by Amy Reece
“I do. I wasn’t paying much attention during my previous visits.” She followed him inside and paused to look around the living room, noting the polished hardwood floors and thick adobe walls. “It’s charming. Do you know when it was built?” They’d passed a sign on the corner of his street that claimed this was the Historic Silver Hill Neighborhood, but she didn’t know anything about it.
“Uh, no clue. It’s old, though. The heat and plumbing suck, but my landlord is great.” He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and stared at the floor. “You want anything? A beer? A soda? You know, while I pack up some clothes?”
She bit her lip and shook her head. This was ridiculous. They were acting like a couple of inexperienced teenagers. It was time to take matters into her own hands and put them both out of their misery. “No thanks. Can I use your bathroom?”
“Of course.” He led her down the narrow hall, past a surprisingly spacious kitchen. “I’ll be in my bedroom. Take your time.” He winced at what his words could imply and turned to his room, shaking his head.
She rolled her eyes at his retreating figure and stepped into the bathroom, closing the door firmly. What now? How do I move us past this awkwardness? She glanced around the room, noting the gleaming black and white tile. The whole duplex was adorable, and she appreciated how clean Seamus kept it, if a bit dreary and underdone in the decor department. She spied one of his fire department t-shirts slung over a towel bar and reached for it. It smelled like him, a mixture of spicy cologne and the scent that was all his own. She brought it to her nose and inhaled deeply. Then, without pausing to consider the wisdom of her sudden inspiration, she set it on the sink counter and reached for the hem of her own blouse.
Chapter Eighteen
Seamus
He stuffed a stack of clean boxer shorts on top of the t-shirts and zipped the duffle bag. Nina was still in the bathroom. What could be keeping her? A cold finger of fear prickled down his spine as he considered all the horrible things that could happen to her: she might have gotten dizzy and passed out, hitting her head on the sink and was now lying unconscious in a pool of…get a fucking grip! She’s fine and definitely wouldn’t be amused by your mother-hen hovering. He chuckled and ran his hands through his hair. When did I become such an old woman? “Nina?” He grabbed the duffle bag. “We should probably get going or we’re going to miss our—” He turned around and froze.
“Reservation?” She raised one eyebrow. “Yeah, no doubt.”
Holy. Shit. She leaned against the door frame of his bedroom, clad only in one of his fire department t-shirts, one shoulder bared due to the stretched-out neckline, the hem falling to her mid-thigh. He swallowed audibly, though his throat was suddenly bone dry.
She pushed away from the door and crossed the room, stopping directly in front of him. “I hope it’s okay that I borrowed your shirt.”
He opened his mouth to answer, but all he could manage was a dry rasp. He settled for a nod.
She smiled crookedly and stepped closer to loop her arms around his neck. “Let’s not waste time on dinner. We have one night to ourselves, Seamus. I don’t want to wait any longer.”
How could she be so calm? His own heart was threatening to beat out of his chest as he reached a shaking hand to cup her cheek. “Nina, are you sure? I don’t want to rush you into anything you’re not ready for.”
She covered his hand with hers. “You’re not. I’m more than ready for this.” She stood on tip-toe and pressed her lips against his softly. “It’s finally our time, Seamus. I don’t want to wait another minute.”
Since he couldn’t manage to form actual words, he opted for pulling her against him and kissing her deeply. Then he scooped her slight form into his arms and laid her gently on his bed. He stared down at her beautiful face and wondered what he’d done to deserve her. He had no answer, so he simply pulled his shirt over his head and joined her. He skimmed the t-shirt up to bare her stomach and let his hands caress her softness, his thumb brushing across the small scar left from her recent ordeal. He would give a lot for five minutes alone with the asshole who caused it. “Nina, are you sure you’re up for this? Is it too soon?”
“I’m positive. Unless you don’t want—”
He didn’t let her finish her ridiculous statement; he pulled her atop him, curving his hand around her shapely bottom, pressing her against his rampant arousal. “I want.” He pulled the shirt over her head and feasted his eyes on her bared breasts. “God, you’re so beautiful.”
