There's Always Tomorrow (Immortal Series) (17 page)

“Children.
 
Did you have children?”

Tony cleared
his throat. It felt rather odd to be discussing his first love…his first
family, with his present love.
 
Then he smiled broadly, remembering his children.

“Soon after we
married, our son, Eli, was born.
 
He cried all the time.
 
I
just knew there was something terribly wrong with him, but my wife and in-laws
reassured me that all was as it should be.
 
They were right.
 
He grew to be strong and healthy.
 
He became a fine man.”
 
His
eyes misted over and it grew more difficult to speak.

Sophie saw the
subtle change in the man holding her.
 
“You don’t have to tell me more.
 
Not if it hurts you, Tony.
 
I don’t need to know more.”

He squeezed her
shoulder.
 
“You really do need to
know of my past—the good and bad.

He blew out a
long breath and continued to tell of his past.
 
“In 1820, Penelope presented me with the perfect child...a
lovely daughter.
 
We named her
Hannah.
 
She was quiet and almost
never cried.
 
I loved to rock her
and breathe in her sweet baby smell.
 
Even her older brother liked her.”
 
Tony chuckled.
 

“For years, our
lives were fairly uneventful.
 
Then, one Christmas, Penelope came to me with such happiness in her eyes.
 
We had always wanted a large family,
but God had seen fit to bless us with only two.
 
Don’t get me wrong, we were very grateful, for they were
healthy and happy children.
 
Penelope told me that we were going to have another baby, in the early
spring.
 
The entire family rejoiced
at the good news.”

Tony paused,
taking his time to gather his thoughts.
 
It was still painful to recall. They’d had such hopes.
 
He cleared his throat and wiped the
wetness from his eyes.

Sophie knew
what he was going to tell her.

“My Penelope
had a rough delivery.
 
As I held
our little blue daughter in my arms, my wife passed from this life into the
next.”
 
Tony felt as if he was
going to strangle, his throat had closed so tightly.
 
He looked down at his two empty hands.

“We buried them
both, together.
 
I wanted to die
too, but I had my other children to live for.
 
It was about that time, that people started to notice I
hadn’t aged.
 
Penelope’s youthful
glow had begun to dim, but I hadn’t noticed.
 
I hadn’t been aware of how my in-laws were slightly stooped,
with white hair and soft wrinkles on their kind faces.
 
I appeared exactly the same as when I
had first met their daughter.”

Sophie was
intrigued.
 
“Did they accuse you of
being a witch?”

Tony shook his
head.
 
“No, precious.
 
They knew me too well, but the
townsfolk had their suspicions.
 
By
1837, I knew I had to leave.
 
My
children were twenty and seventeen.
 
They had grandparents and cousins to look out for them.
 
Eli was in love with a pretty young
girl from the neighboring town.
 
Before I left, I gave him my blessing and bought him a farm.
 
I gifted Hannah with a large
dowry.
 
She was so beautiful, it
was hardly necessary, but I wanted to make it up to her.
 
Eli understood why I had to leave, but
Hannah was angry.
 
In so many ways,
she reminded me of her lovely mother, but her temper was all me.”

“Where did you
go?” Sophie asked, while tears ran down her soft cheeks.

“That, my sweet
angel, is another story, and better left to be told at a later time.
 
Right now, I have the sexiest and the
most beautiful woman in the entire world, naked in my bed, and I intend to
ravish her!” he howled.

“Stop,” Sophie
squealed, as she tried to squirm away.
 
She pretended to flee from his embrace, but her real intent was to be
caught and thoroughly pleasured.

Once again, she
felt his hard, hot length, slip inside her, filling her completely.
 
She tingled all over.
 
Skin against skin, they moved to the
oldest dance in the world.
 
Their
hearts beat with the primal rhythm, as ancient as mankind itself.
 
Tony pleasured his woman deeply, while
Sophie tightened her hold on his hard shaft, bringing them dangerously close to
a mind-numbing crescendo.

Faster and
harder he plunged, his cock rubbing against her nubbin until she was begging
for release.

“God, Tony,”
she screamed.
 
“Now!
 
For God’s sake, do it now!”

Tony, wet with
perspiration, grabbed her bare bottom, and squeezed.
 
He listened to the slapping of their flesh, he inhaled the
fragrance that was uniquely hers, when suddenly, Sophie shuddered violently and
cried out in ecstasy.

Tony threw his
head back and howled again, as his release came in a tremendous explosion,
burst after burst.
 
It was only
then he realized he hadn’t bothered with a condom.

 
“Well, it’s about time.
 
I thought I’d have to call the
police.
 
Where have you been, young
lady…or should I ask, with whom have you been?” Grant shouted from inside his
office.

It always
surprised Sophie when her boss knew what was going on in the outer room,
without ever sticking his head around the corner to get a good look.
 
It was as if he could see through
walls.
 
Her mind began to question
his abilities.
 
After all, she was
involved with a man that was immortal.
 
Maybe Grant wasn’t exactly like other men, either.
 
She’d ask Tony tonight.
 
