“Maybe you spend too much money on shoes or gossip with your co-workers about who has put on the most weight?”
Still giggling, I said, “No, nothing like that.”
“Then what?”
Best not to answer that one. I shrugged.
He gently touched one of my bare shoulders. The feelings that simple caress prompted nearly caused my panties to burst into flames. What was it about this man that stripped me of all my resolve?
“Ruby,” he whispered.
I found myself moving into his embrace. With his hands on my waist, they rested there only momentarily before sliding over my hips to palm my ass. A whimper escaped me, and his mouth descended upon mine.
Heaven help me!
The heat that erupted in my lower abdomen spread into my thighs and swept between my legs. Solomon’s tongue pressed the seam of my lips asking for permission to enter. I parted them, and our tongues dueled in a rhythm that imitated what I wanted to do with our bodies. My pulse jumped in my jugular so hard it almost hurt. Oh, how I wanted this man! I desired to investigate every inch of his pale body. I wanted to straddle him and stare into his ghostly eyes as we made love, riding him until he claimed exhaustion and could no longer move.
He kneaded my buttocks, urging me closer. I pushed against him, the evidence of his arousal hard and prominent through his slacks.
“Ruby.” The word slipped from his lips like a vague breeze. “I want you. Let me,” he nipped the skin on my throat, “have you tonight.”
How could I refuse him? I wanted him so badly it’s a miracle the heat we generated didn’t ignite our clothes.
“You don’t know what you’re getting into,” I breathed against his stubbly cheek, my tongue tracing the scars along his jaw line. A gasp burst from me as he cupped one of my breasts.
“I know enough,” he said and claimed my mouth again.
He moved with me down the hall, our bodies bumping, his lips never leaving mine. We jostled the little table supporting the hurricane lamp, nearly upsetting it from its perch. Solomon jerked away from me and righted the light. He took my hand and led me toward the door at the end of the corridor. Once there, my doubts resurfaced.
“No,” I said. “You’ll end up hating me.”
“How could I hate you?” he asked, wonder in his eyes.
“Trust me, you will.”
“No way.”
“Solomon, I—”
He pushed me to the wall and kissed me until I struggled for air. My determination to change his mind faded and dispersed on a wave of sensation that left me powerless.
Solomon fumbled with the doorknob, and the door opened to swing inward and bang against the wall. He caught it on the rebound and kicked it shut. I barely had time to register the masculinity of the room before his fingers untied the straps to my halter top. The garment fell around my waist, and his palms quickly discovered my breasts, which had grown heavy with need. Their dark, sensitive peaks ached for him to tantalize them with his tongue until I begged for him to stop.
I had no defense against him. My only thoughts were to have him thrusting into my body. Even as I reveled in the mind-blowing sensations he evoked, his touch and kisses still seemed familiar.
But how was that possible?
Fire awakened in the center of my body. As he kissed and touched me, the heat streaked out along my arms and legs. The light began softly, but the more excited I became, the brighter the illumination grew.
“No!” I pushed back from Solomon. “No, I can’t do this. We can’t.”
He still held me, his arms loose around my waist. “Ruby, the glow doesn’t bother me and you don’t scare me.”
“You don’t understand.” Still wanting him and frightened at the same time, I broke free of his embrace and walked backward to the door. “I also set things on fire and blow stuff up. I’d never forgive myself if I hurt you. I’m cursed, okay? Cursed.”
“Let me decide for myself.” He held his hand out to me.
Oh, how I wanted to lace my fingers with his and allow him to lead me to his bed. I wanted that more than anything.
“I can’t, Solomon. I’m sorry.” Turning, I hurried out of his room and down the hall to mine.
Once inside and the door shut behind me, I leaned against it and bit my lip to keep from crying. My body screamed for sexual release, but I wanted more. I wanted to be loved and held. With a sigh, I gulped back tears and strode to the bed to undress.
