Cursed: Gowns & Crowns, Book 5

by Jennifer Chance

  “Yeah,” Vince grunted. “That certainly runs in the family.”

  “So anyway, you’ve got your free night pass all sewn up, my man,” Rob continued. “What you do with it is up to you. Cindy and I are tucking in for the night in the carriage house, to play it safe, and before you think of it later, I did scan the box that arrived today. Inside are documents, papers in folders. No bomb, no electronics of any kind.”

  “Well, good,” Vince said, “and Rob . . . thanks.”

  “What’re friends for?” Rob asked with a grin to his voice. “Just don’t do anything crazy. Last time I did, I ended up marrying the girl.”

  Vince was still laughing when he hung up the phone, but the moment he slid it into his pocket, he froze. He could sense a presence behind him in the shadow of the magnolia trees. He was so busted.

  “Hey, mom,” he said without turning around.

  “Work!” his mother exploded, bustling around to face him properly. “Work. With you it is all about work. You have a beautiful woman on your arm, a countess even, and you sneak off like a thief in the night in order to take your telephone call. How do you know that she doesn’t need you? What happens if she is looking for you, searching and cannot find you?”

  “Well, it’s not like she’s going to come to harm in the middle of three generations of Rallises.”

  “That is not the point!” His mother threw up her hands and advanced on him, bullying him back through the magnolias and into their own back yard. The guitar music and laughter continued streaming out in the warm, humid air, and Vince scanned the space with an automatic efficiency, relaxing when he pinpointed Edeena.

  “She doesn’t look like she’s searching for me,” he said dryly as Edeena twirled in some kind of complicated dance step to the delight of multiple women.

  “But she could have been. And you would have been on the phone. Wasting a perfectly good summer evening with a perfectly beautiful young woman.” His mother eyed him darkly. “Work is not going to be a good partner to you when you are old, Vincent. I should think you would have learned that from your father.”

  “Dad?” Truly startled by this, Vince glanced over to where his father sat with his cousins and a few best friends that had become permanent fixtures at their house since their wives had passed. “He isn’t still worried about work.”

  “No. No he is not. But he is not because he decided not to be long ago, because I told him he had a choice, his work or me—his family. He could not be married to both, and I was not willing to accept half a man. I had to have all of him.”

  Vince stared at his mother. “But he never quit his job, did he?” All his life Vince had thought of his father as hard working, cheerful, and dedicated. Money had never been an issue for them, exactly, but it was because of his father’s work ethic. An ethic Vince had taken as his own.

  “He didn’t,” his mother said triumphantly. “He didn’t have to. He learned how to do all that he needed to when his work needed him, so that he could be here for his family when we needed him. And as a result, look at him.” His mother’s voice softened as she gazed at her husband, his thinning white hair lifting in a sudden puff of breeze, his jowls shaking as he laughed heartily at a joke made by one of his cronies. “Just look at him. He is a healthy man, a happy man. My man.”

  She turned and poked Vince hard in the arm. “You should be someone’s man as well. It is well past time.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Edeena swayed a little against Vince as he walked her away from his parents’ house beneath a broad canopy of stars, their pinpoints dimmed by the glare from the city. She wasn’t drunk—barely tipsy, in fact—but she was happy for any excuse that allowed her to fold herself into Vince’s big, warm body, so solid and sure.

  “In Garronia, out in the country, you can see so many more stars in the sky than you can in the city,” she said, looking upward. She smiled at the memory, and at a newer one. “You can at Heron’s Point, too, some nights, when the clouds don’t bunch up on the horizon.”

  “Easy does it, there,” Vince murmured as she lost her footing, and she blinked, checking her reaction.

  “I’m not drunk,” she said, quite certain of that fact. “Really and truly.”

  “Ah,” Vince said evenly. “That’s too bad.”

  They’d reached the SUV and he pulled open the door for her, helping her inside. She climbed in easily enough, but stopped his hand when he moved to shut the door again. “Why too bad?”

