Time Eternal (13 page)

Yet her logical mind did not trust him. She had a strong feeling Rei was in league with Mr. X, a warlord who could also travel through time and whom TSCAA had been keeping a close eye on. Rei’s willingness to cooperate with the Agency was only a front for something else. That in itself was a dangerous complication. Her now overly active libido directed at Rei made the already potentially catastrophic—and barely comprehensible—situation even worse.

Blowing out a breath, she freshened up quickly in the bathroom and headed out to find Knox.

Her hurried strides came to an abrupt halt when Skyla got to Knox’s room. His back was facing the door, and he was bending down unpacking his travel bag. She gave a quiet sigh at the sight of his strong backside. Those tights buns and long muscular legs could make a girl’s knees go weak for hours. How much she wished her body had the same out-of-control, teenage hormonal reaction to Knox that she felt for Rei over the past forty-eight hours. Just the thought of Rei made her body hum again.
Not now!
She ruthlessly put a stop to that train of thought and announced herself before she ogled Knox any more. “Hey.”

“Hey, you.” Knox turned around. “Did Rei give you any trouble?”

She arched her brows and gave him a look saying all there was to say about Rei and trouble.

“Right.” Knox laughed in response. He went back to unpacking. When she didn’t carry on like her usual voluble self, he looked at her and asked, “You doing okay?”

Skyla shrugged. “Other than the fact that I time-traveled from almost five hundred years ago by a way that our esteemed science team calls a temporal anomaly, a.k.a. freak occurrence of an extremely low probabilistic event, and that Mom, Dad, and the director all lied to me over the past twelve years?” Leaning her back against the door, she blew out her breath in defeat. “Yeah, I’m just peachy-peachy.” She expected him to come to her with a tight, comforting hug as he always had when he knew she felt uncertain or troubled. Instead Knox almost took a step forward but stopped himself mid-move and held his fists tightly at his sides.

As if exerting great restraint, he moved cautiously closer to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I can only imagine how confusing all this must be to you.” A simple, compassionate statement, yet his voice and posture were laced with tension. He looked at her with longing and regret. Before she could dissect the confusing body language, she stepped up to him. Pressing her face firmly against his expansive chest, she took a deep breath, inhaling his familiar, comforting scent of soap and calm.

“I don’t know who I am anymore.” She blurted it out before her better judgment could stop her. An agent in doubt had no business being part of a mission. She’d be a liability to herself and her team, but it felt good to say it out loud, even if it still sounded as horrible and out of control as she had thought it would. She buried her face deeper into Knox’s embrace and felt his strong hands securing around her, finally giving her the comfort that she was afraid of losing because of her past.

After a long moment of soaking up reassurance from Knox, she loosened her hold on him. She had always found being this close to Knox had a calming effect on her. It was almost as if he could heal any wound, physical or emotional. He pulled back a little and leveled his intense blue gaze, warm and crystal clear like the Caribbean Sea, at her. “Yes, you do.”

He gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “You’re Skyla Gray, the daughter of Tom and Pam Gray from Westchester, New York.” With a teasing smile, he continued, “A nerdy science buff who will spend one weekend devouring scientific journals and then the next weekend coaxing one of the agents to be the chauffeur and bellboy for an all-girls shopping excursion.”

Knox’s smile changed from teasing to admiration. “You’re also a highly trained agent for a secret government agency. And the only person who could keep my sassy, reckless sister in line.” His genuine, charming smile took her breath away, just as it had years ago when she first met him and Vivi their freshman year in Poli 101. He continued, “So you see, it doesn’t matter when or where you came from. You’re one of us, and you belong here with us.” Then he pulled her back into his embrace and said to the top of her head, “We won’t lose you. I won’t lose you.”

Yes, besides Dad and Mom, the Agency and her team had become her family, her constant. She would not allow anyone to come between her and her family—not even the supposed love of her life from an ancient past.

Then she remembered his earlier hesitation, so she shoved at him. “Then why did you hold yourself back from me just now? You’ve never done that before.”

