“Well hold off on that for now. If he did travel through time, that would make anyone tired.” Heather wiggled her eyebrows.
“We are so not going to tell anyone else about this”—Rachel shook her head—“or we will all be committed.”
“No, we’re telling no one else about this. We’ll help you move him inside onto the couch. Then if he is still here when you officially introduce us to him, we’ll act like we don’t know him. Let’s get this done.” Heather clapped her hands together.
Ta-Mara nodded and they went to Levi. She grabbed him under the shoulder and her friends took a leg. They lifted him, puffing as they took him into the house.
“Christ, he’s heavy,” Rachel said.
“He’s all muscle.” Heather blew out a breath.
“Oh yes.” Ta-Mara glanced down at his face. “He sure is.”
They took him into the living room then placed him on the couch. Levi didn’t stir, still breathing deeply.
“Are you sure he’s okay?”
“With what I can see, he’s fine.” Heather slid her hands into her pockets. “If you want me to check further, then I’ll need to take him to the hospital.”
“No hospital,” Ta-Mara said. “At least not yet. He has no ID so I can’t explain him. I’ll see how it goes and call you if I change my mind.”
“Okay.” Heather grabbed her hand. “Now, as for your crush on him…be careful, Ta-Mara.”
“I don’t have a crush on him,” she protested.
“Yeah you do.” Rachel held her other hand. “From that book you read all the time you did. Now this man is here in flesh supposedly being that perfect man you set up in your mind. And you’re already looking at him like he’s yours.”
“Please, I’m not.”
“You are,” they said together.
“Okay I will admit I was…
am
a little taken with him from the book. But I know it’s just a fantasy. He’s a fantasy, and they aren’t real.” Ta-Mara glanced at him.
“We’re gonna go,” Rachel said.
She focused on her friends and went out to see them off. After they drove away, Ta-Mara returned to the living room. Levi was still passed out. She took the quilt off the back of the couch and draped it over him. Since it made no sense for her to watch over him, she did some chores. Five minutes later she checked on him then went to work again. She kept going back to his side. Knowing it was useless to do anything else, she grabbed her e-reader and sat in the chair closest to him. Ta-Mara studied him, taking in the long lashes on his cheeks, wanting to see his deep blue gaze. Warmth filled her and she put her hand on her chest.
He’s not for you, Ta-Mara. Just help him find his way and don’t get emotionally involved.
Staring at him, she realized she had to build some defenses against him, because the dynamic man could easily draw her in and make her wish for things that she couldn’t possibly have.
Chapter Four
Levi jerked up, gasping, then turned his head, his eyes wide. Ta-Mara jumped at his sudden movement.
“Levi,” she said cautiously, not sure if he was fully awake.
“Yes.” He rubbed his hand over his face then lowered it. “What happened?”
“You passed out on the porch.” Ta-Mara resisted the urge to go to him. She needed to keep him at a distance. “How are you feeling?”
“My head still aches but I am well.” Levi said it slowly, as if he wasn’t sure. “How long have I been sleeping?”
“About two hours.” She decided not to push about how he was feeling. “You rest on the couch. I don’t want you falling and possibly hitting your head. I’ll get you something to drink.”
“Wait, how did you get me to the couch?” Levi frowned.
“Lifted you under your shoulders to get you here.” Ta-Mara rose. She told the partial truth as she headed out of the living room to retrieve his drink.
Levi was sitting, a frown on his face. She set the beverage on the table in front of the couch then stepped back.
“So no moving from the couch.” Ta-Mara pointed in his direction. “Just in case I do need to take you to the hospital, I need to make some arrangements to get you some identification.”
“No hospital,” Levi replied. “I cannot sit here doing nothing.”
“If you are not feeling better soon or if you pass out again, I will need to take you in to get checked out. Just to make sure you’re okay. For now, we’ll see how it goes.” Ta-Mara crossed her arms over her chest. “And yes you
will
sit there and rest. You’re dehydrated so I’ll be giving you loads of liquid. You’re also tired, and obviously from passing out, you need a little time to recover. Here, watch some TV.” She picked up the remote and turned it on.
