A Fix in Time
A novella of erotic romance by
Jade Falconer
Published by Phaze Books
Also by Jade Falconer
Around the World
Back to the Past
Cold Hands, Warm...
Once in a Lifetime
I Can’t Drive 55
Wicked Game
Escape
Eye of the Beholder
Ghost of a Chance
Sex Type Thing
Time Again
Girls on Film
Unexpected Connections
Santa Please
Savior
Love Bites
Making Magic
Morning Star
Murder by Death
Binary Stars 7: Light My Fire
Binary Stars 9: Prelude
And more...
This is an explicit and erotic novel
intended for the enjoyment
of adult readers. Please keep
out of the hands of children.
www.Phaze.com
A Fix in Time
Copyright © 2011 by Jade Falconer
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Edited by Kathryn Lively
Cover Art © 2011 by Niki Browning
First Edition October 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1-60659-634-0
SMASHWORDS EDITION
Published by:
Phaze Books
An imprint of Mundania Press LLC
6457 Glenway Ave., #109
Cincinnati, OH 4521
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, Mundania Press LLC, 6457 Glenway Ave., #109, Cincinnati, OH 4521, books@mundania.com.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
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Chapter One
Most people dreaded the end of their vacations, but Luke Martin wasn’t like most people. He bounded into the high-ceilinged control room, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m back!” he announced. “I know you all missed me desperately.”
Two or three people glanced up from their displays, but everyone else ignored Luke. They were used to his antics.
“No love? I’m wounded,” Luke said, with mock sadness, and flopped down onto the lap of the nearest technician, placing himself between the readout and her face. “What did I miss, Rina?”
“The world stopped without you,” Rina said, pushing Luke away. She was a short blonde woman, just on the edge of plump, but with a very pretty face. “Now get off, you’re crushing me.”
Luke pretended to look affronted, but got up. He was slender and not very tall—he obviously wasn’t really crushing her. “Fine,” he sighed dramatically, and walked over to the man seated next to her.
“No,” the man said, scooting his chair up so that Luke had no chance to sit in his lap. “I’m working on a calculation and you’ll mess me up.”
Luke stood in the center of the office, hands on hips, and grinning. “I should have stayed away!” His multicolored hair hung in his face on one side, almost wholly obscuring it. Today it was blond in front and brown on the rest of his head. For him, it was sedate.
The man who had refused to let Luke sit in his lap answered without looking up, “You’re not due back for three more days.” He had long, ink black hair tied back in a neat braid—evidence of his Native American heritage.
“But I missed you so much, Carl!” Luke said. “Actually, the boss told me we might have something big coming up, that he needed my particular expertise for.”
Carl rolled his eyes. “That’s what I’m trying to work on. Albert said you were to go to his office as soon as you got in.”
Luke glanced around the room. “Must be serious, then.” Now that he noticed, there were more techs in the room than usual. Monitors flashed rows of numbers and colored graphs that meant little to him. He was a different kind of tech.
He made his way over to the corner of the large room, where a glass door stood open. He leaned his upper body into the doorway and looked in. “Albert, I’m here! The world is a safe place again!”
Albert, a large man with close-cropped white hair, looked up from several flat panels he was studying. He looked serious, but then he always did. “Luke. I’m glad you’re here.”
Luke’s eyebrows rose. “You’re never glad to see me. This really is bad.” He sat down in a chair, which immediately conformed to his body, and leaned forward. “What’s going on?” He absently-mindedly slapped away the arm of the chair—he hated the things.
Albert leaned forward and rubbed his temples. “Someone’s messing with the timelines again, but this time way back. We’re not sure what they’re trying to do yet, or what to do about it. Meeting in ten.”
Luke liked to think of himself as a detective. His formal title, like everyone else’s, was “Technician.” There wasn’t a lot of crime in the world these days. At least, not overtly. But, criminals would be criminals, and as technology progressed so did the intricacy of crime.
As soon as time travel became a viable science, the government had tried to regulate it. At the time, they still weren’t sure about the effects time travel could have, whether paradoxes could exist, and whether someone could really do damage to the future or the past.
They still didn’t have all the answers. Scientists were still working on a unified theory of time travel. But, as with all scientific discoveries, people started using it before it was completely understood.
Of course, there were people who quickly figured out how to use it for personal gain.
