by Layla Frost
Denny flung an arm over my torso and a leg over my own. Her arm tightened around me quickly before her body relaxed. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“As am I,” I whispered, though I wasn’t sure if she heard me as she drifted to sleep.
Staring at the ceiling as she slept in my arms, I prayed to the gods she still felt the same way once she learned the truth. The truth about who I was. What I’d done. And who she was.
Our connection had been fused together, never to be broken again.
Because I had my memories back.
Chapter Seventeen
RFK and Smutty Vikings
Denny
IT WAS HAPPENING.
I was going against my schedule.
That morning, I’d woken to an empty bed and a note from Nate letting me know he’d be out for most of the day.
It’d worked out well because the first Saturday of the month was my productive day. Even if I was hungover, exhausted, or just plain lazy, I’d wake up early, put on pants, and leave the house to follow a schedule so strict, it was color-coded in my planner.
Except I’d forgotten to charge my phone the night before, my mind on jumping Nate. I’d tried to make do with my car charger, but the lighter plug was temperamental. After the third zap, I gave up. I’d gotten through the time sensitive errands and headed home to recharge both the phone and me.
The late-night sex had been followed by Nate waking me a few hours later for more. I was happy but exhausted.
Trudging up the walkway to my house, I stopped at the low rumble of voices. I looked toward the street to see a group of five men staring at me. Only three of them looked familiar.
One of the unknown men stepped forward, smiling as he waved. “Afternoon, ma’am.”
Ugh. Ma’am? Do I look like a ma’am?
I need a new moisturizing routine.
Or just a moisturizing routine, period.
“May I help you?” I asked.
“No, we’re here to help you. New neighborhood watch.”
“Oh.” I tilted my head. “We need a neighborhood watch?”
“Some recent break-ins,” Dave Sanders, who lived halfway down the block, filled in. “Started up this week, a few houses hit each night. Either someone is fast or there’s a group of ‘em.”
All the more reason to love having Nate with me.
Safety and sex.
“Steve,” he continued, gesturing to the unknown man who’d been speaking first, “lives over on Union. Their block has been hit once already, so he’s trying to form a watch like his old neighborhood in Peabody had.”
I glanced over to see Steve glaring hard. If looks could kill, Dave would be six feet under.
He wasn’t the only one who felt that way after only a short time in Dave’s presence. Nosy and gossipy, he was a nightmare neighbor if you wanted any semblance of privacy.
Since Steve seemed to want his privacy, teaming up with Dave had been a big mistake.
Masking his anger, Steve turned his attention back to me. “We’re looking for volunteers and introducing ourselves informally, but we’ll be posting flyers about an official meeting soon.” He glanced at the house, and then back to me. “Be careful.”
“Yeah, especially since you live alone,” Dave blabbed. “Young girl like you, single and alone in that big house. You’re prime pickings for a burglar. If I were twenty years younger…” He finished with an exaggerated wink.
Creepy. So freaking creepy.
Steve’s head whipped around so fast, I thought it was going to keep going. “I figured this went without saying, but apparently I was wrong. In the future, let’s not publicly broadcast which residents would make the best victims.”
Dave made a pfft sound before saying, “We all know Denny doesn’t have anything worth stealing. Her grandma left her this old house, and my wife, Mary, says she’s some sort of struggling artist.”
There was a gurgled sound of rage from Steve.
Trying to avoid a neighborhood watch boxing match—one that would end with Dave in an ambulance and Steve in a cop car—I said, “Yup, she’s got that right. But I’ll be on the lookout anyway. And I’ll be sure to use my house alarm all the time.”
“You don’t—” Dave started, but stopped when Steve stepped closer. “I mean, good luck and hope to see you at the meeting.”
With some waves and called goodbyes, I watched as they walked off. They stopped a few times, a couple more men joining them.
It reminded me of a group of kids during summer vacation, picking up friends on their way to the park.
Since it was likely their meeting would turn into a bunch of grown men acting like boys, I didn’t envy Dave or anyone else who was serious about forming the watch.
Once they were out of view, I headed inside, still shaking my head. The door had barely closed behind me when Nate came into view, sliding on the hardwood floor in his rush.
“You’re home.”
“I am.”
“You’re not supposed to be. Your schedule said you’d be out for three more hours.”
“I came back to charge my phone.” My eyes narrowed. “Why does it matter?”
His lips curled up on one side, his eyes going hooded as he approached. “Let’s go upstairs.”
My gaze dropped to watch him take my hand, but my focus went past our entwined fingers and instead zeroed in on the impressive bulge that pressed against his jeans.
What was I supposed to be doing?
If this is going to be anything like last night, I should be stretching and hydrating.
I let him pull me forward a few steps before glancing down the hallway to where he’d been. Going rigid, I stopped. “Why were you in there?”
“What?”
Worry filled me, my eyes darting between the closed library door and him. My tone was accusing as I repeated, “Why were you in there?”
Nate hesitated, making my panic flair as I yanked my hand from his grasp.
“What did you do?” I asked, but I was already on the move.
