Chapter Ten
Tyler stared from the plane’s window as the 747 descended into clouds obscuring the valley where the Asheville airport lay. The insides of her eyelids itched with fatigue after a sleepless night, and Jared snoozed in the seat beside her, surrendering to exhaustion.
He’d remained silent all the way back to the inn yesterday after their last visit with Sam Witek. The only words he’d spoken were instructions to Enrico to wait while he collected their luggage and checked out.
The trip back to Boston had been equally quiet. She hadn’t encroached on his stillness, allowing him to contemplate uninterrupted the facts they’d uncovered. When they’d reached the airport, all direct flights to Asheville were booked, and Jared had bought tickets for the next morning.
Their battle royal had begun after they’d checked into the airport hotel.
Tyler had picked up the envelope Jared had placed on the bureau, scrutinized its contents, and confronted him with accusing eyes. “There’s only one ticket here to Asheville. The other’s to Raleigh-Durham.”
“Tomorrow morning we part company,” Jared announced with a coldness that froze her heart.
“Why? We know who the killer is. All we have to do is point the police in the right direction.”
He grabbed her shoulders, and for an instant, she feared he would shake her. “Pete Stanwick’s a former policeman, who knows law-enforcement procedures. If anybody can elude capture, he can. It could be a year or more before they bring him in.”
Tyler ignored his too-tight hold and, reaching up, cupped his face in her hands, forcing him to meet her eyes. “Why are you so angry with me?”
His fierce expression melted. “I’m not angry. I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”
He pushed her hands away and strode to the window that overlooked the runway, where a jumbo jet taxied into the night, red lights flashing in the darkness. The rigid line of his back repelled her.
“Don’t make this any harder than it already is,” he muttered with a low groan.
The hardest part would be leaving him. Anger at his lack of comprehension surged through her. “Give me one good reason why I can’t stay.”
He whipped around and defied her with blazing eyes. “Because staying with me will get you killed.”
She glared at him and raised her voice, heedless of guests in the adjoining rooms. “Not if we don’t return to your mountaintop.”
The low urgency of his words carried above the whine of the ascending jet. “I have to go back. Stanwick will be expecting me, and I’ll set a trap for him there.”
“With you as bait? Are you out of your mind?” Pain stabbed her at the thought of losing him. She was no longer halfway in love. She was totally committed, and she would move heaven and earth to keep him safe. “Tell the authorities what you know. Use your trust fund and move to Bermuda or the Bahamas until he’s caught.”
He stared past her shoulder, avoiding her eyes. “You’re forgetting one crucial point.”
Her breath caught in her throat at the defeat in his expression. “What point?”
“Stanwick has some kind of psychic link with me. He can find me, wherever I go.”
“But—”
“That’s why you have to leave. Stanwick’s not after you. It’s me he wants, and if you’re not with me, you’re safe.”
“If I’m not with you, I’ll—” she blurted, catching herself before she said too much.
His eyes burned into hers. “You’ll what?”
He would probably laugh at her admission, but she couldn’t help herself. “I’ll wither up and die from missing you, wondering if you’re safe.”
“Tyler, no, don’t—” He breathed her name like a prayer before covering the distance between them in two long strides and sweeping her into his arms. His mouth dipped hungrily to hers, and her senses swirled at the taste of him.
In the refuge of his arms, all thoughts of danger vanished, and the universe contracted to the space they occupied. Nothing else mattered. She twined her arms around his neck, pressing against the hard length of his body, reveling in the thunder of his heart against hers. Desire burgeoned within her, and every cell cried out in longing.
Abruptly, he lifted his mouth from hers and held her at arm’s length. “This can’t change anything.”
His look of devastation gave her hope. “Don’t send me away, Jared.”
“It won’t be for long—”
“You just said it could be over a year.” A prolonged separation was too painful to contemplate.
“It might be only a few weeks.” He cradled her face in his hands and brushed a wisp of hair off her forehead. “Would you wait that long for me?”
