Hearts Eternal Read online

  HEARTS ETERNAL By Rebecca Goings

  Triskelion Publishing

  www.triskelionpublishing.com

  Published by Triskelion Publishing www.triskelionpublishing.com 15508 W. Bell Rd. #101, PMB #502, Surprise, AZ 85374 U.S.A.

  First e-published by Triskelion Publishing First e-publishing April 2005

  ISBN 1-932866-97-3 Copyright © Rebecca Goings All rights reserved.

  Cover art by Triskelion Publishing

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Cassie spotted the sexy stranger from across the room. Clothed from head to toe in black he resembled a creature of the night--suave, graceful, and menacing. His dark hair matched his clothing, curling a bit at the collar, and so thick Cassie found herself wondering what it would feel like to run her fingers through it. His eyes were like the rest of him; mocking and mysterious as he stared at her, lifting his brandy snifter in a silent toast. A smile played slowly across his lips.

  Shaking, Cassie whirled around and took a few deep breaths to calm down. Oh Lord, the man had caught her staring at him. She couldn’t help but wonder at the light in his eyes and what his silent salute meant. Truth be told, he aroused her to the point of wanting to jump him and that with only a look! Imagine what he could do if he actually touched her!

  Cassie’s glass of champagne trembled violently as she raised it to her lips. She tried to listen to the conversations around her, but she didn’t hear a thing. She couldn’t get the picture of the handsome man watching her so intently out of her mind. As the casual dinner conversation between the friends at her table continued, Cassie found her head filled with all sorts of disturbing scenes, of the man sweeping her off her feet and carrying her off to some dark corner, of her pressed naked against him, his kisses raining down upon her, of raking her nails across his skin as she tasted the sweet wine of his mouth.

  Dear Lord, she had to get out of there! She was taut as a bowstring, as if the man had actually brought her to the edge of a sudden, uncontrollable orgasm and left her there.

  Standing abruptly, Cassie reached into her purse and threw down some cash.

  “I’m sorry, guys,” she said, thankful that her voice didn’t waver, “but I’ve got a pounding headache. Congratulations on your new promotion, Tina.” “Thank you, Cassie.” Tina looked concerned. “Would you like me to drive you home?” Peter pushed his chair back, ready to get his coat. “No, thank you.” Cassie shuddered at the thought. Peter was one of Tina’s co-workers and had

  been pining away for Cassie for over a year now. He always made it a point to be around Tina if Cassie ever visited her on the job and it was old. She couldn’t count how many times she’d turned Peter down. He didn’t get it. She wasn’t interested. He wasn’t an unattractive man, but she had a picture of the perfect man in her mind, and Peter just didn’t fit. But the man across the room did. Damn, did he ever.

  “It’s a short walk, Peter. I’ll be fine,” she said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Good night, everyone.”

  “Good night,” they called, waving her off.

  “Get some rest.” Tina hugged her briefly.

  “Thank you, I will. Congratulations, again.” Cassie smiled at her friend and strode from the restaurant. She stole a glance at the corner table but the man in black was no longer there. Cassie tried to stifle a sudden overwhelming feeling of loss. How could her emotions be so scattered over the intense gaze of one man?

  Out in the parking lot, the ground was still wet from a light drizzle. The air smelled like rain and Cassie took a few calming breaths. Thankfully it had been just a light shower, not a thunderstorm. Cassie rubbed her arms anyhow and glared at the sky. For as long as she could remember, she had an irrational fear of thunder and lightning, and her friends and family teased her mercilessly for it. But now, the clouds were breaking up and Cassie sighed in relief.

  It was late, almost midnight, and she started out for home, just a few blocks away. The sidewalks were barren of all but a few people as she walked. But Cassie had the unsettling feeling that she was being followed. Turning around several times, she saw nothing and no one behind her.

  Then suddenly as she passed an alley, a deep voice penetrated her thoughts and glided over her like a lover’s caress.

