“Robert’s right,” Declan added quietly, but no less authoritatively. “There’s no way you are going to stay at White Farm.”
Sean couldn’t seem to say anything, and Declan saw him shaking with the effort to keep from shifting right then and there.
Ava pressed her lips together and gave them all a look of highly intelligent, independent anger.
“I’m leaving now,” she said simply and coldly, then undid the bolt on the door and strode out into the fast-deepening twilight.
“No!” All three men shouted together as they leaped after her. Declan caught her around the waist while Robert held her wrists and Sean caught her feet to keep her from kicking. Once they were all safely back inside and the door was bolted again, Declan released her.
Instantly, she fled through the house, only to find herself cornered in the library where there was a brilliant blaze going in the fireplace but no other light.
She grabbed an iron poker and held it like a baseball bat. Declan wondered where she learned that trick, as it was a far more practical way to be ready to swing than holding it out in front. Declan wondered where she had learned that trick.
“You sick fucks stay away from me!” she snapped.
Sean started toward her, anguish in his eyes, as if he wanted to embrace her and reassure her. Robert gripped his shoulder and held him back.
“We are not here to hurt you,” Robert said, using the little voice trick he had that never failed to drive home his meaning.
Ava shivered, but tightened her grip on the poker. She began to edge toward the window, and Declan saw at once that she was thinking of her chances of smashing the window and jumping through it before they caught her.
“Ava, you’re safe here,” Sean pleaded, all his humorous arrogance gone. “Safer than you would be at White Farm. Please, trust us.”
Declan watched as Ava didn’t move any further, but also didn’t put the poker down or relax in the slightest. In a way, he couldn’t blame her.
After all, it was an honest question whether she was safer on a farm with Them or in a mansion full of werewolves.
Chapter 3
Ava sat in Robert’s big leather wingback chair by the fire in the library, but she still kept the poker by her side. Robert sat across from her in the other wingback chair, and Sean could tell by the tweak of a smile at the corner of his lips that Robert was loving the fact that her scent would be all over his chair.
Hell, Sean wanted her scent all over him! From the minute he saw her, standing so alone and lost at the edge of the dark forest, he wanted her. He wanted her, he wanted her, he wanted her—and not just for sex. He wanted her smile, her laugh, her soft breaths, every damn thing about her. His need for her was so intense that it almost physically hurt his heart. It certainly made sitting pretty damn uncomfortable, with his cock swollen and at full attention. He could tell that Robert and Declan were having the same issue, and he had to bite back a grin. They all wanted Ava, and that was a damn good sign. He hadn’t been crazy to believe in the legend, to have faith that it would come true, even if the other two had been so down and blue about it.
“I clearly understand what you are telling me,” Ava was saying, sounding like a grown-up trying to explain to a toddler why cookies before dinner weren’t good. “But all you have really done is state over and over the fact that being at White Farm is dangerous for me. You haven’t told me why, despite my repeatedly asking you. So, either tell me, or let me go. Frankly, you should be glad I haven’t called 911 on you. Yet.”
Sean was genuinely starting to like Ava, in addition to wanting her in every way a man could want a woman. She was smart. She was tough. She sounded very educated, just the way she spoke, the words she used, the confidence behind them. He found himself wanting to spend less time arguing with her about White Farm and more time finding out all about her.
“You can’t call the police,” Robert said calmly. “The cell phone in your pocket is dead.”
Ava jumped in her chair, a pungent spike of cinnamon fear filling the room.
“What…” she sputtered. “How did you know? You’re just guessing. You can’t know for sure.”
“I know that because you were in the woods,” Robert replied. “Nothing electronic ever works in the woods.”
“My battery was low before I went out,” Ava said firmly. “It died because it ran out of power. Being in the woods had nothing to do with it.”
“Don’t go in the woods again, Ava,” Declan said quietly. “Please.”
