ZenithRising (10 page)

She wanted to stop. Wanted to force him to fuck her with his
big, hot cock. But it was suddenly too late. A frenzy of need overtook her and
it didn’t matter how she achieved her release. Her fingers frantically rubbed
her clit as his hands lifted and squeezed her breasts. Seconds later her entire
body trembled in his arms.

One of his hands covered hers, holding it firmly on her
cunt. Applying the slightest pressure, he rhythmically continued the massage
until the quaking stopped. “That was even hotter than I imagined,” he murmured
against her ear.

She smiled softly into the mirror then turned around in his
arms. Her fingers curled around his penis and tightened. “Hot, yes. Satisfying?
Obviously not for you. There must be at least
one
more part to the scene
you had in mind.” Her fingers drummed along the length of him.

His mouth curved into a grin. “Hmmm. I think you might be
right. There was one other image I had in my head while you’re still wearing
this thing.” His fingers trailed over the lacy back of the garter belt and down
the ribbons to the stockings below her bottom. Then he sighed aloud.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like our savior thought of leaving us condoms
with the cash and clothes.”

She smiled up at him and stroked his cheek. “Such a
gentleman. But it’s not a problem. At least not on my part.”

His hands immediately stopped roaming and settled on her
waist as he sincerely said, “Nor mine. I never have unprotected sex. I swear.
The truth is I’ve had more sex with you than I have in months. A
lot
of
months. But whatever this is between us, well, let’s just say, when we’re not
doing it, I’m thinking about doing it. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is…I’m
clean. But pregnancy is still a possibility. Although, to be perfectly honest,
I wouldn’t be sorry. It’s just that I’d want it to be your choice.”

“Aww, that’s very sweet, Noah. But unnecessary. I can’t get
pregnant. Because I have horribly painful periods, I get a quarterly injection
that keeps the frequency and severity to a minimum. But as long as we’re being
honest, I want you to know I have never experienced chemistry like we have. I
told you long ago I was in no hurry to be in a relationship or have sex. When I
finally did, it was too painful to repeat for a long time. Over the years I did
try a few more times but it was always the same. I finally just gave up.”

He ran his fingers through her hair. “I don’t hurt you, do
I?”

She smirked at him. “Believe me, you’d know. It’s completely
different with you. Not only is there no pain, like you, I’d be happy if we
never got out of bed. I thought it was just my fate to never know what great
sex was supposed to feel like.” She gently kissed his lips. “Thank you for
showing me.” She kissed him again. “And thank you for worrying about getting me
pregnant.”

“I wasn’t worried. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t
either.” He pulled her snugly against his body. “Now that we’ve had
the
conversation
, I think a little
consummation
is in order. However, it
will require a slight change of venue for what I have in mind.” He guided her
over to stand at the foot of the bed then he lay down on his back with his
hands behind his head. “Now, as much as I’m enjoying the view, feel free to act
on anything that comes to mind.”

She giggled as she watched his upright cock bob for her
benefit. He had been very specific about what he wanted before but his current
position left the next move completely up to her. She took a moment to enjoy
the power he was granting her. He was the most gorgeous man she had ever seen
and, at least for the time being, he was all hers to do with as she pleased.

With exaggerated slinkiness she crawled up onto the bed with
both his legs between hers. Bending forward, she kissed the head of his penis,
swirled her tongue around the tip and gave it a little suck. Instead of taking
it fully into her mouth however, she cupped her breasts and molded them around
his shaft. It flexed against her chest and she glanced up to see his eyes widen
with appreciation. Once again, knowing she could arouse him with her body was
more than enough to embolden her. Later, she would make him come with just her
breasts but she had something else in mind at the moment.

She slowly released his sex and straightened her back. By
shifting her lower body, her cunt was poised directly over his cock. She was so
slick with her own juices, all she had to do was part the labia and ease her
hips downward. In one smooth slide, her vagina welcomed him home.

