***
She could hear the vulnerability, the pain in his voice that he couldn’t completely hide from her. She bit her lip. She’d hurt him. Her actions, in the height of her panic and mortification, had hurt the one person she’d never wanted to hurt.
She covered his hand with hers. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered. ‘You’re right. I don’t normally jump into bed with men. Or women,’ she clarified, and was rewarded with one of his small, sexy smiles. ‘Or clients, for that matter. I don’t want to take advantage of you,’ she whispered, and he winked at her.
‘Oh, please, do your worst.’
‘No, I mean it. You’ve already had a physio who I believe acted inappropriately with you, and now I’m seducing you?’ She lowered her gaze. ‘Either way you look at it, it’s not good.’
‘Are you worried about what others think, or what I think?’ His soft words were rapier sharp, hitting her in a spot she’d thought she’d protected. She’d loved being in his arms, but it wasn’t until she’d woken up at the sound of the door that she grasped the reality of her actions. This man had already been flirted with, even stalked, and now she’d seduced him. How was she any better than the crackpot he’d fired? What must he think of her?
‘You,’ she whispered to him, feeling like he was peeling back all her defences.
‘Believe it or not, I’m not some naïve schoolboy whose head is easily turned by a flash of skin.’ He looked at her intently. ‘I made love to you because I wanted to, and I’ve thought of nothing else since the moment you arrived.’
His words heated her from her core out.
‘You are the first person who has pushed me beyond my limits, frustrated me beyond my control, and who has driven me to want to do better. I want you, and I want us. The question is, do you want your job over me?’
Her eyes widened. Did she want the security of a regular paycheck to pay off the bills, or the bliss she felt in his arms? It wasn’t just physical. She enjoyed their verbal sparring, their mock-aggravation, and the sense of safety she felt with this man. Despite his reservations, he was a strong man, mentally and physically. He had a sense of humour she was just beginning to glimpse yet found so attractive, and he could be so incredibly kind and gentle. He’d let Misty, a lonely little old lady looking for company, into his home.
And he was phenomenal in the sack.
But what was more important to her? Her job, or Gabriel?
Lightening flashed outside the windows, bright and close, and almost immediately a crack of thunder had the house shuddering to its foundations. Bella jumped at the noise, and Gabriel’s grip on her hand tightened reflexively.
Rain pummelled the windows. Another crash of thunder, and the lights flickered before winking out, leaving them in a darkness that was all-encompassing and chilled.
‘Oh, my goodness,’ Bella whispered into the dark, her hand rising to her throat. The thunder had startled her. In fact, it had scared the ever-living daylights out of her.
‘Don’t worry, it’s just a blackout,’ Ellie called, a soft glow preceding her as she hurried into the room. She held aloft two candelsticks, and Ramsey followed her with a large candelabra.
Gabriel’s eyebrows rose. ‘Where did you find those?’
‘Oh, we just found them…’ Ellie started to reply.
‘Let me guess – in the cupboard.’ Gabriel accepted the candlesticks. ‘Thank you.’
‘Now, don’t you worry about a thing,’ Ellie said, waving her hands at them. ‘I’ll be bringing the soup out shortly.’
Bella smiled. Ellie seemed quite nervous. ‘It’s okay, Ellie, it’s just a storm,’ she said to the older woman.
Ellie smiled for a moment, and shot a glance at her partner, who forced a smile to his face before they both retreated to the kitchen.
Gabriel rose from the table and approached the windows. All that could be seen was the bursts of water against glass as the raindrops hit with a startling ferocity. He shook his head, bringing his hands to his hips.
Bella eyed the hunky trouser-clad bottom his movement revealed. The man was unbelievably attractive and didn’t seem to register the fact – despite two out of four physios coming on to him.
‘This is amazing weather we’re having,’ he said, and for once the remark didn’t sound like contrived conversation. Mother Nature was putting on an awesome display. Bella crossed over to join him at the window. He was right. It was unseasonal, all this storm activity.
