A Death That Lingers by Kaylie Newell

Author:Kaylie Newell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781937325107
Publisher: Beachwalk Press, Inc.
Published: 2013-02-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Paul woke the next morning with Josie’s scent still on his skin. And he woke alone.

After the storm had eased to gently falling rain, he had taken her home, neither of them speaking much on the way. He’d said goodnight in front of the shop, trailing kisses up her neck and the side of her face, ending at her temple where he’d lingered for a moment before pulling away. She’d smiled shyly and said goodnight back. As much as he’d wanted to follow her up the stairs and start all over again, this time getting her naked, he didn’t. He needed time to think.

So much had happened in the last few hours that he was having trouble processing it all.

He’d never intended to tell her about Samantha. He hadn’t spoken of her in so long he’d nearly forgotten how her name sounded on his lips.

But something about Josie reminded him of her. Maybe it was the sad eyes, or the innocent way she looked at him. Or the quiet courage beneath the fragility. He’d wanted to tell her. Needed to tell her.

But now that he had, he questioned it. Every day was a struggle to find the strength to numb himself against the pain. It was like his heart had suffered a fresh wound when he’d uttered her name. And it was bleeding all over again.

He got home and went to bed, listening to the steady beat of rain against the roof. He lay there for over two hours, trying to find a comfortable position, before finally falling into an uneasy sleep.

And when he dreamed, it was of a beautiful girl of nineteen, with eyes as blue as a stormy Caribbean sea. But her hair was too dark; it was black like onyx and blew around her face in rippling waves of silk.

She pulled away from him, even as he grasped frantically for her hands.

“Let me go,” she whispered. “You have to let me go.”

* * * *

When Josie woke, she blinked the grogginess away and wondered if it had all been a dream. A wonderful, sexy, heavenly dream that she would have been happy to be lost in forever.

She closed her eyes and smiled, bringing the chenille spread up under her chin and cuddling back down into the warmth of the bed. She could still feel his arms around her. How they had curved around her backside to lift and cradle her so easily.

And his hands. Heat bloomed over her cheeks at the thought. He was a master with his hands. She wouldn’t let herself think of how he had learned to use them. Maybe he was just a natural. But she doubted it.

She’d wanted him to stay the night, but had been too shy to ask, settling for a kiss on the forehead and a promise to call the next day. She told herself that was just as well; she didn’t want to fall too fast. But even as the thought formed, she knew it was too late.

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