Deliberate Intent Page 3

  Gus passed her at the door with a silly smile coupled with a clueless expression. “Men,” Aubrie whispered to the door frame.

  “Look who I found on the inside of the door.” Katie’s impish grin framed her lovely face with mischief. “Pilot’s here. We can eat.”

  Aubrie reached up giving her shadow walker friend a good chilled hug. His countenance for the evening proved an attempt at formal attire. The black top-hat sat precariously on his dreary mist-shrouded hair. The coat-n-tales weren’t bad. Aubrie glanced down. Somehow his getup ended with tennis shoes. Converse to be specific. “You look like an eighties prom date. How are you, friend?”

  “Good! How was your day?” His warm expression eased some of the discord she’d been experiencing after playing word tag with Logan. “Thanks for inviting me.”

  “It’s our pleasure.” Aubrie included Logan in the sentiment as he appeared with the hamburgers.

  “I hope you brought your appetite, Pilot.” Much like Katie had done earlier, Logan lifted the platter in triumph before sitting the stoneware in the center of the table. “How about something to drink?”

  “Good idea,” Gus chimed in. “Come on Pilot, I’ll fix you a toddy.”

  Pilot followed Gus and Logan to the bar.

  Katie saddled up next to Aubrie. “Good to see them having a boy’s time together. Huh?”

  The warmth in her smile radiated from her face. Aubrie slid a hand in hers giving her friend’s a good squeeze. “Yes, yes it is.” The moment shifted. Katie reached over giving Aubrie a hug. “Sometimes we just need those. Don’t you think? Here, let me help you with the salad.”

  Leaving Aubrie’s side, she turned to the kitchen. She missed the expression on Logan’s face from across the room. His haunted gaze had wavered for another minute before he switched his focus to the discussion Gus and Pilot were having. Undone, the word, which came to mind as she stared at her fiancée, completely unraveled her plan to stalk his every move until she figured out what the devil was going on with him. In its place, a calm settled – a notion akin to a plan surfaced.

  Aubrie’s talent as a seer marked her for life. Yet, her transformation because of Nybbas’ treachery allowed her a new and untapped means of encounter for the purpose of discovery or unearthing information. A freedom emerged from the restraints.

  Just like the loss of her amulet drove her to control the sight with merely her wits, the branding of her body when she became Valcura, warrior, afforded her a strength and prowess she had never dreamed of possessing. With the physical muscle, Aubrie garnered an ability to right wrong and control outcomes. Her battle skills had turned the tide in a war of force when Logan, Duke, and Gus faced Nybbas in the land of the undead, the Netherworld. Vowing never to return to the seething ‘underbelly of evil,' she had put the past behind her with a promise to begin again in her homeland. Here in this haven of security, she reveled in the company of friends. Still, Aubrie sensed a confrontation, one which would test her skills to the limit. She must prepare. Logan’s life was at stake.

  Chapter 3

  Lingering at the door, Logan made a show of waving. “That went well.” His estimation settled in the silence. Turning, he searched the great room for Aubrie. She’d been quiet most of the evening. He missed her usual banter with Pilot. Katie and Gus probably hadn’t notice. He did. Had Aubrie already figured him out? No, discovering his secret would cause an eruption.

  Padding barefooted to the sofa, he dropped down the cushions. The day had been tediously long. Words were stilted. Conversation with Aubrie came at a price. Glancing up, he noted the ceiling fan swirling swiftly. Logan closed his eyes. How had he gotten himself into this mess? Even knowing the answer didn’t help. A casual encounter with Connie at Joiner’s grocery had mushroomed into a full-blown situation. Throwing an arm over his head, he propped his feet on the coffee table. Aubrie would protest if she walked in about then. She didn’t. He could hear water running – in the shower. Most times he would slip out of his jeans to join her. The notion of his hands on her silky skin appeared in his mind’s eye. Those long legs wrapped around his hips. Suds rolled down their bodies as he kissed her senseless over and over again. Giggles and groans accompanied the hot, wet shower sex. The image was one of his favorites.

  The laughter switched. No longer alluringly sweet, the sound rang raw as if on the verge of hysterical. Logan opened his eyes. Connie stood on the opposite side of the coffee table. She cocked a hip while smirking at him. Logan jumped.

  “What’s the matter? Not who you were expecting?”

