Covet - A Novel of Fallen Angel Part 17

Going along, he walked neither fast nor slow, and he looked around with his eyes but not his head. To the casual observer, he was just another pedestrian out after midnight, a young guy about to meet up with friends or maybe on his way to his girlas house: Nothing unusual, utterly unnotable as he encountered a pair of guys and a homeless woman and a pack of couples.

His car was just where head left it and he had to get in carefully, thanks to what was stashed under his fleece. Starting the engine, he headed out onto Trade, and when an ambulance went steaming by him, he did the right thing, ducking to the side and getting out of the way.

No need to hurry, boys, he thought. Given how hard head hit that guy, there was no way theyad bring him around.

Cutting down toward the river, he stayed with the flow of traffic, to the extent that there was any, but there werenat a lot of people out on the roads this late. And there were fewer and fewer as he went farther and father away from downtown.

A good fifteen miles later, he pulled over to the side of the road.

No streetlights here. No cars. Just a stretch of asphalt with trees and brush that came right up to the gravel shoulder.

Getting out, he locked his car and crunched through the woods, heading for the river. When he emerged at the Hudsonas sh.o.r.eline, he looked across the way. There were some houses on the other side, but they had outdoor lights on only, which meant the inhabitants were asleepa"although it wouldnat matter if they were awake, lying in bed, or even walking through their kitchens, trolling for a snack. No one was going to see him. The river was wide here, wide and deep.

Lifting up his black fleece, he freed the tire iron, and with a bracing throw, pitched it along with its windbreaker bathing suit into the water. With a plunk and just a little splash, the thing sank in the blink of an eye, never to be found again: The riverbed was at least ten feet down in this part, but even better, head chosen a spot where there was a curve to the Hudsonas coursea"the current would not only carry the tire iron farther away from Caldwell; it would drag the thing farther out into the middle, away from the sh.o.r.e.

Back at his car, he got in and kept on going.

He drove around for a while, listening to the local radio, dying to know what the police were going to report about what had happened in that alley. But there was nothing. Just hip-hop and pop rock on FM and conspiracy theorists and right-wing talking heads on AM.

As he went along, taking random lefts and rights, he thought about the way things had gone tonight. He could feel himself slipping into old ways and habits, and that was not gooda"although on some level, it seemed inevitable.

Hard to change who you were inside. Very hard.

The thing was, shooting those college boys the night before had been a bit of shock, but the whole tire-iron incident just now seemed like business as usual. And the trigger for the kill had been much lower. The guy hadnat even been aggressive toward her in that club. Head had her and that was enough: One look at that self-satisfied smile when head come out of that bathroom theyad disappeared into and the sonofab.i.t.c.h was a dead man.

But things couldnat keep going like this. He was smart enough to know that if he continued to off men downtown, his chances of getting caught increased with each body he left behind. So he either needed to stopaor clean up his messes.

When he was satisfied he hadnat been followed, and when he could no longer fight the urge to check the TV, he headed for homea"or for what had been home for the past two months.

The house was a rental on the outskirts of town, in a neighborhood full of either young families with young kids or old couples with no kids. And given the number of folks who were having a hard time in the real estate bust, it had been easy for him to find something.

Rent was a thousand a month. No problem.

Pulling into the driveway, he hit the garage door opener and waited as the panels moved upward.

Odd. The house next door had lights on in it. One in the front hall, another in the living room, and a third upstairs. The place had always been dark before.

Not his business, thougha"he had plenty of his own going on.

Parking in his garage, he hit the b.u.t.ton on the remote and waited until he was shut in so no one would see him get out. Which was a habit head picked up thanks to watching his woman. Inside the house, he went to the back hall bathroom and turned on the light. In the mirror, he realized that the mustache head put on his upper lip had gone off-kiltera"not good, but at least no one had looked at him funny as head walked to his car. Maybe it had happened while head been at the river.

He ripped off the stripe of fuzz, flushed it down the toilet, and thought about was.h.i.+ng the blood off here, but figured the shower upstairs would be better. As for his clothes? His fleece had been protected by the jacket, which was now in the Hudson, but his jeans were stained.

d.a.m.n it, the pants were an issue. There was a fireplace in the living room, but head never used it before, had no wood, and besides, if he lit something up, there was a chance the neighbors would smell the smoke and remember it.

