Time Eternal (12 page)

He absentmindedly rubbed his sore jaw. No anger. Only amusement and heat flashed in his eyes. The arrogant bastard smiled at her with all his teeth. “Elizabeth, you’ve changed.” Still rubbing his jaw, which looked none the worse, he continued, “I cannot wait to spar with you later.” The sexual undertone was so obvious that she could hear Knox growling next to her. If Rei heard, he gave no indication of it. As if nothing had just happened, he simply turned on his heels and led them out of his study. On their way out, she glanced at the oil painting above the liquor cabinet again, the painting of her younger self back in the sixteenth century. It was surreal—she was not Skyla Gray, a seasoned anti-terrorism agent, but Elizabeth Magini, who lived in Florence during the Renaissance period. She had not remembered much of her past yet, but she was pretty sure she must have been a proper young lady, because all young ladies back then were expected to be nothing more than a proper, obedient daughter and then a proper, helpless, obedient wife. She let out a rather loud snort just thinking about being proper, let alone helpless or obedient, to anyone.

While showing Knox and Skyla the layout of his townhouse, Rei also gave them a quick summary of his plan for tonight that included visiting the docks and stealing back the box he had taken from the bank vault. The director had told her Rei believed the box could possibly be a piece of the time machine that Elizabeth had traveled in, a piece that allowed the machine to travel forward in time as she had done. So it was their secondary mission objective to secure the box along with stopping the assassination of the two Congressmen.

“At midnight, Elizabeth and I will go to the South Street Seaport. My men have confirmed the box is still sitting in the warehouse where they had it delivered two days ago.”

Trying her best to keep a lid on her rapidly evaporating patience, she said through gritted teeth, “Skyla. My name is Skyla.”

Rei paused for a split second but chose not to respond to her correction; instead he continued leading them through the second floor and up the staircases. When they reached the third floor landing, he pointed Knox to the last door at the end of the hall to their left. “That’s your quarters.” Without giving Knox a chance to protest or ask about where Skyla’s quarters would be, Rei turned and walked to the other end of the hallway.

Knox’s expression turned thunderous. Skyla knew he was about to jump the irritating bastard from behind, so she quickly turned toward him and placed her palm on his chest. His muscles were already tensing up, and his heart rate was escalating under her fingertips. Those were the telltale signs of an agent getting ready for combat. “No, Knox.” She pushed harder against him, making sure she’d gotten his attention. “Please. I can take care of myself.” Looking up firmly at him, she wanted him to see that not only could she protect herself but that she was resolved to find out the truth about her past and who she really was. After a long moment, he finally gave her a small nod. “Yell if you need me.” And he turned toward his room.

With a small sigh of relief, she caught up with Rei. She knew he had heard her quiet plea with Knox because an arrogant smile was plastered on his normally brooding face. Now his sensual, full lips curved up in a teasing smile, a triumphant smile. It made her want to deck him and lick him up at the same time.

He held the door open for her. “This is your room. Mine is the one right next to yours.”

“How convenient. I bet there’s a connecting door between our rooms too, right?” She snorted back half-jokingly.

“Of course there is. This is the early twentieth century, love. The master and mistress’s rooms are always connected,” he replied smoothly, as if he were stating the obvious to a silly child. Then he simply picked up her travel bag and walked inside the bedroom. Skyla quietly counted from ten in Latin, backward, before following him inside. It was a classic turn-of-the-century townhouse design, with a high ceiling, old-world style crown moldings, and two huge windows facing Central Park South. Her internal GPS told her that her room was directly above the study. The royal-blue velvet curtains with gold trimmings were already pulled open, letting the mid-afternoon sun through the windows. The sunlight danced brilliantly in rainbow colors reflecting off the teardrop of crystals dangling from the ceiling chandeliers. Her bag was sitting on a cushioned bench at the foot of a huge four-post bed that had similar ornate wood cravings to those she had seen in Rei’s study. Thick brocade fabric in various shades of golden hues was draped over the bedposts. Out of nowhere, Skyla started imagining all sorts of naughty things two lovers might do once the drapes were closed around the bed. After a moment, a hand touched her shoulder. She gave a slight shake of her head, and when she looked at him again, Rei’s heated, knowing gaze was on her. Argh…could he read minds now? Not even dignifying whatever he thought he saw on her face, she turned away from him to her travel bag.

