Deep is the Night: Dark Fire

by Denise A. Agnew

  He finished a bite of his chili before he spoke. “Shops are closing up before it gets dark.”

  “Probably not a bad idea.”

  “What about the library?”

  “I doubt it. Our boss may be a kind enough soul, but he’s a workaholic and he expects the rest of us to stay at our regular hours no matter what the crisis.”

  “I’ll talk to Fred and maybe we can work something out.”

  “Good luck.”

  Danny’s displeasure showed his eyes. He sipped his coffee. “Seems this Tavish bubba has quite a hold on the ladies around town.”

  “Bubba? I’d hardly call him a bubba. Every time someone uses that word, I see one of those stereotyped redneck dudes with a gun rack on their pickup and their ass crack showing because their pants won’t stay up around their waist.”

  Danny seemed scandalized, but she didn’t know if her blatant word choice did the trick, or the clear derision in her tone. “Whatever you want to call him, women are whispering about him at the station, and every time I turn around someone is talking about him.”

  Mistrustful of his statement, she took her time answering. “He’s new in town. People were gossiping about me when I first arrived here, right?”

  He smiled. “Well, yeah.”

  She shrugged and let that be her statement.

  “What about you?” he asked.

  “What about me?”

  He pushed his bowl away. “You like this Lachlan guy?”

  How could she answer that without giving away her conflicting feelings? “Just because I think he isn’t a murderer doesn’t mean I’ve fallen madly in love with him. I’m reserving judgment until I know him better. Why are you asking?”

  Danny fiddled with the extra paper napkin on the table. “Because I want to know if I should consider him competition.”

  Her mouth opened, but she didn’t know what to say.

  “I mean,” he said, “I’ve liked you from the moment I saw first saw you. I want to go out with you on a real date some time.”

  She saw her moment to escape his earlier question. “I’d like that, too.”

  Total relief flashed over his face. “Great. Maybe we could take in a movie this weekend?”

  Immediate doubts formed in her mind. Danny might be a nice enough man, but she didn’t feel attracted to him. Still, she couldn’t say she knew him well enough to dismiss him out of hand, and she wouldn’t become one of those women who judged on looks alone. Depth of character meant more than a tight ass and a handsome face. She compared Lachlan’s amazing good looks with Danny’s ordinariness, and wondered if she’d allowed Lachlan’s sexual prowess to overrule consideration of Danny as a date.

  Tired of speculating about the mysterious Scot, she said, “Mrs. Pickles’ and Jessie’s murders are the first Pine Forest has had in years, right?”

  “Twenty years, to be exact.”

  “That’s amazing.”

  “Yeah. The chief of police barely remembers that crime.” When the waitress came by to fill their cups, they both refused more brew. When she left, Danny continued. “Now there’s talk around the department about a vampire or that El Chupacabra thing being the culprit.”

  “The police department doesn’t take that seriously, do they?”

  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “No, but you never can tell in this town. When you’ve been here longer you’ll understand. Pretty weird things happen around here. Gilda was telling me about the strange noises you heard at the library the night you met Lachlan.”

  “You don’t connect the noises with him, I hope?”

  “Who knows? A guy as strange as that might have a lot of tricks up his sleeve.” Danny’s carefree shrug didn’t convince her. He might pretend he didn’t care about Lachlan’s presence in town, but Danny’s comments and insinuations said otherwise.

  “You think the noises in the library have something to do with the women who were attacked?” she asked.

  “No. I was using that as an example of how strange this town is.”

  On a roll, she said, “Just because the women had bite marks on their necks does not mean it’s a vampire or some monster. I can’t believe anyone would believe that in this day and age.”

  He leaned forward and spoke low. “Mrs. Pickles died of unknown causes. They thought at first the loss of blood did it, but they’d given her transfusions and that should have taken care of the problem.”

  “Shock.”

  “They’d gotten that under control, too. Jessie Huxley didn’t make it that far. Her body was almost drained of blood. She didn’t have enough left in her to fill a teacup the medical examiner said.”

