Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
‘Walk me up?’ I asked as Robbie eased his car to a stop outside my flat.
The engine purred low before he switched it off, the sudden quiet filling the small space between us.
Streetlights painted his ridiculously handsome jawline in gold and shadow, and for a second, I forgot to breathe.
He was divine. What on earth was he doing with me?
He turned to me, silver eyes gleaming with mischief. ‘Of course I’ll walk you up Stacy, but the question is … do you want a sleepover?’
The teasing lilt in his voice sent a rush of warmth up my neck. My fingers toyed with the seatbelt before I found the courage to meet his gaze. ‘Well, if I said yes, would you like to stay?’
He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, his hand found mine, rough palm against my skin, his thumb tracing a slow, deliberate path across my knuckles. ‘I would,’ he said, his voice a low rumble that settled somewhere deep in my chest.
‘Then stay.’ I pushed open the car door and smirked back at him wickedly. ‘And come.’
Robbie’s mouth curved up; promise and hunger rolled into one sultry expression that made my pulse jump.
He rounded the car, grabbed a duffel bag from the boot, and fell into step beside me as we climbed the stairs.
The air between us hummed with tension, the kind that could spark into something else.
My God, I really wanted it to spark into something else.
I remembered all too well the feeling of his fingers on my skin, and I found myself craving it again.
‘That’s encouraging,’ he murmured, close enough that his breath brushed the back of my neck. ‘I have things I want to do with you.’
My keys slipped slightly in my fingers, betraying the flutter in my chest. I turned, half a step higher on the landing, meeting his gaze head-on. ‘Oh?’ I asked, the word coming out breathier than I’d intended and threaded with something perilously close to anticipation.
His smile deepened, slow and dangerous. ‘Oh, yes.’
The lock clicked open, and I stumbled in with zero femme-fatale energy. All my poise and decorum were gone. All that remained was an urgent need.
When Robbie was inside the flat too, I pushed the door shut, muffling the sounds of the street.
Then I pounced. For once, I pushed him against the wall.
Desperate hands ghosted over the lines of hard muscles that did something so visceral to me.
I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his, desperate and hot. He groaned against my lips.
I grabbed his t-shirt and pulled at the hem, trying to get it off of him, but it was impossible to pull it off his seven-foot-tall frame from my far smaller height.
With a low chuckle, he gently moved me away, just a little, then pulled the t-shirt off, revealing muscles that could crush walnuts, grate cheese, and perform other culinary delights.
I traced the lines of his abdomen with my fingertips. ‘Fuck, you’re hot,’ I told him.
‘I’m glad you think so,’ he replied, ‘but if you’ll indulge me, there’s something I’ve been needing to do.’
‘Oh yeah?’
He prowled into my kitchen, opened the fridge and pulled out a can of Dr Pepper. ‘You didn’t have a can today at dinner,’ he noted.
‘No,’ I admitted. ‘Mum had only just put one in the fridge. It was too warm.’
He picked up the can and brought it over to me. Eyes flashing with a teasing light, he pressed the can to the fevered skin of my neck. ‘This one’s cold.’
I gasped at the feel of the cold condensation battling the heat of my skin. ‘It is.’
‘I want to know what it tastes like,’ he growled, voice low.
I blinked. ‘Oh. Well. Go ahead. Open it and have a sip.’
‘I’m not drinking from a can, Stacy,’ he said patiently, waiting for me to catch on. ‘I’m drinking from you.’
‘From me?’ My pulse skipped. The challenge in his voice was unmistakable. I never backed down from a challenge.
‘Take a sip,’ he growled. ‘I want to drink it from your lips.’
It was a good thing he wanted me to have a drink, because my mouth was suddenly dry, and other parts were very wet.
I lifted the can and opened it. The crack sounded like a shot in the quiet room.
Then, with his eyes on me, I took a sip of the dark fizzing liquid.
The sweet, spiced flavour lingered on my tongue.
Robbie watched me the entire time … too intently, too hungrily. He was going to consume me, and I was so ready for it.
He stepped in, one hand cupping my jaw, the other curling around my waist. His voice dropped to a murmur. ‘Now, Inspector … share nicely.’
He pressed his full lips to mine and I moaned.
The kiss was slow and deliberate, tasting of cherry and curiosity, of something dark and far more addictive.
His lips brushed mine once, then deepened the contact, coaxing rather than claiming.
The faint fizz of carbonation sparked between us, and he hummed low in his throat – a pleased, surprised sound that sent a thrill down my spine.
When he finally pulled back, his silver eyes were dark, his smile predatory. ‘Sweet,’ he rumbled, ‘delicious, and dangerously addictive.’
‘Me or the drink?’ I asked, breathless.
‘Both. Definitely both.’
He held the cold can to my lips again, and I sipped obligingly. As I held the fizzing liquid in my mouth, he pressed his lips to mine and invaded, stealing the drink from me. The sound of him swallowing the liquid down was obscenely sexy.
Man, I was in so much trouble. I had it so bad for this man.
‘Delicious,’ he repeated. ‘I can see why you like it.’ He looked at me.
‘You’re wearing too many clothes, Inspector.
’ He helped me out of my jacket and tossed it on the back of the sofa.
Then he peeled my t-shirt off me and chucked it somewhere.
I didn’t care where it went, just that I could finally feel his skin against mine.
We exchanged a hungry kiss, and I wanted more. More than ready. I’d been dreaming of this moment since I met this man, with his predatory air and eyes that saw to the heart of me.
‘Bed,’ he murmured as he manoeuvred us expertly into my bedroom.
We left the half-empty can of Dr Pepper forgotten on the counter, fizzing softly into the quiet.
‘Dispatch to Wise,’ my radio blared from its charging station.
