I disconnected and let out a soft scream. "Girls, I think we're all going to win tonight!" I danced in a small circle, pumped my fists in the air. When no one else joined me, I stopped and looked around. All I saw were bedroom eyes, flushed cheeks, and fidgeting. Even Tali. Ballbusting Tali was looking a little turned on. "What? No!" I stomped my foot. "This is so not fair. What did they say?"Nik looked away. Tali just smiled. Jessa's expression looked like she either witnessed a horrific accident or saw her personal god. The timer dinged, drawing my attention. I pouted all the way to the oven. The wave of heat that blasted me in the face mocked me. All my girls were getting their own boxes heated, and here I was, stuck pulling cupcakes from the mechanical box. It reminded me of the last eighteen months. Except this time I wanted to be turned on. My phone buzzed. I was tempted to ignore it. But I certainly wasn't going to get turned on baking by myself. That cal
I groaned. "Dammit.""She top you again?" Rafe asked. I nodded. "Fucking women.""Can I put my computer away yet? Taking pictures of all you isn't really how I saw this evening going. Not to mention lying to all of them with my wicked Photoshop skills."Turo and Nico just laughed. "At least we're not actually getting naked. Nor are we as hard as you've made us out to be."We all laughed. "I would be leaving. Dick does nothing for me," Mas announced. We all nodded. I shuddered. Nope. "And since we have abandoned any and all pretense to playing poker, I will be leaving anyway." Mas rose from his chair and gave a short wave. He was through the door and had it closed behind him without a sound. I looked at his brothers. "Seriously, does he have some kind of ninja blood in his DNA? Is he actually a voodoo priest? Into witchcraft? Did he meet the devil at a crossroads and exchange sound for his soul?"They all stared at me like I was an idiot. "The man moves and d
I bit my lip to keep from sobbing as I leaned back against the door. This was so stupid. I knew he wasn't casting me aside. But goddess did it feel like it. If this is what mojitos did to me, they were forever and always on my no-go list. I dashed my fingers under my eyes. Stop being such a child. He was treating you with care. Love. Respect. And you're going to go all girly on him? Whine and cry because he won't let you have sex with him while you're inebriated? Grow the fuck up, Cold and Analytical screamed at me. I knew she was right. Knew Ryker loved me. That by not touching me in even a slightly altered state, he was putting me above his own needs. I'd felt how hard he was as I slid down the front of his body. He was setting himself aside as well. His own needs. It wasn't just mine he was rejecting. I sighed and moved to the vanity. I got my face wash out of my bag, grabbed a wash rag. Scrubbing my face, I winced as the tender flesh on my palm nagged at me with the hot
Her body went limp against me. I'd never realized the intimacy of holding someone as they slept. That complete and utter trust to slide into oblivion. It was a treasure I hoped never to grow tired of. To take for granted. The candles' flickering glow provided soft light in the room that I now considered ours' instead of just mine. Her words flickered through my mind again. It's only been three weeks. Are we moving too fast?'Snickering at the thought, I curled around her tighter, shivered as the heat finally fled from my overly warm skin. It would be stupidly fast if it were anyone but Willow. Most of my flings lasted barely this long, but I'd never cared. Was usually looking for the next one. I wasn't rabidly guarding the woman. Hell, I was more likely to be ushering her out the door with a nice piece of jewelry or shopping trip to thank her for her time and attention to detail. The idea of even contemplating that reality with Willow had my belly twisting in knives and jealo
That night"Momma, you don't have to cook when you come here, you know. You can just sit down and enjoy your family," I said as I stirred the sauce. We were going full Italian tonight. Simple, filling, and easy: Spaghetti and meatballs with enough garlic bread to kill a vampire coven. With side salads in fresh vinaigrette, it was going to be easy enough to concentrate on the bigger picture tonight without worrying about the food. She waved me away. "Go help your brothers bring your table in. Your sister and your man should be bringing chairs." She shooed me out of my own kitchen...that was at least par for my particular course. I headed off towards the freight elevator. It apparently opened on the other side of the elevator from Ryker's public entrance. I got to be a literal door stop to keep the doors from sliding closed every thirty seconds. Ah, the lives of the rich and famous. Well, at least my guy was rich. I had a trust fund, but hated using it since it came from my
"Nik has found proof of their involvement not only with de Silva, but also with supplying Errington with at least ten of his victims. Direct proof.""Twenty-two. The collective finished. I just got the update," Nik added. Ryker nodded. "Twenty-two." I watched Willow for signs of upset or illness. When she did some deep breathing exercises, I felt pride well deep inside me. "Here's my thought. According to the love of my life, Winslow and Beverly always make a huge deal out of the people they've helped with their foundation. A huge slideshow of self-congratulations and humble bragging."Tali smiled. "You want to put the victims up there. Force them to see their faces again."I nodded. "I want to not only put their faces up there, I want one of the women gathered here to read their names. Their birthdate, their death date. I want Jessa-if you're up to it-to read aloud the cause of death. I want to shove it down these people's throats that we see them for the monsters they are. T
I rinsed out my mouth, put my toothbrush away. The steamy outline of Ryker in the shower made the humidity in the room feel ten times hotter. That man would make Adonis look flabby. I shivered and went back out to the bedroom. I wasn't going to peep on my man, make a crappy situation even worse with my loitering. I clenched my teeth as I replayed Momma grabbing him tonight. I could have slapped her silly. We were going to have a long talk. A heart to heart. Ryker wasn't like her other sons. She couldn't just touch him as if he were. He was special. Different. I heard the water shut off as I slid between the covers of Ryker's ginormous bed. I swear, it could eat my king size and still have room for dessert. It was honestly the most comfortable thing I'd ever slept in. My man came out of the bathroom. The towel tucked low against his hips. I licked my lips imagining the taste of his skin right there in the V line that pointed the way to my personal heaven. Yum. He flung hi
My phone's incessant buzzing brought me awake way before my alarm was set to go off. I slapped at the night stand. Grabbed up the device. Unlocking it on autopilot, I had it to my ear before I thought to check the caller ID. "You have three seconds before I hang up," I mumbled. Beside me, Willow snuffled and turned to her other side. I didn't blame her. I did blame the person breathing down the line at me. "You've ruined me. You and that stupid whore you've locked yourself to," a froggy voice said. "You both die."Adrenaline poured through my system like I'd just mainlined coffee in an artery. "Cavendish?" Reaching out, I grabbed Willow's shoulder. Felt my heart resume a normal rhythm. She sat up beside me. A faint click and her bedside light turned on. She grabbed up her phone. She did something to the screen before she held it up to me. I saw her recorder function was running. I pulled my phone from my face. "Cavendish?" I asked again as I hit the speaker button on my o