  “Good evening, my lady.”

  Cassie gave a start and then looked down the dark alley only to see the object of her thoughts leaning his shoulder casually against the brick wall of one the buildings. Both his arms and legs were crossed and he seemed relaxed, as if he’d been waiting there for her. But that was ridiculous. How could he possibly have known she would come this way?

  Her heart pounding, Cassie managed to speak past the lump in her throat. “He . . . hello.”

  “Laith.” He smiled gently as he unwound himself from the wall.

  “Laith?” She stared at him in confusion.

  “My name, my lady. Laith Moreland, at your service.” Cassie couldn’t help but think his smile looked oddly predatory, and that she were somehow on his menu. “And yours?”

  “My . . . my what?” she whispered, trembling yet staring at his lips as he spoke.

  “Your name,” he grinned, taking a step closer. He wore a black cloak that shrouded his body from her view, and suddenly an image popped into her head of him spreading that cloak down on the ground right there in the alley, pulling her down onto his naked hardness.

  “My name,” she snapped her eyes shut and took a ragged breath. Her conscience warred with her emotions at that moment. Should she tell him her real name? He was a stranger after all. But opening her eyes to him, she saw the intense look in his own gray depths, and something more, something deeper than anything she had ever felt before. Cassie felt compelled to tell him her real name. She knew as if on instinct that he would never harm her. “Right. My name is Cassie. Cassie Chapman.”

  “Cassie,” he breathed, making her name sound almost like a prayer. “Short for Cassandra?” he wanted to know.

  Shaking her head, Cassie found herself taking a step toward him, silently urging him to take her into his arms. This was foolishness! She had to get out of here! But instinctively she knew the man would catch her if she tried to flee.

  “No,” she finally said after a long pause. “My name is short for Cassidy. My mother was in love with David Cassidy when I was born, so, it’s kind of a silly name, really, but my father liked it so . . .” She was rambling. She could have cut her own tongue out at that moment. The man was actually smiling at her!

  “I’m sorry,” she blurted out, feeling flustered.

  “Don’t be, Cassie,” he said, taking another step closer to her.

  “I . . . I want to apologize for staring at you earlier,” she heard herself saying. “I didn’t mean to offend you.” “Who says I’m offended, my lady?” he asked. His smile widened sensually, revealing perfectly straight teeth. Oh God, that smile! Cassie blushed just looking at it. Her insides turned to mush and her heart skipped a beat.

  Her lips were dry and she darted her tongue over them for moisture. The man instantly noticed as his gaze lingered for a moment on her mouth. They were standing so close that he could touch her if he wanted to, but didn’t. The heat of his gaze felt almost like a caress as he stared at her. However, his words suddenly snapped her out of her reverie.

  “I cannot be offended when my woman stares at me so. I can only be flattered.”

  What did he just say? Did he just call her his woman?

  Cassie closed her eyes to him and gave a little groan, one that
she hoped he didn’t hear. She had planned to blast him with indignation for his audacity in assuming that she was ‘his woman.’ She was going to slap that grin right off his handsome face for speaking so boldly to her, as if he owned her. But instead, she found herself closing the gap between them and coming right up before him, her body only a hair’s breadth away from his.

  Looking into his eyes, she found them to be a stormy shade of gray, peering into her own blue depths and scorching her soul. What she saw there was so much more than his simply wanting her. He needed her. Reaching his hand up, he caressed her throat before he grabbed a lock of her long blonde hair and stroked it on his smooth cheek. His other hand found the back of her head as he pulled her closer to him.

  At first, she didn’t protest. She wanted so much to kiss him, to taste him, to touch him. She had wondered what it would be like for him to touch her and now she knew. It was sweet torture. Cassie desperately wanted to cling to him and never let go.

  But then reality invaded her thoughts and she pulled away from him, coming up hard against the wall of a building with no where to flee.

  “Don’t do this,” she managed to whisper as he stepped closer to her.

  “Why ever not, my lady?”

