A Million Kisses or More (22 page)

*****

As the early morning light struggled to break through the grayness, Harrison sat in his truck and stared at his house. He had never hated his job more in his life than he did at that moment. For the fourth time in two years he had been called to the Danvers’ house for a domestic and god knew how many times the other officers had had the same call. It was always the same: Jack was drunk and he was fighting with his wife Olive and the neighbors had called it in. Only this time, Jack had beat the fuck out of his wife, to the point where she was carted off to the hospital in an ambulance and Harrison didn’t know if she’d make it.

Olive always swore she’d leave him but she never did, no matter how many bones Jack broke or how often he was arrested. It was even worse because they had a son, a boy about Jolie’s age, that had seen too much in his short life. Harrison had never felt more powerless and unable to protect the people he was meant to serve. It was no wonder Justice was so jaded and becoming even more so.

A shudder worked its way through his body and he looked in the rearview mirror at Ana’s house. Jolie was safe and sound at Carrie’s house and Ana was right there. Even though he wasn’t fit company, he needed to see her. In that moment, he needed her more than his next breath.

Climbing out of the truck, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and crossed the street. As he dug Ana’s key out of his pocket, he tried to block out the images of Olive’s face, of the little boy’s terror. But as he slipped the key into the lock, the images wouldn’t fade and another violent shudder wracked his body. God, he needed Ana. She was everything that was light and good with the world and he was swimming in darkness.

Locking the door behind him, he quietly made his way up the stairs as he took off his jacket, his shirt, as he unbuckled his pants. By the time he reached her room, he was down to his boxer briefs and socks. Not bothering to take them off, he slid between the covers and touched her back.

“Cold,” she muttered even as she snuggled further into his embrace, unknowingly giving him exactly what he needed.

“Sorry,” he whispered, the warmth of her body filling his soul. Pressing a kiss against her shoulder blade, he gathered her up into his arms and hugged her closer. He just needed to hold her, then he’d be able to breathe again. But that little boy’s eyes kept haunting him, the hollowed eyes of a boy who no longer had hope. It didn’t matter that his abusive asshole of a father was in jail because his mother might not make it through the night. If she did manage to survive, she’d probably go back to that monstrous husband of hers and the whole cycle would continue.

Another shudder whipped through his body and he buried his face against Ana’s neck, taking slow, deep breaths so her scent could erase the darkness. Holding her, breathing her in, he never wanted to let her go. But she was squirming because he was holding her too tight so he forced his arms to ease their grip.

Instead of moving away from him, she rolled over and slid one arm beneath his neck as she rested her other hand over his heart. Smoothing her hand over his flesh, she whispered, “Bad night?”

“You have no idea,” he managed, not wanting to burden her with the details. He never wanted darkness to touch her. Her fingers were tangling with the hair at the nape of his neck and he could feel the tension easing from his body. If she kept it up, he’d beg her to marry him so he always had her to come home to.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” he whispered, closing his eyes, sinking into her embrace. “This is enough.”

Her fingers slowly stilled as she went back to sleep, curled so sweetly in his arms. How had he existed without her for so long? How was he going to give her up, even if it was only for a year?

As he lay in Ana’s bed, holding her in his arms, a couple of scenes played out in his mind of Justice and Mercy. He just hoped he remembered them when he woke up. For now… for now he was content to hold Ana as he drifted off to sleep. The darkness of the night was fading and it had nothing to do with the morning sun and everything to do with Ana.

“You were unclean but now you’re not.”

“I’m still….”

“But you will drink my blood and only my blood,” she said, interrupting him before he could say he was still unclean. “And in time you will be like me.” At his look of disbelief, she blushed, “It’s not the usual method to claim a mate but it is the only one available to us. It will take dozens of years… centuries… but it will happen.”

*****

Curled up in Harrison’s arms, Ana was perfectly content to stay there all day since there wasn’t anywhere else she needed to be. If she could, she would wake up every morning in his arm and in a year, that was going to happen.

Her phone rang and she slammed her hand down on the nightstand trying to find it, hoping it didn’t wake Harrison. Answering it without looking at the screen, she murmured, “Hello?”

“Anavrin, it’s almost noon. Are you still sleeping?” Ana squeezed her eyes shut as her mother’s dulcet voice came over the line. Peeking an eye open, she saw that it was indeed almost noon but she still had no desire to climb out of bed or the warmth of Harrison’s embrace.

“Of course not,” she lied, forcing her lips into a smile and hoping it disguised the guilt in her voice. Ana eyed Harrison and debated whether or not she needed to get out of bed. The gentle snore coming from him let her know that he was sound asleep and it was probably okay to stay beneath the covers, as long as she wasn’t too loud. Except she had to pee. No, she definitely had to get up, no matter how much she wished otherwise. “When have you ever known me to sleep past eight?”

“Never?” her mom answered as if she wasn’t quite sure.

“Exactly,” Ana said, pushing the covers off and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. A shiver rippled through her body and she grabbed Harrison’s shirt from the floor and slipped it on as she made her way towards the bathroom. It was too awkward to have a conversation with her mom while being naked even if the conversation was over the phone. “What’s up?”

