Kiss Across Tomorrow (Kiss Across Time Book 8) Read online

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  Table of Contents

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  About Kiss Across Tomorrow

  Praise for the Kiss Across Time series

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

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  About the Author

  Other books by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  Copyright Information

  About Kiss Across Tomorrow

  After 900 years together, Brody declares he is leaving...

  While everyone is mapping alternative worlds, meeting new friends and exploring ways to use time-travel instead of being terrified by it, Brody tells Veris and Taylor their marriage is over—with no room for negotiations or compromise.

  Shattered, Taylor and Veris must pick up the broken pieces of their lives and go on. Only…can they? Or was Brody the linchpin and without him, everything unravels, including Veris’ love for Taylor?

  Time and time-travel become their tools, as they struggle to resolve the heartache and destruction Brody has left behind.

  Reader Advisory: This time travel novel features two super-hot alpha vampire heroes, and explicit sex scenes. Do not read this book if frank sexual language offends you. The time-space continuum was restored to order at the end of this book. Promise.

  This book is part of the Kiss Across Time paranormal time travel series:

  1.0: Kiss Across Time

  2.0: Kiss Across Swords

  2.5: Time Kissed Moments*

  3.0: Kiss Across Chains

  4.0: Kiss Across Deserts

  5.0: Kiss Across Kingdoms

  5.1: Time And Tyra Again*

  6.0: Kiss Across Seas

  7.0: Kiss Across Worlds

  7.1: Time and Remembrance

  8.0: Kiss Across Tomorrow

  [*Time Kissed Moments are short stories, novellas and collections that featuring the characters and situations featured in the Kiss Across Time series.]

  The series has ongoing storylines and characters. Reading the books in order is recommended.

  A Time Travel Vampire Romance Novel

  Praise for the Kiss Across Time series

  Wow, again Wow. I swear this author must be a time traveler because this story is filled with such awesome details.

  I've been following Tracy Cooper-Posey for a while now, and she never disappoints. Damn, she can write! To start with, I love history, I'm an academic historian, and her books are really well documented.

  What a great book, I just loved it. It's like being on a roller coaster, the action never stops and the time travel details are awesome.

  I'm totally addicted to these fantasy vampire series. Hard to put down. The characters are real, believable, interesting and complex, and Cooper-Posey really knows how to tell a cliff-hanger story.

  Time travel has always been an interesting concept, but Cooper-Posey takes it to another level because her stories arc over an entire series - and over several centuries. I LOVE IT!!!

  This series just keep getting better and better.

  Chapter One

  If she had known what awaited them at that particular bookmark in time, Taylor would have bet seeing her first alien would be the highlight of the jump. As it turned out, aliens were the least of her problems.

  She and Brody landed off-center in the middle of an anonymous hotel corridor which ran for what looked like miles. The carpet underfoot was thick and luxurious, not standard, hard-wearing commercial low-pile. The air was still and the lighting subdued.

  “What the hell?” Taylor breathed, turning to look the other way. The corridor ended at a fire escape door, only twelve yards away. An ice machine recess was to the right.

  Brody looked down at the carpet, then kicked it. “I don’t believe it,” he said. “I recognize this carpet. I think we’re in the Lombardy, Taylor.”

  “In New York?” She considered. “The Lombardy was pulled down ten years ago.” At least, it had been in their world. “So, there’s a New York in this world,” she added.

  Brody grinned. “I used to love this place.”

  “You love any place reeking of snobbery,” Taylor pointed out.

  “I like the good life,” Brody replied. “Sue me.”

  She smiled. “Let’s head down to the lobby and sit awhile. Just watching should give us enough information to catalog this place and go home.”

  Brody picked up her hand and slid it under his elbow and moved down the corridor with her. “You jumped to a bookmark?” he asked.

  “A big one,” Taylor replied.

  “The middle of a hotel corridor…seems like an odd place to be drawn to.”

  “You think this is odd, given the worlds we’ve seen lately?” Taylor asked. She recalled the burnt out, irradiated husks they’d visited. The worlds where global warming was more advanced, where it hurt to breathe raw air. Places where the coastlines had disappeared because of rising water levels.

  Wars were common—no world seemed to be able to find global, permanent peace. Famine. Natural disasters. Totalitarian regimes running what were democracies in Taylor’s world. They had seen them all.

  Brody must have been recalling some of those same worlds, for he chuckled. “Have you noticed how Veris’ nose twitches whenever we talk about the weird shit?”

  Taylor smiled, for Veris’ nose did wrinkle. He didn’t agree with Sydney’s project to map alternative worlds for future reference. “It’s a waste of time,” he had growled when Taylor told him she would help Sydney with the mapping. When Marit and Alannah and Aran all volunteered, too, Veris’ objections grew louder. “I don’t care if it’s there and back—any jumping is dangerous,” he told the twins.

