RAVEN'S HOLLOW (14 page)

Chapter Seventeen

A dozen objections sprang to mind. Shoving all of them aside, Sadie let her heart—no, not her heart—desire. She let desire take the lead.

Heat scrambled in her veins. Her skin burned. Eli’s kiss tortured her senses. And the feel of his body pressed against hers created a ball of lust that gathered in her stomach and then surged upward and out.

Her fingers found his face and held on while he gave and took and ignited. Freeing a hand, she fumbled behind her for the latch—and almost pitched into the manor backward when Eli got to it first.

He caught her easily and swung her around so her spine was plastered to the tall window next to the door.

Every movement spawned a new and exciting sensation. Every touch sparked another flame. Her bones turned to liquid, her thoughts to smoke, her common sense to smoldering ash.

Skimming her curves with fingers and palms, Eli explored her ribs and waist, her hips. Every inch of skin pulsed where he touched. Hunger flared with need trembling close behind it.

She’d wanted this, wanted them to be for so long now it almost seemed surreal. Desperate to taste, she pushed him to the limit, then let him push her back, to the edge and over.

Sadie swore she heard the last threads of protest snap. She’d warned him, and he hadn’t listened.

Then again, neither had she.

Playful seduction was one thing. This blind plunge to a place she’d never expected to go stunned her senseless. A small part of her also knew it could and would come back to haunt her.

With the last of her willpower gone, she let the cravings of her body take over. Her head bowed back as she reveled in the shivers that chased themselves over her skin. It was, all of it, magic, a spell whipped up by a mad witch whose mind had been distorted by elemental need.

The air in the manor came alive. Sadie felt the storm swirling around her, into her, through her. She wanted to be closer, to move against him, but her muscles seemed to have deserted her. So she wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on as his mouth returned to feed on hers.

Eli’s hands were their own kind of magic. They lit fires everywhere they roamed, and those fires made her energy level swell. As her body grew accustomed to her mind’s out-of-control spin, she found herself eager to play catch-up.

Her fingers went in search of his jeans, latched on to button and zipper.

“You want to do this on the entry floor, Sadie?” She heard the faint amusement that lurked below restraint. “Afraid you’ll change your mind if we take the time to move?”

She kissed him hard and deep, several times. “Afraid we both will,” she said between breaths. “I want this, Eli, more than I’ve ever wanted anything. It’s like—” Her fingers arced through black air. “I’d say it’s like flying, except it’s more like sinking, and really not caring if you surface or die a happy death and come up smiling when it’s over. And since that makes absolutely no sense, why don’t we just...?” She finished the question by giving his mouth a nip and bringing the glitter she loved so much to his eyes.

“Yeah, why don’t we?” He took the kiss much deeper than she had done. “But not on the floor.”

In a finger snap of time, the front hall miraculously transformed into the second-floor landing. She laughed. Crystal night-lights gave off just enough of a glow to guide him along the winding corridor to her bedroom.

Tightening her arms, Sadie caught his earlobe between her teeth and whispered, “Much better than a broomstick, Lieutenant. I never felt my feet leave the floor.”

“Glad to hear your mind’s not on your feet.”

Thunder rumbled through the woods as he set her down in the bedroom. The night-lights dimmed but didn’t go out. With need and desire humming, Sadie let him topple her onto the bed. Then her strength returned, and her hunger for him ramped up to critical.

Lightning streaked through the sky. As it did, she wrapped her legs around his hips, tightened and rolled him to a sitting position. “You undid me in the foyer, Lieutenant Blume.” Eyes gleaming, she reached for his leather jacket, yanked it off and let it fly. “Now it’s my turn.”

Holding his arms out to the side, he grinned. “Take your best shot, sweetheart.”

“Well, actually—” she got rid of his T-shirt with a quick upward tug “—the shot part’s on you. Think of me—” she gave him a push that ended with him on his back “—as your enabler.”

She left him his jeans, then sliding from the bed, switched the focus to her. The long slither of black might have been created especially for a striptease. Sadie took full advantage of the design, easing the sleeves along her arms, before running her fingers over her body and up into her hair. Holding it there, she gave her hips a little shimmy until the dress formed a sexy pool of black at her feet.

