If you just started reading my blog, you should probably know my muse abandoned me last year when I went through some personal medical issues. I began writing this story weekly to give myself the kick in the butt I needed to keep it moving forward. The story (originally intended to be a short story) has gotten bigger, more intricate, and expanded into a full length novel. Warning: It's also unedited. This is the first book in the Hearts in Darkness Trilogy, which, believe it or not, is almost completed. The two other books are close to completion as well. Read about all the characters at the link below.
Chapters posted in March through May are here on the weekly blog list. Chapters posted prior to March are at the DEFEAT THE DARKNESS page. Start there to read the book from the beginning.
This story is about to heat up. You go ahead and read this chapter, I'm going to work on the next scene.
After the pain, will come the pleasure.
~~~~
When Shelby opened her eyes, she was in bed in a darkened
room, but she could see detail as if it were fully illuminated.
Where was she?
The last thing she remembered was talking to Kyle before
she suddenly began to shiver and sweat. That was followed by nausea and
excruciating pain. Finally, it stopped, and then she passed out.
Her hair was in her eyes. She tried to brush it out of her
face but in her weakened state, her arms were too heavy to lift.
In her drowsy state, she was still able to hear Kyle’s
voice register. He was speaking with someone in the next room. The other man’s
voice wasn’t familiar. His dialect was American, but when she listened more
closely, she caught a slight Scottish burr in a word or two.
He stopped speaking as if he sensed her listening, and as
soon as she struggled to sit, he said, “Ack, Kyle. Yer Shelby’s awake.”
What the heck? Still from her prone position on the bed, she quickly
checked the room for a camera. Seeing none, she was still busy wondering how
the Scot knew she was awake, when Kyle called her name.
“Shelby?” he said, “I’ll be right there.”
Then more male mumbling followed. A familiar voice with a
soft Spanish accent she knew to be Victor Salazar’s, argued with another—a
deep, gruffer voice that made all the fine hair on her back stand on end. She
felt the urge to stand and fight or claw her way from the house. Weird reaction. Panic like she’d never
known before filled her with dread even though her rational mind dismissed it.
The Scotsman said, “Hurry. She’s reacting to Garr.”
Kyle appeared at the side of the bed as if out of nowhere
and gripped her shoulders to still her. With a strength she didn’t remember him
having, he lifted her off the bed. Cradling her in his arms like a baby, he sat
back down and calmed her with his soothing voice.
“Shh, relax. Everything will be all right.” He reached for
a glass from the nightstand beside the bed. “Here, drink this.”
She took a sip and choked. “This is terrible.”
Kyle stood his ground. “Drink it. All of it. Victor says it
will help ease your symptoms.”
“What symptoms?” When she woke up without any memories of
how she got here, she figured that was what Kyle meant. “Do you mean, what
happened in the car?”
“That and other symptoms you’re about to experience. Drink
up. Victor made the concoction just for you.”
“The stuff tastes
like a combination of old, dirty socks and cut grass,” she said.
Kyle cocked his head to one side and asked, “You know that
because…?”
“Okay, never mind. I
stand corrected.” She was too tired to argue. “It tastes like what I would
expect that combination to taste like.”
Scrunching her nose before she did as he asked, she held
her breath and quickly drank the rest down. Swallowing the potion actually
soothed her parched throat and immediately eased her stomach cramps.
He looked tense when he took the empty glass from her and
put it down on the night table.
“What will I begin
to experience?” she asked, watching him closely for a reaction.
“Come into the den so we can talk,” he said.
That didn’t sound like it was going to be good news but the
blank look on his face didn’t give away anything. She usually could read Kyle,
but not now.
He helped her stand, allowing her a moment to get her
balance. Having him touch her triggered every sense in her body to a fevered
pitch. The immediate sensation was at first not unlike touching an open
circuit. She had to shake his hands off to regain her composure.
He moved away from her, edging closer to the door. “Victor
is here already.”
“What about Max?
“He took some blood and returned to his lab. Come. I want
you to meet our host, my friend, Dylan. We’ll stay here while you recuperate
and hope the authorities track down Amyra soon.”
“Is he the one with the Highland brogue?”
“Brogue? Yeah, come to think of it, the old accent does pop
out when he’s excited.” Kyle laughed. “I think he’s been in this country for a
long time, though.”
“Tell me how you and Dylan met?” she said, as she tested
her feet.
“An old friend of Victor’s put us in touch. They arranged
for me to finish recuperating from the jungle ordeal here at his place when I
returned. He freelances for local and state police as a consultant and when
necessary, also for the FBI.”