  Exasperated, Erin rolled her gaze to the ceiling, then stared at Danny. “So just because the poor woman dies, somehow she’s been killed by a vampire? That’s the most incredibly ridiculous thing I’ve heard yet.”

  Her argument rang in her ears for what seemed the hundredth time in a week. Despite the fact that her and Lachlan seemed to have formed a mutual mind link, she found the idea a monster roaming Pine Forest to be inconceivable. Telepathy remained more believable than vampires.

  Danny’s eyes widened at her strident tone. “I’m not personally saying that’s what happened, but it’s the biggest mystery we’ve faced in some time. And this town has been haunted for so long, anything is possible.”

  So even the police in this town believe in boogie men. She sighed. Maybe coming to Pine Forest had been a mistake.

  “And Lachlan Tavish arrived here not long before the attacks started.” Danny leaned back and crossed his arms as if he expected her to deny his statement. “That makes a person wonder.”

  “You’re convinced Lachlan Tavish attacked these women?”

  “We have no evidence, but you can bet he’s in line for more questioning.”

  Her reply came tinged with anger. “Why are you telling me this? Wouldn’t it be police business and therefore none of my business?”

  “Normally I’d say yes, but since this Lachlan character is obviously interested in you I thought—”

  “Thanks.” She held up one hand. “But I’m doing a pretty good job of taking care of myself. What is it with this town and overprotective men?”

  He sniffed. “Well, I’d think a woman would like having a man to protect her with some stalker prowling the area.”

  Somehow she couldn’t see Danny shielding her.

  No one can protect you against me, Erin.

  Shadowy, filled with malicious intent, the voice hovered in her mind. It couldn’t be Lachlan’s voice. It just couldn’t be. Her insides trembled, her stomach clenching with renewed fear and confusion. She looked out on the afternoon, trying to distract her thoughts from menacing creatures of the night. Snow lay in a thin blanket on the area, no longer drifting from the heavy white clouds shrouding the area. That dull, relentless throb started in her head again.

  “Let’s talk about something else, all right?” She didn’t add a smile to her request, unhappy about the returning headache, the conversation centering on Lachlan, the attacks, and her so-called need for protection.

  After lunch, he followed her back to the library, leaving in a rush when he received a call on his police radio. She took a deep breath and drew her gaze over the forbidding façade of the library. Suddenly she didn’t feel so anxious to go back into the dreary structure. Although the headache lingered, it didn’t pound with the relentless force it had on other occasions. She had no excuse not to go back to work. She took a step toward the library.

  Erin.

  The whispery voice made her stop, and she turned. No one in sight.

  Lachlan, is that you?

  Maybe it is.

  What do you want?

  You.

  The word filled her mind like an icicle, pinpointed and painful. The throb entered her head with more force, and she gasped. Again she reached up for her temples and rubbed. If the voice didn’t belong to Lachlan, could he be right in saying the pain w
as an indicator of evil close at hand? Or did she suffer from a migraine? >From descriptions others had given her, this headache didn’t carry all the indicators of migraine, but what did she know?

  She searched for any sign that Lachlan might be nearby. Other than cars driving down the lane and teenagers crossing the street at an intersection, she saw no one. She turned her attention back to the cold façade of the library. With a resolute deep breath, she demanded the headache to recede and wished that Lachlan had already shown her how to get rid of the pain.

  A cold wind wafted over her, and without dithering, she headed into the library with fear close on her heels.

  * * * * *

  As Erin drove home later that day, the sky deepened into full night, and a niggling of apprehension made her wish she’d never agreed to go out with Lachlan tonight. She felt grateful for the headlights of the car behind her, illuminating the darkness of the street as she turned into her driveway. The car behind her continued, and soon the night surrounded her. She allowed her car to creep down the short driveway until she parked as close to the house as possible.

