Scarlet Nights

by Jude Deveraux

  Reaching out, she put her hand on his warm skin and felt the rock hard contours while he removed his trousers and her underpants.

  A moment later she saw that his chest wasn’t the only part of him that was “rock hard.” He entered her with all the pent-up desire he’d felt since he met her. And Sara clung to him, her mouth on his, searching, exploring. Her hands roamed over his body as she felt all the incredible muscle on him. She’d rarely seen bodies like his and certainly never touched one.

  His low voice turned husky, and he told her how good she felt to him, how much he’d wanted her since the first. His voice and his lips excited her—all while he was sliding into her with long, deep, gentle strokes that gradually increased in strength and speed.

  Sara’s arms went back against the wall, her hands made into claws, as Mike moved harder and faster. Faster and harder.

  “Okay, baby?” he asked, his lips on her ear.

  All Sara could do was moan.

  When Mike slipped his hands under her bottom and lifted her so he could go deeper, Sara would have screamed if he hadn’t put his mouth over hers.

  When she came, it was as though lava erupted from the center of her and flowed into her veins. Her whole body shook, and Mike held her to him, his arms around her as he also shuddered.

  For Sara, she didn’t think she could have walked if her life depended on it, so Mike slid her forward on the table, keeping them attached in their most vital areas, and wrapped her legs around his hips. She clung to him, their sweaty skin pressed together. He carried her to Sara’s bedroom, where he dropped her onto her bed.

  When he turned his back to her she came up on her elbows. “You aren’t leaving, are you?”

  Turning, he smiled at her. “I was thinking of filling your tub with hot, soapy water and a generous dose of Scarlet Nights. Suit you?”

  “Oh, yes,” Sara said. She lay back on the bed and listened to the water running and thought—She sat up. This was her wedding night, and the last thing she wanted to do was think.

  She went to the bathroom and saw a naked Mike standing by the tub. His body was so beautiful that she just stood there and stared at him. She slowly looked from his toes, to his stomach, to his neck, to his lips. And when she got through she saw great evidence that he was ready for her again.

  “What do you look like under all those clothes?” he asked in a voice that was little more than a growl.

  “The best you’ve ever seen,” she said with a smile.

  “Yeah? Well, let’s see.”

  When she stood near him, he sat on the edge of the tub and slowly, expertly, began to undress her. He unsnapped the garters and with kisses began to unroll her stockings. When he got to her foot, he lifted it, put it on his thigh, and massaged it. His hand went up her leg, and after a few caresses in the center, his hand moved to her other leg and removed that stocking.

  She started to turn around so he could reach the back clasps of her corset but he pulled her onto his lap and entered her. Sara wanted to move her hips, but he held her down as his hands reached around the back of her, and in seconds the corset was on the floor.

  He kissed her, still not letting her move her hips, while his hands caressed the sides of her breasts, his thumbs moving inward to stroke her nipples.

  By the time he released her so she could move up and down, she was groaning. She put one foot in the tub with its warm water, the other on the floor. Again Mike’s strong hands cupped her bottom as he helped her with her movements.

  When she was near to peaking, he pulled her up, never breaking contact, and lay her down on the rug on the bathroom floor.

  His thrusts were hard and fast, and went deep, deep within her. This time, she felt his climax as strong as her own.

  Minutes later, they were in the tub together. Mike’s back was against the far end, and Sara was leaning against him. She kept glancing at her ring and looking at what she could see of Mike. Two weeks ago all she’d known of him was that he was Tess’s “mysterious brother.” When she’d first seen him, he’d been coming up through her bedroom floor, and she’d been terrified.

  Now she was married to this man. There’d been no mention of love, and if it hadn’t been for her, she wouldn’t even have had a wedding night.

  What she wanted now was a honeymoon.

  “Are you looking forward to going home for a week?”

  Mike was soaping Sara’s arms. He’d already poured perfume into her freshly washed hair and the scent was intoxicating. “No,” he said absently.

  “But you must want to see your friends.”

