The Firstborn

Eden disconnected.

“You just do that,” Hayley muttered into the dead telephone. She cradled the receiver, drumming her fingers against the hard plastic. Thoroughly annoyed, she looked up and found Bram silently watching her from across the room.

She’d forgotten about him, hard as that was to believe. Leaning back against the door frame with his legs crossed at the ankles, he looked too sexy to contemplate. Her stomach muscles tightened as her breathing quickened. How could she have forgotten him even for a second?

“Is everything all right?” he asked.

“Marcus and Eden went to The Inn for the night because the electricity keeps cutting out.”

He frowned, coming away from the doorjamb in a smooth motion that tripled her pulse rate. “Are you going to join them?”

Hayley couldn’t help it. She shuddered. “No.”

“I have a feeling I should be glad I’m not one of your father’s patients.”

Hayley managed a weak smile. “You’d have made medical history. He’s an OB-GYN.”

The smile started in his eyes before moving to his lips, but it was definitely a smile. A wicked, incredibly sexy smile that sent her pulses leaping.

“In that case, I’m definitely glad I wasn’t one of his patients. Come back with me while I secure the rest of my camp for the night, then we can pick out a bedroom.”

The invitation sounded deliberately provocative. Blood rushed to her cheeks. What would it be like to kiss him?

The question haunted Hayley as they walked back through the woods at a more sedate pace. Watching him check the forge and put away tools, she decided he did everything with a disconcerting deliberation. Would he make love the same way?

She had no business thinking like that. Her hormones had been acting up outrageously all night. If she wanted to wonder about Bram, she should concentrate on things like what had prompted him to have a dragon tattooed on his upper arm.

The question fascinated her—like the man himself. She wanted to know everything about him, but it had quickly become obvious over dinner that Bram didn’t talk about himself. He’d managed to divert every question so that she was the one doing all the talking. She knew almost nothing about him beyond the fact that he was too sexy for comfort and could work absolute magic with cold metal and a little heat.

She watched him gather a few items and a change of clothing with economical movements, before leading the way back to the house with his powerful flashlight. As they reached the yard, Hayley came to an abrupt halt. The lights they’d left on were out once more.

“Another blackout?”

Bram studied the house. “Wait here while I check.”

She followed closely on his heels instead of waiting. If he thought she was afraid, he was right. Imaginary or not, she couldn’t shake off the sensation that something evil lurked nearby.

Bram flashed his light around the open foyer. Hayley found herself staring at the blackness guarding the top of the stairs. Unseen eyes seemed to peer down at them. When Bram touched her shoulder lightly, she started.

“Take it easy.”

He followed her gaze, shining the light into that dark maw. Empty. But she felt no relief.

“Look, those two couches in the library looked pretty comfortable to me. Do you really want to go exploring right now? We could give the couches a try tonight.”

Pride almost won out against common sense. She wanted to tell him she wasn’t afraid to go upstairs. Unfortunately, he would see right through that lie when her knees buckled on the first step.

“At the risk of sounding like a child afraid of the dark, I think the couches sound like a terrific idea. There’s a bathroom we can use down the hall past the library.”

She didn’t mention that there were two guest bedrooms beyond that bathroom. She could share a room with two couches, but she could hardly ask him to share a room with one bed.

“Mom always kept candles on the fireplace in the library,” she told him. “We could even build a fire if you think we’ll need more light.”

“Let’s skip the fire,” he said lightly. “Given the fact that it must be at least eighty-five outside tonight, we don’t want to lose what cool we have left in the house from your air-conditioning system.”

Hayley nodded. With help from his flashlight, she took down several thick, squat candles and holders to set on the coffee table between the two couches. She even found a fat, dripless candle for the bathroom. Her grandmother’s handmade afghans were inside one of the built-in cupboards, and while the temperature definitely didn’t call for blankets, it was somehow comforting to snuggle beneath the familiar material in a house that felt all wrong.

Hayley knew she wouldn’t sleep a wink. For one thing, she was entirely too aware of Bram’s large frame sprawled directly across from her. He used the afghan as a pillow. Irrationally, she was disappointed that he found it so easy to be a perfect gentleman.

She studied his features after he closed his eyes and began to relax. In the flickering candlelight, the harsh planes of his face softened. He was actually a strikingly good-looking man. She’d never experienced such a strong physical pull before.

She closed her eyes and tried to relax. She’d put in a lot of overtime recently getting ready for a showing, which was one reason she hadn’t gone to England with Leigh. The strain of that, plus the drive here and the past few hours had taken more of a toll than she’d realized. Once she allowed herself to relax, Bram’s image slowly faded as exhaustion claimed her.

THE URGENT WHISPER of voices raised her slowly from the depths of a deep, dreamless sleep. The room was in total darkness. It took her a minute to figure out why that was wrong. The comforting sputter of the candles had been extinguished.

Hayley lay motionless. Had those whispers been part of some dream? She didn’t hear anything now. It was several minutes before she realized the opposite couch was empty.

Bram was gone.

Tossing aside the afghan, Hayley sat up. Reaching out, she brushed a candle with her hand. Steadying it, she found the wax still warm and fluid. Bram must have just blown it out. Why would he do that?

Hayley heard the faint whispers resume. Someone was in her grandfather’s office, next to the library. She stood silently, straining to hear, but couldn’t make out the words. She couldn’t even tell if the whisperers were male or female. As quietly as possible, she groped her way to the office door. It had been closed when they’d lain down earlier.

The office was only slightly less dark than the rest of the house. Where was a nice bright moon when she needed one? The drapes on these windows were semisheer, and she might have been able to see something. The whispers stopped abruptly.

She was tempted to call out to Bram, but caution held her silent. Instinctively, she knew it would be better if the speakers didn’t realize she was awake. If Bram had blown out the candles, he didn’t want her to see who he was talking with. The sense of wrongness she’d felt earlier became a living weight in her chest.

Hayley stubbed her toe on the edge of her grandfather’s massive desk. She bit her lip to keep from crying out.

Had they heard her?

She didn’t breathe. The absolute silence was more unnerving than the whispers had been. The sense of danger became so acute she wanted to run. Her heart began pounding loudly enough to be audible out in the hall.

Someone knew she was in here.

Her hand sought the edge of the desk to use as a guide. When her fingers didn’t find it, she told herself to stay calm. She knew this house. All she had to do was turn around and walk straight ahead. The opening to the library was right in front of her.

So was a large, dark shape.

Chapter Three

“What the devil are you doing wandering around in the dark like this?” Bram demanded as his powerful hands gripped her shoulders.

Relief gave way to a surge of adrenaline-fed fury. She punched his chest, shocked to feel firm, bare skin beneath her knuckles. Instantly, he released his hold.

“Stop sneaking up on me like that! That’s twice you’ve done that to me. It isn’t funny.”

“I wasn’t sneaking anywhere. I was looking for you. Why did you blow out the candles? This place is a tomb.”