Paranormal After Dark: 20 Paranormal Tales of Demons, Shifters, Werewolves, Vampires, Fae, Witches, Magics, Ghosts and More

by Rebecca Hamilton

  She exhaled sharply. “Thomas, don’t do that. I almost shrieked out like a rattled pig.”

  “Do you actually know any rattled pigs, my beauty?” He cupped his hands around her waist and pulled her to him, pressing his lips to her forehead. “I saw you walking and tried to catch you sooner, but you veered off into this labyrinth.”

  “I saw something in the street.” She rested her head against his shoulder. It felt safer in his arms.

  He guided her in the direction of his house. “Probably my shadow. Francis Barnes has enough light pouring out of his window that I’m surprised no one has requested fire assistance. He’s an odd egg, that one.”

  Thomas’s rooms were on the second story of the building. He led her up the staircase and unlocked his door, motioning for her to go inside first. It was small but comfortable. It had only been two nights since their last rendezvous, but he’d rearranged the furniture in the utility room again. “You still can’t decide where to put that cupboard?”

  “I think it looks better next to the blue chair.” He shrugged off his frock coat and draped it over one of two straight backed wooden chairs at his table. “Of course, the blue chair belongs in a dump so that isn’t saying much.”

  “I think it’s lovely.”

  “No, you’re lovely. We’ve just had a pleasurable time in that old chair.”

  She laughed.

  The early edition of the day’s newspaper was spread out on this kitchen table, the front page filled with reports from “the front.” Adelaide slid it down and glanced at the headlines: The Summons to Major Anderson to Surrender; Reckless Bravery of the Confederate States Troops; Sixteen Hours of Fighting; Anticipated Attempt to Reinforce Fort Sumter. It was hard to believe that any of this was happening; it wasn’t like the raid, Adelaide couldn’t look out her window and witness it.

  Her eyes dropped to a larger paragraph and she quickly started reading. “Civil war has at last begun. A terrible fight is at this moment going on between Fort Sumter and the fortifications by which it is surrounded.”

  “Do you want a drink?” Thomas motioned to a bottle of amber colored liquid on his small kitchen table. “Finest bourbon I could get Roeder to sell me.”

  “Are you trying to ply me with alcohol?”

  He chuckled, unfastening her cloak and draping it over a chair. Pulling her into his arms, he cradled her body against him. “No. I’m a gentleman.”

  “No, you’re a scoundrel.” She pressed her lips into a coy grin, sliding her hands up his broad shoulders. “I’m scared about the war, Thomas. The country split? A fight at Fort Sumter, God, what’s happening?”

  “Nothing you need to worry about.” He started unbuttoning her dress, tugging her sleeves from her shoulders. “The only thing you need to worry about is if I’ll let you go home tonight, or if I’ll just keep you here with me.”

  He didn’t give her a chance to respond, instead pressing his lips to hers. His hands worked the laces of her petticoats and corset; she shimmied free of her dress and underpinnings and yanked her chemise over her head.

  He pulled the combs out of her hair and set them on the table, reaching back and shaking her glossy brown hair free. “God, you’re beautiful.”

  Heat flushed across her cheeks. She fixed her attention on unbuttoning his shirt and freeing him from his trousers. “Stop.”

  “You are, every inch of you.” As soon as she tugged his shirt and trousers to the floor, he scooped her up in his arms and through the threshold to his bedroom. Easing her down on the bed, he scrambled next to her. His hand slid between her legs and he caressed her, pressing the tips of his fingers to her clit in a soft, circular motion. He tangled the fingers of his other hand in her hair and gently pulled her head back, trailing his kisses across her throat.

  Her eyes fluttered closed, a smile playing on her lips. “I guess no drink, then?”

  “No.” He dropped his mouth to her throat and nibbled the flesh of her collarbone. “I can’t look at your body and not want it; want to be inside you.”

  “You’re insatiable.”

  “So are you.” He pulled her upright and onto his lap. “You ride me tonight, beautiful girl.”

