Abducted Heart (Z-Series) (13 page)
Read Abducted Heart (Z-Series) Online
Authors: Jerri Drennen
Casey arched her back, reveling in his expertise. His mouth slid to the other breast, licking at the tip of her nipple.
When his mouth left her, she felt abandoned, missing the pleasure until his tongue lapped down to her bellybutton and delved inside, causing her to jerk. The man had a magic touch—a magic tongue.
His tongue started moving again, down to find her clit, flicking the bud back and forth, spasms in her womb getting her juices flowing. She'd never experienced anything so incredible. He continued his probing, darting inside her until she thought she'd splinter in two.
Then he slid up her body and took her mouth to his in a hard kiss. He cupped her ass and drove into her, the intensity almost taking her breath.
Casey moved with him, each thrust going deeper, filling her until she exploded and tightened around him. He quickened his pace, sweat forming between their two bodies, intensifying everything until Casey came again, Lynch just seconds behind her.
He collapsed on top of her, then rolled her to his side, both of them trying to catch their breath.
Casey lay next to him, watching the rise and fall of his chest. She loved this man so much that it scared her. When she was nineteen, she was just a kid learning about love. Now she knew the feelings she shared with Lynch were special and overpowering.
“I love you, Casey,” Lynch said.
Casey's gaze flew to his face. The raw emotion she saw in his eyes brought tears to hers. He did love her. She could see that.
“I love you, too.”
He leaned in and brushed his lips over her. “You going to talk to your father in the morning?”
“Yes, but I have something I need to do first.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Lynch had no idea where Casey was taking them since she refused to tell him. All she did say was to get into the passenger seat of her car and wait.
When they turned into the French Quarter, he was even more confused.
“Care to tell me what we're doing down here again?”
She glanced his way, then returned her attention to the road. Fifteen minutes later they were walking down Bourbon.
Lynch could only assume they were headed for the psychic's shop and he wasn't sure how he felt about that, especially after all her predictions seemed to have been right.
On entering, again he was bombarded by a strong scent in the air. It was neither pleasant nor unpleasant.
The woman looked up from a tarot card reading she was giving a woman. She didn't look at all surprised to see them. “I'll be with you two in a moment. Look around. You might find something you like.”
Lynch doubted that, but Casey took his hand and led him to a table filled with oils, boxes of intense sticks and cones.
Casey opened a small bottle and sniffed the contents, then smiled and lifted it to him. He took a whiff. It smelled like spring rain. She replaced the cap and put the bottle back.
“Find anything?” the woman asked, drawing them to her.
“I need to talk to you.” Casey pulled away from Lynch. “About something you said to me the other day.”
“What was that?”
“You talked about betrayal. Can you be more specific? I need to know if that was meant for my husband or my father?”
“Come. Sit down and I'll do a reading for you.”
Lynch wasn't sure if Casey should or not. But then the woman had helped find Casey—however inadvertent it had been.
“Please. Both of you.” She gestured to the table, looking intensely at Lynch.
Casey glanced at him.
He shrugged and followed her to the table. On top was a stack of big, blue cards.
Lynch waited for both women to sit, then took a seat next to Casey.
The seer picked up the cards and handed them to Casey. “I want you to shuffle the deck.”
She mixed up the cards, glanced for a moment at Lynch, then handed them back to the woman.
She placed seven cards down. Three straight across. Two down on each side.
The woman flipped the two cards going down over. “These two cards represent your past.”
One was the Queen of Wands, the other the Five of Cups.
“You've had a lot of pain and sorrow.”
Next the woman turned the other two going down over.
Both were Kings. The first, the King of Cups, the other, the King of Wands. “These two cards represent the men in your life. Does that make sense to you?” the woman asked.
Casey nodded.
The last three cards she turned over one after the other.
The first was the Lovers card. The second, the Ten of Swords. The third and final, the Tower.
The woman sat studying those cards, then looked at them both.
“The Lover,” she said, smiling at them, “is a destined love relationship and choices that you've made.
“The Ten of Swords indicated ultimate betrayal by someone you trusted.
“The last card, the Tower, means all hell has broken loose, but it will all work out in the end.”
Casey turned to Lynch who was taking the reading in. The cards certainly seemed to fit Casey's life to a T, but could he put his faith into what the card said? He didn't know.
Lynch reached for his wallet, intending to pay her when she shook her head. “This reading is on me. Come back after the baby is born, and I'll do another. Then you can pay me.”
“I'm not...”
“Yes, you are. Trust me.”
Casey turned to him, her eyes filled with tears.
Could this woman be right? They hadn't used protection the night before, but how could she know that?
“Do you want me to tell you if it will be a boy or girl?”
Lynch jerked his attention to the woman. “No,” he said, then looked at Casey, who nodded in agreement.
Lynch pulled her from the chair, and the two left.
*
Lynch insisted on driving them to her parents' house. That way, Casey could sit back and think about what had just happened with the psychic, and also what she was going to say to her father. She prayed she could keep her cool until she said what she needed to.
When he drove the car up the long, cobblestoned drive to her parents’ elaborate estate, she considered backing out. Maybe it'd be best to just let it go? Just refuse to ever talk to the man again, but she thought Lynch deserved to know why her father had gone to such drastic means to end their relationship.
Lynch parked in front of the door and looked over at her. “Do you want me to wait here?”
