New Atlantis Bundle, Books1-3 Page 13

  With a heavy heart, she focused her mind on moving her body off the bed. Briefly, she noted that she still wore the tunic from the day before. It was rucked up her thighs a little, but was largely untouched by the night’s tossing and turning. The fabric used for the classical tunics was a revelation; soft and pliable as silk, hardy as denim, and always looked freshly pressed, even after a night spent sleeping on it. It was little wonder that the New Atlanteans had no desire to wear anything else.

  Straightening the tunic, she eased herself up onto her bare feet, marvelling yet again at the long expanse of leg she now seemed to have. The calf muscles were so toned they looked sculpted. Sweeping her new hair back over her shoulder, she began to walk slowly out of the room, trying to keep her upper body straight and her head up.

  Whimsically, she remembered playing at being a catwalk model as a child, balancing a book on her head, strutting her stuff up and down the room. This posed walk felt a little like that, but without the book.

  As she walked, she listened. The villa was so quiet. The surround sound wasn’t on, and there was no movement in the other rooms. Jac must have gone out. He may not have even been home overnight. Where would he have gone? Would he have left her, without first telling her? The heavy weight of abandonment pressed in on her chest so that breathing became a struggle. If she wasn’t careful, she’d lose focus and fall, damaging this nice, immaculate clone. An angry and frightened part of her wanted to do just that.

  In the living room, she found what she was looking for. Jac was asleep, sprawled out over the sofa, his feet and arms hanging over the edges, his head twisted at an uncomfortable angle.

  So this was where he had slept the night. He couldn’t even bring himself to lie next to me. The heaviness in her chest grew more intense.

  Turning quickly away, she lost momentary control of an arm, and it swung out, knocking a glass vase filled with honeysuckle and fuschias off the occasional table. The vase crashed to the tiled floor, splintering into a million brittle shards. Sick with regret, her heart felt just like those bitter pieces of broken glass. Sobbing, she clamped her hand to her mouth.

  ‘Cara! Are you all right?’ Jac demanded, coming to her side in an instant. He drew her away from the debris, and then swept her into his arms.

  ‘You should have called me. Getting around is going to be a hit and miss activity for a day or two.’ He didn’t look at her, as he carried her back into the bedroom.

  ‘Put me down, Jac,’ she said slowly, feeling her way with every syllable. ‘I need to go to the bathroom. I need to see … what I look like.’

  He stopped, holding her tightly to his chest for several long seconds. The muscles in his shoulders were as taut and strained as if he carried something far heavier than her light frame.

  ‘Are you sure?’ His tone was uncharacteristically gruff.

  ‘Yes.’

  Jac pivoted, and walked with her to the bathroom door. Pushing it open with his shoulder, he lowered her feet to the cold tiled floor in the centre of the room. There were full length mirrors along one wall, and on the opposite wall, another hung above the white marble sink. He turned her so that she could see herself in the full length mirror, and remained standing behind her, ready to catch her if she fell.

  Cara stared at the young woman in front of her. The face looked just as she had always pictured herself. The middle-aged woman she was used to seeing in the mirror in the last ten years, was not who she saw in her mind’s eye, when she thought of herself. This face was, and it was a pleasant surprise to have it back.

  Smiling tentatively at herself, and then at Jac in the mirror, she reached for the clasp at her right shoulder that kept the white tunic on her body. Jac, understanding her intension, released the soft fabric from her other shoulder, and watched as the tunic slid slowly down her new body, to pool at her feet.

  The beautiful body now revealed in the mirror, Cara didn’t recognise. It was slim, toned, and perfect – its pale skin unblemished, even by a freckle. The long, straight hair cascaded like a waterfall down past her thighs. Its colour was the white-blonde of her childhood. Her hip bones stood out from her flat belly, and the bellybutton was odd. Hers had always been an outie – this was one was indented. The triangle of curls, at the junction of her slim thighs, was fair and downy, almost pubescent. The legs seemed far longer than she remembered them being, and certainly more shapely.

