In the Witching Hour

by Неизвестный

  "I know that." She smiled wide. "But I mean for food."

  He shook his head. "I’ll think about food after I’ve had dessert."

  His hands cupped her bottom at the same time he pushed his covered arousal against her. She closed her eyes and moaned. Energy speared her, igniting the flame she’d experienced last night.

  His mouth moved to her neck again, nibbling, sucking. It trailed over her collarbone, down toward the opening in her blouse. As his lips traveled farther, his hand moved away the material. He kissed over the top, wetting the silk garment covering her nipples.

  "How much did you pay for this shirt," he muttered.

  She held his head, helping to guide it over her bosom. "I don’t know. Why?"

  "Because I’m going to have to buy you a new one." His hands clasped the front of the material and ripped it open, buttons clinking to the floor.

  She gasped. Anticipation made her nipples tighten. Reaching between her breasts, she found the hook holding her bra together, and with one flick it parted.

  His hands slid over her breasts then back to her buttocks, lifting her until his mouth could latch onto one of her nipples. Pleasure washed over her, passion drowning out any other emotion.

  His hot tongue swirled around her peak before he drew it into his mouth. She moaned and held his head to her breast. "Yes ... oh, yes."

  He tightened his embrace and pulled away from the wall. With her still in his arms, he hurried into the front room and laid her down in front of the fireplace. He knelt in front of her, shrugged out of his suit jacket, and ripped open his shirt. She reached for his waistband and unfastened his pants. His erection strained against his boxer shorts, and it was all she could do to contain herself long enough to release his throbbing member. The moment she held him, he let out a deep growl and yanked her hand away.

  "Not now. It’s too soon. I’ll lose control."

  With a satisfied smile, she laid back and waited until he was naked. She helped him remove the rest of her clothes. He stretched beside her, his long, hot body pressed against hers. Her own heat intensified. She moved her hands over his chest and down to cup him again, but he pulled her hands away and linked them above her head.

  He bent over, his mouth covering hers, sliding his tongue inside. On her thigh, his hard flesh pounded. She adjusted her hips to feel him better. But once again, he pulled away.

  His mouth trailed, over her chin and down her neck. When he neared her breasts, she arched until he sucked a nipple in his mouth. Her breathing grew heavy, and his feathery breaths upon her skin caused a delightful shiver over her body.

  His hands left her wrists and traveled over her body with his mouth--roaming her breasts, then stomach, and over her hip. With his hand, he parted her legs mere seconds before his mouth found her moist heat. She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. When his tongue pierced through her folds, she let out a ragged moan.

  He sucked her clit lightly then pulled away. She opened her eyes and he cursed, reaching for the small square package that had dropped out of his pocket. Using his teeth, he ripped it open then unrolled it over his penis.

  His eyes were dark, passionate. His lips swollen. He smiled. "I can’t wait any longer."

  He slid between her legs and lowered himself. A groan echoed in the room. She didn’t know if it came from him or her.

  Adrian filled her completely and a foreign emotion swelled her heart. His mouth came back to hers and he kissed her while pumping his hips against hers. Together their passion heightened. Pleasurable ripples released between her legs. A throaty moan escaped her, and she cried out in ecstasy. He was the best she’d ever had.

  He pushed himself into her one last time as a deep groan rumbled from his chest. Between her legs, his erection pounded then gradually stopped. He slumped on top of her, his face resting in her neck. Together their breathing slowed and returned to normal.

  He moved his head and kissed her chin. "I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but you’ll hear no arguments now."

  She chuckled. "I know what you mean. I’ve been thinking of nothing but you the whole day, waiting for this moment."

  He lifted on one elbow and gazed into her eyes. "We still haven’t made it to the garden tub."

  She tilted her head and laughed. With Adrian, they were likely to make love several more times before even seeing the tub built for two.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Sex with Adrian had been heaven. Magical. Unforgettable. Colette didn’t want it to end, but as soon as he found out about her reason for seducing him he’d hate her. Pure and simple--she’d lose him no matter what. If there were any other way, she’d do it in a heartbeat. But there wasn’t.

  Belinda had warned her not to confide in Adrian, but the more Colette was with him, the harder it was to hold her tongue. She wanted someone to talk to, and he was the only man in her life she’d ever wanted to be honest with. With the other men, she was always under the power of her necklace. But with Adrian ... it was a dream come true.

  Finally, she had an honest emotion in her life and wanted to share it with the man who fulfilled her completely--but she couldn’t. She’d lost him even before she’d found him.

  It had been forty-eight hours since she’d seen Adrian and the hunger to be near him overwhelmed her. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think, and every waking moment she agonized over her treacherous planning.

  She lay back on her sofa and tucked her feet to the side, staring out the window into the backyard. The weather had turned cooler. Time to close the pool for the year. But there were bigger problems to think about.

  She glanced at the red, black and gold invitation lying on her coffee table. Adrian’s masquerade Halloween party--the perfect function to get her inside the senator’s mansion and find her necklace. She had no clue where to look, but she’d tear that house apart if she had to--and yes, she’d tell Adrian the truth if that’s what it took.