“No. I think you have a right to know why Daddy sent you that letter, even if it was for selfish reasons. He needs to know how much pain he caused us both.”
Lynch got out of the car and came around and helped Casey from the car. They stepped up to the massive double doors and rang the bell. He took her hand in his and squeezed it tight. He knew this was going to be hard for her and he was there to help her through it.
A tall lady in a staunch white uniform greeted them. “Mrs. Jackson. I didn't know you were coming by today.”
“They're not expecting me. Are they both here?”
“Yes. They are in the study, I believe. Would you like me to tell them you're here?”
Casey shook her head. “No. That's all right. I'll just surprise them.”
The woman smiled and moved to allow them inside.
Casey dragged Lynch with her through the large foyer, down the long hall to the study.
She tightened her hold on his hand and entered the room, finding her parents in what appeared to be a heated discussion.
Both turned to look at her, then Lynch.
Her father scowled. “What’s going on, Casey? I’ve been trying to call you.”
“I've been busy,” she snapped back. Both her mother and father looked at each other, then returned their attention to her.
“I want to know why you needed all that money, Casey. Are you in trouble?”
“I was until Lynch came home.”
“I don't understand,” his father said, looking sternly at Casey.
“Brent was trying to kill me.”
There.
She said it.
“What?” her mother asked, getting off the sofa and crossing the room to come to her. She pulled her into her arms and held her.
“Let her explain herself, woman.”
Casey stepped away from her mother and stared at the man who had always been difficult to deal with. Now, she no longer cared what he thought of her. Not when he'd watched her suffer for months with the loss of Lynch and their child, and he'd been the one to cause it all.
“He racked up a bill at Harrah's and stole money from his company to pay the tab. Tax season was drawing near, and they were going to find out about his embezzlement. He secretly had life insurance policies on me. He planned to kill me and make it look like a home invasion.”
“But that still doesn't explain why you needed the money I gave you.”
“To catch me off-guard, he pretended to be kidnapped, and that money was for the ransom.”
“That son-of-a-bitch.” Her father started to pace. He stopped to ask. “So where is he now?”
“In jail. Your money is being held until after his arraignment,” Lynch said.
“Do they know everything?”
“No. Just the embezzlement part.”
“Why is that?” her father asked, looking confused.
“He’ll spend time in jail and that’s all I care about.”
“What happens now?” her mother asked.
“I continue with my divorce.”
Her father's eyes narrowed. “Continue? What are you saying, Casey? That you had filed for divorce and never told your mother or me? Why is that?”
“Well, we all know how many secrets this family has, Daddy. This is hardly the first.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Did you think I would never find out you sent Lynch a letter ending our relationship while he was in boot camp?”
“What? I don't know what you're talking about. I did no such thing.”
Casey stared at him. Why did he look angry she'd even insinuate such a thing?
“You're lying,” Lynch said, taking a step toward the man.
Casey held tight to his hand. Her father wouldn't hesitate to have him arrested if he laid a hand on him.
Casey glanced at her mother who had paled. Why? Was she worried that Lynch would hurt her husband? Somehow she doubted that. Casey never once saw an ounce of concern for the man she married. She was too busy trying to entertain other men.
Under her stare, her mother started to squirm.
No
. She couldn't have.
“Did you write that letter, Mother?” She and her mom had very similar signatures. “Did you?”
“He wasn't good enough for you, sweetheart. I thought it'd be best to break it off when he left. After all, there was no guarantee he'd come back.”
Casey couldn't believe what her mother said. She knew the pain she'd gone through, had been there with her every day at the hospital before her son died. How could she have not told her the truth?
“I don't know what to say. I thought Daddy sent that letter.” She looked at her father, who suddenly looked frail to her. What had her parents been fighting about when they'd arrived?
“Is there something going on here?” she asked her father.
“I'm leaving your mother.”
Casey swallowed the emotion clogging her throat. “Why?”
“I don't think that matters. This is a long time in coming. It's best if we end things on good terms now, rather than end on a bad note later.”
Casey had no idea what to say. She'd come storming in there, determined to never see her father again, and now, everything had changed. She always suspected that her parents' marriage wasn't that great—with all her mother's infidelities, but she thought it was something the two agreed upon, yet maybe that had never been the case.
“I know you are angry with your mother, Casey, and I don't blame you, but I questioned if Lynch was right for you, as well. I seriously believe she thought it was best for you.”
Casey shook her head. “I don't think so. I think she wasn't happy, and she didn't want anyone else to be either.”
“That's not true, Casey. If I had known about...”
“He knows about our son.”
“If I'd have known you were pregnant, I never would have sent that letter. You have to believe me.”
“I don't have to believe anything. Let's go, Lynch.”
“Where are you going, Casey?” her father asked.
She turned back. “To Virginia, with Lynch, like I should have ten years ago.”
The End
About the Author
Jerri Drennen was raised on a farm in a tiny town in Minnesota where the winters were long and being stuck inside afforded her the opportunity to read and tell stories. Years later, after moving away from family to Missouri, marrying her husband of now twenty-five years and having their four children, she started writing. Eleven years and many manuscripts later, she has a number book available in various media outlets. You can find her at
jerridrennen.com/
. If you enjoyed the book, please consider letting her know. She loves hearing from readers.
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