  Jac slid his arms around the naked body, and pulled it against him, his hands cupping the B cup breasts, covering the small coral tips. She was used to seeing her D cup breasts overflowing those artistic hands, the large nipples peeping out through his fingers. It seemed a little disappointing that those hands now held so much less.

  ‘What do you think, Cara?’ he whispered into her ear.

  It seemed odd to see him there, with a woman his own age. She was almost jealous. The couple in the mirror looked like movie stars in a love scene. Not real. Not her and Jac anymore.

  ‘It’ll take a bit of getting used to, I guess.’ She spoke painfully slowly, forming each word in her mind before she spoke it. At least the words were clear now, not stammered. ‘I’m feeling jealous, because you’ve got your hands on a strange young woman’s body.’ She paused again, after this mammoth speech. Then she went on, as Jac patiently waited for her to finish her thoughts. ‘Even though I can feel your touch on me. Very odd.’

  ‘It feels odd to me, too. She’s pretty, this new you, but she’s a stranger to me. I’m not…’ He cut himself off, and kissed her shoulder.

  She could feel what he was about to say. He wasn’t aroused by this new body. There was no hard length of him pressed against her back, as there usually was. How strange was that? Surely, he should have been visually stimulated by the sight of a naked woman, even if she was a stranger. Any male would be. That he wasn’t, both pleased and worried her.

  In one sense, she was happy that he wasn’t being unfaithful to her old self, but it also concerned her that he might not ever find the new her sexually appealing. Maybe she’d have to mature, before he was turned on by her again.

  She turned away from the mirror, determined not to let that unfamiliar image influence her relationship with her man. In matters that were important, she was still who she had always been. That was what she had to get across to Jac. Soon, she would come to own this body, just as she had her last. Until then, she’d fake it until she made it. And if that meant seducing her man with this young body, then that was exactly what she’d do.

  With total concentration, she focused on sliding her arms up to his tight biceps, enjoying the smooth friction of skin on skin, hers so pale, his so golden. Then she practiced her serene, sexy smile on him, letting all that she was, all that she had ever been, shine out through her eyes.

  And she saw the relief cross his face. It told her all she needed to know. Suddenly he was seeing her again, not this stranger. And his world had stopped spinning out of control.

  Jac leaned down, and claimed her mouth, kissing her deeply. It was such a familiar feeling, being kissed by him this way, that she forget for a moment that she was anything other than the person she had always been with him. And she forgot her need for conscious control, revelled in the kiss, until her legs gave out beneath her.

  And Jac scooped her up into his arms again, not breaking the kiss for a moment. He carried her back into their bedroom, and gently lowered her onto the bed.

  ‘I love you, Jac,’ she said, without thinking, as he pressed her back into the pillows. The love shining out of his forest green eyes was what she needed so desperately to see. Her heart leapt painfully in her chest.

  ‘I love you too, my beautiful Cara.’

  That was what she’d been waiting to hear. Now, hearing that familiar endearment again, she began to gain confidence in their bond. It existed as something beyond their bodies. Whatever it was that called to them, each from the other, was from their true Being. And that calling was loud and clear, in that moment.

  She
leaned up, and placed her mouth on his, tasting his oh-so-familiar taste, enjoying the smooth silkiness of his lips on hers. When his tongue plunged into her, she cried out, and opened to allow him even more access to her body. Deep in her core, the familiar thrum of excitement brewed.

  Concentrating hard, she moved her hand out to stroke his arousal, and was relieved to feel hardness beneath her hand. She ran her fingers down the length of him, glorying in the eager way his body responded to her touch. His breath was rough and gasping now, as he kissed her neck, finding the familiar pathways down her throat, to the sensitive point at the junction of her shoulder.

  ‘Oh, God,’ she groaned out. ‘I don’t think you need to worry about a dry patch, any time soon.’ Her words were coming faster now, as the passion fed them. ‘I’m on fire here, Jac. I want you so much, I can barely stand it.’

