“Do it,” he said. “I deserve it.”
Nora rose off her throne and walked over to him. There was a damn good chance the woman really was going to slap him. She raised her hand and patted his shoulder.
“My sympathies, my friend.” She patted his shoulder again. “Been there.”
“Thank you. I needed that.”
Nora shook her head.
“Not even oral?”
“No.”
“Oh my Jesus,” Nora said.
Cyrus laughed hard enough he fell back on the bed. Then remembered this was a medical bed in a dungeon, and God only knew what went on there. He sat up very quickly.
Nora returned to her throne. She looked like a woman who wanted to smile but was trying very hard to keep it to herself.
“You think I’m a sucker, right?” he asked.
“You’re a very good man, and Paulina is very lucky to have you.”
“I appreciate that.”
“But you should probably eat her pussy anyway.”
“Nora, come on.”
“I’m serious. You want to, right?”
“Is that a real question? Really? A real question? You’re asking me that like it’s a real question you don’t know the answer to?”
“So do it.”
“We said we’d wait.”
“You made the rules. You can break the rules. Or bend them.”
“We are not bending anything.”
“Go to her house, pick her up, carry her to bed, put her down and say, ‘I’m going to go down on you until you come on me and you’re going to like it. That’s an order.’”
“She would not go for that.”
“Hmm…good point. We don’t know if she’s kinky yet or not. Better just ask nicely. ‘May I please eat your pussy?’ Try it. Dare you.”
“Dare me? You just dared me? Are we in the seventh grade now?”
Who was this woman and, better question, why did he like hanging out with her so much? Poor judgment. He owned that.
“Double-dare you.”
“Why do I talk to you?”
“Bet you’re good at it.”
“Hell yes I am.”
“Because if you aren’t, you can ask Søren for tips. For a priest, he’s surprisingly good at eating pussy.”
“I hope that witch hexes you.”
“You go to her and tell her you want to make her feel as good as she makes you feel…no way would she say ‘no’ to that. And if she does, I’ll give you a hundred dollars. Cash. Today.”
“I’m going out there.” He pointed at the door to her fancy waiting room. “And you’re staying in here. And I am never talking to you again.”
“Does that mean I don’t get to come to the wedding?”
Cyrus jumped off the med bed and onto the floor. He held out his hand, finger pointed at Nora’s face.
“Yes?” she said.
“You’re ten kinds of crazy.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Only ten?”
Nora reached out and grabbed his finger.
“Thanks for keeping me company,” she said. “I feel a lot less freaked out now.”
“That makes one of us.”
Laughing, she released his finger.
“Goodnight, Mistress. Please call your demon dog in here. I am not sleeping—”
Cyrus heard the sound of an organ playing terrifyingly eerie music.
“What the hell?” Cyrus glanced around looking for the Phantom of the Dungeon.
“Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor,” she said. “Søren calling.”
“You gonna answer it?”
The strange, but oddly familiar organ music continued.
“I’m considering not answering it,” she said.
“Nora.”
“Fine.”
The organ music stopped and the phone buzzed. “Text,” she said. “Shit. He says he stopped by the house to check on me, wants to know why I’m not home.”
“You have to tell him.”
“Do I though? I mean…do I?” Her voice went up an octave on the last do I?
He stared at her, hard. “Do not get me on the bad side of a Viking. If he belts his own girlfriend, no telling what he’ll do to me.”
“That’s a good point,” she said. “And yet, I’m still not calling him.” She stared at her phone like she wasn’t sure what it was or where it had come from.
He cleared his throat pointedly. She got the message.
“Fine. I’m calling him.” She called him. “Hello, Sir.”
He waited, curious enough to eavesdrop.
“Ah…long story,” Nora said. “I’m at my dungeon right now. I had something weird happen tonight. I didn’t feel like staying at home.” Pause. “No, Kingsley wasn’t involved this time.” Pause again. “Please. Cyrus would probably appreciate that.” Pause. “Yeah, he’s here. Keeping me company. Although I think he regrets it.”
Cyrus nodded to make her smile. He was glad to see it worked.
“Okay, love you, too, Sir. See you soon.”
Nora hung up the call.
“You’re off the hook,” Nora said. “He’s coming over.”
“Ah, that’s good. I’ll stay until he gets here.”
“I appreciate that,” she said and smiled. “But he’s probably going to tell me I have to stop working on the case with you.”
“It’s all right. I’ll miss your help, but I’ll figure it out. When I know something, I’ll let you know.”
“Fun while it lasted. Pleasure working with you, Mr. Tremont.” She held out her hand and they shook.
“Yeah, same, Mistress Nora.”
He left her alone in her dungeon and sat in the armchair, waiting for the Viking to arrive. He closed his eyes, thinking of dozing off. While his body was bone tired, his mind wouldn’t let him rest.
Instead of sleeping, he went to the river. He didn’t mean to, but his mind took him there of its own will. Ever since he’d seen Father Ike with that gun, he’d stayed back, afraid of what he’d see if he went again. But now he couldn’t stop the feet in his mind finding the path to his soul, and up and over the rise he found a night river flowing easy and sweet. Lightning bugs skimmed the surface, flashing their double lights—one true, one reflection. The full white moon rose over the tree tops, and he saw something moving under the water, something alive. He followed it with his eyes, waiting for it to surface. It dove deep and the water stilled.
