Oracle Seeing (The Phoenix Files Book 2) (26 page)

It wasn’t going to be easy….

This was her greatest dream come true.

       
                
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  O R A C L E   * * *

Friday

Something was pressed against his body.

As he rested on his side, Lucian couldn’t remember where the hell he was.

He remembered eating delicious lasagna, drinking a bottle of red wine, and then watching a movie with Bishop.

Then he remembered nothing.

As he tried to figure it out, it was barely light outside. That wasn’t the most surprising thing.

It didn’t shock him that he’d fallen asleep on her couch. He’d slept shitty the last few nights as the visions came. What really blew his mind was that she was on the couch with him.

While she could have gone to bed upstairs, she’d stayed by his side.

Again.

It seemed to be a reoccurring theme with her, and he was glad. Bishop was tucked into his body, and they fit together perfectly. Her head was on his shoulder, his chin was in her hair, and her hand….

It was on his erection.

Yes, he was hard.

This was something else that had died in him ten years ago. Yes, he’d had reoccurring needs, and he’d had to service them himself, but never did he expect a woman’s touch would bring him back to life.

Correction.

It was her touch.

There was no doubt in his mind why he was horny, and it had nothing to do with his hormones and everything to do with the woman against his body.

She felt like heaven.

She was incredibly special.

What felt even better was that she’d let him stay the night in her home. The entire time he was there, Lucian was at peace. There were no visions, no voices, and the demons had been silenced. Being around Bishop was something he could get accustomed to and rather easily.

What else he could really enjoy would be to taste her. Since her hand was braced over his erection, it was only a matter of time before she woke up and figured it out.

He wanted her.

Desperately.

In the last ten years, he’d given up wanting anything but to be left alone. One dinner, one book, one movie, and he’d found those cravings again. Until she came back into his life, they had been dormant. That need had been locked in the chill of his heart until the one woman who could set it free returned.

He needed his Bishop.

In a way, he knew she had always been his. He couldn’t imagine a day without her now that she’d stormed back into his life, forcing him to feel.

God!

He wanted to feel everything she offered him.

So, he was going to take a chance. With gentle fingers, he touched her cheek. The stray red hair was brushed away, so he could have access to her face.

With a little fear, and a whole lot of need, he kissed her on the lips. At first, it was soft.

As he continued, the simple act of warm mouths touching ignited something in him. He could feel the darkness receding from him.

She was pushing it back.

She was saving him.

She was also returning his kiss
.

It caught him off guard. She was kissing him back!

“Lucian,” she whispered, afraid to move. If she did, he’d certainly run.

“I had to kiss you.”

She didn’t mind. She’d been dreaming about him. They were together, floating in the peace of being happy, and then she felt his mouth on hers.

He stared down at her.

Neither moved.

“I should go.”

Her heart wanted to break. She’d gotten so damn close this time. He was almost there.

Almost hers.

Almost…

“Please don’t.”

She probably shouldn’t have said it, but why not be honest? Why not tell him what she wanted?

Better yet…

Show him.

Pulling his mouth to hers, she kissed him with every ounce of need in her body. It flowed from her, filling all the cold recesses in his. Where words couldn’t express, actions would.

She could feel him coming to life.

She could feel Lucian returning. His body reacted to her mouth on his, his hands pulled her even closer to him, refusing to let her go.

There was never a more amazing feeling in the world.

When she pulled away, his lip was between her teeth, and he couldn’t help but moan from the overwhelming lust.

God!

He wanted this in the worst way.

“I don’t want to leave,” he admitted.

“Then don’t. Stay. Let me show you how I feel.”

He craved that.

He craved her.

The sheriff had the power to heal him or break him, and it was clear which she was going to do. He handed her his trust. Along with it, she had his heart.

Bishop would keep him safe, and in return, he’d love her until the day he died.

“On the couch?” he asked. It didn’t seem right. She deserved a castle, the best things in the world, and anything he could offer her.

“Not here,” she whispered, leaving kisses across his jaw. “Let’s go to my room.”

He was good with that.

When she stood, pulling him from the couch, she was again back against him. Her mouth sought his, and he didn’t stop her. He couldn’t.

He wanted Bishop more than he wanted to breathe. This was a hunger that had time to grow, building in him for the last ten years.

The mating of mouths exploded between them, and as they stood in front of the windows, beside the couch, they kissed as if they were trying to devour each other whole.

His deep, breathy moan was the only sound in the room, and it was music to her ears.

She climbed up the front of him, until he was holding her in his arms, her legs wrapped around his hips.

Her hands were in his hair, her mouth was devouring his, and nothing felt this wonderful.

He was alive.

God!

He was alive.

He started walking toward the stairs, bumping into everything along the way. Nothing was safe from his bumbling, bulky stagger.

Still, they didn’t break apart.

