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LENGTH: Long Category
SENSUALITY: Sensual

Cover art (c) Eliza Black 2004
ISBN 1-58608-483-6
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Talia Stevens is a genetic researcher whose orderly life doesn't leave much room for romance. Arin McClintock is a soldier on a mission from the future, sent back in time to establish contact with the scientist who invented time-travel. Talia reluctantly teams up with Arin so that they can find out who is trying to alter events in time, at the expense of more and more lives. As they travel between the present and future, and with the help of a very nosy computer named Esmerelda, Talia and Arin find their attraction to each other can't be denied. As danger and intrigue swirls around them, they wonder if their love can truly withstand the test of time.

Rating: Contains mild violence and strong sexual content.

"Four and 1/2 Stars! Once again Eden Robins has written an engaging time travel book, which blends science fiction with romance to create a mesmerizing futuristic story. This is a suspenseful tale of good trying to stop evil. Fast paced and mysterious, the plot of NEVER UNTIL TOMORROW moves along effortlessly until the unexpected ending. Ms. Robins’ characters will draw you into their emotional lives. Her hero and heroine are both intelligent, loyal to their causes, and care for their fellow man. They each possess a heavy dose of stubbornness, which results in some stimulating situations. For a moving love story that will touch your heart, readers should not miss this captivating story." Amelia Richard, eCataRomance Reviews

NEVER UNTIL TOMORROW

By

Eden Robins

© copyright Eden Robins
Cover art by Eliza Black, © copyright June 2004
New Concepts Publishing
5202 Humphreys Rd.
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com

Prologue

Year 3000

"You want me to do what?" the man asked incredulously as he stared at the video communicator on the wall of his study.

"The chamber has decided that it must be done to guarantee our future," said the general.

"Yes, but why have I been chosen when I’m merely a military commander? Shouldn’t a personage from the High Chamber be chosen to carry out such an important assignment? I’m no diplomat, you know this sir. Also my scientific knowledge of time travel is limited."

"I don’t think you give yourself enough credit, Arin. You graduated top of your class at the institute and you studied politics, military strategy, and scientific relevance extensively."

"Again sir, there are many others more qualified," he said stubbornly, although he knew he had already lost this battle.

"It’s been decided. You will leave in one week. Meet me tomorrow morning and we’ll begin your briefing of the time and the individual involved."

"Yes, sir."

Arin turned as the monitor went black and sat down in his favorite chair overlooking the city. He still couldn’t understand why they had chosen him. It all seemed very suspicious and he wondered if his father had anything to do with it.

The next morning Arin met with the general to discuss the events of the time he was traveling to and what changes needed to be made. As the general was preparing his paperwork, Arin thought about his mission and what it entailed. Once the mystery of time travel had been solved in his time, it became common practice for his government to travel to the past and change events to the benefit of the future. As could have been expected from such action, in the beginning some terrible catastrophes were created in the past by the mistakes of novice time travelers, either unaware of the long term effects of their actions or through accidental changes that had monstrous consequences for the future. Only through great practice and extensive training and research was the system perfected and the mistakes corrected. The saying, hindsight is always perfect but too late, became hindsight is everything. All the mistakes of the past, which contributed to unsafe water and food, as well as environmental pollution, disappeared. Once Arin’s world had been one so polluted that people were forced to live in environmentally controlled biodomes and consume artificially created nourishment. Now his world was almost as clean as the day it was created.

The government had only praise for this system and saw no defects in it. To Arin there was something not quite right about it. Too many questions were left unanswered, such as how far does the government go to make these changes? What if there are human lives involved? Are they sacrificed for the future? These questions left him feeling skeptical about the correctness of what they were doing. Thus this meeting today and his upcoming mission to the past left him with a bad taste in his mouth. He had thought about it all night, but he still couldn’t figure out why they wanted him to time travel.

It was highly unusual. As he had said to the general last night, Arin really wasn’t as qualified as he should be for such a mission. Most time travelers are chosen by the Chamber and trained for several years before they can travel. Again the thought that his father may have something to do with this came to mind.

