“I’m sorry,” Kendall said. “We couldn’t tell anyone. We have to protect him.”
“So this was a setup?” she asked. At which point the detective’s ears perked up, and Kendall and Jake had to spend several minutes explaining that they were here exploring the area so it didn’t sound like a plan to steal the chalice. By the time they were finished, both of them had made Nathan sound like a saint.
“I apologize, Halle,” Jake said. “It was my fault, but we needed a way inside to check the place out before he arrived. Kendall held up her end of the bargain well, don’t you think?”
Halle nodded. “Yes, but… Nathan Larraby. I wish I had known.” She sighed.
“Where is Mr. Larraby now?” the detective asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him today,” Jake said.
The detective scribbled something in his notebook and asked them several more questions about Nathan and his business and activities. When the detective finished, he told them not to leave town and had them moved from Little Saint Michael’s to the Abbey House, which was larger. The only good thing about the incident was that their new accommodations joined the abbey. Kendall knew there was a connection between the abbey and the Protettori in Italy. This would make it much easier to find. The convenience of the matter was overshadowed by worry that Nathan might have lost control and killed someone. Why? To get the chalice? He couldn’t have done it. She knew Nathan. He wasn’t a murderer. It must have been someone else. Maybe Raphael.
Since everyone still thought they were married, Kendall and Jake were given a room together. The manager, a woman with a soft voice and worried eyes, showed them to a large bedroom on the first floor overlooking the abbey ruins. She gave them a halfhearted description of the Abbey House, which dated back to the 1830s. Once a private residence, for decades now the place had been used for retreats. There were several bedrooms to accommodate large groups. “Some of the stones in the cellar came from the abbey when it closed. If you want to find solace after all this distress, you might go there.”
Jake glanced at the bed. One. Was there even any point in discussing sleeping arrangements? They’d spent more nights in the same bed than not in the past week.
“I get the left side,” Kendall said as Jake started his usual security check of the room.
He looked up, mildly surprised, and shrugged.
While he continued making sure there weren’t any murderers or Reaper’s henchmen hiding in the room, Kendall tried Nathan’s cell phone. He didn’t answer. She called the hotel and was told that he wasn’t in. Next she called Fergus’s cell phone to see if he had heard from Nathan, but she got his voice mail. She left Fergus a message that they were trying to reach Nathan and that they were at the Abbey House in Glastonbury.
Kendall stood at the window, wondering where Nathan could be. If he was safe. If he was himself.
“At least we have our own bathroom,” Jake said when he entered the room. He walked over and stood beside her. “You OK?”
She nodded. “I guess. Nathan’s still not answering his phone.”
“What did you see when you touched the caretaker’s body?” They hadn’t had a chance until now to discuss the murder.
“Someone standing over the bed. I didn’t see his face.”
“It was a man?”
Kendall nodded. “Maybe it was Raphael.” And not Nathan.
“I don’t know.” Jake put an arm loosely around her shoulder. He was wearing his dirty T-shirt that they’d used to wipe the floor. Kendall leaned into him, then turned and put her arms around his waist, resting them above his belt, and laid her head against his chest. She didn’t care about his dirty shirt. He was strong and clean underneath. He folded his arms around her, and they stood at the window in silence, looking out over the ruins. She closed her eyes, wishing she hadn’t gone for a walk in the maze and wishing they were still in Italy. Or Virginia.
“Wait until the dust settles, then I’ll find him for you. I’ll go back to the hotel and see if he’s there.”
“If he’s… out of control, I’m afraid for you.”
He brushed a thumb over her chin. “You worry about me?”
“Of course. What would I do without my badass bodyguard?”
“Is that all I am to you, a badass bodyguard?”
She felt the thump of his heart, his scent. No, that wasn’t all. “You’re sexy, smart, and you’re strong.” Strong enough to hold a girl in his arms while he made love to her. “You think fast on your feet. You care about people more than you think. Keep it up and you might qualify for knighthood after all.”
“If you’re looking for a knight or anything else, let me know.” His voice was low, sending a tingle along her nether regions. The adrenaline was wearing off, and her body was looking for something else to replace the rush. To dull the worry. If she didn’t step away, they might end up in bed.
She lightly caressed his back when what she wanted to do was lower her hands and pull him closer. She could feel him hard against her stomach. He wanted her, and she wanted him. “You could be my knight and my badass bodyguard?”
“Is that what you want?” he asked.
And suddenly she was tired of fighting with herself over him. She lifted her gaze and met his simmering dark eyes. “How about my lover?”
His eyes darkened and he lowered his head. He didn’t kiss her lips. He kissed her cheek and then moved to her ear. It left her skin tingling, but she needed his mouth on hers. She turned her head and captured his lips.
“Are you sure it’s me and not Lancelot?”
“It’s you,” she said, biting at his lip.
“You drive me insane,” he said between kisses. He picked her up and carried her to the bed. He lowered her onto the covers and settled beside her. “This time, we’ll slow down.”
He moved over her, fully clothed, and kissed her lips, her neck, every exposed area of skin. Then he started undressing her, one piece at a time, kissing the new area until she wondered blissfully if someone could die from being undressed.
“Can you go a little faster?” she asked, trying to unbuckle his belt.
He captured her hands and kept kissing and touching her as she squirmed. “You’ve tormented me long enough,” he said. “Now it’s my turn.”
“I haven’t known you but a week,” she said, trying to push his jeans down. But it was impossible with his belt still on.
“It feels like a lifetime.” He finally got her undressed and he pulled off his shirt.
She attacked his neck like a starving vampire and grabbed for his belt. She yanked it out and shoved his pants down.
He grinned against her lips. “Slow down before you tear off a part we both need.”
“Sorry, you’re just moving too slow.” She felt enflamed with desire. That gave her pause. What kind of phrase was that? She managed to get his pants off, but they got stuck. “Boots,” she gasped. “Take off your boots.”
He rolled to the side and kicked them off, and then his pants. Kendall pushed his underwear down and wrapped her legs around him. “I can’t wait any longer. Please.”
“Are you sure?” he asked again.
She shoved his shoulders and he rolled over. She straddled him. “I’m sure.”
When he entered her, images flashed in her head like reflections on a broken mirror. She saw the forest again, and the couple making love. She stopped moving.
Jake gripped her hips. “God, don’t stop now.” Then he looked up at her. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry. I keep seeing the man and woman in the forest.”
“It is us?”
She nodded.
He rolled over, putting her underneath him. “It must be one of your visions telling you that you belong with me.” He started making love to her again, slow, and then fast, and then slow again until she didn’t know what was present or what was past.