Lynna's Beau (Tropical Paradise Series Book 2)

by Kitty Margo

  “I did. I chose not to harm Beau.” It would have been such fun. “That was the greatest sacrifice I could think of.”

  “Now if you don’t mean it an’ don’t stick ta yo’ word de spell won’t work.” Pearlie warned.

  “I meant it,” Suzanne assured her, but just in case she crossed the fingers of her free hand behind her back. “And I would never take the risk of going back on my word to you.” Probably. “What next?”

  “Bring forth the living animal to sacrifice.”

  Suzanne reached into the sack she carried and brought out a squawking chicken.

  “Kill the animal by stabbing it until it is dead, but avoid the heart.” Pearlie handed her a wooden bowl. “Cut out the heart and catch as much of the blood in this bowl as you can. All the while you are doing this chant these words:

  Accept our humble gratitude

  For your offering

  In death you give life

  May you find wings to the kingdom.

  With that done Suzanne looked around and noticed that the five women all held lit candles now and were chanting. They each passed the bowl around and dabbed their fingers in the blood, drawing a line down their foreheads and another line on each cheek and said:

  Before time and after,

  Before knowing and nothing.

  Then the women took turns pouring the blood from the bowl onto the pile of clothes and chanted:

  Accept our offering,

  know our prayer,

  here lies the spirit of Joshua Jordan,

  let him cross over,

  release him

  release him!

  The women spun around the circle in a frenzied dance with their arms outstretched to the sky chanting:

  I summon thee

  The one to be,

  The one who lost their life,

  Their happiness,

  Family and friends

  I call now in the night

  Then the women all moved back to stand in a line, holding hands and reaching toward the sky chanting feverishly, faster and faster until they were screaming like banshees. Pearlie reached into her pocket and threw something into the fire and white smoke, like a wall of thick fog, boiled up obscuring everything. When the smoke finally cleared…

  “Joshua!” Suzanne cried ecstatically, jumping up and down with her arms outstretched. “Is it really you? It is you! I brought you back to life!”

  Joshua stepped out of the circle and extended his arms to her with a broad smile playing across his devilishly handsome features. “Yes, my love. I came back. Even death couldn’t keep me from you.”

  “It worked!” Suzanne cried, launching herself into his arms. “The resurrection spell worked! I knew it would! Oh, my darling, I am so happy to see you!”

  Even though he cringed at the thought of touching her, Joshua drew her into his arms, molding her body to his. “My sweet, sweet, Suzanne, how I have pined for your touch,” he groaned, winking at Pearlie over Suzanne’s shoulder.

  “Oh, Joshua, I knew you would feel that way when Lynna was out of the picture.”

  He pulled back to look at her, feigning confusion. “Is Lynna out of the picture?”

  “Oh, that’s right,” she laughed shrilly. “You have been… indisposed, haven’t you?

  “To tell you the truth, I don’t know where I have been. To say the least, I am confused.”

  “But you smell so… wonderful. Not at all the nasty and rotten odor I imagined a decaying corpse to have.” This puzzled Suzanne for a second, but she didn’t allow it to bother her overmuch. “Anyway, I will explain everything to you, my darling. But first let us get reacquainted and you can thank me later.”

  His hand slid down her back, squeezing her waist. “I would like nothing better.” Then he looked around at the many eyes focused on them in shock and awe, whispering about the zombie Pearlie had brought back to life. Her reputation had been ratcheted up several notches tonight. “Can we go someplace more private, my love?”

  Suzanne’s laughter rang out in the still night, realizing where his mind had wandered. “Of course you would desire to be alone with me, after such a long abstinence. I should have thought of that myself. Why, it has been forever since we were… together.”

