The Spyglass Portal: A Lighthouse Novel (17 page)

“I’ve wanted to do that all evening,” he said quietly.

Unable to utter a verbal response, she nodded and Aidan’s hand found hers. He laced his fingers between hers, and they remained that way until the end of the movie.

When the western rolled to a close, she reluctantly slid her hand out from his in order for them to join everyone else in a round of applause. While people around them gathered their belongings and began to disperse, he gave her a hand up from the ground. Then he collected their trash and tossed it in a nearby receptacle and picked up the blanket, which he folded and tossed over one arm, while offering his other arm to her. Sam linked hers through his and they followed the throng of movie enthusiasts to a field where all the vehicles were parked.

As they strolled over the grass, she glanced up and gasped softly. A blanket of stars winked overhead, and the half-moon dangled lazily amongst them. Captivated by the ethereal moment and the squeeze of Aidan’s hand, a burning desire shot from her core to every nerve ending in her body.

He opened the passenger door to his old pickup and closed it behind her once she was in. Rolling the tip of her tongue over her lips, which tingled with the lingering sensation of his electrifying kiss, she shivered from wanting more.

After climbing into the driver’s seat, Aidan slammed the door. Moonlight cast a silvery beam through the front window onto his chiseled face. Their gazes connected and her heart started to pound. Something about him that made her feel so comfortable. There was no use denying it was probably because he reminded her so much of Chad. But she wouldn’t go there anymore. Aidan was the man who had kissed her. The way he looked at her made her feel beautiful and wanted. Her skin practically sizzled just from being near him.

Dr. Teagan’s words echoed in her ears.
You hold the power to change your life
. Aidan had basically told her the same thing. She had already wasted too many years alone. It was time to take a leap of faith. She scooted toward him and wound her hand around his neck.

A scorching fire ignited between them the moment Aidan cupped her face in his hands. She inhaled his spicy scent and her lips spread in silent summons. His fingers trailed down the slender arch of her neck before his mouth branded her with a fiery kiss. Quaking with pent-up passion, Sam’s mouth parted wider in invitation, to which he complied. The touch of his tongue entwining with hers was dizzying, and her breath hitched when his hand slid to her breast. When she deepened the kiss, a soft groan tore from his throat.

Samantha didn’t want to stop, but she had no intention of making out in a car like teenagers, so she broke the kiss. “Why don’t you drive us home now,” she whispered.

Aidan nodded and jammed the key in the ignition and gunned the engine. She sat next to him on the ride home and scratched her nails up and down his thigh. When she noticed he was breaking the speed limit by ten miles per hour, she smiled and peppered his neck with butterfly kisses.

She’d never seduced a man before. Not having had much experience, it was surprising how easily Aidan succumbed to her advances, and how exciting it felt to be doing the seducing. For once, there was no over-analyzing or considering the pros and cons of her actions, the way she did every day in the construction business.

She wove her fingers through his long hair and nibbled his earlobe. She’d always been in absolute control of her life, and even micro-managed the business, and Chad, to a point. But this kind of control felt different. In a sense, she was actually
giving up
control by allowing herself the freedom to follow her heart and her hormones. It felt damn good.

The truck tires squealed and screeched to a stop in the gravel parking lot outside the lighthouse. Aidan jumped out of the pickup and flung open her door before she had time to slide to the passenger seat. When she swung her legs out of the pickup, he swept her into his arms and kicked the door shut with his foot.

“What are you doing?” she cried lightheartedly, while tossing her arm around his neck.

“Taking you home, as you requested.” He strode purposefully toward the lighthouse.

She fished the house key out of her purse, and he bent as she unlocked the door from his arms. “Watch your head,” she warned. He ducked in time and carried her over the threshold. The living room was bathed in light with a flick of the switch.

“That way?” he asked, nodding toward the winding staircase.

“Yes, but you’d better put me down now. You’ll kill us both if you try to carry me up those steps.”

