by T. M. Cromer
As he shucked his clothes and stood naked before her, Liz got her first peek of the healed bullet hole and fought the urge to cry. No one would’ve known to inform her had Zhu Lin succeeded in killing him.
“Qalbi.”
She lifted her head from where she stared at the wound to meet his warm, dark eyes.
“I’m here.”
The tears fell. They reached for each other at the same time, each seeking what only the other could provide.
“I love you, Rafe. I hate the fact we lost those years.”
“On this, we are in full agreement.”
When she would’ve made short work of her clothing, he halted her hands and took over. His long, lean fingers teased the bare skin beneath her dress as he inched it upward. A warm tingling began in her thighs, and she had the overwhelming impulse to press them together, which was in direct contrast with her desire for him to intimately touch her. As quickly as she started, she wanted to put on the brakes.
Maybe he felt the tension in her body, or maybe he witnessed her brief bout of confusion, but Rafe eased his hand from beneath the skirt of her dress. “We can go as fast or as slow as you wish, Liz.”
Taking his hand, she returned it to the spot he’d been caressing. “The last person I was with was you. My nerves got the better of me.” She dropped her eyes and brushed the fine hair on the back of his wrists. “What if I’m…”
“What if you’re what? Reserved? Rusty? Too passionate and will break me in half in your enthusiasm?”
She laughed at the ridiculousness of his statement. “I feel like I only come alive for you, Rafe. As if you’re the one who wakes the sleeping beast within me, but I’m afraid of that person. She’s wild and uncontrollable.”
“Qalbi, this is not turning me off.” He shifted to lift her on top of him, with her legs bent and thighs straddling his hips. “In fact, you’re speaking my love language.” Shifting his hips, he asked, “Can you feel what you do to me? Let your freak flag fly, I always say.”
Again, she laughed. “You do not always say that.”
“For sure, I will from now on.”
All the tension left her body, and when he eased the side zipper of her dress down, Liz didn’t object. And when he slowly peeled the straps from her shoulders, she moved to allow him easier access.
He sucked in his breath at her bared breasts. “For the love of the Goddess, you are stunning.”
The skin from her chest to her cheeks warmed. Rafe chuckled even as he cupped her. “You’re cute when you’re embarrassed.” Running his thumbs lightly over her erect nipples, he sighed. “I could lie here the rest of my life like this.”
“I believe you said much the same thing once before.”
“I remember. What I didn’t recall was exactly how perfect the weight of your glorious breasts feel in my hands. How your skin is so petal-soft.” Guiding her downward, he kissed her nipple before capturing it between his teeth for a light bite.
She bit back her moan of pleasure, and Rafe paused in his ministrations.
“Oh, no, qalbi. There’s no holding back—for either of us.”
He wrapped a hand around the nape of her neck and dragged her lips down to meet his. The contact sparked the long-banked fire inside her, causing it to rage out of control. Needing no more encouragement, Liz took charge of their kiss. Tasting him, stroking him with her tongue as she trailed her fingers up and down his penis to tease a bead of cum from its tip. She used it as lubricant for her palm to glide back and forth until she elicited a moan from him.
With a simple snap of Rafe’s fingers, Liz’s remaining clothing was history. She smiled against his mouth as she shifted her pelvis to rub her slick wetness along the length of him.
“Keep that up, and this is going to be the quickie Quentin was teasing us about the other night,” he warned.
She giggled and began to rain light, lingering kisses along his jaw, down his neck, and across his chest. She paused here and there to flick her tongue over his nipple or to taste the salty sweetness of his skin. Along with her mouth, she explored every inch of him with her hands, needing to experience the warmth of him in a tactile way.
When she would’ve taken him in her mouth, he stopped her and shook his head. “Next time. Right now, I need to taste you.”
