“Wait, you’re all scratched up. We need a statement. There’s paperwork involved. What’s that green stuff on your dress?” He followed her to her car. “Where are you going?”
“Home. I’ve got to get home.” She searched her bag for her keys, but when she tried to put them in the door lock, her hands shook too much.
“Holly, you’re in no condition to drive right now.” McDonahue asked two officers to take care of her car. “Let me take you home and you can give a statement on the way.”
Holly nodded. Her only goal was to get home before Keane left. She didn’t care how she got there.
Moments later, she was seated in McDonahue’s squad car and headed toward her house. She filled in a report of the night’s events on the drive, shuddered a little as she realized she’d gotten a demon arrested, and worried she was going to find her house empty upon her arrival.
When he pulled onto her driveway and parked the squad car, McDonahue angled himself against the driver side door to look at her.
“I assume Mystery Man is inside waiting to comfort you,” he said.
She studied the frayed fabric at the hem of her dress and the green blotches of demon blood. She nodded and slowly brought her gaze up to meet McDonahue’s. “I’m sorry if I led you on, Jensen.”
“I’d like to say I’m not disappointed, but I am. Any gal that can take down a criminal twice her size is a gal I’d like to get to know better.” He offered her a smile and held out his hand. “On behalf of the town, thank you for your assistance tonight in catching a bad guy, Miss Brimmer.”
Holly took his hand and shook it. “Anytime, Officer McDonahue.”
She got out of the squad car and bounded up the porch steps. Her heart pounded in her chest, but she had a feeling that if Keane wasn’t inside the house, her heart would never pound again.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Keane gripped the edges of the book he pretended to read on the couch. He’d heard the police car drive up and knew that Officer McDonahue was dropping Holly off.
Easy, he told himself. Holly isn’t yours to get jealous over. She wanted to be his. She’d said she loved him, but he couldn’t let her throw the life he’d given back to her away. Couldn’t let her waste it on him. She was better off with the cop. Or a lifeguard. Whoever.
She spilled—breathless, flushed, and damn sexy—into the living room. He swallowed loudly. Another thing that had changed about him recently. Normally he did everything with less noise than a shadow. His eyes connected with Holly’s, and he couldn’t look away.
“Keane,” she said. “You’re still here.” Did she look relieved? “I did it, but you’re still here.”
“Did what?” He got to his feet now and focused his gaze on the curve of her lips, the swell of her breasts beneath her dress, the flow of her long, auburn hair.
Shit, she looks like a goddess. Even more than usual.
“I did something important. Something that matters.” She walked over to him, and her soft lilac scent danced around the living room. She was so alive. For one moment, he was overjoyed that he had been compelled to save her.
“What did you do?” Usually he knew what his save had done. He felt a release from them when they did it, then he could leave them. Right now, however, he felt anything but a pull away from Holly. He wanted to launch himself at her instead. Peel the clothes from her slender body and taste her skin. “Is that…” He motioned to the stains on her dress. “Is that demon blood?”
“I caught Hendrick.” She took a step closer to him, and he noticed a tear in her dress, the crimson blood at her elbows, the scratches on her legs.
“He touched you.” He sat her on the couch and kneeled in front of her. He inspected her elbows and legs. Superficial scrapes, but had Hendrick done things he couldn’t see? Demons carried all sorts of infections.
“He tried to touch me, but since you taught me some moves, I’m a bad ass now, and he didn’t get the chance.”
Keane had to smile at the triumphant gleam in her eyes. Gods, she was magnificent. “The police have Hendrick?”
She nodded. “Thanks to me.”
“Well, that sure sounds like something important.”
“So you’re going to leave now?” She folded her hands in her lap, and he nearly went mad with wanting those hands on him.
He leaned back on his heels and looked at the clock on the mantel. “When did you catch Hendrick?”
Holly followed his gaze. “About thirty minutes ago, I’d say.”
“Then I should be feeling compelled to leave. Actually…” He stood and stepped back from the couch. “I should be gone already.”
A single tear trickled down Holly’s cheek. “I don’t want you to go, Keane.” She stood as well and pressed her body against the front of his. “Will you kiss me? Please? Before you go.”
How could he say no? He didn’t want to say no. He traced her lips with his index finger then lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss was gentle at first, warm and smooth. She tasted of blueberries again tonight, and he wanted to feast on her lips forever. Some small part of his brain, however, knew he shouldn’t continue kissing her if he was about to leave.
“Holly…” He grabbed her wrists to stop her hands from combing over his chest. “We shouldn’t do this.”
“You really don’t want me? You don’t even want to try to work something out?” She wriggled her hands free of his grasp and paced away from him. “Just leave then.”
“I can’t.” Keane fought with himself over whether or not to go to her. To fold and give her what she wanted. What he wanted.
