INK: Fine Lines (Book 1) (7 page)

I find myself trapped in the intensity of his gaze. My hands slide around his neck. Reaching up on my tiptoes I meet his lips with a soft, gentle kiss, let it linger. All of my senses come to life. His hands move to my waist, tugging me closer into him as if to make me aware of the growth of his monument to manhood. And oh my, is it growing.

His heart is beating so hard it’s audible. I feel in his slow, aching kiss that he is burning inside for me. Our kiss grows into something deeper, more passionate. A dam of emotion bursts in me, forcing me to realize how much I’ve missed him in all of his imperfect glory.

My hands wander wildly down his neck, then chest. I unbutton his shirt, one button at a time, pressing my hand against his skin to know his heart is mine. He brings his hand up to mine, tangling our fingers. He pulls back breathless, to look into my eyes, searching for something in them.

“Shay,” he whispers, barely audible.

Caught in his gaze, I bite down on my bottom lip. I don’t want him to stop. “Don’t say anything sensible right now.” I just want him to take me. Throw all caution to the wind, let me touch him and love him like we are the only two people in the world. Being this close to Eli has awakened something that has long been dormant. A rushing heat rakes over me in the wake of his hungry gaze.

“We should–” He stops mid-sentence as his expression changes from serious to mischievous in a split second.

I answer in the form of another enduring kiss. My fingers run through his thick hair and soak in the passion we have at this moment. He whispers my name again. “Yes?” It comes out only as a breath in his ear. “We should what?” I say, gently biting his ear. I’m still lost in him, pressed hard against his body. His warmth is telling me that everything is right. I lead him by the hand toward the bedroom.

He follows, being dragged for a step before moving in quickly to lift me in his arms. Crashing against my lips, he smothers me with hungry kisses as he carries me into the bedroom. He lays me carefully down on the bed. His muscles are rippling under his unbuttoned shirt, the glory of his finely chiseled body peeking out, taunting me to rake my hands over him. His hair is brushing against his eyes, unruly from me running my fingers through it.

He lies down beside me, his fingers ambling along my belly, lifting my shirt, our lips never parting. He whispers, “Shay, I love you.”

His voice sends an incredible heat dancing down my spine and through my body. I feel so overwhelmed with emotion, and it isn’t just the heat between us. I really do love Eli.

His hand slides around, unhooking my bra and then pulling my skirt down over my hips in one smooth motion, leaving me only in my black lace panties. His eyes devour my form, his hands gently trace the contours of my waist, down over my hip. He gives my undies a gentle tug and looks up at me as if asking for permission. His ocean blue eyes are intense and bedeviled with wanting, begging for my approval.

My fingertips glide down his chest to just below his belly button, running along the inside band of his boxers. I undo his pants. He releases an involuntary moan in my ear while my hand slides downward. I smile from the inside out. The passion that has been held hostage deep within me is released. I haven’t experienced desire like this for months, and now I am completely consumed by my need to be with him. “God, I missed you.” I hold his stare for a moment, lost in him.

In the great room Rex is going crazy; we can barely hear the wild banging on the door over his barking, and my cell phone rings.

“Chinese food.” Eli gets up to answer the door and I pull my cell phone from my pocket.

Aiden.

Eli

I hurry across the great room to the foyer, holding my pants up. 
Why did I have to order Chinese food? I should have just thrown a frozen pizza in the oven and let the fucker burn.
 I have to stop and wait a minute before I open the door to avoid greeting Ping looking like I stuffed a pagoda down my pants. “Jesus Rex, hush.”

Between the banging on the door and Rex’s barking, my “pagoda problem” disappears pretty quickly. Deciding I’m in the clear, I open the door to find a visibly irritated Aiden. Fucking master of the cock-block, he holds up the box of coffee and slides his phone into his jeans. I’d like to shove that coffee up his ass.

I have to get rid of him. “Aiden, she’s resting right now, it’s not a good time.” I put my arm across the door so he can’t come in the house and block Rex from going out with my leg.

“Resting?” He eyes my unbuttoned shirt and pants. “Decided she needed to be tired out first?”

