She was afraid of the growingfeelings she had for Andrei. Didhe feel it too?
Feel what?
Her face heated, and she clamped a hand over her mouth. Obviously shed spoken her fears aloud.
She let down her hand and said, This thing between us.
Yes, I feel it. The low rumble of his voice warmed the cool night air, filling the space between them with promise.
The baby kicked, inserting the silent reminder why Jocelyne couldnt have a relationship with any man. Dont, Andrei.
Her voice came out as the barest of whispers she hoped he wouldnt hear. Dont fall in love with me.
I cant promise you that.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
2004 Golden Heart Winner for Best Paranormal Romance, Elle James started writing when her sister issued the Y2K challenge to write a romance novel. She managed a full-time job, raised three wonderful children and she and her husband even tried their hands at ranching exotic birds (ostriches, emus and rheas) in the Texas hill country. Ask her and shell tell you what its like to go toe-to-toe with an angry three hundred and fifty pound bird! After leaving her successful career in Information Technology Management, Elle is now pursuing her writing full-time. She loves building exciting stories about heroes, heroines, romance and passion. Elle loves to hear from fans. You can contact her at ellejames@earthlink. net or visit her website at www.ellejames.com.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Andrei Lagios Police officer on the Ravens Cliff force whose younger sister was a victim of the Seaside Strangler.
Jocelyne Baker Holistic healer and pregnant daughter of the town kook, enlisted as a cover story by Ravens Cliff police officer Lagios to assist in the search for the Seaside Strangler.
Hazel Baker Warm-hearted, peace-loving town kook and owner of the Cliffside Inn, working through her Wicca beliefs to create a cure for the curse plaguing Ravens Cliff.
Mayor Perry Wells Corrupt mayor of Ravens Cliff and a regular at the Cliffside Inn, suspected of taking kickbacks from an illegal source, also a bereaved father whose daughter disappeared on the day of her wedding.
Grant Bridges Resident of the Cliffside Inn whose fiancée, the mayors daughter, disappeared on the day of their wedding.
Rick Simpson Mayor Wellss assistant and a regular at the Cliffside Inn, hes also a man with a hidden agenda.
Alex Gibson Mild-mannered fisherman and resident of the Cliffside Inn who believes in Hazel Bakers search for the cure to the curse of Ravens Cliff.
Ingram Jackson Solitary, wealthy recluse with severe burn scars who keeps to himself but frequents the Cliffside Inn for Hazel Bakers remedies.
Under Suspicion, With Child
ELLE JAMES
www.millsandboon.co.uk
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This book is dedicated to Intrigue editors
Allison Lyons and Sean Mackiewicz, whose
vivid imaginations created the idea of
Ravens Cliff, the curse and the intrigue.
And thanks to the wonderful authors who
worked together to make this continuity
come to life.
Chapter One
The cool ocean breeze of summer feathered through the loose tendrils of Jocelyne Bakers hair, caressing her skin and body, soothing the tension away. Sitting with her legs crossed on the mat, her hands flat on the ground beside her, eyes closed, she inhaled, and let it out slowly.
All the tension of being cooped up for the past two rainy days in the inn with her mother melted away.
Maybe coming home hadnt been such a good idea. She could have made it work had she stayed in New Jersey. Somehow.
The flutter of tiny feet in her belly reminded her why shed returned. Pregnant and alone, shed needed a better place than the city to raise her child, even if it meant going home.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Nothing had changed. The town was as it had been when shed left. Her mother was still considered the town kook and everyone stared at her, waiting for her to be just as flaky. Likemother, like daughter.
The only difference was that this time she was more mature, more confident in her own place in life. She refused to let whispering gossips hurt her or her child. Her muscles clenched in her neck and shoulders.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Moving back to Ravens Cliff wasnt a mistake. She repeated this mantra with each breath in and each one out.
Despite the cleansing breeze, other thoughts edged into her meditation. What of the Seaside Strangler? The man hadnt been caught. Would they catch him before Jocelyne brought her child into this world?
Unable to establish the inner peace she so intensely needed, Jocelyne pushed to her feet and stood straight, staring over the edge of the cliff out to the churning sea. Then she squatted, lowering her buttocks while her hands reached toward the sky, and closed together as if in prayer. Her hamstrings and the muscles in her back stretched, the tops of her thighs tingling with the effort to maintain the pose and tap in on the elusive inner peace she desperately sought.
HIS FEET POUNDING AGAINST the gravel, Andrei Lagios shut out everything but his breathing and the burning sensation in his muscles as he pushed himself harder and faster. He wanted the pain, even welcomed it. Pain reminded him he was alive. Unfortunately, so was the fiend whod killed his beautiful little sister.
Despite the cool temperatures and the bite of the wind off the ocean, sweat leaked from every pore. Still he ran on, his lungs near bursting, but his attempts to turn off his memories failed. His thoughts mirrored the frothy, wind-tossed seas and the skies laden with heavy storm clouds.
Hed chosen the path along the cliff because no one would bother him here, and he felt closer to Sofia, whod washed ashore near here two months ago. Her pale, bloated face and the seashell necklace around her throat still churned in Andreis mind. Hed been the one on duty when the report came across the radio that the two girls whod been missing since the night of their high-school prom had been found, washed against the rocky shoreline.