by Karen Anders
The man made her feel hot and bothered just by existing. Whenever their eyes met from across the court or across the table, the smoldering heat she’d seen in them startled her.
She silently appreciated his lean, rock-solid physique and his confident, I-don’t-give a-damn stance.
The red cotton T-shirt he wore clung to his broad shoulders and tapered to a flat stomach, and his well-worn jeans were snug in all the right places, accentuating narrow hips and hard, strong-looking thighs.
There was a rugged edge about him, just enough to give her the impression that he would be a major handful in anything he did.
She licked her lips and shoved her hands into her apron pockets. “I was talking about someone else,” she blustered.
A quick grin formed on one of the most sensual-looking mouths she’d ever seen on a man.
“Do I look like I just came out of the bayou?”
No, he didn’t. He looked delectable and irresistible, but she’d bite her tongue before she gave him any more ammunition. His gorgeous masculine features were backdropped by thick black hair pulled off his face and tied at his neck in a queue. He stepped forward and she felt her breathing deepen, felt her body warm…her skin tingle.
Sexual magnetism.
It was all there, clamoring inside her, making her move backward until she hit the kitchen counter.
He came to a direct stop in front of her, his thigh barely brushing her knees, making her completely aware of him, of his presence.
Very casually, he placed one hand on either side of her, boxing her in, his wide shoulders blocking her view of everything except him.
How could she protest when he smelled so amazingly good? This close, she could see that his irises were a beautiful, stunning shade of brown, shot with shards of deep gold and rimmed in black. His eyes seared straight to her soul.
Then his full lips curved into a disarming smile that made her melt inside. She held her breath, captivated by his gaze and that arresting grin of his as she waited for him to speak.
“You can deny it to yourself, Tally, and you can even deny it to all your friends, but I know what I see when I look at you,” he whispered, his voice a deep, delicious baritone. “I feel it when you’re near.”
She hardened her resolve. She would not be intimidated by this man. “What’s that?”
“Sex. It vibrates around you as if your body is already affected by mine and I haven’t even touched you.”
Desire took hold, coiling low and deep inside her. She ached to touch him, feel his skin beneath her palm. With that thought, the floodgates opened and everything she had thought in private poured free.
Temptation.
It felt so good, so thrilling and exciting and forbidden; she wanted to drown in the sensation.
But now, with Christien standing in front of her looking one-hundred-percent virile, she wanted to let go for the first time in a long time.
His gaze darkened, making her nipples pucker tight in response. “It must be nice to be so cocky,” she said.
He lifted his hand and gently smoothed his fingers down the side of her neck. She watched, mesmerized, as he slowly dipped his head toward hers, and her heart thumped erratically in her chest. At first, she thought he was going to kiss her, but he bypassed her parted lips and grazed his jaw along hers, until his mouth came to rest against the shell of her ear.
She heard him inhale deeply, filling his lungs with the scent of her skin and hair before releasing it in a long, slow exhale and murmuring into her ear, “It is in more ways than one, chère.”
He pulled away from her to look deep into her eyes. “I’m a patient man. But don’t keep me waiting too long.”
“What exactly are you doing here?”
“I came for a bowl of gumbo, just like you said. But I can be persuaded to go to work for you…you don’t need a kid to move those boxes. You need a man.”
TALLY WAS FANNING HERSELF when Chloe returned to the kitchen.
Chloe shook her head. “You might as well give in, Tally. If he’s anything like Jack, you’re a goner.”
“Chloe, I wish you would stop trying to match-make us. Just because the whole court has gone crazy over one another, doesn’t mean I’m going to succumb.” Tally pulled a bowl out of the cupboard.
“You won’t be able to resist.”
“Are you getting a vibe or just being a smarty-pants?” She dished up some of Chloe’s delicious gumbo.
Chloe gave Tally a little smile and a shrug. “Being a smarty-pants. Why are you so determined to overlook a really good man?”
“I’m determined to rely on myself, Chloe. It’s safer that way.”
Chloe put her hands on her hips. “You’re going to find out, Tally, that sometimes you have to rely on other people.”
“I hope not. When I find Captain Dampier’s treasure, I’ll be able to call all the shots.”
“That old story again. Tally, there’s no treasure. Your old uncle Guidry was very eccentric.”
“You mean crazy. No, he wasn’t and neither is my mother.”
Chloe shook her head. “You might as well be chasing your uncle’s ghost.”
“Scoff all you want, but I’m going to find that loot.”
Tally grabbed a beer out of the fridge and headed for the door. Chloe put her hand on her arm and said, “Just give him a chance. He might surprise you.”
Tally smiled, but it didn’t have anything to do with amusement. “I don’t like surprises. I don’t need a man like that twisting me up inside and making me lose my focus. I’d rather pursue my own ambitions. I know who I can count on. Me.”
“You can’t curl up with a treasure chest at night. Ambition is nice and all but…love is wonderful.”
“I’m sure it is…for you and Jack, but like I told you before, I’m not like you. Now that my brother Mark’s all grown up, it’s time to get what I want.”
“If you’re really finished mothering Mark, why do you worry about him so much?”
