Two Lives in Waltz Time Read online

  Chapter Seventeen

  Maddy never used to be a night person. Before moving to New York City, her life had been about sunshine and warmth, smiles blinded by cloudless skies so blue that it made her eyes hurt. Working nights in a city that tried to hide the stars from its inhabitants had changed that. She’d grown to find the beauty in the solitude of darkness. Being in a world that she wasn’t even sure was real didn’t change that.

  She stood in front of the open window, the gauzy curtains drifting with the slight breeze to whisper around her bare legs. The moon, barely suspended over the edge of the horizon, glittered in a majestic chill as it invited itself into the room, creeping along the floor and climbing atop the bed to leave it adorned in silver ribbons. She loved this time of night. This was the hour that it seemed peace could be possible, no matter what the circumstances.

  Her body was a mass of conflicting sentiments, at once both aching and exhilarated from sex with Cash. If someone had told her a week ago that such pleasure was possible, she would have laughed in their face. That was the stuff of bodice rippers and Hollywood. In real life, one always had to settle for good at best.

  But Cash had changed all that. Right now, he slept alone in her bed, the blankets in disarray around his legs, his cock still semi-hard, even in his sleep. It had taken a few hours of repeated couplings for him to finally be exhausted enough to sleep, and she smiled as her fingers drifted over her tender breasts. He had been relentless, pursuing her orgasms through tongue and touch and everything else until she was begging him to stop. Even now, her sensitive clit tingled at the memory of his mouth between her legs. Apparently, their first time with oral sex had only been an appetizer.

  While Cash slept, though, Maddy was wide awake, feeling every inch of her skin as it either burned or ached. He had been right about so much. Not only was there nothing delicate or gentle about their joining, but tomorrow would bring about changes she wasn’t sure how she would handle. Their mutual desire was unarguable, but no words had been spoken about feelings. Friends, yes. Maddy thought they had moved beyond hating each other to find a mutual respect in the other’s strength. But neither had mentioned anything deeper than that. If he asked her, she wasn’t even sure what she would say.

  She liked this Cash. A lot. There were layers she hadn’t seen—or allowed herself to see—back at the museum. The Cash she was getting to know was generous, sensual, funny. He was also possessive and loyal, though those were attributes she realized could be double-edged swords. Maddy even thought it would be possible to feel more, but at this point, she was too wrapped up in the newness of it all to explore that issue with any depth. The question just remained whether or not she could admit to the feelings she did have.

  Maddy sighed, her fingers toying with the edge of the curtains. It was going to be a long night if she couldn’t figure that one out.

  A full moon hung low in the sky, distorted to gargantuan proportions by the atmosphere. In the darkness, the Dubai hostel stenciled clearly against the oddly bright sky, but the roof seemed higher than Cash remembered. He had to crane his head back in order to see where it ended.

  “It don’t matter how many we take down.” Cash twisted to see Milo standing at his side, his cheeks shining in the moonlight as he stared at the hostel. The slash across his neck where his throat had been slit was visible, though in the dark, it looked black instead of blood red. “There’ll always be another wizard, bigger and badder than the one before.”

  Cash wasn’t surprised when Gordy spoke up on his other side. If one dead mate was going to haunt his dreams, they might as well all show up.

  “Maybe it’s time we start thinking about retiring,” Gordy said. His hawkish nose twitched at the scents drifting back from the hostel. “Right bloody business, this is. And I do mean that literally, of course.”

  Ahead of them, Cash saw a small figure creeping through the darkness, approaching the front door with more noise than he would have tolerated from any member of his team. “Who’s that? I didn’t tell anybody to approach yet.”

  “Who do you think?” Gordy wrapped his hand around Cash’s arm, preventing him from darting forward to see. “Just wait.”

  For whatever reason, he couldn’t break free of his dead friend’s grip, forcing Cash to squint in a vain attempt to try to discern who the fool was approaching Alonzo’s hideout. His heart pounded in his chest. He didn’t want to risk losing anybody else.