It felt like the first time.
Again.
Noah didn’t know
how that was possible but every time their bodies came together it seemed to
him that he had never experienced anything so incredibly arousing or a fit so
absolutely perfect. He watched her pretty pussy ease up his shaft, sucking like
a little mouth then swallowing him whole once more. He could stare at the
erotic disappearing act all day…if it wasn’t pushing his restraint to the
limits. Unable to keep his hands behind his head once she started to increase
the pace of her up-and-down movements, he grasped a tit in each hand and
squeezed.

He was rewarded with a gush of wetness all around his cock
and he nearly lost it. His gaze roamed over her face, her breasts, her navel,
the sexy garter belt, her cunt. There was nothing about her that didn’t turn
him on. And yet he wanted to make this ecstasy last a little longer. He tried
to think about where they were.

It didn’t matter.

He tried to think about
when
they were.

It mattered even less.

No matter how he tried to distract himself, every thought
came right back to Maggie, the girl who got away. Maggie, the woman riding him
like a wanton cowgirl on her favorite stallion.

She pressed her hips hard against his then shifted back and
forth, back and forth, rubbing her clit against him faster and faster. He felt
her vagina begin clenching and unclenching as her breathing quickened.

He didn’t have to hold back any longer. His hips bucked up
and down, repeatedly thrusting as deeply as she could take him. When she cried
out with her climax, he was right there with her, galloping blindly into
oblivion.

It took all his willpower not to simply fall asleep with her
snuggled in his arms and she looked like that would be fine with her as well.
But as his hand skimmed down her side he realized he should help her out of the
trappings he had asked her to leave on.

“Relax,” he told her when she started to rise with him. “Let
me.” She let out a relieved sigh and lay back on the pillows. He unbuckled the
ankle straps of her shoes and pulled them off. Her groan reminded him of how
she had said her feet hurt. Since she’d only left them on to please him, he at
least owed her a good foot massage. However, there was something else he had to
do first.

One garter at a time, he unhooked the catch then kissed and
massaged the flesh it had been pressing against. A flash of an old movie
reminded him how to roll each stocking down her leg. He kissed her inner thigh
above the top of the first stocking then continued downward, planting soft
kisses as he exposed each inch of skin. He was rewarded with giggles and
squirms, which only made him work harder to tickle her as he went along.

When her feet were finally bare, he kissed each toe then
began the foot massage she deserved.

“Oh my god, Noah. That feels sooo good. But I’m sure you’re
as tired as I—”

“
Shush.
This is not a completely unselfish act.” He
rubbed a spot at the base of her middle toes that made her moan in pleasure and
gave it a bit more attention before moving on. “I’ve never given much thought
to a woman’s feet but there’s something about yours that I find terribly sexy.”

“Really?” she asked slyly and grazed his thigh with the toes
of the foot he wasn’t massaging. “That sounds like something we should look
into.”

He grinned and placed the wandering foot back on the bed.
“Really. And I agree, but not tonight.” He serviced her oddly enticing feet for
a few more minutes before rearranging the bedcovers so they were beneath
instead of on top of them.

Tucking her into the curve of his body, he kissed her ear
and neck. She murmured but didn’t quite get her head turned enough to kiss his
mouth. Within seconds she was asleep. Noah watched her for a few seconds more
but then Morpheus overtook him as well.

* * * * *

“Maid service.”

The words broke into Maggie’s dream first. Then she heard
the light knocking. She opened her eyes a crack but the bright sunlight coming through
the window made her squeeze them shut again. Her head felt as though someone
were playing tennis inside it…or as if she had drunk a half bottle of
champagne.

The next sound she recognized was running water. Noah was in
the bathroom. He had told her he didn’t need much sleep but she didn’t feel
like they’d been in bed that long. She made herself open one eye enough to see
the clock on the nightstand and was truly shocked to see it was already eleven.
No wonder there was so much damn sunlight.

“Oh! A thousand pardons, ma’am. When ye didn’t answer, I
thought ye and the mister be out. I’ll come back later.”

Maggie managed to get her eyes focused on the maid just
before she whirled around with her stack of linens and disappeared from the
bedroom doorway.

