Shadow Game (GhostWalkers) Read online

  “I was having fun,” she complained, sweeping her tousled hair out of her face. The action split the shirt wider open, so that her breasts were fully exposed.

  He grinned at her. “I thought you said I was the impatient one.” He quickly braided the dough, inserting the mixture from his mixing bowl. “We’ll have plenty of time once I get this in the oven.” He was already suiting action to words.

  When he turned back to her, the look on his face set her heart pounding in anticipation. He moved toward her like a stalking tiger, all play gone, his eyes hot, burning with intensity. Watching him, Lily’s heart accelerated. She couldn’t have moved if her life depended upon it. He mesmerized her with his heat and hunger.

  Ryland reached for her, pushing her legs wide to accommodate his larger body. He dragged her close, then bent her back, sprawling her on the counter. The candlelight played lovingly over the curves and hollows of her body, touching and caressing with flicking light. His hands were gentle as they shaped her, moved over her, following the playful light. “Do you know how beautiful you are to me, Lily?” Casually he dipped his finger in a small jar of strawberry jam and painted a line down the valley between her breasts to her belly button.

  “I know I let you do outrageous things to me,” she said, her breath in her throat. It was the way he stared at her. As if she were the only woman in the world. As if he were so hungry for her he might not make it through the night without her and he didn’t care who knew it.

  His hand caressed her moist entrance, long, slow strokes but never quite entering her. “We haven’t even started with the outrageous things,” he murmured and bent his head, his tongue following the trail of strawberries.

  Lily shivered with pleasure, the cool air teasing her nipples into taut, responsive peaks. The feel of his tongue lapping over her skin, leisurely, casually, as if he had all the time in the world to enjoy her body, added to the anticipation. Her hips moved restlessly in invitation. He responded by pushing two fingers deep with tantalizing slowness.

  She gasped as his teeth scraped her nipple, as his mouth closed over her breast, the sensation nearly lifting her off the counter. Then he was following the strawberries across her stomach, swirling around her belly button, dipping his head lower to catch the taste in her tight curls.

  “You’re killing me.” Her hands found his hair, tangling deep into the curls.

  He breathed fire between her legs. Pushed his fingers deeper, lifting his head so he could watch the way her eyes clouded. It heightened his own pleasure to see her response to him. As he withdrew, she pushed back, riding his hand, grinding deeper, seeking relief.

  Her head was thrown back, her back arched, her breasts jutting temptingly as she moved, enticing him to fill her completely. He merely smiled, keeping the pace slow, blowing warm air against her heated mound. Before she could think, could reason, he withdrew his fingers entirely and replaced them with his tongue, stabbing deep.

  She made a sound, somewhere between a scream and a moan, and her fingers tightened in his hair, dragging him closer. Her body erupted into quake after quake. Thinking she had relief, Lily took a breath only to be driven straight up into the clouds a second time as he caught her thighs firmly, holding her open to his seductive exploring.

  He had wanted her like this, sprawled out in front of him, open to him, her taste and cries driving him wild. He had dreamt of it so many times, coming awake with a hard, painful arousal and no Lily to give him relief. He indulged himself, taking his time, taking her to the point of release only to stop, to ease back while she squirmed and pleaded. She was hot, a fiery inferno, and he knew what it would be like when he buried himself deep inside her. His hands moved over her body, exploring every secret hollow, every shadow, staking his claim, letting her know she belonged to him. The way he wanted to belong to her. All the while his mouth and fingers were taking her to the edge.

  Lily was nearly sobbing with need. “Please, Ryland, I can’t take any more.” She meant it too. Her body was going up in flames and she was drowning, drowning in sensation.

  “Yes, you can, Lily,” he said softly, lifting his head, sucking the taste of her from his fingers, “you’re going to take all of me deep inside you where I belong. I want you to know what no other man will ever do for you. I’m going to know you so intimately you’re never going to think of leaving me.”