So time travel was strictly regulated, which meant the formation of a whole new branch of the government, purely for enforcing those regulations. Once in a while, someone unauthorized would go back in time. Usually it was something easily sorted out, but the ramifications were hard to predict. The Time Travel Enforcement Department—TTED for short, or just TED—was formed to stop people from changing the past, or repairing the damage that had been done.
The problem, of course, was knowing what to fix and when to do it. Over the years some of the most brilliant scientific minds had written a computer program to model what would happen if an element in the past was changed. It was good, but not foolproof, and it was all they had. So far, between the program and human intuition they’d averted disaster.
Luke worked for the branch of TED dedicated to stopping the past from being changed, hopefully before any damage was done. There were only a handful of people authorized to go into the past, and Luke counted himself lucky to be one of them.
Now six people sat around an oblong table in the main conference room: Luke, Albert, Carl, Rina and two other specialists. The main screen showed a number of charts and tables, and Albert was explaining their importance. Luke didn’t talk, just listened, absorbing everything. He soaked up all the information, some of it seemingly unrelated, and from there he usually came to the right conclusion.
This time, however, the answer wasn’t coming to him.
He’d have to go back in time—that much was clear—to 1832 England, a period about which he had absolutely no clue. He specialized in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and felt absolutely in his element there. He’d even learned to play a musical instrument, the guitar, as part of one of his missions, and to his astonishment he’d been really good at it. He’d also picked up his hairstyle there.
The nineteenth century? It was pretty much a complete mystery to him. But, he was good at what he did, and he knew he could pull off this job. Language, after all, hadn’t changed all that much. He would study all the information they had on the era, and pretend to be from another country to explain any odd behavior or accents. It had worked every time before. It would work now.
The meeting wrapped up, and Albert pulled him aside. “Luke. Are you sure about this? We can get someone else to do it.”
Luke flashed Albert his trademark brilliant smile. “You wanted the best and you got the best. I can do it, Al.”
“Don’t call me that,” the older man said automatically, with the air of someone who’s said the same thing many times before. “I promised your parents—”
“That you’d look out for me. Yeah, yeah, I know.” Luke patted Albert on the back. “But, they’re somewhere in Borneo or some damn place. Give me a shot. I can do this. I want to.” He realized he really did. He wanted to prove that he could do something outside his usual area of expertise, to extrapolate his knowledge and display how well he could bullshit, to make it simpler.
Albert sighed. “Fine. Go home. Get some rest. You’re gonna need it.”
****
After a long evening poring over all the documents provided for him, Luke had a headache.
He had always been impulsive, but he was also brilliant, so most times he was able to figure a way out of the fixes he tended to get himself into. If he couldn’t, he used his natural charm and dry humor to talk his way out of danger. He always had friends, and moved about in a group at school, but on the inside he was a loner. His parents were busy scientists who always brought their work home. Luke would sit and listen to them discuss their work on time travel research. By the time he was seventeen he knew more about the physics of time travel than most Ph.D.s. It was natural that he went into university to study physics, and do his graduate work in the subfield of time travel.
Luke’s problem, though, was his impulsiveness and a certain lack of respect for the rules. He never got top grades because he was always a little careless with his equations. He’d take a shortcut, skip a step, and though he almost always got the answer correct, his professors noticed it.
He couldn’t help it. His mind moved too fast, and he was already thinking about the next problem while he worked on the previous one. He also couldn’t sit at a desk all day. He knew his parents wanted him to follow in their footsteps, but that meant basically being at a computer all day, every day. He knew he’d go mad.
He went through the motions only because his parents expected it of him, and he did enjoy the research.
Time travel technology was well guarded by the government, but if the technology existed, others were going to build time machines, too. So, there had to be a team of people keeping the danger in check. Most people, if they were going to go back in time illegally, would try to profit from it: manipulate the stock market in some way, or plant some information in order to make money. Luckily, it took a great deal of money and talent to master the technology, so problems had pretty much been nipped in the bud before they could become catastrophes.
TED was fairly a new organization, and as soon as Luke had heard of its existence from his parents, he’d known that this was what he wanted to do with his life. Finally, a way to combine his knowledge with a job that didn’t keep him tied to a lab! His parents warned him not to get his hopes up, but he wouldn’t even consider the possibility of not being accepted into the team.