“That’s handy under the circumstances.” She took one
tentative step then another.
Kyle opened the door wider, and she halted mid step when
she caught a strange scent in the air.
“Who else is out there? I thought I heard someone else.”
“Deep, gravelly voice?”
The sense of panic set in again. She couldn’t control the
trembling in her hands or the vibrations rising from somewhere deeper inside
her. She nodded at him but had to stop when the room spun.
“That’s Dylan’s friend, Garr. He’s here to help with
Dylan’s ward, Jackson. You okay?”
Shelby winced and slowly shifted her attention to the
doorway. “What’s that smell? Wet dog?”
“No. But I understand why you might think that.” Kyle
looked like he was holding back a grin when he approached her and wrapped her
in his embrace. “You’re trembling. There’s nothing to be frightened of here.
You’re safe with any one of us. Do you understand that?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “I do. But something inside me doesn’t
trust… I think it doesn’t trust Garr.”
Smothered by Kyle’s enticing scent, an overwhelming need
for him sparked within every cell in her body. Relaxing into his familiar
embrace, she was inexplicably drawn to the power of his presence. Suddenly, an
exotic fragrance, emanating from both her body and his, permeated the
surrounding air blocking the other repulsive dog scent. Leaning into him, she gripped
his t-shirt and buried her nose in his chest.
“God, you smell…amazing!”
She fanned her fingers over his broad chest, testing the
feel of him as he nuzzled her ear.
Kyle tilted her chin up with a knuckle and stared at her
mouth. He brushed a finger over her bottom lip then bent his head to take her
lips with his. The kiss started as if he moved in slow motion, but the longer
his lips lingered, the stronger the pull between them grew. He opened his mouth
enough to slip his tongue across the seam of her lips and tested the entrance.
Opening to him, their tongues tangled in that old familiar
dance. A sigh escaped from her when he pulled her closer, and she didn’t miss
the moan of arousal Kyle released against her lips when he pressed her hips
against his obvious erection.
His muscles bunched and bulged beneath her touch, and his
scent caused something beneath her skin to ripple. She shivered when she felt
the same ripple answer beneath his. He held back some kind of unleashed power
in the muscles beneath her fingers. Lost in the frenzy of her desire, she
didn’t notice when Kyle took control until he moved her away, holding her at
arm’s length.
“We shouldn’t keep them waiting,” he said with what
appeared to be some amount of effort. His chest rose and fell with ragged
breaths, so she knew he wasn’t unaffected.
That didn’t prevent her from being mortified by her lack of
self-control. This behavior was out of character for her. Back in the car,
she’d played into the role of damsel in distress. Here she was dropping at his
feet the first time he glanced in her direction again, and she’d practically
climbed his body. All the while, the image of him with that woman played
repeatedly in her head.
The urge to hide her face in shame and run was so
overwhelming that she shuttered her expression against him, refusing to allow
him to see the emotions clearly expressed there. She wanted him, she needed
him, and dammit…she loved him.
The fact that she was behaving like a cat in heat was even
more mortifying under the circumstances. All that was left, that could be more
humiliating, was for her to wrap herself around his body and rub all over him.
That impulse almost surpassed the sudden desire she had to throw herself down
on the bed and beg him to mount her. The urges were just so freakin’
irresistible. And the idea that it all sounded so damned appealing pissed her
off even more.
…and that other
scent, what is this feeling it’s causing? Although
not unpleasant, the scent plagued her like a dream she couldn’t recall. Not foreign,
but not entirely unfamiliar to her, either.
I know what it is…
No, the identity was not quite revealing
itself, yet.
The closest state she could compare it with was hunger.
Hunger for Kyle? Yes. But hunger for something else, too.
~~~~
“It’s blood,” the Scotsman said from outside the doorway.
“Follow me. I’m Dylan MacGregor. And that wet dog smell is coming from Garr
over there.”
“How?” She gasped and felt heat rush to her cheeks when she
noticed a darkly handsome man across the room glaring at her.
“Sorry,” Dylan said, “I didn’t mean to intrude. I’m a very
sensitive psychic, and sometimes I can’t shut out strong emotions.”
“Oh, sorry.” Shelby glanced at Garr in the way of an
apology said, “I-I didn’t mean to imply… It’s just my senses are off. I’ve
never been so hypersensitive to… well, everything.”
“Nothing to be sorry about.” Dylan chuckled. “Come to think
of it, he does smell a wee bit like wet dog after a good drizzle.”
The man named Garr emitted what Shelby could only compare
to a low growl of warning. The sound made her hair stand on end the same way
his scent had. Kyle stepped in front of her, and to her amazement, growled
back. Victor came out of nowhere and held Kyle back.
