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© 2006, Susan
M. Sailors Reviews For TORRID TEASERS Volume 13 by Susan M. Sailors "This is a fantastic book with fascinating characters and very clever plots. Set at a fast pace, both stories adds their own special spice, creating a very interesting read." --Wateena, Coffee TIme Romance Sample Chapter For TORRID TEASERS Volume 13 by Susan M. Sailors Victoria stood motionless in the foyer of the great Gothic mansion. She’d only seen such high ceilings in churches. George Patterson, her grandmother’s lawyer, continued to walk ahead of her, but turned when he noticed she didn’t follow. “Pretty crazy, isn’t it?” he said. “I couldn’t have rattled around here all by myself—I’d have gone nuts.” “It’s very beautiful though,” Victoria said. “And dusty,” George said. He looked up at the chandelier. “It’s a pain to change those light bulbs, too. I can’t imagine that thing lit up all by candles.” Victoria smiled at the image. She imagined candles everywhere, giving the room a soft, romantic glow. “Office is through here,” George said, resuming his walk to a door by the grand staircase. The ceilings of the office were not quite as high, yet still very impressive. Most of the books looked old, but a few shelves by the door contained more contemporary volumes. Victoria sat down at the desk. George laid out all kinds of papers before her and explained what each one was and where it was kept in the enormous desk. “You’ve got accountants and me to take care of most of this, but it’s good for you to know what everything is and where it is, too,” he said. Victoria nodded. “Does anyone work here? Any staff?” she asked. “There was a maid, but she retired about six months ago, and Mrs. Macleod never did hire anyone else,” he said. “Only the north wing is open now, so it’s really not that much to take care of.” “Which wing is the haunted one?” she asked. George sighed. “Well, if you’re interested in all that palaver, it’s the east one,” he said. “Ask any local kid and each one will tell you a different story.” “Is the ghost a member of the family?” she asked, unable to resist. She remembered hints from her grandmother, and some rumors that had floated around town, but she’d never been told the whole story. “That’ll depend on who you ask,” he said. “I don’t know anything about it myself.” “My grandmother believed it though?” she asked hopefully. “Didn’t she?” George considered his answer for a moment. “She never came right out and said so, but I rather think she did,” he said. “She could be funny about things concerning this place sometimes.” Victoria saw she wasn’t going to get much from him, so she asked, “What’s it called again? The house, I mean.” “Sea View,” he replied. “Sea View,” she repeated. “That’s lovely. And you can see the water from here, can’t you?” She stood up and looked out the window behind her. About fifty feet from the back of the house, there was a sharp drop-off into the sea. She could hear the waves from where she stood, even with the window closed. A sharp clank caught her attention and she turned around. “Those are all the keys,” George said. “I’ve got to get back for a meeting, but I’ll take your bags up to the guestroom in the north wing.” “Thank you,” she said. “Will you be needing anything else today?” he asked. Victoria shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’ll drive into town later and get some dinner and pick up a few things,” she said. George nodded. “The people in town are real nice. Some of them will tease you with old stories about this place, but don’t let that bother you,” he said. “I won’t,” she said. “I might just go looking for them.” Now that she’d inherited Sea View, she wanted to find out all its secrets. She’d never had any kind of ghostly encounter before, but she thought that her own family home would be the most likely place for something so exciting to happen. George laughed as he left the room. “Suit yourself, Miss Macleod,” he said. “I’ll see you around.” “Goodbye,” she said. Victoria turned back to the window and opened it. It didn’t stick at all and she imagined her grandmother sitting at her desk with it open to let in the breeze from the sea. She closed her eyes as the wind caressed her face and fluttered through her black hair. As she stood there, she felt more relaxed than she had in months. She suddenly snapped out of her revelry and whirled around, touching her neck. She was certain that someone’s fingers had touched the back of her neck, just at the nape, working up into hair. But there was no one there. As soon as she caught her breath, she smiled. “You’re doing it already,” she said to herself. “Kathryn said you would.” At the thought of her friend, she picked up the phone and dialed her at work. “Department of Engineering, this is Kathryn,” her friend answered in a neutral tone. “Kathryn? It’s Victoria,” she said. “Can you talk?” “Of course I can talk!” Kathryn said, sounding thrilled to be brought out of her drab workday. “How is it? Is it gorgeous? Huge? Dusty?” She giggled. “Haunted?” “Very gorgeous, exceedingly huge, only slightly dusty,” Victoria said. “And