Page 81 of Sinful Promise
ARCHER
“Ithought he was the more normal, grounded one of us all.” I sit back in my truck and slide the tips of my fingers along the side of Minka’s neck.
It’s still dark out, though the sun will crest the horizon in the next hour or so.
Glancing across, I catch her profile, and grin when she looks my way. “I honestly thought he was immune to the bullshit.”
“Nope. He might actually be the most annoying parts of all of you, rolled into one obnoxious teenager.”
Sitting back so she rests on the door and my hand falls from her neck, she creates a distance between us that makes me frown, but only until she brings her feet up so her toes touch the side of my thigh. So I slip my hand beneath her jeans and massage her calf muscle.
“I’m concerned with his need to have sex every single day.” She purrs under my touch, but her eyes remain hard. Worried. “There is such a thing as sex addiction, ya know?”
“We have sex mostly every day.” I drag my bottom lip between my teeth. “I don’t consider it a bad obsession.”
“He seeks out strangers,” she argues. “He literally knows no one in Copeland, but somehow still has two new bed buddies in the span of two days? That can’t be healthy.”
“I think…” I consider my words, careful not to dismiss hers. Just because I know better doesn’t mean I get to brush her off like her feelings don’t matter. “We come from a world different to regular society, Mayet. Sex is used as a form of punishment… and reward. It’s an emotional manipulation, introduced at a young age.”
“Too young,” she glowers.
So I nod. “Too young. But the cards have already been dealt. We can’t change them. Just have to deal with the hand we’ve got.”
“Which is what?” she argues. “A child who can’t sleep a night alone?”
“Me, in a healthy, monogamous relationship,” I counter instead. “I enjoyed my life before you, Mayet. But fuck if you didn’t change the game. Now I want to go to bed only with you. So I have to believe that someday, Cato will findhispenguin. That’s when he’ll settle in and stay put.”
“Felix has an unhealthy relationship with sex, too.”
Shewantsto argue. She wants to fight me on this. But it’s too early in the day for that, and nestling together in the cab of my truck makes it hard for me to bite back. So I meet her challenge with calm.
“Felix’s relationship with sex might be the worst of us all,” I admit. “But he’s a grown man who can deal with his issues as he sees fit.”
“You mean fuck anyone who walks by, and slit their throat before he’s done?” She glares across the cab and meets my eyes when I peek her way. “Issues like that?”
“His business.”
“How about Tim’s complete refusal to have sex at all? He’s, what, afraid to be a delinquent like Felix, so he locks it up and refuses intimacy altogether? Is that what it is?”
“Could be.” Calm. Kind. Relaxed. I turn onto Whitney Patterson’s street and head toward the red and blue flashing lights two blocks down. “He’s afraid of letting the poison spill over onto Aubree, so he shut up shop and keeps it to himself. We’re all allowed our vices, Mayet. A man is entitled to that much.”
“And you?” Setting her foot on my lap, she burns the side of my face with her eyes. “You have sex. Some could even say your sex drive verges toward aggressive.”
“Mm.” My lips curl into a satisfied smile as I pull up out front of the Pattersons’ home. Fixing the parking brake and cutting the engine, I take my keys and glance across at my wife. “And I knew from the moment I saw you, you were tough enough to meet me on my level. You wanted me as much as I wanted you.” Unsnapping my belt, I lean into her space and pray the media aren’t here yet to glimpse us in private.
Pressing a kiss to her cheek, I murmur by her ear, “The things I do with you, Minnnka… the things I dotoyou… it’s not poison. It’s love. And that’s what makes it special.” I unsnap her belt, and grin when her breath escapes on a gasp.
“We’ve gotta work. But you look good.” I pull back just far enough to study her cheeks. “I know you infused this morning. I’m glad you’re not crazy tired.”
“I’m dragging a little.” But she straightens in her seat and turns to push her door open. So I do the same on my side and meet her at the front of the truck.
She intends to duck under police tape alone, but I take her hand in mine and smirk when her fiery eyes burn into mine.
She’s not a public display kind of woman. But there’s no one dead here today. And it’s Sunday. Morning. The sun hasn’t even come up yet. So fuck it, I take what’s mine and hold on for as long as I can.
“Arch.” Fletch steps away from the front door and passes a half a dozen uniforms as he skips down the stairs and meets us on the lawn. The house is bursting with cops. A big show, considering no one is dead. “Home security blitzed at just after five this morning. An intruder was attempting to enter the premises.” He glances down at Minka and grins. “Delicious. Maybe you heard wrong, but no M.E. required this morning.”
“I’m just here for a ridealong.” Carefully, discretely, she tugs her hand from mine and grimaces when my partner’s smile grows. “I’ll stay out of your way while you run the case.”
