She saw him hesitate.
Then he sighed. “It seems wrong when you look just like my partner.”
At this, she smiled. Her first real smile since the day before. Slowly, she shimmered into what he took to be herself. Brown hair with gold highlights and a couple of silvery hairs that glinted slightly in the light of the bedside table. A round face with a dimple in the left cheek. Eyes that were so light brown they were almost golden. Her body had curves. The good kind. In all the right places.
“Wow.” Suddenly he was more than a little self-conscious about removing his jeans.
“What?” She shimmered again, her appearance starting to blur.
“No.” He climbed onto the bed and took her hand. “I like it.” He looked her over again. “You are so hot.”
She solidified into herself. “Really?”
“Oh, yeah,” he breathed as he leaned in to kiss her. He’d never seen a sexier woman. She was it. She was the one. Would she understand what it meant? He breathed deep. She needed to understand. She had to agree to forever. Silently, he prayed she would.
Nervous, more than he’d ever been, he leaned back, keeping a hold on her hand. “Will you marry me?”
• • •
He wasn’t kidding. He wanted her, and he meant forever. There would be no backing out of it for him. She wanted to laugh. He couldn’t see it, but they had shared so many pieces of themselves with each other already that they wouldn’t be easily separated anyway. The pieces of him completed her more than when she was whole.
Her answer had already been written the instant she ran from the sisterhood with Nichole. This man was her future, and she was his. Finally, he knew it, too.
She took his face in her hands. “With all of my soul, forever.”
He laughed and kissed her. Passion that had been held in control seemed unlocked, and the world fell way. Nothing mattered but them. Kissing, stroking, they shared everything. He opened his soul so completely to her, and she responded in kind.
They sank into what seemed like dozens of feather pillows on the bed. His voice was husky. “You have such an amazing body.”
She warmed at the comment. And choked on a small sob.
“What is it?” he asked.
“You see me.”
“No matter who you pretend to be, I will always see you.” He gathered her in his arms and traced his fingertips lightly down her back.
His male scent mingled with the light fragrance of soap from an earlier shower.
Continuing to hold her in one arm, he caressed her with his other hand, starting at her neck. As he brushed her hair back from her shoulder he leaned down and touched his lips to hers.
Gentle but not hesitant, his hands explored her. Behind every movement, she felt purpose. Slow. Sensual. Needing to focus on something other than the areas of her skin screaming to be touched, she closed her eyes and reached for him. Her fingers traced his hard chest, running across his abdomen, which rippled as he shifted to stroke her thigh.
He leaned over her, kissing her hair, cheeks, nose, lips. His magic hands braced him as he hovered over her, raining kisses down over her neck and shoulders.
She knew he was taking it slow, taking care that their first time would be special. She wasn’t a virgin, but her last encounter had been decades before and hadn’t been tender. She became aware of her entire body as he kissed and caressed it. Not just the key areas.
Her hands moved as well, caressing the muscles of his arms and back. They rippled as he moved.
Oh, the anticipation. Each breast received a kiss, then he traced them with his tongue in a closing spiral, and finally flicked his tongue across the tip. She gasped and arched toward him. Didn’t he know this was driving her crazy?
He moved on, lightly brushing his lips against her stomach. She moaned in protest, reaching for him, running her fingers through his hair.
“Are you in a hurry?” She could barely make out his mischievous grin though the veil of lust clouding her vision.
“I need you,” she whispered, wanting his touch more than anything she’d ever wanted.
He touched his lips to hers again. She felt his smile and wrapped her arms around his neck before he could move on and continue the sensuous torture.
Sinking into the kiss, she felt the weight of his body on hers. The earth spun, and her senses swam, then he ran a hand down her side and slipped a finger inside her. She cried out against his lips.
Once again, every touch became slow and deliberate. His fingers explored the inside and his thumb brushed the outside, working her to climax. Lights burst and flowed with colors of a turbulent aura. She cried out again and focused him in her vision. The world still whirled about him, but he was steady in her sight.
“I need you,” she whispered again. The lust had gone, leaving only him and a void he would fill. And as he did, they seemed to fall through space, love, and time, heralded back to earth by a multitude of bells ringing.
• • •
He needed to take his time. To make it special for both of them. He’d always been able to drive a woman wild, and he had been worried for a minute he had lost his touch. Her reaction proved otherwise.
Her moans almost ended him right then. She reached for him, had tried give him some of the pleasure he was giving her, but he stayed just out of reach until the world swam. Then he entered her. She gripped every inch of him, wet and warm and pulsing. They moved together. Bodies moving to the rhythm of their heartbeats. Faster and faster, until … light seemed to engulf them both and they gave their all to each other.
Their hearts slowed, and their breathing slowed. As they snuggled, they both knew they would never be alone again. They had become one.
Chapter 13
A quick internet search led them to Pilcher’s house. As they drove through the neighborhood Ashley gripped her right hand over the onyx band on her left ring finger. At Eric’s quizzical glance she pointed and said, “The sisterhood lives down that street.”
“Maybe you should … ” he began.