Tally didn’t know how to respond. Chloe was right of course.
“You’d better go deliver that gumbo, before Christien comes back here wondering where it is,” suggested Chloe.
Tally rolled her eyes. “Exactly. And I’d better get back to work. My boss is a real slave driver.”
Chloe’s laughter followed Tally out of the kitchen. Tally was very happy for Chloe, who seemed much more lighthearted and less overworked these days. She’d finally relinquished some of the everyday duties and had actually taken a weekend off since she’d hired Vincent.
As she approached the table, the sight of Christien twisted her insides with want. Setting down the bowl of gumbo, she said, “Is there anything else I can get you?”
“Yes, Tally, but I’ll wait until you’re ready to give it to me.”
Her eyes drifted down to that delectable mouth. “You’re insufferable.” But she couldn’t help the smile that played on her lips.
“I have a feeling that you like that about me.”
“Enjoy the gumbo.”
His fingers slid seductively around her wrist before she could turn away. “Have dinner with me tomorrow night.”
“No.” The feel of his fingers on her skin made her nerves go haywire. Should she give in to her lust for this man? Where would it lead?
“Tally, you’re breaking my heart.”
She walked away, muttering under her breath, “Better yours than mine.”
CAPTAIN GABRIEL DAMPIER stood beneath his mural watching the crone who hovered right beside Christien’s table. It was fascinating to see how intent she was. She looked almost…worried.
Maybe Belle Grand-mère found Castille a threat to her curse. Castille and Tally did spark off each other. It was like watching a rainbow ripple and dance whenever the two of them came close to each other.
He watched as Tally rebuffed Christien once more. The chit was a handful and stubborn, just like Madeleine.
He hadn’t felt human flesh in two hundred y
ears, but he’d never forget how his Madeline had felt against him, beneath him.
He’d witnessed the encounter in the kitchen and Gabriel had been so sure that the chit would give in.
He’d also overheard in the kitchen that she was looking for his treasure. He smiled, thinking about how people had been looking for his hoard for years.
That old man—what was his name?—was always yelling about treasure and Gabriel Dampier’s ghost. Guidry. Right. But everyone just thought he was a lunatic. Gabriel had been content to take that secret to the grave, but now he wondered if maybe revealing the whereabouts of the treasure might work to his advantage.
She would need help. Perhaps Christien Castille could be of service? He was a man as worthy as Lafitte.
This time it would be Gabriel’s turn to torture the old woman. “You look worried, Belle Grand-mère.”
She turned her eyes away from Christien. “He’s trouble. Reminds me of you.”
He peered at her, realization dawning. “He’s the catalyst, is he not?”
She twisted the edges of her shawl. “What are you prattling about? He will not coerce her into love. I blessed my descendents with enough ambition to spurn love.”
“And if he does coerce her?”
“He will fail.”
“It will break this curse, crone, will it not? I will be free at last.”
“You will fail, Gabriel, as you have failed in everything, lost everything. You’ll spend eternity paying for what you did to my granddaughter.”
“I did not understand at the time that my love would destroy her. I regret it down to the deepest part of my soul. Is that not enough?” he snarled.
Her lips pinched and her eyes narrowed, hatred gleamed there and had only strengthened over the centuries they’d been locked together. “No. It will never be enough.”
He studied Christien himself. “What will happen if the girl gives up her ambition for love?”
The old woman had no answer to that.
“It will break the curse,” Gabriel said.
“Only half of the curse,” she agreed with reluctance. “Another concession I had to make for the voodoo I used is the possibility for you to redeem yourself.”
“How?”
The crone eyed him.
He made a noise of disgust and spat, “You were never a fair woman.”
Belle Grand-mère’s eyes flashed and she snarled again, “More fair than you, blackguard.”
“Give me a fighting chance.”
She looked away and said, “You can materialize to the girl to aid you in your bid for salvation.”
“Your revenge has been cruel. To make me wait for two hundred years without hope. Why?”
“For the enjoyment. I do not care a whit about you.”
“You should examine what it means to forgive, old woman, lest you be lost forever.”
She sniffed and scowled, ignoring his words. “Take heed, Gabriel. You must get both girls to give up their ambitions for love. Nothing less will break the curse. But let me warn you. If you fail, you’ll have to wait two hundred years for another chance.”
2
TALLY STOOD IN THE DOORWAY of the spare room in her town house where she did research in her attempt to find Dampier’s treasure. She had a desk and computer and an intricate filing system for clues. Christien’s biceps bulged as he set down the last box.
She’d had to eat crow and graciously accept Christien’s help, since Vincent hadn’t returned by the end of Tally’s shift.
Christien trailed after her as she led him back downstairs. After she opened the front door, Tally turned to him. Her breath caught in her throat at the way his hot eyes bore into hers. She stared at him, enthralled by the way the sun shone on his hair and highlighted that mouth. The mouth she wanted to press against hard and explore with her tongue.
Slowly stepping toward her, he backed her into the shadowed foyer and up against the nearest wall, bracing his hands on either side of her shoulders.
Trapped in the vee of his arms, her gaze locked brazenly with his. Seconds passed, filling the air between them with subtle expectation and deeper desires.
