He was absolute perfection from his broad shoulders to his masculine feet and everything she could see in between. She was willing to bet the stuff she couldn’t see was pretty good too.
Seth slid into the tub across from her and placed his cola into the cup holder behind him. He smiled at her, and she knew they would be all right. He took a deep breath of the cool mountain air and stretched his legs as far as they would go. She tensed slightly at the feel of his calf sliding alongside hers. She had to resist the urge to rest her hand on his thigh, to feel the muscles bunch and flex beneath her palm. She bet the hair would be rough rather than soft, the skin smooth. She licked her lips, curious how he’d taste.
It was amazing how quickly she could be distracted from her problems just by thinking about Seth. Seth rested his head on the padded headrest and closed his eyes. The simple red swimsuit did little to hide the fact that he liked what he saw when he looked at her.
She shifted in her seat as her body let her know in no uncertain terms what it thought about that.
Seth kept his eyes shut as he relaxed in the heat of the spa. Abby got his attention by stroking his leg with hers, but the bubbling water caused her to miss his knee. Her leg wound up sliding along his thigh, causing those stormy eyes of his to pop open. “Seth?”
“Hmm?”
“It must’ve been devastating to lose her.”
Well. There went any hope that she wasn’t a social savant. Here she was, practically naked in a hot tub with her dream man, and she brings up his dead wife. Trish would be smacking her stupid if she could hear this.
Seth didn’t pretend not to understand. “It was. I couldn’t believe it when the doctors told me the cancer was inoperable. She’d always seemed so invincible, so solid. The thought that she could be taken from me just couldn’t seem to get through. But I made sure she knew how much I loved her before she moved on. I did everything in my power to see to it that her final days were spent the way she wished to, not stuck in some hospital covered in tubes, but in our home, in our bedroom.”
“Oh, Seth.” Abby slid next to him and hugged him, offering him sympathy. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her, his hands stroking her bare back.
“Do you know, a few days before she passed on, she told me to find someone?”
Fiona sounded like she’d been a generous, caring woman—one Abby would have enjoyed getting to know. “No one should grieve forever. It isn’t natural.”
His grin was lopsided. “Fiona said the same thing. She told me that the pain would pass, and that I’d want to share my life with someone again someday.” He laughed softly. “In fact, she told me if I didn’t, she’d find a way to come back and kick my ass.”
She grinned. “A little spectral attitude adjustment?”
“Exactly.”
They held each other under the stars, she offering comfort, he taking, until the combination of their closeness and the warmth of the water eased them both.
The embrace slowly took on a different feel. Abby rested against him, her head on his chest, her arms entwined around his neck. She marveled at how right it felt to be there with him.
A part of him would always belong to Fiona, but she could live with that.
His heart beat beneath her cheek, the steady rhythm picking up speed as he continued to stroke her bare back. She was no longer surprised by the way he seemed unfazed by her scars. His palms glided over them and didn’t even pause. To him, they were just another part of her.
She loved him for that.
He took a deep breath. “Abby.”
“Hmm?” She saw that his eyes had turned that dark, mysterious blue that so fascinated her. His hands slowed, tracing their way lower down her back to rest at the top of her ass. The contact left her tingling.
She wanted to lick the water off of his chest.
“Abby.” His voice was husky as he bent his head, taking her mouth in a kiss that started out slow and sweet. She felt a gentle tug as he drew her closer to him. She followed his pull, throwing her leg over his and straddling his lap. He groaned and deepened the kiss, his tongue exploring and probing, inflaming them both.
God, she needed him.
She caressed his chest, toying with the flat nipples that had hardened in the cool night air. She teased them with her fingernails, and was quickly rewarded with his low growl. He stroked her just under her breast, cupping the weight of it without touching the nipple until she found herself arching her back, her body begging for his touch.
“You make my head spin.” He lowered his mouth to her ear, kissing and nibbling his way down the side of her neck until he found the spot that had her arching into him once more. She gasped when his teeth nipped her neck, marking her. His grip slid down to the curve of her ass, pulling her even closer to his hardness. She could feel the length of his cock through their wet swimsuits, the sensation racing through her.
