Black Blood (4 page)

“Thank you for
your help, gentlemen,” Dom’s voice was quiet and sincere. “I’m
afraid we must leave.”

Nathaniel stood
and straightened his shirt, a knowledgeable glint in his eye.

“I thought as
much.” He pointed to the satchel at her feet. “Would you like me to
deliver this to Mr. Paulson?”

Gemma’s face
blanched. “How do you know…?”

“I recognize
the satchel. I’m sure he will appreciate its return.”

“You know, we
weren’t stealing it.”

“Oh, I’m sure.”
His eyes gleamed with amusement, just the way Harrison’s did.

Picking up the
satchel, she placed it in his hands with a murmur of thanks.

“Gemma, we
gotta go.”

She nodded at
her brother. Stepping towards the door, she took a moment to study
Nathaniel. He returned her gaze with a probing one of his own
before he sent her a soft smile.

“It was nice
meeting you.” He bowed his head like a dignified gentleman.

Gemma smiled.
“You too.”

With that, she
closed the door and felt her body begin to break as she was whisked
back home to Harrison.

Chapter
Four

Anastasia National Park, Florida – 2011 AD

Harrison ran
his fingers through Gemma’s silky hair, rubbing his thumb and
forefinger over the ends. His body was tucked into the crook of a
tree, his feet resting in the sand. Gemma was nestled against him
sending comfortable licks of flame over his torso.

A contented
sigh escaped her lips as she shifted her head and looked up at
him.

“I had fun
today.”

He kissed her
forehead. “Me too. I especially liked seeing Justin sopping his way
to the bathroom.”

Gemma giggled.
“That was pretty triumphant.” She raised her hand and ran a finger
down his cheek before turning back to face the water.

Harrison pulled
a clump of her hair north and watched it float back to her body as
he tried to decide whether or not to ask. He knew they weren’t
supposed to talk about trips when she got back, but more often than
not she would let him in. She usually waited until they were alone
like this, but they had been this way for nearly half an hour and
she still hadn’t mentioned it.

He wasn’t sure
why he was so desperate to know, there was just something about her
face when she stepped out of the bathroom that had his curiosity
peaked.

“So… where’d
you go today?”

Her smile
indicated that she saw right through his attempted casualness. He
felt his cheeks rise with color.

“I went to
London.”

“To visit the
queen?”

Gemma grinned.
“1820. We were rescuing a writer, Arthur Paulson.”

“That name
sounds vaguely familiar.”

“He apparently
published a piece about child labor or something.”

“Yeah… that
does sound familiar. I must have read about him.”

Harrison
watched his girlfriend bite the inside of her cheek.

A-ha! I knew
there was more!

He kept his
lips sealed, trying to wait patiently. She always spilled
eventually; he just wished she wouldn’t take so long to do it!

“Have you ever
read about Nathaniel Clayton?”

“No, I don’t
think so.” Harrison’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“He, um, kind
of helped me out today and I was just wondering about him.”

“Helped you
out?” Harrison’s stomach clenched. “What do you mean?”

She let
out a long sigh then spilled the beans. They came tumbling out in a
torrent of expression that had Harrison’s insides quivering with
fear, annoyance, and as much as he hated to admit it, pride. Gemma
never thought twice about putting her safety on the line for the
sake of someone else.

Squeezing
her tight, he kissed the top of her head. “My
spatia angelus.
You did the right thing, time
angel.”

She
swive
led her head to spy
him. “So, you’re not mad with me for getting my sweet butt in
trouble?”

His lips rose.
“I’m just glad that Clayton guy was there.”

“Yeah, me too.
There was something about him, Harrison. He was just… lovely.”

Harrison could
tell the word was insufficient. Gemma’s brow wrinkled before she
shook her head and looked back up at him with a grin.

“Did I tell you
he looked just like you?”

“Like me?”
Harrison grinned. “No wonder you liked him so much.”

Gemma giggled.
“Maybe he’s a distant relative or something.”

“Yeah.” His
insides buzzed with the thought of a brewing investigation. “I’ll
look into for you.”

