“You think so?” he mocked. “Well, what would you think if I told you that I needed to fuck you in every conceivable way until you couldn’t see straight? Until you couldn’t breathe unless I were moving inside of you? Until I stomped out every trace of that damned detective so there was nothing left but me? My seed filling your body. My cock driving you mad with need. What do you think about that truth, my love?”
“Uh…” My brain was a little scrambled from the images conjured by his words.
He stood up and walked towards the door. “I thought so. I’ll say this, but this will be the last time I ever want to discuss this. I am not a door mat; I can only handle so much. For now, all that matters is the present, and presently you are with me. That is what I’m choosing to focus on. Do you understand?”
“Yep.” I still wasn’t capable of anything beyond monosyllabic words.
He nodded. “Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to take care of some business before retiring for the evening. Good night.”
As soon as he closed the door, my fingers slid down on their own volition, attempting to extinguish the flames he had just ignited. Repeatedly.
I woke up around six in the morning, only a few hours after I came to bed. It was just after ten at night back home, so I decided to call Erica. She picked up just as I was getting ready to leave a voicemail.
“Hi, Kar.” I was honestly a bit surprised she answered given our last conversation. I was using my cell phone, so she would’ve known it was me from the caller ID. I was going to take that as a good sign. She sounded really tired.
“Hey. Were you sleeping?”
She cleared her throat. “No, I’m just lying in bed watching TV. What’s going on? Vance said you left town; he’s been going nuts.”
Erica had been staying in Vance’s guest room since Jake died. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with their new arrangement, but I was glad she had someone looking out for her. “I’m in Dublin.”
“Dublin, Ireland? With Leo?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed.
“Why?”
“Because I found some really important information in that book Leo gave me. I had to come check it out.”
“What kind of information? And why Ireland?”
“Because this is where the portal is,” I explained. “The portal to Faerie.”
She gasped. “Are you shitting me?” As one of the few people who knew the truth about my identity, she knew what a big opportunity this was.
“Nope…at least I don’t think so. The book listed map coordinates to the exact spot where it’s supposedly located.”
“Supposedly?”
“Yeah, supposedly. Leo thinks there’s a slim chance it could be a false location…a decoy or something. It’s a really long story, but he has a team of people looking into some stuff before we go there.”
“So what are you doing until then?”
“Pretty much just hanging out, which, I’m not gonna lie, has been amazing so far. This city is incredible…well, besides the weather.”
“I can imagine,” she mumbled.
“Hey, you sound tired. Do you want me to let you go?”
She yawned. “Yeah, I should probably go to sleep. This pregnancy is kicking my ass, energy wise. I can’t remember the last time I went to bed before midnight.”
“Are you feeling okay besides that? Any morning sickness yet?”
“No, not really. I’m just pretty tired all the time. It’s a lot to take in at once, ya know?” Erica was about seven weeks pregnant with her dead husband’s baby. I couldn’t imagine the strain it was taking on her both physically and emotionally.
“Eri, I’m going to try wrapping this up as quickly as possible, but you call me anytime if you need to, okay? Don’t worry about the time difference.”
“Okay.” She yawned again, causing me to do the same. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”