Remembered by Moonlight (19 page)

“We can argue it some more when we get home,” he replied agreeably.

“Ummm. I’d like that.” She relaxed against him, fitting as perfectly as a softly tailored jacket over his crisp white shirt. Debate wasn’t one of the things she planned on doing with him when they got behind closed doors. And from the way he prodded her through his trousers it wasn’t foremost on his agenda either.

“Your friends are leaving,
cher
.”

Without lifting her head or opening her eyes, she raised her hand and gave it an indolent dismissing wave.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

More familiar with the road and sober, Brigit drove the big vehicle back toward the estate with Cale her withdrawn co-pilot. The others remained in the city. After miles of oppressive quiet, she decided it was time to break the silence.

“I’m pregnant.” She heard Cale’s quick inhalation and felt his startled stare. “That’s what Kendra and I were whispering about in Tahoe. In a month or so I’ll be putting all my bad behavior clothes away in favor of muumuus.”

“Don’t you mean designer muumuus?”

“Well, yes, of course.” She glanced over to catch the flash of his smile.

“Congrats. No wonder your fiancé wanted to break my nose.”

“It’s not his.”

Another echoing silence. Then a quiet, “Is that a bad thing, or is he okay with it? He’d be a fool not to be.”

Brigit laughed. “I’m surprised he’s not knitting baby booties.”

“I’m starting to like him better. I’m happy for you, Bree.”

“Thank you.” After a comfortable moment, she said, “Don’t let him get to you.”

“He doesn’t hit
that
hard. Besides being a human, he seems like a good enough guy.”

“I’m not talking about Giles, Cale.”

The temperature plunged within the vehicle. “I don’t want to talk about your brother.”

“Then listen.” She took his stony silence for agreement and continued. “Aside from our excellent fashion sense, you and I are very much alike. No, we are,” she insisted at his disbelieving snort. “That’s why we always clash over everything. We’re both impulsive but when we love, it’s deeply and usually foolishly. You, your bastard of a father and me, the father of this child.” No argument, so she continued.

“Our lives have always been wrapped about the same two people, one we adore and the other who frustrates the hell out of us.” Kendra and Silas. “And we’d do absolutely anything to please and protect them. Agreed?”

A reluctantly mumbled, “Agreed.”

“Silas can’t help the way he is any more than we can be what he thinks he wants us to be. He’s never had the freedom to misbehave. Except maybe with that creature he married. He’s afraid to be less than perfect, to let things get out of his control. And he’s never been able to control us. He sees that as his failure, and it breaks my heart to see him struggle so.”

After considering that, Cale pronounced, “Well, he’s still a dick.”

Brigit laughed. “Yes, he is. Can you forgive that flaw?”

“I suppose.”

Brigit glanced into the rearview and squinted as a pair of bright beams came up fast behind them. Frowning, she switched to the night view then checked the side mirrors in concern.

“What’s wrong?”

“Some idiot in a big hurry to get nowhere.” She tapped her brakes, but the other vehicle kept coming, barreling like a bullet train out of the darkness.

Cale twisted to look back between the seats, brows lowering. “Give him plenty of room.”

“I don’t have any to give. This isn’t exactly a downtown four lane with a curb I can jump.” Her calm voice detracted from a white-knuckled grip on the wheel.

The road was narrow, twisting and isolated, with flooded rice paddies on the left and a drop-off into a swampy gnarl of trees on the right.

“He’s coming around us.”

The large, extended cab truck pulled up alongside, keeping pace for a long minute. Tinted windows made it impossible to see who was at the wheel.

“Slow down, Bree. Let him pass.” Cale spoke softly but his words bit with tension. She applied the brake, and the big vehicle shot past them, disappearing around the tight corner up ahead. Both sighed in relief as they came into the hairpin curve.

There sat the truck, stopped at an angle in the center of the road.

Brigit tried to brake but had no time. To avoid a collision, she jerked the wheel to the right, praying for room on the shoulder to let them slip by.

There almost was. But not quite.

She heard Cale’s palms slap against the dash. Their vehicle left the road, shooting out into the darkness, airborne and already starting to roll.

With a sigh, Cee Cee stepped out of her shoes and left them in the doorway. She gave the wig a toss onto the bar and rolled her shoulders with a moan. Then his hands settled there, warm and strong, to begin a delectable kneading.

“Oh, baby. I’ll give you two hours to stop that.”

“As long as you need,
sha
. I’m at your disposal.”

“And I’m Silly Putty in your hands,” she sighed, eyes closing. She relaxed beneath the pressure of his long fingers and rotating heels of his hands, letting the stresses of her case drop away until only the pleasure of his touch remained. She breathed deep, just as he had earlier, inhaling his scent, letting it roll through her body in a sensual wave to crest and pound at the juncture of her thighs.

He leaned close to whisper against her ear, “Is there any other tension I can relieve for you,
cher?
I am willing and most certainly able.”

“That’s quite an offer,” she murmured.

“No strings attached. Unless you’d like me to wrap you up in them.”

“You’ve had me tied up in knots since the first time I laid eyes on you, Savoie. The more I struggled, the tighter I got tangled. I’ve absolutely no desire to be free of them anymore.”

