“If we slow down,” he murmured against her lips as he kissed her ceaselessly. God, would he ever get enough of this woman? “I can last longer for you.”
“Next time,” she said, arching against him, driving him deep. “I need you now.”
He splayed his fingers through her silky curls, letting them trap him as he knew they would, as he held her beneath him and, trusting that she knew what she wanted, what she needed, he thrust hard, sending himself beyond the point of no return.
“Yes, like that. Mason, just like that.”
Her words faded away, leaving behind a soft sigh that was his undoing. A soft sigh that at some point transformed into moans of pleasure, cries of pure joy, and her ragged breathing mingled with his until they were both sweaty and sated and limp with release.
Mason rolled them to their sides, and they lay entwined for long minutes, staring into each other’s eyes, their fingers floating over the other’s skin in a silent language of connection, of unspoken bonds. Bonds that Mason knew would be tested all too soon.
As their breathing slowed, and the air grew chilly, Mason pulled the throw over them again, snuggled Jade against his chest, kissed her temples and her hair and her face until they both fell asleep.
Chapter 15
O h, hey. We forgot your Jeep.”
“Is this your normal pillow talk?” Jade mumbled against Mason’s chest.
In all fairness, the earth had just moved twice, and they’d fallen back to sleep an hour ago, but she still wasn’t ready to think. If she started thinking, she had a major dilemma to work through—to keep him or not to keep him?—and there seemed to be no right answer.
She’d probably change her mind about the need to figure out when they’d pick up the Jeep the next time she had to go out, which, if she wanted to make love to this man again, one of them had to do.
And she did. Oh, she very much did.
“You never lay in bed and talked with your husband?”
“I catnapped. Once he closed his eyes, he was dead to the world for a good six hours.”
“You never…on the floor in front of a fire?”
“Dead fire.”
He took the cue and pulled the throw over her bare shoulder.
“We’ll pick up the Jeep later,” she said, stretching without moving too far from him. She liked the feel of his body alongside hers, his shoulder beneath her head. “Can you drive?”
“Sure.”
She smiled, and nibbled toward his nipple. “Not too much exertion on the heels of hypothermia?”
“Did I seem tired to you?” he asked with a sexy rumble that said if they had more condoms, he’d show her just how tired he wasn’t.
“Then we can drop Annie’s car off for her.” And stop by the drugstore.
When she groaned, Mason picked right up on it and said, “What?”
“Everyone in West Bluff will know I’m having sex.”
“Because…we’re going to drop off Annie’s car together?”
“No, silly. Because I’m going to stop at a drugstore on the way home.”
“Ah. You’re going to ravish me again.”
“Without a doubt. But…”
“Timing’s bad?”
“Right on the heels of a presumptive death certificate?—everyone’ll think I’m celebrating. Not bad for me, mind you,” she hastened to add. Didn’t want him to think she had any regrets. “Just looks that way. And then they’ll think worse of you, and you might not get the help you need around town…”
Mason threw off the throw and sat up. “Hannibal’s not that far. Do they know you there?”
Jade bolted upright beside him. “I’ll wait in the car.”
Mason chuckled. “I feel like a teenager.”
“I made love to a teenager once.” She’d met Doug in college.
“You dirty old woman.”
For that, she took the whole throw to herself when she stood up, wrapping the soft folds around her.
Mason gathered his clothes. “Think I can run upstairs without running into Weezy or Annie?”
“I was going to compliment you.”
“Really?”
“Something about your stamina.”
“Go ahead.”
She yawned. “I can’t remember.”
That afternoon, Annie jumped into her station wagon and slammed the door. She’d left Tricia Sherwood in the slush two blocks back. The woman would not give up, following her for the past several days. Needling, needling, needling.
Something had to be done, and Annie didn’t mind being the one to do it. This was the last straw. She’d let Tricia bump into her, literally dragged her down into the snow and came away with her black beret. Ha! By the time Tricia’d searched the snow and couldn’t find it, Annie was a block away.
But Tricia—Boy, could she run!
Annie gunned the engine and drove down Main Street as fast as she dared. There wasn’t time to go home and cast a circle of salt and do a proper spell with candles. She had deliveries to make. Not that she didn’t have candles with her; she did. Picturing herself getting pulled over with a lit candle in the car made her laugh. Imagine trying to explain her way out of that one.
She’d make do, though. Jade always said energy was important. Well, her heart was pumping now! She punched a cassette of rhythmic drums into the ancient dash-mounted player and visualized it not eating the tape.
She threw the beret onto the floorboards, ground it under her heel, tapped her hand on the steering wheel in time with the beat, and said, “I want the media to stop hassling all three of us and gathering information on us.” Tap, tap, tap. “I want Tricia Sherwood exposed as a real troublemaker.” Tap, tap, grind. “She should lose her job.” Tap, grind, tap. “Everyone should see what she’s been up to. She should lose her job. If she doesn’t let up, I want the cops to get involved. Did I mention she should lose her job!”
Grind, grind, grind.
“As I will it, so mote it be.”
“Are you stalking me?”
Mason whirled around at the sound of Brenda’s voice.
