Deep IsThe Night: Haunted Souls Read online

  Ronan’s gaze surveyed the room and took in the small space with its cozy-looking queen bed. When his gaze slipped back to hers, he drew his coat off slowly and tossed it on hers. His erection pressed against his jeans with a vengeance. He wanted her without a doubt. Unfortunately, his fierceness both frightened and aroused her. He might be intrigued with the idea of sleeping with her, but could he be patient?

  Renewed apprehension made her say, “I’m…I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

  He stalked toward her until she backed up against the door. He brushed his hand over her hair, twisting long strands around his fingers. “What are you terrified of Clarissa?”

  She breathed in his all male scent, the intoxicating blend calling to her senses. The heat in his eyes lowered to a slow simmer. She tried not to respond to his overwhelming presence, to the maleness inside him that demanded a female response.

  “I need more time to think about what we’re doing,” she said. “What we did in that elevator was…was…crazy.”

  He brushed a finger across her jaw line, then whispered low, his voice a temping growl of brisk and gentle. “And that scares you?”

  “Frankly, yes.”

  “You’ve never been into wild sexual experimentation.”

  “No. And if you’re talking about sex with two men and one woman or two women and one man, I told you I’m not into that. And if you are—”

  “In the past, many, many years ago, I indulged once with two women at the same time.”

  She sniffed, feeling slightly disappointed in him. “Well, it isn’t for me.”

  “So you want me to think you prefer white bread sex?”

  Embarrassment sent heat into her face and she glared at him. “There’s nothing wrong with white bread sex.”

  “No, there isn’t. But what if I told you there was something more incredible than you ever dreamed?”

  “I thought what we did in the elevator was pretty unbelievable as it is.”

  He chuckled, the sound deep, slow and sexy. “But there’s more. Much more.”

  With reverence he kissed her forehead, then her nose, then her mouth. She leaned into his tender touch. She needed more than a wild fling with a man that was half-vampire.

  With determination she pulled away from him. “Ronan, we’ve got to talk this through. I’m not into one-night stands.”

  A gentle smile curved his mouth. “I’ll want you for more than one night, believe me.”

  The overconfidence, the old-fashioned possession in his attitude should have affronted, but instead it fascinated her. “Give me a compelling reason why I should finish what we started in the elevator, Ronan. And don’t leave anything out.”

  He released a soft growl. “Woman, I don’t think I’m going to be able to take much more of this.”

  “This?”

  He cupped her cheek, caressing the skin with his thumb. “Looking at you, being near you, touching you without being buried inside you is driving me insane.”

  His words rasped over her and warmth filled her lower belly once again. She grinned. “You’re a big boy. You can handle it.”

  A teasing smile came back to his lips. “You think I’m a big boy, eh?”

  Without a hint of remorse he leaned into her so she could feel his erection pressing against her stomach again.

  She trembled. “Wow, that doesn’t want to go away, does it?”

  He laughed, the sound caught between strangling and hilarity. “All right. I’ll tell you what you need to know. And as soon as I tell you, you’ll do one of three things. You’ll either run like hell, never speak to me again, or you’ll be terrified.”

  Apprehensive, she wished his disturbing presence didn’t keep her libido and her sense of obligation to him so prominent in her mind. She glanced down and tried for humor again. “Oh, I see. You’re not going to tell me you’ve got two of those bad boys, are you?”

  Again he chuckled, and she loved the rich, whisky and velvet sound of his voice. Dark. Smooth. Sinful. “Now that might be interesting to have two cocks. Think of what I could do with them.”

  She tried not to smile and didn’t succeed.

  “But no,” he said, “I’ve only got one cock, and it wants you damned badly. Sure, and if you don’t put me out of my misery, I’ll have to take the problem into my own hand.”

  Arousal boiled and built inside her like a hurricane. She’d never fantasized about seeing a man jacking off, but she had a feeling tonight in bed she’d close her eyes and dream about Ronan Kieran wrapping a big hand around his cock and stroking until he exploded.

  “Shit,” he said. “I felt that, Clarissa. What are you thinking? It must be sex.”

  Trying to be brave, she decided to confess. “You’re right. It was. But I think it’s over now.”

  He groaned softly. “Damnation, woman—”

  “Do you know you speak like someone from another century sometimes? It’s really interesting. Layer it on with that Irish accent and I’ll bet women follow you all over.”

  “Trying to avoid the subject, eh, Clarissa?”

  She sighed. “Please be patient with me. I might understand the paranormal, but everything that’s happened in the last couple of days has me rattled.”

  Clarissa knew she would have been in big trouble if she’d let him take her in the elevator.

  I would have let him take me if the phone hadn’t interrupted.

  He knew it and she knew it. So how could she put him off now? Staring into his luminous eyes sent trails of fire dancing along her every nerve ending. She may have delayed sleeping with this man, but not for long.

  “It’s getting late.” She kept her tone mild and polite. “It’s been a long day. Tomorrow I need to go to the crypt and try and find my camera. I can’t believe I didn’t even think of it until now. I really must be losing it. It’s probably damaged beyond repair.”

  Alarm darted over his features. “You will not go out there without me.”

