Throbbing like a sore tooth, Cassaundra Reynolds pulled off highway ___ onto Meander Road

by Susan Shay

  Before he could force air into his quickly constricting lungs, she languidly slipped off the couch, then took his hand and pulled him to his feet. “Take me home.”

  After locking Miriam’s apartment, as they climbed the stairs to the tower, he wondered at Cassie’s murmured words. Did she mean, Take me to my apartment, or was she talking about something else? Something that had him swelling and hard in mere moments?

  When she unlocked the door and let him in, he no longer had to wonder. Lighted only by the multicolored glow of her Christmas tree lights, she walked across the floor to the couch, dropped her sweater as if it were a petal from a flower, then unfastened her trousers, allowing them to slide down her legs until she could step out of the pool they created around her ankles.

  Her gaze holding his, she reached behind her to unfasten the clasp of her bra. God, he wanted her. Desperate to hold her, or at least touch her, he started across the room, but she smiled softly and shook her head. With his pulse pounding in his head and a counterbeat in his groin, he watched as she oh-so-slowly eased the straps from her shoulders and down her arms.

  He almost strangled when he tried to swallow as her rosy nipples came into full view. Finally, after she’d disposed of her panties and caused him to harden until the pain in his groin drove all conscious thought from his mind, she took the clasp from her hair.

  With all the colors of a fall meadow, her curls cascaded around her shoulders, then coiled demurely over one breast, allowing only the crest to peek through. Lungs screaming for air, he took a ragged breath, then started toward her. How had that tiny apartment grown so large? Why was it taking him so long to get to her side?

  When at last he was there, he placed his hands on her shoulders, but before he could slip his arms around her, she grasped the bottom of his shirt and, without bothering with the buttons, hauled it over his head. Next she unfastened his jeans and dragged them to his knees. What now? he wondered, but without batting an eye, she pushed him onto the couch, then took off his boots and jeans.

  After she removed his shorts, he watched as if in a dream as she fitted her knee into the space between his legs, then wrapped her arms around his neck. Slowly, sensually, she slid down his body until her breasts kissed his chest and her face was next to his. Deftly, he scooped her onto the sofa beside him.

  “It makes into a bed,” she whispered, her voice rough.

  “Next time,” he promised, unable to fit his mind around the mechanics of turning a couch into a bed as he used his thumb to trace her nipple until it puckered. When she gasped and closed her eyes, he knew where he had to be.

  Inside her.

  Fitting the curve of his palm beneath her breast, he discovered the line of her ribs, skimmed his hand to her navel, then lower until he reached the tight curls between her legs. When he explored past the protective folds, finding her hot and wet and tight, she moaned, and then, as if unable to help what she was doing, bucked against his hand.

  Looking into her eyes, he saw tears filling them. “Please...”

  Humbled beyond belief, he gently laid her on the couch, then after making swift work of finding the condom in his jeans and fitting it on himself, knelt between her legs. He forced himself to ease slowly inside her as, with her fingers gripping him, she thrust her hips to meet his. Slowly, slowly, he cautioned silently as he gritted his teeth. We’ve got all night.

  But even as he tried to pace the rhythm, she sped it up. As he tried to soothe her, she nipped at his shoulder, then ran her tongue across his chest until she found his nipple and greedily sucked at it, bringing him dangerously close to the edge. Hoping to distract himself, he pulled her to him for a kiss, then took her nipple into his mouth, tugging it between his teeth before kissing her again.

  “Oh...my...God!” Her voice rang through the room as she arched against him, thrusting harder than ever and carrying him with her to climax. Although he clenched his jaw to keep from crying out, he couldn’t stop the loud hiss as he sucked in a final, burning breath.

  ****

  Awareness dawned slowly with Cassie fighting it every step of the way. At first she only knew it was sometime in the early morning, long before daybreak. Then she noticed she was on her side, not sleeping on her stomach with her face buried in the pillow as usual. At last she realized she was on the edge of the bed, instead of her normal spot in the middle. As she started to shift across the mattress, something moved in the dimly lighted room.

