Origin in Death (In Death #21)(19)

She shook her head, dropped her bag. And jumped into his arms.

The taste of him-that was home, that was true welcome. The feel of his body-lean muscle, smooth flesh-that was both thrill and comfort.

She sniffed at him like a puppy, scented him, caught the whiff of soap. He'd just showered, she thought, while her mouth met his again. Changed out of business clothes and into jeans and a pullover.

It meant they were going nowhere, expecting no one. It meant it was the two of them.

"I missed you." She caught his face in her hands. "I really, really missed you."

"Darling Eve." Ireland drifted through his voice, as he took her wrist, turned his face so his lips pressed to her palm. "I'm sorry it all took longer than I'd hoped."

She shook her head. "You're back now, and a hell of a better welcoming committee than the one I was expecting. Where is the walking dead ?"

He tapped a finger on the shallow dent in her chin. "If you mean Summerset, I encouraged him to go out for the evening."

"Oh, so you didn't kill him."

"No."

"Can I kill him when he comes back?"

"It's comforting to see nothing's changed in my absence." He glanced down to look at the enormous cat that wound between his legs, then Eve's. "Apparently Galahad missed me as well, and he's already hit me up for some salmon."

"Well, if the cat's fed and the butler from hell's away, let's go upstairs and flip a coin."

"Actually, I had another activity in mind." When she bent to pick up the bag, he took it from her, winced at the weight. "Work?"

Once, it had always been work. Only been work. But now ... "It can wait a bit."

"I'm hoping this takes longer than a bit. I've been saving up." He slid his free arm around her waist so they walked upstairs hip-to-hip. "What's the coin toss for?"

"Heads I jump you, tails you jump me."

He laughed, leaned down to nip her ear. "Screw the coin. Let's jump each other."

He dumped her bag at the top of the steps, spun her back to the wall. Even as his lips crushed down on hers, she was boosting herself up to clamp her legs around his waist.

Her hands fisted in his hair, and everything inside her went hot and needy.

"Bed's too far, too many clothes." She dragged her mouth from his to bite his neck. "You smell so good."

He found and hit the release for her harness, just a flick of fast hands. "I'm about to disarm you, Lieutenant."

"I'm about to let you."

He turned, nearly stumbled over the cat. When he cursed, Eve laughed so hard her ribs ached.

"Wouldn't be so bloody funny if I'd dropped you on your ass."

Laughter still dancing in her eyes, she linked her arms around his neck as he navigated toward the bedroom. "I love you, a week's worth more since the last time I touched you."

"Now you've done it. How can I drop you on your ass after that?"

Instead he carried her up the steps of the platform where the wide bed stood, then laid her on sheets soft as rose petals.

"You already turned down the bed?"

He brushed her lips with his. "I favored my chances."

She yanked his shirt over his head. "So do I."

She pulled him down to her, steeped herself in the heat of it, the sizzle of blood, the fever of lips. So good to touch him, to feel the shape of him, to have his weight pressing on her. Lust and love were a glorious tangle in her system, and all of it was coated with simple happiness.

He was with her again.

He nipped his way down her throat, filling himself on the flavor of her skin. Of all of his appetites, his for her was the only one never quite sated. He could have her and still want her. And those days and nights without her, jammed with work and obligations, had still been empty.

Drawing her up, he dragged off her harness, shoving it aside, opening her shirt while her teeth, her lips, her hands wrought havoc on him, in him. He cupped her br**sts through the thin tank she wore, watched her face as his thumbs teased her ni**les.

He loved her eyes, the shape of them, the rich brandy color, and the way they stayed on his even when she began to tremble.

She lifted her arms, and he tugged the tank up, off. Then took her- warm, soft, firm-into his mouth. She gathered him closer, purring in her throat, arching her back to offer more. He took, she took, peeling and pulling away clothes so flesh could find flesh. As he worked his way down her, exploring, it was his name that purred in her throat.

Need gathered in her, a fist of excited pleasure that seemed to punch through her so that she moaned and shuddered on the release. Only to gather again, harder and tighter, until her fingers dug into him urging him up, drawing him back to her. Into her.

Her hips lifted and fell, a silky rhythm that bound them together, that quickened even as hearts quickened.

Deeper, he sank deeper into her, losing himself as he only could with her. And the sweetness of it followed him over.

When his lips pressed to her shoulder, she stroked his hair. It was good to drift on this quiet, this contentment. She often thought of these as stolen moments, a kind of perfection that helped her-maybe helped them both-survive the ugliness the world shoved at them day after day.

"Did you get everything done?" she asked him.