Shadows Fall

by Denise A. Agnew

  “Yes.” Jana’s grin went so wide she resembled a cat in a certain famous tale.

  “Wait.” Melissa’s alarm bells went off. “You told them it was rigged to slam on them for the haunted house effects?”

  Jana planted her hands on her hips and gazed at Melissa as if she’d crawled from under a rock. Jana turned an adoring gaze on Roarke. “I said it was set up and that Roarke was a war vet and hand picked to kick down the door. They were impressed.”

  Melissa snorted softly. “Quick thinking.”

  Jana didn’t acknowledge the compliment. She turned her attention to Roarke again. “Do you think you could rig the doors to do that again?”

  He shook his head. “No. I might be able to fix the broken one.”

  Looking the tiniest bit disappointed, Jana said, “Hmm. Never mind. It played well and that’s all that counts. Roarke, could I speak to you alone?”

  “Whatever you’ve got to say can be said in front of Melissa.” Roarke slipped his hand along the back of Melissa’s neck.

  The possessive gesture made Melissa’s belly tingle. Gratification surged inside her.

  Jana’s full lips twisted into dissatisfaction. “Never mind. I’ll talk to you later.”

  She turned and stomped back up the stairs.

  Roarke released Melissa’s neck, but his arm came around her and brought her into his strong body. A wary look entered his eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” Melissa asked, feeling the tension in his body.

  “This damn place. There’s something wrong with it.”

  Every hair on her body stood up. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t understand it myself.” He sighed. “Come on. We need to talk.”

  Chapter 18

  Roarke couldn’t believe what he’d considered telling Melissa. He refused to tell her anything until he’d changed out of the ridiculous zombie attire. After he changed, they settled on the couch with a brandy and he mulled over what had happened in the basement. He hated admitting what he must.

  Melissa sat close to him, but he liked it. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and drew her tighter into his body. His protective instincts kept returning with full force whenever she came near. Even when she wasn’t near, she’d become more important to him than he’d expected or wanted. He’d shoved down his real feelings while in war. Every day with Melissa transformed him until more feelings came forth. He put his brandy glass on the lamp table next to him and turned his attention on her pretty face. God, she turned him on. Even now, holding her near, his groin went hot and hard.

  Her gaze narrowed on him. “Are you all right? What did you mean when you said there’s something wrong with this place?”

  He laughed softly. “You’re going to think I’m nuts.”

  “You’re in the perfect place for it if you are.” Her lips twisted in good humor. “Think about what you just said. I’m the one who believes in the paranormal, remember.”

  “Yeah. But what I’ve experienced just doesn’t make any damned sense. I don’t know where the hell to start. But I have to tell someone.”

  He could see the worry in her eyes, and he brushed a strand of hair from her cheek.

  “Go on,” she said.

  “Since I moved here, strange things have happened. I don’t want to believe them. I don’t believe them. But they’re happening anyway. Either that, or I’ve got a serious case of PTSD.”

  There, he’d said it. His tongue felt thick, as if he’d just confessed a dirty secret.

  Her silence worried him, and she gazed into her brandy. After taking another sip, she set her brandy on the coffee table.

  Finally she looked up. “What makes you believe you have PTSD?”

  “Not long after I first moved here, I heard sobbing in this apartment. I went over to investigate, thinking maybe someone was over there. I never found anyone. While I was in the basement repairing the lights, I heard and felt things I shouldn’t.”

  Lines formed between her delicate, well-shaped eyebrows. “What did you hear and feel?”

  “It’s happened to me numerous times, but the longer I live here, the more often it happens.” He licked his lips. He closed his eyes and brought forth the memory. “It’s hard to explain. In the main room away from the cells, it’s thick. The air feels like you’re breathing through cloth.”

  “Maybe there’s a real problem. Did they test the air quality down there?”

  “I thought of that and checked with the administration office. Clemy said they tested for radon, too. Levels are acceptable and there wasn’t a problem with the air in the basement.”

