“I like to balance everything. I figure if a bad guy is out there, I need to find him and make him pay. I think of it as my gift. I believe we all have one thing we are meant to do in life.”
He grinned at that. His one thing had once been being a Marine, now, not so much. For this phase in his life, he was going to play private investigator.
“This is all great, Detective Graves, but why are you helping us? If you get caught, you’ll probably lose your job.”
“Vivian,” she offered. Here went the gamble as she showed him her cards. “I saw you in a dream.”
He stared at her. Did he just hear her correctly?
“You were in your truck.”
Justin immediately began wondering why he always found the crazy ones. All the hope drained from his body at her words, and he fought to keep his face neutral. “A dream?”
“Yes.”
This time he did sigh. “I don’t know what to say to that.”
“You were driving it, and you reached over to the glove box to pull out a pack of gum.”
He listened to her tale as all emotion remained locked away, but there was a distinct brew of nerves tingling in his body.
“When you reached in you pulled out an empty pack and threw it on the floor.”
Justin was more than a little freaked out. On his way over here, he did just that.
“You rustled around and pricked your finger. The profanity that came out of your mouth would freak your mother out.”
Now, he did stare openmouthed.
“Go ahead and ask.”
“You’re telling me, that you saw all that?” How could she know any of it? It just happened a few minutes ago. It was true. Justin wanted a piece of gum to make sure if they ended up kissing, that he was minty fresh. He also pricked his finger, and then cursed and prayed that he didn't get blood on his shirt.
“Yes. I’m also going to tell you something that no one in the world knows but me.”
He waited.
“The person who took Melissa didn't kill her. At this moment, she’s alive and locked in a cage.”
Now, he could feel his heart pumping in his chest.
“I can’t tell my partner, and I can’t investigate without drawing flags from everyone around me. So, I’m going to give you all we have and pray that it’s enough.”
He stared at her like she had lost his mind.
“That’s the answer to your question, on why I’m helping you and your family. It’s the absolute truth.”
Justin was torn between them needing her help, and the distinct possibility that what she was saying was true. After all, his people had been known to commune with spirit guides who offered up dreams and visions. Who was he to say his quirks were any less weird by someone else’s standard?
“I know what you’re thinking,” she stated. All hope that this was going to be easy left her body.
“Because you read minds too?” he asked, and then he paused, when it came out a little too harsh.
Vivian ignored the condescending tone of his question, even though she was sure the hurt played across her face. “No, because this is exactly the reaction I expected.”
Justin sat there and didn't know what to say. Yeah, his brother expected him to share information as a way to solve this, but somehow he doubted that Julian saw this one coming. The woman had just declared herself a psychic of sorts.
This was a twist no one expected.
“It’s just a little odd, that’s all.”
She watched him with no emotion on her face.
“No, it’s a lot of odd and damn hard to swallow.”
There was only so much humiliation that even she could take. She got it. Vivian was a freak. “I understand. I’m sorry I ruined the night.” She reached over and handed him the zip drive. “You should go, Justin. On that, you’ll find all the information that you need to start. It’s everything that we have.”
He stared at her unsure what to do.
At that moment, there was a knock to the door.
Vivian went to go pay for the pizza. She handed the delivery guy money and watched as he walked away. “Good night, Justin.”
He knew that he was being dismissed. His brain and his heart were going a mile a minute. Justin wanted to stay and fight for what he felt deep down inside, but he wasn’t sure if this was some elaborate hoax.
Maybe the cops were screwing with them.
Had his feelings, for the woman before him, been that evident? If Tori recognized them, the cops could have too. They could be playing cat and mouse to trip them all up. After all, Vivian would be very attractive bait.
As he walked towards her, she handed him the pizza.
“Enjoy dinner,” she said, as he walked towards the elevators carrying the pizza in the box. When the doors opened and he stepped in, he stared back at her.
There was hurt clearly visible across her face. In fact, the only thing that overshadowed it was the disappointment that he also saw there. For some reason, that made him ache.
What could she say?
This was a lot to swallow.
Once more, Vivian had expected this. His wasn’t the only hope that had been dashed in her life. Maybe it was for the best. Getting emotionally tangled up with the man would be a disaster.
As the elevator doors slid shut, hers closed too. Why she thought the dream would end any different was beyond her. When she woke up at this point, she had hoped that he would come rushing back.
That he would believe her.
That he would…
She pushed it out of her mind. It didn't matter. There was a job to do, and now the Littlemoons had the information. It was out of her hands and set in motion.
Despite the pain, she had to focus. This wasn’t about her anymore. It was about Melissa Lagerfeld and the maniac that had her.
Justin couldn’t even think straight. God, he wanted to believe. If the notion of the Great Spirit existed, why couldn’t precognition?
As he exited the brick building and climbed into his truck, he didn't know what to do. Should he text his brother and drop this little bomb on him, or would that be better advised to do it in the morning?