“Thanks,
babe.”

He ran his
finger over her smiling lips before bending forward to meet them.
He let the kiss linger and deepen a little before drawing away. If
the fire in his brain was an indicator, he could tell they both
wanted more, but the timing wasn’t right. Gemma wouldn’t give
herself wholly to him until she could spend the entire night in his
arms afterwards. That’s what she’d said and in all honesty, he kind
of liked the idea. With the Nazi police as her parents he knew the
likelihood of it ever happening before they went away to college
was impossible. He could wait.

He wrapped his
arms around her, shooing her parents’ condition of breaking up
after high school out of his mind. They couldn’t stop him from
seeing Gemma. He would find a way to keep her in his life and he
would fight tooth and nail to make sure it happened.

Gemma’s smile
looked forced as she moved to stand. “I gotta go. Debrief’s at
five.”

The phone in
his pocket beeped as he took his girlfriend’s hand and headed for
the parking lot.

“Want to go to
the movies with Darren and Courtney tonight?” He looked up from his
screen.

Gemma’s eyes
lit with the idea, but her smile quickly faded. “We already went
out together on Monday. I don’t know if my parents will let me have
another night this week.”

“Did you ask
about dinner with my family on Friday?”

“Not yet.”
Gemma bit her lip.

Harrison
couldn’t stop the annoyed sigh from spurting through his lips.

“Please don’t
do the face. I hate the face.” Gemma squeezed his hand.

“You’re
seventeen. You should be allowed to go out when and where you want
during your summer vacation.”

She shrugged.
“You know what they’re like with their rules. At least they’ve
mellowed. I mean I’m working with you, aren’t I?”

He gave an
unenthusiastic yeah.

Gemma pulled
him to a stop and made him face her. “We always knew it would take
time, but they’ll come around eventually. We just have to be
patient.”

“I just wish
they’d accept me. I hate the stress on you… and us.”

“It’s only a
stress if we make it one. You know I have to be careful. That
boarding school threat wasn’t a joke.” She placed a hand on his
cheek. “Look I’ll try for tonight. The trip went well today, they
might be feeling generous.”

He looked away
with a huff. He didn’t want to be third wheel to Courtney and
Darren again. He wanted to be able to take his girlfriend to the
movies without having to jump through hoops of fire!

“I love you.”
Gemma’s soft voice appeased him enough to make him smile.

“Loved you
first.”

“You so did
not!” She slapped his arm as they continued walking. “I liked you
for months before you even noticed me!

“Hey, I noticed
straight away, I just didn’t do anything about it.”

“
Oh, so
we can blame your slow ass then?”

Harrison
stopped in his tracks, feigning offence. “Slow? You think I’m
slow?”

Giggles rippled
from Gemma as she wriggled her hand free and began to run. He knew
she was making it easy on him, but he caught her in a flying tackle
and raspberried her neck until she begged for mercy.

Chapter Five

Ponte Vedra Beach,
Florida – 2011 AD

Gemma grinned
as she closed the door behind her. Harrison’s lips were still
buzzing over her skin. It was a warm lick of memory and could not
be extinguished despite the fact she was home.

She loved
it when he chased her, made her laugh, looked at her with those
chocolate eyes… or called her time angel.
Spatia angelus.
She grinned and leaned against the wood.
The look of awe on his face was a little off putting, but the fact
he revered what she did was a total buzz. He could so easily have
rejected her the day she told him the truth, but he didn’t and now
he was hers.

“Gemma, you’re
late! Hurry up and get in here.”

Her mother’s
sharp snap used to make her jump a mile and scuttle to obey. Her
crab-like habits were fading since her tenacious fight to keep
Harrison. Instead, she drew in a breath, counted to ten and glided
into the dining room. Taking a seat next to Ruby, she shot Dom a
quick look to check they were leaving out certain parts of their
journey in this debrief.

His nod was so
subtle she nearly missed it.

“Okay, let’s go
over today.” Gemma’s father rubbed his hands together. “To start I
want to say job well done. Things went smoothly with no glitches
from our end.” Alistair Hart went on to run down each detail from
where they found Arthur Paulson to where they left him. He talked
about things they did well and things they could have done better.
As he drew his spiel to an end he looked at his son. “Dominic,
everything go well for you guys?”

