Shooting Stars / Bound by Love (5 page)

Christiania paused. She did. She paused, thinking, suddenly realizing the magnitude of what must have happened. I believe, she said slowly, carefully, that Christina has gone back to her own time and place. While I am here with you. Again.

Christiania had never thought to see a warrior look so shaken in all her life. Marcus sat down on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands.

Softly, slowly, she approached him as she would a small child, or animal in pain. Kneeling down before the man she had once feared above all others, she said, Do you want her back?

Marcus lifted his head. His eyes were bleak. I do, he rumbled. His voice held something in it that Christiania knew she would have never heard for herself had she stayed in her own time and married him.

Trembling with fear at her boldness, she forced herself to voice her biggest fear. Will you promise to look after my people, my family, even if I am not here and Christina is?

Marcus stared at her for a long moment, with something akin to respect in his eyes. Aye, lass, I will make you that promise. If you can give me my sorceress back, I will give my life for your people.

No longer afraid, Christina put her small hand in his large, calloused one.

We must hurry outside. At his uncomprehending glance, she added, To wish on a shooting star.

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Chapter Six

San Francisco, present day

Christina and Jake stood on the deserted Presidio beach, looking out over the Golden Gate Bridge, staring intently up at the sky.

Let me get this straight, Jake said and Christina groaned with pent-up frustration. As soon as you see a shooting star you re going to say, Take me to my warrior , right?

Just then a star fell. Christina threw her arms into the air. Take me to my warrior! she screamed and waited to be swept through time to the man she loved.

She waited for her brain to feel like it was dancing on her skin again, but all she felt was the wind.

Why the hell am I still standing here with you? Jake yelled.

Fuck if I know!

Jake and Christina breathed fire at each other. You said it would work, he accused.

Christina felt like crying. She never cried, but it she didn t get back to Scotland soon, back to Marcus, she was going to be doing some no-holds-barred weeping. After a taste of the world of her dreams, the man she desired above all others, she couldn t bear the thought of living the same old boring, loveless life she had before.

Another shooting star fell. And then another. But it was no use. What had worked before didn t work anymore. She was stuck in San Francisco forever, never to be loved by her passionate warrior again.

She sniffled once. Jake looked at her, then looked at the stars, then smiled.

I ve got it, he said. The next shooting star is mine.

Hours passed as they waited for the next star to fall. Christina tried to hold onto hope, but she didn t think she was ever going to be happy again without Marcus yelling at her, kissing and fucking the very breath from her body.

Light fizzed across the sky and she heard Jake whisper, Bring me back the woman I love.

* * * * *

Scotland, 1320

Christiania and Marcus stood together on a hill behind his castle in the black of night. She felt the weight of his heart as he stood beside her and marveled at the change her cosmic twin had wrought in him. The change of love, she mused with a bittersweet smile. Now that she had been taken to heaven in Jake s arms, Christiania knew well the power of love.

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Squeezing his large hand between both of hers, she vowed, As God is my witness, I promise she will come back to you, and prayed that she was telling the truth. Christiania s heart was at rest. She knew that her twin would be the perfect wife for Marcus bold and strong. Together, they would bring her village back from ruin to prosperity. It was imperative that Christiania find a way to reverse their places in time again. Only this time, she would make sure the change was forever.

Watching the stars above, she waited for a shooting star. But when her silent plea for a gentler man did not work its glorious spell, she closed her eyes and stilled her beating heart.

She prayed for guidance. At first there was nothing but the sounds of the nocturnal animals that surrounded them. She had to fight back her fears of never seeing Jake again. She had to reach deep down for every ounce of faith.

A smile turned her lips.

She opened her eyes. When the next star falls, she said, you must ask for what you want.

Every muscle in Marcus s body went tense and she was sure he would fight her.

She held his gaze, filled with the knowledge that all would work out as it should.

A star fell with the words from Marcus s lips, as reverent a prayer as Christiania had ever heard inside the convent.

Christina, my love. Come back to me. Forever.

* * * * *

Somewhere in the cosmos, the two women stood with each other, hand in hand.

Silently, they wished each other nothing but happiness, knowing that true love awaited them both. With one warm hug, they traveled on to their final destinations, replacing each other permanently in time.

* * * * *

Scotland, 1320

Christina toppled onto Marcus and they rolled down the hill over sweet-smelling grass. She wrapped her arms around him and showered him with kisses.

Laughter boomed from him into her as he devoured her mouth.

At the bottom of the hill, Christina lay beneath the man of her dreams. My love, he whispered.

Her heart fluttered open. And stayed open.

Christina had expected a lifetime of emotionless sex, of relationships that never meant more than multiple orgasms.

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Never this. Never a man who could take her breath away with just a glance.

