Darkest Journey (Krewe of Hunters #20)(55)

“You know that because...?”

“Charlie saw Selma Rodriguez.”

“I had a feeling. I’m glad she was ready to tell you. She has to learn to trust us. And she will.”

“Yeah,” Ethan said, rinsing out his cup and setting it in the drainer. “I guess I’ll go up, then. Good night.”

“Good night.” Then, after a moment, Jude said, “Hey, Ethan.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know Jonathan Moreau, but you do. Charlie does. And if you’re sure he didn’t do this, that’s enough for us to be looking at why someone thought they could make use of him when setting up the murders.”

“Thanks. And, yeah, I’m sure,” Ethan said.

He left Jude in the kitchen and started up the stairs. He realized his heart was pounding as if he were a kid again. All he had to do was think about Charlie, and it seemed he was kinetic with electricity.

She might not even be there; she could have changed her mind.

It was a big house. She might have found a different room.

His bedroom door was closed. A good sign?

He paused, knocking on the door.

“Ethan?”

He barely heard her whisper, and he was almost as quiet when he answered, “Yes.”

“Come in.”

He walked into his room, quickly shutting the door behind him.

She was there, very much there. It was like a replay from a decade ago.

A beautiful, unbelievable replay.

She was stretched out on his bed, chestnut hair spreading over the pillows. She was propped up on one elbow, facing the door, naked and waiting for him, just as she had been a decade ago. For a moment she appeared to be the absolute height of sensual sophistication, and then she said nervously, “I thought I’d better make sure it was you. I mean, I had a friend who did something like this once. There was a knock...and she told the UPS man to come in.”

“No, it’s me,” he said huskily.

“I see,” she said softly. “And if you walk out that door this time, you’ll never get this chance again.”

Without turning away, Ethan groped behind him to lock the door.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he told her.

“Then,” she said, “you might want to come over here, because I’m actually feeling just a little bit ridiculous. I’m not really good at this kind of thing. I developed a complex at a young age.”

“Good,” he said.

“Good?”

“I realize I’m being selfish, but I’m glad to know you’ve never done this for anyone but me.”

He spotted a pile of brightly colored packets on the nightstand. One label caught his attention. It said Tickler.

He looked from the pile to Charlie and couldn’t help but smile broadly.

“And you got those where?”

“The condom commercial,” she said gravely. “I’ve heard they’re very pleasurable, though I haven’t had a chance to try them out yet. But...”

“I’m glad you waited for me.”

He strode to the bed, kicking off his shoes as he went, sliding his Glock from his waistband, then setting the gun in its small holster on the bedside table.

Screw the rest of his clothes. He’d deal with them as soon as he had a chance to touch her.

“I mean, what the hell. You don’t know for yourself until you try something, right?”

Tugging at his shirttails, he eased down beside her, pulling her up and into his arms. “You’ll never understand,” he murmured. Her scent was seductive in the most primal way. It wasn’t her perfume, not her soap or shampoo, but the deep natural scent of her flesh. He whispered unintelligibly against her lips and her throat, then began to struggle in earnest with his clothing. She kissed him in return and joined him in the struggle with buttons and fabric. “You’ll never understand... The hardest thing, the most decent thing, I ever did in my life was walk away.”

“I do understand,” she told him, which made him pull back and search her eyes.

“I do understand,” she repeated. “I’m just glad you didn’t do it again.”

“No chance,” he whispered, his words muffled against her flesh. “No chance.”

They kissed deeply, Ethan trying not to take his lips off her flesh as he worked to divest himself of the last of his clothes.

They laughed at first, until she slid his trousers and briefs down and brushed his erection. Urgency burst through him as if he’d been lit on fire. Their eyes met again, and they fell into another hot kiss.

His clothes gone at last, he kissed the length of her, ardent, desperate, tasting her with lips and tongue. She writhed against him, touching him, nipping his shoulder and along his throat.

Finally and yet simultaneously too quickly, he was over her and then in her, and his need was immeasurable. He had waited a decade, and now the release of his pent-up desire was making him nearly insane. His body was torn between agony and ecstasy, as if he was about to erupt like a Chinese rocket on New Year’s, but he fought the desperation screaming inside him.

He had to take her with him.

His eyes remained locked with hers as they kissed, then broke away before kissing again. Suddenly she swallowed back a cry, and he did the same, and then waiting was no longer possible. He climaxed in violent spasms that ripped through him, muscles, blood and bone, and in that same moment he felt her tighten around him and let go of her own control.