Canyons of Night lgt-3 Read online

  “When did the Preserve go into private hands?”

  “Good question. Shortly after the Era of Discord, a corporation called Amber Sea Trading Company claimed most of Rainshadow under the old Exploration Laws that were established to encourage private exploration and development.”

  “When did the legal entity called the Rainshadow Preserve Foundation come into existence?”

  “A few years after staking a claim to the island, Amber Sea Trading established the Foundation to govern the Preserve. It’s been under the control of the Foundation ever since. Halstead left a phone number to call in the event that anyone else gets lost inside the Preserve. The Foundation will send out a search-and-rescue team.”

  “Why do you think you can go into the Preserve without getting lost?” Charlotte asked, very thoughtful now.

  “Damned if I know. I have to assume it’s got something to do with my talent.” Or what’s left of it, he added silently.

  “There must have been at least a few similar hunter-talents on some of the early expeditions.”

  “Which may explain why some of the teams were able to get at least partway into the Preserve,” he said. “But evidently that kind of talent wasn’t sufficient to allow full exploration of the island.”

  “Have you encountered anything inside that stops you?”

  “Not yet. The night canyons are the most serious obstacle I’ve come across so far. And I sure as hell wouldn’t go swimming in any of the ponds or lakes now. But thus far I haven’t experienced the extreme disorientation that the survivors who have been pulled out by the Foundation’s search-and-rescue teams have reported. I’ve only gone in twice in the past week, though. I haven’t had a chance to do much looking around.”

  “Planning on going in again anytime soon?”

  He was amused. “You want to go in, don’t you?”

  “I’ve never forgotten that first visit.” Her voice turned wistful. “I’ve even dreamed about it from time to time over the years.”

  “I’ve had a few dreams about the Preserve, myself,” he admitted. “I’ll take you back inside.”

  “Okay,” she said. “I’d like that.”

  “But not tonight.”

  There was a faint rustling in the undergrowth at the side of the road. Rex went very still on Slade’s shoulder. He sleeked out and his second set of eyes, the amber pair that he used for hunting, snapped open. He bounded down to the pavement and vanished into the woods.

  “Ugh,” Charlotte said. “Nature in the raw.”

  “What do you expect? Dust bunnies are omnivorous and they are predators.”

  “That may be true, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s a reason why grocery stores were invented. Makes things ever so much tidier.” She glanced toward the night-shrouded woods where Rex had disappeared. “I take it he doesn’t have any trouble navigating the Preserve with you?”

  “As far as I can tell Rex has no problem at all inside. But dust bunnies get around in the Underworld just fine, too. They seem to be well-adapted to heavy psi environments.”

  He stopped. Charlotte stopped, too.

  “Something wrong?” she asked.

  He aimed the beam of the flashlight at the graveled lane that intersected the road. “This is your driveway.”

  She smiled. “Good thing you noticed. It’s so dark out here, I didn’t even see it. If I’d been on my own, I would have kept walking.”

  They followed the narrow, rutted drive through the trees and into a clearing. With the canopy of overhanging branches gone, the starry night sky sparkled and glittered in all its glory.

  Charlotte looked up. “It’s incredible, isn’t it?”

  He watched her face, fascinated. He could have watched her all night long, he thought. In spite of the control he was exerting over his senses, he went a little hotter.

  “Yes,” he said. “Incredible.”

  “This was one of the things I have always loved about the island,” she said. She headed toward the front steps, fishing her key out of her purse. “Back in Frequency the city lights combined with the glow of the ruins make it impossible to see anything but the moon and the brightest stars. But here the night sky is always an amazing sight.”

  He followed her up the steps, wishing he could think of a way to make the night last longer.

  Charlotte’s cottage was set on a bluff overlooking a rocky cove and a handful of small, neighboring islands. Unlike his own spartan cabin, her place had a quaint, cozy look. Small and compact, it consisted of two floors, a gabled roof, and a wraparound porch. Baskets of flowers hung from the eaves of the wide, overhanging roof.

  He studied the scene for a couple of seconds, trying to understand why Charlotte’s cottage looked so different from his own. It wasn’t just the flowers, he thought. There was something else about the place. Then it came to him. It looks like a home, he thought.

  Charlotte was just about to unlock the door when the vast waves of eerie green light flooded across the heavens. The night lit up as though it had been ignited by supernatural energy. She gave a small shriek and jumped. The key clanged on the wooden porch.

  “What in the world?” she gasped. “Oh, my goodness, look, an aurora. You can see them only a few times a year here on the island. Atmospheric conditions have to be just right.”

  “I remember seeing an aurora the summer I worked at the marina,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve seen one since then.”

  She laughed. “Maybe it’s a good omen, hmm?”

  “It’s a natural atmospheric phenomenon,” he said. “Not an omen.”

  “Give me a break. Surely a man who can come up with a phrase like canyons of night can allow me a little poetic license here.”

  He smiled. “You’re right. Maybe this is an omen.”

  He switched off the flashlight and guided her down the steps to get a better view of the spectacular display.

  “Talk about special effects,” Charlotte breathed.

