Time Travel Romances Boxed Set (26 page)

If they could affect her thinking so
severely in merely two days, how much longer would Aurelia be able
to keep events straight in her mind? Fear clenched her gut and
Aurelia knew she had absolutely no choice.

The deed must be done. Bard must die.

Though how she could kill a trained warrior
larger and stronger than she, let alone one who could read her very
thoughts, Aurelia had no idea.

There had to be a way.

Well, there was one time when a man was
vulnerable beyond all, Aurelia realized, and her heart began to
pound at the boldness of her thoughts.

She would kill Bard in his own bed.

And if her chastity was the price she had to
pay to ensure Bard slept in her presence, Aurelia would willingly
count out the fee. It was a pittance compared to the sanctity of
her Dreaming and the potential of being forced to betray her own
blood.

Before she could change her mind, Aurelia
donned the blue robe and knotted the belt about her waist.
Elizabeth had a small but wicked knife in her kitchen. She would
fetch that first, then do what she had to do.

It was only fear of discovery that had her
heart pounding, Aurelia knew without doubt. It was no small risk
she undertook.

She certainly could not be anticipating the
heat of Bard’s touch.

*

Baird stared at the canopy over his bed and
puzzled over his strange dream. The juxtaposition of the two
incidents obviously was supposed to mean something.

Could he and Julian have known each other
before? A part of him was sure they had, another part of him
insisted that it was all nonsense.

Was he just tossing together bits and ends
from his day to fill in the gaps of his dream? The question about
Micklegarth was a direct echo of Aurelia’s comments in town. Even
though she hadn’t been in this dream, her presence had been almost
tangible. Thord had talked about her or at least, talked about his
sister who shared the same name.

The sister he thought Baird should marry.
Baird swung out of bed and hauled on his resort robe, certain he
wouldn’t sleep for a while. He paced, unable to imagine how easily
he had taken to the idea of marriage, even in a dream.

What was it about Aurelia that got under his
skin?

Was it just the power of desire at work?

Yet Baird knew that it was not something as
ignoble as lust that fired through him at just the sight of
Aurelia.

She was unlike any woman he had ever
met.

Baird liked the way Aurelia’s eyes flashed
with spirit, he liked how passionately she argued, he liked that
she grabbed onto life with both hands and didn’t let go.

Baird admired that her thinking proceeded
logically from whatever premise she took. She was clever and
defiant, opinionated and passionate. He was intrigued that she
could be both delicate and resolute, that she refused to back down
from any challenge and that she spoke her mind in no uncertain
terms.

Aurelia invaded his dreams and stole into
his thoughts. And Baird wanted to know her in every way, he wanted
to see her in every light, he wanted to hear her thoughts on every
matter and watch her confront every wonder of the world. Baird
wanted to solve all the puzzles about her that he had only
glimpsed.

But most of all, he wanted to mend the
gaping hole her father’s loss had left in her life. Not having a
father had scarred Baird, but he knew that losing a father would
have been far, far worse.

And Aurelia had endured exactly that.

Baird couldn’t explain why he felt so
protective of a stranger. Unless it was because Aurelia had had the
kind of father that Baird had always longed to have himself. He
ached now with the dream’s unwelcome reminder of his own
loneliness.

Baird had never had anyone he could rely on.
He rubbed his temples just as a quiet rap sounded at the door.

Aurelia stood on the threshold of his room,
a resort robe that matched his own tossed over her shoulders. Her
hair was loose, she looked young and vulnerable.

And there was a heat in her gaze that echoed
Baird’s own. His heart thumped and his mouth went dry with the
certainty of why she had come.

She wanted him.

Just as he wanted her.

There was no need for words. Aurelia’s eyes
darkened to indigo as she stepped forward and slipped her hands
around the back of his neck. Baird didn’t fight the way she urged
him closer, his heart hammering with anticipation.

A thousand denials crowded into his mind. He
shouldn’t.

They shouldn’t.

But Aurelia did. The sweet seduction of her
lips closed over his and swept his rationalizations away.

Again, Baird had that sense of
rightness.