“I saw you the other day outside the card store. And now you’re here. Give it up, Mason. It’s over.”
“Brenda!” He was genuinely happy to see her. “So that was you.”
She glared at the box of condoms in his hand, then at him. “If you don’t leave me alone and go back to Florida, I’ll file a complaint. I will. Lyle’s family lives here in Hannibal. The authorities will take me seriously. I’ll get a restraining order if I have to.”
“What? No, wait, I’m here on business.”
“I mean it.”
“Really. Anthony’s uncle sent us to West Bluff.”
Her glare softened. “Anthony’s here?”
“Well, not here. In West Bluff. I just ran over here for the day.”
“What, they don’t have private eyes in Missouri?”
“Keep it down, will you?” Mason glanced around to see if anyone overheard, then leaned close. “I told you how it is sometimes. A local is too obvious. All it takes is somebody recognizing him and saying, ‘Hey, who’re you investigating today?’ and the whole stakeout is blown.”
Brenda folded her arms across breasts that were bigger than normal. She must’ve been wearing a bra that was too small for weeks, hoping he wouldn’t notice, and now it didn’t matter.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “West Bluff, huh? Where’re you staying?”
“Mystic Manor.”
She looked dazed for a moment, then burst out with a laugh. A guffaw, actually. If she didn’t pipe down, everyone in the store would know he was an investigator working in West Bluff, and what was news in West Bluff? Three widows, that’s what.
Brenda laughed so hard, she had tears running down her cheeks.
“Is that healthy? In your condition?”
She caught her breath. “I’m sorry.”
“Whatever.”
“I mean it, Mase. For everything. I handl
ed it so badly.”
“Yeah, you did.”
She started laughing again. “But you are just so stupid.”
“Excuse me? It sort of sounded like an apology when you started.”
He shouldn’t have told her he was working, but in his defense, he’d grown used to telling her everything. He hadn’t said whom he was investigating, but that didn’t matter. If she mentioned she’d run into her ex, there’d be questions, especially from Lyle’s family, who’d think the same thing she had, that he was stalking her. She might reveal his real occupation. All it took was one person hearing something, innocently passing it on…It could be in West Bluff in no time.
“I’m working undercover,” he reminded Brenda. “You might consider that you owe me one and keep it to yourself.”
“I do owe you one, Mase. So here it is, listen up. You’re gonna shoot yourself for this.” She leaned in to him and lowered her voice. “You’re so stupid, you managed to pick the one B&B owned by a witch.”
Well, that confirmed it.
“Brenda,” Mason said, breaking into a genuine smile. “Why do you think I care?”
“I’m just saying.”
“Uh-huh. Well, listen, I’m glad we bumped into each other today, because I wanted to thank you. So thank you. There. I’ve said it.”
He’d taken several steps away when Brenda said, “For what?”
He paused just long enough to face her and say what he had to say. “For being you. For doing exactly what you did. For setting me free.”
It was easy to put Brenda out of his mind as he stood in line to pay. He thought about how tough it would be to keep up his ruse of insomnia if he made love to Jade every night and promptly fell asleep until dawn. He’d cover his bases and ask for those herbs she’d mentioned for sleeping. Not that he’d actually take them.
He picked up when Anthony called. If his partner yelled about anything the cameras picked up last night, Mason could always resign again.
“Hey, Anthony. What’s up?”
“Where are you?”
“Hannibal.”
“Good, I was hoping. Can you pick up three more cameras? Something’s wrong with ours. I’m getting nothing.”
“At all?”
“Working one minute, then nothing. Nada.”
Whew.
“Anywhere else, and I’d think they’d been tampered with.”
Mason lowered his voice. “Maybe, ah, someone put a spell on them.” He’d fallen asleep reading the witchcraft books, but if he believed 10 percent of what he’d read, it wasn’t inconceivable.
“How’s your room?” Anthony asked.
“What? Fine, why?”
“I swear mine feels…smaller. Like a closet. I can’t wait until this job’s done. Anyway, the cameras. To put a spell on them, Jade would have to know they were there first. And you saw them, they’re minuscule. Weezy’s granddaughters dusted right over them yesterday, didn’t notice a thing.”
“I’ll pick them up. Hey, Anthony…”
“Yeah?”
“How’s it going with you and the bartender?”
There was a long pause. “What brought that up?”
“You know, just asking.”
“You getting sappy on me, Mason?”
“Resignation’s still on the table.”
He heard Anthony sigh. “We’ve talked a couple times.”
“And?”
“We’re going out when I get back.”
“Good.” Mason was nodding to himself as he stepped forward in line.
“Let’s get this wrapped up ASAP.”
“Is this your I-smell-foul-play radar kicking in?”
“No. Well, it is, kicking in, I mean. But on top of that, I just don’t like being here anymore. And before you say it, it’s not because of the bartender either.”
“I wasn’t going to say a word. I’m happy you’re going out when you get back. Hey, gotta go, my turn to pay. Talk to you later.”
Get back. Would he return to Pensacola with Anthony?
Yeah, sure, he had to. His blood was too thin to live in the Siberia of the Midwest.
Neither was he so dense that he thought Jade would relocate.
