Page 47 of The Viper
She did, her cry swallowed by the waves, her body shuddering around me, pulling me over the edge with her. I followed, the release crashing through me like a tidal wave, leaving me breathless, spent, but whole in a way I’d never felt before.
The ocean held us, gentle now, as we clung to each other, the aftershocks fading into the rhythm of the waves.
We stayed there, wrapped in each other, the water lapping softly at our waists, the mist settling on our skin like a baptism. I held her close, my forehead pressed to hers, our breaths mingling in the quiet.
“How does this change things?” I asked, my voice low, the words slipping out before I could stop them.
She pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, a soft smile curving her lips. “It changes everything,” she said, her voicebreathless, raw. “Now take me back to your place so we can do it again, on sheets.”
17
LEXI
He didn’t hesitate. “My place,” he said, voice low, still rough. “It’s called The Palmetto Rose. In Charleston.”
I laughed softly, breathless. “A hotel?”
“Technically,” he said, pushing wet hair back from his forehead. “A suite that’s temporarily mine.”
“Perfect,” I murmured. “If you can sneak me in.”
His mouth curved in that half-smile that always meant danger was about to sound like a good idea. “I can sneak anyone in.”
“I bet you can.”
I reached for my phone, shielding the screen from the rain, and texted Hannah.
Me:Don’t wait up. I’m fine. Long day. Out late. Lucas has me.
The three dots appeared almost instantly.
Hannah:Has you?? Lexi, tomorrow’s another fourteen-hour day. Please don’t do anything stupid.
I typed back,Define stupid, then deleted it before sending. Instead?—
Me:Promise I’ll be ready. Love you.
Her reply was a single eye-roll emoji followed by a heart. Typical Hannah—half assistant, half sister, all exasperation.
When I looked up, Lucas was already beside the SUV, the storm’s mist clinging to his skin. “All clear?”
“Except for my reputation,” I said, tucking the phone away. “But that’s been fragile for years.”
“Come on.” He opened the passenger door for me. “Let’s test my stealth credentials.”
The Palmetto Rose looked like money and secrets. Sleek where I’d expected old, it was clearly one of those Charleston hotels that had been redone to impress the kind of people who used “restored” as a verb. Brass gleamed under the porte-cochère, the marble steps spotless, not a scuff or ghost story in sight. He parked beneath the arch, handed the valet his keys, and nodded toward a side entrance.
“No lobby,” he said. “Too many cameras.”
I followed him through a service corridor. My dress was still damp, clinging to my knees. His hand found the small of my back, guiding me with quiet certainty.
We slipped past a side hallway that opened toward the main atrium, and for a heartbeat I caught sight of a couple by the elevators—tourists, probably, sunburned and smiling. The woman’s head turned just enough for her eyes to flick over me, widen, then dart back to her phone like she was pretending not to look. My pulse jumped. Maybe she recognized me. Maybe she only thought she did. Either way, I moved faster.
I didn’t ask Lucas how he knew the place so well. I was starting to accept that he had a key to everywhere.
When we reached his floor, he paused, listening. Then the key card slid through the reader with a soft click, and the door opened on a suite half shadow, half lamplight.
I exhaled. “So, this is the secret headquarters.”