  He sounded so arrogant she smiled. She’d never thought of another man since the moment she’d laid eyes on him. And she certainly had never entertained the notion of doing any of the things she did with him, with some other man. “Stop talking and let’s have some action,” she pleaded.

  He caught her hips, dragged her off the counter, and spun her around so that he could tip her back over the low shelf. She had a beautiful butt. He loved watching her walk, the sway of her hips was always such a temptation. One hand caught the nape of her neck, holding her in position while his rough palm caressed her buttocks. “Is this comfortable with your head down like this? I don’t want you to hurt.”

  She laughed softly, pushing back against his hand. “I’m not thinking about my head right now, Ryland.”

  He felt her one last time, wanting to insure she was ready for him, his hand spreading her legs as he pressed insistently into her hot channel.

  He was already on the edge of control and so was she. She pushed back again eagerly as he thrust hard. She was velvet soft, hot enough to burn him with flames, so tight it was as if a fiery fist gripped him and squeezed and suckled. She couldn’t move, helpless in the position he had forced her into, and it gave him a heady sense of power. He drove into her again and again, filling her to the hilt, forcing her soft, yielding body to take every inch of him. She matched his rhythm, crying out softly as her body shuddered with pleasure. He kept pumping into her, hard strokes, moving in and out of her, thrusting deeply, a brutal passion seizing him, taking him ferociously.

  Lily let go, the orgasm taking her like a freight train, ripping through her with immense strength. Her body shuddered, the sensation overwhelming so that she struggled not to cry from sheer pleasure. She hung there limply, exhausted, unable to move, Ryland buried deep inside her.

  “Lily, tell me you’re feeling what I’m feeling,” he said, his mouth moving over the nape of her neck. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  “Did I act like you hurt me, silly? But when you get your strength back, I expect you to carry me to bed. I’ll never walk again.”

  His hands traced the line of her back, massaging, exploring, loving. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve this, Lily, but thank you.”

  She turned her head to smile at him, still too limp to move. Totally satiated, completely relaxed. The bump on her head was throbbing, but it didn’t matter. He never stopped touching her, never stopped looking at her. He took what he wanted, but gave her so much more in return. “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are, Ryland?”

  He cupped her breasts, his thumbs brushing her nipples, savoring the way her muscles clenched around him with every stroke. “No, but I don’t mind at all if you’d like to tell me. Right now, you’re looking pretty magnificent to me.” And he meant it.

  It was a long while before he managed to lift her into his arms and take her back to her room. They feasted on cinnamon rolls and jam before taking a long, very erotic shower together.

  Long after Lily lay asleep in his arms, Ryland stared up at the ceiling. That part of him that was dark and dangerous had been aroused. Someone had dared to put hands on Lily. It was the wrong thing to do.

  FOURTEEN

  LILY stared at her face in the mirror. The bruising around her cheek was too pronounced to ignore.

  “I don’t think you’re going to be able to hide those bruises from Arly,” Ryland said. “You look very…colorful.”

  “Oh, don’t even say his name. I’m going to hide all day. Maybe you can lie for me and tell him I went to the laboratory.” She frowned and touched the blue-black smudges. Her cheek was
puffy and there was a distinct bump on her temple.

  Arly and Rosa were going to go totally ballistic on her. And John, sweet John would probably get teary-eyed. But it was a good excuse not to go in to work.

  “You try going near that place,” Ryland challenged, “and I’ll rat you out so fast to Arly, your little head will swim.”

  She made a face at him. “Your true colors are beginning to show. You have a mean streak in you.” She peered at her face again. No amount of makeup was going to hide the purple and blue smudges. “I’m going to have to send Arly to Alaska on a mission of great importance.”

  “As long as you don’t go back to Donovans today.” Ryland handed her the phone, then stood watching her as she dialed and left a message for Thornton saying she would be working out of her home until the swelling in her face went down.

