S.P.I.R.I.T (15 page)

“Where too, sir?” The private questioned.

“You know where, Walters,” he replied, his voice harsh and flat. My heart jumped at the thought of being exposed to the lake road so soon after learning about the tragedy there. However, the SUV swerved down the back roads and up over the tracks to the middle of town, where he pulled into the small hotel we had stayed in the first night of our ‘quarantine’. Zander slid out, took my hand and helped me from the vehicle, then glanced at Walters. “Oh-nine-hundred, private.”

The room had one large bed in the center of it, a small refrigerator next to the table in the back, and from where I stood, it looked like a Jacuzzi in the bathroom. I turned and looked at Zander, smiling.

“You didn’t have to do this,” I whispered my voice barely recognizable.

“Yes, I did.” He smiled, and took his coat off. He settled it on the back of the desk chair and then moved over to the refrigerator and looked inside. “Oh look, shots!”

“Of what?” I inquired, as I placed my jacket near his and lay down on my stomach on the bed.

“Oh, the whole liquor store.” He laughed and closed the door. “You need to eat before you can drink, baby.”

“I need to sleep before I eat,” I replied, my eyes slowly closing as he knelt down on the floor and leaned on the bed with his elbows, staring into the blue he could see under my lids. “Want to come curl up with me?”

“You rest, I’m going to putter around here a bit.” He smiled, and moved the hair out of my face. I nodded, not much resistance left in me, and let the light sleep take over.

When I came around, what felt like only a short while later, it was growing dark outside the window shades, and the television was on with the volume turned down to the minimum. I was stunned as I turned to watch it, to see Julie Andrews and Von Trap children dancing in a wide-open meadow.

“What the hell?” I questioned, sitting up fully. Zander laughed, as he sat over in a darkened corner, his eyes glued to the television. “Why are you watching ‘The Sound of Music’?”

“I wanted to see what you were ranting and raving about the other night, so I hopped across the street and grabbed a movie. So far, it’s very entertaining. Not ‘A Christmas Story’ good, but entertaining.” He laughed as if none of this was out of the ordinary. “Hungry yet?”

Just as he spoke the words, my stomach growled loudly. “Apparently.”

He pulled a brown bag from the next chair over, took out several wrapped grinders, and placed them on the table.

“Roast beef, ham and turkey. I didn’t know what you might like so I got all three.” I watched as he reached over, opened the refrigerator, and pulled out a can of soda. “Caffeine, just incase you needed that too.”

“What did you do, buy the whole store?” I laughed, slowly slipping off the bed, and that was when I noticed that I was no longer wearing the tight, black pants that I had fallen asleep in. I looked at him, down at my bare legs, and then back up at him once again. “Zander?”

“Oh, that. You were moving around in your sleep, and complaining about them, so I took them off,” he said and shrugged. “I didn’t think you would mind.”

“It’s fine,” I whispered and walked over to the table.

The roast beef grinder was delicious and I ate as if I hadn’t had any food in days. The soda seemed to pep me up, to the point where I wanted to jump on the bed, but Zander had other ideas.

“I’m going to take a shower, be good while you’re out here,” he ordered as I bounced at the edge of the bed.

I smiled, nodded, and watched him disappear in bathroom. Once the shower sprayed on, I let my mind wander to what I would do next, the hotel was fun, but I was too wound up to sit by and wait. The thought of spending time alone with the man in the next room curved my need to explore and the more I thought about him, the more fidgety I got.

I stripped down, leaving nothing on except the blanket, and with that wrapped around me I sat down on the floor in front of the television, to watch the end of the movie. In time, the shower turned off and the door opened, revealing a very handsome man with only a towel on.

“I was hoping you were going to follow me in.” He laughed as he sat down on the recliner once again.

“Nah, I got caught up in the movie,” I answered, and shrugged. After a few minutes, I glanced over at him as he watched me, the side of his finger rubbing his lips, and slowly I stood up.