“Good.”

He nuzzled her neck, sending tremors racing to her toes. She leaned against him, head cradled on his shoulder. Her back arched as his hands slipped lower, molding the firm swell of her breasts within his palms until the anticipation he’d begun with his mating dance inside the club was killing her. This was Max, her mate and Cee Cee could find no fault in what they were doing or with where the mood might take them.

“Can we adjourn this to more comfortable surroundings?” came her slightly breathless request.

“Absolutely.”

Max simply scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the big bedroom.

He sat her on the edge of the bed where she watched, an enraptured audience of one, as he unhurriedly stripped out of his clothes, piece by taunting piece. Revealing all she desired, starting with the strong line of his throat and sexy jut and hollows of his collar bone by ripping off his tie. The crisp mat of his chest with each freed button, down to the mouth-watering cut of abdominals. The glorious swell of powerful shoulders. Arms that could break a man in half or hold so gently. An impatient contour pushed to escape the lowering of his zipper.

Skin suddenly unbearably hot and prickly, Cee Cee’s mouth went dry with expectation. She wet her lips with a quick flick of her tongue, eager to put both to better use. But first there were barriers to move out of the way.

“I spoke to Susanna.”

Max paused, pants dropping about his ankles. Her sultry gaze riveted to their descent along long, sleek legs. “Did you?” He proceeded to step out of them to stand underwear model gorgeous in just his strained-to-the-limit briefs. “Did you have a fruitful talk?”

“Yes. Very informative.” She fidgeted, abruptly uneasy as she gestured to the mattress behind her. “Will this be awkward . . . considering?”

He smiled slightly, taking her meaning. Would they have uninvited company? He shook his head. “We’re very much alone. Would you rather wait?” His eyes gleamed in the semi-darkness.

Cee Cee reached out to catch the waistband of his briefs and, in answer, slid them off his hips.

Naked, Max Savoie was all stunning male. Her male.

She stood, going toe to toe with him. Her palms charted tempting territory from taut middle to the sweeping spread of his pectorals. A heart-jerking trip that left her trembling. Her hands capped his shoulders and then the back of his dark head. Drawing him down to taste her hunger in their kiss.

She was undressed to the waist by the time their lips parted. His lowered, mouth scorching over her breasts, leaving trails of damp heat. Her fingers clenched in his hair as he seized a turgid nipple and began an urgent suckling. Intense sensations clutched at her core. Her legs shook so badly she had to sit down. Max always did that to her. Before she could recover her fractured breathing, her leggings were gone.

“Shall we finish our dance?”

Cee Cee’s knees fell open in invitation and Max was on his between them. Her head fell back, her body arched. A low moan escaped her throat, the sound so wanton Max feared he might immediately spend in response. His fingertips spread and stroked her. The fragrance of her arousal rose with that of her dusky perfume, weaving about his senses, too strong to be ignored. Need to taste warred with desperation to take.

Hunger overcoming the pounding to the point of pain in his shaft, Max dipped down so his tongue could stroke along her slippery folds then plunge deep. He growled his pleasure.

Mine. All mine.

Unsteady hands fisted in his hair. Her breathy cries grew short and fast until his devouring fervor sent her keening over the edge.

“Max! Oh! Oh, baby!”

The image of her in Cale Terriot’s embrace flashed unbidden like the threatening jab of a fist. Just the whisper of the other male’s scent fueled a possessive fury. Max might roar about his claim for all to hear, might believe it true until it burned like madness through his brain, but she wasn’t his, not in the primal way of their kind, at least not as he was now. The need to change that boiled through his veins and howled in his soul.

Max rose over her, driving her orgasm higher by plunging inside her wet heat, matching her frantic spasms with his own violent rhythm until his eyes flamed an eerie blue.

His intention, his need, burned fierce and hot in that primal stare, restrained only by fear of her rejection. Cee Cee shattered his hesitation by arching against him, her own gaze eager and unafraid. Her voice panted with raw urgency.

“I’m yours, Savoie. I always have been. Take me, claim me. Know again in your heart and mind that we’re one in all things.”

She didn’t close her eyes or look away as the change came over him. She embraced it, with the clench of her hands, the upward thrust of her hips, the savage pleasure in her smile as he became that
more
she’d always suspected lay behind the suits and impassive stare. Something wild, something dark, something huge and powerful others found monstrous. She’d looked beyond the frightening visage to the man within, drawn, compelled, completed by the bottomless devotion that burned there. For her. Only for her.

He’d completely turned, his features warped by the beast that prowled within, unrestrained now in his single-minded passion to have her.

He pinned her to the bed with his size and commanding strength and nothing had ever thrilled her more. She’d trust no man enough to surrender so completely, but to Max Savoie she gave without reservation. Gave of her love, her body, her soul. And he took all with a great, echoing cry.

She came again, her body bowing, quaking as he continued his near mindless plunging.

