by Caine,Ruby
"No, you have to trust me, Chance Breaux. Haven't I always been straight with you? There is a girl hiding inside this house and I'm going to find her." Adrienne wondered how to go about smashing the glass doors at the rear of the house.
"You are sure there is a small child in there?" Her heart swelled with hope at Chance's words.
"Yes, Chance. I saw her just like I saw the fog, the riverboat, and the captain."
"Captain?" Chance muttered. Adrienne started to explain, but he stopped her short. "Let's not get into him just yet. We can revisit the topic of the captain tomorrow morning. I somehow think my brain will be more open after a few hours of sleep."
She smirked at the weariness in his tone. Now that he was not acting all bossy, she was happy to have him around to help solve this problem. "I was thinking..."
"I am beginning to think that's a dangerous pastime for you, honey," he whispered under his breath.
"Huh?" Adrienne looked up at his dark face.
"You were thinking?" he urged.
"The only way to get inside is to break these glass doors. I have a crow bar in my trunk. We could use it to smash the panels closest to the doorknob." She was rather proud of her logic.
"There is another way." Reaching into his pants pocket he extracted a ring of keys. Using the flashlight beam to study the silver and gold pieces of metal, he located the one he needed and unlocked the door. "Ladies, first."
"How did you get that key?"
Chance stepped inside and used the flashlight to scan the room. "Old Stan gave it to me himself. He had one to my place, too. While he did not particularly like me, we were the only neighbors for miles around. I'm the one who found him after he passed away. No telling how long his death would have gone unnoticed if I had not stopped... I'm sorry, babe. That was callus of me. This place is spooky enough without me planting images of ghost in your brain. Where should we look first?"
They started in the kitchen. The cabinets were outdated and the stove needed replacing. They searched every room downstairs without any luck. Chance searched upstairs alone, warning Adrienne there were several rotten places in the floor. "Hell, she's not in here," he called down.
Adrienne was forced to admit defeat after nearly an hour. "Maybe she went back home or something. Let's go out the front door. My car is still there. I hope the battery didn't die."
Chance had given her the flashlight as he reached to pull out his key ring again. The heavy ring slipped to the floor, and she turned around to flash the light so he could find them. The beam caught a brief flash of Cherice's face high against the far wall of the front room. Surprised with her discovery, she accidently dropped the beam to alert Chance. "There she is! She must have climbed up on a bookcase or something."
Chance took the flashlight and used it to scan the room. "Where is she, Adrienne?"
"Over there," the woman yelled, grabbing his hand and guiding him in the right direction. The beam illuminated a large fireplace. A five-foot painting hung above it. A tall, solemn man dominated the frame. In front of him sat a breathtakingly beautiful woman with raven hair. A small child with the same hair was cradled in the woman's lap.
"Oh, my Lord!" Adrienne gasped, her knees going weak. Chance reached one strong arm around her for support. "That's her. The little girl in that picture is the child I almost ran over tonight. Who is she?"
"Meet your Uncle Stanislaus, Aunt Wynona and their daughter. I never asked what her name was when I used to visit old Stan. Hell, I didn't even know the woman's name until I started looking into your claim on the property. Old Stan did not like to talk about them. All I know is the two of them died in some freak accident about seventy-five years ago."
Three
"Power of suggestion," Adrienne told herself as she walked around the living room of Chance's home. She was totally ignoring the sexy man seated on a sofa, watching her lay down a track across his carpet more efficiently than a vacuum cleaner could. "It was dark and I was in someplace new. All those scary movies I watched in college primed my subconscious to imagine all kinds of stupid things."
Chance nodded, happy she was finally thinking logically. Then the woman stopped and did an about face. "But how did I know what the child looked like before I even saw the picture? How did I know exactly where to turn to get to River Oaks?"
"I drew you a map, remember?" Chance offered before sipping a glass of brandy.
