Spanish Topaz

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Spanish Topaz ISBN 9781419918667 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Spanish Topaz Copyright © 2008 Regina Carlysle Edited by Helen Woodall. Cover art by Syneca. Electronic book Publication November 2008 With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

SPANISH TOPAZ

Regina Carlysle

Dedication For Cindy Spencer Pape, a fabulous author and constant source of encouragement. You’ve gotta love a woman who believes in dragons.

Trademarks Acknowledgement The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction: Jacuzzi: Jacuzzi Incorporated Corporation

Spanish Topaz

Chapter One Cash Carter leaned against the frame of the open barn door and watched Graciela Fuentes barrel down the dirt road leading to the Classic Cash Ranch. She had a new car. A sassy little roadster that reminded him of her—sleek but rounded in all the right places. A rooster tail of dust shot out from behind the vehicle as it rocketed down the road. On either side of the snappy little car, his land stretched out like a rugged Texas jewel in the waning autumn sunlight. She was home. Thank God. That was all that mattered. The weeks since he’d last seen her fell away and his cock hardened behind the wellworn fly of his jeans. Her memory rose up hot and fluid in his mind, and as his mouth went dry, he swore he could still feel the taste of her nipple on his tongue. It was a rich memory that he’d never been able to shake, even after she left for college and then landed a job as a museum curator in Houston. They’d been lovers for those years but time and distance were his enemies. He was damn sick of only having scarce visits to her apartment in Houston, and her trips to central Texas were so seldom, he was left aching. When he’d found the dagger two days ago, she was the only person he’d called. It was a deal that worked for him. He’d have answers and her all at the same time. The connection between them had always been electrifying and the month that had passed since he’d last had her hadn’t changed a damn thing about that. Cash shifted his stance and walked further into the yard to meet her. His heart thumped hard in his chest as he waited and remembered. Lust crawled through his belly and the urge to fuck her sweet pussy seeped through his mind like an oft remembered dream. If circumstances hadn’t intervened a couple of days ago, he’d 5

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pretty much decided to head down to Houston and haul her sexy, Latina ass back where she belonged. For good. Maybe it was the time of year that made him hard for her. Made him ache for her. The leaves on the trees had turned a smoldering gold that exactly matched her eyes. The simmering reds mingled among the golden leaves reminded him of her lush lips and the way they’d always taken his with a hunger unequaled in his experience. Bottom line was the woman was so fucking hot she burned him to ash with every touch. She was a craving in his system and he was a happy addict. When the source of his raging addiction stopped her car not twenty yards from where he stood, he stiffened, unsure of her greeting, as she stepped from the little car and gave him a look, cocked a winged black brow and sent him a sexy smile. Odd that he noticed that seductive smile since he could barely drag his gaze from the long length of leg she bared beneath the miniscule black skirt. A strip of her belly flashed from below her shorter-than-hell red tee. The woman was sex on a stick and his cock pulsed in reaction, grew in dimension and he had the crazy desire to lick her from the tips of her cute little toes to her mouth, stopping to savor every point in between. “Hey, sweet thing,” he drawled. Her smile widened as she sent her gaze zipping down then up the length of his body. Impossibly, his erection pulsed stronger as the need to fuck her silly grew by immense proportions. “Hola, querido. Miss me?” “Every damn day.” Cash held out his arms and watched her go still. A flicker of intensity made her golden eyes go dark. He smiled, knowing he had her right where he wanted her. She’d missed him too. “Come ‘ere, darlin’. If I don’t touch you right now, I swear I’m gonna die.” And just like that the darkness left her eyes and her smile widened as she laughed and raced headlong into his arms.

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When Cash drew her in, lifted her high, Gracie wrapped her legs around his waist and clung. She’d never forget the sight of him standing there in the yard, daylight glinting off his thick, sunstreaked hair. Dios, he was gorgeous. Bronze and workhardened, lean with ripped muscle that she was dying to stroke into submission. No man alive filled out a pair of denims like Cash Carter, the man she’d always adored. Cash was the star of every hot, tormented dream she’d spun over the past few years. Burying her nose against his tanned throat, she breathed him in. He smelled of hay, horses and Texas sunshine. “I missed you,” she whispered, sending her hands on a busy foray over his broad shoulders and well-toned back. Her skirt had hiked to dangerous levels leaving her mound pressed against the thick cock he kept hidden behind his fly. Cash grabbed her ass and squeezed seductively as he moved that luscious instrument of destruction against her core. “Oh, yeah, Cash, I’ve missed you forever.” “I should’ve never let you leave me all those years ago.” “You had to.” “Yeah but you’re back here now where you’ve always belonged.” “We’ll talk about it later, querido,” she said, nipping at his neck, rubbing her cunt against the hard ridge that threatened to send her over the edge. His fingers, the tips rough and calloused from hard work, swept beneath the seam of her panties to slip into her dripping sheath. “Cash. Oh, Cash.” “Damn.” He lifted his head and grinned at her. Eyes the color of an evergreen forest crinkled at the corners, his teeth flashed strong and white as he carried her toward the front door of the beautiful Spanish-style adobe ranch house. It was like coming home again. She’d been raised here. Ran these pastures as a little girl. And there had always been Cash to explore this world by her side. That had been a long time ago but she wasn’t the kind of woman who could forget. But now there were other things, more delicious things, to think about.

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Gracie buried her face against his throat as he carried her effortlessly, only letting go of her butt long enough to push open the front door and carry her into the house. The scent of eucalyptus swirled in the air, a smell that even now reminded her of the place where she grew up. She tightened her legs around Cash’s lean hips and writhed against his erection, smiling secretively when he sucked in a breath. “Can’t wait. Not gonna make it to the bed, darlin’.” “Okay. Good. That’s good.” She nipped his flesh, laved with her tongue and suddenly Cash sank down on the broad, burnished brown leather of the enormous sofa with her on his lap. The jarring movement wrung a whimper from her lips as her throbbing cunt rubbed hard against his cock. But Cash wasn’t going to let her dwell on it. He reached up to remove her arms from around his neck and sent his fingers into her hair. Staring into her face, making an erotic connection with those intense eyes of his, he took her mouth in a hungry kiss. Gracie’s toes curled at the hot stroke of his tongue as he tasted her. Balancing with her hands at his ribs, she dragged herself over his erection thinking wryly they were wearing way too many clothes. Cash’s breath was heavy against her cheek, his chest bellowed as if he’d been running for miles without a stop. When she drew back to break the kiss, his eyes were hot with emotion. She nipped his slack bottom lip and smiled. “Ah, impatient man.” “Hell, yeah, I’m impatient.” Laughing lightly, she crawled from his arms and stood in front of him. She toed off her shoes and reached for the zipper on her skirt. Doing a slow striptease, careful to keep her eyes connected with his, she shimmied out of the tiny black skirt until it lay in a frothy heap at her feet. She watched Cash’s mesmerized gaze lower to the tiny red panties that barely covered her wet pussy. His tongue dragged across his bottom lip and his expression, once playful, went hard with lust. Catching the hem of the sexy red tee, she drew it over her head and flipped her long hair back to give him a challenging 8

