to save you. But I’m not going to leave you Melina. I love you and I want to be with you,” I said.
Melina pulled back a fraction and she looked up into my eyes with her wide blue ones. She studied my face for a long moment as I looked back at her with sincerity.
“I was just scared that…I was just scared that you would leave me once you managed to save me, that we’d amount to nothing,” she said with a shaky voice. I shook my head no.
“I have never told another woman that I love her before, apart from my mother. I don’t say it to you lightly. I do love you Melina and I want to be with you,” I said earnestly and she gave me a watery smile.
“Good…because I love you too,” she said and I smiled from ear to ear.
“Are you sure?” I asked her and she laughed, but then nodded.
“I’m sure,” she said and then I picked her up and twirled her around in a circle before I set her down and pressed my lips to hers. The reality of my having saved her set in and I grew ecstatic.
“You’re alive! We’re here together!” I said enthusiastically. She giggled as she wiped her eyes of unshed tears.
“We are, all thanks to you…I’m sorry I made it difficult though, I shouldn’t have left Jayden’s apartment. I should have stayed inside,” she said with a sniffle and I hugged her again.
“As long as you’re here now, as long as you’re here,” I said.
*****
Melina and I teleported back to Jayden’s place where we had dinner and he gave her the scarf he’d made. Melina absolutely loved it. I respected his ability to make her smile.
After dinner I didn’t want to take any chances. I teleported back to my apartment with her and she sat down in the living room with a ton of questions for me.
“So…how long have you been able to time travel?” she asked curiously. I shrugged.
“I was always able to do it; I just didn’t know how until it just…
happened.
Same thing with teleporting. I was always able to make the little cracks in time, I just didn’t realize it or hone in on it until I was thirteen,” I answered.
“Can your parents do it? Do they know about you?” I shook my head.
“They have no idea…though sometimes when I think back to my childhood I think my grandfather was able to do it. He was always off on ‘business trips’. He always said that I was special, too, that I was just like him,” I said. Melina’s eyes widened a fraction as she took in the information.
“Well not even your parents know, I guess I can’t be too mad at you for not telling me before,” I chuckled.
“I don’t think they would take it well at all. I never told anyone because I was scared of becoming some lab rat, or worse,” I said. Melina nodded thoughtfully and she got up to walk into the kitchen for ice cream.
“So…if we had a baby boy then he’d be able to teleport and time travel like you?” Melina asked cautiously.
“Now that you mention it…my grandfather only had two girls and my mother’s sister only had daughters. And I’m the only child of my parent’s.” I said. “Maybe it’s some weird trait passed on to boys in our family.”
“Interesting,” she said. I watched Melina scoop out some ice cream into a small glass bowl, then put the carton of chocolate ice cream with cookie and brownie dough back into the freezer.
“So what do you think about all this, really?” I asked her. She shook her head.
“I think I’ve overcome the shock and I’m coming to terms with it. After all I’m a little bit stuck with you,” she said as she ate a spoonful of ice cream.
“You’re stuck with me?” I asked and she smirked.
“Well yeah, it’s not like I’m leaving you. I love you, and you did travel back in
time
to save me from dying so we can be together. Right?” I smiled. She was right. Though I hadn’t fully realized it at the time that’s exactly why I went back.
“You read me like a book. What can I say, it was love at first sight for me,” Melina laughed and I watched her finish her ice cream. I wanted to make sure she was done before I threw her over my shoulder and took her to my bedroom. Melina giggled the whole way over and I plopped her down onto the bed.
“I’m so glad it’s Friday, because I don’t think I’ll let you out of here for a long, long time.” I said. She quirked an eyebrow at me.
“Is that a promise?” she said and I smiled devilishly before I attacked her with tickles. Her laughter turned into moans as I pressed the bulge in my pants right against her core and nibbled on her neck. I pushed her sweater up and then kissed the soft skin of her stomach, waist, and hips which were moving restlessly under my hands. I unfastened her jeans and then pulled them slowly down along with her panties. When her clothing hit the floor I spread her legs and then put my mouth against her slick folds.
Melina’s hips moved restlessly as she rubbed herself against my mouth. I flicked my tongue against her clitoris relentlessly and she tangled her fingers in my hair as I worked her towards orgasm. Melina came swiftly and she shuddered as waves of pleasure coursed through her.
We undressed each other quickly. Neither of us could wait to be lost in the other. I spread her legs and then pushed myself into her sweet, warm depths. She clenched and squeezed around me impatiently and I grit my teeth as the pleasure shot through my cock and up from the base of my spine all throughout me.
“Uhh,” I breathed and she squeezed me again. I groaned and began to move, thrusting into her until she was calling out my name. We both came together.
I wasn’t sure how it could have gotten any better with Melina, but it had. As we lay beside each other, spent, I whispered to her.
“So do you want to go to Italy tomorrow after your rehearsal?” I asked and she looked up at me strangely. I gave her a pointed look and realization dawned on her face.
“Wow, this is crazy…we can actually do that,” she said and I laughed at her expression.
“Yeah, we can go wherever you want to go, you name it,” I said and she grinned.
“Then let’s go to Italy tomorrow, I’ve always wanted to see Rome,” she said just before she pulled my head to hers for a scorching kiss. I groaned and she broke the kiss to look at me questioningly.
“Kissing me like that won’t get us to Italy; we might have to sleep in tomorrow instead,” I said, and she smacked my lightly on the chest.
