Illusory Moon_A Passion Moon Romance

by Renee Jordan

  My heart thudded and twisted. It couldn't have been Lexie.

  But a rare coin store was the sort of place we used to burglarize. How many other stores like it were there in the mountains of southeast Montana? Not a whole helluva lot I imagined. I was shocked Olson even had a rare coin store.

  I made the turn off the main road and drove into the neighborhood. Moonrise was a small town. In three minutes, my truck was parked in my driveway. I flew out the cab and ran for my front door. I reached it and shoved my hand into my purse for my...

  Keys were still in the truck.

  I raced back, my stomach twisting. I was panicking for no good reason. Lexie wouldn't have robbed a store in the middle of the day. People would have seen...no she wouldn't care. She would wear a disguise.

  Me. She would look like me.

  I turned off the engine and yanked my keys out of the ignition. I raced back to my house, thrust the key into the lock, and flew through the door. I raced to my bedroom and ripped open my panty drawer.

  No coins.

  Where else could she hide them?

  I tore through my house with a fearful frenzy. I yanked open every drawer and cupboard. I upended my couch cushions and overturned my recliner, checking the cavity beneath the chair. I looked in my freezer and refrigerator. I emptied my linen closet, dumped my bath towels on the floor, and opened the hatch into the attic crawlspace.

  I only found spiders up there. Far too many.

  Finally, my house searched, I fell back on my bed, my face flushed. I stared at the ceiling. Maybe it wasn't her? Relief surged through me. No coins were in my house. It probably was a coincidence. I grabbed my phone, wanting to call Thomas.

  No. I couldn't show interest in his case. That was what made him suspicious.

  So I called Kotie instead. I had to talk to someone about what was going on. I knew it was her honeymoon and I would only make her worry, but I was a selfish person.

  A terrible person.

  The phone rang. And rang. And rang.

  “Damn,” I moaned when her voice mail message played. I hung up. “Probably on a hike with Forrest, enjoying the park.”

  My eyes closed. I was so tired. My breathing slowed. The coins weren't here. I hadn't ruined things with Thomas. I could afford to sleep.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Thomas's arms wrap about my body. I shudder in his grip, kissing him, loving him. His lips feel so wonderful, so soft and sensual. My nipples are hard against his chest. They rub against his muscles, tingling. The ripples wash across my skin. Everything becomes alive.

  I moan in delight, loving his kiss. My fingers tighten in his hair. I stroke through the short hairs, gripping him, holding him against me. I never want to let go. He's my man. Mine. My big, strong bear.

  His hands stroke down my back. His fingers leave tingling fire in their wake. I shift and undulate, grinding my growing excitement into his bulge. He's so huge. Throbbing. Eager. He wants me. Desires me.

  “Penny,” he growls, breaking the kiss and gripping the cheeks of my ass.

  “Yes, yes, yes,” I pant, my head tossing side to side. “Mmm, Thomas. I'm yours. Take me. Claim me.”

  His hands lift me. My thighs wrap about his wide waist, gripping him. He carries me to the field of flowers and sets me beside the lake shore. The sweet perfume wafts through my nose. I inhale, drunk on the sweet scent and the feel of his body.

  Thomas's lips are kissing me again. His stubble rough on my cheeks. His hands stroke my sides, teasing me. I shudder, whimpering and trembling. He kisses down to my neck, nibbling. I arch, inviting him to suck and nibble.

  “Thomas,” I gasp when his fingers find the nubs of my nipple and twist. Above, the sky burns azure. “Yes.”

  His rough fingers twist and roll my nipple. He knows a little pain only sweetens my delight. I hiss as his lips nibble on my neck. Such sweet sucks. My fingers find his broad shoulders. I clench, fingernails biting.

  He growls.

  The wet heat grows in my depths. I rub against his muscular stomach. My excitement leaks out, staining his skin. My clitoris throbs against the ripples of his abs as he kisses lower and lower. I groan, my head lolling.

  “Thomas, Thomas,” I sigh, his name a sweet prayer of bliss.