  She felt his smile against her skin, and his hand moved down her naked torso, to cover her maiden hair. Her eyelids flickered of their own accord, and she drew in a harsh breath, wanting more, needing more. Her own fingers tightened around him, and moved upward until she closed tightly over his blunt head. The gasp he let out was exhilarating. It was her turn to smile.

  ‘I was scared it wouldn’t be the same…’ he said against her skin, as he bit her lightly. ‘I didn’t want you to change…’

  ‘And now?’ she breathed into his hair, as she revelled in the sensations running through her body. The slight pain his bite elicited was electric.

  ‘Now I’m embracing change … because you’re still my beautiful Cara, still responsive to my touch, still able to drive me out of my mind.’ His words were spoken harshly, between gasps of rising passion.

  After that, there was no need for words. Everything was sensation. And if, at odd moments, Cara lost her place, and entered a momentary dead zone, Jac quickly brought her back to her body, and to the feel and taste and texture of what they shared together.

  When he tried to enter her tight core, he met the resistance that was this body’s virginity. He paused, uncertain whether to keep going.

  ‘I took your virginity, didn’t I?’ she asked, looking into his lust-filled eyes. He nodded, his arms trembling, as he held himself above her.

  ‘Soooo you get to take mine, now. Oooonly fair, don’t you think?’

  The laugh was more of a bark, as he surged into her, filling her up, in a way that felt unfamiliar, yet good. The momentary pain was gone as quickly as it came, as she shifted to accommodate him.

  ‘Okay?’ he managed to growl out, as he started the slow rhythm that would soon ignite them both.

  ‘More than okay…’

  The new body felt the thrusts, unconsciously going with them, meeting each with a gasp of pleasure. The pace intensified, until she could feel Jac’s excitement reaching fever pitch. Then he convulsed deep inside her. And though she didn’t follow him off the peak into that wild oblivion, it was enough that this new body was able to take him there, and give him the release he needed. Her own release would come, she knew, in its own time. Now, there was just Jac and his pleasure, and her own sense of achievement.

  It was enough.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Cara ran. Her legs flew beneath her as her long braided plait waved like a flag in the wind. Sweat soaked her short tunic, and her lungs worked overtime to sustain her. The sandy beach scrunched and gave beneath her feet.

  It was almost as good as sex!

  ‘Jeez you’re good!’ exclaimed Jac, as he raced along at her side. She knew he was pacing her, and still had plenty more in reserve, but it still felt amazing to be covering these sorts of distances, knowing he was working to keep up.

  They reached the end of the beach and started climbing the headland. Now she was straining. She could feel the muscles in her calves stretching to accommodate the incline. Reluctantly she slowed, as her reserves ran out. Panting, aching from the strain, and euphoric from the rush of endorphins, she laughed as she leaned on her knees, gasping for air.

  ‘That,’ she said between gasps, ’was incredible! It was all automatic. I didn’t have to think once.’

  ‘Yeah, and you’re only two weeks in. As I said, you’re good! You seem to be breaking records in everything you do. I’m so proud of you!’

  She laughed again, and threw herself into her man’s sweaty arms. Thoughts of outdoor sex crossed her mind, but there were too many people on the beach and headland to have the sort of privacy that activity required. And heaven forbid, they might offend someone’s sensibilities in this conservative new world.

  Resigning herself to a bit of light petting, she ran her hand up under Jac’s short tunic, and stroked the muscular contours of his back. The groan of pleasure she elicited egged her on.

  ‘No, no, no… don’t start something you aren’t prepared to finished, young lady,’ Jac said, grabbing her exploring hands and bringing them back into safer territory.

  ‘You are such a spoil sport, Jac Ulster. I think I need to start looking for a younger man. Three hundred and twelve is just past it, as far as I can see.’