  “So is swimming at Squibnocket Beach,” Aran said, before Taylor could respond. “Take a breath, Far. This is important work, it’s straight forward jumping-observation-return stuff and we’re all helping.”

  “It’s make-work,” Veris replied.

  Taylor patted his arm. “It’s trivial, but even you don’t know how useful it might be.”

  “Time jumping is not a tool!” Veris shot back, his scowl settling and his chin jutting.

  It was the last time he had protested. Even the twins were old enough to determine their own actions and Veris was wise enough to not attempt to prevent them. Instead, he shifted uneasily whenever the conversation at home turned
to the wonders seen while mapping alternative worlds for Sydney.

  Taylor rested her head against Brody’s arm for a second, as he prodded the down button for the elevator. “Poor Veris. He does find this all a strain.”

  Brody snorted. “Veris is not poor, not in finances or spirit. He’s just being ornery.” He turned her, his hands on her shoulders, so she was facing him properly, then drew her into his arms. His black eyes danced as he bent and brushed his lips over the corner of her jaw, by her ear, making her shiver.

  “You know,” he murmured against her neck, and stroked his tongue over the flesh. “Our cash might be good here. We could get a room, spend time checking this world out from the window…”

  Taylor closed her eyes and sighed. Brody was warm against her for they were the same body temperature, now she was no longer human. She didn’t get hungry or tired or cold, anymore. When her body stirred these days, it was purely because Brody or Veris, or both of them at once, were rousing the last of her human instincts.

  “I can’t,” she breathed into his ear as Brody eased the tiny strap of her sun top from her shoulder with his teeth.

  He pushed his hand beneath the thin cotton of the top and up. His fingers curled over her breast and his thumb stroked her nipple.

  Taylor gasped, her nerves fizzing.

  “Are you sure?” Brody murmured.

  “Really sure,” she said regretfully. “I promised Remi I would jump him to Paris for some shopping.”

  Brody’s gaze met hers. “You can jump back to any when,” he pointed out. “It’s impossible for you to be late.” His thumb teased and rubbed. “It’s been a while since just you and I…”

  Taylor drew in a shuddering breath. “Brody, I would love to. I would. Only, Remi is going stir crazy with London on lock-down right now. It wouldn’t be fair.”

  The elevator chimed. Brody dropped his hand. “No one took me shopping when you were pregnant.” He tried to sound grouchy, although Taylor knew he was teasing. She pushed him toward the elevator.

  Brody let himself be herded inside. Another couple already stood in the elevator, both wearing elegant evening clothes. The woman, in her late fifties, glittered with each movement, her diamonds and sequins catching the light.

  Her partner wore a tuxedo which looked perfectly normal to Taylor. Clothing was always a strong hint of how strange a world was, even if everything seemed normal at first glance. These two looked similar to people in their own world.

  The couple measured Taylor in her sun top and cotton trousers and flat pumps, their brows raising.

  Taylor leaned toward Brody as the door closed. “I feel underdressed,” she sub-vocalized, which Brody would still hear.

  Brody wore jeans and a designer tee shirt, which they had learned could pass in almost every world. He shrugged his wide shoulders. “It’s a hotel,” he said, his voice as low as hers. “All sorts come and go.”

  The other couple kept them from talking freely. Taylor kept her gaze forward, although even the polished steel walls reflected the woman’s evening finery.

  The elevator halted smoothly and the doors swept open. The lobby was all cream walls and marble floors, with slim columns and mirrors, plush armchairs and sofas.

  And it was jammed with people, all of them in evening clothes.

  Taylor’s heart gave a little flutter. Brody’s hand settled on the small of her back and gave her a gentle nudge forward. She made herself walk out among the black satin lapels and bowties, silk and satin and lace, horribly self-conscious.

  She halted again, for an alien was serving champagne.

  Brody gripped her hip to stop himself from running over her. “Oops,” he breathed.

  Taylor turned her head toward him. Her neck seemed to be filled with ball bearings which squealed as she turned her chin.

  Brody frowned. “What?” he whispered.

  She turned her chin back again, with the same grinding sound, to gaze once more at the waiter holding out a silver tray of slender champagne flutes. He—it—she? Taylor didn’t know. They wore black pants, a white shirt and vest and a bow tie, the same as any waiter Taylor had ever seen before. Their body beneath the clothes didn’t look odd—they were bipedal, with standard human length arms, although they had long legs. The legs seemed to work the same way as human legs, with a knee joint. They were about the same width, too.

  Above the collar, though, nothing was human normal. The skin of the creature was dark brown and from where Taylor could see, it was thicker than human skin. The word “tough” occurred to her.