  Then the figure walked through a patch of moonlight. There was no mistaking the ball gown and blonde hair.

  “Maddy!” Cash nearly wrenched his arm from the socket as he fought to race toward her.

  “It’s pointless trying to save her,” Milo said. All of a sudden, there were chopsticks in his hand, and he lunged toward Cash, driving one of them deep into Cash’s shoulder. “You can’t even save yourself.”

  Pain ripped through his body, but the scream refused to come. All he could do was stand there and watch as Maddy lifted her hand to knock at the front door.

  “This one’s pretty,” Gordy commented. “Pity you’ll just disappoint her.”

  “She trusts me,” Cash said through gritted teeth. “She knows I won’t let anything happen to her. I promised—”

  He stopped. This could only lead to topics he had no desire to address.

  “And what’s the street value of a Cash Vinci promise these days?” Gordy caught the second chopstick when Milo tossed it to him, twirling it between his fingers before skewering Cash’s other shoulder with it. “About as much as the air it takes to make it.”

  The front door opened, but the interior was too dark for Cash to see who was there. He screamed her name again, but Maddy gave no indication of hearing him, taking the hand that was offered her and entering the hostel.

  “Only way to save her is to let her go,” Milo commented.

  The grip holding Cash disappeared, and he fell forward from the momentum suddenly released, scraping his knees on the concrete sidewalk. “You’re wrong,” he hissed.

  “Are we, Cash?” Both men behind him laughed. “Well? Cash?”

  “Cash!”

  His eyes shot open. Hovering above him was a frowning Maddy, her slim fingers gripping his unharmed shoulder so tightly he could feel the sharp sting of her nails. Her hair hung down, the tips trailing across his bare chest. The feather touch made him twitch, but nothing could stop him reaching up and touching her cheek, confirming that she was there, that she wasn’t hurt.

  With her back to the window, her concern was masked. All he saw was her outline. All he felt was the easing of her grip. “What’s wrong?” Maddy said.

  Cash swallowed down the lump in his throat. “A dream. Just…a dream.”

  “A nightmare, you mean.” Having to elucidate his explanation seemed to anger her, and she sat back on her heels, moving beyond his reach. “You were thrashing. And don’t try to tell me that’s because it was a sex dream. I’ve got firsthand experience now to know you’d be lying to me.”

  Exhaling, Cash closed his eyes, unwilling to get into the explanation right now. “Just odds and sods. Nothing worth talking about.”

  “Bullshit.”

  The unexpected expletive startled Cash into looking at Maddy again. Her frustration was written all over her face, but there were other, more baffling emotions vying for his attention. “What did you say?”

  “You heard me. You said things were going to change. This feels like the same old Vinci song and dance to me.”

  She was right. But giving voice to his demons would give them more life than he was ready to relinquish.

  Throwing back the blankets, he rose from the bed, stretching until he heard his back crack. “I’m taking a shower.” Before Maddy could argue, he added, “I’d like it if you joined me.”

  He glanced back. She still knelt on the edge of the bed, the moonlight haloing her hair. She wasn’t even trying to cover up her nudity any more, her supple curves bringing back the memory of her writhing beneath him,
the way she’d egged him on, the way she’d clung to him as he slammed inside her. In just a few days, they had come so far, and here he was, ruining what was probably the best thing to happen to him since before Dubai.

  “I couldn’t save you,” he said quietly, and then turned away. He didn’t think he could bear to see the look on her face. “I’ll be in the shower.”

  Cash didn’t wait. His footsteps were silent as he walked across the plush carpet and remained so after moving to the cold tile of the bathroom. It was equipped with a large corner shower, even more evidence of their affluence within this magical world, and in the aftermath of his dreams, there was nothing that sounded better than scalding the skin off his back. He wanted it pounding into his knotted muscles, so hot he could barely stand beneath the stream. Maybe then he’d relax enough to go back to sleep.

