Darkness Loves Company: A Tides of Darkness Prequel

by Sarah Blair

  Phone.

  She needed her phone. Sidney stumbled through the living room, knees loose and wobbling from the waning rush. She pawed through her pockets, tears welling up.

  “It’s fine,” she repeated.

  A message from Mitch waited on her screen.

  Chief

  Heard your boss gave you the day off. Want to grab lunch?

  Hot tears blurred the screen.

  Sidney dialed 9-1-1.

  Epilogue

  Mitch rested his forehead in his palm, focusing on the fine print of a thick legal document with plenty of signature flags. Sidney slapped her own file down on the desk next to it.

  “Here it is.” She didn’t bother hiding her grin. “My first officially official field report.”

  Mitch’s gray eyes flicked to the clock on his phone, then up to her. The reflection on his lenses hid the undercurrent in his gaze and she couldn’t judge his reaction.

  He returned to his paperwork. Jaw ticked.

  “4:59.” Pen sailed across the page in a fresh signature. “Cutting it a little close. Don’t you think, Agent?”

  She didn’t miss that last word. Her heart swelled. He was teasing. “You said by end of day Friday. Today’s Friday. It’s the end of the day. It’s perfectly on time.”

  Mitch continued signing, scanning, initialing. Sidney watched his hand move across the page, paying extra close attention to his fingers. The way they gripped the pen. The fine hairs on the back. The rounded thickness of the tips. The way they’d moved inside of her.

  He stopped moving. “Something else I can help you with?”

  “Huh?” She blinked, face warm. “No. It’s just. Friday. And we’re the only ones here.”

  “Lines. Professionalism,” Mitch said. The relaxed mountain man was gone. Back to his crisp button ups, and ties, and dark trousers. Shaved. All business. “We talked about this, Lake. Never at the office.”

  “I know.” Sidney rubbed her hands on her jeans. Frustrated. “But, it’s been a weird week. We’ve both had so much going on. I thought we could at least get dinner or something.”

  He’d met her at the police station and brought her home after she’d given her statement about Hutch’s dad. The rest of the week, he’d been distracted with his wife’s funeral, and all the legal business associated with wrapping up a person’s life. Sidney never had to do any of that with her parents. Her grandfather had taken care of everything. Told her what to wear, how to stand, and what to say.

  “I want to know you’re okay,” she told him.

  “I’m okay.” He flipped back through the paperwork double-checking all the tabs. “I’ve got to run this up to my lawyer. I’m late.”

  “Mitch.”

  He stopped and looked at her. Really looked.

  “I am,” he insisted. “We’re okay. But, I need to get this done. It’s the last thing.”

  She caught what he meant, and the tightness in her chest eased up. After this, he was finished with his previous life. Everything tied up and sorted. He could move on, focus on other things.

  “Okay.” She swept her hand at him. “Go.”

  “Two hours.” He tucked his papers and her report in his messenger bag. “We’ll do dinner. I’ll text you the address.”

  He rushed past, and she shouted after him. “It better be lo mein!”

  Sidney tucked her hands deep inside the pockets of her peacoat. November had blown into the city with a vengeance, dragging a blast of frigid air along with it.

  It was full dark, and she shivered, wishing she’d grabbed a scarf. Sidney checked her phone again. Mitch was already fifteen minutes late, and there was no sign of him. There was no sign of a restaurant he might be waiting at either.

  777 6th Avenue loomed up high overhead. An apartment building. She bounced on the balls of her feet in front of the very clearly marked entrance and checked the address he’d texted again. She realized she’d never actually been to his home before. She had no idea where he lived. If he’d wanted to invite her over, why was he making her stand out here in the cold?

  “Hey.” Someone grabbed her elbow. She spun around.

  Mitch was there, and then he was kissing her. Hard and hungry and deep. Her back arched, and her knees bent. He scooped his arm around her waist, clutched her to his body, and swept his tongue into her mouth.

  Sidney warmed instantly.

  “Sorry I’m late. You wanted lo mein, right?” He held up a brown bag. His breath billowed out white in the night air. She nodded.