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look. Reaching for the front hook of her scarlet bra, she unsnapped it and let it slide down her arms. “You want?” “Fuck yeah. Step closer.” He reached out to grab her hips and pull her toward him, his gaze riveted between her thighs. Gracie felt her body tighten, seldom used vaginal muscles pulsed in response. “I’m gonna eat you out, gorgeous. Hang on. Let me play.” His words were the strongest of aphrodisiacs. Her body burned with sexual heat, as in direct counterpoint, the overhead ceiling fan whipped cool air over her hot nipples, tightening them almost unbearably. As Cash’s fingers flexed on her butt, he sent his gaze up to skim her torso and focus on her breasts. “Jesus, Gracie. I’ve dreamed of your nipples and the way they feel against my tongue. Beautiful.” Speechless, she watched his eyes travel down to stare at her drenched panties then she gasped as he took the top of them between his teeth and started to pull. His breath was hot, beating like lusty wings against her pussy and she speared her fingers through his hair to keep him close. Down the panties went by the slowest of increments until they fell to the floor. Cash’s fingers flexed again then dipped between the cheeks of her butt as if seeking a firmer grasp. “God, I love this gorgeous, shaved pussy, honey.” His face moved closer, his nose nudged her bare skin and moved slowly back and forth. Then his teeth nipped the pouty lips of her labia, his tongue swirled over her clit to tease before he trailed it the length of her slit. “Open.” He didn’t have to elaborate. He didn’t have to tell her twice. Gracie widened her stance and Cash immediately blew a hot, wicked breath over her weeping flesh. Helplessly she whimpered as fluid leaked with steady precision to wet her inner thighs. “Beautiful, darlin’.” He took one hand from her ass and stroked two fingers deep into her channel. His face turned dark with desire as he watched them disappear and

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then reappear as if he’d never seen anything more fascinating. “Gonna finger fuck you now. Want it?” “Yes, Cash.” Her sexy cowboy applied his fingers to her cunt, going deep as he drew her stiffened clit into his mouth to suck gently. Pleasure whipped hard, lashed her with swirling delight and her knees threatened to give but it was as if he knew how his touch ruled her. He wrapped one strong arm around her hips to steady her as he ate her, tasted her, gave her the best of pleasures. His wicked mouth steadily devoured but it wasn’t enough. Gracie kept one hand anchored in his hair while finding her nipple. Needing more, needing something, she took it between her fingers to squeeze repeatedly. She was close. So close. “Cash!” He whipped his fingers from her body, grabbed her close and consumed with lips, teeth and tongue until her entire pussy felt electrically charged, fully engaged. Gracie teetered on the edge until he plunged his tongue deep, scraped her clit with his teeth and then she fell. Crying out, she tossed back her head and claimed her release as the flood of energy zipped through her body and threatened to send her straight to the floor but still he held on. Kissing her there, bringing her down gently, Cash stroked slowly with his tongue until she curled over his bent head, utterly spent. Knowing what he needed, she took that opportunity to grab the back of his battered black tee shirt and began to tug. Cash sat up, a knowing look on his rugged face, as she drew it up over his head. Immediately she tossed it aside where it lay in a heap with her discarded stuff. Somehow she found the strength to stand upright and drank her fill of his muscular chest. His firmly mounded pecs were lightly dusted with golden-brown hair and his torso was tanned as if he often worked shirtless in the hot sun. His tanned belly was as hard as granite and heavily ridged. “I want to lick you all over,” she whispered. “Every inch of you.” 10

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His grin was quick and fierce. “Give it a go, darlin’. I’m up for it.” Graciela looked at the heavy bulge pushing against the zipper of his jeans and arched her brow. “Um. I can see that. Get ‘em off, cowboy. It’s my turn to play.” “Yes, ma’am.”

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Chapter Two “Madre de Dios, you’re hot, Cash.” “About to get hotter.” When he bent to yank off his worn down boots, she laughed and helped him tug and set them aside. Once that was done, he reached for his belt buckle and carefully unzipped. Damn. How had he lived without this fiery woman for all these years? He lifted his butt and slipped the jeans and his underwear down until his cock sprang free. Gracie’s heavily lashed eyes widened and Cash’s mouth went dry at the lust that suffused her expressive face. She was the prettiest damn thing he’d ever seen with her small straight nose, lush lips and wide golden eyes. The heavy fall of her blacker than sin hair fell to her shoulder blades and was so silky and shiny he knew he could sit and run his fingers through it for hours on end. Uh-uh. Not gonna happen now. His shaft was begging for release and hopefully there’d be plenty of time later to indulge his lazy-day fantasies. He pulled a rubber from the back pocket of his jeans. In a hurry, he tossed the denim aside and tore the package open with his teeth but Gracie snatched the condom from his hand before he could cover himself. “Let me. I love this.” Enjoying the wicked grin that spread across her face, he leaned back to watch her. His cock was heavy and hard enough to hammer stone, his balls drawn up tight against his body but he let her play, enduring the slow torture, and she took her bottom lip between her teeth as she rolled protection slowly down his heavy length. Her hand stroked down at a snail’s pace and then she cupped his balls and gently stroked. Sensation whipped through his body and he tensed. “Enough.” Grabbing her arms, he yanked her into his lap and Graciella’s laughter rose up like a song only to quickly die as he took her ass in his hands and held her poised over him. 12

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She hovered there and Cash gritted his teeth at the feel of her flesh, her delicious liquid pussy brushing the thick, broad head. Then slowly, slowly she lowered until he was buried to the hilt in her clasping depths. “Ahhh. Mi cielo.” Cash thrust high and deep, wallowing in her drenched heat, feeling her vaginal muscles clutch him tight, pulse around him. A low sound broke from his throat. He sent his lips over her long, scented neck, over her shoulder, taking tiny bites until he latched onto one delicious pouty nipple. Sucking hard, using his teeth lightly, he felt her writhe against his pubic bone and he obliged her need by withdrawing and plunging again. Her breath went shallow, her fingers buried themselves in his hair and he continued the lingering torture. It was like coming home! This was his Gracie! Maybe if he could tempt her enough, saturate her in pleasure, this time she’d stay. As she began to move more aggressively, faster over his throbbing cock, he let himself go to the pleasure, tried not to think about her other life and how it might be more important than a life with him. Here. He would give her the moon and the stars and every bit of love in his lonely heart if only he could rekindle what they’d had before. Growling his frustration, he grabbed her butt, squeezed as he worked her nipple then moved to the other. Gracie was gasping, her head thrown back as he sucked her, fucked her sweet pussy. Her hair fell like a waterfall down her back and like a teasing boy, he sent one hand into the silky stuff and grabbed hold. Giving it a gentle pull, he plunged deep into her channel again. She trembled in his arms, against his body and Cash felt her go suddenly still. Now. He held her on the knife’s edge of pleasure for a brief nanosecond then thrusting hard, pushed her over that ragged peak. A cry dragged from her lips in short, quick 13

