by Glover, Nhys
‘You’re very lucky. We had a week cancelled just this morning. A lovely en suite on the top floor. Would that suit?’
‘Yes… that sounds lovely.’ Cassie had trouble keeping her voice even. The shock was making her weak at the knees.
‘I heard there was a movie crew in these parts. Are you one of the actors?’ The girl addressed Hawk pointedly, looking at his braces and collarless, old-fashioned shirt.
‘Yes, just a bit part. They don’t want him for the rest of the afternoon but have extended his role into the next few days. So we thought we’d better find a place to stay. We only expected to be here for the day.’ Cassie made up what she could on the spur of the moment.
‘You look quite the part. What is it, a war movie?’
‘Yes. I’m playing a fighter pilot,’ Hawk said cautiously. When the girl nodded her head as if she understood, he let out the breath he’d been holding. She could hear him as well as see him. And from the way she was behaving, he must appear solid to her.
What was going on?
‘Oh, not one of ours from the sound of you.’ The girl giggled as she opened the registry book. Cassie grabbed the proffered pen and signed them both in as Mr and Mrs Hawk. If Hawk’s accent seemed at odds with the name, then they’d have to think of some kind of cover, but at that moment she was just too stunned by what had happened to think straight.
‘Can I ask for payment in advance?’
Cassie pulled out the wad of money and handed over what the girl said it would cost them for three nights. If she considered cash an unusual form of payment, she didn’t comment. She wrote out a receipt and handed it to Cassie, along with a tri-fold information sheet.
‘There are a lot of tourist pamphlets in the communal parlour just through there. At the back of the house you’ll find the dining room. Breakfast is from 6.30 until 10 a.m. There are a few nice restaurants and takeaways just up the street. Checkout is at 11a.m. If you need anything else, please ring the buzzer. Your room is number twelve at the very top of the house on the fourth floor. Where’s your luggage?’
‘As I said, we hadn’t expected to stay more than the day. We didn’t bring any luggage with us. We’ll do fine, I’m sure there’s somewhere close by we can pick up a change of clothes and such.’
‘Of course. Here’s a map.’ The girl pulled out a glossy tourist map and proceeded to locate their hotel. ‘This is us and if you follow the road down maybe three blocks… see here, there’s a few nice shops there you should be able to pick something up. Not expensive, mind.’
‘Good, good. Thanks, we’ll go up then, will we?’
With one last admiring glance in Hawk’s direction, the girl nodded and indicated the stairs. ‘I’m cleaning on the first floor if you need anything.’
The three of them started up the stairs and then Cassie and Hawk went on alone from the first floor. By the fourth floor, Cassie was exhausted. She wasn’t going to be able to make these stairs very often.
Hawk took the key from her and opened the door to room twelve. It was a large, light space, with a sloping ceiling to a cute dormer window that looked out onto the park on the other side of the street. The double-glazing kept the traffic noise to a minimum.
The room was furnished in frills and floral prints that harked back to the Victorian age. The heavy wardrobe and dressing table added to that impression. The metal-framed double bed with its white duvet was the only thing out of character.
Cassie collapsed across the bed, her arms flung out as if she were trying to make a snow angel on the duvet cover.
Hawk sat on the bench seat in front of the dressing table. ‘Did that just happen? I am not imagining it, am I?’
‘She saw you. Yes, she saw you as clearly as I did. Either she’s about to die or you’re becoming corporeal. The only way we’ll know is by going out and checking if anyone else sees you. I didn’t notice anyone looking at you. Did you?’
‘Not really. But now that I come to think of it, people did seem to move out of my way as we passed. I did not have to step around anyone. But I had other things on my mind so it just did not register at the time.’
‘When did it happen do you think? Marnie didn’t comment.’
‘No, but she looked quite concerned when we were standing at the station entrance. She kept averting her eyes. If she saw me, she might think that means she is going to die.’
‘No, let’s hold on here. I only bought one ticket and the conductor didn’t ask you for yours, so he mustn’t have seen you. If you can be seen by people now, it must have happened since we got to London. And that’s still a big IF. It may be that the girl is psychic and sees dead people without realising it.’
‘This complicates things. I was hoping to use my abilities to get into places unseen. I wanted to go back and check what is happening at Grange End. But if they can see me…’
‘You might not be able to flash anymore.’
‘Flash?’
‘That’s what I’m calling what you do, flashing from one place to another. What do you call it?’
‘No idea. I just think myself somewhere else. I am going to try it now. Just out into the hall.’
Hawk concentrated for a moment and then frowned. ‘No good. I cannot “flash” anymore. This makes things more difficult. On the other hand, I can defend you better in this state.’
‘Against trained assassins or whatever they are? I wouldn’t want you to try.’ She began to fiddle with her locket again as she nibbled her bottom lip.
‘I didn’t want to talk things out on the train in case people thought I was a lunatic. It was hard enough picking up my phone and acting as if I were talking to someone when I wanted to say something to you. But I’ve been trying to think of what Fran might have inadvertently given me.’