Fresh out of graduate school, he became a federal employee just like his parents. His friends thought he was crazy—they had all gone on to high-paying jobs with private agencies, but Luke had never regretted it. He was damn good at what he did, and he enjoyed putting things to rights, back how they should be. He never told anyone that, though. It sounded silly even to him.
Not that there were many people to tell. Luke had had a few boyfriends and girlfriends, mostly in college, but he never felt the instant attraction that people talked about, or was portrayed in movies. He wanted it, though, wanted to be wanted that way. Wanted the kind of relationship that made you ache if you weren’t with the other person. He wanted to be on fire for someone.
Now he was thirty years old, and had been working for TED for almost five years. His work took up most of his time. It wasn’t just a nine to five job, and that suited him fine.
He finally closed his laptop and got up to stretch. He wandered over to a huge window in his living room that took up an entire wall. He’d had it installed himself; it hadn’t been part of the apartment originally. Luke had a thing about having a view. He’d paid more to have an apartment with an exterior wall just so he could have this window. Most people were satisfied with a viewscreen that could show any view they wanted at any time, but Luke wanted to see what was really there.
It was late now, so all he could see were sodium-yellow lights that went on until they reached the water’s edge. Off on the ocean there was the occasional bobbing light that meant there were boats out there. The water was a few miles away, so they were probably large ships holding thousands of people or tons of cargo. In the silence of his room he tried to imagine the people on those ships and the lives they led.
He sighed and finally went to bed. His mind was full of the past, and tomorrow things would seem a little clearer. His subconscious had a way of sifting through information while he was asleep, getting ideas that seemed like magic to other people. It wasn’t anything special to Luke, it was just how he worked.
He slid into bed, wishing briefly that there was someone here with him. Not just for sex—he could get that whenever he wanted, in whatever flavor he wanted, real or virtual. Again, Luke was an anachronism. He preferred real people and real emotions. Maybe that was why he was still alone. Or maybe he just hadn’t found the right person.
Chapter Two
“Fucking barbaric,” Luke muttered to himself. He was actually in his office today, a place he usually avoided like a twentieth century plague. He scanned over more information on social behavior of the 1800s. He expected society to be strict and unforgiving, but this was ridiculous. What rankled him the most was that though the word didn’t even exist yet, homosexuality was punishable by life imprisonment and often death.
Luke was more accustomed to the twentieth century, where same-sex relations hadn’t been wholly accepted. At least then it wasn’t a crime in most places. As if the authorities could regulate a person’s sexuality. Of course, people were still going to have sex. They just had to risk more for it. Luke felt a flash of sympathy for all the people over the years who had to hide who they really were just to function in society. He was truly lucky.
Luke never knew, going in, whether the research team had missed something vital, some detail that meant he’d stick out like a sore thumb. There was always a risk, and several times he’d had to abort before the mission really began. That was why he had an emergency call-back button hidden in a back tooth. If he had to use it, he usually tried to get out of sight, but it was better to seemingly disappear in front of someone’s eyes than alter time unknowingly. People had a way of explaining away, in their own minds, things they couldn’t accept.
****
It was time for the initial jump. Luke made his way to the control room.
Most of Luke’s jobs placed him in the late twentieth century, an era about which he was especially knowledgeable. Now, he was going a hundred and fifty years earlier. He’d never gone this far into the past. Others had, but not often. This was shaping up to be much more important than anyone had guessed. Their computers forecast huge, spreading ripples in the timeline, ones that could tear holes in the fabric of their present reality. Luke didn’t work on that end of things, but apparently there hadn’t been an alert like this in, well, ever. Luke had built a reputation for being reliable and very good at insinuating himself with people. So here he was, decked out in the most uncomfortable clothes he’d ever worn.
“Why so many layers?” complained Luke to the room in general. “I’m sweating already.” He also lamented the loss of his long bangs, which he’d really liked. Now his hair was cut short and dyed a uniform brown color. He felt decidedly plain. At least it would grow back. From the research he read, it was acceptable for noblemen to have long hair, but only in back. In case somebody discovered the anachronisms, he would pretend to be from another country, France, where men kept their hair short, apparently.
Luke stood on the platform, carrying nothing but a few local coins and an invitation to the party he was to attend. The invitation was printed on thick, stiff parchment and written in letters so flowery that it was nearly illegible to him. This was a sort of reconnaissance mission—a short duration to be sure they’d pinpointed the correct time, and to get a feel for things.
