Afterlife (40 page)

“Wrong.” She got the word out. “He

made me feel it was

dirty, immoral, twisted. That I was…

a perverted freak.”

He’d used a lot of other, worse

words than that, but she

couldn’t bring them to her lips. She

didn’t need to do so.

The frost in Jon’s gaze said he

understood. He turned her

ful y toward him, resting his hands on

her shoulders.

“Al right then. Let’s deal with that.

Here’s another thing

you need to know about me.”

When it came to Jon’s far-less-gentle

side, she was fast

learning that he gave no warning. The

frost vanished,

replaced by fire. Gripping her hair

with both hands, he

yanked her head back and set his

teeth to her throat, an

open-mouthed demand that had her

swaying into him. One

arm dropped, cinched around her

waist, anticipating her

jerk of surprise when he bit, suckling

her hard. She closed

her eyes, not wanting to think about

passersby and their

reaction, not wanting anything to

interfere with the

incredible surge of heat he sent

through her body.

As he lifted his head, he pressed his

lips together,

obviously savoring her taste. Raising

her hand without

thought, she touched them, slid her

fingers over the moist,

firm heat. At his pointed glance, she

lifted the other hand to

her throat, felt the mark he’d left

there.

“Despite al sorts of spiritual

perspectives I have that

might make you think otherwise, I
am

possessive.” The

flame in his eyes matched the fervor

of that marking. “But I

think you already understand that. I

want to be the Master of

your pleasure, of your protection, of

your happiness. If I

determine that control ed situations

where you receive

pleasure from others is part of that

equation, if I know that

would excite and please you, then

you’l likely find yourself

having that experience. But whether

or not I ever agree or

disagree with a fantasy you have, it

wil be guided by those

tenets. There is nothing you can

imagine that I wil ever

condemn or make you feel is wrong.

Al right?”

“Al right.” She knew it would take

time to believe him,

because Cole’s repel ed countenance

was branded in her

head. But hearing Jon say the words

was something she’d

never experienced before, so she’d

accept that as a first

step. She cleared her throat. “Okay.

Then I admit to a

deeply personal fantasy about

writhing in pig entrails under

a ful moon.”

“You perverted freak.”

It made her laugh out loud, swat at

him. She was happy

to be gathered back under his arm,

have him press a

lingering kiss to her temple, even as

he squeezed her ass,

a quick admonishment. “Brat. Now

tel me why
you
don’t

like sex toy shops.”

She shrugged. “Even the ones that are

supposedly

welcoming to women stil have a

cheesy, wrong-vibe feel to

them. Like they stil don’t quite get it,

you know?”

“That’s part of why I don’t go to

them. That, and I’d rather

create the toys myself.”

“You should open your own store.

You could cal it The

Toymaker.” She grinned up at him.

Putting a hand on his

chest, she trailed her fingertips under

the neckline of the

worn T-shirt, such a relaxed

movement she’d done it before

she thought about it. His eyes

warmed on her at the

intimacy. “Though you’d probably

have to have a foyer area

with candy,” she added. “You know,

to give to the kids who

wander in, thinking it’s their kind of

toy store.”

“A good idea, but unfortunately, I

can’t pursue such an

entrepreneurial opportunity. We’ve

al pledged our eternal

souls to Matt. If we try to leave

K&A, we’l explode in flames

the moment we step out the revolving

door in the lobby.”

He kept her laughing at things like

that as they continued

to strol down the sidewalk in the

merchants’ district, her

leaning into his side, her skirt

occasional y fluttering across

his legs. The sun was on her hair and

back, the wind ruffling

through her hair, and Rachel thought

she’d never felt so

content in her life.

“I’l take you to a place in Florida

that’s a true women’s

erotica boutique,” he said at length.

“Not a storefront with

fluorescent lighting and the feeling

that you need a shower.

The owner is a Wiccan priest.”

“Seriously?”

“You’d real y enjoy him. Maybe too

much. So you’d

probably need to keep in mind his

wife is the town sheriff.”

He bumped her hip. “Justin doesn’t

cal it a sex shop, and

that’s not pretentious semantics. It

isn’t a sex shop.

Eroticism is a state of being, a sacred

one, that pervades

the entire relationship, and he gets

that, in a way you feel al

the way through when you visit his

place.”

She’d love to visit it with him.

Travel with him. She’d also

love to walk on this sidewalk with

him throughout eternity,

his arm around her. He stopped then,

fishing in one of their

bags. “Here, close your eyes. Since

you’ve denied my offer

to buy you tacky diamonds, I’l give

you a truffle from the

shop we just visited. Part your lips,

just a little.”

When she obediently closed her eyes,

he teased her with

it, smearing the slightly melted

coating over her lip, letting

her have a smal bit of sweetness on

her tongue.

“This is like first love,” she said,

keeping her eyes closed.

“Everything so vibrant and amazing,

everything sensual…”

“That’s al you, sweet girl.” Putting

his mouth on hers, he

tasted her and the chocolate. His

hand on her jaw kept her

stil , merely experiencing the way he

did it, and when he

broke the contact, she knew from the

touch of his breath he

was studying her face at close range,

his thumb slowly

moving over her cheek.