‘Shit,’ I muttered as I climbed out of the bed, leaving Robbie-the-heater alone as I padded naked into the other room to answer.
‘This is Wise.’
‘We’ve got a DB, same MO as your current case,’ Louise informed evenly, no hint of emotion there. I could all but hear the yawn in her voice, which told me she was towards the arse end of a very long shift.
‘Where?’ I asked. She told me the address, and I wrote it down.
‘Alert Channing,’ I decided, despite the ungodly hour. ‘Who’s on scene?’
‘DS Roberts and DC Atkinson.’
‘All right, thanks. Wake up Frost and get her to take over from Atkinson. Then pull Ed or Sam onto this one.’
‘Already on it,’ Louise promised.
I set the radio down and shook off my tiredness by drinking the remains of the can of Dr Pepper on the kitchen counter. It was warm, a little flat, but still had the caffeine I needed.
I snuck back into my bedroom to dress for the day and was surprised to see Robbie already up, pulling on clothes from his duffel bag.
‘You caught one?’ he asked, the question mostly rhetorical.
‘Yeah.’
‘No problem. I’ll drive you to the scene.’
‘Thanks,’ I said gratefully. Nothing in Chester was ever that far, and I was only a five-minute walk from the station if I needed to requisition a vehicle. Still, Robbie taking me would save me a bunch of time.
I loved that he accepted my work and the pre-6am calls. Not only did he not bitch about it, but he also offered to take me to where I needed to be, saving me from a walk at this ungodly hour. With his help I could be on the scene by 6am.
‘Hey,’ I said, frowning. ‘I don’t feel any different.’
He paused as he pulled on his trousers. ‘Are you complaining you’re not sore enough?’
I laughed. ‘No, not that. I’m definitely walking funny today. I meant the mate bond. I can’t feel you like I can Loki.’
‘Sorry, I should have clarified,’ he smiled. ‘Ogre bonds are different from most others. It’s not sex that cements them. We need a special ceremony, with some blood exchanged on den soil.’
‘Oh.’ I had assumed that once we’d done the horizontal mambo, we’d be bonded, bada bing, bada boom. Instead, we’d bada’d but there was no boom. I mean, I’d boomed – lots – but the lack of bond was surprisingly disappointing.
He finished pulling on his trousers and padded over to me still shirtless and barefoot. He leaned down and kissed me with such intensity that it took my breath away.
‘What was that for?’ I asked as he drew away.
He shot me a brilliant smile. ‘You thought you were going to bond with me if you had sex with me, and you had sex with me anyway.’
I heard the implication he understood but didn’t voice: I loved him.
‘I’m not ready to say the words,’ I blurted.
‘You don’t need to. Actions speak louder than words, Inspector.’ He pulled on a t-shirt that might as well have been painted onto his abs. ‘I’ll feed Loki while you shower.’
I loved that he didn’t pressure me in the slightest. I watched the curve of his jeans against his deliciously tight arse and couldn’t believe I’d got so lucky.
I quickly showered and dressed, but when I entered the living room Robbie pressed a finger to his lips and jerked his head toward the sofa, where Loki was still fast asleep.
Robbie had quietly chopped up some ham and left it on the side for Loki to discover when he awoke, and he’d opened the window for Loki too. Food and freedom. He got it too.
The two of us snuck out together.
‘Best not to wake Loki,’ I said as we jogged down the stairs. ‘He’s still recovering. He says he’s fine, but I worry all the same.’
‘I hear you. He’s been through a lot.’
We opened the door into the street, and I squinted against the dawning light. The tree opposite my flat looked black, and it took me a moment to work out why. It was full of crows.
‘What the hell?’ I breathed.
Robbie looked at me, then followed my line of sight.
‘My murder,’ he said, a shade sheepishly.
‘Let me feed them. I’ll just be a moment.
’ He pulled a bag of unshelled peanuts from his duffel bag and approached the birds with their midnight wings.
They cawed excitedly, fluttering around him, nuzzling him and jockeying for a position on his shoulders.
‘I’m glad to see you too,’ he said aloud. Then he scattered a good amount of nuts on the ground.
Instantly, the birds flocked to the earth, fighting and cawing over the monkey nuts.
He poured more out until the bag was empty and all of the crows were on the floor instead of on him. Then he turned to me, a soft smile in his eyes. ‘Come on,’ he said, slinging his bag into the car. ‘Let’s get you to your dead body.’
Drawing myself away from the spectacle of the still-cawing crows, I slid into the car and did up my seatbelt. Then I repeated myself. ‘What the hell Robbie?’
He grimaced. ‘You know I have my own little murder of crows. At night, they act as guards for me. Everyone knows that my family line can speak to birds, thanks to a piper who somehow gifted one of my ancestors with magical powers. So … I don’t have to hide my ability to pipe birds.
My murder were pissed off when I told them we were moving from my den in the Home Counties to up here.
A good few came with me, but most stayed behind, hoping I’d change my mind.
Looks like they finally accepted that wasn’t going to happen. ’
‘You’ve missed them,’ I said.
‘More than I realised. Having them back …’ He smiled. ‘I’m glad to see them all.’
His shoulders were loose, and I wondered if he was even honest with himself about how pleased he was. He had no family, no friends, but he had his crows. And he’d given them up to come to Chester – for me.
That feeling I still struggled to label welled up so hard it stole my breath.
‘Where am I driving you to, Inspector?’ he asked lightly.
I told him the address and watched with concern as his knuckles tightened on the steering wheel, turning white. Shit.
‘You know someone at that address?’ I asked, dread curling in my stomach.
‘Yeah.’ He let out a slow breath. ‘I do. My uncle.’