Kiss Across Worlds, Book 6 in the Kiss Across Time series.
THE BOUGAINVILLEA THAT RAMBLED ALL over two sides of the courtyard shed leaves all winter long. There was always a small drift of leaves in the corners, reminding them of summer days when the purple flowers bloomed.
The leaves were shifting over the concrete, making a soft rustling sound, as Alex came out of the house and shut the sliding door behind him.
Sydney watched him head over to the cupboard and pluck a chair from the top of the stack and bring it over to where she and Rafe were sitting, where the sun was brightest and warmest.
Alex bent over Rafe and peered down at the baby’s contented face. “Have you come up with a name yet?” he asked Rafe.
“I still don’t get why it’s up to me,” Rafe said, rocking the baby.
“Because it’s Alex’s niece, Alex’s blood kin,” Sydney said. “Of course it has to be you who names her.”
Rafe rolled his eyes. “Of the three of us, I’m the only one who knows how to change a diaper and feed the baby, so I’m already contributing. You should come up with the name, Sydney.”
Sydney smiled. “Careful. I’ll nominate Anastasia or something equally as flowery and cumbersome.”
Rafe snorted. “That’s not as bad as the one I came up with.” He hefted the baby and got to his feet and stood over Alex. “Hold out your arms.”
“I’m out of practice,” Alex said. “The last time I did this was when the twins were born.”
“It’s a bike-ride thing.” Rafe put the baby in his arms and sat down again. “Soon as you’re comfortable, it’s Sydney’s turn.”
“No, I’m fine,” Sydney said quickly.
“You’re freaking out of your sweat socks,” Rafe said. “I’ll get you through it. Immersion therapy.”
Sydney blew out her breath. “Well…”
“We’re going to keep her, aren’t we?” Rafe said.
“Given where she came from, we can’t really do anything else but keep her,” Sydney said. “I promised Alim.”
Alex smiled. “I didn’t know at the time that I would be standing next to you while you rear her. Count me in, though. It seems fitting that we do it. Rafe, are you asking because you’re anxiously looking for the next surrogate family?”
Rafe shook his head. “Morrigan verbally slapped me out of that.” He glanced at Sydney and smiled. “You were one scary lady.”
“Good to know I will have your respect in the future, at least,” Sydney murmured.
“I was asking, because it doesn’t feel right to hand her over to Taylor and Veris and Brody. Just because we all suck at the kids thing doesn’t mean we can’t change.”
Alex leaned forward and kissed him. “I love you, you mangy Iberian.”
“Yeah, about that…” Rafe kissed him back, quickly. “I did some research. About slavery. Brody actually suggested it.”
Sydney glanced at Alex. They had both been waiting for Rafe to open the subject. Now he had. Sydney silently thanked Brody for nudging him.
“What about slavery?” Alex asked.
“It’s everywhere.”
“Yes, it is,” Alex said.
“If you broaden the definition to people who are tied to another individual for economic reasons, or extortion, or in any way have their freedom of choice curtailed by another human…then that’s a form of slavery, too.”
“Agreed,” Sydney said.
“Then, by that broadest definition, most of the human fucking population throughout time has been enslaved in one way or another.” Rafe’s voice rose. “The really offensive thing though, is that by far, the biggest portion of those people are women. Then children. Then the pitiful idiots like me make up the minority.”
Alex handed the baby to Sydney, his gaze on Rafe. Sydney took the blanketed bundle automatically, to give Alex both hands.
Alex bent over Rafe, put his hands around his face and kissed him, even more thoroughly than the first one. He rested his head against Rafe’s. “You are a beautiful man. No wonder I fell in love with you.”
He sat down again, while Rafe wore a little, warm smile. “What are you going to do about it?” Alex asked him.
Rafe’s smile faded. “I don’t know yet. I’m still trying to figure that out. Picking up former slaves, dusting them off and easing them out into the world again is going to be part of it. It felt good seeing Neven perk back to life the other day. Beyond that…it’s nebulous. Whatever it ends up being, I was kinda hoping…I want you both to help me.”
Alex let out a sigh. “Took you long enough.”
“I accept,” Sydney said.
“Hey, look at you, mother,” Rafe said, smiling.
Sydney realized she was rocking and patting the baby without thinking about it. She had just done it, too busy watching Rafe wind himself up to ask them, to help him to worry about whether she was doing it right.
“I guess it’s there in all of us,” she said. “Just buried more deeply in some.”
Alex rested his hand on her shoulder. “Rafe, you said you had a name for the baby.”
Rafe rolled his eyes. “It’s pretty awful. I was thinking about what you two told me, about Sydney’s time back in the eleventh century. The whole thing sounds very Arabian Nights.”
Sydney sighed. “Alex, you so have to buy a horse. I mean it.”
Alex’s smile was heated. Only last night, Sydney had shown Rafe what they had done on Basel’s back, by climbing onto Rafe’s lap, impaling herself and guiding his hands to the same spots.
With Alex watching and responding to the sight, the experience had been twice as intense. Rafe had been trembling at the end.
Rafe paused to recall the night, his eyes growing as warm as Alex’s.
“The awful name you were considering?” Alex asked him.
Rafe sighed. “Shahrazad. It means—”
“City of Freedom,” both she and Alex finished.
Rafe raised a brow. “Show offs. You see what I mean, though. She would never forgive us, saddling her with that name.”
“Saddling?” Sydney repeated.
“Wow, we’re all stuck in that channel,” Alex said. “There’s a good stud stable just outside Granada. I’ll call them, first chance I get.”
Rafe fished out his cellphone and held it out toward him.
Alex laughed. He had been doing a lot more of that lately, Sydney realized.
The baby stirred and made the soft, weak sounds she found so fascinating. The helplessness of the infant made her heart stir and beat with a fierce determination to protect her from anything and everything.
Sydney touched the tip of her finger against the child’s palm. Instantly, her fingers closed over the tip, too tiny to completely encircle her finger. The baby’s eyes opened a sliver. She looked at Sydney, then closed her eyes and slept once more, her hand firmly around Sydney’s finger.
Sydney looked up. Alex and Rafe were both watching her. The heat that had been in their eyes had shifted to a different sort of warmth and she realized the child in her arms was the key that would unlock the scars of the past for all of them. She would allow them to slough off their histories and take up new lives.
“I know what to call her,” Sydney said softly, so she wouldn’t wake the baby. She looked down at the little girl’s delicate face, then up at the two men she loved most in the world. “Liberty,” she said.
Alex considered it. He stared to smile again. “It’s—”
“Perfect,” Rafe finished.
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The Next Book in the Kiss Across Time series
Kiss Across Worlds, Book 6 in the Kiss Across Time series.
He must find a way to be evil.
To save Veris’ and Brody’s son Aran from sex traffickers, Neven Zoric must step into the life of his alter ego in this timeline. Kristijan Zoric is a hardened crime boss Neven doesn’t understand. Worse, Neven must fool Kristjan’s lethal, ruthless lieutenant, Remi De Sauveterre, a vampire who survived the French Revolution and now gives no quarter.
Then Kristjan’s estranged, bitter wife arrives in Serbia. London McCallum wants nothing but her freedom from the vile tyrant that rules her life—only he’s not as hateful as she remembers…
Wow, again Wow. I swear this author must be a time traveler because this story is filled with such awesome details.—Reader Review
Buy your copy of Kiss Across Worlds now:
https://tracycooperposey.com/kiss-across-worlds/