  She balanced on her knees for a moment, adjusting his cock beneath her, and then slid forward, easing him inside her body. The feeling was incredible; her eyes almost rolled back in her head. He was so hard and the way he touched her on the inside, how deep he seemed to reach, prompted her into a faster rhythm. Every movement felt better than the last. She felt like her body and her soul were a kaleidoscope: swirling and twisting and waltzing with his.

  He held her tightly, pressing his hands flat against her bare back. “Where did you learn how to do this?”

  “I didn’t. I do what feels good.”

  He wrapped his arm around her waist and laid her on her back, lowering his weight on top of her. It took a moment to adjust, but once her legs were wrapped around him, he took control of the rhythm. “Not all women are like you.”

  “I’ll take it as a complement.” She arched her back, anchoring her crossed ankles up higher to adjust how deep he could thrust in and out of her.

  He bit his lower lip, his eyes fluttering at the feeling. “Do you touch yourself when we’re not together?”

  “It doesn’t feel as good as you, but yes. I think about your mouth between my legs.”

  He moaned in his throat, crushing his mouth to hers in a deep kiss. “Swear to me, Adelaide, swear you won’t give it to anyone but me. Christ, you’re amazing; baby…I…I can’t…” He braced his hand against her hip, holding her in place. “Give me second. I don’t want to cum yet.”

  She ran her tongue across her lower lip. “Hearing about me touching myself turns you on?”

  He cradled her face with his hand, nodding. “Fuck yes.”

  “What about if I told you I slide my fingers inside sometimes, feeling how wet and silky I am…”

  “You need to stop.”

  “Oh?” She pursed her lips together coyly. “Why?”

  “Because I’m really close and…” He trailed off, his eyes wide and full of delicious intensity. “Fuck it—I’m not going to deny what I want. I’m going to ravish you.”

  “Good.”

  He tipped her knees forward, pressing them towards her shoulders, and touched his forehead to hers. Their eyes were locked on each other as he made love to her, his hands tight on her hips to hold her in place. They climaxed together, her cry of pleasure muffled only by the pressure of his lips against hers.

  In the silence of the bedroom, she let her eyes close as she kissed his forehead, his skin wet and salty from sweat. He smelled of musk and bourbon and sex; the scents combined both comforting and arousing. Their time together after love making was the best: just lying in the candlelit bedroom, enjoying the feeling of their skin touching, and talking.

  She opened her eyes to look at him. Standing next to the bed was the figure from the street: a shadow man, his face obstructed by the dark except for two, red glowing eyes.

  Adelaide scrambled out from underneath Thomas, yanking the bedsheet over her breasts. She cursed, fumbling for her dress. Where was her dress, she needed her watch—

  –the man was gone.

  “Addy.” Thomas scrambled to her side and grabbed her by her shoulders, pulling her to him. “What’s wrong?”

  She almost couldn’t speak; her body was trembling. “It was him, I saw something. Not a spirit, but something watching me. I saw him on my way here and…and he was in your room, now, by the bed.”

  Thomas crawled off the bed and walked around the small room, leaning over and checking beneath the frame. “There’s no one here.”

  She pressed her hands to her face. “I swear to you, he was here. He was watching me.”

  “I’m right here, love.” He pulled her into his arms again, forcing her hands down so he could look at her. “I’m not going to ever let anything happen to you–ever. I swear.”

  Adelaide swa
llowed hard, pressing her cheek to his bare chest. “Hold me.”

  He pulled the blankets around them, easing her down beside him and cradling her in his arms. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was still there, watching her. Waiting.

  She kept her eyes open, well into night.

  * * *

  Sunday the Fourteenth

  THERE WERE A lot of people missing from Sunday morning service. Adelaide’s mind was not on Reverend Bates’ retelling of the tribulations of Paul and Silas; instead, she counted the people absent from the pews in front of her. Seven people were missing from the pews in her direct line of sight. She wasn’t about to look around to survey the rest of the sanctuary—Poppa would have his strap out in an instant.

  She caught up with Annie and Susan as soon as service ended. Annie screwed up her nose and excited related, “You’ll never guess what Lucy’s newest ailment is now. It seems she was dining on a breast of chicken—”

  Before she could finish her story, several women gasped and pointed towards the stone steps leading up from High Street. Mr. Burns had scrambled to the top of the stairs, seemingly with the devil himself on his heels. He struggled to catch his breath and hunched over, hands on knees.