Hawk leaned in, his face now cleared of concern. Once more, she was struck by how handsome he was. His dark hair fell over his brow in a curl, his full bottom lip pursed outward as he concentrated on her. The light from the window made his hazel eyes seem as warm as sun-dappled woodland.
‘And…?’ he coaxed her to go on when she stalled, too distracted by his appearance to remember what she was saying.
She gave herself a little shake and got back on track. ‘So, Fran came to London especially to see me that last weekend. We met for lunch and she gave me this locket in a little gift box with a card that had a cushioned heart on the front. I’m wondering if she may have slipped something into the cushioning on the card or under the foam in the box. But the problem is I don’t remember what I did with them. It’s more than two and a half years ago. I packed all my stuff away into storage when I moved up with Marnie… I don’t have a clue where to start looking. I may well have chucked them out. I don’t tend to keep cards. They’re just clutter to me. But as it was the last card I got from Fran, I may have kept it and the box.’
She chewed on her lips some more and then noticed Hawk’s eyes becoming predatory. ‘What?’
‘If you don’t stop doing that I am going to take advantage of that bed.’
Shocked by his sudden arousal, she felt her own flare instantly into existence. The heat pooled in her core and sent electric currents out to her extremities. The idea that she was wanted by this man, this real man… no longer just a ghost… was terrifying and exciting.
Something of what she was feeling had him off the bench and on the bed in an instant. He kissed her fiercely, as if he’d been waiting to do just that for hours. When she opened to him, he groaned, letting his tongue stab out to claim her mouth. It was her turn to groan.
The way the fire flared between them was still new to Cassie. This incendiary that exploded between them in a moment had never happened to her before. Normally, it took a while to get her motor running and for arousal to come to life. It required a patient man who was willing to coax her along.
But all it took with Hawk was one look and she was burning alive. And it wasn’t Hawk who tore at their clothes so that they could be skin to skin; it was her.
/> In a matter of minutes, they were both totally naked and their hands were on each other, everywhere at once, touching, exploring, driven by need that was hard to satiate. Only when Hawk paused long enough to stroke tenderly across her scarred chest did some of her passion subside. When she tried to draw his attention away from her lack, he didn’t let her. Instead, he licked along the scar lines that were still red and angry, even after six months.
‘Don’t be self conscious about these, Cassie. They are war wounds… badges of honour. They say that you have survived and are stronger for it. They make me feel so much more for you than I would if you looked as you did in the dream. They touch me… touch something deep inside me… My own wounds, maybe. But they are not something to be ashamed of. They do not make you less attractive to me.’ He finally stopped looking at the scars and met her anxious gaze. What she saw in the dark depths of his eyes mirrored every word he’d said.
She dragged the wig from her head and threw it off the edge of the bed, then clamped her fist in his hair, dragging him back up to her. ‘You make me feel beautiful. No man has ever made me feel truly beautiful.’
The smouldering look in his eyes made her stomach turn over and the fires that had been damped down flared to life again. When he took her mouth, it was the most possessive and primal experience she’d ever known. Every part of her felt claimed by him. And she revelled in it. Revelled in being his.
When fingers found their way inside her weeping core the pure pleasure of it had her arching off the bed. She thrust her tongue into his mouth as his fingers thrust into her body. When she cried out, head thrown back, as the invasion became more intense and exquisite, Hawk bit into the crux of her shoulder. The splinters of pain and pleasure mixed into a white-hot brew that sent her spiralling off into her first orgasm.
Before she had properly come down, Hawk had replaced his fingers with his hard length and buried himself so deeply inside her she almost wept. ‘You give me life, Cassie love. You make me feel so alive. I have been dead so long… even flying meant nothing to me anymore… now everything is fresh and new.’
He plunged into her again and again to punctuate his words, as if trying to make her realise the truth in them. Then, as she felt the edge coming closer and closer, he gave one loud guttural cry and his body spasmed hard, muscles rock-hard and rigid. The edge flew past her and she took flight, feeling the man inside her fly with her.
When she felt the bed beneath her again, Cassie smiled. She’d never felt so utterly satiated. Every part of her body was heavy with a glowing pleasure that made movement impossible. Feeling Hawk’s body pressing down on her was the most glorious feeling of all. And when he tried to lever off her, she held him in place.
‘No, not yet. Stay. I love how you feel. So real…’
He mumbled something in his own language as he nuzzled her damp neck. The sensation of breath on her skin sent a scatter of delighted sensations through her system again. But exhaustion was claiming her now.
‘I need to sleep for a little while,’ she said tiredly. Hawk shifted his warm body off her and slid to her side. He drew her head down onto his chest where she could hear his slowing heartbeat.
‘Sleep, Pet, we are safe here and there is plenty of time to solve our mystery.’
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Later they went out for clothes and a meal at one of the restaurants the girl had suggested. Any doubt they had about Hawk’s corporeal nature was now removed. Everyone noticed him. And Cassie couldn’t help feeling proud that he was with her. He might not be classically handsome, but there was something regal about his bearing that turned heads.
The pleasure he took in his meal was also a delight. When he saw her smiling at him, he frowned.
‘What?’
‘You eat like you make love. With reckless passion. It’s only pizza after all.’