His father was a powerful man within the Chamber, and Arin knew that he could arrange something like this. But why? He and his father had been close up until the day his mother died five years ago. After that, his father and he had each gone into their own shell of mourning, not knowing how to comfort each other. His mother always seemed to know how to bring them closer together and get them to express their feelings to each other. Both men were strong, determined, and stubborn. Once his mother was gone, they didn’t know how to bridge the gap between them. So, even though they did love each other, the past five years seemed to only build a bigger chasm between them. They would get together every couple of weeks, yet each meeting was strained and uncomfortable for both of them. After thinking things through, Arin decided to approach his father after the briefing today with the general.

"You will be going back to the year 2000," the general began. "Once there, you will frequent an establishment called The Dark Lantern. There you’ll meet your contact. This person can help you get to know our target, Frank Stevens. He is the man you must get close to. His work is of great relevance to us. The records he keeps are very sparse, as he feared discovery from everywhere. Most of the information is kept inside his head, thus the necessity of getting him to trust you. Do you understand your instructions so far?"

When Arin nodded his head, the general continued until he had covered all the information necessary and actions, up to a point. After that, he was to contact the general to be advised of the next steps to be taken. Only one thing was missing from what he had been told.

"Who will be my contact, and how will they help me get close to Professor Stevens?" Arin asked.

"That is where we’re a little unclear. It’s a relative of the professor and you’ll save them from some kind of harm. Then they’ll be indebted to you and you should have easy access to Stevens," the general replied.

"A little unclear? I thought this was a perfected science, sir."

"Well, it is," the general explained clearing his throat and suddenly looking uncomfortable. "But even science can’t pick up what history neglects to record."

"What do you mean sir?"

"Well it seems that this particular relative disappears after his or her arrival to The Dark Lantern and is never heard from again. So you see, you’ll save this relative from a very uncertain future," the general explained.

After the briefing, Arin went to Mind Set to learn everything about the year 2000. Mind Set was a computer-aided memory system, which committed to a human’s memory whatever information was required in a matter of minutes. The technique was discovered during the last world war of 2650 and was now a standard tool used by all time travelers to help them learn about their latest destination. The experience was still strange to Arin, having had little contact with Mind Set in the past.

Once it was finished, Arin went to see his father.

"I really know nothing about your mission, son. The first I heard of your participation in it was last night. Obviously they think you’re the best equipped to handle this specific case or you wouldn’t have been chosen by the Chamber," his father reasoned.

Arin was skeptical about his father’s participation in his selection. His father was never told something after the fact. The Chamber always consulted him before a decision was made. He thought about questioning him more about his role in this, but could tell by the closed look on his face that he was not going to impart much more information to him.

"Father, we both know I’m not the best choice for this mission because of my qualifications. There are many within the time travel circle who are trained extensively for this." After Arin said this, he waited silently, hoping his father would reveal something to him. Instead, he just looked away evasively and shrugged his shoulders. Arin realized something serious and dangerous, other than what he had been told, was going to happen during his travel through time. It seemed, on this case, he was on his own. All he could do was try to prepare himself for whatever might come up.

"I’m so glad we’re close enough to have these little talks, Father. Thank you for your honesty and faith in me. And thanks for all your help," Arin said sarcastically, as he turned and stalked angrily out of his father’s office.

As he walked out of the room, he didn’t see his father take a step forward and reach out to stop him. He dropped his hand and shook his head with regret as a voice sounded behind him.

"Don’t even think about it, John," a man said as he walked out from a door behind his desk. "He’s our only hope. If he knows anything more, it would jeopardize everything."

"He is my son, Henry. I don’t want to see him get hurt," he said stubbornly. "Why did he have to be the one?" he asked quietly.

Chapter 1

Year 2000

She was doing it again.

She was looking around the room with the forlorn expression of a kitten who had lost its mother. Didn’t the girl realize that the sharks in this place could eat her alive? They thrive on the weakness of others for their own gain. And by the looks of her there was much to gain. Her strawberry blond hair hung just below her waist, and it looked so soft that Arin wanted to reach out and touch it. At first glance her petite body looked almost boyish beneath the baggy clothes she wore, but on closer inspection her curves were definitely those of a woman. Her face was heart shaped, yet offset by the stubborn set of her chin. She had full lips that pouted to be kissed, a pert nose that he knew, if he looked closely, would be sprinkled with freckles, and striking aquamarine eyes topped with perfectly arched eyebrows.

