A brilliant slash of light cut through the room, blinding Charissa. As she reached out for Rici, she sensed the swirl of the golden mist surrounding her again.

  The mist faded as quickly as it had come and she stared around her at the barns of Tall Oaks Ranch. Rici stood beside her, looking as confused and disoriented as she felt. Jim and Terey, their arms wrapped around each other again, were a few feet away, dazed and wobbly on their feet.

  “We’re at the ranch.”

  Charissa didn’t bother to respond to Jim’s obvious statement. Instead, she let her mind wander, scanning the area around them. Travis. Where are you? Until she found him, she couldn’t, wouldn’t dare to dream of the impossible. Had the Council of Elders returned them without Travis? Was he dead? Or could the impossible have happened with the safe return of all of them including Travis, alive and well?

  “What did the Council do?” Rici ran his hands over his chest. “Did they take another’s heart to give to Travis?”

  “We need to go back and get him.” Jim led Terey to Charissa, but Charissa refused to meet his eyes as she kept looking, hoping. “Even if it’s only to recover his body. I have to go back.”

  “What good will it do? He’s dead. My best friend is gone.” Jim snarled his words, challenging her to deny them.

  “Leave her alone.”

  Jim glared at Rici, but he refused to waver under Jim’s harsh scrutiny.

  “Charissa’s searching. With her eyes and her mind.”

  “For Travis?”

  Terey’s soft voice embodied all Charissa’s turmoil and fear. What if she didn’t find him? What if the Council of Elders had kept his body and everything she’d dreamed of was dead? Dead like Travis? She wanted to let Terey know what she sought, what she wished for, but couldn’t bring herself to fuel the woman’s hopes. Instead she kept silent and inspected the area between the barns.

  They grew quiet, watching, waiting, wanting to believe as much as she did. She could sense their need, their trust in her.

  “Travis.” His name choked out of her, leaving her breathless, caught between an anxious second of disbelief and joy. Without hesitating to explain, she ran, opening her arms as wide as her heart, crying out as she flung her body at his. “Travis.”

  Closing her eyes, she let her heart believe what her body told her was true. He’s alive.

  Travis hugged her to him, squeezing her hard against him as the others shouted around them. Taking her face in his hands, he paused to smile at her and brought his lips crushing down on hers.

  Epilogue

  A few years later ~

  “Charlie, if you don’t leave the hired hands alone, I’m going to put you in Time Out for at least a thousand years.”

  The brown haired mop-top little boy jerked his head toward Charissa. His face, perfectly oval with a shock of unruly hair falling across his puppy dog eyes, changed, wiping away the devilish expression to adopt an innocent one. “I didn’t do nothing, Mommy.”

  She couldn’t help it. She could never stay angry at Charles “Charlie” Riciseon Walker, age five going on one thousand. Especially since he had Travis’ good looks mixed with his Uncle Rici’s mischievous personality. “You didn’t do anything.”

  He cocked his head to the side and grinned. “That’s what I said, Mommy.”

  She laughed and shook her finger at him. “Oh, you stinker. Just wait until your little sister comes along. Maybe then you’ll learn how it feels to have someone pushing emotions into you.” She placed her hand over her enormous tummy and patted. “You’ll show your brother a thing or two, won’t you, Taylor?” A kick answered her as Travis and Rici strolled over to the front porch where Charissa rocked and Charlie played with his toys in the grassy yard.

  “Are you threatening our son with The Golden Chamber of Silence again?” Travis leaned over to kiss her; not a pleasant husbandly kiss, but one hinting at the passion they would share later in the night.

  “Hey, I’ve got to use whatever works.”

  “But it doesn’t work.” Rici diverted from the porch to squat next to his nephew. “Charlie’s too smart for idle threats. He knows you’d never do something so horrible.” Rici flipped a toy truck over in the air without using his hands. “Besides, Charlie’s got it made. He has an influential relative on the Council of Elders. No need to worry about their interference.”

  Travis stood behind her and rubbed her shoulders to ease the ache that almost always settled there after a day of pregnancy. “I’d rather not have to use that influence. Trust me, Charlie, you don’t want to go anywhere near the Council. They’re scary enough to make a man’s heart stop. Even with your Uncle Rici as an Elder.”

  Charissa reached for his hand on her shoulder as the nibble of fear slicked through her. She didn’t want to talk about that awful moment when she’d seen her love die. “What your father and uncle are trying to say, is this. The hired hands don’t like it when you make them have an emotion not all their own. To do so isn’t fair and it’s unkind. I know this for a fact.”

  Charlie bent his head at his mother and frowned his “why are you acting so mean, Mommy” frown. “But it’s fun.”

  Rici bent his head to imitate Charlie. “Yeah, Charissa, it’s fun. Quit throwing hot pumpkins on his idea.”

