Time and Again

find some nice,
    appreciative companions. Maybe on Mars. I can take care of myself, pal. Just consider that I've hitched a ride."
    "It has nothing to do with what I want. It's what's best for you."
    "I know what's best for me." She rapped a fist on his chest. "I thought it was you, but I've made one or two mistakes before." She spun away and took two steps before he grabbed her.
    "Where are you going to go?" he demanded. "There's still a few thousand kilometers before we hit breathable atmosphere."
    "It's a big ship."
    "Sit down."
    "I don't-"
    "I said sit down." He gave her a none-too-gentle shove that sent her sprawling into the chair. "And shut up. I have something to say to you." When she braced her hands on the arms of the chair, he lifted a fist.
    "If you get up, I swear I'm going to belt you."
    Seething, she sat back. "That's one term that appears to have survived the centuries."
    "If I'd known what you were planning I'd have used that term before. There were risks involved here that you have no conception of. If I'd made a mistake, a miscalculation, even the slightest-"
    "But you didn't."
    "That's not the point."
    "What is the point, Hornblower?"
    "You shouldn't have done this."
    She let out an impatient breath. "Well, it's no use belaboring that point, because I have done it. Why don't we move on to the next step?"
    He found he had to sit himself. "You may never be able to get back."
    "I know. I've accepted that."
    "If you change your mind-"
    "Jacob." Sighing, she rose, only to kneel beside him. "I can't change my mind unless I change my heart.
    And that's just not possible."
    He reached out to touch her hair. "I wouldn't have asked this of you."
    "I know. And if I had asked to come with you you would have given me half a dozen very logical reasons why I couldn't." She turned her face into his palm. "And you'd have been wrong. What I couldn't do is live without you."
    "Sunny."
    "Look at it this way. I've always felt that I was ahead of my time, kind of placed in the wrong era.
    Maybe I'll do better in yours."
    "This was a stupid thing to do." Then he pulled her up into his lap. "Thank God you did it."
    "Then you're not mad?"
    He showed her just how mad he was when his mouth took hers. "When you wouldn't see me today, it was as if you'd cut out my heart. It didn't matter, because I'd wanted to leave it with you."
    Tears rushed to her eyes, but she forced them back. She wanted only to smile at him. "That's almost poetic."
    "Don't get used to it." Still holding her, he leaned forward to make some adjustments on the control panel.
    "Can you teach me how to drive this?"
    He slanted her a look. She was here, really here. And his. Forever. "I'm already terrified of the idea of you at the controls of a cruise rider."
    "I'm a quick study."
    "That's what I'm afraid of." He drew her back until she was settled in the curve of his arm. "I'm not sure even my world's ready for you."
    "But you are."
    He kissed her again, gently. "I've been ready all my life."
    With a sigh, she teased his mouth until the passion simmered. "I don't suppose we could put this thing on automatic pilot or whatever."
    "Not at this point."
    "We did make it back, didn't we?"
    He inclined his head toward the screen. "We've got a little way to go yet."
    "No, I mean back. What year is it?"
    He gestured toward the dials. "2254."
    The enormity of it made her giddy. His arms made her trust. "So that makes me- 287 years old." She cocked a brow. "How do you feel about older women?"
    "I'm crazy about them."
    "Remember that when I bit three hundred and things start to sag." She kissed him lightly. "I plan to frustrate you, annoy you and generally make your life chaos for a long time."
    "I'm counting on it."
    Together they watched the blue-green sphere that was home draw closer.

Epilogue
    The sound of crashing waves seemed to fill the room. The clear wall opened the suite to the passion of the lightning-split sky and the boiling sea. The scent of jasmine, rich and sultry, rose on the air. Low, pulsing music echoed over the roar of waves and the violent boom of thunder.
    "I was right," Sunny murmured.
    Jacob shifted on the cloud bed to draw her closer. "About what-this time?"
    "The storm." Her body still vibrated from passion just released. "I knew it wasn't a night for moonlight or tropical sunsets."
    She had been right. But he hated to admit it. "The atmosphere didn't make that much difference."
    She rolled, all but floated, to lie across him. "Is that why