Denouement (The Darkness Series Book 3) (19 page)

Mila let out a sigh and pushed her heavy dark hair off her shoulders. “Fine. I can help you with both of your problems, but it will cost you dearly. Are you sure you want to deal with me?”

“I sure as fuck don’t. But I don’t have any choice. Gwyn doesn’t have time for me to be selfish, I need to find her and bring her home fast.”

Mila wrinkled her nose. “I never did see what you saw in that tacky
waitress
. We were a much better suited couple.” She walked forward into his space, swaying her hips in a seductive manner.

Brady stared hard at her, not giving in to her advances at all. Seeing that she was having no effect on him what-so-ever, she rolled her eyes and looked down at her nails.

“I guess I just thought you had better taste. Well nothing to be done about it now, so let’s see if we can strike a bargain, shall we?”

T
rue to his
word, West arrived at the library the day after his date with Aubrey with coffee and a croissant for each of them. It had already been one hell of a day with the run-in with the infamous Mila and learning that Brady’s fiancée was missing. Everything was such a clusterfuck, he just needed to see with his own eyes that Aubrey was okay and not having any doubts about their date and what they’d admitted to each other about wanting to explore things between the two of them.

He knocked on the main door, pleased that he’d found it locked. She’d listened to him and that had a big grin splitting his face. She opened the door after a few minutes. She was back to being dressed in her prim and proper librarian outfit of a pencil skirt and frilly blouse, but West couldn’t have been happier to see that. Things were going back to normal and in a few days, the library would be back in business. A fact that he was sure would go a long way to restoring her comfort level.

“Good morning,” she said with a smile, accepting the coffee he handed her. She spied the white paper bag and reached for it as well. “I didn’t have time for breakfast,” she admitted as she peeked in the bag. “Mmmm, my favorite,” she sighed as she pulled her croissant from the bag and bit in. She closed her eyes as she chewed and West’s mouth went dry at the sight and the sound of her sweet moan.

Realizing she’d kept him standing in the doorway, she backed up and waved him inside. “Sorry,” she mumbled, slightly embarrassed at her actions.

“No worries,” he replied. He set his coffee down on the main desk and snagged his croissant out of the bag. They ate in companionable silence—Aubrey was stealing glances at him from under her lashes when she thought he wasn’t looking. “How’s the cataloguing going? Are you going to be ready to open next week?”

She swallowed her sip of coffee and nodded. “Yes, it looks like everything is on track. I need to post some signs around town today to see if anyone is interested in taking over our children’s group since…”

“Since Rosie is gone,” West finished for her when she got too emotional to say the words. Tears filled her eyes and the sadness he saw there chipped away at another piece of the stone that had formed around his heart when his brother died.

“Yes,” she whispered, brushing at her tears. “I’m sorry, I just still can’t believe what happened to her. Um, how is the case going? Do you know anything?”

“There are a few new developments.” He couldn’t tell her about the information that Mila gave them until they’d had a chance to follow up on it. Brady and Sam were working those angles while Theo filled Gabe in. That left him free to spend a bit more time with Aubrey since he would be back on shift the following day.

Aubrey read between the lines and nodded. As long as they were making progress, she could understand that she had no right to be kept in the loop about things that were official business. She had no doubt that if West could share with her, he would.

They finished their breakfast and Aubrey took him on a tour of the library to show him where things had been repaired or completely replaced. Most of it he had seen or known about, but he let her play tour guide. Plus it was a perfect opportunity for him to check out her delectable little ass. He was so focused on the natural sway of her hips that he didn’t notice her stop and he nearly plowed her over. His hands shot out to steady her, wrapped around her narrow waist. She turned in his arms and looked up at him, her green eyes sparkling. He lowered his head and nipped at her bottom lip playfully.

“Do you have any idea how fucking sexy you are?” Aubrey’s face flushed at his words and her hands automatically flew to the tiny pearl button at the collar of her high-necked white blouse. His eyes tracked her movements, burning a blaze over her skin.

“Fuck, I’m dying to know what you wear under these clothes,” his fingers flicked a tiny button, sucking in a breath when it popped open.

She gasped and started to shimmy around him, intent on escaping his intense dark eyed stare, when he grabbed her and pushed her up against the high shelf of books.

One hand slowly trailed up her smooth stockings, teasing at the entrance of her modest pencil skirt.

“I can feel the heat coming off you, doll. You want this as much as I do, don’t you? I bet your pussy is soaked and aching for me,” he trailed his tongue along her neck in a slow assault, his hand climbing higher under her skirt.

“Tell me, Aubrey. Tell me you want me.”

He kissed his way down her body, pulling her blouse free from her pencil skirt as he went. His tongue circled her belly button in a slow movement, causing Aubrey to arch her back against the stacks. He was slowly driving her mad with his touch, each kiss unlocked another part of her resistance.

He shimmied her skirt up her legs and groaned at the sight of her black, lace-covered silk stockings. “Fuck me, Aubrey. You are so fucking sexy.”

Heat flooded her and she nearly came apart when he traced the outline of her panties with one finger. He hooked his thumbs under the sides and slowly drew them down her legs. His eyes met hers and he flashed her that cocky grin she loved and hated so much.

“You ready, baby?”

There was a hidden side to her she didn’t know existed. A side that craved raw, uninhibited passion. When West put his hands on her, she came to life. Her skin heated under his lust driven gaze and it took all of her will-power to maintain her composure. Maybe it was time she gave in to her deepest, most sensual desires.

“I’m ready,” she told him and she meant it. She wanted to feel him everywhere, to feel the burn of his skin touching hers.

He dipped one finger inside her, groaning when he felt how wet she was. He spread her juices back and forth over her coating her with her own arousal. Aubrey squirmed and shivered in response, desperate to feel more. He was awakening things in her that she didn’t know she craved.

