Immortal Stories: Eve Read Online Free

sorry, I’m rambling.  You okay?”
    “I’m fine.”
    “Good, okay.  Watch your step.”
    There was a small recess in the sidewalk that could sprain the ankle of someone unwary.  It wasn’t the sort of thing to panic over.  She stepped past it, as she imagined she would have without the forewarning.
    She thought back to a time when she became enamored of a soldier participating in one of the Napoleonic wars.  It was impossible to say what struck her about him.  He was large, brutish and confident, but not handsomely chiseled, and not otherwise rakish or clever.  She wanted him nonetheless, and so, after a particularly gruesome battle—which battle, what field it transpired upon, or how it ended she couldn’t say—Eve appeared to him in a clearing near his tent.
    From his perspective she was a magical woman who had arrived from another world, and he was afraid, right up until she asked him to bed her.  He quickly overcame his fear, tossed her over his shoulder and carried her into his tent.  They made love on the ground amidst muck and upturned soil.
    It was a fond memory.  She couldn’t remember the name of the soldier, but she could still smell the mud from the field.
    The Frenchman thought she was probably a devil, but had no issue engaging in sex with one when presented an opportunity.  Rick, a citizen of a less superstitious age, undoubtedly did not think this of her.  But was showing no imperative.  Rather than warn her of cracks in the sidewalk, he could have picked her up in those long arms and taken her inside.  The closest he had come, so far, was to offer to carry her bag.
    His hands betrayed a small tremble when unlocking the door that led to the entryway, and he kept looking over his shoulder to make sure she was still there.  She could step into the veil if she wanted and—from his perspective—effectively disappear.  He was acting like he knew this to be a real possibility.
    Once inside, they went up the open hallway stairs to another locked door and more fumbling, and then they were in his private space.
    “It’s not much,” he said,” and it’s a mess, but I didn’t think I’d be picking up a girl with my coffee.”
    It was a room with a couch and a television, a dining table and chairs, a small side area with cooking appliances, and two doors: presumably, a bedroom and a bathroom. 
    There were loose articles of clothing on the floor of the living room, plus a hamper of folded clothing and linens on the couch. 
    She forgot how much clothing people were accustomed to having in these times.  All she had was a small duffel bag with three sets of clothing and a second pair of shoes.  The remaining contents of the bag was paper money, which she decided she might have to use to obtain more clothing, or a place to live, or both.  It depended on how much the money could get her.
    Rick continued to act incredibly nervous, and began picking up his clothes while pointing out features of his small living area. 
    “This is the living room, and the bedroom’s through there, bathroom’s over there if you need it.”  He flung a handful of clothes in a pile near the bedroom door.  “Are you hungry?  Table’s new, I never even ate at it, but…”
    In the time it had taken him to pick up, she’d gotten out of her clothing.
    “…oh,” he said.
    “I chose apparel that was easy to remove,” she said.  “There is no hurry, if yours requires more effort.  Take your time.”
    “Do you want to…” he pointed to the bedroom, still mostly speechless.  It wasn’t entirely dissimilar to the way he was staring at her before, only this time he appeared to be a good deal more incapacitated, and he wasn’t looking at her eyes so much any longer.
    Eve had always been athletic, and thin, with breasts large enough to draw the eye but small enough so she could run without being in a great deal of pain.  There had been many centuries in which her physique was less than the feminine