She’d done that, made him want so badly he was ready to devour her on his parents’ back porch.
Oh, crap. His parents.
As quickly as the thought came it dissipated, lost in the rasp of his whiskers on her skin. His mouth moved to the hollow of her throat, drifted to her breasts, and she was lost. He could do whatever he wanted, just so long as he never stopped.
“Please, sweetheart. I need you. Dear God, I need you so badly.” He grazed the hard peaks of her nipples and she moaned. She ground against him in response, his hard length stroking her just right. She heard his groan dimly as he took her mouth again, consuming her with a greed she matched.
She didn’t realize he’d moved the straps of her swimsuit off her shoulders until she felt his hands on her bare flesh. She cried out at the sensation of the rough pad of his thumb teasing her already-sensitive nipples. Her hips moved in a rhythm as old as time, his body bucking up into hers in response.
He released her mouth to suckle her and she threw her head back, liquid heat racing through her body. “Seth!”
“Sweet, so sweet.” His lips moved to her other breast and nibbled, his teeth grazing her. She stared down at his bent head, taking it in her hands and holding him to her, demanding that he not stop. When he began to ease her suit down to her hips, she realized that she didn’t have the strength to stop him. Hell, she didn’t want him to stop, ever. She’d wanted him far too badly, for far too long, and she was finally going to have him.
She was going to have Seth.
She nearly came from that thought alone.
* * *
He’d thought he was going to explode when she came downstairs in her sunny yellow swimsuit. It left little to the imagination, showing the sweet curves of her breasts, her lush rear end so snugly encased that he’d been hard pressed not to touch her there. Her legs were long and shapely, and the back of the suit was practically nonexistent. If the suit dipped any lower in the back, he’d have been able to see the upper curve of her derriere. The suit was obviously unpadded, and when she stepped out into the cool night air, her nipples had been hard.
Pretty quickly, so was he. It hadn’t helped that she stared at him like he was the main dish at an all-you-can-eat chocolate buffet. Now here she was, moving under his hands, her orgasm so close to the surface, he could taste it on her skin. He could do anything he wanted to her tonight. The desire that swamped her dark eyes was overwhelming. He released the wealth of her hair around her, burying his fingers in the fiery warmth. Seth tugged her to him, claiming her mouth as she rode his length.
He was going to come in his shorts like a teenager, and he couldn’t find it in himself to give a fuck.
He kissed her deeply, eager to taste her passion. She was gasping against him, writhing with heat, her hips moving faster and faster as they both chased ecstasy. He pulled her hard against him, feeling her skin against his with something akin to awe. He cupped her ass under her suit and set a fast, hard rhythm, forcing her against him time and again, letting her feel what she did to him. She gasped and shuddered in his grasp.
He broke off the kiss, moving his mouth to that spot on her neck that had made her cry out before, nipping and kissing until she was shivering against him. “More. God, please, Seth.”
He thought he would explode right there in the hot tub if he didn’t get inside her right now.
“Seth.” She raked his back with her nails and threw her head back in sweet abandon, her body shivering. He watched as pleasure swamped her, her face more beautiful in her ecstasy than any he’d ever seen. The sweet bite of her nails and the knowledge that he’d done this to her, given her pleasure after barely touching her, sent him over the edge. He groaned against her neck, poured himself into the wet suit, shuddered under her touch until he was spent.
She fell against him, limp, half-naked and utterly wonderful. “Fuck.”
Seth chuckled at the breathless curse. “Soon, sweetheart.” As soon as his legs could hold him, he was going to carry her up to his bed and make slow, sweet love to her. “Soon.” He lifted her face to his and kissed her softly, and promised himself that they’d be revisiting the hot tub as often as he could get away with it.
“Seth? You have a phone call. It’s Damien. He says he needs to talk to you about that project you’ve been working on.”
