Page 7 of Immortal By Morning
Abril nodded. As she turned to lead Lilith to the front door, she heard Roberts say, “Pull your car up closer to the excavated area and you can wait in it with the heat on, Peters.”
“Yes, sir,” Peters said smartly.
Abril glanced over her shoulder, intending to give the detective an approving smile for thinking of the officer’s comfort, but her view was blocked by a wall of man. Detective Delacort was directly behind her. Blinking, she raised her gaze to his face, realizingonly then that he was more than tall, he was extremely tall. He must be a good six two to her five five. How had she not noticed that before now?
“Watch your step.” Detective Delacort’s concerned voice was deep and silken. When she was slow to turn her attention forward, he caught her wrist, drawing her to a halt.
Abril flushed at the physical response she had to his touch and finally looked around to avoid his gaze and saw that she’d been about to walk into the half wall that ran alongside the steps to the landing of the front double doors.
“Oh. Thanks,” she breathed, as confused by her reaction to him as she was embarrassed by her own clumsiness. When he released her wrist, she took a shaky breath and quickly walked around the short wall to mount the steps.
When Lilith began to tug then, obviously not interested in going inside and abandoning the treasures she’d dug up, Abril said, “Treat.”
That was the magic word. Lilith stopped digging her feet in and yanking her head around. Instead, she was suddenly up at the door, waiting for Abril to catch up.
“She is food driven,” Detective Delacort commented.
“Oh, yeah, definitely food driven,” Abril agreed, managing a wry smile. “Masked bandits could break in and kill all of us and she’d let them do it and even wag her tail while they did if they threw her a couple of treats. She is not a very good guard dog.”
Delacort chuckled, his warm breath brushing her ear. That and the deep, rich sound of his amusementactually sent a shiver through Abril’s body. It was because of the cold, she assured herself. That was a shiver of cold, not excitement. Dear God, the man was gorgeous and sexy as hell and—You are obviously delirious from the cold, she told herself firmly.There is a dead body or three in the garden. This is no time for flirting, or even noticing the man is attractive. Get inside, get these wet clothes off, make coffee, and answer their questions like the smart executive assistant you are.
“Shall I get the door for you?”
Abril blinked at the question, and then realized she was standing in front of the double doors, her fingers merely lightly clasping the door handle. Before she could shake herself out of her stupor, Delacort suddenly reached past her to do as he’d offered. His fingers glided against hers as he grasped the handle and opened the door.
Abril closed her eyes as his chest pressed against her back and she was half encompassed by his arm and body. The chaos that set off inside her wasn’t just embarrassing, it was downright alarming. She’d never reacted like this to anyone, ever in her life. What was he? Some kind of warlock or something with a love spell, or more accurately a lust spell that was turning her into a bitch in heat? Hell, if she had a tail like Lilith, it would be wagging right now. She was actually surprised her tongue wasn’t hanging out.
Abril was tempted to lean back into the man, but before she could, she was dragged forward as Lilith suddenly lunged through the open door.
Eyebrows high on his forehead, Crispin gaped after Abril as she stumble-jogged through the entry and out of sight to the right, pulled along behind the Lab. He then turned to Roberts when his partner chuckled.
“Are you laughing?” he asked with disbelief. Roberts rarely laughed. The man was usually the inscrutable stare type of guy, but he was definitely laughing now.
“Oh, yes. I am laughing,” Roberts assured him. “Between her thinking if she had a tail, it would be wagging, and your fascination with where that tail would be on her, I just cannot help it.”
“I am not fascinated with her ass,” Crispin growled with irritation, telling himself it was true. He’d merely been peering at her behind because he was... well, behind her.
Roberts released another chuckle. “Sure. So if she had been facing you, you would have been eyeing her other goods?”
“No, I would not. I—Wait.” He narrowed his gaze on his partner. “Are you reading my thoughts? You are,” he accused when Roberts merely shrugged. “How the hell are you reading my thoughts? I am older than you.”
“I do not know, my friend,” Roberts said, slapping him on the shoulder and moving past him to enter the house. “You are a detective. Sort it out. How could I possibly be able to hear your thoughts? When are older immortals vulnerable to being read by immortals younger than themselves?”
Crispin opened his mouth, closed it, and then his eyes widened incredulously. “No,” he said, denyingthe thought that immediately came to mind. Then, realizing that he was just standing there on the stoop alone, he stepped inside and pushed the door closed behind him.
Pausing, he peered around what he could see of the house. He was standing in a large foyer with a set of closed double doors directly ahead across an expanse of white marble. The closet? He suspected so, then glanced to the left where the marble gave way to a cream-colored carpeted walkway beside a large indoor garden full of tropical trees and plants. Crispin was impressed until he noted the plants themselves. They really weren’t very attractive, but then to each their own, he supposed and glanced past the garden to the living room beyond. Finding that empty, he turned to look to the right, peering through an open doorway. He had just recognized that it was a very large kitchen when he heard Abril Newman’s voice.
She was saying something about “good girl” and “treats” he noted and gave up his position by the door to enter the long, rather spectacular kitchen. It had to be forty feet long and at least sixteen wide, with a long island running down the middle between the cupboards and counters on either side. Everything was white except for the countertops, which were made up of a silver-streaked black granite. The floor was some exotic hardwood he’d never seen before. It was gorgeous though, the strips of wood a variety of reddish brown tones with distinctive black striping.
“It’s tigerwood.”
Crispin jerked his head up at that announcement from Abril, unsure what she was talking about until she added, “The floor. It’s tigerwood.”
For one moment he was terrified that she too could read his mind and then Roberts said soothingly, “You were staring at the floor.”
“Oh. Yes,” Crispin said, relaxing a little. “I have never seen it before. I have never seen hardwood in a kitchen before either though, so...” He shrugged.
“Yeah, that’s Gina,” Abril said with a faint smile as she turned to what appeared to be a coffee bar area. There was a tea kettle, a Keurig with a milk frother, and a normal coffee machine all side by side. It was the coffee machine she was working with, scooping grounds into the filter to make a pot of the dark brew. “She tends to do things a little different than everyone else.”