After a quick assessment of the narrow circular stairs, he set her on the ground. “You’re right. It would be a bad start to a lovely night.” Aidan grasped her hand and led the way to the second level where they came to a stop in front of the bed. His Alpha male behavior had her exhilarated in a way she never would have imagined possible. A spotlight of moonbeams streamed through the window onto the mattress. When he flashed her a wicked grin, the reckless, bold behavior Sam had exhibited only moments earlier faded. All of a sudden, her nerves took over. It had been so long since a man had seen her naked, and a couple of years since she’d made love. Stupid questions ricocheted through her mind. Had she shaved her legs before going out tonight? What kind of underwear did she have on? Would he like her body? 

Panic quivered in every cell as she came to the swift conclusion that this was a mistake. But Aidan gave her no time to back out. Before she knew what was happening, she had been laid upon the bed and he was slowly undressing her, first with his lustful gaze and then with his eager hands.

Lying naked, she shivered, either from chill at being unclothed, or from nerves. Probably both.

“Don’t be scared,” he whispered, stroking her hair and letting his gaze roam over her. “You’re so beautiful, and I care about you very much.”

In an instant, he’d stripped out of his own clothes and Sam got the first glimpse of his body. Beneath that sensitive artist’s veneer was the body of a Greek God who, she soon discovered, had the hunger of a wolf.

When he began kissing her and working his spell on her needful body, she was catapulted into another dimension—and she hadn’t even gazed through the spyglass.

* * * *  

As Aidan held Samantha against his chest, cradled in his arms, he felt their two hearts beating in rhythm. He’d known making love to her would feel this way, like two halves that had become whole. Not since he was a boy had he felt so content and close to someone.

He listened to her breathing and let his thoughts drift back to when he was a youngster. Here at Pavee Cove had been the happiest time of his life. But that had changed the day Remy had disappeared. Soon after, Aidan’s mother moved them far away, and they had kept on moving until Aidan was old enough to have a say about going or staying. 

All those years he’d struggled to tamp down his anger. Unanswered questions had never been far from his mind. What had happened to Remy? Where had she gone? Had someone other than her mother taken her away? Was she still alive? If so, where was she? How had her life turned out?

The memories of that innocent little blonde girl had haunted him all his life. Through the years, expressing his emotions through painting had helped get him past some dark times. More so than the shrinks he’d tried off and on. But returning to the coast had been the best therapy, he’d discovered. It was here on the seashore that he was able to feel Remy’s spirit again, which gave him peace.

Samantha, he realized, gave him peace, too. A kind of serenity he’d never known before. He’d known women, but none had captured his soul. The fear of possibly losing someone he loved had driven him to keep emotionally distant. With Sam, that apprehension dissolved. There was something about her that made him want to hold her forever.

If he’d never come back to Pavee Cove, they never would have met. Fate, for once, had finally worked in his favor. Physically being one with her had felt like coming home. Now that he’d made love to her, he couldn’t imagine wanting anyone else. Ever.

He kissed the top of her head, and she roused and snuggled into his shoulder. When she peered up at him with those baby blues that sparkled even in the dark, his blood fired again. She had pierced the sturdy shield around his heart, and it felt good.

“Did I doze off?” she asked, yawning.

“For a little while.” He squinted at the bedside clock that glowed. “It’s late.”

“What about you? Did you go to sleep?”

He shook his head. “I’ve been lying here thinking about what a lucky man I am. You’re a special woman, Samantha. Making love to you was one of the best times of my life.”

Her gaze lowered, but her batting eyelashes and crooked smile was confirmation that she’d enjoyed it, too. “Do you want to…?” she started.

“Do it again?” he joked.

She laughed. “That’s not what I was going to ask.”

“Do I want to spend the night?” he guessed.

She nodded.

“I was hoping you’d ask.” They shared another passionate kiss. “I was also thinking about the spyglass. Where is it?”

Samantha propped on one elbow. “In my dresser drawer hidden beneath some clothes. Would you like to see it?”

“I’d love to, if you don’t mind.”

