Because I thought time travelling was insane… but the really crazy thing is Rock knows my dad.
And my dad owes this man his life.
6
Rock
I don’t know what I went and said this time to upset Rosalie, but she’s in tears once again as she brings the half-charred fish back to our little hut.
Reaching for a slice of lime, I season the fish, then take her a piece. “You always cry so much?”
She laughs, tight. “No, not really. I was pretty steady back home. I worked in an office, a nine-to-five job. I was an editor, which doesn’t exactly give us a leg up in the jungle. I should have studied something more practical.”
“You write too?” I ask, curious about her in ways that surprise me. When I first laid eyes on her I knew she was fucking gorgeous, but after one day I know she is so much more than a pretty face and cute ass. She is complicated and mesmerizing and gentle in ways I’ve never been. I want to know everything about this woman, even if I’ve come to see I am not the sort of man she envisioned herself with.
“I’ve always wanted to, but thought my life was a little too boring. Hemingway said you need to have experiences if you want to have something to say. I haven’t done much besides go to school and get a job. This is my first time out of the country.”
“Well, you have one hell of a story to tell now.”
She wipes the tears from her eyes. “Yeah, except I don’t exactly have a computer to type it out on. Heck, I don’t have pen or paper. There is nothing here. It feels insane to think there isn’t a single book that’s ever been written.”
“I bet we could make some paper. Didn’t the Egyptians figure it out? Why not us?”
She smiles. “You’re being so nice to me.”
“I was a bit of a dick yesterday, wasn’t I?”
She nods. “Pretty much. You came in pretty heavy handed, you know?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t have lots of experience with women. Before or after I wound up here.”
She scoffs, reaching for the fish. “I don’t believe that.”
“Why not?”
She rolls her eyes. “Look at you. You’re… very handsome.”
I laugh. “Even though I haven’t used soap in six years?”
“Even though.” She presses her lips together, thinking. “So, you saved Sergeant Langham’s life?”
I nod. “Yeah, he was a good man, wish he had been with us in the caves because maybe he could have seen a way out before I ended up here.”
“How many of you were there?”
“Five of us, but I don’t think anyone else time travelled, because I haven’t seen a soul.”
“But this jungle is massive, right? You could have spread out in different directions.”
“It’s possible. The portal I went through sure wasn’t in the same location where we’d been.”
“So this is really it?” she says. “You’ve tried to find other people, another way out, and there’s nothing?”
“I’m sorry, Rosalie. We can go look again, every day if you want. I just, I’ve tried so many times, looked so many places, and there was nothing. And then there was you.” She blinks back tears again and I hate her blue eyes looking so damn sad. “I wish there was a way. I know you don’t want to be here, not with me, and—”
“No, it’s not that,” she says. “It’s not you. I think you’re the most confident man I’ve ever known and the most handsome too. I’m just thinking of never saying goodbye to the people I love. Never seeing them again…”
“I know,” I tell her, pulling her to my chest, letting her cry against me. “I hate thinking about Grandma Sarah and Grandpa Mac, them never knowing what happened to me. I’m not much of a crier, but I sure as hell have shed some tears over the years.”
“It’s a lot to process, but…” She looks up at me. “As crazy as it sounds, I am happy you are the one here with me.”
“You mean that?” I ask. “Because I kind of thought you hated me.”
She laughs. “Until you kissed me.”
“Damn, then I should have done that last night.”
“You can kiss me now, Rock.”
“I don’t want to pressure you into something–”
She doesn’t let me finish. She presses her lips to mine and this time, I don’t pass the fuck out. Instead I am turned the hell on.
Damn, her lips are soft and her curves are everything. Her eyes find mine. I get lost in them, and I’ve relieved to see they’re not brimming with tears – this time Rosalie is filled with desire.
I kiss her more deeply, our tongues entwined and my hands running though her long golden locks. Her moans against my mouth tell me she is craving something nice and hard and I’m glad that I can fucking deliver the meal she really needs.