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puffs of sound. He felt her body pulse, flow warm with honey that saturated his shaft and sent him diving after her. When she sank against him, Cash wrapped her up, held her close and buried his face against her pretty hair. She smelled so fucking good. Must’ve washed her hair in sunshine, he thought inanely. But he felt pretty inane when it came to the only woman he’d ever given a damn about. “Welcome home, honey.” She finally lifted her head and sighed. Her eyes were filled with tears that drifted slowly down her cheeks. “It seems funny to be here and not see Mom and Dad.” “Shh. I know.” He could do nothing but soothe her sadness at the loss of her parents. They’d lived and worked on the Classic Cash Ranch since he’d been just a kid. Maria had been their cook and housekeeper and Pete had been their foreman. Wonderful people and like a second set of parents to him. And there had been Graciela, their only daughter. She should’ve been like a sister to him but that had never been the case. There had always been an affinity between them…something deeper. “They would’ve been proud of what you did in their memory.” Graciela sat up. He was still lodged deep in her body and it was like a whole lot of heaven. His body reacted but she seemed not to notice as she knuckled away the tears and gave him a shaky smile. “Hm. You think?” “I do. They’d saved all their lives for your education. Your mom didn’t want you living a hard life like she’d had to do. And you kept your promise to her. You had to leave to fulfill it but now you’re home again.” “It’s been months since I’ve been back. It feels like forever, Cash.” She leaned close and kissed him then seemed to gather herself as she crawled from atop his lap to look down at him. He removed the spent condom and tucked it into one hand to dispose of later. Smiling, she reached out and he did too. They locked fingers until finally he stood and drew her close. “Let’s get cleaned up, okay?” he whispered.

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“Sounds good.” Gracie buried her nose against his chest and drew a deep breath. “Then maybe you can tell me all about this discovery you made out in the creek bed.” “Deal.” Leaving their clothes in a tangled heap on the floor, she gave his hand a pull and urged him to come with her. It didn’t matter about the mess. All that mattered was the sense of belonging she got every time she walked through the front door of the familiar house. With her leading the way, they walked naked through the huge, wonderfully homey rooms. The terra cotta tiles on the floors felt cool and smooth on her bare feet as she took in the distressed leather furnishings and wide arched doorways. There was always a cool feeling to the place and she’d always known that if she never came back here, she’d want a house just like it. Finally, they got to the master bedroom. Cash had laid claim to it after his parents had died and he’d altered it to fit his own personal tastes several years ago. It was beautiful. Brightly colored rugs splashed across the sun-swept room complementing the giant walnut four-poster bed with its heavy dark blue spread. Colorful pillows were tossed randomly near the headboard and an enormous Mexican tapestry lent its colors to the buttery tinted walls. In one corner, on a highly polished oak table, sat a magnificent bronze that featured a man on a bucking horse, his back bowed, a cowboy hat clutched in one hand. Graciela walked up and ran one finger over the bronze cowboy. “He reminded me of you.” Cash stood behind her and she felt him gather her hair and press his lips to the side of her neck. “I still say you shouldn’t have done it. Art like this is expensive and I know you don’t make much on a curator’s salary.” Turning in his arms, she smiled. “You could just say thank you.” His sexy grin flashed white. “Think I just did.” “Mm. Say it again.” Cash laughed. “Right after we clean up. I promise. I have big plans to thank you all night long, if you’ll let me.” 15

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“Joining me?” He shook his head. “Not right now. I’m gonna grab your bag and get you settled in, sweetheart.” She watched him walk into the bathroom admiring his tight ass and the broad, muscular sweep of his long back. His horseman’s thighs were strong and hard. Everything about Cash Carter made her ache. Little aftershocks from the fast, hot sex on his couch swept through her vagina. It was odd being here, naked in the room that had once belonged to his parents. Nostalgia rocked her and she knew before she headed back to Houston and her job, she’d have to sneak into Cash’s old room and give it another look. She heard the water come on in the shower and the sound of a cabinet closing before he appeared in the doorway and leaned against the jam. His dark green eyes burned with intensity. “You look like you belong here. Naked and beautiful. Completely fuckable.” Gracie walked up, conscious of her nudity but knowing he very much liked what he saw. She reached out and ran the tip of her finger down the line that bisected his body from chest to navel. Casually, as if she did it every day, she leaned close and flicked one of his coppery nipples with her tongue. “Remember the first time, Cash?” “Like yesterday.” He buried his fingers into her hair and moved closer. “You’d had one of those weird dreams. They’d bother you so much, it wasn’t unusual for you to step onto my patio and slip into bed with me.” “Mm.” She went up on tiptoe and kissed him. “You didn’t seem to mind.” Cash grinned. “Hell, when we were kids it was as innocent as a sleepover but that changed pretty quickly. Suddenly you were a woman, with all those pretty female curves. Half the time I’d lay there next to you so hard I thought I’d lose my mind if I couldn’t have you soon.” “And finally you did have me. I’ve never regretted that you were my first.”

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“It was meant to be, darlin’.” He pressed a kiss to her lips and she felt the sizzle of it to her toes but then he pulled away and fisted his hands in her hair. “Do your thing and I’ll get your stuff from the car. Okay?” After he left her to her own devices, she went into the huge steaming bath, noting he’d set a fluffy towel out for her use, then she stepped into the glass shower he’d turned on to warm. It was one of those cool showers that had nozzles at various levels and giving into her curious nature, she began to adjust things until she was practically sighing at the effects of all that water directed everywhere. His shower was stocked with girlie-smelling shampoos and soaps along with the guy stuff and she smiled as she lifted a bottle, flipped the lid. The scent of magnolia rose up and she imagined him holding this bottle, sniffing the contents and thinking of her. Touched that he’d gone to such trouble for her, she showered and thought of him prowling through some gift shop buying something like this. It was completely true there wasn’t another man like Cash. Finally she stepped from the shower, realizing she didn’t have a stitch of clothing in here. Not a hair brush. Nothing. Cash’s brush was laying on the marble vanity so she used it on her wet hair and wrapping the big beige towel around her, walked into the bedroom. Immediately, she noticed the white, over-sized terry bathrobe draped across the foot of the bed. She carried the damp towel back into the bathroom and returned to grab the bathrobe. It was dark now and she saw Cash had opened the big double doors that led to the patio outside. One of the things she’d always loved about this house was that each large bedroom featured its own secluded patio and, as a girl, she’d been thrilled that she could quietly slip from her own house on the ranch property and run straight to Cash’s room. She’d been plagued by vivid dreams, some of them frightening, for as long as she could remember and it was as natural as breathing to find refuge with Cash. Throughout her life, he was her strongest supporter, greatest friend and the most unforgettable of lovers.