  His smile was soft and maybe a little bit mischievous. “If you weren’t feeling entirely yourself, I’d suggest you spend the night at my place, versus run the risk of falling ill on our way back to the island.”

  He pulled away from her and shut the door, leaving Edeena to stare at him as he went around the front of the car. Her heart had begun to hammer recklessly, any residual fatigue from the long day now completely wiped away. She waited until he was seated, then turned to him as casually as she could manage. “Your place?”

  “I have a top floor apartment in the historical district with a view of the harbor,” he said, putting the SUV into gear. “A good spot to crash, not too far from here.” He glanced at her, his expression unreadable. “Very safe, should you ever need it.”

  She lifted her brows. “And the only way I can finagle an invitation to this very safe location is if I’m sick? Not if, say, I was curious about the residence of this man to whom I’ve entrusted my welfare and the welfare of my sisters?”

  He frowned, seeming to consider that. “It’s a good point,” he conceded at last. “As my primary current client, you do have a right to know that you can trust me.”

  “And what better way is there to truly understand a man than to see if he wears pink slippers in his living room?”

  Now his glance was a little bolder. “I can assure you, I don’t wear pink slippers.”

  “Satin smoking jacket, then?”

  That merited her a laugh. “No satin of any type in my apartment, I’m afraid. Or silk either. I’m much more a cotton kind of guy.”

  “See, already I’m learning valuable information that could make or break my sense of personal safety.” Edeena settled back in her seat as Vince eased the car onto the street, turning toward the lights of the city. “You really must take me there.”

  “If you insist,” he said, and she felt a curl of delicious anticipation whisper through her. She was going to the apartment of a strange man, she realized with almost giddy good humor. It was perhaps the first time she’d done so since she’d been away at college, away from the constant, careful eye of her father. Of course, she’d known she’d been followed at school, but there’d still been something so unreasonably scandalous about being in a student dorm without the usual thirteen layers of security.

  She felt the same way now—safe, protected even, yet skirting along the edge of danger.

  It only took a few minutes for them to reach the historic downtown area of Charleston, and Edeena’s enjoyment was only heightened by her wonder at all the lights and charm of the city center, even at the end of summer. “This place must be beautiful at Christmas,” she said, and Vince chuckled.

  “Decorating is something we take very seriously in Charleston. Something for you and your sisters to keep in mind, if you plan on staying for the holidays. Any of them.”

  Edeena winced inwardly, but refused to be put off by Vince’s idle words. He had no idea what the future held in store for her, despite all the files he’d seen at Heron’s Point. He probably still thought she would find a way to work around her problems. Only, she wouldn’t be working around them, exactly. She’d work through them, when the time came. And tonight was not that time.

  Vince pulled onto a quaint street running along a park, and whistled as a car pulled out in front of him, affording him parking by the curb. “Definitely my—well,” he cut himself off abruptly. Edeena wasn’t about to wait for the niceties of him opening the door for her. Instead, she was out of the car almost befor
e it came to a halt, stepping back so she could get an unobstructed view of the line of charming brick homes that marched along the street.

  “You live here?”

  “Admired it my whole life,” Vince said, and she caught the abashed note in his voice. “When I could finally afford it, I almost couldn’t believe it.”

  “You worked hard,” she murmured, her gaze dropping to him. “You should receive the benefit of that.”

  He shrugged. “Worked hard, got lucky. It’s all in the mix. Come on, I’ll show you.”

  He took her hand and led her into the building, past the smiling attendant and into a gleaming elevator bay, the modern mechanics at odds with the old-world charm of the building. Vince used a special key to activate the keypad, and Edeena’s brows lifted as they sped skyward. “This must be some apartment,” she murmured, feeling strangely like the poor relation for the first time in her life.

  “I like it,” Vince said simply. The doors opened a moment later onto a gleaming foyer with beautiful hardwood floor and an antique washing stand centered beneath a mirror. A single door rested opposite the elevator, and Vince ushered her toward it.

  “You own this?” she said again, and he chuckled.

