Born Again (4 page)

“More time. Alone time.”

“Sex time.”

He nodded. “Yeah, sex time.”

“This weekend, okay? It’s late tonight.”

“I have to wait?”

“I really should get inside. I work tomorrow.”

Beau pouted, his lower lip thrusting out sexily and she
laughed at his antics. But she couldn’t blame him. What else would he expect
but another night of pleasure after she’d enjoyed him the same day she met him?

“I’m so sorry.”

“This weekend then?” he asked, kissing her small fingers.

“How about Saturday?”

“You’ll stay the night? And all day Sunday?”

Oh, she wanted to all right. She needed to, like he was a
part of her that was neglected for a very long time. She wanted to wake next to
him and laugh with him and be with him, all day, every day.

“Okay,” she agreed and then took a step forward to press her
lips against his.

“If something comes up,” he murmured against her lips, “you’ll
owe me big time.”

Sara felt her own grin. “What could possibly come up?”

He thrust his hips slightly at her.

“Oh.”

He laughed.

“What will I owe you?” she asked.

“Phone sex.”

She laughed, the sound light and carefree. “I promise.”

One last kiss and he pushed her away with a small swat to
her behind. “Go now, or I’ll carry you off caveman-style.”

She blew him a kiss and stepped into the elevator.

Her phone was ringing as she unlocked the door to her
apartment. She grabbed it on what seemed the fifteenth shrill and answered
breathlessly.

“Hello?”

“Sara?”

“Aric. How are you?” Instant pleasure hit her at the sound
of his silky voice. Absently, she touched the cards she’d left out on the
table.

“Worried about you. I was wondering if you were okay after
your episode at my house?”

“Oh, I’m fine. No big deal, really. I have them all the
time.”

“I also realized that I didn’t make a date with you before
letting you leave me last night. Foolish on my part, I know.”

“Not foolish at all. You knew I would.”

“Ahh, sweet Sara. I didn’t know that at all. You left me
hanging and I was nervously wondering if you’d refuse.”

“Me? Refuse you? Never.”

“Then how about tomorrow evening? Dinner?”

Sara fought the groan. Playing the field was certainly
stressful and she was going to pack on ten pounds during the course of it. Still,
it was Friday and she could stay out late, sleeping in the next morning.

“I’d love dinner,” she ended up saying and knew she’d look
forward to it.

“I’ll pick you up after work. Sweet dreams, Sara.”

“’Night, Aric,” she whispered.

* * * * *

She was on the phone with Beau, again. He’d called her twice
at work and now when she sat at home. He was still trying to convince her to
come for a visit, but she had already promised to not only spend the night
Saturday and all day Sunday, but also Sunday night, coming to work the
following Monday from his place.

“Or,” she said lightly, “we could drop the deal and I’ll
just come over now. A quickie, in place of two nights and a whole day. What’ll
it be, big guy?”

She prayed he wouldn’t choose the quickie. Aric was due any
minute now for their date.

Beau sighed. “I guess this weekend will have to do. I’ll get
more sex that way.”

“Smart man. You’ll get lots more.”

“Will you miss me ‘til then?”

“Of course,” she said, surprised. “You know I will.”

His voice was soft. “I’ll see you on Saturday, then.”

“Okay. Bye, Beau.”

“Bye, baby.”

She had just disconnected when the buzzer signaled a visitor
entering the building downstairs. Aric.

She gathered her coat and purse and waited for Aric’s soft
knock at her front door. She opened it to see him standing there, tall and
handsome.

A leather jacket, with a t-shirt underneath. He’d shaved and
was minus the sexy stubble that normally adorned his jaw. He looked crisp and
clean and tempting.

Heat curled in her loins and spiked her temperature. Delicious,
familiar warmth that spiraled and grew, spreading temptingly through her body. That
was when she realized, it wasn’t fair to have sex with Beau and hold Aric off. She
had to have something to compare them, didn’t she?

“I changed my mind,” she said, eyeing his sexy black t-shirt
and black slacks.

His face was stricken for a minute and her heart clenched.

“Just about eating,” she assured him, then stepped aside. “Come
in and take your clothes off.”

His eyes gleamed as he stepped over the threshold. “Did you
say to take my clothes off?”

“Yep. Remember how I said it was too soon?”

“Yes.”

“It’s later now.”

“It’s about time.”

He stripped, quickly and easily. He pulled his shirt up,
exposing a taut abdomen and inched it farther up until his defined chest was in
her view. Over his head and flung carelessly onto a chair went the shirt.

