David considered everyone, one at a time. Then he gave a gracious nod of his head. “Very well.”
Marit lifted her voice. “Okay, everyone. We’re doing it differently this time. A single circle, backs to the center. That way, we can take everyone across the timescape, and bring you all back together. Remember whose hand you’re holding and make sure you grab the same hand when we come back. Rafael…” She paused. “Rafael will be between me and David, on the way back, where we can watch him. This way, we arrive ready to go instead of having our backs to the outside. So, circle up, grab hands and be ready for my count.”
Alex tugged Sydney over to the center of the room where everyone formed into a circle, except for Alannah and the children. Taylor grabbed Sydney’s hand and squeezed it. “Finally,” she breathed.
“Yes,” Sydney replied.
Alex took her other hand.
“Okay,” Marit called, from behind them. “On three. One…two…three!”
Time and Rafael
Two days later.
Even though everything smelled differently and sounded different, too, Rafael opened his eyes cautiously.
He saw buckled plaster on the basement ceiling, with the familiar gray water stain, and black marks where Alex had tried to repair it with a hammer.
He let out a ragged breath. He had never been so happy to see something so ugly.
“If that is the shitty basement ceiling, then I have to be in your surgery, Alex.” The weakness in his voice was a shock to him. “And I’m missing a big chunk of memories.”
As soon as he spoke, he heard Alex curse under his breath. Metal clattered. Then hurried steps. Alex appeared, leaning over him. “Don’t sit up yet,” he said quickly. “Your symbiot is still recovering.”
“I don’t think I can sit up,” Rafael said, as his rubbery arms gave way beneath him. “What the hell…?”
“Sydney!” Alex called, not softly.
Immediately, from overhead, came the patter of fast steps.
Alex sat on the edge of the bed and picked up Rafael’s hand. His throat and his jaw worked. His brow wrinkled. “Rafe…”
“Rafael! Oh, god, Rafe!” Sydney burst into the little surgery, a frantic missile of blonde energy, and threw herself on the bed, trying to grab all of him at once.
Rafael groaned at the impact. “Jesus Christ on a pony…that actually hurts.”
Alex smoothed his brow. “It will for a day or so. You’re half human, at the moment.”
Rafael raised his useless arms and managed to grab Sydney’s face. Her cheeks were damp, shocking him. He wiped them. “Hey, only one half-human at a time,” he chided her. “Alex is brilliant but two patients will force him to multi-task.”
“We can’t have that,” Sydney said, her voice husky.
“God, no,” Alex said, with deep dread in his voice. “I leave that up to women. It’s a natural talent for them.” He squeezed Rafael’s hand once more. “Do you feel like talking? We are all curious to know what happened.”
Rafael blew out a breath. “You were there. You saw Cyrus. What did he say?”
Alex glanced at Sydney.
Sydney gave a great sniff and sat up. “Cyrus didn’t have a chance to say anything. David…well, he dealt with him.” She and Alex exchanged a glance. Alex grimaced.
Rafael frowned. “I remember…someone…well, glowing. Although I was very confused by then.”
Alex nodded. “That was him.”
“It sounds as though you should be telling me what happened,” Rafael said. He glanced around the surgery. It was empty except for the surgical bed he laid on, and Sydney and Alex and a great deal of equipment, some of which was beeping. “I’m surprised Veris isn’t here with a probe and a recorder, demanding details,” Rafael said. “That was him there, wasn’t it? The big shape—that was his size.”
“Everyone was there,” Alex said.
“We told them to stay away,” Sydney added. “To give you time.”
“Yes, but we’re talking about Veris,” Rafael replied.
“Alex had a chat with him,” Sydney said carefully. “Veris wanted to treat you. Alex got his way and brought you home.”
Rafael looked at Alex. Alex’s gaze was steady.
Rafael cleared his throat. He pushed on the stiff mattress beneath him, detesting the crinkle of the heavy-duty plastic cover beneath the sheet. “I have to sit up. I feel like I’m in an episode of General Hospital.”
Alex and Sydney coordinated themselves on either side of him and raised the back of the bed and Rafael, then arranged the pillows behind him. Rafael kept hold of their necks and pulled them in tighter against him, as his heart pattered in a sickly way, and his breathing came hard and fast. “Just…let me hold you,” he whispered. “Just for a while.”
