Love Of A Lifetime Read online

  Love Of A Lifetime

  Riley Murphy

  Copyrights

  LOVE OF A LIFETIME ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  LOVE OF A LIFETIME Copyright © 2013 Riley Murphy

  Cover design by Viola Estrella

  Book formatted by Dee Tenorio, Laideebug Digital.

  Laideebug Digital is only responsible for the formatting, the content of this work is purely created, owned and supplied by the author.

  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 author.

  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. The author does acknowledge the trademark status and trademark ownership of all trademarks, service marks and word marks mentioned in this book. The author does not have any control over, and does not assume any responsibility for third-party Web sites or their content.

  All rights reserved worldwide. This book is licensed for your personal use only. No part of this work may be sold, manipulated, or reproduced in any format without express written permission from the authors, except for brief quotations embodied in or reviews.

  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors' rights. Purchase only authorized editions

  Dedication

  To my honey’s guardian angel. From the bottom of my heart I thank you for being there when he needed you most.

  To my honey,

  As Voltaire said, "Life is a shipwreck,

  but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats."

  I’m singing babe. I’m singing up a storm.

  Love you more than you could ever know.

  And to Lillie,

  My awesome-sauce editor.

  You can be a smartass in comments anytime you want to be even if I might have to clean up the musty sidebar with Pledge occasionally,

  I don’t mind because you rock! I’m so glad I found you.

  Acknowledgements

  Big hugs to my gang. You know who you are.

  Also know I love you guys to bits.

  And as always, to my dad…I miss you, but I’ll see you after.

  A Note From Riley

  I hope you like this story. Jack and Finley have been with me for years. They’ve seen me through some pretty rough times and helped me to keep my sanity. When real life was too difficult to face some days they’d materialize and let me escape with them. Writing them I came to believe certain things. Namely?

  All of us have a soul to embrace and that soul reaches far beyond this world to carry us into the next.

  Riley

  Prologue

  He thought he had all the answers.

  With trembling hands he reached for the urn. One touch and his heart nearly burst in his chest. The pain. God, the hollow ache of loneliness echoed through his veins. Scorching and blazing, a path of grief so profound his knees threatened to buckle.

  “Mia shandor lei,” he rasped. Forcing the syllables out while he tried to dispel the recalled images of her smiling. Laughing. Crying. The last was the worst because he’d caused those tears.

  “It’s enough. Let’s go home where the time will pass quickly. Please. I can’t bear to see you like this.”

  Jo-Quinn knew his friend worried. He felt the squeeze of offered comfort on his shoulder, but he couldn’t move. He wasn’t ready to turn away from the last tangible piece he had that connected him to his woman. Ignoring the ice-cold porcelain beneath his fingers, he slammed his eyes shut.

  “Leave us,” he whispered. This was all he would say. It was all that was needed, when a moment later he found himself alone in the chill-misted crypt. Opening his eyes, he stared at the familiar design of sky-blue forget-me-nots for a suspended moment in time. When his vision began to blur he reached out and absently traced the floral pattern that spilled wildly over the glossy ivory backdrop of the vase.

  His eyes stung as it occurred to him how alike his mate was to those blooms. Vibrant in life and spilling over him as beautifully as—he drew in an unsteady breath. She was gone and now he’d have to walk through day and night alone.

  Again.

  “Mia lei.” He curled down and embraced the cold vessel. Pressing his jaw hard against the surface. Silently willing the clay to break, until the jagged shards cut through his flesh and scattered her ashes on him, so he could take her inside and keep her safe. Shelter her until… “My love. I swear I will wait for you forever. In a place where we’ll be together again. At a time when our hearts are one and you’ll be…”

  The sob that escaped him echoed through the room and when it came back to hit him, he welcomed the blow. Far better this, than drowning in the pain of losing her too soon. Something had happened. He hadn’t seen it coming. Maybe if…

  Slowly he stood up straight and tilted his head back to view the night sky through the ivy strewn grate above the niche. “It’s too much to bear. Why did you go when you know I have to stay?”

  Steam rose from his tears and breath while he waited for an answer. A reply that never came. Only silence greeted him and he went a little mad in the solitude. Crazy though it was, he embraced it, gaining comfort with the knowledge that sanity escapes those that have no fear in their hearts. How could he have fear when the very heart of him was burned to ash? Little more than dust to be scattered on the winds and forgotten.

  I choose forget-me-nots.

  He heard the voice he craved to hear, as clearly as if she were there beside him. But she wasn’t. All that remained were the memories that were frozen like perfect snapshots, ready to reappear and break him in two. He couldn’t let that happen. He needed to be strong enough for both of them now.

  This time when he touched the urn he was calmer. “I will find you. I promise I shall move heaven and hell and every world between to claim you once more. Rest now, mia shandor lei, and know you have always been and will always be my treasured love. We’ll work through the strife that has brought us to this. I swear. I won’t rest until you’re in my arms once more.”