“All right,” she snapped, standing up. “This has gone far enough. I have been patient. I have let you have your fun with your paranoia, but now, I’m tired. I’m hungry. I have things to do. I want to go home. So, who is going to drive me, as I don’t suppose there’s any cab companies around Blue Moon that wouldn’t take less than an hour to get here?”
Sean froze as the shadows deep in the corners of the room seemed to coalesce, gathering into a strange, long column that looked almost like a human figure. The shadow figure moved toward Ava, its dark density withstanding even the firelight as it floated closer and closer until a tendril of shadow seemed to reach out to touch her hair.
“I’ll drive you!” Sean shouted, jumping to his feet. To his relief, the shadow dispersed to simmer in the corners again.
Robert and Declan looked startled. Ava jumped then stared at him as if he had lost his mind.
“Uhhh, okay then,” she said, carefully edging toward the door, then turning and almost running out of the library to the front door.
“We’ll cut through the woods and be there before you arrive,” Declan said.
“We’ll take turns watching the cottage day and night until we can get her here,” Robert added. “We can’t let anything happen to her.”
Just the idea of something hurting Ava made Sean’s throat constrict.
“Lighten up,” Declan advised him, shaking his shoulder a little bit. “We all feel that way, but we can talk about it later. Right now, we have to get her to trust us. You’re the funny one. At least try to get her to like you, to relax a little around you.”
A sense of relief at having something he could do to help and protect Ava washed through Sean, and he found himself grinning.
“You mean use my natural charm and animal good looks to sweep her off her feet?” He chuckled.
“Yeah, just don’t get carried away or she might give you a dog biscuit,” Robert said drily.
“Bow wow,” Sean replied with a grin then ran to the front door to meet Ava and walk her to his car.
* * * *
Ava had meant to be silent. Silent, aloof, reserved, withdrawn, in high dudgeon. That was generally the best plan with chauvinistic nutcases. The only thing was that Sean Molineaux was so nice, she couldn’t help but smile.
She also couldn’t help but sink into the heated leather seats of Sean’s SUV as they drove down the long gravel driveway to the road. The driveway passed through thick forest, giving her the sense that the mansion was like Sleeping Beauty’s castle, locked away from the world by an impenetrable wall of vines.
“So, what brings you to Blue Moon?” Sean asked with a grin. “Tourist season is clearly over, unless you came for the rain.”
“Actually,” Ava said, smiling a little, “I did come for the rain, in a way. I’m here to finish my dissertation. I’m afraid I dawdled over the summer, and now, it’s crunch time.”
“Wow,” Sean exclaimed. “Dissertation? For a PhD? What’s the topic?”
“Perceptions of and reactions to gender differences in demonic possession in seventeenth century New England.”
Was it just her, or did Sean’s hands tighten on the steering wheel? It was too dark to tell for sure, but for a moment in the dim glow of the dashboard, his face seemed to grow tight and grim. She blinked, and it was gone.
“Do you believe in that stuff?” he asked lightly, but this time, she was positive she heard the tension in his voice.
“No.
” She laughed. “Of course not. Demonic possession was a convenient way to explain social deviance and mental illness. Most of the unfortunate women who were executed during the Salem witch trials were either living outside the social norm or had property that someone else wanted. That set of criteria had a deep set of roots in European society, and it appears to have come over on the Mayflower along with the pilgrims and rats.”
Ava stopped, biting her lip. She had a terrible habit of starting to sound professorial anytime anyone asked her a question. It was embarrassing for her and undoubtedly tiresome for the other person. It was definitely not the way to make a hit at a cocktail party, unless it was a party with academics. In which case, it was probably a shitty party to start with. Hell, it was definitely not the way to make friends. Not that she wanted to make friends with Sean. Far from it. No, she’d be happy if she never saw any of the Molineaux brothers again.
Except that was a lie.
