across the moon above, casting shadows over her hopes until he spoke at last.
“You are the bravest woman I know, the most fearless and compassionate in all you do. I wish I could,” he began, feeling her stiffen for the blow of his refusal until he continued with a reluctant, “but I can’t argue with what you propose. I agree it’s our best chance to stop them before they get even bolder. We have to stop them, or none of us will have a future.” He paused, silence lingering while Cee Cee caught her breath in stunned relief. Shorted lived as he advised, “I’ll be in talks with Reuben and Cale downstairs this evening.”
A snort. “Sorry to miss that pissing contest.”
His chuckle vibrated beneath her. “Indeed.”
Cee Cee remained thoughtful for a moment then asked the ten-thousand-dollar question. “Can you trust them?”
“In this, I believe I can. There’s no future for any of us if the North succeeds with its plans. Those who survive their purge’ll be slaves to their agenda.”
“Which is?”
“Bleak to non-existent for our kind.”
Considering his assessment as the silky, scented water lapped about them, she asked, “How much am I not going to like what you three came up with?”
“About as much as you disliked wearing that fetching Doris Day dress the first time we had dinner at Babineau’s.”
“Ooooh, that much, huh?” A heavy of puff of breath. “You’ll keep me in the loop?”
“Of course. I depend upon your ability to see through even the most attractively presented bullshit.”
Slipping her hands from his, she rubbed her palms up and down the long, muscled line of thighs bracketing her with such protective and provocative strength. Worries lessened as his interest impressively rose. “I’ve never quite managed to cut through yours, Savoie.”
“And it’s that mystery you find so enticing.”
“That,” she murmured, hands scooping beneath his taut butt, “among other things.”
“Any particular one of those things you care to address now that they’ve come up?”
“Let’s start with the most immediate.”
Water sloshed over the rolled edge of the tub as she squirmed about to settle slowly, snugly over the provoking issue rocketing so boldly between them.
Her stare adored the fierce angles shaping his uplifted face, that look that said in no uncertain terms, “Mine,” with primal intensity as his hands palmed her butt then clamped tight to begin a seducing rhythm. Coaxing, teasing, encouraging, until finally demanding she take what he gave and acknowledge that consuming pleasure with increasingly rapid breaths and throaty moans of urgency.
Her fingers tangled in the dark silk of his hair as he leaned forward, his lips stroking her throat, capturing first one overly-sensitive nipple then the other, lavishing them with licks and sucks and nips that sent tremors tightening through her core as his impatient length moved within her. Strong, bold, arrogant in its demands, like the man himself.
Her world exploded. Thighs clenched. Her head fell back, breaths shuddering then abruptly punched from her lungs on the cry of his name. Charlotte closed her eyes as the sound of his deep, lusty groan flooded her with satisfying accomplishment. A damned fine way to flip off a truly a shitty day.
Once they were dry and horizontal, relaxing within the centering circle of each other’s arms in their big bed, discussion continued, an intimate briefing to bring each other up to date on conversations, plans and worries while drawing a grounding strength from one another. Why had they foolishly denied that steadying power? Cee Cee finally expressed the question aloud.
“When did we stop communicating, Max?”
His head nudged tenderly against hers. “I don’t know, sha, but the silence has been killing me.”
She took a chance, unburdening the weight in her heart. “I think we’re both scared to admit we’re afraid of the unknown.”
“You and I, together, is not an unknown. It’s a certainty.”
How she loved that rumbling claim, smiling into the warmth of his shoulder, tasting the familiar heat of his skin with a kiss. “Yes, it is. The only one I’ve ever had outside the job.”
That job had been her only family until the coolly swaggering Mob enforcer strode into her precinct wearing cuffs. And she’d realized her dependence upon him went far deeper than attraction, encompassing safety and trust, as well. He’d been as constant as the stars in her ever-spinning world of danger and death.
Still, she’d been foolish not to worry when secrets seeped into their precious union. Her doubts about Babineau and Max’s ties to Cummings as well as her mate’s place in the new order