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Padding barefoot to the patio doors, she stopped to see Cash lounging in a chair, bare-chested, wearing only his jeans. Light from the golden harvest moon, washed him in soft color, drenched him in flickering shadow. His dark blond hair was slightly damp from a shower and finger-combed back from his broad forehead. Cash had his bare feet propped on a wrought iron railing as he balanced himself on the back two legs of the chair. “You clean up good, Cash.” Instantly he straightened and stood, and for the first time she noticed he held a long necked bottle of beer in one hand. He sent his gaze on a quick trip over her all bundled up in a bathrobe that was four sizes too big. His smile was sharp, devastatingly sexy. “Um. So do you, darlin’. That robe looks a hell of a lot better on you than it ever did on me. I put your clothes away in the closet and put the bag with all your girly stuff on the dresser.” A glass of red wine sat on the table and he plucked it up and put it in her hand then pulled a chair out for her. “You’ve thought of everything,” she said. “Thank you.” Eyeing the assortment of food spread out on the small table, she felt the first stirrings of hunger. A platter of beef and chicken quesadillas set in the middle of the table along with a bowl of assorted summer fruits. “This looks great.” Cash lifted a wedge of quesadilla and held it to her mouth. She took a bite and thought she’d swoon. “Um. Did you make these?” He laughed. “Hell, no. I’m pretty handy at grillin’ a steak but that’s about it. I picked these up in town earlier today.” “Good thinking.” While Cash reached for another beer from a small copper tub filled with chips of ice, she started to eat. As they always did during their rare but intense reunions, they chatted and tonight was no different. A whip of a breeze caught Cash’s straight hair and it fluttered a bit before settling again, mussed and sexy over his forehead. Finally,

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she leaned back and indulged her curiosity. “What did you find in the creek bed, Cash? I could tell by the tone of your voice it was important. A relic of some kind, you said?” He went quiet, looked out over the shadow spattered landscape and finished his beer in one swallow. Then he stood and held out a hand. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

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Chapter Three She took his hand, followed him into the bedroom and sat at the foot of the bed while Cash opened a drawer. He stopped some distance away holding something small folded up in a white linen napkin. Lifting her eyes from it, she saw him frown as he started to unwrap the object. “Here. Let me get a light turned on.” He flipped on a bedside lamp and she saw it. The dagger was ancient and battered with small aged nicks along its iron blade but then she caught her breath at the sight of the handle. Oh God! It was heavy, elaborate hammered silver almost completely covered with enormous topaz gems. Light from the lamp caught each facet sending shifting golden light from it. Mesmerized by the sight of the ornately carved handle, sensing its importance, she gasped and flicked her eyes up at Cash. “Do you think this is as old as I think it is?” he asked. “Ah, darling, I can’t believe you stumbled across this. Why hasn’t someone found it before now?” He shook his head. “I can’t figure it out. Someone is always out by that creek. Either me or one of the hands. It had to have been there forever and I just didn’t know. The sun happened to catch one of those gems just right or I would have passed it by. It was a muddy mess, of course, and I cleaned it up. Once I got a good look at it, I knew you might be able to tell me something about it.” “It’s beautiful,” she whispered. “And very old. Right offhand I’d have to say it’s older than Texas, maybe older than America.” “Jesus, Gracie. Are you sure?” She shook her head as something deep in her chest balled up as tight as a fist. Her breathing felt choppy, short. Her hands were trembling so she clutched them together in her lap. What the hell? Was she having some kind of panic attack? 20

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Act normal. Cash would think she was a nut reacting this way to what was surely an important artifact. “I know someone on the West coast who is an expert at dating artifacts. I’ll give him a call on Monday. Maybe he can make a trip out and give us an opinion,” she managed. In her mind, she heard the sound of sobs, a woman crying but she’d heard this before, even when she’d been a little girl. The same voice, the same weeping. She’d thought the sobbing woman was gone, had been gone for a long time but dear Lord, she was back wailing loudly in her brain. This time she wasn’t sleeping. She was wide awake and staring at an ancient topazstudded dagger that scared the hell out of her. Tears burned behind her eyes and a terror such as she’d never known squeezed as tight as a fist on her heart. Dragging a breath into her lungs, she stood, blinking back the tears and looked at Cash holding the dagger. He cocked his head and frowned. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” She shook her head. “I-I don’t know. I have to touch it, feel almost compelled to touch it, Cash but I’m afraid. Why? And why do I hear her voice in my head?” “Huh? The woman from the dream?” “Yeah. She’s back. Crying in my head. But I have to touch this dagger. I don’t know why but I do. Please don’t think I’m crazy.” “Never. I’m right here. Do what you have to do. We’ll get through it.” Gracie dragged in a breath and tentatively reached out as if to stroke one of the golden topaz gems. Her finger extended and sparks shot from the handle.” “Fuck!” Cash stood completely still as the tiny sparks jumped and leaped, almost forming an arc that curled toward straight toward her. “I’m scared.” The sparks continued to sizzle and burn. “No, Gracie,” Cash growled. “Don’t do it. Don’t touch it.” “I have to.”

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Before Cash could yank the dagger from her reach, her hand touched the sparkling handle with its myriad stones. Instantly a charge zapped her. A flash of heat and energy that was totally without pain. But she didn’t have time to think about that. That surge of power whipped out, grabbed her and before she knew what had happened she’d flown several feet through the air to land in an ungainly heap on Cash’s bed. Cash dropped the dagger and climbed onto the bed to gather Gracie up just as the lamp flickered off, emitting soft pops of sound as if the bulbs had blown. No time to think about that. He was too busy gathering the woman he loved up in his arms. When he reached around to lift her, the loose robe slid from her shoulders and fell away. He settled her naked on his lap and studied her face. In the soft evening light flickering through the open patio doors, he saw her eyelids flicker open and then she looked at him. “Gracie! Gracie, what the hell, honey?” Cash had thought his heart would leap out of his chest when she’d jerked as if shocked by an electrical current and went flying through the air that way. In his thirty-three years, he’d seen a hell of a lot of things but never anything like this. And hell no, he didn’t believe in all that woo woo stuff either, but something sure as shit had picked her up as if she were a rag doll. “Talk to me,” he whispered. She made a little moaning sound and grabbed his arms with clasping fingers and then her eyes went wide. Her breathing was shallow and then suddenly she started to speak in rapid fire Spanish that he couldn’t begin to understand. But the words weren’t important. This was not Gracie’s voice. It was softer than Gracie’s low, sultry sounds. Sweeter somehow. There was a frantic tinge to the words she spoke so fast. Fear reached up and grabbed him by the throat. He knew Gracie. This wild-eyed woman wasn’t Graciela Fuentes. “Shit. Slow down, Gracie. What the hell?”

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Gracie twitched in his arms and he saw her gaze leave him and center on the dagger that lay glinting in the middle of the floor. A sizzling sound came from the ancient weapon and white curls of smoke begin to rise up and swirl around like wicked fingers. Foggy mists rose higher and higher, blotting out the light from the moon. Hell, it blotted out everything. Cash couldn’t speak. He stood and placed Gracie on her feet. What was happening? Held in awe of the scene unfolding before his disbelieving eyes, he protectively wrapped her up in his arms. His body tensed, waiting. Gracie stiffened suddenly and cried out in an anguished voice, reaching toward the encircling smoke. “Miguel! Miguel mi amore!” Once again, not Gracie’s voice. Fuck! Some unseen, unwanted force had taken his sweet woman and replaced her with someone else! Suddenly the heavy mists began to clear. In the center of the floor the topaz gems shone brightly as if lit from within by golden fires. Cash cursed as the image of a man tore free from the wispy smoke and took two shaky steps toward them. He was easily as tall as Cash himself. At least six feet two of brawn and muscle. The apparition wore a silver helmet on his head along with the heavy armored breastplate of a conquistador from ancient Spain. Cash had seen pictures of the Spanish explorers all of his life and knew they’d come on their ships in search of adventure and riches. But what the bloody hell was a conquistador doing standing in his damn bedroom with an ancient topaz dagger lying at his feet. “What the hell?” The man weaved on his feet, swayed a little, then drew a shaky breath. Reaching up as if he were the weariest man on the planet, he pulled the helmet from his head

