The sky had turned an ominous black by the time she exited the bus and made her way down the empty street through the rain to her house. Lightning flashed too close for comfort and thunder roared overhead. A dog howled in the distance when the rain intensified from a steady drizzle to a blinding downpour. The hundred-year-old oak trees on her neighbors’ lawns creaked and swayed in the high winds.
The thunder clapped again, making her jump as she pushed through the wind to her front door. Inside the old house, she flipped on the lights. They glowed and flickered across the faded oriental carpets while lightning lit the walls with eerie shadows before fading away.
Legs shivered and made her way to the kitchen for a paper towel to dry her face, neck, and arms, and used another to towel-dry her hair. Aunt Ada taught her it wasn’t safe to bathe while lightning flashed overhead, so she’d wait to take a hot bath until the storm subsided.
Her skin prickled and she rubbed her arms against the chill. The big, empty house seemed overlarge and unwelcoming against the raging weather. Regret punched her in the solar plexus as the reality of what she’d done struck her like a fist. She leaned against the kitchen sink, taking in gulps of air, dismay weakening her knees.
Why in the world had she run from Jack?
What had possessed her to leave him?
Possessed. That might be exactly the right word.
Legs eyed the walls around her, seeing the home that had once been her haven as oppressive for the first time. She’d never questioned Ada’s affection. But now… That love was choking the life out of her. Her aunt’s hold had killed her chances of a future with the only man she’d ever wanted. She was doomed to repeat her aunt’s loveless life.
The townspeople she served in the café considered her independent and strong-minded, a woman worthy of admiration. If they knew the truth, they’d pity her. She was a coward and a fraud.
“Are you happy now, Auntie?” she screamed. “You finally got what you wanted. The Harris men are out of our lives for good. I ended things with Jack. It’s just you and me again, like it’s always been.” She screamed the words a second time, trying to force the sounds through the walls. Her throat burned with the effort and tears poured down her face.
Wind rattled the windowpanes until she thought they would break while sheets of heavy rain blanketed the glass. Thunder rumbled before each lightning strike. The kitchen lights flickered, and then came on again, but she sensed the power wouldn’t last much longer.
Sure enough, the lights flickered, winked, and went out. Legs stood still and waited for her vision to adjust to the darkness before retrieving the lantern stored on top of the refrigerator. Candles would light the downstairs for the duration of the storm.
Lightning flashed like a beacon to guide her way to the fridge. She turned on the lamp and went to the dining room to light candles, placing them around the lower level of the house. With the rooms softly lit and nothing to do until the power returned, she carried the lantern to the living room and went to a chair by the window to watch the rain.
She set the lantern on a side table and lifted the afghan from the back of the overstuffed chair that had been her aunt’s favorite. The soft yarn hugged her skin like a soothing embrace when she covered herself and sank into the cushions. The tension that had coiled her muscles eased beneath its warmth while raindrops played a lullaby against the glass.
How many times had she seen her aunt Ada sit by this window, in this chair, and watch the world go by?
Perhaps she fell asleep and dreamed, because she would have sworn fingers combed her hair to soothe her while she rested. The hands that glided over her head and patted her arms were the same hands that had comforted her growing up.
Singsong whispers filled the air, as if pulling her deeper into the house. The water sluicing the windows, the downy blanket on which traces of her aunt’s scent still clung, and the cushions beneath her formed a womb in which to retreat.
It would be so easy to just give in and stay safe in this house forever.
Thunder roared again and lightning lit up the room, bringing her out of her lethargy with a start. She blinked and looked around her as another boom sounded. Lightning brought her attention to the window where movement in the yard caught her eye. She leaned forward for a better look.
A figure strode up the walk toward the house through the teeming rain like a swimmer slicing through a pool. Drenched, sagging clothes clung to wet skin, and long hair dripped rivulets to the shoulders, yet the head was raised to the elements in bold defiance. Below the streaks of lightning and cracks of thunder, he marched to her front porch.
Jack.
Her breath caught and her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. He’d come back for her. She tossed the afghan off and moved away from her chair.
