Stars Across Time (11 page)

He paused—waiting for a response?

“Yes,” she murmured, her mind too busy spinning circles as it debated his words to come up with anything more cogent.

“First off, my name is Theron. It won’t mean anything to you, but they’ll recognize it, so please keep calling me Mace. I’m an officer in the Cascadian Alliance Army. I was sent to infiltrate a group of these time-traveling kidnappers, to figure out their operation, where they’re selling their ill-gotten booty, and also to find their time machine, so it can either be destroyed or taken, to ensure they can’t keep going back for people. We also need to know where they’ve taken the women they’ve already stolen, so we can try to get them—you—back to your time period. Nobody with a brain wants to risk a situation where one of our ancestors is stolen and we end up never existing. As I’ve recently learned—” he snorted, the noise sounding wry, “—the military has a second machine, one we can use to send you home, so you just need to stick with me. I thought about going back and trying to destroy the machine in the cave tonight, but I didn’t want to leave you all alone with the kidnappers. I’m also not one hundred percent positive about the operational status of our machine because I’ve only been told it exists. I haven’t seen it. I would prefer to make sure everyone is safely home before destroying something that, quite frankly, we don’t have the knowledge or materials to build anymore.”

Andie remained still as he spoke. Even if Min-ji had already guessed much of what was going on, it was a lot for her to digest. He could be lying about being an officer, about being anyone but another of these kidnappers, but his actions thus far backed up his words. The fact that he was the “new blood” here would make sense, too, if he had recently infiltrated the organization.

“I know your inclination is to escape,” he went on—she wondered what he thought of her silence, “but there’s nowhere for you to go in our time, unless you want to stay here, which I doubt. Not that I’d mind,” he added, surprising her. He patted her back too. “I’d take you on my team anytime, and there’s a mission we have coming up where—well, not many people can fly anymore, and the planes we do have are very simple by your standards. We could use a pilot experienced on computerized craft.”

His voice had been tense, almost urgent, when he had relayed the earlier information, but now it had grown friendly and wistful, and his words filled her with a warmth that surprised her. Maybe it was the admission that he saw her value and appreciated it, even when she hadn’t been anything but prickly with him. She found herself thinking again about her ex-boyfriend, the one who’d told her women couldn’t win in
real
fights, and she doubted Mace—Theron—would say the same thing. It was a unique experience to have someone want her
because
of her tomboyish qualities rather than in spite of them. Not that Theron had said he
wanted
her in a romantic manner; he had simply said he would find her useful on his team. She couldn’t assume that the lust she had caught on his face the day before meant anything. After all, her own body kept responding inappropriately to him too. It didn’t mean she wanted him with her head and her heart. Given the current situation, that would be ridiculous.

Theron took a breath and grew serious again. “My understanding of the time machines, which I’ll admit isn’t great—I’m a fighter, a field man, and that’s it—is that you need one of the bracers to operate it. You can go along if someone else has one, but if you and your friend were planning to go back to that cave, there would be nothing you could do. The other group might have moved it after using it, so it might not even be there. I’ve only recently been placed on this mission, but I know my people have been trying to find that second machine for months. But if you stick with me, I’ll be able to radio my commander when I get back down to the sea, and an army ship will come pick you up. All of you. They’ll take you to the peninsula, our fort there. You’ll be safe there until we can gather everyone up and send you back.”

A rustle and a cough came from the direction of the hearth. Theron—tensed.

“He’s looking this way,” he whispered, and shifted his lower arm, the one that had loosely rested at the small of her back. He moved it up her back, rubbing her through the thick shirt.

It was for show, Andie knew, and nothing more, but his touch electrified her body, pulses of sensation running through her nerves. What had she been thinking about the ridiculousness of feeling any attraction to him? Of wanting any attention from him? It was all true, and yet she leaned into him as he lowered his mouth from her ear to the side of her neck, kissing the tender flesh of her throat, sucking here and there, making noises of approval, of desire. It might be for the sake of those watching and listening, but her body responded, nonetheless, the touch of his lips and the sound of his interest exciting her. It had been a long time since anyone had been... interested.