Outside it was pitch black. No cliff, no horizon, no differentiation between ground and water, or water and sky. Just a pervasive blackness broken by a lightning display that rivalled the New Year’s Eve fireworks in Sydney.
They stood there for a moment, watching the fury whipping the coast. Gabriel turned, and it took her a moment to realise he was looking down at her.
She met his gaze, and her heart started to thump in her chest at the dark, intent gaze that toured over her face, her neck and shoulders, to halt at her chest.
She started to breathe faster, her breasts swelling under his gaze, as though her body remembered him and reacted instantly. The bodice was a tight restraint against her flesh, her skin heating despite the creeping chill in the room.
He lowered his face, maintaining eye contact with her as though giving her every opportunity to move away. She held her ground, and was rewarded by the press of his lips against hers.
At first his kiss was gentle, searching. She opened her mouth beneath his, and the kiss became harder, hotter, as he staked his claim, enfolding her in his arms. She slid her arms up and entwined them around his neck as he deepened the kiss. He backed her up against the window, the contrast of chilled glass against her back and a warm wall of muscle against her front making that secret place between her thighs grow slick with desire, and she opened her mouth wider as his tongue slanted against hers.
Their breathing in the candlelit room sounded loud, thunderous, her pulse thumping in time to the thrust of his tongue as he kissed her with a longing that she welcomed, returned. The storm outside was nothing compared to the one raging within her, the urge to get as close to him as their bodies would allow ruling her.
He lifted his mouth from hers, and she moaned at the loss, until his lips slid to her neck. Oh, God, he was turning her into a hot river of need. His hands dug into her waist, pulling her against him, against his arousal. She arched her neck, giving him greater access to her shoulder, her chest. She gasped as he licked and nipped a trail across the tops of her breasts, and for a moment there was a lull in the storm symphony outside. Her eyes flickered at a soft click that echoed through the room, and Gabriel paused.
He lifted his head, and they both looked toward the source of the sound. The wood panelling beside the fireplace had a wide dark crack that ran from floor to ceiling. Bella gasped, and Gabriel stepped away from her, toward the crack.
It took her a moment to realise the panelling was actually a door, and the dark crack was the cavity behind it. But how had it opened? A draft from the gale blowing outside?
‘Good grief,’ Bella exhaled softly in surprise. ‘It’s a secret door.’
Chapter 12
Gabriel opened the door further, looking inside. It was dark, and he couldn’t see much. He turned, and Bella handed him one of the candlesticks from the table. He nodded his thanks and turned back, lifting the candle higher for a better look.
A narrow hall ran along the middle wall of the house. He stepped in a little further, and could see a lighter gloom at one end. He squinted, holding the candle out. Stairs, in a pale wood that led up.
‘Oh my God, this is so cool,’ Bella whispered behind him, and he smiled as she pushed him in further. He, too, was eager to see where this may lead.
‘This must have been put in at the time of the original construction,’ he observed, running his hand over the panelling in the interior hall. The craftsmanship in the tongue-and-groove work harked back to an age gone by, as did the carved wooden bannister that framed the sta
irs.
He tested one with his foot, raising his eyebrows. After all these years, the wooden steps were still sturdy. He turned to Bella, bathing her face in the golden glow of the candle. ‘Shall we go up, or go have dinner?’
A clap of thunder had them both jumping, and Bella laughed nervously. ‘Oh, let’s explore.’
He nodded, grinning, and started to climb the steps, holding the candle so that Bella could also see where to place her feet. She held the satin skirt of her dress clear to avoid tripping, and he thought she looked quite dainty. And sexy. But then she always managed to look sexy.
They reached the first landing, where there was a second hall stretching the length of the house.
‘Which way?’ he whispered to Bella, indicating the hallway, or further up the stairs. She pursed her lips, then gestured to the hall.
‘Let’s have a quick look this way, then go up,’ she whispered back.
