Spirits Shared by Jory Strong

his eggs.
    They finished breakfast and Tekoa said,
"Truck keys are in the ignition."
    A heated look passed between him and Clay,
and her heartbeat became erratic, her palms damp. At the cabin
door, Clay pulled her into a hug, brushed his lips across hers.
"Whatever happens—or doesn't happen—I'm good with it."
    His mouth crashed down and took possession
of hers in a kiss that stripped her of breath, that said he desired
Tekoa, but she was his world.
    He pulled away and stared into her eyes.
"I'll be back."
    Seconds later he was gone, leaving her
feeling as if she was plugged into an erotic current that had
turned her nerve endings into a race track for her heart to zip
around with each pounding beat.
    She gripped and released the edge of the
borrowed shirt. Arousal trickled down her inner thigh.
    How could she so desperately want to be with
another man? Tekoa stood in the space carved out as an office,
studying something on his desk and leaving the first move up to
her.
    She'd counted on him coming to her as soon
as she closed the door behind Clay. She'd imagined him seducing
her. Clay had been relentless right from the start. He'd made her
crave his touch and want to please him sexually. He'd ruined her
for any other man—until now.
    Her sex grew plumper, slicker. Her nipples
tightened to the point she wanted to unbutton the flannel shirt and
play with them to relieve the ache, or beg Tekoa to do it.
    She tried to calm the too-fast beat of her
heart but memories of the night flooded in. Her own husky cries and
hoarse pleading echoed in her thoughts.
    She bit her bottom lip to keep from
whimpering. Heat flickered in her chest like a small spark ready to
flare up and become a wildfire.
    A sense of being on the precipice reminded
her of what she'd experienced when she'd swallowed the contents of
the cup Clay had given her on the porch. For a brief, shimmering
moment she'd felt as though she was close to something so vast and
powerful that it couldn't be truly understood. While at the same
time, the warmth sliding through her body had been sensuous and
welcoming.
    She inhaled on a shaky breath. Just do
it. Go to him.
    She took the first step, wiped dampened
palms against soft flannel, her eyes lowering, catching on the
engagement ring. Her steps faltered.
    Her happiest childhood memories were the
years after her sister was born, when her mother had stopped
forcing her to compete in beauty pageants and campaigned Ashley
instead. While they'd been on the road, she'd been her father's
shadow. He'd read to her, bought her a small leather satchel for
her colored pencils and tablets. He'd taken her to work with him,
bragged about her talent and showed off the art that would one day
lead to her illustrating kid's books and then writing them.
    And then he'd caught her mother in an
affair.
    And nine months later, seeing him was
reduced to once a year and a flight to Florida where he had a new
wife, a woman who'd come with three boys to coach and take with him
everywhere.
    Her heart spasmed with ache. She rubbed her
fingers over the diamond.
    This isn't the same thing as my mother
having an affair.
    Clay wants this. He expects this. But
that didn't mean it couldn't end the same way. Separation.
Loss.
    Could she take that risk?
    Looking at Tekoa studying something on his
desk, the answer was yes . But marriage meant something to
her, and she couldn't dishonor the vows, either before or after
they'd been taken.
    She slipped the ring off her finger, closed
her hand around it and closed the distance between her and
Tekoa.
    It took all Tekoa's control to remain at the
desk and pretend to be occupied by work. A phantom drum beat and
his heart swelled with each of her steps. And when she finally
reached him, the scent of her arousal nearly dropped him to his
knees.
    He wanted to shove the shirt upward and bury
his face in her pussy the way Clay had done the night before. He
wanted to inhale her, consume her, pleasure her. But he was trying
to