There was a bit of snark behind the words, but not enough to completely counter the funny effect they had on her insides. She tried to ignore them. “You’re laying it on pretty thick, don’t you think?”
His voice dropped a notch. “You’re assuming none of it is true. And I can be very convincing when I need to be. You’ll be the envy of half the women in the city, yet retain the respect of all.”
A shiver ran over her. “Except for the ones who’ll think I was stupid to pass up the chance.”
“Well, we all must live with regrets.”
Connor’s voice was hypnotic, and his eyes were hooded as they roamed over her. It would be too easy forget it was part of the overall act, the cover story to salvage her pride.
“You are beautiful, Vivi. Your hair…Your eyes…Your skin.” His fingers followed his words. “Your mouth—including that sharp tongue—is enough to drive a man crazy.” Connor’s lips quirked up. “In more ways than one, that is.”
Those talented fingers traced over her shoulder and down her arm. Tingles danced across her skin and her blood felt thick in her veins. It might not be real, but her body didn’t know the difference and her mind was happy to play along ignorantly. The air felt close and heavy, and she couldn’t hear the engines above the thudding of her own pulse. She watched the rise and fall of Connor’s chest as the weight of his stare and the silence built to a crushing level that made her knees weak.
Connor leaned forward, his chest barely brushing hers each time they breathed, and his head dropped until his lips were level to her ear. The slight breeze of his breath over the lobe sent a shiver arcing all the way to her core as a hand snaked around her waist to her lower back, edging her closer. The hard lines of Connor’s body seared into hers. The air turned thick, each breath filling her lungs with his scent.
“You could tempt a saint, Vivi, much less a simple sinner like me. Resistance is a battle. One I’m not sure I want to win.” He paused, letting the words hang, and her hand floated up of its own accord to land on his chest. The muscle leapt at her touch and she could feel the thump of his heart against her palm. An ache started to build in her core.
“Ready to punch me now?”
The words were a bucket of cold water that doused the rising heat and left shame in its place. She shoved him away.
Connor stumbled and caught himself on the wall. Righting himself, he shook like a wet dog and focused on her face. “You were supposed to hit me. A shove won’t leave a bruise.”
“Just shut up.” She swallowed hard. She’d never hit another human being before, didn’t think she’d be capable of it, but Connor might be the one to change all of that. Not because of what he’d done, but because of her reaction to it.
She took a deep breath, but whether it was to calm herself or prepare herself to berate him she’d never know, because cold air rushed in as the door opened. The same crew member from earlier stood there with his mouth open. The shock seemed to ricochet off the metal walls.
Connor recovered first. “We thought you’d never come back.”
“I j-just needed to get some glasses…” He started to step back outside.
Vivi scanned the deck behind him. Empty. Thankfully it was just the three of them. No one else was there to witness this. She cleared her throat and smiled at the gaping man. “Connor and I stepped in here to speak privately out of the wind, not realizing you’d be back to lock the door. We’ve been shouting, but no one could hear us.”
His face reddened. “I’m
so
sorry, Miss LaBlanc, Mr. Mansfield.”
“Not as sorry as we are.” Connor grinned at the young man. “But no harm, no foul. We won’t mention this if you won’t.”
The threat was subtle, but the young man caught it and nodded. “Of course. I appreciate it. I don’t want to get into trouble with the captain.”
Connor grabbed Vivi’s wings and held the door for her to step through. The man stood there, probably in shock, but possibly a little starstruck too, as they left. The wind had picked up while they were locked away, and it blew Vivi’s
hair into her face. While that would normally be annoying, Vivi didn’t try to right it. It meant she didn’t have to look at Connor.
“You go on inside,” he said as they walked. “I’ll follow in a minute or two. If anyone asks, don’t deny you were with me. Just don’t say where. If that guy decides to talk later, a denial you were ever with me will make you look guilty.” She nodded, and he handed her the wings. “Don’t worry. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. And if it becomes one, we’ll just go back to the other plan.”
“You’re serious?”
“Vivi, I never say anything I don’t mean. Now, go.”