Yes, there was a lot to be gained by this one, but not by him. Not that she wasn’t beautiful enough. Rather, it was because she had trouble written all over her. He didn’t know how, but he could feel it, and his thirty-six years of life experience taught him to listen to his feelings about women. So what if she looked lost and in need of rescue? He was going to forget her and continue waiting for his contact to show. The girl must know what she was doing in a place like this, so he left her to it. He was going to stay as far away from her as possible.

He was doing it again.

He was looking at her with that dark scowling expression. Talia fervently hoped he wasn’t the one she was scheduled to meet with. Just sitting in a chair across the room, he intimidated her. And right now, she couldn’t afford to be intimidated. Her life as well as her father’s depended on it. It took all of her courage to come to a place like this. If they hadn’t threatened her father’s life, she would never have agreed to it. Wasn’t it enough that they’d ruined her family? That the end result caused the death of her mother due to the stress and strain weakening her already ill condition? After giving them the money they had demanded, she had thought she would be safe again. Yet six years to the day after they got their blood money, they were back for something else. She could no more understand what this was about at age twenty-four than she did at age eighteen. Her father refused to tell her anything, only saying that they had to give them what they demanded.

Why was he staring at her so intensely? It was very unsettling. She decided it was his eyes that disturbed her most. They were the deep gray of storm clouds threatening rain. His dark eyebrows, long thick eyelashes and hawk-like nose only intensified the effect. Surprisingly, in contrast to the rest of his face, his lips looked full and sensual. His midnight black hair, which he wore loose to his shoulders, completed the look of a man who should not be taken lightly. Suddenly he stood up, walked over to say something to the bartender and they both turned to stare at her. As he got up, she saw that he was very large. That was the only word for it. She knew that, at best, her head would barely reach the top of his chest. And due to the snug fit of his black jeans and T-shirt, she could see his well-defined muscles rippling when he walked. Yet, despite his tallness and incredible muscular physique, he moved gracefully across the room. Reminding her of some majestic beast stalking within the confines of a cage. There was one word for this man, and that was dangerous. She was going to stay as far away from him as possible.

"Well, well, the little girl has grown up."

Talia nearly jumped out of her seat as a nasally voice from behind her interrupted her thoughts. It was a voice she had hoped never to hear again. The nasal twang and slight lisp perfectly fit the weasel-like creature she turned around to face. His eyes darted quickly over her body and he leered at her as he licked his lips. She felt disgusted and nauseous and only wished to flee; yet she knew she had to stay to discover his latest demands. Talia was surprised he had come to meet her himself. He usually sent one of his henchmen to do his dirty work in the past.

"What do you want from us now?" she asked, trying to sound brave.

He wasn’t fooled.

"What? No heartfelt hellos or telling me how much you missed me over these past six years, darling?" He snickered as he sat down beside her at the table.

"I’m not here to play games with you Mr. Bligh," she said in a no-nonsense tone.

"The last time we met you told us you would never bother us again, and that you had what you wanted. Why did you need to meet again?" she asked.

He slid his chair over so close to hers that she could feel his breath on her face. It was putrid and his teeth looked as if they were rotted all the way to his gray gums. Talia tried to move away from him, but before she could, he grasped her arm in a surprisingly steely grip.

"It seems I forgot something when collecting from your family," he said speculatively as he studied her face intently.

"You mean besides killing my mother?" she blurted out before her common sense reminded her that this was a dangerous man she was dealing with.

Luckily he ignored her comment and went on to explain what he meant.

"I never realized what a beautiful girl you were. One of my men saw you recently and reported to me how exquisite you had become. It was then that I realized the important treasure I had left behind."

"And what might that be?" Talia asked, although she already feared she knew the answer to that.

"Why, you, of course Talia," he answered with satisfaction as he saw her eyes turn fearful. "I already have a buyer for you. Foreign, very wealthy, and very, very discreet. As far as the world will be concerned, you will have disappeared off the face of the planet."

* * * *

What is she doing talking to a slime ball like Bligh? Arin wondered as he watched from across the room.

"So you don’t know who she is Tom?" he asked the bartender again. During his time here, he had gotten to know Tom pretty well. Although his customers were the scum of the earth, Arin knew he could trust the bartender.

"I’ve never seen her in here before. She just isn’t the type, if you know what I mean," Tom answered.

Unfortunately, Arin knew just what he meant. As he continued to watch her talking to Bligh, he knew that the trouble he had expected was about to begin.

