Page 162 of Watch Me Burn
“Haha, wise ass. No, but if you think I’m obsessive and possessive, Cade makes me look sane.”
She furrows her brow deeper, but I don’t elaborate. Maren getting involved with Cade is asking for all sorts of trouble none of us needs.
“I love your arms around me.” She presses her lips over my heart, and the simple gesture nearly undoes me.
I guide her toward the door, keeping her wrapped against me until the last possible second. Only when we have to step outside do I let her go.
“Come on. Cade’s probably got lunch ready by now, and you need to eat, Dr. Foster. You’re going to need your strength tonight.”
When we reach her front door, I turn her to face me, my voice rough.
“I love you, Luna. And I’m going to spend the rest of my life making up for all the ways I’ve hurt you.”
Her eyes soften, and she reaches up to cup my face. “I’ll hold you to that. And you better be prepared to fuck me into oblivion as the wolf for the rest of your life too, because I want both of you. I want Damien and my wolf.”
The heat in her voice and the hunger in her eyes set my blood ablaze. Her lips curve in a smile that promises pure temptation wrapped in sin.
“Maybe you should consider stocking up on Viagra, old man.”
Desire roars through me even though she called me an old man. I move before thought catches up, grabbing her and pressing her back against the door. My mouth crashes onto hers, the kiss all heat and hunger and desperate need. She melts into me, soft and pliant, as I claim every inch of her mouth.
I pull back and press my forehead against hers, both of us breathing hard. “I’m going to fuck you against this door one night, right after I make you come on my fingers again.”
Her breath catches, and her body trembles against mine. When she looks up at me, her eyes have gone dark. “Then I’ll return the favor on my knees until you forget everything but my name.”
My hand finds the doorframe and grips it hard enough to make my fingers ache. Anything to stop myself from taking her right here.
“Jesus, fuck, Luna.”
She laughs and rises on her toes to brush her lips against mine before reaching behind her for the doorknob. Ghost and Athena push past me to enter behind her as Shadow and her three cats come running from inside, a collision of fur and enthusiasm.
She drops to her knees and greets them all with hugs and kisses. The fat one hisses, and Shadow knocks Luna onto her ass with the force of his greeting. This is a sight I want to spend the rest of my life coming home to.
I have a home for the first time in my life. And it’s all because of this woman.
Epilogue
“Ricky, where are you?”
I stand on the porch of the sanctuary’s main building, my eyes sweeping the yard. Ten minutes of searching, and still nothing. The familiar weight of worry settles in my chest as I scan every shadow and every corner where my troublemaker might be hiding. The early evening air carries the scent of pine and the distant sound of nocturnal animals stirring, but no chittering from my missing raccoon.
I’ve been looking for him since I realized he wasn’t in his cage with Zorro. Although we call it a cage, the combination indoor/outdoor enclosure they share is a raccoon’s paradise. But Ricky figured out how to open the door about eight months ago, and no matter what Maren and I do, no matter how many new double locks we install or alarms Damien sets up, he manages to break out.
Maren.
The worry that’s been gnawing at me for three days surfaces again. She’s been gone without a word since Tuesday afternoon. I came back from running errands in Estes, and Cindy, our newest intern, said a man had stopped by to see her. They argued. She could hear raised voices from inside my office before he tossed Maren over his shoulder and carried her, kicking and screaming, out the front door, driving off in a large SUV that looked like a tank.
Even if the security cameras hadn’t been disabled in what Damien called a “suspicious malfunction,” I’d know he took her. Maren and Cade have been dancing around each other for months. Well, she’s been dancing around himwhile threatening to have him murdered if he doesn’t leave her alone. Most of it is an act. I’ve known Maren since college, and I know when she’s interested in a man.
But why did she leave with him? She doesn’t bail on me or the sanctuary. Or on Estella, her grandmother. I called Estella yesterday, just to check on her, but I didn’t ask if she knew where Maren was. There’s no point in worrying an eighty-year-old woman.
If Maren’s with Cade—and I’m almost sure she is—he wouldn’t hurt her. At least, I hope he wouldn’t. But where the hell did they go?
Her purse is still here. Her phone too. I found that out when it started chirping in her desk drawer from the dozens of texts I sent asking where she was. Maren doesn’t go anywhere without her phone.
But she just vanished. Poof. Gone. Kidnapped by Damien’s COO.
I’m trying not to panic, but it’s hard, especially with how out of whack my hormones are. I didn’t even get a chance to tell her.
