Ellora's Cavemen: Tales from the Temple IV (20 page)

His chest, pressed against hers, was hot, burning, his heart, slamming against her, his chest moving raggedly with each breath he took as he drove deeply inside her cleft, riding her roughly, holding her thighs wide and open. CJ could taste herself on his mouth, and underneath it, him, a taste that was so bizarrely familiar and so damn necessary, she didn’t know how she had survived this long without it.

Her heart trembled as she felt herself start to come again.

And he moaned her name against her lips as he started to jet off inside her.

“When did you start to remember?”

Snuggling her cheek against the warm, smooth vault of his chest, she murmured,

“About a week after I came back. I started having dreams. Then I was reading one of her journals and I started daydreaming. I knew how it ended before I finished it—

exactly how it ended. I thought I was losing my mind.”

Threading his hand through her hair, Luke pressed his lips to her brow. “I’ve been waiting so damn long.” A soft laugh escaped him and he murmured, “I think I’ve lost track of how long I’ve been here.”

“You have to come home, you know that, don’t you?”

With a slow, feral smile, and his eyes gleaming, Luke responded, “I’ve just been waiting for the doors to open to me again.”

124

Ghost of a Chance

Chapter Five

Their hands linked loosely together, Luke and CJ stood at the back gate, the closest he had been to the plantation in more than a century. “He knows who I am,” CJ said softly. Fear, remembered fear, was started to brew in her gut as she stared at the house.

Even though the day was bright and it was just past noon, a shadow had seemed to cast itself over the house and the oppressive weight of it was already spreading to her.

“Of course he does, love. But he wasn’t able to scare you away. That must have pissed him off something awful.” Glancing at her, his dove-gray eyes softened as he studied her face. “I’m sorry I didn’t come back sooner, and keep him away from you completely.”

CJ flushed. It wasn’t right, that he apologize for that. What Davenport had done had been Davenport’s wrong. “Don’t. Katherine Greene had other people she could have told, other people she could have spoken to. She could have gone back to her parents’ house, or to stay with family in another county. She chose to stay at the plantation. It wasn’t his…or your fault for her silence.”

He laughed. “It was another life ago, wasn’t it? Even for me. And we will leave it that way…after I settle an old score.”

Through the gate they went, and CJ’s grip on his hand tightened and the weight on her shoulders, in her chest, grew with every step. More memories from that last night flashed through her mind—hearing the gunshots from outside, watching Davenport swagger back up to the house through the rain, seeing him staring at her through the thin cotton of her nightrail as she stared at him, horrified, shocked, and grieving.

Lucas was gone…in her heart she knew it, and she had already started to die.

“Shhh…” Luke whispered as they mounted the stairs.

She scrubbed the tears away from her face and sucked in a breath, stilling the gasping sobs that had started to rack her body. CJ wasn’t going to let Davenport see her like this. He’d see it as fear, not grief, not pain.

The house was oppressively silent as they went through the door and CJ flinched at the sound of Luke closing the door behind them.

Get out of my house…

The malevolent voice filled the air and Luke’s mouth curled in a mean smile as he shook his head. Holding firm to CJ’s hand, he said levelly, “Davenport, you bastard, it’s my house. It was always mine. You take your dead carcass out and be done with it.”

It is mine.

She’s mine. I’ve been torturing the little bitch since she was a child. I’ll torture her until
she’s old and gray, and do the same in her next life.

125

Shiloh Walker

CJ snorted. “A little girl is much easier to scare than I am. Do your worst.”

Oh, I will. And I’ll take him away from you again
.

The power in the house started to converge in one spot, swirling and tightening and blurring together as the windows rattled and doors began to slam. High-pitched, otherworldly shrieks rent the air and CJ clapped her hands over her ears, but Luke just stood there, hands loose and ready at his sides, as he waited.

Waited for what?

What was going on?

Everything went black inside the house. In full daylight. When the darkness finally lifted, some thick fog obscured everything and CJ could barely see Luke. Reaching for him, she felt his hand meeting hers and he moved her, nudging her back against the grand stairwell. “Stay here, love. Promise? This has to be mine this time,” he murmured against her mouth.