Chapter Nine
Something woke me in the middle of the night. I lay listening intently. The A/C kicked on, and cool air filtered into the dark bedroom. Moonlight illuminated the sheers. Blinking sleep from my eyes, I stared at the red glow of the digital clock on the nightstand which read 3:17. A few feet away, Maureen snored softly and muttered unintelligible words.
Something wasn’t right.
I wiggled out of the covers, gently tugged my braid out from under the pillow, and got out of bed. At one of the windows, I peered down at the back lawn silvered in moonshine.
WE’RE WAITING FOR YOU. COME TO US, RUBY. HE WILL FOLLOW.
The last thing I wanted to “hear” at nearly three-thirty in the morning was that infernal voice. Come to them? And who was this he the voice referred to?
Images of the suicide machines bombarded my mind, followed by the thirteenth biker and what his proximity had done to me as I lain in the back of my Jeep.
I gulped and willed the ball of fear wedged against my heart to go away. A dark feeling tickled the edges of my consciousness. I crossed the room and, knowing I shouldn’t, turned the doorknob and opened it to the murky hall beyond. The door whispered across the carpet, the sound shattering the heavy silence.
Naked, I hesitated. Why was I so frightened? Granted it was a strange house, but Solomon had secured the doors and windows downstairs.
Perhaps I’d heard Sam up moving around?
Something is here that shouldn’t be.
My robe lay on the foot of the bed. I swept it up and slipped my arms into the sleeves. Quietly, I opened the door wider. Shunka greeted me, bushy tail swishing to and fro.
“Come on, pal,” I whispered.
The dog followed me, his eyes glowing white in the dim moonshine spilling through a hall window.
As I tiptoed along the balcony spanning the upper edges of the big living room, I kept my gaze on the downstairs, the banister cool beneath my palm. At the top of the steps, I halted. The Malamute stopped too and pressed against my leg. If I had any sense, I’d go back to bed and pray for sleep, but something bothered me and it wasn’t in my nature to ignore such feelings. I’d learned the hard way too many times.
The Malamute issued a long, low whine.
“What is it, boy?”
The animal pressed tighter against my thigh and let out another worried whine.
“They’re here, aren’t they?”
He licked my hand.
I descended the stairs. With each step, my heart slammed harder. I didn’t want to find what was waiting, but I had no choice. Something told me I had a job to do, an important task, but it scared me shitless.
The carpet felt cool beneath my feet. The A/C whispered from the vents, but sweat broke out across my body. The dog echoed my sentiments with his anxious panting. Something drew me to the kitchen where a door led out to the cabin’s back deck. Maureen and Sam had sat out there that evening. Sam had even built a fire in the fancy, encased fire pit so Maureen could toast marshmallows. The shadows cast by leaping flames gyrated on the kitchen windows and created bizarre, mutated shapes on the appliances and red-painted walls.
Shunka’s claws clicked on the tile as he padded to the multi-paned back door. There, I peered through one of the glasses.
Sam sat by the fire pit encircled by a patterned steel ring of stag-and-tree cutouts. He clasped a dried gourd painted in red and blue with turkey and eagle feathers hanging from it. In his other hand he held a long-stemmed pipe that he’d toke on every so often and
blow blue-white smoke into the air above him.
Shunka began whining again.
Sam rose and dropped the pipe into the patio chair. He held his free hand out in front of him, palm flat like a cop halting traffic. I peered harder into the darkness beyond the fire ring. Although I’d somehow sensed their presence, the glow of yellow eyes still forced a gasp of fear and dismay from my mouth.
How could it be possible the creatures from my dreams were real?
DO YOU SEE WHY YOU MUST COME TO US, RUBY? HURRY! WE’RE WAITING.
Against my better judgment, I turned the doorknob and stepped out on the wide deck with my legs trembling and senses acute. The dog remained close to me. The ruff around his neck stood on end, and a deep growl reverberated in his chest.
“I’ve held them off as long as I can,” Sam said over his shoulder.
Something awakened within me. It stirred in the center of my chest, the feeling both invigorating and unsettling. With adrenaline slicing through my veins, I descended from the deck to join Sam. Shunka sat in front of us, ears perked, snout to the air, hackles raised.