It always amazed me how, in the face of the unknown, my brain could race through all sorts of scenarios, each worse than the last. In just those few seconds, images of the library in various states of upheaval flashed through my mind, and I nearly sobbed at the idea of it being destroyed.
Nate called my name from behind me, and I was vaguely aware of him speaking, but I didn’t stop.
I couldn’t.
I didn’t even pause as I threw open the door, my eyes scanning the room, bracing for the worst.
Bracing for another loss.
Apart from a quiet gasp, I said nothing, and neither did Nate. We stood in silence, though I felt him close behind me. After a minute, his palm landed on my lower back to give me a small push, pulling me from my stunned reverie.
I rubbed my eyes. When the view before me didn’t change, I looked over my shoulder at Nate.
He met my gaze, offering me a small smile, but didn’t say anything more as he leaned against the doorframe.
My heart thundered as I took a tentative step forward. And then another.
Books.
The room was filled with them.
I inhaled deeply, the distinct smell filling my head and lightening my soul.
Reaching out, I once again hesitated, worried that if I touched them, the vision would blur and warble before disappearing. But when my fingers skimmed across the faded spine of a book, nothing happened to it.
But everything happened to me.
Everything.
My eyes scanned row after row as my heart clenched tighter—filling and twisting and breaking. Tears burned in my eyes. Hope and anger mixed, and I spun to face Nate.
Still leaning in the doorway with his hands in his pockets and his ankles crossed, he watched me. Something burned in his eyes, and I badly wanted to decipher the look.
I wanted to beg him to always look at me like he was in that moment.
Before I could get lost in
him, his expression became guarded and he stood. “I’m sorry.”
Closing my eyes, my head dropped back. Tears leaked from my eyes, trailing down my temples and into my hair. The high I’d allowed to build crashed around me, leaving me with an unbearable ache at the loss.
So much loss.
For a moment, I got to feel my connection to her again. That’s more than I ever thought I’d have.
Even with that consolation, I couldn’t keep the bitterness from my tone. “You promised me you’d never use your talent on me.”
“My what?”
“Your magicks.”
I opened my eyes to find him standing close, his stare filled with confusion as he reached for me.
Before his hand could touch my cheek, I stepped away. “You’re making me see…” I gestured wildly around me. “You said you wouldn’t do that. You promised.”
“I didn’t.” Nate held his hands up. “Swear to the gods, Denny, I’m not using my powers.”
“Then how do you explain this? These are her books, Nate. I sorted through the soot. I saw the ashes—” The words and a sob caught in my throat, choking me. “I saw the ashes blow away.”
Understanding must’ve dawned because Nate gave me a nearly imperceptible nod. He reached for me again, and I let him pull me close, greedily soaking in the comfort he always gave me. His large hands curled around my throat, his thumbs under my jaw tilting my face up. Gently, he whispered, “These aren’t hers, my little hellion.”
“But they are. They’re even in the same order. She didn’t sort alphabetically by title or author.”
“She sorted by her favorite,” he supplied. “She kept her favorites at eye level, so she could easily see them and remember the world they took her to. Enjoyed ones were kept under them. Unread were kept above so she could use the ladder to reach them. And since she never threw out a book, the ones she hated were—”
“Shoved under the bottom shelf,” I interrupted, almost hearing my grandma’s voice in my ear. “Close to hell, which was where wasted words belong.” I bent to see only a few books. “There weren’t many she hated.”
“No, even when her book club hated a book, she found something to enjoy about it.”
“I could’ve sworn these were really hers.”
“I wish they could be, but magicks doesn’t have infinite reach.”
“It doesn’t?”
He shook his head. “Sometimes, there is damage so severe, no amount of magicks can put it together again.”
A shiver ran down my spine, goosebumps spreading in its wake.
“These are repurchased copies, but I’m sorry, I haven’t been able to get them all yet. Only about half.”
“Oh. Only.” My small huff of laughter erupted, growing into something light and carefree. I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his chest. “I just… I can’t believe it.”
He returned my embrace, pressing his lips against my head and staying silent as I worked to take it all in.
Leaning back in his hold, I grinned up at him. “This is the most amazing thing. Ever. I don’t even know what to say. Why? How? How did you even know what to buy?”
“Denny,” he started, but I broke from his hold to examine the books again.
My initial panic had morphed to sad betrayal before landing firmly at excited adrenaline. I couldn’t stand still. I paced, skimming my fingertips along the books as I choked back a giddy laugh. “She had the best mix. I mean, who else would have a biography of Robert Kennedy next to a smutty romance about Vikings?”
“She favored the romance more than the biographies. Said the real world needed an escape portal to a world where she was a,” he lifted his hands to do air quotes, “‘hot young thang being chased by all the men.’” He gave me a sheepish smile. “Her book club could get a bit rowdy. Especially when the tea was spiked.”
Now I know where I get it from.
“Denny, we have to talk.”
The tone of his voice was like water on the fire of my excitement. What little bit remained was extinguished when my eyes hit a crime novel and the obvious smacked me upside the head.
“You stole these,” I stated, closing my eyes to hide my crushing disappointment.
“What? No.”
The neighborhood watch.
The break-ins.
Hell.