  It’s a good thing John was out of the country. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, lifting the bulk off her shoulders. Seeing John face to face was not an option she wanted to take. The farther away, the better.

  Now ... what to wear to the party? She laid her head back on the sofa. Her outfit had already been picked out from the day she was born. If she didn’t go as a witch, her Zoetan ancestors would be disappointed. Of course, if they knew she’d let a mortal take her necklace, they’d condemn her anyhow.

  The shrill of the phone made her jump, and she reached for her cell next to the invitation.

  "Hello?"

  "Hi, baby. What are you doing?"

  Her heart beat with renewed life and she smiled. "Sitting here thinking of you. What are you doing?"

  "Wishing I could be with you."

  "Why can’t you?"

  "This case I’m working on with Brian is big. He needs every minute of my time."

  "I’m sorry."

  "Yeah, well, I knew there would be days like this when I decided to become a lawyer."

  She sighed. "When will I see you again?"

  "Did you get the invitation?"

  "Yes, but that’s in two days. I can’t wait that long. Can’t you come over tonight?"

  "I’m exhausted."

  "How about tomorrow night? You have to come over then. I’m afraid of what we’ll do to each other in front of your other guests after all this time apart."

  He laughed. She cuddled the phone closer to her ear. The deep timbre of his voice made her heart skip with excitement ... and another emotion she’d never felt before.

  She sat up and gripped the cell. Love? Could it be she’d let her heart get involved? Could she love someone this soon?

  The happiness spreading through her body confirmed her suspicions.

  How did this happen? She wasn’t supposed to fall in love with a mortal. But worse was dreaming of being with him all the time, feeling his comforting arms surround her, his loving kisses ... and growing old together.

  She cr
eased her forehead. Zoetan witches didn’t grow old. She frowned, a painful longing tightened in her chest.

  "Okay, you’ve convinced me," he said with a lift to his voice. "I’ll be over tomorrow night."

  She smiled, but it wasn’t as full as before. "Good. I’ll plan our evening. Be ready for anything."

  He said goodbye and she held back the words dying to be released in her heart. The words she would never be able to say to him.

  * * * *

  Adrian closed his cell phone and leaned back in his chair, staring at the computer screen in front of him. Guilt hung heavy in his chest for lying to her. Exhausted? He chuckled. He’d like nothing better than to spend the evening with her, but he had other things to do. Although he’d been helping Brian with one of the cases, on his own time, he did his own investigation--and he didn’t like what he’d found.

  His father wasn’t the man he thought. Of course, Adrian knew about his father’s round of mistresses, but he hadn’t known about this.

  He leaned his elbows on the desktop and rubbed his forehead. His father had known all the wealthy men in Colette’s life, beginning with Lawrence Carmichael. Hell, his father had been good friends with Colette’s two lovers who had died.

  He balled his hands into fists. Knowing about all of her ex-lovers made his stomach churn. Sure, he’d had his share of women, but they were not public knowledge as Colette’s had been.

  Adrian had checked the history of his father’s accounts and discovered a large amount of money had been deposited not even a month after Colette had hooked up with these men. Had Colette been his father’s main mistress all those years ago? The jealous pain in his stomach twisted. Was he using her to get money for his political gain? The information definitely pointed in that direction.

  He growled and scrubbed his hands through his hair, hoping it would remove the confusion from his head. If Colette had been blackmailing his father as he had suggested, then why was his father the one getting the payoff? A little niggle in the back of his mind told him that maybe something bad was going on ... that Colette was caught in something she couldn’t get out of.

  Letting out a curse, Adrian pushed away from his desk and stood. He grabbed his cell and his briefcase then hurried from the office. In the elevator, he glanced at his watch. Ten thirty. He still had time to look in on his parents’ estate. After all, they had been gone for almost two weeks. Shouldn’t somebody make sure the house was still in order?

  Forty-five minutes later, he pulled in the long driveway, curving from the road up to the house. He waved at the guards posted at the front gate. For as long as he could remember, his father had insisted on having guards. Yet Adrian had never known anyone to threaten his father--so why were they still watching the house? Wasn’t their home security system good enough?

  He parked his Jag and hurried inside. According to the servant’s schedule, they should all be gone by now, which gave him free reign of the house ... and the first place he wanted to snoop was in his father’s study.

  He switched on the light and glanced around the room. The musky scent of his father’s pipe still lingered in the air. A rush of memories assaulted him. Memories of the better times--before his father had become a public figure.

  Since John Robinson’s rise to glory, the man acted as if he ruled the world. Adrian was sick of the way his father treated others.

  It took him a total of ten minutes to rummage through the desk drawers, but there wasn’t anything interesting to find. The file cabinet was next, and once again, Adrian came up empty.

  He huffed and folded his arms over his chest, his gaze roaming the room. Although he didn’t really know what he was looking for, this would be the place his father would hide something he wanted to keep a secret. Deep in his heart, he knew he’d find out information about Colette here.

  He spotted the portrait of his mother hanging on the wall. Rolling his eyes, he chuckled. Like that reminded his father to stay faithful to his wife. Why did he even have it in here? He creased his forehead. Yes, why?

