AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That was true. And, as she’d worried, Cricket was so wrapped up first in Joshua, now in Mako, that Hannah and Cricket barely exchanged a word. So really nothing to bring her back to the table. In fact, she’d been a little bored, sitting there watching the familiar dynamic play out.
She followed her hot husband into the dark, walking up a narrow path through the trees. It led to a clearing and therewasa lovely little gazebo. Above them, the sky was a field of stars. The air was warm but not hot, not humid. Cicadas sang and when she looked out into the trees, she saw the languid blinking of fireflies.
“This is magical,” she said. “When did you see it?”
But he didn’t answer, just pulled her into the wood structure and kissed her—her lips, her neck, the dip of her collarbone—until she was weak with desire. There were wide cushioned benches along the long octagonal sides, and he lowered her down, his hands roaming her body, his breath in her ear.
She felt herself release, relax, the blessed drift of pleasure, of the alcohol buzzing through her veins. Gigi far away, safe in her bed, not even the sound of her breath on the monitor to connect Hannah to her mommy self.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“You’re everything,” he answered, voice deep, almost a growl. “You and Gigi, you’re my whole heart. Please always remember that.”
It sounded odd, like an apology or a good-bye. But she was too lost in passion to ask what he meant by that.
He hiked up her skirt as she tugged down his jeans. Then he was hard and deep inside her, and she lost herself to him, to desire. They knew each other’s bodies so well, but there was always discovery somehow. Here in this strange place, a forbidden escape from dinner, the stars twinkling violently. It was new. They were new. She wrapped her arms tight around him, pulled him in as close as she could.
She watched his muscular shoulders and the pools of his black eyes. Then rockets of pleasure and he pressed in deeper, moaning. Then they were just the breath and the night. Hannah closed her eyes, her body consumed with passion.
But as she climaxed she opened her eyes to look at Bruce. And that’s when she saw a white form in the trees. It twisted and floated, light like the flowing folds of fabric, and then it was gone. She drew in a gasp, kept watching. But there was only darkness.
“Wow,” Bruce said, leaning his weight against her. “Wow.”
“I saw something,” she whispered, sitting up.
Bruce followed her gaze into the darkness. “What?”
“It looked like—a ghost.”
Bruce stroked her hair, gave her a chuckle. “You were just hallucinating from extreme pleasure.”
“No,” she said, still looking. “I mean—yes, it wasamazing. But I saw something.”
“Just the fireflies maybe?” he said, sensing her seriousness.
“Yeah, maybe.”
She kept staring off into the night, watching for the glowing white she’d seen. Chef Jeff’s words rang back:
Now people say they see the wife wandering through the woods, looking for her children. And some people think they’ve seen the little girl wading in the lake.
“It was that guy with his ridiculous ghost stories,” Bruce said, echoing her thoughts.
“You’re right,” she said, wanting him to be. The idea of a mother wandering around looking for her dead children had been unsettling. Actually, heart-wrenching was more like it.
They heard voices then, and Bruce pulled up his jeans, grinning. Hannah sliding her skirt down, still watching. But there was only the darkness.
Voices again, closer. Were there only going to be stolen moments on this trip? But it was quiet again. She’d thought she heard her name but whoever was calling was headed away.
They were missing dessert.
“We should get back,” she said. She kept looking into the trees. But now she wasn’t even sure what she’d seen.
Bruce sat beside her. “Let’s just take a minute and be.”
He dropped an arm around her, and she rested against him breathing in the night air. Somewhere there was shrieking, now. Cricket. She got loud when she was drunk.
“That guy,” said Bruce. “He was staring at you.”