As heat built within her core, almost painful in its intensity, her hand tightened on his shoulder, her nails digging into his bare flesh. Her other hand rubbed his chest, relishing the feel of his powerful musculature. Her thumb brushed his nipple, finding it hard beneath her touch. Something else hard pressed into her, as well. He might be making a show for the others, but he wanted her. He could have been lying about everything else, but this couldn’t be a lie. Maybe she should have been alarmed, but having his hard shaft pressed against her only excited her further.

He groaned softly, lifting his lips from her throat, the hairs of his beard rasping against her skin, raising gooseflesh as he turned his face toward her. Concerned he might be done with the show, that he intended to stop, she lifted her lips to his and kissed him. She didn’t want him to stop touching her. She wanted him to be everything he had said he was. Someone she could trust, someone who admired her, and someone who tasted surprisingly good as she ran her tongue along his lips.

At first, he was still, startled by her kiss, but then he opened his mouth, inviting her in, tasting her back. His tongue stroked hers, and his hands went back to roaming, slipping beneath the long shirt, his warm, calloused skin caressing soft, sensitive flesh. She moaned as he cupped her ass, pulling her tighter against him. His hard body wanted entry into hers, and she lifted both hands to his shoulders, as if she would climb onto him right there. She kissed him deeper, shoving her fingers through his hair, digging her nails into his scalp, wanting no air between them.

A thought flashed into her mind, of him turning her around, pinning her against the rough log wall, lifting her shirt, and driving into her right there. Dampness gathered between her legs, and she rubbed against him, hating the emptiness within her, longing to have it filled.

Theron pulled his head away, his lips leaving hers, and she made a noise of disappointed protest. He tilted his face toward the ceiling, drawing in shaky breaths, struggling for control. She didn’t want him to gain control—she wanted
him
. She was tempted to keep kissing him, if not his lips then his chest, which she lamented she had not gotten to do yet, to take one of his nipples in her mouth, to enjoy the taste of him, as she licked her way down to—

“I’m sorry,” he rasped softly. “I didn’t think I would be so—that you would be so...” He gulped, laughed once, shortly, and rested his face against the top of her head.

The sound of someone snoring on the other side of the cabin slowly brought Andie back to reality, reminding her where she was. What had she been thinking? She had totally let her guard down. Because she wanted to believe his words, that he was on her side and that he wanted her, even though he had seen her at her most standoffish, when she hadn’t been trying to be anyone but herself. Maybe his words were true—she
hoped
they were true—but it was too soon to trust him, to be certain he wasn’t playing a game. But hadn’t she decided that everything he said made sense? Wasn’t she almost positive she did believe him?

Even so, shouldn’t she be worried about more than sex out here? What if one of those idiots over there decided to take advantage of his inattention and throw a knife at him?

“It’s all right,” she said, that last thought helping her grow sober, even if the emptiness between her thighs still ached, and even if she was intensely aware of his hard body still pressed against hers.

“No, it’s not.” He let his hand slide through her hair, but it was a much more chaste touch than it had been earlier. “Not when you’re a prisoner. To take advantage of that...” A grumble of disgust came from his throat.

Andie almost pointed out that she had kissed
him
, but she wasn’t sure she should admit that he had that much power over her, that all he had done was rub her back and she had been ready to fling both legs around him. Even if everything he said turned out to be true, this wasn’t the place for mindless screwing, and it certainly wasn’t the
time
.

“I forgot to tell you,” he murmured, lowering his mouth to her ear again. “I saw fires farther up the pass, in the direction we need to travel, and I went to scout. I was hoping they might be my people, out on a border patrol, but they were raiders, nomads from the desert east of the mountains. They’re savage and not always... sane. A lot of mutations out there from the fallout, a lot of toxic water that they don’t bother filtering. The only reason those people come west is to steal our food and our women and to hurt us, however they can.”

“Doesn’t anybody have their own women in this time period?” Andie grumbled.

