Redeeming the Night (17 page)

His lips, soft and warm, pressed against hers. Her body reacted instantly. Libido, long dormant, inflamed every inch of her. She slid her hand to the back of his neck and pulled him closer. The kiss deepened. The room, the horrors of the past few days, everything slipped away as their bodies pressed against each other.

“Hey.” The voice seemed so far away. “Hey.” It sounded again like the insistent droning of a mosquito. “I hate to break this up, but Viv could walk in at any second, and you don’t look a thing like you did a second ago.”

Ashley glanced into the mirror, and a face she hadn’t seen in a long time looked back at her.

“Hello?” Aaron stalked toward them. “Whenever you’re ready?” His widened eyes emphasized his hoarse whisper.

Eric kissed the top of her head and released her. Once again, she shifted into Lydia. Just in time.

“Did you want coffee? I have tea.” Vivian saw them in the foyer. “You’re not leaving?”

“No, Ashley felt faint and was going to get some air,” Eric replied.

“Oh, dear.” Vivian started forward and took Ashley’s hand. “You look so pale. When was the last time you ate?” Without waiting for a response she steered her into the other room. “Dig in.”

They all sat, and Vivian set a pitcher of orange juice on the table before sitting across from Ashley. The conversation turned to catching up for the old friends.

“How is your grandmother?” Vivian asked Eric, as she spooned some fruit onto Ashley’s plate.

“Nana’s great,” Eric said, forking a couple pancakes onto his plate beside several strips of bacon. “She spends her days divided between her garden and her kitchen. When I told her I was coming out here she told me to say hi and invite you to come visit.”

“That sounds like a great idea. Aaron’s due for a vacation soon. Perhaps we’ll convince him to take it. We definitely won’t get a chance to travel once Ricky starts school.”

“How old is he now?”

“Three. And he already wants to be a detective like his daddy.” Viv smiled warmly at her husband.

Rapid footsteps sounded on the ceiling. “Speak of the devil and he shall awaken.” Viv made two plates and stood, lifting them both. “I’ll take him into the den for breakfast so you three can talk.”

“That’s okay,” Aaron began, but she shut him up with a peck on the lips.

“I know when you need to talk shop.” She carried the plates from the room. The little pounding feet made their way down the stairs. They could hear a piping voice call for mommy before giggles and more running. A door closed on the other side of the house.

Aaron sighed and said to no one in particular, “I’m a lucky man.”

After a moment, Eric broke the silence. “Irving Pilcher is our guy. We need to find a way to lure him in.”

“Why would the COO of Gunderson’s empire want to kidnap, torture, and kill young women?”

Ashley grunted softly. “Just because he’s rich doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of extreme evil.”

Eric nodded. “Some would say he would be more capable.”

Aaron shook his head and ate a bit of cantaloupe before responding. “His life is so public. How could he possibly do this for so long without anyone knowing about it?”

Ashley gripped her orange juice. “His sort of fantasies don’t grow in the light of day. They build in the corners of his mind until they darken his soul. The darker it gets, the more likely he is to act on what he truly wants.”

“How do you know it’s Pilcher?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? He’d seen what Ashley could do; would he believe his old friend could be a supernatural beast?

“I smelled him,” Eric said. He took a bite of bacon and smiled, showing nothing of the unease Ashley knew boiled under the surface.

“Because you’re a werewolf?” Aaron’s gaze shifted between the two of them. “Even with her show, it’s hard to believe.”

“Why do you think I’m not a cop anymore? I can smell better than any police dog. It’s as good as seeing. I couldn’t explain how I knew where a pedophile was hiding his latest victim. I knew who’d committed murder, rape … and who was lying. Did you know you smell different when you lie? But as a cop, I had to give cause. I had to find ‘real’ evidence. Quite often, there wasn’t any, or when there was, it was so minute, no one should have found it. No one questions a PI as long as they deliver. I haven’t had a case yet that I couldn’t solve. You know that. It’s why you brought me here.”

Aaron sipped his coffee, then rubbed a hand over his face. “You’ve been this way for a year?”

Eric nodded.

