“Give me a hint, at least.” Excitement bubbled like champagne through her even as she tugged her skirt over her hips and stepped out of it. “Is it bigger than a breadbox?”
“I don’t know what the hell a breadbox is, but I’m willing to bet no. I love watching you strip,” he went on, surprising her. She glanced up to find him shrugging out of his shirt and throwing it blindly toward a chair, his attention so laser-locked on her it was like she was the only person in the world. “Swear to God, just you standing there breathing is sexier than anything I’ve ever seen. The way you walk, the way you move, the way you smile—it’s like my eyes can’t get enough of the sight of you.”
Wow. “Loki, you don’t have to work at seducing me.” As she spoke, she unbuttoned her blouse and all but ripped it off. Then she dealt with her bra and thong which, once again, proved that gravity was working by dropping to her ankles. “I’m already seduced.”
“I’m not trying to do anything but get my point across.”
She toed out of her shoes. “And that point is…?”
“In a world full of ugliness, my woman is a goddamn miracle of beauty.” Still not taking his eyes off her, he reached for a flat, squarish box on the nightstand. “Beauty like yours deserves to be draped in gold and silver and all the gems this world has to offer. Nothing less would do for a goddess like you.”
She breath began to back up in her lungs. “I’m no goddess.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. And I judge that you need to be treated like the goddess you are, and finally get what you’re due.”
She glanced down at the flat box while her heart tried to beat its way out of her chest. “Just so you know, I’ve never been a huge fan of jewelry. But since it’s you, I’m willing to keep an open mind.”
“That’s big of you.” Slowly he moved into her space, and it was a wonder he couldn’t hear the pounding of her heart. “You ready for your surprise, Stems?”
Yes. “I’m ready for you.”
“Surprise first. Then me. I want to fuck you while you’re wearing nothing but…this.” With that, he flipped open the clamshell-like box.
A glorious, sparkling circlet of rubies and diamonds in a white satin nest shimmered up at her, with the matching earrings placed in the center of all that glittering glory. She’d seen this jewelry set only once before, but that hardly mattered. The platinum and diamond-studded leaf pattern interspersed with pea-sized, blood-red rubies was unforgettable.
“My God.” She was so stunned she wasn’t even aware of speaking until she heard her own voice. Reverently she reached out to touch first the necklace, then the earrings, just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. “This is…”
“The Tiffany ruby and diamond set that the idiotic Felix fuckface stole from you and your foster sister. Yeah, I know.”
“But…how?” Flabbergasted, Alice finally dragged her gaze away from the glittering gems to stare up at him in open-mouthed amazement. “Gus hired some investigator to find this set, but I sort of assumed it was gone forever. How in the world did you find it?”
“I did mention that the Gravediggers have been established in this territory since my grandfather’s day, yeah? Lots of people know the name, and more than that owe favors. Added to that, we know just about every fence and pawnshop in the Great Lakes area, and it’s not like we were trying to find a hot TV. This is a one-of-a-kind item. When it landed, we were all over it.”
“When it landed.” Her gaze dropped back down to the rubies and diamonds while horror began to rise in a slow, icy tide inside her. “I can’t even imagine how much it cost you to get your hands on it.”
“Here’s the thing, Stems. It’s stolen goods worth tens of thousands of dollars. It landed with an individual who was happy to get it off his hands quietly, with no muss or fuss. I forked out some cash, yeah, but nowhere near its actual price tag, because not only did I have the Gravedigger name behind me, I had the insurance photos and description of the jewelry Gus gave me—proof that these jewels belonged with me, and not with them. When this person, a well-known fence in the region, realized just how much shit the Gravediggers could rain down on him if he didn’t hand this set over, he was all too happy to make a deal.”
“I doubt happy is the right word.”
“Close enough.”
And that was all she needed to know to not pursue that particular line of questioning. “That’s still a lot of money and a lot of effort you put into finding this set.”
“It’s nothing. All of it’s nothing compared to getting it back to you. If I had to spend every penny I had, called in every favor owed, and had to search the world over for it, I would’ve done it without a second thought.”
Every word hit her in the chest until it was almost impossible to breathe. “Why?”
“Because the loss of it made you cry.”
“I didn’t cry.”
“You didn’t let the tears fall, but they were there, all the same. My strong Alice, crying. No way in hell was I going to let that stand.”
Something vital inside her melted, and it was a sweet anguish to bear. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Now,” he went on, snagging the necklace up from its satiny bed and handing the box to her. “Turn around and let me get this on you where it belongs, then get those earrings on. I can’t wait to see you in all this priceless shit while I’m inside you.”
It was insane, how that caused a surge of heat to bloom between her legs. “The earrings are mine,” she said, doing as instructed while he draped the heavy, cold necklace around her neck. “But the necklace doesn’t belong to me. It’s Joelle’s.”
“I paid good money for this shit, so it belongs to whoever I say it belongs to. Tonight, I say these jewels belong to you.” The necklace’s clasp snapped into place, and he brushed her nape with his lips before turning her around to face him. As his hungry gaze traveled over her, she squeezed her legs together in a futile attempt to ease the achy pulsing of her intimate flesh. “Holy hell. Just look at you.”
A fluttery breath escaped her as she touched the glittering gems at her neck. “You make me feel beautiful.”
“You are beautiful. The most beautiful thing these eyes have ever seen. I’m going to draw you like this,” he added, and the roughness of his voice turned her on all the more. “You, standing there now, redefine my idea of beauty. You make me believe dreams come true.”
That made her eyes sting, while the rest of her practically went up in flames. “You are my dream, Loki. My fantasy. And in my fantasy, you’re burying yourself inside me so deeply I can’t tell where you end, and I begin.”
“Baby.” His face darkened with a reddish tinge, and the covetous hunger in his expression thrilled her. “Me being inside you where I belong isn’t some fantasy. It’s reality, and it’s happening right the fuck now.”
Her pulse skyrocketed as he framed her face and brought her up for a kiss. When she flowed against him, she realized he was still partially dressed.
That wouldn’t do.
Feeling her way, she made quick work of his jeans, and in a handful of moments she had him as naked as she was. Though she wasn’t completely bare. The surprisingly heavy weight of the necklace clasped around her neck had taken on the warmth of her body, but she could still feel it against her skin with every breath she took.