Wickedly Dangerous (Baba Yaga, #1)(73)
She kissed him back with enthusiasm, almost growling from the joy of finally having him in her arms, and she could feel the curve of his smile under her lips.
“God, I want you,” he said, pulling back and gazing at her with darkened eyes. “I think I’ve wanted you since the first day I saw you, standing next to that motorcycle in all that leather with this amazing hair floating down around your shoulders.” He ran his hands through her dark tresses as if they were some precious silk from far-off lands.
His desire just inflamed her own, and she pulled her shirt off over her head, loving the stunned and admiring look on his face when he realized she was naked underneath. Then there was only the glorious chaos of ardent kisses, fevered caresses, and low-voiced moans as they explored each other’s secret places, discovering the tender and the hard, the sweet and the salty, reveling in each new find.
At one point they rolled off the couch onto the floor, and it was there that she finally took him into her, drowning in the wonder of it all, surging on the tide of furious passion that swept them both away, leaving them finally storm-tossed and spent, lying in each other’s arms.
Afterward, they were both a little off-balance, awkward with the unexpected intimacy. Clothes rearranged, they sat next to each other, trying to catch their breath and figure out what to say. Liam opened his mouth to speak.
Then the door burst open, and Chudo-Yudo came bounding in, shaking water all over everything, including the two of them. Liam jumped, moving away from her on the couch.
“It’s raining again,” the dog announced.
Baba rolled her eyes at him. “We can see that,” she said acerbically. “You seem to have brought half of it in with you.”
Chudo-Yudo eyed them with hopeful curiosity. “I hope I’m interrupting something.” He waggled furry brows.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Baba said, standing up. “We were just talking. About the case. And stuff.”
Liam rose too. “It’s late,” he said, wiping a splash of moisture off of one arm. “I should go. Talk to the Riders about keeping an eye on those five kids, will you?” He handed her the file, which had somehow gotten knocked onto the floor. “Why don’t you take Kimberly, and I’ll check on Davy as often as I can without neglecting the rest of my job. Hopefully it will stay quiet for a few days.”
Baba shook her head. “I doubt that Maya will wait long to make her move. Not after everything that’s happened.” She could feel the pressure of intuition behind her skull, like the shifting air from an impending storm. “If I had to guess, I’d say she’ll move sometime in the next day or two.” She made a face. “And probably try to find a way to lay the blame on me in the process.”
Liam nodded in grim agreement. “We’ll have to be on our guard,” he said, brushing his hair back one more time. “Especially if we want to catch her off hers.”
Their eyes met, and he gave her a broad smile, making bright blue butterflies materialize outside the window, unseen as they flew off into the rainy night sky.
“Thanks for the pie,” he said. “And everything. I’ll check in tomorrow.”
And then he was gone.
Baba watched out the open front door as his taillights vanished into the darkness. For a moment, her mind followed him, imagining a fantasy world where she drove off to deal with a Baba Yaga call, coming home to a little house with welcoming lit windows and someone to talk to who didn’t occasionally breathe fire by accident. In this illusionary dreamworld, a child’s laughter echoed in the distance, chasing a ball with a giant white dog.
Chudo-Yudo tugged on her pant leg and said irritably, “You’re letting all the rain in. And I’ve been talking to you for five minutes. Where is your head at?”
She closed the door regretfully on her foolish fancy and went over to plop down on the couch. “I was just thinking about how we were going to capture Maya,” she lied.
“Uh-huh.” Chudo-Yudo plopped down beside her, his head leaning against one thigh. “You were thinking about the hunky sheriff. I don’t blame you. If I weren’t a dragon, and a male one at that, I’d be drooling over him myself.” He lifted his muzzle to look at her. “So what are you going to do about him?”
Baba sighed. “Probably something truly unwise.”
“Excellent,” Chudo-Yudo said. “About time. No one should be wise all the time. Not even a Baba.”
TWENTY-ONE
BABA SWUNG HER leg over the BMW’s shiny black leather seat and started into the town’s only grocery store. The Airstream’s refrigerator was still filled with beautiful, glistening red cherry pies—all very good, but not what she wanted for breakfast. So she figured she’d make a quick run into Dunville to stock up before setting out on her mission to watch over little Kimberly.
She brushed against an older woman with tightly curled, improbably orange hair as they passed each other, and started to apologize. The woman’s face suffused with anger as she recognized Baba, and she shoved past with a snarl and a muttered, “Some people.” Baba tried not to react, but she could feel her jaw tighten.
Walking around with her basket over one arm, head held high, and shoulders braced, she watched as a man she’d successfully treated for a nasty personal infection ducked around a corner to avoid her. It would have been nice to believe it was out of embarrassment, and not a fear of being seen in her company, but she wasn’t that good at deluding herself.