  “The bank owns it, but I’m paying the mortgage. In the spirit of full disclosure, I got a great deal on it.” He paused before the door, waving his card in front of the keypad, and then keying in a secondary code. The reassuring click of disengaging locks managed to calm Edeena’s nerves. It was an apartment, nothing more. She’d been in plenty of apartments before.

  Then Vince opened the door, and she saw straight through the tidy space to the winking harbor beyond.

  “Oh!” she said, entering the space. “Please, don’t turn on the lights yet.”

  He laughed softly but the room stayed dark. The effect allowed the floor to ceiling windows to truly reflect the beauty of the harbor—strung with lights, filled with people, the trees along the waterfront swaying gently in the breeze. It was quite possibly the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

  Almost without realizing it, Edeena moved forward until she stood directly before the window, her eyes unable to go wide enough for her to take in the scene. “You look at this every day,” she murmured, “all times of the year.”

  “When I’m not on assignment, yes,” Vince said. She heard him drop his keys and phone on the counter, place the box of food his mother had given him to the side. Then he slowly padded toward her—not quickly enough to startle her, she thought distantly. He knew her well enough after these few weeks to go gently, quietly, to let her be in control.

  Only, she didn’t want to be in control right now. She wanted to be in his arms.

  Blushing against the unexpected thought, Edeena kept her gaze fixed on the astounding view. She barely jumped when Vince came up behind her, his arms going around her as if he’d read her mind. The move was so natural, it felt like he’d been doing it for years. They stood like that for several long moments, her back to his chest, his powerful arms to either side of her shoulders, his hands intertwined with hers as they rested against her chest. “It really is beautiful,” she murmured at last, unsure of what else to say that truly captured her wonder.

  “Yes,” he said, drifting his lips over her hair. “You certainly are.”

  Vince breathed in the perfume of lilies and honeysuckle that still hung in Edeena’s hair and reveled in the moment of having her in his arms. She was warm, her body supple as she leaned against him, and there was nothing in her manner that expressed fear or hesitation of any sort. She wanted this, wanted him.

  And he planned on enjoying every last second of it.

  First, however, he needed to make doubly sure that his impressions of her actions weren’t simply his own wishful thinking.

  “Hey,” he said, dropping his head further until his mouth was even with her delicate ear. “Before this goes any further, I need to ask. . .”

  “Mm?” Edeena turned in his arms until she faced him, her eyes dark and flashing in the reflected light from the street. “You want to know if I want to make love to you tonight, Mr. Rallis?”

  He smiled a lopsided grin. “I think under the circumstances, you should call me Vince.”

  “Would that I could call you Prince,” she said, so softly that he wondered if he’d misheard her. Must have, since she smiled with sudden intensity and lifted up on her toes to kiss him firmly on the lips.

  “I very much would like to make love to you, Vince Rallis. Here. Tonight. Now.”

  She didn’t have to tell him twice. He drew her away from the windows, but not too far. There would be time later for the large bed that stood next to another wall of windows, despite the blackout curtains he employed to keep the place as dark as possible so he could sleep. Time later for sleep with their legs and arms entwined. At this moment though, he wanted the full display of the city to imprint in Edeena’s brain, so that she could never think of Charleston without thinking about him, about this.

  He pulled her to the deeply-cushioned couch and she slid easily onto it, half sitting, half reclining as he joined her. He swept his hand up her leg, catching the fabric of her dress and scrunching it up as he went.

  “I’ll take you to shop tomorrow morning. You can get a new . . . dress, or whatever.”

  Her lips parted in a soft laugh. “Or whatever,” she murmured, and the blatant encouragement in her voice had him moving the hem of her dress higher and higher still, until his fingers drew along the silk perfection of her high cut underwear. He followed the line around the toned curve of her hip and realized the panties were thongs.

  As if he wasn’t hard enough, already.

  “I think these are going to have to go,” he said, leaning in for a kiss as she turned her face into his.

