[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
cellar."
"Thanks for a nice relaxing image. Well, they're
going to get a shock when I turn up alive and kick-
ing."
"And if you don't take it to the police, they will
simply try again."
"But we'll be on our guard. He went to a lot of
trouble to make the cellar look like an accident, so
I'm guessing he'll go that route again. I'll just be
extra careful."
"Fair enough. But." I paused, catching and hold-
ing his gaze. "Drew, his letter bomb hurt an
innocent bystander. She's scarred and could have
been blinded. I don't care if whoever did this is the
love of your life, your first-born or your uncle, who-
ever it was has to pay for that." Maybe that made
me an insensitive jerk, but it had to be said.
"I agree. All I'm asking for is a little time."
Reluctantly I gave in. "You've got it. How are you
going to hold off the cops?"
Drew shrugged. "I'm not. They'll do their thing
with what they already have. I'm just not going to
give them anything else. Yet. But you don't have to
be involved. Go back to Leidenton."
"No." The TV sitcom that had become my life
was morphing into an equally bad PI wannabe
show. With a paranormal subplot. For the first time,
I started wishing I revamped shopping malls, not
Victorian Gothic mansions. "The bastard brought
183
me in with the letter bomb. Besides, you need my
skewed synapses."
"I need you," he murmured sadly, and the flavor
that zinged across my senses was apple enhanced
again to hard cider. I swallowed hard, and couldn't
speak for a moment. The only thought in my head
was that he could have died. "Sorry," he sighed, ris-
ing quickly to his feet. "I shouldn't have said that."
I didn't hesitate. I shot to my feet and a split
second later I was in his space. "You could have
died," I growled, as if it was his fault some lunatic
was trying to waste him. I grabbed a double fistful
of his shirt and yanked him closer, "You don't get to
do that." Then the words were tangled up in my
throat, choking me, so I pushed through my panic
and confusion and craving, and claimed his mouth
in a hard, desperate kiss.
Drew's arms clamped around me, one a solid bar
at the small of my back, welding our hips together,
the other across my shoulder blades. I probably
couldn't have broken free if I wanted to. Not that I
had any intention of testing it. Instead I stayed as
close as was humanly possible, and eased my knee
between his legs so that my thigh was putting just
enough pressure on his cock for me to feel the
swelling heat. Drew moaned into my mouth and I
drank his breath as if it was life itself. Given that
he'd been trapped since Monday, it should have
been gross, but it wasn't. It was Drew and he was
alive, and it felt like coming home. His stubble
rasped my skin as he laid a series of open-mouthed
kisses along my jaw, and I dropped my head back
to give him better access. He was whispering my
184
name between each kiss, and I was drifting in a
vortex of apple brandy.
Surrounded by Drew's presence as well as his
embrace, I rested my forehead on his shoulder. "I
can't promise you anything," I said, my voice
muffled by his dusty, sweat-sour shirt. "I wish I
could." The trouble was, I didn't know what the hell
I meant by that. "But anything you want--"
"I know." His lips pressed into my hair, and his
hands moved sure and strong over my back. "We
can work this out. We have to. I like having you in
my life, Perry Latimer."
I thought of Joe and how easy it was to be with
him, how easy it had been for both of us to walk
away afterward. Friends. With benefits. I didn't
think I could be that casual with Drew. God help
me, I didn't want to be that casual with Drew. I'd
known the man for three weeks to the day and he
had turned my world on end and shaken it inside
out.
"Yeah," I muttered. "Me, too." Right then I didn't
care if I was rebounding. Too much had happened
recently, and I'd had it hammered home just how
fragile life could be. Wrapped up in his arms, feel-
ing the solidity of his muscle and bone, I knew I'd
come to a safe harbor. Surely I could allow myself
this? Whatever this was. For however long it lasted.
"You're thinking too much." Drew's mouth moved
slowly over my scar as he spoke, the light touches
tingling through me like mild electric shocks. "I can
hear the gears grinding. If it helps," he continued,
"I've wanted you right from the start. Something just
clicked into place. I didn't know who you were,
185
what you looked like under the blood, why you
were lying there, whether it was deliberate or an
accident. Only that I'd been given a chance--we had
been given a chance."
"For what?" I asked, feeling as if I was drowning
in Calvados.
"Damned if I know. We should take some time to
find out when this crazy mess is tied up."
"Yes. We should." I leaned on him a moment
longer, then reluctantly started to move away.
Immediately he let me go. "So," I said quietly.
"Business as usual."
"Yeah. Going over this place and the rest of the
property, planning out the projects. I watch your
back, you watch mine, and we both watch Lee like
hawks."