  Taking his hand she hurried through the woods a short distance until she came to the riverbank and sank down onto a soft carpet of grass, tugging his hand to pull him down beside her. “Let’s pretend it’s our wedding night, Joshua and start fresh, as a husband and wife should. You have made me the happiest girl in the world,” she moaned, taking his face to bring his lips to hers. “I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  If Joshua had his way that wouldn’t be very long at all. “Neither can I, Suzanne. But first I have to have some answers.” He sat down on the ground beside her, yet out of her reach. “It almost feels like I have been in some sort of strange limbo. Please clear my confusion before I lose my mind. What happened to me?” Dropping his head in his hands Joshua tried to convince her of his distress. “Though you will never know how much it pains me to keep my hands from caressing your exquisite body, I cannot let myself go and enjoy your favors until I have some answers.” Then he looked, with what he hoped was intense longing, into her eyes. “Please, tell me the truth.”

  “Oh, silly man, we have the remainder of our lives to talk. For now I just want to feel your hands on my body.” She threw her head back imagining how appealing she must look with the moonlight shimmering on her raven locks. With her neck arched back, her breasts were thrust forward just waiting for her husband’s caress. “Oh, Joshua, how I have yearned for your touch.

  Joshua had no intention of touching her, yet he saw no way around it. She had to tell him where Lynna was.

  Suzanne stopped talking abruptly when his hand slipped inside her bodice and cupped her breast. Her breath caught in her throat and Joshua felt a shiver run through her as his fingers stroked her erect nipple. He felt her strain against his hand, wanting more. Twisting her nipple roughly, she cried out in pain, then almost purred with a satisfied smile. “Oh, Joshua, hurt me!”

  “With pleasure.”

  With his palm flat on her chest, he slammed her backwards on the ground. “You like it rough, don’t you, Suzanne?”

  “You know I do.” Her eyes were glazed with lust. “Take me, my darling!”

  “It will be a cold day in hell before…” fortunately, he caught his slip of the tongue in time, “before I let any other man touch you.”

  “Why, there is no cause for you to be so jealous, darling. I have not wanted any other man since the day I met you, so don’t you worry that handsome head of yours about other men touching me. I belong only to you now.” Having said that, she scurried to her feet, presenting her back to Joshua. “Unfasten me, please,” she urged. “I find myself simply starved for you, darling.”

  Sighing heavily, Joshua did as she asked, trying his best to appear eager as she stripped off layer after layer until she stood nude before him. Holding out her arms to him she whispered, “Take me, Joshua. I am yours.”

  Not bloody likely! Determined to finish this charade and be done with it, Joshua stretched back on the ground and motioned for her to join him. She did, immediately crawling on top of him to press the length of her body to his. Rolling her over to her back, his hand ran down her slim figure, dreading what he must do.

  Suzanne pushed his head to her breast impatiently and moaned when his lips closed over her nipple biting… hard. “Oh, God, Joshua! Yes!”

  His hand moved between her legs, two fingers slipping inside her as he suckled and nibbled her breasts. Suzanne threw both arms over her head and arched against his hand crying out his name over and over. The last thing Joshua wanted to do was give her pleasure, but he saw no way around it. Removing his fingers from inside her, he moved them up slightly and massaged her hard nub, his fingers dancing tiny circles around it. Suzanne’s eyes rolled back in her head and she screamed with pleasure when her r
elease came. Joshua watched with a jaundiced eye as she bucked and thrashed beneath his hand.

  Several minutes later, when her breathing had returned to normal, she tried to untie the drawstring on the front of his breeches, but he brushed her hands away. The bitch was never satisfied! “I can pleasure you with my hands, my darling, but I have too much on my mind to…”

  “What, my love? What has you so troubled?” Suzanne knew she could make a potion that would cure any problems he had performing in the bedroom. When did that happen?

  “You. Me. Our future together.” Grabbing her shoulders he willed her to tell the truth. “I have to know what happened to me and if it will ever happen again.”

  “No, darling. I can assure you it will not happen again.” Suzanna drew a deep breath deciding to come clean and tell him everything. After all, I brought you back to life and your only duty from here to eternity is to please me. “In a fit of temper, I confess that I caused you to have a little accident. But I don’t regret it, mind you. Because now I have you here with me where you would have been all along if it hadn’t been for that trollop.”

