Time and Again

She nodded.

We've shared so many lives together where you were a soldier or a businessman. Of course you want to try something new. I'm studying nursing for the same reason. I can't tell you though. You'd bolt for sure.

She took another sip of home brew. It tasted better than the last sip. Not ambrosia yet, but better.

The first quart of home brew led to a second as the world outside filled with snow, and the flat gray afternoon light faded into an early darkness. The windows showed little more than a dark reflection of the kitchen as Jack and Kathy wandered into the kitchen.

Their mussed hair and and thrown on clothing that signaled an afternoon of wanton sex. They looked hungry even cloaked in the muzzy afterglow of lust.

"What do you guys want to do for dinner?" Jack asked frowning out the window.

Dave joined him. "It looks like about six inches of snow has fallen. I don't think going out is an option. What do we have around here that we can make?"

Jack shrugged. "I got a couple of pot pies in the freezer, but that's not going to feed all of us."

"I'm not much better off. There's a couple cans of soup, and that's about it."

"I'll tell you what. I can make some spaghetti if you guys can go to the store, buy a box of spaghetti, a can of spaghetti sauce, a half pound of ground pork, and some hot dog buns."

Dave turned to Ella. "You don't have to go out in this. I can go there by myself."

"I wore my boots. I'll go with you." Ella rose and walked into the common room to grab her coat. Dave followed her.

Outside the snow was falling thick and fast. The temperature had dropped and the wind had kicked up. They struggled out to the road, the sidewalk was now impassible.

The snow had drifted waist high in places. Ella shivered as she followed in the trail that Dave broke through the snow. A car down the road fired up and the headlights came on. It moved down the road slowly at first, but then it began picking up speed.

"Dave, watch out for the car!"

Ella, tackled him around the waist and kept pushing with her legs until they fell between two parked cars along side of the road. The car rolled past fishtailing around a corner and out of sight.

"Bastards!" Dave yelled after them. He turned to Ella, "It looks like you saved me right back. There's no way I can hold that over your head to force you to have sex with me now."

Ella shook her head and stood up. "Someone nearly runs us over and the first thing you do is make a joke about it?"

Demons.

The resumed their plod to the store. The cold had pierced her when they walked into the florescent lighted, too bright store.

They gathered the spaghetti, and sauce, grabbed a bag of hot dog buns, a bottle of wine, and a dozen eggs. As they waited for the half pound of ground pork at the meat counter, Ella whispered into Dave's ear.

"Are you twenty-one?"

Dave shook his head and whispered back. "They never ask for ID here."

With survival items bagged up, they retraced their steps to the house with the wind at their backs keeping their eyes peeled for phantom cars prowling the street.

"Your pants are soaked to the knees," Ella pointed out as they dropped the bag off to Jack and Kathy in the kitchen.

"Yours are even worse. Do you have anything upstairs in your bag you can change into?"

Ella shook her head. "Not really, I brought an outfit for the concert tomorrow, but that's about it."

"I've got an idea. Come with me."

Dave led her upstairs into his room. He closed the door. "Take off your pants."

"What exactly are you planning on doing?" Ella held her hand to her throat in mock shock.

Jack grinned. "I'm going to take your tiny little jeans and drape them to dry over the radiator. Then I'm going to put you in bed and warm you up."

"I suppose you're going to climb in with your pants off too."

"It only seems fair, but I will put on a dry pair if you feel that I can't keep my animal passions in check."

She shook her head as she unzipped her pants and slid them down. "I like the idea of cuddling in bed with you."

Dave arranged her pants over the radiator while she clambered into bed. Dave then slid out of his pants, lay them next to hers on the radiator and climbed in bed beside her.

"You have two choices, you can roll on your side and I spoon in next to you or you can rest your head on my shoulder and throw your leg over mine." Dave pulled the covers up.

"Head on your shoulders," she whispered.

Dave lay flat and held his arm out so she could cuddle in next to him. She brought her leg up to cover his.

"Wow! Your legs are cold."

She slid her leg off his. "Is that better?"

"Not at all. Your leg is already getting warmer."

She slid her leg back.

"That's nice," she whispered.

"It is in a platonic sort of way."

Ella lifted the covers and peered beneath.