“Did you have a nice night by the fire, dear?”
“Mo-ther!” Jade was sitting in the Jeep, waiting for Mason to come out of the drugstore. She tried to squelch the voice of reason that said if he was staying, he deserved to know her secret, but sharing it with him could end whatever relationship they had.
And what was that really? She was supposed to be getting rid of him, but if things were going well, was it wrong to reconsider and think, well, maybe this is how things were supposed to work out? She was torn between accepting the situation and setting it right.
Pure rationalization; he had to go. It’s just that her heart wasn’t in it.
She had to tell him, then.
“Hello? You still there?”
“Still here, Mom.”
“You sound funny.”
“I’m on the speakerphone.”
“Are you alone?” her mother asked, though she probably already knew the answer.
“What, you can’t tell?”
“Don’t be sassy. Is he there now?”
“He’ll be back any minute.”
“You two will make such pretty babies.”
“I’m hanging up.”
“Oh, don’t be so touchy. It’s not like I watched.”
“Keep it up, and I’m putting a blocking spell on you.”
Mona sighed softly. “You slept, didn’t you?”
“All night,” Jade admitted, aware that she’d broken into a big, silly grin.
“Does he know?”
“That I don’t sleep? He says he doesn’t either. How perfect is that?”
“Does he know?”
Jade blew out a breath, resigned to telling the truth. “I thought he’d be gone by now.”
“You’re not still sending him away?” Mona shrieked, and Jade was glad the phone wasn’t by her ear.
“It’s…complicated.”
“Life’s complicated, darling. That’s why we’re here, to work through things.”
“It’d be easier if I could figure out whether to accept the situation at face value or send him back.”
“Well, if you want my opinion…” Mona proceeded to expound on that.
Jade hadn’t expected to fall in love with Mason, not once she knew he was the clone. Telling him she was a witch could scare him off, snuff out any feelings he had for her.
He deserved to know, though. To make up his mind based on the facts. If he hated her for it, if he ran for the hills, that’d take care of the decision for her.
“Gotta go, Mom. My attorney’s on the line.”
Mason slid into the passenger seat and leaned across Jade’s phone for a kiss that was too short.
“Jade. Elliot here.”
On speakerphone, so Mason held back a bunch of sloppy kisses. The guy could be a client. Man, he couldn’t wait to find out what Jade did for clients, what kind of people went to a witch for a spell, what they asked for.
“My attorney,” Jade whispered, starting the engine while Mason buckled up.
Elliot went through the social niceties briefly before moving on. “Just wanted to catch you up and let you know everything’s moving along as planned. The death benefit should be wired to your brokerage account today or tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Elliot.”
Oh boy, Mason thought, going on high alert. If Stockard wasn’t really dead, and the money was here, now was when he’d show up. If he didn’t have remote access to Jade’s account. If he hadn’t been here all along. There was still the matter of cigarette smoke lingering in various parts of the house. Faint, it would come and go so vaguely that he couldn’t pinpoint it.
“No thanks necessary,” Elliot said. “I want those funds at your disposal as soon as possible.”
Mason’s curiosity was piqued. Jade was
in a hurry?
“You’ve been waiting long enough,” Elliot said. “I know you have big plans for them.”
Chapter 16
E ureka!
Mason made progress late the following afternoon. Damn curious, but there it was, a door in the back of a closet, of all places. Now why would someone hide a door? Multimillionaires didn’t have a monopoly on panic rooms, and witches probably had more justifiable reasons to feel persecuted than the very rich did. Maybe Sebastian Delarue had been both.
Mason shined his flashlight in the closet, looking for booby traps.
“God, I love this job.” If he couldn’t be wreck diving, this was the next best thing.
Well, other than making love to Jade. That went without saying.
Anyone could argue that the door wasn’t hidden at all. Two feet deep, four feet wide, the closet wasn’t full of brooms, shelves, or anything else that would, in any way, hide the rear exit. Though it’d be an easy matter to hang a dozen coats in there and duck through them to escape. And maybe it had been used for something like that at one time, but right now, except for the basket of rumpled kitchen towels hanging on the wall, the closet was empty.
Mason prayed the pocket door wouldn’t rub, because Jade was in the house, but he was getting desperate, this had to get done so he could clear the deck between them. He took a chance and slid it open.
Steps. Going down to the cellar. He closed the door behind him, then tested each tread carefully before putting his full weight on it—no sense being reckless at this stage. At the bottom, he located an overhead chain and pulled it.
Fluorescent fixtures blazed to life. One glance took it all in. No windows. Two commercial-sized washers and dryers sitting on a black-and-white-tiled area, surrounded by a sea of smooth concrete that couldn’t have been the original floor. Clotheslines. Hangers. Detergent. Clean towels stacked on a smooth, dust-free table. Everything that accumulates from doing a houseful of laundry. A nice, clean room to do it in. Compared to most Laundromats he’d been in, you could do surgery down here.
Considering he was sneaking around in the house of a woman with a secret life, he was allowed a little catch in his heart at that thought, but further looking turned up no knives, buckets of organs, or restraints. Not that he seriously thought there would have been. Not Jade.
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