Oracle Haunting (The Phoenix Files Book 4)

by Morgan Kelley

He stared.

  Brianna had pulled all that hair up on top of her head in some sexy knot, her breasts were showing, and he saw a peek of ass cheeks when she turned.

  “I’m getting that bronzed,” he finally stated.

  Brianna took that as a yes.

  Heading his way, she could tell he was already hard and ready. His body was taut, and the bump of his erection was clearly visible.

  Brianna loved that she could do this to him.

  “I want to do really crazy things,” he said, his Irish accent going thicker with need.

  “I say do them. You only get one wedding night. We should make it count.”

  Oh, he would.

  Laird tugged her toward him and rolled, placing her on her back beneath him.

  His mouth attacked, devouring hers.

  Laird had planned on going slow, but that was destroyed the second he’d seen the sexy lingerie.

  Yeah, he hadn’t thought that one out.

  Brianna looked like some wild sex kitten, and he wanted her claws in him.

  “Do you trust me?” he whispered, his mouth moving down the long, lean line of her throat.

  “Always.”

  He was glad.

  “Then buckle up. This isn’t going to be a gentle ride,”

  She didn’t care what kind of ride it was as long as it was with him.

  He found her mouth again, and he couldn’t control himself. Laird wanted to feast from her, taking in everything she had.

  He knew he should go slow, but he couldn’t.

  God help him, but he was lost to her.

  When he finally could think straight, he found himself perched between her legs, her hands above her head.

  “I need all of you,” he whispered, as he began unlacing his beautiful wife.

  The sexy garment fell away, leaving nothing but her pale skin and the tiniest of panties.

  They had to stay on.

  For some reason, that idea of her still in them as he took her turned his body into fire.

  His mouth moved down her body, teasing her breasts, torturing her nipples until they were pebbled little peaks calling for his mouth.

  He nipped.

  Teased.

  Bit.

  All the while, Brianna held on for the ride. In all her life, she’d never felt anything like this before. It was heaven.

  He was devouring her as if she was something he couldn’t get enough of.

  “I can’t,” he muttered, as his mouth moved around her belly button. He left heated kisses there as he dipped even lower.

  Brianna was open for him, the weight of his body trapping her legs open. There was no doubt he was going to make her crazy.

  She couldn’t wait.

  Running his fingers over the black panties, he could feel how wet she already was.

  “Tell me what you want, a grá,” he whispered, staring up her body.

  “Make love to me, Laird. Make me yours.”

  That was his fondest wish. Through the panties, he teased her with the tip of his tongue.

  The wetness grew.

  Brianna couldn’t stop moaning. The way he worked her body…it made her crazy.

  Laird pulled the panties aside and with his fingers, he began tormenting her.

  She gasped and arched into the slow, rough slide of his fingers into her body. As he worked her, taking her up and almost over, his mouth tore her apart.

  She came.

  His name was the only word she could get out as she fell into one hell of an orgasm.

  “LAIRD!”

  He moved up her body, teasing her goose bumped flesh as he went.

  Brianna heard the hiss of his zipper, and the kiss of his hot flesh touching hers. Instead of hiding in the orgasm, she opened her aqua eyes.

  “Take me,” she begged. “Make me scream your name!”

  He wanted to hear that in the worst way.

  Laird didn’t hesitate. He drove himself into her body, tearing a gasp from her lips.

  Then he began pummeling her.

  Taking.

  Stealing.

  Craving.

  The beads of perspiration pebbled on his brow as he took his wife in abandon. Her legs were wrapped around his hips, and he could feel the sexy panties rubbing against his erection with each stroke in and out of her body.

  “God! Yes!” she shouted, arching into him so he could go deeper.

  “Not going to last long,” he muttered, as her nails cut into his shoulders. That delicious pain helped him focus.

  Everything moved as if in slow motion.

  The bounce of her breasts.

  The way he slammed into her body, finding that perfect spot each time. This was perfection.

  This was what he craved.

  “More!” he hissed, pushing off her body, so he could stare down at where they joined. His wet erection drove into her, and he couldn’t hold on any more.

  He came.

  Laird erupted, taking himself and Brianna off the edge again in a brilliant spiral of pleasure. When he collapsed onto her, she clung to him, her face buried in his neck as they fought to catch their breath.

  Everything slowed.

  Finally, he lifted his head. “I really love being married.”

  She snorted. “I’m glad I could make that happen,” she teased, touching his face.

  “I love you, Laird.”

  He nuzzled her, and then reached down to pull the blankets over them. They were still connected, and he didn’t want to set her free.

  “Tired,” she whispered, leaving kisses across his throat.

  “Close your eyes, Bri. I have you. I’ll always have you,” he promised.

  Brianna trusted him.

  She’d found perfection and love.

  * * * O R A C L E * * *

  He found him walking the street.

  Whether he knew it or not, he was part of this. History repeated itself, and it was your best friend. If you didn’t learn from the past, you were destined to make the same errors.