The inky forms from my dreams and visions lined the perimeters of the deck. There were seven of them, each one a large, swirling mass of indigo and gray smoke, their eyes like yellow halogen lanterns, talons long, gleaming and as bright yellow as their eyes.
Crickets and bullfrogs sang macabre backup music, their bass in time with the frantic beating of my heart. Somewhere in the night, I caught the sound of a big cat screeching. The stars dimmed behind the haze of humidity, and in the distance, heat lightning backlit the sky.
Growls issued from the shrubbery and flowers planted in the beds that sloped down the backyard.
“She is here,” one hissed.
“More powerful than the last time,” said another.
“More powerful each time,” a third snarled.
In unison, the forms said, “Free them and us! We have suffered long enough!”
Terror transformed into a dreadful feeling of intense electricity zipping throughout my body. Every pore and hair follicle on me tightened. The aroma of sulfur and ozone invaded my sinuses. A nauseating sensation settled in my stomach, and what felt like liquid fire surged along each vein and into my fingertips. Glowing from head to toe, I moved to the top of the steps. My fingernails blazed bright red, and a brilliant coppery color flowed down through my hair, infusing the braid over my shoulder with its intensity. Sam squinted against the light I emitted and finally held up one hand to shield his eyes.
Fire and fractured light erupted from my palms, my nails. The power snapped and crackled in the air, shredding Sam’s pipe smoke into tiny fragments. The energy caressed the deck railing, rained sparks onto the steps, and lit up the surrounding trees as if someone had strung them with blue and white sparks.
The smoky creatures howled in fury and backed away in the forms of vaporous wolves, panthers, bears and birds of prey. The air crackled, the pops and sizzles as loud as firecrackers. Each bolt of energy pierced the half-solid, half-vaporous bodies, and the monstrosities bloomed into dark gray clouds to disappear with howls and indignant screams.
“We are not thwarted so easily...!” The words died on the evening breeze.
Somewhere a bullfrog croaked its irritation at the disturbance.
Exhaustion hit me. Drained, I slumped, and the deck rushed up to greet my face.
Sam finally roused me. I sat up, blinking, and looked from one point to another fearful I’d see a set of glowing yellow eyes.
“You and Solomon have bonded again. I think that’s part of what drew those things here,” said Sam so low I almost didn’t hear him.
“Bonded again?” I echoed, shock in my voice. Fearfully, I scanned the deck and backyard.
“They won’t give up. I held them off as long as I could.”
His words shot an arrow of horror into my heart.
“You are the Nutter I dreamed of, Ruby. Your powers are growing stronger and your destiny is near.”
Remorse filled me. “I’ve always had this curse. I hate it and I can’t control it. I’ve done some terrible things because of it.”
The old man helped me to my feet. “There is more within you, more you have yet to discover, but you need to go “soon.” Go to Key West and do what is required of you.”
“There isn’t anything in Key West for me to do except to pick up a document.”
He shuffled toward the kitchen door with me. “Yes, there is.” His firm tone left no room for argument. “You don’t now it yet, but you will.” His onyx eyes glinted with an all-knowing power.
The old Indian wasn’t making any sense, and his persistence began to irritate me. “I’m just being paid to pick up a damn piece of paper.”
He smiled.
I remained quiet and struggled to draw air into my lungs. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I could barely breathe.
“Let’s go inside,” Sam suggested. “Neither of us will sleep anyway. I’ll turn on some lights and make coffee and a batch of muffins and waffles.”
Nodding, I let him open the door and push me into the kitchen. Shunka slipped in behind Sam.
Whatever Sam sensed, I did too. Although I desired nothing more than to climb into bed, there was no way in hell I could sleep now.
Somehow the monsters from my visions were real. I had to leave—and soon.
****
“I don’t see why we have to leave at six in the morning,” Maureen said through a yawn.
“We just need to get going,” I replied as I finished packing my things. I’d dressed, shared a breakfast of eggs and waffles with Sam, and then hurried upstairs to rouse Maureen.