It appeared her bravado had run out though; she couldn’t seem to meet his eyes and her hands moved to cover her nakedness.
He smiled and caught her wrists, bringing them to his mouth. “Don’t, love.” But he pulled her down to lay against him, understanding her shyness. He knew he needed to be extra gentle this first time, but it would be a challenge. He also desperately needed to find a way to slow this down or it would be over far too soon. He moved her so they were lying side-by-side and let his hand slowly slide up her thigh, pausing at the edge of her panties. “Black lace?”
“Yeah. Do you have a problem with that?”
He grinned leaned in to kiss her. “Not at all. In fact, I think I’ve found a new favorite thing.”
She laughed softly, causing his heart to soar. He was enchanted by her anew: her bravery inciting this encounter, her obvious enjoyment of him, her sheer joy, so evident on her beautiful face.
He slipped his fingers under the edge of the lace and she stopped laughing to suck in her breath. “Oh, Seamus,” she said on an exhale.
He grinned lazily, feeling much more in control now. He hooked the edge of the scrap of lace and tugged. “I need you naked. Now.”
He lost track of time as he explored her curves, learning what pleasured her most. It could have been minutes or hours later when he watched her come apart as he stroked her flesh, her face so exquisite in passion it took his breath away.
She regained her breath and reached for the button on his jeans. “My turn.” With his help, she wrestled his jeans off and set about exploring, her slim fingers an exquisite torture on his distended flesh.
“Enough.” He covered her hand and brought it to his mouth. “I need to be inside you.” He spared a moment to reach into his nightstand drawer for a condom and tore the wrapper open with his teeth. He rolled it on with shaking hands and covered her body, positioning himself between her thighs. He paused and stared into her flushed face, recognizing the magnitude of this moment, this consummation of everything between them. “I love you, Nina.”
She smiled up at him. “I love you too, Seamus.”
He pushed forward, sliding into her gently, but firmly. He closed his eyes and willed his body to slow down. He wanted to pound into her until they exploded in ecstasy, but he knew that would have to wait until she was stronger. He settled for a steady rhythm, gritting his teeth as he strove for control. Her sighs and muted groans threatened to break it, and when he felt her tighten around his length, he lost the tenuous tether on sanity and thrust hard three, four times before he exploded, groaning her name and barely managing to catch himself before he collapsed on top of her. Instead, he lowered his weight slowly, pulling her with him to snuggle against his side, regrettably disengaging from her body. He took a moment to get his breath back, then kissed the top of her head. “Are you okay?”
She feathered her fingers lightly through his chest hair. “Better than okay. I’m feeling pretty damned good right now.”
He laughed softly. “That was my goal. I hope I wasn’t too rough. I was trying to be careful.”
She levered herself to lay atop him. “I can hardly wait to see what it’s like when you’re not careful.” She kissed him briefly. “I can take it, you know. I’m fine.”
He framed her face with his rough palms. “We’ll see. You have a tendency to push yourself, love.”
She grinned and leaned in for another, deeper kiss. “Maybe, but it sure is fun right now.” She wriggled against him.
She reached her hand toward him. “Come here. I’m not nearly finished with you for the night.”
He grinned and gladly joined her again, pulling her slim, smooth body to him. “Good, ’cuz I’m not even close to being done with you, Professor. I’m just getting started.” He kissed her, letting his tongue tangle with hers for several long moments before sliding his mouth away and continue on an in-depth exploration of her flesh. “I didn’t get to taste you before.” He pulled a rosy nipple into his mouth and laved it with his tongue, then switched to the other. He spent several long moments worshipping her delicate breasts before kissing and licking his way down her smooth stomach, intent on his final goal. He gently slid her legs apart and settled between them, determined to bring her to pleasure again, this time with his mouth.
“Oh, God, Seamus!”
