Haunting Savannah: 8 Dark and Seductive Tales Read online

  Haunting Savannah

  8 Dark and Seductive Tales

  Lia Davis

  Kerry Adrienne

  Deena Remiel

  Ella Jade

  Evelyn Lederman

  Savannah Verte

  H.R. Boldwood

  Kim Carmichael

  ML Guida

  After Glows Publishing

  Haunting Savannah Boxed Set

  Ghost in a Bottle © Copyright 2017 Lia Davis and Kerry Adrienne

  Forbidden Union © Copyright 2017 Deena Remiel

  True Companions © Copyright 2017 Ella Jade

  The Ultimate Act of Love © Copyright 2017 Evelyn Lederman

  The Haunting of Bellehaven © Copyright 2017 H.R. Boldwood

  The Promise © Copyright 2017 Kim Carmichael

  Veil Break © Copyright 2017 Savannah Verte

  A Pirate’s Mask © Copyright 2017 ML Guida

  * * *

  Published by After Glows Publishing

  PO Box 224

  Middleburg, FL 32050

  AfterGlowsPublishing.com

  * * *

  Cover by Jacqueline Sweet

  Formatting by AG Formatting

  * * *

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  AfterGlowsPublishing.com

  Contents

  Introduction

  Deena Remiel

  Forbidden Union

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  About the Author

  Lia Davis & Kerry Adrienne

  Ghost in a Bottle

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  About the Authors

  Ella Jade

  True Companions

  Introduction

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  About the Author

  Evelyn Lederman

  The Ultimate Act of Love

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  About the Author

  H.R. Boldwood

  The Haunting of Bellehaven

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Kim Carmichael

  The Promise

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  About the Author

  Savannah Verte

  Veil Break

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  About the Author

  ML Guida

  A Pirate's Mask

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  About the Author

  Note From the Publisher

  Haunting Savannah

  8 Dark and Seductive Tales

  By Lia Davis & Kerry Adrienne, Deena Remiel, Ella Jade, Evelyn Lederman, Savannah Verte, H.R. Boldwood, Kim Carmichael, and ML Guida

  * * *

  Spend Halloween in Savannah with eight dark, seductive tales of ghosts, vampires, demons, witches, and warlocks.

  * * *

  Nine bestselling authors come together in this collection of eight BRAND NEW, Halloween themed novellas.

  * * *

  A look inside…

  * * *

  Ghost in a Bottle by Lia Davis & Kerry Adrienne

  Anatoli La Croix has spent the last century cursed to exist in spirit form, locked inside a glass jar. When the beautiful and magickal Ophelia purchases the jar, he discovers he’s able to escape his confinement for short periods. For the first time in a century, he has hope. Could the beautiful witch be the one to break his curse? Or will she provoke the evil spirit that imprisoned him and bring dark magick’s wrath down on them both?

  * * *

  Forbidden Union by Deena Remiel

  It’s Halloween in Savannah. Noah Blackman has come to Savannah, Georgia and Violet Adams’ home seeking to verify the origins of his family. Could his roots begin with a runaway slave? This trip holds many surprises for the two as their family’s pasts collide and their present charts a course for romance and lasting love.

  * * *

  True Companions by Ella Jade

  Maxim and Grant have been lovers for a century. Companions in the truest sense. What happens when a human woman shares their home and their bed? Can two destined souls open their hearts to a third?

  * * *

  The Ultimate Act of Love by Evelyn Lederman

  The last thing Kori Daniels expected to see on a ghost tour is an actual apparition. Although she can feel earth-bound spirits, she has never seen one. Already impacted by nightly amorous dreams since arriving in Savannah, her dream lover now has a face.

  * * *

  The Haunting of Bellehaven by H.R. Boldwood

  Self-reliant Harper McKinnon arrives in Savannah to claim her i
nheritance, Bellehaven Plantation—a proud antebellum estate. But the estate’s handsome caretaker, Clay Montgomery, is used to doing things his way. Fireworks fly as they are drawn ever closer, but the plantation’s ghostly secrets threaten both their love and their lives.

  * * *

  The Promise by Kim Carmichael

  A mistake brought a demon to her, a promise kept them bound together. It is a thin line between desire and love and good and evil when an incubus enters Leora Desmond’s life.

  * * *

  Veil Break by Savannah Verte

  Taken from the world he knows, to a place out of time, Holden Henry has a lot of questions when he is redeposited into his world, 150 years in the future. His Savannah isn’t the same anymore.

  * * *

  A Pirate’s Mask by ML Guida

  Dark secrets haunt the Pirate’s House Inn in Savannah, Georgia.

  Rosalind Gill’s stepfather is the culprit. He’s forcing her to remain silent and marry his evil partner or die. Her only hope is Phearson MacFie-a vampire pirate from another time. They must work together to not only save the innocent, but save themselves and discover true love.

  Forbidden Union

  Deena Remiel

  Introduction

  It’s Halloween in Savannah. A time when the veil between our world and the ethereal is at its thinnest. A time for ghosts to settle unfinished business and finally rest. A time for love to work its magic on two deserving souls.

  Noah Blackman has come to Savannah, Georgia and Violet Adams’ home seeking the origins of his family. This trip holds many surprises for the two as their family’s pasts collide and their present charts a course for romance and lasting love.

  Chapter 1

  “So, they hid them down there?”

  “That’s what the diary says. I haven’t come near this area of the house since I read about it. I’ve been waiting for you to arrive.”