Something she couldn’t explain had bloomed inside her. It was a feeling of ease and contentment that she had never experienced, even on a lazy summer Sunday afternoon with a glass of wine and a book. Being with these three strange men was like finally being home. She couldn’t explain it rationally, and that terrified her more than anything. Even if she did stay away from them, she knew she would be thinking of them, seeing their faces…their golden-amber eyes every minute of her day and night.
“Have you ever considered the possibility that there might be something to all the hocus-pocus?” Sean asked, interrupting her thoughts and breaking the brief silence that had fallen on them.
She looked out the window at the black wall of forest that lined the narrow, twisting road. She noted that they had turned left out of the driveway.
“I get that question all the time because of my topic,” she replied. “It’s a natural and hopeful question because people seem to want desperately some kind of proof of magic or the afterlife. But, I’m a historian. You need a quantum physicist if you want to start talking about energy, time, and space, which are probably the root cause of what we think of as ‘paranormal activity.’ Personally, I am reserving judgment. I think science still has a lot to discover and demystify for us. Just like seven hundred years ago, we believed comets were omens from God, rather than billion-year-old chunks of ice hurtling through space. Both concepts are miraculous in their own way, but only one is grounded in fact.”
Ava stopped abruptly, realizing she was doing it again.
“Sorry,” she said. “I tend to get carried away. Common failing for academics. We’re smart, but terrible conversationalists.”
“No,” Sean replied quietly. “I like to hear you talk. I could listen to you all day long and all ni…I’ve never met a woman like you before.”
“You can’t throw a rock in Harvard Square without hitting one,” she said with a laugh. “I’m a dime a dozen in Cambridge.”
“I think you’re pretty damn unique.”
Was she hearing things? Was there really an animal-like growl in Sean’s voice? She shivered involuntarily, both fear and desire jolting through her body at the sound of power and possessiveness in his growl. No, it wasn’t a growl. It was probably just a frog in his throat. Still. No. No, she had to be sensible. Everything could be explained.
“What road are we on?” she asked, hurriedly changing the subject.
“Long Road,” Sean replied. “Unfortunately, Blue Moon was never very creative about street names. Long Road runs six miles from the turnoff of Route 73 to the water’s edge.”
“Long Road?” Ava repeated, stunned. “But then, West Road is just at the end of it, right by the water!”
“Yup, in about a half mile, we’ll be turning left onto West Road.”
“Then your property backs up onto the forest behind White Farm?”
There it was again, the quick tightening of his expression, the white knuckles on the steering wheel.
“Yeah,” he replied with forced easiness. “We’re less than a mile from White Farm if you follow the path through the woods.”
“But I did,” Ava exclaimed.
Her voice trailing off as she tried to reconcile the fact she had left the cottage at 12:15 p.m. for a quick walk before lunch, and somehow, almost four hours had elapsed before she had emerged onto the lawn of the Molineaux estate.
Losing track of time was one thing, but it hadn’t felt like she had been walking for hours and hours. She would have sworn that she had only been walking for maybe a half hour. She had only gotten lost when the path seemed to have disappeared into piles of dead leaves and mud, and she had tried to guess her way. Even so, the forest between the two properties was sandwiched between the sea and the houses. It simply couldn’t be big enough to get lost in for four hours!
The lurch of the SUV as it turned left onto West Road and began bumping along the rutted dirt and gravel path brought her back to the present. The headlights threw beams of light straight ahead, but that only made the darkness on either side deeper, pressing in harder against the car.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to how absolutely dark it is out here at night,” she observed, trying to change the subject again. “In Boston, nighttime is just a little dimmer version of daylight. Here, the dark feels so…so thick. Impenetrable.”
“I don’t like the dark, either,” Sean said, a strange, almost sad smile on his beautiful, sculpted mouth.
“Afraid of the things that go bump in the night?”
“Yes, and you should be, too.”
Ava laughed.
“I’m not joking. Don’t go out at night here.”
“Oh, and what hobgoblin is going to come get me?”