  Filled with terror, she scrambled to find a reason. Because of the violence of her nightmares, she didn’t allow anyone to stay the night. Who—or what—could it be? Had someone broken into her apartment? Was she really awake or was this another dream—like she’d had so often lately? Was it possible that she, like the women who’d been kidnapped and murdered in the past few weeks, was in lethal danger?

  Forcing herself to take a long, full breath, she started to sit up when she realized what she was wearing. Nothing—except the sheet.

  “Did I wake you?”

  Her breath froze in her lungs. Keegan! What was he doing there at this time of night?

  She thought back to the night before when he’d taken her to his sister’s apartment and given her brandy to drink. Remembering the burn of the liquid going down, she let her mind drift to the way he’d touched her. And the light that followed.

  At first, it had been a simple meteor shower in a dark sky, then the flashes had come faster, one following on the heels of the last so quickly, the stars became a Fourth of July sparkler, and finally, when he’d kissed her, she’d seen only an explosion of brilliance.

  But what happened after that? She tried to force her mind past the kiss, but there was nothing. Just dazzling light, blinding her to everything that happened in the night. No memories remained. None of his emotions, fantasies, dreams, hopes, or desires. Only the shadowy remembrance of his touch.

  Had they really slept together? Dressed as she was, the answer was fairly clear. Uninformed and unsure of herself, she cleared her throat.

  “No, I don’t think so.” As her eyes adjusted, she saw a book in his hands and sat up. “What are you doing?”

  “I had trouble sleeping, so I was enjoying these pictures of you when you were little. God, you were cute.” Although she couldn’t clearly see his face, she knew he was watching her.

  She pulled the sheet around her as she stepped out of bed. “I usually keep that put away.”

  “Well, you shouldn’t.” Glancing down, he turned a page. “You were a little doll—model material. I’m surprised your parents didn’t use you to get rich.”

  “They didn’t need me to get rich.” Hoping she’d awakened before he got too far in the book, she padded over to him and closed it. “My father was a very successful Kansas City doctor. And a few months after he died, my mother married another successful Kansas City doctor. After all, she had a lifestyle to continue.”

  “Is your stepfather the reason you stopped being in the family photos?” Rather than let her take the album from him, he flipped to the back third of the book, where she’d placed the family pictures after she’d left home. “There’s only a couple of group pictures in here after he joined the group, and then you’re conspicuously absent.”

  Unable to stem her emotions, she stalked to the armoire and, dropping the sheet, jerked on her robe. Why hadn’t she burned the album? Why did he have to be so nosy? And why, after all these years, did she have to care so much?

  As she approached him again, he put down the book and pulled her into his lap. Unable to swallow her tears, she rested her forehead against his shoulder. “That’s when they put me in the hospital for testing.”

  Holding her from him so he could look into her face, he frowned. “Why did you need testing? Were you ill?”

  She shook her head. “No, but Howard, my stepfather, thought I was. Mentally.”

  Even in the darkness, she could see the surprise on his face. “Why?”

  Forcing out the breath caught in her lungs
, she took another, deeper one. “I told you about my accident at Rainbow Falls.”

  “Yeah. I wanted to ask what you meant about things getting bad after that.” The caring and concern in his eyes should have been comforting, but the pain from the past was too strong.

  “Not long after my fall into the cave, I touched Howard’s clothes as I helped Mom with the laundry and became hysterical when I “saw” him fight for, and lose, a child’s life in the ER. So, since all right-thinking people know there’s no such thing as psychic ability, it had to be brain damage. Naturally, I spent the next months in hospitals, being tested for damage, tumors, lesions—anything that could cause a brain to go haywire.” Although she tried, she couldn’t keep the bitterness from her words, so she hid her face in his shoulder again to muffle them. “After the doctors in Kansas City couldn’t find anything, I was shipped farther and farther from home. In the end, I was being tested like a freak of nature. It was...horrible.”

