Forever Eva [Sequel to When Kat's Away] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (14 page)

“How do you know that?”

“I grew up here, Eva. There’s not much about this area that I don’t know.”

She grinned. “Okay.” She tightened her hands on the reins and nudged her calves into White Sox’s sides, urging the horse into a gallop. She felt her smile widen as she rose up in the saddle, her hair streaming behind her, the air rippling her clothes. This was the best part of it, the best part of her world. This was when she could fly so fast, not even the wind could catch her.

* * * *

Tony grinned as he watched Eva gallop away.

“She sure knows her stuff,” Andrew said.

“That she does.” He shifted in the saddle to ease his growing discomfort as he felt himself harden with desire. It would be a long, painful day if he couldn’t get himself under control.

“You’d better get a move on, or you’ll lose her.”

Tony chuckled and prodded Wanderer with his heels, urging the gelding forward. Wanderer lunged forward into an even lope and slowly began to eat the distance between the two horses. Tony could barely hear the hoofbeats echoing far in the distance.

* * * *

Eva brought White Sox to a slow walk and watched as the wind shuffled through the leaves, waving the heavy pine trees. The sun was warm on her face, the breeze ruffling her clothes and brushing through her hair. Without the sounds of civilization, she could almost believe she was back home. She heard the clop of hooves as Tony brought Wanderer up beside her.

“Do you hear that?” he asked.

Eva pulled back on the reins. “Whoa, boy.” She listened and heard the sound of water. Tony urged Wanderer forward, and she followed him through the trees. It wasn’t long before they found the water. The wind ruffled the grass as water trickled over stones and roots in the creek.

Tony slid from his saddle, the creak of leather echoing across the field. Eva patted her horse’s hide as she dismounted. She followed Tony and led her horse down to the water, allowing him to drink. “Well, what do you think?”

Eva smiled. “It’s perfect.”

Tony took both horses and loosely tied their reins to trees near the water and close to a patch of grass for them to graze. “I’ll get the picnic things, and you pick a spot to eat.”

She turned and surveyed the area. After a moment, she walked over to a shady spot and lay back in the sweet-smelling grass, lacing her fingers behind her head. Clouds gathered in the azure sky above, the slow-moving swirls shifting into different shapes. She smiled and felt an almost childlike joy at the scene. Fingers of air raked through the plush meadow grasses, stirring up the scent of wild strawberry and goldenrod.

“You look like you’re a million miles away. What are you thinking about?”

Eva looked up and watched Tony spread a blanket out on the soft grass. “I was thinking how perfect this is. It’s so much like where I’m from. It’s easy to pretend I never left.”

He sighed. “Are you wishing you’d never come here?”

Eva sat up and drew her knees up, wrapping her arms around them. “Not at all. If I hadn’t been pulled through with Timothy, I’d never have met you and Zach. I’m not sorry at all, but I’m wishing I could show you what it’s like in my world.”

Tony watched her for a moment and then went and took several wrapped packages and two canteens from the saddlebags on Wanderer’s back. He quickly walked back and deposited them on the blanket. Running his fingers through his hair, he knelt and held out his hand. “Why don’t you come join me, and we’ll see what Andrew’s mother packed for lunch?”

Grinning, Eva scooted over and sat next to Tony, close enough their thighs were pressed together.

Tony began unwrapping their sandwiches. “Tell me about your home.”

“What do you wanna know?”

“Anything and everything. History was never my best subject, so I have no idea of what it was like over a hundred years ago. Was it safe? Did you have to fight Indians or outlaws? Were there police or sheriffs or someone to administer the law? Hell, did you even have laws?”

She laughed, unscrewed the top of her thermos, and took a long drink of what turned out to be sweet tea. When she’d drunk her fill, she replaced the top and leaned back on her elbows. “When I left, the Indian fighting was mostly done. The occasional renegade would cause trouble, but none near here. Most of the Indians had been rounded up and put on reservations years ago.”