He followed every movement I made as I walked over to stand in front of him, his legs stretched out before him and then a smile slowly spread across his face. I could feel the fire building up in me, just by the way he looked at me. His eyes flashed with the passion of his storm.

He reached up, taking the ends of the blanket, and pulled me down to sit on his lap. For a moment he fought with the cover to make me more comfortable, but his hands dropped away when I opened it to show him that there was no need.

“Oh, my…” he whispered.

I straddled his legs. One hand slipped behind me, the heat of it brushed the skin of my lower back as he pulled me closer, and the other smoothed over the bare skin of my shoulders and the swell of my breasts. His breathing came in bursts as he caressed the warm skin before him, and my heart felt as if it were going to explode if I didn’t kiss him.

I placed my hands on his shoulders and looked down into those stormy eyes as he licked his lips and pulled me closer. My belly pressed against his and the pulse flashed through me, igniting the fire in my veins. Slowly, I leaned down, caressing his open mouth with my own, just enough to get a taste of him and the mint toothpaste he had just used. He closed his eyes as I took what I wanted.

I flicked my tongue at his warm skin and was surprised by how easily persuaded he was to let me explore him. I could feel the rushing of his blood as his heart beat under my hand and he cupped my left breast playing with my nipple between his fingers. I gasped at how hard he squeezed but it sent a surge of pleasure straight down between my legs.

I shifted on him, and felt him stiffen under the movement. Between us, he reached down and adjusted himself, unhooking the towel as he did so, and then he tangled his fingers in my hair, pulling me deeper into the kiss.

As I broke away, breathless and on fire, I tilted my chin up as he kissed down the front of my neck. I ran my hands through his hair, feeling its wet silkiness between my fingers as his nipped at my skin. I could feel him, hard against me, and I wanted nothing more than to quench the fire at burned me inside.

I want you,
I whispered, my mental voice as breathless as my own, and I felt him laugh against my thoughts, the tickle sending a current to the heat that boiled in my womb.
Zander!

You have no patience, woman!
He growled, but his hand slipped down, pushing the towel away from his heavy erection. Gently he pressed it against my molten core.
I can feel you already.

I slipped down slowly, taking him in a little at a time, until he filled me to the hilt. Releasing my skin from his tantalizing touch, he rested his head back on the chair as I began to rock, sliding up and down, not withdrawing him much at all. As I did, I could feel the swollen point rubbing against his skin and it sent chills down my scorching skin.

I felt him grasp my hips and slide me harder, pressing up as he did. The gasps that came from him only stirred the want in me more, and it didn’t take long to feel the explosion ripple inside. His moans became louder and his grip tighter as my fingers dug into his shoulders.

He took in a deep breath, a gasp as if it were his last, and then pinned my hips in one place as he pounded up inside me. I closed my eyes, my inner voice screaming for release, as my body obliged and wetness cascaded over him. Zander felt me go, the surge of my own end bringing him to his as he sat forward and wrapped his arms around me, going stiff as he held his breath.

For a moment we were both still, nestled tightly in eachothers grip. Then slowly, he sat back, taking me with him as I lay my head on his shoulder. He gathered the blanket about us without a word and closed his eyes, gently running his hand over the back of my head, as if to loll me back to sleep. I began to relax, the embers burning, cooling for the moment, but not completely sated.

15

I could feel his eyes on me as we drove, glancing over at me with every opportunity as we followed the quiet roads heading out of town on the lake road. Walters’ research had turned up quite a lot of information on the accident that occurred three years before and we were able to pinpoint the exact location that it occurred.

“What do you think happened to him?” I asked, staring at the trees as they whirled by in a blur.

Zander sighed and stretched his fingers on the top of the steering wheel. “It didn’t say. In fact, only one article said anything about a passenger, but even then it was only speculation.”

“No wonder he’s so upset.” I sighed, and looked down at my fingers. “Three years is a long time to be away from the person you were meant to be with.”