They were going to meet for dinner and
have earth-shattering sex—but not necessarily in that order.

“I’m here now,
boss.
 
What do you need?” Sophie
hollered from her desk.
 
She heard
his laughter.

“Never mind,
Sophie.
 
It’s just nice to know
you’re here, safe and sound.”
 
Grant exited his office and walked up to her desk.
 
Looking down at his assistant, he
grinned.
 
“Have a nice
weekend?
 
Anything you want to
share?”
 
He cocked his eyebrow in a
most unsettling way.

“You know,
don’t you?
 
You and Tony are good
friends.”
 
Sophie thought it might
be good to do some fishing.
 
“He
told me everything, you know.
 
All
about…it.”

Grant’s face
grew serious.
 
“It?”

“Yes, his
real
age, for instance.”

Grant
stiffened.
 
“Sophie, did he go into
detail with you?
 
Did he name
others?”

She could see
her boss was clearly nervous, but she couldn’t understand why.
 
To put his mind at ease, she thought
she’d say nothing more, and talk to Tony.

“Others?
 
I don’t know anything about
‘others’
.
 
It’s okay if he’s a little older than
me.
 
Don’t you think?”

Grant let out
his breath in relief.
 
Tony hadn’t
been so foolish as to discuss their unique connection with his current
squeeze.
 
“I just wanted to know if
you were happy, Sophie.”

She
beamed.
 
“I’m ridiculously happy.”

“Good,” he said
stiffly, and returned to his office, shutting the door.

“That was odd,”
Sophie muttered, “even for Grant.”

Before Sophie
knew it, it was lunchtime and Tony had promised to take her out.
 
She reapplied her lip-gloss, touched
her neck and wrists with the lightest of perfumes, and sat back waiting.
 
She waited and waited.
 
Grant had left and said he wouldn’t
return for the rest of the day.
 
The clock continued to tick away the minutes, until it was too late to
go out for lunch.

Sophie frowned
at the thoughts that were beginning to creep into her mind.
 
Had Tony made love to her, only to move
on to someone else?
 
Did he find
her lacking?
 
Her inferiority
complex raised its ugly head.
 
All
her life she had been fighting the battle of insecurity.
 
She knew she wasn’t smart.
 
Her family life had been average, and
now she was alone.
 
Her education
had been adequate, but she felt some of the grades she had achieved were due
more to her short skirts, than her test scores.
 
Tony could no doubt do better than tying himself to
her.
 
Hell, he probably had done
better, many times.
 
Maybe she was
too needy.

“Enough!” she
said out loud.
 
“You’re Sophie Drew
and you’re pretty and you’re a good person.
 
Tony would be a fool to toss you aside.
 
Didn’t you please him last night?”

“You certainly
did, and Tony’s no fool.”
 
A deep
male voice spoke to her from across the room.

“Tony!” she
squealed.
 
“I missed you,” she
said, as she ran from her desk to his open arms.

Tony
laughed.
 
“I can see that.
 
To whom were you talking when I walked
in?”

Sophie’s face
turned crimson.
 
“How much did you
hear?”

“Well,” his
green eyes twinkled, “I heard you telling someone off pretty good.
 
That man, Tony, you were talking about,
would be a fool to toss you aside…especially after such mind-blowing sex.”
 
He chuckled as he rubbed her firm
little ass.

Sophie
groaned.
 
“You must think I’m the
fool.”

“Oh,
Sophie.
 
I find you delightful, and
I’m in this relationship for the
long
haul.
 
And I do mean the long haul.”

Sophie
brightened.
 
“I think I might have
said something I shouldn’t have.”

“What’s that,
sweetheart?”

“Grant was
acting peculiar, this morning.”

“Yeah,” Tony
smiled.
 
“I was afraid of that.”

“First, I told
him you told me everything, and it disturbed him.
 
I had to lie and say you convinced me you were a little
older than me.
 
He seemed to relax,
a little.
 
Is there some reason I
shouldn’t know about the curse?”

Tony grew
serious and reached for Sophie’s sweater.
 
“I think you’re finished for the day, darling.
 
On the way to my house, I’ll tell you a secret.”

“Oooh, another
one?”
 
She grinned with
curiosity.
 
“Life with you is never
going to be boring, is it, Tony?”

“Ha!
 
That is a fact, sweetness.
 
That is a fact, for sure.”

Tony had driven
his Porsche to Grant’s office, that morning.
 
It was shiny and black and drew a lot of attention.
 
It zipped through traffic like a warm
knife through butter.
 
Every once
in a while, he glanced over at Sophie.
 
The wind blowing through Sophie’s blonde ringlets warmed his cold
heart.
 
She was still as innocent
and lovely as a child.
 
He wanted
to give her everything she ever wanted.
 
He wanted to spoil her rotten.

As they pulled
up in front of the massive brownstone, a man appeared from seemingly out of
nowhere, and offered to park the car.
 
Tony ran around and opened Sophie’s door.

“I could get
used to this,” she giggled.

“Good.
 
I intend to pamper you for many years
to come.”
 