Slapping herself on the forehead, Adrienne started walking counter clockwise around the room. "The human brain is a remarkable machine. Did I really know what the small child in the picture looked like ahead of time? Or did my brain latch on to the picture as a plausible explanation? Your map was detailed enough to explain locating the place." She stopped again. "But what about the fog? My clothes were wet."
Chance was getting dizzy watching her. If she did not settle down soon, neither of them would get any sleep tonight. Looking at his watch, he groaned. To hell with tonight. It was already two in the morning. She refused the glass of brandy he offered. Chance highly doubted she would let him make love to her to help drain some of her useless energy. That left only one alternative. Only as a last resort, he told himself.
"Blood poisoning?" She turned around and started walking the other way. "That metal smell probably means I've been exposed to some dangerous material. It might all have been a hallucination." It did not take her long to scrap that notion. "I'll just have to go back there," she decided. Looking around her, she seemed to see Chance's place for the first time. It was magnificent.
So, she finally realized she was standing in a historical plantation, Chance realized. "Welcome to Home Place, babe. This place is even older than River Oaks. What do you think?"
"It must have cost a small fortune to fix it up."
"Try a sizeable fortune," he smiled. "It was worth it, in the end. I couldn't let a piece of history crumble to the ground. I added just enough updates to make life easier than the original owners enjoyed. Everything else is original to the structure or replaced with material as close to authentic as possible."
"Maybe I could do the same thing with River Oaks?" Adrienne decided. Chance muttered a loud curse at the idea. "I need you to take me there. I won't be able to sleep until I figure out a logical explanation for what happened to me tonight."
"I'll be happy to drive you back in the light of day."
"I can't wait until then, Chance. I never should have let you convince me to leave my car behind. You promised you would drive me back when I asked. Are you going to keep that promise?"
"After we get a few hours of sleep, yes." The look in her eyes warned Chance he was getting closer to his alternative option of helping her calm down. Damn, he was hoping their personal relationship was more established before this point came.
"I want to go back now." She really was exhausted and ought to listen to reason, Adrienne admitted to herself. There comes a time when a person has trouble listening to good advice, even when she agrees with it.
"If you refuse to drive me back, I'll just have to walk there myself." She hoped he caved in because she had no clue which direction to head if she tried to return alone. After seeing the child in the picture, she had gone numb and allowed Chance to usher her here while she mulled over events.
"You aren't going back there tonight, with or without me." He tried to hand her his brandy, but she refused. Shaking his head with disappointment, he muttered, "Strike one, babe." Then he put the brandy down.
Pulling her in his warm embrace, he lowered his lips to hers. She was still chilled, but he soon had her warming up. His mouth slanted over hers and he deepened the kiss. Adrienne responded, allowing him more contact. Her hands reached up to his chest in a bid to steady herself. Besides a scattering of hair near his nipples, the skin was smooth, hot and incredibly intoxicating. It would be so easy to disregard River Oaks and allow this man to make her forget every care in the world.
The shirt he lent her dropped to the ground before Chance started to yan
k up her top. Her nipples hardened both from excitement and chill. The cold reminded her about Cherice. What the hell had happened to her tonight? She pulled back and tried to control her ragged breathing. "Why don't we delay this until after we return from River Oaks?"
"Strike two," Chance moaned. Damn, he had been so close. "We have about two or three hours before sunrise. Let me make you something to eat."
"Why are you giving me such a hard time? I don't want brandy right now. We can always... you know... explore our sexual chemistry later on. The last thing I want to do now is eat something. All I want to do is go back to River Oaks. You can take me, or I'll find my way alone."
"You're not going anywhere, Adrienne."
"As if you could stop me." She started for the door then, calling his bluff but unsure of how to proceed. Maybe he would change his mind if he realized how determined she was.
"Strike three," he announced before walking up behind her. Turning her around, he pulled her back toward his living room. Settling on the couch, he indicated for her to join him.