Tally slipped her fingers into the belt loops on his soft jeans. She pulled him closer until their bellies, hips, and thighs were intimately aligned and his thickening shaft found a welcoming home at the notch between her legs.
A blissful sigh escaped her, and she whispered, “I’ve been wondering something, Christien. I’ve been wondering if you’d taste as dark and decadent as you look.”
“This from a woman who wouldn’t have dinner with me,” he murmured.
“Dinner is personal. Sex, as we both know, can be very casual.”
Singed to the core by her admission and inflamed by a man she’d fantasized about for a month, she reached up and pulled the band from his queue, threading her fingers through the silky strands around his handsome face. She cupped the back of his neck and pulled his mouth down to her waiting lips tingling with anticipation.
Unable to take it slow, her devouring mouth pressed hard against his. Her tongue swept into his mouth and tangled with his and she tasted the pure, unadulterated sensuality that was so much a part of him. She shivered, unable to stop the sultry ache spreading through her belly, or the slick moisture settling between her thighs.
She felt a low growl rumble up from his chest. He palmed the back of her head to hold her in place and slanted his mouth across hers, taking control of the kiss.
Her breasts swelled within the confines of her dress, and she shifted restlessly against him, wanton and needy as his lips and tongue continued their lush, hungry assault on her mouth and senses.
She knew what she was getting herself into here and part of her was concerned about the future. Her relationships had always been impossible.
With that thought filling her mind though her body was desperate for more, her hands went to his belt.
A crash startled them apart. Across the room, Tally’s entertainment center had overturned, smashing her TV and CD player into rubble.
Bree’s door flew open and she shouted, “Tally, what the hell…”
Bree’s eyes widened at Christien. “Who are you?”
“It’s okay, Bree. It’s Christien, Jack’s brother.”
“Oh, I didn’t recognize you for a minute. Why are you standing like…Right. My brain must be fried.”
All of a sudden Tally came to her senses. “Christien was just leaving,” she said. Whispers of her lack of judgment flooded her ears.
His dark, seductive eyes that promised they had more to discuss between them held Tally’s gaze until she turned away to talk to Bree, who entered the living room.
Bree saw the mess and murmured, “Oh my, what happened?”
“When we meet again, chère, I’ll show you how good I can be.” With a wide grin, Christien left.
Tally closed the door.
“I don’t know, Bree. It just fell.”
“I’ll get a broom,” Bree offered. “Jeez, Tally, I’m so sorry. He was kissing you, huh?”
“Yes, Bree. But I was the one who started it.”
Her sister stood there for a moment and then said, “Damn, he’s hot.”
Tally and Bree were as rock solid as sisters could be. Twins shared a special bond and it was certainly there between the two of them. Bree was younger by five minutes.
At eighteen they had banded together to take care of their fourteen-year-old brother when their mother had deserted them all. Most people would think that would have been a destabilizing event in their lives, but surprisingly, it had been one of the best things their mother could have done. She had always been in debt, always searching for the quick fix and the fast buck.
Tally folded her arms across her chest. Her fingers tingling from the softness of Christien’s hair.
She’d almost had sex with Christien right in her foyer and she marveled at the fact that she wished she was upstairs in her bedroom right now touching all that h
ot, gorgeous skin.
Sometimes getting saved by the bell wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.
“WILL YOU NEVER STOP plaguing me, you old crone!” Gabriel stood next to the overturned cabinet. He wished for one moment he could be solid enough to curl his fingers into satisfying fists, reach out his hands and throttle the old witch. Two hundred years of frustration poured through him. Two hundred years without peace, without forgiveness. Two hundred years of remorse eating at his soul.
“Did you think I was going to make it easy for you?” She smirked. “You wanted everything to be easy, didn’t you? The golden boy of New Orleans,” she scoffed. “But the one thing you wanted eluded you, so you used my granddaughter as your portal into the world you couldn’t enter. A means to an end. Surprise, Gabriel. Redemption is not easy. I look at this as one more way to torment you. You’ll never get Tally to change her way of thinking. She’s on her course and once she finds the map, your plan turns to dust.”
“That’s what you want, isn’t it? You want Tally to have the treasure.”
“Of course, I do. She deserves it.” She moved closer to him, her wizened face taut with hatred. “Dust, Gabriel, just like your physical body. Dead and buried.” She turned on her heel and walked through the wall.
Impotent rage slammed into him like a hurricane. He raised his boot heel right above the floorboard that hid what he wanted Tally to find. He slammed it down. Unexpectedly his foot had substance and the board cracked under the force. Both girls turned to look at the noise.
“What was that?” Bree asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m getting goose bumps.” Tally moved closer to the edge of the fallen entertainment center and peered into the lengthening shadows from the waning daylight. For a split second, she could swear that a ghostly shape of a man stood there, but he was no ordinary guy.
This man was dressed in what looked like a waistcoat and pantaloons. Unease prickled along her skin. As she moved closer she could smell candle wax and rosewater along with the overpowering smell of evergreen. She walked around the grand piano and turned on a corner lamp. Light flooded the area and cold flowed over her as Tally felt a presence.
