The Haunted (17 page)

“
What if your family drops by?”

His fingers unhooked my bra. My pulse skittered. I’d never been naked in front of anyone before.

“
Is this why you brought me here?” I asked, keeping my voice even.

The words stopped him cold. “No, I thought maybe we could tick off one of those never have I ever questions though.”

My virginity? I thought, and then realized he was talking about skinny-dipping.

He reached down, and a second later he lifted his boxers in his hand and tossed them on the shore.

Kade lifted a brow.

Summoning every ounce of courage I had, I slid my bra and panties off and threw them toward the bank.

Chapter
20

We skinny-dipped for a while, until our skin was pruned. Kade stepped out of the water to the bank to get our underwear, and I know I shouldn’t have stared but I couldn’t help it.

No wonder he was so confident.

He flashed a smile as he waded back in, and tossed me my bra and undies.

“
Follow me,” he said, swimming toward a large, flat rock. He pulled himself up and put his hand out for me. It was the perfect size to catch some rays, just big enough for both of us. We lay on our backs, hand in hand, eyes closed. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so at peace.

Feeling like I was being watched, I cracked an eye open and found Kade watching me. The sides of his mouth lifted in a smile that made my blood turn warm.

I rolled onto my side, and rested my hand on his chest. The pulse in his neck fluttered. He lifted his head, kissed me, and slowly eased me onto my back, his strong body covering mine.

A hot ache rushed through my belly. My fingers splayed over the hard muscles of his back, and over the high curve of his butt. The Celtic cross necklace fell at my throat, and he stared into my eyes. “Do you feel what you do to me?” he whispered, brushing the hair off my forehead with gentle fingers.

I nodded. My heartbeat was a roar in my ears.

“
I’ve waited for you for forever, Riley. Do you know that?”

The words were sweet and sincere. I nodded and he smiled softly, before kissing my forehead, then my nose, my lips, my neck…and lower still.

A myriad of emotions rushed through me at the new sensations I was experiencing. Heaven on earth. That’s what I felt in every touch. In every kiss.

He was gentle, and I could tell he struggled to stay in control. I could see the need in his eyes, feel it in his touch…and I felt that same desire inside me as my body came to life.

“
Are you sure?” he whispered against my lips as he settled between my thighs.

Staring into his blue eyes, I smiled. “Yes, I’m sure.”

***

Kade’s cell phone rang on the dock.

A minute later it went off again. Then my phone rang. On it went for several minutes until he sighed under his breath. “Seriously?”

We’d been laying in the sun, cuddled together after making love, and I didn’t want the moment to end. Apparently someone else had other plans.

“
I better get that, just in case it’s Miss Akin.” I sat up, reaching for my panties and bra, and sliding them on.

“
I’ll get it,” he said, stepping into his boxer briefs. He kissed me before he slid into the water, and swam in strong strokes to the dock.

I was shocked by the feelings raging inside me, at the utter contentment and happiness I felt. Never could I have imagined feeling this way, this strongly, so soon after meeting Kade. I smiled, already reliving the moments, knowing I’d relive this day for the rest of my life.

He lifted himself up onto the dock effortlessly, his boxer briefs clinging to his high, firm butt. My eyes widened when I recognized the tell-tale signs of my fingernail marks across his shoulders.

Sitting on the dock, he reached into his jeans pocket. He glanced at me in disbelief. “I have five voice messages.”

Five. That made me nervous.

“
I don’t recognize the number.” He dialed and listened. “Every single one of them is static.”

Static?

Fear rippled along my spine.

Oh my God…Laria.

I immediately eased myself into the water and swam toward the dock. I was more of a side swimmer than a breaststroke or crawl-stroke kind of girl. My parents had sent me to swim lessons when I was little, but for whatever reason, swimming wasn’t my forte. I managed, but that was about it.

I was thirty feet away from Kade when I felt her.

I swam faster, and had an urgent, almost overwhelming need to get to safety.

Something brushed my right leg.

I gasped, taking in a mouthful of water. My fingers got caught up in something stringy…like weeds. Or no, was that—hair?

A hand grasped tight to my ankle, and I was abruptly pulled under the water and dragged quickly away from the dock.

I opened my eyes. Laria’s face was inches from mine, her long hair floating around her. I tried to get away from her, but her grip on me was too strong. Her hands encircled both my wrists and she tried to pull me deeper under the water.

I heard Kade yell my name, followed by the sound of him diving into the water. Seconds later he was beside me, lifting me up so my head was above the water. “Hold on to my shoulders.”

I did as he asked, holding on for dear life as he swam back to the dock.

Kade helped push me up and onto the dock, and then he was beside me, brushing my hair away from my face.

“
Riley, are you okay?”

I nodded, unable to believe what had just happened. Laria had tried to kill me, and in front of someone else. In fact, she would have succeeded if Kade hadn’t have dove in to save me.

“
What happened? You were there one second, and the current must have gotten a hold of you.”

I could see him grappling with the questions, given the fact he’d lived here all his life and probably never encountered a current strong enough to drag a swimmer downstream.

“
I don’t know what happened,” I said, uncomfortable when his gaze shifted over my body and lingered on the scars on my ankle—the place where I had cut the most and left the most damage. I made no effort to hide them. “I felt like something got a hold of me and pulled me downstream.” It sounded crazy, but it was the truth.

His brows furrowed like he was still trying to understand. That, or he was trying to understand the scars on my body.

He swallowed hard. “I shouldn’t have checked my phone. I’m sorry,” he said, putting his arm around me and holding me tight. “I should have made sure you were out of the water first.”

