Read Online Latham's Landing by Tara Fox Hall - Free Book Online Page A

gently, then began to cry.
    If she was a ghost, she was the most human
feeling ghost he’d ever heard of. Sam shifted uneasily, then
awkwardly hugged the woman. She cried harder, her tears oddly hot
as they soaked his shirt.
    “ I’m afraid,” the woman
whispered.
    “ Don’t be afraid,” Sam said firmly,
patting her back.
    The woman looked up at him, her face
tear-streaked. Then she lunged, kissing him full on the lips. Sam
started, his head knocking the glass hard as rapture flooded him,
his nerves singing with emotion and pleasure. The woman kissed him
harder, even as he crushed her to him, his passion erupting white
hot as they sank down together to the floor.
    God, this was the best kiss of his life! It
was perfect, it was all encompassing, it was everything—!
    Sam bucked against the woman, his sudden
orgasm intense and immediate, his mouth bloody. Then he went rigid,
sharp pain in his chest white hot. He broke free of the woman,
gasping for breath hopelessly, his feeble movements frantic. He
twitched twice, then sagged down on the floor.
    The woman watched him for a moment, smiled
contentedly, then got to her feet. Light filled her, illuminating
the room, the mirrors and glass reflecting the searing light until
the room burned like a torch in the windswept sea.
     
    “ They’re not here,” Nikki said
irritably. “What are we going to do, Daryl? You’ve called the glass
house, and no one answers. We spent the last few hours going
through this whole damn house yet again and there’s no sign of
them.” She swallowed, not wanting to mention the one room they’d
avoided returning to. “The boat’s packed with all the gear. Now the
sun is setting.”
    “ We’re going to give them until full
dark,” Daryl said for the second time. “They may be stuck out in
the Sea Room. I told Marie about it last night, and she wanted to
make a couple drawings. The storm is still raging anyway, Nikki. We
can’t use the boat, and risk it capsizing or breaking up on the
rocks. We’ll probably have to stay here tonight and head back in
the morning.”
    “ Aren’t you worried anymore about being
caught?” she retorted.
    “ Right now that’s the least of my
worries,” he replied. “I’m more worried that the boat’s going to
wash offshore in this storm and strand us here.”
    “ We tied it down with rope from the
shed—”
    “ And we tied the doors last night,
too,” Daryl replied evenly. “I should’ve brought some holy water or
something.”
    Nikki made a face. “Since when are you a
believer?”
    “ I’m not. I’d be feeling a hell of a
lot more at ease if I was.”
    “ I’d feel better if there was a real
bathroom,” Nikki said sarcastically. “Remind me next time you ask
for a favor not to help. Even my boyfriend’s shitty outhouses are
preferable to—”
    There was a sudden scrabbling at the front
door. Nikki let out a cry, both she and Daryl turning in fear.
    A loud ragged scream sounded. “Let me
in!”
    “ Don’t do it!” Nikki cried.
    Daryl was already moving. “That’s Marie.” He
went to the door, undid the makeshift barricade, and opened the
door. A sodden figure fell in the door, clutching at him. Nikki
slammed the door, quickly.
    “ Marie, what happened?” Daryl
asked.
    “ Sam’s dead,” she rasped, pushing back
her wet tangled hair from wild eyes. “He walked and talked, but he
was dead.”
    “ What happened to Sam?” Nikki demanded.
“Where is he?”
    “ Dead,” Marie said hollowly. “Dead,
dead, dead—”
    Daryl slapped her hard, making her head rock
back. Marie let out a cry, then began to sob quietly.
    “ Stay here with her,” Daryl said, going
to the door. “I’m going to get the boat. We’re getting out of
here.”
    Nikki held Marie, flinching at her clammy wet
clothes. “What about the storm?”
    “ Better to risk drowning,” Daryl said,
then darted out the door.
    Nikki turned to Marie. “Can you tell me what
happened?”
    “ She can’t,” a soft