She flipped on the small table lamp, edged out of bed, and retrieved the mahogany box from the drawer. Gazing upon her firm bottom, flat stomach and full breasts in the dim light caused Aidan to grow aroused again. He scooted to a sitting position against the headboard and pulled the sheet up to his waist to hide his eager loins. When she crawled back onto the bed, she creaked open the lid and removed the brass spyglass.

He turned it over in his hands, looking at it carefully. “So this is it, the instrument that is responsible for your adventures into parallel universes.”

“That’s it.”

The image of young Remy re-entered his mind. He’d been mulling the thought over. What if he could look into the spyglass and learn what had happened to her? If he knew she was safe, maybe he’d stopping having the dreams. Maybe he’d finally be able to put the past to rest and move on once and for all. Didn’t he deserve that? Didn’t Samantha deserve a man who wasn’t preoccupied with another girl?

He gazed into her dewy, smiling face and realized he was thinking of a future with her. And he wanted that future to start now. The only way to do that was to extinguish the ghosts from his past.

“Can I look into it?” he asked.

Her smile vanished. “Why? You know the power it holds.”

“I have my reasons.”

“Tell me what they are.”

“I can’t. Not yet. But I promise I will.”

Her lips pursed. “I can’t let you, Aidan. What if something terrible happens? What if you end up in a parallel universe where
I
don’t exist? We could lose each other forever. You know this is not an exact science.”

She cared about him. It was obvious by the panic-stricken expression emanating from her eyes. He gently pulled her face to him and kissed her soundly. “I’ve always existed in every world you’ve experienced. You will always exist in mine. Besides, maybe it only works for you. We don’t know for sure.”

“It worked on Captain McBride,” she reminded him. “And look what happened to him and his family.”

She made a valid point, but now that the possibility had stuck in his head, Aidan felt driven to find out if Remy was out there somewhere. He flashed Sam the most soulful look he could muster, but it seemed to do no good. Her mouth was stretched into a tight line.

“What’s so important that you’ll take the chance of losing what we’ve started?” she said.

“If it doesn’t work, I’ll explain it all to you then. Please trust me. I wouldn’t suggest this if it weren’t very important to me.”

Her lips curved into a pout. “I wanted Chad to be healed and it didn’t happen. There’s a good chance you’ll end up disappointed, or you might forget me altogether. I’m afraid for you, and for me.”

Aidan brushed her cheek with his hand. “I don’t want to lose you now that I’ve found you, Sam. This isn’t just a one-night stand for me. I hope you believe me. I’ll come back to you. I swear.”

The hand of her bedside clock ticked away the seconds while she contemplated. “All right,” she finally acquiesced, although grudgingly. “I hope you know what you’re doing. Before you gaze into it, give me one more kiss for the road.” When she leaned into him, her hand slid to his lap and she pulled back and grinned. “You might want to throw on some clothes first.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

They stood together on the observation deck, him in pants but no shirt, and Samantha nude under her short robe. The breeze blew through her long hair, and the tangy smell of sea salt tickled her nose. The stillness of the night was broken only by the crashing of waves upon the shore far below.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

Aidan held the spyglass like he was holding a fragile egg. “Ready.” He leaned against the railing and placed the apparatus to his eye.

“Remember, it doesn’t work immediately,” she said. “We can go to sleep and see what happens in the morning when we wake up.”

“I didn’t want to leave you tonight anyway. I want to sleep beside you all night and wake up with you in the morning.”

She clutched his arm and gave it a squeeze. “Me too. Now go ahead and swing the spyglass to look over the horizon.”

He did.

“Do you see anything?”

“It’s dark, but the crests of the waves are very clear. They look 3D. I can see the white foam sliding over the sand like it’s right in front of me.” He held his hand in front of him and wiggled his fingers like he was trying to touch the water.

“Did the blue mist drift over the lens already?” she asked.

“Blue mist? No. Didn’t see anything like that.”

“Really? Every time I’ve looked into it I’ve seen something blue waft across the lens.” Without thinking, she reached for the spyglass and gazed into it. The mist immediately floated in front of the glass. “There it is.” She handed the spyglass back to Aidan and he peered through it a few more minutes.