An icy breeze sifted through the air, although the window was closed. An instant later, all three candles went out. Cain could hear Cleo’s voice, but he could no longer make out what she was saying. His chest felt leaden. His headache increased until it pounded ruthlessly in his ears.
His heart was thudding, his mouth bone dry. He looked at Jenny, at her long, thick brown curls, her smooth skin, and plump lips. Lust swelled inside him, beating at his control. He was hard, he realized, throbbing with every heartbeat. His hands were shaking, his palms sweating.
He wanted to reach for her, bare Jenny’s breasts, wanted to squeeze them, pinch her nipples until she cried out. He wanted to shove her down on the bed, rip off her clothes, force her legs apart, and plunge himself inside her.
He looked at her slender throat and wanted to wrap his hands around her neck, to hear her struggling for breath as he pounded his hard length into her again and again.
Horror filled him, and Cain shot up from the bed. He rushed for the light switch next to the door and flipped it on, then opened the door and ran out into the hall. He was shaking, breathing hard, his mind spinning, barely able to catch his breath.
Then Jenny was there, wrapping her arms around him, holding him close, telling him everything was going to be okay. For a moment, he was afraid to touch her, afraid of the man he had become in room 10. Afraid he would hurt her.
“It’s all right,” Jenny said. “I know what you were feeling in there. I could sense it. See it in your face. It wasn’t you in there, Cain. It was someone else.”
Cleo appeared beside them. Cain heard the click of the lock as the door closed behind her.
“We’ll talk downstairs,” she said. Turning, Cleo marched back down the hall.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CAIN STOOD IN THE HALLWAY OUTSIDE ROOM10. JENNY LEFT HISside long enough to double-check the door, be sure it was securely locked; then she slid her arm around his waist and pulled him close, keeping him firmly against her side as they followed in Cleo’s wake. Still half-dazed, he didn’t pull away.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they went into Jenny’s office. Cleo took up most of the velvet settee. Cain sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk, and Jenny sat down in the other. She reached over and took hold of his hand.
Cain knew he should say something, try to explain what had happened to him upstairs, but he couldn’t find the words.
“You all right?” Cleo asked him.
“I’m not sure.”
“I saw what he was doing to you,” she said. “But you were too strong for him.”
Cain just shook his head.
“You felt him,” she said. “Now you know what he’s like. He won’t bother you again as long as you don’t invite him in.”
“Is that what I did?”
“No. He took you by surprise. That’s what he does.”
“You talk as if he’s a person.”
“He was, but it was a long time ago. He was a miner. Near as I can tell, a real bad hombre. He was shot dead right in the street. In front of a bordello, I think. I could see women standing on the sidewalk in front of the building.”
“He told you all that?” Cain asked.
“Not in words. It’s sort of a nonverbal thing. I watched it happen. It’s like you’re looking down on the scene. I saw him arguing with someone in front of a small single-story, wooden building. I saw the bullet slam into his chest, the gush of blood. I watched his soul lift away, but something went wrong. Maybe he fought it—I don’t know.”
“If he died in the street, why is he here?” Jenny asked.
“Earlier, I saw him sitting at one of the card tables in the saloon. He liked it here. After he died, he came back. The bad news is he’s made a place for himself in room ten, and he doesn’t want to leave.”
Cain said nothing. Whatever had happened in that room, it was something he had never experienced before, something he would never forget. Something terrifying.
“What I’m telling you isn’t a hundred percent certain,” Cleo said. “It’s my best guess from the feelings I got, but there’s still a lot I don’t know, and my information’s not always reliable. You might be able to do some research, see if you can find out something about him, find out if what I’m suggesting is true.”
“I can do that,” Jenny said.
Cleo turned to Cain. “You gonna be okay?”
