Beaudry's Ghost
Page 26
Their bond brought him back for a second chance at life—and love.
Hearts Unbound
© 2006 Rebecca Goings
Cursed Hearts, Book 2
Jareth Moreland has waited centuries for his lover to be reincarnated, but his reward isn’t the reunion he expected—it’s murder. He awakes to find his soul has been pulled back centuries into the past, to the very day in 1657 both his lover and his brother died and, in his grief, he became a vampire. Fate, it would seem, has given him a second chance at life.
Fate comes at the hands of Jessica Belstowe, who has always loved him from afar, and whose magic saved him from death at the hands of her own sister hundreds of years in the future. But Jareth seems less than pleased that she has bonded him as her soulmate—her shelmir—in order to protect him from the evil witch Morana. She wonders if she has risked her fragile heart only to have it broken.
A bond with Jessica is not what Jareth would have chosen, but its power will not be denied. He is drawn to her, wants her more than he’s ever wanted any other woman.
And when Morana vows to crush that bond and kill Jessica, he will risk the fires of hell to save her.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Hearts Unbound:
Jareth had shocked her with his offer of marriage. He’d only just spoken the words that had broken her heart. He would never look on her as anything more than a thorn in his side. And perhaps she was. She had weaseled her way into his life without asking his permission. What else could she expect but his disdain?
Why, then, would he want to marry her?
Perhaps he’d deduced she was the closest thing to Cassandra he’d ever get. Cassandra was now dead, bonded to Laith for all of eternity. Jessica was her sister, and there was a slight resemblance. Could that be why he had made his offer? He’d told her he could think of nothing but her, but Jessica knew that was only due to the shelmir bond. Even now she could feel him, wandering about his manor like a man lost. What was he doing?
With a sigh, she wished she’d understood what becoming Jareth’s shelmir would truly be like. She’d been so blinded by her love for him that she didn’t see his curse, or his intense desire for her sister. Jessica had been foolish and she hated herself for it.
Jareth was right in one regard. She had trapped him.
Despite his harsh words, she still loved him, but she knew her love could never be returned. At least, not in the way she had hoped. Charles had proclaimed to have feelings for her, and at least that was something. Could Jessica live in a loveless marriage with Jareth? Despite the fact that he was bonded to her, she had a feeling being his wife might not be the best thing for her.
Perhaps they would have better luck falling in love in their next life.
For now, Jessica pondered marriage to Charles. Could she love a man who wasn’t her shelmir? Could she be wife to a man she didn’t think about every hour of every day?
With a sigh, Jessica stared straight ahead with empty eyes.
Her skin tingled and she rubbed her arms. It must be drafty in this old kitchen. Suddenly, a deep voice rumbled in her ear, one that made her heart leap for joy inside of her.
“Hungry, my sweet?”
With a gasp, Jessica whirled around to see Jareth standing perilously close to her. She stood from her chair and moved to put some distance between them.
“I—I suppose I am,” she stuttered.
“I have been looking for you. Did you think to hide from me in the kitchen?”
“Why would you be looking for me?” She ignored his question.
He smiled at her, as if her question were silly. Offering his arm, he said, “Come with me.”
Jessica glanced around frantically, but there was no escaping him. His servants watched them with interest and she knew she couldn’t disgrace him in front of them. Without knowing what else to do, she placed her hand in the crook of his elbow and allowed him to lead her out of the kitchen.
The contact of his arm against her hand made her shiver. She tried desperately to ignore their bond, but she found it nearly impossible. Her cheeks blushed as her thoughts become improper, of kissing him as she had the day before.
“You look flushed, my dear,” he cooed. “I am most unhappy you have emerged from your bed after just having been sick.”
Tears stung her eyes as he led her through the halls of the manor. She had no idea where he was taking her, but she followed him regardless. She’d follow him wherever he may lead. She groaned at the thought.
