Forbidden Secrets

by Morgan Kelley

  He stared at him. “Uh, in our world, Beau, we don’t get to tell the women what to do. Case in point is my marriage. If you want to get her to the chapel to get hitched, you better remember that.”

  “No, this isn’t about me. She saw that body, and it freaked her out. When she came to Delta Falls, it was to run her shop and help out when we needed her. We’ve monopolized her time, and I don’t think she’s enjoying it.”

  “Oh.”

  “I’m coming to you as my brother, asking you to maybe order her back to her own business.”

  Julian got it.

  “She told me she didn’t think she’s cut out for this, and I want her to be happy, or I won’t get her to the altar.”

  “That’s fine,” Julian stated.

  “Can we find me a new partner?” Beau asked. “One who is definitely NOT a woman.”

  He laughed. “You’re learning, son. You’re learning. I think your sister and I can work something out when you’re ready for field work.”

  “Thanks, Jules. I really appreciate it. I’ll miss working beside her, but a happy wife…”

  Yes, that was the truth.

  “It’ll work out. We’ll discuss this when we get back to the office.” Julian already had someone in mind for him.

  He knew it would work out.

  “Let’s get a beer. I need one,” Beau stated.

  Julian followed him in. At the bar, they saw a man wiping the counter down. It was dead inside, since the place had just opened for the day.

  “What can I get you two?”

  Julian ordered them some beer. “We also need to know if you’re familiar with a man by the name of Sebastian Winters.”

  “That’s me.”

  Perfect.

  They could kill two birds with one stone on this one—calm their nerves with a drink and do some questioning. It was good being your own boss. Shit like this would get you fired as a cop.

  “What do you want to talk to me about?”

  Julian explained, “We are working the Easton case, and it was brought to my attention that you might have some information we can use.”

  “What case?” he asked.

  “We’re focusing on Cornell’s car accident.”

  Julian left it at that.

  Let the man assume whatever he wanted, but he wasn’t hearing it from him.

  “I told Sheriff Byrd all I knew. He was drinking, but not heavily. He got into his ride, and he died. That’s all I have.”

  “Was he hanging out with anyone?” he asked.

  The man thought about it. “He was with Lincoln Brooks. They were pretty chummy all through the night, but that was normal. Lincoln has it bad for Lennox Easton. They were talking about her all night. They sat right here, having a drink. I heard it all.”

  Julian glanced over at Beau and raised a brow. That was damn interesting.

  He’d been the last person with Cornell.

  He didn’t mention that.

  “Yeah, he was buying him a few drinks, and then they headed out. I told Sheriff Byrd all of this.”

  It wasn’t in the report.

  Julian already knew what was going on. The sheriff was trying to protect his deputy.

  It happened all the time.

  “Did anyone else come near him?” he asked.

  “Nope. They talked about his car, how fast it was now that he had the racing engine in it, and about Lennox.”

  Julian dropped money onto the counter. It looked like he’d been right. They didn’t get anything extraordinary out of this interview.

  “Thanks.”

  They headed outside.

  “Do you find it odd that the man who is madly in lust with Lennox was the last person with her brother?” Beau asked.

  Oh, it was odd all right.

  “Yeah, the same one who gave us all the police and autopsy reports—with the exception of the first one, and apparently, the cleaned up second one.”

  This pissed Julian off.

  They’d just seen the sheriff, and he wanted open communication, but he didn’t give them this heads up. He knew his deputy had been with the dead man.

  Yeah, this changed the game.

  Julian was no longer playing around.

  “Let’s get back to the house. I know we should be hunting down, Gunner Grant, the personal trainer, but Tori is going to want to hear this one.”

  “Does this mean we have a new top suspect to add to the list?”

  He laughed.

  “It most certainly does, and he’s a damn cop too.”

  Wasn’t that convenient?

  * * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *

  At the house, they grabbed all of the books they’d found in the secret room. Tori had taken pictures of the woman’s bones, hoping she could get a little forensic help.

  She had just the man for the job.

  Pulling out her phone, she knew he was probably busy, but it was worth a chance.

  As it rang, she kept her finger crossed.

  “Doctor Tony Magnus.”

  “Hey, Doc! It’s Tori Littlemoon.”

  There was his good natured laughter. “What can I do for you, Tori?” he asked. “It’s been a while.”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. Being pregnant sucks up a lot of my time and I don’t get back to see you guys all that often. I swear I’m heading to DC as soon as this baby is born.”

  “We can’t wait! What do you need? Elizabeth mentioned that she’d talked to you. I hear you have a fun one.”

  “I just opened up a stonewall to find a skeletonized victim of Satanic rituals.”

  “Some people have all the damn luck.”

  She snorted. “You’re a freak, Doc.”

  “That’s what my wife says. You didn’t happen to take pictures of the victim, did you?”

  “I did, and I was calling to see if you could give me sex and anything that might point me in the right direction.”

  “I can, as long as you don’t need it right now. I’m up to my hyoid with dead hookers.”

  “Kinky.”