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revealing thick, black wavy hair that hung almost to his shoulders. He tossed the hunk of metal to the floor where it landed with a thud. Cash tried to push Gracie behind his back but she fought him. Damn it! She tried to tear herself out of his arms but he wasn’t about to let her go. “Stand still, Gracie! Hell!” He glared at the invader. “Who are you? You’d better have a good answer because I’m one hair’s breath away from kicking your ass.” “Miguel!” Gracie cried out in that stranger’s voice. Cash saw tears pouring from Gracie’s eyes and damn if he didn’t feel like crying too. Her distress battered at him in a great wave and it was no surprise. Their connection had always been so strong. He knew she was suddenly someone else and she was in pain. Cash drew her in tightly, wrapped her up as the man watched them from his position in the center of the room. “Shh, darlin’. It’s gonna be okay. Come back to me, sweet Gracie.” She settled against his chest, her breathing harsh. Cash looked at the man. “Talk to me. You a ghost? What?” The dark man blinked and stared at Graciela in apparent amazement. “Seraphina? Seraphina? Is it you, my love? Dios! Is it you?” Cash felt Gracie jolt in his arms. He looked at her feeling as if someone was going to jump out and yell out that he was the subject of some weird reality show where the joke was on him. Like he’d been punked. A sense of unreality raced through him as he watched her face to see it shift back to the Gracie he’d always known. It was a subtle change but he recognized it. She frowned. “Cash?” “Take your filthy hands from my wife!” Though the other man spoke fluent Spanish, Cash remarkably understood every word. The Spaniard stomped forward and reached out to yank Gracie from his arms. She yelped and Cash moved into action, rearing back with his fist to connect to the man’s jaw. He went reeling and landed on his ass.

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Releasing Gracie, who seemed herself again, at least for the moment, Cash grabbed up the dagger from the floor and held the tip of it at Miguel’s throat. “Talk to me, buddy, or I’ll kill you before I call the cops and not even blink.” “No!” Graciela rushed over and dropped to the floor on the other side of Miguel. “He has something to do with the dagger and with me. I know it. All these years and the dreams. I could get rid of them once and for all, Cash. I just feel it.” Despite the tip of iron pressing at his throat, Miguel reached up and sifted his fingers through her black hair. “Seraphina, my love. At last, I’m released.” “Spill it, shithead,” Cash said, wanting to howl his frustration. He wasn’t a man who shared. Ever. If this weird ghost-guy touched Gracie again, he’d kill him. “Cash.” Gracie’s voice held a warning. She knelt there on the floor completely oblivious to the fact she was stark naked. “Let me speak before Seraphina comes pouring out of me again.” How could she be so calm? Hell, how could he? Even now, this Miguel held Gracie’s breast in his hand as if he had the right. Cash watched his fingers trail over her soft, sexy flesh and thumb the nipple. The sight enraged him but turned him on too. His cock stiffened, began to throb, at the way that dark hand stroked, squeezed. Cash’s mouth went dry and he swallowed noting that Graciela seemed not to notice the other man’s touch despite the abrupt stiffening of her nipple. “Do what you’ve gotta do, Gracie. Then tell him to get his goddamn hand off you.” Graciela felt the touch on her breast and fought to remain focused on Miguel’s ruggedly beautiful face. He was every bit as dark as Cash was golden and equally hot looking. His intensely black eyes stared into hers and she noted the high, slanting cheekbones, the classically beautiful lips, the hint of black stubble along his firm jaw. Of course, she’d never seen him before in her life. At least not in person but, yes, he’d been in her dreams since she’d been a child. Part of her knew him very well. Seraphina’s part. She knew the truth now. She held the key to Seraphina’s soul. Even now she could feel whispers of the other woman rushing gently through her body as she responded to 25

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this stranger’s touch. Graciela loved Cash every bit as much as Seraphina loved this Spaniard from an era gone by. “Let’s get you out of this getup, okay?” She glanced across the broad expanse of heavy armor he wore and looked at Cash. “Get rid of the dagger, Cash. I need answers now, not threats.” “Yeah.” Cash tossed the priceless dagger away as if it was a worthless toy and helped Miguel sit up. “How do you take this off?” Miguel struggled to his feet and she stood too. She felt his gaze burn hot and wild over her nakedness before he scowled at Cash. A fight between these two healthy men wasn’t what she needed right now, so while Cash helped Miguel whoever-he-was out of the heavy armor, she snatched up the robe on the bed and covered herself. There wasn’t another place to sit, so she crawled into the center of the bed. Her hair had dried into a mass of thick curls that fell into her eyes and she shoved them back with impatient fingers. Her heart pounded sharply as she watched Cash and Miguel standing in the middle of the bedroom floor. Her mouth went dry. They were perfect bookends—both bare-chested, light and dark. Dios! Her pussy throbbed in reaction to both of them. Miguel’s chest was mounded with muscle that tempted her fingers. Instead of modern men’s pants, he wore something that looked like long-johns that fitted his muscular thighs. He leaned down and yanked off his soft leather boots and tossed them aside. When he pierced her with those blackas-sin eyes, she swallowed harshly. “Sit. Both of you.” Miguel and Cash stalked toward her. Cash sat close pulling her against him while Miguel propped his back against a post at the foot of the bed. “Who are you?” Cash had taken the words from her mouth.

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“I am Miguel de Castillo of Spain, an explorer who came to this new world in search of riches to bring home to my Seraphina,” he said. His eyes were suspiciously shiny and she felt Cash’s arm tighten around her. “We raided the great Mayan cities. So much gold. So much treasure. Everything imaginable was there for the taking and all I could see or think of was that I would return to my beautiful wife a very wealthy man.” As a student of archeology, her mind was spinning with questions. Answers were here within this battle-hardened man. But was he a man? Or a ghost? He looked awfully real to her. “What happened? How did you get here?” Miguel stood and began to pace as the story of death, destruction and plunder unfolded. He raked his fingers through his hair and Graciela watched it fall back across his forehead. “I was a murderer, a killer and I was punished for my crime. A Mayan priest carried the topaz dagger and I wanted it. I wanted to bring it home to Seraphina because it was beautiful and the stones matched her eyes. With this prize, I could buy her anything she ever wanted. I struck a deadly blow to the priest with the intent to take it from him but I was careless. Before he died, he plunged it into me and cursed my soul into the handle of the dagger.” He paused and turned to look at her. “Only the touch of my one true love’s hand upon the topaz dagger could release me. Only her love could free me. Those were his words to me.” Gracie looked at Cash and leaned into him. His face was grim. Then she turned to Miguel. “But I’m not Seraphina.” “Look into your heart, woman,” the Spaniard said. “And you will know the truth of it. You hold her within you and I want her back. Now.”