  Bushes surrounding the small Queen Anne style home formed a thick wall, and it came to mind for her to call her landlord and ask if the vegetation shouldn’t be trimmed back. It might be a fire hazard and also could hide any number of crawlies and undesirables. She didn’t want to think about what might be hiding in there or she’d soon have a case of the creeps.

  After turning off the ignition, she looked up and down the street in both directions. Three streetlamps provided dim illumination in the immediate area, but since the town didn’t like blazing neon signs or billboards, it followed they didn’t care for brilliant lighting on the street at night. Right now, she would have appreciated a stadium full of lights pointing right at her house. Taking a deep breath, she grasped her keys in a defensive position and stepped out of the car. She pushed the auto lock feature on her car and started toward the front door. She hesitated a second, a feeling of apprehension coming out of nowhere.

  Something was wrong.

  She’d left the porch light on that morning, but now darkness surrounded the porch. Had she really forgotten to leave a light on inside the upstairs bedroom window?

  Erin heard a rush of air, like the sudden suction of a tornado, and her breath seemed pulled from her lungs. It happened so fast she didn’t have time to think or flee. She gasped and whirled to face the menace.

  A huge figure loomed in front of her and she opened her mouth to scream.

  Chapter 13

  “Easy, sweetheart,” Lachlan said as he appeared from around the side of the house. He clasped Erin’s arms, his concern evident in his deep frown. “Are you all right?”

  She jerked out of his grip, anger making her snappish. “I was until you jumped out of the bushes like Jack the Ripper.”

  His eyes seemed to glow in the semi-darkness, and a weird shiver of trepidation brought goose bumps to her skin. “What’s wrong? Why are you acting afraid of me?”

  “I’m…I’m not.” She went up the porch stairs and quickly unlatched the door. “Maybe it’s not a good idea for us to go out tonight.”

  “Why?” He didn’t sound angry, only confused.

  She opened the door in a rush and then stood in the opening without any indication of letting him enter. “Because we aren’t—we don’t have anything in common.”

  He laughed.

  Whatever she expected him to do, laughing wasn’t it. “Go ahead, laugh it up.”

  She stepped inside the door and began to close it. She felt a second’s resistance against the door, but then it slammed closed. Relief flooded through her. She didn’t have it in her to discuss love, sex, or rock and roll with Lachlan right now and didn’t care about being rude, either.

  She turned around and gasped.

  Lachlan stood not far from her.

  “What?” she mumbled the question, her lips feeling numb, and her mind suddenly overwhelmed. “How?”

  He sighed. “That’s a very long story.”

  She planted her hands on her hips. “You seem to owe me several long stories, Lachlan Tavish.”

  “I know, lass. Now, why don’t we go to Ricardo’s and discuss it. We can have some wine, dinner, do some dancing…” His gaze swept over her like a hot tide, filling her center with that overwhelming attraction she always experienced when he came near. “Then we can come back here for…dessert.”

  Dessert. Uh-huh. His suggestion sounded decadent. Like warm custard slathered on chocolate mousse, or maybe whipped cream dipped strawberries, or hot fudge dribbled over—

  Oh, yes, lass. I want that, too.

  He moved almost too quickly for her to see. His arms slid around her, drawing her against his body with enough force to startle her. Lachlan’s mouth came down on hers with hunger, twisting to find a tight fit as his tongue took immediate command. The continual rub of his tongue over hers made her moan with instant exhilaration. A sigh left her throat as red-hot longing flared in her stomach and traveled downward with a rush. Her center tightened as she imagined his cock doing the same thing, stroking in and out of her wet sex with forceful thrusts.

  Ah, sweet Erin, stop thinking about making love. You’re torturing me.

  Erin pulled her mouth away from his and sucked in a breath. “Lachlan, what is happening? How did you do that?”

  A slumberous daze came into his eyes, as if he could do nothing else but show her his desire. “What? Make you wet with longing?”

  She gasped again, then in regretted it. God, she sounded like an outraged virgin. “No. Come into the house without me—I mean I couldn’t see you do it—”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll explain more later. Right now you should change into something sexy and slinky for dinner.”

