Page 105 of The Chase
He broke away. “I didn’t lie to them. Look at us.” His hand slipped beneath the waistband of my pj’s and settled between my thighs. “I know you love it when I touch you like this. See how well I know your body. The way you respond.”
The rhythm of his fingertip pressing my clit brought me close to the edge. He grazed his teeth along my neck, the warmth of his breath tickling, soothing.
“Tobias.”
He pulled away and stepped back. “You’re just so kissable.”
“Help me understand all this.”
“We both know that theft at Christie’s looks suspicious. That’s why you were first on their list of suspects. Look, Zara, the art world is full of wealthy collectors willing to do anything, and I meananything, to get what they want. If they find a piece they want they’ll go after it and nothing will stand in their way.”
“Why are you helping me?”
“Because you’re my girl. And you’ve already been through too much. You’ve risen out of a scandal that had nothing to do with you, and you’re on the precipice of launching a stellar career. You’re poised to make your mark. I admire that. You’re ambitious because of your love for the profession and you see the true value of what art delivers. I won’t see those wealthy collectors ruin you.”
“You think they will?”
“You have something they want.”
“What?”
“How can you be so sure rumors haven’t surfaced about the other paintings you did manage to save that night?”
My legs weakened and my back pressed against the wall.
He stepped closer and took my hands in his. “I brought us food in because I figured it was best not to leave that Michelangelo unattended.”
I stepped forward into his hug, resting my head against him, a pang of fear nestled into my chest when I realized that the thief might know where I live and worse still, might know about the paintings.
No one knows,I reassured myself, only Clara and Tobias, and I trusted them more than anything.
He hugged me tighter. “We take them to The Otillie. Tomorrow.”
I held his gaze and conveyed how much his being here meant to me. Having a friend to navigate me through this storm meant everything. He was soothing this ache of uncertainty and supporting me in the best kind of way.
Tipping my chin up, I offered my lips to him and he kissed me leisurely, our tongues tangling. My body yearned for this, for him, for the way he mastered my body so thoroughly with his, the way he suckled at my neck, sending luscious tingles into my skin.
“I’m on the pill,” I whispered.
His jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth, and my fingertips traced over his lips as I told him what I needed with that one gesture. Tobias’s mouth brushed over my throat, his familiar fragrance of domination and sex rising, the heat radiating off him and sending shivers throughout me.
“You’ll tell me everything,” I said. “You share all you learn about where my painting came from.”
“We’ll never know if it was real.”
I held his gaze;I know.
He gave a nod.
My forehead crashed onto his shoulder as I realized my dirty family secret had somehow been given a reprieve, and from the way he looked at me he knew it too.
My lips trembled. “I need answers.”
He nibbled my earlobe. “We’ll find them.”
Yes, he had the resources and emotional stamina to do what I couldn’t, but was I asking too much? Was he?
He caught me in that fierce glare of his. “Zara.”
