Chapter 5

Lara’s blue eyes were as wide as saucers as she stared up at him. The candlelight threw strange shadows across her face. Reece took her chin in his hand and brushed his thumb over her lower lip as he stared down at her. She relaxed against him and lust slammed into his gut, stealing his breath. Memories of her face when lost in the throes of passion flitted through his mind. Unruly curls sticking to the perspiration moistened skin of her face and neck, heavy-lidded eyes locked with his, mouth open as she breathed his name in ecstasy. And then the vision changed. Eyes open yet unfocused, pupils dilated, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth as she lie in a contorted position on the parking garage floor beside her car. Her skin ice-cold beneath his searching fingers. No pulse. No breath. No Lara.

No Lara.

A vice clenched Reece’s heart and he cradled the back of her head, tugging her against his chest as he fought tears. She was here. She was breathing. He could save her. He could. Carl didn’t know what he was talking about. It was possible. Reece would make it possible. He refused to live without her. She was everything to him. True, she didn’t know him, but as much as it broke his heart, there was nothing he could do about that besides get to know her again. Slowly. Though everything inside him wanted things to be as they had been immediately, he needed to take things more slowly.

“Reece?”

Her soft voice, muffled against his chest, spiraled feelings of tenderness through him. He bit his lip, holding in the words he longed to say. Don’t leave me again. I love you, Lara. I love you. He’d already said ‘I love you’ once. It was too soon for her to hear it again. He had to be patient. Take his time. Slow down.

“Yes?” His voice sounded thick with emotion, even to him. Damn.

“Where did you get that amulet?”

Surprised by her question, he chuckled. Apparently, she wasn’t as lost in romantic feelings as he was.

“I was on an expedition in Cairo.”

She pulled out of his grasp and stepped away. He fisted his hands to prevent himself from drawing her back against him. He wanted her, true, but more than the great sex they shared, he wanted her love. And if he pushed her, he might never attain it again. She wasn’t an easy woman.

“It was unearthed in a dig,” he said. “The two pieces were found together, but it was cracked down the middle. I bought it for a great price because it was broken.”

“So you have both pieces?”

Reece shook his head. “Carl has the other half. That’s how he keeps following me. His half of the amulet is drawn to mine. Apparently, he leaps a few moments after me, but there is some sort of delay seen on the other end. It usually takes him a few days to appear. I leapt more than seventy times before I returned to the modern era. What’s been a few hours for him, has been eight months for me. When I arrived in your time, I trekked halfway across the world to see you. I almost missed finding you again before Carl arrived.”

“Is this really a good idea, Reece? I mean if I am meant to die, then maybe—”

He stepped closer to her, gripping both of her arms in his hands. “Don’t say it, Lara. Don’t even think it. You are not meant to die. I won’t let it happen.”

He kissed her heatedly, the taste of her lips intoxicating. All too soon she pulled away. She held a hand up between them and refused to look at him. “Don’t.”

He bit his lip, but didn’t press the issue. He understood. She needed more time. He would give her time, but he would never give up on winning her again. “I’m sorry,” he said. “You should try to get some sleep. You must be exhausted.”

“I am. In so many ways.” She moved across the room, still not looking at him. “I can’t believe this is happening. I keep thinking I’m going to wake up in some psychiatric hospital. Are you sure this isn’t a dream?”

“For me, it’s a dream come true.”

She picked up the discarded shirt she’d been wearing earlier. “Can I ask you a serious question, Reece?”

“Of course. Anything.”

“Do you know where I can find a bathroom?”

He laughed.

She turned and glared at him. “I’m being serious.”

“I know. I just expected something a bit more important.”

“Trust me, Reece. This is very important.”

“I imagine it is. I’ll take you to the latrine, my saucy wench. And then I’ll take you to bed.”