Too late, Talia realized what a mistake it had been to come here alone. She quickly rose, trying to struggle out of Bligh’s grasp. But it proved a futile attempt, as he just stood up with her and pulled her close to his side.

"Leaving so soon? But we’ve only begun to get to know each other. And I do want us to get much better acquainted," he said grinning mockingly as he began dragging her toward the backdoor.

Talia fought against him as she scanned the room, looking for someone who might help her. She had just decided to scream at the top of her lungs, hoping to get some attention, when a man joined Bligh and stuffed a rag in her mouth as he grasped her other arm. Nobody seemed to notice that she was being forcibly dragged across the room. Everyone just continued drinking and talking as if nothing strange was going on.

Just as Talia was about to be pushed outside and into a waiting car, her left arm, then her right arm were abruptly released. She immediately fell backwards into what at first felt like a solid wall. Talia realized after a few seconds it was actually a very large, very solid chest. Two hands steadied her, then quickly released her. She turned around and found that the chest and strong hands belonged to none other than the man who had been scowling at her inside the pub. He was in the process of tying an unconscious Bligh and his accomplice’s hands up. During her release and subsequent fall into the man’s chest no words had been spoken. The man finished what he was doing, then stood and looked oddly at Talia. She removed the gag from her mouth.

"Thank you for your help. Without it I would have really been in trouble." In response the man said nothing, but continued to stare in that strange way. Unfazed by his lack of response she continued.

"Let me introduce myself. I’m Talia Stevens, and again, I am very grateful for your aid," she said as she moved closer to him with her hand extended. However, instead of shaking her hand, he grabbed it and roughly pulled her toward him until his face was only inches away from hers. Too late she saw the barely controlled anger on his face.

"What do you think you’re doing?" Arin asked in a deceptively quiet voice. If she’d known him, that alone would have warned her of the extent of his feelings. His voice was a gauge of his emotions. At that moment he was absolutely furious.

"Wh-what do you mean? I was trying to thank you for your help," she stuttered as fear rose in her once again.

"No! I mean what are you doing in a place like this, late at night? I almost didn’t help you because I thought you were one of the new prostitutes looking for a night’s work. Well, are you?" he asked mockingly as he did a slow perusal of her body from head to toe, hoping to change her fearful expression to something else. As his eyes returned to her face, he realized that it had worked. He could tell by the stubborn jut of her chin, the redness in her cheeks, and the indignation in her eyes.

"How dare you! Of course I’m not one of those women. Obviously you’ve been with that type too long to discern the difference between a woman who wants to be with a man and a woman who doesn’t," she said, raising her chin high in an effort to look down her nose at him.

So, the kitten has claws, Arin thought to himself, but ignored her insult.

"The ladies I know don’t come to places like this and consort with men like Bligh," he said smiling.

"I was not consorting with him! And just who are you anyway? Maybe I shouldn’t be consorting with you either," she said spitefully as she tried to break free of his grasp.

Arin refused to release her. Instead he tightened his grip on her arms, pulling her up against him.

Talia suddenly became aware of his body. It was like a tidal wave of sensation washing over her: the hard contours of him so different from her soft curves, the heat emanating from him, the clean masculine smell of him combining a mixture of leather, soap and cigar smoke. Everything about him surrounded her senses until she felt lightheaded from it all.

Their eyes melt and held as she looked up into his face. She expected hardness but found something different. She saw the same sensual awareness that she was feeling. Then as quickly as it was there, it was gone. He shuttered his expression so that she could read nothing and he pushed her out of his arms so quickly that she almost fell. She felt shaken by their brief contact and could barely stand.

Although Arin seemed cool on the outside, he was anything but that on the inside. He had never had such an immediate reaction to a woman in all his life. He was burning up with such desire that he was about to explode, just from holding her! When he finally regained his composure, he introduced himself to her.

"Arin McClintock, at your service, my lady," he said, stressing the last word as he bowed mockingly to her. "Now that the formal introductions are over would you like to explain to me why you were meeting with a man like Bligh?" he asked impatiently.

Straightening to her full height, Talia did her best to look calm and composed.

"I realize you did me a great service, Mr. McClintock. However, my business with Bligh is my own concern, and none of yours. Once again thank you, and goodnight." She turned to leave, but only took a few steps before her arm was grabbed yet again.