Two things wormed their way into Maggie’s foggy
consciousness. The maid was a very young woman with a long, reddish-blonde
braid and an Irish brogue. And she was wearing a uniform exactly like the one
Maggie had seen in her second bathroom mirror vision.

“
Wait!
”

The fearful look on the maid’s face when she reappeared made
Maggie soften her tone. “I was wondering if you might have some aspirin. My
head is pounding.”

Relief immediately replaced the girl’s worry and she quickly
took a small bottle out of her uniform pocket without setting down the stack of
linens. “There be quite a need for such remedy this morn,” she said, adding a
smile to her pretty face as she approached the bedside. “I’ve heard some speak
of the hair of the dog what bit ye.”

Maggie noted how the girl kept her green eyes averted. The
light smattering of freckles across her nose and cheekbones further confirmed
her Irish heritage. Maggie pulled herself into a more upright position, holding
the sheet up to her neck in an attempt at modesty. She forced a return smile.
“I’ve heard about that dog but I prefer aspirin.” She held out her hand and the
girl shook several white pills into it. “Thank you.”

“I’ll fetch some water.”

She watched the girl walk out and return with a glass of cloudy
tap water. She figured whatever was in the water couldn’t make her feel any
worse than she already did. As Maggie swallowed the pills and drained the
glass, she wondered about the way the maid continued to clutch the linens in
front of her. Surely it would have been easier to set the pile down…
unless
she was hiding something
.

Maggie heard the water turn off in the bathroom as she
handed the empty glass to the maid. She wanted Noah to see this girl. “That was
very thoughtful of you.” The girl smiled again, curtsied and hurried to the
door. “Excuse me.” The maid glanced at the opening bathroom door and back to
Maggie. “I was just wondering if you would tell me your name. I’d like to let
management know how helpful you were.”

The girl’s face lit up. “Me name’s Shannon, ma’am. Shannon
O’Toole. And that would be very kind of ye ta be sure.”

Noah did not come out of the bathroom until the maid closed
the front door of the bungalow.

“What took you so long?” Maggie asked in a slightly peeved
tone. “I wanted you to see the maid.”

He arched one dark eyebrow at her. “I heard you talking to
someone and thought I might be underdressed for meeting them.”

Only then did she realize he was completely nude. Her head
was killing her, she had a mystery clue to offer and yet her body instantly
responded to the luscious sight in front of her. She rubbed her eyes. “Sorry.
Headache.” She allowed herself the pleasure of ogling his well-formed buttocks
as he walked to the closet and found his robe. “That was the maid.”

“I gathered as much.” He plopped down next to her and gave
her a light kiss on her lips before she could cover her mouth to protect him
from her morning breath. “There’s no shower and the old bathtub is short but
deep and the water got warm enough to wash. It might help to—”

“I think it was
my
maid,” she cut in. “From the
vision in the mirror. She was really young, maybe sixteen or seventeen at most,
and had the same hair and Irish brogue.”

“Pregnant?”

She shook her head. “I couldn’t tell for sure. She held a
pile of linens in front of her the whole time which could have been her way of
hiding a swollen belly. I would assume an illegitimate pregnancy would be
unacceptable here. Her name is Shannon O’Toole. Do you remember the name from
anything you read? Could she be the girl who was found dead on the beach?”

He shrugged. “I don’t remember any name being given. And the
only date I saw was the year 1927.” Noah nodded. “You know what, before we get
deeper into speculation, let’s order breakfast. I remember Reynard saying the
words ‘room service’.”

He found a menu in the nightstand drawer but she made a face
at the offer of food. “Just coffee. Lots of coffee. And maybe toast.”

She watched him study the black candlestick phone on the
nightstand. It had no dial or buttons. Finally Noah simply lifted the part
hanging on a hook and held it to his ear. She could tell the instant an
operator came on line by the broad grin on Noah’s face.

“Oh yes. Room Service please,” he said loudly into the part
on the candlestick that looked like a speaker. As he was waiting to be
connected, he whispered to Maggie, “This is too cool.”

Maggie propped several pillows behind her head and closed
her eyes while Noah ordered half the items on the menu. The aspirins were
finally kicking in. When he hung up, she said, “It’s just not fair that I feel
this bad and you’re raring to go.”