His father’s voice was an unwelcome intrusion. Abby froze like a startled hare, staring at the darkened house in dismay.
“Shit.” Abby squirmed in his lap, pulling her suit back into place. Damn it. He’d been enjoying the feel of her bare breasts against his chest. His skin mourned the loss. “Tell him I’ll be right there, Dad.” His voice sounded rough, his breathing ragged.
“Okay. I’ll leave the phone on the kitchen counter. Don’t forget to, ah, clean up before you come in. Night, kids.” His father’s tone was far too knowing, far too amused. Joseph probably knew exactly what his son had been up to in the hot tub, which meant Marian would know shortly.
Shit. Abby was going to freak.
“Night, Dad.”
Abby pushed away from him, her suit once more where it belonged. Damn it. Just a little bit longer and he’d be a lot happier. “I’ll be back. Just give me a few minutes to find out what Damien wants, okay?”
She nodded and watched as he went, dripping, across to the patio to the towels. He secured one across his hips, grinned at her ruefully and entered the kitchen through the sliding glass doors. He picked up the phone,
“Damien.”
“Seth. You sound pissy. Did I interrupt something?” Seth growled, and Damien laughed. “Sorry, man. I’ve got some information on Doug Finley I thought you might be interested in.”
“Give it to me.” Seth adjusted his towel and tried not to shiver in the air-conditioning. He was already getting goose bumps from the cold air.
Seth glanced out the sliding glass doors and grinned at the sight of Abby drinking his rum and Coke. Huh. She must have finished her drink. He’d have to bring out another one for her.
“Doug has a sister and brother. His parents are dead. None of them are in the Archives. But get this. His sister has been insisting that Doug is innocent, that Abby was the one who set the fire in an attempt to frame Doug when he tried to break up with her.”
“That’s bullshit.” Seth clenched the phone tight.
“Don’t worry, I believe you. The judge did, too. Doug lost his most recent appeal when he tried to argue that Abby was the one responsible.”
“God. He’s fucked in the head.”
“Yeah, he is. So far, that’s all I’ve got. I’ll keep digging, but I’m not finding anything in the Archives on either side of his family.”
Seth ran his fingers through his damp hair. “There’s something else strange going on. The Shem, I can’t feel it at all. It was right outside the restaurant while we ate, and I didn’t sense a thing.”
“Shit. That’s not good. I’ll do some research, talk to Dante about the crime scenes. Maybe I can go take a personal look. I might catch something you all missed. I swear we’ll find out who’s targeted your woman.”
“Thanks, Damien. Stay safe, my brother.”
“You too, my brother.”
Seth stepped onto the deck to find that Abby had not only finished off her drink, she’d finished off his too. He eyed her sloppy grin warily. “Abby, are you all right?” He settled back into the hot tub, catching her as she nearly fell face-first into the water. The swell of her breasts pressed against his chest.
“Uh-huh.” She grabbed his face and smooshed his cheeks, giggling when he made fish lips.
“My God, you’re plastered.” And now completely off limits. Seth wasn’t about to take advantage of a drunk woman, no matter how loudly his body called him an idiot.
“I am?” She giggled adorably and made him make fish lips again.
“Stop that, swoothoot.” He took hold of her wrists, unwilling to force her away, but he had to get her out of the tub and inside. To bed.
Alone, Seth.
Damn it.
“Smoosh.” She pressed his cheeks together. “Smoosh, smoosh.” She giggled and planted a kiss on his fishy lips.
“You’re adorable, you know that?”
She sighed and draped herself across his chest, petting the hair there as if it were a cat. “I love you, Sethy.”
He froze for just a second, then pressed a kiss to her head. “I love you too, Abby.”
“Sethy?” Her head was bobbing and weaving, one eye open, the other half shut as she gave him a look so full of hope, he wondered what momentous thing she was going to ask of him.
Anything she wanted, she could have. “Yes?”
She petted his cheek, nearly taking out his eye in the process. “Can I have something to drink?”