Stepping out of the fabric, she strolled to where he lay, propped up on his elbows, watching. If her eyes were any judge, he was more than ready to take that shot.

Raising her arms all the way, she allowed her hair to fall and her lips to curve in a deliberate seduction. “Coming to get you, Eli Blume.” She crawled onto the bed. “In case you don’t know this, a Bellam woman always gets what she wants.”

With one very big exception, her heart whispered.

She stopped the whisper before it became a thought and set her mind on the man whose hands were already gliding over her, who flipped her onto her back and under him in a move so smooth she barely noticed it.

Then his mouth came down to plunder, to take everything she could pour into him. The sounds that collected in her throat emerged in a long, low purr. The lightning showed her that his jeans were gone and the only barriers left were her barely there bikinis and a bra that was little more than a whisper of black lace.

When he raised his head, his eyes shone in the slivers of crystal color. A short lightning bolt later, the lace was gone as well, leaving her naked and dazed with the thrill of exposure shooting hungry tremors to all her pulse points.

He had protection and, because of it, her distant but sincere gratitude. A pregnancy, planned or otherwise, was not on the agenda at this point in her life.

Locking his eyes on hers, he bracketed her wrists and drew her arms above her head. She raised her hips to rub against him, a quick tease. He held her there for an endless moment, then uncurled his fingers and ran them lightly down her arms.

His body shifted and lowered. A quick jolt raced through her when his mouth found her breast. He teased the nipple with his teeth and blurred her mind.

Everything around them swirled together in her head. The spears of lightning, white on black, the laser-thin beams of colors, the heat that built so high it threatened to burst through her skin....

She whipped up and over the peak yet still managed to understand that much more waited for her. There’d be another, larger comet tail to grab and ride if she could find the strength to reach for it.

“Now, Eli.” Her breath hitched. “Please, now.”

She saw him smile. And with thunder shaking both the floor and her bed, he plunged inside her, deep and hard and hot.

Sadie knew she cried his name. Eli simply filled her up. He took her to a place that was both foreign and exquisite. A sensory plane where nothing and everything felt real.

She hovered there for a delicious stretch of time before the ride slowly began to wind down. If the rise had been beyond words, the free fall back was only a little less stunning. A lovely numbness swirled around the edges of her mind and made her want to drift for as long as she could.

Eli was still rock hard inside her, but a deadweight on top. She’d have mentioned it if her tongue had been working. Or her vocal cords. In the end, a hazy “Mmm” was the best she could manage.

“If that was you wanting me to move, not sure I can.” Eli spoke the words into her hair. “Not even sure I’m breathing.”

“Know the feeling.” She set her fingers experimentally on her chest. “Don’t think I care.” She managed a sleepy smile. “Excellent shot, Lieutenant. I may never walk again.”

“I’d say I always aim to please, but you’d probably hit me, and it wouldn’t be strictly true anyway.”

Keeping her eyes closed, Sadie rode on the ripples of pleasure flowing through her bloodstream. “Spoil my swoony mood, and you’re a dead man.”

“Not much of a threat all in all. Died about the time I hit peak.”

She laughed. “So this really was a one-shot—no pun intended—deal.”

“Depends on how good you are at CPR.”

The lazy tone of his voice got her juices flowing again, just enough that she wriggled beneath him. “Any chance of a revival happening down there, Lieutenant?”

She heard his smile. “Could be. A little.” He raised his head to kiss her. “You said one night, right?”

It took a moment for her thoughts to untangle. “One night of what?”

“Us, Sadie. You said if we only had one night, and we knew it, could we enjoy it without repercussions?”

Unsure whether to be amused or offended, she settled for middle ground and stroked a considering fingernail along his back. “I have to say, you’ve got a much better postorgasmic memory than I do.”

Rising on his elbows, he brushed the hair from her face. “I’m a cop. It’s my job.”

Offense gained ground. “You do your job in bed?”

His eyes glinted. “I do it everywhere but there, Sadie.”

“O...kay.” She drew the word out. “That was a fairly decent save. As usual, however, we’re sliding off topic. And yes, to the one-night question—though I’m still wondering, in a not entirely nice way, why you asked it.”