Whose kiss reached straight into her soul.

I love you, Marcus, she said.

A moment later she was hoisted over his shoulder and he was nearly running up the hill back to the castle. She laughed and he said, You will be punished.

Christina laughed, sure he was joking. How could you punish me for coming back to you?

He smacked her bottom once, hard enough that her flesh stung beneath her jeans. She noted that this time she had traveled through time and space wearing her own clothes. She took it as a good sign that she would get to remain with her warrior until her dying day. In fact, now that she had the jeans with her, maybe she could teach the local seamstresses how to make clothes for a woman that didn t cut off all of her blood flow. Not to mention her lacy panties and bra. She d definitely have to see about getting someone to manufacture some more of those too.

I am glad you have come back, Christina. But I must now punish you for leaving.

Christina s heart raced with happiness and delicious expectation. Oh god, this was going to be good. How she loved this man.

Again, he carried her up the endless flight of stairs to the Laird s bedroom.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and moved her to his lap. He ripped off her thick denim pants and soft cotton tank top, stopping to glance appreciatively at her wispy lingerie. Soon she lay naked, face down, across his muscular thighs.

He rubbed her ass with his hand in slow, deliberate circles. He found her breasts with his other hand and squeezed her nipples mercilessly between his thumb and forefinger. Christina held her breath waiting for the punishment to begin. She wriggled her hips beneath his hand.

Punish me, Marcus, she urged huskily.

The first crack of flesh on flesh stole her breath away. Wetness flooded her pussy. She arched her ass up into his hands.

Whack! Tears surfaced in her eyes.

Am I hurting you, my love? he crooned. His burr wrapped around her like a blanket.

Yes, she moaned, so he smacked her again, but then he slid his hand between her legs into her throbbing cunt. He pinched her nipples and thrust two thick fingers in and out until everything blurred. Pain turned to pleasure and Christina screamed, just as he had promised she would.

He flipped her onto the bed, onto her hands and knees, driving his huge cock into her from behind. He was ruthless in his passion and it drove her to the edge of reason.

She reached around for his balls and cupped them in her hands. He held her breasts in one large hand and squeezed and fondled them in an ageless rhythm.

She exploded again and the force of her tremors nearly ripped her in two. He 27

shot his seed deep into her, seeming to come forever, and Christina dreamed of the children they would have.

Little Scottish children.

She smiled and curled up in his arms, her head nestled onto his beating heart. Marcus was so much more than just a warrior.

He was the man she loved.

Grinning wickedly, she rose up on her elbow and said, Got a torture chamber anywhere? Cause I ve got a feeling that I look really good in chains.

* * * * *

San Francisco, present day

Christiania felt sand between her toes and opened her eyes to look out on the wonder of an ocean surrounded by lights. Jake scooped her up in his arms and spun them in circles.

Christiania, he said as he pressed sweet kisses to her neck, to the top of her head, to her eyelids, to the corner of her mouth. You re back! You re back!

I love you, she whispered and he fell to his knees, pulling her down and holding her gently in his arms.

He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her deeply, as if he were trying to memorize the taste of her. This is forever, she said and wiped away a tear that was falling to his cheek.

Feeling bold in the arms of the man who was her destiny, Christiania pulled the sheet she was wearing over them and she straddled Jake. I will show you my love, she said.

She reached down to release Jake from his pants just as his hands cupped her breasts. She pushed into him and moaned with pleasure when he suckled each nipple with a mixture of reverence and passion.

She fumbled with the odd fastenings of his pants, so he let go of her breasts and undid the clasp and zipper, sliding the pants down his thighs. His shaft sprang free, hard and perfect.

Christiania slid down his body, surer now of herself than ever before. She sucked his penis into her mouth and reveled in the wonderful taste of him.

She could feel the wetness between her thighs, begging for his thick rod to come into her. She slid back up his body, relishing her unaccustomed role as the aggressor, and slid all nine inches in with a sigh of ecstasy.

Jake cupped her face in his hands. Christiania, he said as he gazed into her eyes with wonder, I love you, sweetheart.

He thrust into her just as she pushed into him. His mouth found hers and as they exploded together, his lips never left hers.

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And as Jake and Christiania celebrated their love, the sky above them erupted in a glorious show of shooting stars.

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About the author:

Before plunging wholeheartedly into writing erotic romance, Bella got a BA in Economics at Stanford University, worked as a marketing director, and strutted hundreds of stages as a rock star. She currently lives in Northern California with her fabulous husband, who thinks his wife is cooler than his friends wives, because she writes romantica.

Bella welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora s Cave Publishing at P.O. Box 787, Hudson, Ohio 44236-0787.

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• Andre, Bella - Shooting Stars (Ellora's Cave).htm