most definitely haunted.” “Really?” Kathryn said. “Oh yes,” Victoria answered. “My east wing is occupied by an unknown ghost. I’ll find out more about him later.” “So you’re certain it’s a him?” Kathryn teased. “How could it not be?” Victoria said. “You should see this place. Your dear architect would love it.” “I bet he would,” Kathryn said. “But he’d want to redo it and take away all its charm. I’ll tell him hands off when we come up to visit.” “How is married life?” Victoria asked wistfully. “Wonderful,” Kathryn said. “I do miss living with you though. We’re gonna run up some major phone bills with you up in the hills of Maine.” “I’m sure we will,” Victoria said. She already missed her friend, but she was very excited about her new adventure. “Will you call me tomorrow night? I’ve got to get back to this end of the week paperwork,” Kathryn said. “Sure thing,” Victoria said. “Bye.” “Bye,” Kathryn said. “Hope that ghost is cute and single.” “Oh, Kathryn,” Victoria began, but her friend had already hung up. She wished she could have told her about what had happened when she was standing at the window, but now it would have to wait ’til tomorrow night. Victoria left the office and made her way up the thirty steps that led to the first landing. She stood for a moment, pondering which way to go, but opted to head straight to her room before doing any exploring. The guest room was simply furnished with a bed, nightstand, bureau, dresser, and chair, but the furniture was the very best in contemporary reproductions. Everything was elegant and delicate, the walls a soft yellow and the furniture a rich cream. The bathroom was a light green, with fluffy towels on the counter and scented soaps and candles everywhere. One of the candles was burning, and the air smelled musky. The flame flickered suddenly, as though a draft had made its way through the room, even though Victoria saw no windows. As she turned back to the bedroom, she felt a chill go up her spine. Moving quickly to the window, she threw open the curtains to let the sunlight in. But clouds had blocked the sun, and very little light reached her where she stood. She picked up her purse and decided to head into town. * * * * Emily put her bag in the trunk and walked back to the house to say goodbye to her family. She was halfway up the front walk when she heard the screaming. “This was the worst Christmas ever! Why do you always have to be like this?” her sister Stacy yelled. Her brother Brian yelled back, “You know what this is really about. Your idiot boyfriend was rude to Mom, and I’m not going to stand for it. You act like it’s Mom’s fault and it isn’t. I’m tired of you making excuses for him, and even more tired of everyone else making excuses for you. You’re twenty-five and you act like you’re thirteen!” “You are such a jerk! Damn it, Momma, help me!” Emily sat down on a stone bench and pulled her legs close to her body. “Both of you need to rein it in right now! Look what you’re doing to your mother!” her father yelled. Emily could hear her mom sobbing. She wanted to go inside and help in some way, but nothing she did ever actually helped. She tried to be a calm voice of reason at times like this, but her attempts were only met with accusations of how she just didn’t understand. Emily was angry at Brian and Stacy for fighting like this at yet another family gathering. But she was also angry at herself for even coming. She’d driven seven hours to be there, and this had been the result. She shook her head and tried to ignore the harsh words coming from the house. Mom wanted everyone to be together on holidays, so she had insisted all three of her children come home. Graduate school and a job had taken Emily to the next state, but no one considered that a very good excuse. Brian and Stacy only lived an hour away from the small town where they had all grown up, but her parents didn’t seem to understand the difference. Though they had never been a close, loving family, her mom insisted on pretending they always had been, now that her children were all grown up. Emily looked at the window, wondering if things were going to start breaking soon. She looked down at the rocks around the bench and thought back over all the holidays that had turned out the exact same way. She came home to avoid being harassed by her parents, but even the briefest of stays tended to be much worse than nagging phone calls and other guilt-inducing ploys. “If only I could get out of here, just get away from all this,” she muttered to herself, wishing she could get away with leaving without saying good-bye. But that would only result in a phone call from one or both parents, telling her how selfish she was for not wanting to be with her family. Something inside the house crashed against the wall and shattered. “This is certainly no place for such a beautiful woman.” Emily looked up and saw an incredibly handsome man standing beside her. He had wild blond hair with pale hints of purple and blue in it. He was dressed in black leather and deep purple velvet. His eyes were bright blue, and Emily had to admit she’d never seen anyone so sexy before. |