“Zeke can be intimidating without having to touch anyone,” Malichai assured. “I didn’t get anywhere near the jerk and it was a good thing. He was a local. A hit man. He didn’t do Anna and Bryon, but he happily told us of several others he’d done for the same people, all over the last two years. He was also contracted to create a diversion for those same people by killing the owner of a bed-and-breakfast, her daughter and her manager. Then after the cops were inside, he was to burn the place to the ground, drawing all the cops and fire engines there.”
He felt the breath leave her body. Her face went white there in the darkness, so she looked almost transparent.
“You’re talking about here. Us. Marie, Jacy and me. He’s supposed to kill us and burn this beautiful place down.”
“And he didn’t even so much as flinch talking about killing a child when he’s married and has children of his own,” Malichai said.
“You should have told me right away.”
“There’s no immediate threat. We’re setting up a sting.”
“You can’t know there’s no threat.”
“He’s dead. He was stupid and made a try for Zeke. Rubin is going to be arrested on suspicion of killing Anna and Bryon, and then released because he didn’t do it, but there will be a write-up in the paper portraying his past as being murky. Whoever these people are that hired Henry Shevfield will need another local fast. We’re hoping they’ll contact him, especially because he’s staying here.”
“They won’t fall for that. It’s too easy.”
“Sometimes, easy is best.” He brushed kisses in her hair and then dribbled more down the side of her face.
“Stop trying to change the subject.”
Malichai rolled her over fast, so she was on top again, his mouth on hers, creating fire, igniting a storm between them. He felt it in his belly, hot and wild, in his groin, rising like the tide. She tried to sit up and he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her down over top of him again. She landed, chest to chest, her breasts pushing against his bare skin. He loved the feel of her. He could lie there all day with her body sprawled out, arms and legs on either side of him, surrounding him with her heat. Her softness.
She lifted her head, her blue eyes colliding with his. There was laughter there. “How easily you distract me.”
“Clearly I haven’t distracted you properly.” His mouth took hers again, his palm curling around the nape of her neck. He loved kissing her and he took his time. A slow assault on her senses. On his. Building the fire until it poured down their throats into their bellies. Until it spread like a wildfire out of control through their veins. Until he could almost—almost—ignore that warning that had ratcheted up a notch and nagged at the back of his mind.
He broke the kiss and once again found himself staring into her eyes. “I love kissing you.” He rubbed the bare cheeks of her ass. He loved that as much as, or more than, staring into her eyes.
“I know you do. The feeling’s mutual.” She shifted her weight and casually reached for her tank top. “Babe, I can tell when you’re uneasy. You’re a soldier. You think something isn’t right, we don’t ignore that.”
“Are you feeling it at all?”
She shook her head. “I feel you. Your mouth. Your cock. I’m a little sore, but in this wonderful, delicious way. I’m still wrapped up in us. But if something’s wrong, honey, we need to find out what it is in order to protect everyone at this inn. Marie can’t afford to lose the place, not even with you helping her so much. And she does love it.”
Amaryllis pulled her tank top over her head, covering her breasts, much to his dismay. She rolled to the very edge of his bed and nabbed her yoga pants. He was a little in love with those pants, especially when, like now, he knew she wasn’t wearing anything beneath them. The stretchy material clung to her curves lovingly, drawing attention to the shape of her bottom and her slender legs.
Malichai slid to the opposite side of the bed and reached for his clothes, no longer fighting the nagging whisper that something wasn’t right—wasn’t adding up. He had to block out everything and just hear it. That was how he’d stayed alive for years. Now he had Amaryllis to look out for. And the bed-and-breakfast. He told himself it wasn’t immediate, but it was still a warning. He had to get past what she did to his body and listen to the warning system that was always set to alert him to possible threats.
Malichai pulled his clothes on slowly, sorting through the dozens of questions in his head. It always came back to two. How had Tag found Lorrie? Why was that answer so important?
“Do you want me to make us some coffee?” Amaryllis asked.
Malichai glanced at his watch. He loved Amaryllis’s coffee. Everything she did was done with the utmost care for detail. Part of the reason her food was so delicious was because she cared about the person eating it. “Will Marie be up? Who’s working on breakfast?”
“That would be me. I have to start work in another hour. Marie has the day off, remember? She’s taking Jacy to a couple of appointments and then they’re going to catch a show. Marie always likes to end the day with something very fun for Jacy, especially if they have numerous doctor appointments.”
“Smart woman. Coffee would be great, baby. I’m going to walk around and see if I can figure out what’s going on that’s bugging me.”
“I’ll do the same. I’ll try to puzzle out how Tag could have found Lorrie. You know, Malichai, we can’t always rule out coincidence. It does happen. It’s that unexpected thing that you don’t count on that trips you up sometimes. Tag might have been at the beach and seen her. Maybe one of his friends did.”
Malichai wanted to know what unexpected things had tripped Amaryllis up before she’d found her way to Marie, but he decided it was best to let that go for another time. She’d talk to him in time and if not, he’d coax it out of her when she was more comfortable sharing. Like him, she compartmentalized her life. He couldn’t blame her when he did the same thing.
“I’m not a big believer in coincidence. Lorrie and Lexie seem like they might have fluff where their brains are supposed to be, but Linda is always thinking. She wouldn’t have allowed either of her sisters to go somewhere Tag or his friends might go. Lorrie was really afraid of him. Had she continued their relationship, I’m afraid he might have killed her. He doesn’t seem to realize she isn’t his possession. Linda saw that as well.”
Amaryllis nodded, watching as he pulled on his jeans. “What are you thinking, then, Malichai, because there must be something nagging at you.”
He dragged on socks and then his boots before looking up at her. “I don’t know. But my weird warning system has never let me down. If it’s going off—and it is—something’s not quite right and we need to figure it out. Make a pot of coffee and I’ll join you as soon as I finish walking around the place.” He glanced at the little device sitting on the bedside table, the jammer that was kept active when he was in the room. He reached over and shut it down, shoved it inside his pocket, making a mental note to sweep his room when they came back again. So far, his room had been bug-free, but he wasn’t taking any chances, now that he knew for certain something big was going on involving the bed-and-breakfast and the magic shop.