Desire Unleashed
Desire Book 1
Layne Macadam
Published 2013
ISBN: 978-1-93176-145-1
Published by Liquid Silver Books, imprint of Atlantic Bridge Publishing, 10509 Sedgegrass Dr, Indianapolis, Indiana 46235. Copyright © Published 2013, Layne Macadam. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Liquid Silver Books
http://LSbooks.com
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
Blurb
When schoolteacher Kathy Bellamy moved from Louisiana to Coronado, she didn’t expect her secret dream or her worst nightmare to become a reality.
Kathy longs for the fairytale. An old-fashioned girl saving herself for the right guy, after one date with Navy SEAL Shane Jackson, she trashes her values and willingly tumbles into the sack without a thought for the consequences.
Confirmed bachelor and relationship cynic, Jackson has no room in his life for a permanent woman. Temporary liaisons are all he is up for. Cocky and self-assured, he believes he can pick a likeminded player at a glance. So when he discovers Kathy is the complete antithesis of what he believed her to be, he is thrown into a tailspin.
But before long—way out of his comfort zone—he finds himself knee deep in a relationship he can’t quite seem to end.
Kathy’s love life is evolving parallel with a nightmare. The object of a maniac’s obsession, when she throws caution to the wind and acts out of character, her actions are seen as a betrayal by her stalker that demand retribution in blood. Abducted at knifepoint and taken to a secret location, can Shane, who is the ultimate predator, find and rescue her before it’s too late?
Dedication
Desire Unleashed is dedicated to family and friends who always believed it would happen. Thank you for your unfailing support and wonderful words of encouragement.
Acknowledgements
A special thanks to Anita, Kate, Jacquie, and Matt for their invaluable input and belief in Desire Unleashed from the very beginning.
Prologue
He was hot and tired. It had been a long and exhausting afternoon. Summer was officially over, but still the unseasonable heat dragged on. Although it was late, the sweltering sun still beat down without mercy, causing the sweat to run in rivulets between his shoulder blades as he doggedly kept at his task. He’d been at it for hours. The muscles in his arms and bare chest rippled and bunched with the effort as he shoveled the last of the dirt back into place.
It was thirsty work too. He could all but taste the beer he had chilling in the refrigerator, but he couldn’t stop yet, there was more to do. The ground must appear untouched. There must be no discernible telltale signs for prying eyes to see.
Resting a moment on his shovel, he wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand and thought about her with regret.
It was always an emotional time when he ended a relationship and he felt drained by the effort, but there’d been no other choice—Lindy had lost her purpose. She’d let herself go, lost interest in her appearance, stopped making herself beautiful for him, even stopped making an effort around the house. Yes, Lindy had become a liability and the time had been right for her to be retired.
He swapped the shovel he’d been using for a metal-toothed rake and began dragging it in long, even strokes over the earthen mound. The heat was oppressive, cloaking him like a shroud, but he shoved it aside, determined to not quit until the ground was level with the rest of the soil surrounding it. A few more drags of the rake should do it.
Edging back a couple of paces, he surveyed his work with a critical eye. The overall appearance was near perfect. A casual observer would never guess what lay beneath. His lip curled upward into a crooked self-satisfied grin, and hoisting his garden tools over his shoulder, he set off to store them in the old shed before hurrying up to the house for a quick shower and to contact his mentor.
The leather swivel chair was easy on his back as he took a seat at the computer, glad to take a load off. With the push of a button, he booted up the machine, signed into Yahoo Mail, and began typing his message.
Socrates,
Advice taken, action complete.
New project on the horizon!
Sonny.
Pleased with the way the afternoon had panned out, Sonny took the long awaited beer from the refrigerator, knocked off the cap and downed half the liquid in one long, thirst-quenching swallow before slouching on the sofa in front of the TV. With the remote in hand, he pressed the power button and sank back into the leather. His outstretched feet rested on the glass coffee table and he began to unwind.
He was feeling euphoric, having moved on with his life at last and contemplated his next adventure. And my, oh my, what an adventure she was going to be.
He’d seen her running along the beach, fresh-faced and sleek like a cat, a definite ten. A bit of investigation revealed she’d moved to Coronado only a few short weeks ago. Not long enough to make any real friends.
It was then he’d decided to make her his own.
At present, she was unaware of the honor about to be bestowed upon her. Even dismissed his existence out of hand, refusing to speak to him when he phoned, but soon, very soon, she’d change her mind, then she would be his.
There wasn’t any rush. He had all the time in the world to pursue her, and pursue her he would … with a vengeance. He’d made his plans, now it was only a matter of sitting back and letting them fall into place.
Pleased with himself beyond measure, Sonny moseyed over to the refrigerator to grab another beer when his attention was snatched by the television newsreader.
“A decomposing body has been discovered in scrub two miles off the old highway. The police are treating the death as suspicious…”
“Took ’em long enough, the useless pricks.” He grunted out loud as he cracked open the bottle and meandered across to the PC to check the screen. The popup box on the lower right corner indicated one new message.