"Perhaps we can set a trap of some kind, see who
falls into it," I suggested, with no idea how in God's
name we could do it. I could appreciate that Drew
wanted to know exactly how deep his own family
was in this mess, but we should be calling in the
cops now, not later.
"That's a thought. But we need to take the heat
off while Toby does his digging." He gazed off into
space, frowning. "If I was to drop a few hints to
Uncle that I was having second thoughts..."
"If it is him, he'd hold back if he thinks you
might sell up and he can get his hands on the place
legitimately. But if your grandfather gets to hear
about it, he'd just about blow every gasket he's got
left."
186
"That is so true. We'll have to tell him what's
going on," he continued reluctantly, "and that's
likely to have the same effect."
"So find out from his doctor if he can take a
shock to the system."
"Yes," Drew said with sudden decisiveness. "I'm
going to freshen up in Grandpop's bathroom, then
we'll head for the Anchorage. Will you phone ahead
and see if we can get an appointment with their
medical staff?"
"Sure. I'm also going to take a look around and
see if I can find out how the bastard got in. You and
me and your grandfather have the only keys, yes?"
"Yes. That's a good point, though how you'll tell
if a lock's been picked, I don't know."
"Um, pepper."
"What? Oh. Pepper." He shot me a decidedly
wall-eyed glance, and followed it with a rueful
smile. "I knew you were a special kind of guy from
the moment I first saw you. I'm beginning to realize
just how special."
"Go," I said, flushing. "Shower."
"I'm going. You'd better have these." He tugged
the chain of Hall keys out of his pocket and handed
them over. "Just be careful."
"I will," I said, and got out of there before the
thought of Drew naked and water-sleek had me
volunteering to wash his back. And front.
It didn't take more than ten or eleven minutes to
find where the break-in had happened. A swift
brush of fingertips over every lock was enough to
tell me none of them had been forced, so I started to
187
explore the apartments that were safe to enter. I
began with the first floor, with the one the Twenties
plans had marked as a studio. It opened right off
the entrance hall, and when I flipped on the light--
mildly astonished that it still worked--I saw a
respectably large partially-furnished room. Once it
had probably been a parlor or reception room with
an almost circular alcove into the tower, now it
would have made a comfortable studio with a bit of
work. Okay, make that a lot of work.
All the front and tower windows were shuttered, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl karpacz24.htw.pl
cellar."
"Thanks for a nice relaxing image. Well, they're
going to get a shock when I turn up alive and kick-
ing."
"And if you don't take it to the police, they will
simply try again."
"But we'll be on our guard. He went to a lot of
trouble to make the cellar look like an accident, so
I'm guessing he'll go that route again. I'll just be
extra careful."
"Fair enough. But." I paused, catching and hold-
ing his gaze. "Drew, his letter bomb hurt an
innocent bystander. She's scarred and could have
been blinded. I don't care if whoever did this is the
love of your life, your first-born or your uncle, who-
ever it was has to pay for that." Maybe that made
me an insensitive jerk, but it had to be said.
"I agree. All I'm asking for is a little time."
Reluctantly I gave in. "You've got it. How are you
going to hold off the cops?"
Drew shrugged. "I'm not. They'll do their thing
with what they already have. I'm just not going to
give them anything else. Yet. But you don't have to
be involved. Go back to Leidenton."
"No." The TV sitcom that had become my life
was morphing into an equally bad PI wannabe
show. With a paranormal subplot. For the first time,
I started wishing I revamped shopping malls, not
Victorian Gothic mansions. "The bastard brought
183
me in with the letter bomb. Besides, you need my
skewed synapses."
"I need you," he murmured sadly, and the flavor
that zinged across my senses was apple enhanced
again to hard cider. I swallowed hard, and couldn't
speak for a moment. The only thought in my head
was that he could have died. "Sorry," he sighed, ris-
ing quickly to his feet. "I shouldn't have said that."
I didn't hesitate. I shot to my feet and a split
second later I was in his space. "You could have
died," I growled, as if it was his fault some lunatic
was trying to waste him. I grabbed a double fistful
of his shirt and yanked him closer, "You don't get to
do that." Then the words were tangled up in my
throat, choking me, so I pushed through my panic
and confusion and craving, and claimed his mouth
in a hard, desperate kiss.