She shivered with delight at his touch and felt herself drowning in the warm brown depths of his eyes. She nodded, afraid to trust her voice.
He clasped her to him again, stroking her hair, pressing her cheek to the broad expanse of his chest. His deep voice rumbled in her ear. “We’ll both be safer if you’re with your grandmother.”
She snuggled deeper into his embrace. “How will you be safer?”
“For one thing, I’ll be less distracted.” He lifted her hair and brushed the back of her neck with his lips.
She raised her head. “I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.”
“Then promise me you’ll go to your grandmother’s.” Fierce protectiveness lighted his eyes.
Torn between reluctance to leave him and desire to keep him safe, she nodded. He’d made it clear he wouldn’t allow her to stay. “But only if I can fly back with you and pick up my car.”
“No—”
“I promise I won’t stay. Just get in my car and leave.” She would promise anything to remain with him for as long as possible.
He appraised her with raised eyebrows. “Do you always get your way?”
“Not as often as I’d like.”
“Like now?”
She nodded, unable to catch her breath beneath the intensity of his gaze.
He traced her cheek with his fingertip. “What is it you want?”
“A night to remember while we’re apart.”
In answer, he claimed her mouth in a deep, endless kiss as he scooped her into his arms and carried her to the king-size bed. She pushed her fingers through his fine, thick hair as she savored the taste of him, a tantalizing sensation that sparked a deep hunger.
He laid her on the bed, and she tilted her head, exposing her throat to his soft, sliding kisses. He tugged her sweater over her head, then gently unfastened the buttons of her blouse. With every pulse point awakened, her body arched toward his.
A sigh exploded from the depths of him, and he hovered above her, his face clouded. “This is a mistake.”
His words stunned her like a torrent of cold rain. “I thought you wanted this, too.”
“If you only knew how much.” The heat of his hands seared her bare shoulders, and his face darkened with irony. “I’ve loved you since before I met you”
“That’s not possible.”
“I loved you in my dream.”
That same dream had predicted her death. She thrust aside the thought. Nothing, no one would spoil this night. “If you love me, how can this be a mistake?”
“This close, I can’t remain objective.” He levered himself away. “If I drop my guard, Stanwick might—”
“Tomorrow you can be objective.” She pulled him toward her and tugged his shirt from his jeans, unbuttoned it, and ran her palms across his chest.
He trembled at her touch, then caught her hands and forced them away. “If I make love to you now, I may not be able to let you go tomorrow.”
Her heart ached at the caring shining in his eyes. She must have done something right in her short life to have earned the love of such a man. More than his classic good looks and sexy body, his integrity, intelligence and deep-rooted compassion attracted her, binding her to him like velvet chains.
“I give you my
word.” Her solemn tone echoed in the quiet room. “I’ll leave tomorrow, just as you asked.”
“Tyler.”
He breathed her name against her breasts as he knelt beside her, pressing his lips against her heartbeat. With slow, reverent gestures, he slipped off her shoes, tugged away her jeans, and stripped away her bra and panties. Hypnotizing her with his stare, he removed his clothes and lay down beside her, pulling her against him.
His flesh warmed her in the air-conditioned coolness, and the hardness of his arousal thrust against her thigh. So tightly were their bodies entwined, she couldn’t tell if his muscles quivered or her own. Slowly, he released her shoulders and trailed his strong hands across her breasts and her waist, then skimmed her hips and sought the small secret center of her being, lingering there.
Her body tensed and throbbed, drifting on a rising current of ecstasy until she soared with a roaring in her ears like a jet climbing to the heavens.
“Jared,” she murmured, as he lifted himself above her, cradled her head in one hand, and with the other, opened her thighs and surged inside her.
A moan escaped her lips, and she clung to him, digging her fingers into his shoulders, fearing she might die of pleasure. His gaze locked with hers before he lowered his mouth, wet and hot, to her lips. He moved in slow, languorous thrusts until the tide of bliss crested again in her, merging with his, washing away all other thoughts except love for the man who created it.