  Slowly, he crept toward it, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes. He stopped in front of the picture. The smiling blue eyes of his mother twinkled--something he hadn’t seen for quite a while. He touched the large wooden frame and it moved--but not the way a picture did when hanging on the wall.

  He touched it again, adding more pressure. It slid to the left. He arched an eyebrow and repeated the motion, and the picture slid over, revealing a safe built into the wall.

  Confusion made his head ache. He glanced down at the safe his father always used, squished between the two file cabinets. Why were there two safes?

  He touched the dial and stilled. Where could he find the combination? He tried his dad’s birthday. Nothing. He tried the day his father made senator. Nothing.

  Frowning, he stepped back and scratched his chin. There was no way he’d figure it out, but the constant nagging in the back of his head told him there was something in that safe worth seeing.

  He studied his mother’s portrait again. What about trying her birthday? He shrugged and reached out to touch the dial, but a noise in the hallway stopped him.

  The floorboards just outside the office squeaked. He swung toward the door, his heart hammering so fast it threatened to pop the buttons on his shirt. His parents weren’t due back for another week, so who could be here?

  The doorknob turned, and he held his breath....

  CHAPTER TEN

  There was no place for Adrian to hide. He straightened his back and faced the intruder.

  The light from the office shown through the opening of the door and highlighted the figure of a woman. When recognition struck, he released a gush of air.

  Lori, the housekeeper.

  In her hand she held a butcher knife. When her gaze rested on him, she froze with wide eyes. Then she, too, sighed, her shoulders slumped.

  "Oh, it’s you." She smiled and placed a hand over her chest. "I hope I didn’t startle you, but I wasn’t expecting anyone. When I heard a noise in John’s study, it scared the shit out of me."

  He took slower breaths, calming his erratic breathing. "I should be the one apologizing. I didn’t think any of the servants would still be here."

  "Usually, I’m not, but I didn’t know who else would look in on the manor while your parents were away." She dropped her hand and it rested on the slight well of her tummy.

  He arched a brow. She’s pregnant? Wonder if his dad had anything to do with it. Lori had been employed with his parents for only a few years, and Adrian noticed the way his father’s gaze followed the young woman around the room. He gritted his teeth. How old was she now? Nineteen? Twenty? His stomach lurched. His father was picking them younger every year. Lori’s mother, the head housekeeper, would have a coronary if she knew her daughter was messing around with the boss.

  She turned her head and glanced at the wall holding his mother’s portrait. She swung her gaze back to his, narrowing her eyes. "Are you looking for something?"

  He silently cursed himself for not sliding the picture back over the wall safe. "Yes, but I’ll just wait until my father gets home and ask him."

  Lori pushed past him and entered the room. She stopped in front of the safe. "Do you know what he keeps in there?"

  Curiosity urged him over by her side. "No. Do you?"

  "Yes." She looked at him. "I caught him putting it away a few years ago, but I haven’t seen him with it since."

  "What is it?"

  Her jaw hardened. "A necklace."

  "A necklace?" He widened his eyes. "What kind of necklace? One of my mother’s?"

  She shook her head, her forehead creased and crow’s feet appeared at the corner of her dark, brown eyes. "No, it’s not one of your mother’s."

  "Then why would he keep it in a safe?"

  She held up her hands and faced him. Her angry expression slowly disappeared. "I don’t know. I thought you might be able to give some me answers."

  "Nope. Sorry I c
an’t help you." He folded his arms, one hand cupped his chin. "What kind of necklace is it?"

  "I didn’t see it very well because he’d hurried and stuffed it in the safe before I could get any closer, but it looked very old--like an antique. It was in the shape of a dragon."

  He creased his forehead. "I didn’t know my father was a collector."

  "He’s not ... at least that I know."

  Adrian reached over, slid the picture and covered the safe. "I suppose I’ll just have to ask my father when he returns."

  She snickered and shook her head. "I don’t think he’ll tell you. When I asked, he practically bit my head off."

  He turned and led the way out of the study. "Do you need me to take you home or something?"

  "No. I’ve got Mother’s car."

  Adrian walked her to the door and showed her out. She turned and gave him a wave before heading down the sidewalk to the driveway. He shook his head. Poor girl. She could have had a decent life if she hadn’t gotten pregnant at an early age.

  He’d always thought she was pretty. Her big brown eyes, short curly blond hair, and curvy figure were enough to drive any young man wild. Why did she have to throw it away on a man older than her own father?

  Of course he couldn’t be certain the unborn child was his father’s. He sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. But it probably was.

  How many other bastard children had his father produced?

  He turned off the lights and left the house. There was enough for him to think about without worrying about Lori’s unborn child. From what she’d said about the necklace, it seemed she was more of a snoop than he. He chuckled. He might be able to fish more information out of Lori.

  No. He didn’t need to think any lower of his father than he already did.

  * * * *

  Adrian stared at his computer screen, but didn’t see a word. Everyone in the office had long since left. He couldn’t, although he wanted like crazy to drive to Colette’s house and make love to her, he just couldn’t. What if she had been his father’s mistress?