  Lightning crackles across cloudless sky as his lips engulf my nipple. I moan and squirm, my bed creaking beneath me. Water laps against the bed posts. How did my bed get here? It does not matter. Nothing does but his wonderful lips nibbling at my nubs.

  “Oh, yes, Thomas,” I groan as he kisses back and forth between my nipples, rubbing his palms into them.

  His hand presses between our bodies then between my thighs. He rubs at their apex, caressing my hot flesh. His fingers are wonderful. My back arches. I gasp his name again as my clitoris throbs beneath his calloused digits.

  My pussy clenches as my excitement builds. Such delight blossoms in my depths. The lightning cracks over my head again, thunder peeling. My pleasure ripples through my body. A small orgasm spasms my pussy.

  “Yes, yes, yes, keep rubbing me, Thomas.”

  I want more. I need more. I want him to make me explode. Harder. Thunder crashes above us as the sky spins. Lightning drawing lace-like patterns across the blue emptiness. Rapture caresses my mind as Thomas caresses my pussy.

  “My sweet Penny,” he groans. “Mine, mine, mine.”

  “I don't want to ever lose you.”

  “Why would you?” he asks, his lips kissing my stomach. Two fingers penetrate my depths.

  “Because...” I moan, my back arching. “I...I...”

  “What are you hiding?” Thomas's lips kiss my pudenda. His fingers pump in my pussy. His tongue licks. “You can tell me, Penny.”

  “Don't stop.” Feverish bliss builds inside of me. “Just never stop loving me, Thomas.”

  “I want to.” His tongue swirled around my clitoris. “I do. But you have to tell me.”

  Lightning peeled. Its thunder didn't crackle, but warbled like a siren.

  “Just keep loving me, Thomas.” My fingers found his short, black hair, sliding through it. “Please.”

  His fingers pump faster and faster in my depths. His lips latches onto my clitoris. I gasp. My back arches. My tits heave as the bliss spikes through me. His tongue flutters against the sensitive nub. Giving me such sweet delight.

  My toes curl as the bliss shoots through me. I gasp and groan, humping against his mouth and his pumping fingers. My pussy clenches about his fingers. The pleasure builds inside of me. I want it to consume me.

  His love.

  “Never leave me, Thomas!” I scream as my orgasm bursts.

  I writhe on my bed. The siren howls grows louder, warbling around me as the rapture floods my body. My back arches as Thomas drinks my excitement. I gasp his name over and over, my fingers tight in his hair. The pleasure peaks and...

  ...I bolted up in my bed, my room dark, the curtains pulled. I gasped and panted, struggling to gain my breath as the dream slipped away from me. I fell back, my shirt clinging to my sweat-damped breasts, a moan escaping my lips.

  Sirens howled.

  I shook my head, still groggy from the dream. I sucked in huge breaths. The dream's intensity still weighed on me as my body trembled from the orgasm. I couldn't remember the last time I had come while dreaming. I usually woke up right before the release.

  “What is going on outside?” I groaned. “Did Jim and his wife have another fight?”

  I rolled out of bed, groggy. I grimaced. I needed to change my panties. I had a wet dream. I smiled. Even in my dreams, Thomas was a—

  A booming knock shook my front door. I gasped in shock. The knock came again, the door's hinges rattling. My entire house felt like it was shaking. I peered out of my bedroom door. Strobing blue and red lights flashed through my living room window.

  I swallowed. “What did you do now, Lexie?”

  “Penny, open up,” the familiar voice of Veronica, one of Forrest's werewolf deputies, shoute
d. “Right now. I can smell you in there.”

  “Coming,” I called out, my body shaking. I had no stolen property in the house. I searched. Lexie wouldn't get me in trouble this time.

  I reached my front door, twisted the deadbolt and unlocked the doorknob. I opened it. Veronica and Thomas stood on my porch, a mix of Moonrise Deputies and Olson Police Officers behind them. My stomach twisted.

  “Thomas?” I asked. “What's going on?”

  “Penny Simpson,” Veronica said, holding up folded, blue papers, “we have a warrant for your arrest and to search your house and property.”

  “Arrest?” I staggered and looked at Thomas. He kept his eyes straight. “I...”

  “Are you going to use your magic on us?” Veronica asked, her green eyes almost glowing, her blonde hair bristling.

