Haunted (8 page)

Devon spun, his gaze dancing over the attic.

Again, the space was bisected and he was locked into a smaller corner of the attic.

There were doors in this corner. There were staircases behind those doors. He flung himself at the first one and jammed his card into the slot, pounding on the door when it didn’t open.

The flashing red light seemed to taunt him.

Devon was used to being the hunter, not the prey, and he didn’t like the change one bit.

* * *

Zach awakened in the middle of the night, startled by some sound. There was a rustling from behind the walls, and creaking from the ceiling above. Something bumped and fell and he heard a muffled cry. Did he hear voices? Running footsteps? The wall behind the bed was knocked hard from the other side.

Too loud for mice.

What was happening in Caitlyn’s room?

He sat up and surveyed the room, only recalling when he touched the heavy velvet drapes surrounding the four-poster bed that he was on Windswept Island. The fire had burned down to glowing coals and the room was chilly. It was strange that he could see his surroundings, though they were shadowed, because the lanterns were all extinguished. He’d made sure of that before he went to sleep.

He rolled over, following the source of the light, and stared.

The door that had been locked was open just a crack. That door had to lead to Caitlyn’s room, and there was golden light spilling through it.

Was she awake?

Was she okay?

He heard her moan softly, and the sound made him hard. He wanted to teach her to moan, to hear her beg, to know that he was the only one who could satisfy her. He wanted to train her to be his.

In the dark of the night, with Caitlyn’s soft moan carrying to his ears, anything seemed possible.

Zach rolled out of the bed and crept toward the open door. To his surprise, it actually opened into a narrow space between the walls. It was like a corridor, except that it ended at the exterior wall. In the other direction, there were stairs extending up into dark shadows. It might have been those steps creaking that he’d heard from the wall behind his bed.

There was another door about six feet away, on the other side of the corridor, which gave him a view of another bedroom similar to his own. He eased across the corridor and peeked into the room that had to be Caitlyn’s.

From the sound of her breath, she was sleeping. She moaned again softly and whispered something he couldn’t make out. No doubt after that séance, she was dreaming of Luke.

The oil lamp was on the table nearest to the door and it flickered at a low setting. Without it, the room would have been darker, lit only by the glowing coals on the hearth. Her room was decorated in pale blue and white. Her bed was draped in lace, in contrast to the heavy velvet drapes on his bed, and he could see her figure through the sheer cloth.

It looked as if she were naked.

Zach swallowed. He knew he shouldn’t be in her room. He knew he shouldn’t look at Caitlyn while she slept, especially as he knew he’d be tempted to do more than look. Maybe he was a nice guy, after all. He turned to leave, then his gaze fell on a coil of braided black leather rope. It appeared to have been dropped just inside the corridor beside the door to Caitlyn’s room. Next to it were a pair of black leather gloves and a length of black cloth that would make an excellent blindfold.

Maybe he was supposed to be in her room. Why else would this door suddenly be open, providing a passageway from his room to Caitlyn’s?

Maybe this was how her fantasy was supposed to get fulfilled.

He thought about Rex and The Plume, and how he’d seen things facilitated there. Was he supposed to take Luke’s place and stand in for his buddy for Caitlyn’s last night with him? It would be typical of Rex to have seen that such a scene might be Zach’s fantasy—and there had been that line in the contract about The Phoenix not being responsible for any collisions between fantasies.

Zach’s fantasy was possible, and the opportunity right in front of him. Caitlyn’s fantasy was impossible, but maybe, with the blindfold, she’d never know the difference.

Zach wasn’t going to spend a lot of time thinking about it. He tugged off his nightshirt and chucked it back into his own room. He pulled on the gloves, liking how snug and soft they were. The leather was really thin, so his sense of touch wouldn’t be completely dulled. He straightened in the doorway to her room and surveyed it, holding the coil of braided rope and the blindfold.

The first thing he did when he stepped into the room was extinguish the oil lantern. The room was plunged into sexy shadows. Caitlyn murmured in her sleep and rolled over, even as Zach stole across the floor, intent upon making her his own.

For one night, at least.

* * *

Caitlyn had had a hard time getting to sleep after that séance. She couldn’t figure out how they’d made the illusion of Luke seem so real, and had laid in bed, puzzling over it. It had to have something to do with smoke and mirrors. The more she thought about it, the more familiar the actual image of Luke had seemed.

Like it had been lifted from a picture of him. Maybe someone had done some digital animation with it, something that wouldn’t bear too much scrutiny but could work in a shadowed dining room when people were feeling beyond all they knew to be true.

It certainly had given her a shock.

She’d halfway expected the vision of Luke to call her out, and repeat that last argument. The fact that it hadn’t, that the specter of Luke evidently hadn’t remembered the explosive argument that only the two of them knew about, told her that it wasn’t really Luke. No, he wouldn’t have been shy about setting her straight, if he really had come to visit from beyond the grave.

Was she supposed to believe the illusion was real?

Was she supposed to believe that Luke was coming to seduce her tonight?

Who was actually going to take that job? Caitlyn had a feeling about that, about the reason Devon was at Windswept, but she knew she would have preferred another answer.

She finally dropped off late, and fell into a deep sleep after the activities of the day. Zach’s name was on her lips, so it only made sense that when she awakened to a terse command, she assumed it was him.

“On your knees.”

There was a man in her room, a man whose features she couldn’t distinguish beyond the lace drapes around the bed. His voice was low, as if he meant to disguise his voice, but sharp as well. He slapped her hip with his leather glove, and it stung in a most exciting way.

Caitlyn also caught a whiff of soap and a particular cologne. Her puss was instantly humming.