He couldn’t shut out intuition any more - it
took the keys and locked logic securely in the trunk. For the first
time that he could recall, Baird Beauforte didn’t want to think
about anything.

He just wanted to feel.

Aurelia was so welcoming, so familiar yet
tantalizingly unknown, and the spell she wove about Baird left no
chance of escape. He didn’t want to be anywhere else in the
world.

There was nowhere else in the world.

Baird lifted Aurelia against him, savoring
the crush of her breasts against his chest. She was all curves and
softness, completely different from him, yet they fit together as
though they were each made for the other.

He felt complete in a way he never had
before, as though some missing piece had quietly slid into place to
complete a jigsaw. It seemed that all his life he had been seeking
this elusive feeling. Now he had found it, and in the most unlikely
of places.

Aurelia was what Baird had always been
searching for. And now that he had found her, there was nothing
else that mattered, nothing other than the magic they would make
between them.

And that magic would be theirs to remember
for all time.

Baird slanted his mouth over hers and their
tongues danced together, his blood heating as Aurelia matched him
touch for touch. Her cheeks were flushed with passion and when
Baird trailed a line of kisses along her jaw, she moaned aloud. Her
small fingers clenched in his hair and Baird loved how she gasped
when he rolled his tongue in her ear.

Then Aurelia did the same to him and Baird
thought he would explode. He scooped her up in his arms, kicked the
door closed and carried her to the bed. The moonlight slanted
through the windows, painting the room in shades of silver and
toying with the luster of Aurelia’s hair.

She lay back against the rumpled duvet and
smiled welcomingly.

Baird slid open the knotted belt of her robe
and Aurelia’s gaze fixed on him. He stared into the sapphire
majesty of her eyes, then lifted the robe away to reveal the
perfection of her breasts.

She was so tiny, yet beautiful in every way.
Baird slid tentative fingertips over her smooth curves, hip to
breast to shoulder, his hand pausing against her jaw in wonder. The
moonlight made her look ethereal and unreal. He was half afraid
that she was too fragile to touch, that she was an illusion that
would disappear if he reached out to her.

Then Aurelia’s eyes twinkled with mischief,
she turned her head and gave his finger a nibble that was very
real. They smiled at each other and Baird, encouraged, couldn’t
resist that luscious breast any longer.

He bent and licked the nipple leisurely,
coaxing it to attention as Aurelia gasped. Baird drew her closer,
lifting her from the bed, cupping her breast in one hand, then
eased the robe over her shoulders.

It tumbled to the bed with an odd thump, but
Baird had only a fleeting chance to notice. Aurelia suddenly locked
her arms around his neck and kissed him as though the world was
ending.

Her embrace left Baird dizzy and uncaring
about anything in any robe anywhere. He scooped her close and
rolled across the bed, nuzzling her neck as he went.

When they came to a stop, Aurelia stretched
one hand tentatively towards him, but Baird was determined to set
that cascade of hair free. He worked the braid loose carefully,
then spread the gleaming mass of her hair over her shoulders. It
shone in the moonlight like silvered silk and seemed to have a life
of its own.

Baird had never seen hair so long, let alone
so thick and bouncy. It was nearly straight, heavy in his hand, but
silky smooth. He fingered it with wonder. “Have you ever cut
it?”

Aurelia shook her head. “It was
forbidden.”

Baird frowned at the odd confession, then
Aurelia’s fingers closed over his and the heat fired between them
once more. They kissed with fingers entangled, a greedy sampling of
each other that left them both gasping for breath.

Aurelia touched his nipple with an
exploratory finger. It tightened and Baird caught his breath when
she leaned closer to touch her lips to the same spot. Her fingers
outspread, she slid her hand down his ribs, across his pelvis and
closed her hand over him.

Baird nearly exploded on the spot.

He caught up Aurelia’s hand and rolled her
to her back on the bed, leaning over her with purpose.

Aurelia blinked. “You do not like to be
touched?”

