Hot Rock Page 12

  “What was the connection between you and Alice?” She stared at him and he was the first to look away, and she wondered if they had been in a relationship. She waited for him to run his hand though his hair. She’d already figured out he did that when he was stressed. But he was looking past her, past the stone, and she couldn’t see the expression on his face until he turned back to her.

  “Alice supported me through a very hard time in my life last year.” Megan frowned at him and he held her gaze. “Last year, 1970. She was a true friend when I needed one.” David glanced up at the sky and the shadow moving across the front of the marker stone. “It’s almost time to go.”

  Megan shivered and rubbed her arms as a cloud crossed the sun. “So how do we know where we are going to end up in the next few minutes?” She looked up at David.

  Can I trust him? Her heart said she could, but her logical brain was screaming, No.

  David put his arms around her and held her close. “All we have to worry about now is getting back safely.” He lifted his head and squinted at the cloud obscuring the sun. “We have to make sure there is as little shadow as possible when we touch the stone. The less shadow and the closer to midday we can get, the smoother the transition. It’s about two minutes away.”

  “Are you sure we can get back?”

  David nodded. “Yes, I’ve done it many times now. Alice sent me alone, and Bear and Slim know the way themselves. I just haven’t done it with anyone else so I’m not sure whether we’ll go together or one at a time.”

  “And you’re sure we will go back to where we came from?” Megan swallowed at the thought of ending up in some unknown time and place. It was bad enough here with no shoes and no money, but at least she’d found David and he knew what was going on. No wonder he’d been so frantic to find her.

  “Yes, I’m sure.” He pulled back, grasped her waist, and lifted her down to the grass. “Come on, it’s time to go.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  A thrill of anticipation shot through Megan as they crossed the last field to the three stones. Brooding and dark despite the midday sun, the ancient structures were silhouetted against the bright sky. If David hadn’t been holding her hand tightly, she knew it would have been fear consuming her rather than anticipation.

  Would this strange connection between them last when they crossed back to her time? Or was it only because they were in the seventies? She hoped it wouldn’t disappear. They had some unfinished business and the thought of that sent an exquisite pulse of heat shooting through her.

  David stopped in front of her and pointed to the stones. “I’ve experimented over the last couple of years. Each of the stones works in exactly the same way.”

  “But what if you go the wrong way in time…in the wrong direction? You could end up anywhere.”

  “I know, I’ve thought of that. But there’s only me. I live alone in the Caymans and no one depends on me for anything. I suppose I would look at it as an unexpected adventure.”

  “I know the feeling,” Megan murmured.

  “In fact, when we went to Taunton the other day, I was thinking how good it would be to go back to Norman times,” he said. “But Alice warned me not to experiment.”

  “Don’t confuse me. Just take me back.” Megan took a single step toward the stone but David pulled her back.

  “No, wait. We should go together.”

  Securing his guitar firmly on his shoulder, David led her to the middle stone. They were close enough that the warmth of the stone heated her skin and an almost imperceptible humming filled the air. He turned and took her face between his hands.

  “Don’t touch the stone or lean against it until I say so. Okay?”

  Megan nodded as she looked up into his dark eyes and his breath warmed her lips.

  She stretched up on her toes and lightly brushed her lips against his.

  “One kiss…just in case.”

  With a soft groan, David pulled her closer and his mouth ground against hers. She opened her lips and welcomed him as his heat filled her. Anticipation quivered through her as his tongue tangled with hers and she pushed against him, her breasts aching with the need to feel his bare skin against her. Reaching around, she ran her hands beneath his shirt and ran her fingers along his sun-warmed skin.

  “Fucking hell.” His words were hot against her lips. “How do you do this to me, Megan? You’re a witch.”

  The need in his voice sent heat rushing through her, and she pushed harder against him as his erection swelled against her stomach. “I don’t know,” she said and her voice trembled. “I just know I need to touch you.” The warm scent of his skin and the tight grip of his hands on her waist sent her head spinning. She knew he wanted her…or needed her…as much as she needed him. It was a physical craving and she’d never experienced anything like it before. She needed to be satisfied now.

  “Quickly, let’s go back.”

  David pulled away and stared at her intently for a long minute before he dropped his hands from her waist. She stepped back and the urgency of her sexual need faded a little as the physical connection between them was broken.

  His voice was ragged and he gulped deeply as he turned to the middle stone.

  “Go around to the back side in the shadow and put your hand against the stone. I’ll follow you.”

  When Megan woke it was dark. Disoriented, she looked around the unfamiliar room. Fear crawled through her stomach as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. It was silent except for the loud ticking of an old-fashioned clock on the table in the corner of the room.

  She was alone in a large bed, and it wasn’t the bed in her room at Violet Cottage.

  “David?” she called softly.

  But all was quiet. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she grasped the edge as her head swam. Her eyelids began to droop and she forced them open.

  She had to find out where she was. Or more importantly, when she was.