  “No.” I swallowed. “This is a mistake. Why are you arresting me?”

  “Suspicion of armed robbery.”

  “Lexie,” I groaned as Veronica seized my arms, turned me around, and pressed me against the wall as she frisked me. “I didn't do it, Thomas.”

  His jaw tightened. His chest rose with his rapid breathing. His eyes were dark pools. I trembled as Veronica's hands searched my clothing, sliding up and down my legs and diving into my pockets. Then she cuffed my hands behind my back and marched me into my living room and pushed me down on the couch.

  The cops flowed in and tore my house apart.

  “Thomas,” I said as my drawers were opened, the contents shifted. “Please, what's going on?”

  “Olson Rare Coins was robbed,” Thomas growled.

  “It wasn't me. I was with you when you got the call. How could you think it was me?”

  His jaw tightened. “I can't...I can't talk to you. You're a suspect, Penny.”

  “Please, Thomas. You can't think it was me. I was with you.”

  “You had just arrived,” he growled. “The...the suspect that robbed the coin store didn't notice the hidden security camera. She missed one when disabling the others with her...” His eyes flicked to my chest. I felt suddenly naked, my tornado totem exposed to his gaze. “Her magic missed one camera. We have footage of the suspect. She matches the person the eyewitnesses saw outside the jewelry store.”

  My stomach sank. “Me?”

  He nodded his head.

  I groaned, “Well, it wasn't me. It was someone else.” I bit my lip. “Lexie.”

  “Lexie Meyers?” he asked.

  “How do you know that name?”

  His jaw tightened. “We found a fingerprint at the jewelry store robbery. It came up matching a woman wanted for a series of similar robberies in LA five years ago, believed to belong to a Penny Winters.”

  My stomach dropped. I looked down, trembling.

  “Lexie Meyers was Penny Winters accomplice. Along with Steven White, deceased.”

  “Axel,” I whispered. “He hated being called Steven.”

  Tears fell down my cheeks as he stood over me. I couldn't look up at him. He knew what I was now. He knew I was a criminal. I stared at his polished, black boots as my body shook. The metal handcuffs bit into my wrists as my shoulders sagged.

  “Thomas,” I croaked, “I can explain. It's—”

  “Sergeant, we found the missing coins.”

  “No,” I groaned. “No. You couldn't have.”

  “They were in the suspect's truck. Underneath a tarp.”

  “Take her down to the station and book her,” Thomas growled.

  “Please, Thomas,” I said, looking up to see his back marching away. “Thomas! Please, Thomas! I can explain. I didn't steal the coins. It was Lexie! She used her magic! She looked like me! Please, please, Thomas, just listen to me! I love you!”

  He strode out of the house.

  My body shook as I cried hard. I didn't resist as the officer hauled me to my feet and led me out of the house.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Booking at the Olson Police Station passed in a daze. I moved like a zombie, obeying their commands as I was fingerprinted, photographed, and escorted to an interrogation room. I slouched before the stainless steel table.

  My tears rained on it, leaving small drops beading the cold surface.

  When the door opened, I looked up, hoping it was Thomas. He strode in, as tense as at my house, holding a manila folder in one hand. His eyes did not look at me. They looked past me at the cinder block wall. He sat down at the chair, dropping his folder. The chair creaked as he adjusted it.

  “Thomas, it wasn't me,” I told him. “Please, please believe me.”

  He folded his arms. His nostrils flared. “You've been lying to me since I met you.”

  I winced. “I...I didn't know what to do. I thought I put...my past behind me.”

  He opened the folder. “You're wanted for an attempted armed robbery of an armored car, Penny.” His voice cracked for a moment. He cleared his throat. “One of your accomplices is dead. Your other escaped from prison.”

  “And she's mad at me.” My shoulders shook. “She has every right to be mad at me. I...I didn't do enough to protect Axel and her. And then...”

  I swallowed. “I made mistakes, Thomas. I did. I was young and stupid. But I didn't rob the jewelry store or the coin store. It was Lexie. She's a light witch. She can easily make illusions. Disguising herself as me would be simple for her.”