Better to lose them in the river after dark, just like head done with the tire iron.

The hat. Head had the hat on, too.

He took the black cap out of his back pocket. There were just a few spots on it, but that was enough to put it in the land of disposal. You couldnat get fibers clean enough in these days of the CSIers. Fire or permanent disappearance were the only options you had.

Upstairs, he paused at the top of the stairwell. With both hands, he took off the wig and smoothed his hair so that it lay flat. He supposed it would be better to take a shower before he showed himself, but he couldnat wait that long. Besides, head have to walk through the bedroom to get to the bathroom, so shead see him anyway.

He went to the doorway. aIam home.a Across the way, she looked at him from the corner, as beautiful and demure and resplendent as ever, her eyes pools of compa.s.sion and warmth, her alabaster skin glowing in the dim light cast by the street lamp outside.

He waited for a response and then reminded himself one wasnat coming: The Mary Magdalene statue head stolen at dawn remained as quiet as it had been when head taken it from the church.

Head had to take her. Now that he knew what his woman did for a living, it was his representation of his love, the thing to tide him over until he finally and permanently got her where she belongeda"which was with him.

The statue also reminded him that he shouldnat kill her just because she was a dirty, filthy s.l.u.t. She wasaa woman misled, strayed, off the right path. Something he himself was guilty of. But head done his time and he was back on track nowa.

Well, with minor exceptions.

As he knelt in front of the statue, he reached up to cup the face in his palm. He loved being able to touch his woman and it was a little disappointing not to have her stroke him back or wors.h.i.+p him as she should.

But that was why he needed the real thing.

CHAPTER 23.

Marie-Terese had been convinced Vin was going to kiss her on the mouth.

And there was a part of her that wanted just that, but shead been panicky, too: She might have technically been having s.e.x at the club, but it had been three years since shead actually been kissed. And the last time it had happened it had been forced on her as part of an act of violence.

Instead of giving her what she both wanted and feared, though, Vin had just pressed his lips to her forehead and eased her up against his chesta"and here she was, in the strong arms of a man whose heart was beating close to her ear, whose warmth was leaching into her own body, whose big hand was making slow circles around her back.

Marie-Terese smoothed her palm up his pecs. Underneath the cashmere, his body was hard, suggesting that he exercised a lot.

She wondered what he looked like without his clothes on.

She wondered what his mouth would feel like on hers.

She wondered how having him skin-to-skin would be.

aI guess we should probably go,a he said, his voice rumbling through his chest.

aDo we have to?a His breath caught and then resumed. aI think wead better.a aWhy?a Vin shrugged, the movement rubbing his sweater against her cheek. aJust think itas for the best.a Oh, manahow about that for a polite brush-off. Good G.o.d, what if shead read it all wrong?

Abruptly, she s.h.i.+fted upward, pus.h.i.+ng herself off of him. aYes, I think youare righta"a In her haste, her palm slipped on the fine nap of his sweater and brushed over something that was hard below his waist. And not hard as in bone.

ad.a.m.n, Iam sorry,a he said, moving his hips away. aYeah, itas definitely time to pull out of hereaa She looked down. His erection was unmistakable, and what do you know, she had a roaring s.e.xual response to it. She wanted him. Needed to have him inside of her. And all the rational reasons not to go there were suddenly nothing more than yada, yada, yadaa.

Locking eyes with him, she whispered, aKiss me.a Vin froze in the process of getting up. As his chest expanded, he stared at the floor and didnat say a thing.

aOh,a she said. aI understand.a His body might have wanted her, but his mind was jamming at the thought of being with a wh.o.r.e.

In a horrible rush, she saw the faces of the johns she had been withaor at least those she could recall. So many of them, more than she could count, and they crowded the s.p.a.ce between her and this man who sat on his boyhood bed, looking as s.e.xy as anything.

She hadnat wanted the others. Had taken pains to be as separate from them as she could, layers of latex and dissociation barriers she used to try to stay as untouched by the contact as she could.