  “Yeah, I guess. Gym buddies and guys on the force.”

  “What about other people you don’t work with? Just friend friends?”

  Mike chuckled. “My life isn’t like yours. I go away on undercover assignments that last for years. I’ve worked in LA twice and once in Iowa and—”

  “Iowa?” She turned to look at him. “Surely they don’t have crime in Iowa!”

  Mike laughed at her joke. “Evil is everywhere, even in sweet little Edilean, Virginia.”

  Relaxing, she leaned back against him. “No friends, no place to live. It doesn’t sound like a true home.”

  Mike kissed her earlobe. “I make do with eighty-degree winters and palm trees blowing in the breeze.”

  “And nightclubs with gorgeous Cuban girls?”

  Mike nuzzled her neck. “I never noticed them.”

  “Mike, I was thinking. Maybe—”

  “No.”

  “No to what?”

  “No, you can’t go with me to Fort Lauderdale.”

  “I didn’t ask you if I could, but now that you mention it …”

  “I have to work. I’ll be at the office at seven and won’t leave until ten at night. You don’t realize how big this case is. The Feds are—”

  “Did you tell them to get dogs for Mr. Lang?”

  “Yes. I’ll probably bring them back with me. They’re Airedales.”

  “So you found a breeder?”

  “It’s Florida, so of course we found a breeder.”

  “Did I ever tell you I’ve never been to Florida? Joce grew up in Boca Raton and she’s told me wonderful things about the place.”

  “No, you can’t go,” Mike repeated. “When I get back I need to let everyone in this town know that we’re married. Luke said there are games at the fair, so I’ll need to win them. That’ll draw lots of attention to us. Then—”

  “Ha!” Sara wasn’t happy about being left behind. “The Fraziers always win the games. There’s the cable toss, where you have to throw a telephone pole. I’ve seen Ariel’s oldest brother, Colin, lift the front end of a pickup truck.”

  “Yeah? So where does he work out?”

  “I don’t know. Gyms have never been of interest to me.”

  Mike held up her arm, which was slim but had no discernible muscle. “I can see that.”

  “Are you saying that I’m—”

  Mike kissed her to silence, his hand on her breast.

  Sara leaned back against him.

  “Are there any contests for skills of agility?” he asked.

  “Like the rope jumping?” She was teasing him.

  “I can do that,” Mike said.

  “You’re outclassed there too. Anna Aldredge, Kim’s little sister, will win that. She placed third in the national championships.”

  “Does she need a partner?”

  “She’s twelve and a brat.”

  “I like bratty females.”

  “I need time to tell you about all the events so maybe I should—”

  “No,” Mike said yet again.

  “What if Greg shows up here while you’re gone?”

  “He can’t, because he’s under lock and key, and his cell mate is an FBI agent. Vandlo will be let out this coming weekend and we’re sure he’ll run here to Edilean—straight to you. By the time he gets here, everyone will know who I am, thanks to the games. I think we should wait until Vandlo is he
re to announce the marriage. How do you feel about kissing in public?”

  “With whom?”

  Mike was nuzzling the back of her neck. “Who do you want to kiss?”

  Turning, she put her arms around his neck. “Mike, we’re married but we hardly know each other. I’d like to see where you’ve spent most of your life and to meet your friends.”

  “And to go to the gym with me?”

  She was kissing his eyelids, her breasts just touching his chest. “Luke said you do squats with so many forty-five-pound plates that the bar bends. Is that true?”

  “I guess so. I never thought about it. I’ll start you on just a couple of light plates and—”

  Sara didn’t want to argue but she was not going to lift weights. She moved her hand under the water to between his legs. “Remember when I said I was teachable?”

  He didn’t smile but the dimple appeared in his cheek. “I’m willing to learn whatever you’re teaching.”

  She was kissing him while her hand fondled him below. “I’ll do my best.”

  She heard the tub begin to drain. Mike had released the valve with his foot.

  “I’m up for it,” he said.

  “I can see that you are.”