  Reverend Bates hurried to his side. “Why, Samuel, what’s the—”

  “Fort Sumter surrendered yesterday.” Mr. Burns gasped out. “Now there’s rumor Lincoln is sending troops from Washington to force the rebel states back into the Union.”

  “He can’t do that.” Susan spoke quietly. “He only acts in his own interest. We didn’t want him elected anyway—the ballots should have been called into question.”

  “Right, Susan.” Annie rolled her eyes. “Mr. Lincoln is just going to ignore the fact that South Carolina forces attacked a Federal fort. Fired on it.”

  “It’s not a Federal fort, it’s in South Carolina,” Adelaide countered, “so, technically, it’s a Confederate fort.”

  Sarah pushed past Annie—interrupting her before she could interject more Federal lexicon—and grabbed her sister’s arm. “Addy, Poppa says it’s time to go.”

  Adelaide shrugged off her hand. “In a minute, Sarah.”

  “No, he says now.” For the first time, she noticed how nervous Sarah looked. “He said to go straight home. He’s staying to talk with some gentlemen church members.”

  Adelaide looked back towards the door to St. Johns, where many of the male congregants—including her father, Robert, and Thomas Cooper—disappeared into the inky blackness of the sanctuary. Reverend Bates closed the doors without further word.

  Adelaide turned back to her friends. They were all silent.

  * * *

  Thursday the Eighteenth

  “HURRY UP ADDY. We’re always waiting on you!” Robert huffed and pounded on the bedroom door again. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”

  Adelaide picked her bonnet off of the bed and flung the door open. “What are we going to be late for, Robert? To stand around and wait for Mr. Barbour to grace us with his presence?”

  He grabbed her wrist and pulled her down the hall. “Well, now, we don’t want to miss it, do we?”

  Jerking her hand away from him, Adelaide carefully positioned her bonnet over her chignon and tied the ribbon in a bow. “I’m not a child, Robert.”

  “Oh, that’s right.” Robert smirked. “Isn’t your birthday coming up?”

  “You know it is.”

  “Twenty.” He held the door open and waited while she squeezed her hoop gently and pushed through the narrow opening. “Shouldn’t you be married off by now?”

  “Shouldn’t you be married off by now?” She retorted. “You’re older than me.”

  “I’m also better looking than you. At any rate, I saw you and Tom Cooper writhing around on your bedroom floor. Please, my only real surprise is that you aren’t already carrying his child.”

  She jammed her elbow into his side as hard as she could.

  Sarah and Levi were waiting for them at the bottom of the steps. Levi put his hands on his hips and loudly complained, “Poppa and Rebekah already left. They said we could meet them near Arsenal Square.”

  As Adelaide fell into step next to her sister, Sarah elbowed her sharply in the ribs. “You assume Mr. Cooper will be there? How fast will you abandon me for him?”

  “I should think all the Armory workers would be there.” Adelaide paused. “I mean, Virginia’s status in the Union is rather newsworthy. And don’t think of it as abandonment, think of it as respite from my cheerful personality.”

  “If he wants to keep you, he can have you.”

  “He’s already had me, Sarah and I assure you, he wants to keep me.”

  Sarah snorted.

  Arsenal Square was swarming with people. The crowd had begun to overflow into the street, causing wagons and carriages to slow down to an unusually slow pace. Much of the remaining open space in the square was taken up by women’s bell shaped hoopskirts. It wasn’t going to be particularly pleasant to push through all those hoops to find Poppa and Rebekah.

  Sarah tugged on her sleeve. “There’s Annie and Susan over there.”

  “Is that...” Adelaide squinted in their direction. Her shoulders drooped. “Lucy’s with them.”

  Her sister groaned. Adelaide agreed with her malcontent; if there was one thing that could spoil the day, it was Lucy.

  They pushed their way through the mobs of people to reach them, even though Adelaide would have been just as satisfied to avoid a Lucy encounter.

