Her Anchor (18 page)

“That’s Danny.  He likes the dark humor.”  Despite her good mood, Elizabeth felt a sudden chill.  She wondered just what Rick meant by ‘dark humor.’

He must have picked up on what he said because he waved his hand. 

“Daniel is harmless, Elizabeth.  He just likes television shows featuring demons and hauntings.  I’m sure he’s got a huge list on the history of your house.” 

“So it does have a history.”  Elizabeth caught him.  Rick rolled his eyes. 

“Like I said, yours has the same history as every house in this town.  It was built by a local business man where he raised his family.  A couple of people in his family died in the house during a measles outbreak.  I don’t know if that really means a haunting.  Your grandmother always laughed off the idea of ghosts.”

That sounded like the grandmother that she knew.  Her grandmother would never have given into any type of local legend.  And she certainly wouldn’t have been scared of one.  Her grandmother was the type of woman who chased mice out of the house with a broom and ran over snakes with a lawn mower.  The thought of a dead man roaming the halls of her home would have just been an interesting dinner tale. 

“Well, if there are supposedly ghosts it’ll be good for business.”  Elizabeth shrugged as she put her bottle down. 

“Now that I agree with,” Rick nodded.  “People love that stuff.  They come out of the woodwork for it.  Hey, maybe you could even get the place on the local ghost tour.” 

“There’s a ghost tour?” 

“Only in October.  It’s run by the historical society.  But people come.  Like I said, people love that stuff.  Everyone seems to like to hear the stories.” 

“Do you?”  Elizabeth gave him a coy smile.   

“Why?”  Rick leaned in a bit closer to her.  “Do you have one to tell me?” 

They chatted more.  Elizabeth knew that they were flirting.  She had no problem with it.  She tried to remember the last time that she had flirted with a man, or that one had flirted with her. She found that she could not. 

Rick drove her home.  He walked her up the porch to her front door.  Just like any good gentleman would have done. 

“Do you want me to check over the house?”  He nodded towards the dimly lit windows. 

“No, why?”  After a few beers, the concept seemed ludicrous.  Sober it probably would have been a more rational suggestion.  Rick shrugged his broad shoulders. 

“No reason.”  He leaned in to her.  His lips brushed hers ever so slightly.  Elizabeth felt her entire body tingle at the sensation. 

It might just be alcohol,
she thought to herself. 
He may not know what he’s doing. 

Rick smiled at her as he stepped back. 

“I’ll see you at work tomorrow.” 

“You mean here?  In my house?”  Elizabeth winked as she unlocked the door.  “I’ll be here.”  Rick laughed. 

“Goodnight, Elizabeth.” 

As the alcohol started to wear off, she wondered if she had been too much.  She was paranoid now.  Should she call him?  Text him? 

No, it was late.  And then she realized she hadn’t put his number into her phone.  She still had it written on a business card which she’d taped to a cabinet.  Should she go down and shoot a quick text? 

No, of course she shouldn’t. But she should put his number into her phone.  Not for any romantic reason, that was just silly.  It was good business to have one’s employee in their phone.  She was sure that anyone would agree.  What if she needed to get in touch with him for some reason?  Yes, she finally rationalized to herself, she needed to have Rick’s number in her phone. 

Pausing the video on her iPad, she took her phone and started downstairs.  As she reached the top of the stairs, her hand felt the wall for the light switch.  To her surprise, she saw the downstairs already blazing.  That was odd.  She was sure that she had turned off the lights when she’d come upstairs.  Maybe she was seeing things. 

No, when she reached the bottom of the stairs she saw that she was not seeing things.  Every light in the downstairs rooms had been turned back on. 

Any buzz that she had once had was gone.  In fact, Elizabeth felt the alcohol and bar food roll in her stomach.  She was sure that she had turned off all of these lights-one hundred percent.  There was absolutely no one else who could have turned them back on. 

She checked the doors.  The front door was firmly locked.  That left only the back door.  Elizabeth made her way into the kitchen.  The back door was also latched.  So how could-? 