"What do you mean goodnight? Do you think this is over merely because these two are temporarily unconscious? Bligh wanted something from you and he isn’t the type to give up easily. He can be as relentless as a pit bull when he’s after something. So, unless you’re leaving town permanently, I’d advise you to think about this a little more clearly," he said, his voice sounding dangerously soft again.

"You advise me? No offense Mr. McClintock, but... Oh!" She never got to finish her sentence as he picked her up and started carrying her away from the bar.

"What do you think you’re doing? Put me down!"

"Where’s your car?" he asked, ignoring her demand.

"My car? Why--"

"If you don’t answer the question, we can just take my car," he interrupted.

"Your car? Where--"

"My car it is," he said as they reached the black Mercedes convertible. The car seemed to suit the man who owned it--impressive, full of power, sleek, and sexy. For a moment Talia thought about just how good his body felt pressed against hers. However, as he turned off the alarm and started to unlock the door, while still holding her with one arm like a rag doll, she came to her senses. Realizing that this was probably her only chance to get away, she suddenly twisted her body toward him to loosen his hold, and brought her knee up to hit him in a place she knew would hurt.

His reaction was instantaneous, and it was enough to get Arin to loosen his grip even more as he doubled over and tried to take a few breaths. Talia broke away and began to run to her car. When she reached it, she quickly found her keys in her purse and started to unlock the door. Then she made the mistake of looking behind her to see if he was pursuing her.

He was almost upon her, and the look on his face told her that if she didn’t get into her car before he reached her, she would be in big trouble. She was momentarily frozen as she saw the depth of anger in his eyes. Yet the spell broke as she heard her keys fall to the ground. She bent down, quickly grabbed them and unlocked the door. She jumped in the car, locked the door and put the key in the ignition to start it. When it immediately started she silently said a prayer of thanks, reversed out and drove away. This time she didn’t look back. She just drove home as fast as she could.

Once in her own neighborhood, she began to relax a little. What a day it turned out to be. First she’s almost abducted by Bligh, then she’s saved by a crazy, albeit gorgeous man, who then proceeded to also try to kidnap her. There were just too many weirdoes in the world today. However, as she pulled up to her house, she couldn’t help remembering the feel of Arin as he held her, or the feelings that he had brought out in her by his closeness.

* * * *

When Talia’s car was out of sight Arin got in his own car and drove to the house he had rented. He didn’t need to follow the woman. He obtained all the information he needed when he memorized her license plate number. As he turned off the alarm and entered the house a voice instantly met him at the door.

"If you had taken me with you, I could have saved you a lot of time, energy and, uh, pain in saving the girl," the female voice said smugly.

"I know, I know. You’re right again, Esmerelda," he said wearily, as he continued to walk toward the room where the woman’s voice was coming from. As he entered, however, it was a complex looking computer system rather than a woman who continued to talk with him.

"Of course I’m right. I’m always right, and the sooner you realize that the better off you’ll be. All you had to do was take the wrist remote with you and everything would have been fine. But noooooo. You had to play the big macho man all by yourself."

"Esmerelda enough! I already admitted you were correct in your estimation of the situation. Now I don’t want to speak of it again. Have I made myself clear?" Arin demanded irritably.

"Crystal. Jeez--what’s bothering you? It’s the girl, isn’t it? She really got to you. Don’t deny it. While I followed your activities on the chest monitor, I picked up some pretty high physical responses--high heart rate, shortness of breath, and that wasn’t even when you hit those two guys over the head!"

Esmerelda was hitting too close to home for his comfort.

"Enough! Quit talking so much and listen to me. You’re getting too carried away with this time’s lingo. If you really want to help me, look up the name, address, and phone number of this license plate."

"Fine."

A few minutes later Arin had the information he had requested and he didn’t like it one bit.

"The name is Frank Stevens. The address is 1789 E. Celtor Lane. The phone number is 867-2345."

Arin realized he had found his contact. Talia must be Professor Stevens’ daughter. As he went to look at a picture of him, he found that a resemblance was definitely there. It wasn’t so much that they looked completely alike, although Talia seemed to have inherited the stubborn set of her chin from her father. It was their eyes that gave them away. Talia and her father both had the same unusual aquamarine eyes.