Never Love A Stranger Part 34

She knew it as surely as she'd ever known anything. James bent his head and kissed the top of a breast, and she shuddered. He kissed her in concentric circles, moving closer and closer to her nipple, and when at last he drew her nipple into his mouth a shock of pleasure exploded through her, and her knees gave out. She would have fallen if he hadn't caught her. He picked her up easily and deposited her on the narrow metal table he'd lain on earlier. Standing beside her, he stroked his hands over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and through her hair. She leaned back and closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of being cherished.

The feeling of being loved.

She realized the metal table was too narrow and too high for them to lie down together, and almost suggested they move to the floor, but she quickly realized James had something else in mind. His long, strong fingers stroked her inner thighs with the skill of a violinist playing his instrument, sending rippling eddies of warm pleasure through her, then gently parted her legs. He bent toward her exposed flesh.

"James," she objected, trying to push her knees together. "Don't. I'm all sweaty."

He held her legs apart with no effort. "It's all right, Annie."

"But I stink," she said plaintively.

"No. You smell wonderful, as you always do." He looked up and gave her a quick flash of his

lady-killing grin. "I suspect you taste wonderful, too."

Annie groaned, unable to argue, as his tongue slid gently between her thighs, finding her most sensitive

spot with unerring accuracy, setting her on fire. His tongue caressed her slowly, until she ached with need, until she moaned with pleasure.

"James."

He lifted his head briefly. "I was right," he said hoa.r.s.ely. "You do taste wonderful."

The reminder that he found her attractive, no matter what, sent a stab of pleasure through her. She cried out as his tongue found her again. And then, a moment later, his tongue slipped lower and delved inside her. Feeling a rush of heat and warmth, she clutched at his hair and sobbed as he explored her in a leisurely, thorough manner.

At last James straightened up for an instant, unfastened his jeans, and took her legs, placing them against his chest, with her calves over his shoulders. The position made her feel naked and exposed, which she found oddly exciting. And the sight of his ma.s.sive erection, solid and demanding, sent a quiver of l.u.s.t through her.

She had never been so excited in her life.

Already she was soaking wet, and he slid into her easily. Annie had never experienced this position before'Steve had had a lot of good points, but he hadn't really been the innovative type'and she was astounded by how deeply James was able to penetrate. Despite the fact that she couldn't kiss him, couldn't put her arms around him, it was a shockingly intimate way to make love. She felt the hard, blunt head of his erection pressing against a spot that had never been stimulated before.

"Oh, G.o.d, that feels good," she whispered.

"Yes," James said softly. "It does." Opening her eyes for a moment, she looked at him, still standing, his big hands wrapped around her thighs, his eyes shut tightly as he thrust slowly in and out.

Every time he entered her, she could feel him hitting that spot, deep inside her, and then he retreated, almost to the entrance to her body, only to slide slowly into her again. He made love to her with slow, deliberate thoroughness, so that the ache in her lower body intensified with each movement, driving her to the point of insanity.

She desperately wanted to caress him, to kiss him, but she couldn't reach him, so she settled for placing her hands on top of his. James moaned slightly at her touch, and his hands flexed on her thighs, pressing her legs more closely against his chest.

She could still feel him striking that place inside her, and although he continued to move slowly, her arousal was rapidly soaring to an uncontrollable level. A tempest she couldn't restrain, didn't want to restrain, raged inside her, and her whole body throbbed with need. Abruptly the storm broke in a series of long, intense spasms shuddering through her, and she threw back her head and cried out.

As the ecstasy ebbed she opened her eyes languorously, to find James watching her with avid interest. He was still hard, deep within her, yet totally motionless. "That was wonderful," she said softly.

"I am glad you thought so. But we are not finished yet."

"Oh." Seeing the intensity in his eyes, Annie curled her hands over his. "That's sweet of you, James, but I'm not generally the multiple o.r.g.a.s.m type."

James grinned as he slowly withdrew, leaving only the tip of his erection in her body. "I find that difficult to believe."

She remembered the times they'd made love and blushed. James definitely had the ability to make her lose her self-control, more than any man she'd ever been with. "Okay, every now and then, maybe. But I'm not usually like that. You'll just have to take my word for it."