  Melissa’s eyes darkened, as if she wanted to confess a secret, too. “I know what you mean.”

  He hadn’t expected that. “What is it?”

  “That’s happened to me before at haunted locations. Some say it’s a dimension rift. Others say we’re passing through a ghost. It’s hard to say because there are a lot of opinions.”

  “That’s far fetched.”

  “I don’t think so.” She let that one hang there for a long time. “Okay,” she said finally, “so the air felt thick. What else?”

  “I’m damned ashamed to say it.”

  She covered his hand with a tender touch. “You don’t need to be ashamed in front of me.”

  Her gentle words pushed him to say more. “I was afraid during the war more times than I could count. A man is stupid if he isn’t.” Tension shot up his neck. “Sometimes a man’s life isn’t worth much out there.”

  He couldn’t look at her. If he saw pity in her eyes, it would make him squirm. Instead she nodded and said, “What’s that old saying, war is hell?”

  “Hell on earth. Don’t get me wrong. I loved being a Marine, and I’d do anything for another Marine. But when I was in the basement I felt something down there far worse than anything I saw in war.”

  “Something?”

  “That’s all I can think of to describe it. There wasn’t another human down there. I was standing in a basement, and I was more terrified than if someone had just exploded an IED near me. Being out on the road days at a time looking for IED’s made me jumpy. Easy to startle. But a lot of guys have that problem. This was different. This was like evil was crawling up my back and I couldn’t escape. It was evil I’ve never imagined or felt before.” Just saying it made his skin prickle.

  She frowned again, and her silence worried him. Maybe she’d turn away from him, and he couldn’t blame her if she did.

  “Are you claustrophobic?” she asked.

  “Nope.”

  “Afraid of the dark?”

  He snorted. “You know I’m not.” Doubt lingered in her eyes, and he wanted to erase that look. “I never run from anything, but that place made me want to escape. I almost ran out of the place. I forced myself to stand there and feel it. When I left, I was dripping sweat. My heart was pounding.”

  “Like a panic attack?”

  “I guess. I’ve never had one. Have you?”

  “I’ve read about them.” She slowly stood. “I think I need another brandy. Want another?”

  “No.” He wanted a clear head to tell this story. He wanted to ask her if she believed him, but her logical, reasonable questions made him wonder. Get over it bastard. You wanted to tell her, now face the consequences.

  When she returned to the couch, she turned toward him, attention full in his direction. She set the brandy snifter on the coffee table. “If you’re insane, I am, too. I’ve also felt what you felt but not in the basement. Today, in the alley at my apartment complex.”

  He leaned forward and took her hands. “Describe it to me.”

  She shook her head, but her fingers tightened on his. “I don’t know if I can. It’s ... it was a darkness thicker than anything. So thick I could hardly breathe through it.”

  “Yeah. That’s what the air in the basement felt like to me.”

  “And I was afraid. So afraid. I wished you were there with me.” Her breathing came fas
ter. “Then I saw the ... I guess you’d have to call it a ghost.”

  When he didn’t speak, she chewed on her lower lip and eyed him as if he might call her a liar.

  “What did you see?” he asked quietly.

  “Jilly’s boyfriend. He was standing at the end of the alley. I knew it couldn’t be him, but it was. I was petrified. He disappeared.” Before he could say anything she continued. “I know. I know. It’s crazy. I started thinking about all the weird stuff that’s happened around town. Everything that’s happened here at Tranquil View. I don’t want to believe it, but I have to. I’ve always believed in the paranormal. but this goes way beyond what I’d normally accept as possible.”

  Roarke felt closer to her as he drew her into his body, but not only by proximity. She snuggled there, small and in need of his protection. Jesus, that was crazy. As she’d told him, she was a grown woman. She didn’t need him to keep the bogeyman away. Or did she? Protective instincts fired to life whether he wanted them to or not. Primitive. Ridiculous.

  He tucked her hair behind her ears. “Look, let’s make a deal right now. If we see or hear anything else strange, we tell each other. No secrets.”