Sonny,
Well done. Destroy all evidence.
Keep me posted on future project.
Socrates.
Sonny logged out and switched off the computer, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Socrates did not issue praise lightly, and he gave himself a mental high-five as he walked into the bedroom that adjoined the living room. But destroy all evidence? No, that was one instruction he could not follow. He had to have something to remember her by didn’t he? Yes, Lindy at least deserved a memory.
Reaching up he began to take down her photographs that decorated the wall and with macabre purpose placed them into a keepsake box with the others. What Socrates didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
Chapter 1
Kathy Bellamy shot up from the mattress, going from horizontal to vertical in a heartbeat. The shrill of the telephone had startled her out of a sound sleep. “Hello,” she croaked, clutching the handset to her ear.
Breathy rasps wheezed down the wires. Her heart leaped into her mouth, and fear trickled down her spine, paralyzing her for a nanosecond. It was the fourth call of this type since Monday, but the others had been left on her answering machine in broad daylight.
Just as she was about to hang up the creep spoke, staying her hand.
“Were you dreaming of me pretty lady, or were you awake waiting for my call?”
&
nbsp; Kathy stiffened. The voice was muffled, kind of smoky and dark. To engage in any conversation was so the wrong thing to do, but the words tumbled out of their own volition. “Who are you, what do you want?”
“What do I want? You of course pretty girl, I want you. I’m your future sweetheart and you’re mine. Not long now till we’re together.”
His menacing words chilled her bones. Slamming down the receiver, she dived under the covers and tugged them over her head. Something she hadn’t done since she was eight years old and a true indication of how spooked she really was.
Minutes passed before she got up the gumption to poke her nose out from her hiding place. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she berated herself for being such a scaredy-cat. It wasn’t like the creep knew where she lived or anything. Fighting back the covers in a tangle of arms and legs, she snatched the handset off the cradle. The dial tone was loud in the silence as she placed it on the bedside table, but it would soon stop. With that done, she settled back on the pillow and regulated her breathing. The whole episode unnerved her more than she cared to admit, and it was an interminable time before she fell back asleep.
After school that same day, Kathy entered her two bedroom rented apartment and pushed closed the door with her hip. Heading straight to the kitchen, she set down the shopping bags she’d been juggling onto the counter top and whooshed out a sigh. Her week had been long and trying, starting off bad Monday with the heavy breather and taking a nosedive from there. Tuesday, she’d overheard some of the other teachers refer to her as dowdy—petty but hurtful. She’d overslept Wednesday and missed the bus, yesterday there were two of those god-awful messages on the answering machine, and today her planned painting treat had turned into a disaster. She’d only left the classroom for five minutes to take little Meredith Frost to the nurse’s office, and in her absence pandemonium broke out.
Martin and Timothy, the Cyclone Twins as she’d dubbed them in her mind, started a fight that, without her presence, deteriorated into a paint war in a matter of minutes. It was over in a blink. She’d regained control upon re-entering the room but got caught in the crossfire and had ended up with purple and yellow splatters down the front of her blouse, making it the perfect crappy ending to the whole crappy week.
Kathy stacked away the groceries and then crossed to the sitting room where her attention was caught by the indicator light on the answering machine. The innocuous flashing red light had taken on a menacing façade, so much so that she was reluctant to hit the retrieve button.
At first, when the calls started, she’d dismissed them as kids playing pranks. But that one in the middle of the night belied that and really messed with her mind, because while leaving school, she had the uneasy feeling of being watched. Her imagination had accelerated. She’d shot a glance over her shoulder but everything was as it should be.
Kathy shrugged at the memory and tried to gain some perspective. She was getting all bent out of shape over what amounted to nothing more than some stupid phone calls, a vivid imagination, and some creep trying to get his jollies at her expense. Seriously, she needed to get a grip on reality and chill or she’d be a basket case, but still, she put off listening to the messages. Kathy realized if she’d stayed in Louisiana, instead of accepting the temporary teaching position in Coronado, her friends would have rallied around, coaxing her out of the doldrums, and together they’d have laughed away her fears. Not for the first time since moving here, Kathy questioned whether she should in fact throw in the towel and return home. But that would be admitting defeat, and she was not a quitter.
With renewed determination, Kathy pushed aside her melancholy and vowed to fulfill her teaching obligations and not be intimidated by stupid calls or snide remarks. Sure, the dowdy comment hurt but honestly, her wardrobe was outdated and in need of an overhaul. Heaven knew there’d been little opportunity to shop in the past twelve months, and the other teachers were trendy. Yes, a new wardrobe might be just the ticket to boost her spirits.
With that decided, Kathy flicked on the TV. Her newfound contentment crashed as the newsreader reported the discovery of a body not far from where she lived, causing her to shiver, like a goose had walked over her grave. It was too depressing. She grabbed the remote and channel surfed for something more upbeat, and then went into the kitchen to start dinner.
