Part 31 (1/2)

”I love it.”

”You'd love an idiotic, mumbling man?”

She laughed and shook her head. ”You're the furthest thing from that.”

He swallowed, feeling her compliment pour through him like suns.h.i.+ne. ”And what's the date?”

She told him.

He smiled. ”Lord, I wasn't too sure where I was when I woke. Why weren't you in bed with me?”

”I slept on the couch.” She stopped kissing and stared into his eyes, already straddling him, which got him a bit more excited than he probably should have been. ”It's really you.”

He smiled and nodded. ”Yes, the muses needed to give me some time to learn just a tad about your time and to tutor me.”

”Tutor you?”

He gripped her hips, settling her lower against his growing groin. ”I'm a psychiatrist, can you believe that? My specialty is schizophrenia.”

She blinked rapidly. ”That's...congratulations! That's so wonderful. It's exactly what you wanted.”

He sat up a little with the use of his elbows behind him, which rubbed Erva right over his erection. Smiling even more at that, he said, ”Well, not exactly, darling. You see, I'm here at Harvard to study neurology, since I'd like to understand both the mind and the brain. That's how we met, by the by, was here, where I just happen to be studying. I was lost on campus, but you helped me find my way. At least, that's what the muses suggested we tell people about how we met. They won't believe me if I tell them I'm more than two hundred sixty years old. Go figure.”

She chuckled loudly. ”You just said go figure.”

”I've tried to learn many idioms, but Urania, my tutor, was a little worried they might be dated. As well as the music I tried to learn. I couldn't keep up with the constant changes.”

”Where did you leave off?”

”In 1913, there was a Jazz musician I really liked.”

She giggled again. ”You only have a little over a century of music to learn.”

”Is that all?” He loved the way she teased him, and rolled her over on the bed, pinning her under him.

She let out a soft breath, her lids fell half-mast.

”Did you miss me?”

Her amber eyes widened and moisture pooled instantly. ”I thought you were dea-” She never finished the word.

”Oh, darling.” He held her tightly, feeling her arms wrap around his neck and grip him as if she'd never let him go. ”The muses never said anything to you?”

She shook her head.

Lifting himself enough to peer down at her, he then wiped her tears. ”I suppose they were with me the whole time. But I thought they would have asked one of their other sisters to tell you I was fine.”

”But I saw you-”

”They somehow put a Kevlar vest under my uniform. I was shot and fell unconscious from the impact. In fact, I think I still have a bruise.”

She swallowed. Her brown eyes softened, turning into pure honey. ”So that means...you're mine? You live with me in my time?”

He smiled widely. ”Erva, darling, I will always be yours. No matter what time we're in. And about my sister and Paul-”

”Sorry to interrupt, but I just got a box from your former estate. I have letters from your sister and several of Paul's journals. They're all about you, how much they missed you and thought of you throughout the years. I'm-I'm not sure if that helps with your...grief at losing them-”

”That's the thing though, darling. Actually, although I was slated to die, the muses thought it was horrible for me to give up my sister and Paul to live here. It was a bit too bittersweet for, especially Erato, to take. So whenever I want, we want, we can go visit them. They also said something about a.s.sisting with other glimpses, but I didn't understand their meaning.”

Erva huffed, then smiled widely, tears filling her eyes. ”We can go back in time?”

”Aye...yes, darling.” He suddenly inhaled, remembering. ”I have something for you. I have a ring.” He was about to get up to find it, when she pulled him back down on her little taut body. He moaned. He'd somehow forgotten how good it felt to lie on her, to feel her so close.

”Don't leave. I don't want you to leave ever again. I can't believe how wonderful...I know I have you with me now, but I don't want you to move, er, I have to hold you. Is that all right?”

That he understood all too well and nodded. He wasn't sure how long he could be separated from her either. But he had to do the honorable thing. ”Does that mean if I asked you to marry me, you'd say yes? Because, quite honestly, it killed me a little when you didn't respond instantly the last time I asked. I mean, Erato did tell me how modern people date for many years, and she said something about cohabitating for a while before we decided to marry. But, and I may be a man of my time, terribly backwards and simplistic about matters of love, but I know my heart, darling. It only beats for you. And I hope you'll be mine in this time too?”

She nodded enthusiastically. ”Yes.” Tears sprang from her eyes again, and he tried to catch each one. ”Yes,” she said again. ”I love you so much. Yes.”

They kissed. He didn't know who started it, since it felt so natural to do, as if they had done it while they'd spoken. But when she slipped her tongue through his lips, he thought little else but of her body under his. As much as he liked her in a corset, the bra and t-s.h.i.+rt were amazing, especially when she lay down as she was and let the cotton fabric mold around her perfect globes. He'd given her enough room to breath, but when he released the kiss to nibble down her neck his eyes caught sight of her nipples turning to hard little peeks through her s.h.i.+rt. Yes, he'd grow accustomed to this century in no time, especially as her t-s.h.i.+rt let him gauge her slender waist and the flare of both her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

”Darling, what cure are you advertising?” He lightly traced the text on her t-s.h.i.+rt.

She moaned. ”The Cure is a band, a musical band.” Then she sucked in a breath. ”Oh no. I forgot how revealing this s.h.i.+rt is. I only wear it in my apartment, but my dean came by...G.o.d, he saw me in this.”

He took a measured breath himself. ”Did he stare at you? Will I have to ask him to a duel?”

She giggled. ”No, he didn't stare, and you can't ask people to duel.”

”I was jos.h.i.+ng, you know.”

She kept laughing, then held his face between her hands. ”You're really here, aren't you?”

”Yes, darling,” he said as one of his hands found its way under her s.h.i.+rt then slid up until he found the soft roundness he sought.

Erva's lids fluttered closed. She wore black mascara, and it made her long lashes that much more noticeable. He kissed each of her lids as he caressed her breast, finding her nipple and rolling it between his thumb and finger. Moaning, she arched her back into his touch. Her response made internal fireworks burst through his solar plexus and down to his toes. He moved back to her mouth and kissed her ravenously.

”G.o.d, I missed you.” He noticed his voice sounded lower than usual and hungry.

”I missed you.” When she said that with her own voice sounding so breathy and impatient, all ideas of taking his time, trying to find the romantic words to say, flew out of his mind.

He gripped her t-s.h.i.+rt and had it over her head in a second. But then he stared at her chest, blinking at the s.p.a.ce between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

She delicately touched herself around her heart.

”That's my name.”