He stared at the pizza box and didn't know what to do.
Maybe if he ate something he could take his mind off his dilemma. As he opened the box, he stared down at the pizza.
His mouth dropped open, and he found that he couldn’t even move.
Sitting on the seat beside him was his favorite pizza in the entire world. She’d nailed the toppings exactly. Not many people liked a fried egg and bacon on their pizza, especially not after the yolk was broken.
His heart began pounding in his chest.
Now, he couldn’t leave.
He needed to know.
Justin grabbed the box and raced back into the building. Enough was enough, and they were finished joking about this. If she was going to play psychic, then he needed to know if she was willing to deal with the fall out.
If he was willing to believe, then Vivian would have to meet him halfway.
As he raced up the stairs, unwilling to wait for the elevator, his heart thundered in his ears. Once at her door, he began pounding on it with his fist.
After a few minutes, she opened the door.
“I need to know how you knew!” he demanded, backing her into her apartment. With his booted heel, he kicked the door closed behind him and dropped the pizza box onto the counter.
The look on her face was proof enough. She didn't expect him to come back.
“I told you, Justin, I saw it in a dream.”
“No one but my brother and Tori know that I eat that kind of pizza. In fact, they never let me, because they tell me it’s like eating…”
“Breakfast on top of dinner all at once, for people who are too lazy to sit down and eat two separate meals,” she finished for him. “I’m aware.”
Now, he was pretty sure she wasn’t bullshitting him. That was something they had told him
while still back in Red River. It was only said once and never mentioned again, and she nailed it verbatim.
There was no way she could find that out unless his family had told her, and he knew there was no way that would have happened.
Vivian’s heart thumped in her chest as he stared at her with such emotion filled eyes. There was confusion, worry, and hope all spiraling in one chaotic mess.
“I told you that I didn’t lie to you.”
Justin didn't know what to say or do.
“I just want you to trust me. I need you to believe that I’m not yanking your chain or screwing with you. I can’t explain more than what I’ve said. I don’t know how, I just have the dreams. They’re my curse and blessing, and it has taken years to come to grips that their part of me.”
It was enough for him.
Here, she had trusted him with something so private and potentially volatile. If word got out, she could be scoffed at and humiliated.
“Vivian.”
“I meant what I said. I saw you. I saw us, Julian.”
He wasn’t sure what she was implying, but the second his brain went there, he was lost. When he had left, she’d obviously removed her makeup and changed. She stood in front of him in some little cotton night gown. It was white, like freshly fallen snow and adorned with tiny pink bows.
It was chaste.
It was pure.
It was making him wild.
The contrast between her hair hanging loose around her shoulders and the white only made the color of her eyes more vibrant. They had changed. Gone was the peaceful lavender and in their place were the deep purple of a women filled with so much emotion.
“I believe you,” he stated, as he threw caution to the wind. Moving towards her, Justin heard the quick intake of breath and yet she didn't back away.
Roughly, he brought his mouth down to hers in a frenzy, unmatched by anything that he had ever felt before in his life. Yes, he believed everything she had said. Justin had no reason to do so, but for some reason he did.
Vivian would balance the scales, and he would help her. Where she couldn’t do it alone, he would be there to get the job done.
Mouths collided in a kiss like neither had every felt before. There was silence in the room, as he pulled her against his body and wrapped her tightly in his arms.
“Justin,” she murmured.
“Please, don’t ask me to stop. I can’t,” he answered, as he moved to her throat. The scent of cookies and comfort overtook him, as he fell into the pleasure that was this woman.
“Don’t stop,” she replied. Vivian had never been kissed like that in all her life, and she somehow knew why.
She was waiting for that moment, because this was her fate.
Julian Littlemoon was about to change her life forever.
“Bedroom,” he whispered into her ear, as his mouth made a trail from one side of her throat to the other.
Slowly, she began walking them backwards, as her hands moved across his body. Justin’s form wasn’t a disappointment in the least. Already, she could feel him through his shirt.
It was going to be an amazing experience.
Finally, they reached her bedroom. Justin couldn’t tell the color of the paint on the walls or anything else around him at that moment. As far as he was concerned, it was all about Vivian.
The feel of her against his body.
The taste of her skin against his lips.
This was one of the most amazing experiences in his life, and he never wanted it to stop.
“Vivian, I need to see you naked,” he stated, pulling his mouth from her body, only long enough to yank off her nightgown.
What he found when he unwrapped her, made his brain go haywire. She was absolutely perfect. From the full breasts to the slim hips, he didn't think there could be a more ideal woman in the world for him. He reveled in the vision of her standing before him in nothing more than a little pair of panties.
They both stood there for only a minute. Once the spell was broken, Justin could feel her hands moving across his chest and shoulders. She was frantically trying to get to him beneath his polo shirt.
When she had him free, her hands went lower.
As her hands brushed against the front of him through his pants, he sucked in a breath. “Christ, please hurry!”