“But you said one of your brothers is an Indian.”

She nodded. “Yes, he is. Win’s pure Shoshone by blood, but every bit my brother by heart.”

“How did he escape going to the reservation?”

“Well, I did say
most
of the Indians had been relocated. My parents sheltered him from the time his parents were killed. The government didn’t actually go town to town looking for any Indians that stayed behind. As long as they were peaceful, and didn’t cause any trouble, they pretty much left them alone. A small group of Shoshone made their home not too far from here.”

“And if they did cause trouble?”

“Then the sheriff would step in. Even as small as we were, Hamilton still had its own sheriff. And if anything too big for him to handle cropped up, he just pulled together a posse to help him out. Papa Beau and Papa Zeke rode with him a couple of times when some fool thought it’d be smart to rob the mine’s payroll.”

* * * *

Tony watched the light shine in Eva’s eyes as she talked about her own time.
Her own time! Hell, am I really beginning to believe her story?
He watched the light filter through the strands of her strawberry-blonde hair, emphasizing the red streaks, and felt his erection harden painfully. He wanted this woman, needed her, almost as much as his next breath. He’d never met a woman he thought he could spend his life with, but he could clearly see himself waking up to this beauty year after year.

“Are you listening to me?”

Tony jerked his thoughts back to the present and gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry, my mind was wandering.”

“Then it’s your turn to tell me what you’re thinking about.”

“I was just thinking about how beautiful you are.”

A slow blush moved its way up Eva’s neck. She lowered her lashes and seemed to struggle for something to say. Tony took her hand and pressed a kiss against her fingers. “Does this mean you’re finally ready to believe I’m telling the truth about coming through the portal?”

He slid one arm around her back and pulled her close. He bent his head, letting his lips graze her ear as he whispered. “Every day I’ve gotten closer and closer to accepting that time travel is possible. And every day you’ve wormed your way further into my heart. Now, I’m at the point where I don’t care where you’re from, as long as you’re willing to stay with me.”

Eva caught her breath and looked up. “And you’re okay with Zach being a part of us?”

He let his lips trail across her cheek and hover at the corner of her mouth. “I’m willing to try, just for you.”

She hesitated for just a moment and then pressed her closed lips against Tony’s mouth, skating her palms upward, clutching his shoulders. He felt a hard, sexual pull deep in his belly when she looked up at him, so innocent, so trusting. He cupped the back of her head to hold her in place, gripping his fingers in her silky hair, drawing her chin upward, and capturing her lips with his. His heart slammed against the walls of his chest as his erection pressed against her stomach.

His thumb glided along her lip, coaxing her to open. When she did, he pulled her closer, murmuring her name against her mouth. Groaning, he licked her lips and then gently took her bottom lip between his teeth. When she cried out, he captured her mouth in a hot kiss, his tongue swirling against and twining with hers.

* * * *

When Tony thrust his tongue into her mouth, claiming her with such passion, Eva felt lost, sucked under, and left gasping for breath. She opened her lips wider, mating her tongue against his. After a moment, he ended their kiss and leaned in close to whisper in her ear, nibbling softly at the lobe. When the pounding of her heart kept her from hearing his words, he pulled back to cup her face in his hands and bring his lips down to hers. He captured her lips in a kiss, his tongue swirling languorously inside her mouth, moist and hot.

Moving restlessly against him, she caressed his arm, his shoulders, his back, every part of him she could reach. “Tony,” she groaned.

Tony nipped her bottom lip with his teeth and then moved up to press a soft kiss against each of her eyelids. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. He nibbled kisses into the crease of her neck and then ran a shaking hand almost reverently from her shoulder to her hip and then up again, cupping one breast.

Eva gasped, her hand moving up to grasp his wrist, but not holding him hard enough to stop him. Her skin tingled, the tips of her breasts begging for his attention.

His tongue slid down the side of her neck. “Your skin is like silk, warm silk—I wanna feel it all. His fingers sneaked beneath her shirt where he drew little circles on her heated skin. “Will you let me look at you?”

