Free TimeSlip by Caroline McCall Page A

Ingrid. Us.”
    “There is no us,” she snapped. “I seem to recall that you
made that pretty clear last night.”
    She stared at the rocky island across the bay, wishing that
she was there instead of having this mortifying conversation with him. Strom’s
hand reached for her and then it stopped in midair and dropped to his side. He
couldn’t even bear to touch her. Why was he torturing her like this? He must
know that she was in love with him. Why couldn’t he just leave her to her
misery? Oh god, she was going to cry again. She had to get away from him.
    “Ingrid, please don’t, we’re leaving tomorrow. My orders
came through last night. Raoul is back in the twenty-sixth century.”
    She knew it was coming, but not how painful his words would
be. Tomorrow, her viking would be gone for good. She could feel him staring
down at her face, but she refused to meet his eyes. This was bad enough without
letting him realize that she was on the verge of crying. Her legs were shaking,
so she sat down beside a rock pool, pretending she had developed a sudden
interest in sand crabs.
    Strom sat down beside her and the silence stretched
uncomfortably between them. “Ingrid, what happened last night was my fault. I
should have explained why we couldn’t be together. I can’t stay here and I was
afraid that you would be hurt when I left. I’ve already messed up your life
enough. Believe me, it’s better this way.”
    Ingrid picked up a stick and doodled in the sand. A planet
surrounded by stars. “We live in the same world, Strom. Everything beneath the
sky is mine and everything above it is yours. Did you think that if we became
lovers, I would try to keep you here?”
    Feeling dangerously close to tears, she dug her nails into
her palm of her hand. Don’t you dare cry, Sorrenson. “I know that I
can’t compete with the stars. I know that it will hurt like hell when you’re
gone. But this is our time, Strom, and you don’t have the right to take that
away from me.”
    He didn’t reply. Strom’s dark eyes were full of sadness. He
reached for her again. It was the first time he had held her for days and she
buried her face in his chest, inhaling his scent. They clung together on the
windswept beach for what seemed like an age. Finally he pulled away.
    “What if we didn’t know that I was going? What if we were a
man and a woman who met on a beach, and decided to spend the afternoon
together?”
    Ingrid wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. “What
if we had twenty-four hours?”

Chapter Six
     
    They had the day they should have had from the very
beginning. They didn’t stop touching or laughing or smiling. Strom told her
about life at Fleet Academy, of the vast inky blackness of space. How Ismania
looked when its seven suns set and the exquisite taste of yarna fruit on
Thalsis Four.
    She told him of her Norwegian father, Sigmund, who fell in
love with a ballet dancer, and of a skinny, muddy child growing up on
archaeological sites around the world following her mother’s death.
    They kissed hungrily, passionately, at the end of the pier,
much to the amusement of the fishermen mending their nets. When evening came,
they returned to her apartment.
    “Ms. Sorrenson,” the concierge called after her. “Mr.
O’Leary left a message to say that he and his friends have gone out for the
evening.” Ingrid said a silent prayer of thanks to Finn as they got into the
elevator.
    Strom pressed the button for the fifth floor. “Ms.
Sorrenson, I believe you’re at my mercy.” His smile was wickedly teasing.
    “Why, Captain Hallstrom.” She flashed him an innocent look.
“Whatever do you mean?”
    Strom’s kiss was hot, carnal. Ingrid felt his hands around
her waist, lifting her up until she could wrap her legs around him. Strom
pressed her against the wall of the elevator and nuzzled her neck. She could feel
the hard bulge of his erection pressing against her pussy, and when she rocked
against him, she was