“Okay, c’mon.” He got up then pulled her to her feet. “I’m
going to fill the tub while you put your head under the sink faucet. The water
isn’t icy but it’s cool enough to shrink the blood vessels. Then brush your
teeth and get in the tub. You’ll feel better by the time the gallon of coffee I
just ordered gets here.”

Before he closed the bathroom door on her he added, “And
just so you know, I felt like hell when I first woke up. Then I saw you next to
me and realized last night wasn’t just the best wet dream ever. If I didn’t
completely empathize with how you’re feeling, I’d be getting into that tub with
you right now. You’ve got about fifteen minutes.”

Noah’s directions and estimate of time were both right on
target. By the time breakfast arrived she was ready for a little food with her
coffee.

As soon as he downed his tall Virgin Mary, devoured a
helping of each entrée and washed it all down with black coffee, he was ready
to get on with the brainstorming. Maggie was way behind on the breakfast but
anxious to hear his thoughts while she savored her caffeine and carbs.

“I’ve been going over what Reynard told us about why we’re
here. He definitely said there was something we have to fix. That would go
along with a lot of time-travel plots in books and movies.”

She swallowed a bite of blueberry muffin. “Yes but in the
ones I’m thinking of the problem had a connection to the person who gets
transported. There’s nothing in my past I’ve ever thought about wanting to
change.”

He angled his head at her. “Not even how we parted ways?”

She smirked at him. “I think we’ve covered that ground and
besides, we didn’t need to go back to the Roaring Twenties to find each other.”

“Point taken. And I would add the same conclusion. Other
than the us factor, I’ve never felt the need to fix something in the past to
improve my life circumstances. So maybe it’s not so much you or me specifically
but someone we know or have come in contact with recently.”

Maggie jerked as though she’d been poked. “I know what it
is. Sort of. We have to help one of the people we’ve seen in the mirrors…or
heard in the Amethyst Cave. I guess it could also be someone else you read
about but I don’t think so.”

“Your intuition?”

She nodded. “Yeah, only a lot stronger than a feeling. More
like I heard it loud and clear in my head. What do you think?”

“It goes along with the other thing the bellhop said—that
the
pair
has an idea what they’re supposed to do before they are
transported. I didn’t pick it up until now but he made it sound like we’re not
the first ‘pair’ who’s had this happen to them.”

She wrinkled her forehead in thought. “And
that
goes
along with there being guidelines and a deadline. Like this is all a test of
some sort. And failure on our part results in our not being able to return to
our own time. But why us?”

“Maybe it’s not us specifically. Remember what I read about
the paranormal investigators calling the hotel a portal?”

“Yes,” she replied, a bit surprised she could recall
anything at the moment.

“Maybe it’s whoever is in the Diamond Suite at the time.”

“Or maybe it’s the suite
and
what the two people are
reading or talking about.”

“And maybe it’s completely random. But I don’t think the
answer would help us figure out what we need to take care of.” He was quiet for
a moment then brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. “And if we don’t figure
it out? Would that really be so bad? This time and place could be a lot of fun.
As long as we were together.”

The swarm of butterflies took off in her stomach again. He
was right. It might not be so awful. She turned toward him and kissed his
mouth. “Thank you. But we might not be able to stay in a luxury hotel on the
beach with everything paid for. What if we had to leave and make our way in
this
time? Would you really want to struggle through the Depression and World War
II? What if the picture in your watch is actually us or past-life versions of
ourselves like you mentioned? Wouldn’t that be some sort of cataclysmic paradox
thingy? Anyway, I’m not sure I’d want to live without a microwave oven or
clothes dryer or the internet or—”

He hushed her with a quick kiss. “I get it. But to be fair
we’d also be in the unique position of knowing what was about to happen in
advance. We would definitely be able to avoid the big hurricane. And we could
invest in General Electric or IBM—”

“And risk altering history? The smallest thing we do could
have unimaginable repercussions. Surely you’ve heard of the ripple in the pond
theory.”