  One of her brows twitched upwards as she responded to his imperious tone. “What makes you think I want you with me?”

  He sighed and closed his eyes. “Damn it, Clarissa, don’t do this to me.” He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Mother of Mary, the seer never told me—hell—Yusuf never told me it would be this difficult.”

  She frowned. “Who?”

  He shook his head. “You’re right, it’s late.” He looked at the bedside clock. “Stay here and I’ll get your camera tonight.”

  She smiled. “You can see in the dark, I take it?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Okay, it’s a deal. Just bring it to me in the morning.”

  With a groan he reached for her, his mouth coming down on hers with a heated passion that made her warm all over again. He tasted her deeply, his tongue intruding as he caressed her mouth.

  She didn’t even get a chance to respond before he stepped back abruptly. He slipped into his coat. “Don’t leave this room tonight and don’t open the door to anyone but me. In the morning don’t leave until I’m here to escort you.”

  With a blink and that strange popping sound, he was gone.

  She gasped. Startled beyond belief, she stared at the spot where he’d stood. Okay, now she’d seen everything.

  “That would explain how he appeared in the crypt and how Sorley appeared tonight,” she murmured to the empty room. “What have I gotten myself into?”

  Apparently, something really, really bizarre.

  Puzzled and caught between lingering arousal and irresistible curiosity, she sank down on the bed.

  Chapter Nine

  The ancient one explored the tunnels, though in his trip through the insidious maze he’d yet to discover the resting place of the evil. He thought once he’d entered the tunnels under the Gunn Inn he’d feel the power of the black hell immediately. Instead he experienced only the drip of water as it made its inexorable way through the caverns.

  “Where are you?” he asked the dark.

  No
thing answered him back, no feelings intruded to prove iniquity other than himself existed in this tunnel. A twinge of worry raced into him, making him wonder if he’d imagined the evil shadows that had helped him as much as the good shadows helped Micky Gunn not long ago.

  Where had the wickedness gone?

  Malevolence this potent didn’t dissipate with ease, no matter what some thought. Few mortals or immortals could perform a ritual to rid their world of the purest form of evil, which he’d felt in these tunnels before Ronan and his band of mortals had fought him.

  He wanted the sinister energy with a blazing necessity that demanded fulfillment this minute, and the longer he wandered to find the evil, the angrier he became. Darkness parted for him as he walked.

  It didn’t take much longer.

  As he stepped into a tunnel he hadn’t traversed before, the power hit him like a punch to the stomach. He gasped for breath, then dropped to his knees as emotions burst through him like an explosion.

  Fear. Hate. Loathing. Desperation. Panic.

  He laughed and threw back his head. “Yes! Yes! Come into me! Make me one with you! For I will be the greatest evil!”

  Power surged inside him like a draught of fresh air for a drowning victim. He inhaled deeply.

  “Yes! Yes!” He threw his hands up over his head and laughed again. “Come within me!”

  Night flowed like new rain over his drought, a renewal of gloomy spirit, a pouring of unimaginable hate deep into his psyche.

  He achieved his wish to be replenished by the hate, his body jerking as a kaleidoscope burst inside his head. Yellow, red, blue, green, the spectrum of the universe invaded his dim spirit, his despicable vampire soul.

  When the feeling eased, he opened his eyes and rose to his feet. He licked his lips and smiled. He required sustenance and the empowerment he’d received assured success. A deep chuckle issued from his throat.

  Time to feed.

  With his newfound energy bursting forth, he left the tunnels and rushed toward Pine Forest.

  Cloaked, he waited outside Jekyl’s Hotel until the restaurant section closed for the night. He saw a young waitress leave from the back entrance and make her way to her car, start it up and defrost the windows. He smiled. Little did the poor soul know stepping out of the hotel restaurant would be the stupidest thing she’d every done. After she left and proceeded down the main street, she drove until she reached her home on the outskirts of town.

  Stupid humans. Despite fear and the cops suggesting they stay home at night, the woman didn’t care. Perhaps her employer demanded she work late. She would wish she’d defied her employers.

  He pondered, as the waitress stepped out of her car, if she thought she was immune to horror and death. So many humans thought they couldn’t be harmed, their relentless sense of immortality their eventual downfall.

  As the woman whistled, the vampire hovered nearby, ready to uncloak and show her what he could do for her. If she’d never experienced ecstasy in her small life, she would this last time.

  A crackling in the nearby bushes made the woman jump back, a gasp coming from her throat as she showed fear. He laughed as a cat jumped from the hedgerow. The waitress looked around, her eyes full of fear. She’d heard his laughter, no doubt.

  Before she could react, he popped into visibility in front of her. Her mouth opened on a silent scream, and before she could squeak he grabbed her and yanked the woman into the bushes by the side of the house.

  Settling her under him, he held her arms over her head and looked deep into her eyes. He used his considerable charms to seduce her, to bring her into a state of languor that meant she would no longer struggle. As he probed the woman’s long repressed fantasies and made her warm for his explorations, he bit into her neck. Blood spurted in all directions. Gore would be all over everything, a greeting for the police when they came to the scene.