The Duke of Wellington was having a party, where Luke could mingle and figure out a plan. He would materialize in an alley not far from the residence, but there was no way to tell if anyone might be about. One way to find out.
“Ready.” Luke nodded with a deep breath, and the countdown began. He’d done this so many times that he found having his lungs full of air made the pain of transition hurt less. It did hurt, that was to be expected. Luke wasn’t sure what went on at a molecular level during time travel, for he wasn’t knowledgeable about that very specialized part of the science. It always felt, to him, like every part of his body, every cell, stretched apart just a little. He was surrounded by blackness, then with a snap there was sound and light again.
He staggered a little and stood up straight. He was staring at a grimy brick wall, and a pale glow flickered from somewhere behind him. He spun around as quickly as he could. The transition usually made him a bit nauseous, and this had been a big one.
He stood in an alley, as planned. Luckily, he was alone. So far, so good. He walked toward the source of the light at the end, slowly, to be sure no one would witness his exit and think he was doing something shifty.
No one was about so, with a quick glance to orient himself, he recognized the street from the computer reconstruction he’d memorized before he left. The Duke’s home should be just on the left.
He walked quickly toward the house. Even though he’d seen the 3D model, it seemed smaller than it should have been. Then again, this was a palatial residence for the time and this city. He walked up to the front door, hoping he was as prepared as possible.
The door opened at his knock. A tall, stern man who had butler written all over him stood there, bowing formally. Luke gave his name and presented his invitation, hoping the research team had gotten the details right. His clothing in general would likely pass muster, but fashions changed so quickly even then that he could easily have something wrong.
The foyer was suitably impressive—marble flooring, plush tapestries and tasteful art screamed wealth.
“Welcome,” said a voice. “I beg your forgiveness, but I don’t think we are acquainted.”
Luke turned quickly from studying his surroundings to set eyes upon the most beautiful man he’d ever seen, past or future. Long, shining, gorgeous black hair hung in loose curls over his shoulders, and pale creamy skin and huge brown eyes threatened to make him forget why he was here. But, he was good at his job because he was quick on his feet, so he didn’t even miss a beat.
Luke stepped closer and bowed deeply, trying to remind himself that hitting on other men wasn’t acceptable in this era. “We are not acquainted, sadly,” Luke said when he straightened up. “My name is Lucian Martin. I have just arrived from Paris for this momentous occasion.” His real name actually was Lucian, but he had gone by Luke since he was a small boy. Lucian seemed more appropriate to the time, though. He had his background memorized, of course, but he doubted such things as lineage were volunteered, until asked.
“The pleasure is all mine, I can assure you. The butler will be happy to take your cloak. Oh, how rude of me. I am Edwin Wright, His Grace’s secretary. If there’s anything you require, please don’t hesitate to approach me.”
“Mr. Wright,” Luke replied, smiling genuinely and hoping he was getting the mode of address right. “I shall surely do that.” What he required, or at least wanted, from this man would likely get him thrown into prison in this era. “The Duke has a lovely home. My compliments to his decorators.” He reminded himself he was not here to flirt. With a glance around he could see that, so far, he didn’t look too awfully out of place. Most minor discrepancies could be explained by his foreign nationality.
Edwin blushed slightly and Luke found it incredibly appealing. “Would you care for a drink or something to eat? There’s a buffet laid out in the dining room.”
Luke knew he shouldn’t be doing this, but his job was to infiltrate the inner circle, and this man was certainly part of that. The fact that he was quite easy on the eyes didn’t enter into it, did it? Well, Mr. Wright was friendly, and he could be of use in Luke’s information gathering. “Only if you will join me,” Luke said, his gaze flicking over the man’s body in what he hoped was an unobtrusive manner. Edwin looked slender but fit under those layers of velvet. “I must confess I am somewhat out of place here,” he said in a massive understatement. “I would hope you’d be so kind as to, ah, help me fit in a little better? Point out the people to whom I must never be rude?” He smiled, making the statement lighter, more in jest.
Edwin’s full lips curved into a smile and he arched one eyebrow. “It would be unforgivable to allow a guest in our fine country to stumble about without guidance,” he purred. He said a few quick words to the butler about fetching him the moment there was any word of the king’s arrival, and turned back to Luke. “Right through here, Mr. Martin,” he said smoothly, indicating the doorway to the dining room.