  ‘Oh woman, don’t tempt me. You have no idea what you’re asking for!’ His own hands came up under her tunic and clasped her ass, clamping her tightly against his arousal. She squirmed to escape, laughing and gasping for air. Each squirm only dug her deeper. She could see the effect she was having on him. And it delighted her.

  The last two weeks had been everything she had always wanted in her youth, and never had. She felt alive, energised, and drunk with euphoria. If someone had told her two months ago that this would be her life, she would have called them crazy. But here she was, living the dream. And her list of things to be grateful for kept growing longer, with each passing day.

  The only area in her life that was less than perfect was Jac’s continued resistance to her Retriever Training. But he never voiced his objections. It was only when she saw the tension in his shoulders or around his mouth when the subject came up, that she knew he was still unhappy with her choices.

  ‘Okay, okay, Uncle! Uncle! You win, I give up!’ she cried, as his hand came around to probe between her legs, sending delicious waves of pleasure surging through her, until she was panting for a different reason.

  He released her with a yell of triumph, and threw himself onto the grass. She dropped down at his side, so she could use his extended arm as a pillow. Then she looked up at the clear blue sky. The sound of the surf, pounding on the beach below them, was like sensual background music.

  ‘You do know that nothing will change for us, when I start Retrieving. You won’t notice I’m gone. And I’ll be the one missing you, and wanting desperately to be home. Once a month or so, you’ll have a nymphomaniac on your hands, trying to make up for lost time.’

  Cara kept her tone light and playful, but felt him immediately tense beneath her. She wished she’d kept her big mouth shut. Why spoil such a wonderful moment? It wasn’t as if she could change his mind. It was like probing a sore tooth; it got you nothing but more pain.

  ‘Don’t let’s talk about it, okay? You’ll do what you need to, and I’ll do what I need to do – worry. That’s the way of it. No amount of talking will change that. The only good thing about any of this, as far as I’m concerned, is that the actual time I have to worry seriously will be less than a minute. I’ll probably hold my breath until you reappear.’

  She snuggled into his shoulder, and pressed her hand to his heart.

  ‘So I activate the Portal and step through. The Portal closes. You see it disappear. And then a few seconds later, it activates from the other side, you see it reappear, and I walk through.’

  What was interesting to her was that if another Jumper used another open portal to access the same Set Down point, they had to make it at least ten minutes after the first Jumper arrived. But a Jumper could move up and down his own time-line, with only seconds between departure and return.

  Temporal Displacements they called it. You couldn’t cross another’s time-line too c
losely. And with people Jumping through often-used Set Down points, over many years, keeping track of those Set Down times was crucial. A bit like air traffic control when jumbos were scheduled to land on the same runway. They couldn’t both come in at the same moment.

  In her mind, she saw the process she would follow so clearly. And it still blew her away. From this side, it would be seconds that she was gone. But from the other, she could be away a lifetime. She might choose to stay in that other time, and not come back until she needed to change bodies. Whole lifetimes, she could spend in other times and places, if she wanted to. The temptation to stay and live those lives must be huge, knowing that New Atlantis, so perfect, so unchangeable, was always here waiting.

  But for her, the idea of staying away from Jac, even for a month, was too painful to contemplate. If she could, she’d keep her time in the other time-line to a minimum. Adventure was good, saving lives was good, but Jac – well Jac was her life now. If he suddenly changed his mind, and told her he wouldn’t let her go, she’d give up Time-Travel in an instant. In the last two weeks, since integrating with this fit, young body, her need to put the relationship before her own needs had become overwhelming.

  She knew that her all-consuming love for Jac was part of the reason for the change in attitude. But hormones, she knew from her studies years ago, were probably also playing their part in it. And even if the clones were sterile, her hormones seemed to still be active. The amazing sex testified to that.

  ‘Yeah, you got it. So simple and uncomplicated from this side. Like everything about this world. But on the other – well, you could lose the Portal Activator – PA for short, as you know – and you might spend a lifetime looking for it. You might come back, old and sick. A lifetime gone.’