BLACK WIDOW (Book #1 of The Black Widow Series) Read online

  The person on the other end of the line said something that caused the dimples in his cheeks to pop out. “Later, doll.”

  I rolled my eyes and popped a mint into my mouth.

  He hung up and grinned. "What? She likes doll. It works for us." He tapped on his phone and held the screen up for me to see. Her contact information was pulled up, and all it said was “Doll” with her number below it. "By the way, she’s in for the trip. She’s checking to see if she can take the week off."

  “What trip?” I asked, my eyes narrowing.

  “We’re going with you.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t need a wingman.”

  “No, but it sounds like you might need backup if shit goes south. Don’t worry. Sierra and I will get our own room or cabin or whatever we need.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him.

  He smirked. “Yeah, yeah. I know her name. She left quite an impression last night.”

  I was shocked. Coming from my brother, that was a compliment of the highest order.

  “You and Red Dress will have plenty of time alone,” he continued. “And this way we can hang out a little bit, and you and I can work on this hero stuff on the side."

  I wanted to argue, but I couldn't find it in myself to do so. He had driven a long way to come see me. Our conversation in the diner had been a grim reminder that no one is promised tomorrow, and frankly, I could use the help.

  I pulled out my phone and texted Celeste. How would you feel about a couple of stowaways?

  Bubbles danced across the screen as she typed her response. Your brother?

  And a friend.

  The more, the merrier. :)

  Don’t you dare change whatever you're wearing.

  I wouldn't dream of it.

  Oh, but I would.

  HIM

  "It's not that big of a deal," Celeste whispered. Her breath was warm and inviting against my ear. "Promise."

  "It's just not what I had in mind." We'd stopped in Utica because Sierra needed to use the bathroom. And because two hours was too long for my toddler of a brother to go without a snack.

  "It will be fine. It's not like they'll be in the same room with us, and Sierra is nice." The two women knew each other casually from the building. It had made introductions unnecessary and traveling together a little less awkward.

  "You're right. I know. I'm just adjusting my expectations."

  "No need. Nothing changes.” She gave me a sly smile. A perfectly manicured finger traced a circle on my leg I felt through my whole body.

  The heated beginning to our day, along with the suggestive text messages we’d lobbed back and forth, had turned me into a live wire of sexual tension. I was done saying no, done holding off, done being the perfect gentleman because I thought that’s what she needed. She'd made it perfectly clear all day she had something else in mind.

  Since confessing how I really felt about her to my brother, it was all that had been on my mind, too. But I had to get us to the resort first.

  She leaned her head against my back. “I don't care if they hang out with us. You and Luke are funny together."

  As if on cue, he came out of the store with a bag of beef jerky in his hand. I shook my head as he danced past a small blue sedan. I glanced at the driver inside to see if he was watching, but his eyes weren't on Luke. They were on us instead.

  The attention Celeste attracted was something I'd have to get used to. Even here, where no one knew she was the widow of a famous ballplayer or an heiress to the Smythe family fortune, something about her caused people—men, especially—to stop and take notice.

  I glared at him until he finally looked away.

  Less than an hour later, we pulled up in front of the lodge. The best part of the drive had been from Utica to the resort, and I'd timed it perfectly. The setting sun had painted a kaleidoscope of color across the scenic hills.

  "How gorgeous was that?" Celeste exclaimed as she pulled the helmet from her head.

  I was glad it had lived up to the hype since I’d talked it up so much. But as beautiful as it had been, it couldn’t even compare to my current view. Celeste’s smile was wide and beaming as she smoothed her hair back into a ponytail.

  "We would've been here half an hour ago if it wasn't for slowpoke leading the way," Luke said.

  "Well, I, for one, enjoyed it," Celeste countered. "Sometimes, the journey is as important as the destination." She turned and took in the rustic lodge. "So, this is a hotel, huh?"

  I couldn't help but laugh. The oversized log cabin that operated as the reception and dining center was certainly no Smythe resort, but it was a hotel nonetheless. "Yes. I got us a room in one of the cabins down by the trails."