There was no way he could deny it. Before she was kidnapped by Rei and returned to the Agency, Knox had been so hot on her that most people in the Agency thought they were an item already. Yet five minutes ago, he had hesitated to hold her, even though he knew she needed his strength and comfort.

There was the longing and regret in his expression again. “Butch and I saw you and Rei in 1587 Florence. There’s no doubt he is who he claims he was to you.”

“And?” She didn’t like where this was going.

“I can’t tell you more.” Stepping away from her already, he was flexing his hands at his sides, as if he wanted to hold her again but couldn’t, wouldn’t. “It’s not my place to tell you what happened between you and Rei. You need to remember it for yourself.”

“And if I don’t want to remember?”

“You will. If Rei’s ferocious feelings for you remain the same after all these centuries, he’ll make you remember.” She definitely didn’t like the sound of it. It was like an ominous warning, and it sent shivers up and down her spine.

Standing up straighter, she crossed her arms across her chest. “And you know that how?”

Not answering her question, Knox went back to his bag and fished out a folder. Skyla was not happy that he ignored her question. “Coward.” She muttered just loud enough, making sure Knox would hear her. She was poking at a sleeping lion, and she knew it.

And he obviously did too. He turned around. Still with a calm expression, he spoke just as quietly, “Skyla, think twice before calling me out.” And with two long strides, he stood right in front of her again, forcing her head to tilt up, to look into his now-darkened stormy blue eyes. “And be careful what you wish for.” Then his lips came down on hers fiercely. They had kissed many times when they were dating, but this kiss was not for seduction; it was for good-bye. She could feel in her bones that Knox was saying good-bye to her. Before she could ask him what that was about, he let go and pushed a thick folder to her.

“Here’s more information on Rei and Mr. X.” She stared up at Knox for a moment, but her curiosity about the folder won out. She opened it and skimmed through the first few pages while Knox summarized. “Rei’s definitely had a long association with Mr. X. No one knows how they both travel through time, just that they can. There seems to be an uneasy alliance between them, and my gut is telling me that there’s quite a bit more to the alliance than we know. They’ve done quite a few well-placed sabotage jobs together.”

She read the contents in the folder. “No…it can’t be.” She read a few more seconds. “The Panic of 1873 during President Ulysses Grant’s administration? King Edward the Eighth’s abdication, the Duke of Windsor? JFK? Martin Luther King? Rei and Mr. X instigated all these?”

Knox nodded. “Yes, and more. And according to the interviews from first-hand eyewitnesses, Rei and Mr. X never actually did any of the deeds, but they’re major players behind the scenes.”

A soft whistle escaped her lips. “But why sabotage events so minor that they posed no significant harm to the world or even the country?”

“Good question. The director and Curtis are working with other analysts on this now as we speak. But we need to know fast whether Rei is a friend or foe.”

“What else do we have on him?” She was back to business now.

“Not much, except his men are made up of the surviving royal guards of the Serbian Emperor and other soldiers, mercenaries, from throughout history. Butch and I saw Rei, his family, and their country being annihilated at the Last Battle. Rumors had it that some of the royal family and their guards survived, but there was no verifiable proof until now.”

Continuing to scan the information in the folder, Skyla asked the question more to herself than to Knox, “And they banded together for all these centuries. But for what purpose?”

“Another good question. The director and Curtis are also trying to figure that out.”

Not wanting to dwell on what had just changed irrevocably between Knox and her, she changed the subject. “You ready for tonight?”

“Yep. But I don’t like leaving you alone with him.” Knox was obviously referring to Rei, and his voice was coated with distaste. Skyla had already sensed there was a classic alpha-male-meeting-alpha-male situation going on. Both Rei and Knox were as alpha and dominant as they came. And they both had strong feelings for her.

Correction: one of them had five centuries of strong, possessive feelings toward her. And the other one seemed to have just conceded his claim to her.

“I can take care of myself, you know that. And we need him to foil the assassination plan.”

“Yes, I know, but I still don’t like leaving you alone with him.”