  As the sweetness of her life force drained down his throat, he gulped and enjoyed the musky scent of her arousal. He loved it, thrived on it, and inhaled it with a glorious and profound need. She tasted delicious. Until now she’d never known such excitement. He wouldn’t leave her to her miserable life. Instead, he would take all she had to give and leave her to be found in the morning, cold and alone but having satisfied his needs. Several moments later he reared out of the bushes with a roar of strength. He didn’t care if the neighborhood could hear him. Instead he screamed again with his newfound invincibility. With the addition of the woman’s blood, he felt equal to anything Ronan and his crew might throw at him.

  No one could defeat him this time.

  With a final smacking of his lips, he dissolved into the night.

  * * * * *

  Ronan took his time walking through town, keeping to the backstreets. Cold wind brushed across his cheeks, a light snow flurry coating his hair with white. Snow crunched under his feet.

  He could have popped into the cemetery outside town and searched for Clarissa’s camera and located it within seconds. Then he could have been back in her room and handing her the camera. Maybe he could have convinced her to sleep with him, without getting into the complicated particulars of his immortal status.

  Right. At this point, he didn’t see that happening. He’d missed the power curve and now she’d want a full explanation, just as he’d vowed.

  “Damn it, why did I promise her?”

  Maybe because he’d never intentionally hurt a woman in any way, and when he promised a woman something, he followed through.

  Instead of rushing back to her, he chose to wander and take time to think. God, how he needed to think.

  He wanted to take Clarissa more than anything he could remember wanting in a long time. If the phone hadn’t interrupted them in the elevator he would have had her. Experiencing the glorious sensation of her hot, wet cunt squeezing his cock and rippling around him in orgasm would have been fantastic. He gritted his teeth in exasperation.

  Who was he kidding? It was a lot more feckin’ complicated.

  His emotions jumped from staggering desire to total frustration. From the first time he’d seen her in the cemetery, a punch of attraction had hammered his gut, but he’d never guessed the other emotions that would come from knowing her. It scared the hell out of him.

  As he thought about her alone and vulnerable in her hotel room he almost went back, almost popped into her room. He had to keep her safe. He didn’t like this atypical alarm crawling inside him like maggots, eating away at his defenses. He stopped and allowed the wind to flow over him. Wait a minute. What was he afraid of? She’d asked him that earlier and he hadn’t answered. He feared for her safety, yes, but something else worried him. The suspense and danger rippled around this town like a live wire unleashed. Something felt off in the breeze, more odd and misshapen than the ancient one’s ugly head.

  Damn it all to hell. He couldn’t afford this wimpy attitude. He stuffed apprehension back where it belonged. Moments later he realized what created his original concern.

  In order to keep Clarissa safe he must seduce her. Even if it meant using some unscrupulous vampire tactics.

  He stopped in his tracks.

  Saints preserve me. He couldn’t do this to her. She already understood he didn’t live like a normal man. When he saw her again he would explain about his seven hundred year existence, and he would tell her the facts. Besides, he knew too well they didn’t have forever to come together as man and woman. He must bed her and do it soon.

  Once he reached St. Bartholomew’s and entered the cemetery, he wandered into the crypt she’d fallen through. The tunnel under the crypt, dark and freezing, didn’t bother him. He’d stopped at Erin’s house long enough to grab his weapon loaded with silver bullets. His superb senses of hearing and sight detected little life nearby; most animals had taken shelter against the cold and increasing snow. He found Clarissa’s camera where they’d forgotten it and snatched it up.

  Before he could move he felt the pressure start. Like a hot, nasty p
oker the feeling intruded into his stomach. He looped the camera around his neck and checked the immediate darkness. At first Ronan couldn’t be certain what he felt was real. The creeping sensation walking up and down his spine appeared on rare occasions.

  Then it hit him. What if the ancient one managed to revive earlier than expected? Although he hadn’t anticipated fighting the ancient one by himself, he always knew it could happen. A chill, unexpected and unprecedented in his immortal state, rose inside his body and threatened to resurrect fear. Taking a deep, fortifying breath, he clenched his fists together and braced his feet wide apart to take whatever might come next.

  The darkness came alive, rippling around him like bat wings.

  What the hell—?

  Red eyes burst from the tunnel toward him and he saw the gargoyle head upon the tall, cloaked body as the ancient one came to a stop directly in front of him. Ronan drew back several steps for leverage. Preparing for attack, he felt his immortal blood flow as it warmed and glowed within his body.

  The ancient one’s cloak flapped around his body in nonexistent breeze, revealing a tall body encased a black leather coat much like his own and leather pants. The ancient one hadn’t stopped growing for some time after he first became a vampire a thousand years ago, and he towered over Ronan’s six-foot four-inch frame. Nothing like encountering an almost seven-foot vampire in a dark tunnel to make Ronan feel ready for a fight.

  Blood speckled near the corner of the creature’s mouth, and Ronan realized with a sinking feeling the ancient one obviously had enough stamina regenerated to feed. The stench of blood made Ronan’s stomach clench. Where blood might have aroused him at one time to feed, evidence the ancient one had killed made Ronan ill.

  Damn the stinking hell rat.