  “It’s freezing. Let’s get inside.” He grabbed her hand with his gloved one, and dragged her through the entrance to the building.

  “Welcome home, Mr. Harris,” the concierge greeted him.

  “Thanks, Steve.” Mitch nodded to him. He kept walking, dragging Sidney behind him. “This is Sidney. She’s going to be here a lot.”

  “Got it. Welcome, Sidney.” Steve saluted.

  She waved from inside the elevator. The doors closed and Mitch pounced on her again. He drove her against the wall, gloved hand cupping her frozen cheek.

  It was a long ride up.

  When the elevator finally stopped, she’d thawed and melted into a puddle. Mitch double checked the floor. “This is us.”

  Sidney followed him to the last door on the hall. He tore his glove off with his teeth along the way and it was so damned sexy she almost had to lay down in the middle of the floor. He pulled out a shiny new set of keys from his pocket, and tried them in the locks.

  She took the bag from him, so he could have both hands and he pulled off the other glove. Finally, the door opened. He stepped in, holding it for her with a flourish.

  “What do you think?” His eyes gleamed while he waited for her reaction. She didn’t want to disappoint him, but it was completely empty.

  “It has potential?”

  “I’ll have to hire a decorator, obviously.” He pulled her in, and shut the door. “And, it’s not twenty-foot ceilings with original hardwood and moulding, Little Miss Rent Control.”

  “But the view is okay.” She stepped into the empty space next to the bank of floor-to-ceiling windows.

  He came up behind her, smoothing his arms around her waist, resting his chin on the crown of her head. She leaned into his embrace while they soaked in the view of the Empire State Building, illuminated in white.

  He tucked his nose into her hair. “Yeah. The view is pretty good.”

  Sidney memorized everything about the moment. The way his arms wrapped around her, the dig of his chin into the top of her head, the lights of the city unfurling beneath them, the even sound of his breath, and tap of his heart between her shoulder blades. It wasn’t often that she found a moment she wanted to remember forever, but this was definitely one of them.

  Quiet and peaceful and good. Happy.

  Mitch inhaled. His arms dropped. The spell was broken.

  “Let’s eat,” he said.

  Sidney glanced around. “There’s no table.”

  “Like you’ve never had a picnic before?”

  They sat on their jackets in the middle of the parquet floor and ate out of the cartons with chopsticks. They talked about colors and decorating ideas. He wanted to go for a mid-century modern style, similar to the cabin, and Sidney got excited about making all of her Mad Men fantasies come true.

  Once they put away the food, he took out her report and pored over every detail. Mitch’s fingers wandered while he scanned the pages. He asked questions, occasionally, for clarification. Sidney kept her fingers tracing circles over his back, studying his face closely for any reaction.

  He closed the folder and tilted his face. “Good work, Agent.”

  She grinned. He caught her up in his arms.

  Lips followed hands.

  Sidney indulged in the way his mouth and tongue moved over her body. He was careful and giving, and she wasn’t too shy to take all he offered. He kissed her until she became limp and pliable in his hands. Allowing him to move he
r however he pleased. She missed his scruff, but she wasn’t that sad about his bare skin either.

  Mitch’s breath came quick and ragged at the side of her head. Her shirt was gone. Shoes kicked . . . somewhere. She climbed into his lap, breasts pressed into the warmth of his chest, where his shirt opened. Her hair drifted down around her shoulders, sending lighting up her spine.

  Sidney threw her head back, enjoying the heat of his palms against her skin. He laved and sucked his way down her neck. The bruises from her ordeal had already faded, along with the memory.

  Nothing could distract her from this. Right now.

  The searing heat of his mouth covered her nipple, pulled and tugged. Bit.

  She groaned. Shut her eyes. Sighed.

  Sidney dug her fingers into his muscled shoulders. “Keep doing that and I’m gonna come.”

  Her jeans were tight in all the right ways. He was hard, too, pushing against his own trousers. She rocked against him. He switched to her other breast. Repeated the actions. He fisted her flesh, clamped down hard. He sucked her nipple while she rocked.

