It was a very good question, one Raul had pondered himself. "I don't know. Maybe there is a ghost, maybe there isn't, but Maria is afraid."

"She doesn't have to be afraid. Not as long as I am here to protect her. On visiting day, I will bring her out to see you. Talk to her, tell her she is being foolish. Maybe she will listen to you."

Raul nodded, though Miguel could not see. "I will do my best." Raul hung up the phone, and unconsciously his hand clenched into a fist. His sister was frightened. He didn't know what was happening to her, but something was wrong and he was powerless to help her.

He started down the dormitory stairs to join his roommate, Pete Ortega, in the mess hall, his stomach rumbling, reminding him it was time for lunch though his appet.i.te wasn't nearly as big as it had been before he'd talked to Miguel.

"Raul! Wait up!"

Turning, he saw Zachary Harcourt hurrying to catch up with him, heading in the same direction he was.

"Hi, Zach."

"Hey, kid. Good to see you." The dark-haired man looked into his face and Raul's smile faded. "What's the matter? You look like your dog just died."

Raul sighed. "It's my sister. I talked to Miguel this morning."

"d.a.m.n. Then I guess you know I'm not exactly on his good list and neither is Ms. Conners."

"He said you were out at the house last night, looking for the ghost."

"Not exactly, but close enough."

"Did you see it?"

Zach shook his head. "I don't know if what's happening out there is real or not, but something's going on and we're going to find out what it is. Once we do, your sister won't have to be afraid."

"I am worried about her. I wish I could be there to help her."

Zach stopped walking and caught Raul's arm. "Listen, Raul. I'm not exactly sure how I got in the middle of this mess, but now that I am, I'm not going to abandon you or your sister. I'm not quitting until the problem is resolved. I give you my word on that."

Raul felt a wave of relief so strong something burned behind his eyes. "Thank you."

Zach clapped him on the back. "You just keep doing as well as you have been. That's all the thanks I need."

Raul just nodded. His throat felt too tight to speak.

"Come on," Zach said, his hand back on Raul's shoulder, steering him toward the mess hall. "I'm starving. Let's get something to eat."

Raul let him lead the way, determined not to worry about his sister. Zachary Harcourt had given his word. Raul just prayed he would keep it.

Zach pulled down his visor against the glare of the late afternoon sun. He should have been driving the opposite direction, heading east down the highway toward Interstate 5, on his way back to his Pacific Palisades apartment, getting ready for a long day at the office tomorrow. They were starting to take depositions on the Themoziamine case this week and he needed to be prepared.

Instead, he was driving down Main Street, turning onto Cherry Avenue, pulling up in front of Liz's apartment building. He'd only stay a minute, he told himself, just long enough to fill her in on his unsuccessful morning at Harcourt Farms.

Shoving the gearshift into Park, he turned off the engine, then hesitated only a moment before opening the door into the pervasive afternoon heat and climbing out of the car. Making his way to apartment B, he knocked on Liz's front door, and a few minutes later, she pulled it open.

"Zach! What are you doing here?"

His mind went completely blank. She was standing there in a little orange bikini that showed every luscious curve of her body. Her glorious dark auburn hair was wet and she was drying it with a beach towel, obviously having just come in from the pool. His body stirred to life and he went rock hard.

He cleared his throat but didn't look away. "I know I should have called. I just decided at the last minute to stop by. I wanted to tell you what happened when I went out to see my brother."

Noticing the greedy way he was devouring her with his eyes, she wrapped the beach towel around her hips and tied it in a knot.

d.a.m.n, she was s.e.xy. He wasn't sure exactly what she had that made her different from other women he had known, but she sure as h.e.l.l had something.

"Come on in." She stepped back smiling, inviting him in, and he walked into the living room and closed the door behind him. "Give me a minute to put on some dry clothes."

His gaze slid over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, barely covered by the tiny cups of her bathing suit top, and his body tightened. "Don't bother on my account."

Liz's smile deepened, until her glance caught on the thick ridge at the front of his Levi's and something shifted in her pretty blue eyes. "I'll be right back," she said, her voice a little huskier than before.