Later she lay cradled in his arms as he sat against the headboard in the darkened room, watching planes take off and land at the distant airport.
“I won’t let anyone harm you,” he promised. “Not ever.”
She pressed her fingers to his lips. “Don’t think about anything but here and now.”
That here and now had passed too quickly. Now, in the cramped confines of the airplane cabin, she sighed, remembering how they had made love again, leaving only a couple of hours for sleep before rushing to catch the morning flight to Asheville.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the flight attendant’s voice interrupted, “we’ll be landing in Asheville in a few minutes. Please fasten your seat belts.”
As Tyler secured her lap harness, Jared grasped her hand and lifted her palm to his lips. “Happy landings.”
She wondered if anyone ever died from the sheer happiness of love and wished she hadn’t promised she would leave. He’d been right. Deserting him now would be twice as hard after their lovemaking, but she would keep her word. She had no other choice.
JARED CROSSED TO A BANK of pay phones in the air terminal, dropped in a quarter, and dialed. “Sheriff Tillett, please.”
“The sheriff? Won’t he be looking for us?” Tyler hissed.
He covered the mouthpiece with his hand. “Maybe, but we have to take that chance.”
She stood with her fists on her hips in defiance, one hundred pounds of adorable trouble. “But what if—”
A voice sounded in his ear and he jerked his hand from the mouthpiece. “Sheriff, Jared Slater here. I’m calling about the shot that was fired at my house a few days ago.”
“I’ve had some boys from Florida inquiring about you, Slater.” Tillett’s drawling voice boomed in his ear. “What’s going on?”
“More than I can relate in a short phone call,” Jared replied. “But the same man who fired the shots ran me off the road in Georgia, and he may still be after me.”
Tillett harrumphed. “That’s not the way the Florida boys tell it. Seems you’re wanted for questioning about a murder down there.”
Jared squinted and pinched the bridge of his nose, willing away his fatigue. “I’ll be happy to answer any questions once I get home. I’m leaving the airport now. How about having your deputies check out my place before I get there?”
“And what should I tell them to look for?” the sheriff asked.
“The man who’s after me is Pete Stanwick, an excop from Massachusetts in his late fifties, tall, graying hair, heavy build.”
“Do you know what he’s driving?” Tillett asked.
“Not a clue, except it’s probably a rental car of some kind.” The sound of Tillett’s scribbling carried over the line. “Tell them the man’s dangerous and clever. Stanwick might not miss this tune, if he’s still around.”
Tillett sighed, as if dealing with a naughty child. “I’ll send Darwin and McSwain to check out your place, then I’ll be there myself in a couple of hours. I expect you to be waiting for me.”
“Thanks.” Jared relaxed his death grip on the phone. “I’ll be there.”
DRAGGING HIS SUITCASES, Jared climbed the stairs to his bedroom. For two years, he’d lived alone in his mountain retreat, and it had never felt so empty as it did now.
When he’d driven the rental car up to his door just minutes earlier, Deputy McSwain had been waiting for them.
“No sign of your Mr. Stanwick,” McSwain had said. “No sign of anybody, for that matter. We’ve checked all the roads, and I’ll set up a watch at the foot of the mountain until the sheriff gets here.”
Sunlight shimmered on the new leaves of the surrounding trees, and a cardinal chirped in the distance. Everything seemed peaceful enough, and with a deputy blocking the road, the only way Stanwick could reach the mountaintop was to climb the escarpment behind the house. Unless Stanwick was a mountain goat, he would never make it.
The deputy had backed his cruiser around and eased down the drive, leaving Jared alone with Tyler in the cool spring air.
He fumbled in his pocket for his keys, unable to face her, knowing it might be for the last time, if Stanwick wasn’t stopped. He longed to scoop her into his arms, carry her up to his loft bed and make love to her until they were both exhausted, but reason conquered his emotions. His most important responsibility was to send her out of harm’s way.
