“To have happiness this complete where I am is better than heaven.”
He ran his fingertips down her cheek.
She nodded against his chest and changed the subject. “Do you know what’s happening in the movie?” She glanced up at him, the screen flashing in his pupils.
“Nope. Never seen it before. You?” He lifted an eyebrow.
She shook her head. “I think it would be a lot better if you were naked.”
A slow, lustful smile spread across his face. “Agreed.”
Thomas stood and held out his hand. She wrapped her fingers around his, pulling herself out of the chair. Their feet crunched on spilled popcorn as they walked through it to get to the aisle.
He took charge as soon as her high heels reached the carpet, lifting her in his arms with a clear intention. Fallen used her levitated perspective to look closely at his lips. She tasted them with the tip of her tongue. Her heart had been scrubbed raw, and his attention was the salve.
Theirs was a reckless love. But it didn’t matter. He adjusted her mid kiss and sat her on the stage near the screen. Now she was taller than he, which was unusual. She took the opportunity to unbutton his shirt while looking at his face.
“So elegant—you should be on all the big screens.” He ran his hands up and down her thighs, pulling her skirt up higher with the each pass.
“So handsome—you could be a rock star.”
He looked puzzled for a second until she opened his shirt and ran the palms of her hands over his chest. He traced the edge of her white-laced panties with his thumbs. She inhaled and held her breath. Having him so near where she wanted him tested her patience. But she didn’t want him to think she only used him for the way he made her feel. Still, the moan she exhaled gave away her deepest feelings.
“Lay back. Let me see you.” Thomas pulled his shirt the rest of the way off. She admired his tattoo, rubbing her name trapped in ink on his forearm as she followed his directions.
He must have found something to stand on, because he scooted her bottom over, and then he could reach her. He took off her panties and kissed her thighs, murmuring about the softness. The soundtrack of the movie was louder this close to the screen, so she couldn’t hear a lot of what he said, but his eyes told her.
And then he was her everything. This part could never be faked or imagined. His fingers and tongue and breath were inside her. The friction and adoration had her panting for him. He took her over the edge quickly. She locked her legs behind his neck, and he had to struggle to get out of her grasp.
When she was spent, she let her arms drop to either side. He lifted himself up onto the stage, and she looked at him hazily.
“Are you okay, baby?” He eased down next to her.
“So much more than okay.” She wanted to touch him but hadn’t the energy after the rush he’d given her.
His self-satisfied smirk made her blush and bite a smile at the same time. He unbuttoned the front of her red and white dress slowly, but nimbly for such large hands. He spent his time looking at her breasts like they were just for him, pushing the lace out of the way to get to her nipples.
“A masterpiece. You are every piece of art in the world poured into one tiny package.” He took the job of keeping her nipples peaked very seriously; when his hand found one, his teeth were on the other.
She kissed the top of his head, the rush for him filling her again. She wrapped her arms around him and gently put his cheek flush against her chest. He sighed. As he relaxed against her, she felt his need and knew it was her chance to lavish attention on him.
Fallen whispered, “Lay on your back, solider boy.”
“I had other, very detailed plans.” He lifted to look at her. His sparkling blue eyes were the color of midnight at the very edge of a full moon. The flecks of silver there were the stars.
“I need to put you in my mouth. Can I do that?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him.
He blew a curl of hair off his forehead. “I do believe that would be sensational.”
He rolled off of her, but held up a hand when she tried to crawl closer. “But I think you have to be naked. Totally. I have to see you in just your skin like my life depends on it.”
Fallen stood and took off everything but her thigh highs and white heels. Thomas rested on his elbows, his delicious body stretched out like an invitation.
“Spin for me. Hold up your hair.”
She did as she asked, then turned to peek over her shoulder.
“Stop.”
He sat up as she froze. She watched him get to his feet like the athlete he was. Easy. Strong.
But it was the artist in him that touched her and murmured to her. “The way your shoulders move…right here, at the center of your back.” His touch was feather light. She felt chills race to follow his touch. “And this?” He touched the lowest part of her back. “These two dimples? I’d kill just for them.”
She laughed a little.
“This part of your thigh…” He bent at the waist and touched her just above her stocking. “…might be the softest thing on earth. Except inside you. Inside you is pure perfection.” He grazed his fingertips over her ass and reached into her from behind.
She panted and lost her balance. He put his other hand on her stomach, keeping her steady as he pushed lower to find the place between her legs that had already given him her soul. He rocked her like this, pumping in and out, watching her carefully as he brought her to the edge again.
“Stop.” She put her hands on his forearms. “You. Only so much time. I need to do this for you.”
Ever the gentleman, he stilled his hands, but she had to pull them away from her body.
Fallen held on to his arms as she took to her knees. This is what she wanted him to have. The flashing screen highlighted him in front of her as she tugged on his pants. There was pure masculinity in the way he divested himself of the last barrier between them.
Him. All of him. The power she felt as she treated him to everything she could imagine or dare with her mouth and hands was addictive. Everything about him was what she needed.
And when he was just at the edge, when he was ready, she pulled away.