  His senses sharpened. He went into military mode. “What do you want?” Nasty rimmed the question.

  “That’s not very hospitable of you, Logan.” Easy as you please, she strolled around the table before dropping down in front of him. “Why don’t you let me work my magic on you, Latimar.”

  Logan glared at the fingers slipping up his thigh. With a free hand, he clamped down hard and unyielding. “Don’t.” Noting the chill in her skin, he shifted to stand. “Get out. Now!”

  “All right. But I’ll be back. After all, I got more of a right to you than Aubrie does.” With a jerk of her head in the bathroom’s direction, Connie stood, giving her long blonde tresses a good shake out. Sauntering to the door, she narrowed her eyes at him.

  “Have a nice night, Logan or should I call you daddy.” With those words, she disappeared.

  Logan released a sigh in a long, laborious effort to somehow cleanse his skin of her touch. No good. The incident wasn’t merely a dream. She had been in the room. Flesh and blood, Connie had stood almost where he stood now. “What the hell?” he questioned to the silence. “I’ve seen a ghost or an apparition, maybe a vision. Something.” Glancing down, he noted his hands shook.

  “Who you talking to in here?” Aubrie appeared in the door to the bedroom. “I heard voices in here. Did Katie forget something?” Raking a fat comb through her chocolate lengths, she eyed him coolly.

  Ice hardened along his spine. “Nobody. I was talking to myself.” The habitual shove of hands in pockets followed by clearing his throat spoke volumes. Logan would put money on it. “Are you getting ready for bed?”

  “Yeah, you coming?” Her questioning eyes tracked him as he gathered up his boots.

  “No. I’m not tired right now. Hey, I think I’ll fly over to Gus’. He said somebody’s been hanging around the garage after dark. I want to scout out the area. Sorta give him some help. Won’t be long. Go on to bed. I’ll be back soon. Okay?” Reluctance appeared in her features. He stepped to her. “Look, I won’t be long. Lock the doors. I’ll use my key when I get back.”

  “Sure.”

  The one word grazed across the rawness of having lied to her. You did not lie to your soulmate. Stepping to Aubrie, Logan eased in for a kiss. Soft and gentle, his lips skimmed over hers. Without effort, his mind relaxed as her hands touched his shoulders. She had a magnificent talent for making the outside world go away. Reaching up, he cradled her face in his fingers. Long, pleasurable moments passed as his mouth swept the corners of hers. Nibbling her flesh, he bit the corner of her top lip before sucking. She molded her body into his. The easy way she gave into his attention stoked his ardor. Small pulses of electricity ran the length of his body. His shaft hardened as she stirred his blood with her hands.

  “Logan?”

  “Yeah, Sugar?” His heart thrummed with a new beat.

  “Make love to me.” In the light shining in from the bedroom window, her request hit him with the force of steel.

  The words were ones he had heard before. A flicker of memory brought back the night they’d made love under the stars. This woman channeled his emotions like no other. No magic compared to her touch.

  With a groan, he walked her backward to the bed. The urgency for her drove him to pull her nightshirt over her head. “I need you, now,” he whispered.

  “I had a little too much to drink,” she moaned. “I feel warm and hungry.” Fumbling with shorts, she shov
ed free.

  “I can handle a little hunger. Let me know what you want, Aubrie.” She yanked his t-shirt off. Soon his belt came loose and his jeans hit the floor. Long glides of her fingers sent tiny slices of need racing along his skin. Her touch ignited the flames of want for her. None before and none after would compare. He nuzzled her neck as his hand cupped the heart of her heat.

  Aubrie gasped. Her eyes fluttered shut. “Yes, I want you in me, Logan. You know I do.”

  Sliding inside, he touched her where release exploded and fireworks shattered across the ebony sky.

  Aubrie cried out. Rocking side to side, her head fell back into the pillows as the wave of pleasure swept her free of her anchor and out to sea. Soon, she floated on a shining moonbeam, her hips pulsing in the sweet agony of release.

  His greatest desire lay in the granting of her pleasure. Yet, the seer always gave as good as she got. Aubrie wasn’t through as she arched up and bowed with the breath of a butterfly on his skin. Hovering over him, she gazed into his eyes. The niggling fear the gift would settle between them gave him pause. Her hand slipped down his chest. The air in his lungs stilled. With fingertips of velvet, she glided along his flesh. One last lusty glance before she lowered her head, Aubrie locked eyes with him.