After he unlocked the garage, she unlatched the trunk of her car and he stowed her luggage. Silence stretched between them like a fragile pane of glass both were afraid to shatter.
She slammed the trunk lid and turned to him. Tears sparkled in her eyes, and the smile she flashed seemed a valiant attempt at bravery. “Will you be all right?”
He kept his hands at his sides, quashing his desire to embrace her. If he kissed her again, he wouldn’t be able to let her leave: “I’ll be fine. The sheriff will be here soon, and I’ll tell him everything.”
Her brow creased with worry. “Even your dreams?”
He shrugged. He would bare his soul to the world, if needed, to put Stanwick behind bars so she could safely return. “None of it makes sense without the dreams.”
She smiled through her tears. “As if they make sense.”
“Goodbye, Tyler.” He choked out the words past the lump in his throat. “Be careful.”
She slid into her car and rolled down the window. “I’ll call you when I reach Gran’s.”
He had watched until her car had disappeared among the trees, then carried his luggage inside.
As he unpacked in his bedroom, he shivered in the loft’s damp chill, a stark contrast to the warmth outdoors. But it matched the feeling in his heart.
Tires crunched on his gravel driveway—the sheriff was early. He stowed the last of his clothes in the closet.
“Jared?” Tyler’s voice floated up to him.
He glanced over the loft wall to find her standing in the center of the room. In a horrific case of déjà vu, through the high windows he spied sunlight streaming over the early blooms of rhododendron on the mountainside.
And saw the priority envelope in her hand.
Chapter Eleven
Immobilized by his worst nightmare coming true, Jared couldn’t force his feet to move.
She smiled at him with a hint of chagrin. “I’m just dropping off your mail. The priority envelope marked Urgent was in your mailbox. It looks important.”
Her words prodded him into action. He raced across the loft, screaming as he moved. “No!”
From the top of the stairway,
he lunged, landing beside her. He wrenched the envelope from her hand and tossed it, Frisbee-style, out the open front door. In the same movement, he knocked her to the floor, covering her body with his own.
An earsplitting explosion rocked the mountaintop, shaking the timbers of the house, raining glass down from the tall windows, and jarring his bones.
When the last reverberation faded, he lifted himself to his feet, shedding shards of glass. On the braided rug beneath him, Tyler lay sprawled on her back, her wide eyes unblinking, with a bleeding gash in her forehead—just as he had dreamed.
His agonized cry split the silence as he fell to his knees and gathered her motionless body into his arms. “Oh, God, Tyler, no…”
A long, choking wheeze sounded against his ear as she convulsed in his arms. He pulled back, slid his hands to her shoulders, and stared. Her face crumpled in distress as she fought for air.
He skimmed his hands over her, searching for injuries, but she struggled against him, trying to sit up.
“Where are you hurt?” he demanded.
She shook her head, still laboring to breathe. He raced to the kitchen for a towel and returned to press it to the wound on her forehead.
“Hold this—” he raised her hand to the towel “—I’ll call an ambulance.”
She clutched the compress to her head and sucked in a deep, gasping breath. “I’m okay. You just knocked the wind out of me when you tackled me.”
“Are you sure?” Joy mixed with anxiety. He hadn’t lost her as he’d feared, and he would be damned if he let anything happen to her now. “Won’t you need stitches?”
She withdrew the towel. “Looks like the bleeding’s almost stopped. If you’ll just help me up—”
He lifted her to her feet, guided her to the sofa, and settled beside her, gathering her into his arms and murmuring against the softness of her hair. “The priority envelope, the sunshine, the explosion were exactly like in my dream. Only in my dream—”
“I died?” Cupping his cheek in her palm, she studied him with a worried frown.
He nodded and tightened his arms around her. His world had stopped when she’d reappeared in the great room, and in that instant, he had feared he’d lost her forever.
Dream Maker Page 14