  During his first life, he’d killed without conscious.

  Now?

  He was going to do it right.

  Pulling the man’s limp body down the street, he got him to the location.

  His partner came out of the shadows, and it was time.

  Carman needed his heart.

  They needed his blood.

  Before long, the spell would be over.

  And they would live again.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Midnight

  Thursday

  Morning

  T hey woke with a start. Brianna sat up, and Laird did the same. There was no doubt in their minds what was happening at that very moment. The killer was on the move, and they were experiencing it.

  “He’s killing someone,” she said, calling for Avalon in her mind.

  Laird threw his discarded shirt onto her body, covering her up. He could hear them coming.

  As the door opened, Avalon and Lucian were standing there.

  “He’s with them right now,” Brianna said, glancing over.

  “I need you to focus on it,” Avalon said, climbing onto the bed. She took Laird’s hand in hers and also Brianna’s. “Tell me what you see.”

  They both focused.

  Laird could see the flashes.

  Brianna could hear them.

  “Grass,” he muttered.

  Avalon helped them tune their gifts from their minds. She needed something more.

  “Swings.”

  Brianna gasped.

  “He’s killing a man. I can hear him screaming for help,” Brianna said.

  “Where?” Lucian asked. “I can’t focus it. You can. Tell us where,” he asked.

  Brianna knew it from somewhere.

  It looked so familiar.

  Laird whispered to her. “You have this, my love. You can do it,” he said, squeezing her hand.

  The images flashed by.

  They were so hard to see. It was lik
e a movie going fast forward.

  “Slow them down,” she whispered back to her husband.

  Laird controlled them.

  Her eyes popped open.

  “He’s killing someone at the school! It’s closed for the year! You have to go!”

  Lucian broke the link and headed out of the room. “I’ll get Bishop and Nate!”

  Laird kissed his wife. “I’m going to go with them,” he stated, hopping out of bed. He was glad Avalon couldn’t see as he pulled on his pants.

  Brianna slipped out of his shirt and handed it to him so he could dress.

  “Laird, you come back to me,” she said, touching his face as she held the sheet around her body.

  He kissed the inside of her palm.

  “Have no fear, my love. I’ll be back,” he said, grabbing his gun, his shoes, and his jacket.

  When he was gone, Avalon held her hand. “We’ll get you dressed, and then we can watch them. I’ll help you stay connected,” she offered.

  Brianna would love that.

  “He’s going to be okay, right?” she asked.

  Avalon squeezed her hand.

  “Yes, Brianna. Tonight, he’s not going to die.”

  Well, at least she had that.

  * * * O R A C L E * * *

  All the way there, he was nervous as hell. As he drove, he kept thinking about how this could possibly be the way he ended up dying.

  It was hard not to think that.

  All Laird wanted was to see Brianna again.

  He could feel her in his mind, and she was like a cool breeze, trying to keep him focused.

  “Pull over here,” Nate said, pointing to an alley not far from the school. “If the killer is still there, and he sees headlights, we’re not going to catch him.”

  Laird pulled over.

  “We stick together,” Nate said, as Bishop hopped out of the back seat. “Bishop, don’t get stabbed!”

  She gave him a look.

  “Why do I have to keep explaining that the ONLY reason I was shot was to save Lucian? I don’t get hurt on a daily basis!”

  Laird didn’t want to know.

  “We had better hurry,” he said, moving down the street.

  The three of them kept close, flashlights in their back pockets. They were going to use the moon for as long as possible, and hope that this killer only had a knife.

  Worst case scenario, Laird had a gun.

  They were putting their lives in his hands.

  As they climbed the hill, he didn’t like this. Laird felt off. “Why is the killer going to a school?”

  Oh, they knew.

  “Brianna.”

  Yeah, that’s exactly what he didn’t want to hear. The mere idea that this maniac was stalking her…

  It made him sick.

  When he saw her, he was going to make sure she was extra careful of what she did, where she went, and who she went with. He couldn’t take any chances.

  “There’s something ahead,” Bishop said, pulling out her flashlight.

  A gun would be really handy right about then.

  How the hell did cops in this country apprehend without a way to protect themselves?

  She didn’t get it.

  “I see it,” Nate said, putting Bishop between them. Lucian would NOT be happy if they dinged up his wife.

  “It’s a body,” Laird said, as they quickly approached it. Once next to it, they were able to see what they were up against.

  “Male,” Bishop said. “His heart is missing,” she stated.

  Laird crouched down. “He has blood on his hair toward the back of his head.”

  It looked like their killer had incapacitated their victim first, dragged him to the school, and took his heart.

  “We have a sliced throat, and about forty stab wounds,” Bishop said, lifting the man’s shirt. “If that doesn’t scream overkill, I don’t know what does,” she offered.

  “Someone was angry.”

  Yeah, great.

  They had a pissed off psychopath who liked hearts.