“You’re more than a dream come

true,” she whispered.

“I’m not sure if I was ever ambitious

enough, even in my

dreams, to believe in something like

this.”

“Wel , that makes two of us.” She

heard a thickness to his

voice that tightened his hold around

her heart, even as his

words gave her a jolt of shock.

Apparently he registered

that, for he gave her that reproving

squeeze again, leaving

his hand on her ass to stroke the most

rounded part of the

curve. The intimacy in such a public

place, indecent enough

to invite tsks but not interference,

took the simmering of her

blood up a notch. He was testing her,

she realized. Figuring

out what kind of cravings she had in

smal , subtle ways.

Voyeurism, exhibitionism…being

shared. And while he was

doing that, he was engaging her

emotions, like now.

“Why are you surprised by that,

Rachel? You think I ever

expected to find a woman with so

many of the things I

wanted in a relationship? Your

sexual nature, your spiritual

outlook, your beauty, inside and out.

And some things I

didn’t even realize I wanted until I

started taking your class.

Every week was the opportunity to

learn something new

about you, to see if it fit the mold. But

most weeks what I

learned broke it, and created an even

better one.”

“You’re going to take my breath

away.”

“That’s al right. You can have mine.”

He slid the rest of

the chocolate in her mouth, but before

he could withdraw,

she dared to catch his thumb in her

teeth, suck the

chocolate left on it, a tease from her

own tongue that won

her a heated glance…and another

kiss.

Though last night had been al about

denial, today he was

so generous with his touch and

kisses, gentle or

demanding, or ones like now, where

he coaxed her mouth

open with sexy lassitude. She didn’t

care who saw, didn’t

even know there was anyone to see

as she leaned into his

body, let his arms come around her

so sure and steady, so

strong and right.

When at last he lifted his head and

she opened her eyes

again, he gave her that quirk of a

smile that sent striations

of light through the multi-hued blue of

his eyes. “So, now

that we have everything you need for

tonight, are you ready

for me to take you to my roach-

infested house and let my

dirty socks and unwashed dishes

change your mind about

me?”

“If you’l show me your workshop.

Geppetto.” The taunt

won her an even deeper, more sexy

smile. “But at some

point I need to get my makeup and a

few other things.”

“We’l stop on our way to my place. I

don’t want to be

away from you. You’l spend the

afternoon with me and get

ready at my house. Al right?”

She took a deep breath, trying not to

think about what

she was getting ready for. “As long

as you haven’t been

fooling me al along and you’re real y

a serial kil er.”

“Don’t judge. I’ve only taken out

competitors who

annoyed Matt.”

“
Rachel, Jon.
Wait up.”

As Jon turned, he recognized Sarah

and El en from the

Wednesday morning class. The

women were headed

toward them, both loaded with

shopping bags.

He registered Rachel’s instant

tension, how she was

warring with herself about whether

or not to pul away from

him. Of course, as smart as she was,

she had to realize the

women had seen them walking

together like lovers. He ran

a reassuring hand down her back,

satisfied despite her

apprehension. As much as his

reluctance to share her

amused and surprised him, he wanted

her to be seen by

those she knew, to help her get over

this hurdle.

“Have you gone over to the dress

shop on the corner?

They are having a to-die-for sale on

gorgeous shrugs. And

the shoes…”

She blinked, visibly amazed as the

women rattled on for

several moments, the same way they

would if she’d met

them by herself. Sarah put a hand on

Jon’s arm, closing

their affectionate circle, a way of

acknowledging him, even

though the subject was of female

significance. But after

several moments, El en beamed at

them both.

“We’ve been hoping the two of you

would get together for

the
longest
time. Every time you use

Jon to demonstrate

poses in class, the way you work

together…” El en sighed.

“I’ve told Sarah a hundred times,

haven’t I? They are just

perfect together. It’s as clear as a

children’s picture book.”

Sarah jumped in then. “And my

husband, Bob—you

remember Bob, he came to the class

that one time with me

—I told him what El en said, and

Bob said ‘wel , isn’t she

married?’ I told him then I’d bet my

best pair of shoes that

she’s not, that she just wears that ring

to keep men from

hitting on her, because she’s so

beautiful.”

Rachel flushed, shrugging her

shoulders. “I don’t know

about al that, but yes, I’m not

married. Not anymore.”

“Oh I always knew it, no doubt at al

.” El en nodded. “You

never talked about him. Your

husband. Whenever you talk

to a wife, at some point the husband

comes up in the

conversation. He’s such a part of

you, it’s like you’re talking

about yourself.”

Sarah made a noise of agreement and

glanced at Jon,

giving him a conspiratorial elbow.

“She never did that, not

in the three years I’ve been taking her

class.”

“Apparently, some things are more

obvious to women.”

He gave both women a fond smile

before he turned a much

more intent look toward Rachel.

“Otherwise I would have

gone after her much, much sooner.

I’m making up for lost

time, trying to sweep her off her

feet.”

El en laughed. “Wel , any woman

who doesn’t go for that