"So you're aroused in a platonic sort of way?"

He grinned up at the ceiling. "There are certain parts of me that I have no control over when a beautiful woman decides to share her bed with me. I can get out of bed if you like."

"Don't you dare."

She sat up and pulled off her sweat shirt. "It's getting a little warm."

"You should pull off your blouse also. You don't want to get that wrinkled."

She glanced over at him smirking. "You're right. I really don't want it wrinkled."

She unbuttoned her blouse and carefully laid it at the foot of the bed. His hand stroked her bare lower back. She probably should have told him to stop, but his touch thrilled. "Of course, to be fair, you should remove your shirt too."

Dave pulled off his shirt and t-shirt before returning beneath the covers.

"That is much better," Ella cooed regretting that she had not removed her bra. She wasn't wearing her most comfortable one, and a stay was digging into her side.

"Promise not to go nuts if I remove my bra?"

"You have my word."

She unclasped it in back, pulled down the shoulder straps then pulled it off her from beneath the covers before settling in next to him again.

Nothing changed with Dave as she cuddled up against his chest.

"Why do I feel so comfortable around you? It feels like I've known you forever."

"You have," she murmured then hesitated. Should she really tell him? Should she tell him about the demons? They had nearly run them over. In the end, she decided that she needed to gauge his reaction.

"In our past life, you were an infamous Scottish reiver from clan Armstrong. I was the second daughter of a local laird. We married after you paid my bride price with a flock of thirty sheep that you stole from a farmer on a hot trod north of York. My dad claimed that you had cheated him because the sheep had scabies, but you maintained that they were fine until they mixed in with my father's sheep. The clan chief agreed with you and we wed. You fathered two sons and a daughter before you rode into a British ambush on a raid. They captured you and you were hanged. The British then came to our farmstead to recover what they could, but I had already sent our sheep to my dad's land. The soldiers raped me, and burned what they could. I died nine months later in childbirth."

Dave sat up with a puzzled look. "I can see the farm. It sat on a knoll above a creek. I built a shed in back to take up blacksmithing so I could get out of the raiding. I carved our initials on the door frame," Dave rolled over to look at Ella, "why do I know that you had blue eyes and nut brown hair which you wore up after we married? You loved to sing, and you had the voice of an angel. I remember you sitting by the fire teaching letters to the children."

Ella hugged him aware of her breasts crushing into his chest. "You remember because you're magical like me."

He wrapped his muscular arms around her and kissed her as if he hadn't seen her in a very long time. They pulled back to catch their breath then she kissed him opening her mouth to his probing tongue.

His massive hand slid down her side pausing the heel of his hand where her breast swelled against her ribs. She wanted his hand stroke her breast.

Kathy rapped on the door. "You guys in there? Dinner is ready."

She opened the door and took in the bed, and the clothes strewn about the room. "I see you're getting acquainted." She gave a slight giggle as she closed the door and retreated down the hall.

Jack had browned up the ground pork and mixed it into the spaghetti sauce making an impressive bowl of spaghetti. He had also turned the hot dog buns into garlic bread. While the others talked, Dave tried to figure out what was going on between him and Ella. Had they known each other in a past life? It would explain a few things, like how attracted to her he was. Of course, the attraction could be the promise of sex, but it seemed deeper, more profound than that. She spoke to him at a level he never knew he had. When she talked about their past life together, she had awakened long forgotten memories pulled from somewhere deep in the recesses of his mind.

The night before his last raid, she had served him his spurs for dinner. It was a custom among their people. They had made love that night with a feral intensity. Had they known what was about to happen? Was this memory real?

Ella rubbed his leg with hers under the table. He looked up to see that everyone looking at him.

"What?" It was the best he could come up with on the spot.

"Do you want to play Trivial Pursuit?" Ella smiled at him. "Earth to Dave, come in, Dave."

"Sorry, I was, uh, thinking. Sure that sounds like a great idea."

Three hours, a bottle of wine and four games later Jack stood and stretched. "I'm all gamed out." He then leered at Kathy who got up.

"I'm really tired after that tense trip down here." She looked at Ella. "Would you mind if we called it an early evening?"

Ella gave her a knowing grin. "I wouldn't mind at all."