  He put his arm around her waist, and when he stood up he lifted her with him. “You won’t win at the cable toss,” she said, but Mike just grunted as he stepped out of the tub.

  He carried her, both of them wet and dripping, to the bedroom. “I am your pupil,” Mike said, and Sara smiled.

  An hour later, Sara had been Mike’s student. As they were falling asleep in each other’s arms, Mike said softly, “Sara, I just remembered that I didn’t use birth control. It was all unexpected and I forgot. I’m sorry.”

  Sara snuggled closer to him. “That’s all right. I forgot too, and besides, it’s the wrong time of the month.”

  They were both lying.

  20

  WHEN SARA AWOKE the next day, it was nearly 11 A.M. and Mike was gone. It was her guess that he’d waited for her to doze off then left. Which meant that he was driving with no sleep.

  “And I let him go,” Sara said aloud. Her first day of marriage and she’d already failed as a wife. If anything happened to Mike on the drive, especially if he fell asleep at the wheel, it would be her fault. “I should have let him sleep last night. It’s what he wanted to do. What he needed.”

  She put her hands behind her head, stared at the ceiling, and thought about her wedding night. She wasn’t ready to make such a revelation to Mike, but he was far and away the best lover she’d ever had. Not that she was especially experienced—she and Brian had bought a book so they could learn things—but Greg had been. Now Sara saw that for all the sex she and Greg—Stefan—had had, it lacked the cuddling, the snuggling, the lying in the bathtub wrapped in each other’s arms and talking.

  Sara looked about the room. As always, Mike had picked up his clothes, and now there was no sign that he’d been there. If she weren’t wearing her new wedding band she would have thought the whole thing was a dream.

  But as she began to remember the reason behind the wedding, she grew agitated. Dear, lovable Brian, as unaggressive a human as ever existed, had been murdered because of something to do with Sara.

  “What is it that Greg wants?” Sara half shouted as she got out of bed and began to dress. “What does Stefan Vandlo want from me?” She was sure that if she knew, and if Greg walked in the door right now, whatever it was, she’d gladly, freely give it to him.

  But then what? Would Greg take what Sara gave him and leave town with his murderous mother? Would Mike then return to Fort Lauderdale to his job? Would she receive divorce papers a few weeks later? Maybe when he retired he’d come back to Edilean because of his sister and the farm he now owned. But he wouldn’t return for Sara.

  She reminded herself that when he’d told her she had to marry him, it had been with the understanding that after the case was done, they’d separate.

  “Married and divorced,” she whispered, and tears came to her eyes.

  Her cell phone on the bedside table started buzzing. It was a text from Joce.

  YOU’RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE WHAT SHAMUS DREW ON THE CARDS. LUKE MADE PANCAKES. WANT TO COME OVER?

  Sara pulled on one of her oldest dresses—no need to bother with her appearance if Mike wasn’t there—stuck her feet into flip-flops and went next door.

  “You look happy and miserable,” Joce said. “How can that be?”

  “Easy. Marry one day, smile. Get left behind the next, frown. So where are the cards?”

  Joce hesitated. “I think you need to sit down.”

  “What did Shamus do now?” Last year he’d seen a high school girl crying, and when he asked her what was wrong, she’d told him about a teacher who’d demanded kisses for good grades. That night Shamus and his brothers broke into the school and Shamus painted a twelve-foot-tall picture of the teacher—naked—running after some frightened girls. There’d been a lot of turmoil, but in the end the teacher was fired, the Fraziers gave a six-figure donation to the school, and Shamus painted a respectable mural on the gym wall. Since then he’d been the hero of every girl in the school.

  Sara sat on the end of the bed and Joce handed her a stack of tarot cards. The backs were beautiful, with one of Luke’s weedlike plants that he loved so much on a cream background.

  She turned them over and gasped at the first card. It was the Gypsy King, and it was a portrait of Shamus’s father. His mother was the Queen.

  Sara looked at Joce.