  “The suspense must’ve been killing you. I’m impressed by your control.”

  “Well, I think it’s only fitting that you and I should explore whatever’s down there together. Don’t you? A descendant of slaves and a descendant of someone who ran an Underground Railroad station should experience together how their ancestry intersected so many years ago.”

  “Very true. I appreciate that. Violet, whatever we find down there, at least we know this house, your family’s house, was a place of peace and not hatred.”

  “Yeah, thank goodness. At least not everyone from my family’s lineage in Savannah were assholes.” He rubbed her back and his hand settled on her shoulder. Her heart skipped a few beats, but she continued. “It’s not an easy thing to bear, growing up in Philadelphia with a certain set of values and morals, and having ancestors who owned slaves in the south. This part of my family, though, I am proud to call mine. As much as I don’t want to, I must acknowledge the ugly parts, too. Another day, though.” She smacked her hands together with resolve. “Let’s see what mysteries we can uncover about your family. That’s why you’re here, after all. Mr. Noah Blackman, would you kindly lead us onward into the bowels of this decrepit house of mine?”

  “Yes, Miss Violet Adams, mistress of the house.” He waved a grand flourish with his hands and tugged on the wooden door leading to the basement. It didn’t budge.

  “It’s kinda humid, and the wood swells. Give it a good pull.” She grunted a little as she imitated the struggle.

  He laughed and shook his head. Using both hands this time, he tugged, and with a groan of protest, the door gave way. “All right! Now to find a light. Ah, there it is.” He pulled on the string hanging down from an incandescent lightbulb.

  A dim, golden glow bathed a questionable wooden staircase leading to what the architect’s plans said was a cellar. There they would find buried history, as written by her family in diaries she’d found when rummaging through the attic’s contents. Exactly what kind of buried history, she didn’t know.

  “Maybe I should go first.” She rested a hand on Noah’s shoulder. “Those stairs look iffy, and I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  “All the more reason for me to go first. I’ll be careful, and if the stairs hold up, then they’ll definitely be safe for you.”

  “Okay.” She wagged a pointed finger at him. “Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.”

  She gazed around at the landing, with its cobwebs and plaster peeling from years of neglect. An uninvited shiver erupted across exposed skin. It was obvious no one had used this section of the house in decades. She understood why. The house was huge and had so many rooms, there was no reason to go below the main floor. The root cellar had been dug out around back, right by the kitchen door for easy access.

  Noah had gone down a few steps and turned to her, offering a hand. “I’m amazed, but these feel pretty strong. Come, I think we’ll be fine. There looks to be about ten more steps from here.”

  She took a deep breath and grabbed hold of his rough, calloused hand, his strength and confidence enshrouding hers with that simple grasp. It surprised, soothed, and created tingles in all the right girly places.

  There was something about Noah. Definitely something.

  She’d never forget the first time he’d called from New York searching for missing pieces to his family’s history. He’d said hello and her name. She’d had her first eargasm, as his voice, like liquid sex, worked its magical way through her body. She’d closed her eyes and melted in her seat. If she were to die after that phone call, she figured she’d die happy. And then he had to do it. He had to go and put the nail in the coffin. She’d made a silly quip about the house’s condition, and he laughed. Literally did her in. She’d taken a long shower after that phone call.

  That auspicious conversation started their long-distance platonic relationship, and for the past few months, they’d talked nearly every day. They spoke about everything under the sun, shared current successes and frustrations, and of course, family histories. He stirred her desire, not just for his sexy self, but also to better understand her own family’s history. So, when she wasn’t on the phone with him or teaching high school juniors how to write creatively, she researched her own past. It wasn’t pretty.

  Diaries kept by various family members painted a tragic picture of a family torn by war and ideology. Some chose to move north, others chose to fight silently by staying in Savannah and served as a station for the Underground Railroad. A small number fought for the confederacy to keep slavery alive. Closer to modern day, stories spoke of vociferous Jim Crow law supporters and equally loud Freedom Riders. One thing she could say about her family was that they were always active voices in the shaping of the country, for good or bad.

  Now, to have Noah in her home, a man whose ancestors may have been helped by hers, it seemed to come full circle in the best way possible.

  “Wow, it’s so much cooler down here.”

  “Yeah, maybe I should fix it up and turn it into a summer bedroom.”

  “It’s that brutal, huh?” Noah chuckled.

  “Oh, yes. It’s downright horrid. Hot, humid. Hmm,” she said, scanning the unusually small, cramped space. “I wasn’t expecting the room to be like this. I mean, every other room upstairs is oversized. Why would this be so small?”

  “It makes perfect sense if you’re hiding people.” Noah walked over to one of the walls and knocked. “One of these must be a false wall, with an area behind it and some kind of secret way to open it up. When you hear a difference in tone, let me know.” He continued rapping with his knuckles all over the wall, then moved on to the next wall.

  “There! I hear a difference. Knock again.”

  Noah tapped more and he agreed. “Yeah, this is definitely a false wall here. With your permission, I’d like to open it up.”

  “Of course, you have my permission. This is incredible.” Goosebumps arose on her skin. “I just pray there are no bones back there. I swear, I’ll freak out.”

  Noah tossed the hammer to the ground and rested his hands
on her arms. “Would you prefer to go upstairs while I do this? I don’t mind. I don’t want you traumatized by whatever might be behind this wall. You have to live here, and I don’t want to be the cause of any nightmares.”