“Yes.”
She writes a word and holds the pad for me to read. Bluebird. “Do you understand this?”
She spelled it wrong. It should be Bleubird, but how could she possibly know? “Yes.”
“It’s what your mother called you?” She couldn’t possibly know that—except she does.
“Yes.” I can see how easy it is to feed into this. I must be careful to give away nothing.
“This is your mother’s way of validating her presence and my ability to communicate with her. She says you’re cynical.”
I’ll give her that one. “That’s very true.”
She smiles, maybe as though she’s accepting the challenge, and returns to scribbling in her notebook. She holds the pad up when she’s finished. Chocolate chip cookies. “Do you understand this?”
“Yes.” My voice breaks and my eyes flood with tears. I feel the supportive touch of Sin’s hand on my shoulder.
I’m being reeled in because it’s nearly impossible for a random stranger to guess such specific things. I don’t want to believe in her, but I can’t stop myself. “My mom’s okay?”
“I couldn’t communicate with her if she weren’t.” Mary reaches across the folding table and takes my hands. “Listen carefully, because this is very important. This thing you’re planning to do isn’t going to make you happy. If you go through with it, it’ll eat at you and rob you of the joy you’re supposed to have with your husband and children.”
The fact that she just called me out on my plan to kill Thane briefly escapes me because I only hear two words. “Husband? Children?” I whisper.
“Nothing you do will change what happened.” She pats my hand and my body shudders from the chill. “Your mother doesn’t want you to put your future happiness in jeopardy by chasing an empty dream.”
A single tear rolls down my cheek as I search through my purse for a tip. I’m glad my head is down. I don’t want Sin to see me cry. “Thank you, Mary.”
We walk without talking for a while before Sin finally breaks the silence. “Could you stand that drink now instead of later?”
That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day. “Quite honestly, I think I could stand a few.”
Chapter Twenty
Sinclair Breckenridge
I hold up my empty glass so the bartender may see our need for refills. Two isn’t going to cut it. Bleu nods in agreement and a couple of more Black Labels are sitting in front of us within minutes.
Neither of us has mentioned what happened with the medium, but I know we’re both spooked.
I give up on Bleu being the first to broach the subject. “That wasn’t real, right? It had to be a hoax.”
“The logical side of my brain is trying to convince me it was a ruse but then I have this other side arguing against that. There’s no explanation for how she knew my mother called me Bleubird unless she was for real. And the chocolate chip cookies … how could she know that was something special I did with my mother?”
“I have no idea.”
Believing that she’s the real deal means accepting I’ll be married soon. Oddly, hearing that I’ll be happy with a wife and children doesn’t bring me joy—because that life doesn’t include Bleu. My time with her will be over much quicker than I’d like and I’m not excited by that prospect. “I don’t want to think about the things that woman said. All I want to do is drink a lot of whisky and then take you home to our bed.”
Bleu holds up her glass for a toast. “Agreed.” We toss our whiskies back.
I lift my empty glass for the bartender to see again. “We’ll take the bottle.”
A half-full bottle is placed in front of us. I fill our glasses to the rim. “Toast?”
“Yes.”
Bleu and I look at one another and I suspect we’re feeling the same. “Here’s to the present.”
Bleu smiles but it doesn’t touch her eyes. She looks … sad. “To the here and now.”
* * *
Bleu kisses me like crazy as I work to unlock the door. I blindly succeed and we fall through the entrance together. She’s walking backward, pulling me toward the couch. “I want you right now.”
She leans back against the arm of the couch, pulling me to stand between her parted thighs. Her hand is on the back of my neck and she pulls me down so my mouth meets hers. She’s rougher than usual. I suppose I have the liquor to thank for that.
Her knees are bent and her legs are wrapped around my waist. I move my palms up her thighs until they’re cupping her bottom. “I love your arse. It’s perfect.”
She squeezes her legs around me so my groin is pressed hard against hers. “Yours is perfection. I love digging my heels in when you’re between my legs so you’ll fuck me harder.”
There’s nothing I love more than Bleu urging me on.
I move my hands from her arse to the front of her shorts. I unfasten the button and tug them, and her knickers, down her legs. They drop to the floor and I kick them away as she reaches for her top, pulling it over her head.
I pull her forward so her lower back is against the couch arm, her bottom hanging over the edge. I drop to my knee and plant her feet on my shoulders. Her legs are sprawled wide. “You have a way of bringing men to their knees.”
Her body shudders and a moan leaves her mouth when my tongue slowly drags upward through her center. “Ohh.”
I sweep my tongue up and down before changing the motion to a circular movement over her clit. I push two of my fingers in with my hand turned palm side up, and use them to stroke her on the inside.
Turning Bleu on turns me on. This sometimes means I’m not always aware of how fast I’m moving. In this case, it’s a good thing. “That feels … SO good, like a fluttering butterfly in just the right spot. Don’t stop.”
I wouldn’t dare stop. I love licking Bleu until she comes. “I am so close.” There’s only one thing I love more than making my Bonny Bleu come—that’s knowing I’m the only one to ever have done it.
I alternate the suction and release of her clit until she arches her back and cries out. “Oh God! Right there. Just like that.” I feel her inner body spasm around my fingers and she calls out my name. “Ohhh, Sin!” Her legs tense, her toes digging into my shoulders.
Then all goes lax and I know my lass is in post-orgasm bliss. “Good?”