  Lily handed Ryland back the phone. “Try not to look so smug,” she told him, “I had every intention of calling in today, it had absolutely nothing to do with your bossy ways. I think giving orders to your men has gone to your head.”

  “Is this some kind of women’s lib thing?” Ryland’s eyebrow shot up. “Because if it is, look in the mirror again, lady.”

  Lily ignored him and twisted her hair into a tight chignon. Her gaze jumped to his when he made a sound in his throat. “Was that you growling? Do you have a kind of affliction you need to tell me about?”

  “I wasn’t growling. It was an involuntary protest.”

  “It was a growl, and what could you be protesting now? You’re a high-maintenance person, aren’t you?” Lily asked with a straight face and an aristocratic lift of her perfectly arched brow.

  “High maintenance?” he echoed. “Lily, you’re out of your mind. I don’t think you have a clue what I do. Men obey orders because they trust me to know what I’m doing in high-risk situations.” Nobody disobeyed or questioned his orders. Until Lily.

  “Really?” She looked down her nose at him, princess to peasant. “Men obey your orders because of your rank. Women think things out and decide all by their little lonesome what to do.” She patted his head, her fingers lingering for just a moment on a spiral curl. “Don’t worry, now that I know about your little ego problem, I’ll do my best to look all gushy when you pound your chest.”

  “Little ego problem? There’s nothing wrong with my ego! How the hell did you manage to turn this around? Woman, you keep it up and you’re going to find out just how kinky I really am.”

  Lily looked amused. “Of course. Sex. When losing an argument, man resorts to sexual implications. I have to assume you’re referring to kinky sex for some kind of male caveman gratification. I did read about it, but, never having experienced kink, it didn’t sound all that stimulating to me.”

  “Would you like me to remedy the situation for you?” Ryland offered in exasperation. “I’d be more than happy to give you an example. I want to see this book you keep referring to, and damn it, Lily, if you’re laughing at me, I will turn you over my knee. Are you always this annoying?”

  She leaned over to kiss his shadowed jaw. “I get worse if anyone tries to tell me what to do. Ask Arly. Even my father gave up after a while. He said I had problems with authority figures.” Her hand stroked the slight stubble on his jaw and at once a delicious tingle began immediately at the junction of her thighs. She could feel the rasp against her skin all over again, heightening her pleasure.

  His hand captured hers and he pulled her fingers into his mouth. One by one. Slowly. He suckled each finger. His tongue curled around her skin, laved and teased and danced. A slow burn started deep in her core, spread liquid heat like a fire through her veins. Lily jumped away from him. Eyes dancing. Skin flushed.

  “You should be outlawed.”

  Ryland grinned at her, pleased with her response. “I am outlawed. And I don’t mind you stroking my ego when it’s genuine.”

  Her eyes widened. Her mouth opened but nothing came out. Lily shook her head. “Go away, I have work to do. I have to find all the tapes my father made on the first experiment and get every single exercise. What worked, what didn’t.”

  His grin widened so that his silver-gray eyes lit up. “Lily falls back on science and work when she’s losing.”

  “I didn’t lose,” she snapped instantly. “I never lose. I just don’t choose to continue with this silly discussion when there’s work to be done. Go away and bug your men. They’re probably all ready for a chest-pounding session.”

  “It’s not quite as fun when there’s only a few of them. When do you think we’ll hear from the doctor about Jeff’s condition?”

  “I’m certain he’ll get back to me today.” She pushed him away and walked toward the outer rooms.

  Ryland kept pace easily. “I’m going with you, Lily. Two pairs of eyes are better than one.”

  She stopped in her tracks, not looking at him. “The day staff is here and it isn’t safe, you might be seen.”

  “I can get by your day staff with no problem, Lily, that’s not the reason you’re so reluctant to let me go with you. You don’t want me to see those tapes of your childhood.”