"I prefer to rely on my own observations," he answered, and plunged into her again, so forcefully that Annie gasped. He began to drive into her, hard and fast, and so deeply that at first it almost hurt. But in a moment the discomfort faded, leaving her with a building sensation of pressure and swirling heat. She closed her eyes and sobbed with overwhelming pleasure as he thrust even harder and faster.

And then, just as the scalding heat reached an almost unbearable level, he stopped.

Her eyes popped open. "James," she said, aware that her voice was shaking. "Please."

His golden skin glistened with sweat, and he trembled all over. His eyes were clenched shut, his jaw tense, and she could feel him pulsing inside her in a fast, urgent rhythm. "I want this to last, Annie," he said softly. "I want it to last forever."

She had the distinct impression he was talking about something other than s.e.x. "I know," she whispered. "But I need you, James. I need you now."

Groaning, he gave in, moving inside her hard and fast, driving her right over the edge. She exploded in a violent maelstrom of heat and light, her body shuddering, her inner muscles clenching fiercely around him. She felt him pound into her, heard his voice raised in a hoa.r.s.e cry, felt the hot spurt of liquid deep inside her as he surrendered to his own ecstasy.

Afterward he pulled her up to a sitting position, put his arms around her, and held her against his chest without speaking, his face pressed into her hair. The gesture clearly expressed his love, and it warmed her. But she could also feel something else in his posture, something very like grief or despair, and she wondered what caused it.

But she was too tired to wonder much. Before long she'd fallen asleep against his chest.

It was much more pleasant walking across the desert at night, although it was definitely chilly. But at least the sun wasn't baking her already-peeling skin, Annie reflected as they made their way across the sand. Fortunately there was a full moon, so James did not have to engage his ' his headlights.

"So what's the plan'" she asked.

James looked grim in the moonlight. "We are going to go back to the past."

"We're thinking that might not be the best idea," Annie said. "It seems to us that the information the humanoids were interested in getting their hands on must have been about the time machine. What if they use the information to go back and try to change the past again' What if they're planning on doing something in the past that might hurt the humans in the cylinder cities'"

"I do not believe that is their intention," James answered.

Annie paused and stared at him suspiciously. "You said you didn't have any idea what they wanted. What makes you so certain that isn't what they intend to do'"

"I had a long conversation with Charles," James said. "He is not interested in changing this present."

"How can you be sure he's not lying to you, James'" It occurred to her that she couldn't be sure James wasn't lying to her, either. She remembered his earlier despair all too well. But she put that thought aside. James wouldn't lie to her about this.

"He is my oldest friend, Annie. In this reality as well as my own. I trust him, and you must trust him too."

"I don't trust him at all, James. He captured us in an illusion and tried to trick us."

"What do you mean'"

Annie took a deep breath. She didn't want to hurt James, but he needed to know exactly what Charles had done. "They showed us a town where there wasn't one, and used it to keep us occupied."

"That is how they deal with humans. They endeavor never to speak with them face to face."

"Yeah, but there's more. He used a holo-image of you, James, and let us think it was you. You'the holo-image'told me you didn't want me any more, and asked me to go back to the cylinder city."

"And you believed this'" James asked, sounding affronted. "Were you fooled, Annie'"

"Not for long," Annie admitted. "But the point is that Charles can't be trusted, James. He's a liar."

"He does not trust humans, Annie. He has little reason to do so."

"But if I'd gone to the Bureau, like the holo-image told me to do, I might have been killed."

James shook his head. "I do not believe he meant any harm to come to you, Annie. I am fairly certain he had a plan for returning you to the past. It is his firm belief that you belong in the past, and that you must return. We discussed this for a long time, and we concluded it is the best alternative. All three of us will all go back to the past together."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Gar said. "Annie belongs in the past, and maybe it's the best place for you, James, but I don't belong there. Suppose I change something without meaning to'"

"Like we'd leave you behind," Annie said. "There's a price on your head, Gar."

"I don't know if that's actually the case," Gar said. "I'm dead in this reality, remember' And I shot someone who never existed in this reality at all. I'm not sure that const.i.tutes murder."

"Nevertheless, the video records will show you killing a human," James answered. "Even if the Bureau is unable to determine the ident.i.ty of the victim, you will be held accountable. Annie is right, Gar. We cannot leave you behind. At any rate, Charles seemed to think we all belonged in the past."