He closed his eyes. There would be time to speak about Cyrus and how he had been inspired by the tale of Brody’s brother, Dara, and his scheme to punish Brody. Cyrus could not reproduce the weapons of the future which had decimated Brody’s body and nearly taken his mind, too. Cyrus had substituted with an ancient form of torture, instead. Thousands of cuts had bled Rafael to the point of constant blood fever. Unaddressed fever, he quickly learned, became agonizing.
That was a discussion for a different time. For now, he was home.
And he had fences to mend.
Rafael kissed Alex and Sydney and let them go…all except their hands, which he clung to. He gripped their fingers convulsively, trying to find the words. “Ah…Alex is the orator,” he said, finally. “Let me just spill my guts and don’t interrupt, okay?”
Alex and Sydney exchanged glances once more. That was okay. That was the two of them mind-reading, which saved hours of talk-talk.
“Okay,” Sydney said softly. “Spill.”
“You’re right. Both of you were dead on the money. In all ways, only I didn’t like the way it made me look. When it came out of your mouths, I…cringed.” He grimaced, as his heart gave a squeeze and his chest ached. “I hated that you were right and what that made me.”
Neither of them said anything. Alex’s pale blue eyes, Sydney’s ice blue ones, both calm, considered him. They were not looking at him in disgust or anger. It gave him the courage to continue.
“Yeah, I’ve fought to stay free,” he whispered, his throat squeezing down on the words. “From…from Brody onwards,” he added. He paused, measuring their reactions.
Alex nodded. Sydney’s eyes widened. Her lips made a silent “ohhh…!” sound.
Before they could do more, Rafael stumbled onwards. “Brody…Brody was too soon, I thought. I had just found freedom and I liked it. And anyway, even then, I knew he could not be mine. Not really. So I moved on.” He swallowed. “Only, every possible partner, every lover…they were too soon. They…” He made himself say it. “They threatened my freedom.”
Sydney stroked his hand. “Only, humans didn’t.”
Rafael let out a breath. She had understood, after all. Fine trembling started up in his middle. Relief, he suspected. It had been a very long time since he had experienced relief in this physical way.
“Humans are so short lived, it didn’t kick in my defenses. I never had to push them away,” he added in a rush. He had to let go of Alex’s hand to press his thumb to his eyes, for they were stinging. Then he just held his hand there, shading them, because the next part was the crux of it. “I was pushing you away. Both of you. I was getting uneasy. I didn’t recognize it until you cornered me and said all the words which had been floating through my subconscious lately. All those terrible words.” He convulsively reached for Alex’s hand once more. “I don’t want to be that way. I don’t want to be that guy.”
They gripped his hands and let him hold on. Sydney trembled as much as he did.
“Because you’re so good at coping with change yourself,”
Alex said gently. Softly.
“Because I like it,” Rafe said, the words tearing at his throat. “I need you to teach me how to live without change, because the truth is…I’m scared. I don’t want to fuck this up, but I don’t know how to do this long term…”
“Oh, Rafe,” Sydney breathed. She didn’t say anything else. Instead, she rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.
Rafael closed his eyes, as the hot, sweet relief mixed with happiness.
Alex kissed him, over the top of Sydney’s head. “I suppose we can start by calling you Iberian from now on.”
Rafael shook his head. “No. If any of us gets to be called that, it’s you. You’ve lived here for centuries more than me. This is your adopted land. Take it.”
“And what is your adopted land, then?” Sydney said, sitting up.
“I have no country,” Rafael said. “I don’t need one. I have a family—a real family, not a temporary substitute—and that family is all I need.”
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The Next Book in the
Kiss Across Time series
The next book in the Kiss Across Time series will be released in September 2019. Sign up for Tracy’s email list so you don’t miss the announcment of the release date! (See next page for how.)
In the meantime, try more vampire time travel ménage stories from the Beloved Bloody Time series.
Bannockburn Binding, Book 1, Beloved Bloody Time series.
Time is theirs to keep. But it comes with a price
In the early 23rd Century, vampires learned how to travel back in time, and created a time-tsunami that threatened life as we know it, until they corrected their mistake. They created the Chronometric Conservation Agency, which is tasked with preserving history and therefore protecting humanity’s future. The Touring arm of the Agency offers trips back into the real past, with vampire guides, called travelers.