He groaned at the loss of her.
“Now let me ride it.”
She watched him swallow as he knelt. She pushed on his chest until he lay back. And then she was his predator. She let her hands and mouth find every secret he had. And when she didn’t want him to wait one second longer, she sat astride him. Fallen used her passion to give him everything he needed.
She reached between his legs as the veins in his neck corded and hugged him from the inside. His growls of pleasure made her work him even harder until he begged her to stop. Fallen leaned forward and kissed his chest as he hugged her to him.
“Dream girl, that was…”
She finished his sentence for him. “Everything.”
The deep breath they took together was a promise.
Fallen stayed on his chest until his heart slowed to a resting rate.
Thomas sat up and hugged her to him so they could be face to face.
She tried to etch his cheekbones into her memory. He seemed to be doing the same.
“How are things where you are right now?” she asked.
“A mixture of great and horrible. We’ve had a wave of good news that the war may be ending—but not in the place where I’m fighting. Not yet. We’re hopeful, but where I am? It’s really bad right now. Lots of enemy strongholds. The land mines are everywhere, and there’s no way of knowing…”
He stopped himself. “I don’t want to talk about that now, here with you. My Fallen.”
She nodded but really wanted him to continue. He’d gotten out so many details about without being interrupted. That could be helpful for finding him in the waking world. Suddenly Fallen knew she had to tell him something. It was at the tip of her tongue, but the words were too blurry.
“Tell me about you. How’s the job?” He rubbed her sh
oulders and cupped her boobs when she had a chill.
“It’s hard to give you an update when you’re still inside me.” She rocked her hips back and forth and gave a gentle swirl.
“Temptress. Tell me. About you.” He closed his eyes and seemed to relish her small movements.
“The job sort of sucks. My friend is sick, so she’s not at work anymore. And my only other real friend is a 90-year-old woman with memory loss. Lad is funding my brother, my mother continues to struggle and bring her chaos around at the worst possible times, and I’m barely ahead of the bills. Seriously. I’ve gotta cut back on something, but in 2016, a girl without her cell phone is pretty much considered dead. It makes everything much harder—”
She stopped talking as his eyes widened.
“2016?”
The gravity of what she’d told him hit her like a sack of bricks. She’d revealed her when.
“The future?” He moved his hands from her breasts to her cheeks. “You’re in the future?”
She nodded against the pressure of his fingers, afraid to say more, afraid to somehow break the loophole they’d found.
The flashes from the projector danced on his skin. She looked at him with intention, hoping he’d take the hint and tell her when he was from.
“That’s a long time away from here. That’s a real long time away from here.”
“But is it possible? Could you be where I am?”
She watched his mouth move as he did the math. He rolled his eyes and shrugged. “I guess. Maybe.”
She exhaled the relief that flowed through her. “Oh, thank God. I was scared I was too far forward.”
“You pretty much are, dream girl.”
Her mind clicked into sharp relief, and Fallen tossed caution to the wind. “When were you born?” she asked. “And where? How old would you be?”
But she didn’t get to hear his answers because the back door of the theatre slammed open.
Thomas reacted before she could think. He had her behind him as he faced Lad straight on—in the nude.
She clutched his sides and teetered a bit on her heels. Their clothes were scattered everywhere.
“We don’t want any trouble,” Thomas said to open the conversation.
Fallen peered around her love. Freaking Lad. And just when she’d finally been able to share some information with Thomas—not to mention actually remembering something she wanted to ask him. She sighed impatiently, but the gun in Lad’s hand sobered her. She had no idea if they could die in this dream world, but she wouldn’t allow his weird fixation on her to hurt Thomas.
“You’re naked with my fiancée. I think all you want is trouble,” Lad seethed. He leveled his gun at Thomas.
Fallen stepped out from behind his solider, despite his desperate attempts to keep her shielded. She was banking on her nudity stunning Lad enough for Thomas to do something. He always seemed ready to fight. She covered up as best she could with her arms and hands.
“Lad, you have to understand; I never said yes to your ring. When I arrive here, it’s just on my finger every time.” She watched as Lad’s eyes raked up and down her form.
“You’re naked.” He swallowed visibly.
“We all are under our clothes.” Fallen watched as Thomas inched away in her peripheral vision.
“Now you want to be a wise guy? I’m here to provide a life for you, Fallen. And I find you with him?” Lad re-pointed the gun at Thomas, who stilled.
Upping the ante, she held her hand out to Lad, revealing her breasts in the process. His jaw opened slightly, and his aim wavered.
Her soldier knew what the hell he was doing. Before Lad even could figure out how to put pressure on the trigger, he was face down with Thomas’ knee in his back. “Close your goddamn eyes,” Thomas demanded, removing the gun from Lad’s hand. “You don’t get to see her like that.”
Fallen scrambled for her dress and stepped into the shadow just below the screen to pull it over her head and button it up. She stepped back into view as she did up the last button to find Thomas putting the finishing touches on the binding he’d arranged for Lad with his own shoelaces.
Thomas stood up, as Fallen walked over with his pants in her hands. She stopped near Lad’s face and pulled Thomas down for a deep kiss.
