Chapter Twenty-Four

Sebastian, who clearly had a better social life than I did, was out when I got home. The velvet suit was shoved to the back of the closet and the rest of the bottle of wine from my fridge was now empty. I lay on the couch, staring at the television, but seeing nothing.

I lifted my head only enough to check the clock on the stove and groaned. Midnight. Only midnight. How was I going to make it through the night?

I really should keep sleeping pills on hand. Or melatonin. Or cookies. What I wouldn’t give for cookies right now.

I sat up. Wait. I had put Amber’s cookies in the freezer until I could give them to Jake. Did I forget? I tripped over my own feet navigating to the kitchen. Nearly taking the freezer door off, I confirmed my suspicion: I had cookies.

Dropping the bag on the counter, I opened it and took out a perfect frozen disk. I plopped it on a napkin then shoved it into the microwave for a few seconds. The moment it beeped, I yanked it out, then closed my eyes and shoved the entire thing into my mouth. The edges were burning hot and the middle was still cold, but it didn’t matter after I began to chew. The taste of chocolate and sensation of warm caramel on my tongue made me moan.

I immediately popped another cookie into the microwave then slowly nibbled it from the outside to the inside, each bite more decadent, more thrilling, than the last. This was what life was about. Cookies at midnight. And women in red dresses.

I reached for my phone before remembering Jake had it. Smart man. His intuition and attention to detail made him the best partner. I would one hundred percent be texting Carma right now.

Sinking down to the kitchen floor, I stared at my distorted reflection in the oven’s glass. When this was over, I was going after Carma. As long as she was cleared of all charges. It probably meant I wouldn’t get the RD promotion—dating a former mark was considered poor conduct—but I could adjust. Maybe Jake would still do a few cases with me a year.

Once Carma and I got married, and things settled down, I was sure people would see I could be trusted and I’d get another chance at RD. “I have a plan!” I announced to the empty room. I pushed myself to my feet, feeling lighter than I had for days. I had a plan.

Except like all perfect plans, it dissolved when I walked to the window and saw Carma looking up from the sidewalk, trying to figure out which window was mine. She caught my movement and stared up at me.

I was sunk. Cue Celine Dion.

What if there’s a vampire lurking? The image of Amber covered in blood as she pressed her embroidery against George’s neck flashed before me and my adrenaline spiked. I had to protect her.

I shoved my feet into sneakers and tucked Sydney in my back waistband. I leapt down the stairs and pushed outside. I looked around but didn’t see anyone or anything in the shadows. “Carma, get in the car.”

“Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

I gripped her arms and started to move us backward toward her door.

She brushed me off. “What’s wrong with you?!”

“My neighbor was attacked yesterday. It’s not safe to be out here at night!”

She crossed her arms. “I’ll get in if you get in.”

My heart was pounding so hard, my hands shook. “Please, Carma.”

“You get in, I get in.”

The hoot of an owl made me jump. God, I was being ridiculous. With a deep sigh, I walked over to the passenger side and opened the door. Eyeing each other, we both slowly sat down, closing the doors.

“Buckle up,” she warned before hitting the gas and launching us forward.

“CARMA! What the hell?”

“We are figuring this out!”

“What about your mom?” It was my Hail Mary, my last chance.

She shrugged. “You’re more important to me than this job.”

You’re more important. Three simple words that broke down my remaining willpower. “Carma…”

“You left before we could dance. And you didn’t return my calls or texts. I thought something bad had happened!”

“I’m sorry. And I let Jake use my cell and forgot to get it back before I went home.”

She shot me a weird look. “Okay?”

I heard all the questions she wanted to ask in the lingering silence, but thankfully she didn’t. I didn’t want to lie anymore tonight. Not to her. “Carma, this isn’t a good idea. We should stop this before it’s too late.”

Her grip tightened on the steering wheel. “I can’t.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. She glanced over at me and I saw the truth on her face as we passed under a streetlight.

My organs rearranged themselves in my body, my lungs shrinking down to the size of my heart, my heart growing three times as large. I couldn’t do more than grip the edge of the seat.

“I’m falling in love with you.”

I closed my eyes, letting her confession wash over me. There was a twisted symmetry that the words that cut the deepest were a barely audible whisper. “I’m not a good choice.”

Her response was silence. She pulled over to the side of the road, the darkened coffee shop looming in the background the only landmark. “Get out.”

I swallowed hard, my shaking hand unbuckling the seatbelt. “I’m so sorry.” I opened the door and stepped out, turning toward her when she followed.

“You owe me a dance.”

I blinked at her. “What?”

“I didn’t wear this dress to not dance, Mina Madison.” She leaned in and clicked on the stereo. One of my favorite songs by Sorry Charlie emanated from the speakers.

She smiled as she walked around the car and stood in the headlights. “May I have this dance?”

My body responded before my mind was able to shut it down. I walked toward her, extending my hand. She slipped hers into mine and wrapped her other arm around my shoulder. Mine fit perfectly around her waist, pulling her against me. Her head rested against mine as we swayed in the stillness of the evening, the crickets and cicadas adding harmony to the chorus.

