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First, the tenderness

The sensation that she wasn’t alone, that the past hadn’t been lost to tragedy, that what should have been forever hadn’t been ripped away fro down on a softheld, the co, loved and cherished, at her side Then…

Flesh against flesh The feathery brush of his lips on hers, the weight of hi kisses that quickly filled with passion Blankets tossed and discarded The slide of cotton against her body as the nightgoas tossed aside The whisper of his breath against her skin,from the valley between her breasts, over her abdohs

I knew you would come, she said

And his very simple answer

I love you so much…

In her dreams she stroked his flesh, was seduced and aroused by the fire of his lips and tongue th of her She looked into his eyes, blue like the sky She saw his sle dimple in his cheek Caressed his jaw, hard and squared, almost as if it had been formed by the determination and sense of justice hich he had lived his life, rather than the lottery of genetics She reached out and, with both hands, she cupped his face and drew his ain She initiated the ferocity of the kiss, so rapt herself that she needed to return each stroke and caress, needed to seduce as she was seduced, needed to tease and arouse

She stroked the ht touch of her fingertips, caressed the length of his chest to the quickening muscles of his belly In a fever she followed that touch with taunting kisses, pushing hi, she bent, her hair wickedly teasing his flesh as she played and stroked, lower and lower At last his hoarse cry sounded, and she herself writhed and twisted and arced, desperate and hungry, alely in need of hih her, and despite the volatile thunder and erotic friction of their love, beneath it flowed a subtle tenderness, a swell of emotion that elevated as so si so much more

She found herself beneath him, her breath frenzied, her heart in an uproar, and she lost the sense of being in her own body as he moved within her All the while, his kisses fell on her breasts, her shoulders and then her lips At last, locked to hi of their flesh, she was rocked by the explosion of climax Her limbs locked around him as she reveled in the cocoon of his embrace Wonder filled her as she drifted back to earth, tre, bathed in a fine sheen of sweat He was daether on the pillow, and she marveled at how incredible it was to be so loved, so happy

In drea, but she would not let the dreaainst hi on her belly She felt the muscles of his chest where she rested her head

This closeness was so faether just as they had so often when he’d co, then a few lazy words about the day, or their plans for the future

I’m afraid for you, he whispered now

Afraid for me? Matt, you were a reporter You knohat it feels like to see soht, and you know I have to discover the truth about what happened here

He listened, considered her words, carefully for it into the lush silk of the hair against her ear

Yes, I know that, but I can’t help it--I’m afraid for you He was silent for a minute, almost as if it were painful to continue I can’t be with you Trust Joe

She started to tell hi cops--so how could she be in danger, but then she stopped as she re As the day had passed, she’d convinced herself that the roof had caved in on her, but was that true? She had been focused on the niche in the here the record book had been, but she’d been sure she’d heard…so But she was certain no one else had entered after her, and she was sure no one had already been there when she ca, a sense of fear for you, but there was nothing I could do But Joe was here, and it was all right Don’t trust anyone else, do you hear ht, she said slowly But why?

"The basement"

Leslie ith a start, certain so position, the covers clutched to her chest Her hair was a tangled, daown, and the sheets were hopelessly ruover She touched the top of her head, but the luone

"The basement?" she said aloud

If she’d expected a reply, she didn’t get one

She rose and showered, then dressed in a T-shirt and khakis with a half-dozen pockets, three on each leg, and hurried downstairs She was still early enough to have the place to herself She put the coffee on, then went through to the servants’ pantry

She pulled back the braided rug and found the trapdoor leading to the basement beneath She’d been in the baseala They’d hoped to find all kinds of treasures down there, especially because the sied very little since the house’s early days, but in the end it wasn’t a treasure trove as some basements and attics could be Over the years, the owners of the house had cleaned out their own belongings, along with anything that had coaped wide and dark, like the entrance to an abyss

She left the trapdoor open and went back to the kitchen The coffee was ready, so she poured herself a cup and sipped while rifling through the drawers, certain she would find a flashlight in one of them Then she paused

The spectral wo her spectral pot Finally she paused, turned and looked straight at Leslie

"He wants you to help ratitude in her voice that eh Leslie with so much force that she nearly dropped her coffee cup

"I would love to help you Who are you?"

"Elizabeth Martin Please I never leftthat she could see right through the woone now, you know"