The noise of the party seemed ten times louder after being in that closet for so long. But no one gave her a second glance as she left her wings by the door and went to the bar for a glass of water. People spoke to her as she made her way through the crowd, but it was the same basic chatter. No one seemed to have noticed she and Connor had been rather conspicuously absent at the same time. Relief rushed through her as she pushed open the door to the ladies’ room and checked her reflection. Other than a slight pinkness to her cheeks and a rather chaotic hairstyle—both of which could be chalked up to the wind on deck—nothing looked amiss.
I never say anything I don’t mean
. She thought about everything Connor
had
said and the statement began to sound vaguely ominous—if only because of her reaction to his words. Just replaying those moments in her mind had her nipples tightening against the silk lining of her dress and her thighs clenching in anticipation.
This is not good. Not good at all
.
She pressed a hand to her belly to calm the butterflies there. She might not have a public problem, but she sure as hell had a private one.
They’d been locked in that closet for over an hour. It had felt like a lifetime, but with several hundred people on board—and the flow of cocktails probably helped—no one had found it noteworthy that neither he nor Vivi had been seen for a while. Everyone had just assumed the two of them were someplace else—not necessarily together, because…well, why
would
they be? Connor didn’t bother to correct any assumptions.
When they finally docked, he and Vivi were forced back into the shared spotlight in a reverse receiving line. Though they were side by side, Vivi kept her attention on the guests, barely throwing a single glance his way.
Then, with a simple “See ya,” Vivi followed the last guest down the gangplank.
Normally Connor wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but Vivi had been in his thoughts a lot recently. And after tonight…Well, Vivi was pretty much all he could think about, and none of it made any sense at all.
The chauffeur dropped him in front of Gabe’s building. There had been huge crowds of revelers on Bourbon, but the crowds were thinner here, and most of the people were either too intoxicated or too focused on their own good time to pay him any notice at all.
Good, because I’m really not in the mood tonight
.
The kind of mood he was in was easy to pinpoint and name. His whole body thrummed with want, but it was a specific want.
Vivi
. And that didn’t make any sense at all.
Why now? Why after all these years did he suddenly have the hots for Vivi LaBlanc? He’d crossed a line tonight, taken everything a step too far, and the next thing he knew he’d had Vivi in his arms, just seconds from kissing her.
While he tried to remind himself that Vivi was his self-proclaimed mortal enemy, she’d certainly shown a new side of herself to him tonight—in between insults, at least. And
when he tried to remind himself that he didn’t like Vivi—had never liked Vivi—his body was quick to argue that wasn’t entirely true. Her confession that had stopped just short of admitting that she might have had different feelings toward him once upon a time didn’t help either.
The normal litany of reasons he could usually recite failed him. Insanity was the only explanation that made sense.
He dropped his keys on the table and propped his wings against the wall. At least he wouldn’t have to wear this outfit again until Fat Tuesday. Grabbing a beer from the fridge, he drank half of it in one long swallow as he went to the bathroom and pulled off the leather pants and vest. A long, slightly cooler than normal shower helped him clear his head and focus, but it did nothing to take the edge off.
Sleep was out of the question, so he pulled on a pair of sweats and went to the kitchen for another beer. He could see himself needing several tonight. And if the mental replay couldn’t be stopped, he’d need another, much colder shower soon.
The intercom buzzed loudly in the silence. It was most likely a lost tourist or random drunk, but he answered anyway.
“It’s Vivi.”
His hand slammed the release button before the words were even completely out of her mouth. He didn’t bother to question why she’d suddenly appeared, didn’t really care. The jolt to his system caused by her voice honed that earlier dull edge to painful sharpness. As he opened the door to the stairwell, he heard the outside door close and the sounds of feet on the stairs. It was the sound of a slow climb, but a purposeful one. When Vivi rounded the last landing she looked up and saw him. Her feet seemed to stall, and she climbed the last flight at a snail’s pace, not quite holding eye contact, but not staring at her feet either. She’d changed
from the satin column of her Saint costume into jeans and a battered jacket zipped up to her neck.