He paused to grin again, then set to work. She was incredibly responsive, and the taste of her exploding in passion was the best thing he’d ever experienced. He groaned and wrenched himself away to reach for another condom. He rolled over and pulled her to sit on top. “You set the pace, love.”
She leaned forward to kiss him. “Don’t hold back this time,” she ordered.
He didn’t; they were both soon groaning and straining toward completion. Nina came again before he let himself explode, flipping her over at the last moment so he could thrust more deeply. This time, he couldn’t stop himself from collapsing on her body as he finished. “Sorry,” he grunted. “Am I crushing you?”
“I love it. Stay right here.” She smoothed her hands down his sweaty back to cup his buttocks and push him more firmly inside her. “Why did we wait so long to do this?”
“No clue.” He eventually wrenched himself away so he could clean up, then returned to bed and pulled her close. They slept for an hour, then woke and decided to order a pizza. She donned his t-shirt again while they ate, and he found the sight of her sitting cross-legged on his bed, her hair still mussed from their love-making, incredibly erotic.
“What?” she asked as she reached for another slice. “Am I disgusting you with my ferocious appetite?”
He chuckled. “Nope. Not even close. I’m actually just trying to catch a glimpse of what that shirt is hiding.”
She took a bite, then hitched the hem higher, exposing a hint of the soft down between her legs. She arched an eyebrow in challenge.
He fell back against the pillows and covered his eyes with his arm. “You’re killing me.”
She laughed. “Well, we can’t have that. Sit up and eat. I’ll behave.” She waited until he’d sat up and took another bite. “For now.”
He smiled in appreciation, then winced as he remembered something. “I forgot to tell you my good news.” At her questioning look, he continued. “I got accepted to the arson academy.”
“What?” She threw a crumpled napkin at him. “That’s amazing! I can’t believe you waited this long to tell me!”
“Sorry. I was exhausted when I got off my shift and totally forgot. And I’ve been a bit distracted since I woke up.”
“Hmm. Well, I will make you pay for it later. When do you start?”
“In about a month.” He grew serious and reached for her hand. “This means my hours will be a lot more normal from now on. I’ll be able to be there for you and the girls every night.”
She smiled and set her half-eaten pizza slice back in the box. She pushed it aside and crawled across the bed to straddle him. “That’s one of the many reasons I love you so much, Seamus. You take something you worked so hard for and turn it into a new way to care for us. You’re an amazing man, Mr. DeLuca.”
He tossed his slice into the box and slipped his arms around her. “Not really, but I do happen to love you a bunch. I love the girls too.”
“I’m not really hungry anymore; at least not for pizza.” She pushed him back against the pillows and began to kiss her way down his chest. “It’s my turn to taste.”
***
The pounding on his front door woke them early the next morning, startling him into a sitting position. “Stay here.” He pulled on his jeans. “I’ll see who it is.” His heart beat faster than normal and he tried to tell himself it was impossible whoever was after Nina had tracked her down at his place, but he grabbed the baseball bat out of his hall closet anyway. He peered through the peep hole and grimaced as he saw Finn and Chris standing on his door step. He wrenched the door open. “Jesus, Finn. This better be important. How’d you know we were here?” He stood aside and ushered them inside.
“Because we’re detectives, bro. It is important. Can you ask Nina to join us?”
“I’m here.” She’d dressed in her clothes from the evening before and pulled her long hair into a messy ponytail. She handed Seamus a t-shirt—a clean one, not the one she’d so memorably worn the night before.
“Thanks.” He pulled it on and took her hand and gently tugged her to sit beside him on the sofa. “So, what’s up?” He could tell from Finn’s demeanor that no one was dead, so he managed to relax slightly.
“We stopped by Neal’s apartment earlier this morning to talk to Kira before she left for work. Were you aware that she collected on Neal’s life insurance money a few days ago?”
“I was.” Nina looked at Seamus with a small smile. “I didn’t have a chance to tell you.”