“Well, since you don’t believe in ghosts, how about bears, foxes, and wolves?”
“Oh.”
“Well, okay, some of the wolves around here are pretty tame, actually,” Sean amended with a laugh. “You don’t have to worry about them.”
“I don’t have to worry about the wolves?”
“Hey, wolves are just big dogs. Give them a cookie, and they’ll be yours for life.”
“Right.”
Sean laughed out loud as he pulled into the driveway of the cottage. He stopped the car, and Ava unhooked her seat belt. Before she could open the door and hop out for herself, Sean was pulling the door open and reaching in to help her get down. Wait, how had he gotten to her side of the car so fast? She hadn’t even noticed him get out.
She certainly noticed him, though, when he reached in and picked her up in his arms to lift her out of the SUV. He was incredibly strong, lifting her as if she weighed nothing. His arms were unforgiving steel bands around her as he pressed her close to him. He was granite, every inch of him, and she could feel every inch against her body. Her heart fluttered frantically as her body slipped helplessly into heat and need.
He was all man, and she could feel him hard against her hips. Her body was alive with tingling sensations and a throbbing between her legs as his erection pressed against her. His hand slipped up to cradle her cheek. She was caught by the light in his golden eyes, the way they seemed to burn like flames with an intensity that lay just below the surface of Sean Molineaux’s happy-go-lucky mask.
“Ava,” he whispered, his voice caressing her name.
Then he lowered his lips to hers.
Chapter 4
At first, Ava tried to remember what the word for no was, to keep a firm grip on her logic, pragmatism, and defenses. This was a kiss, though, that left her speechless and thoughtless, longing for more and more of the feelings that were stirring in her body. Her blood pounded through her veins as Sean’s tongue darted past her lips and began to sweep and search her mouth. Every inch of her skin came alive, and she could feel the roughness of her jeans against her legs, the softer knit of her shirt against her back and arms, and the plain cotton of her bra against her breasts as her nipples tingled and hardened.
Sean’s hand wandered from her waist, down around her hip, and came to rest
, cupping her bottom as he pulled her tighter against him. Her pussy throbbed, jolted to life by his insistent erection that rubbed against her. Moisture seeped from her, soaking her panties and turning them damp and cold against her.
“Ava…” Another voice breathed her name, and she felt another pair of arms wrap around her and pull her into an embrace.
She opened her eyes, confused and drugged by the sudden onslaught of her long-repressed sensuality. Was she seeing things, or was it Declan who was kissing her now? The slight stubble on his face raked against her cheeks, burning slightly but deliciously, causing just enough pain to enhance the pleasure.
Wait, what was she doing? No, this was wrong, she shouldn’t be doing this. She had to get back in control here. This was ridiculous. No. She had to remember she wasn’t good at this sort of thing, and certainly not the kind of woman who went around kissing two…oh God, now three men…
Her lips were swollen and hungry for more kisses, and this time, she saw as Robert slipped into Declan’s place and kissed her deeply, his tongue dueling with hers and short-circuiting all her protests. Somewhere, she heard a door open, and she felt herself lifted around the waist and carried inside where it was cold, but the wind at least couldn’t get at her anymore.
Robert hadn’t stopped kissing her, and now Declan came to stand behind her. Dear God, she felt two men’s cocks pressing into her, one in front and one behind. Declan’s hands were warm as he ran them up and down her sides then brought them up to cup her breasts. She gasped into Robert’s kiss, shocked by both the men’s boldness and her own wanton desire that was taking over any rational thought she had.
All she knew was that this felt so good, so strangely right, she wondered if she would lose her mind or pass out from the pleasure.
“Oh, so beautiful,” Robert murmured against her lips.
“She’s perfect,” Declan agreed, gently beginning to knead her breasts, thumbing her nipples through her shirt and bra.
Blackthorne, Fiona - Moonstruck [Blue Moon 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 2