Zach!

“Now,” he snapped and Caitlyn did as she was told. “Your back to me,” he said, his voice so hard that it made her shiver. It was Zach, though. She recognized his voice even though he was keeping his words low and rough.

Commanding.

“Close your eyes.”

Caitlyn did as instructed, wondering what he had planned for her, not knowing how she’d manage to wait. Her hips already wanted to buck and she was slick with need. She felt the comb against her skin, the teeth pulling as it was forced through her tangled hair. She realized that he was gathering her hair into a ponytail, ensuring it was tight across her skull. He bound her hair back, running gloved hands over her head to ensure that all the hair was stretched smoothly to the elastic. Her hair was never smooth, all its crazy curls always slipping free, but she heard his little sound of satisfaction when he had made it the way he wanted. The elastic pulled a bit, but Caitlyn liked the feel of it, and the brush of her loose curls against her shoulder blades.

She liked even better that Zach liked her hair this way.

A blindfold was wrapped around her head and tugged hard, then knotted at the back. The cloth was thick and soft, and the feel of it made Caitlyn shiver almost as much as his possessiveness. The blindfold was wrapped around her head twice more and bound even tighter each time, securing her in darkness. He moved so decisively that she nearly lost her balance and Caitlyn loved the reminder that she was out of control.

She loved it even more when his gloved fingertips slid over her mouth. She arched her back, even as his palm locked over her mouth for a heady moment. “Silence,” he commanded, his breath launching her shivers, and she nodded compliance.

Without being able to see, she felt more keenly aware of her other senses. The coverlet was silkier, the quiet was filled with a thousand seductive sounds, and the scent of his skin convinced her that it was Zach who was claiming her.

That set her skin on fire.

Never mind her puss. She was wet and tingling, aching with the desire to feel him inside her, wanting as she’d never wanted before.

But he’d prepare her for his pleasure first. Caitlyn shuddered in delighted expectation.

A braided leather rope was wrapped around her torso then, the leather sliding across her skin with excruciating slowness. It was tugged taut beneath her breasts, confining her just the way the corset had. She knew she had the opportunity to run but held her pose, wanting to prove her submissiveness. Again, he jerked her a bit as he tightened the knot, making her aware that she was his toy.

Her upper arms were bound to her sides next, securely lashed in place, but not tied so tightly that her circulation was affected. He ran his finger beneath each round of the rope, checking with a protectiveness that made her dizzy. He worked with exquisite slowness, ensuring that she felt the braided leather slide over her skin, ensuring that she was aware of her own capitulation.

Her arms were crossed behind her back then and her wrists bound to her elbows, with a thoroughness that meant she could barely wriggle. He commanded her to struggle, just to prove to both of them how securely she was bound.

Caitlyn’s breath hitched when she couldn’t work herself free. She was thrilled and a little frightened, at risk and loving it. She trusted Zach to make everything perfect for both of them.

The rope went around her waist then, knotted at the front then again at the back. She felt bound and fettered, more tied up than she had in that corset.

It was so hot.

He pushed her forward and she fell helplessly onto her belly, guessing what he wanted. Luke had tied her up this way, hog-tying her with the same kind of leather rope. Had he learned how to do it from Zach? There was no doubt that Zach was more confident and decisive in his binding of her, as if he’d tied up a thousand women like this.

And never let them go.

God, she hoped she didn’t have to share him. She wanted his undivided attention.

Her feet were bound to her butt, the rope knotted around both her ankles and her insteps. He rolled her to her back then, and ran a gloved hand over her, as if to admire his prize. Caitlyn arched her back and struggled, then moaned as she spread her legs wide in invitation. She heard him catch his breath. She felt the weight of him on the mattress beside her and the heat of his skin pressed against her own.

Then he caught her chin in his gloved hand, holding her captive to his kiss. His kiss was hard and demanding, possessive and passionate. It seemed he was simmering on the verge of orgasm, and only holding himself back with an effort.

Caitlyn couldn’t decide whether it was more thrilling to think that she might be able to excite Zach enough for his restraint to slip, or that he was playing the naughty game of her fantasy with such expertise.

It suddenly made perfect sense that he knew about The Plume.

She writhed beneath him, wanting to tempt him to take her. His hand slid down the length of her, he gripped her thigh, then those gloved fingers slid into the slick heat of her wet puss. She squirmed, rubbing herself against him, even as his kiss deepened. His lips were against her ear again, his finger and thumb pinching her throbbing clitoris.

“You’re very bad,” he whispered in her ear and Caitlyn moaned her agreement.

She knew then what she had to say.

“So bad,” she gasped, trying to sound contrite. “I’m so sorry, Luke. I should never have told you that it’s Zach I really want. Punish me, Luke, please!”

Her captor froze for a heartbeat, telling her that she’d been right about his identity. Then he rolled the hard bead of her clitoris between his finger and thumb, pinching it enough to drive her wild but not enough to make her come. “Oh, I will punish you,” he murmured in her ear, then grazed it with his teeth. “In fact, it will be my pleasure to give you exactly what you deserve.”

And he kissed her again, kissed her as if he’d eat her alive, and Caitlyn couldn’t imagine anything better than this.

* * *

Was it true?

Or was Caitlyn just messing with his mind?

Zach didn’t really care whether she meant her confession or not. He was going to take this night—if not every night this week—to show her what it meant to be his captive. He was going to truss her and claim her and do his best to train her. The way he figured it, he’d probably not see her again after this trip.

Unless she wanted to change their relationship.

It was the perfect opportunity to show her what she’d be getting herself into.