He reached for his belt buckle and looked into her eyes as
he released it. A snap of his pants and they were pushed downward.

She nearly sighed with satisfaction so focused on the beauty
of his body she barely remembered seeing his shoes and socks come off. His
underwear was dark, hugging and defining his tight body.

Aric never hesitated. Looping his thumbs into the waistband,
he pulled them down, freeing the erection that grew even larger before her
watching eyes.

Then he stood before her, unselfconscious with his nudity,
as if she’d seen him this way before.

In all his natural beauty.

“Wow. You are something to look at,” she complimented.

Each cut of muscle was defined on him, not hugely muscled
like Beau but definitely there. Definitely powerful. His body was perfection,
which shouldn’t be possible when she considered Beau’s perfection and they were
so very different. Beau was hugely muscled and tanned, Aric was muscled but
sleek and pale. Not a sickly pale, but a creamy color that looked sexy with his
gleaming dark hair.

He stood there, proud. She dropped her eyes down to the
trail of hair that tempted the gaze downward and his manhood sprang forth, long
and curved. The skin looked silky, velvety smooth over his hard erection. She
licked her lips, wanting to know the taste of it, the feel of it in her mouth,
the sounds he would groan as she sucked at him.

There wasn’t any time to stare any more when he picked her
up easily into his arms and made his way to her bedroom.

She began to fling her clothes off as he set her down, but
he stopped her, grasping her hands and holding them between his own. Slowly, he
helped her remove her clothing, button by button, an erotic dance that exposed
one tantalizing inch of skin at a time.

It drove him wild to slow her down and she was still wearing
her panties when he crushed his chest to her breasts.

Dark masculine hair rubbed against her nipples. His chest
had just the right amount, she thought, running her palm over him.

His mouth slanted over hers, seeking and finding her tongue
in his quest.

“Oh, Sara, how I’ve longed for this,” he muttered, as he
broke the kiss. He trailed a path of fire down to her breasts and she looked
down to watch him take one into his mouth.

Her small, pink nipple disappeared between his lips and it
felt incredibly wet and warm. The sensations were spiraling deliciously from
the tip of her breast to the dark heated place between her legs.

Lord, she was too excited. All that teasing with Beau earlier
had worked her up way too much.

She pulled away from Aric and he looked up at her, puzzled.

She pushed him onto his back and kissed her way down his
stomach. It was time to get him as hot as she was.

She kissed around his navel and his breath sucked in
harshly. It tightened his abs and she ran her tongue along the firm cuts of
muscle.

He squirmed and she felt the solid weight of his jutting
body as he thrust against her breasts.

His penis lay in the valley between them, so she used her
hands to gently squeeze the creamy globes together around him. The swollen
purple head thrust up from her cleavage and she bent her head enough to kiss
it.

“Sara,” he gasped.

“Like that?”

He groaned his answer when she wrapped her lips around the
head again. He tasted strong, masculine, a heady mixture of musk so different
from her.

Releasing her breasts, she moved down farther on his legs so
she could take his cock properly into her mouth. Her hands cupped his balls as
she sank the head into the eager heat of her mouth.

His skin felt cooler than hers. She was only too happy to
warm him up.

She nibbled his cock, then swallowed him whole. He was
growing harder in her mouth and his thighs quivered beneath her body.

She released him and rose up onto his body, her hands
splayed out on his chest.

“How long’s your recovery time?” she asked.

“For you? Not long.”

“Good. ‘Cause I went too long without you. We’re staying up
all night.”

If only she knew.

She reached for the condoms scattered on her nightstand,
deftly worked one onto him, then lowered her straddled body back toward him.

She shifted her pelvis enough for the tip of his penis to
prod against her sensitive nether lips. Then she slid down, her thick labia
parting eagerly around him, as if she couldn’t get enough.

And she couldn’t. The feel of him entering her, filling her
and making her his was nearly too much sensation and she fought to control her
emotions. She could barely control a shiver that began in her body and echoed throughout
her womb and she paused, trying desperately for it to not lead into orgasm.

Aric gasped at the feel of her slick passage swollen around
his cock, tightening around him like honeyed velvet. It had been so long since
he’d had his Seraphina and here she was, slightly different yet totally the
same.

Even her movements were identical, deep and sensual. And she’d
always been impatient, as tonight. Dessert first, dinner later. He’d been the
one to teach her patience to prolong pleasure, while the bastard Beau had
always just let her have her way.