He nodded, frowning, and turned back to his brother. “Okay. Why does that concern us?”
“Because she wasn’t there. In fact, it looks like she left in a hurry. It also turns out she hasn’t been seen at the hospital for several days. Do you have any idea where she might go, Nina?”
“What? She’s gone?” She sighed heavily. “I have no idea where she would go. Oh, my God! Does this mean it was her? Did she kill Neal? For the life insurance money? How much was it?”
“Two hundred thousand dollars,” Chris said.
“Holy shit. That’s a lot of life insurance.” Seamus squeezed Nina’s hand. “How much was the policy you were the beneficiary for?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t had a chance to go the insurance office yet. I have no idea.” She looked at the detectives. “You’ll find her, won’t you? She can’t get away with this.”
“We don’t know whether or not she was the one who killed your brother.” Chris held up her hand to forestall Nina’s objection. “But I’ll admit this doesn’t look good. And we will find her, don’t worry. Has she ever mentioned where she’s from? Maybe where her family lives?”
Nina shook her head again. “Not that I recall.” She shrugged apologetically. “I guess I never paid much attention if she talked about her background.”
Chris stood, signaling their interview was at an end. “Don’t worry. We’ll find her. We wanted to let you know. I still think you should continue to be careful, but it looks like you may have less to worry about now, at least as far as your own safety is concerned.”
“What about the guy who attacked her?” Seamus asked.
Chris sighed. “The man you identified in the photo lineup is a janitor at the university. He works in the student union building, which may be where you saw him. He has a solid alibi for the time of your attack: he was in jail on a DUI. Your attack may have been random after all.”
Finn pushed to his feet. “Yeah, looks like you can relax a bit. Well, we’ll get out of your hair and let you get back to—”
“Shut up, Finn.” Seamus growled the words and narrowed his eyes at his brother.
Finn simply laughed and headed to the front door.
Chris flashed Nina an apologetic look and followed him out.
Seamus stood and ran his hand through his hair. “Sorry about my brother. He’s an ass.”
“It’s fine,” she said, waving
her hand distractedly. “Is this it? Is it over? I mean, once they find Kira?”
He held his hand out and pulled her next to him. “Maybe.” He kissed her forehead. “But I still think you should be careful, hon, like Chris said. Let’s take it a day at a time.”
She smiled up at him. “Okay. You have nothing in your fridge, sir, so how about you take me out for breakfast before we pick up the girls?”
“I’d love to. Let me grab a shower first.”
She wove her fingers though his belt loops. “Sounds great. Is there room for me?”
He grinned and scooped her up in his arms. “Let’s find out.”
***
Nina
“Thank you.” She shut the back door of the car and waved to the Uber driver. Barb had picked her up for work that morning since Seamus was working, but she’d taken an Uber to the insurance office and another home. It had been good to get back to work, but now she was exhausted, and realized making the appointment for her first day back may have been a bit of a reach. She carefully locked the door behind her, but didn’t feel she needed to set the alarm while she was inside. She always forgot and set it off by opening a door. I’m tired of being such a nervous Nelly! I don’t know why Kira tried to have me killed, but she’s gone now. She got her money and took off. The police will find her sooner or later, and I’m sure I can stop being so vigilant. I must have been wrong about what the man said before he stabbed me. It had been bothering her since Chris had told them the man she’d identified had an alibi. She knew trauma could mess with the mind; her memory, suspicious for showing up only well after the event, must be something her brain invented. This is all so far from my area of expertise! She was used to dealing with problems and issues that came up by heading to the library and digging into research. Everything in her professional world could be dealt with by hours spent with primary source documents unearthed from the archives. But this murder investigation and the threats against her were baffling. And exhausting. She tossed her bag on the table by the door and shrugged out of the light jacket she’d worn in the chilly morning air when she’d left for work. She grabbed her cell phone, though; she always had it close in case the girls needed to get in touch with her.