  Oh, shit. I forgot how ritzy that place is. “I shouldn’t have agreed to go to dinner at Ricardo’s. I don’t have anything sexy and slinky for a place like that. I’m sorry, it was stupid of me to agree to have dinner there.”

  He released her, and for a moment she thought the anger on his face meant he thought she was dumb as well. He brushed his fingers with a light touch across her cheek. “You’re not stupid, lass. Don’t ever put yourself down like that.” He looked at his watch. “We still have plenty of time for you to get a new dress.” Lachlan’s expression twinkled with dawning awareness. “In fact, I know just the place. There’s that shop over on Main. I walked by there the other day and saw this blood red dress that would be beautiful on you.” As his gaze did another hungry assessment of her body, Erin felt amazement mix with the arousal he inspired inside her. “It’s long and there’s a slit up to the thigh.” He licked his lips.

  Imagine my hand sliding up your leg, Erin. Touching you between the thighs. Imagine me slipping your panties off. Think of how good it will feel to have my cock inside you.

  Lachlan, now who is thinking of making love?

  She closed her eyes, and with a swiftness that staggered her, she saw him pressing her against the wall, his big body trapping her as his demanding touch roamed her thigh.

  Lachlan, don’t. I can’t think when you do that.

  Then don’t think. Just feel.

  She opened her eyes and her gaze clashed with his. We’ll never get to the dress shop if you keep this up.

  A slow, carnal grin parted his lips. We could spend the entire night having hot sex, then.

  The ravenous sexual potency of his voice in her head made her thoughts reel with excitement. Images of them tumbling onto her bed, him on top of her, his thick sex thrusting into her hot center, made everything inside her tighten with full-blown wish for sexual release.

  “No!” Erin put one hand to her trembling lips, and stared at his flushed face.

  Lachlan’s hands clenched and unclenched. He looked almost unsteady, a bizarre weakness passing over his rough-hewn features. “Sweet lass, if we keep this up—”

  “If we keep this up?” she asked, coming closer until she could poke him i
n the chest. “Why are you projecting those sex scenes into my mind? How did you get in the doorway without me seeing you?”

  He clasped her hand and held it against his chest. Erin felt the strong, quick beat of his heart. She saw the arousal fading from his face, replaced by regret. “I was desperate. I shouldn’t have played that trick on you.”

  “Which one?”

  “When I came into the room without you being able to see me.”

  “Tell me, were you really a magician in Scotland?”

  “No. Like I said, I’ll explain later. After we’ve bought you the dress and had dinner.”

  “Lachlan, I really can’t afford the dress.”

  “No, lass. I didn’t mean for you to pay for it. It’ll be my gift to you.” She shook her head, but when she would have spoken, he leaned in close. “Please. No obligations. I know I said we could stay here all night and have sex. But that would only be if you’re ready. Remember, I said when we did make love it would be under your terms.” He cupped her face and leaned in to kiss her nose. “And to answer your question about the images of us having sex together…that isn’t my doing. I can see the images in your head, but I didn’t put them there.” A smile broke over the carnal line of his lips. “Anytime you think about sex is because you want to. I have no control over your thoughts.”

  When she didn’t speak or move, astounded by what continued to happen between them, he said, “Let’s get you that dress.”

  * * * * *

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Erin asked as Lachlan followed her into All That Glitters. “This place is expensive.”

  “Don’t worry, Erin. It’s a gift.”

  The quiet place held a myriad of gowns, all luxurious. Satins, silks, taffetas, velvets. You name it, this store had it. Erin always wondered how the fancy shop made it in a town this size. When she stopped by one dress and spotted the price tag, she winced. All of this went beyond her budget. As they wandered forward, she marveled at the Victorian motif overlaid with a hint of baroque. In some respects, the glitter of gold, silver and sparkling fabrics might have overwhelmed the eye. Instead it enchanted.