“Is that sufficient?” he asked me.
“Yeah.” I rubbed my mouth, wiping away blood that wasn’t there.
“Then we should go.”
I didn’t reply, just got in the car. Edward drove us down the block, then stopped and waited. Had it been forty-eight seconds? What were we waiting for anyway?
The house breathed in for an instant, every window moving inward before it blew out in a crescendo of flames and destruction. Pieces of something still on fire landed on the windshield. Edward calmly put on the wipers, tossing the flaming debris aside. We watched it burn then drove slowly back to his place, none of us speaking about what we’d seen.
We pulled into Edward’s garage, the heavy door shutting behind us. Tonight, the flimsy walls weren’t enough to keep the bad in the world out. Even inside the house, with the doors locked, it wasn’t enough.
“Get some sleep,” William ordered.
“And what about you? Where are you going to be?” I wasn’t sure I could sleep with a vampire in the house, even if he had just saved my life.
“OPS works in teams. I’ll be outside of your door, making sure no one gets in.”
“I’m part of your team?”
“Of course you are,” Edward answered. He was still holding my hand. He hadn’t stopped since we’d left the car. His hand kept me sane.
“Right.” I stumbled for something to say to William. He’d saved me and now he was going to stand guard so I could get some sleep.
“Come on, you need to sleep.” Edward pulled me through the bedroom door.
We showered in silence, the water running over my skin, his hands washing me. We were close but my head was far away. Was this real, or was I going to wake up in that room again? She could have given me something. I might have passed out from the pain. All of this could be a dream.
I dried off thinking of it, put on Edward’s pajama top worried it was.
The bed saved me—the feeling of the sheets against my skin convinced me of reality. I started to relax but then he switched off the lights and I was back in that hood again, trapped in the dark. My body went stiff with fear.
“Are you all right?”
“No.”
He switched back on the lights and waited.
“The things in her head… You just, you wouldn’t believe them. She knew what she was going to do. She kept telling me, holding things up, showing me.”
“That’s pretty standard.”
“Oh God.” It was. She’d done exactly what he’d done, what every OPS agent had done. “That’s what you block out from me in your head. That’s the stuff in your nightmares.”
He nodded, his arms still around me. “In my nightmares I’m doing it, and doing a good job at it. When I take the hood off, it’s me tied to that chair.”
“Sweet Jesus.”
“When I first got back, it was everyone. Everyone I saw turned into this horror show in my mind. I can list every tool for you on that tray. She had them in order. I would be in the line at the grocery store and the person in front of me would end up there. Or my mailman or the kids at the park. They all ended up the same.” He stopped talking and looked at me, saw my eyes wide with horror. “I’m scaring you. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“No!” My voice came out too loud. “Please don’t leave me alone. I can handle this. I just need some time and some sleep. If I can distract myself from what I saw in her head, I’m sure I’ll get some sleep. Then everything will be okay in the morning.”
“Are you sure? That’s all you want, just a distraction?”
“That’s all? You make it sound so easy. It’s going to take a lot more than watching The Wizard of Oz to make this go away.”
“I was thinking of a different video.” His hands moved from my waist to cup my backside.
“You really think that’s going to distract me?”
He started to unbutton my shirt, stripping it off me while he spoke. “Why don’t we find out?” He folded and dropped our clothes over the side of the bed into a tidy pile. I would have teased him about it but he reached over to the bedside table and took out a small bottle of lotion. He began at my shoulders, using his expert touch to relax away my tension. I leaned back into him, loving the way it felt.
“You know, it might be a massage is enough.”
“You just let me know,” he whispered, then kissed my ear. He worked down my back, relaxing every muscle as he went. Normally, I closed my eyes under his caress and explored the feelings. Tonight, I kept them open. I didn’t want to see those images again.
He reached the small of my back and I sighed. Such a delicate touch, hands I trusted so much. His fingers brushed the top of my ass, making me tingle, unsure of what came next, but positive it would feel good.
“Hmm, why don’t you lay on your back?” He started over again, the massage beginning at my shoulders, then slowly moving down. He worked lotion into the skin of my breasts, teasing the nipples. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, as his mouth covered the tip of a nipple. His tongue swirled around it, teasing it to hardness. His hand worked the other nipple and I moaned, arching my back to press into him, wanting more of the sensation. “I would never hurt you, Elisabeth.”
“I know.” I floated on a cloud of desire while he toyed with that nipple again.
“I love you, and I love the way things are between us.” His hand moved gently down my front, his fingertips playing against my skin. His eyes were serious. “I couldn’t let her take you from me.”
“I know.” I reached up to stroke his arms, his chest. To touch every inch of the man I’d thought I’d never see again. The one who rescued me and understood me, who protected me and never judged. He kissed me softly, letting his hands drift below my waist. It was an invitation I wanted to take.
“Please.” My voice was more breath than words. I wanted to speak softly about love but he rubbed me gently, teasing apart my sex, then focused on the swollen bud in the center. I couldn’t think with him touching me like that—all I could do was want more.
He moaned softly, and dipped his head down to kiss me there. Kisses followed by his caress until his tongue was at my clit. I rocked beneath him, my hands on his head, holding him in place, while his mouth worked its magic.
