Seducing Celestine (9 page)

“Why not?” Nick pushed slowly in and out of her body.

“I just want to feel you inside me.”

Nick leaned forward and kissed her tenderly.

“You are beautiful, baby.”

There was something so intense and beautiful about their joining that when they came together, Celestine knew whatever happened between them she would never forget this moment.

———

“Nick told me what happened,” Tess said, her concern evident over the telephone line. “Why would someone shoot at you?”

“I don’t know why but I’m okay.” Celestine stood looking out her kitchen window, thinking about Nick. She had been shot at and that was frightening but she could only think about the man who had only just left her after spending the night in her bed. She felt more alive than she had in a long time. Yep, she was in love. She knew should feel happy, elated and a bunch of other Hallmark emotions but she didn’t. She was mainly confused. Was it just sex to Nick? Could she believe it was more? What the hell did she know about love?

“Earth to Celestine…are you still there?”

“Yeah…just thinking…”

“About Nick?” Tess guessed accurately.

“He spent the night.”

The silence on Tess’ end of the phone was deafening.

“You mean like waking up in each other’s arms type of thing?”

“Yeah.” It had been awfully nice to see his stubble-covered face next to hers and his arms wrapped around her. She had never felt so safe in her life.

“Nick stayed the whole night?” Tess asked, making sure she understood the situation completely.

“Yep.”

“Wow, this is serious!”

“It’s just sex, Tess.” It wasn’t “just” anything to Celestine but a brave, jaded face was better than looking all gooey and foolish over a man who may or may not be the one for her.

“Is it?”

“What else could it be?”
Please tell me it
’
s more
.
Please tell me he loves me
.
Please slap me before I start doodling
“
Celestine Swan
”
like some love
-
struck teenager
.

“Nick’s a love ‘em and leave ‘em type of guy. I’ve never known him to spend the night with any woman.” Tess’ voice was thoughtful. “You mean something to him.”

Celestine felt a surge of hope. Yep, she was pathetic. But then she had heard the possibility of love did that to you. She always suspected it and now she knew it was true.

“You love Nick, don’t you?”

“I…ah, I’m not sure…yeah…possibly…I don’t know.” So came the less than definitive answer from the confused Celestine Holt.

“Wow!” Tess was both surprised and pleased.

“Yeah, it’s a ‘wow’ moment.”

“Does Nick know?”

“Sort of…I’m not real sure of anything at the moment.”

“Are you scared?”

“Of Nick?” Celestine thought about the man in question. “I’m terrified of the whole love thing.” The unknown was always scary.

Tess chuckled softly at her words.

“I actually meant the about the shooting. Blind Freddie could tell you’re terrified of being in love with Nick.”

Admittedly being shot at gave you an idea where you stood with someone. Shooting implied an intense dislike or a need to get rid of someone. That was a lot easier to understand that the thing she may or may not have with Nick.

“I’m fine with everything. I always get by, you know that, Tess.”

“You can stay with me.”

“Thanks but I have picked up a couple of shifts waitressing so I don’t expect to be home much tonight anyway.”

———

Celestine groaned as she drove toward her house and saw Nick Swan’s car pulling into her driveway.

“Bugger!” She just was not in the mood for dealing with him. It was one a.m. and she had just come off the second split shift of her temporary waitress job. Her feet ached, she smelled of food and she didn’t want to deal with any more human beings that night. Ten hours of slinging hash and putting up with customer complaints about food and bills and God knows what else was enough to make Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm go postal.

Celestine got out of her car and trudged up to Nick as he got out of his car.

“Do not even think about sex. I am way too tired.” Not even Nick’s fantastic cock could stimulate her enough to raise her blood pressure at that moment. And that was a shocking thought. However, she felt like a dead woman walking and unless zombies had sex it was not happening tonight.

“Sex would relax you, baby,” Nick said as he walked toward her.

It was only the pain from her sore feet that was keeping her awake and upright. Once those shoes came off it would be good night, sweetheart.

“I would fall asleep.”

