“Wait.” She put a foot on his stomach, balanced herself with outstretched arms and slowly moved her toes until she tangled with hair around the base of his penis. That was one thing he couldn’t subdue, and didn’t want to.
Marley ogled him. “Oh, my, I think I should be scared.”
Then her face softened again, and Gray couldn’t find any more smart quips.
She unhooked the bra and tossed it on the floor, and then she took him completely by surprise and settled a knee on either of his shoulders. Curling over, she passed her breasts across his lips and gasped each time his tongue and teeth caught a nipple.
A thumb slipped inside her panties, slid easily where he got the most response for very little effort and he felt he could go mad when she climaxed.
With her mouth, Marley drew him to the brink, all the time rubbing him and murmuring, but when he knew he couldn’t hold on another second, she spun around, pulled off her panties and guided him into her.
They made love with him lying over her back and holding her breasts. Every stroke was raw bliss. He climbed to a pinnacle of aching awareness and just when he would have begged for mercy, he emptied himself and they rocked until they fell, spooned together and damp all over.
There was something he wanted to tell her. He parted his lips on the back of her neck where her hair rested in damp curls. “Marley?”
“Mmm?”
It was way too soon. Everything about the two of them was too fast and too soon. If he said what he’d like to, she might bolt and he couldn’t bear that. “You’re really something,” he said.
“Only with you,” she said. “Only ever with you.”
He liked the sound of that. It wasn’t enough, though.
His phone vibrated on the bedside table. “Ignore that,” he said.
“It could be Gus looking for you.”
Gray closed his eyes. There wasn’t anything about the woman that he didn’t like—except having her dog in bed with them.
“Okay,” he said, sitting up. He had a text message. “Text message from Nat Archer,” he said. “It can wait.”
She rolled over, pushing hair from her eyes. “Find out what he wants. Just in case.”
The message was, Call me. Trouble just got bigger.
He showed it to Marley who pushed at her pillows and sat up beside him.
Gray called Nat. “Okay, buddy. Let’s have it.”
“Shirley Cooper sang with a street band when she wasn’t working as a maid at that club.”
“Yeah?” Gray massaged his temples. “Another singer after all.”
“And Pearl Brite isn’t a brand name. It’s the name of another missing singer. This one rode a bike to work at Alexander’s.”
Chapter 31
Marley had worked hard all day, but always with her concentration distracted. The minutes passed, and the hours, and she felt helpless. Now she was at home in her apartment and waiting for Gray with ammunition ready.
He had told her about the call Sidney Fournier had made to him and showed every intention of keeping the appointment with her in River Road on his own.
That wasn’t going to happen.
Winnie let out an excited yelp and Marley shushed her.
She heard footsteps on the metal stairs outside and went into the hall.
“I’m coming with you,” Marley said the moment Gray walked through her front door. “I was the first one to ask to talk to Sidney at Scully’s. Just because she’s sucked in by your boyish good looks doesn’t mean I’m going to roll over and play dead.”
She deliberately avoided looking at Gray. If pushed she would admit that she’d tricked him into coming back to the Court of Angels on his way over to River Road. She hoped she wouldn’t have to do that.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have told you Sidney called,” Gray said.
“You’re not the secretive type.”
“Aren’t I?” He gave her a speculative look. “What was it you had to tell me in person?” Gray asked.
She would have to admit she’d fibbed. “Did you know Myrtle Wood is haunted?” she said. The basket of clean laundry she carried on a hip almost fell. She put it down on the floor in her living room.
“I hadn’t heard that, no.” He didn’t look impressed. “You still haven’t let me in on this secret of yours.”
She bowed her head and looked up at him. And she pressed her lips together.
“Hey, hey, are you going to cry?”
She hadn’t intended to, but she might try if she thought it would get her off the hook. She sniffed.
“Honey,” he said. “What can I do? I can’t stand to see you like this.”
Marley wanted to groan. She took a deep, deep breath. “You can take me with you to Myrtle Wood and not give me a hard time about it.”
He blinked. “That’s it? That’s why you look as if you’re about to start a flood?”
“You’re making fun of me.”
“That’s fighting dirty, Marley, and you know it. I agreed to go out there and meet Sidney. She wanted to be in a place where no one was likely to find out she’d come to me. You know what this means? She’s got something really important to say. I need to be on top of my game so I don’t miss anything important.”
“It’s always best to have more than one person listening to important things. Afterward we’ll compare notes. It’s a great idea. Trust me.”
“What if Sidney takes one look at you and bolts?”
“I understand these things. I’ll be a help to you, Gray. I’m going to be on her side.”
He picked up a fat cushion from the couch, flopped down and piled the pillow on top of him. “How can you make plans like that when you don’t know what she’s going to say?”
“I could say I’m going to be sympathetic to whatever she says if that works better for you. We women are always getting screwed over by big, mean men. We’ve got to stick together.”
“Big, mean men? Is that a comment on anyone you know?”
She smiled with one side of her mouth. “Nah. Just a wild guess about how Sidney may feel about males.”
“What if she loves men? All men?”
Marley puffed, exasperated. “Oh, she does. Take it from me, she does. Just leave it to me to get her off her guard and talking.”
“She’s coming to help me,” Gray said. “Why go in thinking she’ll hold back?”
“Jeez,” Marley said. “It’s most likely you aren’t moving fast enough to make her into a star with your article. So she’s piling on a bit of drama to get your undivided attention.”
“Couldn’t she just want to help?” Gray said. “Sure, turning this into some sort of tryst may appeal to her, but that doesn’t make her the enemy.”
Marley held up her hands in submission. “Okay, go in thinking she’s going to seduce you, all the more reason for me to be there. I’ve got to protect my interests.”
He chuckled. “You’re impossible. Okay, come, but be careful. Don’t say anything to put her off.”
“I’ll be so good.” Her demeanor turned instantly sunny. She dumped out the clean laundry and started folding. He noted how quickly she moved and how efficient she was.
She hauled out the black shorts she’d worn the day before and shook them. Then she put them on the back of a chair and smoothed them out. A bump stuck out in the bottom of a pocket and she dug around in there until she could pull out a lump of black rubber.
Marley looked at the thing from all sides and tossed it on a palm. She shook her head and made a move to