“Why not? I did something big. I’ve waited for this day. For the natural cycle of my life to start spinning again. If I don’t mean anything to you, go.”
Keane did walk toward her then. He grabbed her upper arms and guided her backward until she was pressed between his body and the wall.
“If you think you don’t mean anything to me, then you’re crazy. You mean more to me than anyone ever has, Holly. I love you.”
He crushed his lips down on hers, and the witch’s voice crept back into his head.
Born anew
when someone loves you,
life resumes
when love consumes.
Why hadn’t he remembered that part of the spell? He drew back from Holly and looked at her. Something red-hot burned in his stomach, and he dropped to his knees.
“Keane?” She kneeled beside him. “What’s wrong?”
His stomach let out a growl, and suddenly he was ravenous. All the hungers he hadn’t experienced since the fourth century B.C. came crashing down on him. He wanted to eat…everything. Wanted a banquet like they used to have in his time with every kind of food imaginable.
But he hungered for something else first.
Keane’s lips were back on Holly’s as he undid the buttons on her dress. The creamy white breasts that fell loose and soft in his hands when he unclasped her bra had him moaning in pleasure.
“So beautiful.” He traced a nipple to taut attention with his tongue, then coursed a path to the other nipple. He dropped kisses along her stomach and wondered how he’d managed to survive this many years without her. His life hadn’t meant anything until now. Until he’d found her.
She slid his T-shirt off and arched closer to him. Her breasts rubbed against his chest as she kissed a trail down his neck to his shoulder to his snake tattoo. He felt reborn, as if he had just opened his eyes and took his first breath. As Holly’s lips explored the expanse of his stomach, kissed a line along his scar, a shudder rippled through him and was instantly mirrored in her body.
You have to have her. Right now.
Keane pulled Holly to her feet and let her dress fall to her ankles. She stood before him in just her panties. Black lace against flawless skin.
Good Gods.
He backed up a step so she could free him of his jeans, then his lips were back on her. He couldn’t help himself. She was the answer to a prayer—
one he’d thought no one would ever hear.
He spiraled down into a sweet paradise. He lost himself in Holly’s heat. All the horrors of hunting demons because of the abra cadaver curse were forgotten with her kiss. He was just a man in her embrace.
“Catching Hendrick wasn’t your something important.” Keane spoke into the curve of her neck as he picked her up and carried her to her bedroom. “Breaking the curse with your love is.”
He placed her on the bed and crawled up the length of her. He caught a glimpse of his own arousal and knew she was responsible for that as well. He was more than ready to show her how thankful he was.
“I love you, Holly.”
She pulled him down on top of her and whispered, “Show me.”
He teased her mouth with long, slow tastes, relishing the full return of his human senses. Holly’s flowery fragrance. The fruity flavor of her warm skin, the moist smoothness of her heated center. All were appreciated with an awareness he’d been without for ages. All had been returned to him because of Holly.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Holly had no idea making love could be like this. Sure, she’d had sex before, but never had she wanted to devour someone so badly, so completely. She wanted Keane to have everything she could offer. Every molecule. She’d given up trying to find her perfect other half. Soul mates didn’t exist. They were in romance novels, fairy tales, fantasy. Not in real life. Not in her life.
But this man touching her so intimately now made her believe in soul mates. Made her believe life—a second life—was a gift. One meant to be enjoyed with the man she loved.
His fingers gently raked down the front of her, tickling the skin from her breasts to her stomach. When he traveled farther, let his fingers touch her hot, ready center, Holly let out a noise she’d never heard from her own lips.
“I’m not the only one who’s hungry, am I?” Keane leaned forward and caught her lips again. His slight beard grazed her chin as his tongue tangled with hers, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.
“There’s only one meal I want,” she said.
Keane’s laugh was husky, all male. Holly had a moment to stare into his blue eyes, to memorize the curve of his lips, and then he ran his hands down her thighs until she released her hold of his hips. Kissing from her stomach back up to her lips, he eased himself inside her, filled her, made her whole. Slowly, he slid out, then in deeper, out, in deeper, until her body pulsed in time with his every movement. No greater synchronicity had ever existed.
Holly rolled them over so she was on top and rocked her body back and forth until Keane thrust himself in as deep as she could physically let him. He was a part of her now. They were one as their cries of pleasure echoed in her bedroom, and he unleashed himself into her.
“I love you, Keane.”
Never had she felt so alive. Her body shuddered with little aftershocks as she stared down at Keane sprawled beneath her. Her heart thudded in her chest as he slowly pulled himself from her folds, taking himself back inch by heavenly inch. Another sound slipped from her throat, and he wrapped his arms around her waist as he pulled her down beside him. His head rested on her stomach, and she combed her fingers through his soft, black hair. Keane dropped short pecks just below her breasts as his hands kneaded the muscles in her back. She wanted him to never stop touching her.