Later though, he’d re-teach her patience. Re-teach her all
of the pleasure she’d forgotten. For now…

His fingers gripped her bare hips and pulled her down as he
thrust up. It sent a tingling shock coursing through his body and he had to
grit his teeth to force his climax away. Her engorged clitoris rubbed against
his masculine nest of hair and his testicles slapped against her backside as he
thrust again.

“Aric, oh, Aric,” she moaned and he knew just how close she
was. In one smooth move, he used his superhuman strength to lift her from his
huge member and slide down the bed, spinning her around and lowering her pelvis
right back down…to his waiting mouth.

Her delectable backside was aimed at his face and he closed
his mouth over her mound as she leaned forward, hands against his thighs and
one flick of his tongue against that engorged clit sent her spiraling into
ecstasy. She screamed his name and ground herself against lips and teeth.

It was enough to make his fangs explode.

Thankfully, she was too far gone to notice and she lowered
her head as her sex throbbed. He held his warm mouth still over her mound,
hoping his fangs would retract.

Then Sara must have noticed his waiting cock and she rolled
off the condom before she sank it deeply into her throat.

He thrust his hips up at her and she swallowed him whole. A
roiling boil began in his balls and moved up his cock. His thighs quivered and
he exploded with a pounding ferocity that contained centuries of pent-up semen.

She swallowed his seed eagerly and he soothed her vagina
with his mouth and with the warmth of his tongue. It was gentle now, comforting
and soft against her tortured flesh.

Finally, she rose from him and turned herself around again. Settling
onto his chest, she murmured into his neck, “Tell me when you’re ready again.”

Hot damn
.
It would be ten minutes
,
max
.

In the span of a week, Sara had gone from celibate to dating
two men.

That first night with Aric was pure magic and she really hadn’t
expected it to measure up to the times she’d spent with Beau.

They’d made love all night long and fell asleep around three
o’clock. They slept for a while, until Aric kissed her right before dawn and
left. A curious time to leave, but she was too tired to question it.

Honestly, there was no comparison. How did one compare
oranges and apples and then decide to spend their life with one fruit only? Variety
was the spice of life, wasn’t it?

Until they forced her to choose.

She figured that would happen when they learned about each
other. The day came sooner than she expected. It was another cloudy, gloomy
day, rain about to break out at any second. The store was quiet and Beau was
picking her up for lunch. The door chimes signaled his arrival and Sara looked
up.

Instead of Beau, Aric walked in.

“Aric,” she said, hoping to cover her surprise. She left the
counter and made her way to him. He bent and kissed her lightly, enclosing her
into the warmth of his arms.

“What are you doing here? Why didn’t you call?” she asked.

“I thought I’d surprise you. We could perhaps go out to eat.”

“Oh, I can’t. I have plans.” Plans that were walking through
that door any moment.

“I should have called, I guess. I was just so eager to see
you,” he murmured, near her ear and the door opened once again.

Immediately the air thickened with tension as Beau took in
the sight of Aric holding Sara in his arms.

“Beau.”

“Aric.”

“You two know each other?”

They hadn’t broken their stare. “Yes,” Beau said, his voice
clipped.

“I take it your lunch plans are with him?” Aric asked.

“Yes. I met Beau the same day I met you,” Sara said, gently.
“I guess it wasn’t fair to date you both and not tell either of you about the
other, but I never really knew how to say it.”

Then Aric did something remarkable. He smiled at her, easing
her worry. “I think I’ll ask you to come over for dinner tonight then. Since
you’re busy for lunch.”

It was only fair to accept. He’d come here to surprise her
and gotten the shock of his life instead.

She nodded. “Of course.”

Aric’s face blazed triumph, while Beau’s looked dark with
fury. His fists clenched, as if he couldn’t control himself. Sara looked at him
warily and knew myriad expressions flit across her face because she’d always
been expressive.

She was like an open book. All psychics were when they felt
deeply. It was why they shut themselves off from the world. As Sara did now. She
wrapped her slender arms across the middle of her body, the sensitive area
where she “felt” things.

She wondered if Beau’s jealousy would make the decision to
let him go.

“I’ll pick you up then. What time do you get off? Five?”
Aric asked.

She nodded and he leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Be good,
sweetheart.”

It wasn’t quite a warning, but she sensed that Aric hoped it
was enough to ruin her lunch with Beau. Inhaling deeply, she opened the channel
in her midsection for more of a “feeling”.

She could also feel that while it nearly tore him in two to
walk away, he knew he had to.

* * * * *

Beau’s mood was quite normal when he drove her to lunch. Now
that the confrontation with Aric was over. It was almost as if he were trying
to win her over, make himself out to be the better candidate, win her
affections. As if he guessed how she’d react if he became a jealous boyfriend.

