Deep is the Night: Dark Fire

by Denise A. Agnew

  “Thank you.” She could hardly say the words. “You’re very kind.”

  He shook his head. “No. I’m very honest. I’d never lie to you, Erin.”

  If his appraisal came as honest as his words, Lachlan didn’t only believe she looked good, he wanted her.

  Panicking, Erin took a deep breath and tried to steady the odd thrum in her pulse and her heart. If she could eliminate the floating sensation in her head, she would be one happy camper. It wouldn’t do to fall face forward onto the floor.

  Lachlan surprised her by switching gears. “When you’re done tonight, be very careful when you leave and make sure you’re not alone in the parking lot.”

  “What? Why?” she said, startled at the sudden change. Old apprehension from earlier this evening crept up on her.

  “Just take my word for it. It’s dangerous for a woman to be on her own in Pine Forest.”

  For two seconds she wondered if he intended to frighten her with kooky assertions that she needed his protection. She wouldn’t fall for that line, and she wouldn’t tell a total stranger where she planned to go or where she lived.

  She backed away a step. “I’m capable of taking care of myself. I refuse to be paranoid.”

  “Maybe you should be paranoid.”

  She planted her hands on her hips. “Are you trying to frighten me? Why should I trust you? We’ve just met.”

  “But I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

  Despite the teasing in his voice, she saw a change occur in his eyes and maybe his intent. His breath seemed to quicken, the only sound she could detect in this quiet place. Awareness thrummed between them, tightening the tension inside her. Tingles of desire danced in her stomach and reminded Erin that Lachlan was one eye-popping handsome man and she was very much a woman.

  But looks told a part of the story, not the whole. Something else strange was happening here.

  Like a flash fire, his expression went from teasing to dead serious. Before she could say anything or move away, Lachlan cupped her face with one hand. He leaned in and covered her mouth with his.

  He swallowed her muffled sound of surprise. Minty and fresh, his taste held her immobile. If she expected ravenous, she didn’t get it. Instead, he kissed her softly.

  Feather light, his lips teased. Once. “Erin, this is crazy.”

  She gasped as his mouth brushed hers. “Try insane. What—”

  Twice. His mouth took hers again, hot, drugging and unrelenting.

  Three times. “Mr. Tavish, we’ve got to stop—”

  Quick tastes of lips against lips. “Lachlan. My name is Lachlan.”

  On the fourth sweep of his mouth over hers, Erin moaned softly. Lachlan held the kiss, his lips coaxing and teasing with the most exquisite touches she could have imagined.

  And she could imagine a lot.

  Her last physical relationship fizzled so long ago she felt like a virgin again. Yet she knew one thing for certain.

  She’d never tasted this type of kiss before.

  Tentative and frightened by sexual feelings long ignored, she felt dazzled by his charisma. Six long years had passed since she’d had a man’s lips upon hers or snuggled deep into his arms. Six years since she’d enjoyed the slide of a man’s cock inside her. Until now she felt qualified for Nuns-R-Us.

  Again his mouth took hers, twisting and moving in a dance that brooked no refusal. Seduction so complete and lighting quick terrified her and intrigued her.

  Lachlan Tavish did possess a mouth made for sin.

  For nothing but sin could generate the soul-searing, off-the-charts reaction she felt as he devoured her senses.

  Dizziness made her body tremble. Her hands went in search of an anchor. She found his chest, hard with tight muscles and rippling with power. Her fingers delighted in the heat radiating from under the soft knit cloth over his body. His cape seemed to envelop them in a secret world, safe from intrusion and cocooning them against all enemies.

  Lachlan’s hands found her waist and held her there, strong fingers pressing. She heard the rustle of his cape as he moved against her.

  Erin wanted more. She leaned into him, and suddenly his arms went around her and he pressed her against the heavy bookcase. His mouth slanted, forcing her lips apart at the same time he pressed his thigh between her legs.

  Oh.

  Roped with sinew, his thigh pressed and lifted her dress up her legs. His tongue entered her mouth and started a steady, pumping rhythm that suggested the deepest, most exciting sex she’d ever had.