  After all these years, Rici still didn’t get some of the human expressions correct. “I think you mean ‘Quit throwing cold water on the idea.’”

  “Whatever.”

  Travis left her to sit on the top step. “Charissa, did you get a babysitter for tonight? Jim and Terey want us at their house by seven.”

  “I don’t have a definite yes yet, but I think he’s closer to saying he’ll do it. He’s kind, funny, influential, and his nephew’s favorite uncle.” Rici might not be her idea of the most reliable babysitter, but he was definitely the most available one. After all, with Charlie’s unique talents and his recent discovery of those talents, the babysitter needed to have the knowledge and the ability to stop her son from using them on the poor, hapless hands of Tall Oaks Ranch.

  “Oh, sure, butter me up. But as soon as you’ve gotten what you want, you’ll go back to treating me like Riciseon, the troublesome brother. Or brother-in-law, as the case may be.”

  Travis chewed on a stick of hay and threw out an alternative. “I guess we could use Boggens again.”

  “Are you kidding me? Last time he babysat for us, Charlie ended up on top of the horse barn and Boggens got locked up by the dog catcher. Rici and I spent days unraveling that mess.”

  “I could help. I love kids.”

  Travis was on his feet and crossing the short distance between the steps and the short brunette before Charissa could open her mouth to speak. A twinge of jealousy sparked alive in her so fast she couldn’t restrain the emotion before it started spinning out of control. Who was this woman her husband held in his arms? She attempted to tamp down her irritation even when Travis kissed the woman—twice!

  “Travis, would you care to introduce me—your wife—to your, um, friend?” Charissa struggled out of the rocking chair, disliking the way her huge stomach made her feel like an elephant, and waddled toward the pretty woman.

  Yet Rici beat her to the woman with his hand outstretched as he took hers in both of his. “Yes, Travis, tell us who this astonishing beauty is.” He raised her hand to his lips and placed a lingering kiss on her hand.

  From Travis’ expression, Charissa knew he understood the perplexing emotion running through her. Not that made him let go of the bitch.

  “Easy, you two. Give me a minute to make the introductions.” His arm slipped around the woman’s tiny waist and Charissa suppressed the urge to growl.

  “This—” Travis gazed at the woman with a kind of love in his eyes. “—this is Jim’s little sister, Brooke.” He turned to Charissa and shot her a grin. “Or should I say she’s Jim’s little sister and I’ve always thought of her as my little sister, too.”

  Relief and not a small amount of embarrassment washed over Charissa as she caught the brotherly affection Travis felt for Brooke. Delving into Brooke’s mind, she knew she thought of Travis as her “honorary” brother and nothing more. She relaxed and stuck out her hand again. “Rici, let go of her so I can shake her hand.” Taking Brooke’s hand in hers, she added an apology. “You’ll have to forgive my brother. He can go a bit overboard around an attractive woman.”

  “Hopefully, an attractive, single woman?” Rici squirmed his way in between Travis and Brooke, breaking his brother-in-law’s hold on her. “Did I hear you correctly? Would you help me watch my nephew tonight?” Ignoring Travis’ protest, Rici led her over to Charlie and introduced her.

  “Charissa.”

  The warning tone in his voice amused her, but she kept her humor hidden. “Don’t worry, Travis.” She laced her fingers through his. “Rici’s finished with the one-night stands. I think he’s seriously looking for a mate now.”

  “Charissa.” Now the warning tone held a good dose of anxiety.

  “Travis, haven’t you learned the lesson by now?” She cupped his cheek to bring his eyes to hers. “You shouldn’t try to control people’s emotions.”

  About the Author

  Bestselling author Beverly Rae lives in Georgia along with her husband and her “fur” babies. She began writing early, first with poems, then with song lyrics. Later, after she’d found her own real romance hero, she penned her first book and hasn’t stopped writing.

  Beverly’s books range from the contemporary to the paranormal. Some are hotter than others. Some are darker than others. Some of them have a touch of humor. But they’re all written from her heart, with a belief in a happy ending.

  To learn more about Beverly Rae and her books, please visit www.beverlyrae.com.

  Send an email to Beverly at info@beverlyrae.com or follow her on…

  Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/beverly.rae

  Twitter at www.twitter.com/Beverly_Rae.

  To learn more about Beverly, please visit http://www.beverlyrae.com.

  Beverly Rae also writes as Jane Jamison. To learn more about Jane Jamison books, please visit https://www.janejamison.com

  More Books by Beverly Rae

  The Captured Heart

  The Caged Heart

  To Love a Demon

  To Love a Dragon

  Love Times Seven

  Touch Me

  Night Runner Series

  Tricked

  Tricked Again

  Seducing Her Boss

  Paradise Island

  Invitation to a Vampire

 

 

  Beverly Rae, Studs

 

 

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