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Chapter Four Cash let her go and made a growling sound as he jerked to his feet. He stood next to the bed. His fists were clenched. “Well, you can’t fucking have her, you bastard.” Miguel leaned forward aggressively and she knew she had to stop things before they got way out of hand. The funny thing was, she knew what she had to do. That soft Spanish voice kept whispering in her mind and this time the voice had a name. Seraphina. “Stop it. Both of you.” When both men looked at her, she drew a breath to calm herself. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest but she had to be brave here. “You must both take me. Sex. Seraphina needs sex from you, Miguel. Even now, she’s whispering in my mind that she wants you to fuck her. Fuck me. Both of us.” Gracie saw Miguel tense, go still. Behind the soft cotton of the weird long-johns, his cock got hard. Cash’s eyes were narrowed but he wasn’t unaffected either. Beneath his jeans, he was as stiff as a poker. Watching their reaction to her words made her hotter, wetter than she’d ever been before. Cream gushed from her pussy and her vaginal walls began to pulse. Her nipples went hard, aching as they rubbed against the cloth of the robe. Gracie went up on her knees in the center of the bed. Sending her gaze to both men, she smiled and reached for the tie at her waist and shrugged out of the soft terry, feeling it pool around her knees. “Seraphina wants you, Miguel,” she whispered, trailing one hand down the center of her body. She stroked her fingers over her bare pussy and spread her labia. “Fuck!” Cash’s curse was sharp but tinged with an edgy lust she’d never heard from him before.

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“Madre de Dios!” Miguel started toward her just as she dipped her fingers deep into her cunt. Her body reacted violently as lust whipped up, hard and fast. She sucked in an audible breath. Cash caught Miguel’s arm to stop him in his tracks and then Cash went down before her on the bed. His hot gaze connected with hers. He grabbed her hand and put her fingers in his mouth, sucking the cream from them. “You know what you’re saying? Are you sure about this, darlin’? I swear to God I’m dying to fuck you right now. I’m not a man who wants to share but—” He kissed her and she tasted herself on his tongue. “Tell me what you want to do.” Gracie leaned in to rub her aching nipples against his chest, loving the rasp of his hair against them. “It is the only way to release Seraphina’s soul. We have to give her back to Miguel. Don’t you see?” Bending her head, she grazed Cash’s nipple with her teeth. “She’s been weeping in my mind all these years because she craves her husband. All this time she has been searching, crying out for him to find her.” Finally she looked up and cupped Cash’s face in her hands. “Let me be free of these dreams, Cash.” “I love you,” he whispered. The intensity of his words dropped her into a well of reality in the midst of madness. She’d lived the life her parents had sacrificed to give her. Now it was her time. Hers and Cash’s. Thinking of what Miguel and Seraphina had suffered being torn apart by fate made her feel desperate to clutch Cash to her and never let him go. “Kiss me.” Cash took her mouth with a ravenous hunger, stroking his hands down her sides then up to capture her breasts. Her nipples pulsed against his palms sending another gush of juice from her body. “I’m not letting you go. Not again,” he said, looking down into her eyes. She shook her head. “No. Let’s help this man, help them both.”

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Cash turned and looked at Miguel who was now completely naked. His fist was wrapped around his thick hard cock and he pumped it slowly up and down. Lust suffused his dark features making him seem almost more animal than man. She could’ve watched him for hours but finally she spoke. “Are you ready for Seraphina, Miguel? She wants you. She needs you to fuck her, fuck me to bring her back to your side.” “Si.” Miguel’s jaw worked, his eyes burned like black flame. “Rules first,” Cash said as he went to the bedside table and pulled out a handful of condoms. He tossed them to the bed and stared at the other man. “Of course, you don’t know what the hell these are, do you?” “Do not talk to me as if I am a child incapable of learning,” Miguel snapped as he continued to stroke the long, heavy length of his erection. Time to get down to business, Gracie thought, as she stood and went to Miguel. Despite his harsh tone, she saw the sorrow and desperate need in his eyes. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and pressed herself to his body. He was so warm, hard, honed even now by the soldier’s life he’d led. Her breasts found a haven against the muscles of his chest. “Cash, come to us.” She felt Cash’s chest settle against her back, his jeans had been removed and tossed aside. As she took Miguel’s mouth in a hotter than hell kiss, she felt Cash’s cock prod her ass. Miguel groaned as he dipped his tongue into her mouth. While Miguel filled his hand with her breasts, Cash dipped his fingers deep into the juicy layers of her pussy. A cry broke from her mouth at the myriad sensations coming at her all at once. Gracie broke free from the devastating plunder of that kiss and noted the looks exchanged between the two men. No longer adversaries, it was as if some silent communication passed between them. A tiny thrill whipped through her senses, when Cash took her arm and led her back to the bed. He settled back against the headboard and drew her up between his legs to pull her against his chest, back to front. He reached

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for a condom. Gracie heard the tear of paper and noted Miguel’s eyes taking in everything Cash did. “Lean up for a second, honey.” When she complied, she knew he was covering himself with Miguel watching it all and learning. Protection wouldn’t be a problem. “Now lay back, Gracie. Miguel, touch her. Make her feel good.” Miguel let go a breath as he joined them on the big bed. “You are beautiful.” “That’s what I always tell her,” Cash said as he lazily stroked her breast. “She loves to have her nipples sucked, stroked.” He emphasized the statement by pinching them lightly, then harder. A moan broke from her and she arched into his touch. Miguel made a sound and reached out for her legs. With his hands on her knees, he opened her, spread her wide. He trailed his fingers through her ultra wet layers and dipped a finger deep into her vagina. Plunging it in and out slowly, he watched it as if he’d been too long kept from the feast. “I love the look of you. Wet and delicious,” he said. “Ah, yes, Miguel. Fuck me hard with your fingers. My breasts, Cash, pinch my nipples. Yeah, like that.” Miguel went to his belly as Cash buried his face in her hair, his fingers clamped like a vise to her nipples. Miguel nipped her clit with his teeth, making her gasp as pleasure ripped through her body but still it wasn’t enough. Frustrated, needing something firmer, she squirmed. “More.” The Spaniard drew back and suddenly she was lifted. Miguel spread her legs out, held her steady while Cash settled her on his rock-hard cock. Filled to the max with him, feeling her vaginal walls shift to hold him, she sighed as he drew her back against his chest. Then he snagged her ankles with his feet to open her wider for Miguel’s attention. “Ah. Beautiful flower. Pink and dewy,” he said as he crawled on all fours to bury his face against her pussy. While Cash was buried to the hilt, moving by devastatingly 31

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slow increments, Miguel ran his tongue the length of her cunt. Cash sucked in a breath and Gracie knew he felt Miguel’s breath on his balls. Cash was hetero all the way but damn, he was human. Then Miguel’s attention zeroed in on her clit and he sucked it into his mouth. Helpless against the torment, the excruciating pleasure, she bucked upward seeking more, wanting it now. Slowly he sucked her, gently he teased as Cash began to shift and move harder, faster. A curl of the deepest kind of lust whipped up through her belly as Miguel ate her out, clutching her thighs with his big rough hands and Cash buried his face against her neck, sucking her flesh, nipping with his teeth. Suddenly she broke. Orgasm rushed at the speed of sound and she grabbed Miguel’s long hair to hang on for the ride. And then the Spaniard reared up and took her hands. “Come. This way.” Cash withdrew, still hard, from her body and together they joined Miguel who stood at the foot of the bed. His thick cock rose high and hard, the broad head thick and purple. A drop of fluid seeped from the slit at the end of it. Gracie crawled toward it and took it in her mouth as Cash kneed open her thighs. When he flopped to his back and moved his face beneath her pussy, she gasped. Just as she took Miguel’s cock in her mouth to suck, she felt Cash take her hips and draw her down to him. He flicked her with his tongue. “My turn, darlin’,” he whispered against her wildly sensitive flesh. Gracie rode Cash’s wicked tongue, felt him suck her to the sharpest pinnacle of lust as she drew on Miguel. Miguel’s hands speared through her hair as she worked his cock thoroughly. “Seraphina. Graciela. Ah, si. Madre de Dios!” Cash’s hands went to her ass to draw her closer and his tongue lashed quick and hard and she came against his mouth just as Miguel thrust back his head and growled his completion. Then without warning, the men changed positions and Gracie looked up to see Cash’s face. His eyes were narrow with lust, his features sharp. His cock was