Levi stood eyes wide. “What—?”
She fought to breathe, having forgotten for a moment who he was and the time he came from. Ta-Mara quickly explained what the television was and how it worked. She gave him the remote. Levi sat heavily, staring in awe at the screen. She left him to it and went to make some calls. Pausing in the kitchen, she braced her hands on the counter.
What have I gotten myself into? There is no way I can deal with a man from the eighteen-sixties. Hell, I shouldn’t even believe that he is some time traveler. Yet I do.
Ta-Mara thought of his deep blue eyes and the intensity of them that stole her breath away.
And damn my luck, he’s so fricking sexy.
There was nothing she could do about any of it so she went to fix what she could—getting him some identification.
* * * *
Levi stared in the direction Ta-Mara had gone and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He had no idea what had happened earlier. All he remembered was watching her ass then coldness. For a moment, he’d have sworn he was back in the forest, running, but that had to be impossible—
Doesn’t it?
“I’m in the here and now,” Levi muttered. “Not my time, but I’m learning to adapt.”
With that in mind, he glanced at the box thing she’d called a television. He frowned, seeing the moving people and color in it. He lifted the little black thing she gave him called a remote then pressed a button. Levi partially rose as a woman appeared. She was singing, but it was her clothing—or lack thereof—that made his eyes widen.
“Enjoying a little Beyoncé, I see,” Ta-Mara said.
He glanced toward the doorway. She was peeking in at him with a small smile on her face. Levi returned it before gesturing toward the screen.
“Her clothing is much different than I am used to.” He glanced at Ta-Mara’s top and thought of her bottoms. Again, he hardened and he cleared his throat before speaking again. “Much different.”
“Probably. Do you mind if I take a picture of you?” she asked, and when he nodded, she raised a small silver thing in her hands. “I also have a few questions. What is the month and day you were born, your height and eye color?”
He gave her the information then asked curiously, “What is that you used to take my picture? Why do you need to know these things?”
“Oh, this. It’s a camera. And the reason why…it’s a surprise.” She smiled. “Don’t know if I can get it for you, but I will try.”
She left. He wondered what the surprise could be. Immediately he flashed to her wearing something more like the woman on the screen just for him. Levi shifted in his seat then turned his attention back to the television. His eyes widened as the woman Ta-Mara had called Beyoncé slithered across the floor, beckoning him.
“No thanks. Not what I prefer.” He snorted. “Maybe if you were Ta-Mara, I’d be down on the floor with you.”
Levi closed his eyes again, thinking of kissing Ta-Mara.
I wonder how she tastes.
He opened his eyes and pushed the thought away. Levi knew it was foolish to long for her when he had no idea why he was here and what would happen to him. He needed to learn what he could so he could blend in. He didn’t want to cause Ta-Mara trouble. He changed the television to another show and leaned forward, staring at the images he was very familiar with—war. As the man spoke of the war, Levi wondered why, of all things, that hadn’t changed or ceased to exist.
“The news.” Ta-Mara came in again.
“I see people still have war. No matter the reasoning, it leads to senseless death on each side.” Levi sat back.
“So you’re against war.” Ta-Mara perched in the chair she had occupied earlier.
Levi thought of what he had lost because of people waging war against an ideal that he would dare love someone of a different color. His Calliope hadn’t done anything but love him, despite the obstacles and hate they’d faced. For a moment he wondered if they could have still been together had they been born later, during what seemed like a more enlightened time.
“I’m not against war. I’m against the pain it causes for people on both sides,” Levi said softly.
“There is a lot of loss and it’s sad. You’ve lost a lot, Levi.” Ta-Mara’s sympathetic gaze seemed more knowing than it should.
“Lost?” Levi frowned wondering how she would know what he lost.
Ta-Mara blinked then licked her lips. “I figured that coming from your time, there had to be people you cared about that you lost. If you need to talk, I’m here.”
“You seem very accepting that I’m a Confederate.”
“Accepting?” Ta-Mara laughed.
The melodious sound went straight to his cock. He clenched his fist on his knee, resisting the urge to fling himself out of the chair to grab her and kiss her, marking her as his.
