Nico's Cruse by Jennifer Kacey Page B

the head of his sensitive cock. “Come,” he
ordered, then kissed her breathless.
    Licking across her lips he tasted her as she came on his
cock for the second time in less than a half an hour.
    Her sighs of pleasure entered his body, and he groaned as
her pussy tightened around his shaft. She held him tight when he finally
released her mouth, and her head fell against the wall of the bathroom he still
had her pinned against.
    Her dreamlike smile was like a slap across the face. He
wanted to punch the wall, he wanted to scream at her, and at the witch, and beg
them both for Rose’s safe return to her apartment.
    Instead he carried her into the shower, holding her close
while he waited for the water to warm up.
    He bathed her, soaping up her body, washing her hair with
shampoo that hadn’t ever been there before.
    Panic welled inside him as he finished with her and rinsed
off quickly.
    His hands continued to shake as he wrapped a towel around
his waist, then he dried her, being very careful with her tender bits he
already wanted to take again.
    He tried to ignore her scared glances but he caught them
all. He left her standing in the bathroom and he stepped into the bedroom so he
could grab the laptop. He put it on the bed and booted it up, catching sight of
Rose from the corner of his eye, wrapping a towel around her body as she stood
in the doorway to the bathroom.
    “What did you do?” he asked as calmly as he could muster.
    “I came to let you go. There’s nothing for me back there—”
    “You closed the laptop, Rose.” He pulled up his browser,
logged into Crossroads and her icon was expectantly dark. “It breaks the
connection. Since you’re not there anymore you can’t answer if I call you
because you can’t get me the password. You severed the only link we had to
getting you home.”
    He hit the connect button, knowing it wouldn’t do any good,
then he clutched the top rail on his footboard.
    “I know,” she said in a soft voice.
    “What the fuck do you mean you know?” His fear and rage
exploded out of him as he stood and faced her. “I wouldn’t wish this on my
enemy, much less the woman I love.”
    Tears fill her eyes and he grabbed a handful of his hair,
feeling like a total and complete ass for being a jerk and yelling at her.
    He paced in front of the bed, listening to the white noise
of the video chat dialer whirling away beside him. He wondered what in the
world he could give the witch so she would send Rose home. He’d give up his
week, which he was already going to do. He’d give up his phone, the laptop,
everything connecting him to the outside world. If that’s what it took, he’d
give up his very life for her.
    Laughter yanked him out of his inner panic attack.
    Rose had her arms wrapped around her middle, laughing her
ass off.
    “What in the hell are you laughing at?”
    She tried to cut it off, but she just couldn’t. Snickers
kept popping out as she tried to explain. “Not exactly the way I thought my
first declaration of love would come out.”
    He stared at her, having no clue what she was talking about.
“Huh?”
    She went to him, hugging him tight. “You just told me you
loved me, while cursing at me.”
    “Oh, that.” He hugged her tight, placing his cheek on her
head. “Of course I love you, but—”
    “Nope, no buts. I love you, too. That’s all that matters.”
    “But it’s not. You work—”
    “From my apartment just like you work from here. Phone, text
and email works obviously, so I could still work, write my books. I’ll figure
it out.”
    “Would you listen to yourself? You’re willing to give up
everything. Everything—”
    “I’ll still have a roof over my head, food, and a way to
make a living. Which is more than some people have and you know it.”
    Exasperation bled off him in waves and he stepped away to
pace some more. “What about sex? Every year you would only have a taste of what
you could have.”
    “Don’t want it.” She shook her