He nodded, then leaned toward her. ‘Why are we whispering?’
She giggled as she followed him down the hall. ‘Because that’s what you do with secrets.’
The space was narrow and dusty, and he had to turn almost sideways to fit his shoulders. The light stuttered, the flame on the wick bending and swaying in the air currents in the hall. He stopped at what looked like a rudimentary door, and pulled. A dark cavity with some sort of hanging cloth was before them. He raised the candlestick, and Bella gasped. A cold chill settled on him as he recognised the clothes hanging in the space before them. This was the back of Bella’s wardrobe.
He supposed that explained how Bella’s assailant had avoided detection. ‘You should go back,’ he whispered to Bella. They’d found no sign of the intruder outside, so quite possibly the person was still within the house.
Which cranked the creep factor up enormously.
She shook her head, and even in the candlelight he could see she’d gone pale. ‘No, I’m staying with you. Let’s check out upstairs.’
He frowned. ‘I really think you should go back. Go call the police.’ The light in the hallway seemed to be getting brighter.
‘And say what? We found a secret passageway in the house? What can we actually tell them?’
She was right. So far they had a dark hallway and a whole lot of suspicion. Except the hallway wasn’t so dark, now. A glow from the stairs was getting brighter.
Someone was coming.
Gabe shuffled around, pushing Bella gently behind him. If the intruder was back, he was ready for him. Or her.
‘Oh, there you are,’ Ellie whispered as she peeked over the top of the stairs, lifting the second candlestick. ‘We were wondering where you’d gotten to.’ There was an even brighter glow behind her, and Ramsey craned his neck, hoisting the candelabra.
‘What are you doing here?’ Gabriel whispered back.
‘Your soup is getting cold.’
‘Isn’t this amazing, Ellie?’ Bella asked as she stood on tiptoe to peer over Gabriel’s shoulder. Ellie nodded as she climbed the stairs and started along the hall toward them. Ramsey and Misty followed them. Misty was wheezing from her exertions.
Gabriel waited until they all stood together. He glanced around the small group. A family meeting in the walls. Go figure.
‘Did you know about this?’ Ramsey murmured, lifting the candelabra in an attempt to pierce the gloom.
Gabriel shook his head. ‘No.’
A thump upstairs, followed by footsteps, had them all looking up.
‘Someone’s up there,’ Misty rasped unnecessarily.
Gabriel looked down at the old woman, then at Bella. ‘Perhaps you could take Misty downstairs while –.’
‘No.’ Both women whispered their responses before he could finish his sentence, and both were frowning at him.
‘I don’t want to miss anything,’ Misty said, keeping her voice low.
‘Besides, we outnumber whoever is up there. The odds are in our favour,’ Bella said very quietly.
Gabriel met Ramsey’s gaze over the women’s heads, hoping the older man could talk some sense into them. Ramsey looked at them all for a moment, before shrugging and nodding.
Gabriel rolled his eyes in frustration. So much for that. ‘Fine, but stay behind me.’ He didn’t mean for it to come out like a growl, but it did. Everyone nodded solemnly, including Ramsey.
Gabriel gestured for the group to retrace their steps. It wasn’t until they reached the wooden stairwell that he could take the lead.
They quietly climbed the stairs. There were three stories, and they briefly checked the hallway extending along the length of the third story before climbing up toward the attic. Gabe shook his head. He’d had no idea there was this labyrinthine system in his new home. The house had been so constructed that a lot of the Victorian elements of the design cleverly disguised the interior dimensions of the house, with all of the nooks and crannies, the trim and the closets. He loved it, but the fact that someone had used it to hurt Bella made him feel like a sleeping dragon that had been prodded. He wanted to rain down all sorts of grief on that person’s head.
He stopped at the door that would lead to the attic, holding his hand up to halt the group, trying to remain as quiet as possible.