This looked like the ultimate pissing contest. Testosterone
reeked in the air. There was no mistaking it. Shelby not only smelled it, she
felt it battering her like waves pounding the shore after a bad storm.
“Ah, men, I think yer frightening the lady.”
The wet-dog smelling man broke into a hard grin. “Sorry,
Kyle. I was growling at Dylan. No offense, ma’am.”
“Uh, none taken,” Shelby said, and let out a sigh when the
tension in the room eased.
Kyle had been coiled like a snake ready to strike and his
growl had been different. Not like the sound a dog makes—or even a wolf. It was
otherworldly in a way she’d only seen in horror movies. For a moment, she
thought his eyes glimmered with a crimson light.
“What is going on? I feel like Alice when she fell into the
rabbit hole.”
Victor held out his hand to her and asked, “May I?” But he
was watching Kyle for a reaction. “We’ll explain everything. You should sit.
Dylan will help you relax while we show you a few things.
“Of course.” Shelby glanced at Kyle and noted the tension
still present in his jaw. He was working hard to control himself, but something
else inside was fighting him for power. Instead of taking the hand Victor
offered, she took Kyle’s. “You’re coming with me? Right?”
For a split second, a shudder visibly traveled through
Kyle, and then he forced a smile along with the composure that once seemed so
natural to him. He rubbed the inside of her wrist with his thumb, and along
with the heat it sent to her core, he sent reassurance.
The dog man stood. No, she couldn’t think of him like that
now. There was nothing canine about him. Too big, too much power. More like wolf and hunky,
intimidating male.
Garr strode to the door. “Why don’t you all get settled? I
should check in with the guards.” He picked up a backpack of sorts before he
moved toward the hallway. On the way out, he looked over his shoulder, made eye
contact with Shelby, and winked. “Nice meeting you, doc. I’ll take a shower
before I stop in again.”
She gasped, heat rising in her cheeks once more. “Oh, no.
Please that’s not...” Then she heard his deep rolling laughter all the way out
the door.
Everyone moved around the room, settling on their spot,
each finding a comfortable position like a battle station. Relaxed isn’t what
she’d call it. What she found was even she looked for a spot with certain
vantage points. Vantage points she wasn’t aware off until that moment. Chair.
Door. Escape.
Windows? None.
Even more strange.
“Your thoughts are instinctive. You are feeling the beast
within you practicing survival techniques,” Dylan said.
Beast? She was already getting used to having the man in her head,
although it was highly disconcerting to think he could rummage through her
thoughts, so easily.
“I only hear what you’re projecting so loudly I can’t shut
it out. I’d never invade your privacy unnecessarily.” Dylan sounded insulted.
“Of course you wouldn’t.” And she believed it. “I’m going
to have to turn down the volume I guess. It may take a while though. You know,
I’m still freaking out about all this.”
Victor interrupted. “The world holds many secrets the
average person is unaware of. You are about to be introduced to some of those
secrets. There’s no need to be afraid. You will be shocked, surprised,
disbelieving at times, but it is all true and we will all be here to see you
through this.”
“But what? Why me?” she asked and glanced from one man to
the other.
Victor answered first. “While you were in Guatemala you
were exposed to a virus that caused your blood to mutate. The change in your
blood is causing other changes, too.”
Shelby’s stomach dropped. As a doctor, how many times had
she been present when a patient was given the bad news? Hundreds? “What sort of
changes? Cancer?”
“No, nothing like that,” Kyle said. “What you have won’t
kill you as far as we know.”
Dylan spoke next. “Before we go into more detail, I’d like
to offer you access to my mental link. I can keep your emotions from becoming
involved while we explain everything and it will seem to be a movie, a visual
explanation under controlled conditions.”
“I don’t know—”
“It’s best this way, Shelby. There’s so much you need to
know.” Kyle looked deadly serious. “Any other way is too difficult for the mind
to absorb. I don’t want you to suffer any more than you will.”
“Uh, that sound ominous.” Shelby pulled her hair out of her
face and asked, “Just how much suffering?”
“You saw me shortly after I was infected. How did I look?”
“Okay,” she said and turned to Dylan. “If there’s an easier
way, I’m in. I’m no glutton for punishment. My mind is in your hands. And I
know I haven’t said so, but I appreciate what you are all doing to keep me
safe.”
“You’re welcome, doctor. As I told Kyle, someday I’m sure
you’ll return the favor.”
...All rights reserved. No part of this may be copied or reproduced without the written permission of the author. Copyright 2012, Eliza March