Drew's arms clamped around me, one a solid bar
at the small of my back, welding our hips together,
the other across my shoulder blades. I probably
couldn't have broken free if I wanted to. Not that I
had any intention of testing it. Instead I stayed as
close as was humanly possible, and eased my knee
between his legs so that my thigh was putting just
enough pressure on his cock for me to feel the
swelling heat. Drew moaned into my mouth and I
drank his breath as if it was life itself. Given that
he'd been trapped since Monday, it should have
been gross, but it wasn't. It was Drew and he was
alive, and it felt like coming home. His stubble
rasped my skin as he laid a series of open-mouthed
kisses along my jaw, and I dropped my head back
to give him better access. He was whispering my
184
name between each kiss, and I was drifting in a
vortex of apple brandy.
Surrounded by Drew's presence as well as his
embrace, I rested my forehead on his shoulder. "I
can't promise you anything," I said, my voice
muffled by his dusty, sweat-sour shirt. "I wish I
could." The trouble was, I didn't know what the hell
I meant by that. "But anything you want--"
"I know." His lips pressed into my hair, and his
hands moved sure and strong over my back. "We
can work this out. We have to. I like having you in
my life, Perry Latimer."
I thought of Joe and how easy it was to be with
him, how easy it had been for both of us to walk
away afterward. Friends. With benefits. I didn't
think I could be that casual with Drew. God help
me, I didn't want to be that casual with Drew. I'd
known the man for three weeks to the day and he
had turned my world on end and shaken it inside
out.
"Yeah," I muttered. "Me, too." Right then I didn't
care if I was rebounding. Too much had happened
recently, and I'd had it hammered home just how
fragile life could be. Wrapped up in his arms, feel-
ing the solidity of his muscle and bone, I knew I'd
come to a safe harbor. Surely I could allow myself
this? Whatever this was. For however long it lasted.
"You're thinking too much." Drew's mouth moved
slowly over my scar as he spoke, the light touches
tingling through me like mild electric shocks. "I can
hear the gears grinding. If it helps," he continued,
"I've wanted you right from the start. Something just
clicked into place. I didn't know who you were,
185
what you looked like under the blood, why you
were lying there, whether it was deliberate or an
accident. Only that I'd been given a chance--we had
been given a chance."
"For what?" I asked, feeling as if I was drowning
in Calvados.
"Damned if I know. We should take some time to
find out when this crazy mess is tied up."
"Yes. We should." I leaned on him a moment
longer, then reluctantly started to move away.
Immediately he let me go. "So," I said quietly.
"Business as usual."
"Yeah. Going over this place and the rest of the
property, planning out the projects. I watch your
back, you watch mine, and we both watch Lee like
hawks."
"Perhaps we can set a trap of some kind, see who
falls into it," I suggested, with no idea how in God's
name we could do it. I could appreciate that Drew
wanted to know exactly how deep his own family
was in this mess, but we should be calling in the
cops now, not later.
"That's a thought. But we need to take the heat
off while Toby does his digging." He gazed off into
space, frowning. "If I was to drop a few hints to
Uncle that I was having second thoughts..."
"If it is him, he'd hold back if he thinks you
might sell up and he can get his hands on the place
legitimately. But if your grandfather gets to hear
about it, he'd just about blow every gasket he's got
left."
186
"That is so true. We'll have to tell him what's
going on," he continued reluctantly, "and that's
likely to have the same effect."
"So find out from his doctor if he can take a
shock to the system."
"Yes," Drew said with sudden decisiveness. "I'm
going to freshen up in Grandpop's bathroom, then
we'll head for the Anchorage. Will you phone ahead
and see if we can get an appointment with their
medical staff?"
"Sure. I'm also going to take a look around and
see if I can find out how the bastard got in. You and
me and your grandfather have the only keys, yes?"
"Yes. That's a good point, though how you'll tell
if a lock's been picked, I don't know."
"Um, pepper."
"What? Oh. Pepper." He shot me a decidedly
wall-eyed glance, and followed it with a rueful
smile. "I knew you were a special kind of guy from
the moment I first saw you. I'm beginning to realize
just how special."
"Go," I said, flushing. "Shower."
"I'm going. You'd better have these." He tugged
the chain of Hall keys out of his pocket and handed
them over. "Just be careful."
"I will," I said, and got out of there before the
thought of Drew naked and water-sleek had me
volunteering to wash his back. And front.
It didn't take more than ten or eleven minutes to
find where the break-in had happened. A swift
brush of fingertips over every lock was enough to
tell me none of them had been forced, so I started to
187
explore the apartments that were safe to enter. I
began with the first floor, with the one the Twenties
plans had marked as a studio. It opened right off
the entrance hall, and when I flipped on the light--
mildly astonished that it still worked--I saw a
respectably large partially-furnished room. Once it
had probably been a parlor or reception room with
an almost circular alcove into the tower, now it
would have made a comfortable studio with a bit of
work. Okay, make that a lot of work.
All the front and tower windows were shuttered, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]