Haunting Savannah: 8 Dark and Seductive Tales

by Lia Davis

  Jeb knew she was expecting him to find an excuse to leave her side or make some kind of condescending comment. She took a step back and leaned away from him. He moved forward and gently took a hold of her elbow.

  “My cousin, Constance, has the sight,” Jeb said. “That is how we refer to our family members who can commune with the dead. It runs in the female line of my family. My father didn’t believe in what he referred to as hocus pocus. That is why we stopped visiting my relatives in Savannah. It’s unfortunate the males don’t inherit the gift.”

  “Gift?” Kori questioned. “I would call it a curse.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Jeb replied. “Our family values the ability to communicate with the dead. Those poor souls are earth-bound for some reason. Those with the sight may be able to help the spirit find peace and move on.”

  “What keeps your ancestor here?” Kori asked. “Has your cousin been able to discover that?”

  “Why don’t you ask her yourself,” Jeb suggested. “The tour is congregating in front of Crawford House. We should join them.”

  By the time they reached the rest of the group, David was immersed in the script he delivered the previous night about his tragic life. “We are honored to have one of Captain Crawford’s descendants with us. Mr. Jeb Crawford from Atlanta.”

  All eyes moved to him. They were expecting him to add some tidbit about himself only a family member would possess. He might as well make David’s year by adding a true supernatural twist to his tale.

  “I was just asked what keeps Jeb’s spirit here,” he said. “My ancestor’s sister was a witch,” Jeb stated. “When he was near death, succumbing to a fever, she cast a spell to keep him in stasis until his soul mate came for him.”

  A number of women sighed at his story. The tour guide could barely contain his excitement. Jeb provided great material for future tours that would boost ticket sales.

  “Where did his sister hide Captain Crawford’s body?” David asked.

  “As far as I know, she went to her grave never divulging that information,” Jeb lied. “The Yankees desecrated the graves of our fallen. Jenny loved her brother too much, even after his death, to bury him in a local cemetery.”

  “But where will he awaken when his soul mate arrives?” a woman in the crowd asked. “How will she find him?”

  “It’s only a romantic story,” Jeb answered. “For all we know, he is buried in the yard.”

  Kori looked at him as if he were an exhibit in a museum. He had to discount the validity of the story. Future tour guides would put a nicer spin on the tale.

  “If you will excuse us,” Jeb said. He needed to find a graceful way for them to leave the group. “This lovely lady and I are expected inside. My cousin is holding a late supper for us.”

  Jeb took Kori’s arm and escorted her through the front gate. The tour group loitered a while longer, perhaps hoping for an invitation to join them.

  For the first time in over a hundred fifty years, he was bringing a woman home. This one had the ability to end his loneliness forever. Jeb just had to figure out how.

  Chapter 5

  Kori hesitated entering Jeb Crawford’s home. She had nearly fainted when she saw the flesh and blood man in the same outfit she had fantasized seeing his ancestor wearing. His resemblance to the Civil War captain was unnerving.

  Her body’s reaction to him was quick and overwhelming. She felt her nipples harden and her panties became wet with anticipation. It was as if she were a heroine is some badly written romance novel. Kori wasn’t sure if she was responding to this man or his resemblance to his ancestor.

  She never admitted to anyone her ability to feel a spirit’s angst, but it felt natural talking to him about what he referred to as a gift. The fact women in his family were similarly touched made her feel more comfortable with him. Kori wasn’t a freak in his eyes. Was she transferring her fascination with the specter she saw last night to his all too human descendant?

  They walked into a large entrance hall. She stepped onto well-polished hardwood floors. The staircase to the second floor was hardwood as well, with a runner covering each step. A beautiful crystal chandelier hung beside the stairs, lighting both the entry and the way to the upper floor. Intricate crown molding separated the walls from the ceiling. Fortunately, the walls were painted, not covered with wallpaper. Family portraits lined the entry while landscapes hung on the journey upstairs.