  "Ohhhhh." Celeste cupped a hand behind her ear. "Do you hear that? Music," she said her eyes wide. The faint strums of an acoustic guitar trickled around the side of the building. "There's a band."

  I added loves live music to the short list of things I knew about her.

  "Why don't you ladies go check it out while Luke and I check in?" I said.

  They nodded and headed off in the general direction of the music.

  Clustered seating areas were sprinkled around the inside of the lodge. A large, loud group had parked themselves directly in front of a massive stone fireplace, and they tipped up pints of beer and glasses of wine as we passed. Their inebriated voices echoed against the exposed rafters of the ceiling.

  "Very cool," Luke said, also taking in the scene.

  "Did you get a room in the lodge or what?" I asked as we approached the front desk. He looked at me blankly. "Luke, please tell me you called and got a reservation." I’d texted him the number as soon as he’d announced his plan to tag along.

  "I figured I'd do it when I got here. You got yours when? This morning?"

  "Yeah, but I got a room in one of the cabins only because somebody canceled right before I called."

  He waved a hand in the air. "It will be fine."

  The middle-aged woman behind the desk smiled pleasantly at us. "What can I do for you gentlemen?"

  "I have a reservation," I said as I slid my ID and credit card across the desk to her. “He does not.”

  She laughed as she stared at her computer. "Uh-oh. Well, we're completely full tonight. It's the busy season, ya’ know."

  I glared at Luke. He merely shrugged.

  "Oh, looky here, though. You have a double, Mr. Russell. The room sleeps four, and I only have you down for two. You boys got lucky tonight."

  "Yes, lucky me,” I said through gritted teeth. I wondered what the resort would charge me after I put Luke's head through a wall.

  "Hmm," she said, fingers still clicking on the keyboard. "I sense this is not an ideal situation. I do have a king in another cabin opening up tomorrow. Should I reserve it for you?"

  "Put it on his tab," Luke said, hitching his thumb at me.

  She glanced up from her computer to see if I agreed. I nodded, too angry to speak. "I'll let you know as soon as it's clean, Mr. Russell. We can move your stuff over for you. No worries. Tell you what, I'll even send a complimentary bottle of wine from one of the local wineries to your room tonight.”

  I grunted something that barely resembled a thank you as she slid two keys across the desk to me.

  I stalked through the lobby, still furious with Luke. "You should've called," I growled at him.

  I pushed open the door to the outside and scanned the crowd on the balcony in search of Celeste. I found her and Sierra sitting at a table near the railing, a blanket of stars burning brightly behind them. Celeste had her chin tipped up, her eyes were bright, and a small smile played the corners of her mouth as she lifted an already half-empty glass of wine to her lips.

  I started for her, but Luke grabbed my arm to pull me back. "Look, I’m really sorry. I realize this puts a damper on wall banging, but I promise it’s just for one night. If the room doesn’t come through, I’ll come up with something else."

  "I'm an
adult, Luke. I don't share rooms. Especially with my brother and his doll."

  He frowned. “I said I was sorry.”

  I shook my head. “Well the better of the two rooms is mine. You can have the double.”

  He grinned as if he’d won. “Hey, I really like Celeste, if it makes you feel any better.” He fell silent but looked like he still wanted to say something else. “Has it occurred to you that she looks a little like—”

  I cut him off. “Don’t even say it. There was a minute the other night that I thought so, too, but I pulled out a picture last night and compared them. It’s not even close.”

  His eyes narrowed. “We don’t know what Daniela would look like today, but if I was a betting man …”

  I held up a hand to stop him again. “We aren’t going to go there.”

  He gave me a hard look, but when I turned away to look for the girls, he didn’t stop me.

  "Look what I found in the lobby," Sierra said, holding up a small black box. "Cards Against Humanity. I thought we could play."