Rafe flipped her on her back and went straight for the promised land at the apex of her thighs. At the first stroke of his tongue, her hips came off the mattress. On the second stroke, she cried out her pleasure. She lost count of the times he laved her core with his tongue; all she could concentrate on was the enjoyment she experienced under his skilled mouth and hands.
Her orgasm rocked her so hard, she bucked against him, chanting his name over and over like a benediction.
With her release, came the overpowering desire to have him inside her. To feel him fill her to the stretching point and then fill her some more. She rolled them to position herself on top and then eased down on his shaft until he was fully sheathed.
“Goddess!” he gasped.
And she understood the feeling. She’d have said the same if she could’ve formed a coherent thought at the moment. All she managed as she rocked against him was a panting plea for harder and faster. He obliged like the wonderful gentleman he was, giving his lady everything she required and more.
Liz screamed her release and gasped when he rolled her onto her back and continued to thrust. Slow, hard, fast, harder still. Over and over, never breaking rhythm until her third orgasm crashed over her. Only then did he join her, shouting her name on a hoarse, husky cry.
They lay there, locked together intimately. Neither desiring to budge an inch. Liz luxuriated in the feel of his weight atop her, cradled as he was between her thighs with her heels wrapped around his lower back.
“Can we stay like this forever?” she asked with a contented sigh.
“That would be my fondest wish,” he said, then dipped his head to claim her mouth.
Chapter 21
“Well, someone’s glowing,” Ryanne leaned close to say before claiming a seat at the table where Autumn and Liz gathered.
Autumn snickered. “Yeah, unless I miss my guess, Rafe and Liz made a stop at Pound Town right before we arrived.”
Liz choked. Her cousin was filterless. While it was funny at someone else’s expense, at her own, it was downright embarrassing. From across the room, Rafe lifted his brows in question. She waved him off, then fanned her flaming face.
“Fess up. How was tall, dark, and dead-sexy in the sack?” Autumn prodded.
The desire to laugh was strong, but Liz finally managed to say, “I’ll say one thing about it, and then you let it go. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
“Sublime and better than I remember,” she admitted.
Her cousin pumped her fist in the air. “I knew it!”
“What does it say about your sex life when you are constantly prying into everyone else’s?” Ryanne gave Autumn an arched look just before pouring the three of them wine.
“Oh, stuff it. You know you were as curious as I was.”
“I totally was, but I’m too polite to ask.”
“Pfft.” Autumn shrugged and shot a contemplative look across the terrace. Expression devoid of all teasing, she faced Liz and asked, “Do you trust him?”
“Yes. I think if you dig deep, you do, too.” She drank a small amount of the vino. “Besides, Alastair and Nash trust him, and that’s the most important indication that Rafe is being truthful.”
“And going forward? What does that mean for you both?” Ryanne asked.
“He mentioned marriage.”
Brow furrowed, Autumn sat forward in her chair. “You don’t sound enthused. Is it not what you want?”
“No, I do.” Even to her own ears, she didn’t sound convincing. Why was she hesitant? Liz was sure of her feelings for Rafe. Was she still clinging to the hurt from their very first hook-up? Was it the lie of omission about his mother’s family? She didn’
t know. “I love him, and he says he loves me. Nothing he’s done so far has indicated otherwise. I think I’m reticent because of Franklin, er, Franco.”
Ryanne set her glass on the wrought-iron table. “Because he fooled you?”
“Maybe that’s it. But I have this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that things are about to blow up, and I don’t know how to get past it.”
“I had that with Keaton. It was about the time Zhu Lin tried to kidnap Chloe.” Autumn gave her standard careless shrug. “It all worked out for us, and I’m sure it will for you, too, cuz. But be sure to listen to your inner voice. It won’t steer you wrong.”
“I hope you’re right.” Liz held up her wineglass. “To love and to things working out as they should.”
Ryanne and Autumn repeated her toast and clinked glasses.
Liz checked her watch. “We should really get our plan ironed out for Franco and the Champeaus. Who else are we waiting on to join us?”