Tony leaned over and
kissed her moist lips, before taking her hand and guiding her up the steps.
 
Without knocking, Ibsen was there,
holding the door open.

“Good
afternoon, sir…Miss Sophie.”
 
The
old man stood back, looking not at all surprised.

“Tell Cook
we’ll have lunch on the terrace.
 
Sophie and I have to talk.”

“Yes, sir,”
Ibsen said, as he bowed slightly.

“Wow.
 
I’m blown away.
 
Do you think I’ll ever not be impressed
by all this?”
 
Sophie’s eyes were
huge and her mouth had been hanging open since they walked in.

Tony
laughed.
 
“You’ll be surprised at
how quickly you take this for granted.
 
The life of privilege is no hardship.
 
But don’t let it change you, darling.
 
Great wealth can be seductive, and
therein lays the danger.
 
All of
this,” he said, waving his arms around the room, “is a blessing and must be
used for the betterment of mankind.
 
It’s imperative we work hard at making the world a better place, in
which to live.
 
Too many suffer
needlessly.
 
Too many feel
hopeless.”

“Is that what
you and Grant do?
 
Make the world a
better place?” Sophie asked, in awe of the man she loved.

“We make it
safer.
 
And that is what I must discuss
with you.
 
Remember, Sophie,
everything
I tell you must remain confidential.
 
Just as there are good forces at work in the universe, there are an
equal number of forces for evil.
 
They know of our existence, but our identities have long remained hidden.
 
That is most important, sweetheart.”

The truth
finally dawned on Sophie.
 
“So,
that’s why Grant was alarmed.
 
He
thought you told me that he…Oh, my God.
 
Grant is like you, isn’t he?”
 
A light bulb had gone off in Sophie’s head.

Tony
nodded.
 
“There are many of
us.
 
You have undoubtedly heard of
our more illustrious members, only you didn’t recognize them for what they
truly are.”

Tony closed the
French doors behind them, as they walked across the open terrace and toward the
glass table.
 
Iced tea, served in
crystal goblets, awaited them, and a huge flower arrangement graced the center
of the table.
 
Sophie waited for
Tony to pull out her chair.

He sat down
across from her and lowered his voice to just above a whisper.
 
“Grant will be nervous about your
knowing our identities, but I’ll smooth it over with him.
 
He is very important among us.
 
Grant is known as the Hunter.
 
Others, like myself, only assist him
when he needs us.
 
You see, being
an immortal can drive a good person insane.
 
The rogues are capable of doing all sorts of
atrocities.
 
Because of their
gift—or curse, if you prefer—they are extremely hard for the local
authorities to apprehend.
 
We do
that, when all else fails.
 
It is
an arduous process and extremely distasteful, but it’s necessary.

“You must never
let this knowledge slip to anyone.
 
Even our children must never know.
 
It is one thing to witness a friend, or loved one, not aging normally,
and altogether different to discover that the world is populated by immortals
that sometimes go crazy and feed on the general public.”

“That’s awful,”
she gasped.
 
“Are you and Grant in
danger?
 
Was that the problem with
the horrible man that grabbed me and the baby?”
 
She paled.

Tony
nodded.
 
“Exactly.”

The terrace
doors opened and Ibsen wheeled a glass cart over to the table.
 
“Your lunch is served, sir.
 
May I?”
 
Ibsen bent low over the pretty woman sitting beside his
boss.
 
He held out a napkin,
preparing to place it delicately across her lap.

Tony grinned at
Sophie, knowing she was, once again, blown away by the formality of his
life.
 
He nodded, as his hand
reached under the table and stroked her inner thigh.

“Oh,” she
cooed, as her cheeks dimpled.
 
“I’m
famished.”
 
But not for food
,
she thought.

* * *

“You told
her?
 
Good God, man.
 
What were you thinking?
 
Was she that fucking great in
bed?”
 
Grant kicked the side of his
chair, sending it careening across the room.

Tony
immediately stiffened.
 
“Watch what
you say, old friend.
 
I love her,
and I won’t stand to hear you or anyone else disparage her.”

Grant ran his
hand through his hair.
 
“Sorry, but
you took a terrible risk with not only your life, but mine as well.
 
Everything we do must be kept in the
strictest confidence.
 
How do you
know she won’t speak to others?”

“Because she
promised.”

“Because she
promised,” Grant mimicked.
 
“I
don’t happen to have that kind of faith in anyone.
 
Even
you
talked.
 
She’s a mistake, Tony.
 
I only pray this doesn’t come back to haunt us.

Grant turned
his back to his friend and stared out the floor to ceiling window.
 
He liked his office.
 
From here, he could see most of the
city below.
 
He’d made a difficult
decision.

Without turning
around and looking at his old friend, he spoke firmly.
 
“I think it is best if you marry the
chit and leave New York.
 
You’ll be
out of the loop for a while.
 
Who
knows?
 
This
is
Sophie we’re
talking about,” he smirked.
 
“She
just might forget all about it, in a day or two.
 
She’s not the sharpest crayon in the box.”