  Pulling herself to her feet by holding on to the cold metal headboard, she fought the waves of weakness that washed over her. For a moment, her stomach roiled and she swallowed as saliva filled her mouth and she thought she would vomit. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and the feeling slowly receded. Letting go of the bed, she stood, opened her eyes, and the room blurred in front of her.

  Forcing herself to move toward the door, she took short steps as the room swayed around her.

  Where the hell am I and where is David?

  The doorknob was icy beneath her hand. She turned it and let out a sigh of relief as the door opened. She peered around into a narrow corridor with a set of wooden steps at the far end. Faint light shone in from a small lace-covered window high in the wall above the steps. Her head steadied and she let go of the doorknob and walked slowly toward the stairs. A brighter light shone up from the room below.

  “David?”

  There was no answer and a sliver of fear trembled down her back. She definitely wasn’t in her own cottage—or rather Alice’s cottage. She could see that much in the dark. Walking quietly down the narrow staircase, she listened for any sound coming from below.

  But all was quiet.

  As she stepped onto the bottom step, the old timber groaned and a tall figure appeared from behind a sofa.

  “Shit, Megan. You scared me. I thought you were still asleep.” David’s voice came across the room. She put her hand on her chest as her heart thudded hard and she took the final few steps to the old sofa in the middle of the room. David sat up against the cushions and the faint light shining in from the window reflected off his bare chest.

  “What time is it?” Megan stood beside him and put her hand up to her head.

  “Are you okay?” David stood and pulled her to him and the warmth of his skin rubbed against her bare arms. The horrid nausea and dizziness had taken all of her energy and she hadn’t even looked to see what she was wearing when she’d woken upstairs alone. She was still in the same clothes she’d had on since she’d
left the cottage.

  However long ago that had been.

  “Just a bit shaky. Like I felt when I woke up in the first aid tent…whenever that was.” Megan leaned into him, and the shaking that had taken hold of her limbs slowed down and her heart slowly resumed its normal beat. “Where are we? Did it work?”

  “We’re in my place. You went out like a light when we came through the time slip.” Although she stood in the circle of his arms, David’s face was in the shadow and she couldn’t see the expression on his face.

  “I carried you back here and put you to bed so I could make sure you were okay. It’s been a long night and I didn’t want to wake you, so I slept down here.”

  “The night? How long have I been out?”

  David dropped his arms and turned to the window. “Hear the blackbirds? Sun’s about to come up.”

  “I lost half a day and a whole night?” Megan lifted her head and for the first time since she’d woken, the room didn’t spin. Although her energy was coming back slowly, she was disoriented. It was like waking from a bad dream.

  “Or did I? I feel so crazy asking this but…when are we?”

  “Back where you started.” David dropped his arms and Megan walked across to the window. The sky was a soft apricot and she could see the yellow roses tumbling over the fence between the two cottages. Mist hung low over the fields and the spire on Glastonbury Tor rose above the fingers of mist drifting beneath the hill. “You’re back where you belong.

  “I’ll put some coffee on, or would you rather go back to your cottage for a shower?” David’s voice was polite and Megan sensed he was trying to put some distance between them. The frantic need that had consumed her at the stones had gone and heat rose in her cheeks as she remembered the urgency of her demand that he take her back quickly. The sooner she got out of here the better. She needed to get her head together and figure out what had really happened to her.

  “I’ll just go back to my cottage, thanks. I’ll have a coffee over there.”

  David gripped her arms and shook his head. “I want you to come back here. We need to have a talk about what happened and set some rules.”

  “Rules? What sort of rules?” She had no idea what he was talking about.

  “You can’t tell anyone what happened to you.”

  Megan laughed but there was no humor in it. “You think I’m going to go around telling the world I’m a time traveler? Give me credit for some sense. I’d be locked away.”

  Bitterness filled her as the events of the last couple of days came rushing back to her. “There’s no need for me to talk about it. Your secret is safe with me. I’ve got enough problems already without adding to them.”

  So all he was worried about was his secret getting out. No mention of the closeness they’d shared. She’d foolishly thought there’d been something special between them. Before they’d come through the time gate, she’d felt so connected to him.

  Sucked in again. I do it every time.

  A shaft of sunlight speared through the window and she turned to the door without looking at David. She didn’t want to see the coldness that she knew would be in his expression. He’d gotten what he wanted from her, now that he’d gotten her safely back to the cottage. So now she would leave him to his own world. There was no need for him to make rules. No way was she going anywhere near that field again.

  She still couldn’t quite get her head around the whole David Morgan/Davy Morgan and the band thing, even though he’d explained it to her. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but if he was going to withdraw from her and treat her as he had that first night, she’d find out another way. She’d go back to her laptop and look at all the files she had. There were tons of articles from the music magazines of the seventies.

  “Suit yourself.” His voice was clipped and he didn’t smile. He walked over to the side of the room and picked up a T-shirt. “I’ll walk you over just in case you’re still a bit shaky on your feet.”

  Opening the front door, he stood back to let her through.

  “Whatever.”

