Tears pooled. Matted her lashes. Blinded her. And when he twisted her chin around so he could kiss her, he saw them.
"Don't think about it," he whispered against her mouth. "Stay with me in this moment. Stay right here with me."
Remember this moment. Remember him here...
He pulled out, turned her over, and joined them face-to-face, brushing at her cheeks and kissing her as he kept up with the sex. They peaked at the same time, the pleasure so great, his head went loose on his neck as if he couldn't hold it up any longer.
Afterward, he rolled onto his side and gathered her against his chest. As she listened to the thumping of his heart, she prayed the thing was as strong as it sounded.
"What were you going to say?" she whispered in the dimness.
"Will you be my wife?"
She lifted her head. His hazel eyes were dead serious and she had the feeling he was thinking the same thing she was: Why hadn't they been mated sooner?
The single word left her on a sigh. "Yes..."
He kissed her softly. "I want to do it both ways. Your way and in a Catholic church. Would that be all right?"
She touched the cross he wore. "Absolutely."
"I wish there was time to - "
The alarm clock started to go off. With a vicious move, he slapped it into silence.
"I guess we need to get up," she said, moving away a little.
She didn't get far. He pulled her back down to the bed, pinned her with his body, and slipped his hand between her legs.
"Butch - "
He kissed her full on and then said against her mouth, "Once more for you. Once more, Marissa."
His gliding, talented fingers left her liquid, her skin and bones melting into him as his mouth went to her breast and he pulled her nipple between his lips. He drove her quickly out of control until she was flushed and gasping, arching into him, enthralled.
Urgent, electric pressure built up and then snapped free in a blaze of current. With loving attention, he helped her ride out the orgasm as she skipped like a flat stone over water, hitting the surface of the pleasure and flying again, only to land and ricochet once more.
The whole time he was above her, watching her with hazel eyes that would haunt her for the rest of her life.
He was going to die tonight. She knew it with total certainty.
John sat in the back of the empty classroom, taking up space in the far corner at his regular, by-his-lonesome table. Training usually started at four, but Zsadist had sent out an e-mail saying classes would begin three hours later tonight. Which was fine. John had had the chance to watch Wrath in action longer.
As the clock ticked closer to seven, the other trainees filed in. Blaylock was last. He was still moving slowly, but he was talking more easily with the guys, kind of like he was getting used to himself. He took a seat up front, shuffling his long legs around to fit.
Abruptly, John realized someone was missing. Where was Lash? Good God... what if he'd died? But no - somebody would have passed that news along.
Down in front, Blaylock laughed at one of the other trainees, then bent over to put his backpack on the floor. As he came back to level, his eyes met John's across the room.
John flushed and looked away.
"Hey, John," Blaylock said, "you want to come sit with me?"
The whole class went quiet. John glanced up.
"View's better from here." Blaylock nodded to the blackboard.
Silence followed. The kind where the Jeopardy! theme plays in everyone's head.
Not knowing what else to do, John grabbed his books, walked down the aisle, and slid into the empty seat. As he parked it, conversation sprang up again while more books landed on the tables and papers rustled.
The clock overhead clicked, the hands showing seven on the dot. As there was still no Zsadist, the talk got even louder in the room, the guys yanking around in earnest now.
John ran his pen in circles on a blank page, feeling awkward as all get-out and wondering what the hell he was doing up front. Maybe it was a practical joke on him? Shit, he should have stayed -
"Thank you," Blaylock said quietly. "For throwing down for me yesterday."
Whoa... maybe this wasn't a joke.
John surreptitiously slid his notebook over so Blaylock could see it. Then he wrote, I didn't mean to take it that far.
"I know. And you won't have to do it again. I mean, I can handle him."
John eyed his classmate. No doubt, he wrote.
From over on the left, one of the guys started humming the Star Trek theme, for God only knew what reason. Others chimed in. Someone lit off with a William Shatner: "I don't know... why I have to... talk like this, Spock..."
In the midst of the chaos, the sound of heavy boots coming down the hall drifted into the room. God, it was like there was an army out in the corridor. With a frown, John looked up to see Wrath walking past the door to the classroom. Then Butch and Marissa went by next. Then Vishous.
What were they all so grim about? he wondered.
Blaylock cleared his throat. "So, John, you want to hang with me and Qhuinn tonight? We were going to chill at my house. Bang some beers. Nothing special."
John whipped his head around, then tried to camo his surprise. But wow. First time any of them had suggested meeting up after class.
Cool, John wrote as Zsadist finally came in and shut the door.
Downtown at the Caldwell police station, Van Dean smiled at the badge in front of him, making sure his face was showing a whole lot of No Big Deal. "I'm an old friend of Brian O'Neal's, that's who I am."
Homicide detective José de la Cruz measured him with smart brown eyes. "What did you say your name is?"
"Bob. Bobby O'Connor. I grew up in Southie with Brian. He moved away. I did, too. Then I came back east recently and someone told me he was working as a cop in Caldwell so I figured I'd drop by. But when I call the CPD main line? No Brian O'Neal. And all I got was the he-doesn't-work-here runaround."
"What makes you think showing up in person will change the answer?"
"I was hoping someone could tell me what happened to him. I called his parents in Southie. His father said he hadn't talked to Brian in a long time, but last he knew his son was still working as a cop. Look, man, I've got no ulterior motive here. I just want some answers."
De la Cruz took a long drink out of his black coffee mug. "O'Neal was put on administrative leave back in July. He did not return to the force."
"That's it?"
"Why don't you give me a telephone number? If I remember anything else, I'll call you."
"Sure thing." Van recited some random numbers, which De la Cruz wrote down. "Thanks, and I'd appreciate a call. Hey, you were his partner, right?"
The other man shook his head. "No. I wasn't."
"Oh, that's what the guy at Dispatch said."
De la Cruz picked up a file from his paper-ridden desk and opened it. "We're done here."
Van smiled a little. "Sure thing. Thanks again, detective."
He was almost out the door when De La Cruz said, "By the way, I know you're full of shit."
"Excuse me?"
"If you were a friend of his, you'd have asked for him by the name Butch. Now gitcha ass out of my office and pray that I'm too busy to follow up on you."
Shit. Busted. "Names change, detective."
"Not his. Good-bye, Bobby O'Connor. Or whoever you are."
Van left the office, knowing he was damn lucky you couldn't get arrested just for asking questions about someone. Because sure as hell, De la Cruz would have cuffed him if the guy could have.
Bullshit, those two hadn't been partners. Van had read about them in an article in the Caldwell Courier Journal. But it was obvious that if De la Cruz knew what had become of Brian... Butch... whatever O'Neal, the detective was a dead end on the info trail for Van. And then some.
Van beelined it out of the police station into a nasty March drizzle and jogged over to the minivan. Thanks to his legwork, he had a pretty clear idea of what had happened to O'Neal in the last nine months. Guy's last known address was a one-bedroom in a who-cares apartment building a couple blocks over. Manager had said that when the mail piled up and rent wasn't paid on time, they'd gone in there. The place had been full of furniture and stuff, but it had been clear no one had been keeping house for a while. What little food there was had rotted, and the cable and phone had been turned off for nonpayment. It was like O'Neal had just walked out one morning all business as usual... and never come back.