Prologue
His demanding lips left hers. She didn’t want to stop. Surprised at her actions, Dee reached up and pulled his head close. Her tongue slipped across his cheek, then continued up towards his temple. She tasted the saltiness of his body.
Anxious and anticipating the finale, the tempo of her heart increased as his plundering, searing, tongue returned to teasing every hidden inch inside her mouth. She inhaled deep into his hair and smelled the rich, exotic, musky aroma of his cologne as she pulled him closer to her body.
Dee watched as he complied and moved down to engulf the sensitive tip of her dark garnet colored nipple. He took the delicate projection deep into his mouth. With every gentle tug his lips made, she felt a hardness pulsating against her leg, intoxicating her further. He left a wet pattern around her nipple as he slowly stroked his tongue down into the valley between her peaks where he planted a gentle kiss. He slowly worked his way up the mound to the other nipple. He took his time brushing his tongue over the tip of her nipple, before suckling on the sensitive skin.
Her breathing came fast and uneven, filling her lungs with the essences of their fore play. Hot vibrations shot straight to the central part of her femininity as he shifted his body and she felt pressure against the entrance of her yearning. The mysterious depths of her body lusted and urgently craved fulfillment, begging to be released.
She reached for the hard-enlarged part of his anatomy and was interrupted by an annoying clatter. She tried to ignore the shrill ring blaring in her ear. Dee slid her hand across the soft bed sheets once more, groping for her lover only to find disappointment. She was alone.
In her annoyance, her head thrashed back and forth on the pillow desperately trying not to let go of the erotic sensations which quickly faded from within her body.
What was that obnoxious noise? Confused by the interruption, she lay still trying to regain control of her breathing. How could she silence the insufferable racket interfering with her delightful oblivious escape from reality?
Dee mumbled a few curses as her hand groped awkwardly with the lamp by her bed before successfully turning it on. Without opening her eyes, her fingers searched for the off button on the clock. She became more frustrated by the minute, when she couldn’t find it.
She grumbled, “Damn noise maker. I was just getting to the good part. It was my best dream ever.” Irritated, Dee picked up the clock, threw it across the room, slamming the object against the wall. The noise stopped.
Dee slowly opened her eyes. No exotic drums were beating. The only clamor now came from the pounding of her heart. She pressed a fist against her chest and tried to slow the beat.
“What is lying on me? Ugh.” She reached between her legs and felt the metal handle extended upward from the top of her suitcase.
“Damn.” With both hands and feet, she shoved against the object, still loaded with clothes, off the bed. A loud thud echoed in the room. Dee used her elbows to lean over the edge of the bed and watched as her clothes spilt out of the suitcase onto the floor. Disgusted, she fell back on her pillow.
“I guess I’m losing it. I’m having an erotic dream of a man making love to me and my suitcase is lying half on my body with the handle rubbing me in the crotch. God, I’m pathetic. What next?”
Still very much annoyed at being interrupted in the middle of an erotic dream, she tried to shove the twisted top sheet to the foot of the bed. Dee sat in the middle of disheveled bedcovers and shook her head as if in defeat.
“Whew, this dream has my hormones going crazy. I’ve got to get up from here. Now is the time for a stiff drink and a cold shower.”
Dee frowned and pushed curly hair away from her face. Her body quivered when her arm hit her left breast, sending delightful memories flowing in a chain reaction throughout her upper torso. The palpitations continued flowing south, then stopped dead center in the part of her body she was trying desperately to ignore.
“I would like something stiff all right but it sure as heck isn’t a drink. Damn, how long has it been since I’ve been with a man?” She mumbled. “Too damn long, for sure.” She sighed and scooted to the edge of the bed.
Dee stood and grabbed her jeans from a chair. She slipped into them, and tucked her wrinkled tee-shirt into the waist band of her faded jeans. Without looking, she moved her left foot around the floor feeling for her sandals. With both shoes on, she grabbed her oversized sweater and headed for the kitchen.