  No. Never had before this moment.

  Dazed, part of Erin watched from the outside looking in, screaming at her to regain control of the situation before something bad happened. She’d lost her mind. Lost it and couldn’t get it back.

  She didn’t want to.

  His hands swept over her back and landed on her butt. He squeezed. She clenched around his thigh, and he groaned against her mouth.

  He tore his mouth from hers and buried his face in her neck. His breath rushed in an out of his lungs and betrayed his arousal. He slid his fingers into her hair and held her face against his shoulder.

  Against her ear he whispered in a tortured voice rough with Scottish tones, “Erin, we must stop, lass. I dinna know what’s happening…”

  She groaned. “Yes.”

  “Someone will find us here.”

  She gasped sharply inward as his hand left her hair and slid down toward her breast. “Yes.”

  Yes. She didn’t know whether she meant the syllable as a request for him to touch her breast or as an acknowledgement that if they continued the craziness they would be exposed. The idea of discovery sent a tiny, forbidden thrill all through Erin.

  Instead of following his own advice, Lachlan moved, his hand cupping one of her butt cheeks so he could grind his hips against her. The movement sent sparks of sharp pleasure through her. Inside her mind Erin could feel a torment begin, a shame mixed with a force so strong she felt as if her will had been torn from her.

  “I want you, Erin,” he said huskily against her ear.

  Without roughness, the sensation of his big hand circling her breast made her shudder in wanton delight. She gasped again, and when his thumb and forefinger closed on the nipple, she writhed in his arms.

  “Lachlan, oh, please.”

  She knew the words came out like a sob, and she didn’t care. Didn’t give a flying fuck if he invaded her mind and stole her will.

  “I canna help myself, Erin. This sweet nipple feels so good against my fingers.”

  Lachlan kissed her earlobe, and his tongue slipped inside her ear, dancing against sensitive skin. Again his fingers gently plucked her nipple, brushing against the hard nub until she felt the deep, unmistakable moistening between her legs. She moaned softly, the multiple arousals almost more than Erin could stand.

  He kissed her again, his tongue taking her mouth with deep caresses that poured more fuel on the fire. With burning excitement she gave it back to him, slipping her hands into his hair and feeling the soft strands tickling the pads of her fingers.

  Erin. Erin, sweetheart, you are so wonderful.

  The voice brushed against her mind, more erotic and exciting than any caress.

  Didn’t vampires seduce their helpless victims like this before draining their blood? She gave a mental shrug, not caring whether he wanted her blood or not. Not when she wanted his mouth on hers, his arms around her and—God forbid—his cock wedged inside her.

  As her arms went around Lachlan’s neck, Erin remembered where she was. In the library stacks with a man’s tongue in her mouth, and his hand tormenting her breast. A slow, simmering burn pulsed inside her, and she knew if he reached inside her panties he’d find her wetter than she’d ever been in her life.

  Wet because a man she’d known less than a couple of hours made her feel the most cherished, the most beloved woman he’d known.

  Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God.

  A tight throbbing started between
her legs.

  His fingers strummed her nipple.

  Let it go, Erin.

  She did.

  Sweet throbs rolled through her as her clit tingled with sharp pleasure. The tiny, wonderful orgasm made her entire body quiver with mindless enjoyment. As the gentle orgasm reached a peak, he kept his fingers moving on her nipple, and his tongue in her mouth. She shivered, whimpered, and went limp in his arms.

  Lachlan stopped kissing her and once again buried his face in her hair as he pulled her close.

  “Erin,” he rasped. “I don’t know what happened—”

  Disbelief and embarrassment that she’d just made out in the stacks with a stranger bolted through Erin. She shoved against him and he let her go.

  Emotions battered her, caught up in the raging desire that seemed to leap upon her like a ravenous beast. Surprise and humiliation mixed together. Surprise at herself for allowing this man to almost take her up against a bookshelf. Humiliation for feeling like a slut of the first degree. A total stranger had made her come with little effort. Top that with the fact she’d experienced a strange hallucination and now she could hear voices in her head. She’d dumped her inhibitions and all her common sense in the heat of a reckless passion.