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massive and pulsing as it hovered near her mouth. She saw his gaze go up and heard the sound of a condom being unwrapped. How could Miguel be hard after the orgasm he’d had? She had no experience with supernatural men. Then his hands were there, stroking her pussy, dipping his fingers deep. Lazily she sent her tongue on a sensual foray over the head of Cash’s erection. She’d come twice already. Poor guy. Love for this generous man spread through her chest as she took him deep into her mouth. Cash grabbed her hair, stroked her scalp as Miguel thrust deep into her cunt. From behind her, she felt his touch on her ass cheeks. He squeezed and released with each heavy thrust. His balls, drawn up tight, brushed against her pussy as she pushed back against the devastating pleasure. Opening wider over Cash’s cock, she whimpered, hummed a little and heard him groan as he fucked her mouth, deep and hard. She sucked and drew on him as Miguel fucked her from behind. But even the greatest pleasure couldn’t last. Both men were on a short leash and suddenly Miguel roared as Cash pumped and finished in her mouth. Together they fell in an ungainly heap upon the bed. Her sexy cowboy threw one strong leg over one of hers and Miguel did the same from her other side. A hand was flattened on her belly and someone’s finger lazily stroked her nipple as they all struggled to gain control over their breathing. Finally, Miguel leaned up over her. He smiled. It was the first time she’d seen him do it and something about it touched her deeply. She wanted to know what happened to him after his death and the curse, but there would be time for those questions later. Now, it was enough to know that she’d given pleasure to a man who’d been nothing but bitterly lonely for the longest time. She returned his smile. “You felt like Seraphina,” he said at last. “Hmm. Maybe because she’s been in here, deep inside me, for as long as I can remember. I’m glad I could give her back to you if only for a moment.” Cash pressed his lips to her cheek. “You are Gracie to me. Always Gracie.”

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She looked at him, all golden as shadows drifted across his rugged face. “For you, yes. I love you, Cash. But tonight, just tonight, I’ll be both me and Seraphina.” “I have an idea,” he said drawing away to stand at the side of the bed. “Let me draw up a bath. The tub in there is massive. We can talk and try to figure all of this out.” Gracie watched him walk away and in a minute or two heard water running in the tub. She lay back in Miguel’s arms and smiled again. “She is in here,” she said, patting her hand over her heart. “If we can find a way to bring her back to you, we will.” Tears welled in the Spaniard’s eyes and one slowly drifted down his cheek. Gracie thought her heart would break as she picked it up on the end of her finger. “Think about it, Miguel de Castillo. Think about this. Cash found the dagger here on his land for a reason, he called me to investigate for a reason. There is a reason that I am here with Seraphina’s soul mingling with my own. Surely we can fix this.”

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Chapter Five Cash leaned back in the big bronze Jacuzzi tub and drew Gracie back against his chest. Bubbles floating on the warm water’s surface teased her bare breasts. He couldn’t stop touching her. He just couldn’t. A sense of the deepest love mingled with stark possession and he wondered if he’d ever get the vision of Miguel plunging into Gracie’s willing body out of his mind. The oddest thing was that seeing it had excited him. He could be honest with himself about that. Maybe it was because he knew that after all the weirdness was over the man would be gone, never to be seen again. But would he? Miguel lounged on the opposite side of the big tub. Gracie’s foot was propped on his chest and he was stroking her toes, studying the bright red polish as if fascinated. Even if Cash hadn’t seen him step from a cloud of slithering smoke in the middle of his bedroom floor, he would know this was a man from a different time. Now, his teeth flashed white in his swarthy face as he looked at Gracie. “This is wonderful!” “Gee, ya think?” She wiggled her toes against Miguel’s chest and laughed. Cash knew they needed more information and he readily admitted to himself that he was clueless about this whole damn thing. He stroked his hand along Graciela’s belly and settled his hand over her pussy. He felt her go still as he began to lazily play with her cunt. “What is it like where you’re from?” she asked. “Do you mean Spain?” “No, the other. Where did you go after the priest killed you?” Miguel closed his eyes and leaned his head back. “It is beautiful where I’ve been. Like the jungles near the Mayan temples we discovered on the expedition. Animals of every kind, a world of green.” 35

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Cash cleared his throat. “Is it heaven?” Miguel lifted his head and looked at him. “I do not know. I only know it is another world that holds three moons and millions of stars but yet it is desolate.” Graciela lifted Cash’s other arm and folded it across her body to hug it close. His heart clenched at the gesture. This was her way of reassuring him of her love, he knew. “Desolate, how?” she asked. The Spaniard’s eyes lowered. “I am alone. I am the only soul who inhabits this world.” “Do you believe the priest transported you somewhere then? To a new world? Maybe an alternate universe?” Cash didn’t know if he believed in alternate universes or weird worlds that might exist in a sci fi novel but then, if someone had told him yesterday that he’d find a damn magic topaz dagger, he would’ve laughed his ass off. Now he wasn’t so sure. “I only know I want Seraphina. I must take you again, Graciela. We must try again.” Gracie left Cash’s arms and moved through the water to Miguel. Rising from the bubbles, she knelt in the center of the tub, leaving her bare from the waist up, exposing herself to both of them. “She is stronger, Miguel. I can feel her spirit pulsing through me.” Cash moved to her back and folded her in his arms from behind as Miguel leaned close to draw her breast into his mouth. Gracie speared her fingers through his hair then reached back with the other arm to pull Cash close for a kiss. She moaned, rich and husky, against his lips as he stroked inside her sweet mouth with his tongue. When he moved his hand down to stroke her hot pussy, he found Miguel’s fingers there too so he just went with it and soon the men developed a rhythm. While Miguel stroked and played with her clit, Cash sent his fingers in deep over and over. He wanted more.