“Not with me.”

“You really do have a high opinion of yourself and your abilities, don’t you?” Though she had to admit he had every right to. Nick Swan was something else and sex with him was awfully good. Maybe she wasn’t that tired…

“Hell, you know I’m good.” Nick grinned at her, his eyes soft and tender. “You look knackered.”

“I am beyond knackered.” Celestine walked by Nick to the door. She wanted to go inside, eat the leftover medicinal fudge brownies she knew were stashed in her kitchen cupboard and then collapse comatose on her bed without changing or removing her makeup. There was probably a special hell for women who did not follow the so-called rules about makeup removal but Celestine would contemplate that when and if hell came calling. At the moment she was too tired to care.

“You’ve been through a lot. You should have given yourself a break, baby.”

“I need the money.” It was like her mantra in life…get money, pay bills, get by. Who on the planet did not understand that other than the multimillionaires and they probably weren’t happy anyway. Yeah, right, what a load of crap.

“I’ll help you with money.”

Yeah, Celestine had a feeling Nick Swan would. He did not strike her as someone who made empty promises. Another point in his favor. But she did not want his or anyone’s money. This was her problem to sort out and she would. Somehow.

“That’s a sweet offer, Nick and I…” Celestine stopped mid-sentence and looked up at her front door. “Uh-oh…” Her front door was open. This was not how she left it this morning. She knew that as she had to slam it hard to close it because the doorframe was warped, like the rest of the house. So an open door was not a good sign. “Bloody hell, what now?” Celestine hissed out in angry frustration as she started up the stairs. She wanted to go to bed. She did not need uninvited people in her home. These people must be kicked out now.

Nick jumped forward and grabbed her arm.

“What are you doing?” He pulled her back toward him. “Someone could still be inside.”

Celestine collided back into the warm, solid front of Nick Swan.

“I hope they are because I’m going to kick their ass from here to next week!”

Nick put both arms around Celestine to stop her from breaking from his hold and charging inside.

“Ssshh, be quiet.”

“Why do I have to be quiet?” Hello? She wasn’t the one in the wrong here. Said house-burglar-type person was, though what she had left to steal was beyond Celestine. Other than her brownies not a great deal meant anything to her. And if they had taken those they were dead meat.

“We don’t want them to know we’re here.”

“Why not?” As far as Celestine was concerned this was not a time to be rational. Her home, such as it was, was under threat and that entitled her to a heavy dose of irrationality.

“Because I want to call the police and make sure whoever it is gets caught.”

Despite her anger, Celestine had to admit she kind of liked the way Nick’s arms felt around her body. She felt incredibly safe and protected and it was a weird but nice feeling. She could get used to it—if she allowed herself to.

“Well, you call the police and I’ll be loud and go kick their ass.”

Nick chuckled softly against Celestine’s hair.

“We are not charging in there, Batgirl.” Nick was not worried about himself. He would take on anyone.

“Well, what do you propose we do then, Batman?” That someone had the gall to break into her home and do who knew what in there was just not acceptable to Celestine. She had been carjacked and shot at and this was the last straw. Time for those powerful female hormones to be put into full effect.

Nick kept one around Celestine’s waist as he pulled out his cell phone from his back trouser pocket.

“We call the police and then I go up and check.”

“With me.” She did not intend to stand around waiting for Nick to give her the all clear.

Nick punched out the numbers on the phone for the police.

“Could I stop you?”

“No.”

Nick quietly gave the details to the police and finished the call.

“You’re a fierce thing, baby.” He kissed the side of her neck lingeringly.

“You have no idea.” Celestine felt Nick’s cock hard at her ass. Even though a couple of layers of clothing separated their bare flesh, Celestine could feel the heat of him scorching through to her. She shivered at the memory of him inside her. But this was neither the time nor place to be thinking about Nick being hot and full inside her. “I cannot believe you are turned on by this.”

“Anytime you’re near me I want you.”

“You can let me go now.”

“Scared?”

“No, I just don’t think it’s appropriate at the moment to have my ass and your cock in such close proximity.”

