Page 46 of The Mystery of the Curiosities
What Barnum had to do with any of these modern murders was beyond me.
I set my phone back down and took a breath. I wish the dead guy in my apartment hadn’t been lost to the flames. His identity was important, I knew it, but what if they never found any of his remains?
My pondering was soon left behind when the front door buzzer rang. I let the delivery guy into the building and unlocked the apartment door as he was coming up the stairs. I took the bag of food, tipped the kid, and shut and locked the door again. I walked over to the kitchenette and started rummaging through the takeout. I hadn’t gotten much further than debating whether to put Calvin’s portion in the fridge for his inevitably late arrival, when the door was unlocked and said redhead walked in.
“Hey,” I said, smiling when I turned to greet him. “You’re home earlier than I—”
Calvin threw the dead bolt on the door, took three powerful strides toward me, and pulled me into a fierce kiss before I could finish speaking. I bumped against the counter, take-out bag crinkling loudly as I was pushed back. Calvin’s hips pressed roughly against my own as he shoved his tongue in my mouth.
Jesus fuck!
I grabbed the front of his jacket and nearly tore the buttons loose while frantically trying to open it. I pushed it off his shoulders, listening to the heavy fabric fall to the floor with a quiet thump. Calvin broke the kiss, taking about half a second to remove his shoulder holster and shove the weapon onto the counter behind me. He grabbed my face in both hands and kissed me hard.
I swear I saw stars.
I pulled his hips forward once more, grinding against him. I had no idea what put him in this mood, because last I checked, murder wasn’t exactly a turn-on, but I was more than ready to match his enthusiasm. He wanted it hard and rough, and so did I. Right here in the kitchen, on the floor—his studio didn’t leave much to the imagination, but I wasn’t picky.
Calvin shoved my T-shirt up, broke the kiss, and leaned down to bite and suck my nipple. I yelped and bumped back against the counter again. He grabbed me tight and held me in place, continuing to bite and suck until I couldn’t take any more.
“C-Calvin!”
He straightened, his large frame engulfing me. “Beg me to fuck your ass,” he whispered. Calvin wrapped a big hand around my throat.
I managed to swallow before he tightened his grasp. “Please.”
“Please what?”
To hell with thinking I sounded lame. “Fuck me, make me come!”
Calvin grinned, his mouth hovering a kiss away from mine. “I’m going to shove you against the wall and pound your perfect ass until you can’t walk, baby.”
Holy hell.
And then we were kissing again while struggling to do away with each other’s clothes. I liked giving Calvin a fight for dominance, even if I was in fact looking to be the one dominated, because it ignited a fire in him that was so unbelievably hot. I needed the roughness of his hands on my body, craved the words he spoke, but I loved that Calvin never once stopped caring for my well-being.
I’d lost my shirt and my jeans were unbuttoned and hanging off my hips when I was backed up against the wall beside the counter. I grabbed Calvin’s tie, yanking him forward to kiss and grinning against his mouth when he growled in response.
He shoved my pants and boxer briefs down as we kissed, then reached behind to grab my ass firmly. “Gorgeous ass,” he murmured when we broke the kiss for breath. Calvin dropped to his knees next. “And gorgeous dick.” He took the head of my cock into his mouth, tightening his lips around me and sucking hard.
“Oh God,” I groaned, hitting the back of my head against the wall. It was both too much and not enough. I needed more—needed Calvin fucking me, claiming me, making me hoarse from screaming as he screwed me senseless. I didn’t want it to end yet.
Calvin’s a very intuitive sexual partner. He seems to know what I want before I do, and he can pull me back from jumping off the ledge into a mind-numbing orgasm too soon. He can draw it out, make it something to write home about every time.
He took his mouth off me and finished helping me step out of my clothes. Then he turned me around, pushed me against the wall, spread my cheeks, and licked me.
I shivered in response. It was a freezing-hot feel. I was burning up from the inside out. Unable to get a grip on the wall, I pounded my fist against it in vain. “Cal,” I groaned. “I can’t take it, please!”
“What’s wrong?” he asked, but there was a mischievous tone in his words.
“Stop teasing.”
He stood behind me and smoothed his hands over my ass again, leaning in close. “You’ll take it, and like it,” he whispered in my ear before smacking one cheek hard.
He did it again and again. My skin tingled and stung in the most erotic and delicious way imaginable. I was vaguely aware of the inarticulate words I moaned against the wall being heard by Calvin’s neighbors—but to hell with them. They could listen to me scream. I wasn’t going to be quiet. They’d probably be jealous.
Calvin moved away, and I turned my head to look back, watching him strip out of his suit and show me the muscular body that hid underneath.Fuck, he was so goddamn stunning. Pale skin, constellations of freckles upon freckles, and just enough light-colored hair in all the places that I liked it. Not even the multiple scars of bullet wounds detracted from his beauty.
He walked to the bed, opened the drawer of the nightstand, and rummaged about before coming back with the necessary tools. He uncapped the bottle of lube and squirted a generous amount onto his hand before setting it on the counter and getting close. Calvin pressed his body against my back while gently and thoroughly pushing his fingers into me.
