Adam's Thorn (42 page)

“From a mystery grave,” Adam said
dryly.

“Ha ha.”  She tried to unscrew the
cap, only to give up.  “It’s stuck.”  She fluttered her lashes at him.  “Would
you help me, please?  Big strong man like you?”

Giving her a wry look, he took the
bottle and after using a bit of force, loosened the cap before handing it back
to her.  “Here, little weak woman.”

Sarge snorted a laugh.

Ignoring the Sarge, Barbie opened
the jar and carefully took out the rolled piece of paper.  With care she
unrolled it.

“I'd say it’s been well preserved
from the elements,” Adam remarked.

“The ink is faded but still
readable.  Maybe the dark kept it like that?” Barbie started reading aloud.

‘My name is Penny Declan, and
buried here are my hopes and dreams, my very belief in love.  Harold Martin
loved me, and I lay in sin with him, believing we would be together forever.  I
thought he went MIA over Italy, and though I didn’t have a body to bury, I had
a grave dug for him, a memorial, placing him beside my Aunt and uncle, a part
of my family.  Today I found out that he married another woman, that his going
MIA was all a lie.  He belongs to another.  His memorial is a mockery, but it’s
also a reminder of the lies told, of false hopes.  So today I’m writing these
words, and then I’m burying them deep, along with my heart.  Harold called me
his ‘jewel’.  I obviously wasn’t shiny enough to keep his attention forever.’

There was nothing else on the
paper.

“How sad.”  Barbie lowered the
paper.  “Great Aunt Penny knew all along that her lost love had betrayed her
with another woman.”

“Back in those times, honourable
men married a woman they got into trouble,” Adam reminded her.  “But it clears
up something else.”

“What?”

“The jewel that Spencer’s Great
Uncle rambled about during his dementia.  That jewel was Penny.”

“Wow.”  Barbie looked back down at
the paper.  “He never stopped loving her, did he?”

“I guess not.”  Adam slid an arm
around her waist.  “What are you going to do with the bottle and letter?”

Barbie glanced up at the house and
back to the disturbed holes.  “You know, Penny buried it.  I’m thinking we
should return it.”

“Up to you, baby.”

Sarge looked at her.  “We just
need to dig down a bit further to make sure there really are no bodies.  Okay?”

“Sure.”

Adam moved Barbie back to the
safety of the veranda until the hole was deep enough that Sarge was satisfied
no body lay in it, then Barbie dropped the bottle back into the hole and they
watched as both holes were filled back in, a small mound of dirt left on top to
settle.

Walking Barbie back to the car,
Adam looked down at her.  “Satisfied?’

“In a sad way, yes.”  She studied
the house.  “You know, I never want to live in that place, it isn’t a happy
place, but I’m glad it’ll be part of Peeron’s heritage.”

When the Historical Society had
come forward to buy the house for a tourist attraction, all furniture, dolls, clothes
and paintings with it, Barbie had been pleased.  He’d seen it from the way her
eyes had shone.

In an odd way it had pleased him,
too.  He still remembered Penny, the crotchety old lady to whom he’d taken a
Christmas dinner and a little gift every year.  He could still taste her yummy
jam, too.  In her own way, Penny had been an enigma to the town, but also was one
of its more eccentric citizens, bringing an air of mystery to her home that had
delighted a lot of children growing up, spawned a lot of ghost stories.

It was nice to know that Penny
wasn’t going to be forgotten, that the Declan home was going to be around for a
long time to come, for people to ponder about another time and wonder about the
inhabitants of a bygone era.  Barbie’s father was even going to get all the
photos copied and sent to the Historical Society so everyone would know who the
Declans were.

Fastening the seatbelt, Adam
looked across at Barbie, who smiled back at him.  Personally, he knew he’d
gotten the best Declan in the family.  He was the luckiest man alive.

The roses at the back of the house
might mark some of the oldest of the Declans, but the current thorn in his side
was all his, and the only place she’d be was right beside him.

Leaning across the console, he
planted a soft kiss on her lips.  “I love you, Barbie.”

She dimpled at him, those adorable
apple cheeks just begging to be stroked. “Even though Fred shed hair all over
your uniform pants right before you went to work, and Matt saw them and asked
if your pecker was shedding?”

“You actually dare to bring that
miscreant’s name up right now?’

“Fred or Matt’s?”

“That useless fur ball.”

“Oh, Adam.” She pouted.  “What if
I promise to make it all better?”

Fighting a smile, he eyed her
seriously.  “I can’t imagine how you could possibly make it up to me.”

“Well…”  Her fingers walked across
his thigh.  “I could give you a massage, help with that tension.”

Talk about tension, his pecker was
already stiffening at the mere thought.