Nick ground his hips slowly against her ass.

“You don’t like it, baby?” He smiled as he felt Celestine’s butt push back in response.

Hell, yes, she liked it but having sex on her front stairs when a burglar was inside possibly ransacking her home was doable but not rational.

“Let’s just say it’s an issue of timing.” She pulled her hips forward to break the contact. What was it with this man? She seemed to be permanently in heat around him.

“Promise you won’t kick ass until we can at least assess the situation?”

Celestine thought about the words for a moment. She wasn’t big on compromise but she would have a go at it.

“I can live with that.”

Nick removed his arm from around Celestine’s waist and linked her hand in his as he started up the stairs.

“We have to be very, very quiet…”

“Are we hunting wabbits?” Celestine whispered back.

Nick turned and grinned at her.

“You’re a piece of work.”

“I know.” Celestine grabbed his hand tightly. She could have said it was to make sure she did not stumble on the darkened steps but that would have been a lie. It just felt so good to be skin to skin with Nick Swan. “I can’t hear anything. Don’t burglars usually smash stuff just because they can?” Wasn’t their some burglar book of rules that listed smash and grab as a thing to do?

Nick reached the top of the stairs and pushed the door open warily.

“You don’t have stuff to smash, baby.”

“Well, there is that.” Celestine followed Nick as they went inside. There was only the sound of silence in her shabby rental home. “Holy frigging hell!” Celestine stood and stared at her lounge room wall.

We know you have it
.
Give it back
was written crudely in red spray paint down her wall.

“What the hell am I supposed to have other than sore feet and a headache?” As far as Celestine was concerned whatever “it” was they could have it. Surely she had other “its” in her life that one less would not be a problem.

Nick stood and looked at another bunch of words spray painted onto the wall.

Suffer the conquests
.

“I have a feeling they probably meant ‘suffer the consequences’.”

Celestine turned around and looked at the words.

“Great, so I have some nitwit burglar after me who cannot spell and most likely has access to illegal firearms. Can life get any better?” She looked at what was left of her belongings. What furniture and goods she had were shattered and upended throughout her house. It scared her that someone had been watching her and that she had been oblivious to it and to what these people were after.

“Are you sure you haven’t pissed off anyone of late?”

“Well, you’d have to be a little more specific, Nick. I am who I am. I have been known to piss off lots of people off but not enough to actually threaten me like this.” It was a damn shame whoever had done this was still not around as she would have liked to have asked them just what the hell their problem was with her. She looked at the chaos around her. Whatever they had been searching for it was big enough for them to upend her old heavy-assed Genoa sofa. Celestine sighed. “Do I know how to have a good time, or what?”

“The cops are here.”

An hour and a half later after statements had been taken and damages assessed, Celestine was dead on her feet.

“You are full of crap, Celestine Holt.” Nick had just seen the police to the door. It was just after two-thirty in the morning and he had just listened to woman he loved babble on with the biggest load of lies to the cops he had ever heard.

“Gee, tell me how you really feel, Nick.” She knew what this was about. But a lie here or there was usually not such a big thing. Well, not to her anyway.

“You told the police you were going to stay with your sister and I know that’s a lie.” He walked over to where she stood looking small, tired and defenseless.

Had the man not heard of white lies? They were completely permissible as long as she did not hurt anyone.

“It’s no biggie. Nick, I’m staying here.” Where she would sleep she wasn’t sure as her bed had been tossed across the room and she really wasn’t in the mood to drag it back and make it up.

Nick shook his head as if to indicate there was no way that he was going to allow Celestine to stay in her trashed house.

“No, you’re not staying here.”

Celestine was momentarily down but she was certainly not out and she wasn’t about to be pushed around by Nick Swan. She raised herself to her full five foot two inches and stared up at him defiantly.

“Don’t be getting all He-man on me.”

“There is no way I am going to allow you to stay here.”

“Allow me? I’m sorry, what year is this? Have we time traveled back to the 1800s?”