Why had she thought he’d give up on her so easily? Jack had always been there for her, and Aunt Ada, though her aunt had gone so far as to reject him even when he’d fed her broth and read to her and kept her company in the final weeks of her too-short life. He’d been steadfast and loving, though he hadn’t been loved in return.
And she’d been too afraid of her aunt to put a stop to it.
The realization filled her with fury. The injustice for the way Jack had been treated, despite being the most noble, honorable man she’d ever known, opened her eyes to the truth. Jack deserved better and she’d enabled her aunt to keep them apart.
Until this moment, she’d given Jack lip service. Though she wanted to, she’d never fully given him her heart or committed to him in a meaningful way that would overcome her aunt’s objections.
Fists pummeled her front door, reverberating until the wood crackled and groaned in protest. Only the slightest pause broke the chain of insistent pounding.
She pulled the door open and rain blew into the entryway, spraying water on the floor and splattering her shoes.
Jack stepped into the house, dripping puddles. His jeans and shirt were plastered to his skin. His eyes were half wild and his teeth were bared. Water dripped from his long, drenched hair onto his face. “I called you about a hundred damned times. Why wouldn’t you answer your phone?”
Not waiting for her reply, he pointed to the upstairs landing. “Is she in her room?”
Legs glanced around and lifted a shoulder. “I’m not sure, but she’s definitely here. Her presence is stronger than ever.”
Jack rushed toward her. “I know what she wants. The letters made me see what she needs. When you ran out of the restaurant to go to her, the solution hit me in the head like a shot. I’ve been going about this all wrong, and I’m sorry.”
“What?” She shook her head in confusion.
“He took her by the shoulders and gazed into her eyes. “Do you love me?”
Legs shrugged in defeat. “What does that matter now? She’s attached herself to me. She won’t let me go and I can’t leave her.”
He acted as if he hadn’t heard her reply. “Say it, dammit. Tell me the truth. Do you love me?”
The intensity of his gaze penetrated her bones to the marrow. Energy surged through her like shockwaves and she trembled in his hands.
“Admit that you love me. Don’t say this has all been for nothing. All these years…wasted.” With those last words she saw pain flash behind his eyes, though he refused to look away. Thunder rattled the house, as if trying to shake sense into her.
Of course she loved him. Achingly. Desperately. Forever. What was the use of denying her feelings? They both knew the truth. She’d loved him since she was a girl and would love him until her last breath. But loving him wouldn’t change a thing. She was still chained to a ghost.
She licked her dry mouth. “You know I do. I always have.”
“I want to hear you say it.” His hands skimmed her upper arms to cup her elbows. His tone softened. “Tell me, sweetheart. Say the words.”
The tenderness in his voice pierced her soul like a physical pain. Her resolve crumbled and fell away, leaving her raw and exposed. She expelled a long breath of surrender.
“I love you.” She closed her eyes and reveled in the words she knew to be true. “I will always love you.”
He kissed her quickly then, and took the lantern from the table. “Stay here.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
He touched her cheek. “I have nothing to lose and everything to gain by confronting her. It’s time to do what needs to be done.”
Before he ascended the staircase, he spoke to her again over his shoulder. His tone was firm. “Don’t follow me. I want to handle this my own way, once and for all.” The lightning outside the windows flashed, and thunder boomed more violently than before, punctuating his words.
Minutes passed after Jack disappeared and she heard nothing except the sound of his muffled voice. She stared at the living room ceiling, trying to imagine what went on between Jack and her aunt. She had no doubt Ada would fight Jack’s invasion into her bedroom tooth and nail. But would she hurt him? She worried her aunt would do him harm.
The house groaned and creaked as rain pummeled its roof and siding. The very foundations seemed to tremble, much like her body shivered. She hugged herself to stay warm and wondered if her aunt’s ghost had raised the chill in the air. Jack was soaked to the skin; he must be freezing.
Was he afraid, too? When he disappeared up the stairs, he seemed fiercely determined. Few men would dare confront the formidable Ada Anderson in life, let alone challenge her ghost after death. But few men were as steadfast and bold as Jack Harris. Ironic, how she’d never admitted that to herself before.