She sat up, the sheet pooling around her waist, her huge bazookas encased in a white satin bra. “Something is wrong, isn’t it?”
“No, we’ve just wasted enough time—”
“Haven’t you realized yet that you can’t lie to me?”
Hefting my suitcase, I halted halfway across the bedroom. “What?”
“You heard me.” She yawned behind one hand, her French-tipped nails curving outward like claws.
“Whatever.” I left her to get dressed. “Come on, mutt.”
The dog padded after me.
Against my better judgment, I strode down the hall to Solomon’s room and peeked in on him. Wrapped in the sheet, he slept soundly. The sight of him awakened a familiar longing. No matter how much I liked Solomon, and regardless of the sexual chemistry that sizzled between us, he was better off without me in his life. Sure, he’d said he found my fascinating, said I didn’t scare him, but if he suddenly changed his mind about me, I couldn’t bear it. And what if something untoward happened to scare him out of his mind or hurt him? Sam seemed to accept me and my curse, but the Indian had also displayed a unique ability of his own, a natural power Solomon might not know about. Solomon may think he understood what it was to be different, but his albinism didn’t hold a candle to my curse—or the things snapping at my heels. That was enough to convince me to put some miles between us.
Yet, Solomon had told me about the attack and how his sister was killed. He knew something was unnatural. He’d even mentioned the yellow eyes of the bikers, their comments about knowing him, us.
But as I stood there watching him sleep, my heart cried out in protest. How could I leave him? We’d connected. I knew that, and so did Sam. Somehow our souls recognized one another. How, I had no clue, but knew it for the truth. For Solomon’s safety and his sanity, I had to leave him. As long as I stayed, both Solomon and Sam were in danger. Leaving was the only thing I could do to protect them. Besides, I needed to honor my agreement with Loretta.
“Let’s go,” Maureen called.
I glanced over my shoulder at her. She stood in the hall with her backpack. She’d donned a different pair of Daisy Dukes and a t-shirt so tight it looked like it had been spray-painted on her.
Terrific. Another day of being blinded by boobs and ass. I picked up my suitcase aga
in. “Let’s go.”
“You’ll see him again, Ruby,” she said with conviction.
With a shrug, I passed her in the hall, the dog right on my heels. Letting her see the tears in my eyes or trying to talk around the lump in my throat was not an option.
Downstairs, Sam handed Maureen a bag of apple muffins and two Styrofoam cups with lids. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee helped to wake me up. Sunshine began peeking through the windowpanes, and billows of fog rolled by the kitchen windows.
Sam helped us outside with our bags. “Solomon will be upset that you left without saying goodbye,” he said, “but I’ll explain things to him.”
Cool morning air kissed my body, and sadness touched my soul. Condensation covered the Jeep and the Excursion. Fat dewdrops littered the lawn and adorned the purple asters planted along the drive and walk. Crows cawed in the distance, and mourning doves cooed under the shrubs. The Malamute trotted alongside me as I walked to the Jeep. I reached for the driver’s door. The dog waited as if he wanted to hop inside. I opened the door a crack, and he shoved his muzzle into it.
“What’s wrong with your dog?” I asked Sam
The Indian patted his leg. “Here, boy, let her get in the Jeep.”
The canine ignored him. I tried opening the driver’s door wider so I could squeeze in between the dog and the seat, but the mutt shoved harder and wedged his head inside. I pushed the door snugly against his neck. The dog retreated and stood wagging his tail.
“Would you please do something about your mutt?”
Sam grabbed the dog by his collar and tugged, but the animal wouldn’t budge. Putting his arms around his shoulders, he tried to pick him up. Shunka growled, the sound coming from deep within his chest.
Sam let go and retreated.
“Oh, for God’s sake!” I snapped and shut the door. I swung my right leg up into the open window, followed by my left, and settled into the dew-covered driver’s seat.
Wobbling across the gravel in her platform heels, Maureen managed to get in on the passenger side before the Malamute realized she’d opened it.
The Sorcerer King and the Fire Queen Page 9