Chapter 23
AURORA
Ibrought you here; you’re my responsibility. Let’s move.
His words bounce around my head as we hurry through the mansion. Is that really why he looked so worried, so desperate to protect me?
Or is he beginning to care too?
Evangeline’s suite is bigger than most apartments. The three of us sit around the table. Evangeline seems reluctant to look at her grandson, instead staring down at the table, her eyes glistening as if she’s on the verge of tears.
It’s understandable. She almost lost him. That must be a horrible thought.
Outside, the storm has finally begun to abate.
“Is anybody hungry?” Evangeline asks.
Raiden looks at me. “Starving.”
I haven’t showered since he touched me, tasted me. I can still feel the phantom impression his touch left on me. I squeeze my legs together under the table.
“I’ll have Sebastian bring us some food.”
“Where is he, your best buddy?”
Evangeline scowls. “Don’t be cruel about him.”
“People say you two are lovers, Grandma.”
“I’ve heard the sick rumors.”
“Sometimes, I wonder why we let him get so close.”
Grandma rolls her eyes. “Are you saying he’s a suspect?”
“Everyone’s a suspect,” Raiden snaps.
I place my hand on his arm. “Hey–Raiden.”
He looks at me sharply, like he’s going to snap at me now. But something about my touch seems to soothe him.
“Should I tell the guards we’re hungry?” I say.
“That would be nice,” Evangeline replies.
“Don’t leave the room, though,” Raiden says. “Go to the door, tell them, then come straight back.”
“Okay…”
I almost say sir. We share a secret smile as he realizes.
Once I’ve told the guards we want some lunch, I return to the table.
“I’m sorry for snapping,” Raiden says. “This has all been… a lot. An innocent man is dead. My girlfriend’s life threatened.”
He takes my hand warmly and looks at me with emotion. It’s part of the act, I assure myself. Any feelings that flutter inside me are incidental, no big deal.
This has an expiration date–a few hours.
“I understand how difficult it must be for you,” Evangeline says. She smiles warmly at us. “At the very least, you’re happy. You’ve found someone. That means something.”
“Dare I ask if it means our deal will be honored?” Raiden says with an eyebrow raised.
Evangeline nods. “You’ve been in the will since the beginning.”
“What–really?”
“Of course,” Evangeline says. “You’re a Blackwell and my grandson. I wouldn’t cut you out.”
“Sebastian told me he persuaded you to actually take me out.”
“He shouldn’t have said that,” she says. “It’s not true.”
“He’s always resented me,” Raiden mutters. “Always wanted to be part of the family. Once, he told me he was ‘the runt of the litter’, as if he was part of the family.”
“Sebastian is a complicated person,” Evangeline says.
“I still don’t know why you hired him. Why do you keep him so close?”
Evangeline turns away. “I don’t like that suspicion in your voice, Raiden.”
“A man has been killed. A knife meant for me, most likely. It’s natural for me to consider the mysterious man who’s always been resentful of me.”
“First,” Evangeline says, “we don’t know for sure if the knife was meant for you. Second, Sebastian simply wouldn’t do that. I know him better than anyone. You’re completely wasting your time if you’re even considering him.”
I squeeze Raiden’s hand, giving him a look. Calm down.
He smiles gratefully at me, but he can’t shake the tension that touches every part of him.
“My girlfriend has got a point. I need to chill.”
Evangeline tilts her head at me. “Did you speak, dear?”
“No,” Raiden says. “But she’s got a way of looking at me so that no words are required.”
“I believe we call that love,” Evangeline says.
“Whoa.” I let go of Raiden’s hands. “I wouldn’t…”
Go that far, I almost say.
Then I remember the deal.
I need that cash.
Murder or no murder, emotional complications aside, my grandmother needs that fifty thousand.
“Say that love is good enough,” I go on, hoping I can salvage this. “Love seems like too small a word. Love doesn’t describe what we are.”
Guilt twists through me as Evangeline beams at us.
Soon, lunch arrives a platter of nibbles accompanied by three plates. A man in a fox mask lays out the plates. Sebastian.
He stands at the edge of the table. “Anything else?”
“No, thank you,” Evangeline says. “Will you join us?”