  Suzanne didn’t want to talk, she wanted to feel his body inside hers, but when she reached for him Joshua took her hands and stilled them, urging her to continue. She huffed out an irritated breath. “It took me months of working with Pearlie to perfect the resurrection spell to bring you back to life.” She smiled brightly. “It worked! And here you are! End of story.”

  Joshua shook his head sadly. “Yes, here I am. But, what of Lynna? Will I have to worry about her returning in a few days or weeks to ruin our happiness again? I need to know what you did to her.”

  Suzanne’s wicked laughter was keen. “I doubt we will be seeing Lynna again. She was mere hours from meeting her maker when I last saw her.”

  Joshua’s chest constricted and he found it difficult to breathe. His hands itched to close around her worthless neck and laugh in her face as he squeezed the last drop of air from her starving lungs. “When was that?”

  Suzanne giggled. “The night she boarded the ship in Charleston.”

  “Boarded a ship!” Joshua clenched his fists by his sides forcing himself to remain calm lest she realize his ruse and fall silent. “With who?”

  “Eric Desmond.” She smiled dreamily at the thought of Eric. But then a memory she had long since buried resurfaced to plague her. “But while they were lifting Lynna from the ground, poor thing fainted dead away, I heard one of his crewmembers refer to him as Captain Sean. I don’t know what that was about.”

  Sean Devereux! “Where was he taking her?”

  Suzanne cackled like a madwoman. “Oh, you are going to love this. He is taking her to a man on one of the islands. A horribly disfigured man who gets his jollies from abusing woman. Can you believe how positively perfect that is?”

  Joshua’s heart pounded furiously as he tried to control his taunt nerves and get as much information as he could out of Suzanne, without dwelling on his wife’s fate. “Which island?”

  “Oh, I don’t have the slightest notion. I only know that it’s an eight week voyage and after he escorts Lynna to her new home, Eric promised to come back for me.” She batted her lashes like a shy schoolgirl. “Naturally he will be upset to discover that my long lost husband has returned from the dead. But there is nothing to be done for it. You were always my first love, Joshua.”

  Joshua’s hands trembled by his sides. “So if good winds prevailed Lynna should have reached the island by now.”

  “Yes.” Suzanne laughed maniacally. “Lynna should be enjoying life in her new home by now.”

  She turned just in time to see Joshua’s clenched fist slam into her face. Repeatedly.

  Chapter 25

  After a visit to Port of Spain’s finest milliner’s shop, where Lynna chose the material and a most exquisite design for her ball gown, the shop owner convinced Sean to purchase a ridiculous readymade bathing ensemble that was supposedly all the rage.

  The swimwear of heavy black polka dotted flannel resembled a walking dress, the only difference being that it buttoned down the front and only came to her knees and didn’t have the added weight of a hoop and several layers of petticoats, which she was grateful for. A pair of wide legged bloomers, dark stockings, flimsy shoes and a cap completed the bathing attire that Lynna imagined would be better suited for a day spent playing in the snow. Then there was a cape to cover it all. Only her face and hands would be exposed to the air, or prying eyes.

  Lynna made a dour face and pursed her lips at the amount of clothing women had to wear for a leisurely swim. Why, she would most likely suffer from heat stroke on a day like today with the temperature soaring. The outfit was a far cry from the carefree sarong she had worn on the island with Rob, but as always, modesty prevailed.

  Back in the hotel she changed into the hot, cumbersome suit, and covered it with the cape, perspiring profusely before she had even left the room. Sean instructed the driver to drive the short distance to La Brea Pitch Lake.

  Lynna sat in the corner of the carriage in agony as heat gathered under the heavy garment and threatened to suffocate her. It was totally absurd when society dictated that a women be so ridiculously covered from head to toe! By the time they reached their destination, her breathing was getting shallow, her heart was pounding in her chest, and she felt as though she might faint at any minute.