•●•

Rei gave Elizabeth a few moments to settle herself in. The brilliant rays of sunshine through the windows reminded him of Florence. He would give anything to go back in time to when neither of them had been tainted by so much blood and betrayal. In a quiet, regretful tone, he asked, “Elizabeth, do you remember the day I proposed to you? The sun was shining brilliantly on the sunflower fields, just like now.”

Silence.

Not allowing the deafening silence to discourage him, he carried on. “I know you need time to accept the truth about us, about me. I won’t pressure you. Yet. But can we at least get to know each other while we complete this mission?”

He watched her straighten from whatever she was unpacking and stare at him coolly. “One more time for the cheap seats in the back,” his Elizabeth enunciated each of her words. “Stop. Calling. Me. Elizabeth. My name is Skyla. And there’s no ‘us.’ I don’t know you at all.” Her last declaration felt like the saber that was plunged through his side the last time he had seen her. The searing pain again reminded him of what he had lost, even as his Elizabeth stood in front of him. Before he could master the pain and anger—anger at himself for failing to protect Elizabeth, anger at Elizabeth for forgetting who they were, what they had together—she stepped in front of him, tilted up her delicate, heart-shaped face and looked straight into his eyes, daring him to challenge her.

Though much smaller than he, she stood in front of him not the least bit intimated by his scowl. Even the best of his men would never dare to stand up to him like that. He silently admired her courage. How much his Elizabeth had changed! His hands ached to touch her again, to cup her face as he had centuries ago. He remembered that Elizabeth had the softest skin he had ever touched and the warmest, most lyrical laughter in her eyes.

“And this is not the sixteenth century anymore, in case you haven’t noticed. I belong to no one.” If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought she was deliberately taunting him, teasing him. But since she didn’t remember him yet—how stubborn he was, how any challenge would only arouse him more—he reined in his need to dominate, to prove to her the claim he had on her. She suddenly smiled at him sweetly, seductively, completely dropping her hard-ass persona, and tiptoed up to the side of his head and whispered softly, “As for being cordial, hmm… I will think about it. But you may want to ask Knox the same. The last I saw, he was ready to jump you.” She glided her hand down from his chest to his abdomen and slowly, lightly, let it drop to the waistband of his trousers. Her touch left a trail of blazing fire on his body. And his trousers had just gotten a lot tighter. This was not quite the Elizabeth he remembered, but hell if he welcomed her seductress act all the same. He slid his hand to the small of her back and tugged her closer; he needed her body to be closer like he needed air. Of course the little hellcat shoved at him immediately, but he took advantage of the momentum to pull her close. Their eyes locked, and Rei swore he saw the glint of the same longing in her eyes as he knew was in his. He lowered his head to hers, praying she wouldn’t push him away. And she didn’t. Thank the gods and goddesses. He closed the last inches between their lips and plunged in. It felt like heaven. Her lips were soft like the clouds with a hint of strawberry taste. He was licking them, biting them, nibbling them. His body felt alive, finally, after all these centuries of searching and gradually losing hope. Rei deepened the kiss. Unlike the earlier urgency he felt when they were sprawled on the guest quarters’ floor back in the Agency, now he wanted to linger and taste Elizabeth thoroughly, like a favorite treat. One hand cupped the back of her neck while his other hand moved slowly and sensually down her spine to her bottom, pressing her closer to him, letting her feel the arousal he’d had for her for what felt like an eternity.

Suddenly, she slipped away like the dreams he always had. Now she was standing a good six feet away from him. A teasing smile touched her full lips, and she flicked her fingers at him, dismissing him while holding the door. “If you don’t mind, I need to clean up now and get some rest before our outing tonight.”

