Page 148 of Meet Me In The Dark

She swallows and pats my chest. “Give me a minute.”

I’m still catching my breath when she slips out of bed and disappears into the wardrobe. The bathroom door opens and shuts. I stare at the ceiling and wonder why my pulse is suddenly in my throat like I’m about to be ambushed.

The door opens.

She steps out in a short satin nightdress the color of sin. Bare legs, bare everything else, and hair a little messy from her hands. She stops at the foot of the bed and pretends not to notice the way my mouth falls open.

“This is Victoria’s Secret,” she says, voice gone innocent. “Think I could give her a run for her money?”

“Jesus. Fuck. Celeste.” I drag a hand over my jaw and sit up against the headboard. “Are you a little jealous, Ms. Morgan?”

“Seething,” she says sweetly, and crawls onto the mattress.

She takes her time about it—palms on my knees, satin sliding over my thighs, those eyes locked on mine.

I’m not sure I’m breathing.

“You’re coming to dinner,” I say, because apparently I still think I have self-control.

“Maybe.” She leans in and ghosts her mouth over mine without kissing me. “If you ask nicely.”

“Celeste.”

“Yes, Julian?” She’s the picture of innocence. It’s a lie, and we both know it.

I open my mouth to push, to bargain, to say something that sounds like control. She shifts in instead, kisses me once, slow enough to steal the words, then sinks further down the bed with that same unhurried patience, the sheet going with her until cool air hits my stomach.

My hands fist in the linen because I know what comes next, and I’m already gone for it.

Her mouth closes over me, and thought stops being a thing I’m capable of. My head tips back against the headboard, a low curse scraping out of me as one hand finds her hair under the sheet and the other braces hard at my side.

Outside, the rain keeps its steady rhythm. Inside, I’m not thinking about dinner, or names and addresses, or anything except the woman I’m sharing a bed withand the way she ruins me with a smile and a mouth and a laugh I think is in my bones.

∞∞∞

The vibration on the nightstand drags me out of sleep.

For a second, I don’t register the sound, only the weight of Celeste’s leg hooked over my thigh, the way her hair fans out over my pillow and into my face. I only sleep this deeply when she’s beside me.

It’s still dark, and rain lashes against the window.

I ease out of Celeste’s warmth, careful not to wake her, and press the phone to my ear without a word.

If it’s business, they’ll get to the point.

Silence.

Then a shaky inhale.

“Julian?” The voice is feminine but unfamiliar.

“Who is this?”

Another long pause, and then, almost timidly, she answers, “It’s… Catriona. Y-your… sister.”

Everything stops.

The world narrows to the tiny speaker pressed against my ear.