  He was adjusting the water temperature when he heard the door open and shut. His heart leapt into his throat. While he had extended the invitation, he hadn’t been convinced Maddy would take him up on it. He was already breaking the rules he’d been the one to lay out, and he knew there was no way she would tolerate it. Not from him. Not after the headaches of finally coming together. Their relationship was still tenuous at best. Cash wouldn’t be surprised if she ran at the very first chance she could.

  “I never pegged you for a worrywart,” Maddy said.

  He dared a glance back, but already she was closing the gap, only feet away when he replied, “Admit it. You never gave me any thought except to think what a pain in the ass I was.”

  Her cheeks turned pink at the truth of his statement, but her mouth curved into a smile. “Well, you did give me a lot to work with in that regard.”

  Already, steam condensed on her skin, her nipples taut from the heat. Reaching out a hand in invitation, Cash waited for her to take it before pulling her the last few inches under the spray, but before he could do anything else, she was speaking again.

  “You’re going to soak your bandages.” She tugged at the tape, pulling the gauze free to expose his healing injury. Her fingers trembled when they ghosted over the pinched edges of the gunshot. “How does it feel?”

  “I don’t even feel it.” And he didn’t. In light of every other sensation she had created in his body, the shot garnered the least of his attention.

  “You’re going to open it again.” Gently, she propelled him directly under the showerhead, turning him around so he faced the wall instead of her. “Let me do the work, okay? I’ll be more careful than you would.”

  Cash tensed slightly when she positioned his hands against the tile to support his weight as he leaned forward. When he tried to turn his head to look back at her, though, Maddy took it between her hands and redirected his gaze to the wall.

  “Relax,” she said softly. “And trust me.”

  Trust. The irony of it made him want to laugh.

  She didn’t bother with a sponge, reaching for the bar of soap and rolling it between her hands until she had a good head of lather started. At the first slick touch along the top of his shoulders, Cash exhaled, closing his eyes to focus on Maddy’s fingers. The scented foam spread to drip down his back in ticklish rivulets, but it was the soothing massage of her hands that brought the most comfort. Nothing had ever felt so good.

  She never pressed too hard. Though he itched to ask where she’d learned to touch like that, Cash was too lost in the pleasure Maddy evoked to find the voice to speak. Instead, he concentrated on those tiny hands skating over his arms, down his sides to his hips. That was where they hesitated.

  “Do you do that a lot?” she asked. “Dream, I mean. Those kind of dreams.”

  The rush of the water nearly masked her soft tones, but Cash knew he couldn’t pretend not to have heard her. “They stopped for a while. This is the second one I’ve had since we got to this place.”

  “Oh.”

  She sounded surprised. Before he could respond, Maddy leaned forward, pressing to his back while her arms slipped around his waist. His eyes fluttered shut at the sudden contact, and when she rested her cheek against him, Cash sighed.

  “It would kill me if something happened to you and I knew I could’ve stopped it,” he whispered.

  “I know.”

  Her mouth dotted kisses along his spine, while her hands continued lathering his chest. Cash lowered his head to protect his body from the shower’s torrent, and for what seemed forever, the world vanished, leaving behind only the close quarters of the steam shrouding them in its dusky caress. Tenderness fused them together, his body singing with heat, his mind clearing of the detritus of his nightmare.

  And then it was no longer enough.

  Catching her wrist, Cash stilled her motions, turning around to gaze down at her, the water pounding against his back. He saw the question in her eyes and bent to kiss it away, feathering his mouth across her brow.

  “I’m sorry.” He pushed the damp hair off her forehead, and his thumb brushed over her mouth, quivering under his touch. He had to kiss her. Her mouth was too succulent to ignore.

  When their lips met, Maddy immediately lifted her arms to cling to his shoulders, pressing her body so tightly against him the beat of her heart echoed into his skin. Rational thought ran away. All he wanted was to sink inside her once again.

  She broke from the kiss, sliding her wet cheek against his to lap at the water beading on his skin below his ear. “It’s not exactly raindrops, but I would love nothing more than to have a taste of the Cash Vinci soft touch.” She caught his earlobe with her teeth and tugged. “I think you could use it too.”