His hands were beneath her shirt, and he was working on the clasp on her bra. It was like riding a bicycle.

That instinct was still there, and he was letting the autopilot kick in so he could simply feel.

He could still do this.

Only it would be with someone who wanted him the same way he wanted her. From the way she moaned, kissed, and urged him on, there was no way she was faking this.

Bishop was being Bishop.

That pure unadulterated vibrancy was ebbing from her and into him. It was bringing back that once dead need.

She was giving all she had, and that made him want to do the same. At the top or the stairs, her hands found their way into his pants, and he nearly dropped her. The feeling of warm flesh, other than his own, caressing his erection was so odd, so out of body that he couldn’t focus on anything but it.

Then they were in her room.

“Jesus! I want you,” he muttered, as he lowered her to her feet.

She wanted him too.

More importantly, she wanted him to see that he was whole, and together, they were enough.

As soon as her feet touched the floor, she dropped to her knees.

He watched her, amazement on his face. Bishop planned to hold nothing back.

He wasn’t surprised.

She tugged his raging erection free from his pants, and immediately, she took him in her mouth.

He moaned, enjoying the way she was making love to his body. Bishop was wild, and that made him want to join her in the pleasure. She could make him forget.

His hand found her hair, and he used it to slow her down. “Be gentle.”

She set him free.

“Did I hurt you?”

Her sweetness overwhelmed him. She was tough, she was the sheriff, but she was worried.

He gave her the truth.

“It’s been a long time. I can’t promise it’ll be…spectacular.”

Her laughter caught him off guard.

“Oh, Lucian. It’s already spectacular. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

His heart defrosted even more as the little blossom of happiness began budding in him.

How could it not?

She was sunshine and warmth to his icy cold death.

With her, he didn’t have to try to be something he wasn’t. With her, broken was enough. It was still worthy of love.

She didn’t give him time to think. Instead, she went back to tormenting him with mouth and tongue. She could tell he’d been honest. He was already shaking, and that gave her a thrill.

She could show him.

Finally, she could show him!

As his breath became ragged, she set him free.

He was watching her with such need, and she never wanted it to stop. If she had her way, this would be their every day.

Only Lucian had to meet her halfway.

“Jesus! Your mouth...”

She laughed. “Oh, Lucian, you haven’t seen anything yet,” she promised, going to her feet. Eagerly, she pulled him toward the bed in the middle of the room. Once there, she began tugging the clothes from his body.

His t-shirt came off, and as he stood there bare chested, his pants open, and his erection out, she ran her lips across the scars on his shoulder. They ran down his torso to his hip. They were angry, red, and had to have been so incredibly painful. It made her want to offer him gentleness and love to wash away the years of pain.

The scars didn’t horrify her.

The fact he’d nearly died did.

She’d almost lost her other half. Had he perished that day, she’d never have this. Because she had been given a second chance, Bishop vowed never to take it for granted.

“I wanted to do this the day I saw them,” she said, leaving warm, wet openmouthed kisses across the puckered flesh.

He watched, his body reacting to hers being so close to his. He wanted to touch her.

He wanted to taste.

He wanted to feel.

When she shoved his pants down, he stared helplessly as he fell for her. From the smile on her face, to the love in her eyes, he tumbled.

“You seem overdressed,” he said, burying his hand in her hair. She made him want to let go and be free.

“Then fix that, Lucian.”

He grinned.

Her heart skipped.

There was that smirk—that sexy little smile that made her fall for him ten years ago in a courtroom.

There was the man she knew hid beneath the fear. Here was her hero, the fighter, the man who would always have her heart.

He was back.

Oh, Lucian fixed it and so much more. With Bishop, the possibilities were endless. He wanted to experience so much that he almost didn’t know where to start.

Eagerly, like a child on Christmas Day, he began by tugging off her t-shirt. With it came her bra. He stared down at her half bared body, and he was happy.

She was watching him—not staring at his face. She was tracking his fingers as they moved across her ribs, and as his thumbs stroked her already erect nipples.

She wanted him.

This was a miracle. A beautiful woman still saw the value in him, even when he didn’t.

“Hurry!” she begged.

He laughed, and the sound was like the most amazing thing to him. Not only was he going to touch, have, and enjoy Bishop, he was having a good time while doing it.

There was no pretense.

It was like the previous night, showing up at her place, having dinner, and watching movies.

She was easy to love.

Maybe that’s why he’d been so hard on her. Deep down, he knew that she would wiggle her way into his heart. Maybe he didn’t think he deserved it.

Only she’d proved him wrong.

Lucian deserved her. As long as he could protect their love, and the woman he definitely loved, he’d believe they belonged together.

He tugged her pants down, and did something he’d been thinking about for eight years. He slid his fingers through the wetness pooling between her legs, and she was beyond excited.

Yes, she wanted him.

And it was damn good to be back.

It was time to reclaim this part of his life.