  “You are mine. Know that, Logan. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

  Undone. The only thing, which came to mind, remained that singular adjective. Using her mouth, Abrie drove Logan past the edge of concern. In the quicksilver seconds, before he soared untethered because of this woman, the one of his blood and bend, Logan understood. The only thing to do was share all his secrets with Aubrie.

  Chapter 4

  Duke jumped from the bull in the nick of time, missing the back hooves by a mere hair’s breath. Nothing more than a night’s work, he thought. Dusting the dirt from his chaps, he reached up taking his hat and flinging the straw Stetson into the stands. The crowd roared their approval. The grin he aimed at one particularly enthusiastic cowgirl want-a-be appeared to have hit pay dirt. He was gonna get laid, and the devil may care life he used as a front for the emptiness would mark up one more notch on his belt or bedpost or whatever the hell image he wanted to use for the clock ticking away on his life.

  Flicking a wink at the cowgirl, he sauntered over to the escape gate one of the cowpokes held open for him. He’d hung on for the eight seconds. Still, there were those with better times. Long story short, he would end up somewhere in the middle of the pack. Nothing left to do but grab a quick shower. He had a hunch the girl would be waiting for him at the back entrance marked strictly for the event participants.

  “Good eight, Duke.”

  “Thanks, Riley. See you in Austin.” Waving in retreat, he entered the partitioned off bath the cowboys used to remove the dung and dirt. Glancing at his phone, he realized he had a message from Logan. “Wonder what Lodi’s got going on now? Oh, yeah,” he blinked at the readout. He didn’t leave a message. “Well, hell. I’ll grab a shower before I call him back.” Gathering a towel, he headed for the sound of men’s boisterous laughter.

  “Damn, this feels good.” He ducked under the hot water. Under the showerhead, Duke scrubbed with zeal. Gotta wash off the dirt and cold lingering in his chest. He could blame Logan’s call for stirring up the past. The excuse sounded plausible. But somewhere in the mist, he closed his eyes. He could still see her. There she was. The girl he had left back in Cheniere Station. Katie Tibideaux. He stilled. The suds slid down his chest unheeded. Duke could not ignore the idea of seeing her again. “She’s just a friend. We had some good times.” Leaning into the heat, Duke let the water race down his body. Her hands, he could still feel her hands on him. Her mouth, that titillating mouth gripped his imagination. She had used those lips on his nape. The image of which still wrenched his gut into knots.

  “Hey, you planning on saving the rest of us some of that dad blame hot water or you gonna waste it all on your sorry ass?”

  Water rode the whip of his head before flying through the air in a mad leap from his hair. “What? Oh, no. I’m through. Going now.” Shutting off the faucet, Duke walked naked toward the locker room. The clothes went on with precision, if not mechanics. He opted to go commando with the notion he would get lucky. Maybe the little filly from row seventeen waited outside. Slapping on some cologne, he gave the sight of him in the foggy mirror a quick exam. He’d do, Duke mused.

  Like a machine, he walked toward the exit. Greeting friends and slapping companions on the back as he walked, Duke reached the door and stopped. Something like the flicker of a candle caught his attention.

  “You’re a long way from home, Duke.”

  Unsure if he had heard the words or they were simply in his head, he rounded on the men walking toward him. None of them looked suspect. When they’d passed, he blinked. There she stood. The blonde jutted one curvaceous hip to the side, giving him her ‘come hither’ look he remembered so well. Jeez, he must be tired. Yeah, tired, simple exhaustion. What he needed were a brew and a bed. To take off the edge, he muttered. Glancing back up, he found her walking his way. Damn! “All right, it’s just a vision.”

  “Why don’t you take me back with you?”

  Dazed by the words he heard now, Duke swayed in place. The night air would take care of this little hiccup. Must have hit his head on something hard tonight. When he talked to Logan, his warlock bud would understand the vision concept. Pushing on the door, he couldn’t believe his ears when the voice called after him.

  “Don’t think you’re leavin’ without me, cowboy.”

  Stumbling backward, he dropped his bag and gear he had gathered on the way out.

  A hand reached out of nowhere and touched the sleeve of his pearl snap.

