New Year's Bang (6 page)

She looked at him steadily. “What do you think my New
Year’s Resolution was?”

A slow smile finally pulled at his lips. He nodded
towards the bed. “Well, I thought maybe…
that
.”

Lita’s pulse jumped. That was the first smile she’d
gotten out of him in seven years. “Well,
that
might have
been part of it.”

They looked at each other as if seeing one another
for the first time.

Or the first time since a boy had stolen a girl away
to a high school restroom.

“I had a resolution of my own,” Troy finally
confided. He cupped her breast and gave it a slow caress. “Think we
can get our clothes off this time?”

Happiness spilled through Lita. “We can try.”

He looked into her eyes. “Happy New Year, baby.”

She wrapped her arms around him. “Happy New
Life!”

###

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Everlasting

Dream Man (Dream Weavers, Book 1)

Courting Trouble

Lexie (Triple X, Book 1)

Maxie (Triple X, Book 2)

Roxie (Triple X, Book 3)

High School Reunion

Unrequited

Solace in Scandal

Tiger Lily (erotica)

Going Deep (erotica)

Private Dancer (erotica)

Copyright 2011 Kimberly Dean

It was getting too dangerous to drive. Chevon’s
fingers curled more tightly around the steering wheel and she
squinted harder, trying to see through the murkiness surrounding
the car. She needed to find a place to pull over. It was getting so
bad she could barely see the road.

“Ah!” she gasped when the fog shifted and she saw how
far she’d drifted over the center line.

She quickly adjusted, but if she overcompensated she
couldn’t tell. The fog had left her blind. It billowed around the
car like thick, choking smoke. The light from the headlamps
reflected off the wall of white, making the interior of the car
nearly glow. The effect was unnerving. It was almost as if the fog
was shining a light inside so it could see what it was swallowing
whole.

The idea made her shiver.

“I’ve got to come upon the coast soon,” she
rationalized. “I haven’t taken any turns.”

But it had been this way for nearly an hour. Where
were the towns? The landmarks? She thought she was heading to
Longmont, but she hadn’t even seen a road sign for the last five
miles.

She wiped the side window with her sleeve. The
condensation in the air was coating everything.

How could she have driven this far without seeing so
much as a house? Or any other traffic? And why wasn’t she more
worried about that? As eerie as everything was, she didn’t feel
lost – not in the typical sense of the word. She was heading
towards
something
; she could feel it.

She’d sensed a pull ever since the fog had first
hijacked her.

She let out a puff of air. What had she been
thinking? Why hadn’t she checked the weather forecast before she
left?

Because she’d been in a hurry.

She tried to push the thought away, but it wouldn’t
go. As impulsive as this road trip had been, she’d be lucky if
she’d remembered to toss a toothbrush in her overnight bag. She’d
just needed to get away from Reid… her father… her
ever-constricting life…

She veered sharply left when the fog suddenly parted
and she found her front tire dangerously close to the ditch on the
other side of the road.

“Damn it,” she hissed. Stress had her muscles ready
to pop. This trip was supposed to ease her mind and help her answer
some questions, not—

It was then that she saw something that looked
familiar. Or
felt
familiar was a better description. The
pull inside her intensified and, on instinct, she turned left and
crossed the center line of the two-lane highway.

Almost as if by magic, a turnoff appeared and before
her was a road. It was unpaved, unlit, and unmarked. With no sign,
it didn’t inspire confidence, but she proceeded anyway. She didn’t
really have an option.

She tried to shake off the uneasiness floating in her
stomach. What was she getting herself into? She looked around
anxiously. On this road the fog seemed to ebb and flow, retreating
to give her a glimpse of her location before closing back in.

The retreat wasn’t at all comforting.

She’d driven into a heavily forested area. Pines and
maples surrounded her. The trees seemed to close off the road
behind the car as the path turned and the terrain became hillier.
The road was becoming more sand than gravel the further she went.
She was just about to turn around – forget the pull – when she
noticed something.

She opened the vent wider. “Salt!”

Relief washed through her. The ocean. She’d known
that if she just kept driving east, she’d eventually have to end up
at the shore. Now just where she’d ended up… That was the real
question.

She turned right, following the road, and her
headlights illuminated the answer. “Everlasting Inn,” she read on
the hand-painted wooden sign.

Almost on cue, the fog parted and the moon shone down
upon her destination.

With it, Chevon flinched.

The moon seemed to spotlight the old Victorian house.
It stood at the edge of a short cliff overlooking the Atlantic
Ocean. It was a beautiful home, painstakingly restored to its
youthful splendor. The turrets stood proud and the porch swing
rocked steadily in the light breeze. Under her headlights, the
paint shone white and the shutters glowed dark blue.

For as attractive as the home was, though, it had an
aura that made her breath catch.

The house felt lonely. Debilitatingly so. Even the
trees seemed to keep their distance. They opened up in a valley
surrounding the house with only one weeping willow venturing
closer.

The desolation was heavy, but not nearly as heavy as
the certainty that settled in her gut. This was it. This was what
had been pulling at her, drawing her nearer and nearer.

Chevon looked around. Under a bright sun, the inn
would be pretty as a postcard. Others had obviously made it their
destination. There were several cars parked in a lot that had been
carved out of a copse of trees. Of anything, that parking lot
looked most out of place.

It hadn’t been there before.

She stared at it for a long time. Should she stop?
Where else would she go?