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Cash sank further into the water. “Bend over a bit,” he whispered. Gracie accommodated him as he dipped his fingers into her body to collect the wetness there then trailed them up to tease around her rectum. He buried his hand deep between the cheeks of her gorgeous ass and sank one finger into her. Damn, she was tight. Tight and hot. “I want to take you here, Gracie.” “Yes. Oh yes, Cash.” Miguel released her nipple with a soft pop of sound then raised enough to look at Cash. “Come on,” he said and the Spaniard seemed to understand what was up. Together they stood and Miguel reached down a hand to help Gracie stand. They stepped from the tub and dried her as if she were made of rare china then used the towels on their own dripping bodies. When they went back into the bedroom and curled up together on the bed, Cash took charge, taking her lips, stroking her breasts. “Stay with me here, Gracie,” he whispered. “Always.” Miguel settled his mouth on Gracie’s shoulder and nipped her before spreading kisses down her back. Cash gratefully took her front, sucking her nipples, dipping his tongue into her belly button. By the time they were panting together, both men reached for the condoms and rolled them on. Cash couldn’t recall a time in all these years when Graciela had looked more beautiful or more well-fucked. But there was more to come, more to give and he knew it. Miguel lay back on the bed and drew Gracie over him. He held her poised over the head of his fat cock and Cash watched, fascinated, as she lowered to take him deep inside. He fisted his own erection in his hands and pumped up and down on it. Gracie’s low cry reached him and he watched her slide up and down on Miguel’s penis. Without further delay he reached onto the bedside table for the lube and spread it on his fingers. Suddenly, Gracie stiffened, gasping, that soft, quickly spoken Spanish he’d heard before burst from her lips. He saw Miguel’s eyes go wide and joy spread over his face. “Dios! Miguel!” 37

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“Si, Seraphina! Seraphina!” Dear God, was he going to lose her? If Seraphina appeared this way would she stay like this, taking over Gracie’s body? Terror ran through his blood like poison. He couldn’t let that happen. Yeah, he might be full of shit about this but he wasn’t going to chance losing Gracie. Coming up behind her, he ran his hands down her sides, stroked over the column of her spine as she moved lower on Miguel. The other man seemed oblivious and continued to fuck her wildly. They were lovers lost in the throes of discovering each other after hundreds of years. Yeah, Cash got it. Unfortunately, he wanted Gracie and he was damn sure gonna keep her. He parted her ass with his hands and stroked the rim of her anus. Gracie stilled, gasped, then settled back against his probing finger. Not willing to leave anything to chance, Cash put the head of his cock against her opening. “Shh, Gracie, darlin’. I’m coming in. Relax now. Just relax and let me love you.” “Cash? Yes, Cash.” “That’s it. That’s right. Good. So fucking good.” He slid into her ass, buried to the hilt. Miguel had stilled but now Cash could feel their erections separated by just a thin membrane. It was okay. It would work and it had to be done. “Let’s fuck her, Miguel. Nice and sweet. Together.” “Si.” In tandem they began to move, to parry and retreat. Between them, Gracie writhed and when Miguel bit at her thrusting nipple her cries grew more frantic and wild. Her passage clutched at his cock repeatedly and Miguel began to move faster, faster. Overwhelmed by the violence of his need, he fisted his hand in Gracie’s hair and held on. Graciella screamed and then the wild, frantic voice of Seraphina swirled around them as they fucked.

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Suddenly, the sensation was too much. Cash felt his balls draw up, tighten, threatened to burst with the need to come. Sweat beaded his forehead and one look told him Miguel was faring no better. “Yeah, Gracie!” “Seraphina!” Miguel cried. Gracie-Seraphina screamed and pulsed around him sending wicked fingers of sensation tearing through his body. He knew Miguel felt it too. His teeth flashed white as he gritted them and made a wild sound. It was too much. The pulsing pleasure, the roaring of his blood as he came. He only hoped that when all was over and the game was done, it was Gracie who lay in his arms and not Seraphina.

***** They lay together on the bed, wrapped up in each other. The night was as black as pitch, as it always was just before dawn broke. Gracie sighed and nuzzled the hollow of Cash’s throat. Miguel was curled behind her in spoon-fashion and she felt his breath come out slow and warm. But just as comfort stole through her, she stiffened. Something strange and chill swept her body like a cold Texas winter wind. Seraphina’s voice whispered through her mind and seemed to seep from her skin in scattered Spanish phrases. Gasping, choking on the words, Graciela struggled to breathe and she felt the other woman’s body as if it were real, solid. Terrified, she opened her mouth to scream but a blast of something white and smoky rose up. Unable to believe her eyes, she stared toward the ceiling and saw the form of a woman hovering right over her body. “Gracie! Shit! Gracie!” Cash tried to shake her as Miguel jumped from the bed. “Seraphina!” He stood motionless, his eyes wide as the apparition moved away from Gracie’s body and circled him like wisps of clouds that stroked and caressed his naked body. “My love,” he whispered.

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Gracie huddled against Cash and he wrapped her up tight in his arms. “Oh my God! It’s Miguel’s Seraphina!” Cash pressed his cheek to hers as the ghostly apparition of a young and beautiful Seraphina de Castillo swirled around her husband. He stood completely motionless but the blinding brilliance of her lit his face and illuminated the tears swimming in his black eyes. Finally, she settled before him. “I am here now, my love,” she whispered. “You have come for me at last.” Miguel seemed unable to believe his eyes as he reached for her and once he made that first connection with her diaphanous form, sparks flew and a blast of cold wind swept the room. He gasped, his head thrown back as Seraphina went into his arms and together they melded, blended, and their laughter broke through chasing the night away. Tiny sparkles lit the dark, swirling together, faster and faster, arcing up to stop and spin wildly. Another whoosh of sound whipped through the air as the blast of light found the topaz dagger still lying on the floor. The golden gems blazed as if lit from within as the entities of the lovers zipped into the dagger and then, just as suddenly, the world went still. Graciela went limp in Cash’s arms and he turned her, looked down at her. The sounds of her sobbing filled the darkness as he kissed her, drank the sounds, soothed. “She’s gone, Cash,” she whispered, the words breaking. “She’s with him now. They’re together the way they were meant to be. Oh God, I can’t believe it.” “I’m not sure I believe it either. But, damn, I’m glad you’re still here with me.” He settled his lips on her forehead. “For awhile there I thought—” Graciela put a finger to his lips, stopping his words. “It didn’t happen. I’m here. Safe with you. In your arms where I belong.” Cash sighed. “You’re staying here too, right? Tell me we’re going to Houston to pack up your stuff. You know I love you. You belong with me. Life is too damn short to live it without you.” “Yes. Oh yes!” Gracie started to laugh at the joy that filled her heart. 40

Spanish Topaz

“What about the topaz dagger?” Gracie looked at the ancient gem-studded weapon and smiled. “To hell with museums, collections and appraisals. It belongs to us, Cash. We’ll take care of it together because we know the power of it. It holds the power of love.”

As morning started to break, Cash buried himself to the hilt in his lover’s body and they moved as one, in tandem. It was just the two of them now, Cash and Graciela, as it had always been meant to be. Time and distance would no longer be their enemy because the rest of their days would be spent together in love and pleasure. Across the room, the topaz dagger sat in a place of honor near the bronze figure of a cowboy on a bucking bronco. As Graciela and Cash explored their love, indulged their passion and found comfort together, the golden stones began to pulse as if with laughter.

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About the Author Regina Carlysle is an award winning, multi-published author. She likes writing that is hot, edgy, and often humorous, and puts this trademark stamp on all of her stories. Regina lives in west Texas with her husband of 25 years and counting and is a doting, fawning, and over-indulgent mother to her two kids. When she’s not penning steamy erotic tales or hot contemporary stories, she’s indulging in long chats with friends who help her stay sane and keep her laughing.

The author welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

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Also by Regina Carlysle Killer Curves Tempting Tess

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