  “Mitch.” His name left her in a whimper as she tumbled over the edge.

  He rested his forehead against her chest while she gasped for air. “We’re just getting started, sweetheart.”

  She nodded, kissing the top of his head. She scooped her arms around his neck, letting him bury his face in her chest while she floated down from the ether.

  “All right?” He combed his fingers through her hair, down her back.

  “Yeah.” She sagged into him, content. “I’m good.”

  He lifted his chin and kissed her again, sweet and soft.

  “Hold onto me,” he told her.

  She squeezed her legs around his waist and held on while he lifted them both from the floor.

  “Wow.” She nibbled his neck, and he laced his fingers under her ass, while he carried her into another room. “I’m surprised someone so old is able to do that.”

  “I’m not geriatric.”

  “Oh yeah?” She locked her elbow around his neck, and dusted her fingertips down his abs. She touched her lips to the side of his mouth, reaching between their bodies for his cock. “Prove it.”

  He leaned over and she tumbled backwards. A sharp yelp came out of her, in the split second before her back landed on a cloud-soft mattress and thick down duvet.

  “You have a bed?” She blinked in shock. “Boy, you really buried the lede on that one.”

  Mitch stripped off his jeans. “Yeah, well, the bed’s the most important part, right?”

  “Mitchell Harris!” Sidney sat up and gaped. “You bought a new bachelor pad, and I’m your twenty-one year-old sex puppet! Oh, my God. How did I get to be your cliché?”

  Mitch grinned and shrugged. “Welcome to my mid-life crisis, sweetheart.”

  He reached up and yanked her jeans off. He stretched out on top of her, catching her laugh with his tongue. She turned her head, letting him suck on her neck. The light in the bathroom was on, and she noticed the box of condoms on the counter.

  “Well, at least one of us is prepared.”

  “Mm?” He lifted his head, lips wet and swollen. He followed her gaze to the bathroom. “Oh. Just in case. We don’t have to.”

  “Babe, I bought a pack on the way back from New Hampshire. I lost them somewhere on the cargo ship. I think the devil koalas stole them.”

  “I swear to God, Lake, if you start calling me babe, this is over.”

  “That’s your take away? Not even a blink at condom stealing devil koalas?”

  “You failed to include that in your report. What did I tell you about details?” His forehead wrinkled. “Why’re we still talking?”

  “I don’t know.” She licked her lips. “Shut up and fuck me.”

  “If you insist.” He pushed off the bed and went into the bathroom.

  Sidney straightened out on the pillows and circled a finger over her clit while he situated the condom. He closed the door to dim the light and crawled up onto the bed. Hard and heavy.

  “Can I be on top?” she asked.

  “Anything you want.” He kissed her forehead, then stretched out next to her. “I’m officially ribbed, for your pleasure.”

  Sidney rolled her eyes and groaned. “If I’m not allowed to call you babe, you’re not allowed to make dad jokes in bed. It’s weird.”

  “Fair enough. What about if I just touch you, instead?”

  “I can get on board with that.”

  His hand slid between her legs, testing. He dipped his fingers inside once. “Jesus, you feel good.”

  Her hips rolled on the bed, she squeezed her eyes shut at the sensation. Her breath shook. “You’re not even in me yet.”

  “You’re sure?” he asked.

  Her body responded to his inquiry with a deeper ache. She wanted him even more, if that were possible. “Yes.”

  He rolled onto his back, cock bobbing against his belly. She straddled him, finding her opening with his tip. Mitch rested his hands loosely on the pillow, watching her face.

  “Take your time,” he said.

  Sidney nodded and bit down on her lip. Easing him in. The thin latex provided its own smooth lubricant and texture that added an extra element of heat. He spread her body wide, and she almost came before he was even all the way in.

  “All right?” He combed his fingers through her hair. She tilted her face, kissing the inside of his wrist.

  “I’m good.” She took a few shaky breaths, while her body adjusted to his size. She groaned, desperate with need. “Too good.”