She knew there was no changing Knox’s stand on any subject once his caveman mind decided that was that. “All right. I’ll be in my room if you need me. Good luck tailing the congressmen tonight, and be careful with Rei’s men. Their loyalty is to Rei and Rei only.” With that parting note, she left his room.

“Skyla, you ready?” Rei knocked on the connecting door between their bedrooms. He deliberately called her Skyla to show her he was not the savage she thought he was and that he respected who she had become.

They still had an hour before sunset. He knew she would not like him using the connecting door, but she had to get used to him being around, intimately. This was the only way to force her to remember him, remember them.

No answer. Maybe she was in the shower.

The thought of hot, steamy water running down her naked body was enough to make him groan out loud. So instead of knocking again, he went to the washroom in his room and splashed cold water on his face, hoping it would subdue his raging hard-on.

Looking in the mirror, he thought to himself how fucked up the whole situation was. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that his gentle Elizabeth would become an elite counterterrorism agent possessing comparable, if not more superior, combat and reconnaissance skills than those of most of his men. Hell, she might even best him if he did not watch his back. He had dreamed of Elizabeth’s warm glow and easy smile. He had missed her so much over the lonely centuries. But his Elizabeth had become Agent Skyla Gray. Both were strong, honorable, and highly intelligent, but that was where the similarities ended. The woman, his woman, in the next room was precise, cold, and lethal. Oh, he had seen her laughing and smiling at others, just not at him. A few times he caught her laughing easily with her teammates, especially Knox and the other men. He had wanted to rip those men limb from limb for daring to flirt with his Elizabeth. Had she slept with any of the men on her team or in the Agency? From the intel gathered by his men, she had never been married nor had she been involved seriously with anyone recently. Knox was her last and only serious relationship. Her male teammates were all distinguished warriors, men who had fought for their countries in one form or another before joining TSCCA. He would have been proud to call them brothers-in-arms but for they all showered her with so much affection. Hell yes he was jealous and possessive. He just never expected he would need to be jealous of Elizabeth’s companions, male companions. Women in his century were secluded mostly to their families, let alone from male companions. He rubbed his palms against his jaw roughly.

Deciding not to waste any more precious time in winning back his Elizabeth, he strode straight back to the connecting door and marched into Skyla’s room. As soon as he passed the threshold, he was stopped dead in his tracks by a modified 9mm pressed into the middle of his forehead. He could smell the clean soap. He knew who was holding the gun. He should keep his eyes on her face, but he couldn’t help but follow the path of a bead of water sliding from her graceful neck to delicate collarbones and then down her creamy upper chest. All his defensive instincts were gone. If she chose to shoot him at this moment, he would probably let her.

Skyla’s hair was still wet, and she only had a towel loosely covering the front of her body. He could see the sides of her firm, round breasts and her smooth, curvy hips. She was an erotic vision. So much for the cold water before. His hard-on came right back to full life like a randy teenager. He was pretty sure his cargo pants zipper would be leaving permanent marks on his straining, swollen cock. She must have just stepped out from the shower and was caught off guard by his entrance. Smart girl. Always keep a weapon close by. He tried to hide his approving smile, knowing she would not appreciate his sense of humor.

He put his palms up. “Whoa…easy there.”

“Have you not heard of knocking before entering someone else’s room?” Still holding the modified 9mm against his forehead, her eyes remained icy cold and unwavering.

“I did knock, but you didn’t answer, so I got worried and wanted to make sure you were okay.” This time, he could not help but smile because he knew it was a lousy, horny male excuse.

Her eyes squinted at him. He could see that she was trying to decide whether he was telling the truth, but as soon as she saw his smug smile, she knew it was all a pretense.

Pushing the gun harder against his forehead, she spoke with irritation. “I should shoot you right here.”

“But you won’t.” He was still smiling smugly. “Your order was clear. Stop the assassination at all costs to avoid a second Great Depression in your time. If for some unfortunate reason that happens, it’ll seriously dampen your government’s prestige in the twenty-first century.”