After a moment’s hesitation, her mother asked, “Will you be coming home for Thanksgiving?”

“Are you asking because you want me to come home or because you want to make sure I don’t?” Ana asked, cringing when she heard the words spoken out loud. It’s not that she meant to sound cold and unfeeling but she wasn’t sure why her mom was asking. They had an unspoken rule about holidays in that they generally didn’t spend them together.

“Really, Anavrin, you know I love spending time with you, don’t you?” When Ana didn’t answer, her mother heaved a weary sigh, “I’m just asking because I’ve been commissioned for a job in Switzerland that will be over the holidays and I thought you might want to join me.”

“I can’t, mom,” Ana said, strangely disappointed that her mother was working instead of coming home to spend it with her. Glancing at Harrison, she smiled, “I have plans.”

Her mom inhaled sharply before lowering her voice to a whisper to ask, “Do you really, truly have plans or do you not want to come to Switzerland with me?”

“I’m not lying,” Ana murmured, trying to reassure her mom. “I really do have plans.”

“Well, if they fall through, it would be kind of nice if you joined me in Switzerland,” her mother said, extending the invitation once more. Carefully, walking the fine line that they had established years before, she added, “I would love to spend the time with you.”

“I appreciate the offer but I kind of hope my plans don’t fall through,” Ana said, wishing to high heaven that she and her mother weren’t so careful around one another, wondering how the hell they could fix it when she wasn’t altogether certain that she wanted to fix it. Leaning the phone against her shoulder so she could button up the shirt the rest of the way, she said, “Um, if your plans change, you can come here, you know. I’m going to have dinner with the neighbors….”

“Perhaps,” her mom interrupted, her voice tired and a million miles away. “Maybe we can schedule something for Christmas.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Ana agreed, knowing it wasn’t likely. They hadn’t spent Christmas together since Ana turned fourteen.

“Well, take care,” her mom said after an awkward silence. “I love you, Anavrin. Never forget that.”

“You, too, mom. I lov….” Ana winced because her mother had already hung up. Not willing to take the chance that her phone would ring again, she turned off the ringer and slid it into her shirt pocket. Her gaze drifted to Harrison and she desperately wanted to climb back into bed with him. When she was with him, all of her problems faded away until all that there was was him.

Resisting the urge, she grabbed a pair of sweat pants before pressing a soft kiss to his lips and then tiptoeing into the bathroom. She couldn’t believe she had slept so late… or the fact that she was still tired. The phone call probably woke her up in the middle of her sleep cycle so her brain was not fully engaged. The sleep fog would probably clear up after a long, hot shower.

Chapter 10

“Tell me something about you that no one else knows, Anavrin Smithfield,” Harrison murmured as he dragged a French fry through the ketchup and popped it into his mouth. It was Friday evening and it was one of the few nights that she had to work while Harrison was off. It sucked but he had driven her to work and then he had stayed, telling her that he’d work on Justice during her shift. Since Jolie was staying overnight at a friend’s house, Harrison and Ana had plans for that evening after she got off work. That meant Ana was happy, especially since she had barely been able to spend any time with him outside of the bedroom since Sunday.

Even though he was working on the next Justice novel, he wouldn’t let her read anything he had written, no matter how sweetly she asked. As soon as she had sat down, he had closed the computer and focused all of his attention on her. Unfortunately, she only had a few minutes for a break so she gave him a sweet smile and she ran her foot along his calf as she purred, “I am addicted to sex with a gorgeous man named Harrison Miller.”

He gave her a crooked smile as he nodded his head, “Hmm, that is fortunate since I seem to be equally addicted to sex with a tempting enchantress named Ana.”

“I have no complaints,” she murmured, lowering her lashes as she remembered some of the time they spent together.

“Well, that’s good to hear,” he said. Watching her, he took a deep breath and said, “Actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Stealing one of his fries even though she wasn’t supposed to eat on the floor while she was working, she asked, “And what would that be?”

Dipping the fry into some spicy sauce from his chicken wings, she put it into her mouth and nearly cried as fire burned her esophagus. “Jesus, that’s hot enough to take the hair off your tongue.”

His mouth snapped shut as he stared at her for a moment before he burst out laughing. “I didn’t realize you could grow hair on your tongue.”

“Well, after sucking down that spice, it’s no longer possible,” she said without missing a beat. Tearing off some of the bread from his hamburger, she popped it into her mouth to counteract the heat. After she finished swallowing and she was able to feel the roof of her mouth again, she said, “You were about to say something.”

He stared at her with a mixture of curiosity and hesitation before he said, “I overheard your conversation with your mother the other morning.”

Tilting her head to the side, she studied him as she tried to remember what he was referring to. When she remembered, she grimaced, “I thought you were asleep.”

“I was,” he said quickly. “Until the phone rang. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

“It’s not your fault,” she assured him, her mind racing to remember what was said during the conversation. Shrugging her shoulders, she heaved a sigh, “My mother and I have a complicated relationship at the moment.”

“So I gathered,” he said softly, warmth and sympathy burning in his eyes. Taking her hand in his, he twined their fingers together, giving his support without needing to say a word. “It’s just that I thought the two of you would be… closer since you are absolutely amazing with Jolie.”