As Jack and Kathy shuffled up hallway, Kathy pulled off her shirt and handed it to Jack. She had loosened her bra as they passed out of sight. Ella shook her head and helped Dave bundle up the game.

"We need to talk about sleeping arrangements. I'm perfectly happy with sleeping in another room. Like I said, I've made arrangements. It isn't like you're forcing me to sleep on the floor."

Ella shook her head. "I tell you that we lived as man and wife in a previous life, and you offer to sleep in another room? I've never been so insulted."

"I didn't want to assume that you would be happy with me in your bed. I may have been a lousy lover in that past life."

She grabbed his hand and pulled him in the direction of the stairs. "I invite you to spend the evening in bed with me." Her mouth formed into a slightly mischievous grin that he was beginning to love. "There, is that good enough? Or would you like it in writing?" then she added, "you were an excellent lover, by the way."

The second he shut the door to the bedroom, Dave pulled Ella into a long kiss. She fit next to him perfectly. Her full lips reacted eagerly to his as she slid her arms around his neck and pulled him into a long, languorous kiss. When they broke for air, she began unbuttoning his shirt.

"I want to undress you. It's like taking off a man's armor one piece at a time leaving him open and vulnerable to my powers."

She draped his shirt over the back of his chair.

Dave pulled off her sweat shirt and began unbuttoning her blouse. "I like undressing a woman because it's like opening a present. You know you're going to find something delightful."

"I'm not sure I'm the most delightful present you've ever seen." Ella brought her arms up to cover her breasts.

Dave gently pushed he hands away. "Your body is positively lush compared to Kathy's."

She nodded. "True, still I'm not what you would call well endowed."

"You have the most kissable neck that I've ever nuzzled, and an ass that I want to spend an entire afternoon covering with little bites just to see it jump as you giggle. Your puckish sense of humor makes you sexy as Hell. I really don't see a downside here."

"You didn't mention my small breasts."

"I see perky breasts that I'm going to lavish an awful lot of attention on when I get the chance."

Ella stood back laughing. "You are absolutely the weirdest man who has ever undressed me."

"I have to make up for my tiny penis." He deadpanned.

She undid his belt, pulled down his zipper and pushed his jeans off his hips. "You are such a liar. There is nothing small about you. Can I rub it for luck?"

"Go ahead, I'll let you know if it gets too intense."

He reached behind her, unhooked her bra and pulled it from her before sliding his thumbs into her panties dragging them to the floor.

"Hey, you undressed me out of order."

Dave smiled. "Let's face it. Your parts are more fun to look at than mine."

She pulled off his tee shirt. "I don't know if that's true. I rather like the look of your chest and shoulders." She ran her hand down his stomach. "Men are so not women. I'll bet you have an ass like stone and thighs like marble columns."

She dropped his underwear. His erection pointed toward the ceiling. "How big are you? Don't guys measure it?"

Dave shrugged. "I really don't know." He made a loose fist in front of her and moved it down a few inches and then up. "About that long I'd say."

Ella covered her mouth with her hand to keep from guffawing. "You are crazy. Hasn't anyone told you that sex is supposed to be serious?"

"How can I be serious when I'm making love to a smart, sexy, funny woman?" He pulled her into a full body naked hug. "Oh my, you feel good." He ran his hands down her back tracing the tininess of her waist and the fullness of her hips before allowing his hands to explore her perky ass. Life didn't get any better than this.

"We needed to get in bed. My knees keep getting weak." She cooed from inside the hug.

Dave picked her up, laid her on the bed, before he walked over to the door to turn off the overhead light and climbed into bed next to her. They faced each other and kissed while he allowed her to explore his groin with her hands.

"That's awful big. Are you sure you're going to fit?"

"I'm not that big..." A sudden realization hit him. "Am I your first?"

She nodded suddenly shy. "Is that bad?"

"No, not at all. Your first time should be special, and I'm not that special."

She stroked his cheek. "You're making it special. Please be gentle, I've heard stories from other women, and..."

"If anything hurts, tell me." Then he kissed her and she kissed back eagerly grinding her hips into his.

