12. Cabin & Closets #2
Poppy traded one of the pearl necklaces from Patrice’s treasure trove with the receptionist at the nail boutique in exchange for Calliope’s suite number.
Not that she needed much persuasion; it’s always wise to be kind to those in the service industry.
Fortunately, Calliope’s suite was just one floor below.
If Poppy got caught, she could easily say she was looking for Calliope to arrange that dinner.
She only turned on the small side crystal lamp on the dressing table to keep the room dark and avoid detection as she searched, the cream carpet muffling her footsteps.
I wish the suites were smaller so there weren’t so many hiding places!
Having checked under the bed and found nothing, she got up, and her eyes fell on the jewellery box on the dresser.
Where better to hide something valuable?
“Breaking into another guest’s suite. Do you want the captain to arrest you? Are you tired of your freedom?” Isaiah demanded.
Dropping the jewellery box, Poppy looked up to find him staring at her in the mirror. “Holy shit, you scared me to death!”
“I’m glad someone does,” he snapped.
“How did you find me so fast?” So much for getting Mina to take her place. I made her rearrange her date for nothing.
“I got an alert when you left the suite. I told you after Patrice that I’d keep the tracker on. If I’m not within fifteen feet of you, I’ll get an alert,” he explained sternly. “I didn’t think I’d have to use it, since we agreed not to keep secrets or run off.”
“Speaking of secrets, where did you go earlier?”she challenged him.
“I told you, I had to go to the reception desk.”
“What did Eckells want you to ‘review’?” He obviously didn’t want her to know, since he didn’t send whatever it was to the room.
He huffed. “It was a call from Eckells. He wants to ensure I’m keeping Mina safe.
He heard about the incident from the captain and wanted a personal update to ensure we followed the rules.
I was going to tell you before I left, but then Mina came in, and her relationship with Eckells is…
odd. I don’t think she would appreciate him checking up on her. ”
She studied his expression for any hint of deception. “Okay, I believe you. So believe me when I tell you that I wasn’t going to keep this a secret; if I found anything out, I was going to tell you – but in case I was caught, I wanted you to get out of it so you wouldn’t get locked up with me.”
“If I’m locked up with you, I can protect you!” Isaiah sighed. “How did you even get in here?”
“A maid was doing turn-down service when I arrived; I waited for her to leave and sneaked in before the door could close fully,” Poppy said. “How’d you come in after me?”
“The door was caught on the latch, so it didn’t close behind you either.”
She was lucky he had come in after her, not someone else who’d noticed the door was left ajar. “Oops.”
“What if the guest had returned? Whose suite is this?”
“Calliope’s.” She avoided eye contact, not wanting to see his reaction.
“And why are you risking getting us thrown into the brig?” Isaiah asked.
“Because of this.” She showed him the small tape in her hand. “I found it in the top drawer of the jewellery box, shoved in the back.”
“A tape?” He took it from her, and his eyes lit up as the penny dropped. “Patrice’s tape recorder.”
“Give the detective a prize.”
“Cute, but how did you know it would be in here? Did she give something away earlier?”
“No, it wasn’t what she said. It was what I found in Patrice’s cabin.”
His eyes widened. “You went down to the staff cabins?”
“Only for a few minutes, and I wasn’t seen.
” Poppy put everything but the tape back into the jewellery box as she’d found it.
She needed to know what was on it, and if whatever Patrice had learned was worth killing over.
“But it was worth the risk, because I discovered Patrice was stealing from guests, recording their conversations, and blackmailing them. She kept a notebook of who, when and how much. Calliope’s tape was the only one not in its case and the last entry in the notebook.
We just need the tape recorder to play it, but you left it with Patrice’s body. ”
“I’ll find a way to get into the morgue,” Isaiah said without elaborating. The morgue was the last place she wanted to go, so she would entrust him with that task.
“Since I found a lead, are you still mad at me?” she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.
His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed, but the lecture didn’t come.
Not yet, anyway. “I know you said not to leave the room without you, but I’m still wearing the anchor charm, so I knew you’d be able to find me if anything went wrong—”
Before she could finish, Isaiah pulled her body against his.
“Stop talking,” he snapped as she went rigid, motioning to the shadow beneath the door. Someone was outside the door.
A loud knock caused them to freeze.
“Ms Chase, I’m sorry to disturb you, but I left some cleaning products in the bathroom,” the maid called out when they didn’t answer.
Isaiah glared down at Poppy, and she shrugged. How was she supposed to know the maid would be so forgetful?
“We can’t let her in,” she whispered, only to hold her breath as the door handle started to move.
Isaiah surprised her by grabbing the back of her head and pulling her lips to his.