  The face was symmetrical, with a discernable mouth, a small “nose” and rather large eyes which had pupils the same as human eyes. Above the eyes, the creature’s head swept up and back in a series of vertical ridges which might be bone or cartilage. The ridges were a slightly lighter color than the rest of the head. There was no hair. The ridges ended in points.

  None of the humans paid the waiter any attention at all, which added to the surrealism.

  Brody squeezed her hand.

  When had they joined hands?

  Taylor looked at him and he nodded, a tiny movement, to the other side of the lobby. A waiter was there—another alien. Taylor’s heart squeezed and worked, completely out of her control. This alien wore a skirt instead of trousers and the front of the shirt and vest mounded over…

  “Breasts,” she breathed, staggered.

  Brody pulled her against him. “Over to the chairs on the far side there, see? They’re getting up. Let’s sit, before we fall down.”

  They moved through the crowded lobby to the set of armchairs and sofas tucked into a shallow recess. The recess was lined with mirrors above chair-rail height. All the better for observing without looking as though they were staring.

  As they moved through the people, Taylor came face to face with another alien waiter. This one’s mouth stretched sideways in both directions.

  It’s smiling at me!

  Taylor drew in a shuddering breath and moved around it, giving it lots of room. She hurried over to the recess and took the end of the sofa. It gave her a clear view down a short passage to the hotel’s front doors. Through them, she saw snow falling thickly. The doors were misted with cold.

  Winter. No wonder the couple in the elevator had looked at her summer attire so oddly.

  It seemed irrelevant now.

  Brody settled beside her and picked up her hand again. She had a feeling he wasn’t doing it just to reassure her.

  “Hell, Brody…” Taylor whispered. “This place started out looking normal!”

  He nodded, his gaze moving around the lobby, picking out the waiters.

  A concierge stood behind the marble desk, only fifteen feet away from them. He was alien, too.

  “No one is looking sideways at them,” Brody said.

  “None of them are guests,” Taylor added. “A working class of some sort?”

  “No, look.” He turned his head.

  Taylor followed the line of his gaze. A single alien in a tuxedo—which looked even more bizarre than one in a waiter’s uniform. They held a glass with clear liquid in it. They—he, Taylor decided, given the tuxedo—he was talking with a group of humans who listened with grave attention.

  Not everyone was drinking. Not everyone even held a glass or was trying to pretend they were drinking. There were many humans simply talking, their hands empty.

  “This makes wars look boring,” Brody said.

  Taylor nodded.

  “Hi, there,” came the greeting. “You aren’t with the wedding party, I’m guessing.”

  Taylor jumped and subdued her reaction. She had been so caught up following the aliens as they moved around the humans, she had failed to monitor her flanks. She looked around…and up.

  The man was tall—taller than Brody, she guessed. Maybe even Veris’ height. He was not Veris’ size, although he was broad across the shoulders in the same way Brody was—there was power there, just not advertised with pumped up muscles.<
br />
  What caught her gaze and held it was the man’s eyes. They were a blazing blue, like a clear sky at dawn, rich with color and life.

  Veris had blue eyes. His were completely different—painted, rather than transparent, the way this man’s were.

  This man had black hair cut short and he wore a suit which could be classified as a tuxedo because of the satin lapels. It was a three-piece suit of charcoal gray, not black. The tie and pocket handkerchief were dark purple. He wore the suit well. It was perfectly cut and modern. He wouldn’t have looked out of place in the New York of Taylor’s world.

  “Hi,” she said, with a neutral tone. “We’re waiting for friends to join us for dinner. We didn’t know there was a function here tonight.”

  “I hope you’re not heading out to dinner without a coat? It’s only fifteen degrees out there,” the man replied.

  “We were going to dine in,” Brody said. “It’s too cold for anything else.”

  The man studied them with sharp attention, and Taylor cleared her throat. “Brody, maybe we should wait in our room? Veris and the others can ask the desk to call us. Then we won’t be in the way.”

  “That’s probably a good—” Brody began.

  The man stepped around the slender coffee table sitting between the sofa and the chairs and sat on it, pushing his jacket aside with a casual movement. He planted his hand on his hip. “Why are you talking about the cold as if it bothers you? You’re of the Blood,” he said. “I thought I knew all the vampires in New York. Where are you from?”

  Taylor drew in another shaky breath, staring at him. She could feel her eyes opening wide. She couldn’t help glancing around to see who had heard him openly speak of vampires as if they were as real as the aliens.

  When she looked back at him once more, the man’s eyes had narrowed.

  “You gave yourself away,” he said softly. “You’re not local. You come from somewhere isolated. Are you Serene Ones, passing?”