“
I love to be touched,”
Baird assured her, brushing his lips across her brow, the pert
curve of her nose and finally her lips. He lingered there, unable
to stop himself, then lifted his head and stared into her eyes for
a long moment. Aurelia looked as amazed as he felt at the passion
burning between them.

Baird quirked his brow. “I like it so much
that we’d be done very quickly if you hadn’t stopped.”

Aurelia giggled and squirmed beneath him.
Baird rolled his hips and let her feel the size of him. She started
to smile a very feminine smile of satisfaction, then he captured
her breast once more and dragged his thumb slowly across the
nipple.

Aurelia inhaled sharply and the nipple stood
at attention. She melted as Baird bent and kissed the taut bead
with slow deliberation.

Aurelia sighed and arched languorously
beneath his caress. Baird suckled first one breast and the other,
loving how she moved beneath him. In this as everything else,
Aurelia was honest about her feelings - and she welcomed every
nuance of the experience.

Her obvious pleasure brought Baird’s own
desire to a fever pitch, and he was determined to see that the
magic they made surpassed any other Aurelia had ever known.

He wondered if he would ever get enough of
her, if she would want more of him. Baird kissed her ears, her jaw,
her throat, the underside of her breasts and her navel, and watched
a flush slide over her flesh.

There was one way to be sure.

Baird captured the nipple with purpose
again, then spread his fingers and speared them through the nest of
blond curls at the apex of her thighs. He slid his arm beneath
Aurelia, holding her fast against his side. Aurelia arched back and
gasped when his fingers found the wetness awaiting him there.

Baird caressed and cajoled, loving the way
the little pearl hidden there tightened beneath his touch. Aurelia
twisted harder beneath him, she arched and clutched at his
shoulders.

Baird cupped the back of her head, lifting
her lips for a deep and searching kiss. Aurelia clung to him,
kissing him as though she couldn’t get enough of him. Baird’s
tongue plundered her sweetness and Aurelia’s tongue played in
counterpoint.

His fingers danced and Aurelia gripped his
shoulders suddenly. She arched right off the bed with the force of
her orgasm and Baird swallowed her cry with satisfaction.

Aurelia fell back gasping against the
mattress. Baird cupped her breast and felt the pounding of her
heart beneath his hand. His own pulse matched its pace as he bent
and brushed his lips across hers.

Aurelia’s eyes opened sleepily. Baird had
never seen them so darkly blue. “I never imagined,” she whispered
huskily and Baird grinned.

“
I can imagine a lot more,”
he teased.

Aurelia’s eyes flashed with mischief, giving
almost no warning before she had rolled Baird to his back.

“
As can I,” she murmured
throatily. She sat astride him, her feet wriggling against his
buttocks. She smiled at him, then closed both hands around him.
Baird moaned and closed his eyes. He whispered her name, only to
find her soft breasts against his chest.

Baird caught his breath in anticipation as
Aurelia perched above him, and then with one breathtaking move,
impaled herself on his throbbing erection. The slick heat of her
swallowed him in one gulp, caressed him and surrounded him with
softness and warmth.

“
Aurelia!”

Baird gripped her buttocks with both hands
just before her lips locked over his. He was beside himself with
desire, more enflamed that he had ever been before.

He had been waiting for this woman.

And he had known her from first glance.

Aurelia moved, launching a symphony of
pleasure and drawing him deeper into her with every stroke. Baird
twisted against the mattress, willing this moment to last, yet
unable to imagine surviving her sweet torture for long.

He had to make sure he pleased her
again.

They moved together in an ancient rhythm,
their breath synchronized, their gazes locked. Baird slid his thumb
between the two of them and found Aurelia’s secret pearl once more.
She smiled with a delight that warmed him to his toes and rode him
even harder.

He felt the shimmer of Aurelia’s hair spill
over the pair of them, like a net snaring him in her allure. She
was all moonlight and magic, her spell of enchantment snaring him
in silver cobwebs.

And Baird didn’t even want to break free.
Aurelia’s tiny hands wandered over his skin, caressing and teasing,
her lips drove him to distraction. She touched everywhere at once,
it seemed, stoking his passion to an intensity he had never known
before.