  “Relax,” he whispered.

  She leaned down, resting her forehead against his collarbone. His hand smoothed across her back, down over her ass, and behind her thigh. Then made the slow trip back up. His heart thudded against her cheek. Pulsed inside her along his cock.

  Finally, her body eased and accepted the last inch of him. It was good to be filled.

  The gentle pressure inside made her ache in the best way possible. He waited for her, soothing her sensitive skin with his touch, dropping delicate kisses along her hairline, and the tips of her fingers.

  She lifted up and rolled her hips against him. Easy and slow at first.

  Testing his reaction. Working up and building to a steady rhythm.

  She watched his face and his breath. Delighting in the way his fingers gripped her hips, dug into her ass, pulled her apart even wider until his balls hit her tightly puckered flesh in just the right way.

  Sidney gasped and rode him harder, taking him all in. His chest flushed, and a sweep of goosebumps coated his neck and shoulders.

  “Sid,” he strained out her name and pulsed inside her. “I can’t.”

  Two more strokes and she was done, falling to pieces and screaming all the way over the edge., Then he tumbled after her, raw and unrestrained.

  She took it all and still wanted more. She studied him, breathless and shaking beneath her, and it was so close to being everything. She leaned down. Kissed him.

  “You okay?”

  He nodded. Couldn’t even talk. He slipped out. This time, for the first time, she didn’t want to leave. She was happy to stay, happy to burrow under the covers, happy to feel his body wrap around hers. She kissed his forehead. He kissed her shoulder. And then nothing at all.

  Sidney opened her eyes, hovering on a bright white cloud. All she could see was the sky and the tops of the tall buildings in Midtown. She had to be floating. It was strange to her, waking up in the morning, well-rested and achingly satisfied. It was even more strange, waking up in this new bed, surrounded by piles of white fluff.

  Waking up next to someone.

  She turned and found Mitch, arm slung loose over his eyes. She smiled. The new sheets felt good on her naked skin. Soft and warm. She rolled to her side, felt around carefully until she discovered what she wanted in the midst of the blankets.

  His chest hitched. She drew her fingertips over his length, coaxing his cock to life
. She curled her hand around him, shafting him from tip to base until his breathing changed.

  Mitch’s arm remained over his eyes, but his mouth twitched.

  Sidney scooted down under the covers. Burrowing into the fluffy cloud and put her mouth on his head. His cock jumped. Hand weighed the back of her head. She tilted her eyes upward, trailing her gaze up the line of curly hair that ended in a pool over the center of his chest. She kept going past his collarbone, up to his mouth, finally landing on his deep gray eyes.

  She smiled around his cock.

  “Good morning to you, too,” he said. “You’re going to keep me busy, huh?”

  Sidney sucked his tip, letting him go with a sloppy wet kiss. “I’m never letting you out of this bed.”

  He shut his eyes while she crawled up his body. “What about work?”

  “I’m a woman of independent means.” She licked his throat. “I’ll be your sugar mama.”

  “Food?” He squeezed her ass.

  She gripped his cock. “Plenty of sausage right here.”

  He broke into a low chuckle. She grinned and nibbled his ear. Then she whispered. “Fuck me.”

  “Jesus.” He groaned. Body flushed. “You’re too much.”

  “Want me to stop?”

  “No.”

  “Then take me.”

  He licked his lips and rolled toward the edge of the bed. Sidney braced him between her legs. Hand pressed to his shoulder. He stopped, eyes meeting hers.

  “I want to feel all of you,” she told him.

  Hand cupped her cheek. “You’re sure?”

  “Yes.” A thrill buzzed through her when she said it, and she knew it was right. She kissed him. Pulled back. “I want you to come in me.”

  He kissed her again, sweeping his tongue into her mouth and eased her onto her back.

  It all went slower than last night. He took his time smoothing his hands over her body. Exploring her with his mouth and hands. Discovering the places that tickled her and made her moan in turn.

  He worked her into a frenzy of desire, before he eased on top of her, supporting himself with his elbows. She spread her knees to accommodate him.