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“Shit, why now of all times?” He took her mouth with his and slipped his tongue into the welcoming warmth. Time almost stood still and the need to leave went away…almost.

She reached her hands around his back and her nails scratched down his back.

***

Fifteen minutes later, David pulled his jeans on before leaning down to the bed and brushing Megan’s lips with his. She pushed him away reluctantly—knowing he had to go. He stretched the black T-shirt over his head as he headed for the door and she smiled as he tripped over his boots and cursed. Picking them up, he stood in the doorway and smiled back at her.

“I’ll be back about midnight. As soon as we finish. Wait up for me?”

“I’ve slept enough to stay awake for two days.” Megan stretched as a delicious warmth coursed through her. “I’ll go into the village, get some supplies, and make you dinner.”

David frowned. “Don’t go anywhere near the stones. Promise? I don’t want to lose you again.”

“Oh, there’s no fear of that, don’t you worry. I’ll stick to the road and come straight back.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed and wrapped the sheet around her. “Now go.”

With one last reluctant look at her, David disappeared along the hallway, and when she heard the front door close, Megan went across to the window and grasped the sheet to her breast waiting for him to appear. After a couple of minutes he came out of his cottage, dressed completely in black, with his guitar slung over his shoulder, and crossed the back garden. This time when he approached the stone markers and disappeared, she relaxed, knowing he was okay and where he had gone.

Wide-awake and her energy renewed, she slipped into the bathroom for a quick shower before wandering downstairs. Even though she hadn’t spent much time there, the cottage was beginning to feel like home. Thoughts of her real life and home seemed distant and the time she had spent with David filled her thoughts. She knew she’d surprised him with her sexual response this morning.

Hell, I surprised myself.

The effect he had on her physically and the way he made her feel were unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. The intensity of her feelings for him consumed her completely—body, heart, and soul.

As she headed for the kitchen, a muffled ringing reached her and it took a moment to realise it was her cell phone in her bag back in the living room. As she rummaged for it, a strange feeling came over her. It was as though it was someone else’s bag. It was all familiar to her, but she felt distanced from everything, as though the time spent in the past had put a glass wall between the past and her present.

Shaking her head in an attempt to dispel the strange sensation, she pressed the phone to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Megan, where the hell have you been?” Kathy’s voice came over the connection and she sounded upset. “I’ve been trying to call you for twenty-four hours and your phone just rang and rang every time.”

“Sorry, I didn’t take my phone with me to the…er…festival.” Megan wandered over to the window, looking at the tents in the far distance as she tried to concentrate. “And it was dead for a couple of days too before I got an adapter, and the signal is really bad. A lot of stuff doesn’t work right here.”

“Tony wants to talk to you. It’s not good.”

“Okay. Put him on.”

“Hello, Megan, I’m afraid the news isn’t good. You’re going to have to come home.”

“I can’t.” It was the last thing Megan wanted to do at the moment.

“You have to.” The irritation was evident in Tony’s voice. “I’ve worked my butt off for you, and the disciplinary committee has agreed to hear your appeal in person. They’ve had a look at some of the evidence I’ve gathered from your files—mind you, there was very little to support your case—so you’re lucky they’re prepared to interview you. I think it’s because the police are involved.”

“The police?” Megan screwed her nose up as she walked across to the kitchen. The empty bottle from the red wine—was it only such a short time ago—was still sitting on the kitchen sink.

“Yes, I called in to see them the other day. One thing in your favour. Greg Cannon has a record.”

“I can’t come home yet.” Megan tried to focus on Tony’s words. It all seemed so long ago and far away. She couldn’t summon any interest in what he was saying.

“What do you mean you can’t come? I’ve done as much as I can without you. Jeez, Megan, what the hell is the matter with you? There’s no point continuing your research if you don’t come home. You won’t have a job or a doctoral position at the university.”

Megan didn’t reply and for a moment there was silence at the other end of the phone and then Kathy came on again. “Megs, what’s wrong? Why is Tony storming around slamming doors and glaring at me?”

“I told him I can’t come home yet. The appeal hearing will have to wait.”

“I’m sure Tony can work something out.” She could hear Kathy’s muffled voice speaking to Tony and it sounded as though she had her hand over the phone.

“How soon can you come home?” Kathy came back on.