  After a few hours of listening to music on the patio at the lodge, we were all a little drunk. With every drink, I became more aware of how close Celeste was and how many bodies were packed into our small hotel room.

  Sierra pulled out a chair at the table and began to deal a stack of little white cards for each of us as she explained the rules of the game. “I'll turn a black card over on the table and read it aloud. Then everyone picks a white card from their hands and lays it face down on the table. Funniest and most inappropriate answer wins."

  "What's at stake?" Luke asked.

  "Nothing," I said, sensing where he'd take this game. "There is no such thing as strip Cards Against Humanity."

  Luke fanned his cards out in his hand and shrugged. "There could be."

  "Not enough walls in this room," I muttered.

  “You only need one.”

  I gave him the evil eye, and he laughed.

  I nodded at the complimentary bottle of wine left in our room. “Pour me a glass of that, would you?” I asked him.

  As he slid a glass across to me, Celeste put her hand on my leg and squeezed. "Drink up,” she whispered next to my ear. “This will be fun."

  She’d been touching me all night. A brush of her fingers here. A bump of her shoulder there. A hundred innocent touches that reminded me she was still off-limits. I couldn’t be sure since we hadn’t had a single moment alone together, but I had a feeling she enjoyed tormenting me. Unlike the night before, not a second had passed when I’d wondered where her allegiance was. I had all of her attention, and it still wasn’t enough.

  "Okay, so first question," Sierra said, flipping over a black card. “I got ninety-nine problems, but blank ain't one.’”

  I picked through my cards for an answer to replace the blank. I found one I considered apropos for the evening, tossed it face down on the table, and then waited for everyone else to do the same.

  Sierra scrambled them on the tabletop, scooped them all up again, and read them one by one, starting with mine first. "I got ninety-nine problems, but running out of semen ain't one," she said. Since everyone was still laughing when she read the others, mine was declared the funniest, making me both a winner and a loser for the night.

  It put me in the hot seat to read the next round. "During sex, I like to think about blank."

  I looked at Sierra, the self-declared game expert, for guidance. "Are they all about sex?" I asked her. I wasn't going to make it through the game if they were.

  Sierra shrugged. "Pretty much. There’s some pop culture in there, too."

  "Wonderful,” I said, digging through my cards for one to play.

  Celeste chuckled next to me, and her hand moved farther up my leg. I glanced down at it, wondering once again if she was intentionally making the situation harder. A sly smile played on her lips. If she kept it up, I was going to grab her by the hand and drag her out into the woods.

  Three cards were tossed at me, and I threw mine on top. After mixing them up, I read them quickly. "During sex, I like to think about … panda sex … a salty surprise … funky fresh rhymes … and being a motherfucking sorcerer."

  Even I had to laugh at the last one. I waited expectantly for my brother to claim it, but it was Celeste who raised her hand—the one not still in my lap—and whooped when she was declared the winner.

  "I win. I win. I win," she chanted as she pulled the next black card. "Ohhh …” She paused for dramatic effect and licked her wine-stained lips. “What brought the orgy to a grinding halt?”

  It was as if someone had created the game with no other purpose than to torture me. I perused my cards for anything that was funny but found my hand woefully lacking. I settled on something and threw it down with the others, while simultaneously downing what was left in my glass. I shoved it back to Luke for a refill.

  "What brought the orgy to a grinding halt?" Celeste read again. "Was it fiery poops? A bitch slap? Or penis envy?" Her fingers brushed against the crotch of my pants as she read the last one, proving she really did have an evil vixen hidden inside her.

  The temperature in the room was suddenly stifling, the air thick and unsharable with half its occupants. I put my hand over hers and squeezed it before returning it to less dangerous territory. I polished off the second glass of wine in one gulp.

  “Oh, wait. I forgot to read the last card. What brought the orgy to a grinding halt? Your weird brother.” She leaned over so that her lips were just beside my ear. Her breath was warm against my neck. “It should’ve said ‘your cock-blocking brother,’” she whispered so only I could hear.