  Noticing the high color in her cheeks and the sweat beading on her upper lip, Sean opened the door to allow a cooling breeze into the carriage. When her head lolled back on the seat, he immediately unhooked the cape and removed it fearing she was in danger of heat exhaustion. He then unbuttoned the front of the bathing costume and fanned her with his hat. “How women can be expecting to survive in heavy flannel, and a cloak, is beyond me. Why it’s no wonder so many of you go about swooning all day. It’s preposterous!” he stormed, even though he realized he had purchased the ill conceived bathing attire.

  The cool air on Lynna’s chest felt absolutely heavenly. She was convinced she would perish if she didn’t rid her body of the cloying fabric immediately. Shrugging her shoulders as she unbuttoned the itchy material, Sean noticed her discomfort and helped her remove the top part of the outfit leaving her in her chemise and bloomers, although her legs were sweltering in heavy wool stockings.

  Uttering a curse, Sean bent and removed her shoes and then tugged on her bloomers while she helped by wiggling out of them. Next came the dreaded stockings, leaving Lynna in nothing but her chemise. Falling back on the carriage seat, she sighed blissfully as the cooling breeze caressed her overheated skin. “I would rather die than put that back on. But how will I swim?”

  Tapping on the roof, Sean instructed the driver to pull as close to the edge of the lake as possible and park the carriage sideways. Then he advised the man to walk to the edge of the trees near the entrance and alert them should anyone else arrive.

  “Now you can bathe privately in your shimmy without fear of being seen. And heaven knows as many times as I have seen you in your chemise, and much less, you can’t possible be shy around me. So let’s not bother with modesty.”

  Nonetheless a pinkish blush colored Lynna’s cheeks as she stepped out of the carriage, gasping at the marvelous scene around her. “Why, I never knew anything like this even existed.”

  They walked along the edge of the tar filled lake, careful to stay hidden by the carriage. To Lynna it resembled a large creature with no face, only arms and a massive body in which it slowly swallowed everything around it. She was grateful the thick skin on top of the lake prevented the tar from sticking to her bare feet, but it took some convincing on Sean’s part before she believed she wouldn’t fall through to the pitch lake beneath the surface.

  Bending down, she touched the surface of the lake, amazed. “It’s wrinkled like the hide of an elephant I once saw in a traveling circus.”

  Sean reached for her hand with a wink and a smile playing across his devilishly handsome features. “You tr
ust me, don’t you?”

  “With my life, Sean.” She took his hand. “After all, you gave it back to me.”

  “Come then. Feel how warm the water is.” He beckoned her with his hazel eyes.

  Still not totally convinced, Lynna dropped his hand and bent over to touch the surface of the lake. It was blood warm to the touch, blistered in places, yet yielding slightly when she pressed on it, like living flesh.

  Sean removed his pants, shirt, boots and socks. Wearing only his skivvies he waded out and fell back into the water. “Ahhhh….” he moaned with pure pleasure, wiggling his finger at her. “Join me, Lynna.”

  Feeling adventurous, she swallowed her fear, sticking the tip of her toe into the water. He had told the truth, the water was as warm as dishwater. She ventured in up to her knees, then her thighs.

  “Take the plunge,” Sean urged.

  “There will be no plunging.” She giggled. “Of a certainty, I would not care to walk through the hotel to our room with wet hair stringing down around my shoulders and make a complete spectacle of myself.”

  Sean’s eyes caressed her as he whispered, “But what an exquisitely beautiful and charming spectacle you would make.”

  Lynna colored at his remark, then joined him in the soothing waters, the surface giving slightly as she walked. And oh, it was indeed heavenly. Like soaking in a warm bouncy bath. “Oh, this is simply divine,” she purred, easing down beside him. “I could stay here all day.”

  “As could… I.”

  Lynna glanced up into his sparkling eyes. The words seemed to be lodged in his throat and apparently he was having some difficulty speaking. Following his gaze, she found him to be mesmerized by a dark nipple showing through her now transparent chemise.

  The sight sent Sean’s lust over the slippery slope it had been teetering on for the past few months. Flaming heat speared through him, gathering in his stomach and exploding with a raging fire in his loins. Unable to hold back his desire for another second, he was determined to take her now. Consequences be damned! Not a man alive could have been more patient than he had been.