She started to turn away, but Zach caught her hand and tugged her around to face him. He hadn't meant to do it, but when her eyes widened in surprise and her lips parted, he hauled her into his arms and claimed her mouth.

Her hands came up to his chest and for an instant he thought she meant to push him away, then he felt her tongue slide over his as she kissed him back and every cell in his body caught fire.

Christ, he wanted her. His fingers closed around the towel and he untied the knot she had made, let the damp material puddle on the floor. Her orange bikini was wet, clinging to the cheeks of her bottom, and he cupped them, kneaded the firm round flesh, and heard her soft moan.

He glanced toward the window and saw that the curtains were mostly drawn, slid a hand into her thick, wet hair, and deepened the kiss. The sides of her swimsuit bottom fastened with tiny orange bows. He pulled one and then the other, jerked the wisp of fabric away and tossed it into a corner. The top went next, exposing those full, rose-tipped b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He suckled each one and she began to tremble.

"Zachary ?"

He could hear the uncertainty in her voice, tinged heavily with desire. He refused to give her time to think, time to withdraw from him again. Instead, he backed her up against the wall and unb.u.t.toned the fly of his jeans. He was hard as granite as he urged her legs apart and began to stroke her. The plump softness was slick and wet and he realized she was as ready as he.

"I want you so d.a.m.ned much," he said, kissing the side of her neck, then taking her mouth again. Positioning himself at the entrance to her pa.s.sage, he lifted her a little and drove himself home.

Elizabeth bit back a sob. Zach was here and he was inside her, exactly where she wanted him to be. She was shaking, her body trembling at the feel of him, at the heavy length filling her, heating her from the inside out. He hooked her legs around his waist and pressed his mouth against the side of her neck, and the warm slickness of his tongue spread goose-b.u.mps over her skin.

There was something wildly erotic about being naked while Zach remained fully clothed. She could feel the roughness of his jeans against her thighs, the brush of the b.u.t.tons on his shirt against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. As he surged inside her, she worked those b.u.t.tons frantically, then pulled the fabric apart and pressed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against his chest.

She could feel his heartbeat, feel the lean muscles expanding and contracting. Tightening her hold around his neck, she settled her mouth over his for a deep, penetrating kiss and heard him groan.

He gripped her bottom as he filled her again, gliding in and then out, thrusting deeply, his heavy strokes lifting her onto her toes, impaling her again and again. G.o.d, she wanted this, wanted him. Every place he touched her seemed to burn.

"Zachary " There was no uncertainty now. She knew what she wanted, what her body wanted, and she gave into it, let the heat and need wash over her, let her desire for him blot out everything around her.

Zach lifted her, wrapped her legs around his waist, and drove into her again, deep pounding strokes that filled her with pleasure. Her body shook and her pulse hammered. She had never felt like this, never felt as if each moment he claimed a bigger part of her.

It was frightening, terrifying, and yet she was powerless to stop it.

Zach drove into her again, his hands gripping her bottom, holding her in place to receive each of his thrusts. Fresh waves of pleasure washed through her, and a deep, pulsing need. She hovered on the edge of climax, her body desperate for release, yet not wanting the sensations to end.

She felt the warmth of Zach's mouth against her ear, the whorl of his tongue. "Come for me, Liz."

And the wave tore free. She was flying, spinning through the stars, drenched in sensations so sweet she never wanted them to end. Zach followed her to release and the tension in his muscles, the fierceness of his climax, sent her into fresh spasms of pleasure.

Zach gently kissed her, then set her back down on her feet. His eyes found hers and his expression grew concerned.

"I didn't come here for this, I swear. I just I saw you standing there and you looked so d.a.m.ned beautiful and I wanted you so d.a.m.ned much." He blew out a breath, raked a hand through his hair. Reaching down, he picked up her towel and handed it over. "Where you're concerned, my usual self-control seems to go right out the window."

Elizabeth wrapped the towel around her, covering her body from breast to thigh, tucked the fabric in at the top. "I could have stopped you."

"Yes."