"I am not going to take a nap right now, Chance Breaux. Now let me go this instant or so help me..." The rest of her statement was lost when she screamed as he hauled her over his hard lap. Face to face with the leather sofa, she wondered what the hell he hoped to accomplish. Did he plan on holding her upside down until she fell asleep? As if she could sleep in this awkward position, his hard thighs resting below her center.
"Going back to River Oaks right now is dangerous and a waste of time. This is your last chance to admit defeat, Adrienne, or so help me..." He was determined she would listen to reason one way or other.
She struggled against his hold, still confused by what was happening. "Go to hell, Chance Breaux."
"You're out of strikes, babe. Don't worry. I'll give you a few of my own." With that offer, his hard hand started pounding away on her behind.
It took a few smacks before Adrienne's sleepy brain could comprehend what was happening to her and why she was laying over his lap. Chance apparently was not only calling her bluff, he was showing her he could, and would, stop her from leaving. He was through trying to get her to listen to reason. These weren't playful love taps. Dammit, Chance was putting a lot of effort behind each smack. She could almost feel his hand print raising on her ass.
Adrienne was mortified. She was a grown woman... a principal, for goodness sake. How dare he treat her this way! Worse, he acted like he had every right to rein her in, Adrienne fumed, as if she was his to deal with as he pleased. Fuming with indignation, all hell broke loose then. "You son of a bitch," she wailed, trying to twist herself free. Damn, this man was strong.
She hardly budged. Her mind struggled to wrap around the fact that she found herself over this man's lap, much less that he was spanking her as if she were a child. Humiliation was replaced with pain. Her ass was on fire as his hand connected again and again. "Stop it, Chance."
When he paused for a moment, Adrienne assumed he was going to let her up. Chance posed a question instead. "Still thinking about going back to River Oaks tonight?" He gave her a second or two to admit defeat. Any intelligent woman would be eager to do so. If she had any common sense, she would accept her defeat. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she could not manage to get them out.
She refused to promise something she knew was a lie. Damn him, she gave orders. She did not follow them. Chance must have decided he had given her enough time. He reached down between his lap and her waist and somehow managed to unsnap her jeans. Before she comprehended his intent, he yanked down her pants. Only her silky panties remained now as the spanking continued. Covering her backside completely, he seemed to decide to move to her thighs next.
If she thought his hand hurt before he pulled down her jeans, it was nothing compared to the pain that followed. The sensitive area of her upper thighs stung worse than anything she had ever experienced before. Unwilling to give in yet, she tried threatening next. "You are going to pay for this, Chance Breaux."
If she was hoping he would give up before her, Adrienne was in for a disappointment. His resolve outmatched her stubborn pride. Soon she was desperate for a reprieve. Even if she wanted to go back to River Oaks now, she did not have the energy to do so anymore. Defeated, she stopped fighting and relaxed against the leather couch and his lap.
Chance continued slapping her thighs for a few more seconds, making sure any hint of rebellion was gone. Even if she could not see it, he knew Adrienne was in no condition to return to River Oaks tonight. There was nothing she could do there tonight that could not wait until morning. Tears of frustration started pooling on the couch, before the big man finally stopped his assault on her tender thighs. Exhausted both mentally and physically, all thought of River Oaks and Cherice disappeared.
Chance turned her over and lay beneath her on the leather sofa. He settled her face on his chest and slowly patted her back as she cried herself to sleep. When her body finally went slack, he knew she was comfortable. He certainly wasn't. His palm stung, probably as much as her sweet ass. Chance's hard on was so painful, he probably would not get a moment of rest until sunrise. Then she'd haul him back to River Oaks again. He could not decide which was more frustrating to deal with; trying to get the property or dealing with this little brat who seemed to have stolen his heart. Sighing deeply, he felt content for the first time in a long time.
A nightmare invaded Adrienne's sleep. Stranded in the middle of the Mississippi River in a small rowboat, a dense fog poured like rain around her. A riverboat's gay tune played somewhere off in the distance. Several mournful horns sounded, too, but their source was hidden by the mist. Adrienne found herself trying to call for help, but no one was close enough to hear. The metal odor haunted Adrienne even in her sleep. A childish giggle interrupted her. A blanket near the back of the rowboat was tossed aside and a small child popped up.