He pressed her against the door, blocking the maid’s entrance with their bodies.
Poppy considered pushing him away, but heat coiled in her core.
Rising onto her tiptoes to kiss him back, she could just about make out the shadow of the maid’s feet outside the door.
“Is everything alright, Ms Chase?” she asked, concern audible in her voice.
“Yes, please come back later. I’m in the middle of something,” Poppy managed to say as Isaiah’s lips explored her neck, her chest, and any inch of skin exposed by her halter top.
“Let her hear you,” he ordered, tugging at her hair. Poppy groaned.
“Should I call security? You don’t sound like yourself,” the maid fretted.
Shit! I’m being nice to her, and that’s not how Calliope treats staff.
“No, that’s not necessary. Come back later, or I’ll report you to your supervisor,” Poppy threatened as Isaiah explored her body, finding that she didn’t care who was outside the door as his hands clutched her waist. She smiled against his lips as he grabbed her ass, wondering what had happened to the beacon of self-control.
“I told you to let her hear you. Why don’t you ever fucking listen?” he growled between kisses.His thigh settled between her legs, and when he moved his hips forward, she felt how hard he was against the side of her belly.
“I know,” she panted. She couldn’t stop smirking as she hooked her knee over his hip until his hardness was between her legs. “And I’m not even sorry.”
Isaiah responded by pulling her hips closer and grinding against her until she cried out.
“Please don’t stop!”
She forgot about the maid outside, too focused on his relentless lips. Ecstasy threaded through her limbs until she no longer cared about where they were and how much trouble they were in.
“We’ll see about that.” Isaiah bit down on her lip, and she whimpered. His pace made her legs tremble; she clung to his shoulders, forgetting about the show they were meant to be putting on for those outside. She held her breath as sparks of pleasure took over her body.
“Isaiah, please…” She tilted her hips forward, feeling him right where she needed him. Only a millimetre or two of fabric separated them. His groans told her he was as desperate for her as she was for him, making her all the more needy.
The banging resumed on the door. “Ms Chase, it’s security. Please open up.”
“Fuck it.” Isaiah moved them away from the door to the wall. The door clicked open, but he shielded Poppy with his body so that security couldn’t see who they were in the dark room. “Get the fuck out!” he barked, his lips breaking away from hers. “How dare you enter without permission?!”
“I’m so sorry. We thought something was wrong. Forgive the intrusion.” Security tripped over themselves as they hurried to close the door behind them.
Isaiah leaned over her, staring at the door, while she watched his chest rise and fall.
“They’re gone.” His voice was uncharacteristically gruff and breathy as he loosened his grip on Poppy’s thighs.
She opened her eyes, wanting more.
“We should get back to the room,” Isaiah said, with no care for what had just happened between them.
“Are you serious? That’s it?” Poppy felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her. He couldn’t be so unaffected. He couldn’t be that good an actor. Not when she’d felt how much he wanted her.
He bent down, and she thought he would kiss her again. She closed her eyes, waiting, until she felt his breath brush her ear.
“Only good girls get to finish.” Isaiah smirked down at her.
Poppy ground her teeth and pushed him away. She hurried out of the suite, leaving him to follow. She didn’t say a single word to him and couldn’t bear to look at him. Thankfully Mina had already left for her date; she wasn’t in the mood to explain what they had been up to.
Poppy climbed into his bed in the suite and felt the mattress’s side dip. She opened her eyes to see Isaiah leaning over her. He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek, and she hated how the slightest touch tightened her stomach.
“If you think about leaving again, I’m going to handcuff you to the bed,” he warned.
He got up before she could come up with some sassy retort. She didn’t doubt that he would chase her down again. She rolled over to watch him strip off his shirt.
“Are you going to sleep on the couch again?” Poppy asked as he tossed off the extra cushions and stretched out on it. There was no way that was comfortable for a guy his size.
“Anything else wouldn’t be professional,” he grumbled, taking the tape they had found from his pocket and placing it in the drawer by the bed.
“Are you kidding?” Poppy sat up. “Considering what happened between us, we’re well past professional lines.”
“What happened in Calliope’s suite was a one-off – a necessary ploy to escape.I shouldn’t have got carried away.” His face was emotionless, but she knew he’d felt as much as she did.“It won’t happen again.”
“Don’t do me any favours. That’s the last thing I want.” She picked up a pillow and tossed it at him.He caught it, and his smug smile made her want to strangle him.“I was just trying to make you more comfortable.”
“Go to sleep, Poppy.” Isaiah lay down.
Poppy rolled over, ignoring him. If that was how he wanted to play it, so be it.