Never.
His stomach growled again, and Holly felt his abdominal muscles constrict against her thighs.
“Quite a ruckus you’re making there, Keane,” she teased.
“Centuries is a long time to wait for a meal…and you,” he said as he leaned his chin on her stomach so she could see his face.
“Would you like a midnight snack perhaps?” She started to wiggle free of him, but he tightened his hold on her naked body.
“Stay right here, Snack.” He nipped at the valley between her breasts and down to her stomach.
When Keane propped himself up on his elbows, Holly pointed to his left bicep. “Hey, it’s gone.”
“What’s gone?” He looked to his arm.
The snake that had coiled around his upper arm since the witch had cursed him was completely erased from his skin.
“Loving you took the mark away, undid the abra cadaver, set me free.” Keane smiled, and Holly felt like a balloon drifting across the sky on a sunny day.
“I owed you one for saving my life after the car crash,” she said.
“Guess we saved each other, and I plan to enjoy every moment of this new life with you, Holly Brimmer.”
Keane kissed her again, and Holly thought that just maybe the abra cadaver curse had turned into a blessing.
Epilogue
“Are you sure your parents don’t mind us using the beach house?” Keane leaned against his motorcycle as Holly locked the front door and came down the stairs. Her heart always fluttered a little when she saw him in the sunlight. Somehow the sun’s golden rays made him even more handsome. His dark hair looked shinier. His skin was still fair but not as pale as it used to be, and his eyes were a perfect blue sky.
And he was Holly’s. All hers.
“My parents are on a cruise and said if I was still hanging around with ‘that crazy guy,’ I could help him get reacquainted with the real world at the beach house.”
“Very funny, Miss Brimmer.” He reached out quickly and caught her in his arms. Her body pressed against his, and the entire universe felt balanced in that moment.
In the two weeks that had passed since Keane was set free of the curse, Holly had spent all her free moments with him. He hadn’t been compelled to save anyone else or hunt down any demons. He was truly human again. She had helped him get a job—a day job out in the sunshine—with Leora’s cousin who owned a contracting business. He was always looking for strong guys to haul stuff on work sites. Keane had proven to be much more than muscle, however, and Leora’s cousin had called Holly to tell her what a find he was.
She absolutely agreed.
And her nightmares? Completely gone. Replaced by downright orgasmic dreams of Keane, atop a hill in his Celtic armor, long sword in his hand, wind blowing his black hair about his magnificent face. She knew he would slay anything that tried to hurt her. The best part was when she awoke and found that her dreams were real. Keane was beside her, holding her, loving her.
“You ready?” He dropped a kiss on her forehead and released her.
“Let’s go.” She plucked a brand new helmet off the back of Keane’s bike and handed it to him. Human again meant mortal again. He donned the helmet and swung his leg over the motorcycle. As he revved it to life, she put on her own helmet and positioned herself behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and when he leaned back a little, she was reminded of the first time she’d ridden on the motorcycle with Keane as he drove her away from her wrecked car.
She never imagined they’d end up together.
The ride to the beach house passed in a blaze of autumn color and crisp breezes, but she was the warmest she’d ever been in her life. Everything was better with Keane. Waking up in the morning with him beside her was wonderful. Eating breakfast and dinner with him renewed her interest in cooking. He had an enormous appetite and appeared to love everything she set in front of him. Snuggling on the couch after a day’s work had become one of her favorite things to do with him. She had trouble imagining her life without him now.
After stopping briefly in her parents’ house to assemble a snack, grab some beverages, and steal a blanket, Holly led Keane to the beach. They were the only two out there. He spread out the blanket, and she set down the food and drinks. Before she could do anything else, he scooped her up and brought her down to the blanket with him. He kicked off his own shoes and pulled off her sneakers. As he forged a trail of kisses along her neck, Keane slid his hand under her sweater. His palm was hot against her stomach, and she arched closer to him.
“I never thought I would find someone like you, Holly.” He brought his lips to hers and teased her mo
uth with slow, easy strokes. He pulled back a bit and whispered, “And I actually get to keep you.”
“Forever and ever.” Holly kissed him and knew Keane had brought her back to life in more ways than one.
A word about the author...
By day, Christine DePetrillo teaches fifth grade and inspires young writers. By night, she writes everything. Adult romance, young adult romance, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, pieces about nature, and pretty much anything else that pops into her head. She can't not write. She's tried, but The Voices won't let her. They insist she write their tales.
Today, she tell stories meant to make you laugh, maybe make you sweat, and definitely make you believe in the magic of love.
Visit her at www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com.
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