“Okay, then you stole the money to get these.” I turned to face him, trying to remind myself that he may not know better. He could’ve been a pirate before, with pillaging and stealing a part of his everyday life. “Nate, you can’t… People are mad. They formed a neighborhood watch. I mean, it’ll probably turn into a beer drinking club instead, but—”
“Are you calling me a thief?” Nate crossed his arms over his broad chest and glared down at me.
“It’s okay, I know things were probably much different before.”
“I’m no thief,” he rumbled, the sound like thunder in my ears. He tilted his head back, mumbling to the ceiling, “Gods. Give a woman a library, and she accuses you of being a petty criminal.”
“There’s hundreds of books here. Chores for the neighbors wouldn’t make enough money.” I looked at the corner. “Did you use my grandma’s stashed money? It’s a worthy cause, but I was hoping to keep it for emergencies.”
Not that I’m going to return any of these books.
“No, that money is still there,” he said. “Will you come here? You’re making me dizzy.”
Realizing I was circling the room, I walked over to him and stopped. Energy swirled around, the pain of the past mixing with the elation of that moment.
Standing in a room that had once filled me with anger and helplessness, I felt joy again.
And it was all thanks to him.
He’d given me back something I’d thought was forever lost, filling a pit in my soul.
The rush of strong emotions needing an outlet.
And I knew the perfect way.
“You didn’t steal the books or burglarize anyone?” I double-checked.
“No!” His hands spanned my waist. “Gods, my little hellion, what do you think of me?”
“I think you’re sexy. And thoughtful. And I’d really like for you to take me to bed now.”
Nate’s black eyes darkened, hooded and intense. Tightening his hold on my hip, he tugged me closer, though he seemed to be fighting it. His gaze dropped to my lips, and he mumbled, “We need to talk.”
Based on his bleak expression, whatever we had to talk about wasn’t good. It would be heavy and depressing, thereby plummeting me from the high I was riding.
I just wanted to enjoy it a little longer.
“Later. After I’ve had the chance to show my appreciation.” Wrapping my arms around his neck, I went up on my toes. “After you’ve made me come so hard, the world stops spinning.”
His mouth crashed down on mine, his hand palming the back of my head and gripping my ass as he lifted me off my feet. Not giving him the chance to change his mind, I wrapped my legs around his waist. Our tongues fought a seductive battle as the speed and pressure of our kiss increased.
Fighting to taste.
Fighting for dominance.
Fighting to get closer and feel the potent bond that connected us.
Using his hold on my head, Nate controlled the kiss, claiming victory, though it was hardly a loss for me. I gave into the kiss, allowing him to take the lead. His groan at my submission traveled through me, the rumble of it vibrating between my legs.
I wanted more.
Needed it.
Tearing my mouth away, the words on my tongue turned to a moan as Nate’s mouth went to my neck. Biting and licking, he hit pleasure points I hadn’t known existed. I hazily wondered if he’d marked me, and rather than being embarrassed, the thought of people knowing he’d claimed me filled me with pride and sent a burst of pleasure to my heart.
I was losing my mind, but I didn’t care. Mind-blowing sex was a good trade-off.
/> “Upstairs,” I said on a gasp. “Or here. Living room. I don’t care. Just get naked.”
I anticipated a chuckle, looking forward to another rumble between my thighs. However, when Nate pulled away, there was no humor in his expression. Wicked heat warred with hesitation as he tried again. “We have to talk.”
“Later.” He opened his mouth, but I pressed my fingertips to them. “Please.”
He groaned, his body loosening as he gave up the fight.
I jerked my hand away when he nipped my fingertip. Without them in his way, his mouth took mine again as he carried me into the living room. He started to sit on the bay window, stopping when I gave a muffled protest.
Thankfully, he didn’t question me. I pushed my reasoning to the back of my head, not wanting to ruin the moment.
He backtracked to the steps, hurrying up them as my body shifted against his.
When he set me on the bed with a bounce, I scrambled onto my knees, shoving my jeans off as I went.
Nate’s eyes roamed my body, though he made no move to undress and join me.
“Come on,” I urged, pulling my shirt over my head. Once it’d cleared my face, I opened my eyes to see Nate still hadn’t moved. “What’s wrong?”
“In all my time on this earth, I’ve never seen anything or anyone as beautiful as you. I could look at you for all eternity and still feel as though I were seeing you for the first time.”
My heart hammered in my chest as I forced a small laugh, trying to make his comment light, though it felt anything but. “You’re good for my ego.”
“I mean it, my little hellion.” There was a hint of melancholy to his tone, a shadowed sadness in his gaze as he studied me. His stare was slow and methodical, as if he were trying to memorize each inch of my body. “Everything about you is a gift from the gods.”
“That feeling is mutual.” I gestured to his body. “Which is why I want you naked, too.”
That time he did chuckle, and he did it while removing his shirt. He pushed down his pants, his thick cock springing free and my body literally pulsed in anticipation.
Once he was naked, he crawled up the bed toward me, but I dodged him.
Reaching into the drawer, I pulled out a condom. When he tried again to cover my body with his, I put my feet flat to the mattress and rolled us. He went willingly, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to budge him.