  “Well, hello,” a woman who slightly resembled Jeb stepped forward. “I’m Connie, Jeb’s cousin.”

  It was odd how the woman in front of Kori was checking her out. Hadn’t Jeb ever brought a woman home before? Maybe she was surprised her visiting cousin would be so bold as to invite a guest into her home. The stare was scrutinizing, but welcoming.

  Connie was roughly Kori’s height, five-foot-nine-inches. Like Kori, she wore sandals that barely added additional height. Her brown curly hair was short and brushed against her shoulders.

  “Constance and her two daughters live here,” Jeb informed her. Kori noticed how Jeb used her full name, while Connie introduced herself using a less formal version. There was something unworldly about the man. “This is Kori. We met on the ghost tour you recommended I take.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kori,” Connie responded.

  There was something going on between the two cousins Kori couldn’t identify. She felt like she walked into the middle of a play or an inside joke. Kori felt uncomfortable and was almost tempted to leave. But she wanted to see the artifacts Captain Jeb left behind.

  Besides, she was terribly attracted to the man next to her. Every time he touched her, it was as if he lit a match within her. She burned for him. For the first time in her life, she considered having a one-night stand with a perfect stranger. It was little wonder after the dreams she experienced since arriving in Savannah.

  “She would like to see the portrait of the captain and the property he left behind,” Jeb said.

  That drew Kori from her wayward thoughts about the all too real man standing beside her. It was hard to differentiate between the two in her usually quite logical mind. There was a live, breathing man and one who died over a century and a half ago. Under normal circumstances, separating the two men wouldn’t be an issue.

  “This way,” Connie said. “Everything is in the front parlor. That room is dedicated to his memory. We rarely use it.”

  Although it was a large home, Kori thought it was odd to have a room reserved for the memory of a deceased man. She followed Connie through the door she opened at the base of the staircase. It was the room she saw Jeb Crawford’s image the previous night. Once she entered, Kori was disappointed she didn’t feel his presence.

  A flesh and blood man was next to her, yet she lamented over a lover she could never have. Seeing Captain Crawford last night was not her imagination. When their eyes met for a brief moment, there was a connection between them. If Kori continued chasing windmills, she would never find happiness.

  “What’s wrong?” Jeb asked. A look of genuine concern was on his face.

  “I don’t feel him,” she answered.

  “Kori has the sight,” Jeb told his sister. “The souls buried under Calhoun Square reached out to her.”

  “What a terrible place,” Connie replied. “I remember the first and last time I walked over those poor souls’ graves. The experience was so overwhelming; I took to my bed for several days. It was my first experience with the dead. That was when my mother knew I possessed the gift. At least one Crawford female inherits the power to commune with the dead each generation.”

  Her earlier feeling of discomfort toward Connie evaporated. A sisterhood-relationship replaced her earlier unease. They shared a special gift that brought them together.

  “Are you a witch as well?” Kori inquired. Normally, she would not ask such an outrageous question, but she now felt comfortable in Connie’s presence. After what Jeb shared with a group of strangers on the ghost tour, Kori felt sh
e was in safe territory. Witchcraft and clairsentience ran in their family.

  “I may have inherited the ability,” Connie admitted, “but I am a woman of science. Believe it or not, I’m a doctor. Fortunately, when I lose a patient, I don’t feel their spirit. If I did, I don’t believe I could continue to practice medicine.”

  Connie stepped fully into the room and extended her hand for Kori to enter. Her eyes immediately fell on a portrait of Captain Crawford. She was once again taken aback by the startling resemblance between the two men. Kori stepped closer to the painting to get a better look.

  The artist had been talented. Jeb seemed to come to life when she stared at the painting. His light brown hair on his left side was lightened by the sun through a window outside the boundaries of what was depicted. Warm blue-gray eyes stared back at her.

  “How old was he when he sat for the portrait?” Kori asked.

  “Twenty-five,” Connie replied “It was commissioned upon his engagement to a local socialite.”