  She put her hands to mouth and stared at Lachlan in bewilderment. Tears sprung to her eyes. Erin had never experienced anything this erotic, this amazing, this divergent to her normal behavior before tonight.

  Contrary to what she expected, Lachlan did not seem smug or pleased. Instead he appeared as a man who’d enjoyed a mind-melting session of sexual exploration. He stood there, face flushed, and hands fisted at his sides as if restraining himself from pulling her into his arms and finishing the entire sex act. His eyelids drooped to half mast, giving him the lazy, contented satiation of a predator finishing a delicious snack. Mixed among his pleasure, his face showed amazement and shell-shock. Her gaze landed on the large bulge under the zipper of his black jeans. Still aroused and ready.

  Almost against her will, Erin licked her lips. If they’d been anywhere but a public place, how far would they have gone? The possibility horrified her. She must control herself.

  Erin, who never stepped wrong when it came to safe sex and relationships, had allowed this big, hungry looking Scotsman to give her a shuddering, sweet orgasm.

  Unfortunately, she still throbbed between her legs, a sure indication that the climax had only taken the edge off what promised to be a bigger explosion.

  Erin could be happy about it. Instead she started to cry.

  She turned and made a beeline for the bathroom.

  * * * * *

  Erin took five minutes to stamp down her tears and take a deep breath. As she looked into the mirror she didn’t recognize the face gazing back at her. Hell, no. This woman was wanton, satisfied, and not as distressed as she should be.

  “I’m crazy. I’m losing it.” She pressed her palms against her hot cheeks. “God, Erin, what did you do? Are you totally out of your mind?”

  Part of her wanted more of the same. Another part of her said she’d stepped into a dangerous situation with her stupidity. She knew little about Lachlan Tavish, even if he was friends with Gilda and her husband.

  And how had he cured her damn headache?

  No time to waste right now. You’ve got to get back upstairs with the kids.

  She wiped her eyes with toilet paper and left the bathroom. To her chagrin, Lachlan stood near the same bookshelves where they’d engaged in their little tryst.

  Lachlan approached, his stride confident. She stiffened in reaction. When he stopped near her, she wondered if he planned to kiss her again.

  This time he kept his distance, looking worried. “Are you all right? Did I frighten you?”

  “Yes. No.”

  His frown melted, replaced by a teasing grin. “Yes, you’re all right, and no, I didn’t frighten you?”

  She took a huge breath. “Yes.” She shook her head. “Look, Mr. Tavish, I don’t know what happened a few moments ago.”

  He lifted one imperial eyebrow. “You don’t? It seems clear to me. We got a little carried away. Nothing has ever happened to me like that before.”

  Erin couldn’t repress a small snort of disbelief. “Right.”

  She saw the fire in the center of his eyes brighten at her challenge. “You think I go around snogging with women I’ve just met?”

  His British expression for kissing would have amused her if she hadn’t been the one he’d snogged between the book selves of a public library.

  She shrugged. “You call that just snogging? We don’t know each other well enough to do whatever…whatever that was.”

  Another irreverent grin crossed his mobile mouth. “Okay. We did more than kiss. It was hot and incredible. I may not understand it, but I won’t deny how it felt.” His voice dropped to a husky whisper, and he captured her eyes again. She felt that wave of dizziness again, and almost reached out to clasp his arm for support. “And I can’t deny that I want to do it again, very soon.”

  Before Erin could form a reply, the front door of the library swung open and in stepped Kathleen Melville, the local gossip. Until she’d moved here Erin hadn’t realized every small town possessed at least one woman or man who gossiped the way Kathleen did. The middle-aged woman’s salt and pepper hair floated about her head in a static-induced panic. Her open coat showed a black turtleneck sweater with an orange pumpkin on it and blue jeans.

  “Gawd, I’m late again.” She towed her niece Debbie behind her. The ten year old looked bored. “Deb, honey, go on upstairs. Mrs. Greenway is probably—”

  When she saw Erin and Lachlan standing not that far from each other, her mouth dropped open. Erin realized how the situation might appear, and she moved away from Lachlan and toward Kathleen and Debbie.