  “Christ!” Wheeling like a spooked calf, he faced the small brunette, who had waited like he’d figured she would. Duke swayed before stumbling in the opposite direction. “Damn.”

  “What’s wrong? Have you seen a ghost?” Advancing on his retreating form, she batted her fake lashes. “Want to party with me, cowboy?”

  He stalled out. Simply standing, Duke rubbed a small pain in the center of his shirt. “I…I…maybe some other time, darlin’. You run along now. I’ll see you down the road.” Glancing back at the stadium doors, he swallowed hard. Some would say he left in a hurry as if the law was on his tail. Duke recognized his flight that night as determination. He had a purpose. He had a need rush up and slap the sense back into his grind of an empty life. Getting back to her was the only thing he could think of. Try as he might, he couldn’t shake the notion of seeing Katie. No time to waste. He needed to go home.

  ***

  Early the next morning. The phone rang. Logan rolled toward the sound on the nightstand. Fumbling with the Samsung, he blinked at the time. “Fuck. This better be good. Yeah…hello?”

  “Lodi?” Duke’s voice on the other end of the line sounded weird, off-kilter. “Duke? It’s three in the damn a.m. What are you doing, man?”

  The laugh came out dry. Logan thought he heard his bud’s voice shake. Hard to picture the image of the suntanned, blonde, muscle-bound, chick-magnet cowboy shaky gave him pause. “Hey, give me a sec, Duke. Let me get to where I can talk. Aubrie’s asleep.”

  “Sure, awe, hell, I’m sorry man. It’s too late to be calling now. I’ll let you go. Sorry, I woke you up. Go back to sleep.” Duke coughed.

  “Would you shut up a minute? Okay, I’m outside. Now, tell me what’s up? You sound spooked.”

  Duke laughed. The sound bordered on hysterical. “That’s a fair description, bro. It’s the reason I’m calling.”

  Logan eased down in one of the rockers Aubrie kept on the back deck for company. “Easy. Start from the beginning.”

  Sighing long and jerky, Duke clocked off a couple of beats before answering Logan. “Logan, can regular folks have visions? Talking visions?”

  Stiffening, Logan leaned forward in the chair. “You had a vision? When? Where?”

  “
Tonight. Around midnight. I’d just come from the showers, finished dressing. I had plans for a little relaxation.” The forced chuckle came out stilted. “I know all of this is in my head, but holy crap her voice sounded so real.”

  “Whose voice, Duke?” Logan’s nerves went on alert.

  “Katie’s, man. Your Katie, my Katie. Katie Tibideaux, that’s who.”

  A few cuss words followed as Logan tried to absorb his friend’s info. “You heard Katie talking to you?” The sound of this info bode ill, he mused. Logan stood to walk to the other end of the deck.

  “I heard and saw her fine ass. The woman called out to me. Hell, she wanted me to take her with me. Christ, Lodi, she started following me out the damn door.” Duke’s coughed. Hocking up something, he spat.

  “All right. Take some deep breaths. Get a hold of yourself, Duke. I have a feeling I know why you had a vision.”

  “Well, hell, I’m glad you believe me. You’re the only one who would believe this shit. I’m headed your way. I hope that’s okay. I figured, either I’m losing it, or you could help me figure out how to make these things stop.”

  “Believe it or not, you’re not losing it, Duke. It’s the whole reason I called you at the descent hour of eight o’clock. I was going to see if you could come on back. I need help. There’s something freaky going on here.”

  “You got it, bro. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’m near Dallas now. See you in the daylight. Okay?”

  “That’s good. See you then.” Logan hung up the phone.

  “Who was on the phone?” Aubrie’s voice held a chill.

  “Ah…Duke, that was Duke. He’s headed this way. Found some time, so he wanted to drop by. Will his crashing her be a problem?” His question bordered on sharp. Breathing in, he watched as Aubrie shook her head in denial.

  “No, no problem. You coming back to bed?”

  “Yeah. Go on, get back under the covers. It’s cold out here. I’ll be there in a minute.” The urge to go to her, to wrap his arms around her so tight, they’d never break free warred with touching her. She could see what he kept a close eye on inside his head. “This wasn’t his best timing. Sorry, Duke loses track of time sometimes. It’s an old habit from the Navy.” Logan shrugged lame and disjointed.