I grabbed the ragged edge of the duct tape and yanked off a five-inch piece, placing it between my teeth and ripping it off. The sound cut through the silence.
With lips teasing his, he leaned forward as far as his restraints allowed. He parted my mouth, devouring me with a hunger so delicious, I almost forgot where we were. I moaned at his minty taste, tinged with the coppery hint of his blood. He was shaking with adrenaline now, his tongue gentle as it stroked mine.
Acutely aware of every point of contact, I undulated my core in a tease before breaking away and fitting the duct tape over his mouth with a sweet pat. He breathed hard through his nose, eyes locked with mine.
Sybil and Nash were busy packing the paintings into a bag, pretending to ignore what I was doing. I kissed Grayson’s forehead and gave him one last saccharin sweet smile. Standing, his eyes roamed over me, a groan rumbling against the duct tape over his mouth.
His eyes filled with a million promises of retribution, andbutterflies erupted in my gut. I hoped this was just the beginning, because this —
Ineededmore.
CHAPTER 41
Sybil
This would be the last time. It felt right. Bee, Nash and I stood in the empty space, looking at the tired walls and scuffed floors.
“Rainbow for all of it, right?” Bee asked, hands on hips.
I nodded. “Ye-p,” I stressed the p. “No one will see it coming.”
“Including you,” Bee quipped.
I slapped her on the arm—hard.
“Ouch!”Bee rubbed at it.
“That was warranted,” Nash chimed in.
We’d grown comfortable enough to share mean jokes. I allowed it. I had plenty to say in revenge.
“OMG,can we do glitter drinks, and rainbowstraws?” Bee squealed.
I smiled and nodded. “To your heart’s desire. You plan it, everything down to the last detail. I’ve done it for ten years, and I’m over the planning phase. It was more Cat’s thing, anyway.”
Nash slung his arm low around my waist, pulling me to his side. “Henry will love this.” He kissed me on the head.
It would be my last show.
In a grand display of happiness, we’d do everything in rainbow. Floor, ceiling, out into the street. The space we found was in Times Square, a gem of an opportunity.
Three months had passed since we gotBlueandRedback. Grayson had disappeared again; we weren’t sure why. Bee had people searching for him, but he was gone like it never happened.
It puzzled me why someone would pursue with such dedication, only to disappear. My running theory was that he had to disappear. Maybe he’d made himself too findable, and other, more malicious parties had found him as we had.
For Bee’s sake, I hoped he was okay. I could tell she was worried, but she hid it behind a mask of relief. In the brief time I saw them together, I’d felt the electricity. It was the same desperate and wild snap of energy I’d felt with Nash.
“Okay, so I’m thinking we start the rainbow on the back wall, all the way at the top edge of the ceiling and have it go straight out the front doors as far as we’re allowed to paint it, and then farther for good measure,” Bee spoke while simultaneously jotting it down. She gestured to the back wall. “We’ll put the art back here. I got one of those locked art cases like they have at the Louvre; no one will fuck with the art thistime. I think we should add electric shock just to be sure.”
I loved her enthusiasm and the fact that she appeared to be serious.
“And I’ve been stalking Henry so I can plan a day that I know he’ll be in town. I think we should make an entire show of sending a mysterious car and picking him up.OMG,Nash, and a special suit! We need to have one made for him. All nipples. Just nipples of all kinds, from all the art in history.”
Nash choked on his Americano.
“Or a cat suit, like all cats making weird faces. We’ll get Mr. Beans in there, too.”
Nash and I planned to get married at home in the backyard once our townhome was finished being rebuilt. We decided we’d move back to my side of the street and allow Bee to take over their townhome.