  “Go on,” Joce said. “Look at the rest of them.”

  Sara fanned through them, and everyone in Edilean whose family had been there for generations, plus some new people, was on the cards. When she came to the Lovers, there she and Mike were.

  And everything that anyone had ever heard about gypsies was there too. Shamus had used photos Joce had downloaded off the Internet to put all the people in the garb of gypsies. There were round-roofed caravans, voluptuous women with gold coin earrings, and men with clay pipes holding on to beautiful horses.

  The Hanged One was Greg, hanging upside down, his single gold earring dangling. “This is …” She looked at Joce. “I don’t know if this is good or bad. Mike will either love these or throw them on a fire.”

  “I saved these for last.” Joce handed her a stack of fourteen cards.

  On the Cards of Coins, Shamus had drawn the faces of women—all middle-aged—who came to the dress shop. Since he often spent afternoons sitting in the town square drawing, he’d seen them all. On each card was a wheel with spokes leading outward to the face of a woman, the number depending on the card. The Nine of Coins had the pictures of nine women.

  In the center of each wheel was Greg’s face—and Shamus had distorted it on each one so he looked greedy, angry, menacing. The portraits ran the gamut of the emotions of evil.

  “It looks like Shamus heard us talking,” Sara said.

  “You think?”

  Sara shook her head. “This isn’t good.” Her mother was on the Card of Judgment, her father on the Hermit. “Who is this woman on the Devil Card?”

  “Luke’s mother said it was Mike’s grandmother.”

  Sara’s head came up. “Do you know what the big mystery is about that woman?”

  “Don’t get me started. I’ve tried everything to find out that story, but no one will tell me. I can’t finish my book about Miss Edi until I know what happened, but I can’t get it out of anyone. Maybe Mike would …”

  “You mean the Mike who spent the night making fabulous love to me—at my request—then ran off this morning? Some bride I am.”

  Joce was silent as she gathered the cards. “I think Mike really and truly needs to see these cards.” She was looking hard at Sara.

  “We could scan them into a computer and e-mail the whole deck to him.”

  “That’s not the same as holding them in his hands, is it? And who’s going to tell him who each person is?�
��

  Sara was puzzled. “We could write notes on all of them.”

  Her voice rose. “Don’t you think it would be better for Mike to actually see them?”

  Sara finally understood. She stood up, still looking at Joce.

  Luke came into the room. “Did you see those cards?” he asked, then when he saw the women’s faces, he said, “What’s going on?”

  Joce and Sara were still staring at each other. Joce spoke first. “The keys to my car are on the table by the front door. It’s faster and safer than yours. Get on 95 and head south. I’ll text you the rest of the directions. You’ll have to stop for the night on the way down. Don’t try to do what Mike does and drive it all in one day.”

  Nodding, Sara ran toward the door. She had to pack.

  “Sara!” Luke said. “Mike told me to watch over you. You can’t—”

  She turned back to him, and everything she’d been through—Brian, Greg, and now Mike—was in her eyes.

  Luke loved her too much to say no. “Be careful,” he said and Sara ran out the door.

  21

  CAPTAIN ERICKSON LOOKED at Mike and regretted asking him to take on the Vandlo case. In the eleven years they’d worked together, Mike had always kept his distance from his victims. While it was true that Mike sometimes got more involved than he should, and there were a few times when some of the women should have been prosecuted but weren’t, in the end, Mike had always been able to disassociate himself.

  But this case seemed to have taken something out of him. That he’d married a victim, while not unheard of, was certainly outside the requirements for the job.

  On Sunday evening when Mike called and told the captain his plan, he’d tried to talk Mike out of it. “I know I told you to do whatever you had to in order to protect her, but you need to come up with another way to deal with this.”

  “I don’t see one,” Mike said and proceeded to tell the captain about Brian Tolworthy. “And right after that, Stefan Vandlo appeared in town and went after Sara with a vengeance.”

  “But now you’re planning to marry this girl just to keep her safe?”

  “Yes,” Mike said.