“Spring and Knox.” Autumn tapped the screen on her phone. “They should be here momentarily.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Spring and Knox strolled through the door. Liz watched the care he gave his girlfriend; his consideration was in the small gestures. One of his large hands rested on her lower back as he escorted her to where Alastair, Rafe, and Nash gathered. Knox’s attention was mostly all for Spring with the exception of the caution he paid to his surroundings. Those vivid azure eyes scanned the terrace and the adjoining buildings, missing nothing as he hovered protectively beside her.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as devoted as Knox,” Autumn murmured. “She’s his entire world, and he’s hers.”
“Relationship goals,” Ryanne agreed.
“You both act as if your other halves wouldn’t lay down their lives for you. We all know differently,” Liz countered with a light laugh.
“Oh, I’m not complaining.” Autumn shook her head. “What Keaton and I have absolutely works for us. I’m simply in awe of what they share. It’s otherworldly.”
Ryanne nodded as if she were in one-hundred-percent agreement, causing Liz to look at the couple in question. He wasn’t overly large, maybe six-one and a hundred-ninety pounds, but he held himself as if he were ready for action at any minute. Knox Carlyle was a warrior in love. Or at least he was for Spring, and didn’t that tug at the old heartstrings?
“I see what you mean.”
Soon enough, they were all gathered around the table and were munching on the light repast Alastair had ordered for their meeting.
“What’s our first step?” Knox asked.
“We’ve already taken it.”
All heads whipped around to stare at Alastair. When everyone spoke at once, he held up a hand. “Ryker went undercover as one of Marguerite’s house staff.”
Autumn sat back with her arms crossed. “Jolly Ollie is in the spy game once more. I bet Aunt GiGi just loved that!”
A smile twisted his lips. “She might’ve insisted on going with him.”
Spring laughed her glee.
“Are we to wait for them to report, or do we take action in the meantime?” Rafe asked.
“Always ready to delve into the action, aren’t you, Xuereb?”
A sheepish expression flitted across his face as he acknowledged Alastair’s question. “Sorry. Inactivity is difficult for me.”
“Did you hear that? He likes to get busy,” Autumn whispered in an aside to Ryanne, who clapped a hand over her mouth to stem her laugh.
Liz pinched her cousin under the table, and Alastair ignored them as if they weren’t acting like a bunch of high-schoolers. “Actually, what do you say to a little game of pretend?”
Rafe sat forward. “I’m listening.”
“You and Liz will pay your mother a visit at the Champeau estate to announce your engagement and perhaps mention our family’s magic has miraculously been restored.”
“What will that do?”
“Nothing other than stir the pot. I hope, after you leave, the key players will meet to decide on a course of action against us. It will allow GiGi and Ryker the opportunity to discover who’s unequivocally involved and to overhear any plans.” Alastair turned his attention to Autumn. “Since you are a master at spying through scrying, I’ll assign that task to you, child. Try to break through their ward and take notes on what is said in the event my sister and Ryker are unable to get close enough.”
Nash placed his hands on his girlfriend’s shoulders. “Ryanne and I will cast a locator spell for the objects we suspect Franco to have taken. Once located, Knox and I will plan a little raid.”
“Not without me, you aren’t,” Spring replied pertly.
Knox groaned, but didn’t argue. They all knew he would prefer to tie her to a chair to keep her safe, but since Spring’s return from her ordeal in Columbia, she refused to be coddled. Liz didn’t blame her cousin one bit. Although younger than the rest of them, Spring was incredibly smart and tended to be the most skilled strategist in the group, with the exception of Alastair.
“And you, cousin?” Liz asked Alastair. “What’s your next step?”
“I plan to pay a visit to the few remaining old-timers who may know more about Isolde’s reign of terror. As much as I admire Damian, I want to verify he was being one-hundred-percent truthful with us.”
“Who’s left from when she was alive?”
