Deep is the Night: Dark Fire

by Denise A. Agnew

  He smiled. “I’ll tell you about it some time. Feel better?”

  She nodded. “Oh, yes. Much better. I feel a little weak, though.”

  He slid his hands down to her elbows, and she felt the heat and strength of his support. “That’ll pass in a few moments. If it doesn’t stop, lie down for awhile and that should take care of the problem.”

  With a care and reverence she never experienced before, Lachlan let go of her. He still stood so near she could see those golden flecks in his eyes, but now they didn’t seem as intense. All she saw there was warmth and concern.

  “Thank you,” she said a bit breathlessly. “That was incredible.”

  Oh, lass, I could show you some more incredible things.

  She blinked in astonishment at the voice in her head.

  Before she could say a word, he reached for her book cart and picked up The Sentinel. She hadn’t looked at the paper that morning. Now the main headline screamed at her as he held it up.

  El Chupacabra Menacing Pine Forest?

  “I can’t believe Kathleen would write up such garbage.” Erin read the byline. “Wonderful.”

  She realized she sounded sarcastic, but she didn’t want to hear anymore tabloid speculation.

  “I’ll pick you up tonight then?” he asked, switching gears as he put the newspaper back and picked up a book still on the cart. He looked at the title. “Ah, just what I was looking for. Very fortuitous.”

  He smiled and looked up at her, and as their gazes locked, curiosity and intense scrutiny flamed in his eyes. Then she realized she hadn’t answered his question.

  “All right. Fine. Pick me up at five-thirty. But I’m going home to change.” She looked down at the book he held. “Are you going to check that out or hold it all day?”

  Lachlan’s gentle chuckle made a small ripple in the silence. He handed her the book. Vampires: Historical Fact or Fiction?

  “Of course. I should have guessed,” she said with a tinge of mockery. “You don’t believe in this stuff, do you? Are you trying to say a vampire is attacking women in Pine Forest?”

  “Actually, yes.” He winked. “It’s far more likely than El Chupacabra.”

  She made a noise, disgust and incredulity wrapped into one tight package. Lachlan Tavish, seducer extraordinaire, doubtless belonged in the funny farm with half the other people in this town.

  “Check the book out to me,” he said. “Have dinner with me tomorrow night, and I’ll tell you everything I know about vampires and curing headaches.”

  “Uh-huh. Next you’ll tell me that you’re a vampire.”

  She didn’t wait for him to answer. Once she reached the front desk, she handed him a temporary library card application. He signed the last line with a flourish.

  Erin penned her authorizing signature on the application and got the card ready to laminate. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “And you didn’t say you’d have dinner with me tomorrow night. How does Ricardo’s sound?”

  Surprise slipped through her. Ricardo’s was an exclusive, expensive restaurant connected to a country club and golf course thirty miles outside of Pine Forest. “Ricardo’s is—”

  “Expensive. Dinner is on me.”

  Erin didn’t know what to say for a moment. She wanted to have dinner alone with him, and that disturbed her more than anything. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d experienced a fancy meal with all the trimmings. A gourmet meal and a handsome man sounded like too much heaven.

  “Erin?” His expression, sincere and non-threatening, made her agree.

  “All right. Dinner with you tomorrow night.”

  “Brilliant.”

  Good God. How would she survive having dinner with him two nights in a row? As his eyes glowed with that amazing fire, hot and all-consuming, she almost thought he wanted to seal the agreement with a kiss. As he stood so close, smelling so good she could eat him alive, Lachlan Tavish did strange things to her hormones. Her gonads went on high alert every time she saw him.

  “I need to take my car home tonight,” she said.

  “I’ll follow you home and make sure you get there safely.” His voice offered no options for refusal. “Then we’ll take my car to Gilda and Tom’s.”

  She wanted to say no, but instead his physical proximity scattered her senses.

  Again he searched her gaze. A new wave of lightheadedness hit her, and she closed her eyes for a moment. She felt a brush of hot skin against hers as he took her hand between both of his and raised it to his mouth. There, in full view of any patron who would care to look, Lachlan planted a heated kiss on the back of her hand. Passion-touched lips brushed over her skin, feather-soft and promising.

