6. Chapter Six
Chapter Six
Mouth agape, Addy stared at the glowing mist hovering just beyond the bluff’s edge. “What is that?” she whispered.
Kieran’s strong arm encircled her waist, but his body heat couldn’t chase away the chills that raised every tiny hair on her arms and nape.
The air seemed to thicken, heavy with static charge, as if lightning were about to strike.
But no clouds obscured the full moon’s glow—except the mysterious shade floating before them.
“It’s the White Widow.” Kieran whispered, his breath fanning her cheek.
Icy dread turned her knees to water. When he’d suggested they go out ghost-watching, she’d assumed it was a flirtatious ploy to extend their dinner date. But the spectral form loomed closer and elongated, solidifying into a distinctly human shape.
Kieran’s other arm came around her, bracing her against his broad chest. “She’s never hurt anyone. She’s simply looking for her husband.”
Clearer now, a woman with upswept dark hair and trailing white skirts paced back and forth, treading on thin air, a lantern in one hand and a telescope in the other.
“This bluff used to extend further.” Kieran’s voice was soft but steady. “Over the years, storms wore it away.”
As if hearing his words, the specter turned to stare right through them. She was young, her beautiful face contorted in grief, her eyes bottomless dark pools. Her lips moved. “Jonathan?”
The question seemed to come from far away, but the poignancy of that single word brought tears to Addy’s eyes, and she shivered in Kieran’s arms.
As if addressing a human visitor, Kieran answered, “Just the lighthouse keeper, ma’am.”
A faint moan drifted on the wind as the figure turned away to search the horizon again. She gradually faded into mist, and then nothingness.
Tears blurred Addy’s vision, her heart heavy with an ache not her own. Or was it? Loss, regret, guilt, trauma—it all swam together in a tide of overwhelming emotion.
“Hey now.” Grasping her shoulders, Kieran pulled her into his embrace.
She buried her face against his broad chest. “She never gave up on him.”
“No, she never did. They say she died of a broken heart.” For the second time that night, he rubbed soothing circles on her back, his gentle touch and reassuring solidity exactly what she needed. Hell, she should be comforting him after the wrenching story he’d just shared.
She wound her arms around his waist and hugged him tight. “What a terrible way to exist, always yearning for what you can never have.”
“Hmm.” He nuzzled her temple, and his beard tickled pleasantly. “Some say a ghost is a spirit with unfinished business.”
Addy chuckled through her tears. “Doesn’t that describe everyone?”
Kieran’s lips brushed her forehead. “Others say it’s merely an echo of strong emotion.
” He pointed toward a clump of pines near the lighthouse.
“She lived where the lighthouse stands now. Grand house, it was. Burned down after she died, and the lighthouse was built on the spot. Perhaps we’re just experiencing shadows of the pain she felt here. ”
“That makes more sense to me.” She sighed into the crook of his neck. “I’ve felt those echoes.”
Ghost stories she’d read described lost spirits anchored to a particular place, but her ghosts trailed her everywhere—agonized faces, mangled bodies, ragged voices begging for help.
“I think we’ve all encountered ghosts. We just rationalize them away.” With his fingertip, Kieran lifted her chin until she met his gaze. “Listen, when I invited you up here, I envisioned a cozy evening, not a tsunami of bad memories. I’m sorry if I’ve caused you pain.”
What a cruel twist of fate, meeting someone so compassionate, kind, and enticing when they only had a short time together.
But they had tonight, and the rest of the week. Liv always said that things happen for a reason—and right now, Addy was inclined to agree with her.
She quirked an eyebrow. “Honestly? You had no plans for a post-ghost snuggle?”
Kieran’s laugh lines crinkled. “Well, the thought did cross my mind, but the other bits, the flashbacks and painful memories—that’s not exactly the cozy date I imagined.”
“Yeah, things took an unexpected turn. But such is life, right?” She caressed his cheek, his beard scratchy-soft beneath her palm. “Thank you for trusting me with your story, Kieran the Lighthouse Keeper. You are a brave, wise soul.”