  “What did your mother think about all this testing?” His voice lifted as if anger gave it strength.

  Wishing they’d never started the conversation so he wouldn’t have to know about her pitiful life, she sighed. “Nothing, I guess. But then, how would I know? She didn’t visit me, and rarely wrote.”

  He held her closer. “She didn’t visit you even once?”

  She wished she could tell him something different. Make up a nicer, prettier story of a mother who’d loved her. Who’d brought her chocolates and magazines to help pass the time. “No. She didn’t come see me because she would have had to leave Howard and her perfect life. Besides, someone might find out that I was in a hospital instead of away at school, as she’d told everyone.”

  Keegan muttered a curse, then lifted her face until she was forced to look at him. “Hey? You okay?”

  His fingers under her chin kept her from turning her face, so all she could do was avert her gaze. “I’ve lived with this for so long, it doesn’t normally bother me. Once in a while when I talk about it, though, old emotions rear their heads.”

  As if overwhelmed by the story, he pulled her close and held her tight against him. After a long moment, his words rumbled in his chest. “Umm, you feel good. Not as good as when we were in that bed with nothing between us but my smile, but good.”

  The teasing light in his eyes made the rock in her belly—along with her bones, joints, and marrow—melt. How was he able to do this to her so easily?

  But as he lifted her to carry her across the room, the fire storm started once more and she found how was the farthest thing from her mind.

  ****

  The air smelled of dirt...and tasted of fear. Darkness dominated the night, the space where she lay, even her mind. The entire universe was doused in the absence of light.

  With the cessation of vision came pain. Deep, agonizing torture. Fluctuating in intensity from vile to unspeakable, the torment was unending, more than she could bear, but not enough to kill her. At least not yet.

  She screamed until the air in her lungs depleted, then struggled for breath.

  There had to be an end, didn’t there? Could so much agony go on and on? Wasn’t there a natural law that determined how much a person could bear? How long a person could suffer before the suffering was muted?

  Filling her lungs to bursting, she screamed again and again until her throat bled and an ache in her jaws joined the overall blanket of pain, then as she struggled for air, the scream returned to her, puncturing her ears, making her desperate for at least a promise of death—no matter how horrible—only so she could know if her agony was transitory.

  Or if she was suffering the last bastion of hell.

  Someone touched her arm, then slapped her face, but the smack was gentle. Almost a caress. “Cassie, wake up! Are you sick, sugar?”

  As she awoke, she jerked upright, gasping for air like a drowning man. Drenched in sweat, she couldn’t slow the short, fast breaths or her pounding heart. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, then rubbed at the pain slowly fading from her wrists, her ankles.

  A gentle stroke smoothed along her shoulder, then glided down the tight muscles in her neck and back. “It was just a dream, Cassie. Want to tell me what it was that frightened you so?”

  Damp tendrils of hair partially blocking her vision, she lifted her head to see Keegan close beside her as worry furrowed his brow and tipped his mouth. Looking around the room, she was amazed to see her own treasured things surrounding her instead of the dank, putrid blackness she’d dreamed of. Relief filled her like a blast of cool air, allowing her to relax just a little. It had been a dream.

  As if he needed something to do, Keegan strode to the kitchen, then a few moments later came back with a glass of water. “Drink this.”

  Taking the glass in both hands to keep from spilling, she drank all the liquid, then handed it back to him with a sigh. After he set the cup on the end table, he slid back into her bed, and with great care, gathered her into his arms. Finally she was able to turn loose. And when he spooned her against his body, then nestled her tight under his chin as he murmured words too soft to hear, she was able to at last close her eyes as she tried to force the awaiting horror back for a time.

  Chapter Eleven

  Restless and anxious to get away, Miriam watched the interaction between Keegan and Cassie. It surprised her that, for some reason, the happiness she should be feeling just wasn’t there.