“What’s going—?”

A laugh filled the hall, low, evil, familiar. And
real
…

As the fog drifted slightly clearer, a man’s form was visible as he moved closer. Tall, stocky, with the long sideburns and slicked-back hairstyle from the 1840s. He wore his long coat open over a half-unbuttoned shirt, and breeches tucked into black knee-high boots that had a shine that became more and more apparent as he sauntered closer.

“Remember me, Katherine?” he drawled in a thick Southern voice. A cruel, cold voice that made her skin shudder and crawl.

Dear God in Heaven
,
she prayed silently as her knees threatened to give.
Give me
strength.

Yes, she remembered him. Completely. He had terrorized a girl of eighteen whose only experience with men had been with a man who had loved her, who was gentle and considerate and patient. Davenport had pinned her against walls, pinched her roughly, forced her to her knees and shoved her face against his crotch while telling her he’d like to use his slave’s crop on her back.

He had paced outside her room for hours on end when she locked herself inside, and once had even busted the door down when Alice hadn’t been home. Davenport had totally and completely terrorized her, until she jumped at her own shadow.

The night Collin Lucas returned, Davenport had pinned her down in the library and ripped her clothes off, tying her with strips from her petticoat, holding her down with his boot on her belly. As he fell down atop her, that was when Alice came in the room, her eyes wide with fright, fear, and shock.

CJ thought she could still feel the cold splash of brandy as it struck her face, splattered her arms tied to the legs of a chair, the stinging little bites of glass that flew from the leaded crystal, and Davenport’s furious roar.

“She’s afraid…I can feel it,” he rumbled, laughing.

126

Ghost of a Chance

With a smile, CJ opened her eyes. “You were kept from me twice, and both times by a woman. What makes you think you can win this time?”

The tinkling sound of a woman’s laughter filled the air as Luke smiled at CJ.

Davenport hissed at her. “Bitch!”

The men lunged, Davenport for Luke. But Luke went for the old, gleaming sword that hung over the coat tree in the hall, the one Collin’s great-grandfather had carried in the Revolutionary War. Whirling on his heel, he stepped forward and plunged the sword hilt deep into Davenport’s chest. No heart beat there, but as the sharp tip penetrated, a sickly foul light emerged and Davenport started to shudder and scream.

“I should have cut out your heart the night you laid hands on my women…my bride and my mother.” Luke moved up to the convulsing, shuddering beast that was slowing collapsing in on itself and he whispered softly, “You never had a chance this time around. Not a ghost of a chance.”

Within seconds, Davenport’s body and soul were gone. The darkness inside the house completely faded, leaving the sword lying on the floor, gleaming, untouched. As Luke knelt to lift it up, the music of his mother laughing filled the house again, and a warm spring breeze rushed through it.

“Oh, Collin Lucas. My boy…my baby…” a woman murmured, her voice low and husky.

“Mama,” Luke said, his voice thick, rough with tears. He stared into one room, the ladies’ sitting room, and started to walk in there, as CJ waited.

“Precious boy. You did well. You did well…thank you for letting me go,” she murmured, folding her presence around him and holding him tight before she, too, started to fade away.

“Wait!”

Laughingly, she asked, “Haven’t we all waited enough?”

Turning, he met CJ’s eyes. “Hell, yeah.”

And then he reached for her.

127

About the author:

They always say to tell a little about yourself! I was born in Kentucky and have been reading avidly since I was six. At twelve, I discovered how much fun it was to write when I took a book that didn’t end the way it should have ended, and I rewrote it.

I've been writing since then.

About me now... hmm... I've been married since I was 19 to my high school sweetheart and we live in the midwest. Recently I made the plunge and turned to writing full-time and am looking for a part-time job so I can devote more time to my family—two adorable children who are growing way too fast, and my husband who doesn't see enough of me...

Shiloh welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora’s Cave Publishing at 1337 Commerce Drive, Suite 13, Stow OH 44224.