And then she saw it.  She caught it first from the corner of her eye.  When she fully turned, she saw that it was standing wide open.  The door to the servants’ stairs which the men had opened.  The door which Daniel had declared led to the basement, and could let anyone in.  It stood fully open, leaning against the wall.  Elizabeth shrank back against the back door.  She was suddenly terrified. 

After a week, Elizabeth had grown grumpy in the house.  Not even grumpy really-frightened.  In fact, she’d become so frightened, she’d called an alarm company.  She’d asked for the first available appointment.  After some hemming and hawing, the man had agreed to come the next afternoon.  Now every night, Elizabeth set the alarm.  She felt much better.  So far, she hadn’t had anything else in the house. 

That had not stopped the scratching on the windows.  She heard it when she lay in the upstairs bedroom at night.  Something dragged over and over on the glass.  She tried to tell herself that it was only branches.  Morning light revealed no branches rubbing against windows.  All of the shrubs were neatly trimmed below them. 

There had first been the flash of a haunting in her mind.  Maybe she was currently living in one of those houses that you only saw on reality shows.  But that thought disappeared with the alarm system.  She was sure that any eighteenth century ghosts she might have were not familiar with the concept of a security alarm, so it was certainly not stopping them. 

Which left the next logical option-human.  That was also the far more terrifying thought.  Her grandmother had always told her never to fear the dead-only the living.  Rick and Philip had tried to tell her that there was nothing to worry about.  Philip had assured he was on the property all the time.  No one had come or gone.  Furthermore, there was no one in town who would want to hurt her, he was certain of that.  It was undeniably some local kids who wanted to scare the new lady in town.  It did not make her feel much better, but it was at least something.  She had given Philip the alarm code just in case of emergency. 

Rick had been making it a point to check on her at night.  That was her favorite distraction.  Elizabeth knew now how the tween girls felt when their crush sent a message.  Rick’s messages made her smile.  When she was alone in the dark house with only her iPad for company, a quick word from him made her less lonely. 

They’d had dinner twice now.  Each time it was at the bar.  Rick had told her that he didn’t want her to think he didn’t know of anywhere else to go.  It was just a reasonable place for two people to go.  Elizabeth didn’t mind.  She actually found that she liked the place.  All of the waitresses were friendly.  She felt like she was walking into a small town
Cheers. 
This was what she had come to a small town for-friendly people who always knew your name.  She finally thought she would make friends quickly in town.  If the other forty year olds hung out at the local pub, she did not mind going there to meet them. 

She and Rick were having dinner again tonight.  It did not matter that they were together during the day while he worked on her property.  The two barely saw each other all day, so they had plenty to discuss in the evenings.  And she could not complain about the work that the three were doing.  They had checked all of the plaster and were now patching up the weak spots.  It would be ready for paper and painting soon. 

Elizabeth did not see much of Daniel.  She felt no real need to.  It made her uncomfortable to be around the other man.  Since she had brought him up to Rick, he only acknowledged her and then went on his way.  As charming and personable as his brother was, Daniel was that anti-social.  The difference in the two men was night and day. 

Tonight they’d spent more time drinking than talking.  Elizabeth was in the mood for a few shots even though she was probably too old and would feel it the next day.  Rick drove them home.  He was bigger than she, and had a higher tolerance.  She wasn’t drunk by any means, but she certainly felt the two shots of vodka mixed with her usual two drinks. 

The alcohol lowered her inhibitions.  So when Rick walked her up to the door, she immediately pulled him to her.  He seemed startled, but not uninterested.  Elizabeth raised her head.  She brought her lips softly to his. 

Rick did not pull away.  He returned the kiss without hesitation.  Elizabeth felt bolder by his actions.  She allowed her tongue to press against his lips.  Rick responded instantly.  His lips parted, allowing her in.  Elizabeth allowed her tongue to seek his.  Rick’s strong hands gripped her tighter.  She clung to his shoulders.  In this moment, she was glad that she had moved to town.  This was better than she ever could have hoped. 