Unfortunately, Sara felt terror when she thought of losing
Aric. The same fear that curled in her when she considered losing Beau. It was
a baffling feeling, for she hadn’t known either man very long. It was so
horrific that she actually didn’t really want to know where it came from and
pushed it as far as she could from her mind.

She was caught between two men who obviously wanted her to
choose. And it felt like a familiar trap, although she’d never been in this
situation.

The car rolled to a stop and Beau came around to open her door.
Tall and broad-shouldered, so much larger than her, he seemed so powerful, like
he’d protect her no matter what. His hot blue gaze looked directly into hers
and what he saw made his eyelids grow sultry at the sight. Her hand slipped
naturally into his and he placed his other hand on the small of her back. It
was warm and possessive, making her feel so well cared for.

It should slip naturally, she realized. They’d been about as
intimate as possible, having explored every single inch of each other’s bodies.
Was it too soon for that? It was too late now to worry about it, but did she
make a mistake in jumping in with both feet? Would the relationship fizzle out
uncontrollably?

“You’re thinking a lot,” Beau commented, leaning down to
lightly kiss her frowning brow.

It cleared and she smiled slightly, exposing dimples. “I do
seem to have thoughts running together in my head,” she agreed.

“Are they of me?” he whispered, his breath hot and sweet
near her ear.

“You are in them.” Her smile was full-on now.

“Stay with me tonight?”

Her smile dropped. “I can’t, Beau. I promised Aric,
remember?”

“I don’t want you with him, Sara. He’s dangerous.”

She raised a brow at his imperious tone. “That’s competition
talking. He hasn’t been dangerous to me.”

He inhaled sharply and there was silence for a brief moment.
Sara waited. If he pushed, he’d lose. Their relationship was too new for trust.

“Tomorrow, then?” Beau asked.

“Yes, tomorrow.”

“You promise?”

“I do.”

He led her into the restaurant and they were escorted
directly into a private room to a tiny table in the center.

“Special treatment?” she asked teasingly as they sat.

Beau grinned, the look so devastating it made her catch her
breath. “I’m rich, baby. Also handsome and fit, no mother-in-law to deal with…”

“Stop,” she laughingly protested. “I believe you. You’re a
catch.”

“Yeah, you caught me. Now what you gonna do with me?” He
stroked her hand with his and she shivered at the feel of the warmth of his
skin.

Sara marveled that Beau’s body temperature seemed hotter
than hers. He was so attractive, his blue eyes laughing into hers, slightly
crinkled at the corners.

“I’m going to keep you a while,” she said. “If, and that’s a
big if, you’re good.”

He leaned into her. “I can be good,” he said eagerly.

“No fighting?”

His hand stilled. “With Aric, you mean?”

“Exactly.”

“What if he starts it?”

She smiled. “Then he goes to time-out and I get to spend the
day with you.”

“I see how this works,” Beau said, smiling. “But if I won’t
play?”

“I’ll have to pass you off to someone else who wants you
then. I don’t want to, you understand, but you’ll give me no choice.”

“Who is this someone else?” he asked, teasing still. “Is she
as attractive as you?”

“Oh, I don’t know about that, but this someone loves you and
loved you first.”

Although they were teasing, it was scary to say the “L”
word. Beau’s eyes darkened with an emotion she couldn’t define.

“Maybe you ought to give me her name and number, just in
case,” he said.

“Mike Johnson. At the shop.”

His jaw dropped. “You have got to be kidding me.”

She grinned and then kissed his mouth in apology. “Sorry,
sugar. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow night, okay?”

“I’ll hold you to that. And next time I call in a food
order, I’m requesting someone else represent me.”

Sara winced. “He’s not going to like that.”

Beau winked at her. “Yeah and by the way, I love you too,
baby.”

She’d been teasing, but the words made her stomach flutter.

* * * * *

Beau dropped her back off at work, then decided to come
inside and place an order since he was there. Sara rang it up, but warned that
someone else would have to deliver.

He winced and she couldn’t tell if it was because he
wondered if it would be Mike, or because he remembered she’d be with Aric.

She knew it was the latter when he grabbed the back of her
head and lifted her face for a hard kiss on the mouth. He forced her lips open
and delved inside. Taking, possessive strokes with his tongue, teasing her
senses while he satisfied his own.

“Think of that later,” he whispered and when she blinked he
was gone.

He left, whistling casually, while she ached for the feel of
his hard body pressed against hers.

Bemused, she wondered if she would think of the possessive,
wonderfully arousing kiss when Aric took her into his arms.

