He waited a beat, then said, “Do you want me to bring it to you?”
A hesitant moment passed before Evee said tentatively, “If you don’t mind, you can just sort of stick your hand around the curtain and hand it to me.”
“Sure,” Lucien said, then wondered who in the hell had taken over his body and mind. Like it would be no big deal for him to be but a curtain’s distance away from her, hand out shampoo, then leave. Sure, no problem.
Biting the inside of his cheek, Lucien opened the bathroom door. The room was filled with steam.
Obviously hearing the door open, Evee said, “I tried using soap, but it didn’t work. Now my hair’s caked with clumpy soap and cheese goo.”
“I’m sure the shampoo will help,” Lucien said. He pushed the bottle around the edge of the shower curtain. “Here you go.”
Lucien saw her silhouette move in the shower, behind the white, translucent shower curtain. Seeing the outline of her naked body took his breath away.
She took the shampoo bottle from him, and in the translucent glory he’d found as his window, Lucien saw her bring the bottle up to her nose.
“Smells good. Thank you.”
Not wanting to leave, Lucien tried to think of something, anything to say so she wouldn’t send him immediately away.
“Glad you like the shampoo,” he said, and wanted to slap himself for how ridiculous he sounded. Now all he could do was follow up the asinine statement with more stupidity. “I usually carry that brand with me whenever we travel. Can’t ever have too much shampoo when you’re traveling with three other guys.”
“I’m sure,” she said absently, and Lucien saw the silhouette of her tilting the shampoo bottle into her hand, then leaning over and placing the bottle on the side of the tub. The sight of her heart-shaped ass became clearer as it moved closer to the shower curtain, and Lucien thought he’d have a heart attack. He stifled a groan.
He watched arm shadows move to her head, hands folding up shoulder-length hair, scrubbing, scrubbing.
“Are you still in here?” Evee suddenly asked.
“Oh...uh, yes, sorry. I’ll leave you to your shower.”
“Wait. Before you go, could I bother you for a comb? I don’t think I’m getting all the cheese out. Combing it out might help. I promise to clean the comb when I’m done.”
“No problem,” Lucien said, then reached for his comb, which happened to be sitting on the counter near the bathroom sink.
With comb in hand, Lucien slipped it around the edge of the shower curtain. “Here you go. Hope it helps.”
He saw the shadow of her hand reaching blindly for the comb.
“Sorry. I’ve got shampoo in my eyes. Can’t quite make out where your hand is.”
Lucien stretched his arm in farther. She finally latched on to his hand.
“Got it,” she said, probably more to herself than to him.
Figuring he’d either go into the living area of the suite and die a slow death or take a chance while he had it and remain by the shower.
“Do you need any help in there?” Lucien asked. “Do you want me to check your hair? Make sure all the cheese is out?”
“Do you have any cream rinse?” Evee asked, evidently avoiding his indirect lead.
“I think so,” Lucien said. Reluctantly, he turned to the vanity and checked the small hotel bottles neatly lined up on a narrow silver tray. He found one labeled conditioner and grabbed it.
He stuck his hand with the conditioner back behind the shower curtain. “Here you go. It’s the hotel’s brand. Sorry I don’t have anything better.”
“Thanks,” Evee said. “Trying to get this comb through my mop of hair without conditioner is hell.” Once again her hand reached blindly for his. As her hand wandered along the shower curtain, it pushed the curtain aside a bit more. Lucien stood transfixed, seeing her naked body standing before him, her eyes closed, her hand searching. He aimed the bottle of conditioner at her hand, and she grabbed it.
Out of respect, Lucien backed away, allowing himself only a shadow’s view once more. He watched her bathe her hair with conditioner, work it through with her fingers, then lean over again for the comb she’d placed on the edge of the tub. As soon as she touched it, the comb fell into the tub.
“Shit,” she said softly.
Reflexively, Lucien reached into the shower. “I’ll get it.” He didn’t think about what he’d just done until he looked up and saw her looking down at him.
They stared at each other for a long moment, neither uttering a word. Water still pelting her body.
Lucien silently handed her the comb.
Evee took it from him, her eyes never leaving his face. He saw her lips move, heard her whisper his name. Fire seemed to melt the copper color of her beautiful eyes. Need was written in the expression on her face. He allowed his eyes to move slowly, blatantly down her body. Watching water splash over her breasts, her stomach, her thighs...between her thighs.
Determined not to give it a second thought, Lucien took a step back from the shower and removed his clothes in record time.
Before either of them had a chance to say a word, Lucien stepped into the shower, picked up the bar of soap that sat at the bottom of the tub, and rubbed it between his hands. When his hands were completely lathered, he dropped the soap, put his hands on Evee’s naked shoulders and turned her so she faced the shower wall.
She moved without hesitation, and Lucien began to caress her shoulders and back with his soapy hands. He worked down to her buttocks, taking his time, moving his fingers over and in every private part of her. He heard her groan with desire, which only flared his need to white-hot.
Lucien lathered his hands again and began to work his fingers down her legs, reached her right ankle, then moved to the left and worked his way back up, his fingers kneading, fluttering over her. When he reached the top of her thigh, Lucien pressed against both of her thighs ever so gently, and Evee immediately placed her hands on the back shower wall, threw her head back, and spread her legs slightly. Enough for Lucien’s fingers to work their way between them.