  “He was married?” Kori asked. She didn’t know why she was so distressed by the news. It wasn’t as if Captain Crawford being a bachelor made any difference this long after his death.

  Kori didn’t miss the look of disapproval Jeb sent in Connie’s direction. Kori hoped it wasn’t a result of her stricken look, she could have died from embarrassment. Perhaps it was time to stop wearing her emotions on her sleeve.

  “Wealthy young men in my ancestor’s time were expected to marry and have a family,” Jeb explained. “Miriam was beautiful from all accounts and came from an old Savannah family. On paper, it was a perfect match.”

  Jeb pulled out a miniature from the desk drawer and handed the likeness of his ancestor’s fiancée to her. She had blond ringlets and china blue eyes, features that were popular in her day. The small painting showed a lovely woman in a gown that matched the color of her irises. Miriam didn’t smile. Didn’t she wish to marry Jeb?

  Kori had to ask. She didn’t know why it would make her feel better if the arranged marriage was not a happy one. In Jeb’s day, Kori would have been a slave, not a possible match for the wealthy white southerner.

  “If not on paper, how was it in reality?” Kori asked.

  “Miriam was three months pregnant when she married Jeb,” Connie said. “She carried another man’s child and my ancestor was duped. Jeb was heartbroken and Jenny was incensed. Miriam ended up dying in childbirth.”

  “And the baby?” Kori asked.

  “Stillborn,” Jeb answered. “My ancestor didn’t look at another woman thereafter. He wasn’t heartbroken, but betrayed. Jeb was too much of a gentleman to return his bride to her father when he learned the truth. The old bastard would have killed her. He didn’t want her blood on his hands.”

  For a relative not living in Savannah, he certainly knew a lot of specifics about the captain’s life. His voice had been so animated; it was almost as if he lived it. Kori studied the painting and Jeb’s face to find any variance. Their likeness was identical, even to the small scar on his left cheekbone. It was if Jeb were a living apparition of his ancestor.

  “How old was he when he died?” Kori asked. She needed to focus on the fact the man she saw last night was dead and buried.

  “Twenty-nine,” Jeb answered.

  “Enough talk about the dead,” Connie said. “Tell us about yourself, Kori. What do you do for a living?”

  “I’m a civil rights attorney working for a small firm in Chicago,” Kori said. “Originally, I was going to work for Cook County as a public defender, but felt I could better assist the community by fighting for their constitutional rights.”

  “You are a lawyer?” Jeb said in surprise. “So am I.”

  “I’m a civil rights attorney,” Kori elaborated. She needed to clarify she didn’t become a lawyer to make money, but to guarantee someone was looking out for the rights of minorities.

  Jeb looked at her with such pride in his eyes, it was humbling. Her mother certainly didn’t agree with her career choice. Nothing about him or his reactions to her made any sense. Suddenly, the look in his eyes changed to smoldering. She became wet again just looking at him.

  “Let me show you Jeb’s things,” Connie said.

  “Don’t you have to collect your daughters from whatever party they attended?” Jeb asked with an edge to his voice.

  Kori had to admit, she wanted to be alone with him. Connie immediately understood his remark and exited the room. If Jeb didn’t immediately take her into his arms, she was going to start pleading.

  Chapter 6

  His lips were upon hers before the parlor door shut. An urgency he never experienced in life had descended on him. Nothing existed but this woman.

  Kori was as frantic as he was, grabbing and pulling at his shirt. He quickly aided her by removing his top. Muscles rippled with the simple motion. While he was alive, he never had been as fit as this corporeal form.

  Her warm hands ignited his bare flesh as she examined his torso. Kori’s touch was light, as if she feared breaking him. Although his body was in the midst of an inferno, a different type of warmth encased his heart.

  Jeb concentrated on removing her dress. It was a single layer of material with none of the petticoats and pantaloons women in his time wore. He wanted it removed, not simply lifted to reach her sex. His eyes longed to bask upon her naked body.