“A full body massage,
concentrating, of course, on the thigh and lower belly region.”  She fluttered
her eyelashes at him.  “And
all
areas in between.”

“Are you attempting to bribe a
police officer?”

“I’m not ashamed to admit it.”

“It’ll be you fault if I break the
speed limit to get home.”

“I’m a mobile masseuse now.  If I
had my car, we could park in the bush and not waste time.”

His woman, bless her, was incorrigible. 
He regarded her with a narrow-eyed gaze.  “That’d come under indecent exposure.”

“You weren’t complaining about my
exposure last night.”

“That was at home.”

“So let’s go there.  What are you
wasting time for?”  Her hand dipped between his thighs and she actually groped
him.

“Christ, woman!”

“Keep gripping the steering wheel
like that and you’ll break it.”

“You won’t be smirking when we get
home,” he promised her.

“Is that a threat?”  She winked. 
“Because you know I love your threats.”

Laughing, Adam started the car. 
“When we get home, you are going to be screaming my name out in no time.”

“I bet I make you come first.’

His eyes almost crossed when she
stroked right across his shaft.

“I might even suck you dry,” she
announced airily, withdrawing her hand and looking innocently out the window.

It was a wonder Adam didn’t drive off
the road.

“No might.”  She glanced sideways
at him.  “I’m going to do it.”

So, he might have broken the speed
limit a little getting home.  Once he got in the driveway, he got out of the
car, walked around to her side, opened it up, practically dragged her out and
tossed her over his shoulder.

Shrieking with laughter, she hung
onto his belt as he carried her inside.

Fred and Barney didn’t even lift
their heads from where they were snoozing on the sofa as Adam walked past the
doorway.

Tossing Barbie down on the bed,
Adam followed fast, pinning her beneath him and kissing her hotly, deeply. 
When he finally lifted his head, they were both breathing a lot quicker.

“You know everyone in the street
could see what you did,” Barbie pointed out, eyes twinkling with humour and
heat.

“They all know what a thorn in my
side you are,” he retorted, dropping his head to lick hotly along her mouth. 
“They feel sorry for me.”

“Sure.”  She started laughing.

Grinning, he lifted his head to
look down at her.  “I love you, Barbie Declan, thorn in my side and all.”

“I love you, too, you sweet
talker, you.”  Her gaze went sultry.  “Now, let’s see about working out that
tension in your thighs, Officer.”

“Just my thighs?”

“If you’re really good, I might go
higher.”

“And if I’m really bad?”

“Then I will
definitely
go
higher.”

“Have you heard the rumour?”

She eyed him suspiciously.  “What rumour?”

“I’m a bad cop.  Punish me.”

“Sure.”  She smacked his arse.

The shriek of laughter and the
rumble of deeper laughter that followed filtered right through the house.

####

BIO

Angela Verdenius lives in
Australia, where she is ruled by her cats, adores reading, and thinks a perfect
day is writing and drinking Diet Coke, followed by reading or a good horror
movie.

To date, she has written numerous
novels in sci-fi romance series and BBW contemporary romances, 2 novellas, and
several short stories, one of which is a zombie story she had great fun
writing.  Her books have won many reviewers’ awards, as well as having been on the
Fictionwise best-seller list and winning the Golden Rose Award.

For more information about
Angela’s books, visit:

Visit her website at
http://www.angelaverdenius.com/

The lighter side of life on her blog
http://angelaverdenius.blogspot.com
/

And at All Romance eBooks
http://www.allromanceebooks.com

Keep reading for listings of books available in ebook and print.

Other Books by this Author

BBW
Romances

Big
Girls Lovin’ trilogy: 
Doctor’s Delight

                                     
Cop’s Passion

                                    
Vet’s Desire

The
Lawson Boys duet -
The Lawson Boys: Alex

                                         
The Lawson Boys: Marty

The
Virgin Sex Queen

The
Mackay Sisters duet:
 Call on Me

                                           
Lean on Me

Seducing
Sam

Adam’s
Thorn

Heart
& Soul sci-fi romance series

Heart
of an Outlaw

Soul
of a Mercenary

Heart
of the Betrayed

Love’s
Sweet Assassin

Soul
of a Hunter

Love’s
Bewitching Thief

Heart
of the Forsaken

Soul
of a Witch

Heart
of a Traitor

Soul
of the Forgotten

Love’s
Beguiling Healer

Heart
of a Peacekeeper

Soul
of a Predator

Love’s
Winsome Warrior

Heart
of a Smuggler

Soul
of a Guardian

Love,
Heart & Soul Moments

Shattered
Soul

Novellas
- Operation
Seduction (BBW)

                 
Blast from the Past

Short
Stories -
Zombie Hospital

                  
Perceptions