“Edward. Oh fuck, Edward, please.” I was begging him already, on the edge of losing myself but he stopped, came up for a breath. I released him reluctantly.
“Not yet.” He sighed. “We have other things to get to.”
I was panting too hard to reply. My body felt so very alive, so aware, as if the danger was a drug that heightened my senses. And better, he was lying between my legs, his naked skin against my thighs, his hands on me, a dozen points of skin-on-skin, all of them singing to me with magic. I could feel what he wanted to do to me, could see it in his mind. His arousal made my own that much more intense. He was inside my head, too, feeling things from my side. His fingers played against my skin, moving completely without friction thanks to the lotion. The sensation dazzled me. Had everything felt this powerful before tonight? Or had almost dying made me more alive, made it all more intense?
Edward didn’t stop to answer those questions. His mouth was further down now, leaving my neglected clit to throb while his tongue darted into my body. I pressed my thighs together, worried I might suffocate him but too desperate to feel everything to stop. The pleasure began to build inside me again, my body climbing to release when his mouth moved against me. He gripped my waist and turned me, moving my right leg over his head, my left beneath him. The new position left his tongue exactly where it had been but freed his hand to play with me. His thumb rode my clit, rubbing it gently while his fingers found their way back to the entrance to my body. Suddenly he was everywhere at once, his tongue pressing into me while his fingers and thumb delighted me.
I screamed. I moaned. I begged for more. He brought his head out from between my legs, defying me, leaving only his hands there. His body pressed against my back
“Don’t stop,” I demanded.
“You sure?” He laughed, then put on a condom before letting his body slowly enter mine. He shifted gently back and forth, the rhythm mimicked by his fingers, toying with my clit. I pressed myself against him, eager for his touch. He waited, drawing the moment out, letting me beg, then gave me everything I wanted, sinking deeper into me. I didn’t know what to do, how to move myself against him—the sensations were too overwhelming. I was lost in an ocean of pleasure.
“Oh yes, keep going.” He kissed my neck softly and his hand left me. I moaned my disapproval as both of his hands came to my waist. He held my hips tight as he moved in long powerful thrusts, stroking in and out of me, while I could only try to keep up with him, begging for more the whole time.
That sweet feeling of pleasure turned into a more powerful orgasm than I’d ever had. It was too much—I was breathing too hard, begging him and panting at once, almost crying with the sensation. I demanded more.
“Elisabeth, oh God, yes.” He went stiff with climax. Feeling his pleasure made me frantic, reckless as I pounded myself on him until my own orgasm ripped through me.
For a second, a tiny fraction of time we laid there, panting. He moved out of me almost immediately, before I could grab him.
“More,” I demanded.
“I’m a touch spent just now.” He laughed. He kissed my cheek gently.
“I don’t care.” Harsh? Maybe, but my body wanted more. He’d lit this fire in me; he was going to have to put it out.
“Let me take off the—”
I flipped over in bed, grabbing him by the shoulders and kissing him hard. My hands moved between his legs but there was nothing for me to grab, he was spent. Damn it.
He smiled, quickly stripped off the condom and kissed me before he moved his head down. His tongue began at my stomach. I moved up on the bed. I didn’t want him there. I forced his head lower to the parts that wanted so much more of him. He slipped his fingers inside me, and drew his tongue over my swollen folds. I moaned at the light touch, then cried out in pleasure.
The pressure began to build inside me again, stronger, different. He took his mouth from me and moved it to my breast, licking and sucking while his fingers moved furiously within me. My breath caught in my throat as the intense sensation gushed from my body, leaving me breathless.
He smiled and grabbed me, holding me close, whispering how much he loved me.
“That was intense.” I struggled to keep my eyes open.
“Yeah, it’s been one hell of a night.”
“I meant just that last part—the really great sex with multiple orgasms part.”
“Oh that,” he answered with a smug smile.
“How long are you going to be insufferably pleased with yourself?”
He rolled over on his back and I cuddled up to him, already half-asleep.
“A while. A long while.”
It was the last thing I heard him say before I fell asleep.
30
The lights were still on in the bedroom when I woke up, a little sore, but still glowing from the parts after we got home. My night had been peaceful, no nightmares, no ghosts. I took Ted’s bathrobe from its hook behind the bathroom door and slipped out of the room, determined to make him a breakfast in bed he’d never forget.
In the kitchen, I stared at the contents of the refrigerator then stared at the cabinets, finally deciding on blueberry muffins. After all, nothing says, “Thank you for saving me” like fresh baked goods. I was contentedly measuring out flour when a tingle of magic made me turn.
“Good Morning, William. I don’t suppose there’s anything I can make for you?” I was determined to like him. He’d helped save my life. He deserved it.
“No, thank you, but there is something I’d like to speak with you about.”
“Go ahead. I can stir and talk at the same time.” I cracked an egg into the batter and turned to face him, the bowl resting against my hip. Such a pleasant domestic scene, a well-satisfied woman and her friend, the vampire. Sure, I could do this.
“Before that, you should know you project.”