Maybe Aunt Ada should be afraid of Jack.
Her mouth curved into a smile and she almost chuckled at the thought.
Almost.
Minutes ticked by like hours. The lamps flickered and flashed against the walls and along every surface, illuminating the room before going out again, causing temporary blindness. Legs pressed her fingertips to her eyelids to clear her vision just as a howl sounded upstairs.
Jack’s voice.
Her heart hammered and a lump formed in her throat, making it hard to swallow. She shook with fear for the first time since she’d lived in the house. What had her aunt done to Jack? He needed her help, whether he knew it or not.
When an enormous crash followed a series of shouts, rattling the floor, Legs moved into action. “Jack,” she screamed and ran toward the base of dark stairs. Her pulse pounded.
She looked up at the shadowy landing above her and began her ascent into darkness.
When she reached the top of the stairs, she ran to the master bedroom, following the glow that spilled into the hallway from the interior. Jack lay on his back, unconscious on the floor, arms and legs splayed. The lantern had tipped over beside him.
“Jack.” She ran to his side then dropped to the floor on her knees and pressed her ear to his chest. His breathing came in shallow rushes from his slack jaw. His heartbeat seemed regular, but his skin felt clammy and hot and his pallor had turned a sickly gray. She rested his head inside her lap and brushed her fingers across his forehead. He didn’t respond.
“What did you do to him?” She screamed the words with an anguished cry. Her chest heaved with angry sobs. Her gaze searched each corner of the room but found nothing.
She choked out a threat with her teeth bared. “If you hurt him, Auntie, I’m finished with you, understand? I’ll burn this house to the ground.” She swallowed her fear and became more resolute. “I love him! Do you hear me? He’s the love of my life and nothing you can do will change that.”
A cool breeze scented with clean summer rain wafted through her hair, across her face, and over her shoulders. Warmth like a kiss from the sun penetrated her skin and soothed her jangled nerves. Peacefulness washed over her, much like the calm she felt as a child when her aunt brushed her hair after a long, hot bubble bath.
Legs tried to see her aunt’s ghost through the darkness, but couldn’t. Only the sensations of sun and breezes let her know her aunt was near.
She righted the lantern and then swept the damp hair from Jack’s brow with her fingertips. As she did, his eyelids fluttered. He blinked and met her gaze. A lazy smile crossed his lips. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she replied, smiling back. “I thought I’d lost you.” An ache filled her with such overwhelming relief and longing she wanted to cry. Instead, she hugged Jack’s head to her chest.
“We won’t have any more problems with Ada,” he said.
She leaned back a little. “How is that possible?”
He cleared his throat. “We worked it out. After we had a few words, she caved. In the end, she couldn’t resist me.” He grinned up at her, and Legs wondered how she could ever have pushed this wonderful man away.
“I’m sure you’re right.”
“Bet on it.” He slowly shifted to sitting position, stretched, and frowned as he rubbed the back of his head. “Good thing I’ve got a thick skull or this bump would be a bleeding goose egg by now.”
“What happened?” Legs moved closer and pressed her palm to his chest. His wet shirt had turned ice cold. He shivered beneath the fabric.
“We came to an understanding.”
“Let me get some towels and blankets to warm you. Then we’ll talk.” She stood, lifted the lantern, and headed for the bathroom to retrieve the candle and matches on the toilet tank. Fresh towels and blankets lay folded in the linen closet. She grabbed a stack of those, too.
She returned to the bedroom with the things she needed and set the candle on the bureau. Golden light brightened the room after she lit the wick. Jack stood and moved the lantern to the side of the bed, casting a yellow glow across the floor. Legs laid the stack of linens on top of the cedar chest they’d placed at the foot of the bed earlier that day.
Legs held out a towel for Jack to dry his hair. He wiped his face and rubbed his head with the terrycloth, grimacing as the fabric brushed the knot on his scalp. She spread a clean sheet over the mattress and then held out a blanket for Jack. “Take off your wet clothes.”
He looked around him and then spoke with authority into the air. “Time for that privacy you promised, Ada.” Thunder rumbled outside and the floor creaked in response. There was a whooshing sound like a whirlpool rushing down a drain and then the bedroom door slammed shut. Jack smirked. “She loves me, too, I just know it.”