“Doubtful there is anyone, but I intend to start with Georgie Sipanil. As the head of the Witches’ Council, she’d at least be able to tell me what she has tucked away in her archives.”
Nash grinned. “It helps that she adores you.”
“Really, she favors Ryker more, but I’m sure she’ll be forthcoming for me as well.”
Rafe drained his remaining wine, set his glass down, and turned to Liz. “Ready, qalbi?”
She took the hand he offered. “I feel like I need a script.”
“I’m afraid it will all be improv. But the general idea will be that we are popping in to ask for my grandmother’s ring. I want to give it to you and design a wedding setting for it.”
Although it was all for show, a part of an act to con his family, the idea of Rafe presenting her with a family heirloom melted Liz’s heart.
“It won’t be a lie,” he said softly. “I fully intended to give it to you. Should you decide you don’t like it, we’ll conjure a different set.”
In about a minute, she would breakdown and weep in front of their group. “We should go,” she said around the emotion clogging her throat. Surprisingly, it was Autumn who shot her the understanding smile. She recognized Liz’s wayward feelings.
The Champeau estate was impressive by anyone’s standards. The château put Thorne Manor to shame by sheer size alone. The dark pitched roof boasted at least eight chimneys from what Liz could see. Although it was only four stories high, fourteen matching windows ran the length of the two middle floors, broken only by a grand entryway. The uppermost floor was dotted with circular windows that reminded her of portholes on a ship. She suspected the lower floor on either side of the stone steps belonged to the basement. In the center of the rooftop was a fat, rounded steeple, reminiscent of an old catholic cathedral, with the spire topping the wide open lantern. The gated drive leading to the château was at least three-quarters of a mile long, lined with tall cypress trees.
“Holy shit! Is this where you grew up?”
Rafe smiled at her enthusiasm. “When I wasn’t splitting my time with my father’s family in Malta.”
“I thought your mother was American?”
“Technically, she was born in the United States. It’s where she met my father. But she moved back here, to the family estate, just before they divorced.”
“How old is this place?”
“The building you see in front of us was constructed in fifteen twenty-four. If you squint toward the far right corner of the property, you’ll see the old tower from the original structure from the eleventh century.”
/> “It looks like it’s still properly maintained from here.”
“Of course. With magic, it’s a simple matter to keep everything structurally sound and beautiful.”
“True.”
She bit her lip and fiddled with the hem of her dress. In less than five minutes, she would walk into enemy territory with only Rafe at her side. Granted, Ryker and GiGi were somewhere on the property, but who knew if they would be able to help if she wound up in trouble.
“Qalbi, look at me.”
Tamping down her nervousness, she turned her head to meet his perceptive midnight eyes. Kindness and love shone brightly.
“It’s going to be all right, Liz. I won’t leave your side, and while my mother is a cold fish, she wouldn’t dare hurt you. She won’t take the chance of severing the last thread on our relationship.”
“I wish I had your confidence, babe. Also, we strongly suspect your family of conspiring with Franco, so how sure can you be she isn’t involved?”
“All the more reason for you not to wander away. Please, be sure to stay where I can get to you.”
“Of course.” As they approached the circular drive, she asked, “Why didn’t we simply teleport?”
“There is a complex ward in place. Basically, we’d be electrocuted if we showed up on the grounds without prior notice.”
Her jaw dropped. “That doesn’t happen if we drive up?”
“No, for a number of reasons. They expect their employees to approach by car, bicycle, or on foot for work each day, and by the time a visitor approaches the gate, security is alerted.”
“What happens if we were to simply teleport in and people were in the area? Do they get electrocuted, too?”
“This is really bothering you, isn’t it?”
“I just think it’s reckless to fry people willy-nilly because they happen to approach in an unconventional manner.”
Rafe’s booming laughter filled the cab of their car. “No one’s been ‘fried’ in close to fifty years or more.”