“It’s going to take a while to process. I’m sorry.” He stood then and walked to the kitchen window. In the silence, they could hear a television in the other room. A child’s song was playing, and a tiny voice piped gibberish to the melody. Finally, the song ended with “Yeahs” and clapping from Ricky and Vivian. Aaron nodded as if in agreement.

“I don’t need to know any more. I’m not sure I want to. Whatever you claim to be, you both are on my side and that’s all that matters.” To Eric, he said, “You’re a brother. I believe you, no matter how outlandish it sounds.”

They stood, clasped hands, bumped shoulders, and slapped each other’s backs in a kind of man-hug.

Once everyone got settled Ashley cleared her throat. “So, how do we catch this guy?”

Aaron cleared his throat. “I can’t put a tail on him or get a warrant for his house without approval … ” He glanced across the table at Eric.

“But we can.” Eric nodded. “We’ll stop by his house this afternoon and tail him when goes to visit his victims. Then we can call in a tip.”

“Can you tail him without being seen?”

Eric leveled a gaze at his old friend.

“Okay.” Aaron smiled. “Do your reconnaissance. Make sure there’s proof we can use. Then call in the tip, and I’ll bring the cavalry.”

• • •

They had several hours before they planned on trailing Pilcher. Given their evening, Eric suggested they return to the room to sleep. He knew they both could use it.

Once inside, they didn’t say a word. He sat on the edge of the bed to remove his shoes. When he stood and faced Ashley she’d already slipped out of her jeans and had shifted so she was wearing a baggy t-shirt that just barely covered white cotton panties. She was still in the image of his partner.

“What do you look like?” he asked, seeming to startle her from her own thoughts.

“I look like anything I want.” She didn’t seem to understand, but he suspected she did.

“You. The real you.” He pulled off his belt, rolled it up, and placed it on the dresser.

“You’ve already seen the real me.” She climbed into the bed.

If she could get comfortable for bed, so could he. There was something strangely dirty about climbing into bed with Lydia, though. “Have I?” He pulled off his shirt, but she was still on the bed, as his old partner, and he stopped.

She saw him hesitate.

Then he sighed. “It seems wrong when you look just like my partner.”

At this, she smiled. Her first real smile since the day before. Slowly, she shimmered into what he took to be herself. Brown hair with gold highlights and a couple of silvery hairs that glinted slightly in the light of the bedside table. A round face with a dimple in the left cheek. Eyes that were so light brown they were almost golden. Her body had curves. The good kind. In all the right places.

“Wow.” Suddenly he was more than a little self-conscious about removing his jeans.

“What?” She shimmered again, her appearance starting to blur.

“No.” He climbed onto the bed and took her hand. “I like it.” He looked her over again. “You are so hot.”

She solidified into herself. “Really?”

“Oh, yeah,” he breathed as he leaned in to kiss her. He’d never seen a sexier woman. She was it. She was the one. Would she understand what it meant? He breathed deep. She needed to understand. She had to agree to forever. Silently, he prayed she would.

Nervous, more than he’d ever been, he leaned back, keeping a hold on her hand. “Will you marry me?”

• • •

He wasn’t kidding. He wanted her, and he meant forever. There would be no backing out of it for him. She wanted to laugh. He couldn’t see it, but they had shared so many pieces of themselves with each other already that they wouldn’t be easily separated anyway. The pieces of him completed her more than when she was whole.

Her answer had already been written the instant she ran from the sisterhood with Nichole. This man was her future, and she was his. Finally, he knew it, too.

She took his face in her hands. “With all of my soul, forever.”

He laughed and kissed her. Passion that had been held in control seemed unlocked, and the world fell way. Nothing mattered but them. Kissing, stroking, they shared everything. He opened his soul so completely to her, and she responded in kind.

They sank into what seemed like dozens of feather pillows on the bed. His voice was husky. “You have such an amazing body.”

She warmed at the comment. And choked on a small sob.

“What is it?” he asked.

“You see
me
.”

“No matter who you pretend to be, I will always see
you
.” He gathered her in his arms and traced his fingertips lightly down her back.

His male scent mingled with the light fragrance of soap from an earlier shower.

Continuing to hold her in one arm, he caressed her with his other hand, starting at her neck. As he brushed her hair back from her shoulder he leaned down and touched his lips to hers.

