Page 21

CHAPTER 20

S tar woke with a start, and Ethan’s arm tightened over her. “Shh … you're safe.” She looked over at him, and his eyes were still closed. Then she looked at the foot of the bed. The door was open, but Thor wasn’t in the room.

“Did you lock Thor downstairs or something?” Sitting up in bed, she pushed her hair away from her face and grimaced. “Dang, my shoulder still hurts. Did you see the bruise on it? I’m not going to be wearing a tank top for weeks.” She glanced down at the bandage on the inside of her calf. Five stitches. It was deep but not too long, and the doctor who’d made a house call …

She turned to Ethan. “How in God’s name did you get a doctor and a nurse to make a house call, and what time did you get home? Your dad is bossy, by the way. And not too talkative, although he knows cuss words I’ve never heard of before. That medicine the doctor gave me knocked me out. Where’s Thor?” She whistled and snapped her fingers. “The cops were nice, and your dad wrote out my statement while the doctors were here. They didn’t have many questions for me. They said they might return, but your dad didn’t think they would. Thor!” She clapped her hands.

Ethan sat up and gripped her chin in his fingers and kissed her hard.

“I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to kiss you again,” she whispered against his lips when he drew away.

“Lie down with me,” Ethan said. She folded into him and then immediately sat back up. “Where’s Thor?”

“At the vet.”

She turned quickly and regretted it when her shoulder complained loudly. “Why?” She adjusted a bit and continued, “Is he okay? What happened?” Ethan patted the pillow, and she sank down again. Her stomach dropped. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Yes. He’ll be okay. He was stabbed last night when he was going after one of the guys who took you.”

“Oh my God! It’s my fault?” She sat back up and grabbed her hair. “We have to go see him.”

“Star.”

She got out of bed and looked down at the T-shirt she’d borrowed from him. “I need clothes.”

Ethan yelled at her, “Star!”

“What!” she yelled back.

“It’s six in the morning, babe. No one’s going to be there to let you in.”

“Oh.” She blinked and then sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m so sorry. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for me and my darned curse.”

She felt him move over to her. He curled around her and lifted himself onto his elbow. “Did you pay the guys to take you?”

“Pfft. No. Have you met me?” She dropped her head into her hands. “I don’t need to pay. Things like this just happen. You know that.”

“This wasn’t your fault. Thor is out of the woods. He’s a strong animal, and he’ll be fine.”

She glanced down at him. “Promise?”

“Absolutely. You love animals, don’t you?”

“I love Thor.” She nodded. “The rat I had a close-up encounter with yesterday, not so much.” She shivered. If she never saw a rat again, it would be too soon. Another shiver ran down her spine. She could still feel it scurrying across her.

“Rat?”

“Yeah. In the shed.” She rubbed her arms trying to forget that sensation. As if . She changed the topic. “How did you find me?”

“Computer expert, remember?” He smiled up at her.

She turned toward him, and he grabbed her, pulling her down to him again. She snuggled against him as their legs entwined. “Seriously, how did you find me?”

“We hacked into the city’s camera systems and tracked the vehicle that took you. Max found it. You’d already been moved from one vehicle to another. That’s where we saw Officer Lutz. Only we didn’t know for sure it was him at that time or what he had to do with the serial killings.”

“Serial killings?”

“Yes, you stumbled into it or actually fell into it on the sidewalk.” Ethan was probably going for light-hearted, but… holy shit! She jolted upright and smacked his jaw shut with her head. Ethan grabbed his chin. “Sorry, sorry! You mean the guy in the trash can was part of a serial killing?”

Ethan moved his jaw this way and that before he spoke. “It’s okay. Nothing broken, and yes, and Lutz was the killer.”

“Why would he do that? I mean, I barely talked to the man.” She shook her head. “I even puked outside his car.”

Ethan’s chest rumbled under her ear, and she poked him in the ribs with her finger. “None of it is funny, mister.”

“I know, just sometimes the things that come out of your mouth are amusing.” He stroked her hair as he spoke, and she melted under his touch. The fact that they were together again was something she’d hoped for yesterday. It was what had kept her going—Ethan was her reason.

“Lutz was the person who killed the man you found.”

Star sprung up to her elbow, knocking Ethan’s hand into his face with a forceful whap. “Sorry, sorry. He was the serial killer?”

Ethan blinked his eyes a couple times and wiggled his nose before nodding. “Yes.”

“Why? What makes him do that? I mean, why me? Why them?”

Ethan shook his head. “That’s for the experts to determine.”

Star narrowed her eyes at him. “You know more than you’re telling me.”