He laughed. ‘But understandable. Do you know what food was like during the war? This has been a feast fit for a king for me. Just as making love to you is.’
She blushed as she saw the heat in his eyes. Taking a sip of her wine, she tried to get her raging hormones under control. If he kept looking at her like that, she’d be hauling him off to the bathroom for the kind of sex she’d always considered disgusting. Oh, how she’d changed!
Cassie thought Hawk’s mind had also followed the same path because he suddenly cleared his throat and took a swallow of the coffee he’d just had delivered to the table.
‘I will go to your storage shed and retrieve the card and box,’ he said after a moment, his expression now all business.
‘I want to come, too,’ she said, surprised by the sudden change in topic. Clearly, he’d been thinking over their plans for some time without telling her.
‘No. It may well be that these men have someone watching the shed. They would be on the lookout for a woman. They would not be expecting a man.’
‘But you don’t know where they’d be…’
‘You can tell me. I am serious, Cassie. You have to stay hidden. If I could flash, it would be easier for me to get in there and out without detection. But that is no longer an option. So I will go there and look and hope I am finished before they send someone to question me.’
‘They could capture you. Torture you…’ Cassie said, with a whimper.
‘You consider this an important task we have undertaken. It is therefore worth the risk. And I am not without skills in self-defence.’
‘What they taught you in the war is nothing like what assassins are taught today. They can kill you by applying pressure to a spot on your neck. No, I can’t risk you. It’s one thing to take risks myself, but another to risk you…’
‘I am dead, Cassie. I know that is getting harder and harder to remember now that I have solid form, but they cannot kill someone who is already dead. I can and will do this. And you will stay in the hotel until I return.’ His masculine arrogance had her back up in an instant, but then she thought better of it. He was going to do this thing whether she agreed or not. She may as well trust in his abilities. Really, she didn’t have much alternative.
‘All right. Will you go tonight? If it’s anywhere, it’ll be in a box labelled “Keepsakes”. There’ll be photo albums and old school stuff in it. I think there’s a framed picture of me with my parents in there, too. If I put the card and box anywhere, it will be in that carton.’
‘Yes. I’ll settle you in and then find my way to this shed. I can get there by the Tube?’
‘Yes. I’ll draw you a map. Hawk… please be very careful. This is important, I know it is, but not so important that I’d risk losing you…’
‘I will be careful Pet, I promise. If you are finished, let us go. There is much to be done.’
Hawk found following Cassie’s map easy enough and he was starting to get used to the strange sights and sounds that inundated his senses. It was the London he remembered, and yet it was completely unlike anything he’d known before.
It wasn’t just the modern touches everywhere that made it different. There was something in the air… the smell? Was it less coal smoke and more car exhaust fumes? Partly. Was it the mix of races that walked the streets now? That was also part of it, too. But mostly it was the intangible that he could only label ‘vibrancy’.
In London of the Blitz, there’d been no vibrancy. It had felt more like the place was battened-down tight, armoured against threat, determined to survive with its teeth gritted. Now the city was lighter somehow – optimistic, for all the threat of terror that loomed large around them.
He liked the new London, as he was starting to like the new world. And he wondered how long he was going to be allowed to stay here. Now that he had a body, his new life felt all the more real and substantial to him. And the idea of losing it all again filled him with an ache he didn’t know how to assuage.
Losing Cassie, that was the real issue here. Being physical was good, but being with Cassie was better. He’d rather be a ghost and stay with her than keep this
form and risk losing her. But the choice wasn’t his. Whatever was happening here was out of his control. All he could do was play his part and hope this would all end well for both Cassie and himself.
The ‘shed’ turned out to be one of thirty garages that sat in two long rows facing each other on a narrow industrial site in a poorer outer suburb. No one questioned him as he made his way into the mesh-enclosed area, using the key at the gate and then on the roller-door that opened onto Cassie’s storage space.
The first thing he noticed when he opened the door was that the boxes were in disarray. Not seriously so, as it would have been if there’d been a break-in, but more like someone had been searching for something and hadn’t bothered packing up properly after themselves. It made sense. The men at Grange End had said they’d found nothing at the storage shed.
He shook his head and set to work straightening up the chaos as he systematically went about his search.
After half an hour of sifting through the piles of cardboard boxes, he found the one he was looking for. Of course, it turned out to be the second-last box he checked. But at least he had what he was after and the place was put to rights again. That would please Cassie.
The box was already open, as were all the boxes he’d checked. It looked like someone had pulled out all the contents looking for something and then just thrown it all back in after they’d finished with it. But unlike his enemy, Hawk knew what he was looking for.
It took only a few minutes to find both the box and the card. Cassie had shown him the kind of thing he was looking for. Little pieces of plastic could hold the information of a library on them these days. Such ‘technology’ was mind-boggling.
But he didn’t have to understand it; he just had to find it. So he pulled away the cushioning from the front of the card but could see nothing stuck behind it. Nor could he feel anything in the stuffing itself. Then he checked the box, pulling out the lining and carefully checking every empty inch of it. There was nothing suspicious there either.