“Thank you. My hero,” she said in an exaggerated voice. Thomas rolled his eyes. He was still adorable.
“This is not the way a gentleman acts. She’s mine.” Lad yelled, trying to be involved in the confrontation from the floor.
Fallen watched as anger and disbelief crept onto Thomas’ face. “You can’t own a person, dickhead.”
She tugged on his arm. “Come, we don’t have time.” Suddenly she could feel how tired she was. Their passion or maybe the adrenaline from having the gun pointed at them seemed to have masked her growing sleepiness.
Thomas pointed at Lad. “You’re not engaged. Not to her.”
Together they walked quickly up the aisle, the end credits scrolling across the screen just before they hit the door.
Fallen staggered as they got to the lobby. Exhaustion made her feel drunk, all of the sudden.
“Let’s get to the car.” Thomas scooped her up when her legs went out, which had to be a feat of strength because his own legs were shaking. He dropped her in on the passenger side.
She rested her head on the seat and watched him struggle to get in the car.
“I can’t drive,” he said, his words slurred.
She wanted to say, it’s okay, but her lips were numb. She was able to flop her hand between them, and he covered her fingers with his.
“Sleep. Sleep now so I know you go first. I don’t want you here with…” He trailed off but glanced to the theater where they’d left Lad tied up.
She wanted to say she loved him one last time, but instead she closed her eyes like he wished.
The rush and swirling disorientation descended fast. Maybe the universe was angry because they’d broken the rules for their time together. She felt herself hit the bed with a bounce.
Fallen gasped, happy to be able to move her lips but instantly missing the warmth of Thomas’ hand on top of hers. As soon as she could control her body, she rolled out of bed and went to the mirror. She saw Thomas sit straight up, seeming ready for a fight. His puppy perked up as well. He put one hand on his heart and the other on the dog’s head before the image flashed away.
Fallen methodically undid her precautions as her memory slowly returned. She hadn’t told Thomas about his death year. She hadn’t even thought of it. After she slipped the picture off the ceiling in front of the camera, she put it back into her cart again. She slipped her broken fork into her pocket and thought of Desta. She hadn’t seen Burt at all this time.
Now for the big moment. Creaking open the old door to room 514 at 12:30 on Friday morning took more courage than Fallen believed she had for a moment. But the hallway was empty. She was relived to get her cart all the way down to the maintenance closet without seeing a soul. Fallen refilled her cleaners and set up her cart for the next day.
“You know, I’ve noticed a pattern. On Thursdays.” Melanny’s voice was actually welcome.
“You’re here late,” Fallen commented. “I was in 514. No one stays there, and I kept my cart inside.” She took her jacket from its hook, hoping the action hid her shaking hands.
“Well, Mr. Orbit is at the hospital with Desta, so he has me working as his secretary.”
Melanny seemed to feel very important.
“Which you should know since I still think you’re boning him.”
“I’m not, though if that was any of your business, you’d know.” Fallen zipped up her jacket. “I clocked out a long time ago. You don’t have to pay me overtime. I apologize for keeping you up.” She hit the doors, but Melanny followed her.
“Why are you in that room so much?” The manager gave her a hard stare.
“It’s warm, and I’m tired. I have two jobs, and I still struggle to keep the heat o
n at home.” Fallen decided her pride could take the hit.
She was surprised to see compassion on the older woman’s face. “All right. Fine. But don’t do it again.”
Fallen nodded, knowing her agreement was a lie. She would be back next week, and she had so much to do between now and then. There had to be a way to save Thomas from his fate.
Chapter 21
For Desta
As usual, coming to work on Friday felt so unimportant when she’d just been with Thomas. Though she worried continually about his well-being, this week that stress would compete with her resolve to be ready with information she could share on their next encounter, questions about how Mr. Orbit would treat her, and the pain of preparing for life without Desta. When she entered the meeting room, 8 and 9 looked up with sad eyes.
“It’s a matter of hours, they say, for Desta,” 9 murmured. “We’re going to the hospital after work. You wanna bum a ride?”
Fallen swallowed hard before nodding. The morning meeting was subdued, and she couldn’t even look at Desta’s replacement. Although she’d only been at this job for a few months, so much had happened to her here. And it all came back to Desta. She was the spine of this place—holding everything together properly—as well as its heart.
Fallen threw herself into her work and cleaned her floor as well as she possibly could. It was a way to grieve a bit—she made the rooms shine for Desta.
Room 514 got a lot of extra attention, and Fallen took a long, hard look at the antique mirror. She contemplated taking it home with her, but when she saw nothing but her own eyes reflected back at her, she set it down. It wasn’t worth getting busted for stealing it. The camera was still there.
She ran the dust rag over the headboard of the bed, paying attention to the deep grooves in the wood. She heard a tiny click, and the air suddenly felt different. Even before he spoke, she knew she wasn’t alone.
“Thought I’d find you here.”
Fallen stopped her dusting, her knees on the pillows with the rag in her hand. She heard the door click closed, sealing her in with him.