Before I could even process what was happening, Vincent was dragging me into his arms and his mouth was closing over mine. I forgot all about the explosion, the cats, and everything in between as he kissed me.
“Missed you,” he said softly against my mouth.
I knew I needed to figure out what the hell was happening, but at the moment, I didn’t care. “Me too.” I practically crawled across the console to get to him. He eventually pulled back from the kiss and urged me back into my own seat.
“Buckle up,” he said with a wink, and then he was getting the car on the road.
I did as he said. “What’s going on, Vincent?”
“What are you doing here, Nathan?” he asked, ignoring my question.
“I talked to Everett. He said he hadn’t heard from you in a while and I started to worry-” I stopped talking when Vincent began shaking his head.
“Meddling bastard,” he said with a smile.
“What?” I asked in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“He pulled a broken watch on you, baby.”
“What?” I had entered the Twilight Zone, because nothing was making sense to me.
“I talked to Everett this morning…and every day for the last two weeks,” Vincent explained.
“You did? Then why did he…”
My brain registered what Vincent had said about the broken watch. The watch I’d broken weeks ago to scare Vincent into coming back to check on me.
“That bastard,” I said in disbelief. “He conned me.”
“Yeah, he did,” Vincent said with a laugh. “Saved me a trip to Charleston, though.” He motioned to the watch on my wrist. “That asshole knew the first thing I’d do after leaving the house was figure out where you were – probably assumed we’d pass each other on the way.”
“Huh?” I shook my head. “Was that your house that blew up?”
Vincent curled his fingers with mine and pulled my hand up to his mouth. “I promise I’ll tell you everything when we get to where we’re going, baby.” He pressed a kiss to my skin. “Why don’t you get some rest? That press conference had to have worn you out.”
“You saw it?”
He nodded. “You were amazing.” He kept our hands joined as he dropped them to his thigh. “Get some sleep, Nathan. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
His words gave me an odd sense of comfort…and hope. “You’ll tell me everything?” I asked, even as I laid my head back on the headrest.
“Yeah, I will.”
I was sure I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but I closed my eyes anyway. A couple of hours later, Vincent was gently shaking me awake. “Baby, we’re here,” he said.
I sat up and tried to clear the cobwebs from my brain as I looked around. “Are you kidding me?” I said when I realized where we were.
It was the motel we’d spent the first night together in after he’d saved my life at my house. The tacky one with the heart-shaped bed and mirror on the ceiling.
Vincent smiled and kissed me. “It’s our special place. I knew the second you pressed that hot body of yours against mine that morning that you were going to fuck everything up for me.” His mouth brushed mine. “You did…in the best way.”
I groaned as I put my hand behind his neck and held him to me for a deeper kiss. When we finally separated, he got out of the car and reached in to get one of the pet carriers. I grabbed the other. The room was the exact same one, and while I got Mickey and Minnie out of their cages, Vincent went back to the car and returned with his bag and a litterbox for the cats. He got the cats some food and water while I put the carriers aside. The animals were unsettled at first, but once they found the window, they sat on the small ledge in front of it so they could look outside.
And just like that, I was back in Vincent’s arms as his mouth descended on mine. I wrestled with his clothes as he walked me backwards towards the bed, but he grabbed my wrists before I could reach for his pants. He pushed me down on the bed and kissed me hard. “Talking first,” he said, his breath coming in heavy pants.
I tried to sit up so I could pay better attention to him, but he shook his head. “Nope, like this. I’ve been waiting weeks to get you underneath me again and now that I have you here, you’re not going anywhere.”
I was about to remind him that he could have had that this whole time, but I held my tongue. I’d rather hear what he had to say.
