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I cut her off with a kiss, using all my skill to drag her back into the burning present moment, which was where we needed to stay. I rolled on top of her, sliding inside in one heavy lunge. No future, no past. Just the melody that throbbed outside the window, full of pained longing. Just the moonlight spilling in. Just Nancy’s strong, slender body moving beneath mine. Holding me, clasping me.
I didn’t want to think about that wall we were racing toward. Or the look on my father’s face right before he walked away forever. Or Lucia’s freshly dug grave, or the masked attackers in the stairwell, or the destroyed heirloom table, or the gun by his bed.
Violence lurked around every blind corner. Uncertainty, danger, risk. Pain and loss lurked in the shadows, just waiting for their opportunity to rend and smash and destroy.
And this beautiful, delicate thing between us. So fragile. Beset on every side.
She gripped me, arching and crying out as her climax shivered through her.
Yes. The satisfaction that exploded in me felt almost like anger.
I buried my face against her hair and hung on as my own pleasure detonated deep inside me, mind and body, launching me out into sweet, blessed oblivion.
I was going to cheat Fate for as long as I could.
Fuck them all.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Nancy
The sky was pink outside Liam’s window when I woke. The bed beside me was empty. I flopped back onto the pillow and studied the room. A photo of a younger Liam was hung on the wall across the room. He had a big carefree grin, and his arm around the shoulder of a handsome older woman with a smile like his.
I took a shower in Liam’s big bathroom. Muscles I didn’t know I had were pleasurably sore. When I came down the stairs, bacon was sizzling on a skillet, a teakettle was whistling, and Liam was spooning pancake batter onto a griddle. It smelled delicious.
Liam looked over his shoulder. “What tea would you like? I’ve got Darjeeling, or this great Nepali stuff.”
“No coffee?” I stared at him in blank dismay. I hadn’t thought to bring my own.
“Not in this house,” he said.
“You are kidding me. This will not do.” I plugged my phone into a countertop outlet to recharge. “There’s got to be an espresso bar somewhere in Latham.”
“I wouldn’t know,” he said. “Do you like your bacon crisp or chewy?”
“Right in the middle of the range, please. Could I use your landline? I want to give my sisters your home number.”
“Be my guest.” He scribbled a number on a scrap of paper and slid it across the bar to me with a smile. “There you go.”
I forked wet food into a bowl for Moxie as Vivi’s phone rang and rang. She finally picked up, though her voice was sleepy. “Yeah?”
“Get a pen, Viv. I have to give you a phone number.”
“Omigod. Is it the number of that big, tall green-eyed drink of water? Hey, Nell! Wake up! Nancy got laid!”
“Get the pen, Viv,” I repeated through my teeth.
Vivi hummed as she copied down the number I dictated. “Okay, it’s on Nell’s fridge, plus it’s written on my hand. So? Details, honey, details! Is he, well, as vigorous as he looks when you guys … well, you know?”
“I will not be drawn into any discussion,” I said primly.
“I should think not, since he must be right there with you. Am I right?”
“Bingo. Making pancakes as we speak. And bacon.”
“Whoo-hoo! Sounds tasty. So go upstairs, or outside, or whatever, and I’ll call you back on your mobile phone. You’ve got to tell us everything!”
“I can’t use my phone right now. It’s charging right. That’s why I’m calling with the landline.”