Deception (Infidelity #3)(27)

Her breathing slowed to a point that I wondered if she were asleep. I kissed her forehead and her nose as I pulled out of her. Slowly her lids fluttered as a grin covered her bruised pink lips.

“I think I’m about ready to fall into a sex-induced coma.”

My cheeks rose. “I’d like to keep you perpetually induced.”

“Hmm.” She wiggled beneath me.

No longer connected, I rolled to the side and pulled her close. “Charli, I still need to leave. I’ll be late for this afternoon’s testimony, but I have to be there.”





“NO.” THE CALM that had settled over me, lulling me into the coma that Chelsea had warned me about, disappeared. “I don’t want you to go.”

Nox’s brow furrowed. “You’ll be safe. You’re staying here.”

Reaching for the sheets, I pulled them up to my breast and sat against the headboard. Indignation rose. “No. You said we don’t know who the target was. You can’t go to Washington. That’s where you’re supposed to be. If you go there, you could be walking into a trap.”

Lying beside me, Nox lifted his arm and covered his eyes with his bicep. It was then I realized he was still wearing his white silk shirt. His tie was gone and I suspected that his pants were somewhere buried in the mountain of blankets, yet his shirt was pristinely white—albeit wrinkled—in the darkened room.

“That’s why you’re staying here,” he said.

“What? No. I have class. I already missed today.” Though the scent of sex lingered, my thighs still wet, and my muscles clenched, the mood of moments before was gone. “You can’t go to Washington and expect me to stay hidden in this house.”

Nox sat up and in one swift move he was before me, our noses touching. “I can and I do. This conversation is done.”

Common sense told me to let the dust settle, allow him his little show of dominance and then revisit the subject. Then again, if he were in DC there wouldn’t be time for renegotiations. “No.”

The covers flew as Nox sat, swung his long, muscular legs off the side of the bed, and searched for the rest of his clothes.

“Don’t you understand?” he asked.

“Yes. I get it. I get that you’re protective. I understand something terrible happened today. I won’t walk in the park. I’ll let Jerrod drive me everywhere. I have a responsibility to my schooling.”

“Fuck, Charli, so do I. I have a responsibility and it’s you.”

He was now standing, straightening his shirt, pushing it down into his pants, and securing his buttons, zipper, and belt. Before I devised a plausible response, he continued, “I was not supposed to be in Central Park this morning.”

“Yes, I know. You were only there because of…” A cold chill covered my skin as it prickled with fear. “…me.”

“Deloris has a full team working on this. There was a communication that went out to Jerrod and Isaac about our change in plans. The network is supposed to be secure, but fuck, I’m not sure of anything anymore.”

“H-has she learned anything more about the break-in?”

Nox’s hand ran through his sex-messed hair. “Her priority shifted when someone decided to use us for target practice.”

“But they could be connected?”

He nodded. “They could.” He leaned down upon the bed. “Both are connected to you.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m not saying you’re involved, though some on her team are insinuating that.”

What?

“I’m saying,” he went on, “that someone could be trying to get to me through you. First, there was the attack on Chelsea, then the break-in at our apartment, and now this. I’m saying that this house is the safest place for you until we know more. Even Oren agrees.”

Oren? He spoke with his father?

“Contact your professors. Claim illness, the flu, I don’t give a fuck. Ask to read from home. If you need anything from the apartment, tell Jerrod or Deloris. They’ll get it and bring it to you.” His blue eyes widened. “Don’t they offer teleconferencing of the lectures?”

My gaze narrowed. “How would you know that?”

“You, Miss Collins, left all of your school shit all over the kitchen table for over two weeks. Did you not think I’d at least glance at all the crap?”

I folded my arms over my sheet-covered breasts. “Nox, I don’t want to start my career as a law student as the one hearing the recorded lecture. I want to be the one sitting in the front row and asking the pertinent questions. Do you think I graduated with honors by doing the minimum?”

“No, princess, I don’t. I think you knocked it out of the park, because believe me, what we just did here, well, let me say, you hit a home run.” He planted a kiss on the top of my head. “I fucking hate this. I do. I want you to succeed. I also need to know you’re alive and safe. Today’s Wednesday. Give Deloris a day or two. Call Columbia. Tell them whatever you need to tell them. I’ll be back on the weekend.”

“Weekend?” I asked. “You want me to stay here for three days? What about Patrick’s apartment?”

Nox’s blue stare lowered a degree or two. The temperature was nearing freezing. Ice was not far away. “Alexandria Collins, this conversation is done.”