Tarotica

They took a cab from the police station back to the B&B and checked out.

“I wanted to stay in New Orleans another day or two,” Miranda complained as they drove away from the city.

“It’s too dangerous,” Eli said. “The cops aren’t going to find those guys. They’re still on the loose, looking for us.”

“How can you be sure? You said yourself you couldn’t positively identify them.

Maybe they were just ordinary thieves trying to rob us.”

“Maybe. But I can’t put you at risk. In fact, it might be better for us to separate in the morning, for safety’s sake.”

“You’re abandoning me?”

“I’m not abandoning you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’ve traveled thousands of miles by myself, escaped bad guys and a flash flood.

I’m not some helpless female.” Besides, there are still about a dozen knots in that golden cord.

“You may be as fleet as a cheetah,” he admitted. “Still, I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you because of me. I’m truly sorry I got you involved in this whole mess.”

“Well, now that you’ve dragged me into it, don’t you think you should stick around to protect me?” Miranda argued. “I mean, if you’re really concerned about my safety? Now those guys know who I am, too.”

“Not necessarily. You could simply have been my date for the evening, or somebody I met in a bar. They might not suspect you know anything. Besides, it’s me they’re after. If you’re not with me, I doubt they’ll bother you.”

“What are you going to do now?”

Eli ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I have no fucking idea.”

* * *

About two hours north of the Big Easy, they stopped at a motel just off the highway.

“This looks like one of those places you rent by the hour,” Miranda said.

“It’s certainly not what you’d call posh,” he agreed. “But it’s late and we both need to get some sleep.”

She plunked her suitcase on the floor beside the TV. “I’m going to wash up.”

“Don’t shower.” He pulled her into an embrace and kissed her neck, down along her collarbone, and across the upper part of her breast. “I want to smell your scent.”

Miranda pressed against him, feeling him stiffen. His hand slid under her dress and caressed her bare buttocks. “I intend to finish what we started in the restaurant.”

“I thought you were tired,” she teased.

“Not that tired.”

“Just let me wash my face and brush my teeth.”

She pushed him away and ducked into the bathroom. After undressing and hurrying through her nighttime ablutions, she uncapped the bottle of perfume Nadine had given her. Eve’s Sin . A sensuous blend of jasmine and apple blossoms greeted her nose, laced with something spicy and provocative that she couldn’t identify. She dabbed a couple of drops between her breasts. The fragrant oil felt strangely hot on her skin.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Eli was sitting on the edge of the bed, naked, his cock pointing toward the ceiling in anticipation. He pulled her to him, pressing his lips to her belly.

“You smell delicious,” he murmured, cupping her breasts in his hands.

She eased herself onto the bed beside him, spreading her legs so he could continue his journey down along her delta to the hot spot between her thighs.

“Oh my,” Miranda moaned as he licked her hard nub.

She felt herself softening to receive him, her heartbeat pounding in her cunt. Her juice oozed onto his tongue. “Let me suck you,” she said.

He shifted into sixty-nine position and she slid his cock into her mouth, flicking her tongue around the ridge of the head while she stroked his stiff shaft with her hand. I love the way it pulses and jerks when I do this, she thought, like it has a life independent of the rest of him.

After a few minutes, however, he rolled onto his back and pulled her up to straddle him. Her pussy gloved him in wet heat. She ground her clit against his pubic bone, then eased away slowly, tightening her muscles around him as she rose, again and again, pumping his hard cock with her cunt. Bending over him, she brushed his chest lightly with her nipples. He drew her down and buried his face in her cleavage. As he inhaled her perfume, his cock seemed to swell within her, its length and girth expanding with each thrust. That’s impossible, she thought as he filled her like never before, but damn, it feels good!

Eli’s pace quickened and she followed his lead, riding him harder, faster, shoving his cock deeper and deeper into her, until she felt he might ram it all the way up to her heart. The creation of life itself requires the harmonious blending of male and female, she thought. Then her orgasm rushed through her and thinking gave way to pure sensation .

Her cries carried him over the edge, and he erupted like a geyser inside her.

Almost immediately he fell asleep, but Miranda lay awake for a long time, listening to his contented breathing and the eighteen-wheelers rolling past on the nearby highway. His body stretched alongside hers, his spent cock draped across her thigh. His hand loosely cupped her breast.

What if he leaves in the morning and I never see him again?

Card 15: The Devil

“I’m tired of running scared,” Eli explained over a down-home breakfast of biscuits and gravy in the motel’s tacky coffee shop. “I have to go home and face this situation squarely.”

“That’s the first place those French thugs will look for you,” Miranda pointed out.

“Yes, I know. But I can’t hide out forever. Apparently, I haven’t been very good at hiding anyway. If they found me in New Orleans, they’ll find me again someplace else.

I might as well go back to Meditrina, where at least I’ll have a better chance of solving this mystery.”

“What about me?”

“You still have your trip to finish.”

“I was hoping you’d come with me. It’s more fun sharing the journey with someone.” She stopped short of saying, someone you care about.

“I don’t have that luxury.” He fiddled with the salt and pepper shakers, arranging and rearranging them on the Formica tabletop. “Besides, you’ll be safer without me.

We’ve already discussed this, Miranda.”

She sighed her displeasure. “So you’ll just go back to Napa and wait for someone to attack you again?”

“My plan is to go back to work while I continue investigating the Mort Jaune problem. With any luck, I’ll figure out who did it and make sure they get what they deserve. If those French guys come after me again, I guess I’ll do what I have to do when it happens.”

Miranda signaled the waitress to bring more coffee. Eli sipped his slowly, seeming to turn over possibilities in his head. “Can you take me to the airport in Jackson?”

“I could,” she said. “But I’m thinking of kidnapping you instead.”

He smiled and took her hand. “I don’t know what the future holds, but hopefully we’ll see each other again before long. If that’s what you want, of course.”

“It is.” She smiled back, trying to hide her disappointment.

“We’ll stay in touch. I’ll keep you posted on what develops and you can tell me all about your trip.”

We’ve been apart before, she reminded herself. If he’s really my future husband, everything’s already been decided anyway. This separation is only temporary.

“Find the bad guys fast,” she said.