She blew her hair out of her face. “Thanks for letting me in. I wasn’t sure you would.”
“It’s one o’clock in the morning. I couldn’t leave you standing on the street.” That was a good enough explanation. And until he knew her reason for coming by in the middle of the night…
Connor realized he was holding his breath.
On the top stair, Vivi stopped, and he noticed her knuckles turning white as her fingers gripped the banister. She was totally still, except for the rapid rise and fall of her chest. Out of breath from the climb? Or…?
She didn’t move, so Connor didn’t either. He stayed in the doorway, leaning against the door frame. The silence stretched out. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore. “Why are you here, Vivi?”
Vivi’s eyes flew to his.
Damn
. That came out sharper than he’d intended. Then that flush began to climb out of the collar of her jacket again.
“I—I don’t really know.” She sighed, and he thought he heard a small curse. “You know, I probably shouldn’t have come. I’m sorry I bothered you.”
She turned and started slowly back down the stairs.
Let her go. It’s really better to just—
Even as he was thinking the thoughts his feet were moving, closing the space between them, and he was at the top of the stairs before she’d taken more than a couple.
“Vivi.”
She turned, and he held out his hand. It was her choice. He couldn’t make it for her, but she’d come this far and he felt like he needed to meet her halfway. She hesitated, then put her hand in his.
He hauled her up the last few stairs and pulled her body
against his. He could feel her tension, but their bodies seemed to fit together like puzzle pieces and the sensation was electric.
Vivi’s eyes widened at the contact, and he knew she felt the same electricity. She swallowed hard, then he felt the slow slide of her chest against his as she rose up on her toes and aligned her mouth evenly with his.
There was the smallest moment of hesitation—one breath’s worth—and then her lips touched his.
He never knew what to expect from Vivi, and this was no different. Her mouth was pliant and warm, but cautious, gently moving against his.
Every rational thought shouted at him to stop. This was Vivi, and he had no business kissing her. He shouldn’t want to.
But he couldn’t have stopped if he tried. She tasted fresh, sweet and, God help him,
right
. Her tongue slid past his lips, and the tentative touch awakened something primal inside him, beating down all the rational thoughts until he couldn’t imagine not kissing her.
Vivi’s fingers threaded through his hair as his hands splayed over her back, pulling her weight onto his chest, and he felt the change in her as the kiss turned carnal and needy.
Without breaking contact, he backed up the few feet into the apartment and let the door swing closed. The sound punctuated the moment as a point of no return. He couldn’t say what exactly had changed between them, or when or why, but the wall had been crumbling and the kiss had reduced it to rubble. It defied reason, but it somehow made perfect sense.
“Vivi—”
She stopped him by pressing a finger against his lips, and he lost his train of thought when those blue eyes met his.
The clear evidence of desire he saw there just threw gasoline on to the bonfire.
She swallowed hard and her voice was barely above a whisper. “Could we not…actually…talk? I’m about to lose my nerve, and I really don’t want to.”
He should follow up, not just let that statement slide, but Vivi was kissing him again, and nothing else seemed to matter.
Vivi didn’t want to think, didn’t want to examine this too closely, because if she did, she’d realize what a fool she was. She just hadn’t been able to shake his words or the feelings those words evoked. Coupled with the echoes of Lorelei’s words—
Carpe diem. Be bad.—
she’d been showered and changed and on her way before really thinking it all the way through. Her nerve had nearly failed her a dozen times on the short walk from her house to here, but now…
She couldn’t regret the decision. She might not be able to say why she’d made that choice, but something about the feel of Connor’s mouth on her neck, the caress of his hands under her jacket to the small of her back…it felt good. There was something liberating in this—more than just seizing the day. It was new and scary territory for her, but it felt right, too.
And it felt
good
. Connor’s hands were truly talented, alternating between feather-light touches that sent shivers over her to strong caresses that left her knees weak. She might as well let go. It wasn’t like Connor was a stranger, even if he wasn’t what she’d call a friend. That strange place they inhabited with each other seemed perfect for exactly this.