His searing gaze fixed upon the faded marks on her shoulder. Those claiming scars gleamed against damp skin, provoking him to caress them with his mouth, wet them with his tongue and finally breach them with the sudden brief sting of his canine teeth and a quick tugging suction, filling him with the startling essence of all she was. His mate. His love. His alone. The hugeness of that act catapulted him to a forceful eruption that pumped on and on until, totally depleted, he collapsed beside her sated form to slowly return to his own.

They lay atop the bed side by side, panting heavily for long minutes until Max managed a gusty chuckle.

“I hadn’t planned things to get out of hand so quickly.”

Cee Cee’s palm stroked across his chest, resting where his heart pounded up against it. “Do you hear me complaining? Besides,” she murmured, rolling up to face him, smile smug, eyes glittering, “who said it was over?”

“Certainly not me.”

He drew her down to him, their lengthy kiss both tender and filled with promise. When he finally allowed her to lift away, only a few scant inches, his expression softened.

“Have I told you that you are my every dream?”

Her eyes shimmered. Her voice went smoky with emotion. “Not recently.”

His lips brushed softly over the new mark he’d layered over the old. “I want to build upon this moment, Charlotte. I want what we have between us now to be enough.”

“It can’t be enough, Max.” Before he could argue, she pressed a finger against his mouth and added, “Because there’s so much, much more to come.”

His slow smile had her soul quivering. “I want that to be true.”

Before she could begin convincing him, one of their phones began to ring. They both cursed then smiled.

“Is that you or me, Detective?”

“I think it’s you, Savoie.”

“Shall we tell the world to go to hell?”

“It just might do that without us. Answer it. I’m not going anywhere. I can’t think of a single thing that could move me from this spot.”

She was wrong.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

An explosion of sound, followed by the eerie wail of a horn trickling down into silence.

Brigit MacCreedy had no idea where she was when she blinked her eyes open. Through a web of shattered glass, cockeyed lights revealed nightmarish shapes tangled against a wet black sheen. The stench was overpowering. Rot. Gasoline. Her feet were wet!

She took tentative stock of her situation. Her chest hurt where her shoulder belt cut across it. Her head pounded. Something warm kept dripping into her eyes.

Her gasp of remembrance brought a sharp slice of pain through her side. They’d gone off the road, plunging into god knows what. The SUV angled front bumper down, listing sharply to the right. Only her seatbelt restrained her. The strange shapes outside were tree limbs spread across the broken windshield, holding it tentatively in place like skeletal fingers.

Cale!

No answer to her anxious whisper of his name. She reached across to the passenger seat, fingertips brushing leather. Shaking his arm, she called again. No response.

Panic quickened her breathing, increasing the slivers of pain in her side and chest. Hand shaking, she fumbled for the overhead light, blinking as it flooded the interior.

Still belted in beside her, Cale slumped against the door, eyes closed, expression still. His head rested against cracked door glass. An alarming amount of blood stained the front and sleeve of his jacket.

“Cale?” She touched his face, finding his skin cool. She pressed fingers to his mouth and nose, praying for the relief of a fluttering breath. “Oh, thank you. Thank you.” She swallowed down the awful fear and shook his shoulder. “Cale, can you hear me? Are you all right? Please be all right.”

His hand lifted, groping weakly until it found hers, drawing her knuckles up to brush his cheek. He spoke in a groggy whisper. “It’s okay, baby. It’s all right. Just let me go.”

“Cale!”

His eyes flickered open, focusing first in confusion then with abrupt awareness of their situation. He tried to sit back but relented with a groan to regroup and try again.

“How long have I been out?”

“I don’t know. Seconds. Minutes. Hours.”

“Turn off the light. Are you okay?”

She responded quickly to his terse command, reluctantly returning them to darkness. “Just banged up, I think.”

“Any movement from outside?”

Was someone out there in the dark checking to see if their job was finished? She hadn’t thought of that, and now could think of nothing else. Fear came back, thick and strong. “Not that I’ve seen. Cale, do you think—“

“There’s water in here.”

“There’s water out there. I don’t know how deep. We’re caught in trees or brush or something. I’m not fond of water.”

She could hear a smile in his promise of, “I’ll see what I can do.” Then, the click of his seatbelt. The vehicle rocked precariously as his weight fell against the dash. A low curse, followed by a curt, “We need to get out of here. First, I want to make sure they’re gone. You stay put while I—”

“Don’t leave me in here alone!”

His hand squeezed hers reassuringly. “It’ll be okay. I’ll only be gone a minute or two.”

She couldn’t release him. “Don’t do anything foolish, Cale.”

“Who? Me? I’m the soul of common sense.”

Brigit listened as he fumbled along the dash until the moon roof opened above them.

“You want something to do, talk on the phone. Don’t call your boyfriend. He needs to be with the boy, just in case.” She didn’t ask in case what. “Call Savoie. Tell him to hurry.”

Then Cale shinnied out through the roof, disappearing.

After she made the call, the submerged headlights flickered then went out, leaving Brigit in complete blackness. She waited and listened and tried not to give way to the hysteria crowding up into her throat. Something scratched along the roof. She drew a breath to scream.

A hand reached down.

“C’mon, mama. Grab on.”

Under a moonless sky in the quick pan of their headlights the rubber burns were invisible in the night. Except to Max’s preternatural vision.