“I wouldn’t call it that.” Ta-Mara shrugged. “I’m just going along with the flow. For all I know, I’m still in the store passed out and having a really good dream. I said something similar earlier.”
He figured she’s been talking to herself, as she had been when she’d found him in the store. He’d noticed that when she was in stressful situations, she tended to talk out loud.
“I’ll go with the flow too.” Levi smiled. “Not like I have a choice.”
“We all have a choice.” Ta-Mara leaned forward. “Your choice right now is to rest so we don’t have you falling down again, or it will be the hospital for you.”
He cringed just thinking of going to such a place. They were horrible, and he’d rather suffer than go there.
“When I mentioned the hospital the last time you had that same expression of distaste as you do now. Why?”
“Going to the hospital is not an option for me.”
“They are nothing like that now,” Ta-Mara said. “I’ll find you some TV drama programs that show hospitals. It’ll at least give you an idea it isn’t so horrible. Ignore the sex that happens between people there. There are many that are sexualized.”
Levi was curious about how comfortable she was talking about such things as sex but he didn’t ask as he wanted to. He didn’t want to be forward. He just nodded.
“So today you’ll rest. I had planned to take you shopping for clothing and a few other things. But with your swoon earlier, it will be more prudent to stay home.”
“Swoon.” He scowled—that wasn’t very masculine.
“From your expression, you don’t like that word. I bet you think it isn’t macho enough. It’s just something I heard. We could say faint or pass out, if you prefer.”
“Perhaps we don’t mention it so much?” Levi leaned back on the couch.
“Okay.” Ta-Mara returned to the chair then crossed her legs beneath her.
“We could go shopping. I’m feeling fine.”
“Now. But what happens if you do what we shouldn’t mention again in front of a whole lot of people? Then it will be off to the hospital for you—which could pose a problem, since you have no identification.”
“Identification?”
“It’s a little card that tells people who you are. There are a few pieces of things that you need that people ask for sometimes—driver’s license, birth certificate, passport, social security card… Things like that.”
“And I need this.”
“Yes, because if you have to go to hospital or something like that, they’d want proof you are who you say you are. When they try to look you up and nothing comes up, it could be a problem.” Ta-Mara picked up the thin item she had been holding earlier.
“I don’t want to get you into trouble.” Levi went to rise. “I should leave.”
“Sit down.” She waved her hand. “You’re not going to cause me any problems. I’m working on some things. Now watch some TV and I’ll just read.”
“Read?”
“This is an e-reader.” She held up the object. “You can get books digitally now.”
“Digitally?”
“Oh, Levi, you have so much to learn.” She smiled. “It’ll be fun and some of it shocking, but I think you’re going to find the information great.”
“I like learning things.”
Like how you taste.
He started at her lips.
“I bet you do.” Ta-Mara swept her lips with her pink tongue and Levi wanted to follow with his.
He lifted his gaze and met hers. The desire in her eyes made him even harder. Ta-Mara averted her gaze.
“There are also many physical books I have. Feel free to check them out, as well as my e-reader.”
“I will,” he promised.
She glanced at him again then lowered her eyes to the screen. Levi observed her as she read before he went back to watching television. He had to get this need for her under control because it wasn’t fair to either of them. Ta-Mara was helping him out without expecting anything in return. For him to take of advantage of that wasn’t right.
I won’t let my libido rule me.
* * * *
The next day Levi reminded himself of that as he followed Ta-Mara, staring at her bare shoulders and back in the pale yellow shirt she wore. The skin was oh so touchable and he wanted to taste before heading south to more succulent flesh. Levi let his gaze wander down to her butt, which was well displayed in her jeans. The hem stopped just below her knees and left her lower legs bare. Levi appreciated the open toes of her footwear, which showed her nails painted a lovely shade of red with a design. He’d never seen anything like it before. Before they’d left, he’d asked her what was on her toes, and he still didn’t understand her explanation as to why she painted them. But it looked good on her—really good—and tempted him to have a closer look. Maybe even head north to get to the same destination that he wanted to taste. Either north or south, he didn’t care where he started just that he got to taste Ta-Mara where he knew she was wet and lush.