He’s pissing me off, but I know him all too well and I know damn well he’s not leaving. The last thing Shay needs right now is Aiden and I getting into it. “Give me a second to put him up.” I close and lock the door and command Rex to follow me into the bedroom.

When I open the door I catch sight of Shay lying on her side, her beautiful curves accentuated by those hot as hell panties. I fucking hate Aiden.

I move in closer, noticing her eyes are closed, her breathing rhythmic. She looks so peaceful sleeping. The tension releases from my shoulders seeing her so calm. I pull the comforter up around her and gently kiss her forehead. Rex jumps on the bed as I close the door.

Aiden is already banging on the door again. I swing the door open and give him a hard stare. “You’re going to wake her up.” I shake my head at what an incredible asshole he is. I can’t believe he and I were ever best friends.

If I’m going to let him in I need to set some ground rules. “You can come in, but this is my home and it’s a no-bullshit zone.”

Aiden doesn't like not calling the shots. He takes too long to answer; all I can do is shake my head. “This isn’t about us, this is about her. She needs us both, and if we can’t get along we are both abandoning her.” I have to bite my tongue to keep from cutting him deeper with the abandonment crack.

“You're right.” Aiden spits the words out like they are poison and pushes past me, putting the coffee on the breakfast bar. “So let’s get a few things straight when it comes to Shay.”

Aw shit, here we go. I run my fingers through my hair but before he gets started I stop him. “Aiden, the only thing we need to have straight about Shay is that she has her own mind, her own opinions. Why don’t we just give her some peace?”

“You’re going to leave her alone?” Aiden is doubtful that’s what I’m implying.

“If she wants me to leave her alone I will. I have always respected her choices, regardless of whether I agreed with them or not.” I’m reminded of all the times I’ve just let her go, so she could get screwed over again by him.

Aiden lets out a quick laugh and shakes his head. “I can live with that.”

“Okay.” I know what he’s saying, but at least he’s not saying it out loud, which is strange for Aiden. Whatever, time to wind down. I head for the fridge. “Want a beer?”

“Sure.” Aiden takes the beer and we head for the great room.

I sit in the most comfortable chair and lean back, closing my eyes. ”Hell of a day, huh?”

“Never a dull moment with her.” Aiden smiles, but it quickly fades. “So what happened?”

“Nothing really. You know how she is. She started getting nostalgic and talking about when we were in Atlanta. Then a walk down memory lane led to some-” I look up from my respite to see Aiden’s displeased expression and stop cold.

“I mean with Gary and Alice.” His tone is flat.

“Oh.” 
Whoops.
 I take a second to think about it—this requires another swig from my beer. “It was so awful. Gary was cut to pieces, and CSU couldn’t find his organs.” I choke back a belch before I continue, “Alice was hung upside down from the rafters in the garage. Gary’s eyes were on the floor in front of her. Whoever did this has serious issues.” I shake my head, pulling my lips to the side, forming a half-grimace.

“Do you know if they have any leads other than Shay?” Aiden is unnerved by the description of the crime scene.

“No, nothing else yet. CSU is going to be running tests for a while. It could take weeks before we know if there are any other suspects, but right now Shay looks guilty as hell.” I empty the bottle and put it on the coffee table. I wish it weren’t true, but she’s the prime suspect.

The doorbell rings; this time it is the Chinese food. I go to get the door.

Aiden announces, “I’m hitting the head.”

“You remember where it is?”

“Yeah.” Aiden turns the wrong way down the hallway. That fucker better not wake her up.

I answer the door and lead Ping into the kitchen to put the food down. He hands me the receipt.

“Thanks Ping, best stuff around!” I sign the credit card receipt, sure to leave a good tip. He’s always good to me.

“No problem Mr. Walker. I put a little something special in there for you.” His eyes twinkle a little.

“Did you slip me some Tsingtao Dark?” I ask in a mischievous tone.

He nods enthusiastically. “Yes sir, Mr. Walker. Our little secret.” He puts his finger to his lips, making a 
shh
 sound as he heads for the door.