  He scrubbed a hand over his face and took two deep breaths. Squaring his shoulders, he turned and then walked out of the crypt. It was a ritual, but this time when the gates were firmly locked behind him, his blood ran as cold an artic stream. The bleak emptiness that permeated through him pierced his determined resolve and shook it to the core.

  “No.” He stumbled a few feet forward. Desperate and anxious. Even now praying to any deity that would listen to make this situation right. But it was no use. The warmth of her love had vanished and he fell to his knees.

  “Jo-Quinn?”

  “I don’t feel her.”

  “What?”

  “She’s gone from me as if she never was.” He buried his face in his hands and willed every one of those Gods in the universe to annihilate him on the spot. If only it were as easy as his death. He’d have gladly made the sacrifice, because despite his whispered promises, there were no guarantees he’d find her this time. Not now that she was lost in the confusion of a world that neither one of them belonged to…

  Chapter One

  No.

  Heart Thumping.

  Ears ringing.

  Stomach clenching while raw panic swelled to life inside her as Finley Cullen fought her way through the mind-numbing haze to focus.

  They were leaving her.

  Don’t go. Jesse!

  Thud.

  The van door slammed and the vehicle rolled forward as it made its way around the huge snow-covered fountain below.

  No.

  Unab
le to speak all she did was stare past the aged bronze beast. Through the Griffin’s wings that were currently frosted in a smooth wave of wintry ice where just beyond, a trail of exhaust smoke lingered in a wavering line, while her colleagues drove off.

  Suddenly the wind picked up and the howl that ripped through the courtyard hit the manor’s weather-beaten bricks so ferociously it raised the hairs on the back of her neck. If she weren’t virtually paralyzed at the moment, that blood-chilling sound would have caused her to bolt.

  Steady. Focus.

  Clang!

  The iron gates swung closed with a reverberating clatter of finality. As if they’d never have need to open again. She ignored that thought and kept her eyes on the distance. Peering through the rapid flurries that swirled in a series of mini-cyclone patterns, she blinked hard. A moment later the truck was gone, swallowed up by the distant squall that looked like a cumulus cloud hugging the horizon.

  “Jesus.” In a whoosh she fell forward off her tippy-toes, barely catching herself before she connected with the wall and the octagon-shaped window she’d been straining to look through just a second before she was…what? Drugged? More likely enthralled. But being that she refused to believe in ghosts, the hereafter or aliens, she was getting the hell out of here.

  There might be a story in it if you stayed.

  Yeah, a nice big headline that read, “A young, up-and-coming reporter mysteriously dies while on her first big assignment.” Right. Given the choice, she’d rather create that one than star in it.

  Mia shandor lei…

  Immediately, she looked down when she heard the quiet whisper. Eerie though it was, she knew what to expect as this was the third time it had happened since arriving at Midland Manor. Although anticipating the oddity, it still freaked her out and made her gasp when her sweater tightened around her in spots as if some invisible person was giving her a hug. That much she could handle, because clearly no one was there, but when the intimate heat followed to steam her up in places—well, she needed to get her shit together and run.

  She was halfway across the room before the slap of her bare feet against the hardwood registered. No boots? Skidding to a halt, she forgot about the creep show and fumed. Her beautiful Wooly’s had cost her a good buck. She wasn’t leaving without them. So even if there was something supernatural happening here, the perverted poltergeist could go fuck himself. She wanted her mukluks. Right now.

  Scanning the floor she came up empty and one quick check under the bed only left her even more disappointed. Maybe in the closet? Nothing.

  “Dammit.”

  Teida rula

  That masculine whisper, followed by a husky chuckle was enough of an incentive for her to cut her losses. It was beginning to look like she’d be chasing down the passenger van without the comfort of her fuzzy loved ones.

  Rushing out the door, she made a right and then her next left, barely pausing as she shot down the double-wide staircase. Thankfully a carpet runner waterfalled over the treads, because at her current clip she was sure she would have slipped on the smoothly polished wood beneath. Out of breath and in meltdown mode when she reached the bottom, she grasped the big cannonball that topped the newel post, squeezed her eyes shut and said a silent prayer.

  Dear God, let this be a dream. If it isn’t I’ll do my best, but I may need some help…

  Gulping in air, she tried to gain control over her breathing as she waited. Tilting her head higher in order to catch the ethereal reply when it came, but…? No answer. Perfect. Admittedly, she’d been a little thin in the “dialogue to God department” over the last decade, but she was a good person. She volunteered at the SPCA two Saturdays a month and recycled about ninety eight—fifty-seven percent of the time. Hm, she’d have to work on that.

  “Well, Fin, once again you ignored the dreams and now that the scary shit is happening, it’s just you,” she whispered and then let go of the bannister. She was fully prepared to do what no movie heroine confronted by a living nightmare had ever done before. She wasn’t going to stop to explore, ask questions or hang around until it was too late. Nope. She was simply going to walk out the front door as if she had on her two hundred and seventy-five dollar pair of boots and the warmth of her brand new ski jacket that she’d bought specifically for the trip. The thought that maybe one or more of her colleagues had stolen the items, just so she’d be stuck here, wasn’t far out of the realm of possibilities she was currently conjuring to distract herself until the high double doors loomed in front of her and she looked up. The sight was exactly how it had appeared in her premonition. “Now that’s a fire hazard.”