  That made him laugh. “I miss you, Tori Littlemoon. You were always fun.”

  “That’s what my husband says.”

  It caused more laughter. “I walked right into that one, and I never saw it coming.”

  “Elizabeth would kick your ass.”

  He was well aware.

  “How about you email them over, and tonight, when I’m back at home, I’ll pull them out and get you an update in the morning?”

  “That would be perfect. I’ll send them. Thank you so much, Doc. I knew I could count on you.”

  “Hey, you had me at ‘skeletonized victim of a satanic ritual’. Who can pass that up?” he asked.

  “You’re the best!”

  She hung up.

  “Okay, we have the FBI’s top forensic anthropologist on this one,” Tori said to Hart, Lennox, and Nyx as they sat in her room.

  “It must be nice to pull one of those out of your hat when you need one,” Hart offered. “You Feds have all the luck.”

  “Doctor Magnus rocks. He’s a personal friend too. When you work with people for a few years, you build bonds.”

  Yeah, over the dead.

  “What are we going to do now?” Nyx asked.

  “I think we’re going to start going through those journals, order dinner, and work.”

  “I’m taking Lennox to my room, getting her in a shower, and then trying to soothe her shot nerves and mine,” he stated.

  Tori got it.

  She’d nearly died a few times.

  That had to rattle anyone’s cage.

  “I think we can handle it without you,” Tori offered. “Julian should be back soon. We’ll have backup.”

  He was grateful. In all honesty, he was going to get her back to the room, get her naked, make love to her, and then profess his love.

  Hart was feeling edgy, and that was never a good thing. His gut was screaming, and his cop instinct was off the chart
.

  This needed to be done ASAP.

  “Have a good night,” Tori offered. “Take care of her, Hart.”

  Oh, he would.

  That was exactly his plan for the night.

  Scooping her up in his arms, she held on and buried her face in his neck.

  He smelled so damn good, even after putting a hole through a stonewall. He was musky, masculine, and it attracted her. In fact, she was having a hard time focusing on anything else.

  When they got to his room, he carried her right to the shower.

  Lennox got excited.

  More slippery shower sex was just what the doctor ordered to calm her down.

  In the shower, he washed her hair, soaped her up, and then rinsed her off.

  She wondered when he’d attack, he didn’t.

  It was hands off.

  It almost made her want to cry.

  As she watched him get soapy, Lennox assumed the worst. He’d heard about her family, and he was putting space between them.

  It sucked.

  Was it surprising?

  No.

  Did it damage her?

  Yes.

  As soon as he was done, he grabbed two towels. After quickly drying himself off, he wrapped it around his waist.

  Hart noticed she wasn’t moving.

  “Are you okay?”

  “You’re disgusted by what you learned about my family, aren’t you?”

  “What? Wait?”

  “I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t want to touch me either. I come from a line of sickos. It’s a good thing I can’t spawn.”

  He lifted her chin as he crouched in front of her. “I didn’t jump you in here simply because I want to take you to bed and make love to you there. We did it in your workroom, my kitchen, a bathroom, and on a floor. I want to make love to you in a bed. I want to take my time and make a memory.”

  Her eyes filled with tears.

  “It’s been a rough day, Lennox. Let me soothe you. Let me give you what’s in here,” he said, touching his chest with his big rough palm.

  “Yes, please. I need it.”

  He pulled her to her feet.

  Grabbing their phones, he scooped her back up into his arms and carried her to the bed.

  Once there, he rested her in the center so he could admire her.

  “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”

  Her heart skipped in her chest.

  “Everhart.”

  “Tonight, I want to show you.”

  She needed that. There was no doubt in her mind that when this was over, he was going to leave. She could feel it.

  Nothing good ever happened in her life until him, and she wasn’t betting on the miracle.

  Eastons had terrible Karma.

  Look at her family.

  Hart didn’t hesitate. He dove in. As his mouth moved across her wet skin, he lapped away the droplets of water with tender kisses.

  She arched into his mouth as he moved from her neck to her breasts.

  With the tip of his tongue, he flicked it across her pebbled nipple until she moaned. Then he took it in his mouth.

  Lennox’s hands bunched in the pricy sheets as his mouth destroyed her control. This man could make her insane with just a look, but with his mouth?

  He could make her come undone.

  Here was the proof.

  As he released her nipple, he glanced up into her eyes. “I want tonight to matter because you matter.”

  Her heart pounded.

  Was he saying what she thought he was?

  Did he mean…?

  Hart moved lower.

  As his tongue swirled around her bellybutton, his fingers found her wet, slick, and ready. Teasing her clit, he enjoyed the way she moaned his name.

  He was claiming her.

  Tonight, she was going to be his.

  When her hands found his hair, burying themselves in it, he was in Heaven.

  Then he tasted her.

  No, this was definitely his favorite thing in the world. Lennox was squirming beneath his mouth, and her breathy little gasps drove him wild.

  He wanted her in the worst way, but she needed this. Lennox needed to feel. So, he would give her exactly what he thought she craved.

  His attention.