  “We hardly know each other.”

  “You might not know me, my lady, but I’ve been searching for you for a long time.”

  Those words hit her like a ton of bricks. “You’ve been searching for me?”

  “Yes,” he said softly as he pressed his body sensually against hers, backing her fully against the wall. “For years.”

  “Years?” she barely squawked.

  “Centuries, in fact.”

  Cassie put her hands against his chest in a futile attempt to push him away, but he simply grasped her hands in his own and pressed them gently against the wall above her head.

  “You are my shelmir,” he whispered. “The mate of my soul. You know this to be true, Cassie.”

  Shaking her head back and forth violently, Cassie tried to shut him out of her senses. But she could smell him, she could touch him, and oh Lord, she could feel him, and she knew he was as ready for her as she was for him. Suddenly, his knee parted her legs and pressed against her aching loins, making her gasp in reaction.

  “Admit you want me,” he said, pressing his knee harder against her. Cassie found her traitorous body responding to his as she arched against him, asking him silently for more contact.

  “Admit you’ve dreamed of me, of us, together, naked, making love. . . “

  Cassie groaned, this time there was no doubt that he heard her.

  “Admit you want to kiss me as I want to kiss you, admit you want my tongue on your body.”

  His knee was hard through her jeans, but he wasn’t planning on stopping. It wasn’t long before she was completely strattled on his leg, his hands still laced with hers against the wall. “Do you want me?” he whispered hotly against her cheek. “Admit it, shelmir, admit that you are mine.”

  Cassie couldn’t take it anymore. Her body was swirling upward in an inferno of passion, and he knew it. He wasn’t even pressing his knee against her any more; Cassie was pressing herself against him, aching for release.

  “Please,” she found herself begging him. “Please . . .” “What is it you want, my lady?” he breathed, his tongue just barely touching her earlobe. “Tell me.” Turning her head to look at him, she realized her lips were barely touching his. She tried to kiss him, but he pulled away, just enough to torment her.

  “Tell me what you want, Cassie,” he demanded, his breath scorching her face.

  “You! Oh, God, I want you!” she finally confessed.

  Before she even said her last word, she found herself being so thoroughly kissed, that the entire world fell away from her. There was nothing, but her and Laith, floating together in heated bliss. It felt oddly like coming home, as if this is where she was meant to be. Her heart beat in time with his and she knew then that she wanted to be his woman, if only for tonight. She wanted him and needed him, as he needed her. But where did that need come from?

  Cassie’s thoughts were suddenly blown to the wind as his kiss became more passionate and she was consumed by the thrilling fire of his mouth. His tongue thrust into her mouth again and again, as if mimicking what he wanted to do elsewhere. Cassie answered him in kind. Now that he had gotten his confession, he let go of her hands and instantly, she embraced him, grabbing fistfuls of hair to hold his mouth on hers.

  She didn’t feel him do it, but he must have unfastened her pants somehow. Now instead of his hard thigh against her, she felt his warm fingers exploring her, plunging into her wetness again and again, imitating his plunging tongue in her mouth. Her body found its own rhythm against his hand and it wasn’t long before she was crying out her release, her cries muffled by his mouth. But that didn’t stop him. Laith continued his kisses, continued plunging his finger even more hungrily than before, bringing Cassie to another explosion of pleasure within moments.

  “I want you inside of me!” she breathed to him against his lips. “Please! Please, Laith!” Never in her life had she begged to be made love to. But tonight she wanted it more than anything in the world.

  “No, shelmir, not here, not now,” he said, almost regretfully as he soothed her aching body with his hands. “There will be time for us. But I will not bed you in a dirty alley.”

  Cassie smiled then, pushing aside the pang of sorrow that ripped through her at his denial. He still wanted her, but not here.

  “My house is just up the street,” she suggested, her hands still stroking his hair, marveling at the feel of it.