Ethan sighed and rubbed his chest. “He picked his victims.”

“How? What did I do?”

“You found the body.”

“Huh?” She shook her head. “Explain this to me like I’m two because I’m feeling pretty stupid right now.”

“He chose his next victim when the body he dumped was discovered. The person who discovered the body was his next victim.”

Star blinked and shook her head. “Why didn’t the cops put that together? That’s pretty easy, right?”

Ethan shook his head. “Not when the person who found the body and the person who reported the body found are different people.”

She sat up and turned to look at him. “Didn’t I say explain it to me like I was two?” Ethan sat up and pulled the sheet up over his lap. Good, now, she wouldn’t be distracted. Right, so not the case. Focus, woman. “I’m waiting.” She crossed her arms as he explained what he and Max had uncovered.

“So, he’s been turned over to the police? He’s in jail, right?”

“Baby, I swear to you, he’s never going to hurt anyone again,” Ethan confirmed.

Star closed her eyes and said a thankful prayer. “So, this is all over.”

“For you, it’s all done.”

She cocked her head. “What does that mean?”

“Well, when I didn’t know who’d taken you, I may have broken into the Mafia’s club and pistol-whipped one of the guys who you accidentally recorded.”

Star’s mind kind of broke when those words were spoken. “Come again?”

Ethan lifted an eyebrow and asked, “What part didn’t you understand?”

“The part where you put your life in danger with the mob! Why would you do that?”

“Because I had to find you.” He grabbed her neck with his hand and pulled her toward him. “I couldn’t lose you. Not going to happen. You’re stuck with me.” His eyes bored into hers. The intensity and the honesty were so vivid. He laid bare his truth.

She licked her lips and nodded. “I want to be stuck with you. I’m just so afraid you’ll think I’m too much trouble and leave.”

Pulling her down on top of him, he kissed her until she could feel all of those hard muscles under her. His hands framed her face. “Never. I’ll never think that.”

“Promise?”

“With all my heart.”

He kissed her until she was breathless and then rolled her onto her back. She could have died three times over as he kissed down her body. The out-of-body experience when his tongue and lips found her core was mind-bending.

Her skin tightened, and electricity danced along her nerves. She felt every kiss, every touch. Ethan was so gentle, slow, and devoted to making her crash over that bliss-filled wall. When she did, he held her tight against his body and waited for her to come back to herself. His cock was diamond hard and hot. She kissed his chest and then went lower and lower. “Babe, you don’t need to?—”

She ringed the top of his shaft with her tongue. His body tensed and the muscles of his legs popped under her hands. “Oh shit. Fuck, babe.” The moan was delicious to her ears. She made him feel this way. Her. Star. The one with a curse. Fuck the curse. She slid her mouth down over the top of his cock and sucked. His legs vibrated under her hands. She squeezed the muscles and lifted before she went down again.

Was she good at what she was doing? Probably not, but Ethan didn’t seem to mind. She made sure she kept his cock wet and used her lips and tongue to tease him. His hands found her hair, and he held her still as his hips moved. She looked up at him. His back was arched, his muscles pumped, and his head thrown back.

God, she could make him lose it. She was able to make sure his eyes never wandered, and that feeling of power flooded through her. She doubled her efforts and cupped his balls with her free hand. Ethan jumped, and seconds later, he arched and came into her mouth. His hips pumped, and she took all of him, swallowing at the very end of his orgasm.

She crawled up his body and stared down at him. The smile on her face was that of a woman knowing she’d made her partner crazy in the best possible way. When he opened his eyes, he smiled at her and pulled her down on top of him. “You look like the Cheshire cat.”

She licked her lips. “The cat that got the cream.”

Ethan blinked and then barked out a laugh. “My God, the things that come out of your mouth.”

“Or the things that come in my mouth.” She laughed when Ethan’s laughter became almost uncontrollable. He wrapped her in his arms and moved them so they were lying on their sides. Then he pushed her hair away from her face. “I don’t know how you could ever think you wouldn’t be enough for me. You’re everything, babe. Everything.”

She stared into his eyes. “I think I may be starting to believe I could be.”

“I’ll tell you every night for the rest of my life.” Leaning forward, he kissed her.

“Promise?” she asked when he pulled away.

“Promise.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb and searched her face. “And you’re the only one I’ve ever made that promise to. There is and will be no one else.”

“For me, too.” She laid her head against his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. She was lost, and he was the only one who’d been able to find her. She closed her eyes when she realized how literal that statement was given the previous day. Ethan was her hero, her rescuer, and her lover. Even her stupid curse couldn’t ruin what was between them.