Luke’s body reacted to that purr—it hadn’t been there before, he was sure of it. His heart pounded a bit more quickly as he considered. If he’d been in his own time, or even a time he was familiar with, he would read Edwin’s reaction as definite interest. Here, he remembered the warnings and tried to stave off his desire. But, Edwin was incredible. “You are truly a kind host, Mr. Wright,” he said, walking in the direction indicated. He moved slightly closer, as close as he dared, unable to help himself a slight flirtation. “You must call me Lucian.”
Edwin bit his bottom lip. “Such informality would be inexcusable...in front of others,” he said, leaning closer and dropping his voice so only Luke could hear him. “However, should we be speaking privately, you must also call me Edwin. Lucian.” He led Luke into the dining room and poured him a glass of wine from a decanter on the sideboard, and poured one for himself.
Luke accepted the glass graciously, looking around the room to keep from gazing too obviously at Edwin. He was already treading in dangerous territory. He’d been tempted before, but he never dallied with anyone from the past. Such things were forbidden, of course, for obvious reasons. The main one, however—the danger of fathering a child in the past—wouldn’t apply here, naturally. A romantic involvement could be almost as messy, but what would an innocent bit of flirtation hurt? Edwin clearly had all the information he needed to plan his mission, and seemed friendly. So, without looking directly at the other man, he sipped his wine and said, “I do hope I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to address you as such, then.”
Edwin glanced sideways at him. “I’m almost certain you shall,” he said softly. Then he glanced around the room, nodding towards various people. “The Countess de Mountbank. She prefers to be flattered almost ceaselessly, and will quickly lose interest in those who do not indulge her.” He nodded towards another man. “Admiral Tompkins. Just back from the West Indies, and they say he stumbled upon a pirate’s treasure that he has yet to inform the Crown about. That over there, of course, is our host, the Duke of Wellington, my uncle by marriage. Of course, you must know him already...”
Luke nodded, recognizing the man from reproductions of portraits he’d studied. “My Grand-mère introduced us when I was but a child,” he answered. “Of course, His Grace would not remember. My Grand-mère was always trying to get me more interested in politics, and it was her wish that brought me here today.” He hoped that would be vague enough. The other tidbits of information he stored away in his brain. Edwin was proving as useful as he was beautiful.
Edwin seemed to accept the explanation and moved on, pointing out various important personages and supplying small pieces of information, more social than political in nature. After exhausting the dining room of points of interest, he said quietly, “Perhaps you’d care for some fresh air out on the terrace?”
Luke’s eyes widened just a fraction, but there was no way he could refuse. A thrill ran through him, and he nodded. “It is indeed rather warm in here,” he said quietly. He doubted that being alone with Edwin would cool him off at all, but he wasn’t going to argue. “Please, lead the way.” He might hope for a few more admiring glances at the man’s body. This was what he got for being alone so long. Instant lust.
Edwin led him through another door and another until they were in a quiet, unoccupied library, then finally through a glass-paned door onto a balcony. It overlooked a small, but impeccably kept garden. He walked out and turned, leaning back against a concrete railing. “Are you staying in London long, Mr. Martin?” he asked, pushing his curls back over his shoulders.
Edwin looked even better in the moonlight, and Luke told himself he’d only spend a few moments out here with him. He leaned against the railing, as near as he dared, and said, “I’d not thought to stay long, actually, but I find the sights to be much more appealing than I thought they might be. I feel compelled to make my visit a longer one.” He gazed into Edwin’s eyes, mesmerized. He could still be wrong. He could still be reading the other man incorrectly, but he didn’t think so.
Edwin smirked a little. “Aren’t you the bold one,” he said, his voice taking on a breathy quality. “What are you here for, really? Surely not to placate dear old Grandmum with renewing your acquaintance with the Duke. If that were the case you’d be speaking to him, not me.”
Luke smiled, noting the change in Edwin’s tone and the informality of his words. “That is partially why I’m here, actually,” he said, drawing just a bit nearer. “Mainly, it was to get away. My father is insisting I marry, settle down, carry on the family name and all that. It sounds dreadful, and I wish to postpone it as long as possible,” he confided. He didn’t know where all this was coming from—perhaps he was getting too far into his role. But, he really couldn’t help himself.