Finally, Rick pulled back a fraction of an inch.  “Is this good night, or are you going to invite me in?”  Elizabeth gave a low chuckle.  “I thought you’d never ask.”  She drew away from him long enough to unlock the door.  Right now she didn’t care about weird houses or strange noises, she just wanted this man near her. 

Once they were inside with the door locked behind them, their kiss resumed.  Rick’s lips had returned more passionate.  Elizabeth did not mind.  She wanted him to keep kissing her all night.  Hopefully he would. 

She finally pulled back to lead him up the stairs.  Her bed wasn’t due for another few days, so the air mattress would have to do. 

Once in the bedroom she turned to face him.  She wasn’t self-conscious about her body.  She’d taken good care of it over the years.  As she moved to kiss him once more, her fingers began to loosen the buttons of his plaid shirt.  She pulled it open to reveal a firm set of abs.  She hadn’t expected any less.  Once it had been pushed down and to the floor, her hands were finally able to roam across his naked biceps.  The muscles were solid.  It was a comforting feeling beneath her hands. 

His hands moved to tug the long sleeved black t-shirt over her head.  She watched as he took a step back to admire her body.  She lowered her head, hoping that he didn’t see the flush which crept into her cheeks.  It had been a long time since anyone had seen her like this. 

He pulled her against him.  Elizabeth felt his hands roaming up her back.  They came to rest on the clasp of her bra.  She felt it spring free and the straps were slipping down her arms.  She shrugged it off.  For a moment, she simply enjoyed the feeling of her breasts pressed against his bare chest. 

Rick’s hands moved up.  He cupped her breasts between his palms.  His thumbs played across her nipples.  They hardened at his touch.  Elizabeth drew her breath quickly.  Rick nudged her gently.  His hands guided her back to the air mattress and down. 

She settled flat onto her back.  He shifted himself on with her.  It took a moment of positioning so they both weren’t thrown off of the mattress.  Settling beside her, he lowered his mouth to her breast. 

Elizabeth allowed her back to arch into his caress.  It had been so long, and it felt so good.  She let her hands drift up his bare back, finally coming to tangle in his hair.  Rick did not lift his head.  He kept up the warm tugging until he finally moved to the opposite side.  That felt even better than the first.  Elizabeth heard herself moan.  She wondered if he was this good with his mouth everywhere. 

He finally left her breasts.  His tongue dragged down her ribs, over the smooth line of her stomach.  He kissed along the waistband of her jeans before undoing the button.  His fingers worked the zipper down.  Elizabeth lifted her hips so that he could pull them off. 

As soon as her jeans were in a pile on the floor, his hands stroked over her underwear.  His head followed.  His mouth moved between her thighs, licking the fabric still covering her.  Her hands gripped at the blanket as his tongue passed back and forth. 

“Rick….”  She finally breathed out.  “Please.” 

He answered by slipping his hands under the waistband of her underwear.  He pulled them down her thighs, off of her feet and dropped them aside.  Now his hands pushed her thighs apart.  Elizabeth closed her eyes.  She tried to prepare herself for the feeling of his mouth.  Even though she was ready, she still cried out at the contact of his hot tongue against her hot flesh. 

Rick’s tongue swirled around her.  He licked up and down the small bundle of nerves which made her moan louder.  One hand gripped his head to her while the other tried to keep her steady on the mattress.  His tongue did feel as good as she had hoped. 

He lifted his head, kissing the inside of her thighs.  His eyes finally lifted to meet hers.  She saw heavy desire in them.  She could only imagine what he saw in hers after what his tongue had done to her. 

“I need you badly Elizabeth.”  He whispered thickly.  “I’ve wanted you for so long.” 

“Please.”  It came out as a strangled whisper.  But she was too far into the moment to really care about it.  She wanted him on her, and in her, immediately. 

Rick moved off of the mattress.  He stood up to kick his shoes off.  He peeled each sock off before finally starting on his jeans.  He unbuttoned them, dropping them slowly down his hips.  A pair of boxer briefs followed and he finally revealed himself to her.  Elizabeth reached one hand up.  She wrapped her hand around the thick organ.  Now it was his turn to moan as he her hand stroked him up and down.