The warm sensations of moments ago vanished, leaving Legs chilled to the bone. Her hair and clothes had been damp before they’d touched Jack’s soaking garments, and they’d since turned icy cold. “How did you get her to listen?”
“I told her I understood.” A grin spread over his face when her jaw dropped. “It might have been the first time in her life—or her afterlife—that she didn’t know what to say.”
Legs caught her breath. Her heart fluttered inside her chest. “Go on.”
“I figured out what her real problem was. The clues were all hidden inside the letters.”
He counted off on his fingers. “One. She thought she might have been pregnant, but wasn’t, and never had a child of her own. Two. After falling head over heels, her lover left her because he loved another woman. Three. Years later, he gave her a gift for a milestone birthday, but the gesture proved to be an empty one. His heart belonged to another woman, just like it had the summer Ada fell in love with him.”
“So you’re saying that in my aunt’s eyes, she lost Gerald twice.” Legs sighed. “We also know she was unhappily married to my uncle, who left her.”
Jack nodded. “And she lost her only brother, your father, whom she loved, in a car accident. Your mother too.” He raised his brow. “See a pattern here?”
“She lost everyone she’d ever loved. Except me. Clearly, she’s done everything possible to prevent that from happening.”
“Exactly. But we figured that because she claimed to dislike Harris men, my father and I in particular, she was trying to protect you from us so-called roughnecks and womanizers.” Jack dipped his head. “I’m sure she thought she was protecting you, but her real reason for keeping us apart was more complicated than that. Or maybe simpler; I’m not sure which.”
“I see where this is going.” Sadness enveloped her at the hopelessness her aunt must have suffered, making her bone tired all of a sudden.
Jack touched her hand. “Bottom line, Ada didn’t want to be alone.”
Legs lowered her head. “She probably felt guilty for not being entirely selfless.” Knowing her aunt the way she did, the guilt had sent her to regular church services, drained her of vitality, and eroded her will to find romantic love again.
Her tears returned at the realization and began to fall. “Love destroyed her.”
Jack unbuttoned his shirt, his eyes trained on her face. “And love would finally bring her peace.”
He wiped her tears away with his fingertips and kissed her tenderly on the lips. “Don’t worry. Everything will be all right now. I told her she could stay. That neither of us would try to chase her from the house ever again.”
She couldn’t have heard that right. “You said what?”
He pulled the shirt from his shoulders and peeled it off his back. The sounds of wet fabric moving over his slick skin carried her gaze to his body. The candlelight defined the muscles on his arms, casting light and shadows over his sculpted torso.
“I let her know I would spend time here whenever you asked me to stay. And that we would be naked. In this room. Like now.”
Legs had the sudden urge to run her hands across his chest and kiss him senseless.
He stood there, looking like a half-naked god, and continued talking as if he hadn’t noticed her staring. “I told her that we would make love whenever we wanted, and that if she didn’t want to be embarrassed, she’d better move to another room.”
“You said it, just like that?”
Jack smirked. “Just like that.” He rubbed a hand down his midsection, brushing away droplets. “I reminded her that you’re the mistress of this house now and should take the bedroom that rightfully belongs to you. Other than that, I saw no reason for her to go.”
Jack shrugged and his eyes sparkled in the dimly light room. “I don’t want to come between the two of you anymore. You love her and she loves you. I can live with that.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came.
Jack continued. “Growing up, there were seven kids and two adults in my house. My brothers and I could get pretty rowdy. We’d bloody our knuckles or noses during a fight, but we never forgot we were family. Our love and loyalty ran deep. After living with eight other people, I think I can manage life with one beautiful woman and her ornery ghost. Everyone comes with baggage, right?”
Legs shook her head at him and grinned. No wonder she loved this incredible man. “Did your agreement take place in those few minutes? How did she communicate? How did you hear her?”
“Ada’s voice seemed to whisper inside my head, like she was talking in her normal voice, but through a filter. And though I couldn’t see her, I could feel her presence.”