“
I’m fine,” I said, settling against him while I scanned the water.

Never in my life could I have imagined that ghosts could be so vengeful. I shuddered. I would never be able to go in the water again without waiting for Laria to pull me down.

I heard a scraping noise come from underneath me. “I should check on Miss Akin,” I said, coming to my feet, ready to be as far away from the river as possible.

“
Don’t you want to dry off first?”

I used my plaid shirt to dry the droplets off my body, and then slid my jeans on and my T-shirt, trying not to look at the cracks between the planks of wood. Why did I have the feeling Laria was still here, still lingering? Just waiting. Had she been here the entire time, even while Kade and I had been making love?

Probably.

Kade dressed quickly and grabbed our fishing poles.

I heard scraping again and made the mistake of looking down between the wooden slats. I swallowed a scream. Laria’s dark eyes peered back at me.

“
Let’s go,” I said, and Kade nodded. He took hold of my hand.

I felt him watching me the entire way to the car. The lighthearted feeling of the afternoon had quickly turned, and I couldn’t hide the fear I was experiencing. I was already starting to sleep with my bathroom light on. Tonight I doubted I would sleep at all.

“
You okay?” Kade asked as he pulled out onto the main highway.

I nodded. “Thanks, I had fun.”

“
Except for almost drowning.” He raked his hands through his dark hair. “I’m so sorry, Riley.”

“
It’s not your fault, and I didn’t almost drown. I just drank a little more water than I should have,” I said, hoping to lighten the mood.

“
I shouldn’t have left you out there alone.”

His fingers tightened around mine, and I kissed his cheek. I could see the relief in his face as he smiled. A smile that faded as fast as it had come. “Your nose is bleeding.”

I lifted my hand to my face and my finger came back with blood.

Not again.

It’s like someone turned a faucet on, and I had no choice but to use my plaid shirt as a tissue.

I could feel Kade’s growing panic. “You don’t think the nosebleed has anything to do from taking on too much water, do you?”

“
No, I had a nosebleed the other night, too. It’s probably just allergy related.”

“
You should see a doctor.” His thumb brushed along mine, and I smiled, comforted by his concern. “We could drop by the clinic in town.”

“
Kade, I’m fine.”

By the time we pulled into the inn driveway, the nosebleed had stopped.

I invited Kade to stay for a while. Shane was on the computer in Dad’s study.

“
Hey,” I said. “Where’s Dad and Miss Akin?”

“
Helping clean up at Anne Marie’s,” Shane said, too into whatever he was reading to look at us. “Dad just called and said they’d be home in an hour or two.”

“
I’ll be upstairs.”

“
Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he said, finally glancing at us. One side of his mouth lifted in a smirk before he turned back to the computer.

As Kade and I walked up the stairs, I wondered if I should have checked my room first. Just to see if Laria had been there and made a statement as she was so good at doing.

I turned the doorknob and released the breath I’d been holding.

The room looked just like I’d left it.

Thank God.

Kade walked around the room, taking in everything. “It’s just as I thought it would be,” he said, stopping at the window. “Too bad you can’t see my room from here. We could come up with our own Morse Code using lights.”

I smiled.

Turning toward me, his gaze shifted to something over my shoulder.

“
Is that Mount Hood?”

My eyes widened. He was talking about the charcoal drawing I’d made when I was fourteen. My mom had entered it in a contest and it had won first place. “Yes. How did you know?”

His brows furrowed. “I don’t know. I guess I must have seen it on the Internet or something.”

Actually, it wasn’t so strange since Ian had commented about the very same picture.

“
Could I draw you?”

“
Like right now?” he asked, scratching his jaw.

“
Yes, right now.”

“
All right, I’m down for it.” He clapped his hands together. “Where do you want me?”

“
The chair,” I said.

“
Clothed or naked?” He maintained a straight face for all of three seconds before flashing a wolfish smile.

“
Clothing optional,” I said, envisioning Miss A or my dad walking in to find Kade in the altogether. Not a good scenario. “Maybe just lose the shirt.”

He reached behind his head, and yanked his shirt off, leaving his hair nice and disheveled—like he’d just woken up.

I pulled paper and charcoal pencils out of the nightstand drawer, and took a seat on the bed. I began with Kade’s face, and then made the outline of his body. He had such a beautiful body, all lean muscle and gorgeous olive skin. Memories of the afternoon, of exploring those long lines made me feel all warm inside.

He laughed. “Shouldn’t I be the one blushing?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Shh, don’t move.”

For the next thirty minutes he did as asked, watching me watch him. I remembered when I had drawn Ian, the playful, flirting glances we’d shared. With Kade it was more intense—his stare downright smoldering.

He flexed his muscles a few times and I laughed, telling him to stop it and behave.

“
Hey, Tom is having some of us up to his grandparents’ cabin Saturday night,” Kade said, picking up a ceramic angel that was on my vanity. “Do you want to come?”

I was happy he had asked me. I couldn’t wait to spend more time alone with him, and a cabin in the woods, even if it was with our friends, sounded perfect. “Sure, I’d love to.”

“
It’s only about an hour up A-93. I’ve been there a few times. Nice place, isolated, and there’s supposedly a few resident ghosts.”

My heart leapt. “Really?”

He nodded. “I haven’t seen any, but when Tom was younger he said there was an old lady who stood in his room and watched him sleep.”

“
Do you believe in ghosts?” I asked, actually anxious to hear his answer.