Chapter Six
Abby woke and immediately remembered why she usually drank sangria. Sangria didn’t make her brain explode. She swallowed thickly as nausea rumbled her stomach and rose in her throat. A brilliant shaft of sunshine knifed into her eyes. “Gah.” She covered herself with the blanket, but almost changed her mind. If she came out in the sunlight, maybe she’d explode in a shower of dust like the romance-novel vampires she loved so much.
That had an odd appeal. At least then the hangover would be gone. And she’d have the added bonus of sparkling in the sunlight.
“Breakfast, Abby.” Marian shouted from the other side of the door. Abby clutched the sides of her head and damn near sobbed. She thought she responded, but she wasn’t certain she still spoke English. The drumbeat of her heart was too loud in her ears for her to hear anything else. She burrowed farther under the covers, trying desperately to shut out the light and the sounds of the Van Licht household as it prepared for another day.
“Kill me now.” She stuck her hand out of the blanket into the warmth of sunlight. Nothing happened. “Damn.”
An eternity later she heard the door creak open, and risked peeking one eye out from between the covers. Seth tiptoed in, carrying a tray. He looked disgustingly cheerful in his dark gray turtleneck sweater and black jeans. At least he hadn’t come in wearing some blinding color. She didn’t think she could have survived it if he had. Even the blue of his eyes was too bright. She burrowed back under the covers with a groan. She didn’t want to know what was on the tray. She hoped to God it wasn’t the bacon she smelled. Normally it was a salty, bacony good. Today it was doing a number on her ability to stop from tangoing with the toilet.
Seth placed the tray by her bedside. He winked at her solemnly, then tiptoed back out, shutting her door quietly. She risked sitting up to see what was on the tray.
On the tray were a tall glass of orange juice, a glass of water and an assortment of pain pills. She chose the ibuprofen and decided to wait a bit to see if the pain medicine helped before risking the orange juice. She didn’t want anything acidic in her stomach just then. It never tasted good the second time around. She burrowed back under the covers, groaned and waited to die.
She must have dozed off, because the next time she checked, her clock showed that it was alm
ost lunchtime. She sat up gingerly, waiting for the cranial explosions to begin all over again. All she felt was a vague sense of thumping at the back of her skull, and some mild nausea. She sighed in relief and reached for the orange juice. She downed half the glass, and realized that the nausea was due more to hunger than the lingering effects of the hangover.
She pushed the covers away. She needed to head to the bathroom. Mom had always told her that when you weren’t feeling well, a shower would sometimes chase the icks away. Besides, she was pretty sure her breath could kill on contact, so brushing her teeth was a must. She stretched, the cool breeze feeling good against her bare skin.
Wait. Bare skin? She glanced down at herself beneath the covers and realized she was naked. She didn’t remember taking off her suit before getting into bed. She didn’t remember climbing the stairs to her bedroom so she could go to bed. Those drinks must have been really potent if she couldn’t remember making with the naked.
She swung her feet over the side of the bed, cautiously testing her stomach and her head to see if either was going to protest the motion. The room rocked slightly, but other than that, they both decided to remain silent on the subject. They were apparently taking a wait-and-see attitude, which was fine by her.
She padded to the bathroom and spotted her suit on the floor. The scene from the hot tub rushed into her mind, the remembered feel of Seth’s mouth on her body filling her senses. She felt vulnerable as her nipples peaked in response to the erotic images flashing before her eyes. It had been the most incredible, sensuous experience of her life.
She couldn’t wait to repeat it.
She picked up the bathing suit and hung it on the shower rod to dry before moving to the sink. Her mouth tasted like a skunk had crawled in, had babies and died of old age.
What was wrong with her? As hot as Seth was, she didn’t usually put out before the third date. Okay, so his red swim trunks had shown his shape off nicely. So he’d been sweet. He’d talked about his wife, and she’d comforted him. And maybe they’d been living together for a little while, but was that really an excuse to mambo on his lap? She reached into the shower stall and started the water.
All for You Page 12
