Whispers from the Dead (Serenity's Plain Secrets Book 2) (22 page)

I had already asked myself the same question a dozen times, so I was prepared to answer her quickly. “No. Rowan is a good man who did something very wrong and reckless when he was a stupid teenager. We’ve all done things when we were young that could have turned out badly, but we were lucky. Rowan wasn’t.”

My statement seemed to be just what Anna needed to hear. She stood up and came around the table. When she reached me, she picked up my hands and squeezed. “That’s what I thought. I just needed to hear it from someone else.”

I rose and said, “Rowen is in for a rough time, both healing physically and dealing with the fallout from his confession. The kids are going to need you.”

Anna smiled. “I know and I’m here for them, don’t you worry about that.”

By the time I stepped out of the warm kitchen and into the crisp air, I was wearier than ever. Saying goodbye was never my strong suit, and here I’d been forced to say it a half dozen times in less than an hour.

I lifted my face to the breeze and closed my eyes for a moment. In the short time that I had been in the house, clouds had moved in, blocking the sunshine and dropping the temperature several degrees. But it still felt nice. The cold wind was like a gentle shake to my shoulders, bringing me out of the moody depression that had fallen over me while I had listened to Rowan tell his story.

I stopped at the shed and patted both Dakota and Midnight before heading to the guest house. It was hard to believe that it had only been a few days since I’d shot the mamma cow. The really disturbing thing was accepting the fact that it had been more traumatic for me to put a cow of her misery than to kill Asher Schwartz. When it had happened, I almost took perverse pleasure in ending his wretched life. The only thing that had sobered me was Jotham bleeding out at the same time. Once again, I couldn’t help but wonder if God really had a plan for everyone or if we were all just flying by the seat of our pants.

It was all so depressing, really. Several Amish kids buying illegal narcotics, revenge burnings, overdoses, secrets, lies, kidnapping…and several shootings—and all in one northern touristy Amish community. Who would have thought this trip would be so mind blowing. And the really crazy thing was that I still had a week left of vacation.

“Serenity, wait up.”

I stopped and turned around. It was Gabe. Seth waved and went to the house, but Gabe walked up and met me at the door of the cabin. Looking into his blue eyes, a shiver crawled up the skin on my arms. It was as if I was seeing Jotham’s good eye right before he died. There was no mistaking this boy’s identity, but maybe now that Jotham was gone, everyone would forget his exact features. The Amish didn’t keep portraits of themselves, so people had only their memories to guide them. In this case, that was probably a good thing.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Daniel said you’re leaving tonight. Do you have to go so soon? I mean, you didn’t really get to have any fun while you were here.”

His words touched me deeper than any of the goodbyes or even shooting the cow. I quickly wiped the stray tear away and cleared my throat. “I would love to stay, but I have my own town to take care of. I came here to do a job…and that job is finished.”

Gabe nodded slowly. “I understand, but I hope you’ll come back someday.” He hesitated and I knitted my brow together waiting curiously. “You didn’t get to see our community in its best light. It’s not always so…exciting around here.”

I laughed and patted Gabe on the shoulder. “I know that. And I already told your sisters I’m coming back for a proper touristy vacation this summer.”

Gabe grinned and was beginning to leave when I remembered something.

“Wait. There’s something else,” I took a breath, “Jotham wanted me to tell you that he loves you.”

The words hung on the winter air as if they were shirts on a clothes line. I watched confusion play across his face for a moment, and then came understanding. He took a cautious breath and nodded. When he walked away, he stood straight and tall and his stride was long and relaxed.

He was going to be all right.

The one room cabin was bathed in soft afternoon light that made me instantly sleepy. I dropped my keys on the table and forced myself to meet Daniel’s dark gaze. He rose from the bed and stood looking at me. I can only describe the look in his eyes as needing. I felt the same way, so I understood perfectly. All the violence and death of the last couple of days had left a coating of lonely despair all over me, and Daniel was feeling it also.

Without a word, he closed the distance. He grabbed my arms and pulled me against him. And then he kissed me. His lips were firm and fit perfectly against mine. He tasted so good, that I couldn’t believe that I had not surrendered to him long ago.

When he nuzzled my neck, I made a hoarse noise that I never heard come from my throat before. The sound made Daniel groan in return. He pushed the coat off my shoulders in a single movement and I was only half aware of him helping me pull my shirt up over my head.