  Cash didn’t hesitate. In one clean, swift movement, he lifted her from the tiled floor, positioned her hips above his straining erection and slowly lowered her until he was buried deep inside her pussy.

  Her mouth returned to his, all warmth and wet to suck him in and make his head swim. Cash leaned back against the wall, giving them leverage as she began to rise and fall on the length of his cock, but he refused to stop touching, his hands molding along her curves, stroking and petting as moan after pleasured moan escaped his throat. At one point, he cupped her breasts, thumbing across her hard nipples, but it was when he slid his hand down her stomach, finding her clit as she lifted off his shaft, that Maddy began to clench around him.

  She tore her lips away, throwing her head back and exposing the creamy length of her neck as her orgasm rippled through her body. Cash felt every contraction, every pulse, every moment of heat, and pinched her clit just a little bit harder to intensify the feelings for her, unable to hide his satisfied smile at the glow in her face. Everything he had ever imagined about Maddy had been true and more. She was radiant, but that was as much to do with who she was as it was what he was doing.

  It was when her lashes fluttered open, those blue eyes fixing to his as she quickened her thrusts downward, that Cash realized he loved this woman. Everything shattered, and he came with a whimper, burying his face in her neck.

  Maddy lifted her fingers and toyed with the wet curls at his nape as Cash came down from his climax. “See?” she murmured. “The soft touch isn’t so bad, either.”

  He simply nodded in agreement. If he pulled away to look at her, there was no way Maddy wouldn’t be able to see the truth of his feelings in his face. And that was something neither one of them was ready for yet.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ava wasn’t sure what woke her up, but the dryness of her mouth was enough to prevent her from slipping back to sleep. Swallowing hard, she debated whether it was worth it to open her eyes and do something to quench it.

  That was when she felt the feather touch on her hair, the hard swell under her cheek.

  Her eyes shot open, a choice she instantly regretted as the blinding sunlight streaming in through the partially open curtains stabbed into her eyeballs. Squinting to ease the discomfort, she took a deep breath before lifting her head, turning carefully to confirm just who it was she was lying on.

  Crap. I’ve got to lo
ok like the slut of Babylon right about now.

  Her movement alerted Gino, causing his hand to hesitate where he stroked her hair. His lashes parted, and his black gaze shifted to meet hers. A hesitant smile lifted the corner of his mouth, but he didn’t say a word, simply watched Ava while he waited for her to say or do something.

  Embarrassed didn’t even begin to cover it. Memories of what exactly she had done, how she’d been so coy when forcing him to pay up on his losing hands, made her cheeks flame, her eyes duck. “I guess all that sunlight means it’s morning, huh?” she commented, hoping to avoid the topic of the previous night.

  His smile never wavered. “Yeah. A very good morning.”

  She didn’t remember falling asleep, and as she became more aware of her surroundings, Ava realized she certainly didn’t remember when they had changed positions. Gino was stretched out along the couch, too long for it to be truly comfortable, while she was lying on top of him. On top. Able to feel every muscle, every hard line. If it was possible, her face burned even brighter.

  “How do you feel?” He seemed hesitant to ask the question, but there was no mistaking the concern in his voice.

  “Silly.” Easing herself back, Ava peeled off Gino’s chest to perch on the scant inch of cushion he wasn’t covering. She caught a glimpse of his feet, one bare, one clad only in a sock, as he swung them over so that she would have room to sit, and then scooted to the far end of the couch. “With just a smidge of ridiculous.”

  “You’re just not used to the drink,” Gino said. “Nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve all been there.”

  Her eyes flickered to his feet. “I’m sorry about…your shoes.”

  Gino shook his head. “You know, you apologize too much. You don’t gotta do that with me. You should know that by now.” It was his turn to color. “And if there’s anyone to blame for my shoes, it’s me. I was…tossing all my good cards so I’d lose.”