The Outcast

Reece's home?

The radio-tape player, which Reece had apparently brought into the living room, rested on the floor beside his chair. The music playing was an old tape Elizabeth dearly loved, a mixed bag of cool jazz tunes. The soft, bluesy tones of saxophone and horn blended with piano, giving the listener a sensually romantic rendition of 'Who Would Care?'

Reece looked up from the magazine he held in his hand, a recent copy of Archaeology. 'I hope you don't mind, I borrowed your cassette player. Music helps me think. When I was a kid I used to sit out on my porch and listen to Willie Paul playing the piano over at Flossie's. He knew all the great jazz tunes.'

Elizabeth set the tray atop the six-foot-long coffee table in front of the sofa. 'Who was Willie Paul? And who was Flossie?'

Reece tossed Archaeology atop the pile of magazines in the big wicker basket beneath a nearby table. 'Willie Paul was a black man who doubled as piano player and bouncer at Flossie's, a local night spot that also served the men of Newell as a brothel.'

'Oh, I see.' Elizabeth sat on the sofa, patting the cushion beside her. 'I thought supper would be nice in here.'

'You've been avoiding me all day, haven't you?' Reece got up, walked over to the sofa, but didn't sit down. 'I guess I acted pretty ungrateful to you this morning. I've had time to think about things, and I realize that without your help, I might have died.'

'Sit down and eat your supper.' Elizabeth didn't look up at him, sensing the sexual arousal in Reece, knowing she wasn't ready to deal with the unnerving emotions he had created in her this morning, with nothing more than a kiss.

Reece laughed. 'You sound like someone's mother. Are you always so maternal?' Sitting beside her, he lifted the coffee cup to his lips.

'You really grew up across the street from a... a house of-'

'A cathouse?' Reece tasted the coffee, then set it down on the tray, picking up a plate and fork. He wondered what she'd think if he told her that his first sexual experience had been with one of Flossie's girls. Misty, a very experienced redhead only five years older than he'd been at fifteen. 'Yeah, Lilac Road was the most notorious street in Newell.'

Picking up the folded white linen napkin from the tray, Elizabeth spread it across her lap. 'I grew up here in Sequana Falls. My mother and stepfather brought me here when I was six, and we lived here together in my grandparents' home until my parents were killed in an automobile accident when I was twelve.'

'You didn't live here on your own after they died, did you?'

'No, I lived with Aunt Margaret, my grandmother's sister. We divided our time between Sequana Falls and Dover's Mill.' And Aunt Margaret taught me to accept my special abilities, not to fight them, and never to abuse the power.

Reece ate heartily, savoring every bite, and Elizabeth ate just as ravenously. Neither of them had eaten lunch. The hardwood logs burned in the fireplace. The cool jazz music filled the room, creating a mellow mood. Empty dishes lay stacked on the large tray. MacDatho snored softly on the braided rug before the hearth. Turning toward Reece, Elizabeth crossed one leg beneath the other, her entwined fingers cupping her knee. Reece rested his arm on the back of the sofa, then turned slightly, crossing his legs, his hand on his thigh.

'I'll have to leave in the morning.' His words sounded loud in the peaceful stillness of the room.

Elizabeth shook her head. 'You won't be able to leave.'

'I'm all right. No permanent effects from the wreck or from my long trek in the snow. Just a few fading bruises and a little soreness.' Reece leaned toward her, wondering why she wouldn't look at him. She had deliberately avoided any eye contact with him since their altercation on the back porch this morning. Had he hurt her feelings by not believing her claim to be psychic?

'It won't be safe for you to leave the mountain tomorrow.'

'It won't be safe for me if I stay,' he said. 'I've been listening to radio newscasts all day. They're mounting a pretty big search for me. Since the weather seems to have cleared up, they'll be combing Dover's Mill and Sequana Falls.'

'They won't be able to do anything for another day or so. There's another big snow coming. It's already started. It's snowing again right now.'

'How do you know?' When she didn't reply, he realized she didn't want to tell him that her powers extended to predicting the weather because she was afraid of his ridicule. 'Okay, so it's snowing now. Being snowed-in here won't keep me safe, and it isn't getting me any closer to proving my innocence.'

'Be patient, Reece.' Elizabeth looked at him then, her eyes pleading. 'Your body and mind need rest, and you need time to think, to plan a strategy for when you return to Newell.'

'All I need is a means of transportation. I guess I'll have to try my hand at hitchhiking or stealing a car. Somehow I'll have to elude the manhunt and steer clear of any roadblocks.'

Elizabeth reached out, her hand hovering over his where it rested on the back of the sofa. Lowering her hand, she covered his, squeezing tenderly. 'I have a Jeep you can borrow. I don't keep much cash on hand, but I have a couple of hundred I can give you.'

'You'll loan me your Jeep and some money?' Reece stared at her, wondering if he'd ever be able to figure her out. 'Why would you do that?'

'Because I believe you're innocent. Because someone has to help you.' Holding his hand firmly, she smiled at him. 'Because five months ago you came to me in my dreams because you needed someone. You needed me.'

Gazing directly into her pure blue eyes, Reece realized she truly believed what she was saying-there was no doubt in her mind that he had been appearing in her dreams, that she had seen visions of his captivity.

'You don't believe me, do you?'

'Elizabeth, I... Hell, I'm a realist. I don't believe in anything I can't experience with my five senses.'

'It's all right. I understand. It's not necessary that you believe me in order for me to help you.'

Reece lifted her hand, turning it palm up. 'You're a very unusual woman, Elizabeth Mallory. And if you're willing to help me, I'm not fool enough to refuse. Maybe God has finally decided to give me a break. Maybe he did send me to you. Maybe he gave you to me as a guardian angel.'

Lowering his head, Reece brought Elizabeth's hand to his mouth, kissing the center of her palm. 'If your predictions about the weather come true and we are trapped up here in this cabin together for a couple more days, then you may be in real danger from me.'

She gave him a startled look, her eyes widening in surprise. 'What sort of danger?'

'Man-woman sort of danger.'

'You want me? Want to make love to me?' The very thought warmed Elizabeth's insides, tightening her nipples and moistening her femininity. What would it be like to make love with Reece Landry, to lie in his arms and know his complete possession? Elizabeth shivered.

He'd never known a woman so brutally frank. Most females he knew were experts at playing games, saying one thing and meaning another, lying when it served their purpose.

Grinning, Reece pulled her hand to his chest, laying it across his heart. 'Yeah, I want to make love to you. You're a beautiful, desirable woman, and I haven't been with anybody in nearly a year.'

'We're not ready to make love. Not yet.' Removing her hand from his chest, she stood and walked across the room, halting in front of the wide expanse of floor-to-ceiling windows spanning the south wall of the living room.

Reece followed her, slipping his arms around her waist, drawing her back against his chest, positioning her buttocks into his arousal.

'Oh, I'm ready. I'm more than ready.' He nuzzled the side of her neck with his nose.

Elizabeth loved the feel of him. His big, strong arms draped around her body, his face buried in her neck, his lips spreading kisses up the side of her jaw, his throbbing arousal pulsating against her, beckoning her to succumb to temptation. She wanted Reece. She'd never wanted a man before. Desire was a new emotion to her, one that she realized had been growing steadily within her since her first dream of a tormented, caged man in desperate need of her help.

'You're ready to have sex, Reece.' Elizabeth knew she should withdraw from his embrace, should free herself