He brushed his fingers lightly between her legs, barely touching the mound that emitted so much heat even in the shower that it sent a shiver of pleasure through Lucien’s own body. As his fingers slid across the slit of her heat, Lucien knelt in the midst of the shower spray and placed his lips on her beautiful, heart-shaped ass. He kissed and licked one cheek, then the other, nipping occasionally, which caused her to moan.
When he press a finger inside her, only a knuckle’s depth, she called his name.
“Lucien...yes, more!”
Her body began to shake, and once again, Lucien was amazed at how responsive she was to his touch.
He slowly moved one hand around her waist so it rested between her legs only from the front. Then in one fell swoop, Lucien ran the finger he’d been teasing her with from behind deep inside her, captured her clitoris between the thumb and forefinger of the hand now in front of her, then nipped one cheek of her ass.
Evee cried out, and shuddered, and as she shook with the force of her orgasm, he bit down harder. The bite seemed to hit a reset button in her body, because Evee screamed his name and rode his fingers like her life depended on it.
As the waves of her pleasure began to wane, Lucien gently ran his hands over her ass, especially over the bite mark he’d placed there.
He heard her breathing, still labored, her head now down, hair hanging like black curtains along the sides of her face. Lucien grabbed the soap once more, lathered his hands, then stood.
He stood and turned Evee so she faced him. The look in her eyes lay softly on his face, and he brushed the hair away from her cheeks with a finger.
Looking her in the eye, Lucien moved his lathered hands over her breasts, taking her nipples betwee
n his thumbs and forefingers, squeezing gently, pulling gently. Evee’s eyes closed and she moaned loudly, always a signal for Lucien.
With no further preamble, Lucien grabbed her around the waist and lifted her. Evee’s legs automatically wrapped around his waist. Moving his hands to her ass, holding her in place, Lucien pressed the hard length of him into the swollen, open, ready and eager mouth between her legs.
Throwing her head back, Evee, groaned. “More, God, Lucien, more!”
Lucien gave her what she craved. He thrust the full length of his manhood into her body, holding her up and thrusting her forward, matching his every thrust. He lowered his head to her right breast, put her nipple in his mouth, ran his tongue around its stiffness, then bit down ever so gently.
Once more the bite seemed to trigger an inner animal that hid within Evee, for she grabbed handfuls of his hair, urging him to move harder, faster within her.
Lucien didn’t hesitate to oblige. He lowered his head, bit his bottom lip to control the explosion teetering within his body.
“Yes! Yes!” Evee cried, and hot lava soon bathed him. Lucien felt it overflow from her, sending warm rivulets down his own legs.
“All of it,” Lucien demanded. “Give me all of it...now.”
With a wail of pleasure, Evee’s body bucked again, and more flowed from her body. Only then did Lucien allow himself to let go, and the force of his orgasm was so powerful Lucien felt his legs weaken. He fought to stay upright, still holding Evee up and against him.
When they were both spent, Lucien lowered Evee slowly, carefully to her feet, still holding her close to him. She rested her head against his chest, and he cupped the back of her head, pressing her in closer.
They stood there, holding tight to each other, so many emotions flooding Lucien that he couldn’t name them all. He kissed the top of her head. Kissed it again.
Evee lifted her head, brought her hands to the sides of his face and drew his lips to hers. It took seconds before the kiss became as ravishing as the sex they’d just had.
Knowing they had responsibilities to tend to, Lucien reluctantly took her face in his hands and moved it a micro inch away. He kissed her cheek, her chin, nuzzled her neck. Then he simply held her, feeling the heat of the shower beating into his back for a moment longer. He’d never felt such satisfaction or any of the other rumble of emotions inside him with any other woman. He’d always—always been able to walk away without regret.
But this time—this time, Lucien feared this was one woman he’d never be able to walk away from...ever.
Chapter 18
Arabella paced the length of her foyer, waiting, waiting. Vanessa stood nearby, at the bottom landing of the stairs, holding on to a newel post, tapping a slippered foot against the floor.
“Where could she have gone?” Arabella asked Vanessa.
“Maybe somebody kidnapped her,” Vanessa said.
“Stop talking like that,” Arabella said.
Vanessa tsked. “You’re right. We wouldn’t be that lucky anyway. The kidnapper would bring her back.”
Arabella shot her an angry look, then glanced over at the old grandfather clock ticking at the end of the foyer.
“She’s never gone out this late before,” Arabella said.
“Well, we are talking about Taka. Something doesn’t have to make sense for her to do it. We both know she’s a little loose in the goose,” Vanessa said. “For all we know, she might have simply gotten bored and gone for a walk through the District. You know how she loves to make new friends.”
“At three in the morning?” Arabella said. “I don’t think so.”
Arabella shook her head and paced the foyer again.
Suddenly a noise that sounded like a creaky hinge echoed from the back of the house, near the kitchen.
Arabella froze, listening intently, and heard the unmistakable sound of a door gently closing. She took off for the kitchen.