"I wanted you, too, Zach."

He reached out and touched her cheek. "There's nothing wrong with two people wanting each other."

She looked away from him, trying not to feel regret for what they had done. "I don't suppose there is."

"Let me spend the night."

She started shaking her head. "I don't think"

"You don't think it's a good idea."

"And you do?"

He sighed heavily. "I'm not sure. There's something going on here, Liz. And it's more than just s.e.xual attraction. I feel it and so do you."

"Whatever we might be feelingit doesn't change the way things are."

"Maybe it does. Why don't we wait and see?"

She walked away from him, away from the heat that had returned to his eyes and the look she had seen there before. She told herself not to imagine it was yearning. Whatever it was, it didn't change what he was, didn't change the fact that he had always been a loner and always would be. Didn't lessen the awful risk she would be taking if she allowed herself to get more deeply involved with him.

"I need to go change," she said, wanting to put some distance between them. "I'll be right back."

Zach just nodded, reading her thoughts, a look of resignation on his face.

Elizabeth returned a few minutes later, dressed in a pair of tan shorts and a crisp white blouse, her resolve back in place. No matter how much she desired him, she couldn't take the risk.

She walked past him toward the kitchen. "I made a pitcher of iced tea just before you got here. Would you like a gla.s.s?"

He nodded. "Sounds good."

She noticed he had straightened his clothes and combed his hair. He looked as good as he had when he'd walked through the door and it bothered her to realize she wanted him again.

She busied herself dropping ice cubes into gla.s.ses and filling them with tea. Setting the gla.s.ses down on the kitchen table along with a spoon, she shoved the sugar bowl over to Zach's side of the table.

His eyes remained on her face. "It's fine the way it is." He picked up the icy gla.s.s and took a long swallow, and she watched the long muscles moving in his throat.

"Did you get a chance to talk to your brother?" she asked, determined not to think of s.e.x with Zach.

"Actually, that's the reason I stopped by. I talked to Carson. Unfortunately, he says there isn't any list of former tenants. I also talked to some of the workers. Mariano Nunez has been there the longest. He remembered most of the families who lived in the house while he was there. I wrote them down."

He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and tossed it down on the table. "But the old man had no idea where to find them. He says as far as he knows, no one ever died in either the old house or the new one."

"That leads us nowhere."

"We've still got the utility companies. You'll take a stab at them tomorrow?"

She nodded. "I can get away from work for an hour or so, I think. I'll see if I can dig up any information."

"You haven't eaten supper, have you?"

"No, but Look, Zach"

"We could order some more Chineseor maybe a pizza, sit around and watch a little TV."

"Or you could go back to your world and I could stay here in mine."

"We could do that. I don't want to."

She looked at him, looked into those intense golden brown eyes, and her heart clenched. "I don't want to, either."

She couldn't believe she'd said it. Now that she had, she realized it was true, and that it didn't really matter anymore. She was already in way over her head. Whatever happened, she was going to get hurt.

In the meantime, she had Zach. She would enjoy the time they had together.

She set her gla.s.s of tea down on the table, walked up and slid her arms around his neck, kissed him full on the mouth.

"Let's order something later," she whispered against his ear. "I can think of something a whole lot better to do than eat."

Zach grinned and kissed the side of her neck. "We'll have to see about that." Lifting her up in his arms, he carried her into the bedroom.

Eighteen.

Zach set the alarm for four o'clock the next morning, but awoke before the buzzer went off. Snuggled spoon-fashion against him, Elizabeth felt him stir, felt his morning arousal and moved to take him inside her. He made love to her slowly, until they both peaked, then he kissed the side of her neck and left her lying drowsily in bed while he showered and dressed to leave.

At this time of morning, without the usual traffic, it should take less than two hours to drive back to L.A., but Zach would need time to change clothes, and he had told her he had work to do before his first meeting.

"Call me this afternoon," he said as he walked to where she lay in bed. "Let me know what you find out from the utility companies."

She mumbled something unintelligible, then gave him a sleepy smile. "I will."

Zach bent down and kissed her. "Don't forget."

"I won't."