  He maneuvered them to the larger of the two sofas in the parlor. Kori deserved more than being taken on the floor. If he still had a bedroom in the house, he would have carried her upstairs. Jeb would have to make the most of what he had around him.

  Once he had her on the sofa, he removed the delicate sandals she wore. Her toes were painted a brilliant red, a rich ruby color. She was his gem. This was the woman his sister defied death for him to meet.

  His lips lavished kisses along her legs, lifting the dress’s material as he made his way up her long limbs. She wore no stockings to act as a barrier between his lips and her delicate skin. Kori lifted her hips, assisting in his progress when he reached her midsection. Rather than kissing her belly, his tongue ran across it and then into the barely indented spot. She took in a deep breath when the tip of his tongue penetrated her bellybutton.

  He barely registered the lace that covered her sex. Jeb was afraid he’d lose control if he concentrated on that part of her anatomy. When he lifted the dress to expose her breasts, the material that bound her ample mounds was the same as her panties.

  It was his turn to suck in a breath. She was utterly breathtaking. He needed to end this slow seduction and explore that particular part of her body barely hidden by lace.

  With one hand, he lifted her head, with the other, he removed the dress. He tossed it in the direction of a chair, not caring if his aim was true. His concentration was focused on the nearly naked woman below him.

  His mouth enclosed around one of her hardened nipples, sucking it through the silk-like material of the bra. As his tongue lathed what was in his mouth, Jeb unhooked the back of the foundation. For an instant, he reluctantly removed his mouth from her covered breast, only to almost immediately return it to the naked nipple.

  When he sucked harder, Kori moaned and tangled her fingers through his hair. The gentle pulling of the strands only excited him. He quickly transferred his mouth to the other breast, wanting to worship it as well.

  Kori released her hold on his hair and attempted to relieve him of his pants. He should have removed the remainder of his clothing when he took off his shirt. Jeb sprung to his feet and let his trousers fall to the floor. His member was already erect. When he materialized earlier this evening, he didn’t bother with undergarments.

  His soul mate looked up, her focus on his erection. She unconsciously licked her lips and what little green existed in her light brown eyes became more pronounced. Kori was as excited as he was. They were two halves waiting to be whole.

  Jeb’s eyes were focused on hers when he reached down and removed her delicate panties. She wa
s laid out naked before him, but he didn’t break eye contact with her. He was waiting for some signal for him to continue.

  It came with an illuminating smile. An invitation almost as old as time. A welcoming to join with her.

  Her sensual lips drew his to hers. Jeb covered her with his body. They were nearly the same height. His erect member positioned at the juncture between her legs.

  Soon he would be one with his soul mate. Would their joining bring the lifeless body in the cellar out of its enchanted coma? However, it was this body his consciousness now occupied that was his immediate concern. For the first time in his life, he was truly going to make love to a woman.

  His kisses were incendiary. Kori couldn’t get enough of them. She appreciated the foreplay, but she wanted him inside her now. Her core was crying out for him, aching with need.

  She grabbed his rod and he moaned in response. Kori didn’t have to minister to his shaft, it was fully erect. Jeb grabbed her wrist and applied the slightest amount of pressure.

  “You’ll unman me, woman,” Jeb growled. It was as if speaking each word was an effort. “I need to prepare you for my girth. The last thing I want to do is cause you any pain.”

  Her passage was slick from the instant he brought his mouth to her breast. One of his fingers entered through her folds and started to move. He looked at her in surprise.

  “I craved you from the moment I saw you— “Kori stopped mid-sentence. She was about to say last night. Today’s research related to his ancestor would remain her little secret. It was the man above her she wanted desperately, beyond reason.

  Kori prevented further conversation by adhering her lips to his. Jeb didn’t object, only deepened the kiss. A second finger entered her as their tongues tangled.

  Believing she was ready, Jeb removed his fingers from her passage and gazed into her eyes. He gently removed the random wet hair adhered to her face. There was an unasked question in his expression.