Decision made, she stepped on the gas. The tires
crunched on freshly laid gravel as she parked next to a humongous
SUV. She turned off the engine and, at the silence, her shoulders
slumped. She was so tired. Tired of always doing the right thing…
Tired of letting others decide her life for her… She leaned her
head back against the head rest and stared at the inn. Maybe here,
she could finally stop. Maybe here, she would be able to think.

Summoning what energy she had left, she popped the
trunk and retrieved her purse from the passenger seat. She got out
of the car, but hesitated before she closed the door.

The air.
Standing out in the middle of the
fog, she noticed for the first time the electricity it held. The
humidity kissed her cheeks and curled her hair into tighter
spirals. Dampness seeped into her clothes, making them heavy and
clingy. Her nipples stiffened in response, hard and tight, and she
swayed unsteadily on her feet.

Good Lord. What was that?

Feeling flushed, she shut her door and moved to the
trunk. She was leaning inside to get her overnight bag when a
breeze swept across the valley. It ran up her spine like a caress,
and her entire body suddenly pulsed with sensitivity. She felt
every inch of skin where the fog kissed her. The cool chill
enveloped her, nipping at her neck and gliding across the smooth
patch of skin on her back where her sweater had ridden up.

She straightened abruptly and closed the lid of the
trunk. Unsettled, she looked around. The moon still glimmered, but
the fog was settling back in. It hovered in the air, always moving.
It seemed to circle around her in an embrace. She inhaled deeply
and the dampness filled her lungs. She smelled the spray of the
nearby surf and heard the soft breeze in the trees.

A surprised sound escaped from the back of her throat
when arousal unfurled low in her belly. It was almost as if the
place was alive. Nature was reaching out to her in the most primal
way, and her body was responding with more heat than she’d ever
felt when Reid had touched her.

Her eyes popped open and she looked wide-eyed at the
house. What
was
this place?

Her feet started moving before her mind was ready,
but her senses were sharp. She heard the front steps creak as she
climbed them. She smelled the crisp salt of the ocean air. A sign
in the front window caught her eye. The inn was looking for a
business manager.

She paused.

What would that be like? To stay here, isolated from
the world? Out of sight and out of mind? The temptation was darkly
seductive. There would be no one here to judge her, no societal
pressures to obey. Here, she would find the freedom to do whatever
she wanted without having to feel guilty or ashamed.

She shook off the strange thought. “Quit grad school
two months before graduation? My father would be so proud.”

Her father. Heaviness settled onto her shoulders
again, the weight almost more than she could bear. He liked Reid so
much… or maybe more so, Reid’s connections. Not only were the
Lathams devout, church-going people, they owned a chain of
convenience stores. Getting that account would be a coup for
Arlette Advertising.

And once again, everyone would be happy. But would
she?

Tiredly, she opened the inn’s ornate wood and glass
door. A bell overhead jingled as she entered the foyer, but nobody
was about as she slipped inside. One whiff of cinnamon scented pipe
smoke, and Chevon stopped dead in her tracks. Her body tingled with
excitement, and she looked around in wonder. The front desk was to
the left and directly ahead were stairs that led to the second
floor. It was the comfortable lobby to the right, though, that drew
her attention. The scent was strongest there. She followed it.

The room was so welcoming, tears sprung to her eyes.
She set down her things. Absently, she brushed her hand over the
back of an overstuffed chair. It was new, but many of the other
pieces looked to be antiques. She ventured closer to the fireplace
where a fire crackled warmly.

She walked around the room in a daze. A large open
archway off the back led to a dining area and further beyond was
the kitchen. At one time, this would have been the family gathering
room. She could imagine sitting in front of the fire on a cold
winter night while the wind whistled and the waves crashed against
the beach.

She could imagine making love as the fire danced.
Sweat coating her skin… Firm hands gripping her hips… The hard
pressure as she took a thick cock from the front and insistent
fingers from behind…

She reached out to touch a candlestick and a tingle
raced up her arm.

“Oh hello, dear,” a kindly voice said from the foyer.
“I thought I heard the door, but I didn’t think anyone would be
about in such nasty weather. However did you find us?”

Chevon pulled her hand back, but her gaze remained on
the floor in front of the fireplace. Her thoughts had her a little
shocked, more than a little embarrassed, and too aroused to admit.
“I’m not sure. Where am I?”

“Oh, hon. You’re on Cape Everlasting.”

“Is that anywhere near Longmont?”

She turned and the clerk gasped. “Oh, heavens!”

Chevon felt the prickle in the air. “What? Is there a
problem?”

“No, no,” the woman said, hastening not to be rude.
Still, she couldn’t seem to pry her gaze off her. “I was just taken
aback there for a moment. You look very…
familiar
, dear.
That gorgeous curly hair! Why, it’s very distinctive.”

Chevon self-consciously ran a hand through the
tangles near her face. The weather had made her hair springier than
usual, but she kept it long to keep the curls manageable. They hung
halfway down her back, but other than the natural body, there was
nothing that unusual about it. It was plain old brown.

“And those big, blue eyes. So pretty. It’s uncanny,”
the woman said, almost to herself. She fingered the glasses that
hung from a chain around her neck. “Tell me, dear. Have you ever…
Oh, how shall I put this… been here before?”

Chevon looked more closely at the woman. She was
impeccably dressed in a taupe pantsuit with a pink top. She looked
pleasant and professional, but something definitely had her shaken.
The hair on the back of Chevon’s neck rose. “I don’t think so,
although…”