  By the time they reached Violet Cottage, the sun had cleared the eastern horizon and the morning had brightened. Megan ignored the arm that David held out to her and she strode around the side of the cottage. Her composure had come back quickly and she didn’t need to hang on to him as she did before. She crossed to the garden and picked up the cup she had been drinking from the other day. It was still lying where she had dropped it when he’d disappeared.

  “Thank you. I’m fine now.” She opened the door, went inside, and tried to close it, but his boot blocked it.

  “I’ll give you a half hour and then I’ll come over to check you’re okay. I have to go back to the festival…we have a set to play later this morning,” he said.

  “There’s no need, David.” Megan kept her voice cold. Conflicting emotions ran through her and she needed some time to sort her head out. “I’m fine. Go and do whatever you have to do.”

  “I’ll be back.”

  She shrugged and he removed his foot and walked away.

  Megan leaned her head against the door for a moment. A hollow feeling gnawed at her stomach and she didn’t think it had anything to do with hunger.

  Of the food variety, that was.

  Despite how the urgency of the sexual attraction had faded, strong feelings rioted through her. Her response to David was all mixed up with the love for the “rock star” icon she’d had as a teen, and her love of the music. Not only had she experienced that music live, she’d had hot sex with the idol from her teens.

  Shaking her head with disbelief, she walked upstairs to run a much-needed bath. Everything was the same in the pretty little bedroom. Her suitcase overflowed on the floor just as she’d left it. It could all have been a dream, but she knew it wasn’t.

  When the bath was half-full, she turned the taps off and tipped in some bath salts that were on the windowsill above the old-fashioned pink bathtub. Slipping off her jeans and T-shirt, she stepped into the bubbles. Sliding down into the warm water was bliss and she rested her head on the back of the bath, closing her eyes as the water covered her.

  Images of the last day flashed through her mind and she wondered if she was going crazy. She had time traveled back to the seventies and had watched Davy Morgan sing. She’d also had the best sex of her life with him on a riverbank at the festival.

  As she thought about it, her nipples pebbled and the muscles between her thighs tightened. She’d been able to ignore it because she’d felt ill when she’d woken up next door, but now the sexual desire was back with a vengeance. Stepping from the bathtub, she toweled herself dry and twisted her hair into a messy knot on the top of her head. As she walked past the tiny hand basin, her reflection peered hazily back at her through the steam on the small round mirror. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright, her lips red and full. Excitement glimmered from the depths of her eyes and it mirrored the anticipation running through her body.

  Her suitcase was on the chair next to the bed and as she reached for it, a wave of dizziness overcame her. Dropping to the bed, she put her head between her knees and waited for the feeling to pass. At least she didn’t feel sick this time. Her eyelids were heavy and she decided to close her eyes for just a moment before she got dressed.

  …

  David knocked on the door and waited. He’d spent the past hour trying to decide how to handle this damned fire Megan had lit in him. He’d been a little distant when they’d come back through the time slip because he didn’t want her to know how worried he’d been about her when she’d passed out. He’d sat next to her and watched her sleep once he put her in his bed, and it had taken all his willpower not to climb in beside her.

  The past three days since she’d arrived in his life had turned his world upside down. His life had been settled and he’d been content with the way things were. He’d gotten over the tragedy of Emma’s death, and until Holly had shown him that bloody article, h
e’d managed to put it behind him. He enjoyed living in isolation in the Cayman Islands and coming over to his cottage every summer to go to a festival, do some touring, and put down a new album in the studio. Living and writing his music in the twenty-first century and slipping back to be a part of the seventies scene gave him the best of both worlds. Most importantly, he had the privacy to live his life exactly how he wanted and the royalties from the songs he was singing, which were keeping him very comfortable.

  Until today, Bear and Slim, and of course Alice, were the only others who knew how he lived across the span of time. His two band members made a habit of coming back with him occasionally for a visit to the pub. The connection among them enriched their music. And now dear Alice was gone.

  Megan’s knowing about the time slip could make things difficult. Putting herself in danger had brought Emma’s death back with a vengeance. He needed to keep Holly in control, too. It was time to get another publicist if she was going to exploit that angle. All he hoped was that Holly hadn’t seen Megan on the stage, because if she had, he was sure she’d plan some garish publicity about Davy’s new woman. He snorted in disgust. This festival couldn’t come to a close soon enough for him. The high from the music had been the usual buzz, but the double complication of the publicity about Emma and Megan’s staying next door was doing his head in.

  This connection to her and the urge to be with her was purely sexual. She’d gotten beneath his skin.

  And into my head. And I don’t want to admit that she is on the way to my heart.

  Once he checked she was okay, he was going to say good-bye. He knocked again and looked at his watch. There were only a couple more hours before he had to go back and join the guys for the next set. He would move on and put her behind him, too.

  “Megan? Are you there?” He lifted his hand and rapped his knuckles on the solid wooden door. When she didn’t answer a frisson of fear rippled through him. He’d not seen anyone be so badly affected by going through the gates.