“Which may or not be accurate. There are a lot of different
time-travel theories. But just in case, we could move to Tahiti or New Zealand
and live off the land, like natives.”

She opened her mouth to respond but no good argument came to
her. Living with Noah on a primitive, isolated island didn’t sound bad at all.

He laughed and pulled her close for a hard kiss. “That was
fun. I get the impression you haven’t had enough fun in your life. Maybe that’s
why I’ve come back into your life. To make sure you have more fun.”

She tried to give him a disapproving look but ended up
smiling. “Maybe you’re right. But can we get back to the real issue now?”

“All right,” he muttered with a fake pout. “Let’s see. There
was the man in my mirror who I’m pretty sure was Robert Davenport. There’s the
question of whether he really committed suicide. And since I was thinking about
him a lot in connection with the new book, I’d say he’s a good possibility.”

Maggie agreed though her gut was saying he wasn’t the ghost
they were here to help. “Then there was the woman’s voice I heard in the
Amethyst Cave. The more I’ve thought about it, the more I believe it was
someone other than the maid.”

“Okay, then we’ll keep calling her the weeping woman. Like I
said before, there were a lot of references and guesses but everything I read
was pretty vague. There were just too many deaths.”

“Yes but I think we can eliminate all of those connected
with the 1928 hurricane or World War II patients. There has to be a reason we
came to this precise moment of 1927. If we’re supposed to fix something or save
someone and we only have a small window of opportunity, it has to be something
happening right here, right now.”

“I agree. Unless something huge happens right in front of us
or someone in need falls in our laps, we have three possibilities and we only
have specific information on two of them.”

Maggie nodded slowly as she tried to think in terms of a
mystery plot. What would the amateur sleuth do first? “It shouldn’t be too hard
to find out if Shannon O’Toole is pregnant and desperate. Figuring out if she’s
in danger of being murdered might be a little harder. What about Robert
Davenport? He didn’t die for three more years.”

Noah took a minute to refresh both their cups with hot
coffee, thanks to the little candle still burning beneath the pot. Maggie
couldn’t help but think about whether anything they did now could change
Davenport’s fate. On one hand, if there was no suicide, there would be no
reason for Lillian Davenport to be so defensive about her family. On the other
hand, he was such a prominent figure it was impossible to guess what else might
change about the future if he lived another thirty or forty years.

Thoughts of Lillian Davenport’s warning and order to report
to her caused Maggie’s brain to leap to a different question. “With everything
being so weird I didn’t think about what is happening in our time. Isn’t there
someone expecting you to check in with them? I mean, a day or two might not
cause a problem but what about after that?”

He shrugged. “Maybe there’s a version of us continuing to do
whatever we’d be doing there. Or maybe a week here is only a blip in time there
and no one will notice our absence.”

“I think there was an old
Star Trek
episode with that
concept.” She decided to hold on to that one to eliminate one thing from her
worry list.

As soon as Noah settled back on the bed, he returned to the
more important matter. “If Davenport’s the one we’re supposed to help and we go
with the idea he was actually murdered, maybe this is the time he makes a bad
decision, like taking on a greedy partner. Reynard said he’s in residence at
the moment. Maybe there’s a way to bump into him somewhere.”

“Or maybe we have those lovely golfing outfits because we’ll
have an opportunity to play a round with him.”

“We can’t dismiss anything but you’d better hope our
figuring this thing out does not depend on my golf game. I really suck.”

Her mind shot straight to how talented he was at sucking and
his chuckle let her know he could tell exactly where her thoughts had gone.

He leaned over, nipped her earlobe and murmured, “You just
can’t help yourself, can you?” His fingers caught a bit of the sheet and pulled
it down to expose her nipples. They puckered immediately. “So pretty. It’s like
they’re begging me to give them a little suck.” His head bent, sucked one pink
peak then the other.

Her head fell back onto the pillows and her spine arched.
All thoughts of murders and tests with deadlines drifted away as his tongue
grazed a wet trail down to her navel. She felt the now-familiar wetness
trickling from her vagina and moaned.