His Dark Embrace

She kept glancing at the clock, her stomach fluttering with anticipation at the thought of having lunch with a handsome man. A man who hadn’t changed at all in eight years.

How was that possible?

Thorne prowled through the big old house, his thoughts chaotic. He shouldn’t have waited so long to come back to visit Paddy McNamara. It had been coincidence that brought him back to Vista Verde after such a long absence. Had he kept closer tabs on the old man, he would have known McNamara didn’t have long to live.

Thorne raked his fingers through his hair. Dammit! If he had come back sooner, he would have had time to speak to the old man and obtain the formula that had so drastically changed his life.

Striding down to the wine cellar, he bypassed the coffin that rested in the center of the floor and moved to the wall safe on the far side of the room. After unlocking the safe, he withdrew a round cobalt blue bottle that was about five inches tall. It held the last of Paddy McNamara’s unique tonic.

Thorne rubbed the bottle against his cheek. The glass felt cold against his skin. He had attempted to get his hands on the formula before, but McNamara had refused to part with it. Thorne had tried coaxing the formula out of the stubborn old man, but that, too, had failed. One night Thorne had offered to bring Paddy across in exchange for the formula, but despite Paddy’s research into aging and longevity, he had no interest in living forever.

“’Tis against nature, what you’re offering,” Paddy had said. “And though I’ve no wish to leave me darlin’ Skylynn, me wife and son are waiting for me on the other side.”

As a last resort, Thorne had tried reading Paddy’s mind, but the wily old fox had blocked him at every turn. And now it was too late. Eternally too late. Dammit.

After returning the bottle to the safe, Thorne went back upstairs. Maybe it was time to leave Vista Verde for a few decades. If he stayed for any length of time, people were going to start noticing that he hadn’t aged.

He glanced out the front window, his gaze lingering on the house across the street. No need to leave right away, he thought. At least not until he learned if Sky was going to stay here. Seeing her again made him realize how much he had missed her.

His inner clock told him it was almost time to join Skylynn for lunch. For a moment, he closed his eyes, dreading the thought of going back to his old diet, his old lifestyle. Right now, he had the best of both worlds. Dammit! Sky had to find that formula. After all the trial and error it had taken for the old man to get it just right, he must have written it down somewhere.

His thoughts turned to Skylynn as he left the house. Being near her and not touching her would be a real test of his self-control.

Sky was a bundle of nerves when the doorbell rang. It was like one of her teenage daydreams come true, having Kaiden Thorne over for lunch. She just hoped the reality lived up to her girlish dreams.

Too late to worry about that now. She blew a wisp of hair from her forehead. So many of the things she had looked forward to when she was growing up had been disappointments. Her first real date. Her first kiss. Her first marriage. None of them had lived up to the hype.

Sky took a deep breath before she opened the door. And he was there.

“Hi,” she said brightly. “Come on in.” She pressed a hand to her heart as Kaiden moved past her. Lordy, the man was tall. And incredibly handsome. Well-worn jeans hugged his long legs, a shirt the color of red wine clung to his broad shoulders. “I thought we’d eat out on the patio.”

“Okay by me.” Lifting his head, Thorne sniffed the air. “Pizza?”

“I didn’t know what kind you liked, so I ordered one sausage and one pepperoni.”

“Either one works for me.”

“Great.”

He followed her into the kitchen. It hadn’t changed much since he had last seen it just over eight years ago. The walls were the same pale green, the curtains still white with pink and yellow daisies, the square table and ladder-back chairs were well-used oak.

Sky opened the fridge and took out the bowl of fruit salad and the pitcher of iced tea and added them to the tray.

“Here, let me take that,” Kaiden offered.

“Thanks.” Picking up the boxes of pizza, chicken wings, and breadsticks, she headed for the back door, acutely aware of Kaiden walking behind her.

“Just put the tray there, on the table.” She put the pizzas next to the tray, then poured a glass of tea for Kaiden and one for herself. “Please, sit down.” She handed Kaiden a plate and a napkin, and took the chair across from his. “Help yourself.”

Thorne drew in a deep breath as he lifted the lids on both pizza boxes, the scents of sausage, pepperoni, cheese, and tomatoes tickling his nostrils. “Smells great.” He took a slice of each, a couple of chicken wings, and a generous serving of fruit salad. For a moment, he was oblivious to everything but the food on his plate.

“How is it?” Sky asked.

Thorne looked up, a wry smile curving his lips. “Sometimes I forget how good food can be.”

“Save room for dessert.”

“Not to worry,” he said with a wink. He was surprised he hadn’t gained a hundred pounds, the way he had been eating lately. But everything tasted so good. Fresh fruit and cheese, cake and ice cream. And was there anything better in all the world than a good, thick steak with the rich, red juices still flowing? Just thinking about it made his mouth water.

They made small talk while they ate, commenting on the weather, which had been unseasonably cold, the way the neighborhood had become run-down in the last few years, the number of foreclosures that were cropping up all over the town.

Sky served warm apple pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

“Did you make this?” Thorne asked, gesturing at the pie with his fork.

“No, I never learned how to make a decent crust. It’s really good, isn’t it?”

He nodded as he lifted another forkful to his mouth. Apple pie had quickly become one of his favorites.

A last bite and he pushed his plate away.

“Are you sure I can’t tempt you with another slice?” Sky asked with a grin.

“I think I’d better say no.” Leaning back in his chair, he regarded her through hooded eyes. “I was sorry to hear about your divorce.”

“It was inevitable.” She shrugged, as if it was of no importance. “I married the wrong man at the wrong time for all the wrong reasons.”

“If you’d rather not talk about it ...”

“No, it’s okay. I met Nick in a dance club several months after Sam was sent to Iraq. I was feeling lonely and stressed out when Nicky showed up. He was all smiles and good-natured fun and I told myself I loved him.” She shrugged. “But I didn’t. And once the excitement wore off, I realized we had nothing in common and that when he was sober, I didn’t like him very much. We were divorced before the ink dried on our marriage license.” She hadn’t wanted anything to remind her of her disastrous marriage; as soon as the divorce was final, she had resumed her maiden name.