  Her eyes opened, and as he did so many times before, he caught and held her gaze.

  “You must trust me.” His voice floated over her senses like an aphrodisiac, encouraging her to surrender. “I would never hurt you.”

  She leaned closer to him. “How can I be sure?”

  He grinned and released her hand. “Nothing is ever for certain, lass. But I’m a descent man. I try and live by that golden rule everyone is so fond of talking about.”

  Erin wanted to groan. What’s happening to me? She felt almost drugged, unable to ignore the quick-paced acceleration of her attraction to him. Erin never admitted when she liked a man, because too many times she’d been teased about it as a teen. She didn’t like the implication she might be one chess piece short of a set, or even worse, out of control.

  How long have I been staring at him like a blithering idiot?

  She shook her head. “I don’t know you.”

  “Get to know me.” He frowned. “I’ll leave you to your work.”

  As Lachlan turned away, she felt a cord between them tighten and then snap, as if he’d held her prisoner. Shaking her head, Erin reached up and brushed hair away from her face.

  He left her standing behind the counter, her heart thumping like crazy and her mind a confused whirl.

  Right then and there Erin decided she’d lost her ever lovin’ mind.

  And what if he found out that she’d told Danny her suspicions about him?

  You’re safe with me, Erin, lass.

  She heard the deep voice and knew this time she couldn’t mistake that rich voice. Lachlan.

  Chapter 7

  Pine Forest oozed with the paranormal, and as the vampire glanced around him, he saw the evidence. Ah, what an excellent place to hide.

  Night came down around him as he left the neglected tomb in the graveyard near the old inn. He would prowl the streets tonight for sustenance, for the water of his life. He walked among the people as they tarried downtown. Wrapped in warm clothing, frost on their breaths, they didn’t notice him.

  But why should they see him? Much like the ghosts lingering in every building, he kept the minds around him clouded. Some entities wanted living people to see them, to give any sign they understood the torment of being between worlds. He preferred the anonymity of cloaking. To some he would be a whiff of breeze on this cold night. To others he represented a shadow against a building or along the sidewalk.

  He could see and feel ghosts as they went about their ethereal lives. Some of the haunts were enduring energies and not true entities, but most people didn’t perceive the difference between a ghost and haunting. The lingering stain of death touched every historical place, like the blood he tasted whenever he could. Few people sensed the stain, and those that noticed didn’t often understand what they felt. Really, they are rather stupid creatures. So few things interested them other than their little, insubstantial worlds.

  Reality, as they defined it, stuck to the solid. Formless entities with either good or bad intentions dwelt in this town, thick on the ground and causing havoc. The entities that needed assistance getting to the other side sought out the perceptive, but sometimes the ghost’s entreaties continued to be ignored. After all, the form-filled world possessed more than enough distraction.

>   As distracted as the public was, he took no chances. He dwelled in the shadows almost all the time. Even perceptive people who caught glimpses of him would think they imagined far too much. He’d spent centuries laughing at humans and their ability to conceal their real feelings and thoughts.

  As he sniffed, his advanced sense of smell took in the delicious scent of fresh baked apple pie and maybe a hamburger and fries. He enjoyed the smell of human meals, even if he could no longer consume food. No, he would never give up blood for solid food. He couldn’t, and he wouldn’t.

  A young woman walked past him, and he caught her essence with one sniff. She’d just had sex. His blood ran hot. Ah, yes. Women who’d recently been fucked gave off a hormone he could detect a half-mile away. As he turned and followed her, he remembered that he loved the taste of freshly fucked woman.

  But no one will have Erin but me. She will be mine, and I will be the first to screw her.

  No. He wouldn’t allow her to escape with evasion tactics or dating other men.

  All through the day he’d watched and followed her. Though he’d observed her for weeks, she didn’t know how long he’d wished to be near her. He needed to be closer than transitory glimpses of her shiny hair and seductive smile.

