Shadows and Ruins

by Denise A. Agnew

  She sighed, remembering her recent enmity toward her parents. "Yes, I believe."

  "It wasn't the long hours or the strange things I've seen." He took in a shuddering

  breath she felt under her fingers. "A friend of mine died. Another agent. Craig

  Ferguson."

  "I'm so sorry. He was a good friend?"

  "Yeah. The best. We'd known each other for years in the agency. He came out here

  to investigate reports of paranormal activity in the canyons around Gambit Creek. I was

  off on another assignment or I would have helped him. God, I wish I'd been here to

  help him."

  While skepticism reared its head about the paranormal activity, she heard the pain

  in his words. "What kind of activity?"

  "White lights above the canyons, animal mutilations, ghosts, you name it."

  She wrinkled her nose. "UFOs?"

  He nodded. "There was that too." He brushed his fingers over the back of her head,

  and she buried her face in his shoulder again. "He went into the canyons one night and

  never came back. I returned here one more time before my father died and tried to find

  Craig." When he went silent, she waited patiently until his deep voice returned. "All I

  found, near Sadie Cutley's mine, was…Jesus, I can't believe I'm telling you this."

  His words sounded choked. Worried, she looked up and saw moisture sheen his

  eyes. A shiver rolled through her frame. "What did you find, Shane?"

  He closed his eyes. "There was another agent with me, and it's a good thing. After

  what I found I probably would have torn off the boards covering the mine entrance and

  gone looking in there for Craig. All we found was a piece of his…his skin. And a trail of

  blood leading into the mine."

  Horror crawled up her spine. "Oh my God. That's awful. Why didn't the agency

  look in the mine?"

  For a second, Emma thought he wouldn't tell her. Doubt and maybe fear clouded

  his gaze. Then he took a deep breath. "Because the mine is an entrance to the Shadow

  Realm. And we don't go in there, not for anything."

  Her mouth flopped open. "What?"

  She would have moved out of his arms, but he kept her braced against him, as if he

  feared she'd disappear. "There is a world beyond our own. I mentioned that to you

  before. We think Craig was attacked by something from the Shadow Realm and

  dragged into the mine and into the Realm."

  "That's…horrible." Another ripple shook his muscles. Worried, she rubbed her

  hands over his chest and shoulders. Whether she believed the weird stories about

  another realm or not, she acknowledged that he believed the stories. "You left the

  agency after that?"

  "It was the final straw, yeah."

  She stared at him with sympathy, and amazement and confusion. "That's why you

  initially wanted me away from the dig."

  "Yes. It's too dangerous."

  She sighed. "Is that…do you think someone from the Shadow Realm attacked

  Grant? Did something sneak up on me at his RV?"

  He brushed hair away from her face. His voice, when it came, was husky with

  feeling and passion. "It's possible. My first priority right now is keeping you safe. So in

  a way I'm not a very good agent. I don't give a fuck about who or what killed Grant,

  but yeah, I think it was something from the Shadow Realm. When it comes down to it,

  though, I want you here in my arms where I know nothing can hurt you. That's all I

  care about. If anything happened to you—"

  He cut himself off, and she saw reality in his eyes, brimming with potent desire.

  She knew what she wanted with her next breath. Whatever happened at the

  excavation, she needed for Shane to know her deepest feelings—she would show him

  how important he'd become to her.

  Emma moved closer, slipping her arms around his neck and pressing her body

  along his. Their mouths were a breath apart. She urged his head downward as she tilted

  her face upward. His eyes blazed with superheated desire, but she saw the restraint

  there. He waited for her to show him that this is what she wanted.

  "Kiss me," she whispered.

  His arms bracketed her close. "God, I thought you'd never ask."

  Before she could draw another breath, his lips captured hers. Instead of gentle and

  sweet, his mouth devoured, as if he could erase that horrible event from her mind with

  the force of his kiss.

  He succeeded.

  Without restraint, Emma opened to him, wanting to forget her brother's death and

  needing Shane with a hunger that far surpassed any other emotion. All that mattered

  was now.

  Enjoying the erotic stroke of his tongue, she arched her body, pressed her breasts to

  his chest until they almost hurt. Physical discomfort and the heated contact reminded

  her that she was alive.

  She'd never felt this unrestrained, and the lifting of the burden cleansed her,

  drawing a well of feelings to the surface that included a deep need to join with him. To

  give him a pleasure that would imprint her on his mind forever.

  She pulled back a little ways and looked into the stormy sea in his eyes. Warmth

  coiled like a whirlpool within her heart, her mind, her body. Few moments in her life

  meant more than staying here with him, enjoying him body and soul for as long as she

  could. While they might not have forever, Emma knew one thing beyond doubt. He'd

  taken a piece of her heart. Wherever she went, she would leave it throbbing, pumping

  with life here in this time. It was a segment in time she wouldn't get back.

  Raw expectation drew her closer to him, and she decided this time she'd take, she'd

  show him how important he was to her without waiting for his move. He'd understand,

  without any doubt, her resolve.