‘Why are we stopping?’ Misty croaked, and Gabriel glared at her as he held his finger to his lips. ‘Oh, fine,’ the old woman said, and Gabriel winced. Well, so much for that. If there was anyone inside the room, they’d know they were about to receive visitors.
He cracked the door open and peered inside, holding the candlestick high. ‘Is there anyone in here?’ he asked, deepening his voice for effect.
There was no answer. He opened the door wide, stepping in, candle held high. The room was large, extending for most of the length and breadth of the house. The furthest corners were in darkness. With a cathedral roof, bullnose window and the glass door that led out onto a balcony, the attic could have been converted into a bedroom or an office, or some other useful space. Right now there were loads of boxes and trunks, old furniture, the relics of generations stored within these four walls. They provided many a tight hiding space for anyone wanting to avoid discovery.
‘I suggest you come out,’ Gabriel stated calmly, and stepped further into the room. The attic filled with more light as Ellie and Ramsey entered with their candles.
‘Oh, my, can you feel that?’ Misty whispered, rubbing her arms. Gabe looked back at her. Their breaths were fogging in front of their faces. The temperature had dropped considerably. Every now and then the room was illuminated by a flash of lightning, and the thunder sounded as though a giant was rapping on their roof.
Gabriel stepped behind the first wall of boxes, and looked down when his foot nudged something. He frowned.
It was a rolled-up sleeping bag. A new one, with a pink camouflage cover.
***
Bella stepped inside the attic, glancing around. The place was all kinds of amazing. Gabriel and Ramsey were slowly making their way through the boxes, checking all the darkened spaces. Ellie and Misty followed slowly behind.
Bella walked around the walls of the room, using the lightning flashes through the glass as a light, treading carefully. She could feel the dust under her feet, and she wrinkled her nose. Her feet were going to be filthy.
She stepped in front of the glass doors that led to the little widow’s walk she’d admired from outside, and stopped as her feet encountered water on the floor. She lifted her foot and frowned. Water? She checked the bottom of the door. It seemed watertight.
She caught the scent of vanilla and musky rose. Goosebumps rose on her flesh as lightning flashed, illuminating the floor in front of her. She saw her shadow, and another one to her left.
Glass splintered behind her, and someone grabbed her hair, yanking her back through the jagged hole that had once been a door. Her arms flailed as Misty and Ellie screamed, and she heard Gabriel bellow something.
She raised her hands to the back of her head, trying to beat off the person who was pullin
g her out onto the balconette. Sharp pain splintered in her feet as she stumbled over glass, and she gasped as icy raindrops pelted her like bullets.
‘Let me go,’ she yelled into the roaring wind.
‘I told you to stay away from my man,’ the woman’s voice screamed into her ear. The grip on her hair tightened, and she was pulled back, back, until the thin iron railing hit her hips, and then she was falling.
Chapter 13
‘Bella!’ Gabriel rushed toward the door, bolting over boxes, his candle extinguishing in the cold winds that tore through the attic. God, what the hell happened? One moment she’d been standing there, then it was almost as though she’d been plucked from the spot.
He raced over to the balcony, halting when he saw the flash of yellow skirt and feet disappear over the railing.
‘Bella!’ Her name ripped from his lungs in a moment of rage and panic. He ducked through the door frame, feeling a tug and a tear and something hot slicing his arm as he emerged onto the balconette.
A hooded figure stood there, tall and unmistakably feminine, despite the bulky raincoat she wore. He passed her and halted at the railing, realising the warm water on his face was tears and not rain. Oh, God, Bella.
‘What did you do?’ He yelled at the figure on the balcony, anger and fear clutching at his gut with claw-like fingers. ‘What the hell did you do?’
He had to look. He didn’t want to, but he had to look. He leaned over, peering into the inky blackness. He squinted. No broken and bloodied body lay on the ground below. He frowned, leaning over a little further.
There. A flash of lightning illuminated her briefly. Her gown had caught on the guttering of the roof below, and she hung at an awkward angle, arms and legs flailing as she tried to right herself and swing to safety.
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