Eva gave him his answer by releasing his wrist. He peeled her shirt away and raked her skin with a heated glance, and then yanked his own shirt over his head. She glanced down to see her nipples, rosy and tight with need. She could feel moisture slowly easing out of her body and dampening the area between her thighs.

Tony’s lips worked their way down her neck and across her collar bone before moving to the aching tips of her breasts. He palmed the round globes and began to knead and pull gently at her nipples. Her breath caught as she arched to push more of her breast into his hand. No fantasy she’d ever had prepared her for the touch of his fingers against her skin.

He pinched each nipple in turn before his mouth took over and the sucking began. Bowing his head to one breast, he laved the nipple hungrily with his tongue while kneading the other one between his fingers.

“Oh, God, Tony!” She threaded her fingers in his hair, directing his mouth to her other hungering breast. She felt tears fill her eyes when he teased the sensitive bud of tight flesh and then captured her nipple in the moist, warm suction of his lips. When he tugged too hard, she flinched, her nostrils flaring. With a sound of apology deep in his throat, he suckled more lightly. Pulling back a little, he traced around her areola with the tip of his tongue.

“We have to stop, soon.” Despite her words, Eva moved closer and rubbed her taut nipples against the hair-roughened skin of his chest. Enjoying his harsh growl, she sucked his small brown nipple between her teeth, alternating between sucking and flicking it with her tongue. She gasped when he grabbed her hand and brought it down to cup him intimately.

“Stroke me,” he begged, guiding her hand up and down the hard bulge of his jeans. He gave a growl of satisfaction when her fingers tightened. Before she knew what was happening, his fingers slipped beneath her waistband and moved swiftly to the area between her thighs. He wrapped his other hand in her hair and jerked her head back, forcing her lips open with his tongue. The kiss was brutal in its intensity while his fingers combed through the hair covering her secret woman’s place.

Abruptly, he tore his mouth from hers and rolled, carrying her with him until she was straddling his belly. She could feel a blush creep over her as he traced the flush of her cheeks with one strong hand. He urged her head to move onto his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. Using his thumbs, he dug into the tense muscles of her neck.

“I know you’re not ready for this yet, so be still, sunshine. I don’t wanna do anything you might regret.”

Eva raised her gaze and watched him. His eyes were shut, his teeth clenched, as he breathed shakily. A warm feeling of love swept over her as she realized the sacrifice he was making for her feelings.

“Eva, I know you wanna wait for the three of us to be together, but I have to be honest with you.” He raised a hand and smoothed back the hair that had blown into her face. “I’ve never been part of a ménage a trois, and I’m not sure I ever could.” A dull-red flush began creeping up his neck. “I mean, I could share you, but separately.” He swallowed hard. “Can you accept that?”

Eva smiled and reached for her shirt. She wanted a life like her mother had, always surrounded by love and family. Sliding her shirt over her head, she moved off of Tony and stood up. Grinning, she held out her hand. “Time will work out all the little problems, Tony. I’m just happy you’re really considering us being together now. Come take a walk with me.”

“I’m definitely considering it.” He picked up his own shirt and quickly dressed. Taking her hand, he pressed a kiss against her fingers. “Just don’t give up on me, sunshine. I just need a little time.”

Eva smiled and kicked off her shoes. When Tony frowned, she grinned. “Haven’t you ever walked barefoot, Mr. Policeman?”

Scowling, he pulled off his shoes and grabbed her hand again. Together, they walked barefoot along the creek bed, hand in hand.

Eva felt peaceful, watching the leaves meandering on the swirling water. The air was alive with the trilling of birds, the hum of insects, and the nickering of the two horses. Butterflies hovered over a patch of wild strawberry near the creek’s bank. The smell of sweet clover, pine, and spruce filled her senses. She let Tony lead her closer to the water’s edge. Taking one step forward, the cool water slipped over her skin, the mud squishing between her toes.