"Cherice!" Adrienne was so surprised. "Where have you been? We looked everywhere for you."
The little girl smiled and seemed to be looking beyond her. "I'm coming with you, Mommy."
Adrienne turned to see whom the child was talking to, but they were alone in the boat. "Honey, I need to get you home. Your father is probably worried sick."
"But I do not want to be with him, Mommy. Take me with you."
The child seemed to be listening to someone Adrienne could not see. Then the girl reacted as if she had been slapped in the face. Without warning, Cherice looked like someone had tossed her forcibly from the boat. A second later, the music from the riverboat sounded close by. It was heading straight for her boat. Impact sent her flying in the air, pain coursing through her body.
Adrienne's scream startled Chance. He started to sit up, but the weight of her body heeded his progress. Remembering where he was, the large man wrapped his arms around the woman lying above him. "Wake up, honey. You're having a bad dream. Everything's okay. You're safe."
The dream slipped away and she found herself cradled safely in Chance's arms. Inhaling his masculine scent, she sought comfort from the frightening dream. The vision had been so real. Death was moments from snatching her.
Cherice! The child was still in the river. She had to save her. Yanking herself away from the man holding her, Adrienne ended up falling on her backside on the carpeted floor of his house. With the impact came searing pain and the recollection of the spanking Chance gave her.
"Don't you dare ever try to manhandle me again, you big bully."
Groaning with frustration and lack of sleep, Chance sat up and tried to pull her up beside him. "Good morning to you, too, Miss Sunshine. Let me put on some coffee before you start barking orders, okay?" Silencing her retort with a brief, hard kiss, he got up and walked down the hall.
Adrienne looked at the front door. In the light of day, she probably could make her way back to River Oaks without much trouble. Chance's voice reached her from the other room. "Don't even think about trying it, babe. I'd catch you before you reached the road. Beli
eve me, if you make me run after you before I have my coffee, last night's spanking will seem like I was playing around."
Damn him, she halted at his warning. The man was so frustrating. Walking in the direction his warning came from, she went to face him down. "You can't go around beating me every time I tick you off, Chance Breaux."
His deep chuckled helped her hone in on his location. "Lady, if I smacked your cute, little ass every time you pissed me off, you would not have been able to sit down for a year now. But if you put yourself in danger like you were itching to do last night, I won't have any problem repeating last night's session over my knee. This time you lose the jeans before we even start. I doubt you even felt a thing because of the damn denim. And you won't have those panties next time, either. I like to see my work."
"Just try it, buster."
His wink suggested he could not wait to take her up on that challenge. "You might as well sit down, Adrienne. This is probably at least a three-cup of coffee morning. The sooner you let me wake up, the faster we leave."
They finally drove to River Oaks an hour later. One down side to giving Chance time to wake up was him taking the time to put on a new shirt. The man's chest was impressive and she could look at it all day long. "What's the deal with the demented pelican?" she asked when they pulled to a stop. The stone bird did not look as spooky in the light of day, but it did seem odd.
"If you think my drawing skills need work, take a look at your Uncle Stan's attempt at art. He loved animals, but wasn't a hunter. He preferred decorating with his own attempts of art depicting local wildlife. He never perfected painting the final pieces. I was visiting the day he finished working on this pelican. I think he put it out front because he knew I hated it. After he passed, I almost chucked the ugly bird, but by then it sort of grew on me."
"You can have it," she muttered. "It creeps me out." Glancing up she took in the sight of River Oaks in the rays of the sun. The old structure needed lots of tender loving care, but it looked ripe with promise. While not Home Place with its grand curving stairs, it was attractive on a smaller scale. "I never realized the house was so gorgeous. Give me the key. I can't wait to see what the inside looks like in the daylight."