  That weakling police officer, with the equally idiotic name like Danny, wouldn’t save her when the time came. Danny held no sway over her; she didn’t find him interesting. No answering spark came into her gut when she saw him.

  Soon The Hunter, Ronan Kieran, would find him again, intent on killing him as he had tried so many times before. Kieran searched by day and night, fitting his relentless wanderings into the fiber of every twenty-four hours. The vampire always kept several steps ahead of The Hunter, and this realization flooded the vampire’s immortal soul with satisfaction that almost replaced the thirst for blood.

  Almost.

  But not quite.

  * * * * *

  “What on earth am I going to wear?” Erin asked as she rummaged in her bedroom closet that evening.

  Lachlan waited patiently for her in the living room.

  I was with you last night. You’re safe with me. She continued to wonder if Lachlan had whispered these things in her mind.

  She rummaged through her deep, walk-in closet hoping to find the answers. Her relationship with Lachlan was crazy and impossible, but not necessarily in that order. If she didn’t get a grip soon, she would need an appointment with a specialist who dealt with hallucinations.

  A short time later she dressed in a black soft stretch blend turtleneck and lower leg length skirt. It clung to her curves with gentle attention without being too revealing. It was vital she have courage for what she planned to say to Lachlan in a few minutes, and maybe if she dressed like a confident woman, the courage would come with the garment. Right, Erin. Sure.

  Part of her wanted to run from the situation. The other part of her knew she couldn’t hide from a man like this Scot in the next room. Relentless and certain, he knew the where, how, and what of just about everything. She’d never run into a man with this heady presence, this overwhelming sense of taking her on a whirlwind ride.

  When she walked into the living room and Lachlan saw her, his lips parted into a big smile and his soul-deep eyes widened before he spoke the words.

  “You’re stunning.”

  Heat flamed in her face and as she snatched her coat off the couch. “Thanks.”

  Erin decided the strain couldn’t last. She would explode if she didn’t set the rules right now. She moved closer to him, careful to avoid his curious stare. She looked everywhere but him, intensely aware that he wouldn’t like what she said next.

  “Lachlan, before we go, I have to make several things clear.”

  He stayed silent, his calm a balm on her worries.

  She put her hands out in a plea. “We can’t do what we did last night. I don’t indulge in casual sex. I lost control with you once, but I don’t have to do it again.” Erin felt sweat break out on the back of her neck. Nerves made her stomach roll. “We just…can’t.”

  He crossed his arms with a slow casualness. His gaze dropped to half-mast, mysterious and maybe even a bit uncertain. “Can’t? Or won’t?”

  Relieved she didn’t need to spell it out in explicit terms, she nodded. “Both.”

  Before she could walk passed him, he tilted her chin up so she looked into his eyes.

  Oh, no, oh, no. Mistake. Mistake.

  As his gaze encompassed her, Erin felt the pull of his desire. “You’re not playing fair.” She couldn’t move, her limbs heavy and her senses riot with sudden arousal. How did he do this to her? “Please don’t.”

  “You feel it again, don’t you?” His eyes glittered with new progress. His hand slipped to the back of her neck, big fingers caressing. “You’re feeling this pull between us. It’s damn powerful, Erin. I canna resist it.”

  Whenever he seemed on the verge of ardor, he slipped into a deeper accent, thick with his craving. Her interest in him surged, attracted by the blatant sexuality in his whisky-rich voice.

  The room, the soft light, all of it dimmed. Nothing but her heart, thumping an eager new beat, seemed real. Only his wonderful, passion-thick scent mattered.

  His gaze searched her, growing more intense by the second. She felt like fingers were pressing against her skin, searching out new and delicious places for pleasure.

  “You feel this attraction we have, lass. Why are you fighting it? What are you afraid of?” he asked.

  “You.”

  As his fingers caressed her neck, she reached up and clasped his forearm. Hard muscle, vigorously masculine, flexed under her touch and promised satisfaction if she would take it. She closed her eyes against the probe of his curiosity. Erin felt as if Lachlan knew everything inside her. Maybe he could read minds. But how?

