Inferno by Cara Bristol

 

Chapter Nineteen

 

Inferno raised a hand to knock, but the door flew open before he could connect, and Geneva flung herself into his arms. “Are you all right? What happened?”

He hung onto her with one arm and signaled Chuck with the other. The attorney who’d given him a lift drove away. “They released me,” he repeated. He’d called her from the car to report he was no longer in custody and phoned Tigre and told him the same, and that he might not be home for a while.

“You didn’t have to post bail? They just let you go?”

“Yeah.”

Still holding each other, they shuffled inside, and he kicked the door shut.

“I know you had nothing to do with the fire,” she said. “I’m so sorry for everything that happened. I was so worried. I’m happy they released you, but I wonder why? Are you still under investigation?”

“Sgt. Kelley didn’t share a whole lot of information.” He shrugged. “Chuck is going to look into it in the morning.”

“Chuck is one of the best defense attorneys in North Idaho. My uncle knows him well.” She tugged on his hand. “Come sit down.”

He sank onto the sofa, and she curled up next to him. It felt so good to have her near, to hold her. His biggest fear while in custody was that he might be separated from her.

“Tell me everything,” she said. “No, wait. I need to tell you.” She shifted on the sofa and straddled him, palming his face. “I love you. You were right. We are genmates. I don’t know why it took me so long to accept it. I watched that horrible cop drag you off, and all my doubts vanished. If anything happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to stand it. Can you forgive me for being so stupid and stubborn?”

His hearts swelled with joy. He pressed his lips to hers in a healing kiss. They both smelled of smoke. “I love you, too. You’re not stupid.” A tiny grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “But you are a bit stubborn.”

She smiled back. “Guilty as charged.”

He smoothed the hair away from her face and said, “You are in my DNA, and I am in yours. I will always love you. I would continue to love you even if you had continued to repudiate me.” He smiled broadly. “But this is so much better.”

They kissed, and then he shifted her on his lap and wrapped his arms around her.

“So, tell me what happened at the police station.”

“The sergeant left me in a room, came back, and told me I was free to go.”

“She didn’t question you?”

“She did on the ride over, mostly about the car and about the guy out walking his dog.”

“What car?”

“The one parked at the curb by the church.”

Geneva shook her head. “With everything happening, I don’t remember any car.”

“It was gone by the time you got there. Sgt. Kelley seemed interested when I told her the dog had peed on it. That’s when she left the room and then returned and told me I could leave.”

“I’m so relieved she let you go,” she said, and then kissed him.

Their mouths clung, and their tongues met and explored languorously at first, then more avidly as passion flared. He roved his hands over her shoulders and spine and stroked his fingers through her tangled hair. His cock stiffened, and she teased him by wiggling her bottom. She caressed his face as they kissed, tracing the angles and planes, and then reaching up to fondle his horns. Hot sensation shot straight to his erection, and he growled.

“We should move this into the bedroom,” she murmured against his lips.

“I must shower first.” He smelled like smoke and sweat.

“Good idea!” She leaped off his lap and grabbed his hand.

“Together?” He arched his eyebrows as she led him to her bathroom. On his planet, no one bathed together.

“Sure, why not?” She fluttered her lashes and tugged at his shirt. “Unless you vaporize when the water hits you or something.”

“No.” He shook his head. “Proceed.”

While he undressed, she turned on the water and then shed her clothes. Together, they squeezed into the stall. He was too tall for her tiny shower, and the warm spray hit him in the neck, but standing chest to breast, her hard nipples grazing his heated flesh made it worth the awkwardness.

She giggled. “This is a tighter fit than I anticipated.”

“I like a tight fit.” He waggled his eyebrows.

A hint of color tinted her cheeks, but she laughed and ducked her head under the spray. He noted how her blonde hair darkened when it was wet.

“We have a big walk-in shower at the farmhouse,” he said.

“That can be our next date.” After shampooing and rinsing her hair, she reached for a bar of soap. He expected her to wash herself, but instead she lathered her hands and then spread soap over him, gliding her palms over his neck, shoulders, and arms. She washed each individual finger. Rather teasingly, he thought, she cleaned his chest and kneaded the muscles.

“Turn around,” she ordered.

He obeyed, and she scrubbed his back with a soapy pouf then lathered her hands again, and reached around to his cock. Herian! As she rubbed her breasts against his back, her nimble soapy fingers danced along his erection before gripping him in a slow, deliberate slide.

He slapped his palms against the wall. He did not believe in the gods or the afterlife world of her people, but maybe this was the heaven they talked about.

When his desire reached a fever pitch, and he could endure no more teasing, he spun around. Following her lead, he worked up a lather and caressed her shoulders and breasts. He slipped between her legs to wash her folds, teasing her clit and watching desire play across her expressive face.

After a quick rinse, he lifted her against the shower wall and slid into her. Slick heat closed around his cock in an explosion of pleasure, and he groaned. She wrapped her legs around his hips and gripped his ass with her heels.

Their lips clung as they found their rhythm, moving in sync, climbing to the peak of passion. Her shuddering cry of ecstasy ignited his orgasm, and he bellowed as his body convulsed in rapture.

Panting, they rested against the wall, lukewarm water cascading over them. He pressed light kisses to her face. She sought his mouth in a languorous caress. “We should get out before we run out of hot water.”

They disengaged, she shut off the tap, and they stepped out of the shower. He patted her dry with a soft, thick cloth before toweling himself.

She made a face. “My hair will be a lost cause, but I should dry it a little.”

He watched with fascination when she wielded a large gun blowing hot air.

She glanced at him. “You look like you’ve never seen a hair dryer before.”

“I haven’t.”

When her hair dried to her satisfaction, she lowered the lid on the toilet. “Sit.”

He did as she ordered, and she repeated the procedure on him, drying his hair while rubbing his scalp with her fingers, her gentle, sensuous touch rekindling his desire. The towel wrapped around his waist tented.

In the bedroom, they made love again, and, finally sated, curled up in each other’s arms as the pink light of dawn seeped through the window blinds. A tumultuous night had melted away to the promise of a new day, a new life. All the hardship and worries he’d faced had been worth it.

He could see her eyelids drooping, and sleep tugged at his own. He kissed her. “Sleep.”

“I love you. I’m so sorry for having doubted you, for resisting our bond.”

“That you love me, and I love you is all that matters. The rest was just the journey to get here.”

With that, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.