The glint deepened. “Guess I didn’t do my not-cop-related job as well as I thought.”

“That being what? To make me forget the who, when and where of tonight’s séance?”

He slid his knuckles across her cheek. “For a few hours, anyway.”

“In that case...” Her strength restored, she grabbed the duvet and rolled them off the bed. “Storm’s still circling the hollow, the night’s relatively young and I’m not done with you yet. We did it your way the first time. Now it’s my turn.” Locking her knees around his hips, she bent forward to whisper, “Wanna bet I can make you forget who, when and what you are?”

“That’s a sucker bet, Sadie, but I’m game. Twenty bucks and dinner says not a chance.”

She smiled. “Oh, you are so on, Lieutenant.” Reaching between them, she stroked him lightly. “Bellam women might not make the best life mates, but we’re always up for a challenge.” Drawing out a slow kiss, she altered her grip and smiled at his instant response. “I was right about one thing earlier.” She kissed him again around his hissed breath of reaction. “This night’s gonna be so much fun.”

* * *

E
LI
THOUGHT
HE
’
D
trained his mind to circumvent any and all nightmares. But with thunderbolts crashing, rain streaming and his senses riding a sexual buzz that made him wonder if someone had slipped him some new and highly illegal street drug, the worst of them returned with a vengeance.

He was in Manhattan, dead tired at the end of a killer double shift. Coupled with the undercover operation he’d completed two days ago, he’d been lucky to remember his own address.

He didn’t expect Eve to be there waiting for him, truthfully didn’t want her to be. He’d done battle with a lot of demons lately. Junked-up for the most part, but demons all the same. Throwing his own into the mix would simply feed the anger simmering inside him.

Five unrelieved weeks of living in a violent criminal world had scraped his nerves raw. He’d only agreed to the double shift afterward so his partner could be present for the birth of his first child.

Thunder trailed him up a set of dark, endless stairs. His captain said he needed to go under for a while. Threats from the crime boss whose right-hand man Eli had helped expose were the real deal. Anyone, anywhere could have a gun aimed at his back.

Good to know, he thought as he climbed. He was fast and accurate with his own weapons, but if the captain was right and he wanted to live on, he’d need to get faster and even more accurate.

Did he want to live on? he wondered grimly. Or had Eve and her lover sucked his emotions dry?

He’d cared about her, and believed she’d understood. Police officers did not lead normal lives. Her father had been a sergeant in Vice. Between them, hadn’t he and Daddy made that simple truth clear? Or had the entertainment magazine she worked for given her a false set of ideals? Yeah, sure, anything was possible—in Hollywood.

He’d gone to her place one night without calling ahead. His mistake, according to her. He’d discovered Eve and her male model lover in bed. Her bed, not his, Eli recalled, which had helped, but hadn’t stopped the anger from pushing him into accepting an undercover assignment he hadn’t really wanted....

The upper landing of his apartment building took shape at last. Lightning slashed across the East River. He slid his key into the lock, then the dead bolts. Three clicks later, he was inside. Could have hit the light switch, but why bother? He didn’t need light to find his bed.

His boots echoed on the worn floorboards. A woman’s face flirted on the edges of his mind. Beautiful face, stunning features, incredible smoke-gray eyes....

“Gonna make you forget all the bad stuff, Lieutenant,” she crooned. “If Eve had loved you, really loved you, there wouldn’t have been another man in her bed....”

Thunder shook the entire building. The foundation bucked and almost threw him into a wall. Okay, got it, totally exhausted.

Then he heard a sound that wasn’t thunder, or his boots on the floor, or a sexy female voice turning him on in his head.

Deep inside the shadows, someone moved. So did Eli, simultaneously. He saw a flash of motion, aimed for the torso and only jerked the barrel away at the last second because he spied blond hair.

It was too late to call the bullet back. He swore when the glass shattered, and for a horrible moment thought the shot had gone through flesh before taking out the window.

The woman in the shadow didn’t scream. That felt wrong to him. Didn’t she always scream in the nightmare? Didn’t she scream and run, then stop when shock changed to fury and start throwing things at him?