“Not that are able to have children. It’s less of a problem over on the peninsula, but even there, the ubiquitous heavy metals in the environment and the radiation in the air currents that come across the ocean make everything problematic.” He sighed and patted her gently before lowering his hand. “These things I can speak with you openly about tomorrow. You had best get some rest. We’re going to have to leave early to try and slip by that group without attracting their notice.”

Andie stepped back, but she grasped his hand. “We’d all sleep better if you were between us and them. We’ll watch your back too.”

He nodded. “I understand.”

“Oh, one more thing.” She planted a hand on his chest before he stepped away from the wall. “The name you gave me—
that’s
the one you were embarrassed about? I’m not sure I’ve heard it before, but it doesn’t sound nearly as bad as Andromeda.”

He chuckled softly. “That’s my surname. Everyone uses it.” He glanced toward the front of the cabin—making sure nobody was close enough to overhear?—then bent close to whisper in her ear again. “Aloysius.”

Andie smiled. Yes, that was fairly awful. Not that she was anyone to judge. “At least it doesn’t sound like something you’d name a mean dog.”

“No,” he agreed. “Is it any sexier than Mace?”

“Sorry, no.”

“Damn.”

T
heron dozed through the night, concerned about his enemies within the cabin, as well as the new ones only a couple of miles away. Despite the fact that he didn’t believe he slept deeply, he kept waking up with his arm around Andie and not being sure how it got there. He kept waking aroused, too, though there was less of a mystery as to how that happened, not with the memory of their kiss fueling his dreams.

For the fourth or fifth time, Theron rolled his eyes, withdrew his arm, and told himself that he should be sleeping on the other side of the cabin from her. Except that she had invited him over to the women’s corner, and he hadn’t been able to say no. He had wanted to protect them if necessary. Also, he had wanted to wake up if they rose in the night to put whatever plan they had for escape into effect. And yes, he had wanted to sleep next to Andie.

Theron wasn’t sure if she had believed his story—nor was he sure that he had been wise to share it—but she hadn’t tried to escape at least. He hadn’t been certain what he would do if she did. He did not want to be the one to detain her against her will, but also he did not want her to be captured by raiders or to get lost or hurt in his world with no way home. He wanted—

The hairs on the back of his neck rose, and his meandering thoughts halted. Theron lifted his head, not certain if he had heard someone stirring in the cabin or otherwise sensed movement, but his instincts told him something was amiss. The fire had long since dwindled to ashes, but the cabin was not entirely dark. Faint light seeped through the scarce windows, so dawn was approaching. In the gloom, he did not see anyone moving about, nor did he hear anything. The birds had not yet started chirping outside. Maybe a breeze had come through, causing a branch to scrape against the side of the cabin? Except there weren’t any trees that close to the structure.

Theron rose, trusting his instincts after so many years in the field. After grabbing his weapons, he headed for the door. He paused with his hand on the latch, listening. One of Bedene’s people should still be on guard outside. He didn’t hear anything, but the thick wood of the walls and door would muffle a lot of noise, and there was no reason the man would be stomping around.

Still, his senses continued to warn him that something was amiss. Theron backed away from the door and climbed the ladder to the loft instead. He remembered a couple of windows on that level, one broken with all of the glass having fallen out in the past. Without making a sound, he passed the slumbering couple on the floor, the draft and the dim predawn light guiding him to the window. He crouched, gazing into the dark forest for a moment, listening and looking. An old stable hunkered at the edge of his vision, the moss-covered roof half caved-in, but there was no movement in that direction. A pile of old mill stones blocked the door, and he doubted anyone was hiding inside.

His eyes could not pierce the darkness between the trees, but a faint sound reached his ear, the nicker of a horse. It was not coming from the empty stables. The raiders had horses. The night before, he had thought about sneaking into their camp and cutting all of the creatures free, but it had been early enough that most of the men had still been awake. Such an act would have been dangerous, and at the time, he hadn’t known if the raiders knew they were not alone in the pass. He hadn’t wanted to draw their attention. But now that they seemed to have found the cabin...