  Shane's gaze held hers, a darkness that had everything to do with desire warming

  his eyes. She reveled in it, wanted it with a soul-searing capacity she never recognized

  until now.

  Her hands touched his elbows, skating over the soft texture of his red sweater. God,

  he looked good in red—it highlighted the blue-black sheen in his hair with stunning

  clarity. She drank him in, her gaze taking in the sculpted perfection of his nose, his

  carved lips, the dark shadow of beard growing on his jawline. As one hand felt the

  steel-hard frame of his shoulder, the other traced the prickly beginnings of his beard.

  His eyes heated, and suddenly, as if he couldn't resist, his arms came around her

  waist and clamped her to him.

  Her fingers went to the back of his neck and tangled in the silky, thick strands.

  Tingles raced from her core to her fingers like an electric shock. Wordlessly, they came

  together. His mouth touched hers and the kiss exploded. Tenderness disappeared

  under aggressive desire. She demanded and he fulfilled, their embrace fueling her

  strongest needs. His tongue tasted, and his strokes reminded her of his arousal

  tunneling inside her with hard, possessive thrusts. Heat rushed over her skin. She

  wanted more with a greedy impatience not ruled by softer feelings. Her hands caressed

  his shoulders, his face, his neck, relearning his textures, his uncompromising

  masculinity. As renewed acquaintance brought her staggering pleasure, his hands

  searched her with impatience.

  With a last shred of coherence, she knew they'd lost a tentative ex
ploration into

  lovemaking and launched into full-scale search for implosion. His hands cupped her

  ass, drew her up with a grunt until her legs came around his waist. Her arms encircled

  his neck as he walked them toward a wall. He propped her against the wall and his

  cock nestled deep in the vee of her pussy. Stirring his hips, he manipulated her clit, the

  pressure and rotation dampening her with a rush of startled enjoyment. Oh, God.

  He tore his lips from hers and trailed a series of kisses along her neck, brushing

  over the pulse points. She allowed her thighs to loosen their frantic grip on his hips and

  her legs lowered to the floor. She drew his sweater upward and pushed it over his head,

  leaving his torso bare for examination. He tossed the sweater away.

  Her hands moved over his shoulders, feeling the heat of his skin and the masculine

  lines with a delight that edged her desire upward. She gripped his arms, recognizing

  the power within the bunching muscles underneath her fingers, and she knew that

  these arms could be gentle or rough, and could shelter her from many storms.

  Without removing her shirt he brushed his fingers over her nipples, tantalizing,

  rubbing, lightly pinching. She twisted slightly, writhed under the tight, tingling

  sensation that beaded her nipples.

  She searched out his mouth, this time the aggressor as she reached for his hips,

  brought them close to her. Reaching down she molded her hand around his jeans-clad

  cock, delighting in the pleasure it gave him. The swift intake of his breath. The

  raggedness of his breath as she kissed him repeatedly, allowing her tongue to search his

  mouth.

  No turning back, no time for regrets. She'd revealed the deepest secret she had.

  Something that had burned into her soul like a scorching iron and forged all that she'd

  experienced. Nothing could ever be the same.

  Perhaps making love to him now meant releasing the last of her barriers, of taking

  all that he was into her and giving all that she was back.

  It had taken everything within Shane to keep from pulling her into his arms the

  moment she'd come into the room. When she'd explained what had haunted her for so

  many years, her pain had seared him, her tears his own. He couldn't bear to see her

  tormented by a memory, by an event from so long ago. With that realization, he saw his

  own urgency push forth. A need to heal festering wounds.

  Madness entered his brain as she released his cock from his jeans, cupped his heat

  and hardness and slipped her fingers over his hard length with a caress delicate and

  designed to drive any man to insanity. Urgency removed his hesitation. The idea of

  being inside her again excited him down to his deepest roots.

  When she slid her fingers over his cock again, he grabbed her hand and stilled it.

  "No. I want to be inside you."

  Shane took control, tasting her lips as he reached for her shirt and lifted it over her

  head. Swiftly he pushed her bra straps off her shoulders and her breasts spilled out of

  the cups.

  "Shit, these are so damned pretty." His voice sounded gravelly to his own ears.

  He leaned forward and wiped his tongue over one tight, aroused nipple, and her

  breath caught. "Shane."

  "Mmm." He heard his own murmur of appreciation as he pressed kisses to the

  smooth skin around her nipple.

  She trembled and moved restlessly in his arms. "Shane, please."

  "Want do you need? Tell me."

  "Make me forget."

  He pushed her pants down, taking her underwear with it, sliding the material

  down her legs slowly. Dropping to his knees in front of her, he enjoyed her beauty and

  admired the sweet curves and gentle slopes. As he looked up he caught the daze of

  passion in her eyes and watched the anticipation grow within her as he leaned forward

  and sampled the softness between her legs.