“Are you all right?” he asked, glancing at her
“I am sorry, Jareth,” she said in a soft tone, staring at the floor. “I am sorry for everything.”
He stopped walking to turn to her. They were alone in a dark passage. Before he could say a word, she continued.
“I am sorry for bonding you to me, for assuming that you…would want me. I am sorry for bringing you back to a life you didn’t want, nor asked for. I am sorry for making you feel things for me that aren’t natural.” As she spoke, tears formed in her eyes. Jessica was so very tired of crying, but she didn’t think she could ever stop.
Jareth hooked his fingers under her chin to force her gaze up to him. When he was silent, she licked her lips and said, “I—I will accept Lord Charles and his offer of marriage. I do not think I could live with myself if I forced you to marry me as well.”
The look on Jareth’s face darkened. “You will not accept his offer,” he whispered.
“But—” Jessica gasped.
“You are my shelmir. You belong to me, my sweet, not to him.” He stepped closer, pressing her against the wall. “No other man will touch what is mine.”
“But you do not want me, Your Grace.” She tried her hardest not to stroke his face.
“Jareth,” he corrected. “And that’s where you are mistaken. I do want you.”
He leaned down and kissed her, pressing himself against her body. Jessica sighed into his mouth, but did not resist. She remembered too well the taste of him and wanted to taste him again. Timidly, she raised her hands against his chest, not to push him away, but merely to touch him, to make sure that what she was feeling was real. Jareth grabbed her arms and placed them around his neck himself just before he tilted his head and deepened the kiss.
Jareth groaned as his tongue slipped into her mouth, and she couldn’t help but clutch onto him. He raised his hand and touched her breast, teasing her nipple through the heavy fabric of her dress. She took a sharp breath and pulled away. Jareth’s eyes were a stormy shade of gray when he looked into her eyes, still continuing to caress her.
“I want to taste you here,” he said, standing so close to her that their breaths mingled. “I want to suckle your breasts, Jessica. I want your legs around my waist. I want you screaming my name.”
Jessica could do no more than stare at him in shock. His words made her weak, and she had no choice but to hold on to him tighter, lest she fall to the floor.
“Jareth.” She gasped when his fingers pinched her hardened nipple through her dress. She threw her head back against the wall, but that only invited him to lean down to lick her neck. He gently bit her skin and she couldn’t help the sounds that escaped her.
“You will not marry Charles, my sweet,” he growled against her skin. “You gave yourself to me, and I intend to take you.”
Beaudry’s Ghost
Carolan Ivey
His legendary spirit is restless for revenge. But the touch of one woman could change his mind—and his destiny.
An irresistible force.
When Jared Beaudry’s restless spirit stumbles across a re-enactment of the Civil War battle in which he was murdered and mutilated, he jumps at the chance to find peace at last. Instead, his desperate leap into another man’s body triggers a deadly chain of events nothing can stop.
An immovable object.
Faced with an entire re-enacting unit possessed by spirits of the dead, psychic sensitive Taylor Brannon’s first instinct is to run. But she
swallows her terror and stands her ground to protect her friends from a ghost who seems hell-bent on revenge and self-destruction.
Spontaneous combustion.
Jared’s powerful spirit touches her in the most deeply guarded depths of her heart, and after one burning night in his arms, Taylor adds another impossible task to her list: To somehow help Beaudry’s Ghost find peace. Caught up in a runaway train of events that races inevitably toward one tragic conclusion, Taylor finds herself fighting for the life—and love—of a ghost.
The cost could be her soul.
This title has been revised and expanded from its previously published version.
Warning: This title contains explicit sex, a couple of recklessly sexy ghosts, bloody battle scenes, spirit possession, and yummy men in uniform.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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Beaudry’s Ghost
Copyright © 2008 by Carolan Ivey
ISBN: 978-1-59998-852-8
Edited by Lindsey McGurk
Cover by Dawn Seewer
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First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: January 2008
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