While preparing the vegetables and chuckling at the antics of Elaine and Jerry on a Seinfeld rerun, the doorbell chimed.
Kathy was wary as she opened the door a crack and then, squealing with delight, flung it wide—for standing on the threshold was her best buddy Liz. Kathy rapid-blinked back the tears that pooled in her eyes and with a wide grin, hugged her friend tight.
“I can’t believe you’re here, why didn’t you call? I would have met you at the airport,” she said ushering Liz into the apartment.
“I left a message, didn’t you get it?”
“I haven’t had time to check the machine yet.” The lie slipped out with a guilty unease, but there was no point in worrying Liz at this stage. “Come and put your things in the spare room,” she invited, changing the subject and leading the way.
Liz dropped her suitcase by the bed as they chatted with an easy familiarity. Their friendship had started way back at school and spanned almost twenty years. Of course they’d had their ups and downs, but their relationship was solid and stood the test of time. Kathy guessed Liz was worried about her—she’d hinted as much the last time she’d phoned, forever asking if she was okay, if there was anything she’d needed, and generally just mother-henning her like the good friend she was—so this visit really shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
After treating Liz to the grand tour, Kathy shepherded her into the living room. “Have a seat,” she invited, indicating the sofa.
Liz flopped into the overstuffed faded couch and glanced around. “This is a cozy little apartment.”
Kathy heard the censure in her voice. “It’s clean, the building’s well maintained, and there’s a bus at the door. It suits me for the moment,” she defended.
“Well, I must say you look great. You’ve regained most of the weight you lost, but tell me Kathy, how are you really doing and be honest?”
Of the two girls, Kathy had always been the strong one, but her mother’s long illness and recent death had completely taken it out of her. Not that she resented the around-the-clock care, but after the funeral she needed to get away. Liz had tried to dissuade her from leaving at the time, arguing that she needed her friends close. But she’d felt stifled, and was determined to take a break from the norm, which would do her the world of good. Liz disagreed, but it hadn’t been her call to make.
“I’m doing fine,” she admitted. “Eating healthy and I’ve taken up running again. A bit lonely perhaps, but each day is a little easier.”
“Ian wanted me to say hi from him. He asks about you all the time. I think he’s still besotted.”
“Don’t even go there; you know I’m not interested.” Kathy stood and marched into the kitchen, picked up a knife from the bench, and finished peeling the potatoes she’d started earlier.
“You could do worse,” Liz said, traipsing after her. Kathy held her tongue. Ian was Liz’s friend after all—it was she who’d introduced them. Yes, she could do worse, but she wanted to do a whole lot better. She’d love to have a special someone in her life but there had to be chemistry.
“I know you’re lonely, so why not come home where you belong, to people who love and care about you, who…”
“Liz stop. There’s no point rehashing this. You know why I made my decision.” Her voice had an edge; she took a breath and softened her tone. “I’m going to fulfill my work contract, perhaps after that I’ll go home, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. So what do you do for entertainment around here?”
Liz’s quick change of subject put Kathy on the spot. She thought about inventing some story that centered on the hig
hlife, but Liz was astute and would call her bluff, so she settled on the truth, such as it was. “I’ve made two friends at work, Anne Marshall and Len Baker. We’ve been out for coffee a few times and last weekend we went to the movies together.”
“That’s it? You’re kidding me right? Two months here and that’s the sum total of your socializing? Well girl, that’s about to change, time you got yourself a life. Is there anywhere local we can go dancing?”
“Umm, yes, there’s a club close by that Anne and I have been meaning to visit, it’s supposed to be pretty good with a band most nights.”
“Sounds perfect, we’ll go tonight.”
Kathy had been looking forward to an easy night curled up in front of the box, watching old movies and munching popcorn. Now she’d have to change out of her sweats and dress up. She shouldn’t grumble though, Liz had come out of her way to cheer her up, so at the very least she owed her a night on the town.
“It’s a date then,” Kathy agreed, drumming up more enthusiasm than she felt.
The girls lingered over their meal then went to dress for their evening out.
“Wow, you look hot,” Kathy exclaimed, as Liz entered the room wearing a slinky short black dress and a pair of stilettos, quite a contrast to the austere business suit and pumps she’d just discarded. Studying her friend, it never ceased to amaze her how glamorous but impassive Liz was. She was the epitome of a hard-nosed lawyer by day but dressed in that little black outfit, she was simply stunning. A five-foot ten-inch dynamo with vibrant red hair and a wicked figure, heads turned whenever she walked by.
Kathy wanted to tell her it was high time she followed her own advice and find a special someone, but knowing the reaction that would bring, she refrained and spinning on the spot asked, “How do I look?”
“God, like you’ve just stepped out of a convent. Young, innocent, dare I say it… old fashioned.”
“Gee Liz, don’t hold back tell me what you really think.”
Desire Unleashed Page 1
