Spirit [New Crescent 2] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) by Mary Lou George Read Free Book Online

beautiful. She wondered what it would feel like to run her tongue down all those bumps on his stomach. She fancied a row boat riding the waves on the ocean, up one swell and down the next. Shaking her head, she looked away.
    “Do you want more?” he lifted his coffee cup..
    She looked at him stunned for a second then found her voice. It was shaky. “No, if I do, I’ll never sleep tonight.”
    “Join me then, while I have another.”
    He offered her his hand, but she pretended not to notice. She didn’t want to touch him for fear she’d come undone.
    She followed him. Together, they paused just outside the library. At a constant temperature that was consistently colder than the outdoors, this part of the house was damp and unwelcoming. It felt wrong, like something unnatural, the antithesis of the phenomenon she’d felt in the garden. Reggie stood rooted to the spot as the foul odor wafted around them. Chase looked down at her and nodded. He could feel it, smell it too. She wasn’t alone. Despite the warmth Chase’s body provided as she stepped closer to him, she felt chilled to the bone. Never had Reggie known such despair. Everything inside her that held optimism or hope was drained from her, and she tasted bile. That was the only warning she got before they were thrown against the library doors with such force they gasped for air. She looked up helplessly at Chase.
    With Herculean effort, he breathed the thick, rancid air into his lungs and forced it out again. On the exhale, he grabbed Reggie’s arm and yanked her away from the doors. Whatever it was that held her eased up slightly enabling Reggie to push off and stagger to the opposite wall. She leaned heavily against the paneling struggling to catch her breath. Then she started back to help Chase break away.
    “No!” he yelled at her, and with one final effort, he tore himself away from the doors, severing its hold on him. With surprising speed, Chase ran from the hallway and swept Reggie with him.
    Standing in the living room breathing heavily, he said, “On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t have that coffee after all.”
    They burst out laughing. Laughter was the perfect tonic. When their amusement petered out, they huddled beside each other on the couch. Chase put an arm around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder for a moment.
    “What the hell was that? Did you see anything?” he asked.
    “No, not this time, and judging by the way that thing made me feel, I’d rather not put a face on it.”
    “Yeah, I know what you mean. It defies imagination, and call me a creative wasteland if you will, but I kind of like it that way.”
    “The guys working in the library today didn’t seem to feel anything like what we did just now.”
    He rubbed the back of his neck. “No, but I talked to Duncan. He said that every guy who’d been in that room today complained about one thing or another.”
    “I think we need to figure out what it is and fast. It was stronger tonight than it was before.”
    “Reggie, you’ve always been connected to this place. Before now, have you ever felt uneasy here?”
    She shook her head. “No, I’ve felt nothing but good vibes from this place.”
    “It’s possible that it’s been here all along but was too weak to surface. Since the house was sold, there’s been a steady stream of people around the place. What if that thing feeds off human energy or something?”
    Impressed by his theory, she said, “Creative wasteland my eye. Thank you Stephen King. What you’re suggesting fits, but it doesn’t help us to figure out what to do about it. If you’re right, then it will continue to get stronger. If tonight is any indication of its power, I don’t want to think about what it could do at full blast.”
    “We have to talk to Ernestine and Gillian. As Guardians, they may be able to tell us more.”
    Reggie sat forward on the couch and glanced over her shoulder at him. She missed his warmth, and the temptation to