From the opposite direction, he saw someone swimming toward where he stood on a flat stone that hung over the river’s edge.
The swimmer rose up in the shallow end near the bank.
“Nora? What are you doing?”
She was fully dressed in the clothes she’d been wearing tonight—corset and jeans—but soaking wet.
“Water’s nice tonight,” she said. “Want to swim?”
“You better get out. Something’s in the water.”
“Only fish,” she said. “I’m not afraid of—”
Something shot out of the water, grabbed her around the waist, and dragged her under. Fast, too fast for Cyrus to stop him. But not too fast to see who it was who’d taken her under.
Father Ike.
Cyrus jumped in the river but as soon as his feet hit the water, something shook him out of his meditative state.
His phone vibrated wildly in his jeans pocket. He took it out, breathing hard, pressed the phone against his chest and his pounding heart.
A text from Paulina.
Got your email. What’s going on? Everybody okay?
Cyrus stared at her message, his eyes focused but his mind still in the river. He took a few deep breaths and slowly came back to himself. He knew exactly what he was seeing in his meditation, that this case was putting Nora in danger. He’d seen with his own eyes a drunk asshole holding her against her will. He’d heard the fear in her voice when she’d called to tell him one of their witnesses had shown up at her front door. Except why had it been Fa
ther Ike he’d seen grabbing Nora? Why him and not the drunk kid? Why him and not the witch?
He didn’t have time to figure that out. Paulina was waiting.
What are you doing up? he texted back.
Woke up, went to the bathroom, checked my phone. How scared should I be right now?
Been a crazy night, but we’re okay. I’ll tell you tomorrow.
Call me if you want. We can talk. Wide awake now.
Cyrus thought about that. After seeing what he saw in the river, he wanted to hear her voice so bad it hurt. Still, it was almost two in the morning. Paulina needed her sleep. So did he.
He was about to tell her “no,” that it was okay, he’d tell her more about it tomorrow. But he didn’t. The elevator thrummed. The Viking had arrived.
He texted back, You mind if I come over?
Cyrus could see the sleepy grin on her face as she replied.
Don’t mind one bit, Daddy.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Nora was shocked by her own relief at seeing Søren stride into her dungeon. He didn’t say a word, only pulled her into his arms and held her.
“I thought you’d be with Kingsley,” she said. As soon as she was in his strong arms, she let herself relax. Exhaustion had finally caught up with her.
“You know he can’t stay away from Juliette all night. He went home an hour ago. I wanted to check on you and when you weren’t home…”
“You thought I was in jail, didn’t you?”
“It did occur to me.”
Nora laughed against his chest. He held her even tighter and she inhaled the scent of him—frost on frozen pine trees and the clean smell of soap from his recent shower.
“What happened?” he asked.
“It’s a long story. Can it wait until morning?”
“No.”
“Fine.” She gave him the CliffsNotes version—the drunk dickhead, Cyrus interviewing a vampire, the witch they were looking for who found them first. She shook her head, sighed.
Søren seemed to mull that over for a moment.
“Were you planning on telling me any of this?”
“It crossed my mind,” Nora said. A half-truth but still, a truth.
Søren narrowed his eyes at her.
“You were supposed to be with King,” she reminded him. “I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“Tonight we were having dinner. Last night I might not have answered any calls.” He smiled, but she knew it wasn’t a real smile. “I am glad you had Cyrus to bring you here. Although I’m not happy with you helping him on this case. It’s keeping me up at night for the wrong reasons.”
“Yeah,” she said. “Same here. But I don’t want to stop either. We’re getting closer.”
He kissed her forehead. “We’ll discuss it tomorrow.”
As it was well after two now, they decided to sleep there in the dungeon. Nora had the bed. Might as well put it to use.
Søren went downstairs to reset the alarm. Nora went into her dungeon bedroom and switched on the lights. The bed was a Moroccan daybed with a canopy. She’d strung copper-wire LED lights all through the slats of the canopy, creating a low and gentle glow in the little room.
Nora undressed down to her panties and t-shirt and climbed into bed. Søren returned and undressed and slid in next to her.
“Very nice,” he said, glancing up at her lights.
“Perfect light to do wicked things to Sheridan’s body by,” she said. “Speaking of…did you and King have fun last night?”
“Fun was had by all.”
“How did the engraved handcuffs work out?”
“As well as non-engraved handcuffs.”
“And what does King think of the beard?”
“He’s coping.”
“I guess you’ve decided to keep the house?”
“For now,” he said. “Seems a shame to let it go to waste. Oh, housewarming party Sunday. Not my idea, but I can’t seem to stop it.”
Nora smiled and curled up on his chest, resting her head at the sturdy center under his collar bone. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close and tight. His strong arms were always her favorite sort of bondage.
“I’m never going to leave you,” she said.
Søren cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her face up to him.