Rei just stood there, dumbfounded. And he bet his expression was showing the same because she gave him a sideways glance and let out a “gotcha” laugh. This was his worst nightmare come to life. Not only did Elizabeth not remember their past, she did not trust him, either. The seductive play was a performance to let him know that she could handle him any time she wanted and that he had no hold on her whatsoever. The gods must be having a very good laugh. He had asked them for immortality so he could find her, and in exchange he would raise an army to do their bidding. Centuries had passed, and now he had finally found Elizabeth, yet she did not know him, nor did she want to know him. She was no longer the Elizabeth he knew. She had become strong and fiercely independent. This Elizabeth had lived a completely different life, a life he was not a part of and might never be a part of at all. The reminder frustrated him, even scared him. He could very well lose Elizabeth forever. For real.
No!
He would never allow that to happen again.

So instead of leaving the room, giving her privacy as she’d just asked, his long legs ate up the short distance between them. He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. Surprise flashed across her face. Before she could put him in his place again, he crushed his lips against hers without any prelude. Unlike the gentle, coaxing way he used to kiss Elizabeth, the way he just kissed her, this time he was ferocious and dominant. It was for claiming, as he should have done centuries ago. As soon as his lips touched hers, he groaned. She still tasted like sunshine and honey. Only his Elizabeth tasted like that. She was his Elizabeth. No one could deny this truth, not even the hard-ass that Elizabeth had become. And no one would deny him of her ever again. His senses were overwhelmed by her taste. He let out another deep, rumbling groan and pressed her tighter against him, as if he was catching up on all the liberties he wouldn’t have dared to take centuries ago. Now Rei had absolutely no qualm at taking what belonged to him.

“Son of a…” He yelped, tasting blood. She bit him! She’d drawn blood for the second time in less than an hour! How bloodthirsty had his Elizabeth become? He was furious at being bled again, but at the same time he couldn’t help but smile.
How fitting it is after all the blood I had shed for you, my Elizabeth.

“
Tsk
,
tsk
,
tsk
…Elizabeth. Be careful. Remember who I am? Blood excites me as much as lust.” He gave her a slow, heated glance from head to toe, like a panther appreciating his prey before the final attack. And her body was definitely as affected as his by the brief, scorching-hot kiss that they just shared. Her chest was heaving slightly, and her hands were trembling visibly at her sides. He smiled wider. “Make no mistake of it, Elizabeth. You’re mine. There’s no denying it, and it’ll only be a matter of time. So you may as well get to know me instead of fighting me. Because as the gods are my witness, I will not let you go again.”

Was there fear in her eyes? Surely not. His instinct to protect took over. He stepped toward her but was held back by her raised palm. “Don’t.” She paused. “I am not Elizabeth, no matter what you’ve told the director. And even if I were Elizabeth, your long-ago love, I’m not that girl anymore.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Go find someone else to play your big bad wolf routine with. When this mission is over, I’ll go back to my life with the Agency. And you will go back to whatever hellhole you came from.” The uncertainty, the fear were now gone from her face. In its place was a dead-serious challenge of him, of his claim of her. Bloody hell.

No one had ever dared test his patience to this extent, not even his brother, the only family he had left in this world. And no one had ever dared fight him so fiercely. Not his men; not even his enemies. The woman in front of him was so completely different from his Elizabeth, and his warrior instincts were responding to her on a whole new level. At the same time, her fierce denial of what they had shared in the past and what he wanted again from her was starting to piss him off. He had not searched for five centuries just to be rejected. But his strategic instincts prevailed. Instead of forcing Skyla to acknowledge who they were to each other right now, he coolly retreated back. No point in making the skittish rabbit more skittish.

“Rest up, my Elizabeth.” He purposely called her “my Elizabeth” just to remind her of who she was and to whom she belonged. “We’ll leave after dark for downtown. Pull the bell rope if you need anything. Herbert will take care of you.” To avoid arguing with her further, he turned and left the room.

•●•

After Rei closed the door, Skyla’s legs gave out, and she sank to the plush carpet. Yes, she’d had more memory flashes in the last twenty-four hours, but they were still only incoherent bits and pieces of the past. She had no doubt that she knew Rei. Her body recognized him—like a cat in heat, for crying out loud. Every time that infuriating man was near her, her pulse raced as recklessly as her driving. Her body demanded his touch. It was embarrassing to admit that she just wanted to tear his clothes off and get hot and dirty with him. She had never felt this way about any man before, not even Knox when they were dating in college. And she had resigned herself to the secret, humiliating fact that she was probably the oldest virgin on the planet.