There's Always Tomorrow (Immortal Series) (25 page)

As he pulled
her in closely, she heard him groan with desire…or was that her?
 

“Tony,” she
gasped.

His lips
were warm and firm against hers.
 
He nibbled on her lower lip, causing her to tremble with need.
 
He feathered sweet kisses down the
curve of her throat, so hot; they sent waves of heat, spiraling through her
entire body.

Bea’s knees
began to weaken.
 
It was divine
torture, for her.
 
She knew she had
no right to feel intense desire, for a man she barely knew, but she could not
stop herself.
 
The need she felt
was as old as time.
 
It was raw and
primitive, and she had no choice but to see where it took her.

Tony gripped
her bottom with both hands, and explored the lush curves of her slender
back.
 
His hands squeezed and felt
the soft flesh of a passionate woman.
 
His nostrils flared, ever so slightly, as her womanly scent rose up to
fill the air.
 
She was going to be
his.

His voice
was hoarse and filled with longing, as he whispered loving and erotic things
into Bea’s ears.
 
“Come to bed,
Bea.
 
Let me make love you,” he
pleaded.

With her
heart pounding in her chest like a tribal drum, she allowed Tony to guide her
to the bed.
 
His heat engulfed her,
as his arms encircled her in an embrace of love.

“Tony…make
love to me,” she begged.

Her low,
honeyed voice sent a shiver down his spine, as his lips found their way to her
full breasts.
 
The buttons of her
uniform were easily freed, and her brassiere fell away with no problem.

“Your
breasts are magnificent,” he drooled.
 
In no time, her nipple filled his mouth, and he suckled in earnest.

Bea cried
out his name, lost in the eroticism of the moment.
 
His mouth was hungry for her.
 
He was a man half-starved for the touch of feminine flesh
beneath him.

For the rest
of the evening, they loved and enjoyed each other’s bodies, finding solace and
companionship in each other’s company.
 
They each knew it was no love affair, but two people who cared deeply
for one another, getting and giving comfort, at a most stressful time in their
lives.

As the sky
began to lighten, Tony smiled, while stroking Bea’s black hair.
 
“Bea, are you still awake?” he asked,
in a whispered voice.

“Mmmm.
 
Can’t you sleep?” she purred.

“No.
 
I want to enjoy this night for as long
as I can.
 
It’s been years since
I’ve held a beautiful woman in my arms, throughout the night.
 
All those weeks in the hospital, I
imagined this.
 
Your black hair and
lavender eyes never failed to arouse me.
 
It’s such an unusual combination.”

“A gift from
my mother,” she said.
 
“I thought
about this too, Tony.
 
You’re
dangerously handsome, you know.
 
No
woman is safe around you.”

* * *

Unfortunately,
a benefit of Tony’s curse, was rapid healing.
 
Within four days, he was well enough to leave Bea’s
apartment.
 
He didn’t want go.
 
She didn’t want him to go.
 
He thought of asking her to marry
him.
 
They got along well, but, all
too soon, he’d be alone again.
 
He
had forever, but time would eventually run out for Bea.
 
Was it worth it?
 
Could he stand to watch her age, only
to lose her in the end?

As they say,
all good things must come to an end.
 
Tony took Bea to one of the nicest restaurants in all of San
Francisco.
 
She was surprised he
could afford it.
 
The food was sure
to be delicious, but neither, Tony nor Bea, had an appetite.

Bea’s eyes
filled with tears.
 
“I don’t
understand why you won’t stay a little longer.
 
You can’t possibly be healed enough to go out on your
own.
 
I’ve got the room.
 
Are you tired of me?
 
Have I done something to offend
you?
 
I’ll try harder, Tony.
 
Please give me another chance.”
 
Her begging embarrassed Bea, but she
felt desperate to hold on to him.
 
She was close to losing control in public, and that, she did not want to
do.

Tony stood
and walked around the table to take Bea in his arms.
 
He kissed her ear and the place on her neck, where it joins
the shoulder.
 
It was her favorite
spot.
 

“Darling,”
he whispered, “You’ve done nothing wrong.
 
I haven’t the vocabulary to tell you how wonderful you are.
 
I’m not leaving because I’ve tired of
you.
 
I’m leaving because I
must.
 
There are things about me
that you wouldn’t understand.
 
Believe me when I tell you that I am hurting as much as you.”
 
He kissed her hands and returned to his
side of the table.

Reaching
into his pocket, he retrieved a small square box.
 
He opened the lid and placed it in front of Bea.
 
“I had the jeweler chip the underside
of my emerald and create this for you.
 
It is to remind you of me and to show you how important you are to
me.
 
I’m giving you a piece of
myself.
 
I only wish it could be
more.”

Bea’s hand
trembled as she tentatively touched the breathtaking ring.
 
The emerald was part of him.
 
She looked up and smiled serenely.

“Thank you,
Tony.
 
I will wear it all the days
of my life, and think of you.”
 
She
removed the ring from the box and placed it on her pinkie.
 
It was a perfect fit.

“Thank you,
Bea.
 
Thank you for
everything.
 
If it hadn’t been for
you…I don’t dare think about it.
 
I’ll never forget you.”

No one spoke
for a while.
 
It was important to
take in the moment and file it away in one’s memory.
 
Then, Bea sighed.

“When are
you leaving?”

“Tomorrow,”
Tony replied.
 