  She smiled at them, a little too broadly. “Dear Sarah, how nice to see you. And…Adelaide.”

  “Always a pleasure, Lucy.” Sarah responded for both of them.

  Adelaide promptly turned to Annie, only to find her engrossed in Robert.

  Sarah elbowed her. “So... Lucy... the spring air does you well?”

  Lucy took a deep breath, acting as if speaking drained energy from her. “I’m holding up. The warm air is invigorating, though.”

  Adelaide started to look around for someone else to talk to, but Lucy continued chattering, “The winter air was so damp this year. It felt like the frost had settled against my lungs, I tell you, it was so hard to breathe sometimes.”

  She couldn’t bite her tongue any longer. “Perhaps you should consult a physician.”

  “Oh, my father has brought in the finest physicians.” Lucy glared at her, almost as if she was offended that Adelaide had spoken to her. “I can assure you, my father has provided the best medical treatment for me. He will be sending me to Berkeley Springs soon for a treatment in their luxurious hot springs.”

  “That will be lovely.” Adelaide noticed Thomas standing with several other Armory workers not far from their position. Even with the distance between them, she tried to catch his eye with her gaze. He broke into a broad grin and cocked his head, motioning for her to join him.

  The scandal.

  “If you ladies will excuse me.” She shoved past Lucy and through the mob of Harpers Ferry citizens, pushing and excusing her way to Thomas’s side. Good God, how she wished she had eyes in the back of her skull to see the look of appall on Lucy’s face.

  The Armory workers with Thomas tipped their hats to her at once, in a wavelike effect from one side of the group to the other. He slipped her hand into the crook of his arm, flashing her his dimple dotted grin. “Gentlemen, this is my lady, Miss Adelaide Randolph. Addy, these are the gentlemen I work with; bawdy and vulgar the lot of them.”

  She smiled at them, then nuzzled her face against his shoulder. “Like you?”

  “Absolutely.” He pressed his lips to her temple. “You know you find it charming.”

  A murmur rippled through the crowd and, peering between several large hats, Adelaide could see a large man in a top hat waddling towards Arsenal Square. Judging by the crowd’s sudden interest in him, she assumed it was Mr. Barbour. He was accompanied by a spectacled, gray haired man that she did not recognize.

  “Is that Barbour?” One
of the workers stood on his tip toes to see above the people crowded in front of them. “He’s a fucking gibface.”

  “Honestly, Graham, the lady’s been here for less than a minute.” Thomas shrugged, turning his attention to the curve of Adelaide’s chin, trailing his fingertip down the side of her face. “I’ve never seen him before. Could be.”

  The supposed Mr. Barbour held his hands in the air and signaled for silence. “Ladies and gentleman! I would like to thank you all for gathering, so that we might discuss the historic events of yesterday. Mr. Osborne and I have brought the legislations news, directly from the convention in Richmond.”

  Adelaide looked up at Thomas and pursed her lips together in a coy smile. He winked, smiling enough to again display the deep dimple in his cheek. He was so handsome; the thought of him captivated by her made Adelaide’s pulse quicken. “We could be spending our time in better ways.”

  He brushed his lips against hers and quickly straightened.

  “Virginia has broken away from the Union!” Mr. Barbour’s voice squeaked with excitement. “I trust the citizens and workers in our fair town will cooperate with our new government and give allegiance to our new country!”

  The crowd around them erupted—and at first, she thought everyone was cheering. After a few moments, she noticed how angry a bowler capped gentleman a few paces ahead of them looked.

  She glanced at Thomas. He shrugged his shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug, quickly kissing her again. “Let them celebrate their new country. I’d rather go and find somewhere more private to celebrate on our own.”

  “I agree.”

  At that moment, the bowler capped gentleman angrily poked his index finger at another gentleman. She couldn’t hear the gentleman’s response, but in an instant, the bowler capped gentleman shoved him. The second man stumbled, pitching backwards.

  Thomas grabbed her around the waist and pulled her around him, blocking her from the man’s fall. Two of the Armory workers brushed past him and, after a moment, she could hear them yelling; demanding the fight break up.