Dave took his time stroking her body, exploring her breasts and groin. An intense feeling of deja vue washed over him when she moaned as he dragged his fingers through her very moist opening between her legs. They had done this many times before, but that couldn't be the case. He had just met her. Her first orgasm came as he gently stroked her clit.

When she got her breath back he began using his lips to stroke and nibble at her breasts. She grabbed his head and pulled his mouth hard against her nipple.

"You're driving me crazy! Stop playing and suck."

He did as ordered and sensed a quick shudder rattle through her.

"You made me orgasm by playing with my breasts. How did you do that?"

His lips drifted lower kissing her navel, and the points of her hips. "Just wait."

When he breathed on her mons, a shiver rattled through her.

He took his time knowing he had hit the right spot when she moaned and thrashed around. In the spaces between she stroked his hair.

"I think I'm ready," she murmured as she pulled his head up from her groin to kiss him.

"Let me know if anything hurts."

He allowed her to guide him in. He met resistance, backed off and pushed again. This time something gave way and he settled deep into her. He stopped at her gasp.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Just hold for a moment while I get used to you."

Her vaginal muscles accommodated him holding tight around him, then they too relaxed.

She kissed him on the neck. "I'm ready. Take it nice and slow."

He concentrated on maximizing sensation. Soon she was spurring him on faster and faster driving her heels into his backside. When she stiffened and clasped him tightly, he stopped until she caught her breath. Her peaks came faster after that until she moaned in constant ecstasy.

"I'm going to come." he whispered between clenched teeth.

When he tried to pull out, she wrapped her legs around him.

"I want you in me. I'm on the pill." She panted into his ear.

When his release came, it triggered her, and for a moment the earth spun beneath them.

"How did you do that to me?" she breathed into his ear as he carefully took his weight off her.

"I wanted to make your first time special. You helped, you know."

"All I did was lay there."

"You did a very good job of letting me know what you liked. Besides this one was on me. The next time I'll let you do some of the work."

"You make it sound like I'm a slut."

He kissed her. "You're not a slut because you showed me what you enjoyed. It's the way you make it exciting for me and you. I derive a great deal of enjoyment from bringing you to orgasm. It energizes me in a way I've never experienced before. It's like sex with you charges a battery I never knew I had."

She rolled on her side away from him. "Could you spoon in next to me please? I want to fall asleep feeling your naked body against mine.

When he did, she grabbed his hand and pulled it over her breast, and that's how he fell asleep.

She awoke first and lay safe and warm in Dave's arms. In eight or nine magical hours yesterday, her world had changed. Her ache and loneliness had evaporated. She had found him, the soul she was supposed to be paired with. Now what?

She dreamt of Carcasonne again last night. She had been a man in that lifetime. Souls were sexless and sometimes a person was born a man, and sometimes a woman. As a chevalier of the Duc she had been ordered to escort a Cathar prefect, a holy woman, to Cologne before the city was surrounded by the Pope's troops. When they met, they both sensed immediately they had found their soul mate. Though she was a prefect and had given up the ways of the flesh, she had come to him and they had made love in light of their campfire under the stars. Things had gone well until they tried to cross the Rhone at Lyon. A band of the Pope's troops surrounded them. He had killed two when a bolt from a crossbow struck him in the throat. He died knowing he had failed.

Perhaps Dave would be able to tell her why it was so important for her to get to Cologne.

She would have to be careful. If she pushed too hard, too soon, she might drive him away. It wasn't wonderful to have your world and everything you knew turned upside down. For her, the revelation had come in painful steps.

She had been a school girl in pigtails when the memories began bubbling up into her unready preteen mind. When she told her parents her recurrent dreams about the reivers and Scotland they took her to a long line of doctors and psychologists who gave her medicine that made her feel like she was living in someone else's life. Finally, a psychologist suggested that they try an unconventional treatment, and sent her to a very old woman who lived in a house way out in the country.

Ella began her story sitting on the porch while she helped the woman snap beans. She told it mechanically after having repeated it so many times. The woman would have none of it. "How did you feel when you looked into his eyes?" and "Were you crying when he rode away that final time?"

Ella related as best she could how powerful emotions that she did not understand tore through her young body. When she was done, the woman got her a bottle of soda from inside the house, and asked if she wanted to see her horses.