He stopped just long enough to gaze down at me for a moment and smile. His eyes told me that everything would be all right, his hands told me that he would never let go of me unless I forced him too. I had waited too long for this moment and now that it was really happening, I couldn’t make it happen fast enough.

Daniel’s breath was warm and minty against my ear, his fingers kneaded my hips and his tongue traced the corner of my mouth. Somehow, his shirt was off and my hands were rubbing into his back, forcing him even closer.

Then we were in the bed and our clothes were off. Our bodies were finally completely skin to skin and I marveled at how well we fit together, almost as if we were created only for each other. He kissed me again, deeper and harder than before. His fingers moved from my hips over my belly. Desperate chills raced through me and I couldn’t stop myself from wantonly arching against him. But Daniel wasn’t in as big of a hurry as I was. He leisurely traced a path between my breasts. His fingers moved over a nipple, causing me to cry out again. I couldn’t have formed a coherent word if I’d wanted to. Daniel was relentless with the exploration of my body and I writhed beneath him as if I was a total slut. But for the first time ever, I didn’t even care. I was being moved completely by instinct, and that was all.

Just when I thought I was going to faint dead away, he was inside of me. At first his rhythm was controlled and smooth as silk, but soon his pace quickened and I was the one in control. With a deep groan, he came just an instant after I did.

I was panting as if I’d run a mile and shivering at the same time. Daniel rolled over and pulled me up under his arm. His breathing was as erratic as mine and our sweat mixed together as we continued to stay tightly pressed against each other.

After a few quiet moments, my breathing returned to normal and I finally looked up at Daniel. He was already staring at me with glowing eyes that made me shiver all over again. The look on his face was so intense that it scared me a little. I had spent my entire romantic life since Denton trying to avoid such strong emotions towards a man, but here I was, completely lost to them. And it seemed that Daniel was, too.

“You are the most precious thing in the world to me,” Daniel whispered.

Sure, it wasn’t an, “I love you,” but it was damn close. I almost opened my mouth to tell him how deep my feelings were for him as well, but instead, I swallowed a knot in my throat. Why was it so damn difficult for me to let Daniel completely in?

Daniel was waiting and I began to form the words in my mind, almost ready to push them out when my cell rang.

“Don’t answer that,” Daniel ordered.

It was perfect timing, so I wouldn’t ignore it. I struggled away, inch by inch, and then stretched to reach my coat lying on the floor. I managed to answer the phone on the last ring. Daniel rolled onto his back and growled.

“Hey, Todd—what’s up?”

“I was going to ask you that. How did my intel work out?”

“Uhm, well, it was right on. It’s a pretty long and crazy story, perfect for a retelling at lunch time on Friday at Nancy’s Diner. Make sure Bobby joins us, too. He’ll love this one.”

“Glad to hear that you’re coming home, especially now,” Todd said flatly.

I laid back into the pillow with the feeling of apprehension crawling all over me. “What now?”

“It’s Aaron Esch—remember him—our cult leader? Well, he’s in a tizzy about a new Amish family that’s moved into town.”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with the sheriff’s department,” I stated flatly.

“I don’t know—something about strange healing practices. It sounded like voodoo shit.”

I really wanted to say, “That’s impossible,” but I’d been down that road before. Anything was possible with the Amish.

Instead, I said, “Get as much information as you can and we’ll meet in my office on Friday morning.”

“But it’s only Monday,” Todd complained.

I cut him off. “If you haven’t forgotten, I’m still on vacation,” I reminded him and then I hung up. I turned the phone off and tossed it onto my pile of clothes on the floor.

When I rolled back over into Daniel, he was already facing me with a broad smile on his mouth. “You’re not rushing back to Blood Rock after all?”

I lifted my hands up and cupped his face, bringing his mouth back to mine. This time the kiss was less urgent, sweeter, and I savored it in the same drawn out way that I had the delicious apple pie. Only Daniel tasted even better.

When we finally came up for air, I whispered, “This rustic little cabin is beginning to grow on me. Maybe we should stick around here for a few days and do the tourist thing. I always wanted to shop for crafts,” I teased.

“There won’t be any time for shopping…I promise you that,” Daniel breathed and then his mouth was on my breast again and I couldn’t think at all.