  “No movie studio could produce a light show like this.”

  The brilliant green lights crashed and cascaded endlessly across the night sky, creating an otherworldly effect that dazzled all of the senses.

  Energy heightened in the atmosphere. Slade realized that Charlotte had jacked up her talent a few degrees in order to savor the full effects of the aurora. His own senses responded, not to the rippling, glowing lights in the sky but to Charlotte’s energy.

  He knew then that he had miscalculated badly. He had told himself that sex with Charlotte did not have to be complicated, just a simple case of two adults who were attracted to each other acting on that attraction. But he had been wrong. Sex was going to be very complicated. In that moment, however, entranced by Charlotte’s upturned face and the air of wonder and fascination that shimmered around her, he did not give a damn about the potential complications.

  He put his arm around her shoulders, acutely conscious of the delicate, feminine body beneath the light sweater she wore. Her scent stirred the banked fires deep inside. He turned her toward him. She did not resist.

  “Charlotte,” he said. And stopped because he could not think of what to say next.

  “I know, I know,” she said, her voice a little husky now. “You’re not long for this island. You’ve got plans for the future that don’t involve hanging around here. We’re just two talents passing in the night, blah, blah, blah.”

  “I may have said blah, blah, blah, but don’t think I actually said that we’re just two talents passing in the night.”

  She put her hands on his shoulders and smiled up at him. Her eyes were luminous pools of mystery.

  “How about two talents who happen to find themselves stranded together on an island,” she said.

  He pulled her closer. “I don’t think I said that, either.”

  “No, I did.”

  “That works.”

  He brought his mouth down on hers and kissed her beneath the radiant green night skies. Heat and energy flashed in th
e atmosphere. Charlotte made a small sighing sound and melted against his chest. Slowly, he reminded himself. You don’t want to screw this up by running too hot.

  But the fires of passion were already flaring and getting hotter by the heartbeat. Against his better judgment he deepened the kiss. It was okay. He could handle this. He was in control. It was just a kiss.

  Charlotte’s mouth softened and opened under his. He felt her fingers tighten on his shoulders. A shiver swept through her. The knowledge that she was responding to him was making him reckless.

  He eased his hands down her sleek back until his palms rested on the enticing curve of her hips. He cradled her snugly against his thighs. He heard Charlotte’s sharp breath when she felt his erection through the fabric of his jeans.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked into her ear. “Didn’t you realize how much I want you?”

  Her fingers clenched tighter around his shoulders. “It’s not that,” she said tightly. “It’s just . . . never mind.”

  She kissed his throat and then he felt her teeth on his earlobe. There was a sense of urgency about her now, as if she was suddenly desperate to leap off an unseen cliff. He almost laughed.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “We’ve got all night.”

  “No,” she said. “We don’t. We need to do this now. Before I—Never mind.”

  “Before you what?”

  “It’s not important now.”

  “Whatever you say. Maybe we should find a bed, first?”

  “There’s one in my cottage.”

  He scooped her into his arms and carried her up the front porch steps. She managed to find the key where she’d dropped it, fumbled, got the lock opened, and then they were inside.

  “The lights,” she whispered. “On the wall.”

  “Don’t need them,” he said.

  “Oh, yeah, right, the night-vision thing. Wow, that’s handy.”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  He got her up the stairs to the second floor and down a short hall to a bedroom. There he fell with her onto the bed. He managed to sit up long enough to get her shoes and his boots off and then they were locked in sensual combat on the quilt.

  She twisted into his body. He found the sweet, vulnerable skin of her throat. He was playing with fire but he was satisfied that he was still in control.

  He removed her glasses and set them carefully on the nightstand. Without the crystalline armor of the lenses, she suddenly looked more innocent and vulnerable. It brought back a vivid memory of how she had looked that night fifteen years earlier. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

  “Ack.” She turned her head aside, batting at his shoulders with both hands. “Don’t do that. I promised myself you wouldn’t kiss me like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like you did that night. As if I were your kid sister.”

  He grinned. “Trust me, I never thought of you as a sister, not fifteen years ago, not tonight.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “There are some things a man knows with absolute certainty.”

  “Okay, then. If you’re sure.”

  He kissed her on the mouth, letting the heat rebuild. When she groaned and shuddered beneath him he unfastened her sweater and peeled it off. He slid his hands under her blue pullover. The fine bones of her rib cage felt bird-light and bird-delicate under his big hands. Her breasts were small, full, firm, and ripe, the nipples like berries between his fingers. He squeezed gently and Charlotte seemed to levitate off the bed.

  “Ah,” she gasped. “Yes.”

  She got his shirt open, got her hands inside. When he felt her palms on his bare skin another wave of heat rolled through him.

  He raised his head to look down at her. Charlotte’s eyes burned with passion. He knew that his own eyes were equally hot. The scent of her body acted like a drug on his senses, threatening to suppress what remained of his control.

  He’d thought he could handle this, but things were getting out of control fast.

  He could not resist moving one palm down to the crotch of her pants. He could feel her heat even through the fabric. He cupped her and pressed hard.

  “Yes.” She clutched at him.