“Where did that come from?”
“I just wanted to tell you that.”
Søren pushed her onto her back and he lay on his side, propped on one elbow and gazing down at her.
“Are you worried you’re going to, Little One?”
Nora wasn’t about to tell Søren about Mercedes and her insane prediction. No reason to upset him, too.
“Sometimes it doesn’t feel like telling you I love you is enough. I was in love with you when I left you. And I was in love with you the whole time we were apart. Saying I’ll never leave you means more than just ‘I love you.’ Besides,” she said, lightly tracing his bottom lip, “you already know and believe I love you. But I’m not sure you believe I’ll never leave you again.”
Søren stroked her cheek, ran his fingers through her hair.
“Eleanor, you really should know better by now,” he said. “Never flirt with a sadist in a well-stocked dungeon.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cyrus arrived back at Paulina’s and found she’d unlocked the door for him.
He went inside, into the darkened house, and locked the door behind him. He slipped out of his shoes and walked down the hallway toward the light coming from her bedroom.
Paulina had turned on her bedside lamp and lay there on her side, pillow clutched to her chest like a teddy bear.
“I thought I heard you,” she said, blinking.
“You’re half-asleep,” he said, sitting down at her side. “I should let you sleep.”
“No, no…” She shook her head. “Talk to me. I know when you need to talk.”
He caught her up to speed—again—fast as he could. The whole time he talked, he rubbed her back. She was in her pajamas now, cute pink t-shirt and shorts. She didn’t seem to mind the back rub one bit, not even when he slipped his hand under her t-shirt to rub the warm bare skin of her back.
“Cyrus…” Paulina said with a sigh. “This is getting a little crazy.”
“You said it. But I’ve had crazy cases before.”
“Now that’s for sure. How’s Nora?” Paulina asked. “She okay?”
“She seemed okay when I left her with her man.”
“He mad that she called you instead of him?”
“Didn’t seem mad. He thanked me, shook my hand. He’s a good guy, I think. Good enough.”
“Good enough?”
“Good enough for her, I mean.”
Paulina rolled onto her back.
“Good enough for her?” she asked.
He shrugged. “She’s, you know…different. She’d get bored with a normal kind of dude, I think. And smart as she is, she needs somebody smart. Her guy’s really smart, you can tell. About as calm as she is crazy. I like him for her.”
Paulina shook her head, laughing to herself.
“What?” he asked.
“I love you.”
“Do you? Where’d that come from?”
“Listen to you—you sound like her big brother.” Paulina dropped her voice an octave, mocking his deeper voice. “‘He’s good enough for her, I suppose. She needs a man like that. I suppose I approve of this match.’”
Paulina laughed again, laughed herself silly. Cyrus grabbed a pillow and dropped it on her laughing face.
From under the pillow, she kept laughing.
He took the pillow off her face.
“You’re so cute,” she said. “I like this side of you. Not sure I’ve seen it before.”
“What side is that?”
“Cyrus Tremont, big brother,” she said. “It’s nice. Kind of sexy, too.”
“Is it?”
“Oh, it is.” She took his face in her hands an
d brought it down for a kiss.
If she wanted only a little kiss, he surprised her with a big one. A long kiss, long and deep. His tongue pressed into her mouth and she readily opened to the kiss. It nearly killed him to break it, but he had to. He had things to say to her.
“You’re the most beautiful woman in the world,” he said. “Did you know that?”
“The most?” she said. “I’d heard top ten but didn’t know I’d hit the top spot.”
“I’m not joking with you,” he said. “To me, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life. I’d rather look at you than anyone else out there.”
She smiled up at him.
“You’re in a mood tonight, aren’t you?”
“And I’m just getting started.” He slid his hand under her pajama top and rubbed it flat over her stomach. “Your skin is everything to me. Sometimes I’ll touch it and I worry I won’t be able to stop. You’re so soft and warm and like silk. And you smell like roses all the time. Day or night. Even after a run. I don’t know how you do it. You must be part rose.”
He could see the pink roses blooming on her cheeks under her brown skin. He touched her face and found her burning.
“Cyrus Tremont, what has gotten into you?”
“You,” he said. “You’ve gotten into me. You’re in my head all the time. And you’re in my blood. And I’m not going to be a happy man until you’re in my bed, too, and I’m inside you.”
“Cyrus, Lord.”
“I want to make you come,” he said.
Her eyes went wide as half dollars. He’d shocked her before, a time or two, but he could tell he’d never shocked her quite like that.
“I’m serious,” he said. “I want to make you come. Now. Tonight. Will you let me?”
He heard Nora’s voice in the back of his head—Since we don’t know if she’s kinky yet…better just ask nicely.
“Will I let you?” she asked. “Didn’t we already make this decision?”
“We decided to wait until we were married because I wanted to prove to you that I wasn’t after you for sex. And you wanted us to get to know each other, really know each other. Well, I think I’ve proven myself. And if we don’t know each other yet…” He caught her hand in his and held it against his chest over his heart. “You know me, don’t you? I know I know you. I know I do because I love you. Anybody who knows you loves you.”
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