“Yes, that’s what happens to me sometimes. At first I thought it was my imagination or wishful thinking. But I came to realize her ghost and I were connecting.” She took a step closer. “You were unconscious when I entered the room. Clearly, you did more than talk. What went wrong?”
Jack chuckled, seeming suddenly self-conscious. “I slipped and fell flat on my back. Hit my head. Dropped the lantern. Your aunt didn’t do that, in case you thought she attacked me. My dripping jeans made the floorboards wet. Guess I got spooked.” He laughed out loud at the pun.
Legs didn’t know whether to feel relieved or to laugh with him. Relief won. “Guess I’d better lay new carpets after the walls are painted.”
“Good idea.” He massaged the back of his scalp and continued with his story. “Before I knocked myself out, Ada and I talked about something else.” He wrapped his wet shirt inside a dry towel and laid them together on the floor. His fingers worked the fly of his pants and he slid the waistband over his hips.
Legs eyed the bulge behind his damp, clinging boxer shorts. It was hard to stay on track when Jack took his clothes off.
“I assured her of something more important. Something I had to be certain about before I confronted her.”
Legs dragged her gaze back to his handsome face. “What was that?”
His expression turned solemn. There was no bravado in him now. “I convinced her that I love you. And that you love me. This isn’t a fling.”
Legs hurried forward and threw her arms around him tight, taking in the scent of his skin and reveling in his raw strength as she hugged his body close. She sighed and laid kisses against his shoulder. “You must have been very persuasive.”
“She just needed someone to stand up to her. I told her the honest truth.”
She ran her palms up the muscles of his back and spread her hands across his shoulder blades. His body felt larger and stronger, and more reassuring than ever, and she would never tire of touching him. “In life, my aunt believed in the power of keeping her word. During the years she worked as a bookkeeper, no one ever questioned her integrity. I can’t imagine that she’s changed. If she told you she’d give us privacy, she will. You freed us, Jack. That means everything to me.”
He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Does this mean I finally get to stay the night?”
She lifted her brow in question. “Condoms?”
“In my back pocket.”
A moan issued from deep inside her throat. “I’m going to fuck you until you beg for mercy.”
“You can try,” he replied with a grin. “But first, get out of those wet clothes. They’re in my way, and they’re making me cold again.” He shivered for emphasis, which made her laugh.
“You’re such a drama king,” she teased, stepping back to pull her damp shirt over her head. Jack watched her movements as if they were the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. His gaze honed in on her lacy bra and then skimmed her torso. “Are you sure you aren’t going to miss all the fuss and angst with my aunt?”
Jack reached for a dry towel on top of the cedar chest and began buffing her skin when she came closer. “Not a bit.” He lifted her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers. “I’ll have plenty to do, keeping you satisfied.”
She made a sound deep in her throat. “Ooooh, I like the sound of that.”
She unbuttoned her jeans and tried to ease them over her hips, but the denim stuck to her damp flesh. Jack pulled the fabric down and gently dried her limbs a section at a time with a towel until the jeans slid to her ankles. She stepped out of the clammy denims and nudged them away with her toes.
Jack sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed the towel over her thighs and down the length of her legs a final time, trailing goose bumps while she stood before him. Then he opened the blanket she’d brought him, covered his shoulders, and pulled her close, draping the blanket around her, too. The heat from his body and the warmth of the coverlet brought relief from the chill, as well as a cozy intimacy that turned erotic the instant he pressed his mouth to her belly and kissed her there.
His kisses lit her skin like scattered embers from a midnight fire. A soft hiss escaped her lips the moment his tongue grazed her abdomen. The blanket tumbled down.
He nudged her panties over her hips and they fell to the floor at her feet. He released the snaps on her bra, and that fell too, while his mouth worked its magic. She touched the crown of his head and wove her fingers through his hair and let her head tip back. Pleasure shot through her until her legs quaked and her knees turned weak.
She sank slowly to the floor. As she descended, Jack supported her back and held her steady, his mouth brushing her tummy and dragging kisses to the swell of her breasts until her knees touched wood and she could support her own weight. At this angle, she remained level with his seat at the edge of the mattress.
