IT WAS ALMOST three in the morning before Cassie, with Jimmy’s help, was able to coax Drake away from the museum and back home to the apartment they shared on the top floor of his building in East Liberty. During that time, they’d reviewed recordings from dozens of security cameras, only to find that the crucial one had been blacked out during the time the incendiary devices were planted. Like the devices themselves, the camera had been circumvented by low-tech means: a dolly containing a large, draped sculpture had been parked in front of the camera for twelve minutes earlier that afternoon. Of course, there was now no trace of the sculpture or its paperwork.
The arson investigator, Romero, had also dissected Drake’s case history, searching for someone who might have a grudge against Drake. There were a few names he and Jimmy came up with, disgruntled customers Jimmy called them, but a quick check confirmed they were all still incarcerated.
Jimmy still insisted on placing a protective detail outside Drake’s building—something Drake usually would have balked at, but agreed to readily. Because of Cassie, she knew. Fine by her; the officers would be protecting him as much as her.
Drake’s frustration and anger was broadcast via the rigid set of his shoulders as they climbed the stairs to their apartment. “You should get some rest.” Cassie resorted to making small talk. “Your mom, and Nellie and Jacob, are stopping here for brunch before the rehearsal tomorrow.”
He gave a grunt. “I don’t understand this whole having the rehearsal party at Tessa’s house when the wedding’s going to be here. And why do you have to leave early just to try on your dress? It’s my mom’s—not like I haven’t seen pictures of it.”
With Christmas Eve on a Saturday and all their friends and Drake’s relatives having the twenty-third off, Adeena, Cassie’s best friend and maid of honor, had planned their rehearsal party for Friday afternoon at the house she shared with her Great Aunt Tessa.
“Because that’s the way your mother wanted it. You’re her only child and your family is also the only family I have left, and she’s excited about me wearing her dress, so I expect you to indulge her and smile. A lot.”
They reached the apartment door but he didn’t unlock it, instead turned to scowl at her. “I’m not a child and this isn’t self-pity.”
“I know that. You’re worried. That what happened tonight is only the beginning. That maybe we should cancel the wedding, tell everyone to stay home. That maybe we shouldn’t stay here tonight and should just head out of town and hold up in a cheap motel in a town we don’t even know the name of.”
That cracked his facade. Not by much, the worry still leaked into his smile, but it was a start. “Am I that predictable?”
She stood on her tiptoes to kiss his nose. “Yes. Which is why I’ll wait here while you clear the apartment and secure it.”
“And everyone thinks I’m marrying you for your money.” A joke since she had none. In fact, between the two of them pouring everything they had into the Liberty Center, if they did run away, they’d probably be sleeping in the back of his car.
He unlocked the door, cracked it open far enough to check the alarm panel and enter his code, then, leaving the lights off, entered with his gun drawn. She waited impatiently as Hennessey, her overweight tortoiseshell cat, meandered through the open door to whine about being left alone. Finally, Drake returned, snapping on the foyer light, and they all entered.
He took her coat and hung up his own as well, his movements taut, still not relaxed despite being in the safety of their home. He’d never get any rest at this rate. Good thing Cassie knew a surefire way to relax them both.
He turned back to her, his expression revealing as much emotion as a blank slate. But she didn’t need to see emotion on his face to know what was churning just beneath the surface. The storm-tossed indigo of his eyes did that for her, as did his knotted shoulder muscles. She led him to the bedroom, turning on only the shaded bedside lamp.
“I’m in no mood,” he said, hands dug deep into his pocket, shoulders hunched. She ignored him, kicked off her shoes and lifted her skirt to slide out of her panties, letting them drop to the floor. She was now naked beneath the velvet folds of the dress and Drake knew it.
Still, he tried to turn away. “Cassie.” He almost growled her name in protest as she moved to him. It was funny how he only used her first name when he was irritated with her.
She’d know she’d broken through to him when he reverted to his more familiar, intimate use of her surname. The way he said it, that one syllable, could send thrills roiling through her body. Sometimes she hated the way he could affect her—a single word or glance or touch could leave her helpless.
She raised her hands to his shoulders, playfully flicking the straps of his suspenders. Her smile was wicked as he moved his hands to cover hers, to try to stop her from proceeding.
Wrong move, she thought, leaning forward to nip his hand, letting her teeth sink into his flesh with enough force to distract any man.
“Damn it, Hart!”
Victory, she thought, sliding the suspenders from his shoulders even as he drew her to her tiptoes, his mouth devouring hers.
<<<>>>
DRAKE SQUEEZED HART’S shoulders, crushing the velvet of her gown in his sweaty palms. He yanked the cloth away, letting it slide down to hang in the crook of her arms, leaving her chest bare to him. As he bent to kiss her, he felt her intake of breath stealing his. Her hands slid between their bodies, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. She made a small noise of frustration and yanked hard on the fabric, popping buttons in all directions.
He fisted one hand in her hair, unraveling the intricate braid, and tugged on it, pulling her head back so his mouth was free to roam her body. A sheen of sweat was all that separated them as she slid his shirt away from him. Then her fingers began to dance a tortuous tango down his spine until they found the sensitive spot at the small of his back, beneath his waistband. His hips arched in anticipation; he knew what would happen once she touched that spot just so. He was already aroused. He didn’t believe she could coax any more from his body.
But, as usual, Hart surprised him. Her fingers drew away, teasing, taunting, before moving closer once more. Her leg skimmed up the back of his, drawing his hips to hers, layers of fabric still separating them below, creating a delicious friction.
Then her fingers touched that small area of skin that sent a jolt of electricity through every nerve ending. Drake caught his breath; pain and pleasure surged through him, exquisite and demanding in its urgency.
Hart raised her head, her mouth grazing his ear. “I want you, now,” she commanded. He was only too willing to comply.
He gave her a gentle push onto the bed, the now rumpled and twisted folds of velvet still separating him from what he desired, what he needed. He knelt between her legs, grabbed both sides of her gown’s hem and ripped the fabric upward. The tearing noise echoed his own desire and finally, she lay naked, open before him.
He didn’t take the time to do more than slide his pants down before he joined her on the bed. She wrapped her legs around him and he was inside her, thrusting with an urgency that had been building all night long. Hart pulled him ever deeper and as he reared his head to give voice to the fury and passion that climaxed within him, he realized this was what he wanted to render in his art, this feeling of exhilaration, of awe over the power of two people joined together. Her face flushed with color, eyes wide as her mouth opened in her own primal scream of pleasure.
The animal who had taken Steadfast from him had won a shallow victory indeed. Drake looked upon Hart and knew this was the real prize, this power he and Hart shared, and he would do anything in the world to protect it.
And her.