  As the heat of his tongue and lips invaded Emma, she gasped, unprepared for the

  staggering strength of her pleasure. Her folds wept, the musky scent of desire strong.

  Right now she needed hard, fast sex. Nothing else would make her forget the past and

  keep her from thinking too far into the future. With long, deep laves of his tongue, he

  teased her. He slowly slipped two fingers deep into her soaked channel, and Emma

  moaned in satisfaction.

  "Please, Shane. I need you now."

  He drew back and stood. Slowly he led her to his bedroom. In the dim light of a

  single bedside lamp, he removed the rest of his clothes and stood vulnerable in front of

  her. Naked, strong, as virile as any wild god in a fairy tale. His cock stood hard and

  capable. Thick and ready for her every pleasure.

  They stood close to a chest of drawers with a mirror above it. He urged her to turn

  around, and as his arms came around her waist, she saw them in the mirror. He looked

  like every woman's secret dream, and she reveled in the fact he was hers alone. Shane's

  hands came up to cup her breasts.

  "Put your hands on the dresser and tilt your hips back," he said.

  She gripped the top of the dresser and stared into the mirror. His eyes glittered with

  an intensity that told Emma he would give her what she craved with no more delay.

  Emma watched as he gripped her hips and urged her legs apart. Moments later, he

  dipped his hips between her widespread thighs and thrust his heavy cock hard and

  deep into her waiting core. She whimpered, her head falling back as he penetrated

  deep. He held her there for sweet seconds and she felt the brand of him in every part of

  her. Using his formidable strength, he moved. With each stoke she savored the

  incredible delight as he penetrated and pleasured the most feminine part of her.

  "Look at us in the mirror," he said as he increased the pace.

  She watched his eyes, the way his lips parted and his chest rose and fell with

  panting breaths as his excitement rose. Transfixed, she couldn't take her eyes off the

  erotic sight of their incredible joining.

  Wanting her desperately, Shane slammed his cock repeatedly into her center,

  drawing startled, amazed gasps from her, taking her with a quickness that

  demonstrated his frantic and primal need. Thrusting deep and hard, he rode her like a

  madman. Watching her in the mirror fired his libido into the most raw, primitive state

  he'd experienced. Her lips parted, a pink flush spreading over her face as her

  excitement increased. He gauged her needs with each movement of his body. He

  grabbed her hips and plunged inside her with increasing power, listening to her

  panting breaths, hearing the rhythmic slap of their bodies together as his hips rocked

  against hers.

  Pleasure bombarded her from all sides as he thrust, steadily increasing his lunges

  into her until she felt the tingle and pulse in her loins burn higher. He caressed her

  everywhere, fingers finding her nipples to pluck and stroke. As the force of her desire

  gathered to an exquisite peak, the first burst of bliss detonated, and Emma screamed

  her joy. Climax fluttered and rippled through her pussy, shaking her limbs.

  Shane didn't stop, coming into her with power and force, hips rotating, plunging,

  driving. His arms suddenly came around her waist and he drew his cock completely

  out of her, then rammed upward straight and true. He shout
ed and his cock pulsed

  deep inside her and filled her with hot cum. He quivered, growls of intense pleasure

  leaving his throat.

  Much, much later, Shane pulled away from her and they drifted to the bed. They

  fell upon it and into a deep sleep.

  Sometime in the night, Emma awoke and cherished the sensation of his hands on

  her skin. Stroking. Gentle fingers pushed through her hair, brushing it aside, warm lips

  tasting her neck. She shivered as the potent effect of Shane's mouth on her skin brought

  a glow of contentment around her like a blanket.

  As they lay spooned on the bed, Shane behind her, Emma sighed. She savored his

  arms, her legs tangled with his. She loved the way he cradled her, the tenderness as he

  caressed. Floating in a dream-like state of half sleep, she enjoyed the ministrations of his

  hands.

  Time passed quickly. Emma couldn't remember the last time she'd been this

  gratified. Maybe she had never been this happy in her life.

  Shane's hand on her breast brought a warm tingle across the nipple and he reacted

  by massaging tenderly. She sucked in an excited breath, instantly rousing from the last

  vestiges of sleep. She kissed him, and his arms came around her as he pulled her on top

  of him. She sprawled over his big, muscular body, savoring every masculine inch.

  Under the sensual assault of his lips and tongue, her skin melted with arousal.

  When he released her lips, she smiled. "Thank you, Shane."

  "For what?"

  "For listening. For being here for me. You're a wonderful man."

  He smiled gently, and the sparkle grew in his eyes as he pressed another kiss to her

  forehead. Shane kissed Emma again, and soon all they could think about was the way

  they made each other feel.

  * * *

  Chapter Eighteen

  Darkness swirled in Emma's dreams and surrounded her like a suffocating cloak.

  She burst into the past with startling clarity, with pain and trembling fear so real he

  scorched her soul.

  An ache throbbed in her temples, and she drew in a deep breath to ease the pain. As the

  young man leaned into her face, she saw his madness reflected in his icy peridot eyes. She'd never