Chapter 25
Regaining her focus after Noah left took a pathetically long time, but once Leia got into the swing of things again, excitement bubbled under her skin as her pencil flew over the sketchpad. After completing her sixth design, she got up from the sofa and stretched.
Going into her kitchen, Leia poured a glass of wine and eyed the clock. An hour and fifteen minutes since she’d said goodbye to him. She leaned against the sink and grimaced at the full-scale yearning taking root inside her.
Hell, it had grown into more than a yearning. It was becoming a full-blown obsession. She craved Noah all the time. In bed, out of it. She even craved him when he was deep inside her, rocking her world the way only he knew how.
Was this how love was meant to be? Or was her particular brand a special strain because she knew she could lose him to his unborn child at any time?
Ashley…
She knew the other woman spoke to Noah from time to time. Noah always kept the conversation short, sometimes curt. But Leia couldn’t hide from the fact that they had a relationship of sorts.
And always would.
Could she deal with that in the long term, if there was a long term for them?
She contemplated the other side of the coin—a life without Noah.
A spike of pain shot up her spine. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the thoughts away.
When the time came to deal with it, she’d deal with it. Until then…
She walked into the living room and picked up her phone. Catching her lower lip between her teeth, she contemplated what she was about to do. A wave of electricity sizzled through her belly as she started typing:
You have corrupted this fragile thing and brought out a writhing, mewling, bucking, wanton whore for your enjoyment and pleasure… Hurry, your whore awaits :)
Taking a fortifying sip of wine, she pressed send. The reply came an excruciatingly long two minutes later:
Thanks for that. I just lost a very lucrative hand. If you think adding a smiley face to a paraphrased Sade quote is going to make me go easy on you for getting me so fucking hard I can’t get up, think again.
She grinned and typed again:
Please show this newly deflowered sexter a little mercy.
My mercy isn’t little, baby. It’s a huge, hungry motherfucker. You poked it. You get to appease it.
About to respond, she jumped when her phone rang. Only it wasn’t her mobile, but her intercom. Frowning, she crossed to the coffee table and picked up the receiver.
“Hi there, Miss Michaels. It’s Alex from the concierge desk downstairs? I called earlier about your packages but there was no response, so I thought I’d double-check that you got them?”
“Oh… umm, yes.” She grimaced. She’d totally forgotten about her deliveries. “I got them, thanks.”
“You’re welcome. We’ve had another delivery. If you’re available now, I can bring it up?”
She reluctantly closed her texts and dropped her phone on the table. “Sure, thanks.”
Hanging up, she went to the door and brought in the three packages.
Opening up the first one, she stopped to sniff the expensive gel and lotion she’d had specially made from her favorite bespoke perfumery in Palm Beach.
She was putting away the mood-enhancing candles in her bathroom closet when she heard the knock.
She opened the door and gestured to the coffee table. “Thanks, Alex. Can you put it on there?”
He nodded eagerly. He was about her age, decent looking, and she’d seen him check her out a couple of times. In another lifetime, she probably would’ve found him interesting enough to date.
But in this lifetime, she belonged to one man only .
Alex turned. “Do you need a hand with anything else?” he asked.
Leia eyed the large square box, wracking her brain to recall what else she’d ordered besides the bath stuff. “No, thanks. I’m good.”
Alex let himself out, and she walked to the package.
It was a large brown box, sturdy enough to indicate whatever it contained was heavy.
It was double-sealed with industrial-strength tape, and she would need a knife to open it.
Grabbing one from the kitchen, she slid the blade under the lid, worked her way round and lifted it.
Horror engulfed her. The knife clattered to the floor as a scream gurgled in her throat, choking its way up before ripping through the air.
The three dolls were grotesquely life-like. But while the bodies were those of newborns, the heads were large and full-grown. And all three faces were as familiar to her as the nose on her face.
Shaking, Leia lurched to where she’d dropped her phone. A sob broke out as her fingers missed the dial button. Dashing her hand across her eyes to clear her vision, she tried again.
Noah’s phone rang four times before he answered it. “Fuck, sweetheart, you have no idea how tough it is to walk with this hard?—”
“Noah…” Her voice emerged a ragged croak.
“What the hell’s wrong?” he snapped.
“Some… something arrived… A delivery.” She shut her eyes as she caught the box from the corner of her eye. “Please, Noah… I need you.” Another shudder ripped through her. She curled her body into a ball and wrapped her free arm around her knees.
“Stay on the phone, baby. I’ll be right there.” Chairs scraped hardwood floors. Pounding feet accompanied gruff male voices. Her heart hammered and her body shook as sobs rocked her.
“Ten seconds, baby. Hold on.” Noah’s voice was taut with anxiety.
A heartbeat later, the door slammed open and she was engulfed in strong arms. Phone slipping out of her hand, she threw her arms around his neck as he scooped her up.
“Are you hurt?” he demanded.
“N… no,” she replied.
“Jesus, who the fuck would do this?” Damon growled.
Noah tensed and turned to see Gabe, Mike and Damon peering into the box. Leia closed her eyes, but images of the dolls were branded on her retinas along with the labels attached to their chests.
Dead Papa Bear. Dead Mama Bear. Dead Whore Baby Bear.