  Laith shook his head again. “No, we cannot do that either. We cannot join until the full moon in two days. Then you will be mine forever.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You must be patient, my lady,” he whispered against her neck. “It will be worth the wait.”

  It will be worth the wait.

  Cassie sat up in bed so fast she made her head spin. Glancing disoriented around her room, she found that she was all alone as the rays of the sun poured through her window. Had it all been a dream?

  Pulling back the covers of her bed, she saw she was still dressed in the clothes from the night before, her jeans still unfastened as she remembered them being. How did she get back to her house? And how did she get to sleep without her remembering it?

  Then thoughts of Laith Moreland stumbled into her head and her breathing quickened. Oh, the taste of him, like hot, liquid steel, pouring through her and igniting her passions once again. Rubbing her eyes, she tried to stop the thoughts, she tried to stop the picture of her clinging to him in the alley, but they were merciless in their invasion of her mind.

  What had come over her? She acted as if she had always belonged to him, yet she had barely spoken to him before she was begging for him to take her right there in the alley for the whole world to see. And Cassie knew she wouldn’t have cared if the whole world had seen it.

  She could still smell him. Everywhere. His clean masculine scent was on her hands and clothes. It seemed to permeate her very soul. Even the scent on the bed sheets reminded her of him. Her arms ached to hold him. She still had no idea how she’d gotten home. How could she know where he’d gone?

  “What are you doing to me?” she groaned to herself as she rubbed her temples. Thank God it was Saturday. She knew she wouldn’t have been able to concentrate answering the phones at Doctor Hodgkin’s office if she had to work.

  At that moment, Cassie heard the faintest whisper of a voice. Whipping around, she tried to find where it had come from, but she was alone. It must have been her imagination. But once again, just like before, a vision of her clinging to Laith, both of them naked on her bed and making love slammed into her head. She could almost feel him inside of her. She lay back in bed and surrendered to the vision.

  Was it her imagination, or did the bed dip lower as if from a sudden weight? She could feel . . . some
thing hovering above her, but opening her eyes, she couldn’t see a thing.

  “Laith?” she whispered hesitantly, reaching out and grabbing nothing.

  Then she heard a whisper in her ear. “Shelmir,” it said.

  Suddenly, a loud knock sounded at her front door, breaking through her hazy dream. What was

  she doing? Laith wasn’t here. Was she going mad? Scrambling from the bed, Cassie fastened her pants and ran from the room to answer the door. Yanking the door open, Cassie silently groaned at the sight that greeted her. Peter stood there,

  a bunch of flowers in his hand. “Good afternoon, Cassie,” he said. “Afternoon?” Cassie gasped, looking at the sky for confirmation. Nodding, Peter held out the flowers for her. “These are for you. Are you feeling any better?” Cassie didn’t accept the flowers, but answered, “I’m fine, Peter, really.” “Take these,” he urged. Sighing, Cassie reached for them and tossed them on the side table by the door. “What do you want?” she asked a little more harshly than she meant to. “I want you to go out with me. Tonight.” “No,” she refused flatly. “Oh, come on! I don’t bite.” “No, Peter, I’m not interested in you.” Peter’s mouth stretched to a thin line. “I’m not giving up on you, Cassie,” he growled in a low

  voice. “Goodbye, Peter,” she said as she closed the door in his face. The moment the door was closed, a masculine hand came out of nowhere and pressed against

  the inside of the door right next to her head. Cassie shrieked at the unexpectedness of it and whipped around to see Laith standing there, his eyes glittering as he stared at her. Her body instantly came alive at the sight of him.

  “Cassie? Are you all right?” came Peter’s muffled voice from the other side of the door. Cassie was rendered speechless as she stared at Laith in shock. How did he get in? How did

  he know where she lived? Why was he looking at her so intensely, as if he were angry? “Cassie?” Peter called once again. “It was . . . just a mouse, Peter. I’m fine!” she finally yelled through the door. “Goodbye!” It was a few seconds more before she finally heard him step off the porch and down the