Gentle but not hesitant, his hands explored her. Behind every movement, she felt purpose. Slow. Sensual. Needing to focus on something other than the areas of her skin screaming to be touched, she closed her eyes and reached for him. Her fingers traced his hard chest, running across his abdomen, which rippled as he shifted to stroke her thigh.

He leaned over her, kissing her hair, cheeks, nose, lips. His magic hands braced him as he hovered over her, raining kisses down over her neck and shoulders.

She knew he was taking it slow, taking care that their first time would be special. She wasn’t a virgin, but her last encounter had been decades before and hadn’t been tender. She became aware of her entire body as he kissed and caressed it. Not just the key areas.

Her hands moved as well, caressing the muscles of his arms and back. They rippled as he moved.

Oh, the anticipation. Each breast received a kiss, then he traced them with his tongue in a closing spiral, and finally flicked his tongue across the tip. She gasped and arched toward him. Didn’t he know this was driving her crazy?

He moved on, lightly brushing his lips against her stomach. She moaned in protest, reaching for him, running her fingers through his hair.

“Are you in a hurry?” She could barely make out his mischievous grin though the veil of lust clouding her vision.

“I need you,” she whispered, wanting his touch more than anything she’d ever wanted.

He touched his lips to hers again. She felt his smile and wrapped her arms around his neck before he could move on and continue the sensuous torture.

Sinking into the kiss, she felt the weight of his body on hers. The earth spun, and her senses swam, then he ran a hand down her side and slipped a finger inside her. She cried out against his lips.

Once again, every touch became slow and deliberate. His fingers explored the inside and his thumb brushed the outside, working her to climax. Lights burst and flowed with colors of a turbulent aura. She cried out again and focused him in her vision. The world still whirled about him, but he was steady in her sight.

“I need you,” she whispered again. The lust had gone, leaving only him and a void he would fill. And as he did, they seemed to fall through space, love, and time, heralded back to earth by a multitude of bells ringing.

• • •

He needed to take his time. To make it special for both of them. He’d always been able to drive a woman wild, and he had been worried for a minute he had lost his touch. Her reaction proved otherwise.

Her moans almost ended him right then. She reached for him, had tried give him some of the pleasure he was giving her, but he stayed just out of reach until the world swam. Then he entered her. She gripped every inch of him, wet and warm and pulsing. They moved together. Bodies moving to the rhythm of their heartbeats. Faster and faster, until … light seemed to engulf them both and they gave their all to each other.

Their hearts slowed, and their breathing slowed. As they snuggled, they both knew they would never be alone again. They had become one.

A quick internet search led them to Pilcher’s house. As they drove through the neighborhood Ashley gripped her right hand over the onyx band on her left ring finger. At Eric’s quizzical glance she pointed and said, “The sisterhood lives down that street.”

“Maybe you should … ” he began.

“I can’t,” she whispered, twisting the band and giving it an experimental tug. “Anyway, we need it.” He knew that was an excuse. His sense of smell would get them far enough. The idea that she couldn’t remove the ring nearly sent her into a panic, yet she seemed fearful of the opposite too.

He grunted. He didn’t understand. Was it just because she didn’t want to lose her powers? He would give up his abilities in a second, but he also knew she felt like they were the only things that empowered her.

They drove slowly past Pilcher’s house. No one appeared to be home. Eric pulled into a driveway down the block on the opposite side of the street.

“Won’t someone say something about us parking here?” Ashley asked.

“There’s a for sale sign in the front yard and a lock box on the front door.” He gestured toward the ornate door they faced. “No one parks on the street in this neighborhood if they can help it.”

She nodded. “So, what do we do now?”

“There is no sign he’s home. So we watch the house.”

“Maybe we should check to see if he’s keeping the kids there. If he is, we could get them out before he even gets home.”

“He could be home and just parked in the garage.”

“The point is, from here, we can’t tell if he’s home. The only way to know is to knock. That’s why we got the props, isn’t it? As she pulled a bag from the back seat she morphed into a young girl. She could have been a sister to any of the abducted girls. Her clothes changed with her. Now she was in a scouting uniform. She pulled a clipboard from the bag. She winked at him and moved to open her door.