“You know, this means I get to pull out my bucket list of places to visit and you have to take me to each one,” she said. I smiled.
“Yes,” I said.
The End
Bonus Story 16 of 17
Chapter 1
Liz
“Mom, I don’t know if I can make it for Christmas this year, work has been really hectic,” I said and stifled my sigh as I sat down with a cup of coffee in hand. It was bright and sunny in Colorado, but ice-cold outside, since we were in the middle of December. My mother had remarried a man named James. I didn’t know much about him since he lived in upstate New York. He and my mother met over an online dating site and dated long distance for a couple of years before she moved to New York and married him a few months later. My brother lived in New York too so he had already met James a few times and claimed he was a good guy. But Seth was a mama’s boy, and he was okay if our mother seemed to be happy. Apparently, she ‘needed’ a man to grow old with. Both she and James were in their fifties.
“But honey, it will be James’ and my first Christmas together. You didn’t come for Thanksgiving and I think it would be great to have our families together. That way you can get to know James and meet your new stepbrothers.” I rolled my eyes. She couldn’t have married a guy with at least
one
daughter?
“Fine, fine, I’ll see what I can do.” I sighed and my mother squealed in her usual Veronica excitement.
“Oh great! It’ll be so great to have everyone together for Christmas. Oh and don’t book a hotel, our new house has plenty of room for you to stay with us.” I paused and my mother fell silent, probably holding her breath.
“Mom… really?” I sighed again and placed my cup of coffee on the small coffee table next to the couch. I stared outside at the picturesque Colorado winter day, there was a blanket of snow on the ground that would no doubt be melted with the unhindered brightness of the sun. I would much rather stay home and have Christmas with friends than with a new family I didn’t know.
“Please Liz? I haven’t seen you in
years.
I feel like you’re distancing yourself from me and your brother, and I don’t know why.” Great she was pulling the guilt card.
“Fine. Okay, I’ll come Mom,” I said and I could practically hear the smile stretching across her face.
“Great! Just tell me when you’re flying in and I’ll have Seth pick you up from the airport,” she said excitedly. We ended the call shortly after and I made plans to fly out that night. I had closed a lengthy case at work so I was due for a holiday. I worked for the district attorney and usually the holidays were a busy time for us. But, I had worked so much overtime before closing my last case that my boss all but told me to not to work on another case until after the New Year. So really, I had no excuse
not
to go and visit my mother, her new husband and his son’s, and my brother.
I had to leave for my flight by six that night so I had time to do a little Christmas shopping and take my time packing. When I was settled at the airport that night, waiting for my flight to board, I called Seth.
“Hey sis! How are you? Are you on the plane yet?” Seth had inherited our mother’s bubbly and enthusiastic nature and I sometimes found it tiring. I knew I had to build up my tolerance again if I was going to be around them for a week.
“Hey Seth, I’m good. The flight hasn’t boarded yet, so I’m just hanging out at the airport,” I replied.
“Okay well, tomorrow Mom and James want to have this family breakfast at some diner they swear by. I think you’ll like James if you give him a chance,” Seth said. I was going to keep an open mind. It’s not that I didn’t want my mother to be happy or anything. I just felt that she made a lot of changes to be with James. He hadn’t made any visits to Colorado nor did he move across the country to be with my mom.
“I’ll keep an open mind. What about his sons? What are they like?” I asked and Seth chuckled.
“They’re cool guys. Caleb actually works near my company at a marketing firm in the city. Hunter, owns his own motorcycle shop near Rochester. He’s more rugged than his brother, but they seem like good guys,” Seth said succinctly. I chewed on my bottom lip and sighed when my flight was called to board.
“All right then. Well, they’ve just started to board for my flight, so I’ll see you in a few hours.” I said. Seth promised to be there when I landed. When I settled into my seat on the plane, I got comfortable and slept for most of the flight since it was non-stop to Rochester.
When the flight landed, I texted Seth to let him know. After I got my bags from the baggage section, I went to the bathroom and touched up my makeup. I didn’t need much, just some lip gloss and mascara. I brushed out my hair and studied my reflection to make sure I was presentable. My hair fell in soft waves around my shoulders. I didn’t look like I was coming off a five-hour flight. It was one in the morning so I doubted I would see anyone until morning anyway.
When I got outside, I spotted Seth easily as he was a tall, big guy. Seth loved to work out and he had all the muscle to prove it. He waved at me with a huge grin on his handsome face. I hurried over to give him a hug.
“It’s so good to see you! My goodness how much muscle are you going to pile on?” I teased and Seth laughed. He had my late dad’s good looks, square jaw and cleft chin, dark hair and hawkish features.
“Oh stop, I haven’t put any more muscle on, I just maintaining,” Seth said and I rolled my eyes as he picked up my suitcase as if it was feather light. “You on the other hand, are gorgeous as always. I feel like I haven’t seen you in years!” Seth said as we walked to his Range Rover. He put my suitcase in the trunk and then climbed in the driver’s seat as I got in the passenger side.
“So is everyone asleep over there?” I asked and Seth nodded.
“Yeah more or less. Hunter is out though, so who knows. He might be getting back by the time we get to the house, which is really nice by the way,” Seth said with a grin and I turned my head to look out of the window. It started to snow and I smiled, seemed like it would be a white Christmas.