I Heard Your Voice

By Tanith Davenport

Spirits will rise. Inhibitions will fall.

Tamar Steele's life was never supposed to be like this. A sensitive working with a team of paranormal investigators, she is trapped in a loveless relationship with the team's medium, Reed James, who believes that having sex on haunted ground enhances paranormal activity. Tamar maintains their partnership for the sake of the crew, forcing herself to ignore the burgeoning sexual tension between her and fellow investigator Jason Bray.

Until one night when, alone and bored, Tamar sings to herself and is knocked to the ground by an invisible force. Somehow she is able to invoke spirits with the power of her voice. And one particular sexy, matchmaking spirit is determined to turn her life upside down.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Totally Bound Publishing
• Release date: Oct 22, 2012
• ISBN: 9781781841051

Tanith Davenport

I first started writing seriously when my tutor on a creative writing course pointed me towards the Romantic Novelists' Association and their New Writers' Scheme. Thanks to them, my debut novel "The Hand He Dealt" was accepted by Totally Bound in 2011 and was nominated for the Joan Hessayon Award for 2012. I haven't stopped writing since. Last year my short "Spiritwalker" was released as part of the "Some Like It Haunted" collection by Totally Bound. This year I'm working on two new shorts plus the upcoming release of my back collection as audiobooks. When I'm not writing, I love to read historical fiction and non-fiction as well as anything paranormal. I love to sing, watch horror movies and go to rock concerts. I also have two cats who like to hide all day and then destroy the house at night.

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A Total-E-Bound Publication

www.total-e-bound.com

I Heard Your Voice

ISBN #978-1-78184-105-1

©Copyright Tanith Davenport 2012

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright October 2012

Edited by Sue Meadows

Total-E-Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2012 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom.

Warning:

This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Total-e-burning and a sexometer of 2.

This story contains 68 pages, additionally there is also a free excerpt at the end of the book containing 3 pages.

Haunted By You

I HEARD YOUR VOICE

Tanith Davenport

Spirits will rise. Inhibitions will fall.

Tamar Steele’s life was never supposed to be like this. A sensitive working with a team of paranormal investigators, she is trapped in a loveless relationship with the team’s medium Reed James, who believes that having sex on haunted ground enhances paranormal activity. Tamar maintains their partnership for the sake of the crew, forcing herself to ignore the burgeoning sexual tension between her and fellow investigator Jason Bray.

Until one night when, alone and bored, Tamar sings to herself and is knocked to the ground by an invisible force. Somehow she is able to invoke spirits with the power of her voice. And one particular sexy, matchmaking spirit is determined to turn her life upside down.

Dedication

For Tina, who stood beside me on that overnight paranormal investigation and never complained.

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Most Haunted: Antix Productions

Ouija: Hasbro, Inc.

Alton Towers: Merlin Entertainments

Best Thing I Never Had: Antonio Dixon, Kenneth Edmonds, Larry Griffin, Jr., Beyonce Knowles, Caleb McCampbell, Patrick Smith, Shea Taylor

IKEA: Stichting INGKA Foundation

You Are Not Alone: R Kelly

Take a Bow: Tor Erik Hermansen, Miksel Eriksen, Shaffer Smith

Please Remember: Diane Warren

Bagel Nash: The Bagel Nash Company

Windows: Microsoft Corporation

Dreamweaver: Adobe Systems

Outlook: Microsoft Corporation

YouTube: Google, Inc.

Ghost Voices: Dragon Publishing Limited

RAC: Carlyle Group

Guinness: Diageo, plc

Voi Jeans: Voi Jeans Ltd.

Dictaphone: Nuance Communications

Seat Leon: SEAT S A

Mr Know it All: Brian Seals, Ester Dean, Dante Jones

Chapter One

It was going to be a long, long night.

Throwing open her car door, Tamar shivered as she stepped out into the cutting wind. The car park was almost pitch black, brightened only slightly by the meagre light cast by lamp posts out in the street. To the sides, tall trees left long, eerily shaped shadows across the ground. She moved around to the rear of the car, turning to view the house as she did so.

Behind her, she heard tyres crunch over the gravel. Headlights bathed her in bright light, briefly blinding her. Ducking away, Tamar opened the car boot and leaned in to start unloading the equipment.

Hey, said a voice behind her. Need a hand?

Hi, Hana. Yeah, thanks. Tamar glanced back over her shoulder at the blonde, who was wrapped up snugly in a heavy jacket and jeans. Hana was always early to these things and had probably unpacked her own gear already. Did you bring the Dictaphones?

Yeah, they’re inside. Chris is setting up the slideshow. Hana reached into the boot and surfaced with an armful of headphones and microphones.

Tamar picked up the bag of K2 meters and decided against offering to take some of Hana’s load. Hana hated any suggestion that her skinny figure might translate to lack of strength.

How many are we expecting?

We’ve got twenty on the list.

More car doors were slamming behind them. Tamar reached up to close the boot, but froze and winced as a tearing pain ripped across her shoulders.

Ah, fuck!

About to move away, Hana paused mid-turn. Was that your back?

Yeah. Tamar hung her head down to stretch out her neck, breathing heavily against the pain. It’s been bad today.

Got painkillers?

In my pocket. I’ll be fine in a minute. Screwing her eyes shut, Tamar fought to regain control. God, that hurt.

Is she okay?

The speaker was outside her field of vision, but Tamar would have recognised that Leeds accent anywhere. I’m fine, Jason. Could you shut the boot for me?

Sure.

Eyes still closed, Tamar stepped backwards, hearing a slam, followed by a startled grunt from Jason. She opened her eyes to see that Hana had dumped her equipment into his arms.

While you’re here, you can carry that lot. Her voice carried over her shoulder as she took off running towards the house. I’ve got people to tick off.

Tamar looked up at Jason, exchanging raised eyebrows as they set off for the main entrance of the house. The front door had been opened and light was spilling out onto the courtyard, illuminating Hana as she stood with her clipboard, checking the names of a small group of unfamiliar people. Beside her a billboard read ‘TINTAGEL PARANORMAL INVESTIGATIONS’. Underneath, in smaller letters, was the name of their location, Meltham Hall.

It was the third location they had investigated that month, and the most impressive. A former stately home, now a museum, Meltham Hall loomed darkly above them, a vision of leaded windows and moss-coated walls. Tamar had already visited the place in daylight, so she knew to turn