Sinking lower, he swiped his tongue over her clit, circling and teasing it into a hard nub. Aubrey cried out at the sensation, gripping his shoulders for support. He slid a finger into her and then a second, moving in and out as his tongue moved over her languidly over and over. When he bared his teeth and bit down on her lightly, that was it. She went off like a rocket, crying out his name. “West!”

He gained his feet and her hands reached immediately for his belt buckle. Her fingers worked furiously. Gone was the shy, timid girl and in her place was a wanton version of herself. As soon as his pants and boxers hit the floor, she reached for him. His cock was long and thick and she wondered for a brief moment if he would fit. He slid his hands beneath her and lifted her up. She hung suspended in the air until he lowered her slowly and he filled her. He groaned out loud as her slick heat enveloped him. “Fuck me,” he muttered. She was tight and so goddamn perfect.

He gripped her ass and started a swift rhythm that she easily picked up. Their bodies were completely in sync with each other, in tune in every way. It wasn’t long before he picked up the pace, thrusting into her harder. She raised her hands above her head and grabbed the top shelf, arching her back. He seized the opportunity to bury his face in her breasts, latching onto a nipple and biting down hard. Aubrey grinded against him, uncaring that they were shaking the shelf so hard that books were crashing down around him. Heat started to coil in her belly and she knew she was getting close. Gripping the shelf tighter, she started to rotate her hips against him, reveling in the thrill the new sensations were giving her.

“Fuck you are incredible, Aubrey,” he breathed out. He managed to find her clit again when he reached between their bodies and with a few flicks, she was there again, her juices covering his cock as her walls clenched around him.

“Fucking hell,” he muttered. He had no idea she could feel any tighter but when gripped him like that it was all it took to have him letting go of his release. He held her close to him for a few minutes before she slid back down to the floor. Aubrey straightened her clothes and then looked at West. Her cheeks were flushed and her usual perfect ponytail was in a messy disarray. West captured her mouth with his, claiming her once more.

“You are so amazing,” he told her, planting another kiss on her nose. She pulled back and cast her eyes downward.

“I can’t believe we did…that…here.” Her usual composure was shattered and West couldn’t have been happier. He wanted to push her boundaries. To make her see what they could have together if she just let herself go more often.

“It’s a library right? Well I’d say you just gave me the best education I’ve ever received, Ms. Sinclair.”

When Aubrey got home that night, she was a ball of nerves. Every person that she spoke to, she felt as if they could see right through her. That they
knew
what she’d done in the library with West. She imagined disapproval in every face she met. Even her own. Despite how good it felt and how amazing West was, she still had reservations about getting involved. Was she ready to let her heart be that open? Could she trust him not to hurt her? Deep down, she thought she could. But was she ready to trust herself?

Entering the kitchen, she found Nora and Autumn sitting there with a bottle of tequila and three shot glasses between them. “Uh oh. This doesn’t look good. What’s going on?” she asked as she took a seat.

Autumn opened her mouth to explain but then slammed it shut again when she looked at her. “Oh hell no. You’re going first, woman. Spill. Who did you have sex with today?”

Aubrey threw up her hands. “Ugh! Everyone
can
tell,” she complained. She lowered her arms to the table and rested her head on them. Autumn laughed and patted her head.

“No. Not everyone, you twit. Me. Me, I can tell because I’m your twin. And I’m pretty badass and I just know everything,” she said with a wink.

Nora’s head was bobbing back and forth between the two of them. “Okay, what am I missing here? You had sex today?” she asked, pointing at Aubrey. “And you already know about it?” she said to Autumn who nodded.

“I had sex with West in the library,” Aubrey blurted out. The other two women stared at her, unsure if they heard correctly.

Autumn recovered first. “Well, it’s about damn time. Although I always thought I’d be the first one to have sex in the library,” she pouted a bit.

“Aubrey, are you okay with what happened?” Nora asked, a look of concern on her face. She was watching the way her cousin was wringing her hands and fiddling with her clothes.

Aubrey took a long while to answer them. “You know what. I think that’s what has me so confused. I
am
okay with it. West is…well he’s really starting to mean something to me. And my God, that man is unbelievable. His tongue…”

Nora smiled, pleased with Aubrey’s answer. “It’s so nice to see you happy. West seems like such a good man. If he makes you happy, I say go for it.”

“I’m sorry, Nora. I shouldn’t be rubbing it in like this. It’s just it happened earlier today and I haven’t talked to anyone about it yet and all day I’ve been thinking that everyone could tell what I’d done in my place of employment. I just had to get it out. How has it been going with Gabe? Have you made any kind of a decision yet?”

Nora sighed and threaded her hands through her long dark hair. “No. I thought that we’d had a breakthrough at the park the other day, but then he’s been back to his same distant self ever since. I’m going to talk to him about it when he and Theo get back. They were going to swing by and pick up Greta and the kids from the ice cream parlour.”

“Okay, I’m sorry, I want to hear all about you and Gabe too, Nora. But back to the sex. So are we talking he just got you off kinda sex or full-on his cock finally got that invite it’s been wanting for weeks? You’re killing me here,” Autumn held her hands over her heart and pretended to faint.

Aubrey rolled her eyes at her sister’s theatrics. “Full-on against the stacks, my legs around his waist as he fucked me kinda sex.” Admitting it felt wrong, but at the same time so right. She wasn’t ashamed of what they’d done. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She wanted to know the next time she could get him naked and inside her.

“Oh my God, I think I just came. That sounds so fucking hot. Did the books tumble down? Did he go down on you? Did he—” her next question was cut off by the front door slamming. Theo and Gabe entered the kitchen, laughing over some sort of a joke. They stopped in their tracks at the sight of the three women in deep conversation.