I took a minute to catch on. Strong spirit witches could project, make people feel what they felt.
“Not really. When I’m touching someone, maybe, but usually that only works if we’re feeling the same thing.” The way Ted and I had felt the same thing last night, butterflies took flight in my stomach just thinking about it.
“No, I mean you were projecting last night.”
“Huh.” I took a second to lick the spoon. “Maybe when you’re in fear for your life you can do crazy things?”
“I mean later in the night.”
“What would I have to project…” Oh. Shit. He’d heard that? How had I completely forgotten about William? Getting kidnapped made me stupid, all kinds of stupid. My face burned and I was pretty sure I was blushing furiously.
“That’s not why I wanted to talk to you.”
“Okay, uh, fine. What’s the other thing?” I turned away from him. In theory I was getting the blueberries, but really, I was avoiding looking him in the eye. What had I said last night? What had I actually screamed and what had I thought? How much had he picked up on?
“I’d like to stay.”
“What?” It was a little busy inside my head to follow the conversation.
“I’d like to stay here. The way you are with Edward…” He stopped, clearly at a loss and I turned around to look at him. “I never thought people like the two of us could end up like this. I assumed we’d always be what we were—monsters. But with you, he’s…”
“Happy?” I supplied.
“More than that, he’s whole. Perhaps it’s just him, and the rest of us will always be broken, but I’d like to find out. I’d like to see if I could have what he has, if I can make a life for myself. And if I’m going to try, I may as well start here.”
“And you’re asking me? Don’t you need to talk to the master vampire?”
“Your opinion is the only one that matters. If you say yes, Edward will say yes.”
“The master vampire though?” Marie, with her very French way of ruling the city’s vampires, would need to be included. She wasn’t a particularly nice vampire, especially when someone was disrespectful.
He shrugged. “It isn’t a concern.”
“I know her—she’s a concern. You should let me introduce you. Set it up. That might help.”
“Does that mean you’d let me stay?”
I considered it. He creeped me out, but he’d saved my life. Ted saw good in him. “Sure. It’s not like we’re going to be roommates or anything.”
“Of course not. I’d never get anything accomplished if I had to listen to things like last night all the time.”
My mouth hung open. “Holy shit, that was a joke. You were joking.”
“Indeed. I’m going to sleep. Good day, Elisabeth.” He walked out of the kitchen having made his first joke in the whole time I’d known him.
“Sleep sweet, William.” I smiled and finished the muffins.
“Hi there, lover,” I whispered as I walked into the bedroom, a bowl filled with hot muffins in my hand. “You awake yet?”
“Mmmm, huhh?” The muffled reply came from a lump of covers and pillows.
“I made breakfast,” I sang. He bolted up and snatched a muffin, then tossed it from hand-to-hand, waiting for it to cool.
“You bake?”
“Just like dear old Mom.” I put the bowl by the bed and slipped my hand underneath the blankets.
“I bet your mom doesn’t do anything like that.” He grinned at me, his body enjoying my touch.
“Not that I ever want to know a—” My phone rang, playing the most annoying pop song in the word. My hand shot out from under the covers to grab it. Gina was calling. “Where are you? We need to talk.”
“I’m at home, where I said I’d be.” She sighed heavily. “Honestly, you treat me like I’m five. Asking all
over the place, getting everyone worried. What did you think, Jeremy was going to kill me or something?”
“Well,” I started but didn’t get a chance to finish.
“Honestly, Lizzie, just…” She stopped with a loud noise that sounded something like argh. I got the point.
“Look, there’s some stuff I need to show you, some photos. It’s about Jeremy. Can we talk?”
“Show me whatever you want. I know everything I need to know about Jeremy.”
“Right, just stay home for a minute, okay?”
“Oh, I’m not going anywhere. In fact, I called you to come here. Jeremy and I are holding a family meeting.”
“Okay.” I paused, perplexed. I got that Gina wanted to scream at me. Why make it into a family meeting? “But I’d rather talk to you alone.”
“Come over, family meeting. Then if you still want to talk to me alone, we will.”
“Great,” I said, not meaning it. I would have said more but she hung up. I looked at the phone, willing it to give me the answers I wanted. Instead, the next voice I heard was Ted’s.
“What was that all about?”
“Gina. She’s pissed.”
“That much I guessed.” He leaned back on the pillows, munching a blueberry muffin.
“She’s calling a family meeting.”
“I didn’t think you guys had family meetings.”
“We don’t. I mean, not really. The last one was when I told everybody I was joining the Army.”
“Wow. Sounds like this is going to be a ton of fun. I’m almost sorry I can’t come with you.”
“Then come.” I got up and started toward the shower.
“Just like that?”
“I’m going to show her the photos of Jeremy that Randall found. It’s probably going to ruin her relationship with him. I wish it could have gone another way, but after what happened last night,” my words caught in my throat, as if I didn’t have enough air to finish the sentence. I started over again. “The studio could do that to Gina. The only way I’ve got to keep her safe from them is to force her away from Jeremy. I could use your help making her understand and if she won’t, you’ll be a nice way out of the conversation.”
Hollywood Dead: Elisabeth Hicks, Witch Detective Page 27