  His voice was so exquisitely gentle, so tender, Lily’s heart turned over and she had to blink back tears. “I feel betrayed when I’m watching them, and if you’re watching, I feel as if I’m betraying him. What he did was wrong, Ryland. It was bad enough that he did it to me, but there are other girls, women now, who didn’t have the luxury of this house and the people in it. They had to have struggled, maybe even were institutionalized. That’s not right. It will never be right and nothing I do will ever change it.”

  Ryland took her hand, pressed a small kiss to her open palm. “He learned to love through you, Lily. He learned right from wrong and morals through knowing and loving you. Don’t feel guilty because you loved him. He tried to do right by you. He knew he was inadequate by himself so he surrounded you with others who would fill in the gaps. And he gave them a home, a sense of purpose, a family. Few people are all bad or all good, Lily. There are shades of both in most people.”

  She nodded. “I know that, Ryland, but this hurts. Going into that horrible room and having memories return…. Watching those tapes and hearing his voice. I didn’t mean anything at all to him back then. You can hear the impatience when I don’t perform to his satisfaction. Rosa—who was the nurse then—is a much younger woman, and looks very different, she tries to comfort me and he yells at her all the time.” She pressed a hand to her head, still refusing to look at him.

  “Lily, why should you put yourself through that?”

  “I need the information for all of us. For your men, for those girls. When this is over, if it takes a lifetime, I’m going to find every one of those women, and I’m going to make certain each of them is all right.”

  “You don’t need to be alone when you’re watching the tapes.” He tightened his fingers around hers. “We’re partners in every sense of the word. I know you loved your father, and you don’t need forgiveness for loving him, Lily. The man loved you and did his best to provide you with a home, a family, and the best education he could. There’s no shame in that.”

  “The shame is in you seeing,” Lily insisted. “He looks at me as if I’m a specimen. I don’t want you to see that. I can’t let you see me that way.” She couldn’t find the words to tell him it diminished her. It reduced her to that frightened, unloved child in a house of strangers. Ryland would see her like that. She couldn’t bear that.

  “I love you, Lily.” He caught her chin, tipped her face up to his. “I’m going to love that little girl because she’s in you.”

  Lily pulled her head away. “Ryland, don’t. You don’t know that. You don’t know how you’re going to feel about me when you view those tapes.”

  He started to protest, stopped abruptly when he noticed her hand trembling. He ached for her, felt her inner turmoil, pain swamping him, swamping her. “If I’m so shallow, Lily, that I’m not going to feel the same about you because you were
mistreated as a child, then you should find out now. Do you really think that of me?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment. “No, Ryland. It’s just hard for me to sit there and watch it. To know it’s really the truth. He never prepared me, I had no idea of any of it.”

  “Just keep in mind your father grew to love you. You gave him something all the money in the world couldn’t buy.”

  “Isn’t that the point, Ryland?” For the first time, her voice was bitter. “He did buy us and when everything went wrong he used his money to get himself out of trouble.”

  “At that time, Lily, he knew no other way.” He slipped his arm around her, drew her beneath the protection of his shoulder. “Let’s face it together. It won’t be so difficult if we’re together.”

  She remained stiff, holding herself away from him.

  “I’m part of you. Whether you like it or not, I’m part of you. I feel what you feel. It’s there, Lily, and it’s always going to be there, whether we’re separated or not. Take me with you.”

  Lily did look at him then. Her blue gaze moved over his face, studying him feature by feature. Looking for something. He sent up a silent prayer hoping she would find it. “You trusted me completely last night, Lily, this isn’t different. You have to believe in me.”

  “This isn’t just about me.” She whispered it to him, wanting him to understand, wanting him to realize what he was asking of her. There were all those other little girls. She owed them something. Privacy. Respect. Protection.

  His fingers massaged the nape of her neck, even as his body urged hers down the long hallway toward the winding stairs. “I know what it feels like to want to look after others. To have to look after others. It’s born and bred in us, we can’t help it. Share this with me and allow me to make it easier for you.”