“Yes, sir.” He
scratched his cheek. “Place was easy to find, everything was where
you said it would be. We left the paperwork where he’ll easily be
able to find it.”

“And where was
that?”

Gemma’s stomach
clenched, her gaze dropping to the wooden table.

Dom cleared his
throat. “We walked past this man that recognized Arthur’s satchel.
He asked about it. Gemma played it beautifully and told him that
we’d found it and could he return it for us.”

“A little
risky.” Alistair frowned.

“
He
looked trustworthy enough.” Dom shrugged. “And besides, the most
important thing was that Arthur was saved and you guys did
that.”

Alistair nodded
as his keen eyes bore into Gemma. In the past, she was always the
first to break. Lying had never been second nature for her. She’d
had to learn the skill and was only just starting to master the
casual confidence Dom always went for.

“He seemed to
accept my story pretty easily.” She shrugged and popped a smile in
for good measure. “I’m just glad he didn’t ask any other details. I
thought we handled the hitch pretty well. I can’t think of anything
we could have done better.” Her gaze flicked to Dom before landing
back on her father. She knew eye contact was key to hiding the
lie.

Alistair’s eyes
gleamed with a touch of pride as he nodded his head and slapped the
table. He seemed to be making more of an effort since Gemma’s near
death experience. Debriefs were shorter, training just a touch less
intense. His smile appeared more readily as if he was trying to
make up for the fact his youngest nearly died.

Gemma didn’t
fully understand the change. If anything, the whole debacle was her
fault, but she wasn’t going to complain about it. The less tension
in the house the better. The only thing that made his face all
tight with anger now was the mention of a certain blond she refused
to break up with.

“What are your
plans tonight, guys?”

Ruby perked up
at her mother’s question. “I’m out with Jenny and Todd.”

And Alex!

Gemma bit back
her smile. Since Gemma had fought for her right to date Harrison,
Ruby had been more forthcoming with information, but she hadn’t
mentioned Alex yet. He was a very fine looking college sophomore
that Ruby had bumped into on the beach two weeks ago. Gemma hadn’t
seen her sister so gaga before. She knew it wasn’t anything like
what she had with Harrison, but the guy was certainly getting Ruby
in a tizz. Hence the reason he had not been brought up in any Hart
conversations.

“I’m thinking
of doing an evening surf with the guys.” Dom looked past his twin
sister to Gemma. “You wanna come?”

“Actually, I’m
um…” Gemma glanced at her father. His cheery expression was turning
black and tight. “I’ve been invited to the movies.”

“With who?”

Gemma
sighed.

“The rules are
one date a week, which you’ve already had.” Penelope’s fingers
tapped on the table.

“This isn’t a
date. Darren and Courtney will be there.”

“
So a
double
date
then.”

“It’s not a
date, Mom. It’s dinner and a movie with friends!”

Gemma stood
from her chair.

“This
discussion isn’t over. Sit down.” She slumped back down at her
father’s command.

“I don’t
understand why we have to have a discussion every time I go
out!”

“We’re already
letting you work with him each day, why do you have to see him at
night as well?”

“What else am I
gonna do?”

“Surf with your
brother.”

“Mom, you hate
me going surfing at night. You’re always going on about how
dangerous it is and how you don’t like me hanging out with all
those boys.”

“Maybe spending
time with other boys isn’t such a bad thing?”

“What?” Gemma
nearly laughed. “Are you seriously saying that you don’t mind me
hanging out with a bunch of horny surfers for a night?”

Her mother
blanched. “I’m just suggesting that socializing with other people
every now and then would be good for you. Besides, Dom wouldn’t let
any of those boys near you.”

“
Mom,
I
wouldn’t let
any of those boys near me.” She sighed and tucked a clump of hair
behind her ear. “Look whatever, I’ll just go hang out in my room.”
She made sure she shot both her parents a dark look before leaving
the table with a sulky huff.