Also by Shiloh Walker:

Coming In Last

Every Last Fantasy

Firewalkers: Dreamer

Her Best Friend’s Lover

Her Wildest Dreams

His Christmas Cara

Make Me Believe

Mythe & Magick

Mythe: Vampire

Once Upon A Midnight Blue

Silk Scarves and Seduction

The Dragon’s Warrior

The Hunters: Delcan and Tori

The Hunters: Eli and Sarel

The Hunters: Jonathan and Lori

Touch of Gypsy Fire

Voyeur

Whipped Cream and Handcuffs

PAST RUNNING

Mlyn Hurn

Past Running

Chapter One

Aeryn looked back at the six people following her. She knew they trusted her, and that she was familiar with where they were going. Aeryn could see it in their eyes that their faith and hope rested with her. She took a deep breath, her eyes squinting to see better in the darkness.

A voice, a few feet behind her, spoke harshly a moment later. “Damn it! Do you even know where we are, Aeryn?”

Aeryn didn’t look at the speaker, but her spine stiffened at his brash demands. “If you think you can do better, then you get up here and lead the way!” She heard the women gasp in surprise at her words and tone. They probably thought she was crazy talking back to this man, who held a gun on them and had threatened many things, least of which was killing them.

Aeryn continued on, knowing the man wouldn’t answer her. He was lost without her, and he knew it. His two cohorts probably weren’t aware of it yet, but for sure, Craig had no idea where they were. And Aeryn knew he had no idea on how to get out of town without being spotted. So she kept on walking.

* * * * *

About an hour later, Jenny cried out from near the rear of the procession. They all stopped as the teenaged girl hobbled along a few more steps. She needed water and Aeryn’s sister, Elyse, passed her the water jug she was carrying. Jenny lived with Elyse, since her parents had died a few years earlier. The man walking at the rear near Jenny offered his arm for her to lean on, but he did it softly, so his cousin Craig wouldn’t hear him.

Aeryn quickly spoke, drawing everyone’s attention forward. “We’ll be out of the caverns soon.”

Aeryn felt Craig’s angry glare land on her. She had felt the heat in his gaze the first time he saw her. His desire was blatant, no doubt made worse while he stewed in prison.

“So get going, damn it!”

She held his stare, fighting the urge to snap back angrily, like she used to do when he made comments like that. She’d learned that such behavior only egged him on. No doubt he didn’t like this cold, controlled woman that she’d become over the last five years.

131

Mlyn Hurn

He looked back and yelled, “Step it up, damn it all, or we won’t make it out before dark.”

It was about twenty minutes later that Aeryn stepped out of the cold, dank cavern and felt the salty sea air stinging her pale cheeks. It felt like she had been leading the way through the caves for weeks and not just the last couple of hours. She moved away from the entrance and down onto the sandy beach that would soon be flooded by high tide.

She glanced to the left and saw the cabin impressively perched on the rocky promontory as it had been for decades. It took an hour to reach it by road, but she knew that Devlin McDonald would have the road blocked. And therefore the police, sheriff’s department and whoever else might be searching wouldn’t think of going to the cabin to check it out again.

Craig walked over to Aeryn. “Is the boat still moored on the other side of the rocks?” he asked her roughly, demandingly.

Aeryn nodded. “Unless it’s wrecked against the rocks, it will still be there. We better get moving, before the tide comes in and strands us down here. Come on everyone.” She turned and started up the sloping rocks towards the cabin. She imagined it would be dusty, but otherwise was stocked, as they had left it. At the side door, she knelt down and found the hidden key and slipped it into the lock. She opened the door and gestured for the others to go on in.

Craig walked past her first, making sure he brushed against her body intimately.

Aeryn looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. She replaced the key, and closing the door.

Craig spoke abruptly to his cousins, Tony and Mark. “Go through the cabin. Make sure all the shades and curtains are pulled down. I’ll go start the portable generator.”

Aeryn looked at her sister, Elyse. “Why don’t you have Jenny lie down for a bit on the sofa?”

Their cousin Sara stood nervously with her hands folded.

“Sara? Could you help me get a hot meal going in the kitchen? We’ll all feel better with some hot food in our bellies. Just call out if you can’t find something.” Aeryn started running the faucet to clear it of any rusty water. A few moments later she heard the generator start up, and soon the overhead fans started turning to circulate the air.