“I’m going home to
New York.
 
I’ll get better, there.”

Bea nodded
in the soft, candlelight.
 
“I love
you, Tony.”

Tony’s arms
tightened around Bea’s shoulders.
 
“I know.
 
I love you, too.”

Later that
evening, they made love, slowly, and for the last time.
 
It was filled with an overwhelming
passion, and ended with a soul-shattering climax, the kind neither had ever
experienced before.
 
That union
filled the lifelong yearning in their hearts.

Bea insisted
they share breakfast the next morning, before the cab came to pick up his fare.

“This is
really good.
 
You are quite a cook,
honey,” Tony marveled.
 
“Is there
anything you can’t do?”

Bea grinned,
ruefully.
 
“I can’t seem to find
the right man.”

The cab
honked, right on time.
 
Tony wiped
his mouth on his napkin, and finished his freshly squeezed orange juice.
 
His eyes darkened, as he reached for
Bea’s hand, from across the table.
 
His heart warmed as he noticed the glint from the fiery emerald, she
wore on her left hand.

“I’ve got to
go, sweetheart.
 
Believe me, I’d
rather stay, but there are things you don’t know about me.
 
Things you wouldn’t understand and I
can’t explain.
 
I’m truly sorry,
and I want you to know that I’ll never forget you.”

A tear
trickled down Bea’s smooth cheek.
 
“I believe you.
 
Will I ever
see you again?”

Tony shook
his head, and again, the cab honked.
 
He rose from his chair and grabbed his small bag and his cane.
 
“Take care, darling.
 
I wish you the best.”

Bea stood on
tiptoes and pressed her mouth to his, for one last kiss, and he turned and
walked through the door.
 
The soft
click of the door latch punctuated the finality of his departure.

From the
window, she watched him get into the taxi and disappear.
 
Pressing her hand to her aching breast,
she sobbed.
 
“I’ve never met anyone
like you before.
 
I don’t think I
ever will again.”
 
She turned away,
and put Tony out of her mind.

* * *

Sophie was
smiling.
 
“I’m glad to know you
were my husband’s nurse and fought so fiercely to save his leg.
 
And it was nice that you gave him a place
to sleep for the night.
 
Who would
have thought you’d meet again, after sixty-five years?”

Tony and Bea
shared a silent moment.
 
In the
telling of their story, Tony had intentionally omitted a few of the more
intimate details.
 
As loving and
understanding as Sophie was, she was, first and foremost, his wife, and she
possessed a very healthy jealous streak.
 
He figured she didn’t need to know everything, and Bea must have agreed.

Bea chuckled,
then looked directly at Sophie.
 
“Yes, dear.
 
After sixty-five
years, I run into an old friend, and oddly enough, he hasn’t appeared to have
aged, a day.
 
How do you explain
that, Sophie?
 
Why does your
handsome husband look to be in his early twenties, when he should resemble a
man of eighty-six?”

Sophie suddenly
looked like a deer caught in headlights, and turned to her husband.
 
“Tony?
 
What should I say?” she whispered, a little too loudly.
 
Clearly, she had no idea how to answer
the old woman’s question.

Tony cleared
his throat, and patted his wife’s arm.
 
He winked and smiled to reassure her, then turned his attention toward
his guest.
 
“That’s why I brought
you here, Bea.
 
I want to tell you
everything, but I’m afraid it might come as quite a shock to you.
 
You may not believe it.”

“Think you’ll
put an old woman in her grave, do you?” Bea challenged.
 
“I’m not as fragile as all that.
 
I’ve buried two husbands and one
child.
 
I guess I can stand
anything you have to tell me.”

Tony stood with
his mouth ajar.
 
“You had a
child?
 
When?”
 
He could barely swallow.
 
Surely, he didn’t leave her with his
child.
 
His heart pounded so
loudly, he was certain Sophie could hear.
 
All the color left his face.
 
What had he done?
 

Bea smiled and
grasped his hands in front of her.
 
“Oh, it was several years after we met, Tony.
 
Charles was a doctor at the Veteran’s hospital, and a damn
good husband.
 
He gave me a
delightful daughter, whom I named, Irene.
 
But she fell off a horse when she was sixteen, and it broke his
heart.
 
Charles died the next
year.”

“I’m sorry,
Bea.
 
I’ve lost a few children of
my own.
 
I know what pain that
causes.”
 
Images of dark, curly
heads with big shining eyes, flashed through his mind, bringing with it the
familiar pain he tried so hard to keep at bay.

It was Bea’s
turn to be surprised.
 
“You had children?
 
When did you marry?”
 
She looked at Sophie.
 
Surely this young bit of thing hadn’t
given him a family, yet.
 
How many
times had he been married, she wondered?

“That’s what I
want to tell you.
 
I am much older
than I look, Bea.
 
I’m much older
than you, in fact.
 
Some people
would say I have been blessed with longevity, but I feel as if I’ve been
cursed.”

“It’s all a
matter of perspective, darling,” Sophie interjected.

Tony shot her a
look and frowned, “Yes, sweetheart.
 
I realize that now.”

He sat down
next to Bea and looked her in the eye.
 
After clearing his throat, he spoke in a hoarse and unfamiliar
voice.
 
“It is my fate to outlive
all my loved ones, Bea.
 
Through a
flaw of nature, or some cosmic joke, I have become immortal.
 
I will always be, as you see me, now.”