She opened her eyes and smiled.
* * *
He loved the way she touched him. Tenderly, yet with fire, as her palms stroked the ridges of his abdomen and worked their way to his chest. Her thumbs circled his nipples and he moaned as they constricted beneath the friction. When she pressed her mouth to his navel, the kiss sizzled against his skin like a wax seal.
Or a brand that bound him to her forever.
Her full, exquisite mouth skimmed his stomach and his muscles quivered with each stroke of her tongue. Sensations like sparks from exposed electrical cables shot though his limbs. While her breath flowed over his flesh in tiny gusts, he held his, and then reminded himself to breathe. Heat flowed upward, igniting him from the inside, and his throat went dry. He licked his lips and swallowed.
When she returned to his lower abdomen, ignoring his erection, his breath rushed from his lungs. She meant to torment him—to take him to his breaking point before satisfying him. She was a witch, a menace, and an angel all rolled into one.
She blew against his skin and goose bumps followed her trail. Her tongue traced his hairline and flickered downward to taunt him. Gently, she laved and sucked, licking until his body trembled. He wanted to shout for her to take him into her mouth, until she began to stroke him.
Had he ever wanted her this badly, after all they’d been through and the years they’d waited? The answer was no. Knowing she loved him had made him want her more.
She tucked loose strands of her hair behind her ear and pressed her cheek to his thigh, rubbing her face against him, seeming to savor the contrast between her softness and his steel. His hard-on grew stronger, if that were possible, as an overwhelming ache gripped him. All sensory perception outside his body ceased in that moment, while his anticipation surged.
Please.
Her mouth grazed his erection and he almost cried out. Every fiber in his body tensed, waiting for her mouth to pull him inside. His heart hammered so loud he could hear it beating inside his chest. His pulse raced blood to his ears with a deafening roar.
He propped himself up on his elbows and let his head drift back. He groaned while the old house creaked against the raging storm, fighting off the inevitable thunder inside his body as the structure moaned beneath the pounding rain. Lightning flashed, casting flickering light through the room and over their naked bodies. The sight of the woman he loved touching his skin almost undid him.
Not yet.
He caressed the top of her head and ran his fingers along her cheek to her jaw line to stop her when his pleasure became too great and he might lose control. The cool air in the room wafted over him, leaving a wake of gooseflesh when they separated.
“Come here,” he said. He barely recognized his own voice.
She looked up at him, beautiful brown eyes shining in the candlelight. Her mouth was wet with him and her cheeks had flushed. She climbed onto the bed, wrapped her arms around his neck, and trembled beneath his hands. “Now,” she whispered.
The rattle of cellophane broke the stillness, forcing his awareness that the wind and rain had stopped pounding the windowpanes.
The storm that had raged for more than two hours calmed.
She covered his erection with the condom and then straddled him. A shudder trailed over her and she lurched, held her hips steady, and then thrust three times more before releasing a cry that reverberated through the room. She gripped his shoulders until his muscles flexed beneath her fingers, licked her bottom lip, and then nipped its fullness, licking and biting while she came.
He tensed then, thrusting up and into her until he was spent, clutching her arms as he shouted her name. Linda.
Exhausted, but exhilarated, he held her tight to his chest while their hearts raced, beating against one another like echoes. He listened as her breathing became less taxed and leveled off, running his hands down the skin on her back, and savoring the texture against his fingers.
“I love you,” he said. “I will never leave you.” And he knew he never would. Life without her would be unimaginable after all they’d been through—and there was so much more to look forward to—marriage, kids, and a full life. He’d do whatever it would take to make that happen. After surviving Ada Anderson, he and Linda could overcome any obstacle.
She kissed his cheek with more tenderness than she’d ever shown him, and then rested her head against his shoulder. “I love you so much, it hurts,” she murmured. She wriggled against his chest and tucked in closer.
“Loving me will never cause you pain again, I promise,” he replied, touching her hair and savoring her scent. He kissed her forehead. Whatever it took, he’d protect their relationship and show her what love without sorrow felt like.
He and the woman he’d loved all his life were bonded, at last.