  “I’ll call this one in,” he said, pulling out his phone. “You can take my car back to the house. Just make sure Brianna is safe. I’ll work from my office this morning to get the missing person reports, after I shower at home.”

  “We’ll wait until back up shows up,” Nate said. “We’re not leaving you here alone in the dark.” They all knew that was a bad idea. Avalon was in their minds, and she didn’t want him there alone.

  Laird relaxed.

  He was grateful.

  Honestly, he was feeling a little off balance. He just couldn’t put his finger on it.

  “No problem,” Bishop said, standing. “Make the call. It’s going to be a damn long morning for all of us.”

  Yeah, she could say that again.

  The plan had been foiled.

  Oh, the detective had showed up, but he was just out of their reach. So, they were going to have to find a different way to get their hands on him, and then the woman.

  If they took him, she’d show up.

  Incapacitating him would be the only way to get away with this. She was wearing the ring, and that was their sign that this was meant to be. Word had traveled around town, and they had heard all about it.

  He’d married the American, and she was wearing that one token of the dead man’s love.

  It was said that he’d given it to his love. Now Brianna Collins had it.

  That said one thing.

  They had been right.

  She was meant to be part of this. From the first moment she’d been seen in the town, and he saw her, he knew.

  Now it was time to take her back.

  Yes, they’d lost her three hundred years ago, but she’d come back.

  Now, they’d have this woman again.

  Oh, she was meant to be his.

  Theirs.

  Carman’s.

  It was only a matter of time.

  * * * O R A C L E * * *

  Thursday

  Morning

  He needed to see her. All night, as he worked the crime scene, he was stirred up. Laird had to see his wife so he could make sure she was okay.

  All the energy around him felt off, and now that his third eye was open, he was getting flashes of all kinds of things.

  He needed her.

  Immediately.

  So, he called her on her phone, too frazzled to reach for her mind.

  When she answered her cell, she sounded worried.

  “Laird, are you okay?” she asked.

  “No. I need you. I feel panicky. Is there any way you can meet me at home before you go off to talk to the town historian?” he asked, crossing his fingers.

  She put her hand over the phone and Laird could hear a muffled conversation.

  “Lucian said he’ll drop me off. I’ll get changed and meet you there,” she offered.

  “Thank you, my love.”

  She didn’t mind.

  “Is everything else okay?” she asked.

  “It will be once I hold you again. I just need to reassure myself that you’re fine.”

  She didn’t mind. “I’ll be there shortly.”

  Laird hung up. He’d pulled all the missing person reports, and he had one of the Garda in the office going over them. He was going to pass them on to the Feds, but first…he needed a break.

  He’d been going all night, and his brain was a mess.

  Laird knew the only way he could focus would be her.

  “James, I have to run home to meet my wife. Can you keep going over these?”

  The man looked up. “You’re taking a break in the middle of the morning?” he asked.

  “Yeah, try not to accidentally call Jack O’Brien and rat me out,” he stated, nonchalantly. “I’ve been up all night, and I’d like to have a shower if that’s okay with you.”

  The man clammed up, but he saw the look.

  It was filled with rage.

  “Yeah, and we’ll be discussing that
after this case is over, James. We don’t rat out our coworkers for asinine things.”

  He slammed the door on his way out.

  It was petty, but he wanted the man to know he was pissed. While Laird may be buried up to his neck in bodies, he was still able to focus on the situation at hand.

  He couldn’t work with people he couldn’t trust.

  Why couldn’t the man be more like Nate, or Bishop?

  It befuddled him.

  As he walked home, he saw the flower vendor was setting up for the day. He had gorgeous roses of all kinds of colors. He stopped.

  “I need a dozen of your red and some of the gorgeous pink peonies.”

  The man handed them to him. “The lucky lady will love them. I just picked them today.”

  “Yes, my wife will.”

  He continued home.

  When he got there, he figured he had about ten minutes until she arrived. He’d shower, and make sure she and their little girl were fed.

  Yes, he should be focused on the case, but he couldn’t until he talked to her.

  Laird needed her to be extra careful.

  Hopping in the shower, he left the front door unlocked. He made a mental note to give his wife a key. She should have one. He also made a mental note to discuss buying a bigger place. The small house wouldn’t work for kids.

  Then his heart sank.

  If he got to see them born.

  ‘I’m here, my love,’ she whispered into his mind.

  ‘The door is open. I’m showering.’

  Brianna headed in and placed the fruit she’d grabbed—at the market on the corner—onto the counter. She was going to make him something to eat while he got ready for his day.

  ‘I’ll be out here,’ she offered.

  ‘You can always come wash my back and front,’ he teased. ‘I wouldn’t mind.’

  She didn’t reply.

  He found that odd. Turning off the water, he quickly dried off and pulled on his jeans. Today was going to be a casual day. He was three days past exhausted.

  When he headed out of the bathroom, he saw her. She was making him coffee and cutting up fruit for them to eat.

  He stood there and watched her.