“I agree,” he answered, looking over at me with a half-smile.

We moved around a sharp bend in the road and the fire in my chest began to burn hotter than I had ever felt it. Zander looked at me, the lightening flashing through his eyes, and slowly he pulled the car off in the breakdown lane. With a deep breath, as the storm continued to brew, he took my hand and kissed my fingers before the two of us opened the car doors and stepped out onto the deserted road.

I remembered the exact spot from a distant dream. One side of the road was a pure rock wall, shining with the iron pyrite that was ingrained into every inch of the town. On the other, right where a fairly new guardrail rest, was a forty-five degree drop down into the gorge below.

“Why do they call this the lake road?” Zander questioned, feeling a chill blow through him. “I don’t even think it connects to the lake.”

“It did at one point. The gorge was made by shifting iceburgs that moved through this area thousands of years ago,” I explained, zippering my coat. “The water that flowed down this mountain is what formed the lake. There aren’t many inlets to it, except the one that we found when we escaped the cave. I’m sure there are more, but none that I know of.”

“So, basically, if you crashed over the railing,” he said, as he peered into the thick darkness of the woods below, “you might not ever be found.”

“The river below could drag you out to the lake, and by the time you got there, who knows what you would look like,” I added and sighed, glancing around at the climbing sun. “This is where her car went off the road. She was coming down over the mountain from that way.”

I pointed up around the bend and sighed, then glanced over the rail, tapping it with my hand. The strange feeling of the pulse pulling me in two directions had me feeling queasy as I watched Zander hop over the railing.

We walked carefully, making sure our steps were placed firmly on dry growth so that neither of us fell and broke our necks on the rocks below. The air around me grew cold, and I shivered inside as well as out. Zander looked up at me, his lips turning as purple as mine felt, and I glanced around.

“He was here,” I spoke softly, my voice as low as possible. “The car came through those trees and hit the large oak that used to stand there.” Zander watched as I pointed to my left, at the broken tree stump, one that looked as if lightening had split it in two. “I can see the front end, practically wrapped around the trunk; the middle of the car impacted the hardest. The passenger’s side of the windshield is missing, but I can still see a body inside.”

I could feel Zander beside me, gently rubbing my arm as I fought to control my breathing. I closed my eyes tightly, as my body shook and looked deeper into the memory.

“It’s Sam,” I whispered, hoping that my first instincts were wrong. I could smell the gasoline as it poured from the engine and could hear the grind of metal upon metal as the gears still spun within the motor. “It’s going to catch fire, why doesn’t she control it?”

“Does she even know?” he whispered.

“No.” I sighed, thanking the stars that she was unconscious through this terrible fate. “She doesn’t know anything, she’s out cold.”

The flames licked out from under the engine first, tiny red and orange dancers on the hood of the car, and I could feel the heat as it started to flare up. I reached my hand out, trying to grasp the fire, to control what was supposed to be mine to control, but I couldn’t get a handle on it.

“It’s burning.” Zander’s gripped my shoulder as my hands began to shake, and then I watched in terror as the woman inside lifted her head. “Oh no!”

“What is it, Sam?” he questioned as the tears began to slide down my cheeks.

“She’s coming to,” I replied as my lips quivered. I watched the horrified face of the woman inside the burning deathtrap, my heart leaping for my body to save her, but my mind knew that I couldn’t, that this was nothing but a memory. Her mouth opened in a silent scream. “She’s calling for him!”

I watched with horrible dread, knowing what her fate would be, but I never expected to see her turn in my direction and look me straight in the eyes. She stared as if in disbelief, as if she were wondering why I was just standing there, and then she reached her hand out to me. My fingertips tingled as her mouth moved, and I shook my head.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you,” I whispered in reply to her plea. I watched her shake her head, slowly, as if to tell me that I had gotten it wrong, that she had excepted her fate and that wasn’t what she had asked.