Vin, howeveraVin she wanted close, and he couldnat go there.

This was the real damage she had done to herself, wasnat it: shead a.s.sumed that as long as she stayed disease-free and unharmed physically, the long-term effects were going to be limited to a store of memories shead be desperate to forget. But this was cancer, not the flu. Because she could barely see Vin through the cast of hundreds, and he was as blinded by the anonymous, invisible crowd as she was.

Swallowing hard, she thoughtain this moment, she would have given up everything to have had a clean slate between her and Vin. Everythingaexcept for her son.

Marie-Terese s.h.i.+fted off the bed, but he caught her hand before she could shoot out of the room.

aI canat stop at just kissing you.a His hot eyes locked on her. aThatas the only reason Iam holding off. Iad like to tell you Iam a gentleman and could pull back or out with only a word from you, but I canat trust myself. Not tonight.a Caught up in the distance between them, all she could hear was, Women like you donat get to say no.

In a hoa.r.s.e voice, she said, aYou already know Iam a s.l.u.t. So I wonat stop you.a Vinas expression went cold and he dropped his hold on her.

After a moment, he rose to his feet and glared at her. aYou donat ever refer to yourself like that in front of me again. We clear? Never again. I donat give a f.u.c.k who you were with or how many there werea"youare not a s.l.u.t to me. You want to beat yourself up, do it on your time and donat try to drag me into it.a On a survival instinct, she cringed back from him and s.h.i.+elded her head, expecting his hands to curl into fists and come flying at her.

Shead been trained thoroughly in what men who were furious did to women.

Except Vin just stared at her, the anger in his face draining out and leaving a pale panic behind. aHe hit you, didnat he.a Marie-Terese couldnat answer that. Because even a nod would have sent her into a spiral of tears. Tonightaas Vin himself had said, tonight was not the night for trusting herself: Whereas quitting the business had made her feel stronger, that had been temporary. Here and now, she was vulnerable as h.e.l.l.

aJesusaChrist,a Vin murmured.

Before she knew it, she was back in his arms, back in them and up close. As they stood together, something occurred to her about the choices shead madeasomething that she didnat want to look too closely at, so she pushed it away and locked it up tight.

Lifting her head to look up at him, she said, aBe with me. Now.a Vin went stock-stillaand then cupped her face with his gentle palms. aYou sure?a aYes.a After a long moment, he closed the distance between their mouths and kissed her sweet and slow. Ohasoft. He was so soft and careful, stroking, tilting his head to the side, stroking some more.

It was better than she remembered, because it was better than shead ever had.

Running her palms up his arms, she felt as if the two of them were suspended in air, tethered by choice, not trapped by circ.u.mstance. Light as the contact between them was, gentle as his lips were, careful as her hands were, power sizzled between them.

Vin pulled back a little. He was breathing hard, the muscles in his neck straining. And that wasnat the only thing. As he looked at her, his body was even more ready for what was going to happen next.

He cleared his throat. aMarie-Tereseaa It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him to call her by her real name, but she stopped herself. aYes?a she whispered in a voice as husky as his.

aLie down with me.a When she nodded, he gathered her into him and pulled her onto the bed so that they ended up with her top. As their bodies adjusted to glorious effect, his hands brushed her hair from her face and lingered on her shoulders.

aI like the way you feel under me,a she said.

He smiled. aAnd how do I feel?a aHard.a She arched into him, rubbing herself on his arousal.

As Vin reared back into the pillow and hissed, she put her mouth on the rigid cords that lined his neck, kissing her way up them until she got to his sharp jaw. Now she was the one fusing their mouths, and he was following her, tongues sweeping in and out, hands roaming, hips moving in the ancient surging motion of raw s.e.x.

It wasnat long before she needed so much more. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were aching, the tips straining against her bra, and she took his hand and eased it under the s.h.i.+rt she had on. The contact of his palm on her ribs made her suck on his tongue and to urge him onward, she guided the contact over to hera"

aVina As he palmed her breast, he groaned and rubbed his thumb around her nipple. aYouare h.e.l.l on my willpower. Total h.e.l.laa With a surge, he leaned up and nuzzled at her breast through her clothes. aI need you naked.a aJust what I was thinking.a Sitting back on his hips, she swept her fleece over her head and was attacked by a wave of modesty. Abruptly, she wanted her nakedness to be beautiful to himashe really did.