  Her eyes widened a little, and he knew she hadn’t expected him to say that. Hell, he hadn’t expected he’d say that.

  “No secrets. There’s more, by the way.” She waited, as if she expected comment. But he didn’t speak and she continued. “I thought I saw the van that ran the kid over behind my apartment complex. It turned out it was just another white van. A service van. So who’s to say we aren’t traumatized and that’s why all this is happening. You endured war. You’ve lost your mother and have no idea what has happened to her. I saw a kid murdered on the street and was practically blown up in a gas explosion.” Desperation seemed to fuel her words. “Tell me that’s what this is.”

  He kissed her forehead. “Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. I don’t know any more.”

  She cupped his face. “Then if we’re crazy, let’s be crazy together.”

  She kissed him, and Roarke plunged into her brandy taste with enthusiasm. Raw heat poured into his loins. Ravenous to forget everything but the way she made him feel, he took what she gave. He tasted her mouth with greediness and want. Her tongue mated with his in a carnal dance that staggered his mind and demanded more of his body. Their passion became a wild animal driven purely by instinct.

  She yanked his sweatshirt off, and as her tongue flirted with his nipples, he groaned and held her head to his chest. She feasted tenderly but greedily. Before long, the wet slide of her tongue over his flesh was too much. He stood and removed his sweatpants, and she scooted forward on the couch. She circled his erection with her grip. With one hand gripping his ass and the other his cock, she commanded him. It shocked him a little; he hadn’t expected it. Thrills ran through his body as she took control. As she pumped his flesh, and the sensation of her small hand working him about drove Roarke over the edge. He gripped her shoulders as she leaned in and encompassed his flesh in her hot mouth.

  Without shame, he groaned and muttered encouragement. “Oh, God. That’s it baby.”

  She moaned as she licked him from root to tip, her tongue a welcome invader as she toured his skin and started a pumping motion that about blew the top of his head off. He quivered under her assault, but the excitement was too good. He couldn’t last this way.

  “Wait, baby.”

  She stopped and he helped her lose her clothes piece by piece until she was naked. As they stood by the couch, time disappeared. One kiss fell into another, and Roarke’s mind melded into hers as they let need overwhelm them. His gut burned with desire to have her now, and she seemed as eager for it as he was. She took his hand and marched him to the bedroom. Once there, he grabbed a condom from the bathroom and tossed it on the bedside table.

  * * *

  Melissa trembled with wild anticipation as Roarke walked toward her, so tall, so broad-shouldered, and so damned strong. Every muscle delineated as he stalked her. She backed toward the bed, the playful desire to flee strong within her. Heat moistened her between the legs, and the ache in her core came to vivid life. He was pure, exciting male animal, and she allowed her most primal desires to flow freely. He reached for the condom and made short work of suiting up. They weren’t going for sweet and tender this time, and that worked for her.

  “This might get crazy, Melissa,” he whispered softly.

  “Yes.” She wanted that. Wanted it with a fierceness that shook her.

  He lifted her, and her legs wrapped around his waist. He marched to the nearest empty wall and settled her against it. His cock probed her wetness. She gasped at the heat. Then all that heat pushed, parting her folds with slow invasion. Thick and hard, his cock spread her, demanding entrance. Her body welcomed every inch. She closed her eyes and moaned at the exquisite sensation as he slid home. Deep. Shockingly hard.

  He cupped her ass and held her against the wall. Her arms twined round his shoulders as his mouth found hers. As his tongue thrust and stroked, his hips moved—slow, steady, caressing her inside. She gasped and wriggled, dazed by the pure pleasure. “More,” she whispered against his lips. “Harder.”

  He complied. Deep, pounding thrusts stroked a fire so hot between her legs that it didn’t take long to reach her peak. She shrieked in orgasm, her body clamping down on his, her flesh trembling around him as wave after wave of ecstasy washed through her. Her head fell back as the last lingering waves pulsed.

  “That was so beautiful,” he said, panting.