My phone buzzes in my pocket as Aiden returns to the room. “Hey man, you want some Chinese food?”

“No, I’m good thanks.” He makes himself comfortable on the couch.

I pull my phone out. It’s Harry. I text him back with a quick “Okay...”

Taking a long draw on the Chinese beer Ping brought me I sit back in my chair. “Harry will be here in about ten minutes. He said he has some information, but he’s getting totally stonewalled by Glass.”

Aiden nods, returning to his seat on the couch. A long silence ensues until Aiden takes a breath. “What’s going on with her? She was kind of scary at the police station today.”

I shake my head and expel a heavy breath. He doesn’t know the half of it. “I don’t know; she’s become more of a puzzle and something in her has changed. She’s always been able to take care of herself, but lately she just seems,” I look up as if to pluck the answer from mid-air, “different.”

Aiden reflects for a moment. “I was thinking she seemed stronger, or maybe just more stubborn.”

“After you left last time it didn’t seem to bother her much. She didn’t so much as mention it, even though we had lunch a few times. I didn’t know you were gone until Jerry ran into her in Orlando; she was with some weird guy. Jerry asked where you were, her only response was ‘who the fuck cares.’” I let that sink in for a moment before continuing, “We hooked back up, but she’s been pretty obsessed with the new comic. She’s been traveling to conventions, doing some press stuff. A lot has happened, but she wasn’t herself before any of that.”

“How long ago did she dump you?” Aiden asks, trying to remind me that we aren’t together.

I pull my lips into a thin line and run my hands through my hair. No way he’s going to believe this. “She didn’t.” I suck in a sharp breath, looking straight at him. “I broke it off with her.”

“Come again?” Aiden sits forward on the couch. “You dumped her?”

“Yeah.” I exaggerate a nod, expressing my regret.

“Why would you do that?” Aiden is completely perplexed by the revelation.

“You should ask her.” I take a drink and mute another belch. “I tried to get her back, but she’s been pretty elusive.”

Aiden is almost consoling me. “How long has it been?”

“A couple of months.” I rub my palm in my eye. “She doesn’t return calls, texts, or email. She finally messaged me last week when I asked if I could take her out on her birthday—she responded with ‘I want to be alone.’”

“I’m really sorry, man.” Aiden sounds like he means it. “That just isn’t like her. I don’t think she ever didn’t return a call to me, until now.”

“She has become a Quick Draw McGraw with the ‘ignore’ button.” I smile.

“All this time I thought she had a dead battery.” We both enjoy a laugh at Shay’s expense.

Harry

Before knocking on the door I stop to listen to the sound of them laughing. Well, that’s better than the alternative. I knock twice before walking in. “Boys.” I give them both an approving nod. “I’m glad you two haven’t killed one another for the sake of my daughter.”

Shit, they’ve been drinking. Shayleigh’s not going to like this. Eli’s got to stop if he’s ever going to work things out with her. “Eli, maybe you should lay off the beer, at least until I take Shayleigh home.” I say it like a suggestion, but I know he hears it for the demand that it is.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m done for the night.” Eli tries to assuage my concern.

Dropping the boxes on the table, I lean back up and stretch my old bones. “I had to call in a lot of favors to get this. I’m glad I still have friends at the sheriff's office.”

Eli picks through the file box, takes a folder out and starts thumbing through it. Aiden picks up the next, filled with photos from the crime scene. His face contorts with disgust. “This is one sick fuck.”

“Eli, did you pick up the comics that Shayleigh has? What did she call them, ‘comps’?” I don’t understand any of this comic bullshit. I wish she would get a real job and stop screwing around with demonic crayons.

“Yeah, we got them.” Eli brings a box from his office off the living room. “These are the pre-release issues. They are printed and ready to be shipped.” He puts a stack on the table. “These are the comps that are in progress. All in all we have issues one through four in their entirety.” He drops those on the pile. “These are just printouts of the scans of the work on issue five—it hasn’t been lettered yet—and then we have the photos from CSU for what she’s done of issue six.”