  “You're wanted by California and Nevada,” Thomas said. “Even if you are innocent of the robberies here in Olson, they're going to learn we have you in a few days. They'll extradite you, Penny.”

  I squirmed in my chair. “I messed up, Thomas. Sometimes it seems like a dream, like it happened to a different person. But then I can see it...Axel...the red...” My shoulders shook. “Please, Thomas. I need your help.”

  He sighed. He reached out and touched my hand and squeezed. I smiled. “I don't know what I can do for you. I'm a cop.”

  “Cops help their friends, don't they?” I looked up into his eyes. “I've changed. I'm not that person. I help the cops now. I helped out with the warlock back in June. Ask Veronica. She was there.”

  “Just...” Thomas said. “What happened? If you're not involved in the robberies, then why did we find the coins in your truck? Why were you hiding jewelry in your dresser?”

  “Lexie,” I said. And then I spilled out my story.

  ~ ~ ~

  Five years ago...

  I stared at the map one last time before I folded it up and put it into the bag. We were clearing out of our room in the Luxor Casino. A week spent in Vegas making sure we knew the route and timetable of the armored trucks was over.

  Today, we would make our big score.

  We had the route outlined. We knew exactly where the pair of armored trucks would be and when. Axel had thought of everything. He had it all planned out. I had to agree, the spot he chose for the ambush was perfect.

  Well, I thought it was. But I was hardly an expert.

  We paid cash for a large pickup truck, one of the big Fords, from an ad on Craigslist. We used fake names. The truck couldn't ever be traced to us. What made me really nervous were the explosives. We would have to blow open the armored trucks. There were no external locks on them. They could only be opened from the inside.

  Axel wasn't sure my wind magic could handle it.

  The explosives scared me. And the assault rifles Axel purchased from a shady guy back in LA. Three AK-47's. He wanted each of us to carry one to help intimidate the guards. They weren't loaded. They were just for show.

  It frightened me. This entire plan was so stupid. Every time I tried to talk to Lexie about it, she pouted and gave me her puppy-dog eyes. I don't know why they worked so well, but they did. She disarmed me every time.

  I took a deep breath, then folded up the map and shoved it into my bag. Lexie and Axel had our other bags ready. They waited for me, Axel looking impatient. I could see it in his eyes—he feared I would stop his perfect plan.

  I should. I promised myself I would.


  But it would mean disappointing Lexie. I hated myself as I shouldered my bag and walked to them. We left our hotel room behind. It was our last night sleeping in the United States. After we had the money, Lexie would use her magic to change the truck, we'd drive to the southern border, cross into Mexico, and settle in Acapulco to enjoy the good life on the white-sand beaches.

  We had to get through the next hour.

  I trembled during the entire elevator ride down to the lobby. I wish Lexie and Axel looked at all nervous. They kept giggling and whispering, caught up in their love, not focusing on reality. It was beautiful for them, but made me worried.

  Why weren't they scared? This wasn't a game. The guards had guns.

  The elevator dinged. We strolled through the casino floor, passing the slot machines. Noises beeped and rattled about us. Axel and Lexie had blown a hundred grand on gambling while we were here. Neither cared.

  “We're about to be millionaires,” Lexie had laughed. “Who cares if we keep losing. We're having fun. You remember how to have fun, right?”

  It was hard to have fun when I was scared. I wanted to. I had always wanted to go to Vegas with tons of money and have a wild time. It was on my bucket list. I still had the bulk of my share of the jewelry heist hidden in the truck. Part of me wanted to blow the money and take my mind off my problems, but every time I tried, I couldn't focus.

  I kept seeing my friends dead.

  We left behind the air-conditioned casino and stepped into the searing-hot afternoon sun. The strip bustled before us as tourists streamed up and down it, staring at all the sights put on by the casinos. Cars moved slowly down the street. Axel handed our valet ticket to a young Hispanic man in a red jacket. He raced off.

  “Relax,” Lexie told me. She reached out and took my hand, giving me a squeeze. “It'll be fine. Just one hour.”

  “Just one hour,” I said, exhaling greatly. Just one hour and it would be over. We would have our money and I could relax and have fun again.