His gaze flicked to her lips. “Likewise, Addy the Soldier-Surgeon.”
Once again, the air between them thickened, crackling with electricity. But this time, ghosts had nothing to do with it. She rose on tiptoe and tilted her head, a silent invitation.
Eyes dark and glittering, he closed the distance, stopping a millimeter from her lips. “Are you sure?”
“I am.”
In her forty-one years, Addy had sampled every flavor of kiss, from dry to slobbery, from clumsy to seductive, but she’d never known a kiss like Kieran’s.
A soft caress, a sigh of pleasure, the plushness of his lips contrasting with the gentle scrape of his beard.
Pulling back, he held her jaw in his big, callused hands and whispered her name, then sealed his mouth to hers.
His heat, his low moans as he teased her lips apart and gently, patiently, learned her mouth with decadent strokes—Kieran’s kiss left her breathless, dizzy, completely undone.
After what seemed like hours of swaying together under the moonlight, he broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers. “Wow.”
“Amen.” She giggled, clutching his coat lapels to keep from crumpling to the ground. Every inch of her sizzled with desire.
He relaxed his embrace and rested his hands on her hips. “Addy, love, I know you’ve got a busy life far away from here, but I’m going to need more of this.” He brushed a kiss over her temple. “More of you.”
Too lust-drunk to form words, she could only nod. “Yes, please.” Steamy visions crowded her brain: Kieran scooping her into his burly arms, carrying her back inside, and tossing her onto his bed before he...
With a rumbling hum of pleasure, he rained kisses over her closed lids, her nose, her cheeks. “There’s a helluva Halloween Party at Salty Dog Saloon,” he murmured against her temple. “Care to be my date?”
Oops, time to cool her overheated jets before she embarrassed them both. Kieran was a decent, respectful man. Of course he wouldn’t rush her into his bed.
“I’d love to. But that’s not until Thursday.”
And I have to leave a few days after that.
Regret sliced between her ribs.
He nuzzled the sensitive skin behind her ear. “Seems like an eternity, doesn’t it? Tomorrow’s Sunday, lots of visitors to the lighthouse. Care for a sunset picnic?”
“Mmff.” Nodding, she pressed her lips to his. “I’ll bring the food.”
“No, you’re my guest.” He licked into her mouth.
Oh, the tantalizing, teasing delight of Kieran’s velvet tongue! She had to feel that marvel on her skin, her breasts, between her legs.
She raked her fingers through his short curls, eliciting a sexy grunt from the big man. “Tell you what, why don’t you come to my place? I’m renting a cottage on Narwhal Lane. I’ll whip up something while you work.” She’d wash the sheets, too, just in case.
“If you insist, beauty.” He nibbled her lower lip. “But dessert’s on me.”
Addy whimpered at the mental image of Kieran stretched out naked while she drizzled honey over his body and licked him clean.
What was with her tonight? Must be the shock of seeing the ghost, plus all this messy soul baring that left her feeling completely exposed, nerves sizzling with awareness.
Her usual level-headed caution had gone AWOL. Relinquishing her grip on Kieran’s hair, she tunneled her hands beneath his coat, desperate to touch his skin.
But Snoot hadn’t got the memo. At the end of his canine patience, her pup chose that moment to press his head between their knees, snuffling and grumbling.
“Sorry, pal.” Releasing Addy, Kieran bent to ruffle Snoot’s fur. “That’s enough monopolizing your mistress for tonight.”
Oh, it’s not nearly enough.
She sucked in a bracing breath before pecking Kieran’s lips. “Thank you, Keeper, for an unforgettable night. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
“As am I, Doc.” He traced her jawline with his forefinger. “Though the memory of kissing you will likely keep me up all night.”
Heaven help her, how was she supposed to sleep with the image of Kieran up seared into her brain?
Arm in arm, they walked back to the cottage, where Kieran insisted on packing up leftover pie for her to take home.
“All that talking can wear a body out.” Eyes gleaming, he pressed the container into her hands. “And you’ll need your strength for tomorrow.”
Hot damn! Liv was right—this trip to the beach was exactly what she needed.