woman I want. No other will share my bed as long as we’re doing this thing,” I teased.
“I still haven’t shared your bed,” she teased back with a quirk of her lips then a bite of my bottom lip.
Growling, I gripped the back of her head and crushed my mouth to hers, angling for a deep, devouring kiss. She whimpered as I stroked over her tongue, then sucked on it before breaking apart. What I felt for her was fierce and unrelenting, demanding all of her.
“You’re lucky we have so many innocent eyes on us in here. Otherwise, I’d take you against that wall.”
She laughed again, but it dissolved quickly when she caught the fire in my eyes. I was sure my heady desire was written all over my face. I simply couldn’t control myself when it came to this woman.
Archie barked and stood against the pen, both paws up, trying to give us puppy licks between the bars.
“Down, Archie,” she said, reaching into her bag for one more treat to give him.
She stood afterward. So did I.
“Hold out your hand,” she said, producing a bottle of hand sanitizer.
“Always so prepared.” I rubbed in the sanitizer while she did the same.
“Thank you for coming with me,” she said with a smile. We were back outside, sauntering toward our homes. “Do you want to grab some lunch?”
I glanced at my watch. “I actually have an appointment as well.”
“Oh, what for?”
I spun her to face me and combed my fingers into her hair, pulled her body into mine. Before she could fully gasp, I had my mouth on her again, tasting all of her sweetness.
Well, not all. But soon enough. Right now, I just wanted to feel the rightness of her body against mine, in my arms where she belonged.
It hadn’t escaped me that my thoughts were becoming exponentially proprietary where Isadora was concerned. The thought of this ending and me leaving New Orleans sent a panicky, sharp feeling into the pit of my stomach. So I kissed her hard, delving into the softness of her mouth, wanting to dive into the softness of her body.
But there was something I needed to do first. Pulling my lips away, I kept her pressed against my body, needing it for a moment longer.
“I’ll see you soon,” I assured her.
“Okay,” she replied softly, her eyes glazed with lust.
I loved that look, but I wanted even more than that.
“Are you on the pill?” I asked.
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Um. Yes.”
“Good.” With another soft kiss, I stepped away. “I’ll see you soon,” I repeated with a smile. Then I went to take care of my next order of business.
Chapter 26
~ISADORA~
I sat at my vintage writing desk against the wall, which doubled as a vanity with a narrow ornately-framed, oval mirror just above it. I wore my knee-length nightie, my favorite camphor-scented candle was burning, and I was writing to Mom with my blue quill pen. The night was pleasantly cool, so I’d opened the French doors that led out onto our second-floor balcony.
I kept starting and stopping because my thoughts continually strayed to the paper unfolded and sitting at the upper corner of my desk.
I hadn’t seen or spoken to Devraj since yesterday when he’d left me in a hurry outside of Angel Paws. I didn’t understand why he needed to know if I was on the pill since we’d been protecting with condoms. Not until that piece of paper had arrived with a personal note inside.
I set the quill pen back in the inkwell and picked up the note, rereading for the hundredth time.
Dearest Isadora,
Since I’m aware of your affinity for charts and graphs and everything spelled out in black and white, I’m sending you the results of my testing as of today. Though I knew already, I wanted you to have all the chartly and grapherly evidence that I’m one hundred percent clean. (Yes, I made up those two words especially for you.) That being said, with you on the pill and with your assurance that you’re also in the clear, I formally ask if we can dispense with the condoms from here on out while we explore this “thing.”
If that’s not clear enough, Isadora, know this. I want you, to be inside you, skin to skin. I want you all the time. You invade my thoughts every minute of the day. I crave you like I’ve never craved another woman. So yes, this is my plea, a vampire on his knees, begging you