Heathcliff made this choking sound that pooled heat in my belly. He thrust inside me with a force that nearly bucked me off the chair.Yes, please.His hand clamped behind my neck, holding me in place while his whole body raged into mine. This was what it meant to love Heathcliff Earnshaw, to love a tsunami as it crashed over you and dragged you under.
I ground my hips, meeting every thrust with my own power. My clit pounded him as the pressure inside me built and built. I dug my nails into his shoulders. My head fell back. For a moment, I was nothing but stars exploding from the depths of his fathomless eyes.
I breathed him in until my body was made of him, pieces of Heathcliff inside me, driving me mad, loving me always.
He came with a bellow that shook the house. I rested my forehead against his, tracing the planes of his face with my fingers. His eyes were so dark they suck in the light, except for the stars in the heart of them that burned for me. I relished this picture of him, the vision of him as he truly was. I knew one day it would be gone for me. I wasn’t sad about losing my sight anymore, but I was determined to enjoy my vision while I could.
I was also determined that now I had Heathcliff alone and somewhat under my spell, I’d confront him about the way he’d been acting. I pulled back from him and folded my arms across my chest. “What’s been going on with you?”
“The usual. Vampires threatening us, customers existing, Grimalkin coughing up hairballs on my face.” He wriggled his hips, trying to slide out from under me, but I held firm. Instead, he grabbed my thighs, lifted me off him like I was a light summer sweater, and deposited me roughly on the chair opposite him.
“Oh, no you don’t.” I caught his wrist as he tried to escape toward the kitchen. “You’ve been acting strange lately. Cold. Aloof.”
“Nonsense. I’m trying to be more positive every day.” Heathcliff forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. “Today I’m positive everyone’s a wanker.”
“I’m serious, Heathcliff. We’re all tired and stressed, but this is more than that for you. I don’t get it. I thought you and Morrie sorted your shit out that night at the falls. Or is this not about Morrie? Is it me? Have your feelings about me changed? Because if you can’t love me the way you loved Cathy, then I understand—”
“It’s not you,” he growled with a fierceness that pierced my soul. “You’re everything. I could no sooner forget you than my existence.”
“Then what? I’m on edge all the time, thinking that any moment Dracula will sneak up behind me and sink his teeth into my neck. I could really use you –allof you, not these cold pieces you have on display. And so could Morrie.”
“I’m right here.”
A tear fell from the corner of my eye. Heathcliff touched it with his thumb, wiping it away before it scoured its way down my cheek. “You’re not here. You’ve gone somewhere else.”
Heathcliff opened his mouth, shut it again. His coal-black eyes swiveled to the ceiling, and he stared for a long time at some object out of my sight. I hold my breath, daring to hope he would break down and free himself from whatever darkness caged his heart.
“It’s nearly 9AM,” he murmured. “Customers will be waiting outside.”
I resisted the urge to throttle him. “Heathcliff, why can’t—”
“Go open up the shop,” he muttered. “I’ll take a shower.”
“Ishould have the shower. I’m the one with your cum running down my leg—”
“Don’t,” he whispered. “I love knowing that you’re working with my seed inside you.”
I folded my arms. “That’s hot in mafia romance books, but in the real world, it’s sticky and gross,especiallywhen you’re acting all emotionally-stunted. I’ll only be a minute, and then the shower’s yours.”
Heathcliff lunged for me, but I sprung off him and darted away.
“Come back here,” he howled. “You know you won’t be a minute. Between you and Morrie and that poxy lot downstairs, there won’t be a drop of hot water left for me.”
“Then perhaps you should consider installing that second bathroom. Or showering with Morrie,” I yelled over my shoulder as I slammed the door behind me.
I turned on the water, shoving the dial right to the end to get as much water as possible, which was nothing but a limp, lukewarm trickle. The boys redid the bathroom as a surprise for me when I moved into the shop. It was beautiful, but Heathcliff was right. Lately, the hot water hadn’t been lasting long, the flow had slowed to a dribble, and sometimes the sink didn’t drain well. I’d also noticed a few loose floorboards in front of the Classics shelves, and a kind of general aura ofdampnessin the shop. When I mentioned calling in a plumber to Heathcliff, the resulting temper tantrum was so obscene I didn’t bother again. Nevermore Bookshop was falling apart at the seams and he was fine with it, and I had too many other problems.
Freshly showered and with my makeup applied (how does a blind woman do her makeup? Braille labels on my eyeshadows, tattooed brows and mascara, which hurt like a bitch but now I look fierce 24/7, and lots of asking Morrie if I look like a drunken circus act), I poked my head into the kitchen. Morrie wasn’t back yet and Heathcliff was locked in a heated argument with the toaster. I grabbed a snack bar from the tin and headed downstairs to let Oscar in and open up.
I peeled back the wrapper and took a big bite as I crossed the first-floor landing. I could hear Oscar scrabbling at the door.I wonder if he—
“Look alive, m’lady!”
I had just enough time to duck as an arrow soared over my head and embedded itself into the wall behind me.
Chapter Four
“What the fuck?”
