Read Time and Again for Free Online

she rummaged through drawers for a candle. "You scared the life out of me."
    "Did you think I was one of the mutants from Andromeda?" There was a dry tone to the words that had her wrinkling her nose.
    "I told you I don't read that stuff." She closed a drawer on her thumb, swore, then wrenched open another. "Where are the stupid matches?" She turned and bumped solidly into his chest in the dark.
    Lightning flashed again, illuminating his face. It took only that instant for her mouth to go dry. He'd looked stunning, strong and dangerous.
    "You're shaking." His voice had gentled almost imperceptibly, but the hands on her shoulders stayed firm. "Are you really frightened?"
    "No, I-" She wasn't a woman to be scared of the dark. Certainly she wasn't a woman to be afraid of a man-intellectually speaking. But she was shaking. The hands that had reached up to his bare chest trembled-and intellect had nothing to do with it. "I need to find the matches."
    "Why did you turn the lights off?" She smelled wonderful. In the cool, unrelieved darkness he could concentrate on her scent. It was light and almost sinfully feminine.
    "I didn't. The storm knocked out the power." His fingers tightened on her arms, hard enough to make her gasp. "Caleb?"
    "Cal." Lightning flashed again, and she saw that his eyes had darkened. He was staring out the window into the storm now. "People call me Cal."
    His grip had eased. Though she ordered herself to relax, the crash of the thunder made her jolt. "I like Caleb," she said, hoping her voice was pleasant and casual. "We'll have to save it for special occasions.
    You have to let me go."
    He slid his hands down to her wrists, then back. "Why?"
    Her mind went blank. Beneath her palms she could feel the strong, steady beating of his heart. Slowly his fingers skimmed down to her elbows, where his thumbs traced lazy, erotic circles on the sensitive inner skin. She could no longer see him, but she could taste the warm flutter of his breath on her parted lips.
    "I-" She felt each separate muscle in her body go lax. "Don't." The word nearly strangled her as she jerked back. "I need to find the matches."
    "So you said."
    Leaning weakly against the counter, she began to search the drawer again. Even after she found a pack, it took her a full minute to light the match. Thoughtful, his hands plunged deep in the pockets of the sweats, Cal watched the little flame dance and flicker. She lit two tapers, keeping her back to him.
    "I was heating soup. Would you like some?"
    "All right."
    It helped to keep her hands busy. "You must be feeling better."
    His mouth twisted into a humorless smile when he thought of the hours he'd lain in the dark willing his memory to return completely. "I must be."
    "Headache?"
    "Not much of one."
    She poured the water she'd already boiled for tea, then arranged everything meticulously on a tray. "I was going to sit by the fire."
    "Okay." He picked up the two candles and led the way.
    The storm helped, Cal thought. It made everything he was seeing, everything he was doing, seem that much more unreal. Perhaps by the time the rain stopped he'd know what he had to do.
    "Did the storm wake you?"
    "Yeah." It wouldn't be the last lie he told her. Though he was sorry for the necessity of it, Cal smiled and settled in a chair by the fire. There was something charming about being in a place where a simple rainstorm could leave you in the dark, dependent on candles and firelight. No computer could have set a better scene. "How long do you think it'll be before you regain power?"
    "An hour." She tasted the soup. It nearly calmed her. "A day." She laughed and shook her head. "Dad always talked about hooking up a generator, but it was one of those things he never got around to. When we were kids, we'd sometimes have to cook over the fire for days in the winter. And we'd sleep all curled up here on the floor while my parents took turns making sure the fire didn't die out."
    "You liked it." Cal knew people who