“I can’t,” she whispered, twisting the band and giving it an experimental tug. “Anyway, we need it.” He knew that was an excuse. His sense of smell would get them far enough. The idea that she couldn’t remove the ring nearly sent her into a panic, yet she seemed fearful of the opposite too.
He grunted. He didn’t understand. Was it just because she didn’t want to lose her powers? He would give up his abilities in a second, but he also knew she felt like they were the only things that empowered her.
They drove slowly past Pilcher’s house. No one appeared to be home. Eric pulled into a driveway down the block on the opposite side of the street.
“Won’t someone say something about us parking here?” Ashley asked.
“There’s a for sale sign in the front yard and a lock box on the front door.” He gestured toward the ornate door they faced. “No one parks on the street in this neighborhood if they can help it.”
She nodded. “So, what do we do now?”
“There is no sign he’s home. So we watch the house.”
“Maybe we should check to see if he’s keeping the kids there. If he is, we could get them out before he even gets home.”
“He could be home and just parked in the garage.”
“The point is, from here, we can’t tell if he’s home. The only way to know is to knock. That’s why we got the props, isn’t it? As she pulled a bag from the back seat she morphed into a young girl. She could have been a sister to any of the abducted girls. Her clothes changed with her. Now she was in a scouting uniform. She pulled a clipboard from the bag. She winked at him and moved to open her door.
He grasped her arm to stop her. “Will you be able to control yourself if he answers the door?”
She looked him in the eye, and for a second he could see doubt. Then her eyebrow arched. “You’ll be there, Daddy. I promise to behave.”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t call me Daddy.”
&nb
sp; “Dad?”
He grunted.
“Pop?”
“Cut it out.”
They climbed out of the car and slowly walked up the street. When they got to Pilcher’s house Ashley went up to the front door. Playing the father, Eric needed to hang back a bit. He measured the distance to the door. He could reach her in five bounds.
The front door opened to reveal a woman in her mid-to-late fifties. “Can I help you?”
“Good afternoon. My name is Michelle. I’m with the Desert Scouts. I’m selling cookies for my troop. Number 492.” She saluted and then lifted her clipboard to show the woman a fake order form they’d downloaded that morning with several sales already listed. “As you can see there are several new cookies this year.”
“Oh, how lovely. Come in.”
Ashley feigned worry. “I’m not supposed to.” She glanced back at Eric.
“Your father can come, too.” The woman pitched her voice to carry so Eric could hear. “Come on in for a minute while I get my purse.”
Eric reached Ashley, and they followed the woman.
Ashley whispered, “All I get from her is innocence with an undertone of mischief.”
Eric leaned close to Ashley’s ear. “She’s not nervous, and he’s not home.”
“Have a seat, I’ll be right back.” The woman waved at the living room before continuing on her way. “Can I offer you some lemonade?” she offered.
Eric coughed. The last time a woman had offered him lemonade the perp he was tracking had killed her before she could hand him the glass. “No, thank you.”
The sitting room at the front of the house was connected to a dining area by an opening in a half wall. On the other side of the dining room another half wall revealed the woman puttering around in the kitchen.
Over the mantle of the fireplace hung a group picture of Pilcher, his wife—the woman singing to herself in the kitchen—and a teenage girl, similar in appearance to the other victims. Nearly identical to Victoria Gunderson. On the back of the antique couch sat a row of rag dolls. Each dressed in a different outfit.
“I never have guests.” Mrs. Pilcher reentered the room carrying a tray of butter cookies shaped like little flowers with a hole in the middle, which she placed on the coffee table. “These are so much fun.” She placed a cookie on her finger and nibbled the edge.
Ashley passed her the order form. “I like your dolls.”
“Oh, me too,” Mrs. Pilcher agreed. “My husband used to make them for my daughter. They were so close, the two of them. Sometimes she’d have problems with her stomach, and he’d sit up with her all night.” Tears welled, and the woman sniffled. “She died years ago, but he still makes them sometimes. He gives them away to little girls that remind him of her. A special little doll for a special little girl, he’d say.”
Using her disguise to its advantage Ashley widened her eyes and asked, “Oh, how did she die?”
Eric scolded, “Sweetie, that’s not polite to ask.”
Mrs. Pilcher smiled gently. “Children are curious.” She patted Ashley’s head. “That’s a good quality in children. We were in a car accident. I was in a coma for a month. When I woke up Irving told me that she’d passed. My poor darling. They were so close; he was devastated.”
Absently, she finished the cookie she’d worn on her finger, then she slipped on another, and nibbled off that one as well. “I just love cookies, don’t you?” she asked as she checked several boxes on the order form.
• • •
Once on the street, on the way back to their car, Eric said, “She had brain trauma. She’s functional. So much so that she’s probably fooling herself. I really don’t think she even notices what Pilcher’s doing.”
Ashley nodded. “What I could see in her aura was almost childlike. She has an overwhelming innocence about her. I don’t think she would be able to notice complex threats.”
“How do you mean?”
“She wouldn’t fear a growling dog.”
“I’ll try not to be offended.”
“She’s innocent. In every possible way. Her husband, though … ”
“Isn’t,” he finished for her. “Yeah, I smelled him. I couldn’t catch the scent of any of the girls, though. Looks like we’ll have to follow him.”