  If she expected him to answer her telepathically, he didn’t. Instead, he kept her gaze pinned with his.

  Before she could blink, his mouth came down on hers. Heat ran through Erin like a flash fire, bursting rampant in her body. Lachlan’s arms slipped around her and pulled her against his body. Hot and demanding, his mouth slanted over hers and his tongue plunged deep into her mouth. He swallowed her gasping moan of surprise and exhilaration. His kiss didn’t ask this time—it demanded.

  As Lachlan’s kiss intensified, she responded with answering caresses of her tongue. Wild with sudden, staggering passion, she tore her mouth from his and came in at another angle. His low, deep groan of satisfaction fired her into sweet frenzy. Her panties dampened, and she felt the throb and ache as she responded to his overwhelming sexual intensity.

  Oh, God, I’m so wet.

  How could this man turn her on so fast, before she could resist or think about consequences? Erin decided she would fall off the edge of the world, and her arms went around his neck in desperation. Dizziness swamped her for a moment, as if confirming something she already knew.

  Lachlan Tavish held sway over her in a way no man should or ever had. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she struggled for control. Instead, soft moans of pleasure left her. Her nipples tightened into nubs and a burgeoning necessity for completion throbbed low in her belly. She arched against his hold, her fingers sliding through the thick silk of his hair. He took over the kiss, thrusting his tongue repeatedly into her mouth.

  Textures became all—the continual, relentless movement of his mouth and tongue, the searching of his hands as he rubbed and palmed and brushed. The rough soft combination of his sweater, the fabric of his pants as her hands dropped to his hips. His warm, musk scent teased her, and the soft seduction of the smell made her desire more.

  More kisses, more of his eager fingers touching her nipples. More of everything including sliding his cock inside her.

  Oh, yes. She wanted his cock inside her with an overwhelming and sudden desire. Her vagina clenched and released. Yes. Yes. She would writhe upon him, slide herself up and down as she rode him like he’d never been ridden be
fore. She would fuck him until he gave her another one of those animalistic groans of male excitement.

  Erin tried to think, tried to reason her way out of this frantic call for completion. Her brain refused to cooperate, centering on the way Lachlan plied her with his determined kiss and roaming hands. With any other man, she might have fought his advances and his sexual penetration of her senses.

  Penetration. Oh, yes.

  His hands cupped her ass and squeezed, kneading and stroking as he pulled her up so he could nestle his hard cock between her legs. He would make her come at this rate, even if he didn’t touch naked skin. She moaned like a madwoman without shame, rubbing her clit against his clothed cock to take pleasure in the sensation.

  His palms slid up and down her back, testing the shape of her body. His movement sent tingling pleasure into new, unexplored places. Her breasts screamed for his attention, but he seemed determined to keep her hanging on a precipice, strung tight with desire. As if he knew she needed something, Lachlan reached around and cupped one breast. He didn’t stroke it or reach for her nipple. He simply kept it in hand.

  Hot jolts of pleasure filled her stomach and she almost tore her mouth from his and demanded satisfaction. Any satisfaction.

  Her body felt light, as if lifted above the ground, swirling high into the night and to the heavens. Fanciful feelings danced inside her. Enclosed in Lachlan’s embrace, Erin’s world turned into a star-filled night, replete with love that couldn’t happen in short acquaintance. No, she couldn’t love this man, no matter what crazy sexual draw she felt.

  She flushed at the thought, and the heat rocketed into her face. She wanted to experience extraordinary sex. Somehow she knew Lachlan would give her a ride she would never forget. Her inhibitions flew away in eagerness to know him. She wanted to whisper decadent, racy, nasty words that expressed every measure of her wishes.

  Cock. Dick. Hump. Fuck.

  Ah, yes. Crazy, forbidden, bad words whispered when lovers want to excite each other. Nonsensical and yet meaning one thing with a raging desire that knew no bounds.

  Beyond that, she wanted him speak those unmentionable words to her, whisper them in her ear so that she’d fire up on the mere idea.