"How can I belong in the past'" Gar asked.

James shook his head. "We did not have adequate time to review the records, Gar. Charles may have had an opportunity to do so. Perhaps you are supposed to live in the past. If you built a life there, then you might change this reality by failing to go back."

"I hate time travel," Annie muttered.

"At any rate," James said, "we are not going to leave you here to face punishment. We all go back together."

Annie noticed the melancholy note in his voice again and wondered what caused it. Maybe, she speculated, he was sorry he had to leave his people. The thought depressed her a bit, and she tried to drive her thoughts in a more positive direction.

"The TDM is in the Bureau headquarters, right' Is that in this cylinder city'"

"No," Gar said. "It's in an isolated location, because of its instability. If something goes wrong with it it's better that it be far away from any city, because the resulting explosion could be devastating. But we can get to it easily enough ' if we can get to a Gate."

The Gates, Annie recalled, were those swirling elevator things'what Gar's mother had called "spatial distortions." She shuddered. "So how do we get to a Gate' Do we have to climb back down that elevator shaft'"

"There should be a Gate entrance outside," Gar said. "The trick is finding it."

"As it happens," James said, "I know where it is."

Gar frowned. "How'"

"I bet Charles told him," Annie said. "If the humanoids have been drugging any humans that come out of the city and returning them, they must know where the Gate entrance is."

James nodded. "That is correct, Annie. Charles told me. But once we are in the Gate, we must get to the TDM very quickly, before the Bureau realizes there has been an unauthorized entrance."

They walked on. Annie noticed that her calves and thighs ached. Not only had she not gotten a lot of exercise in the past year, but walking on loose sand was difficult. She decided grimly that when she got back to her own time, she was going to put in some serious time on the elliptical trainer that had been gathering dust in a spare bedroom for the past year.

She was grateful to know she wasn't going to have to climb back down that ladder, because at this point she really wasn't sure she could do it.

James stopped. "This is it," he said.

Annie looked around. She didn't see any familiar landmarks, but then again, one saguaro cactus looked much like another as far as she was concerned. She thought wryly that she really wanted to get back to the East Coast and its nice normal trees.

There were two big saguaros in front of them. James stepped between them and disappeared.

"Another holo-image," Annie said. "Yes," Gar agreed. "This one probably set up by the Bureau." He followed James, and Annie took up the rear. In a moment she found herself looking at what looked like an elevator in the middle of the desert. Its door was open, and she saw the awful writhing nothingness inside it. "Come along," James said, taking her hand. She closed her eyes and let him take her inside. A few seconds later she felt the unpleasant, stomach-twisting disorientation that meant they were traveling through the spatial distortions. A moment later the door opened, and they all scrambled out hastily. They seemed to be in a dimly lit building. "That way," James said, pointing. They ran in the direction he indicated. A moment later they paused in front of a blank wall.

James pressed his hand against the wall in a pattern. Abruptly lights came up, so bright that Annie flinched, and a mechanical voice said, "Unauthorized access."

"That's bad news," Gar said.

"It's not good," James admitted. "They've changed the pa.s.sword. Or they've set it to read handprints.

Either way, we are in trouble."

"Let me try," Gar said. "Since I'm in the Bureau, maybe it will recognize me."

"In this reality, you have been dead for a month," James reminded him. "The pa.s.sword you know may not be valid."

"It's worth a try." Gar put his hand on the wall and punched out a code, but nothing happened. The voice repeated, "Unauthorized access."

"An alarm will go off in approximately thirty seconds," James said calmly.

Gar frowned at the wall. "James, can you break through that metal'"

James lifted his eyebrows and stared at the wall, as if the idea of using brute strength surprised him, then

suddenly drew back his arm and slammed his fist into the wall. The metal gave way with a groan. He yanked at the metal around his hand, creating a large, ragged hole.

"Unauthorized access," the flat, mechanical voice repeated.

"Perfect," Gar said. He reached inside the wall and yanked the wires loose. Sparks flew, and he began to twist the wires together.

"You're hotwiring the wall'" Annie said.

"I'm just making it think we belong here. I believe if I do this'ah-ha."

The wall abruptly s.h.i.+mmered and disappeared, and the mechanical voice warning of unauthorized access