A few moments later, the front door opened to Mike Johnson.

“Girl, was that Beauregard Pierson’s convertible outside?”

“Yes, it was.” Her voice was calm. She didn’t owe Mike any
explanations or anything else.

“What was he doing here?”

“What do most people do here?” She held up his printed order
that she was just going to fill.

“Gimme that,” Mike said, grabbed for the receipt.

It tore, the rip sounding harsh enough to make everyone else
stop and stare.

“Calm down,” she snapped.

“You know I get his orders.”

“Oh, quit being so territorial, Mike.” She handed him the
bottom half of the receipt and walked away.

Mike watched her feminine sway with narrowed eyes. Bitches
were all the same. He could sway the same as her, but would it command the same
attention? In fact, she didn’t even notice the men who looked her way, trying
to catch her attention. She could have any man she wanted and the tramp chased Beauregard
Pierson.

Another set of eyes also watched the unconscious sashay of
Sara Michaels. These eyes were old and all knowing, the oddest shade of yellow-green,
almost like a cat. They were set in a face of deep wrinkles, older even because
they’d stood the test of time.

Several times.

They watched, noting everything about Sara, her size, her
shape, her similarity to a certain person in the past. When she disappeared
upstairs, the cat eyes focused their attention on Mike Johnson.

They studied him, somewhat harshly, until he gave an
unconscious shudder and scurried away like a rat in the kitchen.

Mrs. Alizo watched as Sara walked past her office. Her
telephone was pressed to her ear tightly. “Oh, Sara, honey, come here, please.”

Sara walked in and raised her eyebrow.

“I need someone to run downtown for me and pick up some
vegetables from the outside market. Can you do it?”

“Sure.” Sara shrugged. It would get her away from Mike for a
while.

Mrs. Alizo turned her attention back to the phone. “Okay,
Duke, I’ll send one of my employees, Sara Michaels, down for it. You’ll have
the box ready for her? Yup. Thanks.”

She disconnected and faced Sara. “Thanks so much. It’s the
vegetable stand, his name is Duke Alkire. He has the box of veggies ready and
he’ll just send me the bill. Oh and sorry, but there’s a fair going on down
there too, so it’ll be a little crowded.”

Sara nodded and went to retrieve her purse.

* * * * *

Mrs. Alizo was right. It was crowded. The fair was more like
a carnival with circus freaks trying to solicit everyone’s attention at every
chance they got.

Sara was looking for the vegetable stand when a psychic’s
tent caught her attention. Maybe this was the “better psychic in town” that
Mattie had mentioned. The old woman standing outside her outrageously colored,
purple and red tent was dressed as a witch. She smiled at Sara, her two teeth
blackened in a face that was a mass of wrinkles, a jigsaw puzzle come to life.

“I know a secret about ye, girlie,” the old woman called
out.

Sara looked at her blankly.

“’Tis an important one, come.” She beckoned.

Sara walked to her, although she wasn’t sure why. Carnival
fakers were not her style. As she approached, she got a good look at the woman.
Geez
,
her teeth weren
’
t blackened
,
they actually were
missing
.

“Yer life is stuck in a pattern,” the old woman whispered,
her yellowish-green eyes all-knowing instead of sleazy like the usual fakers. “Ye
must break the cycle.”

“A pattern? What kind of pattern?” Sara was confused at
first, but then alarm hit. She covered her midsection with her arms to avoid
sensing any of the woman’s feelings and hoped to feel just her own.

“A vicious reincarnation, doomed to repeat behavior. But the
last time, ye tried to break it the wrong way and failed.”

“What kind of repeated behavior?”

“I’m not sure without delving into it.”

There it was. Delving would mean into Sara’s wallet.

“I’m not interested,” she said firmly and turned.

“Wait! Ye must watch and see what happened to ye in the last
lifetime. Then ye must do the opposite now.” Her voice was agitated, as if she
sensed Sara would walk away. She hadn’t yet asked for money.

That reason alone made the hairs on the back of Sara’s neck
stand on end.

“How can I watch?”

“Find out yer name back then. We track yer body, just the
spot where ye were buried and we can throw ye into a dream to relive the time
frame,” she whispered, eyes suddenly huge and sunken in her face.

Was she for real
?
Was she telling the truth
?

“How can I find out?”

“Yer name is similar in every lifetime, because ye are stuck
in a warp. Just like ye look similar, until whatever goal ye were meant to
accomplish is done. So it should be easy enough to research in these modern
days of computers and libraries. Come along, step into my tent. Let’s speak
further,” she coaxed.