  “Kathleen, it’s great to see you. Glad you and Debbie could make it. Come this way,” Erin said.

  Before they could make it two steps, the door opened again and several kids and parents piled through in a noisy group. Laughing and talking, the gaggle greeted Erin and Kathleen. As soon as the kids noticed Lachlan, he entertained them with vampire antics. He made them laugh and they seemed to like him immediately. Their parents gathered around and asked him questions; his accent became a big topic of discussion.

  As Erin and Kathleen started up the stairs, Kathleen looked back at Lachlan. It appeared the Scot was amusing a six-year-old boy with an explanation about his sharp teeth.

  “How do you brush those things?” the kid asked.

  Kathleen laughed and Erin didn’t hear Lachlan’s response.

  Okay, clever guy. How do you answer that one?

  “Who is that man?” Kathleen asked, her voice a tad breathless as she glanced back at him.

  “Which one?”

  Kathleen sighed. “Don’t give me that. The only man in the room, ninny. The tall, dark, and supremely dangerous-looking fellow with the creature-from-the-graveyard get up and the killer smile.”

  With a breezy reply she hoped hid her thoughts, Erin said, “He’s a friend of Gilda and Tom’s in town on a short visit. He’s helping out this evening.”

  “Uh-huh.” Kathleen didn’t sound convinced. “Think he’ll stick around?”

  “Don’t know.” Erin didn’t want to sound peevish, but she also didn’t want to contribute to Kathleen’s gossip column or to get her hopes up. Kathleen spent three fourths of her time on the lookout for husband number three. “How’s work at the Sentinel?”

  “Oh, peachy,” Kathleen said with a mocking tone. “My boss, Malcomb, thinks I should stop being a features columnist and start doing some investigative reporting on this serial throat-sucker.”

  Erin almost tripped on the stair, but clasped the banister. “Serial throat sucker? What’s he think it is, El Chupacabra?”

  “El Chupa- what?”

  Erin knew she shouldn’t have said anything. “You know, the creature sighted in places like Puerto Rico and Mexico. The one they call t
he goat sucker.”

  Kathleen nodded. “Oh, yeah, that thing. Way up here in Colorado? I don’t think so.”

  “Well, you don’t believe in stuff like that anyway, do you?”

  “’Course I do. Always have. Good, Gawd, you have to if you live here.” They reached the top of the stairs and Kathleen patted her on the shoulder. “You haven’t been here long enough to be affected by this place. Just you wait, it’ll happen.”

  Erin decided to ignore Kathleen’s assurances. “But your boss wants you to write an article about this…this…sucker thing? Can’t it just be a nut running around? I mean, the woman who was attacked didn’t say anything about a monster.”

  Kathleen held up her hands. “You don’t have to convince me. I might believe in ghosts, but I sure don’t believe in vampires.”

  Vampires. Believe in vampires, Erin…

  Erin scanned the area for anyone who might have whispered the words in her ear. Was it the strange voices she encountered outside the library? The evil voice she thought had called her name? Or could it be Lachlan’s tender, husky voice urging her?

  Flushing, she recalled Lachlan’s voice urging her to come. Heat entered her stomach, arousal returning as a dim, but enticing memory of how Lachlan made her feel.

  Kathleen said, “Malcomb believes the attacker will strike again.”

  Before Erin could comment, Kathleen joined the other kids and parents coming up the steps. Kathleen plopped down next to Jessie and they started talking.

  Story hour went as planned, with several more families arriving in time to hear spine-tingling tales. Erin enjoyed watching the children’s rapt expressions and the pleased smiles of the parents. She loved regaling them with stories, but in the back of her mind, she couldn’t dislodge the thought of Lachlan. Had he left already? She drifted out of her story a couple of times and forced herself back.

  More than once she wondered if the strange noises she heard earlier would reoccur, but nothing happened. How would she explain them to the parents and children? Tomorrow she’d tell head librarian, Fred Tyne, about the sounds. Maybe he would get the place inspected. If it turned out this creaky place harbored termites and might fall down around their heads at any moment, they needed to know about it.