“Apologies, ma’am, but I’d prefer not to.” He turns his fox mask to Raiden. “I think it will be easier that way.”
When Sebastian leaves, Evangeline sighs. “He’s a good person, Raiden.”
“Until the killer is caught, everyone is a suspect.”
“Let’s not talk about this,” I say. “Let’s forget for a little while and enjoy this meal.”
“You’re right, Aurora,” Evangeline says. “Tell me about you. Your passions. Your dreams.”
I feel spotlighted, but it’s better than her and Raiden arguing.
As I talk about my love of fashion and costumes, Evangeline’s face lights up. She watches me avidly, as if she’s engrossed by every word. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Raiden watching me approvingly.
After lunch, Evangeline says she wants to lie down.
“We’ll do the same,” Raiden says. “Rest up before the cops get here.”
In the bedroom, he comes onto me instantly, his hands roaming over my body, his length growing hard quickly, as if the hunger in him didn’t go away, just paused as we dealt with the mayhem.
It takes every ounce of self-control I have to push him away.
“No, Raiden,” I say.
He spanks me, making my body grow hot, my resolve weaken. “That’s not what you call me, remember.”
I want to sink into the moment, fall against him, feel his solid arms wrapped around me, feel his manhood pushing against me like before, his head kissing my entrance, teasing at the release to come.
It’s like there’s this force inside me. That’s melodramatic, I know, but I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s like when I get an idea for a new look and I can’t let it go until I begin working on it.
This is a similar feeling, except the work I want to begin is on us. Real work, forgetting about the deal, starting with stripping naked and throwing myself at him, not just feeling his manhood kissing my entrance, but taking him, all of him, every inch.
Over and over and over.
I honestly think I deserve an award for how I’m able to push against his chest, separating myself from him.
“We can’t,” I say.
He takes my hands, traces his thumbs over my knuckles, triggering tingles of pure temptation. “You want this.”
“Maybe you make me horny. And I might like it when you take charge. It’s certainly a welcome break from having to take care of Grandma and myself all the time. But that doesn’t mean there’s anything real here, Raiden. Okay?”
“No. It’s not okay.”
He pulls me against him. I’m the queen of mixed signals. The moment I feel his firm body and his thick bulge, I take hold of his face and kiss him. He smooths his hands over my ass and makes that addicted groaning noise I love.
I wriggle away. “No.” I gasp. “Stop–I mean it.”
“Then say it like you mean it.”
He lifts me off my feet, and dammit, I can’t help but wrap my legs around him. I throw my arms over his shoulders and moan as he shifts up and down, grinding me against him.
“Stuh-stop,” I say between hot kisses. “Now. I mean it. Raiden!”
He puts me down, his jaw clenched, his eyes wide and wild. “Fuck,” he mutters. “I want you so badly.”
“We can’t.”
“Why not?” he demands.
If we cross this line, I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop.
“This was never part of the deal.”
“Fuck the deal,” he grunts.
“Fuck the deal? What are you saying?”
“I’m saying you’re going to get your money. I’m saying I’m not backing out or even thinking about backing out. But… I don’t care about the deal anymore. I want you.”
“We’re strangers,” I protest.
“Do I feel like a stranger to you? You sure as hell don’t to me.”
My body thrums with heat. But I can’t give in to it. I’m a grownup, for God’s sake, with the ability to think through my desires, not melt like some romance heroine in a Flora Ferrari book.
“In a few hours, we’re done. That was our deal; that was what I signed up for. I’m sorry if it hurts you to hear this, but when we’re back home, we’re over.”
He grinds his teeth, hands trembling at his side. For a second, I think he’s going to grab me and tear my clothes off. For a second, I want him to.
“Fine,” he says after a long pause. “Have it your way.”
He turns, leaves the room, and slams the door behind him.
I drop onto the bed, shaking all over.
I made the right choice, didn’t I?
I’ve got college to think about, my future. I can’t derail it all for a relationship with a man I don’t even really know.
When he challenged me and asked if he felt like a stranger to me, I couldn’t say yes. The truth is, he doesn’t. Something has happened between us. Not something magical. Not something out of a movie.
But something too real for our circumstances.
I bury it deep.
So what? We had some chemistry, some good times, and watched a few movies. So what? He made my body burn.
It’s time to let go.