“Should we report the doll collection to Aaron?”
“He’d only be able to put a tail on him, if that. He might not be able to get approval for a tail based solely on a tip. He’d have to knock on her door, too. Ask some questions. Too much activity could spook Pilcher if he isn’t spooked already.”
They got into the car and waited. Before long, a sedan pulled into the driveway of the Pilchers’ house.
“That’s him.” Eric twisted the rearview so he could watch the house but still face forward.
Pilcher glanced up and down the street before entering his house. After a moment, the porch light went out. Luckily, she was far enough away from the house that she didn’t want to devour Pilcher’s soul.
“Are we going to sit here all night?” Ashley asked, before shifting back to herself. Given the way they’d spent their day, she had a difficult time keeping her hands to herself.
“It’s a stakeout.” Eric patted her hand, which seemed to snake its way up his thigh. “The whole point is to pay attention to the subject.”
“Right.” She pulled her hand away. “Pay attention. But it doesn’t have to be rapt attention. Does it?” She leaned over and kissed his throat, peppering it until she reached his far earlobe, and in doing so, she’d climbed into his lap.
“That feels wonderful, but—”
“And if we’re like this I can keep an eye on them, can’t I?” It was serious, she knew that. But the scent of Eric, and the memory of that morning, had her longing for a repeat performance. She’d never felt so close to anyone in her long lifetime. So connected and still so free.
For once, she felt nothing but love coming from a man. No lies. No agenda. It was invigorating. She wanted to make him feel as euphoric as he made her.
Eric smiled as he slowly stroked her arms. “Yes, but as soon as he begins to move we’ll have to stop, and I know I won’t want to do that.”
“True.” She shifted her hips in a slow circle and ran her fingers into his hair. “The upstairs window just lit up. It seems as though they are settling in for the evening.”
Eric glanced into the rearview mirror. “So you’re saying we have time to do a little of this?” He gripped her bottom and pulled her tighter to him. His hands slid under her shirt. They caressed her back and sides, then eased around front to cup her breasts. His warm thumbs circled over her nipples, hardening them.
“Oh.” She leaned into his touch and bent to kiss him again. It would have been so easy to allow herself to forget the outside world as pleasure and fog clouded her mind. She opened her eyes for a moment to check Pilcher’s house, only to see the lights on his car glow. “Shit. He’s moving.” She climbed off Eric’s lap and watched as the dark sedan pulled away down the street. “Shit,” she repeated.
“Keep an eye on him.” Eric started the car and backed onto the street.
“He just turned right.”
“Okay.” They turned as well and pulled up behind Pilcher at a light to exit the neighborhood. Eric glanced at Ashley as she smoothed her hair and tried to get comfortable in her seat. “Told you so.”
She grunted. “We didn’t miss him.” She gave his leg a squeeze. “I regret nothing.”
“Neither do I.” The depth of his voice told her he meant more than just playing around in the car while on a stakeout.
They followed Pilcher’s sedan onto the highway. After a while, Eric said, “He’d want to keep his victim as far away from his home as possible.”
“Makes sense.” She nodded. “The wife is fragile. It seems he still values her, regardless of his extracurricular activities.”
Their course took them away from the city. Twilight had them turning on the headlights. Lucki
ly, they weren’t the only ones on the road. For now.
She read a traffic sign. “He’s heading toward Pahrump.”
“That doesn’t make sense. The problems there would be the same ones he’d have in Vegas. He couldn’t hide the girls in a city, or even a suburban neighborhood. Not if he wanted to keep them alive.”
As he spoke, the car they followed slowed and switched on his blinker. They followed suit. The exit had a gas station and a couple of fast food restaurants. He drove past everything. Then, after about five minutes, he pulled into a motel parking lot.
Eric didn’t slow. As they passed, they could see Pilcher drive behind the building. Eric pulled into the first driveway after the motel and turned around.
Ashley reached out with her senses. She could feel the evil that was Pilcher. But also there were three other people. All innocent. All terrified. Something rose in her. Her ring grew hot. She could feel the power flow from that point and radiate throughout her body. “We’ve found them.”
“We have to be sure,” he said.
She remembered the pull she’d felt in the Gundersons’ house and shivered. Eric was afraid of his own powers, of being a monster. What would his reaction to hers be? They had just found happiness. How would he react if she attacked Pilcher? “I don’t think … I shouldn’t.”
“Just wait in the car. I’ll scent out the girls.” Eric cut the lights as soon as he pulled into the far side of the lot.
The closer they got, the stronger the pull. She closed her eyes but reopened them when he touched her arm. “Seriously, just wait here. I have to be sure the girls are here before we call in Aaron and the cavalry.”
“Right.”
He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers. “I’ll be right back.”
She watched him until he disappeared behind the back of the motel. The building had once been maroon, but years of bleaching in the sun-drenched desert left it a pale and somewhat sickly salmon.
The tugging had become painful. If she gave in, there was no telling what she’d do. In all her time in Vegas, she’d never thirsted so deeply for a man’s soul. Before she realized it, she was out of the car and crossing the parking lot.
Redeeming the Night Page 14