Edwin’s grin turned devilish. “Perhaps you’ll prefer a good English girl to those available in France. I would be happy to point you in the right direction of the single ladies that might be appropriate.” He gazed back at Luke questioningly, as though he was reasonably sure he already knew the answer.
This dance was lovely. Not that Luke condoned the primitive laws that caused men like Edwin to act in such a roundabout manner, but the result was a great deal of fun, really. Like cat and mouse. He smiled more widely, and looked straight into Edwin’s eyes after a lingering glance down his body. “Perhaps what I’m looking for is somewhat less appropriate, then.”
Edwin clearly reacted to that glance and he licked his lips. He reached into the pocket of his fitted sapphire blue coat and pulled out a small card on vellum, holding it out to Luke. “Lest you be tempted to further shameful indiscretion, you’ll find my address on this card. I have a small townhouse two blocks down from here. I would be more than happy to show you around, ah, town.” He straightened up, then placed his hand lightly on Luke’s upper arm, leaning close to his ear. “I shall likely be free of this party in three hours’ time,” he whispered. Then he pulled away again. “I really must return to the entrance hall for the king’s arrival. I trust you can make your way around?” He walked towards the door and stopped for a moment, turning back to wink at Luke. “I look forward to renewing our acquaintance soon, Mr. Martin.” Then he slipped through the door and disappeared back into the party.
Luke stood still for a full minute, breathing in the lingering scent of the beautiful man and getting his body under control. He clutched the small card and glanced down at it. In the moonlight he could just make out the address. He slipped it carefully into a pocket, and took another deep breath of the cool night air. He had to focus. He was here to do a job. Nothing more. He also knew full well that he’d be visiting Edwin later. Nothing was going to stop him.
After a few moments, Luke made his way out to the party again. He drank another glass of wine, ate some fruit, and spoke to a few of the guests. The Countess de Mountbank was indeed as susceptible to flattery as Edwin had indicated, and she was quite a useful source of information herself when suitably inclined.
Once in a while, he’d catch a glimpse of Edwin across the room and his breath would catch. The time seemed to drag on. The king arrived, but Luke stayed on the sidelines, observing and attempting to attune himself to the atmosphere of the time. He really was good at it, and he enjoyed it.
Finally, the revelers began to wind down, the king met with a few people and then departed for another engagement, and Luke was able to excuse himself. Edwin was nowhere to be seen, and he hoped the gorgeous man awaited him.
He walked quickly down the dark street, glancing at the houses, searching for his goal.
There it was: a small yet well-kept house, surrounded by neatly trimmed hedges. He stepped up to the door and knocked, heart pounding. He hadn’t let himself think about it too much until now. He hoped he hadn’t misread Edwin’s signals. He knew he shouldn’t be doing this, and that made it all the sweeter. He told himself he was just there to get more information, but he knew that was a lie. He wanted Edwin. Wanted to be near him, to learn more about him. To touch him. His body knew what it wanted, and he was already half-aroused.
Edwin opened the door after a moment. He had obviously freshened up his appearance, removing the confining formal coat in favor of a simple white shirt and black britches. His shining hair hung in loose curls over his shoulders. He stood aside to allow Luke entrance. “Mr. Martin. What a pleasant surprise,” he purred. As soon as the door was closed, however, he leaned back against it with a sultry smile. “I hoped you’d come,” he said softly. “Tell me I’m not wrong.”
Luke’s breath caught at how gorgeous he looked. “How could I stay away when such beauty awaits me?” he whispered. He glanced around him and asked, “May I assume we are alone, Edwin?” A few feet separated them, but he could feel the tension as if they were connected.
“Quite alone,” he whispered. He licked his lips then held out his hand, beckoning Luke forward. “Tis been a while since anyone called me beautiful.”
Luke reached out and took Edwin’s hand. “That in itself is a crime,” he murmured, bringing the man’s hand to his lips, kissing it softly. “A creature such as yourself should be informed of his beauty daily, if not more frequently.” He couldn’t help the words that spilled from his mouth. His body was taking over from his brain, and he was intoxicated.
Edwin pulled his hand free of Luke’s and slid it around the back of his neck, pulling him close and kissing him. “Tell me without words,” he whispered against Luke’s lips.
