Later, Cindy stuck her head out of the room and peeked down the hallway to make sure that it was ‘Marley free’ then she pulled Ronan behind her. Ronan’s idea was to take the elixir and try to locate someone that could help him get back “through the Tides.” He thought his best chance would be to go back to the beach. For some reason, in his world, all freaky things happened around water. She figured it had to be worth a try, even though the thought of never seeing him again made her chest ache. She realized how pathetic that was, she hadn’t even known him a full day.
Her body really wanted to continue what they’d started on the bed in her hotel room, but it was undeniable that if he stayed here he’d die. She had to help him get back to his island, or wherever he came from. Still, that empty feeling like the one from her dreams pulsed inside her, protesting the idea.
When they stepped into the hotel lobby, she couldn’t help but eyeball everyone they passed with suspicion. Ronan had lectured her the whole elevator ride down about staying close to him because the whole city was, as he put it, “swimming with demons.” After what had happened in that shed, she wasn’t about to argue.
He led her across the strip back down to the beach where they found a secluded area and settled into the sand to watch and wait. A tense silence stretched out between them until Cindy couldn’t stand it anymore. She said the first thing that came to mind.
“What was your ship like,” she asked as she looked at the water.
“The Victorious is a magnificent vessel. It’s docked in a harbor on the island.”
Cindy’s eyes went wide. She looked up at him.
“So you live on a mystical island with your seventeenth century ship?”
“Yes, and five men from my crew.”
She shook her head, his story was so unbelievable. No, she took that back, at this point she’d believe anything.
He watched her, his eyes shining in the waning daylight. His dark hair was long enough to be teased by the breeze. Cindy’s hands flexed, wanting so bad to slide through it. She cleared her throat.
As he lay back on one elbow, she was suddenly robbed of coherent thought. All she could think was that she wanted to lay in the sand with him, next to him… under him. With his free hand, Ronan reached up, softly tugging at one of her curls. He chuckled when it sprang back into place. Cindy smiled back just before he pulled her down so that he could taste her lips.
She sank against him, relieved to finally have their bodies touching.
He shifted then rolled her to lay half underneath him while his hand skimmed down her chest to rest on one tight breast. He squeezed and she arched her back, pressing into his palm as he deepened the kiss. She muttered a protest into his mouth when he moved his hand, but sighed when she felt it steal up under her shirt to touch her bare skin. His fingers brushed all the way down to her lower belly. Then they dipped underneath the waistband of her shorts. He popped the button to slide down the front of her, caressing her tender flesh through the whisper thin fabric there.
A moan escaped her throat at the feel of his hand on her softest place. She pushed her hips up to increase the pressure. Ronan growled and broke their kiss, nipping at the side of her neck as he moved over her until he lay fully on top of her. One strong thigh rested on either side of her hips. His erection pressed against her through their clothes. The barrier of fabric was suddenly maddening. It teased the tiny bundle of nerves hidden there and Cindy dug her heels into the sand, pushing her body up to meet his. The contact brought her close to coming right there on the beach.
“Ronan,” she said on a ragged breath.
He brought his head up, claiming her mouth again. This time, his kiss was hot and crushing. Cindy’s mind went blurry until all she could do was feel. His tongue probed her mouth, filling her with his taste. She could live on the flavor. Everywhere his hands touched became an erogenous zone and something powerful began to build inside of her. To be still was not an option, so she moved to meet the steely feel of him with her hips. She needed him there… there and inside of her.
He moved his hips just right and she nearly came undone. One more time like that and she’d know what it was like to be sent to another dimension! She strained against him as he gathered her closer when, out of the darkness, a shrill cry ripped through the air.
Ronan’s head went up as Cindy was yanked back to reality. He pulled them both up to sitting and she got a cold chill up her spine. The air around them crackled, not from what they’d been doing, but with a new dark energy. As if in response to the rift in the atmosphere, a gusty wind blew through the space.
Cindy righted her clothes and Ronan brought them both up out of the sand, careful to keep her close.
“What in the world…?” Cindy began, but the sound of another shriek cut her off.
Ronan didn’t hesitate this time. He pulled Cindy behind him as he headed in the direction the noise had come from. She didn’t have time to remark that as a general rule, she’d always planted herself firmly in the ‘run from danger not towards it’ camp.
“Keep behind me, cara,” he ordered.
The screams led them down a ways, even further away from the strip than they’d been. Following them, they turned inland, tracking not only the desperate cries they’d both heard, but also the feeling of dread that weighted the air. Something very bad was about to happen and it made all the fine hairs on the back of Cindy’s neck stand on end.
As they circled around, they came upon a grisly scene. There, in the dark, lay a young woman dressed for a night out partying. But, instead, she stared up at the sky, obviously dead.
They crept closer. Ronan looked through the trees surrounding the area for any signs of the girl’s attacker. Cindy couldn’t take her eyes from the lifeless form in the sand. As they crept closer she recognized the woman’s ravaged face. It was the blonde southern belle from the shuttle that morning. Bile rose up in the back of Cindy’s throat. What if the man the woman had met on the island had murdered her? She remembered the aversion she’d felt toward the human Ken doll. What if she could have saved the woman by acting on her instincts?
The blonde’s makeup blurred in watery rings around her eyes. Her face held remnants of the terror that must have filled her screams. Her neck and chest looked like they’d been torn open by an animal. Cindy pulled her eyes from the awful sight, following Ronan’s gaze into the trees. He stared into the dark like a dog with its hackles up, sensing danger before it could even be seen. Plant life grew thick in the small circle of open space where they stood. It created a forbidding dark wall all around them.
“Let’s get out of here,” Cindy said as she moved behind Ronan to peek around his shoulder. “We need to call the police and…” she gasped.
“What is it?” Ronan asked as he pulled her further behind him, shielding her with his body.
“There, in the trees,” she pointed straight ahead into the darkness, “I saw something move!”
Just then, part of the darkness pulled away from the rest and moved toward them. Cindy could feel the density of the air increase. Out of the shadows, came a shape that took on the figure of a man only it was taller and thinner. It wore a dark shroud that hung off of its frame as it drifted instead of walked on a black mist. It paused a few feet from them and raised its head.
It sniffed at the air then leveled its head. Its hood billowed back on the wind to reveal the distorted face of the too-perfect man from that morning. Cindy was right about him being the killer, only whatever this thing before them was, it wasn’t human. She cringed as the handsome face from that morning elongated, peeling away from the spirit’s head then blowing away like charred flakes. What was left was a gaping ashy visage that stared back at them through two glowing blue eyes.
*Author’s Note: More monsters incoming! This is another long chapter that I’ve had to cut down in the serializing process. What do you think - will Cindy and Ronan ever get an uninterrupted moment romantic moment together?? 🤦♀️😅
**After a reader made the comparison, Ronan kind of reminded me of the Captain Hook character from the Once Upon A Time series. Since that time, though, and especially now as I go through posting Moontide as a serial, I find he fits more in line with Tom Mison’s rendition of Ichabod Crane from the TV version of Sleepy Hollow. Thoughts?
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