  I bolted from my chair and grabbed some clothes from my bag on the bed. I stalked to the bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower and hit the sack,” I muttered, pulling the door closed behind me.

  I heard Luke say something about me being a sore loser.

  I was aware I’d just thrown a colossal and somewhat embarrassing temper tantrum in front of the woman I was still trying to impress and another I barely knew. I could blame the sudden influx of Celeste’s favorite beverage, but I just really didn’t care.

  I yanked my T-shirt over my head and looked down at my waste of an erection before turning the cold water on in the tub. How had I let myself get so worked up over a stupid card game?

  And a few text messages.

  And a black bra that had been taunting me from beneath her thin white shirt.

  And the return of drunk Celeste.

  Impossibly frustrating and incredibly sexy, drunken Celeste. All day, I'd let myself imagine what would happen when I got her alone tonight, the things I would do to her, the things she might do to me. And now, we were stuck in a room with my brother and a virtual stranger who I’d already shared way too much of my personal life with than was comfortable. Yet Celeste didn’t seem to care.

  I switched the water to come out of the showerhead instead of the bath spout and ran my hand under the frigid water.

  I was so wrapped up in talking myself down that I didn't hear the door open and close behind me; I didn't realize I wasn't alone anymore until a pair of slim hands slid around my waist. Without reservation, they crawled their way across my stomach and up to my chest.

  “Not all women and bathrooms are a bad combination.” Her voice was low and husky and full of promise.

  The shower forgotten, I turned in her arms and enveloped her in mine. "That's twice you’ve seen me naked.” I could tell her how unfair it was, but I would rectify the situation instead.

  My hands cupped her backside, pulling her against me and then lifting her so she could wrap her legs around me. I pushed her back against the flimsy door, not caring that it was the only thing separating us from the others. I wanted her right then, and if a circus had marched through the room, I wouldn’t have cared. I wouldn’t be satisfied until I tasted her … felt her skin against mine… buried myself inside her.

  A day’s worth of frustration dissolved on our tongues as mine found he
rs. I kissed my way down her neck to the collar of her shirt. I’d dreamed about what her skin would taste like, and now, I was sure it was laced with cocaine. It was already an addiction I’d never be able to kick.

  Her hands found my hair, and she pulled it with the desperation I felt. “They went to return the game. We only have a few a minutes.” She whispered it. As if talking any louder might bring them back sooner.

  I set her on the floor and grasped her shirt, pulling it until the buttons popped and fell to the floor. The silky fabric slid down her arms as I took in the sight of her. I trailed a finger across her creamy pale skin to the rougher lace of her black bra. It was quintessential Celeste. A perfect contrast of sweet innocence and delectable sin. A heady combination I’d never stood a chance of resisting.

  Her jeans fell to the floor and then it was only lace between us. I skimmed my fingers across the edge of the delicate fabric and then slipped my hand inside. She was soft and warm and impossibly bare against my palm. Her eyes fluttered closed as I found what I was looking for. Needing to hear my name on her lips, I slid a finger inside. My palm rubbed against the sensitive bundle of nerves that would give her the release I wasn’t ready for her to have.

  Her jaw fell open, and her head lolled back against the door. She filled the room with a moan, but it wasn’t enough for either of us. I slipped another finger inside her warm center, and she gasped. Her fingers clutched at my chest.

  Her eyes opened, and the gold flecks in them sparked fiery hot. She dragged her nails down my body. Across my ribs. Over my abs. Until, with a much more tender touch, she wrapped a hand around my length.

  “Fuck me now,” she begged.

  I wanted nothing else more. I scooped her up and lifted her onto the edge of the sink. We clawed at each other with raw desperation as our lips found each other again. She tasted like sweet wine, but I was the drunk one. Intoxicated by her scent. Bewitched by her filthy mouth.

  Robbed of all reason, I positioned myself at her center and pushed inside. The water, still running in the shower, wasn't nearly loud enough to cover my name when it finally fell from her lips.