I lifted my arm and spun her around. She looked up at me and laughed and I stilled, a wave of cold-hot realization washing over me. Some invisible string between us knotted, then knotted again, tying my heart to hers. I loved her.

“What?” Her eyes sparkled as she leaned against me, wrapping both arms over my shoulders.

I lifted my hands to her face. Closing the space between us, I lowered my mouth to hers. The moment her lips touched mine, my entire body quieted. Every worry, every ache, every doubt vanished. This kiss was different; it was a declaration.

When we broke apart, she took my hand and led me back to the car. I didn’t hesitate. We separated only to climb in. She held my hand as we started driving, silent until we pulled into her driveway.

She led me inside, and I kicked off my shoes, slipping Sydney and my keys inside them. I watched her walk down the hall toward the bedroom, nearly tripping over myself running after her. She stood in the center of the room, a splash of decadent red in her pastel palace.

She snapped her fingers at Cheddar and Lucifer, then pointed to the hall. With disgruntled kitty yawns, they jumped off the end of the bed and sauntered out of the room. I closed the door behind them, the soft click as loud as a gunshot.

She turned her back to me, brushing her long hair to one side. It felt like I was walking underwater as I moved to her, like it was a cross between a dream and a hallucination. I smoothed the back of the dress and pinched the head of the zipper between my fingers, lowering it until it stopped just above her ass. My palms smoothed around her bottom then gripped and kneaded as I pressed my lips to the nape of her neck, smiling against her skin as she gasped.

When she started to writhe, I spread her dress wider as I tasted her over and over again, a trail of kissing down her spine. I dipped my tongue below the edge of her dress and she full body shivered. Kissing my way back up, I moved my lips to one shoulder, then the other, gliding the straps down her arms and letting the dress fold at her waist. Cradling her head with one hand, I kissed her neck, suckling, nipping, tasting every inch.

Open mouthed, desperate kisses against her skin. I fisted her hair with one hand, and wrapped my arm around her waist, pulled her back against me. She moaned, gripping my arm as if it was her lifeline. Her body melted into mine.

“God, if that’s what you can do with my neck…” she breathed.

I spun her around, her green eyes blazing. I paused to look at her amazing breasts before my mouth descended on hers in a deep kiss before pulling back. “I’m going to make you scream ‘fuck’ until you lose your voice,” I promised.

She grabbed me by the front of my shirt. “Challenge accepted.”

Our mouths fused together, our tongues tangling. I kissed her as if I’d die without her, as if her lungs gave me oxygen, as if her heartbeat was mine. We broke apart only to pull off my T-shirt. The moment our bodies touched skin to skin, we cried out at the sensation.

“How do you feel like this?” I breathed against her lips.

She just kissed me deeper.

We stumbled to the bed and I laid her down, then pulled her legs to the edge. I couldn’t hold myself up with my shoulder, but I could kneel. Worship her body, like she deserved. I spread her legs, kissing her from her ankle to her thigh. She breathed my name as I moved to the other leg, my fingers gently drawing swirls on her skin.

Her hands fisted in my hair. “Please, please.”

I smiled as I dropped one more kiss on her hip, then moved to her center. First, a brush of my lips. Then a lick. Then a swirl.

She arched off the bed as my arms went around her legs and I worshipped her. Her cries were music, her ragged breath my badge of honor, her body my new religion.

“Mina, don’t stop. Don’t stop. I’m so close…”

As if I would. As if I could. My body was on fire. I was so turned on, it hurt. Good thing I had a high pain tolerance.

With a scream, she broke apart, a string of expletives on her lips. She tried to pull away, but I held down her hips and kept going until she moved past the too-sensitive point and back into the flames. I slipped a finger inside of her, then two, and god had anything ever felt this amazing? No. Because no one had ever been her.

When she crested the second time, she nearly shattered her windows. Her entire body shuddered around me, clenching my fingers in pulsing heat. When she came down, I moved my hand and she immediately sat up, pulling me down next to her.

“My turn.” She kissed me hard, her body pressing into mine.

We moved against each other, beautiful friction, smoldering heat, whispered pleas and profanity. When her mouth nestled between my legs, it was as if she lit a fuse. Sparks cascaded out from her mouth, curling and flaming beneath my skin.

Nothing mattered except the way she touched me, the way her green eyes met mine as she licked and sucked and brought me to the edge before pulling back. Catch and release. Building and building until I was sobbing, begging. She lifted her mouth off my skin, smiled, then sucked me into her mouth once more.

My vision went hazy as I fell apart at the seams, her soft purrs and words of encouragement piecing me back together in a way I didn’t recognize. How did she have this much power over me? Why couldn’t I walk away from her?

What was going to happen in the morning?

I pushed the thought out of my head as her mouth found mine and I sank back into her arms. Tomorrow I would deal with the fallout. Tonight, I was hers.