His words enflamed her even more and with the flick of her wrist, she had his dress pants unbuttoned and the zipper sliding down.
Justin watched her as her thumbs slid into the sides of his pants, and boxers at his hips, and pushed them down his legs. Where he expected to tumble with her onto the bed, she surprised him, by following them to the floor. When Vivian went to her knees, every ounce of thought was sucked from his brain. He couldn’t think. Now, it was instinct that began taking over.
Here was the intimate dance of man and woman. It was as old as time and hardwired into their bodies. Want surfaced and began to bind them together, strand by desire filled strand.
Vivian stared up at him, and lavender eyes met brown ones. She could see the effect that she was having on him, and it empowered her to go on. Generally, she wasn’t so brash with men who she had just met, but she saw him and their path together.
This was absolutely the right thing, and she could throw caution to the wind.
Taking him in her hand, she watched him tighten even more at her touch. With a few gentle strokes, Vivian knew that she needed to taste him.
She was desperate.
Justin shook in her hand, as she took him in her mouth. Okay, he was wrong before. This was the most amazing thing that he had experienced in his life. It was obvious that Vivian was going to be a very giving and amazing lover.
Those thoughts were stolen away too, as she began working him in and out of her mouth. He was mesmerized as he watched her worship him so completely.
“God, Viv,” Justin moaned, dropping his head back to relish a few minutes of the woman’s mouth, as she was enjoying having him at her full attention.
When she did something with the tip of her tongue, he nearly lost it right there. Pulling away from her, he stared down at her.
“I need you now, Vivian.”
She did too. It was like she was burning up from some Native American fever. Justin was going to make her combust. “Where do you want me?” she asked.
Oh, how he could answer that a million different ways. Instead of speaking, he simply showed her. Yanking Vivian up from her knees, they came crashing down across the bed and rolling together. With his one free hand, he yanked at the panties and had them tearing like tissue paper in his fingers.
Limbs became tangled, as did tongues.
When he found her beneath him, he simply couldn’t wait any longer to feel her wrapped around him. He wanted to be more suave and show her how he really wanted to treat her, but Justin couldn’t stop himself.
It was like he was simultaneously starving and dying of an unquenchable thirst. Slipping into her, they both moaned at the sensation.
Vivian had never felt this full in her entire life, and that wasn’t only referencing Justin being buried in her body. A lifetime of fear and loneliness had been pushed out, as he wiggled his way into her life.
“Are you okay?” he asked, resting his forehead against hers. If he didn't regain control, the night was doomed to end in embarrassment on his behalf.
“Yes,” she answered, as she adjusted to the feel of his body in and around her. Gently, she ran her lips and fingers across his flesh, as if memorizing the lines and planes of muscle.
When he lifted his head to stare into her eyes, she knew he was ready to offer her so much pleasure.
“I’ve never wanted anyone like this, Vivian,” he admitted, honestly. “In all my life, this is a first. You’re the first.”
She offered him a gentle kiss, as he began sheathing himself deep into the warmth of her body. “God, Justin, you feel so amazing,” she admitted.
The words made him crazier, as he fought the need t
o drive himself into her repeatedly. He would give her pleasure for their first time, later he’d continue the crazed love making.
Her eyes dilated, as he stared down at her. There were so many declarations rushing through his mind. He had meaningless sex, with countless women, to escape what haunted him, but this was something so completely new to him. The way she watched him, his heart squeezed in his chest.
Vivian arched up into his body, as the room shook around her. She knew the explosion was imminent.
In fact, it was now.
It ripped through her with the wildness of a massive storm. As the heat erupted through her, she fought to stay aware of the man above her. While she tumbled, her heart stuttered in her chest at what she already knew to be true.
He was meant to be hers.
There was no doubt in her mind.
Beneath him, she had come alive and some of the shadows were being pushed away.
As she quivered around him, he opted to fall with her. Later, he would repeat the performance and draw out the pleasure. For now, he wanted to feel, since it had been a very long time.
Tumbling into the abyss, he shouted her name and rested his body over hers. He could feel her hands touching his back, as her heart pounded beneath his.
This was pure heaven.
When he could finally speak, he lifted himself up to stare down into her eyes. “Wow, that was something,” he stated softly. For Justin, it was earth moving.
“I happen to agree with you,” Vivian answered, as she ran her fingertips across the angular jaw line.
There was so much he wanted to say to the woman beneath him. She took his breath away, but in the back of his mind, everything that he had learned was beginning to brew and push to the surface.
“You look conflicted, Justin,” she admitted. “You’re thinking again.”
“I think that we need to talk, Vivian.”
She knew that they did. “Okay, we can do that. Do you want to have pizza in bed or are you leaving after our ‘talk’?” she asked.
Oh, he had news for her. Littlemoon men were very hard to shake, once they found their place in life. Look at his brother with Tori. The man had chased her all over and nearly died without her.
Blood Red Rage (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 1) Page 11