  “I was hoping you’d say that.” Without a further word, she pressed her own hand against his, urging him to curl his fingers around the scrap of cloth that served as her underwear, and pushed her hand down. He followed her lead and pulled the thin band free of her hips, sliding it down her legs in one long movement. Though the need to kiss a trail back up her legs was strong, leading him to where she practically pulsed with heat, he wasn’t going to do that. Everything about this moment was going to be as perfect as he could make it, even if he was going to be in serious physical pain by the time he was done.

  Edeena sighed as he moved back up the couch, half carrying her further back into its plush softness. When the sales rep had sold him the too-deep piece as a third bedding option without the need for a sofa bed, he’d rolled his eyes, knowing he’d never have more guests than his two spare bedrooms could manage. Now he could have kissed the man. Edeena lay before him, her hair spread out on a throw pillow, her gaze on his face curious, almost wondering. A long chenille wrap was draped over the couch, and her fingers swiped at it, curling it against her for warmth or some measure of safety, he wasn’t sure which. But she didn’t turn away when he dropped his mouth to hers again. She leaned up, meeting his kiss with a pressure and urgency that was undeniable. She didn’t know what he was going to do next, but she was giving herself over to his care.

  She wouldn’t regret it.

  With murmured guidance and assurance as she responded with nervous hands, Vince helped her slip out of her dress, then tossed it over the nearest chair. Edeena lay framed by his body and the throw, pressed up against the couch cushions. She was naked except for the silky fabric of her bra, now straining as her full breasts rose and fell in time to her stuttering breathing. Vince lifted a hand to her arm, drifting it over the pebbled skin until he touched the softness of her waist, then the curve of her left breast. She let out a strangled moan as he closed his hand around the weight of it, his own body jacking with desire. Even his calves had gone stiff as a board at this point.

  He leaned forward and kissed Edeena, long and sure, massaging her body with his fingers as his mouth explored hers—tasting, touching, savoring. Her breathing evened out and her body seemed to l
engthen beneath him as he moved from her mouth, drawing a line of kisses down her neck, nestling his head in the hollow of her throat as he licked his way along her collarbone. She groaned when he moved back up toward her chin, but the heat lifting now from her body told a different tale. She was getting as wound up as he was, and the slow trail down her body was as much the reward as the journey.

  Breathing a murmured “beautiful” against her sensitive skin, Vince moved down to her breasts, now able to frame both at once in his hands, lifting them up and capturing the pebbled nipples with his fingers as he raised his gaze to Edeena. There in the reflected light of the Charleston harbor, she was easily the most captivating woman he’d ever seen. She stared at him, her eyes half-lidded, her mouth slightly open, and her expression hazed over with a desire that drove him to focus once more on bringing her pleasure, relief, satisfaction.

  He took the tip of one breast in his mouth and sucked gently, reveling in the sharp pleasure that snaked through him as Edeena nearly arched off the couch. She dropped her hand to his shoulder, consciously or unconsciously pushing him down, but he wasn’t going to hurry. He lavished attention on her other breast as well, kneading them both, grinning as her startled breaths shifted to deep, whispered moans of pleasure.

  By the time he drew his mouth over the soft curve of her belly, Edeena’s legs had parted in mute need, her body lifting to meet his questing lips. She shuddered as he pressed his teeth against her hipbone, easing his way into the gentle crease at the top of her thigh. The skin here was smooth and soft, and it trembled beneath his skin, but he hesitated a long moment, his hands brushing her thighs, his breath soft against her rising heat.

  “Please, Vince,” Edeena managed in a strangled voice. “I can’t—”

  Whatever she was going to say was lost in a gasp as Vince bent forward, tasting the superheated dampness of her clit as she uttered a broken gasp of pleasure and need. She was already so close, and something deep and primal in him responded to that, not willing to tease and tempt anymore, but driven to give the woman what she wanted, what she needed, everything she desired. He ran his tongue down her center, focusing on the tight bundle of nerves he encountered just as Edeena’s breathing fractured, drifting away only long enough for her shudders to subside until he returned again, circling with ever increasing precision.