Protecting His Windflower (A Spirit Hunters Series Novel Book 1) by Temperance Dawn (best ereader for epub TXT) 📗

same as always. Only this time, he knew the name of the man who hurt him, and it was clear who Abigail was. Emily in another life. Liam couldn’t shake the feeling that Robert Banks was the darkness lurking over Emily, hiding like a coward in the basement.

Using all of his strength, Liam rolled toward Emily, freeing his body from the remnants of the nightmare. When he gazed down at her, her cheeks were wet. Silent tears streamed down her skin, her breathing erratic.

“Emily. Baby. Wake up,” he shook her shoulders, but she remained unmoving and stuck in her dream.

“Em, come back to me, please. Baby. Wake up!”

The walls swayed, the wood around them creaked, threatening to splinter. The bed rolled side to side. Rumbling resounded through the walls. Liam tucked Emily underneath him and hoped the quake didn’t last too long. Emily whimpered, and he knew she was fighting to wake up. Her eyelids opened into slits, and her beautiful warm brown eyes hit him.

“James?” Emily asked.

“Wake up, baby,” Liam said again. The shaking strengthened. The sounds of the walls moving intensified, sending a vibrating roar through the flat. A sound that Liam couldn’t remember experiencing in the past.

“What’s happening?” Emily’s eyes were wide as she fought to find her bearings in the chaos of the moment.

“Earthquake,” Liam confirmed. “It’s stopping now. Don’t worry. I want you to wake up in case there is a bigger one. You had another nightmare, didn’t you?”

“Liam!” Emily shouted. Becoming aware, “Liam! You’re James! I remember!”

Liam kissed and hug her tight. “Shhhh. I know. And you’re Abigail.”

At his confirmation, Emily broke down. “Liam, he buried me. Alive. He found us together, and he buried me.”

“What!” Liam’s heart sank. He knew Banks had done something unthinkable to them both, but knowing that Emily now had memories of being buried alive broke him. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” Liam soothed.

“It’s not okay. He’s still here! He told me before they finish throwing dirt on me that me and him would be together again. He’s going to try and kill me again and keep me captive in this house. The spirit is him!”

At Emily’s horrifying statement, the door that had been open to the bedroom slammed with so much force, the photos on Liam’s dresser were knocked over. Not even the earthquake that had just passed under them had enough energy to move them. Liam knew it was Banks, and the knowledge that the son of a bitch was in his bedroom, hiding, invisibly, made his blood boil. Now that he remembered what Banks had done to him and Emily in a past life, he was readying for war. Banks lied to Abigail; he’d lied to everyone. He murdered Abigail’s parents, leaving her an orphan with no one to care for her at that time, to try and force her to marry him, and lied to James’ father. He murdered Abigail because she refused his hand in marriage. He’d been planning on killing James all along to take over the business. Now, the jealous prick was still trying to control Emily from his grave.

Liam bolted out of bed and bellowed, “Banks! You’re done here. Leave! You’re dead, and we are alive. You’re not tearing us apart again. We know who you are and what you did. Go to hell and leave us alone. You murdered us. This is your punishment. Seeing us alive and happy together!”

“Liam,” Emily whispered. Liam’s chest heaved, and he shook with rage. He watched as Emily crawled across the bed to where he stood. She reached for him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She nuzzled into his chest and held him tightly until his breathing slowed. “He’s gone. For now. I don’t feel him here anymore.”

“Yes, I think you’re right. Are you okay?” Liam asked while looking down at her. She was trembling.

“Come back to bed?”

“Yes.”

Climbing back into bed, he pulled Emily tight against him. “I’m so sorry.” Liam’s voice hitched as he spoke.

“It’s okay,” Emily soothed. She touched his shoulder and stroked his skin. “We’ll fight him. He won’t win. We won’t let that happen. We’re together now, and he can’t tear us apart.”

Liam buried his face in her hair, inhaling her warm vanilla scent. He found it calmed his nerves, and his breathing slowed. “You’re right. That’s exactly what we are going to do. Fight.”

Emily inhaled and relaxed against him. She wiggled her ass against his hardening erection. He couldn’t help his body’s response with her nakedness pressed against him. The dark sheets bunched around her waist, highlighting her pale skin.

“Is it weird that I’m having erotic thoughts after what had just happened?” Emily asked. Liam smiled into the back of her neck.

“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked her. As promised, Liam had woken up a few hours after they’d fallen asleep the first time and made love to Emily again. And again, a third time a few hours later.

“Mmm. I feel good.”

“You sure?  Not too sore?”

“I’m deliciously sore,” Emily admitted. She smiled and craned her neck back to look at Liam.

“Deliciously sore? Oh, baby. Come here.”

Liam rolled to his back, taking Emily and settling her on top of him. She straddled his hips when he noticed she was still trembling. Wrapping his hand to the back of her neck, he pulled her down close, so they were nose to nose. “Look at me, Emily. Fuck him. He isn’t going to win this time. You and me, we’re going to be together whether he likes it or not. Nothing is keeping us apart from now on. You came back here, to this city and to this house for a reason. I believe everything happens for a reason, and me moving into this place and you coming back here is because now is the time for us to finally be together. Nothing will stand in our way. This is our reward for going through that atrocity.”

Emily nodded. “You’re right. I don’t know all of the details, but I know