As if he read her mind, he murmured, aWould you rather do this with the lights off?a Well, yeah. Except then she couldnat see him. aIam not perfect, Vin.a He shrugged. aNeither am I. But I will guarantee that whatever you choose to show me Iam going to like because itas you.a Dropping her hands and holding his stare, she said, aTake my s.h.i.+rt off then. Please.a Sitting up so that they were face-to-face and she was in his lap, Vin unb.u.t.toned the thing down to her navel, his mouth going to her throat and then her collarbone and finally to the front clasp of her bra. His eyes flipped to hers as he reached up and sprang the fastening.

He didnat let the two sides snap apart, but held them in place.

Inch by inch his mouth kissed its way onto her breast. As he went, he slowly exposed her flesh until he got to her nipple and then he pulled the lace cup off entirely. His whole body shuddered with l.u.s.t.

aYouare so wrong,a he groaned. aLook at youaperfect.a He extended his tongue and licked her. And licked her again.

Watching him was nearly as good as feeling him, and the two together, the sight and the sensation, fired her blood up until she was panting.

Thank G.o.d theyad left the light on.

Vin s.h.i.+fted their positions, putting her on the bottom and rising up above her, his broad shoulders blocking out the fixture on the ceiling as he kissed her mouth again. Beneath his strength, she felt small and fragile, but powerful too: He was breathing hard because he wanted her, because his desperation was as sharp and demanding as her own, because he needed this with the same clawing drive she did.

They were in this together.

And then she stopped thinking, because he dropped his mouth onto her breast and took deep pulls while he parted her s.h.i.+rt all the way and swept aside the other cup of her bra.

As he continued what he was doing, she was dying to know the feel of his skin on hers, so she fisted the back of his sweater and started pulling it up. He finished the job, lifting himself to peel it from his chest.

In the mirror across the way, she watched as his back was revealed, the light from the overhead hitting the spectacular spread of muscles that filled out his shoulders and wrapped around his torso. And the view of his pecs was just as good.

He was a fantasy made real, his body nothing but ridges of strength that s.h.i.+fted under smooth flesh as he brought his lips down to her nipple again. With his bowed arms supporting the weight of his chest, he was a magnificent male animal ready to ditch fifty thousand years of evolution and mental development for the base mating that was to come.

Talk about perfecta Marie-Terese rolled her hips and sank her fingers deep into his thick hair. Her body was fluid under his mouth and his touch, heat rolling through her and tightening the ache between her legs. When the erotic need got to be too much, she split her thighs anda"

They both moaned as his erection landed in just the right place.

Vin arched against her, and her nails raked across the waistband of his slacks: Careful and gentle was all well and good, but the momentum had started to build and all of the worry of what to do was swept away.

aCan I take off your jeans?a he asked. Or groaned was more like it.

aOh, pleaseaa She braced herself on her heels as he slipped the top b.u.t.ton free, unzipped and swept the denim down her legs. Her panties were black and he stopped and just stared at them on her body.

aGoodalord,a he murmured.

His hands actually shook as he reached out and ran his fingertips across her belly. She waited for him to kiss her againaor move over on top of heraor take her panties offa.

aIs there anything wrong?a she said hoa.r.s.ely.

aNoanot at allaI just canat get enough of looking at you.a Finally, he came up to her lips. Licking into her mouth, he settled on her with his full weight, his bare chest on hers, their legs intertwining. Together, they found a rhythm, an erotic arch and retreat that s.e.xed her up until she was gasping and so was he.

aPleaseaVinaa As he kissed her, his hand eased down her hip and over her thigh, then brushed across the stretch of her panties. aI need to feel youa"a he said.

She took his forearm and pushed down, moving his fingers to her core, dragging them across her covered heat. As she shuddered and let her legs fall to the sides even more, he took his mouth to her breast and suckled at herawhile he rubbed at what covered her.

aMore,a she said.