The doll made in the image of her father had a water-filled bag tied around its head and fishing net around its body. Her mother’s doll had a bullet-sized hole in her chest. And Leia’s doll had a filet knife inserted in her stomach.
“I’m calling the cops.” Gabe pulled out his phone and dialed.
Noah carried her to the seat farthest away from the table and pushed his fingers through her hair. He kissed her temple and gently raised her chin. “Who delivered the box?”
“I don’t know… Alex from the concierge’s desk b-brought it up.”
Noah’s head reared up. “Get him up here, now!” he said to Mike.
Mike dashed for the phone and Noah looked into her eyes.
“Did he say who it was from?”
“I didn’t ask… I thought it was one of the things I ordered on line.” Her lips pursed. Another shudder powered through her.
Noah pulled her tighter into his warmth. “I promise you, baby. I’ll find the bastard and I’ll tear him to pieces.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and clung to him. Numbness closed around her, and the men’s voices washed over her. What felt like minutes later, Paddy walked in, followed by a man in his fifties wearing a detective’s badge.
Alex, who’d been summoned, looked nervously at the towering, bristling men in the room and swallowed before haltingly describing the man who’d made the delivery.
The detective looked at her. “Does that description ring any bells, Miss Michaels?”
She shook her head.
He eyed Noah, then Leia. “Paddy here gave me an abbreviated version of what’s been going on. Is there any reason why you didn’t report the blackmail threat to the police when it happened?”
Paddy clapped him on the shoulder. “Like I told you, they wanted to keep things… in-house. These days, everyone with a camera phone is a damn amateur tabloid hack. Not to mention an extortionist.”
“You including cops in that pointed assertion?”
Paddy shrugged. “No offence.”
The officer pursed his lips and turned to Noah. “And there have been no further threats for over two weeks?”
Noah’s jaw tightened. “Not until tonight.” He rose with Leia in his arms. “I think we’re done here. If you need any more information, Paddy will fill you in. Or call me. He has my number.”
The older man looked like he wanted to argue but sighed. “I’ll take this down to the station, have the box dusted for prints,” he said.
Noah was already walking away, followed by his friends.
All five of them crowded into the lift.
Gabe tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, ignoring Noah’s low growl. “Easy, buddy. Shit, she’s really pale. Want me to call the doctor?”
“I’m… I’m fine,” Leia forced out through stiff lips. She felt Noah’s probing gaze on her and looked up. Whatever he saw in her eyes made his own darken and his breath punch out.
“Noah…”
He shook his head, strode into his condo and headed straight for the bedroom.
Over his shoulder, Leia saw his friends’ worried glances. She wanted to say something reassuring… but she was fresh out.
Noah settled her on the bed and drew her tight into his arms. A sharp knock on the door made him tense.
“Yeah?” Noah snapped.
Gabe walked in with a bottle of Macallan whiskey and two glasses.
He placed them on the nightstand and looked down at them.
“You need anything, you call. Before or after you do something stupid. We’ll have your back either way.
” His gaze shifted to Leia and he sent her a crooked smile. “Good night, princess.”
He left quietly.
They lay in silence for several minutes, Noah passing his fingers through her hair and sliding his hand up and down her body, as if reassuring himself that she was all right. Against her breast, his heart thudded into his ribs.
She looked up to see his face contorted in a mask of anger.
“Noah, I’m okay,” she ventured.
His fist slammed into the headboard. “He got to you, Leia. The bastard got to you right under my fucking nose. ”
She twisted in his arms and wrapped herself tight around him. “Please, don’t do this to yourself.”
He caught her by the shoulders and rolled her beneath him. His eyes blazed with fury and self-recrimination. “What if he’d talked his way around that idiot at the front desk? He could’ve entered your condo… hurt you…” His voice fractured.
She speared her hand through his hair, the other sliding around his waist. “But he didn’t. He didn’t get in. And I’m still safe. Here with you.”
His hands shook uncontrollably as he cradled her face. “God, I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d lost you.” A broken sound rumbled from his throat.
They stared at each other for a single heartbeat.
Then he was kissing her. Desperately. Ravenously. He devoured her like she was the answer to world famine, plunging his tongue into her mouth to dominate hers.
Her numbness fled, replaced by the blanketing heat and sustenance of Noah’s attention. The pictures of the dolls flashed intermittently behind her lids, sending shudders through her body. At her gasp, Noah raised his head.
“Look at me. See only me,” he commanded.
Nodding frantically, she raised her mouth to his.
He offered her what she needed, pressing back the horrific images and replacing them with his essence.
She tore at his clothes, and he helped her undress him.
When he was naked, she clamped her thighs around him and scoured her nails up and down his back.
Rewarded with his predatory growl, she offered him more. Her mouth, her tongue, the wet hunger between her legs.
Her panties came away with one rough rip. Her top met the same treatment but, desperate for each other, he pulled up her skirt and thrust hard inside her. They held their breaths through the harsh storm of sensation, their eyes staring deeply into each other.
When her need clawed through her, she moved her hips.
He met her thrusts, slammed her repeatedly into the bed. One hand drifted down her side, seeking her tattoo. When he found it, he caressed the words.
He gritted his jaw and clamped a hand around her throat. “I won’t let him break us, Leia. I won’t lose you. I won’t.”