  But he wasn’t done—his cock still hard inside her. He left her body, lowered her to the floor, and took her hand as he crossed to the bed. When he lay on his back, she crawled over him. With a smile she took control.

  She slid onto his saddle, moaning in sweet, delicious pleasure as his cock burrowed inside her. He was still rock solid. Melissa hadn’t known she could be this aroused, this excited to continue sex. Roarke made her crazy. Oh, yeah. That felt right. She leaned forward and experimented with position. Again she moved, just a tiny lifting and then returning for a tighter fit. His breath hissed inward. He cradled her hips in his big palms, eyes fiery with male appreciation. She could read the desire in his eyes as he lifted his hips and ground into her.

  Melissa fell into the motion he created. She closed her eyes against the intensity in his gaze, unable to withstand the intimacy. Heart pounding, she gasped as she moved on top of him. She whimpered as his cock found every sensitive spot deep within. She rode him, increasing the pace. She couldn’t take it. She growled and groaned, the sounds so out of control she wasn’t sure they came from her. She urged him into a gallop, and before long the pleasure coursing through her veins could no longer stay contained. Breath panting, body shaking, she cried out at the top of her lungs as climax blew her apart. Roarke’s hands tightened on her hips as he thrust upward, hard, and shouted his own orgasm.

  As she collapsed on him, he held her tight, and Melissa knew a peace in her heart she’d never experienced before.

  Chapter 19

  “Shit, I can’t believe I forgot to tell you.” Roarke’s voice was hushed as he sat with Melissa in the fast food restaurant on the edge of town. He’d inhaled his burger and fries with an enthusiasm that betrayed his military roots. Eat it before it got away.

  They’d left his condo late that morning after another bout of tremendous sex. She’d heard women talk about mind-blowing sex, but never quite believed it. With Roarke she’d discovered the rumors were all true. Sex could be that earth-shattering with the right person. They had a combustible combination.

  But Roarke hadn’t finished his thought. She’d noticed he did that a lot, as if he thought out loud and didn’t expect an answer. Still, he had her attention, and she couldn’t let that go.

  “Forgot to tell me what?” Melissa asked after chewing a fry thoroughly and washing it down with a diet cola.

  “Before the party the other night something weird happened. I looked out the w
indow toward the recreation center and there was this man dressed in some sort of costume from the 1800’s. I checked with the office and they said they hadn’t hired anyone to dress up for the party specifically. I saw his figure in the graveyard, but when I went up there, I couldn’t find him.”

  “An early party goer?”

  “That’s what I thought at first. But it didn’t make sense. When I saw him in the graveyard he stepped behind a tree that was too narrow. He couldn’t have just disappeared behind it if—” He shrugged. “This is crazy talk.”

  “Is it, Roarke? What if there is more out there we aren’t considering?”

  He took the top off his drink and gulped cola. “I don’t think I’m willing to leave all my skepticism behind.”

  “Do you have to leave it all behind to believe just a little? It makes less sense to believe that you and I are hallucinating or suffering from PTSD at the exact same time. How logical and likely is that?”

  He nodded. “You’re right. There is such a thing as suggestion.”

  “Yes. But do you think two people would suddenly decide they were entirely wrong at the same time?”

  He smiled. “Right again. I’m just saying that suggestion can make us see and do things.”

  “It can make weak-willed people do things. Not me.”

  He laughed. “Okay, I get it. I’m insulting you.”

  She gave him a crooked smile and sipped her drink. “Yeah, in a way.”

  She stared at her plate of fries. She’d also gobbled up a burger as if she’d been starving. Frequent, rough-and-tumble, blow-your-panties-off sex with Roarke appeared to have had that effect on her.

  Eager to feel his flesh against hers again, she reached across the small booth table and touched his hand. “I still don’t understand who that was I saw the in the so-called haunted house and how he could have disappeared into thin air. Or the boy I saw in the alley. Is that suggestion? It’s a pretty powerful suggestion if that’s all it is. Let’s keep an open mind from now on. We can still keep a patch of reasonable skepticism.”