When Natalia (Tally) Marta, vampire and traveler, takes her client to visit the siege of Stirling Castle in 1314, she is caught and held hostage for ransom by Robert MacKenzie, a Bruce clansman. Rob finds himself drawn to the wilful, stubborn and very different English lady he has captured and the relationship becomes an intimate, highly-charged sexual pairing. Swiftly, Tally and Rob realize their bond is more than sexual, that the emotions stirring their hearts are true.
Christian Lee Hamilton, vampire, one of the last true southern gentlemen, and Tally’s ex-lover, knows the 1314 time marker enough to jump back and help Tally return home. His arrival at Bannockburn adds complications, for Christian finds himself drawn to Rob MacKenzie as much as Tally is. But neither of them can stay in the past forever. To do so means certain death.
___
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#1 Amazon Time Travel Romance Bestseller
#1 Amazon Fantasy Romance Bestseller
Reviewers’ Top Pick —The Romance Reviews
Nominated Erotic Paranormal Book of the Year 2011—The Romance Reviews
Reviewers’ Top Pick: Oh wow, is this a great read! I simply couldn’t put this down once I started. OMG! I didn’t see this resolution coming. —The Romance Reviews
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Acknowledgements
Dina Bushrod, Audrey Cienki, Hes. H., Kathi Soniat, Kathy Zisek -- thanks so much, guys!
About the Author
Tracy Cooper-Posey is a #1 Best Selling Author. She writes romantic suspense, historical, paranormal and science fiction romance. She has published over 100 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favorite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.
She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year. Tracy won the award in 2012, and a SFR Galaxy Award in 2016 for “Most Intriguing Philosophical/Social Science Questions in Galaxybuilding” She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.
She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian Canadian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.
Other books by Tracy Cooper-Posey
For reviews, excerpts, and more about each title, visit Tracy’s site and click on the cover you are interested in: http://tracycooperposey.com/books-by-thumbnail/
* = Free!
Scandalous Scions
(Historical Romance Series – Spin off)
Rose of Ebony
Soul of Sin
Valor of Love
Marriage of Lies
Scandalous Scions One (Boxed Set)
Mask of Nobility
Law of Attraction
Veil of Honor
Scandalous Scions Two (Boxed Set)
Season of Denial
Rules of Engagement
Degree of Solitude
Ashes of Pride
Once and Future Hearts
(Ancient Historical Romance—Arthurian)
Born of No Man
Dragon Kin
Pendragon Rises
War Duke of Britain
High King of Britain
Battle of Mount Badon
Abduction of Guenivere
Downfall of Cornwall
Vengeance of Arthur
Grace of Lancelot
The Grail and Glory
Camlann
Kiss Across Time Series
(Paranormal Time Travel)
Kiss Across Time*
Kiss Across Swords
Time Kissed Moments
Kiss Across Chains
Kiss Across Time Box One (Boxed Set)
Kiss Across Deserts
Kiss Across Kingdoms
Time and Tyra Again
Kiss Across Seas
Kiss Across Time Box Two (Boxed Set)
Kiss Across Worlds
Time and Remembrance
Kiss Across Tomorrow
More Time Kissed Moments
Project Kobra
(Romantic Spy Thrillers)
Hunting The Kobra
Inside Man
Vistaria Has Fallen
Vistaria Has Fallen
Prisoner of War
Hostage Crisis
Freedom Fighters
Casualties of War
V-Day
Romantic Thrillers Series
Fatal Wild Child
; Dead Again
Dead Double
Terror Stash
Thrilling Affair (Boxed Set)
Beloved Bloody Time Series
(Paranormal Futuristic Time Travel)
Bannockburn Binding*
Wait
Byzantine Heartbreak
Viennese Agreement
Romani Armada
Spartan Resistance
Celtic Crossing
Beloved Bloody Time Series Boxed Set
Scandalous Sirens
(Historical Romance Series)
Forbidden*
Dangerous Beauty
Perilous Princess
Go-get-‘em Women
(Short Romantic Suspense Series)
The Royal Talisman
Delly’s Last Night
Vivian’s Return
Ningaloo Nights
Blood Knot Series
(Urban Fantasy Paranormal Series)
Blood Knot
Southampton Swindle
Broken Promise
Vale
Amor Meus
Blood Stone
Blood Unleashed
Blood Drive
Blood Revealed
Blood Ascendant
The Sherlock Holmes Series
(Romantic Suspense/Mystery)
Chronicles of the Lost Years
The Case of the Reluctant Agent
Sherlock Boxed In