“What is it?” Vanessa asked.
“Can’t you hear the back door?” Arabella said. “I just heard it close.”
“Well, that little sneak,” Vanessa said.
“We don’t know that it’s her,” Arabella said. “Somebody could be breaking into the house.”
“Oh, for the love of earth, get a hold of yourself. It has to be Taka. She’s the only one besides us with a key. We’d have heard glass shattering. A window breaking, and remember, the door doesn’t have a window. The only windows are over the kitchen sink. So, see? It has to be Taka.”
Arabella and Vanessa took off, nearly colliding into each other as they turned the corner into the kitchen. Both came to a sliding stop as the kitchen lights flickered on.
There stood Taka, right inside the back door, her eyes deer-in-the-headlights wide. “Oh...hey. What are you two doing up?”
Arabella put a hand on her hip, felt a huge flood of relief flow through her. “Where have you been?”
“No,” Vanessa said. “Where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea what time it is?”
“I couldn’t sleep,” Taka said. “So I went for a walk.”
“At this hour, in this city?” Arabella said. “Are you crazy? You could have been murdered or kidnapped.”
“Oh, I wasn’t worried about that one bit,” Taka said, patting the patent leather purse she had clutched to her chest. “I took Mace. Got it right here, in my purse.”
Vanessa snorted. “By the time you’d have dug through all the junk you keep in there, anybody could have hauled you over a shoulder and shoved you into a van before you managed one squirt. Think about it. You could be on your way to Missouri right now and not even know it.”
Taka rolled her eyes. “Really, so melodramatic. I went for a walk. That’s it.”
Arabella pointed to the kitchen table. “Sit.”
Sighing, Taka did as she was told.
When they were all seated around the table, Arabella jabbed the tabletop with a finger. “We deserve an explanation,” she said to Taka. “You had us worried sick. You didn’t put on a pantsuit to stroll the District. And you never do that alone. We always go together.”
Vanessa nodded. “Safety in numbers.”
“I’ve already told you,” Taka insisted. “I couldn’t sleep and needed some air.”
“And I can tell you’re lying,” Arabella said, leaning back in her chair.
Taka blinked at her. “What do you mean you can tell?”
“When you lie, your left eye twitches,” Vanessa said. “And right now it’s twitching to beat the band.”
Taka glanced over at Arabella. “What band is she talking about? I didn’t see any band out there.”
“Oh, quit acting like you’re innocent,” Vanessa said. “You know that your left eye twitches when you lie. Stop acting like you’re senile or trying to make us think you’re stupid, because you’re not.”
Taka huffed and hugged her purse closer to her chest. “Neither of you are my parents or guardians. I’m quite old enough to choose when I want to go out and take a walk outside or not.”
“Not in this city, especially with all that’s been going on lately,” Arabella said. “That was a stupid move, Taka. You could’ve been seriously hurt out there. So I want the truth now. What did you do?”
“Walked,” Taka said.
Arabella sighed. “Where?”
“Through the District.”
“And?” Vanessa asked.
Taka looked down at the table. “And then I sorta found myself down on Canal.”
“Oh, mother of marbles. Canal Street!” Vanessa slapped a hand against her forehead. “All right, it’s official. You are senile! Nobody but the homeless roam that street at this hour.”
“Not true,” Taka said. “Had a great time people-watching.”
“How long were you out there?” Arabella asked.
“What’s it matter? I’m back.”
“Because we’ve been so damn worried about you all night, all right?” Vanessa said.
“Baloney,” Taka said. “I wasn’t out there all night.”
“You two stop bickering,” Arabella demanded, then studied Taka. “I woke up about half an hour ago from a bad dream. I got up and checked on Vanessa, then looked in on you, saw you were gone. So I woke up Vanessa, and we’ve been pacing the floor ever since, sick with worry. Now you’re telling us you were out on Canal Street.”
Arabella gave Taka a stern look. “Walking out there this late is bad enough, but why do I get the feeling that there’s more to this than you’re letting on?”
Taka pursed her lips and looked nonchalantly around the kitchen.
“Taka Burnside, you either spill everything or else,” Arabella said.
“Or else what?” Taka asked, a defiant tone to her voice. “What’re you going to do? Put me over your knee and spank me like I was a kid?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Vanessa said. “I’d be the one to do that.”
Arabella shot Vanessa a warning look to shut up.
“Taka,” Arabella said, as calmly as she could, “as Elders, we have a responsibility to take care of the Triad and the Originals they care for. We also have a responsibility to each other. Which means no lies between us. Whatever it is you did, wherever it is you went, we’ll figure it out. And if anything happened, we’ll figure out a way to fix it.”
“Nothing happened,” Taka insisted.
“Then why won’t you tell us where you went and what you did?”
“I already did.”
Letting out a loud sigh of frustration, Arabella leaned farther into the table. “Okay, you want to play this game? Where on Canal did you stop? Did you happen to go into any shops or buildings when you were done there?”
Taka looked away, a sure sign she was hiding something. “I might have made a stop along Canal,” she admitted, still not looking Arabella in the eye.
Arabella let a moment of silence pass before she finally said, “Just spit it out, Taka.”
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