She flipped a wall switch, just inside the door. The florescent light dazzled her. Dee shaded her face with one hand and shuffled into the room.
Upon entering, she grabbed a tea bag, filled a cup with water, yawned and placed the dish into the microwave. Dee waited impatiently for the water to get hot and yawned deeper, in an unladylike fashion in an effort to wake. Her fingers rubbed across tearing eyes and retrieved the hot cup of water. After dipping the tea bag a couple of times into her cup, she threw the tiny sack into the sink. She sipped some of the pale brown liquid.
“Yikes, I guess I’m awake now. Whew, hot, hot, hot.” Dee fanned her mouth, then blew on the steam coming from the cup as she strolled into the living room and unlatched the glass screened door.
A cold wind forced the front door out of her hand and slammed against the outside wall on the porch. The unexpected action of the wind startled her, making her heart skip two beats. She stepped out on the front porch shutting the door behind her.
Destiny Seavers, better known by the nickname of Dee, was unaware of sinister eyes following her every movement. The mysterious figure slinked back into the shadows of the tall sand dune in front of the cottage. Seconds later he was completely consumed by the darkness.
She turned to her left and stared across the foamy water of the wild surf, highlighted by the moonlight. Dee shuddered involuntarily, as icy chills began to run up and down her spine. The October night cast enigmatic black shadows upon the ocean waves as they pounded the shore.
The melodramatic setting portrayed the water, illuminated by the moon, as being dangerous. She pulled her oversized sweater together at the front, hoping it would offer fortification, from what she wasn’t sure. The on-coming winter season made itself know by the crisp bite of the air as the wind coming off of the Gulf of Mexico swirled and danced around her overwrought body. The dark clouds sporadically dotted the night sky and tried to hide the newly risen moon.
Her first preference was to run back into the house, bolt the door, and crawl under the covers. She had her Irish grandmother to thank for having inherited a sixth sense of something being out of kilter.
Destiny set her cup down on the wooden porch rail. She began to slowly button up her soft fuzzy sweater. “I must be nuts. What was I thinking when I agreed to do this assignment?” She whispered.
She turned her head back to the left and could see the outline of a two-story house sitting further from the beach, off to the side of her little rental cottage. As if on cue, the clouds parted, then the sudden appearance of the moon’s reflection danced across the terracotta tile roof. The streaks of light from the moon beams gave the huge house a somewhat mystifying appearance.
The silhouette of a widow’s walk, in the middle of the second story roof, was clearly visible. This architectural design was rarely seen on houses located on the Texas coast line, near Galveston. The only thing missing was a medieval gargoyle on the enormous gothic structure. As far as she knew, when daylight approached, she might see stone creatures gathered around the edges of the house top.
Dee picked up her tea cup and grabbed the door knob ready to go back inside. A tiny flicker of light flashed for a mere second through a crack of a boarded up window in the vacant house. Her trembling hand tightened on the handle of the screened glass door.
“I thought no one is supposed to be living there.” She let go of the door handle and continued to stare at the perplexing house. God, she hated this ominous feeling. She shivered, as if an ice cube was being rubbed up and down her vertebras.
Dee squeezed her eyes shut and leaned her forehead against the cold glass door. “Isn’t this just great? There isn’t a living soul within thirty miles of the place and I’m already spastic. Leave it to me to get myself into a mess. Damn you Sam.” She whispered.
Dee sighed, opened her eyes, and pushed away from the door. She hesitated. It’s only her imagination going wild, she reasoned. She gaped at the house for several more minutes. When nothing else happened, her body relaxed.
“Most probably one of those stupid lightening bugs I used to chase as a kid.” She glanced at her watch in the stream of light coming from the glass door.
She smiled, “It’s past time for bed. Things will look different in the morning.”
Dee paused in the open doorway and turned for one more look out at the vast mysterious sea. Satisfied, she walked back into the warmth of the little house. She made her way towards the bedroom.
Once the cottage fell into darkness, the inconspicuous figure slithered from his hiding place within the shadows of the dunes and awkwardly walked away.
His bait had been found.