  The entrance was locked with twin—she gauged eight inch maybe?— slide bolts and as they were right at the top, and the top in this case was nine feet high or more, she definitely wasn’t leaving through that exit.

  Mia shandor lei…

  “Oh, no you don’t.” She pushed aside her knitted scarf, ironically the only outer-wear not stolen from her, and grabbed the front of her sweater in a tug. Holding it out so it wouldn’t be squashed against her, and spun around to search the darkened entryway. “Who’s there?” She was just about to repeat her question, but then a blast of heat stole through her, stroking her in places so intimately she had to pay attention. The thrilling sensual force made her fall back against the door and left her gasping for breath.

  “D-dammit.”

  But she didn’t have time to fully recover as her gaze locked on the bar of light that fell out of the only opened door down the hall. From this distance the distorted rectangle looked like a glowing rug floating over the cherry-wood floors. “Hello?”

  Someone had spoken, she was sure of it. The strange words were soft, no more than the barest whisper, but she’d heard them just the same.

  Taking a fortifying breath, she pushed off the door with her bottom and took one step forward. The longer she stood there the more room her imagination had to grow. She couldn’t let that happen now, because she needed to find her things and get up that mountain before “the boys” got her share of the promised exclusive. And although her flight instinct was in overdrive, the reality was, surviving in that snow storm without proper attire was a pipedream.

  She made it halfway down the hall when she caught sight of another one of those bolts. It was locked in place over the frame of the closed door to her right. She hesitated and then stopped to check the closed door on her left. Sure enough that had one too. With dawning horror, she realized all the doors that flanked the hall were bolted shut. Why?

  To keep you out.

  With great effort she ignored that little voice and headed straight for the light and the only opened door. She was nearly there. One toe lit within the shining rectangle when the little voice screamed. Stop! The bolts weren’t there to keep you out, but to pull you into this room. Turn around. Run away.

  “No. I’m not going to run away,” she muttered under her breath, prepared to talk herself into the idea. So much for not behaving like a stupid horror movie heroine. Don’t be that girl. Look for a different way out. She would have too, if she hadn’t caught the distinct sound of a man’s husky chuckle. A low and totally satisfied one, if you asked her. That got her suspicions fired. Was someone purposely trying to scare her? Frowning, she called, “Hello?”

  Silence.

  The idea that she was being punk’d or played gained momentum as she didn’t want to think about the alternative. Sure, it was probably some kind of “first timer’s” initiation. And with that being the case, she didn’t want to look like a coward. Oh, hell yeah, she was definitely going in that room, there was no doubt about it, but it was one thing to be brave and another to be stupid. She needed something, just in case she was wrong about this. The hall table lamp? Too awkward. The crystal vase beside it? Too fragile. A—her eyes fell on the umbrella stand that had an old-school black one sticking out of it. Perfect. She hurried to get it, and when it wouldn’t budge, she checked inside to the bottom.

  �
��A basketball?”

  Yes indeed. One lone ball was jammed in the bottom of the container so tight it caused the umbrella to be stuck. Tightening her grip on the handle, she wiggled and jiggled until it finally gave.

  “Gotcha.”

  Tapping her index finger against the semi-sharp metal tip at the end, she smiled. This could do some serious damage if she needed it to. She was just about to turn away when she caught sight of the ball again, and for some reason it gave her a measure of comfort. Why? Because it’s real and absolutely normal. As in ordinary. She eyed the bolt on the front door and spun around to examine all the others down the austere hall while she turned her latest premonition over in her mind. Right. Ghosts and demons probably didn’t make a habit of shooting hoops in their off haunting times.

  Axe murders might.

  True. She held the umbrella tighter and headed down the corridor. Stubbornly ignoring her instincts while visualizing the midget chick in Poltergeist chanting, “Stay away from the light” and instead went directly for it.

  “Who’s there?”

  More silence.

  “I know someone’s there. Hello?”

  A shadow passed over the rectangle making it strobe quickly in and then out of darkness. The proof irrefutable. There was a person in that room. Her heart hammered and the blood pounded in her ears like an African drumbeat.

  “H-hello?” she called again. Squeezing the umbrella so tightly the vinyl fabric twisted until all the tines were bunched together to one side in her rapidly sweating fists.

  She was careful to position her makeshift weapon like it was Luke Skywalker’s light-saber. Then she sucked in a steady breath and, before she chickened out, quickly stepped in.

  “Hello.”

  She gasped and jerked to attention. The deep masculine voice cutting through the silence was so calm, she stood rooted to the spot and squinted in the direction it came from. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she spotted him resting casually on his haunches in front of a blazing hearth. Yeah, hearth. There was no other word to describe it except maybe to say a walk-in fireplace. It was huge and he was a solid black shadow as he worked to feed more wood into the flames.