  As he lapped, teased, and tormented, Hart could feel her getting ready to break apart. He drove her up to the edge, and then over into one hell of an orgasm.

  As she shattered apart, he didn’t let up.

  He couldn’t.

  Hart was addicted to her.

  So, he slowed down, savoring what he could do to her body. It was perfect, and it was them.

  As she stopped shaking beneath him, he once more began the torture.

  “Everhart!”

  He didn’t stop.

  Hart wanted this night to be one they’d never forget. It was going to be special.

  Valuable.

  It was going to be the official beginning of their story, and he couldn’t wait.

  Teasing her was his pleasure.

  Tormenting her drove him wild.

  As her body shook beneath his mouth, he waited for the perfect moment.

  As she moaned his name over and over, he had the overwhelming need to bury his body in hers. Maybe not to make her cum, but to feel the aftershocks before he took her again.

  When she began breaking apart in her second orgasm, he quickly slid up her body to bury himself in her.

  The second he did, Hart knew he could never give this up. He could never give her up.

  It would kill him.

  He leaned over her body as she rode out the wave after wave of pleasure. When it was done, and only when she opened her eyes, did he begin moving.

  “Hey, beautiful. One more time for me.”

  She’d give him her heart if he asked for it. Lennox was madly in love with him, and she would do anything he wanted just to have this in her life.

  “Yes!” She moaned as he began working his way in and out of her body. With each pass, he stroked her with his rock hard erection and the waves of pleasure inundated her.

  She wasn’t going to last, and she knew it.

  As she gazed up into his beautiful stormy eyes, she saw something there. Lennox prayed it was love.

  She wanted to blurt out her own feelings, but if she was wrong, the moment was ruined.

  Instead, she held on through the pleasure and hoped he saw the same thing in her eyes.

  “Oh, Lennox,” he whispered as he slid in and out of the heat. It was the most amazing feeling, and with her, it was magnified.

  “More,” she pleaded, not talking about the sex.

  She wanted his heart.

  She wanted all of this man.

  As she tried to focus, Lennox couldn’t keep herself from breaking apart.

  She knew it was over.

  “I can’t,” she whispered as the overwhelming need to explode was taking her over.

  “Now, baby!” he said, driving into her with one long stroke. As soon as he filled her, he couldn’t hold on any longer either.

  They fell together.

  The heat.

  The love.

  The need.

  It swamped them both, threatening to drown them.

  Hart pulled her to his body, and they remained together as they rode out the pleasure.

  Finally, she spoke, “Wow.”

  Hart laughed. “Yeah, that’s what I think every time we’re together.”

  Her too.

  This had to be a serious talk, so he braced himself for all the possibilities. Just as he was about to say something, her cell rang.

  Hart didn’t mind her taking it. In his world, if he had a call and it was Clarissa, he’d have to answer it. Honestly, he didn’t mind waiting a few minutes.

  “Go ahead.”

  “Are you sure? It’s Milo, and it’s probably about next week’s show.”

  He didn’t like the man.

  Hart didn’t trust
him.

  “Sure, go ahead.” That took everything he had to spit it out. Milo Perkins was the LAST person he wanted her talking to, but saying that out loud would get him voted off ‘potential wife’ island.

  Hart knew better.

  She sat up and took the call.

  “What’s up, Milo?” she asked.

  “Are you busy?” he asked.

  Hart listened carefully. From where he lay, he could hear the conversation. The man wasn’t exactly quiet.

  “Yes, I am. I was in the middle of something very important,” she admitted, running her fingers lovingly down Hart’s cheek.

  “Well, I have big news. You’ve got to hear this! Whatever you’re doing can wait!”

  She doubted that. Nothing in the world mattered more than her precious moments with Everhart Rose.

  “What?”

  “We had an offer from a gallery in New York. They want you to come out for a couple months, display your art, and be featured in Tribeca Arts Center.”

  She couldn’t believe that.

  “Really? They want my art there?”

  “YES! You’ve hit the big leagues, baby! You have to come here tomorrow, and we’ll discuss it.”

  She couldn’t believe it. This had always been her goal in life. When she’d escape into art, at the other side of the rainbow was this place.

  It was her Mecca.

  Hart listened, and he was nothing short of appalled. He couldn’t believe he was hearing this. She was getting her big break, and because he’d hesitated, he was going to lose her. He’d been too late.

  There was no doubt what she was going to choose. Lennox didn’t have kids, she had no ties to bind her to his world, and she was going to want to escape after the truth about Evangeline came out.

  Shit!

  It was over.

  His heart was breaking in his big, stupid chest. This was what happened when you let yourself fall in love with the wrong person.

  You got hurt.

  “Excuse me,” Hart said, leaving the bed to head to the shower. He wanted to be alone.

  No.

  He needed to be.

  When the door closed, she wondered if he was okay. He said he wanted to talk, and now he looked pissed. Something was definitely wrong.

  “Milo, I’m not going to go to Tribeca for that long. I can’t leave here. Something far more important has come up here.”

  “What? Are you insane?”