Luke moaned at the quick move, and suddenly he had Edwin in his arms. He automatically put his hands on the other man’s back, and all he could do was kiss him. The world around them seemed to go away as he pressed his lips more firmly against Edwin’s. Their chests were flush together but not their hips. Luke wasn’t sure how far or how fast Edwin wanted to go. He would assume nothing. He wasn’t supposed to be doing this at all. A small voice in his head reprimanded him for ignoring the rules, but the voice that told him how wonderful, how perfect, Edwin felt in his arms was much louder.
Edwin moaned into Luke’s mouth, opening for him and exploring boldly. He slid his arms around Luke’s neck and pressed his hips forward.
Luke couldn’t believe how Edwin opened to him. There was no way he could stop his tongue from sparring with the other man’s, or keep his hips from grinding against his. Edwin was as aroused as he, which just heightened his desire. He’d wanted this from the first moment he saw Edwin, and now he had him just where he wanted him—as if they were meant to be, meant to connect this way. He let his hands move lower to cup Edwin’s buttocks, pulling him even closer. He’d definitely been alone too long.
Edwin whimpered. “Mm, yes,” he whispered. “Let’s go to bed.” He rocked his hips back and forth seductively, kissing Luke’s neck hungrily, sucking and biting.
Luke moaned loudly, trying his best to keep what was left of his wits about him. There was a reason he couldn’t do this. He couldn’t go to bed with the lovely Edwin. Shouldn’t even have come here. A glance at the clock told him what he feared; his time was running out and he had to return to his own time within a half an hour. The first excursions were always limited to a maximum of six hours. “Edwin...I can’t,” he panted, trying desperately to pull back. He’d let it go too far, but he ached for Edwin.
Edwin stilled and looked at him. “Can’t? Why not?” he asked, leaning back.
Luke looked down at Edwin, still breathing hard. “I...” He couldn’t think of a good reason right now, not one that he could tell him. “We’ve just met. I’m not accustomed to, well, shouldn’t we get to know each other better?” He knew it sounded awkward, ridiculous, but it was all he could think of. He prayed he hadn’t let his desire ruin the mission already.
Edwin looked at him suspiciously. “You’re not going to arrest me or anything, are you?” he asked, his voice soft.
“God, no,” Luke blurted. Poor Edwin, to have to live under such conditions. “Beautiful Edwin,” he said more softly, running one hand through his long dark hair. “Fear nothing from me, but foolish desire.”
Edwin frowned. “So, you honestly want to leave? You only just arrived. I’m not a tease, if that’s what concerns you. I’m inviting you to my bed.”
“You misunderstand,” Luke whispered. “I do not wish to leave. I wish to stay, far too much.” The idea of Edwin’s bed made him even harder. “I should not have come, and I do not wish to place you in any danger.”
“There’s no danger here. If you wish to stay, you can stay the whole night if you like. Please don’t go,” he whispered. “I won’t tell anyone, not that I know any connections of yours that would be disturbed. Why must you leave?” He looked into Luke’s eyes, his full lips parted, still breathing a little too fast.
“I did not come here for this,” Luke said, eyes fixed longingly on Edwin’s pretty face. “My family would have my head if they knew,” he said almost truthfully. Edwin was almost begging, and Luke had a weakness for that. “Please believe me, Edwin. I did not intend for this to happen, but your beauty...it entranced me.”
Edwin frowned. “Well, I shan’t keep you then. Good evening, Mr. Martin,” he said frostily, stepping back from the door and turning the handle.
Luke sighed. Edwin was upset because he hadn’t slept with him? The man was almost as fickle as a woman! “Please, Edwin, don’t be angry with me,” he pleaded, putting his hand over Edwin’s on the door. “I just don’t want to take advantage of you.”
Edwin rolled his eyes. “Oh yes. That’s perfectly understandable. I’m sure your intention in coming over here was to form a lifelong bond, perhaps planning out a lifetime of domestic bliss with someone you’ve met just a few hours ago. If you don’t want to fuck me, just say so. I’m not a whore, you know. I’m not waiting for payment. You can be on your bloody way if that’s what you like.”
How had he messed up so badly? Luke stepped back, needing to stay and fix this, but knowing he had to leave. Now. “I’m so sorry, Edwin. I hope you’ll forgive me. Someday.” He looked at him once more, then he was gone.
He managed to stumble back to the alley where he’d materialized before the time travel effect seized him again, and he landed in a miserable heap back in his own time.
Chapter Three