  What could be wrong with her? This was something she’d wanted forever. Knowing and loving them both, she’d been certain since Cassie moved into the apartment house that she’d be perfect for Keegan. So now that it was happening—something even Mack and Vern could see without their bifocals—why wasn’t she thrilled? Overjoyed? Ecstatic?

  Because life sucked.

  Most likely, Cassie had dark circles under her eyes and Keegan was wearing that goofy smile because they were staying up late, making love every night. But she was the one who should be losing sleep while having that kind of fun. She’d been in love for years.

  Didn’t it make sense that those who loved longest should love best? Why not for her? Why did the rule that affected her have to be the one about familiarity and contempt instead?

  It just wasn’t fair, and she wasn’t going to put up with it anymore.

  Handing the patiently waiting old lady her bag of paperbacks along with her change, Miriam forced a smile. “Thank you. Come back and see us next time you’re in town.”

  The old woman smiled and nodded. “I surely will. Thank you.”

  Now that the store was finally empty, Miriam could call Cassie to her office and let her know that she was taking off a little early. Again. A twinge of guilt weighed heavy for a moment, but she shrugged it off. After all, it was her store, wasn’t it? If she was gone more than usual lately, what was the big deal? It wasn’t as if she was asking Keegan or Cassie either one to dig ditches or pour cement. All they had to do was sell a few books.

  Miriam depressed the intercom button. “Cassie, come to the front, please.”

  After glancing around once more to make sure she hadn’t missed a customer, she turned and went into the office. Seated in the leather chair behind her desk, she had more power. And she liked having power—even when she had it because of someone else.

  As she waited, her mind drifted—as usual—to Steve. Would he be there with her tonight? An invisible band tightened around her chest as she thought about what was to come. What if he didn’t show? Would she know what to do? Could she complete things satisfactorily without him to guide her as he had in the past?

  When Cassie stepped into the office, the bruise-colored flesh under her eyes was a shock. Had it gotten worse or had Miriam just not paid attention earlier? Concern made her belly turn over. “Are you feeling okay?”

  Surprise widened Cassie’s eyes. “I’m fine. I just haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

  Glancing past her friend, Miriam saw Keegan lean his shoulder against the
office door frame and couldn’t help but smile. After all, she’d given the pair of them her birthday wish for years now. How could she keep from enjoying her success just a little? “I can imagine.”

  After a brief look, Cassie’s cheeks pinked, then she tipped her head and took a breath. “We need some supplies for the coffee shop—”

  “Go ahead and order them.” With the onset of dusk, the antsy feeling was once more building in Miriam’s gut. She didn’t have time to listen to a stale list when she had places to go. People to see. Orders to obey. Who cared what anyone thought—as long as she could make Steve happy.

  When the phone rang, Miriam looked at Cassie. “Get that, please. I’ve got to run.”

  Cassie answered, “Cyprus Creek Bookstore.” Miriam grabbed her purse from beneath the desk and headed for the door. This couldn’t be put off another second.

  ****

  Janneth Nicholas focused on her Faberge egg collection, which she’d moved to the end table to be near her. Their rich colors glowed so beautifully against the dark cherry, she might just keep it there throughout the holiday.

  She lifted her chin, a habit she’d acquired when she’d first noticed the tiny lines starting to appear on her neck, forced herself to release the wingback’s armrest and relax against the back of her chair. If anything could calm her, her treasures would.

  After all, she couldn’t let Cassaundra hear the quiver of nerves tightening her throat. Crossing her legs, she enjoyed their newly waxed smoothness. The easy glide always made her happy, which naturally added lilt to her voice. “Cassaundra, darling, it’s Mummy.”

  “...Hello.”

  The lengthy pause before Cassaundra spoke, as if she couldn’t quite believe the call was happening, irritated Janneth. After all, it hadn’t been that long since they’d spoken. Pushing the fact that it had been Cassaundra who’d initiated the last several calls from her mind, Janneth tamped down the irritation. It wouldn’t do to let her daughter know it. “So wonderful to talk to you, Cassaundra. How have you been?”

  “I’m fine, Mother. How are you and Howard?”