  There was more than urgency in her hoarse voice now, he thought. There was an element of desperation. He did not understand it but the desire to sink into her was so strong now that he did not want to take the time to ask questions.

  It wasn’t until he started to undo the fastenings of her jeans that he realized that his fingers were trembling and his mind was clouded with need. Shock slammed through him. The atmosphere in the small, shadowed room was too hot, way too hot.

  His senses flared higher and suddenly he was far out on the spectrum, heading into the red zone, staring into the dark storm of psychic oblivion that awaited him.

  He had to crank it down a few notches, he told himself. He could do that. Grimly he reached for and found his control. He was still rock hard, still ready to explode, but he was able to partially close down his senses. The dark storm receded.

  He went back to work undressing Charlotte but he discovered she had gone very still beneath him. Her fingers wrapped around his wrists. She stared at him with wide, unfocused eyes.

  “No,” she said. “No, that’s enough. Please.”

  A flicker of raw panic shot through him. Had he hurt her?

  “Are you all right?” he said.

  “Yes, I’m okay. I’m sorry. It’s just that things are moving too fast here. I mean, we haven’t seen each other for fifteen years and now here we are in bed together.”

  “I got the feeling a few minutes ago that you didn’t think that was a problem.”

  “I’m really sorry. This is my fault. I know that.”

  She sounded miserable. He leaned over her, resting on his elbows so that he could frame her face with his hands. “I’m not trying to assign blame here. I just want to know what’s going on. You went cold on me like a de-rezzed light. Something I did?”

  “No, of course not. It’s me. My problem. I’m sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing and tell me what the hell went wrong with the two-talents-stranded-together-on-an-island concept?”

  “I thought that logic would work,” she admitted sadly. “I should have known better. I made a mistake. You’re not an easy man to read.”

  “Care to explain?”

  “Think about it, Slade,” she said earnestly. “This is a small community and you are the chief of police. That makes you a very high-profile person in town. For the next six months or however long you’re here, we’ll be running into each other at the post office, the grocery store, the coffee shop, the bookstore. You know how it is.”

  “No. Explain.”

  “It would be extremely awkward for both of us if we sleep together tonight and then in the morning one of us concludes that it was all a mistake,” she said.

  “You suddenly decided that one of us would regret it tomorrow?”

  She cleared her throat. “I’m not one hundred percent certain, but yes, I think there is a strong likelihood of that.”

  “And you went with the worst-case scenario?”

  She sighed. “Better to be safe than sorry. I think.”

  “Which one of us did you decide was going to regret having sex tonight?”

  “Does it matter?” She sounded anxious.

  “It matters.”

  She drew a deep breath. “Okay, then. You. You’re the one who would have regretted it. I think. Like I said, it’s a little unclear.”

  For an instant he was too shocked to speak. After a couple of seconds he pulled himself together, pushed away from her, and sat up on the edge of the bed. He looked down at her.

  “How the hell do you know that?” he asked.

  She levered herself up on her elbows. “You’re sure you want to go into this?”

  “Yes, damn it,” he said through his teeth. “Not like the mood hasn’t already been ruined.”

  She took
a deep breath. “Okay. I guess I owe you an explanation.”

  “Yes.”

  “A few minutes ago when you were running hot?”

  “What about it?” he said. “You were pretty damn hot yourself, as I recall.”

  “I saw your aura rainbow,” she said quietly, apologetically. “Sex always produces a lot of psi, you see, and I was jacked myself and—”

  “I don’t want a lecture on para-physics. What did you see in my rainbow that made you freeze up on me?”

  “It was obvious that you felt deeply conflicted about what was happening. You wanted the sex, all right, but I got the distinct impression that there was something about our encounter that you were dreading. I assumed that it was the thought of having to face me in the morning. Or maybe you were worried that I’d get too emotionally involved and you didn’t want to hurt me. I don’t know. Sorry.”

  “Stop saying that.”

  She sat up and slipped off the opposite side of the bed. “I don’t know what else to say.” She found her panties and hastily stepped into them. “If it’s any consolation, I run into this problem a lot.”

  “You do?”

  She pulled her crumpled top over her head and snatched her glasses off the nightstand. She plunked the glasses on her nose. “It’s probably the reason Arcanematch was never able to match me successfully.”

  “No kidding.”

  “Every time they sent me out on what was supposed to be a serious date I ended up viewing the man’s rainbow. Once I saw it, I just knew things weren’t going to work out. Things always fizzled after that.”

  He pulled on his boots, got to his feet, and faced her across the bed. “What is it with the rainbow reading?”

  She struggled into her jeans. “Look, you’ve been very fair about this. I knew going in tonight that whatever we had together wasn’t going to be long-term. You made that perfectly clear. I was okay with that. Going with the flow. Rezzing with the frequency, as they say. But then I saw your rainbow and realized that you were anticipating a full-scale disaster.”

  He shoved his fingers through his hair. “You misread the situation. Or my rainbow.”

  “I could live with the commitment-free scenario but I don’t like the idea of you regretting things afterward.” She drew herself up. “A woman has her pride.”